Building and aligning a 10-plane light converter

TL;DR

This paper provides a detailed tutorial for constructing and aligning a 10-plane programmable light converter using a single SLM, enabling advanced control of light's spatial modes for various applications.

Contribution

It introduces a practical, step-by-step method for building and aligning a multi-plane light converter with high precision using accessible optical components.

Findings

Achieved single-pixel alignment accuracy.

Demonstrated effective control over multiple spatial modes.

Provided a replicable setup for MPLC implementation.

Abstract

The ability to manipulate the spatial structure of light is fundamental for a range of applications, from classical communication to quantum information processing. Multi-plane light conversion (MPLC) addresses the limitations of single-plane modulation by enabling full control over multiple spatial modes of light through a series of phase masks separated by free-space propagation. In this tutorial, we present a step-by-step guide for building and aligning a 10-plane programmable light converter using a single spatial light modulator (SLM) and standard optical components. Our method allows precise alignment, achieving single-pixel accuracy with a relatively simple setup. We hope that this guide will help other researchers to quickly adopt and adapt MPLC technology for their own experiments.