High-speed programmable lithium niobate thin film spatial light modulator

Abstract

High-speed spatial modulation of light is the key technology in various applications, such as optical communications, imaging through scattering media, video projection, pulse shaping, and beam steering, in which spatial light modulators (SLMs) are the underpinning devices. Conventional SLMs, such as liquid crystal (LC), digital micromirror device (DMD), and micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS) ones, operate at a typical speed on the order of several kilohertz as limited by the slow response of the pixels. Achieving high-speed spatial modulation is still challenging and highly desired. Here, we demonstrate a one-dimensional (1D) high-speed programmable spatial light modulator based on the electro-optic effect in lithium niobate thin film, which achieves a low driving voltage of 10 V and an overall high-speed modulation speed of 5 MHz. Furthermore, we transfer an image by using parallel data transmission based on the proposed lithium niobate SLM as a proof-of-principle demonstration. Our device exhibits improved performance over traditional SLMs and opens new avenues for future high-speed and real-time applications, such as light detection and ranging (LiDAR), pulse shaping, and beam steering.

A full degree-of-freedom spatiotemporal light modulator

“…limit F ). Alternative nanophotonics-based approaches, often limited to 1D modulation, have their drawbacks as well: phase change materials [15,17,72] have slow crystallization rates and large switching energies, while electro-optic devices [16,76,79,80,[86][87][88], to date, have primarily relied on large-area grating-based resonators to achieve appreciable modulation.…”

Advances in lithium niobate photonics: development status and perspectives

“…Subsequently, with the high-quality TFLN that is now commercially available, various kinds of modulators have been demonstrated. 31,52,88,[241][242][243][272][273][274][275][276][277][278][279][280][281][282][283][284][285][286][287][288] Some of the reported modulators in LN platforms are summarized in Table 5.…”

Wavefront shaping: A versatile tool to conquer multiple scattering in multidisciplinary fields

“…Since its introduction to the field in 2007, 24 the ability of WFS techniques in the existence of scattering, especially regarding the focusing efficiency and optimization speed, has been greatly enhanced by the accompanying development of various wavefront modulators 98 , 106 , 107 , 108 , 109 and algorithms. 28 , 85 , 93 , 110 The progress has enabled wide applications, such as optical focusing and imaging inside scattering media, which will be expatiated in this section.…”