Dynamic 2D Implementation of 3D Diffractive Optics

Unfortunately, despite remarkable progress, fabrication of high volumetric space bandwidth micro and nano- structures is still in its infancy. Furthermore, existing 3D diffractive optics implementations are static while programmable volumetric spatial light modulators are still years or decades away.

In order to address these shortcomings, we propose the implementation of volumetric diffractive optics equivalent functionality via cascaded planar elements. To illustrate the principle we design 3D diffractive optics and implement a two-layer continuous phase-only design on a single spatial light modulator (SLM) with a folded system. The system provides dynamic and efficient multiplexing capability.