The present invention relates to a novel spatial light modulator comprising a plurality of individual pixels that each contain separate detectors, electronic circuitry, and optical modulators. A primary application of such a spatial light modulator is to provide the requisite nonlinear relationship between a plurality of optical beams fanned in to each detector on the one hand, and a plurality of optical beams fanned out from such modulator on the other, on a pixel-by-pixel basis. In one embodiment, the spatial light modulator is configured to differentially amplify the inputs to two separate detectors within each pixel, and to transform in a sigmoidal manner the output signals applied to two separate optical modulators located within the same pixel. In a second embodiment, two juxtaposed optical modulators are used within each pixel to independently control the amplitude and phase of the output beam(s). In a third embodiment, the electronic circuitry within each pixel is designed to phase modulate the output beam(s) in such a manner as to provide mutual incoherence among the individually coherent output beams from the set of pixels that comprise the array.
Spatial light modulators for incoherent/coherent multiplexed holographic recording and readout