New developments in high-resolution liquid crystal spatial light modulators for wavefront control

High resolution devices, using liquid crystal phase modulators, have the ability to correct large phase variations across the aperture. These phase variations are corrected using discrete (pixelated) modulo-2pi phase shifts, which simplifies the control scheme by eliminating inter-actuator influence and decreases the response time of the phase modulator by reducing the required stroke. Even with these advantages, modulo-2pi phase correction is generally not used if the source is broadband due to degradation from chromatic dispersion. This paper discusses techniques for reducing the angular dispersion using new modulators which are being developed.