Programmable freeform optical elements.

Modern liquid crystal spatial light modulators (SLMs) are capable of shifting the optical path length by some microns, which corresponds to phase shifts of several multiples of 2π. We use this capability to display freeform optical elements (FOEs) on a SLM, as largely smooth phase variations with only a small number of wrapping lines. These FOEs can be programmed to generate so-called caustic intensity distributions, which may be real images reconstructed at a selected position in front of the SLM surface. In contrast to standard diffractive structures, reconstruction of the freeform images is non-dispersive (i.e. white light images can be programmed), free of speckle, and its efficiency does not depend on the wavelength. These features promise novel applications in image projection, and various application fields of SLMs in microscopy.