Suppression of spurious image duplicates in Fourier holograms by pixel apodization of a spatial light modulator

Holographic projectors and near-eye displays are a promising technology with truly three-dimensional, natural viewing and excellent energetic efficiency. Spatial light modulators with periodic pixel matrices cause image duplicates, which distract the viewer and waste energy of the playback beam. We present the engineering of the far field intensity envelope, which suppresses higher-order image duplicates in the simplest possible optical setup by physically changing the shape of modulator pixels with attached apodizing masks. Numerical and experimental results show the limited number of perceived duplicates and better uniformity in off-axis projections for the price of compromised energetic efficiency due to amplitude masks. (C) 2021 Optical Society of America under the terms of the OSA Open Access Publishing Agreement

Automated summary

The holographic technology of spatial light modulators with attached apodizing masks can suppress image duplicates in the simplest optical setup, leading to better uniformity in off-axis projections and a limited number of perceived duplicates.