Holographic printer

A method of directly writing 1-step white-light viewable holograms, comprising:

• providing a pulsed laser source arranged to produce a laser beam at a first wavelength;
• splitting said laser beam into an object beam and a reference beam which is mutually coherent with said object beam;
• illuminating a spatial light modulator with said object beam;
• providing a lens system for writing a holographic pixel of a hologram on to a photosensitive medium, said lens system being arranged downstream of said spatial light modulator;
• and
• automatically varying the spatial coherence of said object beam so as to control the diameter of said object beam at the Fourier plane of said lens system.

A holographic printer for directly writing 1-step white-light viewable holograms, comprising:

• a pulsed laser source arranged to produce a laser beam at a first wavelength, said laser beam being split into an object beam and a reference beam which is mutually coherent with said object beam;
• a spatial light modulator wherein, in use, said object beam illuminates said spatial light modulator;
• a lens system for writing a holographic pixel of a hologram on to a photosensitive medium, said lens system being arranged downstream of said spatial light modulator;
• and
• a positioning stage for positioning a photosensitive medium at the Fourier plane of said lens system.

A method of directly writing 1-step white-light viewable holograms, comprising:

• providing a pulsed laser source arranged to produce a laser beam at a first wavelength;
• splitting said laser beam into an object beam and a reference beam which is mutually coherent with said object beam;
• illuminating a spatial light modulator with said object beam;
• providing a lens system for writing a holographic pixel of a hologram on to a photosensitive medium, said lens system being arranged downstream of said spatial light modulator;
• and
• positioning a photosensitive medium at the Fourier plane of said lens system.

A holographic printer for directly writing 1-step white-light viewable holograms, comprising:

• a pulsed laser source arranged to produce a laser beam at a first wavelength, said laser beam being split into an object beam and a reference beam which is mutually coherent with said object beam;
• a spatial light modulator wherein, in use, said object beam illuminates said spatial light modulator;
• a lens system for writing a holographic pixel of a hologram on to a photosensitive medium, said lens system being arranged downstream of said spatial light modulator, wherein said lens system has an effective field of view selected from the group consisting of:
• (i) greater than 70 degrees;
• (ii) greater than 75 degrees;
• (iii) greater than 80 degrees;
• and (iv) at least 85 degrees;
• and
• a positioning stage for positioning a photosensitive medium at the Fourier plane of said lens system.

A method of directly writing 1-step white-light viewable holograms, comprising:

• providing a pulsed laser source arranged to produce a laser beam at a first wavelength;
• splitting said laser beam into an object beam and a reference beam which is mutually coherent with said object beam;
• illuminating a spatial light modulator with said object beam;
• providing a lens system for writing a holographic pixel of a hologram on to a photosensitive medium, said lens system being arranged downstream of said spatial light modulator, wherein said lens system has an effective field of view selected from the group consisting of:
• (i) greater than 70 degrees;
• (ii) greater than 75 degrees;
• (iii) greater than 80 degrees;
• and (iv) at least 85 degrees;
• and
• positioning a photosensitive medium at the Fourier plane of said lens system.

A holographic printer for directly writing 1-step white-light viewable holograms, comprising:

• a pulsed laser source arranged to produce a laser beam at a first wavelength, said laser beam being split into an object beam and a reference beam which is mutually coherent with said object beam;
• a spatial light modulator wherein, in use, said object beam illuminates said spatial light modulator;
• a lens system for writing a holographic pixel of a hologram on to a photosensitive medium, said lens system being arranged downstream of said spatial light modulator, wherein said lens system has an effective field of view selected from the group consisting of:
• (i) greater than 70 degrees;
• (ii) greater than 75 degrees;
• (iii) greater than 80 degrees;
• and (iv) at least 85 degrees;
• and
• means for modifying images sent to said spatial light modulator so as to at least partially correct for inherent optical distortions of said lens system.

A method of directly writing 1-step white-light viewable holograms, comprising:

• providing a pulsed laser source arranged to produce a laser beam at a first wavelength;
• splitting said laser beam into an object beam and a reference beam which is mutually coherent with said object beam;
• illuminating a spatial light modulator with said object beam;
• providing a lens system for writing a holographic pixel of a hologram on to a photosensitive medium, said lens system being arranged downstream of said spatial light modulator, wherein said lens system has an effective field of view selected from the group consisting of:
• (i) greater than 70 degrees;
• (ii) greater than 75 degrees;
• (iii) greater than 80 degrees;
• and (iv) at least 85 degrees;
• and
• modifying images sent to said spatial light modulator so as to at least partially correct for inherent optical distortions of said lens system.

A holographic printer for directly writing 1-step white-light viewable holograms, comprising:

• a pulsed laser source arranged to produce a laser beam at a first wavelength, said laser beam being split into an object beam and a reference beam which is mutually coherent with said object beam;
• a spatial light modulator wherein, in use, said object beam illuminates said spatial light modulator;
• a lens system for writing a holographic pixel of a hologram on to a photosensitive medium, said lens system being arranged downstream of said spatial light modulator;
• means for modifying images sent to said spatial light modulator so as to at least partially correct for inherent optical distortions of said lens system;
• and
• a positioning stage for positioning a photosensitive medium at the Fourier plane of said lens system.

A method of directly writing 1-step white-light viewable holograms, comprising:

• providing a pulsed laser source arranged to produce a laser beam at a first wavelength;
• splitting said laser beam into an object beam and a reference beam which is mutually coherent with said object beam;
• illuminating a spatial light modulator with said object beam;
• providing a lens system for writing a holographic pixel of a hologram on to a photosensitive medium, said lens system being arranged downstream of said spatial light modulator;
• modifying images sent to said spatial light modulator so as to at least partially correct for inherent optical distortions of said lens system;
• and
• positioning a photosensitive medium at the Fourier plane of said lens system.

A holographic printer for directly writing 1-step white-light viewable holograms, comprising:

• a pulsed laser source arranged to produce a laser beam at a first wavelength, said laser beam being split into an object beam and a reference beam which is mutually coherent with said object beam;
• a spatial light modulator wherein, in use, said object beam illuminates said spatial light modulator;
• a lens system for writing a holographic pixel of a hologram on to a photosensitive medium, said lens system being arranged downstream of said spatial light modulator, wherein said lens system has an effective field of view selected from the group consisting of:
• (i) greater than 70 degrees;
• (ii) greater than 75 degrees;
• (iii) greater than 80 degrees;
• and (iv) at least 85 degrees.

A method of directly writing 1-step white-light viewable holograms, comprising:

• providing a pulsed laser source arranged to produce a laser beam at a first wavelength;
• splitting said laser beam into an object beam and a reference beam which is mutually coherent with said object beam;
• illuminating a spatial light modulator with said object beam;
• and
• providing a lens system for writing a holographic pixel of a hologram on to a photosensitive medium, said lens system being arranged downstream of said spatial light modulator, wherein said lens system has an effective field of view selected from the group consisting of:
• (i) greater than 70 degrees;
• (ii) greater than 75 degrees;
• (iii) greater than 80 degrees;
• and (iv) at least 85 degrees.

A holographic printer for directly writing 1-step white-light viewable holograms, comprising:

• a pulsed laser source arranged to produce a laser beam at a first wavelength, said laser beam being split into an object beam and a reference beam which is mutually coherent with said object beam;
• a spatial light modulator wherein, in use, said object beam illuminates said spatial light modulator;
• a lens system for writing a holographic pixel of a hologram on to a photosensitive medium, said lens system being arranged downstream of said spatial light modulator;
• and
• means for modifying images sent to said spatial light modulator so as to at least partially correct for inherent optical distortions of said lens system.

A method of directly writing 1-step white-light viewable holograms, comprising:

• providing a pulsed laser source arranged to produce a laser beam at a first wavelength;
• splitting said laser beam into an object beam and a reference beam which is mutually coherent with said object beam;
• illuminating a spatial light modulator with said object beam;
• providing a lens system for writing a holographic pixel of a hologram on to a photosensitive medium, said lens system being arranged downstream of said spatial light modulator;
• and
• modifying images sent to said spatial light modulator so as to at least partially correct for inherent optical distortions of said lens system.