Ngcobo, SandileLitvin, IBurger, LForbes, A2014-06-172014-06-172013-08Ngcobo, S, Litvin, I, Burger, L and Forbes, A. 2013. A digital laser for on-demand laser modes. Nature Communications, vol. 4, pp 2289-22952041-1723http://www.nature.com/ncomms/2013/130802/ncomms3289/full/ncomms3289.htmlhttp://hdl.handle.net/10204/7483Copyright: 2013 Nature Publishing Group. This is an ABSTRACT ONLY. The definitive version is published in Nature Communications, vol. 4, pp 2289-2295Customizing the output beam shape from a laser invariably involves specialized optical elements in the form of apertures, diffractive optics and free-form mirrors. Such optics require considerable design and fabrication effort and suffer from the further disadvantage of being immutably connected to the selection of a particular spatial mode. Here we overcome these limitations with the first digital laser comprising an electrically addressed reflective phase only spatial light modulator as an intra-cavity digitally addressed holographic mirror. The phase and amplitude of the holographic mirror may be controlled simply by writing a computer- generated hologram in the form of a grey-scale image to the device, for on-demand laser modes. We show that we can digitally control the laser modes with ease, and demonstrate real-time switching between spatial modes in an otherwise standard solid-state laser resonator. Our work opens new possibilities for the customizing of laser modes at source.enDigital laserOn-demand laser modesSpatial light modulatorOutput beam shapeLaser invariablyDiffractive opticsArticleNgcobo, S., Litvin, I., Burger, L., & Forbes, A. (2013). A digital laser for on-demand laser modes. http://hdl.handle.net/10204/7483Ngcobo, Sandile, I Litvin, L Burger, and A Forbes "A digital laser for on-demand laser modes." (2013) http://hdl.handle.net/10204/7483Ngcobo S, Litvin I, Burger L, Forbes A. A digital laser for on-demand laser modes. 2013; http://hdl.handle.net/10204/7483.TY - Article AU - Ngcobo, Sandile AU - Litvin, I AU - Burger, L AU - Forbes, A AB - Customizing the output beam shape from a laser invariably involves specialized optical elements in the form of apertures, diffractive optics and free-form mirrors. Such optics require considerable design and fabrication effort and suffer from the further disadvantage of being immutably connected to the selection of a particular spatial mode. Here we overcome these limitations with the first digital laser comprising an electrically addressed reflective phase only spatial light modulator as an intra-cavity digitally addressed holographic mirror. The phase and amplitude of the holographic mirror may be controlled simply by writing a computer- generated hologram in the form of a grey-scale image to the device, for on-demand laser modes. We show that we can digitally control the laser modes with ease, and demonstrate real-time switching between spatial modes in an otherwise standard solid-state laser resonator. Our work opens new possibilities for the customizing of laser modes at source. DA - 2013-08 DB - ResearchSpace DP - CSIR KW - Digital laser KW - On-demand laser modes KW - Spatial light modulator KW - Output beam shape KW - Laser invariably KW - Diffractive optics LK - https://researchspace.csir.co.za PY - 2013 SM - 2041-1723 T1 - A digital laser for on-demand laser modes TI - A digital laser for on-demand laser modes UR - http://hdl.handle.net/10204/7483 ER -