An important feature of computer generated holograms (CGHs) is to create wavefronts that may be defined only mathematically. Since A. W. Lohmann and his colleagues invented CGHs in 1966 for spatial filtering in image processing, the applications of CGHs have multiplied to include 3-D display, optical testing, diffractive/binary optics, bifocal intraocular lenses, wavefront transformations for material processing, pickup heads for optical disks, focal plane array detection, coherent laser addition, beam steering, and optical interconnects for parallel computing and neural computing. Today, the applications of CGHs continue to expand. This book features a selection of papers that examine different aspects of the development of CGHs from the 1960s through 1990, because there is no substitute for reading the original papers on any subject, even if that subject is mature enough to have many single-aspect monographs and textbooks. It is hoped that this selection of papers will be valuable additions to many working libraries on this expanding, expansive subject.

Laser Beam Mode Selection by Computer Generated Holograms brings attention to a new class of optical elements called modans, with applications in laser and fiber optics. Separation of the transverse modes by modans is discussed in close analogy to well-known effects of color separation by diffraction gratings. The book describes the basic questions of digital holography in the recording of complex wavefronts on phase-only media, binary coding cells, multilevel computer-generated holograms, quantization and sampling, image reconstruction, and computer generation of multifocal and multibeam holograms. This collective effort summarizes 12 years of scientific activities in the development of diffractive optical elements and provides considerable material never before published. An interesting appendix dedicates itself to mathematical proof of optimal properties of orthogonal base-functions and eigenfunctions.

SPIE Milestones are collections of seminal papers from the world literature covering important discoveries and developments in optics and photonics.

SPIE Milestones are collections of seminal papers from the world literature covering important discoveries and developments in optics and photonics.

This selection is focused on coatings and films with applications in optoelectronics, such as photovoltaics, photocatalysis, and light-based sensors and phenomena. The studies investigate the optimal composition, crystalline structure, and morphology to deliver the different functionalities sought. Obtaining transparent p-type electrodes is challenging but extremely relevant in optoelectronics. Electric conduction mechanisms and the correlations with structure and doping are discussed. The important issue of the degradation pathways in perovskite-based solar cells and the possibilities offered by different types of coatings to encapsulate the devices as well as the beneficial effect of silica coating as an antireflection and antisoiling layer on well-established solar cells are discussed. New designs of nanoplasmonic films for chemical and biological molecule sensing are reviewed, such as the combination of metallic nanoparticles and nanostructured semiconductors and dispersing metallic or bi-metallic nanoparticles in CuO films. The impacts of structure, defects, and morphology on the photoactivated properties of WO3 films and on the shape memory behavior in Cu–Al–Ni thin films are discussed. Aggregated TiO2 nanoparticles on TiO2 layers are shown to enhance optical transmittance and confer a superhydrophilic characteristic. Finally, aspects of the fundamental characterization of thin films, Drude damping in thin films, and laser-induced deflection technique are discussed.