Optical Processing Systems

Modern optical systems find many applications in sensing, recording, storage, and transmission of data. These applications stimulate the development of many new optical devices, components, materials, and applied technologies. The basic element of an optical system is the light. The physical implications of the light in optical systems are very analogous to those of electricity, hence, light signals are quite similar to electric signals. High-speed spatial light components are being developed for more stringent applications in coherent optical processing systems, where they may be used in the input plane or in the Fourier transform plane. Research in this area is directed towards the design of robust and compact correlators.