The Application of Phase-only Filters to Optical Interconnects and Pattern Recognition

We have recently developed a new type of liquid-crystal spatial light-modulator which acts as a phase-only spatial light-modulator for coherent light. The use of this device as a flexible filter in the Fourier plane of an optical correlation system is described, and it is shown how it may also be used as a flexible interconnect capable of simultaneously providing continuous amplitude and binary phase modulation.