Time-resolved combination of the Mueller–Stokes and Jones calculus for the optimization of a twisted-nematic spatial-light modulator

Twisted-nematic spatial light modulators show a coupling between phase and intensity modulation. We present quick and simple methods that exhibit a minimum impact of measurement errors for characterizing the modulator's optical properties. We utilize a time-resolved combination of the Mueller -Stokes and Jones calculus to adapt the polarization configuration in the optical system for phase-only modulation. Furthermore, we investigate the flicker-effect and propose a novel method which completely compensates its temporal influence in applications with fast detectors. Although we apply our methods to a HOLOEYE LC-R 2500 they can be generalized for the application with any liquid-crystal spatial-light modulator. (C) 2015 Optical Society of America