title: Signal-dependent phase distortion in optical correlators.
abstract: We examine the effect of phase distortion inherent in a spatial light modulator on the performance of an optical correlator. We examine such areas as input plane distortion, input and Fourier plane distortion, effect of phase mismatch between these planes, and the effect of additive white noise. When large distortions are present and the proper compensation is incorporated into the filter, we find a significant enhancement in performance in that the correlation response converges to a function and the SNR increases significantly. A theory is presented to explain this behavior.
authors.forename: J L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Horner
authors.forename: P D
authors.initials: PD
authors.lastname: Gianino