Structuring light waves in 3D volumes with high precision using communication mode optics

Achieving precise control of light intensity in 3D volumes is highly in demand in many applications in optics. Various wavefront shaping techniques have been utilized to reconstruct a target amplitude profile within a 3D space. However, these techniques are intrinsically affected by cross-talk, which limits the quality of the reconstructed profile. We develop and experimentally demonstrate an approach that creates light waves with efficient energy distribution based on a linear superposition of the optimum orthogonal communication modes connecting a source plane and a receiving volume. We employ these modes to construct arbitrarily chosen 2D and 3D structured light waves with continuous depth of field within the output receiving volume and optically generate these waves using a spatial light modulator. Our generated intensity profiles exhibit a minimal level of cross-talk, great fidelity, and strong contrast. We envision our work to inspire new directions, to our knowledge, in any domain that requires controlling light intensity in 3D with high precision and also to serve as a benchmark for other wavefront shaping techniques.