Automatic generation of a holographically shaped beam in an actual optical system for use in material laser processing.

In-system optimization involves designing a computer-generated hologram (CGH) in an actual optical system. An important advantage of this approach is automatic generation of a target shaped beam with compensation for imperfections in the actual optical system that would degrade the reconstruction performance. We developed a novel in-system optimization method for beam shaping based on our previous research where it had been applied only to generate parallel focused beams. The key point in the application to beam shaping is to accurately express the conditions and coordinates of the actual optical system in the CGH calculation.