Modulator-free light control via computational beam shaping
Published 02 February, 2026
Controlling light with high precision is crucial for advanced imaging in astronomy, biology, and medicine. Traditionally, this requires complex hardware like spatial light modulators or deformable mirrors. Now, researchers have demonstrated a new, simpler approach that replaces physical components with computation.
Published in the journal iOptics, the study outlines a "modulator-free" method for light control. The technique involves precisely measuring a light wave's properties (amplitude and phase), digitally propagating it through a simulated optical path, and applying numerical corrections to steer its direction or make separate beams interfere coherently.
The team validated the concept with an experiment where they computationally adjusted tilted wavefronts from two separate apertures to make their beams merge and interfere on a camera sensor — all without moving any physical part.
"We are shifting part of the control burden from the hardware domain to the information domain," explains corresponding author Xiaopeng Shao, a professor at the Xi'an Institute of Optics and Precision Mechanics, CAS. "By accurately measuring the complex optical field and processing it digitally, we can emulate the function of physical modulators.”
Notably, this approach not only reduces system cost and complexity but also opens the door to more flexible and robust optical designs. “It holds promise for applications that require precise optical path matching or wavefront correction, such as synthetic aperture imaging for astronomy or compensating for tissue scattering in deep bioimaging,” adds Shao.
While currently demonstrated with simple phase tilts and coherent light, the method's principles could be extended to correct more complex distortions.
Author: Xiaopeng Shao
Xiaopeng Shao, Xi'an Institute of Optics and Precision Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences.
His primary research focuses on computational optical imaging technology, optoelectronic image processing and pattern recognition, and the development and testing of optoelectronic instruments. He has published over 300 research papers and holds more than 100 authorized invention patents. His accolades include the Second Prize of the National Defense Science and Technology Invention Award, the First Prize of the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation Invention Award, and the First Prize of the Chinese Society for Optical Engineering Technology Invention Award.
Funder: Technology Innovation Leading Program of Shaanxi (Program no. 2024QY-SZX-16); National Natural Science Foundation of China (12404387).
Conflict of interest: The authors declare no conflicts of interest.
See the article: Tengfei Wu, Teli Xi, Huachao Cheng, Shijie Wei, Yue Wang, Gao Guo, Liming Yang, Jinpeng Liu, Xihang Yang, Xiaopeng Shao. Modulator-free Light Control via Computational Beam Shaping. iOptics (2025): 100005. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.iopt.2025.100005