On May 28th, Ignacio Moreno delivered the talk Structured Programmable Light at the Faculty of Sciences, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB).
This was part of a workshop organized by the UAB Department of Physics to celebrate the International Day of Light (IDL), which was leaded by OPTICAT UAB student chapter.
In April 2026 we received the visit of Dr. Esther Nabadda, our former PhD, now working at University Hospital Bonn.
Esther returned for two weeks to develop together computer-generated holograms designs with phase-only spatial light modulators, to be applied for augmented reality applications.
María del Mar Sánchez and Santiago Ríos attended the conference SPIE Photonics Europe 2026, held in Strasbourg (France), in April 12-16, 2026. They participated at the conference Liquid Crystal Optics and Photonic Devices II. María del Mar was co-Chair of the conference, together with Prof. Ibrahim Abdulhalim.
Our last work is now published in the journal Results in Physics entitled Polarization and coherence properties of the diffraction by a double retarder rectangular aperture. In this work we analyze the diffraction of a rectangular aperture with different retarders on each half. Under polarized illumination, it generates a structured polarization in the diffracted field. Using the combined Fourier transform Jones (FTJ) matrix and beam-coherence-polarization (BCP) matrix formalism, we also show that even when the aperture is illuminated with unpolarized light, and the field therefore remains unpolarized right after the aperture, the diffracted field yet exhibits a polarization and spatial coherence structure.
Experimental verification is conducted using a LCOS-SLM to encode the double retarder. The experimental system is completed with a second LCOS-SLM to implement a digital double-slit experiment. This enables to measure the scalar complex degree of coherence and shows that the double-retarder aperture can generate spatially-structured scalar coherence patterns under unpolarized illumination.
This work is part of the PhD Thesis of Santiago Ríos-Álvarez.
In this work we present a new configuration to achieve an achromatic all-optical Fourier transform (FT) using two blazed diffractive lenses and one non-dispersive lens. Different configurations are identified by imposing constraints on the ray matrix of the optical system, minimizing the wavelength dependence of both the transversal location of the FT plane and the FT spatial scaling.
Experimental verification is carried out using geometric-phase (GP) flat diffractive lenses and an achromatic refractive lens. Furthermore, one identified novel configuration is symmetric. This symmetric triplet configuration enables a straightforward implementation in a reflective geometry that reduces the number of elements to a single GP lens combined with a mirror, thus leading to a highly-compact implementation. Experimental results are presented that validate the proposed systems.
This work is part of the PhD Thesis of Santiago Ríos.
We have an open Junior Researcher position within the Project CIAICO/2024/273 of Generalitat Valenciana “Structured Light for Advanced Imaging Systems”.
Interested? Please contact: Prof. Ignacio Moreno () and provide CV and motivation letter Due date: 12th January 2026
Tasks involved: theoretical modeling, computer simulations and laboratory experiments within the following research lines:
Design and generation of structured light,
Spatial light modulators (SLM),
Microstructured optical components,
Polarimetric/ spectral imaging and polarization interferometry.
Characteristics:
Contract duration:12 months (renewable up to a maximum of 30 months)
Gross monthly salary:1700 € (approx)
Expected starting date: February-March 2026
Application requirements:
Degree/Master in Physics, Engineering, Computing, o rsimilar.
Background in optics or optoelectronics. Programming skills.
Our last article is published in the journal Optics & Lasers in Engineering, entitled Study of symmetry and retracing properties of geometric phase gratings and lenses. Here we analyze the symmetry properties of polarization sensitive geometric phase gratings and geometric phase lenses, and compare them with the regular scalar elements.
Experimental results are included that evidence these properties with simple optical arrangements. These include experiments where the gratings are used in a transmission configuration, and others where a mirror is added to analyze a counter-propagated beam.
Ignacio Moreno coauthored a recent review paper in Applied Sciences that describes the advances accomplished in the application of polarization metrics based on the Polarizance-Reflection-Transformatin (PRT) and the Indices of Polarization Purity (IPP) to to distinguish between non-depolarization systems.
He was member of the Scientific Advisory Board and he delivered the invited talk entitled ‘Fourier transform Jones matrix approach for polarized structured light’.
Ignacio Moreno was this year one of the General Chairs of the Annual Meeting of the European Optical Society, EOSAM2025, held in Delft (The Netherlands) in 24-28 August 2025.
Ignacio delivered again a tutorial on «Spatial Light Modulators» in collaboration with the company Holoeye Photonics.
On May 28th, Ignacio Moreno delivered the talk Structured Programmable Light at the Faculty of Sciences, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB).
