The binary phase-only 1/f joint transform correlator

We present a new means of creating a binary phase only 1/f joint transform correlator using a ferroelectric liquid crystal spatial light modulator. By using the two-pass technique of the 1/f JTC in combination with a binary phase FLM SLM it is possible to build a mechanically robust correlator with a correlation rate in excess of 2kHz. By using a chequerboard phase encoded input, it is possible to use the FLC SLM as a binary phase modulator whilst also avoiding the problem of CCD camera saturation due to zero order. An edge enhancement algorithm is then used on the captured image to produce a suitable image for the second pass through the correlator. The algorithm has been chosen to produce a near perfect binary phase image which results in a correlation plane with greatly suppressed zero order (or DC terms).