Research Article

Characterization of digital micromirror devices for ultrashort laser applications

¹ GROC-UJI, Institute of New Imaging Technologies (INIT), Universitat Jaume I, 12071, Castelló, Spain
² Servei Central d’Instrumentació Científica (SCIC), Universitat Jaume I, Castelló, Spain

^* Corresponding author: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Received: 24 November 2025
Accepted: 20 February 2026

Abstract

In recent years, the wide variety of digital micromirror device (DMD) applications has extended significantly across various fields of optics, including ultrafast optics. Despite these advances, the interaction between DMDs and ultrashort pulses remains poorly understood. To address this gap, this study presents a comprehensive characterization of the behaviour of a DMD system when interacting with ultrashort laser pulses. In this work, the fluence threshold for multi-shot damage was first determined to be 0.12 J/cm². Regarding the temporal effects, the group delay dispersion (GDD) of intrinsic materials was experimentally measured for the zeroth order and was determined to be 190 fs². The temporal dispersion introduced by the DMD was then theoretically quantified for higher diffraction orders, showing that it generates a broadening and a spatiotemporal shift that depend on the diffraction order. Concerning spatial effects, the lateral chromatic aberration for a broad wavelength range was analysed, revealing the spatial separation of different wavelength components due to the wavelength dependence of the order of diffraction. Finally, the capability of the DMD to analyse the intensity spatial distribution of the light beam was demonstrated using a single-pixel imaging technique. These findings contribute to the understanding of the effects resulting from the interaction of ultrashort pulses with the DMD, thereby facilitating applications.