Random-access multi-focus manipulation through superpixel-encoding wavefront engineering

Random-access multi-focus manipulation of multiple light beams at high speed can accelerate various important processes, such as laser material processing and imaging, and benefit semiconductor manufacturing and biomedical research. In this letter, we propose random-access multi-focus manipulation through superpixel-encoding wavefront engineering (RMM-SWE). This method simultaneously manipulates 25 independent focal spots at a rate as high as 23 kHz, which considerably increased the efficiency of scanning over irregular, complicated paths. We applied RMM-SWE to direct laser writing and showed that RMM-SWE holds great potential for the applications requiring multi-focus manipulation with high scanning speed, flexibility, and spatial resolution.