Bessel function output from an optical correlator

We introduce a new filter for an optical correlator that produces a Bessel function correlation output. The advantage of this type of output is that the width of the central dark spot at the center of the correlator output is narrower than the width of the usual correlation spot. In addition, the dark spot is insensitive to changes in illumination intensity. We present experimental results with which we write the new filter onto a programmable magneto-optic spatial light modulator. (C) 1997 Optical Society of America.