Coherence experiments in single-pixel digital holography

Incoherent digital holography with two polarization-sensitive phase-only spatial light modulators and reduced number of exposures

I propose methods for reducing the number of exposures in incoherent digital holography with two polarization-sensitive phase-only spatial light modulators (IDH with TPP-SLMs). In IDH with TPP-SLMs, no polarization filters are required, and not only three-dimensional (3D), but polarization information is also obtained. However, seven exposures are required to conduct filter-free polarimetric incoherent holography. In this article, the optical designs and modified phase-shifting interferometry to reduce the number of recordings are described. IDH with TPP-SLMs has the potential for filter-free single-shot multidimensional incoherent holographic imaging.

Quantitative phase imaging based on motionless optical scanning holography

Optical scanning holography (OSH) can be applied to 3D fluorescent imaging. However, the optical setup for OSH is complicated due to the requirement of a phase shifter, a 2D mechanical scanner, and an interferometer. Although motionless optical scanning holography (MOSH) can overcome the problem, quantitative phase imaging (QPI) has not yet been realized because MOSH can only obtain incoherent holograms. If QPI in MOSH is realized, MOSH can be applied to various applications. In this Letter, MOSH-based QPI (MOSH-QPI) is proposed. In addition, a simple description of a coherent mode of OSH is presented. In the proof-of-principle experiment, the spatially divided phase-shifting technique is applied to reduce the number of measurements. The feasibility of MOSH-QPI is confirmed by measuring a phase distribution of a microlens array. MOSH-QPI is also applied to measure practical samples, and its results are compared with the experimental results of the conventional one using a Mach-Zehnder interferometer.

Common-path off-axis single-pixel holographic imaging

Common-path off-axis single-pixel holographic imaging (COSHI) is proposed to obtain complex amplitude information using an in-line interferometer and a single-pixel (point-like) detector. COSHI is more robust to disturbances such as vibration than the conventional single-pixel digital holography technique because of its common-path configuration. In addition, the number of measurements can be reduced due to COSHI's reconstruction process based on the Fourier fringe analysis. In COSHI, an off-axis digital hologram can be obtained using the structured patterns composed of Hadamard basis patterns and stationary tilted phase distribution. Interestingly, COSHI's space bandwidth is larger than of the conventional off-axis digital holography because COSHI does not reconstruct the self-correlation term of an object. The proposed method is theoretically confirmed and numerical and experimental results show its feasibility.

Off-axis optical scanning holography [Invited]

Optical scanning holography (OSH) involves the principles of optical scanning and heterodyning. The use of heterodyning leads to phase-preserving, which is the basic idea of holography. While heterodyning has numerous advantages, it requires complicated and expensive electronic processing. We investigate an off-axis approach to OSH, thereby eliminating the use of heterodyning for phase retrieval. We develop optical scanning theory for holographic imaging and show that by properly designing the scanning beam, we can perform coherent and incoherent holographic recording. Simulation results are provided to verify the proposed idea.

Recording of a curved digital hologram for orthoscopic real image reconstruction

Based on the concept of optical scanning holography, a holographic system for recording a curved digital hologram was proposed and demonstrated. In the system, an interference beam without the object information is first generated and then used to two-dimensionally scan a three-dimensional object along a cylindrical path. As a result, a complex curved hologram of a real object is digitally holographically recorded for the first time, to the best of our knowledge. The method of digital reconstruction and the properties of the curved digital hologram are then discussed.

Motionless optical scanning holography

Optical scanning holography (OSH) is an attractive technique since 3D information can be obtained with a single pixel detector. However, OSH requires an interferometer, scanning architecture, and a frequency shifter to scan a time-varying Fresnel zone plate (FZP), which makes the optical setup complicated. To reduce the complexity, the polarization sensitivity of a spatial light modulator (SLM) is applied. The proposed method implements a time-varying FZP with an in-line optical setup by using only an SLM. Observing results for a USAF pattern and a fluorescent bead reveals the feasibility of the new motionless holographic 3D imaging technique.

Compact Holographic Projection Display Using Liquid-Crystal-on-Silicon Spatial Light Modulator

This paper presents a holographic projection display in which a phase-only spatial light modulator (SLM) performs three functions: beam shaping, image display, and speckle reduction. The functions of beam shaping and image display are performed by dividing the SLM window into four sub-windows loaded with different diffractive phase elements (DPEs). The DPEs are calculated using a modified iterative Fourier transform algorithm (IFTA). The function of speckle reduction is performed using temporal integration of display images containing speckles. The speckle contrast ratio of the display image is 0.39 due to the integration of eight speckled images. The system can be extended to display full-color images also by using temporal addition of elementary color images. Because the system configuration needs only an SLM, a Fourier transform lens, and two mirrors, the system volume is very small, becoming a potential candidate for micro projectors.

Nonlinearity compensation and complex-to-phase conversion of complex incoherent digital holograms for optical reconstruction

Incoherent digital holography (IDH) can be realized by optical scanning holography or self-interference incoherent holography. Although IDH can exhibit high quality reconstruction due to its inherently speckle-free property, direct display of an incoherent hologram is a challenge because of its amplitude nonlinearity and the demand of complex modulation. In this paper we propose to compensate the amplitude nonlinearity at the object plane, and use bidirectional error-diffusion method to convert the complex-type incoherent Fresnel hologram to a phase-only Fresnel hologram for display. A spatial light modulator is used to reconstruct the phase-only hologram optically to demonstrate the validity of our proposed method.

Adaptive Optical Scanning Holography

Optical Scanning Holography (OSH) is a powerful technique that employs a single-pixel sensor and a row-by-row scanning mechanism to capture the hologram of a wide-view, three-dimensional object. However, the time required to acquire a hologram with OSH is rather lengthy. In this paper, we propose an enhanced framework, which is referred to as Adaptive OSH (AOSH), to shorten the holographic recording process. We have demonstrated that the AOSH method is capable of decreasing the acquisition time by up to an order of magnitude, while preserving the content of the hologram favorably.

Full-color optical scanning holography with common red, green, and blue channels [Invited]

We propose color optical scanning holography (OSH) that records red, green, and blue (RGB) holograms of real objects by single scanning. The proposed color OSH composes a RGB multiplexing unit, color time-dependent Fresnel zone plate generation unit, scanning unit, space-integrating photodetection unit, and demultiplexing unit. In the proposed color OSH, RGB beams follow a common path from the multiplexing unit to a photodetector, generating an electric current containing the object's complex RGB hologram information. In the demultiplexing unit, the complex RGB holograms are extracted and arranged as a complex color hologram. In experiments, we record the complex color hologram of a three-dimensional object composed of RGB transparencies using the color OSH. Numerical reconstruction shows that the recorded hologram contains information about the object's color as well as the diffracted field from the object.