Real-time monitoring of vibration fringe patterns by optical reconstruction of digital holograms: mode beating detection

Noncontact vibration measurement using three spatial-frequency shifting coherent digital holography

A new digital coherent holographic system that works as a spatial-frequency shifter for measuring three-dimensional (3D) vibration of an object is proposed. The spatial-frequency shifter is constructed by a system of three mirrors inclined with different small angles to shift the object wave to three different frequencies in the spatial-frequency domain. By applying the Fourier transform method and appropriate filters to the hologram recorded by the camera of the system, a three-phase set of object waves corresponding to three shifted frequencies was obtained. From the relation between the phases and the relative position of the object, the position of each point on the surface of the object along the x, y, and z directions was extracted from each hologram. The same process was repeatedly applied to a series of holograms recorded by a fast camera, allowing the 3D vibration of the object to be precisely observed.

Linearity and Optimum-Sampling in Photon-Counting Digital Holographic Microscopy

In the image plane configurations frequently used in digital holographic microscopy (DHM) systems, interference patterns are captured by a photo-sensitive array detector located at the image plane of an input object. The object information in these patterns is localized and thus extremely sensitive to phase errors caused by nonlinear hologram recordings (grating profiles are either square or saturated sinusoidal) or inadequate sampling regarding the information coverage (undersampled around the Nyquist frequency or arbitrarily oversampled). Here, we propose a solution for both hologram recording problems through implementing a photon-counting detector (PCD) mounted on a motorized XY translation stage. In such a way, inherently linear (because of a wide dynamic range of PCD) and optimum sampled (due to adjustable steps) digital holograms in the image plane configuration are recorded. Optimum sampling is estimated based on numerical analysis. The validity of the proposed approach is confirmed experimentally.

Time-averaged photon-counting digital holography

Time-averaged holography has been using photo-emulsions (early stage) and digital photo-sensitive arrays (later) to record holograms. We extend the recording possibilities by utilizing a photon-counting camera, and we further investigate the possibility of obtaining accurate hologram reconstructions in rather severe experimental conditions. To achieve this, we derived an expression for fringe function comprising the main parameters affecting the hologram recording. Influence of the main parameters, namely the exposure time and the number of averaged holograms, is analyzed by simulations and experiments. It is demonstrated that taking long exposure times can be avoided by averaging over many holograms with the exposure times much shorter than the vibration cycle. Conditions in which signal-to-noise ratio in reconstructed holograms can be substantially increased are provided.

Digital holography at light levels below noise using a photon-counting approach

Recording of digital holograms of a weak signal [0.44 counts per second (cps)] hidden below the detector's noise (21 cps) is investigated by employing the high dynamic range of a photon-counting detector. Recording conditions are discussed in terms of the most important holographic measures, namely, the fringe visibility (or contrast) and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), and in relation to the main holographic parameters. Theoretically evaluated curves are tested by recording holograms for a wide range of the parameter values. We found that (i) the optimum set of holographic parameters can be determined for a harsh signal conditions, (ii) increasing the visibility does not necessarily improve the more important SNR, and (iii) in cases of nearly constant visibility, the SNR clearly reveals differences in the quality of holographic recordings.

Multiple-wavelength-scanning-based phase unwrapping method for digital holographic microscopy

A phase unwrapping approach based on multiple-wavelength scanning is presented for digital holographic microscopy. It unwrapped the ambiguous phase image layer by layer by synthesizing the extracted continuous components from a set of multiple phase images obtained by varying the optical wavelength, where the discontinuities occur at different places and the phase speckle noise presents various distributions in state. The total time for data acquisition is approximately 22 min for 10 wavelengths. The simulation and experimental results demonstrate that the proposed method has a more accurate calculation and better counteraction of phase noise compared with those of previously reported approaches. In addition, the wrapped phase image of the object containing the steps has also been unwrapped successfully.

Imaging velocities of a vibrating object by stroboscopic sideband holography

We propose here to combine sideband holography with stroboscopic illumination synchronized with the vibration of an object. By sweeping the optical frequency of the reference beam such a way the holographic detection is tuned on the successive sideband harmonic ranks, we are able to image the instantaneous velocities of the object. Since the stroboscopic illumination is made with an electronic device, the method is compatible with fast (up to several MHz) vibration motions. The method is demonstrated with a vibrating clarinet reed excited sinusoidally at 2 kHz, and a stroboscopic illumination with cyclic ratio 0.15. Harmonic rank up to n = ± 100 are detected, and a movie of the instantaneous velocities is reported.

White light reconstruction of image plane digital holograms

A real-time system is developed that employs a CCD sensor for recording and a reflective high-resolution liquid crystal display for reconstructing of image plane digital holograms. Two types of light sources, namely, the coherent (laser) and white light (LED) are used for optical reconstructions of static and dynamic object wave fronts. As expected, white light reconstructions exhibit improved properties compared to the corresponding monochrome reconstructions. However, these improvements become substantial in cases in which digital holograms are preprocessed by applying the common algebraic operations such as subtraction.

Undersampled digital holography

Acceptable signal recovery of the band-pass signals typically used in the off-axis digital holography systems is possible in the undersampling conditions. A typical system is considered in which the angle between two beams represents a variable parameter. For the given signal bandwidth and experimental conditions the hologram reconstruction is constrained by the sampling frequency of the array photo-detector. Reconstructions from the undersampled digital holograms are analyzed both theoretically and experimentally. It is shown how increasing the angle values beyond the Nyquist limits leads to repeatedly folding and inverting the reconstructed object image until the fading of the image. The phase point at the image fading and the non-overlapping intervals for correctly preserving the useful information are defined and evaluated. Amplitude distributions are analyzed on the example of the time-averaged holograms acquired for an oscillating membrane. Based on removing the zeroth-order reconstruction term, significant extensions of these intervals are also demonstrated.

Imaging a vibrating object by Sideband Digital Holography

We obtain quantitative measurements of the oscillation amplitude of vibrating objects by using sideband digital holography. The frequency sidebands on the light scattered by the object, shifted by n times the vibration frequency, are selectively detected by heterodyne holography, and images of the object are calculated for different orders n. Orders up to n = 120 have been observed, allowing the measurement of amplitudes of oscillation that are significantly larger than the optical wavelength. Using the positions of the zeros of intensity for each value of n, we reconstruct the shape of vibration the object.