Dual-reference digital holographic interferometry for analyzing high-density gradients in fluid mechanics

This Letter proposes a dual-reference digital holographic interferometer for analyzing the high refractive index encountered in transonic and supersonic flows. For that, a Wollaston prism is inserted in the reference arm in order to simultaneously generate two orthogonally polarized reference waves. As a consequence, recorded interferograms contain two crossed and perpendicular interference patterns that give two orders fully separated in the Fourier spectrum. It is then possible to analyze a transparent object regardless of the orientation of the refractive index gradient using the two phase maps reconstructed with each of the two first interference orders. Fusion of the phase maps yields a single phase map in which the phase singularities are removed. Experimental results demonstrate the suitability of the proposed approach for analyzing shock waves in the unsteady wake flow around a circular cylinder at Mach 0.75.

Phase-shifting digital holographic microscopy by using a multi-camera setup

In this Letter, the use of two-coupled Mach-Zehnder interferometers for four π/2-phase shifting interferometry is introduced. A multi-camera arrangement using no more than beam splitters and mirrors is utilized to obtain in a single shot the needed phase-shifted interferograms in the different output channels of the setup. The simplicity of the setup makes it ideal for high-speed interferometry applications. This proposal is validated in digital holographic microscopy to visualize a biological sample of epidermal onion cells.

Stochastic dual-plane on-axis digital holographic imaging on irregular surfaces

An imaging method based on dual-plane on-axis digital holography is proposed for the situation in which an object is on the irregular surface of a transparent medium. Light propagation of the object on the uneven surface of the medium is analyzed and simulated. The diffracted pattern of the object is deformed or destroyed by the refracted light of the medium. Dual-plane on-axis digital holography is used to eliminate the twin image. In order to retrieve the information lost in the reconstructed image due to destructive interference, the object is illuminated by a stochastic beam that is a speckle wave produced by a ground glass. Simulated and experimental results are presented, to demonstrate that the proposed method can be used for imaging on the irregular surface of a transparent medium.

Dual-plane in-line digital holography based on liquid crystal on silicon spatial light modulator

A dual-plane in-line digital holographic method is proposed with a liquid crystal on silicon (LCOS) spatial light modulator (SLM) for recording holograms at two slightly displaced planes. The computer-generated chirp-like complex reflectance is displayed on the LCOS SLM to adapt the object beam at two planes for recording two holograms processed to eliminate the DC term and twin image accurately; no mechanical components or manual operation during data acquisition is required. The proposed approach improves the speed, accuracy, and stability of the experiment. Computer simulation and experiments for both amplitude and phase objects are carried out to validate the proposed method.

Two-wavelength in-line phase-shifting interferometry based on polarizing separation for accurate surface profiling

We describe a configuration that can be used for two-wavelength phase-shifting in-line interferometry based on polarizing separation. The experiment is conducted on a sample with a step height of 1.34 μm nominally. In this paper, five- and seven-phase step algorithms have been compared for their effectiveness in reducing the noise in the phase maps. The noise is further reduced by the application of the flat fielding method. The recorded interferograms are processed using seven-phase step algorithm to obtain the phase map for each wavelength separately. The independent phase maps are subtracted and a phase map for the beat-wavelength is obtained and converted to height map. The results extracted from the seven-phase step algorithm have been compared with the results extracted from the single shot off-axis geometry and the results are in agreement.

Coherent noise suppression in digital holography based on flat fielding with apodized apertures

Great number of approaches has been carried out in digital holography (DH) in order to overcome the problem of coherent noise in the reconstruction process. In this paper, we describe a new method that can be used to suppress the coherent noise in phase-contrast image. The proposed method is a combination of the flat fielding method and the apodized apertures technique. The proposed method is applied to a sample of 200 μm step height. The quality of the phase-contrast image of the sample is refined and the coherent noise level is reduced drastically by the order of 65%. The proposed method can also applicable to noise reduction of intensity imaging.