A measuring arrangement having an illuminating arrangement to emit coherent light; a cuvette defining an inner volume for receiving a fluid possibly comprising microscopic objects of foreign origin, the cuvette being arranged to receive the coherent light and let it exit therefrom through opposite entrance and exit openings, the entrance opening being closed by an entrance window. The possible microscopic objects present in the fluid scatter part of the light, the scattered and non-scattered light interfering to form interference fringes. An image sensor is configured to capture a hologram digital image frame by receiving the light propagated across the cuvette. An exit window is arranged to close the exit opening of the cuvette. The image sensor is mounted in direct contact with the cuvette.

A holographic weapon sight has a housing with a viewing end and an opposing target end, a viewing path being defined from the viewing end to the target end. A light source energized by a power source projects a light beam along a path onto a liquid crystal cell module. A power controller in communication with the power source is operable to adjust the brightness of the light beam from the light source. The liquid crystal cell module is operable to rotate and polarize the light beam to further adjust the brightness of the light beam. The light beam from the liquid crystal cell module illuminates a holographic optical element (HOE) that reconstructs an image of a reticle.

In situ investigation of microbial life in extreme environments can be carried out with microscopes capable of imaging 3-dimensional volumes and tracking particle motion. A lensless digital holographic microscope is disclosed that provides roughly 1.5 micron resolution in a compact, robust package suitable for remote deployment. High resolution is achieved by generating high numerical-aperture input beams with radial gradient-index rod lenses. The ability to detect and track prokaryotes was explored using bacterial strains of two different sizes. In the larger strain, a variety of motions were seen, while the smaller strain was used to demonstrate a detection capability down to micron scales.

Disclosed are optical interrogation apparatus that can produce lens-free images using an optoelectronic sensor array to generate a holographic image of sample objects, such as microorganisms in a sample. Also disclosed are methods of detecting and/or identifying microorganisms in a biological sample, such as microorganisms present in low levels. Also disclosed are methods of using systems to detect microorganisms in a biological sample, such as microorganisms present in low levels. In addition or as an alternative, the methods of using systems may identify microorganisms present in a sample and/or determine antimicrobial susceptibility of such microorganisms.

There is provided an optical system having a viewing window. The optical system comprises a display device arranged to spatially modulated light in accordance with a hologram displayed thereon to form a holographic wavefront. The holographic wavefront forms a holographic reconstruction of an image downstream of the display device. The optical system further comprises a waveguide arranged to receive the holographic wavefront and waveguide the holographic wavefront between a pair of reflective surfaces thereof. One surface of the pair of reflective surfaces is partially transmissive such that a plurality of replicas of the holographic wavefront are emitted therefrom. The optical system further comprises an optical component between the holographic reconstruction and the waveguide, wherein the optical component is arranged to (a) form a virtual image of the holographic reconstruction upstream of the display device and (b) form an image of the displayed hologram at infinity or downstream of the waveguide.

The present invention can realize both a transmission type and a reflection type, and provides a holographic microscope which can exceed the resolution of the conventional optical microscope, a hologram data acquisition method for a high-resolution image, and a high-resolution hologram image reconstruction method. In-line spherical wave reference light (L) is recorded in a hologram (I.sub.LR) using spherical wave reference light (R), and an object light (O.sup.j) and an illumination light (Q.sup.j) are recorded in a hologram (I.sup.j.sub.OQR) using a spherical wave reference light (R) by illuminating the object with an illumination light (Q.sup.j, j=1, . . . , N) which is changed its incident direction. From those holograms, a hologram (J.sup.j.sub.OQL), from which the component of the reference light (R) is removed, is generated, and from the hologram, a light wave (h.sup.j) is generated. A light wave (c.sup.j) of the illumination light (Q.sup.j) is separated from the light wave (h.sup.j), and using its phase component (.sup.j=c.sup.j/|c.sup.j|), a phase adjustment reconstruction light wave is derived and added up as (H.sub.P=h.sup.j/.sup.j), and an object image (S.sub.P=|H.sub.P|.sup.2) is reconstructed.

A method for displaying a hologram to a variable direction including using circuitry to determine a direction from a holographic projector to a viewer for projecting a hologram to a viewer, and projecting a hologram in the determined direction, in which the projecting the hologram includes reflecting from a same mirror as the determining the direction of the viewer, and the circuitry controls the projecting the hologram to a direction corrected for a difference in direction between a projecting unit and a tracking unit relative to the mirror. Related apparatus and methods are also described.

A system for generating a lithographic image contains a a light source that emits a diverging light beam and a reflective concave curvilinear surface onto which the diverging light beam falls and which reflects the diverging beam in the form of a converging beam. A digital hologram, which is placed into a diverging beam between the light source and the reflective surface, is coded in accordance with the lithographic image either preliminarily or dynamically, with the use of a spatial light modulator. From the curvilinear surface the spatially modulated beam is reflected in the form of a converging beam which falls onto an image-receiving substrate that is located in the image restoration plane and on which the lithographic image is generated.

An apparatus for capturing a Fourier hologram splits a coherent light source into an object beam and a reference beam, sets a distance of a virtual focal plane of a subject, generates spherical wave field data propagated from a point source of the virtual focal plane to a central coordinate plane of a spatial light modulator, generates a spherical wave field on a space from the spherical wave field data and the reference beam by the spatial light modulator, synthesizes an object wave field generated by reflecting the object beam by the subject and the spherical wave field with each other so that an interference pattern is formed on the image sensor face, captures the interference pattern formed on the image sensor face, and then performs Fourier transformation to calculate an object wave field formed on the focal plane of the subject.

A display method lets a display beam to propagate in a transparent substrate while internally reflected repeatedly and lets the display beam partly emit out of the transparent substrate every time the display beam is internally reflected, thereby emitting display beams from almost entirety of a surface of the transparent substrate. The display beam is produced holographically. A display apparatus includes a spatial phase modulator that produces a display beam, a transparent substrate in which the display beam is internally reflected repeatedly to propagate in it, and a splitter that lets the display beam partly emit out of the transparent substrate every time the display beam is internally reflected.