There is herein defined optics (e.g. an array of optics) forming an optical beam to either produce a collimated or diverging/converging beam emerging from a virtual source point to illuminate a hologram. There is also described an optical beam illuminating a reflection hologram from the front and a further configuration where an optical beam combined with a holographic optical element (HOE) minor enables rear illumination of a reflection hologram.

The present invention relates to a system and method for digital holographic microscopy. According to an aspect of the invention there is provided an off-axis digital holographic microscope comprising: a light emitter configured to provide a divergent light beam; a sensor position to receive light from the light emitter in a first path and a second path, and thereby to detect a holographic image; a reflector positioned partially in the divergent light beam so that light that encounters the reflector extends towards the sensor in the first path, and light that does not encounter the reflector extends towards the sensor in the second path; and a support structure configured to support a sample in the first path or the second path.

A device and a method for manufacturing holographic optical elements. The device includes at least two partial light beams and one interference light beam, one deformable mirror in each case per partial light beam, a control unit, which is configured to actuate the deformable mirrors to adapt a wavefront of the partial light beam, and a holographic film. The deformable mirrors are situated so as to each reflect precisely one partial light beam and to direct the reflected partial light beam on the holographic film, and the interference light beam being directed on the holographic film to interfere with the reflected partial light beams so as to simultaneously generate at least two holographic optical elements.

The present invention provides a surface shape measuring device and a surface shape measuring method which do not require a physical reference plane and can improve measurement accuracy without using a mechanical adjustment mechanism. The illumination light condensing point P.sub.Q and the reference light condensing point P.sub.L are arranged as mirror images of each other with respect to the virtual plane VP, and each data of the object light O, being a reflected light of the spherical wave illumination light Q, and the inline spherical wave reference light L is recorded on each hologram. On the virtual plane VP, the reconstructed object light hologram h.sup.V for measurement is generated, and the spherical wave optical hologram s.sup.V representing a spherical wave light emitted from the reference light condensing point P.sub.L is analytically generated. The height distribution of the surface to be measured of the object 4 is obtained from the phase distribution obtained by dividing the reconstructed object light hologram h.sup.V by the spherical wave light hologram s.sup.V. High-accuracy surface shape measurement without requiring a reference plane such as a glass substrate is realized by comparing the phase data of the reflected light acquired from the surface to be measured and the phase distribution on the plane cut surface of the spherical wave obtained analytically.

The illumination light condensing point P.sub.Q and the reference light condensing point P.sub.L are arranged as mirror images of each other with respect to the virtual plane VP, and each data of the object light O, being a reflected light of the spherical wave illumination light Q, and the inline spherical wave reference light L is recorded on each hologram. On the virtual plane VP, the reconstructed object light hologram h.sup.V for measurement is generated, and the spherical wave optical hologram s.sup.V representing a spherical wave light emitted from the reference light condensing point P.sub.L is analytically generated. The height distribution of the surface to be measured of the object 4 is obtained from the phase distribution obtained by dividing the reconstructed object light hologram h.sup.V by the spherical wave light hologram s.sup.V.

The present invention relates to an inline scanning holography system for a phosphor and a transmitter. According to the present invention, the inline scanning holography system includes a polarization sensitive lens that receives a linearly polarized beam and generates a first spherical wave of right-handed circular polarized light having a negative focal length and a second spherical wave of left-handed circular polarized light having a positive focal length, a polarizer that passes only a beam component in a predetermined polarization direction therethrough among components of the generated first and second spherical waves, a scanning unit for scanning a phosphor by using an interference beam generated between the first and second spherical waves passing through the polarizer, and a first photodetector that detects a fluorescent beam diverged from the phosphor. According to the present invention, a high-efficiency and high-quality optical scanning holography for a phosphor or a transmitter may be implemented.

A method of manufacturing a full-color holographic optical element in a full-color holographic optical element manufacturing apparatus including a lens and a holographic recording medium located farther away than a focal length of the lens, the method including: allowing a signal beam including a mixture of laser beams having wavelengths of R (Red), G (Green), and B (Blue) to be incident on the lens; and recording a hologram in such a manner that a reference beam including a mixture of laser beams having wavelengths of R, G, and B is allowed to be incident on the holographic recording medium, wherein the holographic recording medium is configured with a single medium.

Embodiments of the present disclosure provide an imaging device for holographic imaging of a sample, the imaging device comprising a light source generating a light beam, a beam splitter splitting the light beam into an object beam along an object beam path and a reference beam along a reference beam path, and a detector. The imaging device defines a sample position. The object beam is propagated through the sample position, and the detector is arranged to prevent non-scattered object light, passing through the sample position without being scattered by the sample, from being incident onto the detector. The reference beam is propagated through the sample position, and the detector is arranged so that non-scattered reference light, passing through the sample position without being scattered by the sample, is incident onto the detector. The detector detects an interference pattern formed by scattered object light and the non-scattered reference light.

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.

Provided is a method of generating a computer-generated hologram (CGH), the method including obtaining complex data including amplitude data of object data and phase data of the object data corresponding to a spatial light modulator (SLM) plane by propagating the object data from an image plane to the SLM plane, encoding the complex data into encoded amplitude data, and generating a CGH based on the object data including the encoded amplitude data.