Reference-free holographic diversity interferometry via iterative measurements for high accuracy phase detection.

To obtain a phase distribution without the use of an optical path besides an object beam, a reference-free holographic diversity interferometry (RF-HDI) has been proposed. Although the RF-HDI can generate an internal reference beam from the object beam, the method has a problem of measurement accuracy due to insufficient power of the internal reference beam. To solve the problem, we newly propose a RF-HDI via iterative measurements. Our method improves the measurement accuracy by utilizing iterative measurements and feedback of each obtained phase image to the measurement system. In the experiment, the phase image, which has a random pattern, can be measured as an object beam with a higher accuracy than in the conventional RF-HDI. To support this result, we also evaluated the wavefront accuracy and optical power efficiency of an internal reference beam in this method. As a result, we verified that our method enables us to generate an internal reference beam that has the wavefront of a near single plane wave and a higher power efficiency than the conventional RF-HDI. In addition, our method can be applied to measurement for the modal content in an optical fiber, atmosphere turbulence, etc., where it is difficult to prepare an external reference beam with a high coherency.

Virtual interferogram-generation algorithm for robust complex amplitude measurement using two interferograms.

We propose a virtual interferogram-generation algorithm using two interferograms. This algorithm can measure a complex amplitude of a signal beam with high accuracy even when its intensity is greater than the intensity of a reference beam. Unlike the conventional algorithm that uses two interferograms, our algorithm can compute measurements when the phase shift of interferograms in not equal to π/2. Our method generates two phase-shifted holograms in a computer by capturing the intensities of two signal beams, two reference beams, and two interferograms. The complex amplitude of a signal beam is calculated by four interference patterns, two holograms, and two interferograms. The proposed algorithm can drastically suppress the calculation error caused by the smaller value between the intensity of the reference beam and can choose the most suitable phase shift.

Two-channel algorithm for single-shot, high-resolution measurement of optical wavefronts using two image sensors.

We propose a two-channel holographic diversity interferometer (2ch-HDI) system for single-shot and highly accurate measurements of complex amplitude fields with a simple optical setup. In this method, two phase-shifted interference patterns are generated, without requiring a phase-shifting device, by entering a circularly polarized reference beam into a polarizing beam splitter, and the resulting patterns are captured simultaneously using two image sensors. However, differences in the intensity distributions of the two image sensors may lead to serious measurement errors. Thus, we also develop a two-channel algorithm optimized for the 2ch-HDI to compensate for these differences. Simulation results show that this algorithm can compensate for such differences in the intensity distributions in the two image sensors. Experimental results confirm that the combination of the 2ch-HDI and the calculation algorithm significantly enhances measurement accuracy.