Vol. 9, No.

2/February

B. D. Duncan and T. -C. Poon

1992/J. Opt. Soc. Am. A

229

Gaussian beam analysis of optical scanning holography

Bradley D. Duncan* and Ting-Chung Poon
Optical Image ProcessingLaboratory,The Bradley Department of Electrical Engineering, VirginiaPolytechnic
Institute and State University,Blacksburg, Virginia 24061
Received February 12, 1991; revised manuscript

received August 20, 1991; accepted August 27, 1991

A detailed theoretical treatment based on Gaussian beam theory is provided for optical scanning holography
[J. Opt. Soc. Am. A 2, 512 (1985)].

Topics addressed include the derivation of the impulse response for the opti-

cal scanning holographic system, methods of achieving off-axis holographic recordings, reconstructed image
resolution, magnification, and distortion. Also presented is experimental verification of the technique based
on measurements of the hologram of a simple transmissive slit object.

1.

INTRODUCTION

In scanned holography with long wavelengths,'` an object

is illuminated by a source, and the scattered object field is
subsequently detected by a receiver that scans the entire
recording plane. In this technique there is no need to
supply a physical reference beam, and holographic information can be extracted because detectors capable of
measuring the amplitude oscillations of low-frequency radiation are commonly available, permitting amplitude and
phase information to be directly extracted from longwavelength signals. Scanned holographic recordings of
spatial information have also been achieved with optical
wavelengths,4 but a physical reference beam of a different temporal frequency has to be supplied. In scanning
holography, the physical arrangement of the recording
procedure is different from that of scanned holography in
that the object is actively scanned by an illumination
source. Detection of the scattered object field is then accomplished by a receiver at a fixed location.
Optical scanning holography, which was first suggested
by Poon and Korpel,' was originally analyzed by Poon,6
using an optical transfer function approach. In the technique an object is scanned simultaneously with two optical beams, a plane wave and a spherical wave, of different
temporal frequencies. Photodetection of the scattered
light at the heterodyne frequency then extracts the amplitude and phase information of the scattered field. This
holographic recording technique was thus called "optical
heterodyne scanning holography."7 Although a scanning
technique to achieve optical holographic recordings was
discussed, the suggested scanning technique can be applied to short-wavelength systems in general.
Among the advantages of optical scanning holography
compared with standard nonscanning optical holographic
techniques are the capabilities of efficiently producing
holograms of large-scale objects and of selectively allowing the reduction of background bias buildup.8 For the
scanning technique, the advantage of a robust system with
efficient object illumination also cannot be neglected. Another advantage is that holographic information recorded
by the scanning technique manifests itself as a modulated electrical signal capable of being directly displayed
on a device, such as an intensity-modulated oscilloscope
0740-3232/92/020229-08$05.00

or an electron-beam-addressed spatial light modulator

(EBSLM), for real-time display purposes.6 9"0 In fact, as
was previously reported,9 real-time recording and reconstruction of optically scanned holographic data can be
achieved with the technique by using EBSLM and coherent readout methods.
Furthermore, in the context of either real-time holography through the use of spatial light modulators or, possibly, the transmission of holographic data for television
applications, the spatial bandwidth requirement of holographic data presented on real-time devices must be reduced. The problem of holographic information reduction
was addressed previously."",2 The technique of optical
heterodyne scanning holography discussed here also suggests a practical method for reducing the information content to be recorded in holograms that is closely related to
the method used in the heterodyne scanning technique of
Enloe et al.' 2
In this paper the original analysis of optical scanning
holography6 is extended to include calculations based on
Gaussian beam theory. Webegin in Section 2 with a general description of the optical heterodyne scanning technique. In Section 3 we discuss the principles of optical
scanning holography and describe the hardware used to
implement the idea. A description of the impulse response of the system formulated on the basis of interacting Gaussian beams and a discussion of the experimental
verification of the technique are presented in Section 4.
There is a discussion of holographic reconstruction,
including the holographic magnification properties of the
technique, in Section 5. In Section 6 we make some concluding remarks.

2. OPTICALHETERODYNE SCANNING
PROCESSING
The principle of optical heterodyne scanning image processing is schematically illustrated in Fig. 1. U and V,
denote the pupil functions in the pupil plane, located in
the front focal plane of lens 12. The two pupil fields are
offset in temporal frequency by f. The Fourier transforms of the pupil functions, U2 and V2,are superposed
upon the mirror of an x-y scanning device. After propagating a distance z, the Fresnel diffraction pattern of this
(D1992 Optical Society of America

230

J. Opt. Soc. Am. A/Vol. 9, No. 2/February

1992

B. D. Duncan and T. -C. Poon

U = (xl -d,yl)

Plane of the
x-y scanning mirror

VI =1

F2

d{

ObjectPlane
(x2 2 ,Y' 2 )

Fig. 1. Optical heterodyne scanning system. The pupil functions U1 and V1 are offset in temporal frequency.

composite field (U2 + V2)is used to scan the object amplitude transparency I2. After scanning, all light passing
through F2 is collected by a photodetector and converted
into a corresponding scanned electrical signal u(x, y; z, t).
Mathematically, this electrical signal can be written as
v(x, y; z, t) =

f [V2'( 2'
+ U2'(x2'

X,Y2' - y; z)

3. BASIC THEORY OF OPTICAL SCANNING

HOLOGRAPHY

x,y 2' - y; z)exp(-j2'nfct)]

x l 2 (x2, Y2')2 dx 2 'dy 2 ',

(1)

where U2' and V2'are the Fresnel diffraction patterns of

U2 and V2,respectively, and the variables x and y are, in
general, functions of time determined by the scanner's
motion. After optical heterodyning, the electrical signal
at the heterodyne frequency f is
v(x, y; z, t) = Re[|

x, Y2'

2 (x2 , Y2')

V(xy; ) =

Y; Z)

v(x, y; z, t) = Re[V(x, y; z)exp(-j2irfjt)],

(2)

(3)

we find that
-

x V2'*(X2'- x,Y 2 ' (U 2 'V2'*)

7r

exPj-iy-[ x - d ) +

y2~~\2

(6)

dx2'dy 2 ' exp(-j27rfct) ],

V(x,y;z) = ff U2'(x2'- X,y2'

Y;Z)

where the superscript * denotes the complex conjugate.

The signal can then be extracted by electrical bandpass
filtering centered at f, with the phase and amplitude of
this heterodyne signal constituting the scanned and pro2
cessed version of the object Fr
2 1 . This processed information can then be sent to a real-time monitor for display.
In terms of a phasor V(x, y; z), such that

To illustrate that the above optical heterodyne scanning

system can indeed be used to record holographic information, we consider an idealized situation in which U, =
S(x - d, y) and V1 = 1. This situation is shown in Fig. 1.
With this choice of U, and V1and the use of Fourier optical
analysis, Eq. (5) becomes
f7,(X

U 2 '(X2 -

x V2'*(2' - X,y2'
x

Note that Vsis complex in general and that bipolar incoherent spatial filtering"- 5 based on this approach has
been demonstrated.' 6 A similar system was also used
recently for applications in textural edge extraction' as
well as in real-time tunable incoherent spatial filtering."

y;Z)
y; z)lr 2(x 2 ,Y 2

)1 2 dx 2 'dy 2 '

1212,

then given by Eq. (3) with V(x, y; z) replaced by Eq. (6).

Since the signal represented by Eq. (3) is bipolar, to preserve the phase of the signal a dc bias voltage VDcmust be
added before recording. Hence the total signal to be
recorded can be represented as

v(x, y; z, t) = VDc+ Re[Vs(x,y; z)exp(-j27&fct)].

(7)

If recording is done by feeding v(x, y; z, t) into an intensitymodulating input of a 2-D display device whose electron
gun (in the case of an EBSLM) is synchronized with the x
and y scans of the x-y scanning device, Eq. (7) can be
written in the form of a 2-D displayed signal as

V(X,Y;Z)= VDc+ Re[V(x,y;z)exp(-j27v

x)]I

(8)

(4)

where denotes two-dimensional (2-D) correlation. If

1r2 (x,y)12 = (x, y) (i.e., the input is a single-point object),
Eq. (4) represents the impulse response of the defocused
(i.e., z 0) system and are given by
4(x,y; z) = U2'(- x,-y; Z)V2'*(-X,- y; z)

where V(x, y; z) can be recognized as a quadratic phase

factor, or complex chirp-type impulse response. The
scanned, heterodyned signal from the photodetector is

(5)

where the temporal carrier frequency f in Eq. (7) has been

translated into a spatial carrier frequency f/vt, with v,
denoting the electron gun velocity of the displayed device
in the x direction.
Continuing with our calculations, we insert Eq. (6) into
Eq. (8) and perform the appropriate simplifications to

B. D. Duncan and T. -C. Poon

Vol. 9, No. 2/February

yield the displayed signal corresponding to the result of

scanning a point object. The result is

v(x,y; Z) = C + C2 COs-[(x
Az

xo)2

+ y2]

1992/J. Opt. Soc. Am. A

Eq. (10) becomes

V(X,Y)= VDC+ Re[V(xy)exp(-j27r

-

-zo +5z

V(x, y; ) *

a(x,
y; Z) dz

zo

C1 = VDC,

and where we have left the z dependence out of the lefthand side of Eq. (12) to emphasize that the recorded holo-

Az

X =

(12)

where
V(x y)

zd

x)]

(9)

where

C2=

231

graphic data remains 2-D. Note that the limits of

-

fc

Az-,

f2

vx

= OU+

+ rAz)[

(2)

(I2
)]

and where we have introduced a possible relative phase

difference uv between pupils U and V1. The constant A
will account for the amplitude of the light passing through
the pupils. We thus see that Eq. (9) is an off-axis Fresnel
zone plate (FZP) characteristic of an off-axis point-source
hologram, where z is the depth information of the point
source measured from the x-y scanner and x0 is the spatial offset of the FZP.'9"0 Physical insight into these
parameters can be gained by once again referring to Fig. 1
and recalling that I212 = (x,y). We see that the center

of the interference pattern at the center of the object

plane (X 2 ', Y2 ') is located at X2 ' = -zd/f 2 , which is consistent with the result given in Eq. (9), with f = 0. At this
point, it is evident that off-axis holography can be achieved

by either using an offset point source [i.e., Ul(x,y) =

integration in Eq. (12) are chosen to correspond to the region in which the scanned object exists, with z0o taken as
the point on the 3-D object Fr2(x,y; z)J2 closest to the scanning mirror, while 6z is the total depth of the object. [We
note that, strictly speaking, Eq. (12) is valid only for reflective or weakly scattering, transmissive 3-D objects.]
Equation (12) thus represents the hologram of a 3-D object
if the scanning beams are as shown in Fig. 1; i.e., U =
3(x - d, y) and V = 1.
In essence, Eq. (12) summarizes the basic theory of optical scanning holography. It has a relatively simple physical interpretation in that the principle of holographic
recording is to cause the convolution of an interferometric
point-spread function [specifically, a FZP V, given by
Eq. (6), riding on a temporal frequency carrier fo] with

some general object through scanning. The FZP in

essence can be visualized as emanating from the scanning
mirror as the plane and spherical waves propagate and interfere. It is by scanning this FZP across the object that
the convolution takes place. Convolving this FZP with a
general object then yields the hologram of that object.

S(x - d, y)] or carefully selecting the carrier frequency fCIt is important to point out here that the optical heterodyne frequency f, can be electronically heterodyned down
to, say, fo by mixing the signal of Eq. (3) with a sinusoid of
frequency f + fo; hence the holographic system affords,
the capability of choosing an arbitrary carrier offset in
real time by the choice of fo. Since the choice of the temporal carrier fo is essentially limited by the spatial frequency limitations of the display device, such as with
commercially available EBSLM's,7 this aspect of adjustment tends to make the scanning system compatible with
real-time display devices. Also note that the first term of
Eq. (9) is the bias-level C,. The requirement on this value
is that it must be large enough that v(x, y; z) 0 for all x,
y, and z. Adjusting C, so that v(x, y; Z)min = 0 can maximize fringe contrast by minimizing effective background
light buildup.8
So far we have considered the basic theory of recording
a point object. For the recording of 2-D objects located a
distance z away from the scanner, Eq. (8) can be generalized into
V(X,Y;Z)

VDC+ Re[V(x,y;z)exp(-j27rfx)]o

(10)

where V(x, y; z) is given by [see Eqs. (4) and (5)]

V(X, y; Z) =

(X, y;Z) *2

c
(11)

where * denotes 2-D convolution. According to the principle of superposition, for three-dimensional (3-D) objects

Fig. 2. Optical scanning holography system (with notation consistent with that of Ref. 6). RF, radio frequency; AOM, acoustooptic modulator; BPF, bandpass filtering; BS, beam splitter; PIN,
photodiode.

232

J. Opt. Soc. Am. A/Vol. 9, No. 2/February

1992

B. D. Duncan and T. -C. Poon

The system of Fig. 2 illustrates the hardware employed

to implement the idea of scanning holographic recording.
Note that the contribution that is due to pupil U, is upshifted in temporal frequency according to the operating
frequency f of the indicated acousto-optic modulator and
that pupil U1, in general, can be subject to intraplanar
translation with respect to V by a distance d. After
propagating a distance z from the scanning mirror, the
Fresnel diffraction pattern of the composite beam (U2 +
V2) is used to scan the object amplitude transparency 2.
Lens 1l then images I72 onto a p-i-n photodiode such that,
after scanning, all light passing through 2 is collected
and converted into a corresponding scanned electrical signal. Subsequent bandpass filtering centered at f yields a
processed electrical signal (x, y; z, t), given by Eq. (2).
The amplitude and the phase of (x, y; z, t) are extracted 9
by either homodyning or heterodyning the scanned electrical signal at the output of the radio frequency amplifier. The heterodyne detection scheme is shown outside
the dashed lines of Fig. 2, where the scanned signal (x, y;
z, t) is mixed with a sinusoid of frequency fo + f. After
bandpass filtering at fo, the mixed signal is amplified and
added to a dc bias voltage to give an output signal [see
Eq. (12)] from the entire system.

ployed in the Fourier transformation of Eq. (14a), A is the

wavelength of the optical beams, and MU denotes the magnification of the collimator in the path of U1. Solving for
U gives
U1(x, y)

exp

[(x

d)2+

(15)

y2]

where to,, = Af2/7rw0Mu and we have introduced an offset

d as was discussed in Section 3.
Note that, because of the phase-flattening properties of
the collimators, Eqs. (13) and (15) represent real Gaussian
functions. Also note that U and V have been chosen to
be normalized Gaussians; i.e.,
J

ldxdy = 1,

(16)

where Tl represents either U or V1.

For U and V given as in Eqs. (13) and (15), respectively,
the impulse response is found to be,2' with an inessential
constant left out,

P( K)exp

4(x, y; z)

y21,
(17)

4. GAUSSIAN BEAM ANALYSIS

where

A. Theory

Generally speaking it is impossible to choose U and V

such that at the scanner we have the superposition of a
true plane wave and a true point source. Since the spatial distribution of the scanning laser beam is in general
taken to be Gaussian, we consider the superposition of a
broadened and a focused Gaussian beam. This superposition can be accomplished experimentally by removing
lens 12 from the propagation path of pupil U, (see Fig. 2)
and by altogether removing any physical pupils at both
planes U, and V1. As a result of this modification to the
optical system, effective values for U and V have to be
determined. By direct inspection of Fig. 2 the functional
form of the effective pupil function V is given by
V1(xy)

=
')v

2 expl

F(X 2 +
L

Cv

y2)l
2 )]'

(13)

where co, = Mcoo0, MV is the magnification of the collimator in the path of V1,and cso is the Gaussian waist of the
laser source beam.
As for the specification of pupil function U, since
lens 12 has been removed we find the effective pupil function U by specifying the broadened Gaussian distribution
at the scanning mirror and equating this distribution to
the Fourier transform of U1. Mathematically, this is
written as

[(X2
+ y 2]
exp[- (M c, 0)21
= 9f{U }
1

(14a)

= JJUi(xY)

X 0xp(-j2rf.,x - j2wfyy)dxdy,

+ ( z)Z)2 +jrA(l-2)z

G= [X
H = d(

K=

Af2 +

2'

=-2

(tV,

CoU

As a check, letting t,

-o

(A)V

andw,,

0, we readily see, for

the ideal case [i.e., U = (x - d,y) and V = 1], that

7- 1,G - -jrAz,H - jdrz/f 2,K
0, and Eq. (17) reduces to the same functional form as that of Eq. (6).
B. Experimental Verification

To verify the technique experimentally, we made precise

measurements of the signal representing the hologram of
a 50 Am x 1 cm slit, using the setup of Fig. 2. The experimental parameters of interest were w,, = 3.526 4um, , =
1.0 cm, A = 633 nm, and z = f2 = 17.5 cm. The slit can
then be expressed as 11212= rect(x/a,y/b), where a =
50 ,m and b = 1.0 cm and where we define

{x y

rectt-ab

-a

elsewhere

-b

b
(18)

Using this description of 17212

and letting d = fo = 0 for
simplicity, we simulated Eq. (10) together with Eq. (17).

The result of this simulation is shown in Fig. 3 for the

y = 0 cross section. This plot is normalized to a maximum value of unity with VD = 0.5. Note the appearance
of the Gaussian envelope apodizing the fringe pattern in
Fig. 3 and that fringe visibility quickly drops after lxi =
1.8 mm.

where f = x/Af2, fy = y/Af2 are the spatial frequencies em-

To measure the corresponding electrical signal representing the hologram of our slit, the signal just after the

B. D. Duncan and T. -C. Poon

Vol. 9, No. 2/February

1992/J. Opt. Soc. Am. A

233

that an on-axis hologram (i.e., d = f = 0) was recorded.

Also consider that reconstruction is now taking place with
monochromatic, uniform plane-wave illumination of wavelength A. For a single-point object located z = z away
from the scanner, the recorded hologram can be written,
according to Eq. (8), as

3.5
3 0
2 .5
2 .0
1. 5
010

V(X,Y; ZO) = VDC+

1V1(X,
- Y; ZO) + 12 a(,

;Z)

(19)

0 .0

-0

where V(x, y; z) is given by Eq. (17). The first term of

Eq. (19) contributes to a constant background, while the
second and third terms correspond to the real and virtual
reconstructed images at z = + z0 in front of and behind
the hologram, respectively. Restricting ourselves to the
case of real-image reconstruction, the intensity of the real
image is given by

.5

-1.0
-1.5
-2

.0

-2

-1.75

-0.88

0.00

0.88

1.75
Ir = V(x, y; zo) * h(x, y;

X(MM)
SLIT HOLOGRAM-SIMULATION

--

MEASURED

Fig. 3. Simulated and experimentally measured hologram cross

section of a 50-Am slit.

last amplifier of Fig. 2 was fed directly into one of the

vertical amplifiers of an oscilloscope. To ensure that we
looked only at the y = 0 cross section, the superposed
scanning beams at the slit (117212)
were vertically centered,
while the y scanning rate was set to zero. The displayed
signal was then averaged 100 times to increase the signalto-noise ratio.
Several experimentally measured points were mapped
onto the slit hologram simulation. The results are shown
in Fig. 3. An assumed bias of VDC= 0.5 was added to the

was 0.5.

The experimental data shown in Fig. 3 prove to be quite

repeatable, although averaging is usually necessary to reduce the noise. The discrepancy between the theoretical
and experimental results may be the result of spurious
noises introduced into the system. The primary source of
noise is vibration induced by the oscillating scanner mirrors. Also, the interferometer arrangement in Fig. 2 is
not phase compensated to correct for errors such as thermal drift, and occasional signal fading has been observed
as the room temperature fluctuates. Other contributions
of noise probably arise as a result of the processing electronics and the fact that the composite scanning beam
may not be precisely azimuthally symmetric in the 117212
plane (as a result of various aberrations in the optical arrangement), although these contributions are relatively
small. By a careful redesign of the optical arrangement
of Fig. 2, possibly to include heterodyned-fiber-optic techniques22 23 and a higher-precision scanning device, substantial reduction of all noise factors could be achieved.

5. RECONSTRUCTION: RESOLUTION,
SCALING, MAGNIFICATION, AND
DISTORTION
We now turn our attention to the reconstruction of holograms recorded by our method. Consider, for simplicity,

(20)

where
h(x, y; zo) is the free-space impulse response given
20
byR

hz(xy;
zo)

JAzo

exp -(x

Azo

y)]

(21)

Performing the required calculations, we find that

I,

exp[- (x2+y

2,

(22)

where a constant-phase term has been ignored and where

4G'

experimental data after the amplitudes of the various

points were normalized such that the maximum deviation
from zero (the average value before the bias is added)

zo)I2

[21 (Af 2 ) 2 +

(,Oz)2

_ 2Az

1)

(23)

Under the assumptions that z f2 and o,, << CD,(as is the

case in our experiment), it is clear that 7 = 1 and that the
first two terms of Eq. (23) dominate. For our system
then, when M,, = M, we find from Eqs. (13) and (15) that
Co,, = Af2/fico, so that 4G'

2.

Equation (22) then re-

duces to
IrC ep[~ _(X2

(24)

2)]

We thus see that our reconstructed object is a Gaussian

function whose intensity width at the l/e point is no

smaller than C,,. Therefore it is evident that the choice
of CD,, will influence the resolution of the scanning holography system. So in addition to the requirement that
a),, << x,, CD,, should be made small so as to maximize
resolution. We now investigate these effects further.
Consider the holographic recording of an object consisting of three distinct point sources such that

1r212
=

(X,y;Z

- zO) + 8(X - x 0 ,y,z

+ 8[x,y;z

(zO+ AzO)],

- Z0 )

(25)

as shown in Fig. 4, where zo is the distance from the scanner to points 1 and 2, Az0 is the relative depth between
points 1 and 3, and x0 is the intraplanar translation from
point 1, in the x direction, of point 2. To introduce flexibilities into the holographic system, we assume that Al is
the recording wavelength and A2 is the wavelength of

234

J. Opt. Soc. Am. A/Vol. 9, No. 2/February

B. D. Duncan and T. -C. Poon

1992

the incident plane wave used to reconstruct the hologram.

Calculations show2" that point 1 is reconstructed at

The longitudinal (z-directed) magnification Mlng of the

reconstructed image can now be determined as

.31 l

(26)

AZo

Miat =

r212

(X2 + y2)]

I'(27)
j

{(

Az =A M

where
()2(E

+ Z2)]

11, CDr2 = Wrl,

A

13 =

2(z

W,.32
= 1{(o)2

and

+ Azo)

(30)

(31)

z2+1/2

+ [ +

+2

(32)

where the nominal depth parameter z has been replaced

with the more general variable z to emphasize that the
ability to resolve any two points on an extended object
I1212depends on the nominal distance from those points to
the scanning mirror. Assuming that the minimum resolvable distance Az is much smaller than the nominal
depth parameter z, we can solve for the resolution Az explicitly to find

and where e = (Alf 2 /7rtoW,&,). Calculations also show 2 '

that the locations 12 and 13 and the widths Wr and Wor3 of
the reconstructed real images of points 2 and 3, respec-

tively,are 12 =

The preceding results are graphically depicted in Fig. 4,

where the input and reconstructed-point objects are represented together in relative proportion when M
1.
We can now consider the lateral and longitudinal resolutions that are possible with the scanning holography system. We will take the longitudinal resolution as the
minimum value of Azo (which we will call Az) such that on
reconstruction the real images of points 1 and 3 in Fig. 4
overlap where their intensities both equal e. This is
found by setting On, + Wr3 equal to 13 - l. Solving this
equality we find that

The evaluation of the intensity of the real image of

point 1, rll, can then be calculated by using procedures
similar to those used to arrive at relation (24) [see Eq. (20)]
to yield2 '
Drl

A2

microscopy).

Mlong =A1Mlat2.

and My = 1/2 (note that M, My < 1 results in magnification, suggesting the use of this technique in holographic

Miat is

As a check, when Eqs. (29) and (30) are combined, the

Gaussian beam analysis reduces the well-known result1220

played on a 3 cm x 2 cm display device, then Mx = 2/3

c exp

(29)

M2

A2

while the lateral (x-directed) magnification

behind the hologram, where a scale factor M has been introduced into the system during recording. The scale factor arises because the area over which
is scanned may
not be equal to the area of the device that displays the
resulting hologram. In writing Eq. (26) we have assumed, for simplicity, that M = M = My; i.e., in general
the scale factors may not be the same along the x and y
directions. For example, if an object is scanned over a
2 cm x 1 cm area and its hologram is subsequently dis-

Irl

A1

A1

[ + (Zo +AZO)2

Ae (e+f

(28)

+ )

(33)

+f2) (Ef 2 +
Note that point 2 reconstructs in the plane z = 12 at a
point translated in the x direction by 12x = xo/M from

The lateral resolution is found in a similar fashion by

finding the minimum value of x0 (which we will call Ax)

point 1 (see Fig. 4).

Hologram of E

(recorded at

original input
object points

(I)

Xl)

reconstructed
output object points

0x

3ALz

3
Az,

AZ

X2 m
X2
~~~zo
-

M2

ok

Fig. 4. Overlay of input and reconstructed point objects.

B. D. Duncan and T. -C. Poon

Vol. 9, No. 2/February

70

1992/J. Opt. Soc. Am. A

235

70

60

M= 1

M = 0.2

60

50-

.4 0

- 4 0-

~307

2 ........

< 30
20
10
_

7_-7
-

77)

70

80

90

100

7a)

1 0 20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90 1 00

Z (CM)

Z (CM)
MuVALUES(MICROMETERS)

_--

3.0 -- 5.0

1.0

9.0

--

vi,, VALUES(MICROMETERS) -

--

1.0

7.0

--

9.0

--- 5.0

(C)

70

60
5040N

< 30
20
10
0-

ID0 10

20

30

40

,n

. .

60 70 80 90 100

50
Z (CNl)

WUVALUES (MICROMETERS) -

--

1.0

----- 3.0

7.0 --

9.0

---

5.0

(b)

such that on reconstruction the real images of points 1

and 2 in Fig. 4 overlap where their intensities both equal
1
l/e. Now the equality to be solved is C + CO,
2X, giv2 =
ing the lateral resolution as
z2 1/2.
Ax = V2u e + 2
(34)
2

The results of Eq. (33) and (34) indicate that Ax is not a

function of the scaling factor M and that if the scaling
factor is unity, then under the conditions that Al = A2 and
CU is small the lateral and longitudinal resolutions are
approximately equal, resulting in minimal distortion in
reconstructed images. Figure 5 provides a graphic solution to the lateral and longitudinal resolutions of the
system as a function of z for several practical values of CD,.
Figure 5(a) is plotted for M = 1, while Fig. 5(b) is plotted
for M = 5 and Fig. 5(c) is plotted for M = 0.2. Other pa-

Fig. 5. (a) Resolution, Ax and Az, as a function of CD,and the

depth parameter z, with scale factor M = 1. (b) Longitudinal
resolution Az as a function of o),and the depth parameter z, with
scale factor M = 5. (c) Longitudinal resolution Az as a function
of Cmuand the depth parameter z, with scale factor M = 0.2.

rameters of interest are Al = A2 and f2 = 17.5 cm. Note

from Fig. 5(a) that Ax and Az are the same if the scaling
factor M is unity. However, as the scaling factor M increases or decreases the lateral and longitudinal resolutions are no longer the same, as is shown by Figs. 5(b) and
5(c), since Az is a function of the scaling factor M. Thus
as I1212must increase in size with respect to the area of
the display device (i.e., M increasing) there is increased
distortion in reconstructed images. Furthermore, from
Fig. 5 we note that to resolve any neighboring points along
z the relative distance between them in 1212must increase
as z increases, indicating that as z increases it becomes
more difficult to resolve fine spatial detail in the depth
direction. Finally, none of the above effects is evident
under the previously discussed ideal assumptions for U =
8(x, y) and V = 1, since with these assumptions both Ax
and Az approach zero for all z and M.

236

6.

J. Opt. Soc. Am. A/Vol. 9, No. 2/February

B. D. Duncan and T. -C. Poon

1992

CONCLUSION

We have presented in detail both theoretically and experimentally the principles of optical scanning holography,
with the theoretical analysis formulated on the basis of
interacting Gaussian beams. Results indicate that, for
applications in holographic recording, the waist of one of
the Gaussian scanning beams must be larger than that of
the other beam. The principles of the technique have
been verified experimentally in that precise measurements of the signal representing the hologram of a 50-,m
slit have been made.
The holographic information recorded by this technique
manifests itself as a modulated electrical signal capable of
being displayed and reconstructed in real time. This is
possible since only electrical signal processing is needed.
Our work in the real-time reconstruction of holograms
using spatial light modulators, such as the EBSLM, is
ongoing. At present we have succeeded only in the realtime reconstruction of holograms of simple objects such as
points and slits.22 Techniques for stabilizing the interferometer configuration of Fig. 2 by using fiber optics23' 24 so
that holograms of more-elaborate objects can be recorded
are also being considered.
Finally, the scanning technique suggests a practical
means to record holographic information of large-scale objects. This is possible because the reference beam is provided locally at the scatterer during scanning, i.e., the
scanning beam always carries the reference signal. This
is impractical for conventional holographic systems when
the objects become intolerably large. This scanning approach to holographic recording also allows us to investigate the possibility of performing real-time preprocessing
of the object while its holographic information is being
recorded, as we can easily modify the spatial filtering
characteristics of the scanning beams through the modification of the pupil functions U and V in the system.

2. N. H. Farhat and W R. Guard, "Millimeter wave holographic

imaging of concealed weapons," Proc. IEEE Lett. 59, 13831384 (1971).

3. R. W Larson, J. S. Zelenka, and E. L. Johansen, 'A microwave

hologram radar system," IEEE Trans. Aerosp. Electron.

Syst. AES-8, 202-217 (1972).
4. A. Macovski, "Considerations of television holography," Opt.
Acta 18, 31-39 (1971).

5. T. -C. Poon and A. Korpel, "Optical transfer function of an

acousto-optic heterodyne image processor," Opt. Lett. 4, 317319 (1979).

6. T. -C. Poon, "Scanning holography and two-dimensional image processing by acousto-optic two-pupil synthesis," J. Opt.
Soc. Am. A 2, 521-527 (1985).
7. T. -C. Poon, "Optical heterodyne

scanning

holography,"

in

Optical Society of America 1989 Annual Meeting, Vol. 18 of

1989 OSA Technical Digest Series (Optical Society of America, Washington, D.C., 1989), paper Thdd 6.

8. G. Cochran, "New method of making fresnel transforms with

incoherent light," J. Opt. Soc.Am. 56, 1513-1517 (1966).
9. T. -C. Poon, B. D. Duncan,

M. H. Wu, K. Shinoda, and Y.

Suzuki, "Real-time optical holography using a spatial light

modulator," Jpn. Appl. Phys. 29, L1840-L1842 (1990).
10. Product information

sheet for EBSLM model X3636 provided

by Hamamatsu Photonics K.K., Japan, and Hamamatsu

Corp., Bridgewater,

N.J. (1989).

11. L. H. Lin, 'A method of hologram information reduction by

spatial frequency sampling," Appl. Opt. 7, 545-548 (1968).
12. L. H. Enloe, W C. Jakes, and C. B. Rubinstein, "Hologram

heterodyne scanners," Bell Syst. Tech. J. 47, 1875-1878

(1968).

13. A. W Lohmann, "Incoherent optical processing of complex

data," Appl. Opt. 16, 261-263 (1977).

14. W Stoner, "Incoherent optical processing via spatially offset

pupil masks," Appl. Opt. 17, 2454-2466 (1978).
15. A. W Lohmann and W T. Rhodes, "Two-pupil synthesis of
optical transfer functions," Appl. Opt. 17, 1141-1151 (1978).

16. T. -C. Poon, "Method of two-dimensional bipolar incoherent

image processing by acousto-optic two-pupil synthesis," Opt.
Lett. 10, 197-199 (1985).

17. T.-C. Poon, J. Park, and G. Indebetouw, "Optical realization

of textural edge extraction," Opt. Commun. 65, 1-6 (1988).
18. T. -C. Poon, J. Park, and G. Indebetouw,

incoherent spatial filtering:

"Real-time tunable

two-pupil processing tech-

croscopy, particle sizing, and velocimetry.25

nique," Opt. Eng. 29, 1507-1510 (1990).

19. F. T. S. Yu, Optical Information Processing
1983).

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

21. B. D. Duncan, "Investigation of real-time optical scanning

Other potential applications include holographic mi-

(Wiley, New York,

20. P. P. Banerjee and T. -C. Poon, Principles of Applied Optics

(Aksen, Boston, Mass., 1991).

This research has been supported by National Science

Foundation grant ECS-8813115. It has also been sup-

ported by the Bradley Endowment, from which

B. D. Duncan has received funding as a Bradley Fellow.
The authors extend their appreciation to Guy Indebetouw
for his valuable comments and suggestions and to Adrain
Korpel for his encouragement on this project.
*Present address: Center for Electro-Optics, Department of Electrical Engineering, University of Dayton, 300
College Park, Dayton, Ohio 45469-0226.

REFERENCES AND NOTES

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(Bradley Department

of Elec-

trical Engineering, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State

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22. B. D. Duncan, T.-C. Poon, M. Wu, K. Shinoda, and Y Suzuki,

"Real-time reconstruction of scanned optical holograms

using an electron beam addressed spatial light modulator,"
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23. B. Y Kim, J. N. Blake, H. E. Engan, and H. J. Shaw, 'All-fiber

acoustic-optic frequency shifter," Opt. Lett. 11, 389-391

(1986).
24. D. A. Jackson, R. G. Priest, A. Dandridge, and A. B. Tveten,

"Elimination of drift in a single-mode optical fiber interferometer using a piezoelectrically stretched coiled fiber," Appl.
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(1980).

25. B. J. Thompson, "Holographic methods for particle size and

velocity measurement-recent
advances," in Holographic
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