ABSTRACT
Volume holographic imaging is emerging as one of the major applications of holography for a wide range of applications including microscopy and spectroscopy for bioimaging, remote sensing, and metrology. The purpose of this chapter is to provide a basic qualitative understanding of volume holographic imaging as well as some quantitative tools for imaging system design. For this purpose we first describe existing imaging systems and classify them according to the share of labor between optical elements (lenses, interferometers, etc.) and digital electronic processing toward the process of image formation. Our main argument is that this hybrid mode of imaging provides the richest information to the user about the object that is being imaged. Volume holographic imaging is introduced as a “superset” of imaging systems, as volume holographic elements provide the richest possible set of optical transformations for processing the optical signals received from the object. The function of volume holographic imagers is described in terms of their Bragg selectivity properties and is contrasted with thin optical elements such as lenses and thin holograms. Some examples of how volume holograms can be used for depth-selective imaging and spectral imaging are also described. The chapter concludes with a discussion of specific applications in distortion compensation and surface metrology, an overview of qualitative resources for volume holographic imaging from the literature, and a discussion of future directions for volume holographic imaging.
