Double field-of-view single-shot common-path off-axis reflective digital holographic microscope

Abstract

Digital holography is a versatile three-dimensional imaging technique that has the ability to record the complex wave-front of an imaged object in two-dimensions and retrieve it in three-dimensions. Several technical challenges of digital holographic systems have been overcome by proposing single-shot acquisition and common-path configurations. However, the limited fiel-of-view (FOV) of digital holography is the most fundamental and technically challenging aspect of this technology. With this in mind, we have developed a digital holographic microscope (DHM) with a doubled FOV together with it leverages single-shot acquisition, common-path, and off-axis configuration and operates in the reflection mode. The double FOV is achieved by spatial frequency multiplexing of two different areas of the object beam by the use of a cube beam splitter. The common-path and off-axis configuration are obtained by employing a plate beam splitter just before the microscope objective. Several experiments are carried out, and the results are presented to demonstrate the validity and effectiveness of the proposed DHM for quantitative phase imaging of (semi) transparent and reflective objects. Based on the experimental results, the proposed microscope shows advanced performance in biomedical imaging as well as inspection of engineered surfaces with its simplicity, higher stability (temporal and mechanical), compactness, low cost, and most importantly double FOV capabilities.