Grating-based in-line geometric-phase-shifting incoherent digital holographic system toward 3D videography

Incoherent digital holography (IDH) with a sequential phase-shifting method enables high-definition 3D imaging under incoherent lights. However, sequential recording of multiple holograms renders IDH impractical for 3D videography. In this study, we propose grating-based in-line geometric-phase-shifting IDH. Our method divides orthogonal circularly polarized lights into four copies with a fabricated phase grating and subsequently creates self-interference holograms with geometric phases introduced by a segmented linear polarizer. This enables single-shot recording of holograms without the need for a specially designed image sensor, such as a polarization-sensitive sensor. Moreover, the achievable spatial resolution is higher than that of off-axis methods. As a proof-of-principle experiment, we demonstrated snapshot and video recording of 3D reflective objects using our IDH method. The results confirmed the feasibility of the proposed method. (C) 2022 Optica Publishing Group under the terms of the Optica Open Access Publishing Agreement