Applied Physics

CHAPTER 12

Holography

12.1 Introduction

The conventional photography records only the intensities of light coming from an object. It fails to record the phases of the waves that come from the objects. Hence, they show two-dimensional images of three-dimensional objects. In 1948, Dennis Gabor, a British scientist, developed a method of recording and producing three-dimensional images of objects through interference phenomena of coherent light known as holography. In Greek, ‘holo’ means ‘whole’ or ‘complete’, ‘holography’ means ‘complete recording’ i.e., the intensities and phase of the waves that come from the objects are recorded. In 1971, he received noble prize for his efforts.

12.2 Basic principle of holography

An object is illuminated with ...