Introduction to Holography, 2nd Edition

14 Computer-Generated Holograms

DOI: 10.1201/9781003155416-18

14.1 Introduction

Besides the fact that they do not require interferometrically stable optical setups used for recording conventional holograms, computer-generated holograms are attractive for many reasons. There is the intriguing possibility that we can reconstruct any wavefront or combination of wavefronts, even if the corresponding objects do not exist in reality, so long as the wavefronts can be mathematically represented and we can compute the corresponding holograms.

Precise computation of the hologram required to reconstruct a well-defined wavefront facilitates higher standards in optical manufacture. We can now produce complex wavefronts for advanced applications in optical ...