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5.7: Holography

  • Page ID
    140025
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    A coherent beam of light is split into two paths. The first beam scatters off the object and interferes with the second beam at the recording medium (e.g. a holographic plate). The resulting interference pattern encodes three-dimensional information about the object. This is the hologram. A projection of the original object can be recovered by illuminating and viewing the recorded hologram appropriately. Using digital techniques, interference patterns can be made to project virtual objects, such as those seen in credit-cards and head-up displays. 

    Learning Objectives
    • A coherent beam is split. One beam scatters off the object.
    • It interferes with the other on a recording medium to make a hologram.
    • Light diffracted from the image on the plate makes a 3D image: a hologram.

     

     

    Table \(\PageIndex{1}\)

    Links to related material

     
    Diffraction, shadows, beams, Huygens' construction.
    Diffraction of light and sound. Water waves in a ripple tank. Shadows and beams with water waves of short wavelength. Diffraction at longer wavelengths. X-ray, neutron and electron diffraction
    Diffraction from a single slit. Young's experiment with finite slits.
    Diffraction from a single slit:Huygens' construction. Phasor diagrams give Iq. Varying the slit width. Young's experiment with finite slit width: Iq shows both interference and diffraction effects.
    The quantum mechanics of cricket
    A light-hearted discussion to illustrate why we don't notice quantum interference in everyday life.
    Diffraction gratings and spectroscopy.
    Adding phasors with 2, 3, 4 and many slits: Diffraction gratings. Diffraction from monochromatic sources. Continuous spectra and line spectra, absorption and emission spectra. The hydrogen spectrum and the origins of quantum mechanics.
    Poisson-Arago dot
    The bright dot at the centre of the shadow: Poisson's argument against the wave nature of light. A modern recreation of Arago's experiment.
    Rayleigh criterion and the Airy disc: Aperture and resolution
    Circular apertures in optics. Diffraction pattern from a circular aperture. The Airy disc. Resolving two point sources: Rayleigh's criterion. When is the eye diffraction limited? The resolution of telescopes. Radio telescopes and arrays
    X-ray diffraction: Bragg's law
    The atomic lattice as a diffraction grating. Diffraction requires wavelengths less than 0.1 nm. X-ray diffraction.
    Holography
    Forming a hologram: beam splitter, object and reference beams, interference at the film. Recreating a hologram: coherence beam and hologram plate.
    Diffraction Experiments
    Single slit diffraction, diffraction gratings.

     


    5.7: Holography is shared under a not declared license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by LibreTexts.

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