Abstract

We present a new passive depth detection method for quasi-monochromatic and spatially incoherent objects. We utilize the wavefront discrimination properties of a volume holographic pupil combined with a measurement of the degree of coherence of the diffracted field. Depth detection is posed as the Bayesian hypothesis testing on the outcome of the coherence measurement. We present the analysis of our proposed optical system and experimental results confirming binary depth discrimination with high confidence for featureless objects.

© 2008 Optical Society of America

Volume holographic imaging in transmission geometry

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