In-line holography is an important experimental tool in particle-field anal
ysis and soft X-ray holography. The sole disadvantage of in-line holography
is the inherent twin-image problem. In this paper, a new method for twin-i
mage elimination is proposed. This method is based on the principle of off-
axis reconstruction of in-line holograms which is a new approach in the fie
ld of optical holography. Theoretical analysis and computer simulation, as
well as initial experimental results, show that it is a simple and efficien
t method to eliminate the twin-image of in-line holograms. (C) 1999 Elsevie
r Science B.V. All rights reserved.