ON-AXIS COMPUTER-GENERATED HOLOGRAMS FOR 3-DIMENSIONAL DISPLAY

The feasibility of on-axis synthetic near-field amplitude holograms fo r three-dimensional display applications is demonstrated. An iterative optimization algorithm is used that generates an object-dependent dif fuser that utilizes the phase and, to some extent, amplitude freedoms in the reconstruction plane. The discrimination between twin images an d undiffracted terms is thus improved. The on-axis approach presents i mportant advantages: a low coherence requirement for the illuminating source, a lower space-bandwidth and higher viewing angle than with the off-axis alternatives. Defocusing and parallax are experimentally att ained with an extended white-light source and a lensless setup. (C) Op tical Society of America.