Diffractive generalized phase contrast for adaptive phase imaging and optical security.

We analyze the properties of Generalized Phase Contrast (GPC) when the input phase modulation is implemented using diffractive gratings. In GPC applications for patterned illumination, the use of a dynamic diffractive optical element for encoding the GPC input phase allows for on-the-fly optimization of the input aperture parameters according to desired output characteristics. For wavefront sensing, the achieved aperture control opens a new degree of freedom for improving the accuracy of quantitative phase imaging. Diffractive GPC input modulation also fits well with grating-based optical security applications and can be used to create phase-based information channels for enhanced information security.