Holographic, Motion-induced-contrast Images

Holography is an optical technique for reconstructing the wave which is scattered by an object (1-4). The reconstruction of an object-scattered wave provides a three-dimensional image retaining the amplitude-attenuating and phase-retarding properties of the object. Holographic images have unique properties which are useful in biological research. A hologram is made by illuminating an object with a coherent wave and then by recording the object-scattered wave and a superimposed, coherent, reference wave. The recording, usually a photograph, contains an interference pattern whose exact form depends upon the phase and amplitude of the object-scattered wave. Thus, phase and intensity are recorded in the hologram. To reconstruct the object-scattered wave, the developed hologram is placed in a coherent beam. The recorded interference pattern acts as a highly complex diffraction grating and diffracts the illuminating beam into a zero-order and two firstorder beams. The first-order beams each contain a high-quality, three-dimensional image. Since image formation depends on diffraction