Single-shot phase-shifting on Michelson interferometry for incoherent digital holography

A single-shot phase-shifting method in incoherent digital holography (IDH) based on Michelson interferometry is proposed herein. The proposed method uses polarization-modulating optical elements and a polarization sensor in the Michelson interferometer optics to induce a geometric phase shift. It acquires four holograms with different geometric phase retardations in a single exposure to eliminate the bias and conjugate noise using a phase-shifting technique. The proposed optical system enables real-time bias and conjugate term removal from a recorded hologram without requiring sequential recording for phase shifting. Furthermore, because it is based on Michelson interferometry, it can be implemented using simple reflective optics without expensive or difficult-to-produce optical elements for single-shot phase shifting. The principles of self-interference and geometric phase shifting in the proposed optical structure were analyzed mathematically. A real-time IDH-recording experimental setup was constructed to verify the proposed method. The experimental results of single-shot phase-shifting IDH and hologram movie recordings confirm the feasibility of the proposed method.