Telecentric Correlation Holography: A Novel Method to Record Fresnel Incoherent Correlation Holograms

Fresnel incoherent correlation holography (FINCH) is a powerful imaging tool, capable of recording holograms of optical fields with low spatio-temporal coherence [1]. The hologram is generated by interfering two axially displaced versions of the same object field, commonly achieved by imaging with a bifocal lens [2]. However, the bifocal lens causes the hologram magnification to be dependent on the digital propagation distance needed for refocusing of the object. This is due to light from off-axis point sources traveling at an angle with respect to the optical axis, [3] leading to the holographic PSF not being laterally shift-invariant. Since many advanced data processing schemes, such as inverse imaging or computational adaptive optics, rely on lateral shift-invariance, FINCH has a disadvantage in this regard.