Full-color holographic image capture: Cholesteric liquid crystal circular polarizer combined with geometric phase lens reduces noise in self-interference incoherent digital holography

Abstract

We reduced image noise in broadband full-color holographic image capture in a compact self-interference incoherent digital holography (SIDH) system by combining a cholesteric liquid crystal (CLC) circular polarizer with a quarter-waveplate-based geometric phase lens (QW-GPL). To address chromatic wavefront noise issues commonly found in conventional half-waveplate-based SIDH systems, we explore a SIDH system incorporating a quarter-waveplate-based GPL (QW-GPL). In particular, we resolve angular polarization-dependent noise in QW-GPL wavefront modulation by utilizing circularly polarized Bragg reflection of CLC as a circular polarization filter. This approach ensures an ideal circularly polarized beam state across a wide range of incident angles and wavelengths. By effectively mitigating circular polarization distortion in QW-GPL, our method significantly improves the quality of reconstructed holographic images in full-color SIDH with a compact form factor, as demonstrated by reduced entropy values.