Application of autofocusing methods in continuous-wave terahertz in-line digital holography

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Terahertz digital holography is a combination of terahertz imaging and digital holography. During reconstruction, the key point is to find accurately the propagation distance from which the distribution of focused samples can be reconstructed. In this paper, we use a continuous-wave terahertz in-line digital holographic imaging system to record holograms. Moreover, the autofocusing algorithms through which the reconstructed distance can be calculated are applied to the reconstruction. The in-line schematic is beneficial to the terahertz wave imaging, which, however, inevitably produces the object's twin image. In the refocusing process, both the reconstructed image with low signal-to-noise ratio and contrast and the twin image induce the formation of false peaks corresponding to improper distances on the autofocusing curves. To restrain the disturbance factors and improve the accuracy of the judgment, a phase retrieval method is implemented in the reconstruction. The results demonstrate the feasibility of the autofocusing method with phase retrieval in terahertz in-line digital holographic imaging system. The proposed method provides an automated and efficient evaluation which helps to obtain the optimized propagation distance.