Lensless digital holographic microscope using in-line configuration and laser diode illumination

Abstract

In this paper we present a lensless transmission digital holographic microscope for the investigation of transparent samples. The setup consists of a laser diode, an object positioned on a cover slip and a CMOS sensor. We use a laser diode for illumination which emits a divergent beam and acts as a point source, so that additional components such as a pinhole are not required. The laser diode is operated below the lasing threshold to decrease the coherence length and thus to reduce speckle noise. Due to the compact and small size of the setup, it requires minimized effort for applications in field operation. The lensless setup was characterized by using an USAF-target for determining the resolution of the system which is 2.2 μm. In the following, transparent or semitransparent samples are investigated. Microstructured plastic samples are placed on the specimen holder and characterized by the holographic microscope. By applying the angular spectrum method on the recorded images, we are able to reconstruct the investigated objects. The in-line geometry of the setup facilitates the simplicity of the setup but also induces optical errors, for instance twin images. Twin images superimpose with the object’s signal and require additional numerical reconstruction algorithms. For reducing the effect of the twin image problem, we apply an iterative phase retrieval algorithm. In the conclusion, we discuss the resolution and quality of the recorded images and evaluate the numerical reconstruction process.