Leveraging the depolarization of scattered light for holography with the Stokes correlation

Abstract

A correlation holography technique for quantitative phase imaging from scattered depolarized light is proposed and experimentally demonstrated. To implement this technique, we exploit the depolarization of scattered light with the higher-order Stokes correlation. The higher-order Stokes correlation along with the two-step phase-shifting method is utilized to retrieve the complex Fourier coefficient, this subsequently supports the recovery of the phase in the correlation holography with the fourth-order correlation. A detailed theoretical framework is developed and is also supported by numerical simulation and experimental tests. The applicability of the proposed technique is experimentally demonstrated by quantitatively reconstructing different phase objects from the scattered depolarized light.