One-way imaging through a turbid medium by photorefractive one-beam recording

Abstract

We propose and demonstrate a new way to image a coherent pattern through a thick dynamic phase distorting medium using a photorefractive LiNbO3 crystal. The method involves only one beam of light- the object light. Making use of photorefractive fanning effect, gratings are formed in the LiNbO3 crystal through the interference between the fanning light and the image light. In this way, the undistorted image is recorded in the crystal. The intensity distribution of the image can then be reconstructed at any time later. An undistorted image can be obtained under the condition that the period of the fluctuation time in the medium is much shorter than the response time of the crystal. Since this method uses only one beam of light, its layout is simpler and thus it avoids some aberrations due to the constraint in the layout in other methods, such as the aberration due to oblique incident light.