Imaging through scattering media using digital holography

Abstract The holographic diffraction of a coherently illuminated object forms an in-line hologram behind the random scattering medium. The obstruction of the scattering layer scrambles the in-line hologram into a speckle pattern. We propose and experimentally demonstrate a technique for the single-shot imaging through a scattering medium based on the recovery and reconstruction of the in-line hologram from the far field speckle pattern. Using a new configuration, the proposed method enables the retrieval of the complex amplitude image of an object located at any arbitrary planes behind scattering medium. Experimental demonstration is carried out for both the transmittive and reflective objects. Results are presented for imaging of objects at various planes behind the scattering medium and also the transmitting type polystyrene beads. Furthermore, the quality of reconstruction is assessed by quantitatively evaluating the visibility and reconstruction efficiency of the reconstructed images at various longitudinal distances behind the scattering medium.