Binary computer-generated holograms

Binary computer-generated holograms are similar to interferograms with fringe patterns hardclipped by a photographic process. Therefore the fringe locations in the binary hologram can be determined by solving a grating equation. However, there are two difficulties in using this approach to make binary Fourier transform holograms. First the discrete Fourier transform provides only data at discrete sampling locations. Second, the phase angles thus calculated are given in terms of the residues of the original phase angles after multiples of 2pi rad are removed. In this paper an accurate numerical method which circumvents these two difficulties is described. Also discussed are three different techniques for storing amplitude information in the binary computer-generated holograms. The different solution methods discussed in this paper are further illustrated by a number of computer-generated holograms and their reconstructed images.