3D localization in digital holography from scattered light from micrometer-sized particles

Abstract: When a particle is illuminated by a beam of light it will scatter and redistribute the light in all directions. How it scatters depends on the size, shape and refractive index of the particle. Additionally, it depends on the wavelength and polarization of the illuminating beam. The direction and distance to the observer relative the particle also needs to be considered.  A digital holographic imaging system is used to collect parts of the scattered light from micrometer-sized particles. By utilizing digital holography a three-dimensional reconstruction of the imaged scene is possible. Traditionally, particles are localized based on the intensity in the holographic reconstructions. In this licentiate thesis, the phase response of the scattered light is investigated and utilized. An alternative method for locating spherical particles is presented. The method locate particles based on a simple feature of a propagating wave, namely the fact that the wavefront curvature changes from converging to diverging at the axial location of the particle. The wavefront curvature is estimated using two different methods. The first method estimates the lateral phase-gradients using a finite-difference method. The second method uses a three-dimensional parametric model based on a Chebyshev polynomial expansion. The methods are demonstrated using both simulations and experimental measurements. The simulations are based on the Lorenz-Mie scattering theory for spherical particles and are combined with an imaging system model. Experiments are performed using an off-axis polarization sensitive digital holographic system with a coherent Nd:YAG laser. Measurements of stationary particles are made to validate and evaluate the proposed method. It is found that these methods estimate the true axial position and does not have the offset that is associated with intensity-based methods. Additionally, it is possible to exclude noise that shows up as false particles since noise does not have the same phase response as a real particle. The second method, that uses a parametric model, also improves the standard deviation in the positioning.