University Laboratory Experiments with PHYWE Equipment

Experiment: Recording and Reconstruction of Holograms

In contrast to normal photography a hologram can store information about the three-dimensionality of an object. To capture the three-dimensionality of an object, the film stores not only the amplitude but also the phase of the light rays. To achieve this, a coherent light beam (laser light) is split into an object and a reference beam by being passed through a beam splitter. These beams interfere in the plane of the holographic film. The hologram is reconstructed with the reference beam which was also used to record the hologram.