Direct three-dimensional shape measurement by digital light-in-flight holography

A method for direct shape measurement with short laser light pulses and digital holography with a CCD array is proposed. An in-line holographic setup is: used in which the reference beam is reflected from a blazed reflection grating, i.e., a Littrow setup. By this method a relatively large optical delay is created between the reference and the object beams even with a small object-reference angle, which is necessary because of the limited resolution of the CCD. The delay varies continuously across one axis of the CCD array. In this way different object sections are reconstructed from different parts of the CCD, which in turn correspond to a certain path length from the object. By putting the sections together, one can evaluate the three-dimensional shape. Theoretical as well as experimental results are presented. (C) 1998 Optical Society of America.