Scanned-picture-beam holography for nonrigid objects

A technique is described for holographically recording nonrigid objects by scanning the picture beam in a small, bright spot across the object in a series of short exposures. The reference beam is incident across the entire recording medium during each exposure. This technique can freeze the motion of objects subject to ambient forcings, such as acoustic vibrations. Experiments are described in support of this method. Exposures are in the 1- to 10-ms range with 100 separate object regions. An analysis of certain factors affecting image quality, such as diffraction efficiency, is also presented.