Review: 3D Holographic Imaging and Display Exploiting Complex Optics

Abstract

Digital holography has high potentials for future 3D imaging and display technology. Due to the capability of recording and projecting realistic 3D images, holography has been extensively studied for decades. However, the requirement of a reference beam in interferometric systems and a limited number of pixels in existing spatial light modulators have been major obstacles for the practical applications of 3D holography technology. Recently, the field of wavefront shaping, or the study of controlling multiple scattering of light, has emerged with numerous interesting applications in digital holography. In this review, we introduce the principles of multiple light scattering in complex media and highlight recent achievements to overcome the limitation in conventional 3D holography by exploiting multiple light scattering. The complexity of multiple light scattering, which had been regarded as a major barrier for conventional optical systems, can provide reference-free 3D holographic imaging and 3D holographic display with several advantages.