Hybrid method for speckle noise reduction in digital holography

Area of Science:

• Optics and Photonics
• Image Processing

Background:

• Digital holography utilizes coherent laser sources, which inherently introduce speckle noise, degrading image quality.
• Speckle noise is a significant challenge in achieving high-fidelity holographic reconstructions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate a hybrid method for effective speckle noise reduction in digital holography.
• To enhance the signal-to-noise ratio and overall imaging quality of holographic reconstructions.

Main Methods:

• A novel angular diversity recording approach was employed to capture a series of holograms.
• Multiple reconstructed intensity images were averaged to improve the signal-to-noise ratio.
• The block-matching and 3D filtering (BM3D) algorithm was applied to further eliminate residual noise.

Main Results:

• The hybrid method significantly suppressed speckle noise in digital holography.
• A nearly speckle-free image with enhanced clarity was obtained.
• Experimental results confirmed the effectiveness of the proposed speckle noise reduction technique.

Conclusions:

• The combination of angular diversity and BM3D filtering offers a powerful solution for speckle noise reduction in digital holography.
• This method substantially improves the quality of reconstructed holographic images.
• The approach is experimentally validated and demonstrates practical applicability.