Transport-of-intensity phase imaging with polarization directed flat lenses

A phase imaging technique based on the transport of intensity equation with polarization directed flat lenses is demonstrated. Transport-of-intensity phase imaging enables one to obtain a phase distribution from through-focus intensity distributions by solving the transport of intensity equation. In general, the through-focus intensity distributions are obtained by mechanical scanning of an image sensor or target object. Therefore, a precise alignment of an optical system is required. To solve this issue, the introduction of polarization directed flat lenses is presented. In the proposed method, two intensity distributions at different depth positions on the optical axis are obtained without mechanical scanning by changing polarization states of incident light. The feasibility of the proposed method is confirmed by an optical experiment.