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Updated: Jul 24, 2025

Uncovering Hidden Dynamics of Natural Photonic Structures Using Holographic Imaging
Published on: March 31, 2022
Intensity interferometry for holography with quantum and classical light
Guillaume Thekkadath1,2, Duncan England1, Frédéric Bouchard1
1National Research Council of Canada, 100 Sussex Drive, Ottawa, ON K1A 0R6, Canada.
Abstract:
As first demonstrated by Hanbury Brown and Twiss, it is possible to observe interference between independent light sources by measuring correlations in their intensities rather than their amplitudes. In this work, we apply this concept of intensity interferometry to holography. We combine a signal beam with a reference and measure their intensity cross-correlations using a time-tagging single-photon camera. These correlations reveal an interference pattern from which we reconstruct the signal wavefront in both intensity and phase. We demonstrate the principle with classical and quantum light, including a single photon. Since the signal and reference do not need to be phase-stable nor from the same light source, this technique can be used to generate holograms of self-luminous or remote objects using a local reference, thus opening the door to new holography applications.
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