Accurate reconstruction of digital holography using frequency domain

zero padding
Jun Geun Shina, Ju Wan Kimb, Jae Hwi Leea, Byeong Ha Lee*a
a
School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Gwangju Institute of Science and
Technology,
b
Department of Biomedical Science and Engineering, Institute of Integrated Technology, Gwangju
Institute of Science and Technology;
123 Cheomdan-gwagiro, Buk-gu, Gwangju, South Korea, 61005;

ABSTRACT

We propose an image reconstruction method of digital holography for getting more accurate reconstruction. Digital
holography provides both the light amplitude and the phase of a specimen through recording the interferogram. Since the
Fresenl diffraction can be efficiently implemented by the Fourier transform, zero padding technique can be applied to
obtain more accurate information. In this work, we report the method of frequency domain zero padding (FDZP). Both in
computer-simulation and in experiment made with a USAF 1951 resolution chart and target, the FDZD gave the more
accurate rconstruction images. Even though, the FDZD asks more processing time, with the help of graphics processing
unit (GPU), it can find good applications in digital holography for 3-D profile imaging.
Keywords: digital holography, frequency domain zero padding, biomedical imaging, numerical diffraction, hologram
reconstruction

1. INTRODUCTION
Digital holography (DH) provides both the light amplitude and the phase of a specimen through recording the
interferogram between the object and reference waves1. In this technique, digital hologram of a specimen is recorded by
an electronic image sensor, and the images of the specimen at different focus depths can be reconstructed numerically. In
order to obtain a reconstruction result from the digital hologram, the Fresnel diffraction formula which can be efficiently
implemented by the Fourier transform is popularly used2. The image reconstruction from the digital hologram requires
intensive two-dimensional calculations, and its computational cost has been an obstacle for the real-time processing.
Recently, the graphics processing unit (GPU) was employed to accelerate the computational speed of DH, and the high
computational power of GPU enabled real-time image reconstructions3,4.
As the high computational power enables to process a large size data of DH, it is interested not only in the processing
speed but also in the quality of reconstructed images. Since the Fresnel transform is described with the Fourier transform,
zero padding can be applied with the hologram reconstructions processes5. Although the zero padding does not improve
the actual resolution6, but it allows to obtain more accurate information. In this paper, we propose a method to provide
high quality reconstructed images in the spatial domain by performing frequency domain zero padding (FDZP). After a
brief description of DH, we will demonstrate the simulation results which were obtained by the FDZP on the computer
generated hologram through the Fresnel transform, and experimental results are presented.

2. EXPER,MENTAL MATERIALS AND METHOD

2.1 Fresnel diffraction and numerical reconstruction
Here, we briefly describe the Fresnel diffraction and the numerical reconstruction process. Let the optical field at the
object plane is ܷ௢ ሺ‫ ݔ‬ᇱ ǡ ‫ݕ‬Ԣሻ, then the optical field at a position ‫ ݖ‬can be represented by using the Fresnel transform as
మഏ
೔ ೥ ഏ మ మ
௘ ഊ ஶ ቄ௜ ೥ ቂ൫௫ି௫ ᇲ ൯ ା൫௬ି௬ ᇲ ൯ ቃቅ
ܷ௭ ሺ‫ݔ‬ǡ ‫ݕ‬ሻ ൌ
௜ఒ௭
‫ି׭‬ஶ ܷ௢ ሺ‫ ݔ‬ᇱ ǡ ‫ ݕ‬ᇱ ሻ ‡ ݀‫ ݔ‬ᇱ ݀‫ ݕ‬ᇱ , (1)

*leebh@gist.ac.kr; phone 82 62 715-2234; fax 82 62 715-2204; http://aolab.gist.ac.kr

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where ሺ‫ ݔ‬ᇱ ǡ ‫ ݕ‬ᇱ ሻ and ሺ‫ݔ‬ǡ ‫ݕ‬ሻ are the coordinates at the object and the recording planes, respectively, and Ȝ is the wavelength
of the reference light. Using the convolution theorem, the optical field at the object plane is represented as
ஶ

ܷ௭ ሺ‫ݔ‬ǡ ‫ݕ‬ሻ ൌ ‫ ܥ‬ඵ ܷ௢ ሺ‫ ݔ‬ᇱ ǡ ‫ ݕ‬ᇱ ሻ ݄ሺ‫ ݔ‬െ ‫ ݔ‬ᇱ ǡ ‫ ݕ‬െ ‫ ݕ‬ᇱ Ǣ ‫ݖ‬ሻ݀‫ ݔ‬ᇱ ݀‫ ݕ‬ᇱ
(2)
ିஶ
ൌ ‫ ܥ‬ൈ ܷ଴ ሺ‫ݔ‬ǡ ‫ݕ‬ሻ ‫݄ כ‬ሺ‫ݔ‬ǡ ‫ݕ‬ሻ ൌ ‫ ܥ‬ൈ ‫ି ܨ‬ଵ ൣ‫ܨ‬ሾܷ଴ ሺ‫ݔ‬ǡ ‫ݕ‬ሻሿ‫ܨ‬ሾ݄ሺ‫ݔ‬ǡ ‫ݕ‬Ǣ ‫ݖ‬ሻሿ൧
మഏ ഏ మ మ
ଵ
Where ‫ ܥ‬and ݄ሺ‫ݔ‬ǡ ‫ݕ‬Ǣ ‫ݖ‬ሻ are ‫ ܥ‬ൌ ‡௜ ഊ ௭ and ݄ሺ‫ݔ‬ǡ ‫ݕ‬Ǣ ‫ݖ‬ሻ ൌ ‡ቄ௜ ೥ ൣ௫ ା௬ ൧ቅ , and operators ‫ܨ‬ሾȈሿ and ‫ି ܨ‬ଵ ሾȈሿ are the forward and
௜ఒ௭
inverse Fourier transform, respectively. Then, the optical field at the object plane ܷ଴ ሺ‫ݔ‬ǡ ‫ݕ‬ሻ can be easily reconstructed
from the propagated optical field at z ܷ௭ ሺ‫ݔ‬ǡ ‫ݕ‬ሻ as
௎೥ ሺ௫ǡ௬ሻ
ܷ଴ ሺ‫ ݔ‬ᇱ ǡ ‫ ݕ‬ᇱ ሻ ൌ  ‫ି ܨ‬ଵ ൤‫ ܨ‬ቂ ቃ ‫ܨ‬ሾ݄ሺ‫ݔ‬ǡ ‫ݕ‬Ǣ െ‫ݖ‬ሻሿ൨, (3)
஼

Since the optical field ܷ௭ ሺ‫ݔ‬ǡ ‫ݕ‬ሻis measured by electrical detector, the recorded digital hologram is a real valued intensity
image. In order to obtain the complex amplitude of the optical field ܷ௭ ሺ‫ݔ‬ǡ ‫ݕ‬ሻ, interferometric technique should be
employed1.

2.2 Frequency domain zero padding

In the spatial domain, the zero padding is performed by adding zeros to a border of data record prior to the fast Fourier
transform (FFT). The FFT result of the zero-padded signal is viewed as the frequency sampled version of discrete time
Fourier transform (DTFT) with a finer sampling interval. Unlike the spatial domain zero padding, in the spatial
frequency domain, the spectral symmetry centered on the Nyquist frequency should be maintained. Therefore, in the
frequency domain, the zeros should be inserted after the location of the Nyquist frequency. Consider one-dimensional
discrete signal ܺே ሺ݇ሻ which has a N points record length;

ܺே ሺ݇ሻ ൌ ൤ܺ଴ ǡ ܺଵ ǡ ܺଶ ǡ ǥ ǡ ܺேିଵ ǡ ܺே ǡ ǥ ǡ ܺேିଶ ǡ ܺேିଵ ൨

ଶ ଶ
(4)
ൌ ൤ܺ଴ ǡ ܺଵ ǡ ܺଶ ǡ ǥ ǡ ܺேିଵ ǡ ܺିே ǡ ǥ ǡ ܺିଶ ǡ ܺିଵ ൨ǡ
ଶ ଶ

The N-points inverse discrete Fourier transform (IDFT) of ܺே ሺ݇ሻ is given by

ே
ିଵ
ேିଵ ଶ ିଵ
ଶగ
௜ ௞௡
‫ݔ‬ே ሺ݊ሻ ൌ  ෍ ܺே ሺ݇ሻ݁ ே ൌ෍ ܺே ሺ݇ሻܹேି௞௡ ൅ ෍ ܺே ሺ݇ሻܹேି௞௡ ǡ (5)
௞ୀ଴ ௞ୀ଴ ே
௞ୀି
ଶ
మഏ
where ܹே ൌ ݁ ି௜ ಿ is called the twiddle factor. By padding L-N zeros to ܺே ሺ݇ሻ, whose record length has to be L, the
padded signal ܺ௅ ሺ݇ሻ is represented as

ܺ௅ ሺ݇ሻ ൌ ൤ܺ଴ ǡ ܺଵ ǡ ܺଶ ǡ ǥ ǡ ܺேିଵ ǡ ͲǡͲǡ ǥ ǡͲǡ ܺே ǡ ǥ ǡ ܺேିଶ ǡ ܺேିଵ ൨

ଶ ଶ
(6)
ൌ ൤ܺ଴ ǡ ܺଵ ǡ ܺଶ ǡ ǥ ǡ ܺேିଵ ǡ ͲǡͲǡ ǥ ǡͲǡ ܺିே ǡ ǥ ǡ ܺିଶ ǡ ܺିଵ ൨
ଶ ଶ

The IDFT of ܺ௅ ሺ݇ሻ is given as

ே
ିଵ
௅ିଵ ଶ ିଵ ேିଵ
ଶగ
‫ݔ‬௅ ሺ݊ሻ ൌ ෍ ܺ௅ ሺ݇ሻ݁ ௜ ௅ ௞௡ ൌ෍ ܺே ሺ݇ሻܹ௅ି௞௡ ൅ ෍ ܺே ሺ݇ሻܹ௅ି௞௡ ൌ ෍ ܺே ሺ݇ሻܹ௅ି௞௡  (7)
௞ୀ଴ ௞ୀ଴ ே ௞ୀ଴
௞ୀି
ଶ
ଶగ
In Eq. 7, it can also viewed as the spatial-sampled version with a finer spatial sampling interval without any changes.
௅

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 3. EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS
3.1 Simulation results
Computer-generated holograms of a USAF 1951 resolution test chart are used for testing the hologram reconstruction
method using the FDZP. The propagated optical field at ‫ ݖ‬from the object plane with respect to the sample is generated
with 4096 × 4096 pixels by using the Fresnel transform. We assumed that the recording is noiseless, and the number of
detector elements is 512 × 512. The pixel dimensions are taken as 8 ȝm in both dimensions, and the numerical
propagation distance from the object plane was 37 mm, and the wavelength of the light source was 632 nm.

Figure 1. The USAF 1951 chart (a), and the computer-generated hologram and the reconstructed images; (b) Amplitude
image of the computer-generated hologram of the USAF chart at z = 37 mm from the object plane, (c) Reconstructed
amplitude image at the object plane without FDZP, (d) Reconstructed image with FDZP, (e) enlarged image of the dotted
box in (c), (f) enlarged image of the dotted box in (d).

Figure 1 (a) shows the USAF 1951 chart used in this simulation. From the chart based on Eq. (1), the amplitude image of
the digital hologram at z = 37 mm from the object plane was computer simulated and depicted at Fig. 1(b). Since the size
of the digital hologram obtained by the electrical detector is the same as the number of elements of the detector, the
simulated digital hologram was resized to have a size of 512 × 512 pixels. With the simulated digital hologram of Fig.
1(b), the chart was reconstructed and presented with Fig. 1(c). Even though the reconstruction was very successful, we
can see that the image is highly blurred. In order to minimize the blurredness of the reconstructed image, the FDZP was
applied and Fig. 1(d) was obtained. We can see that the image quality was highly improved. The enlarged images, Figs.
1(e) and 1(f), show the difference very clearly. The smallest resolvable groups are different, and it can be seen that the
result with FDZP reproduces the original image more accurately. With the zero paddings in the frequency domain, Fig.
1(d) was given as 2048 × 2048 which is four times larger than the size of Fig. 1(c).

3.2 Experimental results

Four phase-shifted 512 × 512 pixel images of an USAF 1951 resolution target were experimetally obtained from a home-
made digital holography system. The complex image of the target was constructed by using the captured four phase-
shifted images. The propagated optical distance ‫ ݖ‬was 1.6 mm. The pixel dimensions were 14 ȝm in both directions and
the wavelength of the light source was 632 nm.
Figure 2(a) shows an amplitude image of digital hologram captured at z = 1.6 mm from the object plane. The results of
hologram reconstructions at the object plane are shown in Fig 2 (b)-(e). As the same with the simulation scheme of Fig. 1,

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Fig. 2(b) wass obtained withhout FDZP whereas
w Fig. 2((c) with FDZP
P to be 2048 × 2048. As shhown in the en
nlarged figuress
of Fig. 2(d) and
a (e), the hollogram reconsstruction withh the FDZP pro
ovides a muchh more accuraate reconstructtion image.

Figure 2. Group 6 and 7 of a USAF 19551 target; (a) Amplitude imagee of an digital hologram
h experrimentally taken
n at z = 1.6
mm, (b) Reconstructed
R i
image without FDZP,
F (c) Recoonstructed imag
ge with FDZP, (d) enlarged im
mage of the dottted box in
(b), (e) ennlarged image of
o the dotted boxx in (c).

4. CONCLUS
SION
In this work,, we have demonstrated ann accurate reconstruction method
m of diigital holograpphy, which uses
u frequencyy
domain zero padding (FDZ ZP). In both computer sim mulation and real
r experimennt, the hologrram reconstru
uction with thee
FDZP providded more accuurate reconstruuction results.. Although thee FDZP increases the compputational cosst, use of GPU U
will be able to
t handle the high
h computaational load. Itt is expected that
t the fine reeconstruction image obtained with FDZP P
can be used to get a betteer accuracy inn obtaing the autofocused image of a digital
d holograam system, which
w can findd
applications in
i 3-D profile imaging.

ACKNOWLEDGM
MENTS

This work waas supported by

b the GIST Research
R Instittute (GRI) in 2016.
2

R
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