Step 1

Step 1: Compute acquisition parameters and automatically acquire images of a sample

In optics, only the real part of the average longitudinal component of the complex Poynting’s vector is measured. This part is a well-known intensity. The argument of the complex amplitude of fluctuations of the electro-magnetic wave - the phase - is lost. Therefore in optics, intensity of incident waves is the only measurable quantity.

Reconstruction of phase of the optical wave incident on a camera from the light wave's intensity requires collecting 3D information about the variation of the light intensity using sensitive elements of the camera, arranged on a 2D grid.

The reconstruction of the phase is possible since the variation of the energy travelling with optical waves in the 3D space is related to the phase of the wave. The conservation of the light energy during the light propagation makes it possible to develop a system of differential equations and to solve it numerically.