Abstract

Photographic recording of spatially modulated coherent light, such as is encountered in wavefront reconstruction or coherent optical data processing, is described in terms of the amplitude transmittance (T_a) vs exposure (E) curve of the film. It is proposed that the T_a−E curve is more appropriate for this application than the D−log E curve. The nonlinear effects of recording are analyzed in this context using a nonlinear “circuit” model. A general expression for the resulting amplitude transmittance is derived by use of a Fourier-transform technique. A specific nonlinearity, the error-function limiter, is analyzed in detail to illustrate the effects of the film nonlinearity.

© 1966 Optical Society of America

Spatial Phase Modulation of Wavefronts in Spatial Filtering and Holography

Wade T. Cathey
J. Opt. Soc. Am. 56(9) 1167-1171 (1966)

Influence of Photographic Film on Wavefront Reconstruction. I. Plane Wavefronts*

Raoul F. vanLigten
J. Opt. Soc. Am. 56(1) 1-9 (1966)

Phase Control by Polarization in Coherent Spatial Filtering*

Thomas M. Holladay and John D. Gallatin
J. Opt. Soc. Am. 56(7) 869-872 (1966)

Influence of Photographic Film on Wavefront Reconstruction. II: “Cylindrical” Wavefronts*

Raoul F. Vanligten
J. Opt. Soc. Am. 56(8) 1009-1014 (1966)

Image Reconstruction with Fraunhofer Holograms*

John B. DeVelis, George B. Parrent, and Brian J. Thompson
J. Opt. Soc. Am. 56(4) 423-427 (1966)