HOLOGRAPHIC CONTOURING BY USING TUNABLE LASERS

We show that it is possible to make a hologram with true-height contours by using dispersion compensation provided by holographic gratings in the reference and picture beams. Holograms can be made with either a short-pulse, mode-locked laser or a tunable dye laser with 2N + 1 frequencies each spaced by Delta v frequency. Experiments are presented to illustrate the high-contrast contours obtained with consecutive exposures from a tunable dye laser. Fine-scale vernier and coarse contours are obtained at intervals c/[2(2N + 1)Delta v] and c/(2 Delta v), respectively.