The ideas of holography, or wavefront reconstruction, preceded by some thirteen years the development of the laser. It is thus clear that lasers are not necessary for holography, and we should discuss why they are even helpful. Because holography is basically an interferometric process, the need for coherent radiation is clear; the laser represents a source of coherent radiation. Let us begin with a brief discussion of coherence in general, and the coherence properties of gas lasers in particular.

Date Published: 1 January 1968
PDF: 6 pages
Proc. SPIE 0015, Holography I, (1 January 1968); doi: 10.1117/12.946773

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 0015:
Holography I
Bernard G. Ponseggi; Brian J. Thompson, Editor(s)