Effects of object spatial frequency on the performance of the multiple-plane phase retrieval method

Abstract

The multiple-plane phase retrieval method uses an algorithm that processes the intensity variation from samples of a volume speckle held to recover the object complex field. Intensity recording, however, has intrinsic limitations in resolving the speckle field pattern generated from objects with very fine detailed structures. Using different metrics, we investigated the effects of such object structures with characteristic spatial frequencies. Numerical simulations show that the phase retrieval algorithm used reconstructs the object spatial frequencies determined by the sampling condition. The study demonstrates that object spatial frequencies can be an important factor to consider in choosing which optical method to use in specific applications.