Noise formation in Fourier phase-only holograms

This paper presents what is to the author's knowledge a new theory for phase-only holograms. It explains many phenomena observed in the reconstruction of phase-only Fourier holograms and in particular the existence and nature of noise. Using this theory it was demonstrated that any reconstruction is the convolution of the target reconstruction with a two-dimensional set of impulses. The nature of this convolution function depends on the target reconstruction and in particular the spacing between the spots. In the simplest case of a two-spot generating hologram the convolution function was calculated analytically. The theory is also verified with examples from spot generating holograms, symbology, and image projection holograms. (C) 2010 Optical Society of America