Object motion compensation by speckle reference beam holography.

A method is described for lessening the stringent vibration isolation requirements associated with conventional cw holography. This is accomplished by focusing a portion of the laser illuminating beam to a spot on the object, which then serves as a speckle reference beam for recording the object. In addition to the reduction of vibration isolation requirements, other features of the technique are as follows: Several holograms of the same scene, with different viewing directions, can be recorded simultaneously without additional reference beams, and vibration isolation requirements on the holographic plate are no greater than those associated with conventional photography. The method can also be used to determine relative phase between two points on a vibrating surface. In pulsed holography, the method can be used to eliminate residual fringes between recordings of pulsed holographic interferograms.