Three-dimensional analysis of free-space light propagation based on quantum mechanical scattering theory of light

In this paper, a free-space light propagation analysis between 3-dimensional (3-D) volumetric spaces is proposed. In contrast to conventional scalar diffraction, the proposed theory is based on quantum mechanical scattering providing a general volumetric analysis for the free-space light propagation. Assuming a plane wave light incidence, we obtained a new analytic formula for 3-D volumetric convolution, which provided a transfer function in a closed form used for caculating the electric fields at the observation points. The proposed method was consistent with the conventional numerical methods for a 2-dimensional aperture and can be further applied to exact calculation of diffraction fields from 3-D surfaces, providing a compact reconstruction algorithm for 3-D images in a computer generated hologram.