Experimental demonstration of scanning phase retrieval by a noniterative method with a Gaussian-amplitude beam

We present a proof-of-principle experiment of an analytic (noniterative) phase-retrieval method for coherent imaging systems under scanning illumination of a probe beam. This method allows to reconstruct the amplitude and phase distribution of a semi-transparent object over a wide area from intensities measured at three points in the Fourier plane of the object under scanning illumination of a known Gaussian-amplitude beam in the object plane. The present measurement system is very simple in contrast to ones of interferometric techniques, and also the speed of the calculation of phase retrieval in this method is faster than that in iterative algorithms since this method is based on an analytic solution to the phase retrieval. The effectiveness of this method is shown in experimental examples of the object reconstructions of a converging lens and a plastic plate for scratch standards.