Methods of diffractive optical element generation for rapid, high-quality 3D image formation of objects divided into a set of plane layers

This article focuses on generation of diffractive optical elements (DOEs) and computer holograms for forming three-dimensional (3D) images. We intend to analyze the possibilities of increasing (1) the speed of generation of DOEs, and (2) the quality of 3D objects created by the DOEs generated. For this, four methods of optical element generation are analyzed, which are based on division of 3D objects into plane layers. We assess the quality of 3D-object image reconstruction and the resource intensity of the methods with respect to synthesis of DOEs. We conduct a computer simulation of reconstruction of images of 3D objects via the generated DOEs. In optical experiments on formation of 3D objects, the DOEs generated are displayed on a liquid crystal spatial light modulator. We experimentally establish that the method of parallel computation of plane layers and the method of nonconvex optimization are optimum for formation of 3D objects vis-à-vis quality of their reconstruction. Taking into account the computational resource intensity of the considered methods, the iterative method of parallel computation of plane layers yielded the optimal DOE generation results in terms of reconstruction quality-to-synthesis speed ratio. The possibility of fast formation of high-quality 3D objects comprising dozens of layers has been demonstrated, which can be used in high-resolution 3D video communication systems.