ELECTRO-OPTICS  LABORATORY

We present a new imaging method to record multicolor digital holograms from objects emitting fluorescent light. The fluorescent light specific to the emission wavelength of various fluorescent dyes after excitation of three dimensional (3D) objects is recorded on a digital monochrome camera after reflection from a diffractive optical element (DOE). For each wavelength of fluorescent emission, the camera sequentially records three holograms reflected from the DOE, each with a different phase factor of the DOE's function. The three holograms are superposed in a computer to create a complex valued Fresnel hologram of each fluorescent emission. The holograms for each fluorescent color are further combined in a computer to produce a multicolored fluorescence hologram and 3D color image.