Three-dimensional solid particle positions in a flow via multiangle off-axis digital holography.

We present a new development of digital off-axis (OA) holography for determining the instantaneous solid particle positions in a flow. This holographic imaging method uses a CCD camera for the simultaneous digital recording of two views of digital Fresnel OA holograms on the same support. The reconstruction is obtained numerically. The method provides two orthogonal views of the same flow area of interest at the same instant. It helps to overcome the depth of focus problem existing for the particle image reconstructions and that is inherent to the method. This method has the advantage of being simpler than the methods presently available, and it does not suffer from the flaws of in-line holographic configuration. Furthermore it is completely digital and thus avoids the cumbersome analysis following hologram recording. Digital holograms and digital reconstructions are obtained for solid particles of 200 mum moving into a stirred flow cell of 5 cm(3).