Holography with second-order correlations

Digital holography uses first-order interferometry to record and reconstruct complex fields. This technique provides spatially resolved quantitative phase imaging and depth reconstruction. Nevertheless, first-order interferometry is highly sensitive to noise and light sources, significantly impacting performance. Moreover, such interferometry techniques fail in imaging under random phase distortion caused by scattering media. To overcome some of these issues, we present a method based on second-order intensity correlations, which leverages the correlation of intensity fluctuations to mitigate the challenges posed by random scattering. Here, we present a near-common-path interferometer (NCPI) to record a singleshot speckle and post-process the speckle pattern for holography with intensity correlation analysis. The proposed setup enhances stability and provides a phase recovery solution in the intensity correlation. The NCPI-based approach may offer a promising pathway for the future integration of holography with optical metrology techniques, enabling the characterization of objects embedded within scattering media.