Visualization of a Phase Object by Two-Wave Coupling in a Photorefractive Bismuth Silicon Oxide Crystal

We propose a method to visualize a phase object using a locally-controllable image amplification scheme we developed earlier which is based on two-wave coupling in a bismuth silicon oxide (Bi₁₂SiO₂₀, or BSO) crystal. In this method the BSO crystal is used as a phase plate in the configuration of Zernike’s phase contrast imaging system. The principle of the phase-visualization with two-wave coupling is presented. An experimental result to verify the proposed method is shown.