The first way to make a hologram is the single beam method. The idea here is that the laser light is spread and hits the plate. The same beam also reflects off the object and onto the holographic film or plate, labeled “PH” in the diagram. This way is easy to do and doesn’t require many lenses, mirrors, etc. The problem is that it doesn’t produce the worlds greatest holograms. Once you expose the film/plate, you can develop it. This is usually done by you, and for instructions please see my links section. Once developed, the hologram is viewed from the side opposite the object (the side closest to the laser “L” in the diagram). The virtual image will appear behind the hologram about the same distance the object was from the film or plate when the hologram was created. This is called a transmission hologram because the the reconstructed light is transmitted through the hologram. This kind of hologram can only be viewed in laser light.
The next way to make a hologram is the single beam reflection method. In this method the laser light goes THROUGH the holographic plate and onto the object. It reflects back onto the plate and creates the diffraction pattern. The advantage of this is the hologram can be viewed easily in white light. It should be viewed from the same side the laser beam struck the plate from and will appear on the side the object was originally on. This is known as a reflection hologram because the reconstructed light is reflected off the hologram.
History | How They Work | Links | Main Hologram Page | Multibeam Holograms | Setup | Singlebeam Holograms
