Dual-optical-multiplexing-based multi-image invisible visual cryptography

In earlier research, the concept of using diffractive optics to indirectly achieve invisible visual cryptography (VC) was proposed. In this approach, the extraction process does not require complex optical implementations or additional computations. However, the system’s security and the capacity still need to be improved. Correspondingly, this paper introduces a multi-image invisible VC system based on dual optical multiplexing. Under the conditions of diffraction distance multiplexing and wavelength multiplexing, the visual keys of secret images are concealed within a phase key in the Fresnel domain. This method enhances the system’s security through dual optical multiplexing and ensures a certain capacity for information concealment. Optical experiments verify that the easy extraction and the high repeatability are all obtainable in the method.