Self-Imaging Properties of Fresnel Retardagram Recorded on Azobenzene Film

The Fresnel diffraction pattern from a retardance pattern was recorded on a polarization-sensitive medium by retardagraphy. The retardance pattern was displayed on a parallel-aligned liquid crystal spatial light modulator in the experiment. An azobenzene copolymer film was used as the polarization-sensitive medium. The characteristics of the Fresnel retardagram, which is a medium recorded with the Fresnel diffraction by retardagraphy, was theoretically predicted and experimentally confirmed. The virtual polarization image was reconstructed at the polarization image position of the anisotropic object from the Fresnel retardagram. Furthermore, the self-imaging properties of the Fresnel retardagram was obtained by reconstructing the conjugate wave.