Posted by Christina Folz, OPN Managing Editor
I can still remember how excited I was when I saw the March 1984 issue of my father’s National Geographic magazine, which featured the laser-sculpted image of an eagle on its cover. That was the first time I ever saw a hologram. (After doing a quick Google search, I’ve learned that that particular issue is now selling for close to $200; it may be time to revisit my parents’ stash of old magazines!)
Now there is reason to believe that the eagle may one day take flight. OSA Fellow Nasser Peyghambarian and his colleagues at the University of Arizona, along with engineers from Nitto Denko Technical Corporation, in Oceanside, Calif., have produced a prototype of the first photorefractive polymer film in which 3D images can be captured, erased and re-recorded. Similar to a paper “flip book” of images taken in rapid succession, a series of these holograms—when captured quickly—can create the illusion of 3D motion.
For more details and images of the holographic film, check out the recent news pieces in IEEE Spectrum and Scientific American.
And stay tuned for an OPN feature article on this technology by Peyghambarian himself in a summer issue of OPN. We probably won’t feature a flying eagle on our cover, but a girl can dream, can’t she?