Yoshimasa KAWATA and Satoshi KAWATA

Department of Applied Physics, Osaka University, Suita, Osaka, 565 Japan

(Received November 1, 1995; Accepted December 22, 1995)

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.

Key words : two-wave coupling, Zernike's phase contrast microscope, bismuth silicon oxide, photorefractive, photoconductivity, nonlinear optics, phase conjugation, image amplification