In this paper we present a software for the design and visualization of holographic elements containing full scale of visual effects. It enables to simulate an observation of the holographic elements under general conditions including different light sources with various spectral and coherence properties and various geometries of reconstruction. Furthermore, recent technologies offer interesting possibilities for the 3D visualization such as the 3D techniques based on shutter or polarization glasses, anaglyphs, etc. The presented software is compatible with the mentioned techniques and enables an application of the 3D hardware tools for visualization. The software package can be used not only for visualization of the existing designs, but also for a fine tuning of the spatial, kinetic, and color properties of the hologram. Moreover, the holograms containing all types of the 3D effects, general color mixing, kinetic behavior, diffractive cryptograms, etc. can be translated using the software directly to a high resolution micro-structure.

In near-field imaging with partially coherent x-rays, the phase shifting properties of the sample are encoded in the diffraction fringes that appear as an additional intensity modulation in the x-ray projection images. These Fresnel fringes are often regarded as purely an enhancement of the visibility at the interfaces. We show that retrieving the phase information contained in these patterns significantly advances the developments in fast micro-tomography. Improving temporal resolution without intensifying radiation damage implies a shortening of the exposure time rather than increasing the photon flux on the sample. Phase retrieval, to a large extent, compensates the consequent photon count moderation in the images, by fully exploiting the stronger refraction effect as compared with absorption. Two single-distance phase retrieval methods are evaluated for the case of an in situ 3 Hz micro-tomography of a rapidly evolving liquid foam, and an in vivo 6 Hz micro-tomography of a blowfly. A new dual-detector setup is introduced for simultaneous acquisition of two near-field diffraction patterns. Our goal is to couple high temporal, spatial and density resolution in a single imaging system in a dose-efficient manner, opening further options for dynamic four-dimensional studies.

To overcome the limited contrast to noise ratio in fast time resolved 4D imaging with partially coherent X-ray, we propose new options of phase retrieval with a dual-detector acquisition scheme. An iterative refinement of the phasing methods is evaluated.

Laser matrix lithography device is presented which can be used for fabrication of various diffractive structures including novel types of optical security elements. New ideas in encryption of information using diffractive elements are presented.

Formerly, the applications of the holographic optical tweezers were limited by the speed of the algorithm used for design of the diffractive structures. Nowadays algorithm can run on the GPU, which enables new design possibilities.

This paper deals with the design, fabrication, and applications of the synthetic diffractive elements. Selected design algorithms such as the Iterative Fourier Transform Algorithm and others have been researched and improved to give better results for particular applications. Interesting fabrication technologies such as the matrix laser lithography are also presented. Finally, several applications are described that have been solved at the Department of Physical Electronics of the Faculty of Nuclear Sciences and Physical Engineering.

Optical manipulation is presented with various micro-particles on special relief substrates working as the microfluidic devices. The substrates are prepared using the laser lithography. The manipulation is realized using the holographic optical tweezers.

We report a compact holographic optical tweezers based on an LCoS SLM. Optical traps are generated by diffraction of light on the Fresnel-type hologram generated by a fast parallel algorithm that enables real-time 3-D manipulation.