Editing Reference beam

{{Unreferenced|date=December 2009}}
A '''reference beam''' is a [[laser]] beam used to read and write [[hologram]]s.  It is one of two laser beams used to create a hologram.  In order to read a hologram out, some aspects of the reference beam (namely its [[angle of incidence (optics)|angle of incidence]], beam profile and [[wavelength]]) must be reproduced exactly as when it was used to write the hologram.  As a result, usually reference beams are [[Gaussian beam]]s or [[spherical wave]] beams (beams that [[Radiation|radiate]] from a single point) which are fairly easy to reproduce.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Reference beam - Knowledge and References |url=https://taylorandfrancis.com/knowledge/Engineering_and_technology/Computer_science/Reference_beam/ |access-date=2025-06-01 |website=Taylor & Francis |language=en-US}}</ref>

The other beam used to write a hologram is the [[signal beam]] or object beam.

==References==
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[[Category:Holography]]


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