Diffraction from a wavelet point of view

The system impulse response representing the Fresnel diffraction is shown to form a wavelet family of functions. The scale parameter of the wavelet family represents the depth (distance). This observation relates the diffraction-holography-related studies and the wavelet theory. The results may be used in various optical applications such as designing robust volume optical elements for optical signal processing and finding new formulations for optical inverse problems. The results also extend the wavelet concept to the nonbandpass family of functions with the implication of new applications in signal processing. The presented wavelet structure, for example, is a tool for space-depth analysis.