We present sub-millimeter full-field depth from focus digital holography of surface topography of rough objects. For each pixel, the depth of the object is calculated from the variance of the intensity image over a set of reconstruction distances. First, we theoretically describe the axial resolution of this method and show that sub-millimeter resolution is feasible. Second, using a digital holography setup without magnifying optics or lateral scanning we experimentally demonstrate 100 μm axial resolution depth ranging and surface topography imaging. This is significantly better than what has previously been reported using digital holography and could make this technique useful for rapid large-area characterization of surface topography of objects.

We use digital holography to quantify surface topography of rough objects in full-field. We calculate the variance of the intensity image as a focus metric over a set of reconstruction distances for each pixel, which results in a focus metric curve. The distance where the variance peaks is an estimate for the depth. First we analyze the lateral resolution of this method using the Talbot effect and argue that sub-mm axial resolution is feasible. Then, using a Michelson setup without magnifying optics or lateral scanning we experimentally demonstrate that sub-mm FWHM width of the focus curve can be achieved. This is significantly better than what was previously reported using digital holography and could make this technique useful for characterising objects in art and machine vision.

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