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the algorithms for synthesis of DOEs with regard for the electromagnetic radiation polarization.

In summary, the authors hope that this book will be of much help to optical engineers and systems designers. It can also be used as a textbook for senior students and postgraduates specializing in optics, digital holography, laser systems design, image processing, and phase retrieval, and is recommended for use as a manual for retraining courses, under the title ‘Non-conventional optics for lasers’.

The authors wish to acknowledge that various studies pertaining to the contents of this book have been conducted at the Image Processing Systems Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Samara, and Samara State Aerospace University.

We thank Drs S.N.Khonina, I.V.Nikolsky, P.G.Seraphimovich and S.V.Philippov, who undertook the computer-aided studies of DOEs, and Margarita I.Kotlyar for her help in translating the book into English. We also thank Jakov E.Takhtarov and Oleg K.Zalyalov for their time and effort in preparing a disk version of the book.