Optical Confocal Holography is a combination of two well known concepts:​ confocal microscopy and optical (laser) holography. Confocal microscopy places an aperture at a conjugate focus to the specimen focus. This filters any rays that are not on the focus plane, allowing a 3-dimensional image of the specimen to be built up over a set of planes. Holography is the measurement of both the amplitude and phase characteristics of light. Typically most methods only measure the amplitude of the image. The phenomenon of interference allows the determination of the phase shift for a coherent source as well. The phase information is directly related to the index of refraction of a material, which in turn is a function of the temperature and composition. As a technique, confocal holography holds promise to better characterize many physical processes in materials science, such as combustion and convection. It also may contribute to the biological sciences by imaging low-contrast, weak-phase objects. Thanks to the ongoing, continued improvement in computer processing speed, it has recently become practical to interpret data from confocal holography microscopy with a computer. The objective of the microscope is to non-invasively measure the three-dimensional, internal temperatures and compositions (e.g. solute/solvent gradient) of a specimen.

My contributions over the course of two years to the project were:​ generation and optimization of an optical design with a software package known as Zemax;​ sourcing and purchasing all components;​ formation of a CAD model of the microscope;​ experiments to characterize building vibrations and air currents;​ and the development of software in Visual Basic to simulate holograms and execute reconstruction algorithms for the specific application of confocal holography.