Phase retrieval in a lossy medium

A practical technique is suggested for the phase problem of an object immersed in a lossy dielectric host medium. The method requires two intensity data sets; each is taken with a different loss factor for the host medium. The uniqueness of the solution is demonstrated in terms of shifting the complex zeros of the scattered data as the loss factor is changed. The similarity of the proof to the method of exponential filters is discussed. It is believed that, among several applications, the method may be an attractive alternative to the more demanding phase unwrapping techniques which are used for diffraction tomographic cases where phase data cannot be relied on