A Retroreflection Reduction Technique Based on the Wavefront Coded Imaging System

Wavefront coding technique can extend the depth of filed (DOF) of the incoherent imaging system. Several rectangular separable phase masks (such as cubic type, exponential type, logarithmic type, sinusoidal type, rational type, et al) have been proposed and discussed, because they can extend the DOF up to ten times of the DOF of ordinary imaging system. But according to the research on them, researchers have pointed out that the images are damaged by the artifacts, which usually come from the non-linear phase transfer function (PTF) differences between the PTF used in the image restoration filter and the PTF related to real imaging condition. In order to alleviate the image artifacts in imaging systems with wavefront coding, an optimization model based on the PTF was proposed to make the PTF invariance with the defocus. Thereafter, an image restoration filter based on the average PTF in the designed depth of field was introduced along with the PTF-based optimization. The combination of the optimization and the image restoration proposed can alleviate the artifacts, which was confirmed by the imaging simulation of spoke target. The cubic phase mask (CPM) and exponential phase mask (EPM) were discussed as example.

Since some previous methods sacrifice too much imaging quality to achieve the valid retroreflection reduction, a novel image plane tilted system combined with the wavefront coding is proposed in this paper, which could improve the privacy and security of the imaging equipment by eliminating the retroreflection without suffering significant degradation in imaging quality. First, the theoretical model of the tilted wavefront coding system is established based on the wave-optics theory. According to the derived point spread function and the modulation transfer function, the maximum tilt angle of the image plane is obtained. Second, the target system is designed and optimized by Zemax, and the later simulation analyzes the effects of the tilting on both the retroreflection and the imaging property. Finally, the experiments verify the simulation results. It shows that when the tilt angle equals 5°, there is no longer significant retroreflection on the observation plane with the total receiving power decreasing to nearly 4 orders of magnitude compared with the state without tilting. Moreover, within the maximum tilt angle, the final decoded images of the wavefront coding system still maintain superior clarity and uniformity for both the artificial and the natural objects. Consequently, the BRISQUE index is reduced by 15.92% and 28.19%, respectively, compared with the conventional imaging system, which indicates that the image quality is significantly improved by the proposed system. In conclusion, the technique of wavefront coding could effectively compensate for the high-order aberrations induced by the tilting and preserve a large field of view for precise imaging with no retroreflection, which shows us a broad prospect.

Wavefront coding technology can extend the depth of field of the iris imaging system, but the iris image obtained through the system is coded and blurred and can't be used for the recognition algorithm directly. The paper presents a fuzzy iris image restoration method used in the wavefront coding system. After the restoration, the images can be used for the following processing. Firstly, the wavefront coded imaging system is simulated and the optical parameter is analyzed, through the simulation we can get the system's point spread function (PSF). Secondly, using the blurred iris image and PSF to do a blind restoration to estimate a appropriate PSFe. Finally, based on the return value PSFe of PSF, applying the regularization filter on the blurred image. Experimental results show that the proposed method is simple and has fast processing speed. Compared with the traditional restoration algorithms of Wiener filtering and Lucy-Richardson filtering, the recovery image that got through the regularization filtering is the most similar with the original iris image.

Imaging systems using aspheric imaging lenses with complementary computation can deliver performance unobtainable in conventional imaging systems. These new imaging systems, termed Wavefront coded imaging systems, use specialized optics to capture a coded image of the scene. Decoding the intermediate image provides the "human-usable" image expected of an imaging system. Computation for the decoding step can be made completely transparent to the user with today's technology. Real-time Wavefront coded systems are feasible and cost-effective. This "computational imaging" technology can be adapted to solve a wide range of imaging problems. Solutions include the ability to provide focus-free imaging, to increase the field of view, to increase the depth of read, to correct for aberrations (even in single lens systems), and to account for assembly and temperature induced misalignment. Wavefront coded imaging has been demonstrated across a wide range of applications, including microscopy, miniature cameras, machine vision systems, infrared imaging systems and telescopes.

<p>\n\tWave-front coding, proposed by Dowski and Cathey in 1995, is widely known to be capable of extending the depth of focus (DOF) of incoherent imaging systems. However, benefiting from its very large point spread function (PSF) generated by a suitably designed phase mask that is added to the aperture plane, wave-front coding could also be used to achieve super-resolution without replacing the current sensor with one of smaller pitch size. An image amplification based super-resolution reconstruction procedure has been specifically designed for wave-front coded imaging systems and its effectiveness has been tested by experiment. For instance, for a focal length of 50 mm and f-number 4.5, objects within the range [5 m, infinity] are clearly imaged with the help of wave-front coding, which indicates a DOF extension ratio of approximately 20. The proposed super-resolution reconstruction procedure produces at least 3x resolution improvement, with the quality of the reconstructed super-resolution image approaching the diffraction limit.</p>

The burgeoning field of astrophotonics, the interface between astronomy and photonics, is redefining astronomical instrumentation to replace traditional bulk optical systems with integrated optics. This drives the development of a new promising photonics-integrated interferometric imaging technique, called the segmented planar imaging detector for electro-optical reconnaissance (SPIDER). Compared to conventional imaging systems, SPIDER can reduce the size, weight, and power (SWaP) by one to two orders of magnitude for an equivalent imaging resolution in virtue of photonics-integrated technology. However, SPIDER has a dense lens distribution and tens of separated narrow wavebands demultiplexed by array waveguide gratings. In this paper, we developed a new simplified sparse-aperture photonics-integrated interferometer (SPIN) imaging system. The SPIN imaging system was no more a Michelson configuration interferometer as SPIDER and was designed as a Fizeau configuration interferometer imaging system. This transfer of configuration type affords a more concise structure; the SPIN was designed with much less apertures and fewer wavebands than those of SPIDER. Further, the SPIN yields enhanced modulation transfer function and imaging quality with equivalent aperture diameter, compared with SPIDER. The main barrier of this transfer is the elimination of coupling restriction at the tip of a waveguide, namely the apodization effect. This effect, which is caused by the coupling effect between Fourier lens and waveguide, hinders SPIN imaging systems from getting finer resolution. However, a microscope could be used to eliminate this effect. Moreover, a waveguide array is used to receive these finer details and enlarges the field of view in SPIN. The coupling efficiency of the waveguides and crosstalk errors between waveguides of array were analyzed, which are important for proper parameters setting in SPIN imaging system. Based on these analyses, the imaging principle was derived and a hyper-Laplacian-based imaging reconstruction algorithm was developed. A simulation of the SPIN imaging system with seven apertures and one imaging waveband demonstrated the high imaging quality.

In the space limited infrared imaging system based MEMS, the adjustment of optical readout part is inconvenient. This paper proposed a method of wave-front coding to extend the depth of focus/field of the optical readout system, to solve the problem above, and to reduce the demanding for precision in processing and assemblage of the optical readout system itself as well. The wave-front coded imaging system consists of optical coding and digital decoding. By adding a CPM (Cubic Phase Mask) on the pupil plane, it becomes non-sensitive to defocussing within an extended range. The system has similar PSFs and almost equally blurred intermediate images can be obtained. Sharp images are supposed to be acquired based on image restoration algorithms, with the same PSF as a decoding core.We studied the conventional optical imaging system, which had the same optical performance with the wave-front coding one for comparing. Analogue imaging experiments were carried out. And one PSF was used as a simple direct inverse filter, for imaging restoration. Relatively sharp restored images were obtained. Comparatively, the analogue defocussing images of the conventional system were badly destroyed. Using the decrease of the MTF as a standard, we found the depth of focus/field of the wave-front coding system had been extended significantly.

A novel design of a wavefront coded compact camera system with liquid lens is presented. The point spread function must remain practically constant over a wide range of defocus in order to create an image which is sharp over a large depth of field. Therefore, the trade-off between the effect of extended depth of field and reduction in the signal to noise ratio of the restored image become critical. By combining liquid lens and wavefront coding, the system can deliver much greater depth of field without the restoration problems caused by the similarity of point spread function. This could improve the overall image performance.

Wavefront coding involves the insertion of an asymmetric refractive mask close to the pupil plane of an imaging system so as to encode the image with a specific point spread function that, when combined with decoding of the recorded image, can enable greatly reduced sensitivity to imaging aberrations. The application of wavefront coding has potential in the fields of microscopy, where increased instantaneous depth of field is advantageous and in thermal imaging where it can enable the use of simple, low-cost, light-weight lens systems. It has been previously shown that wavefront coding can alleviate optical aberrations and extend the depth of field of incoherent imaging systems whilst maintaining diffraction-limited resolution. It is particularly useful in controlling thermally induced defocus aberrations in infrared imaging systems. These improvements in performance are subject to a range of constraints including the difficulty in manufacturing an asymmetrical phase mask and significant noise amplification in the digitally restored image. We describe the relation between the optical path difference (OPD) introduced by the phase mask and the magnitude of noise amplification in the restored image. In particular there is a trade between the increased tolerance to optical aberrations and reduced signal-to-noise ratio in the recovered image. We present numerical and experimental studies based of noise amplification with the specific consideration of a simple refractive infrared imaging system operated in an ambient temperature varying from 0°C to +50 C. These results are used to delineate the design and application envelope for which infrared imaging can benefit from wavefront coding.

The optical transfer function (OTF), which correspond to the frequency domain, is of fundamental importance in characterizing imaging ability in optical imaging systems. By using the Collins formula and the optical transfer matrix theory, a simple and unified analytical expression of OTF is presented in any ghost imaging (GI) system. By comparing the spectrum distribution of OTF between different GI systems, one can predict which imaging system can provide better imaging quality when the same imaging object is used. Theoretical and experimental results are also implemented to verify our results.

For traditional imaging systems, high imaging quality and system miniaturization are often contradictory. In order to meet the requirements of high imaging quality and system miniaturization, this paper proposes a method to correct the aberration of coherent imaging optical systems. The method is based on the idea of phase recovery and the imaging principle of a coherent imaging system to recover the aberrations at the exit pupil of the system. According to the recovered aberrations, conjugate filters are constructed to correct the image quality in the frequency domain. The imaging quality of the system is improved without changing the original optical path, and the simplicity of the system is guaranteed. To solve the pupil frequency domain aberration more accurately, this paper adopts the dual competition and parallel recombination strategy based on the genetic algorithm and introduces the disaster model. The improved genetic algorithm can effectively restrain the appearance of the “precocity” phenomenon. Finally, the paraxial imaging optical path is simulated and verified by experiments. The results show that, after aberration correction, the image sharpness is improved and the edge information is richer, which verifies the feasibility of the coherent imaging system image quality enhancement method proposed in this paper.

We have designed and fabricated four LDA optical setups consisting of aberration compensated four different compact two hololens imaging systems. We have experimentally investigated and realized a hololens recording geometry which is interferogram of converging spherical wavefront with mutually coherent planar wavefront. Proposed real time monitoring and actual fringe field analysis techniques allow complete characterizations of fringes formed at measurement volume and permit to evaluate beam quality, alignment and fringe uniformity with greater precision. After experimentally analyzing the fringes formed at measurement volume by all four imaging systems, it is found that fringes obtained using compact two hololens imaging systems get improved both qualitatively and quantitatively compared to that obtained using conventional imaging system. Results indicate qualitative improvement of non-uniformity in fringe thickness and micro intensity variations perpendicular to the fringes, and quantitative improvement of 39.25% in overall average normalized standard deviations of fringe width formed by compact two hololens imaging systems compare to that of conventional imaging system.

Much research effort has been spent in the 21st century on superresolution imaging techniques, methods which can beat the diffraction limit. Subwavelength composite structures called ``metamaterials" had initially shown great promise in superresolution imaging applications in the early 2000s, owing to their potential for nearly arbitrary capabilities in controlling light. However, for optical frequencies they are often plagued by absorption and scattering losses which can decay or destroy their interesting properties. Similar issues limit the application of other superresolution devices operating as effective media, or metal films that can transfer waves with large momentum by supporting surface plasmon polaritons. In this dissertation, new methods of mitigating the loss of object information in lossy and noisy optical imaging systems are presented. The result is an improvement in the upper bound on lateral spatial resolution. A concentration is placed on metamaterial and plasmonic imaging systems, and the same methods are subsequently adapted to more conventional far-field imaging systems. First, through numerical simulation it is shown that a lossy metamaterial lens has degraded imaging performance which can be partially compensated by deconvolution post-processing of the resultant image. This post-processing procedure is then shown to emulate a physical process called plasmon injection, which has been previously implemented to effectively remove the losses in a plasmonic metamaterial. Next, a more realistic scenario is considered; a thin film of silver acting as a near-field plasmonic ``superlens." In this case, methods are implemented to model incoherent light propagation so that the image can be reconstructed using only intensity data, removing the need for phase measurement. The same procedure from above is followed, and the resolution is enhanced. To push the resolution further, a spatial filtering method called active convolved illumination is developed to overcome the resolution limit set by the noise floor of the system. Finally, the spatial filtering methods are applied to more a more conventional far-field imaging system. Supported by experiment, the lateral resolution of a low numerical aperture imaging system is improved by blocking photons at the Fourier plane. For coherent light, a diffractive superlens is designed which uses the same principles from the above theory, except it encodes the high spatial frequency waves into propagating waves via a diffraction grating. The result is lateral resolution performance that surpasses similar previously published devices by 10 nm at a wavelength more than 80 nm longer.

3D ultrasound imaging is becoming increasingly prevalent in the medical field. Compared to conventional 2D imaging systems, 3D imaging can provide a detailed view of tissue structures that makes diagnosis easier for the physicians. In addition, 2D image slices can be formed at various orientations to the transducer, making the examination less dependent on the skill of the sonographer. However, various challenges exist in developing a 3D imaging system, such as integration of a large number of elements, as well as post-processing of datasets received from a large number of channels. 2D transducer arrays are typically integrated with custom ICs in the probe handle to perform some intermediate beamforming and to reduce the number of cable connections to the imaging system. Capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducers (CMUTs) have emerged as an alternative to piezoelectric transducers. Being a MEMS device, they greatly benefit from flexibility and ease of fabrication, and can be seamlessly integrated with electronics. Previous work demonstrates 3D stacking of CMUTs and dummy ICs with an intermediate interposer layer. However, that represents more of a mechanical demonstration of 3D integration. In this paper, we present a fully functional 3D ultrasound imaging system comprising a 32×32 2D CMUT array, 3D-stacked with front-end ICs using flip-chip bonding technology. The imaging system is capable of capturing real-time volumetric ultrasound data, and displaying 2D and 3D ultrasound images.

Conventional multichannel imaging systems comprise of many optical channels having similar imaging properties, namely field-of-view (FOV) and angular resolution/magnification. We demonstrated that the different optical channels can be designed such that each optical channel captures a different FOV and angular resolution compared to its neighboring channels. We designed and experimentally demonstrated a three-channel multiresolution imaging system where the first optical channel has the narrowest FOV (7°) and highest angular resolution (0.0096°) and the third optical channel has the widest FOV (80°) and lowest angular resolution (0.078°)1. The second optical channel has intermediate properties. The performance of the demonstrated three-channel imaging system however was affected by chromatic aberrations as it was designed for a single wavelength of 587.6 nm. The first optical channel was largely influenced by longitudinal chromatic aberration while the third channel by lateral chromatic aberration. Therefore, we have replaced the aspherical refractive lenses by hybrid lenses, which contain diffractive structures on top of their refractive surfaces, in the three-channel multiresolution imaging system to reduce its chromatic aberrations. The performance of the three channels with hybrid lenses is compared with those of the corresponding channels without hybrid lenses. The longitudinal color aberration of the first optical channel has been reduced from 1.7 mm to 0.2 mm; whereas the lateral color aberration of the third optical channel has been reduced from 250 μm to 14 μm. In conclusion, the hybrid lenses have reduced the chromatic aberrations of the three channels and extended the operating spectral range of the imaging system in the visible wavelength range.