Sensor Calibration Based on Incoherent Optical Fiber Bundles (IOFB) Used For Remote Image Transmission

Image transmission using incoherent optical fiber bundles (IOFB) requires prior calibration to obtain the spatial in-out fiber correspondence in order to reconstruct the image captured by the pseudo-sensor. This information is recorded in a Look-Up Table (LUT), used later for reordering the fiber positions and reconstructing the original image. This paper presents a method based on line-scan to obtain the in-out correspondence. The results demonstrate that this technique yields a remarkable reduction in processing time and increased image quality by introducing a fiber detection algorithm, an intensity compensation process and finally, a single interpolation algorithm

Photorefractive incoherent-to-coherent optical converter

Photorefractive materials have been extensively used in recent years as real-time recording media for optical holography.(^1,2) One prospective application of real-time holography is in the area of optical information processing; for example, the correlation between two mutually incoherent images has recently been demonstrated in real time in a four-wave mixing geometry. (^3) Often, however, the information to be processed exists only in incoherent form. High performance spatial light modulators(^4) are thus necessary in many optical information processing systems to convert incoherent images to coherent replicas for subsequent processing. We report in this Communication the successful demonstration of real-time incoherent-to-coherent images transduction through the use of holographic recording in photorefractive crystals. Several possible configurations and experimental results are presented

Interferometric electro-optical signal processors with partially coherent illumination

Fourier- and Hartley-related transforms are realized in a family of interferometers. The implementation of these interferometers as image correlators is investigated theoretically and experimentally with both coherent and spatially incoherent illumination. Several correlators that can be used for pattern recognition are studied and demonstrated experimentally as special cases

Sparsity based sub-wavelength imaging with partially incoherent light via quadratic compressed sensing

We demonstrate that sub-wavelength optical images borne on partially-spatially-incoherent light can be recovered, from their far-field or from the blurred image, given the prior knowledge that the image is sparse, and only that. The reconstruction method relies on the recently demonstrated sparsity-based sub-wavelength imaging. However, for partially-spatially-incoherent light, the relation between the measurements and the image is quadratic, yielding non-convex measurement equations that do not conform to previously used techniques. Consequently, we demonstrate new algorithmic methodology, referred to as quadratic compressed sensing, which can be applied to a range of other problems involving information recovery from partial correlation measurements, including when the correlation function has local dependencies. Specifically for microscopy, this method can be readily extended to white light microscopes with the additional knowledge of the light source spectrum.Comment: 16 page

On-chip differential interference contrast microscopy using lensless digital holography.

We introduce the use of a birefringent crystal with lensless digital holography to create an on-chip differential interference contrast (DIC) microscope. Using an incoherent source with a large aperture, in-line holograms of micro-objects are created, which interact with a uniaxial crystal and an absorbing polarizer, encoding differential interference contrast information of the objects on the chip. Despite the fact that a unit fringe magnification and an incoherent source with a large aperture have been used, holographic digital processing of such holograms rapidly recovers the differential phase contrast image of the specimen over a large field-of-view of approximately 24 mm(2)

Image processing as state reconstruction in optics

The image reconstruction of partially coherent light is interpreted as the quantum state reconstruction. The efficient method based on maximum-likelihood estimation is proposed to acquire information from registered intensity measurements affected by noise. The connection with totally incoherent image restoration is pointed out. The feasibility of the method is demonstrated numerically. Spatial and correlation details significantly smaller than the diffraction limit are revealed in the reconstructed pattern.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figure

Wavelength-multiplexed computer-generated volume holography

We demonstrate recording and reconstruction of multiple-computer-generated wavelength-multiplexed volume holograms in a holographic storage medium. The holograms display high selectivity, and their reconstruction process results in a convenient conversion of wavelength into angular multiplexing

Air Force research in optical processing

Optical and optical electronic hybrid processing especially in the application area of image processing are emphasized. Real time pattern recognition processors for such airborne missions as target recognition, tracking, and terminal guidance are studied