Influence of size parameter and refractive index of the scatterer on polarization-gated optical imaging through turbid media

The influence of incident polarized light, refractive index, and size parameter of the scatterer on achievable resolution and contrast (image quality) of polarization-gated transillumination imaging in turbid media is reported here. Differential polarization detection led to significant improvement of image quality of an object embedded in a medium of small-sized scatterers (diameter Dor=lambda,g>or=0.7), the improvement in image quality was less pronounced using either linear or circular polarization gating when the refractive index of the scatterer was high (ns=1.59), but for a lower value of refractive index (ns=1.37), image quality improved with the differential circular polarization gating. We offer a plausible explanation for these observations.     

Two-dimensional subwavelength imaging from a hemispherical hyperlens

We report a hemispherical-shaped hyperlens with subwavelength resolution less than 100 nm. Simulations with the finite-element method show that with a 365 nm illumination, the hemispherical hyperlens isotropically magnifies the image along the radial direction. Under linearly polarized light, portions of an object can be resolved. A complete image of the object can be generated by superposing sufficient number of images obtained with incident light in different polarization directions. Such a hyperlens has great potential for realization of nanoscale imaging.     

Polarimetric imaging method for target enhancement in haze based on polarimetric retrieval

Polarimetric imaging has been proven to be an effective way in detecting the targets of interest in complicated surroundings by analyzing the polarization property, instead of the intensity, of the light emanating from the objects. Unfortunately, polarimetric imaging encounters difficulty when the surroundings are very scattered, where on the one hand the polarization property of the object light usually becomes very faint after a strong depolarized scattering process; on the other hand, the object light will be blended with the atmospheric light scattered by haze particles (airlight). In this paper, we propose a polarimetric imaging retrieval method that can be used for such challenging conditions. Firstly, the airlight radiance is estimated precisely. Then, the airlight is removed from the hazy images. Finally, the residual polarization property of the object light is regained, which ensures the validity of the polarimetric imaging method in these conditions. The experiments confirm that the proposed method is useful in enhancing polarimetric imaging detection in haze.     

Improving visibility depth in passive underwater imaging by use of polarization

Results are presented that demonstrate the effectiveness of using polarization discrimination to improve visibility when imaging in a scattering medium. The study is motivated by the desire to improve visibility depth in turbid environments, such as the sea. Most previous research in this area has concentrated on the active illumination of objects with polarized light. We consider passive or ambient illumination, such as that deriving from sunlight or a cloudy sky. The basis for the improvements in visibility observed is that single scattering by small particles introduces a significant amount of polarization into light at scattering angles near 90 degrees: This light can then be distinguished from light scattered by an object that remains almost completely unpolarized. Results were obtained from a Monte Carlo simulation and from a small-scale experiment in which an object was immersed in a cell filled with polystyrene latex spheres suspended in water. In both cases, the results showed an improvement in contrast and visibility depth for obscuration that was due to Rayleigh particles, but less improvement was obtained for larger scatterers.     

新型偏振特性因子及其传递关系的研究

偏振遥感图像通常可以采用强度、偏振度、偏振角或HIS柱形彩色空间表征目标偏振特性.本文通过建立光束在多层介质中传递的简单模型,找到一种新型偏振特性因子.此偏振特性因子所成图像是偏振度图像和偏振角图像信息复合的结果,其实质反映了偏振光束中的线偏振光的光强相对含量及它的偏振角方向.对伪装过的车牌进行偏振成像,实验表明此偏振特性因子可以用于特定环境下的伪装辨别.     

Resolution improvement in digital holography by angular and polarization multiplexing

Angular and polarization multiplexing techniques are utilized in both object and reference arms in the digital holographic microscopy system to improve its resolution. The angular multiplexing provides on-axis and off-axis illumination and reference beams with different carrier frequencies. Polarization multiplexing prohibits the occurrence of interference between low and high object spatial frequencies and reference beams. The proposed system does not require special light sources or filtering masks. Experimental results show that the resolution of the synthesized image exceeds the resolution determined by the numerical aperture of the imaging microscope objective.     

Image formation with regard to object shadow for objects inside a scattering medium

The conventional theory of image transfer through a scattering medium treats objects located upon reflecting surfaces. It is shown that, when an object is located inside a scattering medium and shields a part of space, ignoring the shadowing leads to incorrect results, especially for modern time-gating systems. We develop a general theory of image formation including the shadowing effect when an object is located inside a scattering medium. The example of the observation of a submerged object through a windy ocean surface is chosen to illustrate this theory. A few unexpected effects in imaging of a submerged object are found and discussed, including contrast conversion for a sinking object and higher contrast in the shadow image than in the image of the object itself. The conclusion that using the shadow image for detection of a submerged object can be more efficient than using the image of the object itself is of practical significance.     

Optical tomographic image reconstruction from ultrafast time-sliced transmission measurements

Optical imaging and localization of objects inside a highly scattering medium, such as a tumor in the breast, is a challenging problem with many practical applications. Conventional imaging methods generally provide only two-dimensional (2-D) images of limited spatial resolution with little diagnostic ability. Here we present an inversion algorithm that uses time-resolved transillumination measurements in the form of a sequence of picosecond-duration intensity patterns of transmitted ultrashort light pulses to reconstruct three-dimensional (3-D) images of an absorbing object located inside a slab of a highly scattering medium. The experimental arrangement used a 3-mm-diameter collimated beam of 800-nm, 150-fs, 1-kHz repetition rate light pulses from a Ti:sapphire laser and amplifier system to illuminate one side of the slab sample. An ultrafast gated intensified camera system that provides a minimum FWHM gate width of 80 ps recorded the 2-D intensity patterns of the light transmitted through the opposite side of the slab. The gate position was varied in steps of 100 ps over a 5-ns range to obtain a sequence of 2-D transmitted light intensity patterns of both less-scattered and multiple-scattered light for image reconstruction. The inversion algorithm is based on the diffusion approximation of the radiative transfer theory for photon transport in a turbid medium. It uses a Green s function perturbative approach under the Rytov approximation and combines a 2-D matrix inversion with a one-dimensional Fourier-transform inversion to achieve speedy 3-D image reconstruction. In addition to the lateral position, the method provides information about the axial position of the object as well, whereas the 2-D reconstruction methods yield only lateral position.     

Polarization and retinal image quality estimates in the human eye

We have previously studied how polarization affects the double-pass estimates of the retinal image quality by using an imaging polarimeter [Opt. Lett. 24, 64 (1999)]. A series of 16 images for independent combinations of polarization states in the polarimeter were recorded to obtain the spatially resolved Mueller matrices of the eye. From these matrices, double-pass images of a point source for light with different combinations of incoming (first-pass) and outcoming (second-pass) polarization states were reconstructed and their corresponding modulation transfer functions were calculated. We found that the retinal image or, alternatively, the ocular aberrations, are nearly independent of the state of polarization of the incident light (in the first pass). This means that a significant improvement in the ocular optics by using a specific type of polarized light could not be achieved. However, quite different estimates of the retinal image quality are obtained for combinations of polarization states in both the first and the second passes in the double-pass apparatus.     

Lens-less quantum ghost imaging: New two-photon experiments

New types of lens-less two-photon ghost imaging experiments are described that can also be useful for 3D X-ray imaging. In these experimental setups, a CCD array is placed facing a chaotic light source and gated by a photon counting detector that simply counts all randomly reflected photons from an object. A “ghost” image of the object is then observed from the gated CCD. A ghost image of an object can even be observed when the photon path to the photon counting device is obscured. These interesting demonstrations are not only useful for practical applications, such as X-ray lens-less imaging, but are also important from a fundamental point of view. These demonstrations lead to insight regarding the nonclassical two-photon interference nature of thermal light ghost imaging.     

电厂燃料传输流量检测装置的研究

本文采用了基于图像分析的传输流量检测的核心原理和方法——激光扫描成像偏移原理和三角测量方法，利用基于光谱光效率原理的彩色光束成像技术设计了一种新型的用于电厂燃料的传输流量检测装置，通过分析采集的彩色序列图像，检测传输带上实时流量体积进行分析并根据分析结果指导传输控制装置做出相应的动作以使传输流量保持稳定。在实际的电厂中进行了9个运行班次的燃料传输的图像采集和图像分析实验，分析表明，与实际测得的流量相比，检测误差不超过3％。本文设计的传输流量检测装置是可行而且有效的。     

Resolution improvement in microscopic imaging through turbid media based on differential polarization gating

We report a new method for microscopic imaging of an object embedded in a turbid medium, based on the differential polarization-gating mechanism. It is demonstrated that with this method, image resolution through optically thick milk suspensions can be improved by as much as 30% compared with no-gating methods. An image resolution of tens of micrometers is achieved in an optically thick turbid medium, which is approximately 10 times better than that achieved in transillumination imaging in a similar medium.     

Holographic quantum eraser experiment reveals polarization structure of depolarized light

It is shown that a holographic setup for real-time interferometry can be used to realize a quantum eraser (QE) experiment. Circular polarized light is used to distinguish between the photons of the reconstructed image of the object and the direct object wave consisting of scattered photons from the illuminated flat object. To erase the "which path information," a linear polarizer is used. The experimental results show that polarized light, after depolarizing reflection from a dielectric surface, contains an internal polarization structure, which can be described extending the well-known Jones vector formalism.     

Time-resolved polarization shadowgrams in turbid media

The use of the polarization of light as a parameter to discriminate against multiple-scattered light for transillumination imaging through random scattering media is examined. Time-resolved two-dimensional images of submillimeter test bars immersed in 5-cm-thick Intralipid solutions with different micelle dilutions were measured for two orthogonal polarizations (parallel and perpendicular) of light emerging from the turbid medium by using a picosecond Kerr-Fourier (KF) imaging system. The measured contrast and intensity of parallel-polarized KF shadowgrams decreased as the concentration of the scattering medium was increased, whereas the behavior of the perpendicular-polarized KF shadowgrams varied in an opposite matter to the micelle concentration.     

Doppler encoded excitation pattern tomographic optical microscopy

Most far-field optical imaging systems rely on lenses and spatially resolved detection to probe distinct locations on the object. We describe and demonstrate a high-speed wide-field approach to imaging that instead measures the complex spatial Fourier transform of the object by detecting its spatially integrated response to dynamic acousto-optically synthesized structured illumination. Tomographic filtered backprojection is applied to reconstruct the object in two or three dimensions. This technique decouples depth of field and working distance from resolution, in contrast to conventional imaging, and can be used to image biological and synthetic structures in fluoresced or scattered light employing coherent or broadband illumination. We discuss the electronically programmable transfer function of the optical system and its implications for imaging dynamic processes. We also explore wide-field fluorescence imaging in scattering media by coherence gating. Finally, we present two-dimensional high-resolution tomographic image reconstructions in both scattered and fluoresced light demonstrating a thousandfold improvement in the depth of field compared to conventional lens-based microscopy.     

Polarization Aberration Effects Propagated in Optical Systems

Abstract

The propagation and imaging of polarized light through optical systems described by a polarization aberration expansion is treated by combining a scalar operator calculus with the Jones calculus. The martrix-operator framework provides a means for handling diffraction and propagation in optical systems containing polarization aberrations. An expansion for the polarization aberration function of an optical system, similar to the expansion of the wavefront aberration function into defocus, tilt, piston, and higher-order terms, is analysed. These polarization aberration terms introduce phase changes in the diffraction image proportional to the first and second derivatives of the non-polarization aberrated image structure.     

Polarization imaging by use of digital holography

We present what we believe to be a new digital holographic imaging method that is able to determine simultaneously the distributions of intensity, phase, and polarization state at the surface of a specimen on the basis of a single image acquisition. Two reference waves with orthogonal polarization states interfere with the object wave to create a hologram that is recorded on a CCD camera. Two wave fronts, one for each perpendicular polarization state, are numerically reconstructed in intensity and phase. Combining the intensity and the phase distributions of these two wave fronts permits the determination of all the components of the Jones vector of the object-wave front. We show that this method can be used to image and measure the distribution of the polarization state at the surface of a specimen, and the obtained results indicate that precise quantitative measurements of the polarization state can be achieved. An application of the method to image the birefringence of a stressed polymethyl methacrylate sample is presented.     

Depolarization and blurring of optical images by biological tissue

We present a study of the image blurring and depolarization resulting from the transmission of a narrow beam of light through a continuous random medium. We investigate the dependence of image quality degradation and of depolarization on optical thickness, correlation length of the inhomogeneities, and incident polarization state. This is done numerically with a Monte Carlo method based on a transport equation that takes into account polarization of light. We compare our results with those for transport in media with discrete spherical scatterers. We show that depolarization effects are different in these two models of biological tissue.     

Phase-shifting digital holography with a low-coherence light source for reconstruction of a digital relief object hidden behind a light-scattering medium

Hiding image data with a light-scattering medium is effective as a basic data protection technique. The hidden image data can be observed only by using a low-coherence interference technique and is thus protected from unauthorized access. Unlike an intensity-distributed object, a digital relief object has no intensity distribution, making it possible to hide its existence by using a dilute light-scattering medium. To reconstruct the digital relief object through the light-scattering medium, we developed phase-shifting digital holography with a low-coherence light source. The experimental performance, including the spatial resolution and phase error of the reconstructed image, is estimated.