Diffraction effects of telescope secondary mirror spiders on various image-quality criteria

Advanced Optical Wavefront Technologies to Improve Patient Quality of Vision and Meet Clinical Requests

Adaptive optics (AO) is employed for the continuous measurement and correction of ocular aberrations. Human eye refractive errors (lower-order aberrations such as myopia and astigmatism) are corrected with contact lenses and excimer laser surgery. Under twilight vision conditions, when the pupil of the human eye dilates to 5-7 mm in diameter, higher-order aberrations affect the visual acuity. The combined use of wavefront (WF) technology and AO systems allows the pre-operative evaluation of refractive surgical procedures to compensate for the higher-order optical aberrations of the human eye, guiding the surgeon in choosing the procedure parameters. Here, we report a brief history of AO, starting from the description of the Shack-Hartmann method, which allowed the first in vivo measurement of the eye's wave aberration, the wavefront sensing technologies (WSTs), and their principles. Then, the limitations of the ocular wavefront ascribed to the IOL polymeric materials and design, as well as future perspectives on improving patient vision quality and meeting clinical requests, are described.

Single Nanocrystal Spectroscopy of Shortwave Infrared Emitters

Short-wave infrared (SWIR) emitters are at the center of ground-breaking applications in biomedical imaging, next-generation optoelectronic devices, and optical communications. Colloidal nanocrystals based on indium arsenide are some of the most promising SWIR emitters to date. However, the lack of single-particle spectroscopic methods accessible in the SWIR has prevented advances in both nanocrystal synthesis and fundamental characterization of emitters. Here, we demonstrate an implementation of a solution photon correlation Fourier spectroscopy (s-PCFS) experiment utilizing the SWIR sensitivity and time resolution of superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors to extract single-particle emission linewidths from colloidal indium arsenide/cadmium selenide (InAs/CdSe) core/shell nanocrystals emissive from 1.2 to 1.6 μm. We show that the average single InAs/CdSe nanocrystal fluorescence linewidth is, remarkably, as narrow as 52 meV, similar to what has been observed in some of the most narrowband nanostructured emitters in the visible region. Additionally, the single nanocrystal fluorescence linewidth increases with increasing shell thickness, suggesting exciton-phonon coupling as the dominant emission line-broadening mechanism in this system. The development of the SWIR s-PCFS technique has enabled measurements of spectral linewidths of colloidal SWIR-emissive NCs in solution and provides a platform to study the single NC spectral characteristics of SWIR emitters.

Computational Imaging Prediction of Starburst-Effect Diffraction Spikes

When imaging bright light sources, rays of light emanating from their centres are commonly observed; this ubiquitous phenomenon is known as the starburst effect. The prediction and characterization of starburst patterns formed by extended sources have been neglected to date. In the present study, we propose a novel trichromatic computational framework to calculate the image of a scene viewed through an imaging system with arbitrary focus and aperture geometry. Diffractive light transport, imaging sensor behaviour, and implicit image adjustments typical in modern imaging equipment are modelled. Characterization methods for key optical parameters of imaging systems are also examined. Extensive comparisons between theoretical and experimental results reveal excellent prediction quality for both focused and defocused systems.

Quantum telescope: feasibility and constraints

The quantum telescope is a recent idea aimed at beating the diffraction limit of spaceborne telescopes and possibly other distant target imaging systems. There is no agreement yet on the best setup of such devices, but some configurations have already been proposed. In this Letter we characterize the predicted performance of quantum telescopes and their possible limitations. Our extensive simulations confirm that the presented model of such instruments is feasible and the device can provide considerable gains in the angular resolution of imaging in the UV, optical, and infrared bands. We argue that it is generally possible to construct and manufacture such instruments using the latest or soon to be available technology. We refer to the latest literature to discuss the feasibility of the proposed QT system design.

Beyond the current noise limit in imaging through turbulent medium

Shift-and-add is an approach employed to mitigate the phenomenon of resolution degradation in images acquired through a turbulent medium. Using this technique, a large number of consecutive short exposures is registered below the coherence time of the atmosphere or other blurring medium. The acquired images are shifted to the position of the brightest speckle and stacked together to obtain high resolution and high signal-to-noise frame. In this Letter, we present a highly efficient method for determination of frame shifts, even if in a single frame the object cannot be distinguished from the background noise. The technique utilizes our custom genetic algorithm, which iteratively evolves a set of image shifts. We used the maximal energy of stacked images as an objective function for shifts estimation and validate the efficiency of the method on simulated and real images of simple and complex sources. Obtained results confirmed that our proposed method allows for the recovery of spatial distribution of objects even only 2% brighter than their background. The presented approach extends significantly current limits of image reconstruction with the use of shift-and-add method. The applications of our algorithm include both the optical and the infrared imaging. Our method may be also employed as a digital image stabilizer in extremely low light level conditions in professional and consumer applications.

Ultrathin cameras using annular folded optics

We present a reflective multiple-fold approach to visible imaging for high-resolution, large aperture cameras of significantly reduced thickness. This approach allows for reduced bulk and weight compared with large high-quality camera systems and improved resolution and light collection compared with miniature conventional cameras. An analysis of the properties of multiple-fold imagers is presented along with the design, fabrication, and testing of an eightfold prototype camera. This demonstration camera has a 35 mm effective focal length, 0.7 NA, and 27 mm effective aperture folded into a 5 mm total thickness.