Performance analysis of curvature sensors: optimum positioning of the measurement planes

Flexible dynamic quantitative phase imaging based on division of focal plane polarization imaging technique

This paper proposes a flexible and accurate dynamic quantitative phase imaging (QPI) method using single-shot transport of intensity equation (TIE) phase retrieval achieved by division of focal plane (DoFP) polarization imaging technique. By exploiting the polarization property of the liquid crystal spatial light modulator (LC-SLM), two intensity images of different defocus distances contained in orthogonal polarization directions can be generated simultaneously. Then, with the help of the DoFP polarization imaging, these images can be captured with single exposure, enabling accurate dynamic QPI by solving the TIE. In addition, our approach gains great flexibility in defocus distance adjustment by adjusting the pattern loaded on the LC-SLM. Experiments on microlens array, phase plate, and living human gastric cancer cells demonstrate the accuracy, flexibility, and dynamic measurement performance for various objects. The proposed method provides a simple, flexible, and accurate approach for real-time QPI without sacrificing the field of view.

Measurement of three-dimensional wavefronts using the Ichikawa-Lohmann-Takeda solution to the irradiance transport equation

In this paper, we use the irradiance transport equation and the Fourier transform-based experimental solution given by Ichikawa-Lohmann-Takeda. We analyze experimental factors such as the digital filter, the introduced error for the rotation and period of the Ronchi ruling, and a new method is demonstrated for the measurement of 3D wavefront information.

Fourier-based solving approach for the transport-of-intensity equation with reduced restrictions

The transport-of-intensity equation (TIE) has been proven as a standard approach for phase retrieval. Some high efficiency solving methods for the TIE, extensively used in many works, is based on a Fourier transform (FT). However, several assumptions have to be made to solve the TIE by these methods. A common assumption is that there are no zero values for the intensity distribution allowed. The two most widespread Fourier-based approaches have further restrictions. One of these requires the uniformity of the intensity distribution and the other assumes the parallelism of the intensity and phase gradients. In this paper, we present an approach, which does not need any of these assumptions and consequently extends the application domain of the TIE.

Non-interferometric phase retrieval using refractive index manipulation

We present a novel, inexpensive and non-interferometric technique to retrieve phase images by using a liquid crystal phase shifter without including any physically moving parts. First, we derive a new equation of the intensity-phase relation with respect to the change of refractive index, which is similar to the transport of the intensity equation. The equation indicates that this technique is unneeded to consider the variation of magnifications between optical images. For proof of the concept, we use a liquid crystal mixture MLC 2144 to manufacture a phase shifter and to capture the optical images in a rapid succession by electrically tuning the applied voltage of the phase shifter. Experimental results demonstrate that this technique is capable of reconstructing high-resolution phase images and to realize the thickness profile of a microlens array quantitatively.

Accurate testing of aspheric surfaces using the transport of intensity equation by properly selecting the defocusing distance

In the last decade, the transport of intensity has been increasingly used in microscopy, wavefront sensing, and metrology. In this study, we verify by simulation and experiment the use of the transport of intensity equation (TIE) in the accurate testing of optical aspheric surfaces. Guided by simulation results and assuming that the experimental setup parameters and the conic constants are known, one can estimate an appropriate defocusing distance Δz that leads to an accurate solution of the TIE. In this paper, this method is verified through the construction of a non-nulled experiment for testing the 2D profile of an aspheric surface. The theoretical method and experimental results are compared to validate the results. Finally, to validate the TIE methodology, the phase distribution obtained by TIE is compared with the phase distribution obtained by a Shack-Hartmann sensor.

Variational Phase Imaging Using the Transport-of-Intensity Equation

We introduce a variational phase retrieval algorithm for the imaging of transparent objects. Our formalism is based on the transport-of-intensity equation (TIE), which relates the phase of an optical field to the variation of its intensity along the direction of propagation. TIE practically requires one to record a set of defocus images to measure the variation of intensity. We first investigate the effect of the defocus distance on the retrieved phase map. Based on our analysis, we propose a weighted phase reconstruction algorithm yielding a phase map that minimizes a convex functional. The method is nonlinear and combines different ranges of spatial frequencies - depending on the defocus value of the measurements - in a regularized fashion. The minimization task is solved iteratively via the alternating-direction method of multipliers. Our simulations outperform commonly used linear and nonlinear TIE solvers. We also illustrate and validate our method on real microscopy data of HeLa cells.

Coded aperture pair for quantitative phase imaging

This Letter proposes a novel quantitative phase-imaging approach by optically encoding light fields into a complementary image pair followed by computational reconstruction. We demonstrate that the axial intensity derivative for phase recovery can be well estimated by a coded-aperture image pair without z axial scanning. The experimental results demonstrate that our approach can achieve higher accuracy and robustness compared with conventional transport-of-intensity equation (TIE) based approaches under partial coherence illumination.

Transport of Intensity phase imaging by intensity spectrum fitting of exponentially spaced defocus planes

We propose an alternative method for solving the Transport of Intensity equation (TIE) from a stack of through-focus intensity images taken by a microscope or lensless imager. Our method enables quantitative phase and amplitude imaging with improved accuracy and reduced data capture, while also being computationally efficient and robust to noise. We use prior knowledge of how intensity varies with propagation in the spatial frequency domain in order to constrain a fitting algorithm [Gaussian process (GP) regression] for estimating the axial intensity derivative. Solving the problem in the frequency domain inspires an efficient measurement scheme which captures images at exponentially spaced focal steps, significantly reducing the number of images required. Low-frequency artifacts that plague traditional TIE methods can be suppressed without an excessive number of captured images. We validate our technique experimentally by recovering the phase of human cheek cells in a brightfield microscope.

Phase retrieval on annular and annular sector pupils by using the eigenfunction method to solve the transport of intensity equation

Phase retrieval on an annular pupil and an annular sector pupil by using the eigenfunction method to solve the transport of intensity equation is proposed. The analytic expressions of Laplacian eigenfunctions with the Neumann boundary condition on an annular pupil and an annular sector pupil are given. The phase can be expanded as a set of eigenfunctions on the corresponding pupil, and the coefficients of the eigenfunctions can be obtained by the integral of the eigenfunction and the intensity derivative along the optical axis. Phase retrieval by the eigenfunction method on an annular pupil and an annular sector pupil is simulated, and accurate retrieved results are obtained.

Transport of Intensity phase-amplitude imaging with higher order intensity derivatives

We demonstrate a method for improving the accuracy of phase retrieval based on the Transport of Intensity equation by using intensity measurements at multiple planes to estimate and remove the artifacts due to higher order axial derivatives. We suggest two similar methods of higher order correction, and demonstrate their ability for accurate phase retrieval well beyond the 'linear' range of defocus that TIE imaging traditionally requires. Computation is fast and efficient, and sensitivity to noise is reduced by using many images.

Frequency analysis of wavefront curvature sensing: optimum propagation distance and multi-z wavefront curvature sensing

In this paper we determine the optimum propagation distance between measurement planes and the plane of the lens in a wavefront curvature sensor with the diffraction optics approach. From the diffraction viewpoint, the measured wavefront aberration can be decomposed into Fourier harmonics at various frequencies. The curvature signal produced by a single harmonic is analyzed with the wave propagation transfer function approach, which is the frequency analysis of wavefront curvature sensing. The intensity of the curvature signal is a sine function of the product of the propagation distance and the squared frequency. To maximize the curvature signal, the optimum propagation distance is proposed as one quarter of the Talbot length at the critical frequency (average power point at which the power spectrum density is the average power spectrum density). Following the determination of the propagation distance, the intensity of the curvature signal varies sinusoidally with the squared frequencies, vanishing at some higher frequency bands just like a comb filter. To cover these insensitive bands, wavefront curvature sensing with dual propagation distances or with multi-propagation distances is proposed.

Error analysis and correction in wavefront reconstruction from the transport-of-intensity equation

Wavefront reconstruction from the transport-of-intensity equation (TIE) is a well-posed inverse problem given smooth signals and appropriate boundary conditions. However, in practice experimental errors lead to an ill-condition problem. A quantitative analysis of the effects of experimental errors is presented in simulations and experimental tests. The relative importance of numerical, misalignment, quantization, and photodetection errors are shown. It is proved that reduction of photodetection noise by wavelet filtering significantly improves the accuracy of wavefront reconstruction from simulated and experimental data.

Optimal defocus distance for testing the 2.1 m telescope at San Pedro Mártir

Within the preliminary development of a low-cost active optics system (AOS), computer simulations have been performed. The general purpose of simulations is to find an optimal scheme for the wavefront control of the primary mirror. We present results for the wavefront sensor of the AOS proposed for the 2.1 m telescope at San Pedro Mártir. The method presented here can be used for any other telescopes as well.