High-resolution quantitative phase microscopic imaging in deep UV with phase retrieval

High-resolution three-dimensional (3D) microscopic imaging requires the use of short wavelengths. Quantitative 3D imaging techniques, such as digital holographic microscopy, require interference between the object beam and a known reference background for the extraction of phase information. At shorter wavelengths, due to short coherence lengths, it may be difficult to implement a two-beam off-axis setup. Thus, a single-beam technique, which provides complete phase information, may be better suited for short wavelengths. This Letter describes the development of a quantitative microscopy technique at 193 nm using multiple intensity samplings and phase retrieval.     

Fast phase retrieval in slightly off-axis digital holography

In this study, three efficient algorithms are proposed for fast phase retrieval in slightly off-axis digital holography using spectrum cropping, spatial multiplexing, and complex encoding. In the first algorithm, the real spectral order of the subtracted hologram is filtered and cropped, and the number of pixels is decreased in the subsequent retrieval operations. In the second algorithm, two sequential subtracted holograms are digitally phase shifted and spatial multiplexed into one synthetic hologram, and thus only one inverse Fourier transformation is then required. In the third algorithm, two sequential subtracted holograms are encoded separately into the real part and the imaginary part of a complex hologram. Two cross-correlations can be used to reconstruct the phase, thereby improving the utilization of the spectrum. The three new algorithms speed up our previously proposed retrieval method with the assistance of specimen-free holograms. Our experiments demonstrated the validity and improved time requirements of the proposed methods.     

Performance analysis of quantitative phase retrieval method in Zernike phase contrast X-ray microscopy

Since the invention of Zernike phase contrast method in 1930,it has been widely used in optical microscopy and more recently in X-ray microscopy.Considering the image contrast is a mixture of absorption and phase information,we recently have proposed and demonstrated a method for quantitative phase retrieval in Zernike phase contrast X-ray microscopy.In this contribution,we analyze the performance of this method at different photon energies.Intensity images of PMMA samples are simulated at 2.5 keV and 6.2 keV,respectively,and phase retrieval is performed using the proposed method.The results demonstrate that the proposed phase retrieval method is applicable over a wide energy range.For weakly absorbing features,the optimal photon energy is 2.5 keV,from the point of view of image contrast and accuracy of phase retrieval.On the other hand,in the case of strong absorption objects,a higher photon energy is preferred to reduce the error of phase retrieval.These results can be used as guidelines to perform quantitative phase retrieval in Zernike phase contrast X-ray microscopy with the proposed method.     

A new method for information retrieval in two-dimensional grating-based X-ray phase contrast imaging

Grating-based X-ray phase contrast imaging has been demonstrated to be an extremely powerful phase-sensitive imaging technique.By using two-dimensional(2D) gratings,the observable contrast is extended to two refraction directions.Recently,we have developed a novel reverse-projection(RP) method,which is capable of retrieving the object information efficiently with one-dimensional(1D) grating-based phase contrast imaging.In this contribution,we present its extension to the 2D grating-based X-ray phase contrast imaging,named the two-dimensional reverseprojection(2D-RP) method,for information retrieval.The method takes into account the nonlinear contributions of two refraction directions and allows the retrieval of the absorption,the horizontal and the vertical refraction images.The obtained information can be used for the reconstruction of the three-dimensional phase gradient field,and for an improved phase map retrieval and reconstruction.Numerical experiments are carried out,and the results confirm the validity of the 2D-RP method.     

Simulation study on the quantitative phase retrieval method under two-step phase-shifting technique

Based on two-step phase-shifting technique, we present a new derivative method for phase information extraction in quantitative phase imaging (QPI). By acquiring two phase-shifted interferograms and numerically calculating their 1st order derivatives, one can directly obtain the quantitative phase information. We demonstrate the proposed method by comparing our simulated results with the experimental results of the red blood cell and the HeLa cell, respectively. It shows that our method can be generally applied to any QPI, such as on-axis and off-axis interferometry, especially for slightly off-axis interferometry, and it has the feature of efficient utility of camera spatial bandwidth and the ability of fast data processing.     

A spatial domain constraint iterative phase retrieval method for the propagation based X ray phase contrast imaging

Based on the propagation X ray phase contrast imaging theory, a spatial domain constraint iterative phase retrieval method is described in detail. This algorithm limits the object spatial domain according to the actual sample size firstly, and modify the image plane data with the actual test data, then the iteration can be terminated until iteration precision or the number of iterations meet the preset requirements. Finally the numerical simulation is made to evaluate the rapid phase retrieval algorithm performance, and a real column fiber material experiment is carried out using a micro focus X ray phase contrast imaging experiment platform, the phase distribution image of the column fiber is calculated out by this algorithm. The results show that this phase retrieval algorithm is effective, and the method has a potential stability and accuracy for X ray phase contrast imaging technology.     

Novel phase-coding method for absolute phase retrieval

This Letter presents a novel absolute phase recovery technique with phase coding. Unlike the conventional gray-coding method, the codeword is embedded into the phase and then used to determine the fringe order for absolute phase retrieval. This technique is robust because it uses phase instead of intensity to determine codewords, and it could achieve a faster measurement speed, since three additional images can represent more than 8(2(3)) unique codewords for phase unwrapping. Experimental results will be presented to verify the performance of the proposed technique.     

An improved stair phase encoding method for absolute phase retrieval

An improved phase unwrapping method is proposed to reduce the projection fringes in three-dimensional (3D) surface measurement. Color fringe patterns are generated by encoding with sinusoidal fringe and stair phase fringe patterns in red and blue channels. These color fringe patterns are projected onto the tested objects and then captured by a color CCD camera. The recorded fringe patterns are separated into their RGB components. Two groups of four-step phase-shifting fringe patterns are obtained. One group of the stripes are four sinusoidal patterns, which are used to determine the wrapped phase. The other group of stripes are four sinusoidal patterns with the codeword embedded into stair phase, whose stair changes are perfectly aligned with the 2π discontinuities of sinusoidal fringe phase, which are used to determine the fringe order for the phase unwrapping. The experimental results are analyzed and compared with those of the method in Zheng and Da (2012. Opt Express 20(22):24139–24150). The results show that the proposed method needs only four fringe patterns while having less error. It can effectively reduce the number of projection fringes and improve the measuring speed.     

硬x射线同轴相衬成像的相位恢复

基于角谱的概念，分析了硬x射线同轴相衬成像过程，在传统相位恢复算法GS算法的基础上 ，提出了基于角谱传播的相位恢复算法——迭代角谱法（IASA），并利用数值法模拟研究了 相衬成像和相位恢复过程，从理论上验证了这一相位恢复算法. 关键词： 相位恢复 相位衬度 角谱 硬x射线     

Simulation study of phase retrieval for hard X-ray in-line phase contrast imaging

X-ray phase contrast imaging (XPCI) is a novel method that exploits the phase shift for the incident X-ray to form an image. For light elements such as carbon, hydrogen and oxygen, the phase-shift term can be up to 1000 times greater than the absorption term in the hard X-ray energy region. So XPCI has attracted much attention in recent years. Various methods for XPCI have been proposed and demonstrated on synchrotron devices and other X-ray sources[1―13], particularly the in-line metho…     

近场X射线位相衬度成像及位相恢复算法

理论分析了X射线衍射位相成像和近场位相恢复算法。定义了一个最佳成像距离，给出了基于最佳成像距离和特征空间频率的衍射场光强分布新的表达形式。基于模拟位相物体给出了数值模拟结果。由此得出了探测距离和多色辐照对相衬图像和位相恢复结果的影响。本文给出的结果将对同轴x射线相衬成像实验具有一定的指导作用。     

Terahertz imaging with compressed sensing and phase retrieval

We describe a novel, high-speed pulsed terahertz (THz) Fourier imaging system based on compressed sensing (CS), a new signal processing theory, which allows image reconstruction with fewer samples than traditionally required. Using CS, we successfully reconstruct a 64 x 64 image of an object with pixel size 1.4 mm using a randomly chosen subset of the 4096 pixels, which defines the image in the Fourier plane, and observe improved reconstruction quality when we apply phase correction. For our chosen image, only about 12% of the pixels are required for reassembling the image. In combination with phase retrieval, our system has the capability to reconstruct images with only a small subset of Fourier amplitude measurements and thus has potential application in THz imaging with cw sources.     

Spectral-domain optical coherence phase microscopy for quantitative phase-contrast imaging

We describe a novel microscopy technique for quantitative phase-contrast imaging of a transparent specimen. The technique is based on depth-resolved phase information provided by common path spectral-domain optical coherence tomography and can measure minute phase variations caused by changes in refractive index and thickness inside the specimen. We demonstrate subnanometer level path-length sensitivity and present images obtained on reflection from a known phase object and human epithelial cheek cells.     

相位恢复算法用于光学面形检测的实验研究

 针对相位恢复测量中遇到的初始相位估计、传播因子和收敛判断等问题,以柱面透镜的光学面形为恢复对象,应用迭代相位恢复算法完成了对柱面透镜的光波波前的相位恢复实验,并对实验结果进行了分析。实验结果表明：根据被测对象的光波形态选择最接近的初始相位能够加快收敛速度,避免局部收敛,是保证结果准确与可靠的重要条件。通过对两个记录面上的光强之和做求比值运算计算传播因子 ,并应用到传播公式中,能够消除激光光束本身稳定性与探测器响应均匀性等因素对计算结果的影响。     

Analysis of a digital phase retrieval method for wave-front reconstruction

A phase retrieval algorithm which only needs to measure the intensity distribution at two positions to be effective is used to reconstruct the laser wave-front.Results are obtained from the phase retrieval algorithm in the visible band and the effects of the measurement error on the phase retrieval process are simulated.The algorithm is not sensitive to absolute amplitude measurement error,but is sensitive to the relative distribution of light intensity.     

Subsurface imaging by dual-medium quantitative phase measurement

Quantitative phase imaging by itself allows for direct surface imaging of the transparent homogeneous sample, but it is very difficult or impossible for the inhomogeneous sample by itself due to the surface morphology and subsurface information are coupled. We hereby propose a simple method which obtains quantitative phase data and the physical thickness of sample by dual-medium quantitative phase measurement (DMQ) to extract subsurface sample information without the need of any exogenous dyes and any scan process. By using simulation technology, the feasibility of this method is demonstrated with subsurface imaging of a two-sphere model and a simulated monocyte.     

Application of phase retrieval algorithm in reflective tomography laser radar imaging

We apply phase retrieval method to align projection data for tomographic reconstruction in reflective tomography laser radar imaging.In our experiment,the target is placed on a spin table with an unknown,but fixed,axis.The oscillatory motion of the target in the incident direction of the laser pulse is added at each view to simulate the real satellites random motion.The experimental simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness of this method to improve image reconstruction quality.Future research also includes the development of projection registration based on phase retrieval for targets with more complicated structure.     

Experimental verification of coherent diffractive imaging by a direct phase retrieval method with an aperture-array filter

Recently, we have proposed a coherent diffractive imaging using a noniterative phase retrieval method with the filter of an aperture array. The first (to our knowledge) experimental demonstration of this coherent imaging is presented here, in which a complex-valued object illuminated by a diode laser is reconstructed from the isolated diffraction intensities of the object's wave field, transmitted through an array filter of square apertures by using the phase retrieval method. This imaging method requires only a single measurement of the diffraction intensity and does not need a tight object's support constraint utilized in iterative phase retrieval algorithms or a reference wave used in holographic techniques.     

Iterative Wiener deconvolution based method for phase retrieval from noisy intensities

To retrieve the phase from the noisy measured intensities in the diffraction planes, an iterative Wiener deconvolution based method is proposed. With the same iterative scheme as the iterative angular spectrum method (IAS), the propagation of the optical wave function between the input plane and the diffraction planes is calculated by Wiener deconvolution in this method. The angular spectrum convolution kernel used in the iterative angular spectrum method is incorporated into the Wiener filter. The simulation experiments show that the proposed method can reduce the impact of the noise on the retrieved phase and performed better than the pre-denoising method. Furthermore, the proposed method exhibits great advantage compared to IAS for retrieving the complicated phase distribution from two measured intensities.