Phase contrast, phase retrieval and aberration balancing in shift-invariant linear imaging systems

We treat the problems of phase-contrast image formation, deterministic phase retrieval and aberration balancing, in the imaging of weak objects using two-dimensional shift-invariant linear imaging systems. Three classes of model sample are considered: weak phase objects, weak phase-amplitude objects and single-material weak phase-amplitude objects. For each class of sample we show how the various aberration coefficients, which characterise a given imaging system, contribute to the structure of the associated phase-contrast image. The corresponding inverse problem, of obtaining a closed-form expression for the input wave-field given one or more aberrated phase-contrast images of the same, is then examined. Two sample applications are considered: analyser-crystal phase-contrast imaging of weak objects using hard X-rays, and Zernike-type phase-contrast imaging. We close with a discussion of how coherent and incoherent aberrations may be “balanced” against one another, briefly mentioning the applications of this idea to both “deblur by defocus” and proximity-corrected X-ray lithography.     

Influence of the organism interface on the breast cancer detection by UWB

Ultra-wide band (UWB) imaging technique is very attractive for the early breast cancer detection based on the obvious contrast in the electrical properties of malignant tumor to the normal fatty breast tissue. The tumor can be detected by analyzing the reflecting and scattering behavior of the UWB microwaves propagating in the breast. In this study, the influence of the organism interfaces is investigated from different cases of breast configuration involving different gland shapes as well as the tumor locations. Results show that the gland structure and tumor status have large influences on the reconstructed images generated from the detected signals due to the interface varieties. The tumor information in the proposed configurations can be obtained by series signal processing including eliminating the early time response of the detected signals caused by the direct wave and the reflection from the interface between the skin and the breast fat, and compensating the path loss of the propagating signal due to the radial spreading and the attenuation in the lossy breast. The location and the number of emitters and detectors affect the quality of the reconstructed image.     

Numerical solution of an inverse medium scattering problem for Maxwell’s Equations at fixed frequency

Consider a time-harmonic electromagnetic plane wave incident on a medium enclosed by a bounded domain in R³${\mathbb{R}}^3$. In this paper, well-posedness of the variational problem for the direct scattering is examined. An energy estimate for the scattered field is obtained on which the Born approximation is based. A regularized recursive linearization method for the inverse medium scattering, which reconstructs the scatterer of an inhomogeneous medium from the boundary measurements of the scattered field, is developed. The algorithm requires only single-frequency data. Using an initial guess from the Born approximation, each update is obtained via continuation on the spatial frequency of a two-parameter family of plane waves by solving one direct problem and one adjoint problem of the Maxwell equation.     

Linear algorithms for phase retrieval in the Fresnel region. 2. Partially coherent illumination

Analytical expressions for the spatial distribution of the spectral density and intensity of projection images are derived for a broad class of object transmission functions in the case of partially coherent Schell-model-type incident illumination. The expressions are linear with respect to the phase distribution in the transmitted wave. Associated methods for phase retrieval are discussed with the emphasis on a technique that allows simultaneous “automatic” phase retrieval and deconvolution of projection images of homogeneous objects by means of mutual cancellation at a specified defocus distance of the Fresnel diffraction effects and the image blurring due to the point-spread function of the imaging system.     

Distributed imaging using an array of compressive cameras

We describe a distributed computational imaging system that employs an array of feature specific sensors, also known as compressive imagers, to directly measure the linear projections of an object. Two different schemes for implementing these non-imaging sensors are discussed. We consider the task of object reconstruction and quantify the fidelity of reconstruction using the root mean squared error (RMSE) metric. We also study the lifetime of such a distributed sensor network. The sources of energy consumption in a distributed feature specific imaging (DFSI) system are discussed and compared with those in a distributed conventional imaging (DCI) system. A DFSI system consisting of 20 imagers collecting DCT, Hadamard, or PCA features has a lifetime of 4.8× that of the DCI system when the noise level is 20% and the reconstruction RMSE requirement is 6%. To validate the simulation results we emulate a distributed computational imaging system using an experimental setup consisting of an array of conventional cameras.     

Improving the performance of DCT-based fragile watermarking using intelligent optimization algorithms

The performance of a fragile watermarking method based on discrete cosine transform (DCT) has been improved in this paper by using intelligent optimization algorithms (IOA), namely genetic algorithm, differential evolution algorithm, clonal selection algorithm and particle swarm optimization algorithm. In DCT based fragile watermarking techniques, watermark embedding can usually be achieved by modifying the least significant bits of the transformation coefficients. After the embedding process is completed, transforming the modified coefficients from the frequency domain to the spatial domain produces some rounding errors due to the conversion of real numbers to integers. The rounding errors caused by this transformation process were corrected by the use of intelligent optimization algorithms mentioned above. This paper gives experimental results which show the feasibility of using these optimization algorithms for the fragile watermarking and demonstrate the accuracy of these methods. The performance comparison of the algorithms was also realized.     

Effects of Parameter Modulation on Near-Field Imaging in Photonic Crystal Consisting of Alternately Left-Handed Material and Right-Handed Material

By means of the transfer-matrix method, the effects of parameter modulation on the quality of near-field imaging in one-dimensional photonic crystal consisting of alternately left-handed material and right-handed material are investigated. Based on analyses of the recovery rate and phase shift, the results show that the imaging quality is not obviously affected by the minor changes of layer thickness. In addition, by modulating the material parameters of the left-handed material, it is found that for both the real part and the imaginary part, the system is more sensitive to the permeability than the permittivity for the TE wave. For the TM wave, it is reverse. These properties are very useful to fabricate left-handed material photonic crystals in practice.     

A three-dimensional backward-wave network matched with free space

A backward-wave slab based on a capacitively and inductively loaded three-dimensional transmission-line network is designed in such a way that impedance-matching with free space is obtained. To enable field propagation from free space to the network and vice versa, the use of a transition layer is proposed. Matching of the designed network with free space and negative refraction occurring at the slab interfaces are confirmed with full-wave simulations.     

Focusing of a Flat Left-Handed Metamaterial Lens in a Heterogeneous and Lossy Medium

For applications such as near-field target detection and tumor hyperthermia with a fiat left-handed metamaterial （LHM） lens, a microwave will be focused in the heterogeneous and lossy medium. Different from the focusing of a fiat LHM lens in vacuum as reported in most previous studies, the medium loss and heterogeneity will affect the focusing performance of the LHM lens. Numerical simulations indicate that the medium loss will degrade the focusing resolution, while the heterogeneity of random variability within ±30% will affect the focusing resolution to a limited extent. Both the loss and heterogeneity of the medium will shift the focal point away from the image plane. When focusing in a medium with different permittivity values, an LHM lens will also have different focusing resolutions due to different electric thicknesses.     

Image watermarking based on an iterative phase retrieval algorithm and sine-cosine modulation in the discrete-cosine-transform domain

A novel digital image watermarking system based on an iterative phase retrieval algorithm and sine-cosine modulation in the discrete-cosine-transform (DCT) domain is proposed. The original hidden image is first encrypted into two phase masks. Then the cosine and sine functions of one of the phase masks are introduced as a watermark to be embedded into an enlarged host image in the DCT domain. By extracting the watermark of the enlarged superposed image and decryption we can retrieve the hidden image. The feasibility of this method and its robustness against some attacks, such as occlusion, noise attacks, quantization have been verified by computer simulations. This approach can avoid the cross-talk noise due to direct information superposition and enhance the imperceptibility of hidden data.     

Imaging within highly scattering media using time-resolved backscattering of femtosecond pulses

Received: 17 April 1998     

Exact solutions of semiclassical non-characteristic Cauchy problems for the sine-Gordon equation

The use of the sine-Gordon equation as a model of magnetic flux propagation in Josephson junctions motivates studying the initial-value problem for this equation in the semiclassical limit in which the dispersion parameter ε tends to zero. Assuming natural initial data having the profile of a moving −2π kink at time zero, we analytically calculate the scattering data of this completely integrable Cauchy problem for all ε>0 sufficiently small, and further we invert the scattering transform to calculate the solution for a sequence of arbitrarily small ε. This sequence of exact solutions is analogous to that of the well-known N-soliton (or higher-order soliton) solutions of the focusing nonlinear Schrödinger equation. We then use plots obtained from a careful numerical implementation of the inverse-scattering algorithm for reflectionless potentials to study the asymptotic behavior of solutions in the semiclassical limit. In the limit ε↓0 one observes the appearance of nonlinear caustics, i.e. curves in space-time that are independent of ε but vary with the initial data and that separate regions in which the solution is expected to have different numbers of nonlinear phases.In the appendices, we give a self-contained account of the Cauchy problem from the perspectives of both inverse scattering and classical analysis (Picard iteration). Specifically, Appendix A contains a complete formulation of the inverse-scattering method for generic L¹-Sobolev initial data, and Appendix B establishes the well-posedness for L^p-Sobolev initial data (which in particular completely justifies the inverse-scattering analysis in Appendix A).     

Design of X-ray super-mirrors using simulated annealing algorithm

An adaptive local search-based simulated annealing (ALSA) algorithm is proposed for the design of the wide band-pass multilayer optical elements operating in the hard and soft X-ray wavelength ranges. At present the SA algorithm has been kept as simple as possible and its performance is being studied before a series of modifications are made to tailor the SA algorithm to optimize super-mirror for particular applications. The algorithm has also been developed with two specific areas in mind: a W/C broad angle super-mirror for hard X-ray applications and a Mo/Si wide band super-mirror operating at normal incidence in the EUV spectral region. The design results show that the ALSA algorithm method has the flexibility to design a wide range of multilayer structures and in comparison to other techniques has good results although computationally more intensive.     

Impacts of Refraction Index Mismatch on Performance of Target Detection and Imaging by Using Flat LHM Lens

Refraction index mismatch between flat left-handed metamaterial (LHM) lens and its surrounding medium generally destroys the focusing of flat LHM lens and degrades the performance of near-field target detection by using flat LHM lens. For LHM lens of refraction index mismatch within ±30%, numerical simulations demonstrate that lenses with large refraction index may suffer less resolution degradation than lenses with small refraction index, and the enhancement of refocused microwave backscattered from target can be subsided by up to approximately 5.5dB. The refraction index mismatch will also shift the target position in the reconstructed image so that theoretical prediction of target position needs to be modified.     

Refractive and geometric lens characterization through multi-wavelength digital speckle pattern interferometry

Physical parameters of different types of lenses were measured through digital speckle pattern interferometry (DSPI) using a multimode diode laser as light source. When such lasers emit two or more longitudinal modes simultaneously the speckle image of an object appears covered of contour fringes. By performing the quantitative fringe evaluation the radii of curvature as well as the refractive indexes of the lenses were determined. The fringe quantitative evaluation was carried out through the four- and the eight-stepping techniques and the branch-cut method was employed for phase unwrapping. With all these parameters the focal length was calculated. This whole-field multi-wavelength method does enable the characterization of spherical and aspherical lenses and of positive and negative ones as well.     

Low Loss Plastic Terahertz Photonic Band-Gap Fibres

We report a numerical investigation on terahertz wave propagation in plastic photonic band-gap fibres which are characterized by a 19-unit-cell air core and hexagonal Mr holes with rounded corners in cladding. Using the finite element method, the leakage loss and absorption loss are calculated and the transmission properties are analysed. The lowest loss of 0.268 dB/m is obtained. Numerical results show that the fibres could liberate the constraints of background materials beyond the transparency region in terahertz wave band, and efficiently minimize the effect of absorption by background materials, which present great advantage of plastic photonic band-gap fibres in long distance terahertz delivery.     

Multi-cut solutions of Laplacian growth

A new class of solutions to Laplacian growth (LG) with zero surface tension is presented and shown to contain all other known solutions as special or limiting cases. These solutions, which are time-dependent conformal maps with branch cuts inside the unit circle, are governed by a nonlinear integral equation and describe oil fjords with non-parallel walls in viscous fingering experiments in Hele-Shaw cells. Integrals of motion for the multi-cut LG solutions in terms of singularities of the Schwarz function are found, and the dynamics of densities (jumps) on the cuts are derived. The subclass of these solutions with linear Cauchy densities on the cuts of the Schwarz function is of particular interest, because in this case the integral equation for the conformal map becomes linear. These solutions can also be of physical importance by representing oil/air interfaces, which form oil fjords with a constant opening angle, in accordance with recent experiments in a Hele-shaw cell.     

Quantum optical coherence tomography of a biological sample

Quantum optical coherence tomography (QOCT) makes use of an entangled-photon light source to carry out dispersion-immune axial optical sectioning. We present the first experimental QOCT images of a biological sample: an onion-skin tissue coated with gold nanoparticles. 3D images are presented in the form of 2D sections of different orientations. In the context of quantum information, this represents the first experiment in which a quantum-entangled entity interacts with a biological specimen, generating a collection of quantum interferograms, from which an image is constructed.     

Blind phase shift extraction and wavefront retrieval by two-frame phase-shifting interferometry with an unknown phase shift

An iterative algorithm to extract the arbitrary unknown phase shift in two-frame phase-shifting interferometry and then reconstruct the complex object wave is proposed. In combination with the least square principle and some calculation formulae we developed, this algorithm allows us to find the value of unknown phase shift by using only two interferograms without additional knowledge or measurement. Computer simulations have shown that this algorithm works well for both the smooth and diffusing objects to a very high accuracy over a wide range of the phase shift from 0.4 to 2.5 rad.     

Determination of the electromagnetic properties in magnetic composite materials by inverse homogenisation

The paper proposes a numerical procedure for evaluating the geometrical and electromagnetic properties of the microstructure of a heterogeneous medium starting from the material effective characteristics. The identification process is developed by applying an inverse homogenisation technique, based on multiple scale expansion theory. The Newton–Raphson scheme and the Rosenbrock algorithm are tested. The efficiency of the second approach is proved by reporting several numerical results.