Single-shot incoherent imaging with extended and engineered field of view using coded phase apertures

Abstract

A large field of view of an optical system is needed for many applications, and optical systems with high magnification often suffer from a limited field of view due to the limited size of the camera sensor. This study proposes a novel technique for engineering the field of view of an optical system without compromising the magnification. In the proposed method, an object response pattern is recorded on a camera by introducing a coded phase mask (CPM) in the imaging system. The coded phase mask is a multiplexing of N distinct scattering phases, where N-1 represents the number of isolated object areas to be brought within the field of view. Each scattering phase yields a point spread function of a unique sparse dot pattern on the camera. With the introduction of a coded phase mask, the objects' images are brought within the region of the camera sensor, which, without the CPM, would have remained outside the inherent field of view of the system. To reconstruct the original object plane with N objects at their respective locations, the zero-padded object response pattern is deconvolved with the system's zero-padded and shifted point spread function. A simulation study followed by experimental results for N = 2 and N = 3 is presented in this article.