Taking High Resolution Images with a Lensless, Single Pixel Camera

Structured illumination imaging is a method of capturing an image without the need for an imaging lens or a multi-pixel detector. By projecting known patterns of light onto an object, and measuring how much light the object scatters, information about the object can be collected, and then processed into an image. In our lab we are using laser interference to generate structured illumination patterns. This technique has some significant advantages over previous work, including the ability to achieve microscopic resolution with no optics near the object imaged, a depth of field and field of view which are independent of the resolution, and the ability to surpass the resolution limit of conventional imaging without any expensive high numerical aperture optic. And because the technique doesn't require a precise lens or multi-pixel detector, it could easily be applied to imaging with x-rays, radar waves, acoustic waves, or other waves for which these elements are difficult to manufacture.