Citation
Abstract
Although ghost imaging owes its early popularity to experiments geared towards demonstrating novel physical principles in quantum optics, it has since developed into a viable structured-illumination imaging modality. As the fundamental physical principles that govern ghost imaging are now well-understood in terms of the coherence theory for classical and quantum light, more attention is being devoted to identifying suitable application areas. Here we report on the rigorous analysis of a ghost-imaging remote-sensing architecture that acquires the 2D spatial Fourier transform of the target object (which can be inverted to obtain a conventional image). We determine its image signature, resolution and signal-to-noise ratio in the presence of practical constraints, such as atmospheric turbulence, background radiation, and photodetector noise. We delineate the impact of turbulence on resolution, and discuss speckle correlography as a possible means of mitigation. Our analysis provides key insights into the performance differences between ghost imaging and conventional active imaging, and identifies scenarios in which ghost imaging—theoretically—yields performance superior to conventional active imagers.
Details
- Volume
- 42-185
- Published
- May 15, 2011
- Pages
- 1–23
- File Size
- 310.3 KB