Citation
Abstract
The term “ghost imaging” was coined in 1995 when an optical correlation measurement using biphoton light from a parametric downconversion crystal was used to reconstruct an image of a mask by raster-scanning a detector in an empty optical channel. The ability to image objects nonlocally using only a “bucket” detector in the object channel and placing all high-resolution optics in the empty reference channel was found appealing by many scientists. The most important steps towards making this technique practical were understanding that thermal light sources can be used instead of biphoton sources, and that a bucket detector placed immediately after the object can be replaced by a distant pointlike detector. We investigate the possibility of the next step, which would be to remove the optical beam splitter, which so far has been an indispensable part of ghost imaging with thermal light. In our approach, the object itself takes on the function of the beam splitter. If successful, this approach will allow for real-world application of the correlation imaging technique, even for the astronomical observations.
Details
- Volume
- 42-192
- Published
- February 15, 2013
- Pages
- 1–20
- File Size
- 1.1 MB