Spatial mode processing for high-resolution imaging

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12573193-B2
Application number	US-202218289382-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 6, 2022
Priority date	May 11, 2021
Publication date	Mar 10, 2026
Grant date	Mar 10, 2026

Abstract

Optical imaging includes: configuring a spatial mode sorter to provide, in response to a received input optical signal, a separate output optical signal for each spatial mode in a set of target spatial modes: receiving a set of output optical signals from the spatial mode sorter during a detection interval of time: processing information based at least in part on the set of output optical signals received in the detection interval of time: and providing an estimated measurement for discriminating among a first set of two or more predetermined target images based at least in part on information derived from the processing. During the detection interval of time, a total number of the output optical signals is greater than two and less than ten.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A method for optical imaging, the method comprising:
configuring a spatial mode sorter to provide, in response to a received input optical signal, a separate output optical signal for each spatial mode in a set of target spatial modes; receiving a set of output optical signals from the spatial mode sorter during a detection interval of time; processing information based at least in part on the set of output optical signals received in the detection interval of time; and providing an estimated measurement for discriminating among a first set of two or more predetermined target images based at least in part on information derived from the processing; wherein during the detection interval of time, a total number of the output optical signals is greater than two and less than ten.

2 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising;
receiving a second set of output optical signals from the spatial mode sorter during a second detection interval of time; processing information based at least in part on the second set of output optical signals received in the second detection interval of time; and providing a second estimated measurement for discriminating among the first set of two or more predetermined target images based at least in part on information derived from the processing.

3 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising;
receiving a second set of output optical signals from the spatial mode sorter during a second detection interval of time; processing information based at least in part on the second set of output optical signals received in the second detection interval of time; and providing a second estimated measurement for discriminating among a second set of two or more predetermined target images based at least in part on information derived from the processing.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the processing includes:
determining, based at least in part on the set of output optical signals, information that is dependent on a second moment of a transverse spatial distribution of the input optical signal; and performing a statistical analysis of the determined information based on a decision rule that provides a discrimination among the two or more predetermined target images.

5 . The method of claim 4 , wherein the determined information further comprises information that is dependent on a first moment of a spatial distribution of the input optical signal.

6 . The method of claim 4 , wherein the statistical analysis includes additional information obtained by prior measurement or prior estimation.

7 . The method of claim 4 , wherein the decision rule comprises a comparison between the determined information and a set of second moments containing transverse spatial distributions of each of the predetermined target images.

8 . The method of claim 4 , wherein the determined information is dependent on a third moment of a transverse spatial distribution of the input optical signal.

9 . The method of claim 6 , wherein the decision rule comprises a comparison between the determined information and a set of third moments containing transverse spatial distributions of each of the predetermined target images.

10 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the set of target spatial modes includes: a zero-order radially symmetric spatial mode, and two first-order spatial modes that represent transverse spatial distributions along orthogonal axes.

11 . The method of claim 1 , wherein a subset of the set of target spatial modes are Hermite-Gaussian modes.

12 . The method of claim 1 , wherein a subset of the set of target spatial modes are distorted Hermite-Gaussian modes.

13 . The method of claim 1 , wherein a subset of the set of target spatial modes are matched to the spatial mode of a point spread function of an imaging system.

14 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the set of target spatial modes is modified to compensate for misalignment of the spatial mode sorter with respect to the received input optical signal.

15 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the set of target spatial modes is modified to compensate for optical aberrations distorting the received input optical signal.

16 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising spatially aligning the spatial mode sorter to compensate for changes in a spatial or angular position of the received optical signal.

17 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the two or more predetermined target images represent images of different types of vehicles.

18 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the two or more predetermined target images represent images of different celestial bodies.

19 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the two or more predetermined target images represent images of different biological structures.

20 . The method of claim 11 , wherein the processing includes assigning classification labels to an input optical signal from a set of two or more predetermined classification labels.

21 . One or more non-transitory computer-readable media, having instructions stored thereon that, when executed by a computer system, cause the computer system to perform operations comprising:
configuring a spatial mode sorter to provide, in response to a received input optical signal, a separate output optical signal for each spatial mode in a set of target spatial modes; receiving a set of output optical signals from the spatial mode sorter during a detection interval of time; processing information based at least in part on the set of output optical signals received in the detection interval of time; and providing an estimated measurement for discriminating among a first set of two or more predetermined target images based at least in part on information derived from the processing; wherein during the detection interval of time, a total number of the output optical signals is greater than two and less than ten.

22 . An apparatus for imaging a distribution of one or more optical sources, the apparatus comprising:
a spatial mode sorter that is configurable based on a set of target spatial modes onto which an input optical signal is projected; and a control module configured to:
configure the spatial mode sorter to provide, in response to a received input optical signal, a separate output optical signal for each spatial mode in the set of target spatial modes;
receive a set of output optical signals from the spatial mode sorter during a detection interval of time;
process information based at least in part on the set of output optical signals received in the detection interval of time; and
provide an estimated measurement for discriminating among a first set of two or more predetermined target images based at least in part on information derived from the processing;
wherein during the detection interval of time, a total number of the output optical signals is greater than two and less than ten.

Assignees

• Univ Arizona

Inventors

• Grace Michael
• Guha Saikat
• Neifeld Mark
• Ashok Amit

Classifications

• G06V10/764

  using classification, e.g. of video objects · CPC title

• G06V10/60 Primary

  relating to illumination properties, e.g. using a reflectance or lighting model · CPC title

• G06V10/92 Primary

  using spatial domain filters, e.g. joint transform correlators · CPC title