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Summary: Imaging Using Alternate Point Spread Functions: Lenslets
with Pseudo-Random Phase Diversity
Mark A. Neifeld and Amit Ashok
ECE Department/Optical Sciences Center
University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721
Abstract: An optical imaging system's resolution can often be limited by the detector array
instead of the optics. We present alternate non-impulse like optical point spread functions that
overcome the distortions introduced by the detector array.
© 2005 Optical Society of America
The optical point spread function (PSF) is often viewed as the resolution-limiting element of an
imager [1]. For this reason conventional optical design procedures typically strive to achieve an
impulse-like PSF. When such a well-designed optical system is followed by a semiconductor
detector array, the resulting pixel blur and/or aliasing can become the dominant distortions
present in the overall imager. In this case it is necessary to revisit the optical design. The optical
PSF may now be viewed as a method of encoding the image measurement so as to better tolerate
the distortions introduced by the detector array. Within such a framework we find that an
impulse-like PSF can be suboptimal.
Figure 1 depicts a schematic example of the problem discussed above. In figure 1a we show the
image arising from a single point source in the object space of a conventional imager (i.e., one
that uses an impulse-like PSF). Figure 1b shows the image of the same point object in a slightly
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