Abstract: An optical system for automated vision and detection. The system includes a light source configured to emit a beam into an environment and a first diffractive optical element. The beam passes through the first diffractive optical element, resulting in a plurality of beams. One or more of the plurality of beams are reflected by the environment, resulting in reflected beams. A second diffractive optical element of the optical system is configured to receive the reflected beams. A detector in alignment with the second diffractive optical element receives the reflected beams. The detector is configured to determine wave data from the reflected beams and generate a plurality of phasorgrams in a single image representing the wave data. The optical system also includes a processor configured to receive the single image and generate a representation of the environment. A control computer is configured to receive the representation of the environment from the processor.

Abstract: Methods and apparatus for reconstructing a wave, including interpolation and extrapolation of the phase and amplitude distributions, with application to imaging apparatus, such as microscopes.

Abstract: Methods and apparatus for reconstructing a wave, including interpolation and extrapolation of the phase and amplitude distributions, with application to imaging apparatus, such as microscopes.

Abstract: A coherent radiation imaging system that produces digital images with a reduced amount of speckle. Radiation from a long coherence length source is used to form an image of a sample. The output coherent wave is temporally divided into a plurality of wavelets. The spatial phase of each wavelet is then modulated a known and different amount. Each phase modulated wavelet illuminates the sample and is perturbed by its interaction with the sample. A spatial phase map of each perturbed wavelet is then created and converted to a sample image with an image reconstruction program. The plurality of sample images thus formed is statistically averaged to form a final averaged image. The high frequency speckle that is not optically resolvable tends to average to zero with continual statistical averaging, leaving only the optically resolvable lower frequency phase information.

Abstract: A coherent radiation imaging system that produces digital images with a reduced amount of speckle. Radiation from a long coherence length source is used to form an image of a sample. The output coherent wave is temporally divided into a plurality of wavelets. The spatial phase of each wavelet is then modulated a known and different amount. Each phase modulated wavelet illuminates the sample and is perturbed by its interaction with the sample. A spatial phase map of each perturbed wavelet is then created and converted to a sample image with an image reconstruction program. The plurality of sample images thus formed is statistically averaged to form a final averaged image. The high frequency speckle that is not optically resolvable tends to average to zero with continual statistical averaging, leaving only the optically resolvable lower frequency phase information.

Abstract: A system and method for recovery of phase information from recorded intensity values is disclosed. In one aspect, a phase filter is placed in a plane, which may be the back focal plane (BFP) of a lens used for observing an object. The phase filter changes the phase of a wave front distribution in the BFP in a known manner. Amplitude stops or combinations of phase and amplitude filtering patterns can also be used to capture N different sets of intensity data in a conjugate diffraction plane. The N intensity images are used to obtain an estimate of the wave front at the first plane. This wave front estimate is then used to generate N modified estimates of the wave front at the conjugate plane, each modified estimate corresponding to one of N filtering patterns. In one implementation, the N modified IP estimates are corrected by replacing the estimated amplitudes with the actually measured ones for that image.

Abstract: A system and method for recovery of phase information from recorded intensity values is disclosed. A phase filter, such as one or more dioptric lenses, is placed in the back focal plane (BFP) of a lens used for observing an object. The phase filter changes the phase of a wave front distribution in the BFP in a known manner. The system captures N different sets of intensity data in the image plane (IP) using N different phase filters or N phase distributions generated by an electronically variable phase filter. The N intensity images are used to obtain an estimate of the wave front at the BFP of the lens. This BFP wave front estimate is then used to generate N modified estimates of the wave front at the IP, each modified estimate corresponding to one of the N phase distributions of the BFP phase filter(s). In one implementation, the N modified IP estimates are corrected by replacing the estimated amplitudes with the actually measured ones for that image.