Image synthesis from nonimaged laser-speckle patterns: comparison of theory, computer simulation, and laboratory...

The performance of an imaging technique relying on the spatial correlation of laser-speckle intensity measurements is evaluated on the basis of theoretical analysis, computer simulation, and laboratory results. A theoretical expression for the signal-to-noise ratio of the recovered imaging target's power spectrum is used to estimate the imaging performance expected in the computer simulation and laboratory experiment. Power-spectrum estimates for an imaging target, obtained both in the laboratory and through simulation, are compared with the theoretical results and with the true spectrum of the target. Images recovered from the simulation data and the laboratory data are also compared. Our results suggest that the signal-to-noise ratio expression provides an accurate means for estimating the recoverable frequency content of a simple target.