Image quality in double- and triple-intensity ghost imaging with classical partially polarized light

Area of Science:

• Optics and Photonics
• Image Processing
• Quantum Imaging

Background:

• Ghost imaging is a correlation-based technique for object reconstruction.
• Partially polarized light sources are increasingly used in imaging applications.
• Image quality assessment relies on parameters like visibility, SNR, and CNR.

Purpose of the Study:

• To analyze the performance of double- and triple-intensity correlation imaging setups.
• To evaluate image quality parameters as a function of the degree of polarization (DoP).
• To understand the impact of partially polarized light on ghost imaging.

Main Methods:

• Utilized classical ghost imaging with a random partially polarized Gaussian light source.
• Assessed image quality using visibility, signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), and contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR).
• Varied the degree of polarization (DoP) and the order of intensity correlation (double and triple).

Main Results:

• Visibility improves with increasing DoP and higher-order correlations.
• Signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) decreases as DoP and imaging order increase.
• Contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) remains largely independent of DoP and imaging order.

Conclusions:

• The degree of polarization significantly influences ghost imaging performance.
• Higher-order correlations can enhance visibility but may degrade SNR.
• Findings are crucial for designing advanced imaging systems utilizing partially polarized light.