Quantum-inspired computational wavefront shaping enables turbulence-resilient distributed aperture synthesis imaging.

Area of Science:

• Optics and Photonics
• Computational Imaging
• Adaptive Optics

Background:

• Conventional wavefront shaping for optical imaging requires physical modulators and iterative optimization, limiting real-time applications in dynamic environments like atmospheric turbulence.
• Existing methods struggle with dynamic aberrations, hindering imaging through scattering media or turbulent conditions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose and validate a modulator-free, computational wavefront shaping technique inspired by quantum nonlocal aberration cancellation.
• To overcome the hardware limitations of traditional adaptive optics systems for aberration correction.

Main Methods:

• Leveraging classical correlated illumination and single-pixel detection for virtual phase modulation in the computational domain.
• Eliminating the need for physical spatial light modulators or array sensors.
• Demonstrating the technique in distributed optical aperture synthesis imaging through turbulence.

Main Results:

• Successfully reconstructed diffraction-limited images of a 3-meter standoff object despite unknown phase mismatch and turbulent distortion.
• Achieved imaging resolution experimentally at 0.157 mm, closely matching the theoretical limit of the synthetic aperture (0.152 mm).
• Validated the computational approach for turbulence-resilient standoff imaging.

Conclusions:

• The proposed computational wavefront shaping technique transforms hardware challenges into computationally solvable problems.
• This modulator-free approach enables turbulence-resilient standoff imaging without the need for adaptive optics.
• The method holds promise for real-time optical imaging applications in dynamic and challenging environments.