Aberrations in shift-invariant linear optical imaging systems using partially coherent fields

TL;DR

This paper analyzes how aberrations affect the imaging quality of shift-invariant linear optical systems using partially coherent fields, providing new mathematical expressions for the output fields and their spectral densities.

Contribution

It introduces novel analytical expressions for the output cross-spectral density in shift-invariant systems with partially coherent illumination, applicable to various object types.

Findings

Derived expressions for output cross-spectral density under partial coherence.

Analyzed effects of aberrations on imaging contrast.

Applicable to weak-phase and single-material objects.

Abstract

Here the role and influence of aberrations in optical imaging systems employing partially coherent complex scalar fields is studied. Imaging systems require aberrations to yield contrast in the output image. For linear shift-invariant optical systems, we develop an expression for the output cross-spectral density under the space-frequency formulation of statistically stationary partially coherentfields. We also develop expressions for the output cross{spectral density and associated spectral density for weak-phase, weak-phase-amplitude, and single-material objects in one transverse spatial dimension.