Single-pixel Tracking and Imaging under Weak Illumination

TL;DR

This paper introduces a novel single-pixel tracking and imaging method capable of reconstructing moving objects under extremely low light conditions by using temporal correlation of signals and beam steering.

Contribution

The proposed method enables tracking and imaging of moving objects with minimal photon flux, overcoming limitations of traditional single pixel imaging schemes.

Findings

Effective at 1.88 photons per speckle

Tracks fast-moving objects with displacement larger than system resolution

Achieves clear imaging during object motion

Abstract

Under weak illumination, tracking and imaging moving object turns out to be hard. By spatially collecting the signal, single pixel imaging schemes promise the capability of image reconstruction from low photon flux. However, due to the requirement on large number of samplings, how to clearly image moving objects is an essential problem for such schemes. Here we present a principle of single pixel tracking and imaging method. Velocity vector of the object is obtained from temporal correlation of the bucket signals in a typical computational ghost imaging system. Then the illumination beam is steered accordingly. Taking the velocity into account, both trajectory and clear image of the object are achieved during its evolution. Since tracking is achieved with bucket signals independently, this scheme is valid for capturing moving object as fast as its displacement within the interval of every sampling keeps larger than the resolution of the optical system. Experimentally, our method works well with the average number of detected photons down to 1.88 photons/speckle.