Scatter Ptychography

TL;DR

This paper introduces a phase retrieval method for remotely observed scattered fields that significantly enhances imaging resolution beyond direct viewing, achieving approximately 32 times improvement.

Contribution

The authors demonstrate a novel scatter ptychography technique that leverages phase retrieval to improve remote imaging resolution beyond traditional limits.

Findings

Achieved approximately 32× resolution enhancement over direct imaging.

Resolution scales with wavelength, range, and aperture as λRs/As.

Method enables imaging of distant objects with unprecedented detail.

Abstract

Coherent illumination reflected by a remote target may be secondarily scattered by intermediate objects or materials. Here we show that phase retrieval on remotely observed images of such scattered fields enables imaging of the illuminated object at resolution proportional to $\lambda R_s/A_s$, where $R_s$ is the range between the scatterer and the target and $A_s$ is the diameter of the observed scatter. This resolution may exceed the resolution of directly viewing the target by the factor $R_cA_s/R_sA_c$, where $R_c$ is the range between the observer and the target and $A_c$ is the observing aperture. Here we use this technique to demonstrate $\approx 32\times$ resolution improvement relative to direct imaging.