Ghost projection via focal-field diffraction catastrophes

TL;DR

This paper introduces a mask-free ghost projection method using diffraction catastrophes generated by phase-modulated coherent beams, enabling arbitrary image synthesis with potential applications in beam shaping and lithography.

Contribution

It presents a novel mask-free ghost projection technique utilizing diffraction catastrophes, expanding the capabilities of computational imaging.

Findings

Simulation demonstrates effective image synthesis from random focal-field patterns.

Linear combination of diffraction catastrophes can produce arbitrary images.

Method offers potential for dynamic beam shaping and aberration correction.

Abstract

Ghost projection is the reversed process of computational classical ghost imaging that allows any desired image to be synthesized using a linear combination of illuminating patterns. Typically, physical attenuating masks are used to produce these illuminating patterns. A mask-free alternative form of ghost projection is explored here, where the illuminations are a set of caustic-laden diffraction patterns known as diffraction catastrophes. These are generated by focusing a coherent beam with spatially modulated phase having random Zernike-polynomial aberrations. We demonstrate, via simulation, that a suitable linear combination of such random focal-field intensity patterns can be used as a basis to synthesize arbitrary images. In our proof-of-concept ghost-projection synthesis, the positive weighting coefficients in the decomposition are proportional to exposure times for each focal-field diffraction catastrophe. Potential applications include dynamic on-demand beam shaping of focused fields, aberration correction and lithography.