Instant ghost imaging: algorithm and on-chip implementation

Abstract

Ghost imaging (GI) is an imaging technique that uses the correlation between two light beams to reconstruct the image of an object. Conventional GI algorithms require large memory space to store the measured data and perform complicated offline calculations, limiting practical applications of GI. Here we develop an instant ghost imaging (IGI) technique with a differential algorithm and an implemented high-speed on-chip IGI hardware system. This algorithm uses the signal between consecutive temporal measurements to reduce the memory requirements without degradation of image quality compared with conventional GI algorithms. The on-chip IGI system can immediately reconstruct the image once the measurement finishes; there is no need to rely on post-processing or offline reconstruction. This system can be developed into a realtime imaging system. These features make IGI a faster, cheaper, and more compact alternative to a conventional GI system and make it viable for practical applications of GI.

Instant ghost imaging: improving robustness for ghost imaging subject to optical background noise

“…The IGI algorithm is (2) where S n+1 -S n and I n+1 (x) -I n (x) are the temporal difference signals between two consecutive measurements at the bucket detector and the reference detector. The result given by IGI is the same as that given by GI; the detailed proof is given in [40]. We verified that both the GI algorithm and the IGI algorithm could reconstruct the image of the object when there is no optical background noise.…”

“…The IGI algorithm offers additional advantages because of its robustness against optical background noise: it is more easily generalizable (it could be used for IGI radar or single-pixel imaging, for example) and more flexible in terms of hardware. We have shown elsewhere [40] that IGI can be implemented on a chip, which will greatly reduce the size and cost of an IGI system. These features can greatly accelerate the adoption of IGI for practical applications.…”

“…This problem is an obstacle to the practical application of GI. [40] prototyped the chip-based application of an instant ghost imaging (IGI) algorithm. IGI uses the difference between the signals of two consecutive measurements to generate an image of the object [41][42][43].…”

SP-ILC: Concurrent Single-Pixel Imaging, Object Location, and Classification by Deep Learning

“…Single-pixel detectors can operate in spectral bands, such as THz, infrared and X-ray bands [3][4][5], that are not accessible to array detectors because of cost or technical constraints. Single-pixel imaging and the related technique of computational ghost imaging have recently attracted widespread attention [6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13]. Single-pixel imaging has important applications in 3D imaging [14,15], LiDAR [16], encrypted communication [17], and many other fields.…”

Instant single-pixel imaging: on-chip real-time implementation based on the instant ghost imaging algorithm

“…There has been research implementing a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) on the SPI, but a computer was also required [46]. The recently developed instant ghost imaging (IGI) algorithm provides an on-chip GI [47][48][49][50][51], thereby making the computer redundant. We first proposed the IGI algorithm in 2015 [49].…”