LEAPS-MPS: Developing Novel Imaging Techniques and Limits with Fisher Information-based or Quantum-Inspired Superresolution

Under conventional operation, imaging systems like telescopes, microscopes, and cameras all suffer from resolution limits: it is impossible to discern the details of the desired object scene when they become too small. A recent novel imaging scheme, known as modal imaging, has been shown to at least partially circumvent these resolution limits. However, modal imaging comes with limitations that have prevented widespread adoption or replacement of conventional imaging systems. This project analyzes these limitations and proposes novel solutions so that modal imaging’s benefits of improved resolution can be realized across numerous imaging applications. In a parallel vein, this project explores the counter-intuitive notion that imaging systems with aberrations, which are traditionally considered to be purely detrimental to system performance, may have the ability to resolve object scenes more effectively than aberration-free systems. The outcomes of this project will contribute to the advancement of high-resolution imaging, which finds applications in fields that benefit from the ability to accurately characterize, discern, and detect information from complicated object scenes, including the fields of astronomy and biological imaging. Undergraduate students participating in the project will learn to employ computational research strategies, and one student will have the opportunity to work experimentally in an optics laboratory through collaboration with the University of Rochester’s Institute of Optics. Development of computational and experimental research skills, as well as exposure to the broader optics community, will provide valuable experience for the students as they consider career paths in STEM.

The primary goal of this project is to elaborate and expand upon findings that imaging systems with off-axis aberrations may have greater resolution, quantified via the Fisher Information (FI), than their aberration-free counterpart. This would challenge traditional notions that ideal systems are diffraction-limited. This goal will be achieved with the derivation of the FI matrices of such aberrated systems and verified with maximum likelihood estimation performed on both simulated and experimental data. These computational and theoretical methods will be used to quantify and design aberrated imaging systems that outperform conventional ones in complex multi-parameter object estimation within the practical constraints of realistic systems. Additionally, a theoretical study on extending the feasibility of using modal imaging to circumvent conventional resolution limits will be performed. To accomplish this, various multi-stage imaging designs, in which the resolution benefits of modal imaging are supplemented by prior measurements, will be detailed and explored.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

Award Number: 2532835
Principal Investigator: Kevin Liang
Funds Obligated: $242,300
State: NY