Method and apparatus for obtaining,by a series of samples,the intensity distribution across sources of incoherent electromagnetic waves to produce a single composite picture

Abstract

Abstract A METHOD AND APPARATUS IS DESCRIBED FOR OBTAINING INFORMATION RELATED TO AN OBJECT, SUCH AS IN MICROSCOPY OR ASTRONOMY OR ANY OTHER OBJECT ABSORBNG, SCATTERING OR RADIATING INCOHERENT ELECTROMAGNETIC WAVES. THE APPARATUS PERFORMS A SEQUENCE OF OBSERVATIONS OF THE INTENSITY DISTRIBUTION ACROSS THE OBJECT OR SOUCE OF THE INCOHERENT ELECTROMAGNETIC WAVES IN A DETECTION PLANE CORRESPINDING TO THE IMAGE PLANE IN CONVENTIONAL IMAGE FORMING SYSTEMS. THROUGHOUT THIS SEQUENCE OF OBSERVATIONS, A KNOWN COORDINATE SYSTEM IS ASCRIBED TO THE OBBJECT. EVERY POINT OF THE OBJECT MAY BE THOUGHT OF AS BEING A SOURCE OF A SPHERICAL ELECTROMAGNETIC WAVE. IN EVERY OBSERVATION, TWO DIFFERENT PARTS OF THIS WAVE ARE BROUGHT TO A COMMON AREA IN THE APPARATUS DETECTION PLANE WHERE THE INTENSITY OF THE INTERACTION OF THE TWO PARTS OF THE WAVE ARE RECORDED. SIMILARLY, TWO PARTS OF THE SPHERICAL WAVE FROM THE NEIGHBORING POINT OF THE OBJECT ARE BROUGHT TO A NEIGHBORING COMMON AREA AND SO ON. IN A SINGLE OBSERVATION, THE PORTIONS OF THE ELECTROMAGNETIC WAVE WHICH ARRIVED AT THE DETECTION PLANE HAVE THE SAME SHAPE IN THE APPARATS COLLECTING AREA, ALTHOUGH THEIR DIRECTION, AMPLITUDE AND OTHER PROPERTIES MAY BE DIFFERENT. IN SUBSEQUENT OBSERVATIONS, THIS SHAPE OR RELATIVE POSITION OF THE TWO PARTS IS ALTERED. MANY OBESERVATIONS MAY BE REQUIRED TO FULLY DESCRIBE THE OBJECT, BUT WHEN AN APPROPRIATE COMBINATION OF THE SAMPLES OF SPHERICAL WAVES IS SEQUENTIALLY BROUGHT TO THE DETECTION PLANE AND RECORDED, A COMPOSITE SIINGLE IMAGE WILL BE OBTAINED AFTER APPROPRIATE PROCESSING. EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION AS AN ASTRONOMICAL TELESCOPE AND AS AN X-RAY MICROSCOPE ARE DISCLOSED. DATA ACQUISITION IS OBTAINED THROUGH A TELESCOPE HAVING TWO APERTURES WHICH ARE MOVED TO PREDETERMINED POSITIONS AND THE OBJECT IS SEQUENTIALLY SAMPLED OVER A SET OF DISCRETE RANGES OF SPATIAL FREQUENCIES AND THE RESULTANT OBSERVATIONS ARE PROCESSED TO FORM A SINGLE PICTURE. A SIMILAR PROCEDURE IS EMPLOYED IN THE EMBODIMAENT OFT HE X-RAY MICROSCOPE. IT IS ASSUMED THAT THE OBJECT DOES NOT VARY SUBSTANTIALLY DURING THE SET OF OBSERVATIONS REQUIRED TO DESCRIBE IT FULLY, OR IF IT DOES VARY, THE RATE OF SUCH CHANGE IS KNOWN.

Inventors

• 👤 Janusz S Wilczynski

Bibliographic Details