2 May 2024 Image-plane speckle contrast and Fλ/d in active imaging systems
Joshua Follansbee, Eric Mitchell, Christopher Kyle Renshaw, Ronald Driggers
Author Affiliations +
Abstract

Coherent illumination of an optically rough surface creates random phase variations in the reflected electric field. Free-space propagation converts these phase variations into irradiance variations in both the pupil and image planes, known as pupil- and image-plane speckle. Infrared imaging systems are often parameterized by the quantity Fλ/d, which relates the cutoff frequencies passed by the optical diffraction MTF to the frequencies passed by the detector MTF. We present both analytical expressions and Monte-Carlo wave-optics simulations to determine the relationship between image-plane speckle contrast and the first-order system parameters utilized in Fλ/d (focal length, aperture size, wavelength, and detector size). For designers of active imaging systems, we provide input on speckle mitigation using Fλ/d to consider in system design.

© 2024 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE)
Joshua Follansbee, Eric Mitchell, Christopher Kyle Renshaw, and Ronald Driggers "Image-plane speckle contrast and Fλ/d in active imaging systems," Optical Engineering 63(5), 053101 (2 May 2024). https://doi.org/10.1117/1.OE.63.5.053101
Received: 15 February 2024; Accepted: 15 April 2024; Published: 2 May 2024
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KEYWORDS
Speckle

Sensors

Imaging systems

Active imaging

Speckle pattern

Simulations

Monte Carlo methods

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