Optical synthetic aperture radar

A method is proposed for increasing the resolution of an object and overcoming the diffraction limit of an optical system installed on top of a moving imaging system, such as an airborne platform or satellite. The resolution improvement is obtained via a two-step process. First, three low resolution differently defocused images are captured and the optical phase is retrieved using an improved iterative Gershberg-Saxton based algorithm. The phase retrieval allows numerical back propagation of the field to the aperture plane. Second, the imaging system is shifted and the first step is repeated. The obtained optical fields at the aperture plane are combined and a synthetically increased lens aperture is generated along the direction of movement, yielding higher imaging resolution. The method resembles a well-known approach from the microwave regime called the synthetic aperture radar in which the antenna size is synthetically increased along the platform propagation direction. The proposed method is demonstrated via Matlab simulation as well as through laboratory experiment.