Patrick C. Chaumet

Superresolution in total internal reflection tomography

We simulate a total internal reflection tomography experiment in which an unknown object is illuminated by evanescent waves and the scattered field is detected along several directions. We propose a full-vectorial three-dimensional nonlinear inversion scheme to retrieve the map of the permittivity of the object from the scattered far-field data. We study the role of the solid angle of illumination, the incident polarization, and the position of the prism interface on the resolution of the images. We compare our algorithm with a linear inversion scheme based on the renormalized Born approximation and stress the importance of multiple scattering in this particular configuration. We analyze the sensitivity to noise and point out that using incident propagative waves together with evanescent waves improves the robustness of the reconstruction.

Influence of multiple scattering on the resolution of an imaging system: a Cramér-Rao analysis.

We revisit the notion of resolution of an imaging system in the light of a probabilistic concept, the Cramér-Rao bound (CRB). We show that the CRB provides a simple quantitative estimation of the accuracy one can expect in measuring an unknown parameter from a scattering experiment. We then investigate the influence of multiple scattering on the CRB for the estimation of the interdistance between two objects in a typical two-sphere scattering experiments. We show that, contrarily to a common belief, the occurence of strong multiple scattering does not automatically lead to a resolution enhancement.

Superresolution of three-dimensional optical imaging by use of evanescent waves

We simulate a three-dimensional optical diffraction tomography experiment in which superresolution is achieved by illuminating the object with evanescent waves generated by a prism. We show that accounting for multiple scattering between the object and the prism interface is mandatory to obtain superresolved images. Because the Born approximation leads to poor results, we propose a nonlinear inversion method for retrieving the map of permittivity of the object from the scattered far field. We analyze the sensitivity to noise of our algorithm and point out the importance of using incident propagative waves together with evanescent waves to improve the robustness of the reconstruction without losing the superresolution.

Three-dimensional optical imaging in layered media.

The present paper deals with the reconstruction of three-dimensional objects from the scattered far-field. The configuration under study is typically the one used in the Optical Diffraction Tomography (ODT), in which the sample is illuminated with various angles of incidence and the scattered field is measured for each illumination. The retrieval of the sample from the scattered field is accomplished numerically by solving the inverse scattering problem. We present herein a fast method for solving the inverse scattering problem based on the Coupled Dipole Method (CDM) and applied it for complex background configuration such as buried objects in a layered medium. Numerical experiments are reported and robustness against the presence of noise in the data is analyzed.

Subdiffraction resolution in total internal reflection fluorescence microscopy with a grating substrate

We propose a fluorescence surface imaging system that presents a power of resolution beyond that of the diffraction limit without resorting to saturation effects or probe scanning. This is achieved by depositing the sample on an optimized periodically nanostructured substrate in a standard total internal reflection fluorescence microscope. The grating generates a high-spatial-frequency light grid that can be moved throughout the sample by changing the incident angle. An appropriate reconstruction procedure permits one to recover the fluorescence amplitude from the images obtained for various incidences. Simulations of this imaging system show that the resolution is not limited by diffraction but by the period of the grating.

Inverse scattering using a Time Reversal RADAR

This work presents a new RADAR prototype built for the purpose of imaging targets located in a cluttered environment. The system is capable of performing Phase Conjugation experiments in the ultrawideband [2–4] GHz. In addition, applying the D.O.R.T. method to the inter-element matrix allows us to selectively focus onto targets, hence reducing the clutter contribution. We aim to experimentally explore the use of this focusing wave into an inversion algorithm, in order to improve its robustness against noise.

Tomographic Diffraction Microscopy : Improving Marker-free Microscopy Resolution Using Holograms and Numerical Reconstructions

While the resolution of fluorescence microscopy has undergone a significant improvement in the recent years, reaching a few tens of nanometers, that of marker-free microscopes remains stuck at several hundreds of nanometers.

An ultrawideband time reversal-based RADAR for microwave-range imaging in cluttered media

This work presents a new RADAR prototype built for the purpose of imaging targets located in a cluttered environment. The system is capable of performing Phase Conjugation experiments in the ultrawideband [2-4] GHz. In addition, applying the D.O.R.T. method to the inter-element matrix allows us to selectively focus onto targets, hence reducing the clutter contribution. We aim to experimentally explore the use of this focusing wave into an inversion algorithm, in order to improve its robustness against noise. Before testing this idea, we show here the first results validating the prototype separately in the frame of selective focusing via the DORT method and of multistatic-multifrequency inversion.