Morris, P. A., Aspden, R. S., Bell, J. E.C., Boyd, R. W. and Padgett, M. J. (2015) Imaging with a small number of photons. Nature Communications, 6, (doi: 10.1038/ncomms6913) (PMID:25557090) (PMCID:PMC4354036)
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Abstract
Low-light-level imaging techniques have application in many diverse fields, ranging from biological sciences to security. A high-quality digital camera based on a multi-megapixel array will typically record an image by collecting of order 105 photons per pixel, but by how much could this photon flux be reduced? In this work we demonstrate a single-photon imaging system based on a time-gated intensified camera from which the image of an object can be inferred from very few detected photons. We show that a ghost-imaging configuration, where the image is obtained from photons that have never interacted with the object, is a useful approach for obtaining images with high signal-to-noise ratios. The use of heralded single photons ensures that the background counts can be virtually eliminated from the recorded images. By applying principles of image compression and associated image reconstruction, we obtain high-quality images of objects from raw data formed from an average of fewer than one detected photon per image pixel.
Item Type: | Articles |
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Status: | Published |
Refereed: | Yes |
Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: | Padgett, Professor Miles and Aspden, Mr Reuben and Boyd, Professor Robert and MORRIS, PETER |
Authors: | Morris, P. A., Aspden, R. S., Bell, J. E.C., Boyd, R. W., and Padgett, M. J. |
College/School: | College of Science and Engineering > School of Physics and Astronomy |
Journal Name: | Nature Communications |
Publisher: | Nature Publishing Group |
ISSN: | 2041-1723 |
ISSN (Online): | 2041-1723 |
Copyright Holders: | Copyright © 2015 Macmillan Publishers Limited |
First Published: | First published in Nature Communications 6:5913 |
Publisher Policy: | Reproduced under a Creative Commons License |
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