Novel optics for ultrafast cameras create new possibilities for imaging

MIT researchers have developed novel photography optics that capture images based on the timing of reflecting light inside the optics, instead of the traditional approach that relies on the arrangement of optical components. These new principles, the researchers say, open doors to new capabilities for time- or depth-sensitive cameras, which are not possible with conventional photography optics.

Specifically, the researchers designed new optics for an ultrafast sensor called a streak camera that resolves images from ultrashort pulses of light. Streak cameras and other ultrafast cameras have been used to make a trillion-frame-per-second video, scan through closed books, and provide depth map of a 3-D scene, among other applications.

In a paper published in this week’s Nature Photonics, MIT Media Lab researchers describe a technique that makes a light signal reflect back and forth off carefully positioned mirrors inside the lens system. A fast imaging sensor captures a separate image at each reflection time. The result is a sequence of images — each corresponding to a different point in time, and to a different distance from the lens. Each image can be accessed at its specific time.

Read more at MIT

Image Credit: MIT

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