No Arabic abstract
In this paper, we propose the SPR (sparse phase retrieval) method, which is a new phase retrieval method for coherent x-ray diffraction imaging (CXDI). Conventional phase retrieval methods effectively solve the problem for high signal-to-noise ratio measurements, but would not be sufficient for single biomolecular imaging which is expected to be realized with femto-second x-ray free electron laser pulses. The SPR method is based on the Bayesian statistics. It does not need to set the object boundary constraint that is required by the commonly used hybrid input-output (HIO) method, instead a prior distribution is defined with an exponential distribution and used for the estimation. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed method reconstructs the electron density under a noisy condition even some central pixels are masked.
We comment on the recent manuscript by Raines et al. [arXiv:0905.0269v2] (now published in Nature, vol. 463, p. 214-217, 2010), which suggests that in certain conditions a single diffraction measurement may be sufficient to reconstruct the full three-dimensional density of a scatterer. We show that past literature contains the tools to assess rigorously the feasibility of this approach. We question the formulation of the reconstruction algorithm used by the authors and we argue that the experimental data used as a demonstration is not suitable for this method, and thus that the reconstruction is not valid. This second version was produced for documentation purposes. In addition to the minimally modified original comment, it includes in appendix a subsequent reply to one of the authors (J. Miao).
This paper proposes a novel algorithm for image phase retrieval, i.e., for recovering complex-valued images from the amplitudes of noisy linear combinations (often the Fourier transform) of the sought complex images. The algorithm is developed using the alternating projection framework and is aimed to obtain high performance for heavily noisy (Poissonian or Gaussian) observations. The estimation of the target images is reformulated as a sparse regression, often termed sparse coding, in the complex domain. This is accomplished by learning a complex domain dictionary from the data it represents via matrix factorization with sparsity constraints on the code (i.e., the regression coefficients). Our algorithm, termed dictionary learning phase retrieval (DLPR), jointly learns the referred to dictionary and reconstructs the unknown target image. The effectiveness of DLPR is illustrated through experiments conducted on complex images, simulated and real, where it shows noticeable advantages over the state-of-the-art competitors.
Monte-Carlo (MC) methods, based on random updates and the trial-and-error principle, are well suited to retrieve particle size distributions from small-angle scattering patterns of dilute solutions of scatterers. The size sensitivity of size determination methods in relation to the range of scattering vectors covered by the data is discussed. Improvements are presented to existing MC methods in which the particle shape is assumed to be known. A discussion of the problems with the ambiguous convergence criteria of the MC methods are given and a convergence criterion is proposed, which also allows the determination of uncertainties on the determined size distributions.
The recent development of phase-grating moire neutron interferometry promises a wide range of impactful experiments from dark-field imaging of material microstructure to precise measurements of fundamental constants. However, the contrast of 3 % obtained using this moire interferometer was well below the theoretical prediction of 30 % using ideal gratings. It is suspected that non-ideal aspects of the phase-gratings was a leading contributor to this deficiency and that phase-gratings needed to be quantitatively assessed and optimized. Here we characterize neutron diffraction from phase-gratings using Bragg diffraction crystals to determine the optimal phase-grating orientations. We show well-defined diffraction peaks and explore perturbations to the diffraction peaks and the effects on interferometer contrast as a function of grating alignment. This technique promises to improve the contrast of the grating interferometers by providing in-situ aides to grating alignment.
While characterization of coherent wavefields is essential to laser, x-ray and electron imaging, sensors measure the squared magnitude of the field, rather than the field itself. Holography or phase retrieval must be used to characterize the field. The need for a reference severely restricts the utility of holography. Phase retrieval, in contrast, is theoretically consistent with sensors that directly measure coherent or partially coherent fields with no prior assumptions. Unfortunately, phase retrieval has not yet been successfully implemented for large-scale fields. Here we show that both holography and phase retrieval are capable of quantum-limited coherent signal estimation and we describe phase retrieval strategies that approach the quantum limit for >1 megapixel fields. These strategies rely on group testing using networks of interferometers, such as might be constructed using emerging integrated photonic, plasmonic and/or metamaterial devices. Phase-sensitive sensor planes using such devices could eliminate the need both for lenses and reference signals, creating a path to large aperture diffraction limited laser imaging.