Coherent single-detector imaging system

A hybrid opto-microelectromechanical, coherent laser light, single-detector imaging system is demonstrated that applies compressive sensing algorithms for computational imaging of wavefield intensity from a small number of projective measurements of the field. The projective measurements are implemented using spatial light modulators of the digital mi-cromirror device (DMD) family, followed by a geometrical-optics-based image casting system to capture the data using a single photodetector. The reconstruction process is based on the new field of compressive sensing which allows the imaging of the main features of the objects under illumination with much less data than a typical CCD camera. The present system expands the scope of single-detector imaging systems based on compressive sensing from the incoherent light regime, which has been the past focus, to the coherent light regime which is key in many biomedical and Homeland security applications.