For more than a century the possibility of imaging the structure of a medium with diffracting waves has been limited by the tradeoff between resolution and imaging depth.  While long wavelengths can penetrate deep into a medium, the resolution limit precludes the possibility of observing subwavelength structures.  On the other hand, short wavelengths, which would lead to high resolution, are rapidly attenuated with penetration depth so becoming insensitive to deep features. Near-field microscopy has recently demonstrated that the resolution limit can be overcome by bringing a probing sensor within one wavelength distance from the surface to be imaged. The aim of this project is to extend the scope of near-field microscopy so as to obtain super resolved images from remote measurements.  This is achieved by combining recent developments in array technology for ultrasonic, microwave and optical sensing and novel algorithms which are based on a more accurate modelling of the interaction between the probing waves and the medium to be imaged.

Super Resolution Subsurface Imaging

References

Simonetti F, Multiple scattering: the key to unravel the subwavelength world from the far-field pattern of a scattered wave., Phys Rev E Stat Nonlin Soft Matter Phys, 2006, Vol:73, ISSN:1539-3755

Hutt T, Simonetti F, Reconstructing the shape of an object from its mirror image, J APPL PHYS, 2010, Vol:108, ISSN:0021-8979

Sponsors

 RAEng, EPSRC