Highly efficient single-pixel imaging system based on the STEAM structure

Abstract

We propose and demonstrate a compact and highly efficient single-pixel imaging system with data compression based on the traditional serial time-encoded amplified microscopy (STEAM) structure. Our proposal solves the big data issue and low-efficiency bottleneck in the conventional STEAM systems. Also, a cascaded Mach-Zehnder interferometric (MZI) structure as the optical random pattern generator is proposed and experimentally demonstrated as the low-cost approach to achieve data compression. A 45° tilted fiber grating (TFG) is applied to increase the efficiency of the imaging system. A state-of-art experiment is performed and data compression ratios from 5% to 20% at an imaging size of 1mm*1.8mm are conducted using our proposed system for the first time to the best of our knowledge. The proposed optical imaging system mitigates the big data issue, decreases the system cost, and increases energy efficiency, and lays a solid foundation for low-cost, compact, and highly efficient ultrafast optical imaging.