Virtual ghost imaging with Bessel beam illumination

Abstract

We present results from experiments performed at the Army Research Laboratory (ARL) demonstrating a single sensor virtual ghost imaging (VGI) configuration using Bessel beams. These experiments were performed in conditions of partially obscuring media or turbulent media to generate images of remote objects. Randomly translated Bessel beams provided improved illumination capabilities for resolving small distant targets in difficult imaging environments. When the object was illuminated through obscuring or turbulent media or a small offset aperture VGI recovered the image of the object when using a relatively coarse Bessel beam. Our experimental results show that VGI using Bessel beams can have advantages over Gaussian beams for imaging remote objects in adverse conditions.