Recent progress on multi-domain optimization for ultra-thin cameras

Conventional imaging systems can suffer from significant aliasing and/or blur distortions when the detector array in the focal plane under-samples the image. We propose to address this problem by engineering the optical PSF of the imaging system followed by electronic post-processing to minimize the overall distortions. The optical PSF of the candidate imaging system is modified by placing a phase-mask in its aperture-stop. We consider a particular parameterization of the phase-mask and optimize its parameters to minimize the distortions. We obtain as much as 30% improvement in the final imaging quality with the optimized optical PSF imager (SPEL) relative to the conventional imager.