Research on optical interferometric imaging with flexible control using optical fibers and PIC chip

We propose a prototype called a flexible integrated resolution and efficient light-imaging-expanded synthetic system (FIREFLIES). This paper describes the design, manufacturing, and experimental demonstration of the proposed system. FIREFLIES enables interferometric imaging at approximately 1550 nm using a variable baseline sampling technique, in which the baseline-collected light field forms interference fringes that are captured by an on-chip photodetector. This innovation extends the limited sampling distance imposed by the processing size restrictions of traditional photonic integrated circuit (PIC) links. Furthermore, we introduce a unique method for achieving super-resolution sampling by flexibly controlling the baseline. An experimental platform is constructed to test the FIREFLIES against a one-dimensional grating target. The experimental curves closely align with the theoretical predictions, confirming the efficacy of the system in super-resolution sampling and imaging performance.