Incoherent diffraction imaging with a pseudo-thermal light source
Abstract Incoherent Diffraction Imaging -IDI -is a lensless imaging technique that has been recently proposed to exploit the partial coherence of incoherently scattered light to retrieve structural information from the scattering centers. Similar to the stellar intensity interferometry of Hanbury Brown and Twiss, the signal builds up on the second-order spatial correlations of the emitted light. The complex spatial distribution of the target is thereby encoded in the spatial intensity fluctuations of the scattered light. The first experimental realisations of this imaging technique have been realised using the fluorescence excited by an ultra-short X-ray pulse at Free Electron Laser (FEL) facilities. Here, we propose an alternative setup based on a table-top Pseudo-Thermal Light Source that works as an optical emulator of the FEL experiment. This setup allows us to explore IDI under a wide range of physically relevant conditions as well as to benchmark numerical and analytical models currently used to determine the imaging capabilities of this technique.
Authors
- Matilde Garcia
- Pablo San Miguel Claveria (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9342-1573)
- Lucas A. Fernández
- Philip Mosel (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6672-2204)
- Gareth O. Williams (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1903-3000)
- Milutin Kovačev (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2813-9608)
- Marco Piccardo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8851-1638)
- Andrea Trabattoni (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0187-9075)
- Marta Fajardo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2133-2365)
- H. Merdji (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3512-3855)
- Jean-Christophe Chanteloup (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0414-9617)
- Ihsan Fsaifes (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7950-7653)
- Sven Fröhlich
- David Theidel (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8486-8509)
- Peer Biesterfeld (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0003-3125-3051)
- Sebastião Antunes (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2328-5013)
- Matilde Nunes
- Matilde Fernandes
Institutions
- Leibniz University Hannover (DE)
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR)
- University of Lisbon (PT)
- École Polytechnique (FR)
- École Nationale Supérieure de Techniques Avancées (FR)
- Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY (DE)
- Laboratoire d'Optique Appliquée (FR)
- Instituto de Plasmas e Fusão Nuclear (PT)
- École Nationale Supérieure de Techniques Avancées Paris (FR)
- École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (CH)
Publication Details
- Journal
- New Journal of Physics
- Published
- 2026-10-13
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1088/1367-2630/aeb3a4
- Citations
- 1
- Primary Topic
- Advanced X-ray Imaging Techniques
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- HORIZON EUROPE European Innovation Council