Imaging of Optical Sparse Aperture Systems and Evaluate Method

Optical sparse aperture systems can be designed to obtain high resolution in astronomical object imaging.It is a particular array synthesized by several small filled imaging systems.The computer simulations are achieved for the three typical configurations imaging character of sparse apertures array.The analysis is presented on the modulation transfer function(MTF)and the resulted images on the optical experiments.Image restoration of the direct output by the sparse aperture system is performed by using the Weiner filter.To evaluate the whole quality of optical sparse aperture systems for the complicated target,except with the MTF,the correlation coefficient is also presented as a new objective estimate method of image quality.The results show that the Tri-Arm array configuration can produce the higher resolution and the larger correlation coefficient after the restoration.Accordingly,not only from theoretical analysis but also based on the experimental data,the possibility is demonstrated that the correlation coefficient is considered as the objective estimate method of image quality,and the optical sparse aperture systems can achieve almost the same resolution and image quality as an equivalent filled system.