Effect of Fiber Optic Plate on Centroid Locating Accuracy of Monocentric Imager
Citation
Huang, Y.; Xie, D.; Yan, C.; Wu, C. Effect of Fiber Optic Plate on Centroid Locating Accuracy of Monocentric Imager. Appl. Sci. 2021, 11, 1993.
Keywords:
- fiber optic plate
- centroid locating accuracy
- monocentric imager
Brief
This article presents a method for enhancing the centroid locating accuracy (CLA) of monocentric imagers that utilize fiber optic plates (FOPs) for relay image transmission.
Summary
The authors of the article propose a two-stage image transmission coupling model of spherical focal surface (FOP) image sensor in order to lessen the loss of Centroid Locating Accuracy (CLA). The model aims to reduce the loss of CLA that happens when a fiber optic plate (FOP) is used as a relay image transmission element in a monocentric imager. A monocentric imager uses FOPs to couple a flat image sensor to a spherical focal surface. The FOP is made up of millions of fibers that transmit light independently, meaning each fiber transmits a pixel without interfering with the others. The authors state that monocentric imagers are beneficial because there is no need to correct the curvature of field when optimizing image quality and the imagers are lightweight and smaller than traditional imagers. However, using FOPs increases the error of the centroid, so it's important to reduce the loss of CLA that is caused by adding FOPs.
To test the accuracy of using FOPs, the authors simulated and analyzed different FOP schemes. Through simulations, they found that an FOP with a smaller fill factor and smaller fiber diameter had a higher CLA. The fill factor of an FOP is the ratio of the light passing area to the total area of the FOP. They also tested the impact of rotating and then translating, or moving, the FOP. Through these simulations, they found that the CLA loss caused by adding the FOP could be reduced by 20% if a scheme with a fiber diameter of 4 µm and fill factor of 0.7 is used.
Origin: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/11/5/1993