Optical Image Formation

Abstract

The radiation intercepted by an optical system passes through the different media in the system and is eventually collected by an optical receiver that converts it into an image which is subsequently analysed in terms of a spatial discrimination model. The radiation detection capability of the system is limited by the properties of its optical components. These limitations arise, on the one hand, from geometrical and chromatic aberrations and on the other, from diffraction that imposes the ultimate theoretical limit on the resolution of the system. The dimensions of the image of a point object must not exceed the dimensions of the sensitive surface of the detector. In this Chapter, these effects will be examined as part of a general study of imaging, in the course of which we will compare optical theory with the theory of linear filters. Finally, we will consider the fundamental causes of noise in optical components.