Spatial Multiplexing Technique for Improving Dynamic Range of Speckle Correlation based Optical Lever

Speckle correlation based optical levers (SC-OptLev) possess attractive characteristics suitable for sensing small changes in the angular orientations of surfaces. In this study, we propose and demonstrate a spatial multiplexing technique for improving the dynamic range of SC-OptLev. When the surface is in its initial position, a synthetic speckle intensity pattern, larger than the area of the image sensor is created by transversely shifting the image sensor and recording different sections of a larger speckle pattern. Then, the acquired images are stitched together by a computer program into one relatively large synthetic speckle pattern. Following the calibration stage, the synthetic speckle intensity pattern is used to sense changes in the surface’s angular orientation. The surface is monitored in real-time by recording part of the speckle pattern which lies within the sensor area. Next, the recorded speckle pattern is cross-correlated with the synthetic speckle pattern in the computer. The resulting shift of the correlation peak indicates the angular orientations of the reflective surface under test. This spatial-multiplexing technique enables sensing changes in the angular orientation of the surface beyond the limit imposed by the physical size of the image sensor.