Two-dimensional superresolution optical system for temporally restricted objects

Objects that vary slowly over time may be superresolved by use of moving gratings. A system of this kind was proposed three decades ago. However, such a system creates some distortion of the spectral response of the resolved objects, and it achieves superresolution in only one dimension. We propose an enhanced method based on Dammann gratings instead of regular gratings for achieving two-dimensional superresolution. The modified approach achieves results with undistorted output and relatively high light efficiency, and it is effective for both coherent and incoherent illumination. Preliminary results demonstrate the feasibility of the new approach. (C) 1997 Optical Society of America.