Optical aperture synthesis imaging with fractional Fourier-domain filtering.

The fractional Fourier transform, which is a generalization of the classical Fourier transform, is introduced into an optical aperture synthesis (OAS) system by which imaging of an astronomical object can be achieved. We introduce fractional Fourier optical imaging and fractional Fourier-domain filtering (FFDF), and then present the schematic diagram of an OAS imaging system with FFDF. The modulation transfer function of an OAS system with FFDF is compared with that of an OAS system in the same condition. The result indicates that the OAS system with FFDF has larger practical cutoff frequency when the fill factor is smaller. Furthermore, the quality of imaging and restoration also demonstrates this conclusion.