Time-Domain Ptychography

Diffraction imaging is a widely used concept in lens-less imaging. The key challenge is to reconstruct the phase of diffracted waves, and several solutions to this so-called phase problem have been published. One of the most robust techniques is ptychography. Its concept is related to the solution of the phase problem in crystallography as proposed by Hoppe [1]. It was first demonstrated at optical wavelengths [2], but its scientific impact is expected to be largest at X-ray wavelengths, especially after commissioning high brightness coherent X-ray sources. In ptychography the real-space image of an object is reconstructed from a series of far-field diffraction patterns where each pattern is recorded after either translating the object or the coherent illumination beam.