不同于数码相机使用光电探测器阵列来获取图像, 单像素成像通过使用一系列掩膜图案对场景进行采样, 并将这些掩膜图案中的信息与单像素探测器测量得到的相应光强做关联计算以重建图像。虽然在传统可见光成像领域, 单像素成像性能远不如数码相机, 但许多研究成果表明, 其在复合波长、太赫兹、X射线以及三维成像等一些非常规应用中具有一定优势。介绍了单像素成像技术的发展历程, 用数学模型对其成像原理进行了解释, 并分析了影响其性能的要点。此外, 文中还对三维单像素成像技术的研究工作及其潜在的应用前景进行了总结和展望。

Unlike a digital cameras using a photodetector array to capture images, single-pixel imaging reconstructs images by sampling a scene with a series of masks and associating the knowledge of these masks with the corresponding intensity measured with a single-pixel detector. Though not performing as well as digital cameras in conventional visible imaging, single-pixel imaging has been demonstrated to be advantageous in unconventional applications, such as multi-wavelength imaging, terahertz imaging, X-ray imaging, and three-dimensional imaging. The developments and working principles of single-pixel imaging were reviewed, a mathematical interpretation was given, and the key elements were analyzed. The research works of three-dimensional single-pixel imaging and their potential applications were further reviewed and discussed.