15 January 1997

OPTICS
COMMUNICATIONS

ELSEWIER Optics Communications 134 ( 1997) 5 14-520

Full length article

2D pattern matching with adaptive photodetectors

N. Korneev, P. Rodriguez, S. Stepanov
Institute National de Astrofisica, Optica y Electrhzica, A.P. 51, Puebla 72000, Pue., Mexico

Received 13 May 1996; revised version received22July 1996;accepted2 August I996

Abstract

We propose utilization of the adaptive photodetectors based on non-steady-state photo-electromotive force for matching
of 2D patterns. A simple configuration allows to suppress low spatial frequencies in the patterns and to produce the
mismatch signal directly in an electric form. The experimental verification of this technique using a GaAs adaptive
photodetector and He-Ne lasers is reported.

1. Introduction result of interaction of the recorded sinusoidal shifted

Adaptive photodetectors under consideration are
based on the effect of non-steady-state photo-EMF
[I]. The effect is based on the property of photocon-
ductive (and in particular, photorefractive [2]) mate-
rials to store 2D light patterns in the form of corre-
sponding spatial electric space charge/field distribu-
tions in their volume. In the case of standard pho-
torefractive recording [2], this pattern transforms into
a phase relief via the linear electrooptic effect and
can be reconstructed later using an additional readout
light beam. In a case of the photo-EMF, the “recon-
struction” is performed by the initial (or another)
vibrating light picture that causes a corresponding
vibrating photoconductivity pattern. Interaction of
this pattern with the recorded electric field produces
an output short-circuited AC electric current with the
frequency of the vibrations.
In the simplest case the photoconductive sample
is illuminated by the vibrating interference pattern
which is produced as a result of interference of two
coherent plane waves one of which is phase modu-
lated with the frequency 0 = 2rf (Fig. la). As a
“diffusion-type” grating of space charge electric
field [2] and the vibrating sinusoidal pattern of the
photoconductivity, the AC short-circuit current is
produced with the density [l]:
1 SC
(1)
1 + K2L2D &
2 2 .
SC
Here A is the amplitude of phase modulation, m is
the contrast of the recording interference pattern (A
and m are supposed to be small), ED = Kk,T/e is
the “diffusion field” [2], cue is the average conduc-
tivity of the illuminated sample, K is the spatial
frequency of the pattern, L, is the diffusion length
of the photoexcited carriers, and rsc is the character-
istic time of the space charge field formation. Sup-
pression of the environmental slow phase drifts
(which is a result of the high-pass type of the
transfer function - see Eq. cl)), low requirements to
the quality of the interfering wavefronts (due to the
holographic properties of the process), and suppres-
sion of the amplitude noise of the laser (because of
zero DC current through the device) make this con-

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 N. Korneev et al./ Optics Communications 134 (1997) 514-520 515

also be used for spatial matching of 2D patterns and

this paper is devoted to analysis of this problem.

2. Theoretical analysis

-0 Modulator
For simplicity, let us consider two 1D light inten-
sity distributions with the profiles Z,(X) and Z,(X),
respectively, which are changing along the interelec-
trode spacing of the sample (Fig. 2). Let us assume
that the stable profile of the electric field distribution
in the sample is produced by the first, reference light
Vi distribution I,@. In the low contrast approximation
R (i.e. when Z,(X) is lower than the average light
intensity in the sample, produced for example by
some other uniform linearizing illumination with in-
tensity I, 2 Zs, ZR) the electric field amplitude will
clearly be given by the following equation [2]:
Fig. 1. (a) Experimental setup for observation of the non-steady-
state photo-electromotive force. (b) Referenceless optical setup for
detection of lateral vibrations of diffusely scattering objects. R,: (2)
load resistance.

Now, let us introduce some vibrations into the

second light distribution with a small amplitude S
figuration especially attractive for high sensitivity and high frequency fi 2 7,; ‘:
homodyne detection of optical phase modulation
[3,4]. For this reason we refer to these devices as I,( x + Ssinfir)
azsc
x>
= I,( X) + TGsinJ2t. (3)
“adaptive photodetectors”.
On the other hand, irregular “speckle-like” light If we neglect the drift/diffusion spread of the pho-
patterns can also be stored in the volume of the toexcited carriers, the vibrating component in the
photoconductor in the same way. Fast lateral vibra- conductivity will be described by
tions of the recording pattern clearly produce the
same effect - namely the AC short-circuit current a[,( x>Ssinot.
a,R(x,t) = a,-
through the sample (Fig. lb). This effect was used in z,ax
Refs. [5,6] for high sensitivity referenceless detection
As it follows from the analysis presented in Ref.
of vibrations, both lateral and longitudinal, of real,
[l], the total AC current density through the short-
diffusely scattering bodies.
As it was mentioned in Ref. [6] the illuminated
crystal performs some kind of correlation analysis
with the illuminating picture. The pattern recorded in
the sample in the form of the irregular field distribu-
tion is efficiently reconstructed (i.e. produces the
maximal output AC current) only under illumination
by the matched (i.e. the same) light pattern that gives
rise to the matched photoconductivity distribution. rence Image
Any other (nonmatched, and in particular shifted)
picture produces noncoherent signals from different image

areas of the pattern resulting in a weak noise-like Fig. 2. Scheme of the optical setup to perform matching of 2D
output signal. It is apparent that this property can images using adaptive photodetectors.
516 N. Korneev et al./Optics Communications
circuited sample is equal to the conductivity current
averaged over the interelectrode distance L,. In
particular, the AC current component that results
from the interaction of the vibrating “signal” con-
ductivity component (Eq. (4)) and the steady-state
“reference” electric field (Eq. (2)) is equal to
azdx)
j”( x’,t) = 6sin( L?t) ~~OL/Lx/z -
L, -L,/2 Z,ax
Here we also introduced some spatial shift x’ in the
position of the signal pattern. One can see that as a
function of x’ the amplitude of the AC output signal
is proportional to the correlation function:
L,/2 arid4 a4( x - ~7 dx
‘( “) =I_L~x,2Tax ’ (6)
Here we introduced the normalized intensities Z& =
ZKS(XVZW
To the useful “correlation” signal (Eq. (6)) some
constant background signal with the same frequency
0 will permanently be mixed. It results from the
ordinary interaction of the vibrating conductivity
component (Eq. (4)) with the electric field distribu-
tion produced by the signal wave itself [l]:
(7)
This signal can really be considered as a constant
one as the signal image is kept within the aperture of
the device. It is also clear that the (correlation
signal)/(background level) ratio is proportional to
Z,/Z, ratio. So to keep this ratio high (but not the
correlation signal itself!) one has to use high Z,/Z,
ratios.
Note that additional differentiation of Z; s on x in
Eq. (6) is equivalent to multiplication by ‘K of the
spatial Fourier transforms of these functions. This
means efficient suppression of the low spatial fre-
quency components in the patterns under processing.
In this particular context this modification can be
considered as a positive one, since the high spatial
frequencies of the images are often more informa-
tive. Simplifying one can tell that in this case we
have correlation of the contoured images that can
I34 (1997) 514-520
definitely give more sharp and pronounced matching
peak. There are, however, some natural limits both
for Z, and for I, to which this differentiation takes
place. Indeed the linear growth of the diffusion field
with K is observed for low spatial frequencies (K 5
(&>-’ where L&, is the Debye screening length [2])
only for which saturation of the impurity centers is
not reached yet. In its turn, the diffusion spread of
the photoexcited carriers (observed for K r <L&>- ’
puts limit on the differentiation of the I, profile at
high spatial frequencies [I]. This effect corresponds
to the factor l/(1 + K’LL) in Eq. (1).
Note that in the present configuration three impor-
tant operations, namely contouring, multiplication of
the input profiles, and integration are performed by
the adaptive photodetector. When two identical pic-
tures overlap (complete matching) the output electri-
cal signal is maximal. For this reason this configura-
tion can be used for spatial matching of two similar
images in particular in electronic chip production or
in book printing industry. Note that this is a “one
output” arrangement and for this reason scanning
over x’ is to be performed sequentially using some
additional device. In particular, in the experiments
presented below this scanning was done using a
mechanical translation of the reference image along
the x-axis, see Fig. 2.
In the case of 2D images to get the final output
signal one has clearly to introduce additional integra-
tion along the y-axis in Eqs. (5)-(7). It is obvious
that because of differentiation on x in these equa-
tions, only images which are rich with spatial har-
monics oriented along the interelectrode direction
can be efficiently matched. Those with the contours
oriented predominantly along the x-axis give rather
pour output signal. This problem can probably be
overcome by introduction of a second crossed pair of
electrodes and corresponding vibrations of the signal
(or reference) image along the y-axis.
3. Experimental results and discussion
To illustrate the effects discussed we performed
some original experiments with 2D images using a
GaAs adaptive photodetector. Fig. 2 shows the sim-
plified scheme of the experimental setup. The stable
 N. Korneev et d/Optics
reference and the vibrating signal images were illu-
minated by two independent 10 mW CW He-Ne
lasers. They were combined by a beamsplitter and
imaged with unit magnification onto the adaptive
photodetector by means of a single imaging lens.
Note that in the configuration under consideration
the lens images the signal and reference patterns into
the plane of the photoconductive sample which we,
for simplicity, consider here as a thin one. Vibration
of the signal image was achieved by attaching the
transparency of the image to the membrane of a
loudspeaker. Scanning of the reference image was
performed using a linear translation stage. Another
He-Ne laser (not shown in Fig. 2) provided the
uniform background illumination for the photodetec-
tor.
The adaptive photodetector was fabricated from a
standard semi-insulating wafer of GaAs (4.5 X 2.5 X
0.5 mm3). Two parallel stripe electrodes were de-
posited with a silver paint on the front polished
surface of the sample (4.5 X 2.5 mm21 with the
interelectrode spacing L, = 1.8 mm. The output sig-
nal from the sample was fed to a transimpedance
amplifier with a unit gain and then to an oscilloscope
or low frequency spectrum analyzer.
For a simple case when both signal and reference
image were presented by the same image (three lines
01 ,“‘,“‘N”““““J
-1.0 -0.8 -0.6
Fig. 3. Total output signal as a function of the displacement of the reference image (piece of the text shown in the inset). I, = 0.15 mW,
lR = 1.35mW, uniform background illumination I, = 3 mW, vibration frequency f= 230 Hz, UP: output peak, U,: background level.
Communications 134 (1997) 514-520 517
of a text in this particular example - see inset in Fig.
3), the experimental dependence of the total output
signal tUfx’) + U’(Y)) as a function of the scanning
displacement of the reference image is shown in Fig.
3. Note that to get this output it was necessary to
match previously every single line of the signal
image with its reference image counterpart along the
orthogonal direction.
As it was also mentioned above, in order to
minimize the influence of the electric signal pro-
duced by the signal image itself, it is necessary to
keep the signal-to-reference intensity ratio less than
unity. It was Z,/Z, = l/9 for the plot presented in
Fig. 3 that ensured peak-to-background difference
nearly equal to 6. The uniform background illumina-
tion 1, was such that Is/Z,, = l/20. Additionally
Fig. 4 shows the experimentally observed output
peak-to-background ratio as a function of the input
signal-to-reference intensity ratio.
Note that the uniform background illumination
was also increasing the peak-to-background ratio,
diminishing at the same time the detected output
signal without changing remarkably the shape of the
overlapping maximum. This is demonstrated by Fig.
5, where the output signal is shown for a case when
both signal and reference image were represented by
the same photographically reduced fingerprint-like
-0.4 -0.2 0.0 0.2 04 0.6 0.8 1.0
Displacement x’, mm
518 N. Korneeu et al./Optics Communications 134 (1997) 514-520

In our experiments we used binary images (a

piece of text or a fingerprint image), so in accor-
dance with Eqs. (5), (6) we could expect rather sharp

’ kekrence
I,

Isignal 01’ ’ ’ 1 1 a ’ t J
-1.0 48 -0.6 -04 6.2 0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0

Fig. 4. Output peak-to-background level difference relative to the Displacementx’, mm

background level as a function of the signal-to-reference intensity
ratio. Is + Ia = 1SO mW, uniform background illumination I, = 3 b) 1500 -
mW, vibration frequency f= 230 Hz. Both signal and reference
,250 _
iL_-..___
lo=3im;J;
images are represented by the piece of the text shown in the inset
of Fig. 3. >
aloo -
i
a
iij 750 -

2 .
image (see inset in Fig. 5a). Fig. 5a shows the output d m-

signal for IS/Z, = l/15 obtained without back- / “b

250 - /
ground uniform illumination, while Figs. 5b and 5c .<.. @G Jy...&.... .;

show the output signal with the signal-to-background 0 “‘~““‘~‘~.I’I~‘~

-1.” a.8 6.6 6.4 -02 00 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0
uniform illumination intensity ratio of l/20 and
l/80 respectively. As it is clear from Fig. 5, the
peak-to-background ratio was approximately 5.5 in
the case of no uniform illumination and it grew to 9
in the presence of it.
In these experiments we used the vibration fre- -’ 150-
quency f= 230 Hz. It was chosen taking into ac- 1
iij
count the low frequency response of our “vibration B IW-
producing” system, i.e. the head of a loudspeaker. In e;
fact this frequency was nearly one order of magni- 50 - /
tude lower than the first cut-off frequency of the /

photo-EMF effect in GaAs at these particular condi- 0 ,I

-IO -08 -0.6 -0.4 -02 0.0 02 0.4 0.6 08 1.0
tions of illumination [7]. We have also not measured
Displacementx’, mm
the real amplitude of vibrations, but we can estimate
it by the value of several tens of microns. Note that Fig. 5. Output signal as a function of the displacement of the
for the maximal amplitude of vibrations ensured by reference image: (a) without uniform background illumination, (b)
and cc> uniform background illumination of 3.4 mW and 13.6
the signal generator we were still in the region of
mW, respectively. In three figures Is = 0.17 mW, Ia = 2.55 mW,
linear growth of the output signal versus amplitude vibration frequency f= 230 Hz. Both signal and reference images
of the modulating signal. are the same fingerprint pictures shown in the inset of (a).
 N. Korneeu et ok/ Optics Communications 134 (1997) 514-520 519

correlation maxima. Their width however was lim-
ited in our experiments by a value of about 30-40
pm. We believe that this was partly due to rather big
diffusion length of the photocarriers in GaAs: L, = 4
p_rn[7]. Indeed as a result of this we have a smoothed
distribution of the photocaniers beginning from spa-
tial frequencies K max= L; ‘, i.e. beginning from
spatial periods Ami”= 2rr/Kmax = 2rrL, = 25 l.Lrn.
This puts some theoretical limitation on resolution of
the device under consideration - to get better resolu-
tion one has to use photoconductors with shorter
diffusion length of photocarriers. It is probable how-
ever that in the case of our particular experiment the
sharpness of the output signal maximum was deter-
mined mainly by the real width of the imaged con-
tours and by the accuracy of orientation of the signal
image relatively to the reference one at the photode-
tector.
Another important parameter of the configuration,
i.e. its speed of operation, can be estimated in the
following way. The typical speed of the space charge
electric field formation in GaAs for typical illumina-
tion level of 1 mW/mm’ of He-Ne laser is about 0.1
ms [7]. Since for detection of non-steady-state photo-
EMF signal very high signal/noise ratios (= lo6 in
1Hz bandwidth) are reached for the same conditions
of illumination [7] this time of the space charge
electric field formation can probably be considered
as the main limiting factor. Our recent results [S]
show however that the real speed of operation of
adaptive photodetectors based on GaAs wafers in
visible spectral region can be even much faster with
characteristic times of space charge grating forma-
tion shorter than 10V8 s. Note that the typical time of
dielectric relaxation associated with the dark conduc-
tivity of semi-insulating GaAs is about 10e4 s. This
means that the average photoconductivity in the near
surface layer of several microns in thickness (where
all processes associated with the photo-EMF signal
formation take place) is several orders of magnitude
higher than the dark conductivity of the sample. This
ensured, in particular, neglecting the dark conductiv-
ity assumed in the previous theoretical analysis.
In the configuration discussed above the maximal
output signal was observed for the optimal overlap-
ping of the signal and reference patterns. In auto-
matic matching systems the output signal with a sign
depending on the direction of the mutual shift is
usually more preferable. This operation mode can be
reached in a more complicated “two-frequency”
configuration when both the reference and the signal
patterns are vibrating with different frequencies (L2,

1000

n
-1 0 -0 8 -0.6 -0.4 -0.2 0.0 0.2 0.4 06 0.8 1.0

Displacementx’, mm
Fig. 6. Output signal as a function of the displacement of the reference image when both reference and signal patterns (see inset of Fig. 3)
are vibrating with different frequencies. No uniform background illumination is used. I, = 0.5 mW, I, = 2.1 mW, vibration frequencies of
the signal and reference images are fs = 260 Hz and fR= 20 Hz, respectively. Measurements were performed at 240 Hz.
520 N. Korneev et al./Optics
and 0, respectively) and the output signal is de-
tected at the sum or difference frequency (0, f 0,).
Indeed similar experiments performed under these
conditions gave this type of output signal changing
the sign in the vicinity of exact overlapping - see
Fig. 6. Since the detection is performed here at a
frequency different from the modulation frequencies
this configuration additionally demonstrates com-
plete absence of the background signal which defi-
nitely increases the final signal-to-noise ratio of the
measurements.
4. Conclusions
Summarizing we proposed and experimentally
demonstrated an original configuration for matching
of 2D images by means of adaptive photodetectors.
The device performs contouring, multiplication and
spatial integration of the processed images resulting
in an electrical output signal proportional to the
integral of overlapping of the signal and reference
patterns.
The whole configuration needs however an exter-
nal scanning system to get ID or 2D correlation
profiles as a function of spatial displacement of the
images which reduces operational speed of the de-
vice. For this reason it can be quite attractive for
pattern recognition in cases where determination of
the relative position of the images is not needed (e.g.
when position of images is fixed or recognition of
the spatial Fourier spectrum is performed). In this
case the configuration under discussion can increase
the operation speed and exclude utilization of the
high cost powerful CW lasers and CCD camera
Communications 134 (1997) 514-520
necessary for real time correlators based in particular
on application of photorefractive crystals [9].
Acknowledgements
This research work was sponsored by the Consejo
National de Ciencia y Tecnologia (CONACyT),
Mexico, in the framework of the research project
211290-1866-E9212.
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