Imaging Resolution Analysis of Single-Frequency and Single-Sensor Programmable Microwave Imager

Over the past years, the single-frequency and single-sensor microwave imager using programmable metasurface, called programmable microwave imager for short, has attracted researchers' attention because of its unique advantages over conventional imaging schemes in the lower hardware cost, the higher data-acquisition rate, and the property of non-frequency dispersion. In this communication, we focus on the resolution performance of such imaging scheme, where we specifically demonstrate for the first time that the 3-D resolution can be achieved using the programmable microwave imager and a 3-D image reconstruction has been simulated successfully. We provide insights into the 3-D imaging resolution of programmable imager from two perspectives, i.e., the Ewald sphere and the point spread function (PSF). The influences on the 3-D imaging resolution of some important factors are theoretically and numerically investigated, including the distance between the object and the metasurface, the metasurface's size, and its coding style.