Broadband coherent modulation imaging with no knowledge of the illumination spectrum distribution

Coherent diffraction imaging (CDI) is an alternative way to achieve high-performance imaging without high-quality imaging lenses. Coherent modulation imaging (CMI) improves CDI’s algorithmic convergence and applicability to general samples. A high degree of coherence of the source is essential for CDI, which limits its application to ultrafast pulsed sources with an intrinsically broad spectrum. Here, we propose an algorithm to increase the tolerance of CMI to low temporal coherence that tandemly employs the Wiener and Lucy deconvolution approaches. Simulations and visible light experiments demonstrate the effectiveness of our method. This work could pave the way for implementing CMI with attosecond pulsed lasers, laboratory x-ray sources, or electron microscopes.