Terahertz ptychography using a long-distance diffraction-free beam as the probe.

We have implemented a terahertz (THz) ptychographic technique using a long-distance diffraction-free beam (DFB) instead of traditional low-energy pinhole-defined illumination as the probe. The DFB generating system containing two lens-axicon doublets is very easily realized. Measured transverse intensities of such a DFB display an Airy-pattern-like distribution. Based on the well-developed extended ptychographic iterative engine, we simultaneously reconstruct a phase object and the DFB probe with both simulated and real data. Further calculation shows that the DFB has abundant spatial high-frequency components that guarantee high coherence of the illuminating probe beam in our THz ptychographic system. In addition, we firmly believe that the proposed approach can be easily transplanted to the ptychography at other frequency bands as both lens and axicon are very common optical elements.