Quantitative phase imaging (QPI), promoted by advances in digital holography and computational imaging, is a label-free microscopy approach to investigating phase objects that are optically transparent or translucent, such as cells, tissues, or industrial microstructures. As a computational imaging technique, Fourier ptychographic microscopy (FPM) has rapidly emerged as a powerful tool to achieve wide-field and high-resolution QPI. It can recover the quantitative phase maps of optical path length delays introduced by unlabeled samples, providing an objective measure of refractive index distribution or surface topography of samples. Over the past 12 years, ongoing advances in FPM hardware and software have led to numerous applications in biomedicine and industrial fields. Here, we review the field of QPI based on FPM (FPM-QPI), starting with the underlying principles, followed by a summary of representative advances in both algorithms and imaging models, and ending with the breadth of applications. Finally, we conclude with the emerging challenges and opportunities for the deployment of FPM-QPI as well as the application trends that can expand the scope and utility even further.

High-resolution infrared remote sensing imaging is critical in planetary exploration, especially under demanding engineering conditions. However, due to diffraction, the spatial resolution of conventional methods is relatively low, and the spatial bandwidth product limits imaging systems’ design. Extensive research has been conducted with the aim of enhancing spatial resolution in remote sensing using a multi-aperture structure, but obtaining high-precision co-phase results using a sub-aperture remains challenging. A new high-resolution imaging method utilizing multi-aperture joint-encoding Fourier ptychography (JEFP) is proposed as a practical means to achieve super-resolution infrared imaging using distributed platforms. We demonstrated that the JEFP approach achieves pixel super-resolution with high efficiency, without requiring subsystems to perform mechanical scanning in space or to have high position accuracy. Our JEFP approach extends the application scope of Fourier ptychographic imaging, especially in distributed platforms for planetary exploration applications.

This study introduces a novel imaging technology designed to address the critical challenges of high integration, wide field of view (FOV), and high-resolution detection in optoelectronic systems. The proposed approach leverages ultra-small pixels and a unique “single-eye + compound-eye” architecture, combining a concentric spherical lens for wide-FOV light collection with a distributed camera array for segmented imaging and stitching of the Petzval image plane. This design enables high-resolution imaging across a large area while maintaining compact system dimensions. The ultra-small-pixel large-format detector excels in capturing fine details, and by applying linear system theory, the technology achieves significant reductions in system size and complexity without compromising performance. Experimental validation shows that the imaging system achieves a modulation transfer function near the diffraction limit at 500 lp/mm, with a root-mean-square spot size consistently below 1 $\mathrm{\mu }$m. Additionally, the system delivers an angular resolution of 25 $\mathrm{\mu }$rad and distortion-free imaging over a ${61.5}^{\circ }\times {55}^{\circ }$ FOV.