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Title: Time-stretch microscopy based on time-wavelength sequence reconstruction from wideband incoherent source

Journal Article · · Applied Physics Letters
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4890861· OSTI ID:22311184
; ; ; ;  [1]
  1. Photonic Systems Research Laboratory, Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Road (Hong Kong)

Time-stretch microscopy has emerged as an ultrafast optical imaging concept offering the unprecedented combination of the imaging speed and sensitivity. However, dedicated wideband and coherence optical pulse source with high shot-to-shot stability has been mandated for time-wavelength mapping—the enabling process for ultrahigh speed wavelength-encoded image retrieval. From the practical point of view, exploiting methods to relax the stringent requirements (e.g., temporal stability and coherence) for the source of time-stretch microscopy is thus of great value. In this paper, we demonstrated time-stretch microscopy by reconstructing the time-wavelength mapping sequence from a wideband incoherent source. Utilizing the time-lens focusing mechanism mediated by a narrow-band pulse source, this approach allows generation of a wideband incoherent source, with the spectral efficiency enhanced by a factor of 18. As a proof-of-principle demonstration, time-stretch imaging with the scan rate as high as MHz and diffraction-limited resolution is achieved based on the wideband incoherent source. We note that the concept of time-wavelength sequence reconstruction from wideband incoherent source can also be generalized to any high-speed optical real-time measurements, where wavelength is acted as the information carrier.

OSTI ID:
22311184
Journal Information:
Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 105, Issue 4; Other Information: (c) 2014 AIP Publishing LLC; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0003-6951
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English