We demonstrate an ultrahigh-rate imaging system applied to very high speed microscopic flows. Chirp processing of ultrafast laser pulses in optical fiber is employed to create pseudorandom spectral patterns at a rate of one unique pattern per pulse. These spectral patterns then serve as structured illumination of the object flows inside a 1D spatial disperser before digitization at a rate of one sample per optical pulse with a fast single pixel photodetector. Diffraction-limited microscopic imaging of flows up to 31.2 m/s is achieved at up to 19.8 and 39.6 Gigapixel/sec rates from a 720 MHz acquisition rate.

Date Published: 9 March 2015
PDF: 10 pages
Proc. SPIE 9355, Frontiers in Ultrafast Optics: Biomedical, Scientific, and Industrial Applications XV, 93550P (9 March 2015); doi: 10.1117/12.2079839

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 9355:
Frontiers in Ultrafast Optics: Biomedical, Scientific, and Industrial Applications XV
Alexander Heisterkamp; Peter R. Herman; Michel Meunier; Stefan Nolte, Editor(s)