Wide-field mid- to long-wave infrared imaging with undetected photons

Abstract:Quantum imaging with undetected photons (QIUP) allows an object to be probed at mid-infrared frequencies by only measuring interference in the visible range, thus leveraging silicon camera technology. We show that non-collinear phase-matching in a silver thiogallate (AgGaS$_2$) crystal enables wide-field QIUP in the wavelength range of 6-10 $\mu$m (1670-1000 cm$^{-1}$). A combination of coherent detection and infrared photons being ``undetected'' enables imaging at ${\sim}$100 times better than the background-limited infrared photodetection (BLIP) limit. At 8 $\mu$m, our images have over 8000 $\pm$ 100 resolvable elements with a 297 $\pm$ 5 $\mu$m resolution, and 10 s acquisition time. Our results pave the way to fast, background-noise-free, room-temperature, spectrally-selective mid-infrared imaging.

Quantum Physics (quant-ph); Optics (physics.optics)

arXiv:2608.20015 [quant-ph]

(or arXiv:2608.20015v1 [quant-ph] for this version)

https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2608.20015 Focus to learn more arXiv-issued DOI via DataCite (pending registration)

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