Journal article
Room temperature mid-IR single photon spectral imaging
Spectral imaging and detection of mid-infrared (mid-IR) wavelengths are emerging as an enabling technology of great technical and scientific interest; primarily because important chemical compounds display unique and strong mid-IR spectral fingerprints revealing valuable chemical information. While modern Quantum cascade lasers have evolved as ideal coherent mid-IR excitation sources, simple, low noise, room temperature detectors and imaging systems still lag behind.
We address this need presenting a novel, field-deployable, upconversion system for sensitive, 2-D, mid-IR spectral imaging. Measured room temperature dark noise is 0.2 photons/spatial element/second, which is a billion times below the dark noise level of cryogenically cooled InSb cameras. Single photon imaging and up to 200 x 100 spatial elements resolution is obtained reaching record high continuous wave quantum efficiency of about 20 % for polarized incoherent light at 3 \mum.
The proposed method is relevant for existing and new mid-IR applications like gas analysis and medical diagnostics.
Language: | English |
---|---|
Publisher: | Nature Publishing Group |
Year: | 2012 |
Pages: | 788-793 |
ISSN: | 17494893 and 17494885 |
Types: | Journal article |
DOI: | 10.1038/nphoton.2012.231 |
ORCIDs: | Tidemand-Lichtenberg, Peter and Pedersen, Christian |