Optical time-stretch imaging enables the continuous capture of non-repetitive events in real time at a line-scan rate of tens of MHz—a distinct advantage for the ultrafast dynamics monitoring and high-throughput scre...Optical time-stretch imaging enables the continuous capture of non-repetitive events in real time at a line-scan rate of tens of MHz—a distinct advantage for the ultrafast dynamics monitoring and high-throughput screening that are widely needed in biological microscopy.However,its potential is limited by the technical challenge of achieving significant pulse stretching(that is,high temporal dispersion)and low optical loss,which are the critical factors influencing imaging quality,in the visible spectrum demanded in many of these applications.We present a new pulse-stretching technique,termed free-space angular-chirpenhanced delay(FACED),with three distinguishing features absent in the prevailing dispersive-fiber-based implementations:(1)it generates substantial,reconfigurable temporal dispersion in free space(41 ns nm^(−1))with low intrinsic loss(o6 dB)at visible wavelengths;(2)its wavelength-invariant pulse-stretching operation introduces a new paradigm in time-stretch imaging,which can now be implemented both with and without spectral encoding;and(3)pulse stretching in FACED inherently provides an ultrafast all-optical laser-beam scanning mechanism at a line-scan rate of tens of MHz.Using FACED,we demonstrate not only ultrafast laser-scanning time-stretch imaging with superior bright-field image quality compared with previous work but also,for the first time,MHz fluorescence and colorized time-stretch microscopy.Our results show that this technique could enable a wider scope of applications in high-speed and high-throughput biological microscopy that were once out of reach.展开更多
提出一种改进的用时间放大技术来实现高精度时间测量的方法.即使用一个与对撞时刻严格同步的外时钟来标记输入信号的时刻,生成一个宽度介于一个到两个时钟周期的时间间隔;将标记后的时间间隔进行预设倍数的放大;再用一个具有多次击中能...提出一种改进的用时间放大技术来实现高精度时间测量的方法.即使用一个与对撞时刻严格同步的外时钟来标记输入信号的时刻,生成一个宽度介于一个到两个时钟周期的时间间隔;将标记后的时间间隔进行预设倍数的放大;再用一个具有多次击中能力的时间—数字转换(time-to-digital converter,TDC)芯片测量放大后的时间间隔,并结合物理的方法反推出输入信号到达的时刻.该方法由硬件实现,经验证明其能够获得好于25 ps的时间测量精度,可以满足北京谱仪三期(BESⅢ)改造工程的飞行时间(time of flight,TOF)测量电子学部分25ps的时间测量精度要求,也可应用到其他类似的高精度时间测量系统中.展开更多
基金supported by grants from the Research Grants Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of China(HKU 7172/12E,HKU 720112E,HKU 719813E,HKU 707712 P,HKU 17207715,HKU 17205215,HKU 17208414 and HKU 17304514)the University Development Funds of HKU.
文摘Optical time-stretch imaging enables the continuous capture of non-repetitive events in real time at a line-scan rate of tens of MHz—a distinct advantage for the ultrafast dynamics monitoring and high-throughput screening that are widely needed in biological microscopy.However,its potential is limited by the technical challenge of achieving significant pulse stretching(that is,high temporal dispersion)and low optical loss,which are the critical factors influencing imaging quality,in the visible spectrum demanded in many of these applications.We present a new pulse-stretching technique,termed free-space angular-chirpenhanced delay(FACED),with three distinguishing features absent in the prevailing dispersive-fiber-based implementations:(1)it generates substantial,reconfigurable temporal dispersion in free space(41 ns nm^(−1))with low intrinsic loss(o6 dB)at visible wavelengths;(2)its wavelength-invariant pulse-stretching operation introduces a new paradigm in time-stretch imaging,which can now be implemented both with and without spectral encoding;and(3)pulse stretching in FACED inherently provides an ultrafast all-optical laser-beam scanning mechanism at a line-scan rate of tens of MHz.Using FACED,we demonstrate not only ultrafast laser-scanning time-stretch imaging with superior bright-field image quality compared with previous work but also,for the first time,MHz fluorescence and colorized time-stretch microscopy.Our results show that this technique could enable a wider scope of applications in high-speed and high-throughput biological microscopy that were once out of reach.
文摘提出一种改进的用时间放大技术来实现高精度时间测量的方法.即使用一个与对撞时刻严格同步的外时钟来标记输入信号的时刻,生成一个宽度介于一个到两个时钟周期的时间间隔;将标记后的时间间隔进行预设倍数的放大;再用一个具有多次击中能力的时间—数字转换(time-to-digital converter,TDC)芯片测量放大后的时间间隔,并结合物理的方法反推出输入信号到达的时刻.该方法由硬件实现,经验证明其能够获得好于25 ps的时间测量精度,可以满足北京谱仪三期(BESⅢ)改造工程的飞行时间(time of flight,TOF)测量电子学部分25ps的时间测量精度要求,也可应用到其他类似的高精度时间测量系统中.
