Compressive Ultrahigh-Speed Continuous Imaging Using Spectrally-Structured Ultrafast Laser Pulses

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.