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Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics Europe & European Quantum Electronics Conference (CLEO/Europe-EQEC)

A Ready-to-use Compact Light Engine for Quantum Microscopy

Vasile-Laurenţiu Dosan, Alek Lagarrigue, Josué Ricardo Lóon Torres, Adrià Sansa Perna, Dobryna Zalvidea, Markus Gräfe, Valerio Flavio Gili, Oliver de Vries

Published Jun 23, 2025• 0 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Infrared (IR) sensing has a significant potential in applications ranging from cellular imaging to environmental sciences [1]. A primary challenge in the field has been the lack of efficient IR detectors. Quantum imaging with undetected light (QIUL) [2] is a new powerful imaging tool. QIUL relies on the nonlinear interferometry, using induced coherence [3], which allows the spectral separation of sensing and detection, facilitating imaging in hard-to-access spectral regions like ultraviolet or IR. These spectral regions contain relevant information for the identification of protein, lipid, and nucleic acid content [1], [4]. The core of our work involves the design, construction, and characterization of a quantum light engine tailored for scanning microscopy with undetected light, presenting a ready-to-use implementation of a ground-breaking approach to overcome the limitations of traditional IR sensing technologies while using low illumination regime.

DOI
10.1109/cleo/europe-eqec65582.2025.11109544

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Infrared (IR) sensing has a significant potential in applications ranging from cellular imaging to environmental sciences [1]. A primary challenge in the field has been the lack of efficient IR detectors. Quantum imaging with undetected light (QIUL) [2] is a new powerful imaging tool. QIUL relies on the nonlinear interferometry, using induced coherence [3], which allows the spectral separation of sensing and detection, facilitating imaging in hard-to-access spectral regions like ultraviolet or IR. These spectral regions contain relevant information for the identification of protein, lipid, and nucleic acid content [1], [4]. The core of our work involves the design, construction, and characterization of a quantum light engine tailored for scanning microscopy with undetected light, presenting a ready-to-use implementation of a ground-breaking approach to overcome the limitations of traditional IR sensing technologies while using low illumination regime.
The mid-infrared (MIR) region of the electromagnetic spectrum spans from 2- to 25-μmμ\mathrm{m}μm, serving as a valuable tool for accessing rich chemical information. Functional groups, lipids, and other complex molecules can be analyzed by optical absorption measurements due to their vibrational modes in the MIR spectral region. Over the past few decades, this field has faced challenges due to difficulties in generating MIR light and the limited maturity of detection systems in this spectral range. Quantum imaging with undetected light (QIUL) provides a spectrally tuneable photon-pair source, in which the sample can be illuminated with MIR light while visible (VIS) light is employed for detection and image reconstruction, overcoming the detection limitations and benefiting from the rich chemical information of the MIR spectral region. All previous QIUL implementations are based on spatial correlations, which are never perfect and thus hindered the imaging performance. In this work, we implement a raster-scanning QIUL method that is independent of the strength of the spatial correlations and achieves a spatial resolution beyond the limitations of these correlations.
Laser scanning microscopy (LSM) is known to be the workhorse for modern life-science, it allows to get new insights into a variety of biological processes. LSM together with illumination in the mid infrared region (Mid-IR) permits to map the chemical composition of samples to a space frame. However, low-light observations in the Mid-IR spectrum are still challenging and a limiting factor for a faster development. A label-free quantum scanning imaging system is presented here, capable of performing the detection in the visible regime, while the illumination is carried out in the Mid-IR region. Our quantum imaging with undetected light implementation aims to retrieve amplitude and phase images of biological samples containing a variety of functional groups that are present in the Mid-IR region
Owing to its capacity for unique (bio)-chemical specificity, microscopy with mid-infrared (IR) illumination holds tremendous promise for a wide range of biomedical and industrial applications. The primary limitation, however, remains detection, with current mid-IR detection technology often marrying inferior technical capabilities with prohibitive costs. Here, we experimentally show how nonlinear interferometry with entangled light can provide a powerful tool for mid-IR microscopy while only requiring near-IR detection with a silicon-based camera. In this proof-of-principle implementation, we demonstrate widefield imaging over a broad wavelength range covering 3.4 to 4.3 μm and demonstrate a spatial resolution of 35 μm for images containing 650 resolved elements. Moreover, we demonstrate that our technique is suitable for acquiring microscopic images of biological tissue samples in the mid-IR. These results form a fresh perspective for potential relevance of quantum imaging techniques in the life sciences.
ABSTRACT The mid‐infrared (MIR) spectral region, spanning from 2‐ to 25‐, provides access to rich chemical information through the vibrational modes of functional groups, lipids, and other complex molecules. However, conventional imaging in this range remains limited by challenges in generating MIR light and by the lack of mature detection technologies. Quantum imaging with undetected light (QIUL) offers an alternative approach by using photon‐pair sources in which the sample is illuminated with MIR light while detection and image reconstruction are carried out at visible wavelengths. We report the first QIUL technique that achieves diffraction‐limited resolution without relying on spatial correlations of the photon‐pair, thereby overcoming a fundamental limitation of all previous implementations. This work establishes induced coherence without induced emission as the essential physical resource underlying QIUL and redefines its operational boundary, extending its applicability to regimes where spatial correlations are weak or absent. Our results represent a conceptual advance in quantum imaging and open the way toward practical and cost‐effective MIR microscopy based on visible detection.
Infrared (IR) imaging sees a wide range of applications due to its ability to probe molecular vibrations but is limited by detector technology available in this part of the spectrum. Imaging with undetected photons [1] offers an alternative. Using a nonlinear interferometer producing visible-IR photon pairs, transmission and phase information of an object in the IR can be observed by monitoring the interference of visible photons. No IR detection or laser is required. Recently there has been a move towards increasing the technology readiness levels of this approach, considering size, stability, and speed [2–4].
Quantum imaging with undetected light (QIUL) is a technique with great potential for imaging applications where extreme wavelengths are required to illuminate the object and, in particular, when low light intensities are crucial to not damage or modify the sample under study. This technique is based on the concept of induced coherence and makes use of spatial correlations. Therefore, either momentum or position correlations can be exploited by constructing a suitable system to access them. Depending on the selected configuration, image resolution is differently governed by the parameters of the quantum imaging source, e.g. crystal length, pump waist, and the down-converted wavelengths. Here, we present a tool to optimize the resolution limit of the imaging system given a specific application.