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.

6 pages, 4 figures