Ultrafast time-stretch microscopy based on dual-comb asynchronous optical sampling

Abstract

The ultrafast time-stretch microscopy based on a single-pixel detector has become a hotspot of the research, owing to its high sensitivity compared to those pixel sensors. However, gigahertz or tens of gigahertz acquisition bandwidth is required for this scheme, resulting in great expense for the whole imaging system and hindering its wide applications. In this Letter, a dual-comb asynchronous optical sampling is applied for the conventional time-stretch microscopy, whose ultrafast temporal axis is magnified by 9200 times. The acquisition bandwidth requirement is thus greatly relaxed, and 320 kHz bandwidth successfully resolves 2.3 μm spatial resolution with tens of kilohertz frame rate.