Passive Incoherent Ultrafast Mid-Infrared Upconversion Imaging and Its Calibration
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| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Preprint |
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2026
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| _version_ | 1866911421787275264 |
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| author | Li, Jin-Peng Li, Zhi-You Han, Zhao-Qi-Zhi Wang, Xiao-Hua Zhang, He Li, Yin-Hai Liu, Bo-Wen Luo, Wen-Tao Zhou, Zhi-Yuan Shi, Bao-Sen |
| author_facet | Li, Jin-Peng Li, Zhi-You Han, Zhao-Qi-Zhi Wang, Xiao-Hua Zhang, He Li, Yin-Hai Liu, Bo-Wen Luo, Wen-Tao Zhou, Zhi-Yuan Shi, Bao-Sen |
| contents | Ultrafast mid-infrared (MIR) imaging is a key enabling capability for monitoring transient thermal and plasma phenomena in scientific diagnostics and industrial safety. However, conventional cryogenic MIR cameras face a fundamental trade-off between frame rate, noise, and pixel format. Here we report a passive, incoherent MIR imaging platform that leverages sum-frequency upconversion in chirped periodically poled lithium niobate (CPLN) to translate broadband 3--5um scenes to the near-infrared, enabling ultrafast acquisition on a silicon-based intensified CCD (iCCD). In fast-kinetics mode we achieve a physical frame rate of 100kHz with microsecond-scale gate control, and we directly capture the full evolution of an air-breakdown electric arc, resolving its rapid ignition, expansion, and decay dynamics. Beyond demonstrating ultrafast passive imaging, we introduce a drift-aware calibration workflow based on Allan deviation analysis to quantitatively select the gate width and averaging strategy under realistic slow-drift and multiplicative noise. This combined capability -- ultrafast passive MIR imaging plus operationally meaningful calibration -- provides a practical route toward real-time thermal surveillance and early-warning systems for hazardous fast transients. |
| format | Preprint |
| id |
arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2602_04483 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2026 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | Passive Incoherent Ultrafast Mid-Infrared Upconversion Imaging and Its Calibration Li, Jin-Peng Li, Zhi-You Han, Zhao-Qi-Zhi Wang, Xiao-Hua Zhang, He Li, Yin-Hai Liu, Bo-Wen Luo, Wen-Tao Zhou, Zhi-Yuan Shi, Bao-Sen Optics Instrumentation and Detectors Ultrafast mid-infrared (MIR) imaging is a key enabling capability for monitoring transient thermal and plasma phenomena in scientific diagnostics and industrial safety. However, conventional cryogenic MIR cameras face a fundamental trade-off between frame rate, noise, and pixel format. Here we report a passive, incoherent MIR imaging platform that leverages sum-frequency upconversion in chirped periodically poled lithium niobate (CPLN) to translate broadband 3--5um scenes to the near-infrared, enabling ultrafast acquisition on a silicon-based intensified CCD (iCCD). In fast-kinetics mode we achieve a physical frame rate of 100kHz with microsecond-scale gate control, and we directly capture the full evolution of an air-breakdown electric arc, resolving its rapid ignition, expansion, and decay dynamics. Beyond demonstrating ultrafast passive imaging, we introduce a drift-aware calibration workflow based on Allan deviation analysis to quantitatively select the gate width and averaging strategy under realistic slow-drift and multiplicative noise. This combined capability -- ultrafast passive MIR imaging plus operationally meaningful calibration -- provides a practical route toward real-time thermal surveillance and early-warning systems for hazardous fast transients. |
| title | Passive Incoherent Ultrafast Mid-Infrared Upconversion Imaging and Its Calibration |
| topic | Optics Instrumentation and Detectors |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2602.04483 |