Temporal super resolution imaging inspired by structured illumination microscopy

Abstract

In this paper, a method for increasing the temporal resolution of a temporal imaging system has been developed. Analogously to the conventional spatial imaging systems in which resolution limit is due to the finite aperture of the lens, in a temporal imaging system, the finite temporal aperture of the time lens is responsible for limited temporal resolution. Based on the method used in spatial structured illumination super-resolution microscopy in spatial optics, we have utilized frequency converters (time prisms), to shift the elusive frequency components of the input signal to become captured by the time lens. This method proved numerically to enhance the temporal resolution by a factor of 3. Further analysis including noise investigation and improvements and limitations have also been performed. This technique would pave the way to high-resolution temporal imaging and processing systems which has applications in the observation and study of fast and rare phenomena such as dynamics and evolution of optical rogue waves or cancer cells in the blood as well as data communication and processing.