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Scanless quantum Fourier-transform mid-infrared spectroscopy for rapid high-sensitivity hyperspectral mapping
Summary
Scientists have developed a faster, more sensitive version of infrared imaging technology that uses quantum physics tricks with light particles to detect and map chemicals in tissue samples in milliseconds instead of much longer times. In tests, this technology successfully created detailed chemical maps of human colon tissue and microplastic particles, suggesting it could one day help doctors detect tissue abnormalities or track microplastic contamination in the body faster and more accurately. This is early-stage lab research, but it points toward better tools for spotting health-relevant changes at the cellular level.
Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy is a well-established technique for qualitative and quantitative chemical analysis. Classical FTIR systems rely, however, on direct mid-infrared (mid-IR) scan-based time-domain measurements of coherence functions; thus, the signal-to-noise ratio and measurement speed are constrained by design. In this paper, we demonstrate a scanless quantum FTIR (sQFTIR) technique that exploits principles of metrology with entangled photons to circumvent the limitations inherent to classical FTIR systems. The approach exploits the interferometric nature of the sensing paradigm and relies on frequency-domain measurements performed with a static, low-gain nonlinear interferometer. A robust reconstruction algorithm is used to retrieve time-domain signals and reconstruct respective mid-infrared (mid-IR) spectra (3000$~$cm$^{-1}$ to 2380$~$cm$^{-1}$) from near-IR measurements (approx. 780$~$nm to 820$~$nm). The suggested sQFTIR protocol eliminates the need for optical delay scanning and leverages inherent mapping between the related domains. In the theoretical section, we evaluate the intrinsic signal-to-noise advantage of the proposed method over conventional scan-based time-domain measurements; a difference of 26.8 dB (factor of 21.8) is demonstrated. Building on the enhanced sensitivity of the scheme, we demonstrate rapid sQFTIR-based hyperspectral imaging with a spatial resolution of 12.3$~μ$m and a spectral resolution down to 8$~$cm$^{-1}$. Hyperspectral mapping of human colon tissue, microplastics, and multilayer polymer samples composed of polypropylene and ethylene vinyl alcohol yield high-quality single-pixel spectra with acquisition times down to 10$~$ms.