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, 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 time prisms, which are temporal versions of conventional prisms, to shift the illusive frequency components of the input signal to become captured by the time lens. This method would pave the way to a high-resolution temporal imaging system 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.