A Ready-to-use Compact Light Engine for Quantum Microscopy

Infrared (IR) sensing has a significant potential in applications ranging from cellular imaging to environmental sciences [1]. A primary challenge in the field has been the lack of efficient IR detectors. Quantum imaging with undetected light (QIUL) [2] is a new powerful imaging tool. QIUL relies on the nonlinear interferometry, using induced coherence [3], which allows the spectral separation of sensing and detection, facilitating imaging in hard-to-access spectral regions like ultraviolet or IR. These spectral regions contain relevant information for the identification of protein, lipid, and nucleic acid content [1], [4]. The core of our work involves the design, construction, and characterization of a quantum light engine tailored for scanning microscopy with undetected light, presenting a ready-to-use implementation of a ground-breaking approach to overcome the limitations of traditional IR sensing technologies while using low illumination regime.