Compressed Ultrafast Photography
Imagine being able to watch molecular events as they happen, revealing insights into biology in real time. Traditional cameras, however, are too slow for this — limited by their data processing speeds. To solve this, we developed Compressed Ultrafast Photography (CUP), a groundbreaking method that can capture 2D scenes at up to 100 billion frames per second.
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CUP achieves this incredible speed by using a unique encoding process that captures both spatial and time-based information in a single shot, without needing repetitive events or external lighting. This approach allows CUP to record fast, glowing objects, like fluorescent molecules, as they unfold. It’s like a high-speed camera but capable of seeing events happening at nearly unimaginable speeds.
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The potential applications are vast: CUP could help scientists observe molecular events, track rapid chemical reactions, or even capture hidden objects around corners. This technology opens new possibilities in science and engineering, from biology to autonomous vehicles, making it an exciting tool for capturing the world in motion.
Figure. CUP of light propagation. (a) Laser pulse reflected from a mirror. (b) Laser pulse refracted from an air-resin interface. (c) Laser pulses racing in air and resin. Scale bar (yellow, top right image), 10mm.
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References:
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Gao L., Liang J., Li C., & Wang L. V. (2014). Single-shot compressed ultrafast photography at one hundred billion frames per second. Nature, 516, 74-77.
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Liang J., Ma C., Zhu L., Chen Y., Gao L., & Wang L. V. (2017). Photonic Mach cone light-induced superluminally and video-recorded in real time. Science Advances, 3, e1601814.
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Ma Y., Lee Y., Best-Popescu C., & Gao L. (2021). High-speed compressed-sensing fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy of live cells. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 118, e2004176118.
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Park J., & Gao L. (2021). Continuously streaming compressed high-speed photography using time delay integration. Optica, 8, 1620-1623.