All-passive upconversion imaging of incoherent near-infrared light at intensities down to 50 nW/cm\(^2\)

Frequency upconversion, which converts low-energy photons into higher-energy ones, typically requires intense coherent illumination to drive nonlinear processes or the use of externally driven optoelectronic devices. Here, we demonstrate a high-resolution upconversion imaging system that converts lo...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:arXiv.org 2024-11
Main Authors: Rabeeya Hamid, Feng, Demeng, Narayanan, Pournima, Edwards, Justin S, Hu, Manchen, Belliveau, Emma, Kim, Minjeong, Deshpande, Sanket, Wan, Chenghao, Pucurimay, Linda, Czaplewski, David A, Congreve, Daniel N, Kats, Mikhail A
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Heterojunctions
Image enhancement
Image resolution
Infrared imaging
Luminous intensity
Near infrared radiation
Nonlinear phenomena
Optoelectronic devices
Organic semiconductors
Passive imaging
Photons
Thin films
Upconversion
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Frequency upconversion, which converts low-energy photons into higher-energy ones, typically requires intense coherent illumination to drive nonlinear processes or the use of externally driven optoelectronic devices. Here, we demonstrate a high-resolution upconversion imaging system that converts low-intensity (down to 50 nW/cm\(^2\)) incoherent near-infrared (NIR) light into the visible, reaching intensities perceptible by the human eye, without the use of any external power input. Our upconverting element is enabled by the following ingredients: (1) photon upconversion via triplet-triplet annihilation in a bulk heterojunction of the organic semiconductors Y6 and rubrene; (2) plasmonic enhancement of absorption and field intensity in the heterojunction layer; (3) collection enhancement using a dichroic thin-film assembly. The upconverting element is inserted at an intermediate image plane of a dual-wavelength telescope system, which preserves the relative directionality of rays between the incident NIR light and output visible light. Our all-passive upconversion imaging system will enable NIR imaging and sensing in low-light environments under energy constraints.
ISSN:2331-8422