Upconversion optical entropy encoding for infrared complex-amplitude imaging

Sheng-ke Zhu; Tuqiang Pan; Chao-xian Tang; Ai-Hua Li; Ze-huan Zheng; Yi Xu; Xiangping Li; Jin-hui Chen

doi:10.1038/s41377-026-02215-7

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Upconversion optical entropy encoding for infrared complex-amplitude imaging

Original Articles

- Upconversion optical entropy encoding for infrared complex-amplitude imaging
- Light: Science & Applications Vol. 15, Issue 5, Pages: 1725-1735(2026)
- Affiliations：
  
  1.Institute of Electromagnetics and Acoustics, Key Laboratory of Electromagnetic Wave Science and Detection Technology, Xiamen University, Xiamen, China
  2.Key Laboratory of Photonic Technology for Integrated Sensing and Communication, Ministry of Education of China, Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou, China
  3.Institute of Advanced Photonics Technology, School of Information Engineering, Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou, China
  4.Department of Physics, Xiamen University, Xiamen, China
  5.Institute of Photonic Technology, College of Physics and Optoelectronic Engineering, Jinan University, Guangzhou, China
  6.Shenzhen Research Institute of Xiamen University, Shenzhen, China
  7.Innovation Laboratory for Sciences and Technologies of Energy Materials of Fujian Province (IKKEM), Xiamen, China
- Author bio：
  
  Yi Xu (yixu@gdut.edu.cn)
  Xiangping Li (xiangpingli@jnu.edu.cn)
  Jin-hui Chen (jimchen@xmu.edu.cn)
- Funds：
- DOI：10.1038/s41377-026-02215-7
  CLC：
- Received：14 April 2025，
  
  Revised：2026-01-23，
  
  Accepted：27 January 2026，
  
  Online First：09 March 2026，
  
  Published：31 May 2026
- Accepted：
Scan QR Code
Zhu, S.-K. et al. Upconversion optical entropy encoding for infrared complex-amplitude imaging. Light: Science & Applications, 15, 1725-1735 (2026).
DOI：

Zhu, S.-K. et al. Upconversion optical entropy encoding for infrared complex-amplitude imaging. Light: Science & Applications, 15, 1725-1735 (2026). DOI： 10.1038/s41377-026-02215-7.

摘要

Abstract

Upconversion detection of infrared radiation by cost-effective silicon photodetectors in visible bands has spurred a revolution in infrared imaging technology

unlocking a wide range of applications in biological imaging

optical spectroscopy

and optical data storage. Despite significant progress in upconversion detection

real-time

concurrent

complex-amplitude imaging of both phase and amplitude information

indispensable for disclosing the full signature of infrared scenes

remains a daunting challenge

impeding their widespread applications. By integrating the unique advantages of both coherent and incoherent approaches

we propose the concept of upconversion optical entropy encoding and demonstrate a video-rate infrared complex-amplitude imaging system. This is achieved by leveraging the synergistic int

eraction between light scattering in disordered photonic structures and lanthanide upconversion photoluminescence. By tailoring the information entropy of upconversion speckles

infrared light-field information can be captured in a single visible snapshot and explicitly reconstructed

assisted by a deep learning network

enabling infrared complex-amplitude imaging at a video rate of 25 frames per second (fps) and with high-fidelity 8-bit grayscale modulation. The high photosensitivity of the developed infrared imaging system enables a power detection limit of 0.2 nW μm

−2

three orders of magnitude lower than that of conventional parametric upconversion imaging. As a proof of concept

we demonstrate its applications in capturing video frames of natural scene images and classifying images of speed-limit signs for autonomous driving. This approach can be readily integrated with other cross-band imaging methods

paving the way for various infrared application scenarios that require video-rate

high-photosensitivity

and high-fidelity protocols.

关键词

Keywords

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