Quantum Optical Measurement Group, Research Institute for Physical Measurement, National Metrology Institute of Japan, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Japan.
Sci Rep. 2017 Apr 4;7:45660. doi: 10.1038/srep45660.
Highly sensitive spectral imaging is increasingly being demanded in bioanalysis research and industry to obtain the maximum information possible from molecules of different colors. We introduce an application of the superconducting transition-edge sensor (TES) technique to highly sensitive spectral imaging. A TES is an energy-dispersive photodetector that can distinguish the wavelength of each incident photon. Its effective spectral range is from the visible to the infrared (IR), up to 2800 nm, which is beyond the capabilities of other photodetectors. TES was employed in this study in a fiber-coupled optical scanning microscopy system, and a test sample of a three-color ink pattern was observed. A red-green-blue (RGB) image and a near-IR image were successfully obtained in the few-incident-photon regime, whereas only a black and white image could be obtained using a photomultiplier tube. Spectral data were also obtained from a selected focal area out of the entire image. The results of this study show that TES is feasible for use as an energy-dispersive photon-counting detector in spectral imaging applications.
高灵敏度光谱成像是生物分析研究和工业领域日益增长的需求，以便从不同颜色的分子中获得尽可能多的信息。我们介绍了超导转变边缘传感器 (TES) 技术在高灵敏度光谱成象中的应用。TES 是一种能量色散型光电探测器，能够区分每个入射光子的波长。其有效光谱范围从可见光到红外（IR），高达 2800nm，这超出了其他光电探测器的能力范围。在这项研究中，TES 被应用于光纤耦合光学扫描显微镜系统中，并观察了三色油墨图案的测试样本。在少数入射光子的情况下，成功获得了红-绿-蓝（RGB）图像和近红外图像，而使用光电倍增管只能获得黑白图像。还从整个图像中的选定焦点区域获得了光谱数据。这项研究的结果表明，TES 可用于作为光谱成像应用中的能量色散光子计数探测器。
