Tailored frequency conversion makes infrared light visible for streak cameras

TL;DR

This paper introduces a frequency conversion technique that transforms infrared signals into visible light, enabling streak cameras to measure infrared emissions with high temporal resolution, demonstrated on quantum dot lasers.

Contribution

The work presents a novel sum-frequency generation method for infrared-to-visible conversion that preserves temporal properties, expanding streak camera capabilities.

Findings

Effective infrared to visible conversion demonstrated

Preservation of temporal properties confirmed

Quantum dot laser emission successfully measured

Abstract

Streak cameras are one of the most common and convenient devices to measure pulsed emission e.g. from semiconductor lightsources with picosecond time resolution. However, they are most sensitive in the visible range and possess low or negligible efficiency in the infrared and telecom regime. In this work, we present a frequency conversion based on sum-frequency generation that converts infrared to visible signals while preserving their temporal properties, making them detectable with a streak camera. We demonstrate and verify the functionality of our device by converting the emission from a quantum dot laser.