Classical imaging with undetected photons using four-wave mixing in silicon core fibers

Abstract

Undetected-photon imaging allows for objects to be imaged in wavelength regions where traditional components are unavailable. Although first demonstrated using quantum sources, recent work has shown that the technique also holds with classical beams. To date, however, all the research in this area has exploited parametric down-conversion processes using bulk nonlinear crystals within free-space systems. Here, we demonstrate undetected-photon-based imaging using light generated via stimulated four-wave mixing within highly nonlinear silicon fiber waveguides. The silicon fibers have been tapered to have a core diameter of ∼ 915    nm to engineer the dispersion and reduce the insertion losses, allowing for tight mode confinement over extended lengths to achieve practical nonlinear conversion efficiencies ( ∼ − 30    dB ) with modest pump powers ( ∼ 48    mW ). Both amplitude and phase images are obtained using classically generated light, confirming the high degree of spatial and phase correlation of our system. The high powers ( > 10    nW ) and long coherence lengths ( > 4    km ) associated with our large fiber-based system result in high contrast and stable images.