Hyper spectral imaging using sub-half-cycle mid-infrared pulses

Hyperspectral imaging is a mapping technique that combines imaging and spectroscopy to characterize and identify the distribution of chemical constituents. A spectral image is a “data cube” with two spatial dimensions and one spectral dimension, namely, the full spectrum can be extracted from each pixel in the hyperspectral image. Mid-infrared (MIR) hyperspectral technique realizes “chemical imaging” or “chemical mapping” since it identifies and maps the chemical composition of the object through molecular vibration. However, the limited number of pixels and the low signal-to-noise ratio of MIR detectors prevent high performance of MIR hyperspectral imaging.