Single-shot ultrafast imaging attaining 70 trillion frames per second

Real-time imaging of countless femtosecond dynamics requires extreme speeds orders of magnitude beyond the limits of electronic sensors. Existing femtosecond imaging modalities either require event repetition or provide single-shot acquisition with no more than 10^13 frames per second (fps) and 3 × 10^2 frames. Here, we report compressed ultrafast spectral photography (CUSP), which attains several new records in single-shot multi-dimensional imaging speeds. In active mode, CUSP achieves both 7 × 10^13 fps and 10^3 frames simultaneously by synergizing spectral encoding, pulse splitting, temporal shearing, and compressed sensing—enabling unprecedented quantitative imaging of rapid nonlinear light-matter interactions. In passive mode, CUSP provides four-dimensional (4D) spectral imaging at 0.5 × 10^12 fps, allowing the first single-shot spectrally resolved fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy (SR-FLIM). As a real-time multi-dimensional imaging technology with the highest speeds and most frames, CUSP is envisioned to play instrumental roles in numerous pivotal scientific studies without the need for event repetition.

Peng Wang, Jinyang Liang, Lihong V. Wang