Few-photon-level two-dimensional infrared imaging by coincidence frequency upconversion

We demonstrate few-photon-level infrared imaging at 1040 nm by coincidence frequency upconversion with a high conversion efficiency of 33.5%. By synchronous pulse pumping at 1549 nm, the infrared object image was spectrally upconverted into the visible regime. The upconverted image was captured by a silicon electron multiplying charged coupled device without any scanning devices, thus gaining in simplicity and speed. The imaging sensitivity was improved by reducing the background noise with coincidence pulsed pumping at long wavelength. (C) 2012 American Institute of Physics. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.3703610]