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arXiv · 2605.29551

STEPIC: High-Speed Imaging via Spatio-Temporal Encoding in Photonic Integrated Circuits

Andrea Ciceri·Giacomo Corrielli·Giulia Bertolini·Cinzia De Marco·Vera Cappelletti·Serena Di Cosimo·Yunjie Deng·Yuqi Zhou·Martina Russo·Hiroshi Kanno·Kelvin Lee·Tianben Ding·Andrea Bassi·Roberto Osellame·Francesca Bragheri·Keisuke Goda·Nadia Brancati·Petra Paiè
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Abstract

High-speed imaging of cells in flow is essential for probing cellular heterogeneity in large populations. Existing imaging approaches based on single-pixel detection and spatio-temporal encoding provide exceptional speed, but typically rely on bulky free-space optics, long dispersive elements, and are prone to alignment instabilities. Here, we introduce STEPIC Microscopy, the first fully integrated on-chip system for high-speed imaging via spatio-temporal encoding in photonic integrated circuits. Our platform leverages waveguides, splitters, fiber delay-lines, and 3D optical remappers to encode spatial information into the temporal domain, enabling robust image reconstruction of cells flowing through microchannels. The monolithic architecture provides a compact and robust platform for high-throughput bioimaging, enabling scalable and practical implementations of ultrafast imaging systems.

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Andrea Ciceri, Giacomo Corrielli, Giulia Bertolini, Cinzia De Marco, Vera Cappelletti, Serena Di Cosimo, Yunjie Deng, Yuqi Zhou, Martina Russo, Hiroshi Kanno, Kelvin Lee, Tianben Ding, Andrea Bassi, Roberto Osellame, Francesca Bragheri, Keisuke Goda, Nadia Brancati, Petra Paiè. 2026-05-28. STEPIC: High-Speed Imaging via Spatio-Temporal Encoding in Photonic Integrated Circuits. https://arxiv.org/abs/2605.29551

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