High-throughput imaging of self-luminous objects through a single optical fibre

Imaging through a single optical fibre offers attractive possibilities in many applications such as micro-endoscopy or remote sensing. However, the direct transmission of an image through an optical fibre is difficult because spatial information is scrambled upon propagation. We demonstrate an image transmission strategy where spatial information is first converted to spectral information. Our strategy is based on a principle of spread-spectrum encoding, borrowed from wireless communications, wherein object pixels are converted into distinct spectral codes that span the full bandwidth of the object spectrum. Image recovery is performed by numerical inversion of the detected spectrum at the fibre output. We provide a simple demonstration of spread-spectrum encoding using Fabry–Perot etalons. Our technique enables the two-dimensional imaging of self-luminous (that is, incoherent) objects with high throughput in principle independent of pixel number. Moreover, it is insensitive to fibre bending, contains no moving parts and opens the possibility of extreme miniaturization.