Frequency-domain optical coherence tomography with undetected mid-infrared photons

Mid-infrared (mid-IR) light scatters much less than shorter wavelengths, allowing greatly enhanced penetration depths for optical imaging techniques such as optical coherence tomography (OCT). However, both detection and broadband sources in the mid-IR are technologically challenging. Interfering entangled photons in a nonlinear interferometer enables sensing with undetected photons, making mid-IR sources and detectors obsolete. Here we implement mid-IR frequency-domain OCT based on ultra-broadband entangled photon pairs spanning from 3.3 to 4.3 mu m. We demonstrate 10 mu m axial and 20 mu m lateral resolution 2D and 3D imaging of strongly scattering ceramic and paint samples. By intrinsically being limited only by shot noise, we observe 10(6) times more sensitivity per integration time and power of the probe light. Together with the vastly reduced footprint and technical complexity, our technique can outperform conventional approaches with classical mid-IR light sources. (C) 2020 Optical Society of America under the terms of the OSA Open Access Publishing Agreement