STEPIC: High-Speed Imaging via Spatio-Temporal Encoding in Photonic Integrated Circuits
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.
Cite
@article{arxiv.2605.29551,
title = {STEPIC: High-Speed Imaging via Spatio-Temporal Encoding in Photonic Integrated Circuits},
author = {Andrea Ciceri and Giacomo Corrielli and Giulia Bertolini and Cinzia De Marco and Vera Cappelletti and Serena Di Cosimo and Yunjie Deng and Yuqi Zhou and Martina Russo and Hiroshi Kanno and Kelvin Lee and Tianben Ding and Andrea Bassi and Roberto Osellame and Francesca Bragheri and Keisuke Goda and Nadia Brancati and Petra Paiè},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2605.29551},
year = {2026}
}