ABSTRACT
Ultrafast optical imaging can capture two-dimensional dynamic events in the optical spectral range at ≥100 million frames per second. Leveraging the advances in laser sciences, electronic engineering, imaging processing, and other related disciplines, ultrafast optical imaging has been evolving rapidly. Thus far, ultrafast optical imaging has contributed to direct observation of a myriad of transient phenomena that are of great scientific significance. This chapter provides a comprehensive and up-to-date review of cutting-edge ultrafast optical imaging techniques. First, based on the number of required exposures, the existing techniques are generally categorized into multiple-shot and single-shot approaches. These two categories are further divided into a total of four subcategories, depending on the specific image acquisition and reconstruction strategies. Under each subcategory, the underlying principles, advantages, and disadvantages of the related methods, as well as representative techniques and their applications, are discussed. Finally, a summary and an outlook of system development and potential applications conclude this chapter.
