First author

Optical imaging is an indispensable tool for studying dynamic processes at high speeds and on micrometre scales. Unfortunately, conventional electronic cameras relying on charge-coupled devices (CCDs) cannot capture fast processes such as the dynamics of cell signalling with high sensitivity. On page 1145, Keisuke Goda at the University of California, Los Angeles, and his colleagues reveal a blueprint for the world's fastest video camera. Goda tells Nature that he is eagerly awaiting the scientific breakthroughs that this camera could bring.

Was your work motivated by a potential application or a technical challenge?

My adviser Bahram Jalali's group holds world records in speed for the analogue-to-digital conversion of electrical data and for optical spectroscopy — both using a technique that maps the optical spectrum into a data stream in real time and simultaneously amplifies it optically. We developed a new type of optical-imaging system called serial time-encoded amplified microscopy, or STEAM, which captures two-dimensional images at a frame speed of 163 nanoseconds and a shutter speed of 440 picoseconds — 1,000 times faster than CCDs. As a result, it has a broad range of applications, from imaging shock waves to microfluidics to chemical dynamics in living cells.

How did you get the idea for STEAM?

I went to the 2008 Optical Society of America conference in San Diego, California, where I got a hint that we might be able to achieve optical-image amplification by combining spectrally encoded imaging with our ultrafast spectroscopy approach. With the integrated technique, each pixel is encoded in a different frequency of the optical spectrum, which allows us to amplify the image optically. As a result, we can achieve imaging at high speeds without sacrificing sensitivity — which is what happens when you try to amplify an image electronically.

Are researchers clamouring to get this technology?

No one has to beat down my door to get it. Most components of STEAM are commercially available so anyone interested can build a STEAM camera themselves using our paper as a blueprint.

What is the next record to break?

There is always a new record to be broken, but this paper is not the end of this research. We want to keep increasing the frame rates and shutter speeds to make our camera better. I'm also pushing towards developing three-dimensional imaging at very high frame rates and shutter speeds.