

Quantum technologies are revolutionising photonic research, including optical microscopy. The single-photon laser-scanning microscopy (SP-LSM) paradigm is a prominent example. Here, a novel asynchronous read-out single-photon avalanche diode (SPAD) array detector is integrated into a conventional fluorescence laser-scanning microscope, which enables the recording of fluorescence light photon by photon and links to each photon a series of spatial and temporal signatures. The photon-resolved spatiotemporal information —precluded in conventional LSM, which is usually equipped with a single-pixel detector only— drastically expands the information about the specimen obtained from any LSM-based techniques. For example, SP-LSM can transform a confocal LSM in an effective super-resolved functional imaging system with enhanced optical sectioning ability or, a conventional fluorescence fluctuation spectroscopy experiment, into an information-enriched and more robust experiment. However, these two examples represent the tip of the iceberg of a new series of LSM-based techniques able to leverage the photon-resolved spatiotemporal information provided by the new SP-LSM paradigm.