Ghost imaging, development, and recent advances [Invited]

Ghost imaging (GI) is a novel imaging technique that has garnered widespread attention and discussion since its inception three decades ago. To this day, ghost imaging has become an effective bridge between the advantages of quantum light sources and the field of imaging. This article begins by tracing the origin of ghost imaging and reviewing its development journey. Subsequently, we introduce some recent and important achievements and research interests of the field, which mainly include two aspects. First, we review recent works that extend GI from the intensity-only target to the complex field domain, that is, ghost holography. Using quantum correlation, traditional holographic techniques have been reproduced at the single-photon level. Second, we review the recent development of GI with the implementation of the intensified charge-coupled device (ICCD). As detection efficiency improves, ghost imaging will gradually become an important platform for studying physical mechanisms and achieving quantum advantage in imaging. © 2024 Chinese Optics Letters.