Phase contrast enhancement in microscopy using spiral phase filtering

We demonstrate two methods based on Fourier plane filtering using (a) a fractional spiral phase plate (SPP) and (b) an off-axial SPP for phase contrast enhancement in optical microscopy. In comparison to previous works, a spatially incoherent LED is used in the Köhler illumination as the light source to illuminate the biological specimen. We demonstrate that both these methods can transform the phase specimen into a relief-like view even under such illumination. The degree and orientation of enhancement can be controlled by changing the phase structure of the filter. The SPP is displayed on a phase-only spatial light modulator, and can be integrated into the optical path of standard microscopes.     

Anisotropic edge enhancement in optical scanning holography with spiral phase filtering

Anisotropic edge enhancement is simulated using a spiral phase plate(SPP) in optical scanning holography(OSH). We propose to use a delta function and an SPP as the pupil functions to realize anisotropic edge enhancement. The interference of these two pupils is used to two-dimensionally scan an object to record its edge-only information. This is done in three ways: first, by shifting the SPP, second, by using two offset SPPs of same charge, and finally, by using two oppositely charged SPPs. Our computer simulations show the capability of selectively enhancing the edges of a given object.     

Radial Hilbert transform with Laguerre-Gaussian spatial filters

We analyze the point spread function (PSF) of the image processing system for radial Hilbert transform and propose a novel spiral phase filter, called the Laguerre-Gaussian spatial filter (LGSF). Theoretical analysis and real experiments show that the LGSF possesses some advantages in comparison with the conventional spiral phase plate (SPP). For example, the PSF of the imaging system with a LGSF presents smaller suboscillations than that with the conventional SPP, which allows us to realize a radial Hilbert transform for achieving a high contrast edge enhancement with high resolution.     

Shadow effects in spiral phase contrast microscopy

Recently it has been demonstrated that spatial filtering of images in microscopy with a spiral phase element in a Fourier plane of the optical path results in a strong edge enhancement of object structures. In principle the operation is isotropic, i.e., all phase edges of a sample object are highlighted simultaneously, independent of their local direction. However, here we demonstrate that the symmetry can be broken intentionally by controlling the phase of the central area of a spiral phase hologram, which is displayed at a computer controlled spatial light modulator. This produces an apparent shadow effect which can be rotated at video rate. The resulting relieflike impression of the sample topography with a longitudinal resolution in the subwavelength regime is demonstrated by imaging a standard low contrast test sample consisting of a human cheek cell.     

激光直写制作高阶螺旋相位板及其性能

将拓扑荷为4的螺旋相位光束与平面光干涉的计算全息图输入到空间光调制器中,得到含有多个衍射级次的高阶涡旋光束。为提高衍射效率,利用激光直写技术制作拓扑荷为4的高阶螺旋相位板,经测定,相位板深度理论数值为1.073 m,测量数值为1.082 m,相位板制作误差在0.83%以内。平行光束通过此相位板时,在夫琅和费衍射场获得一个高质量的高阶光学涡旋,光强分布与理论数值基本吻合,衍射效率达到86%。     

基于螺旋相位调制的非相干全息点扩散函数研究

分析了菲涅耳非相干相关全息(Fresnel incoherent correlation holography,FINCH)系统中纯相位空间光调制器(spatial light modulator,SLM)加载螺旋相位掩模时的点扩散函数.以氙灯为照明光源搭建了FINCH系统,电荷耦合器记录的点源全息图与点扩散函数模拟结果一致.采用该系统分别在SLM上加载双透镜掩模和螺旋相位调制双透镜掩模两种情况下对分辨率板和非染色洋葱细胞成像,给出了成像对比结果.结果表明:采用螺旋相位调制的FINCH系统可以在几乎不牺牲分辨率的情况下提高图像的边缘对比度;同样,对相位物体也可以实现图像的边缘提取和识别.该方法在实时监测活细胞的分裂、形变等方面具有重要应用前景.     

Fraunhofer diffraction of the plane wave by a multilevel (quantized) spiral phase plate

We obtain an analytical expression in the form of a finite sum of plane waves that describes the paraxial scalar Fraunhofer diffraction of a limited plane wave by a multilevel (quantized) spiral phase plate (SPP) bounded by a polygonal aperture. For several topological charges of the SPP we numerically obtain the minimal number of SPP sectors for which the RMS between the Fraunhofer diffraction patterns for multilevel and continuous SPP does not exceed 2%.     

Fractional vortex dipole phase filter

In spatial filtering experiments, the use of vortex phase filters plays an important role in realizing isotropic edge enhancement. In this paper, we report the use of a vortex dipole phase filter in spatial filtering. A dipole made of fractional vortices is used, and its filtering characteristics are studied. It is observed that the filter performance can be tuned by varying the distance of separation between the vortices of the dipole to achieve better contrast and output noise suppression, and when this distance tends to infinity, the filter performs like a 1-D Hilbert mask. Experimental and simulation results are presented.     

Generation and propagation of novel donut beams by a spiral phase plate: Humbert beams

The theoretical conversion of the Bessel-modulated Gaussian beam with a quadratic radial dependence by a spiral phase plate (SPP) leads us to generate a novel donut family that we called it Humbert beam. In this paper, the different theoretical tools are developed to obtain these new waves. Some numerical calculations are performed to study the transformation and the propagation of this new family by a SPP with an integer topological charge through an ABCD optical system. The present study shows also that the Humbert beam generalized the Kummer family waves.     

Diffraction of a plane, finite-radius wave by a spiral phase plate

We derive analytical expressions containing a hypergeometric function to describe the Fresnel and Fraunhofer diffraction of a plane wave of circular and ringlike cross section by a spiral phase plate (SPP) of an arbitrary integer order. Experimental diffraction patterns generated by an SPP fabricated in resist through direct e-beam writing are in good agreement with the theoretical intensity distribution.     

Vortex characteristics of Fraunhofer diffractions of a plane wave by a spiral phase plate limited by pseudoring polygonal apertures

We introduce a multilevel spiral phase plate (SPP) limited by a pseudoring polygonal aperture (PRPA). Such an SPP has the advantages of easier fabrication and greater suppression of the sidelobes of the diffraction field over that generated with a polygonal aperture (PA). The Fraunhofer diffraction fields generated by an SPP with a PRPA or with a PA have the same topological charge features and a similar diffraction pattern. Numerical evaluations show that the maximum bright annular-intensity difference between the diffraction patterns for the SPP with a PRPA and that of a PA does not exceed 3% under optimal design parameters.     

Generation of Optical Vortex Using a Spiral Phase Plate Fabricated in Quartz by Direct Laser Writing and Inductively Coupled Plasma Etching

A simple, economical and reliable technique is proposed for fabricating a spiral phase plate （SPP） in a quartz substrate to generate optical vortex with a unit topological charge at the wavelengths of 632.8nm. The spiral phase plate is first formed in the photoresist by direct laser writing lithography and then transferred into the quartz substrate by inductively coupled plasma etching. The performance of the fabricated SPP is verified by using beam intensity distribution, which is in agreement with the theoretical calculation result. The interference measurement suggests that we have succeeded to generate optical vortex with a unit topological charge with the fabricated SPP.     

Contrast reversal and enhancement of phase spot array/grid with an intensity-dependent refractive index medium as phase filter

We report on a complete contrast reversal and contrast enhancement of a holographically recorded phase spot array/grid achieved by phase filtering, using an intensity-dependent refractive index medium, zinc tetraphenyl porphyrin as phase filter placed in the Fourier plane of the 4-f imaging system. We show that the contrast enhancement is robust and insensitive to local errors in the phase array and can be used to repair a damaged portion of the input phase array.     

Selective edge enhancement in three-dimensional vortex imaging with incoherent light

We demonstrate a new imaging method enabling a selective edge contrast enhancement of three-dimensional amplitude objects with spatially incoherent light. The imaging process is achieved in a spiral modification of Fresnel incoherent correlation holography and uses a vortex impulse response function. The correlation recordings of the object are acquired in a one-way interferometer with the wavefront division carried out by a spatial light modulator. Two different methods based on applying a helical reference wave in the hologram recording and a digital spiral phase modulation in image reconstruction are proposed for edge enhancement of amplitude objects. Results of both isotropic and anisotropic spiral imaging are demonstrated in experiments using an LED as an incoherent source of light.     

基于径向希尔伯特变换的图像边缘增强特性研究

研究了基于螺旋相位频谱滤波器滤波的径向希尔伯特变换对不同边缘分布图像的增强特性.给出了拓扑荷n=1的有限孔径螺旋相位滤波器点扩散函数的解析表达式,并利用圆孔、汉字和人像等三幅不同边缘分布密度的图像进行了边缘增强的模拟计算.结果表明,基于螺旋相位频谱滤波的径向希尔伯特变换会使边缘增强图像具有立体浮雕效果,并且随着输入图像的边缘分布密度变大,立体浮雕效果会越显著.通过理论分析得出,这一现象是由螺旋相位滤波器点扩散函数中的次极大分布与输入图像边缘卷积引起的.这一结论为图像的信息处理提供了一些有利的手段.     

Soft-X-ray microscopy using spiral zone plates

Phase sensitive soft-x-ray microscopy methods enable the study of specimens for which phase effects are a prevalent contrast mechanism. One way to detect these phase effects is to optically implement the radial Hilbert transform by using spiral zone plates (SZPs), which results in the isotropic measurement of the amplitude and phase gradient in a sample. Soft-x-ray microscopy using an SZP as a single element objective lens was demonstrated through the imaging of a 1 microm circular aperture at a wavelength of 2.73 nm(454 eV). A regular zone plate, a charge 1 SZP, and a charge 2 SZP were fabricated using electron beam lithography and were used as the imaging optic in the microscopy setup. The charge 1 and charge 2 SZP images exhibited isotropic edge enhancement as a result of radial Hilbert filtering.     

What spatial light modulators can do for optical microscopy

With the availability of high‐resolution miniature spatial light modulators (SLMs) new methods in optical microscopy have become feasible. The SLMs discussed in this review consist of miniature liquid crystal displays with micron‐sized pixels that can modulate the phase and/or amplitude of an optical wavefront. In microscopy they can be used to control and shape the sample illumination, or they can act as spatial Fourier filters in the imaging path. Some of these applications are reviewed in this article. One of them, called spiral phase contrast, generates isotropic edge enhancement of thin phase samples or spiral‐shaped interference fringes for thicker phase samples, which can be used to reconstruct the phase topography from a single on‐axis interferogram. If SLMs are used for both illumination control and spatial Fourier filtering, this combination for instance allows for the generalization of the Zernike phase contrast principle. The new SLM‐based approach improves the effective resolution and avoids some shortcomings and artifacts of the traditional method. The main advantage of SLMs in microscopy is their flexibility, as one can realize various operation modes in the same setup, without the need for changing any hardware components, simply by electronically switching the phase pattern displayed on the SLMs.     

Edge enhancement of phase objects through complex media by using transmission-matrix-based spiral phase contrast imaging

The wavefront shaping based technique has been introduced to detect the edges of amplitude objects through complex media, but the extraction of the boundary information of invisible phase objects through complex media has not been demonstrated yet. Here, we present a phase contrast imaging technique to overcome the scattering, aiming to achieve the edge detection of the phase object through the complex media. An operator based on the experimentally measured transmission matrix is obtained by numerically adding a spiral phase in the Fourier domain. With the inverse of the filtered transmission matrix, we can directly reconstruct the edge enhanced images for both amplitude object and phase object beyond scattering. Experimentally, both digital and real objects are imaged, and the results verify that isotropic edge detection can be achieved with our technique. Our work could benefit the detection of invisible phase objects through complex media.     

轴棱锥-透镜系统产生局域空心光束中心亮斑的消除

本文提出利用相位调制的新方法, 在光路中插入螺旋相位板, 使句域空心光束(Bottle beam)中心变为相位奇点, 在使用轴棱锥-透镜系统产生局域空心光束(Bottle beam)时, 消除了衍射等因素导致Bottle beam内部的轴上光强, 这利于用Bottle beam构建空心光镊系统. 理论分析及数值模拟与实验结果很好地吻合.     

Generation of optical vortices with tunable intensity modulation

We analyze vortex properties of the optical beams generated by a spiral phase plate (SPP) which cannot modulate the phase of the incident beam range from 0 to 2π nicely, and find that the vortices have intensity modulation (IM) with central bright speckle. We construct an improved SPP to produce high quality optical vortices with definite IM. Theoretical analysis and real experiments show that this improved SPP can be used to produce optical vortices with configurable intensity modulation degree and without central bright spot.