Driving and analysis of micro-objects by digital holographic microscope in microfluidics

We propose an optical configuration in which floating particles in a microfluidic chamber can be characterized by an interference microscopy configuration to obtain quantitative phase-contrast maps. The configuration is simply made by two laser beams from the same laser source. One beam provides the optical forces for driving the particle along appropriate paths, but at same time works as the object illumination beam in the holographic microscope. The second beam plays the role of the reference beam, allowing recording of an interference fringe pattern (i.e., the digital hologram) in an out-of-focus image plane. The system and method are illustrated and experimental results are offered for polymeric particles as well as for in vitro cells with the aim to demonstrate the approach.     

Spatial filtering dark hollow beams

We describe the synthesis of diffraction free beams and dark hollow beams with features easily tunable using a holographic transmittance. The hologram is generated by interfering two zero order Bessel beams with non-common axis. Spatial filtering techniques are implemented by controlling the illumination during the reconstruction process. The experimental results are for illumination similar to the one used in the recording process, obtaining a set of diffracting free beams. One of these beams propagates quasi-parallel to the surface hologram. For illumination with a plane wave we obtain a dark hollow beam propagating in the same direction as the reconstructions beam. Experimental results are shown in both cases.     

Dynamic speckle illumination microscopy with wavelet prefiltering

Dynamic speckle illumination (DSI) provides a simple and robust technique to obtain fluorescence depth sectioning with a widefield microscope. We report a significant improvement to DSI microscopy based on a statistical image-processing algorithm that incorporates spatial wavelet prefiltering. The resultant gain in sectioning strength leads to a fundamentally improved scaling law for the out-of-focus background rejection.     

Bessel beams: Effects of polarization

An approximation to a Bessel beam produced by tightly focusing linearly polarized light is known to produce a smaller central lobe than focusing plane polarized light. This is because the plane polarized wave gives a broad central lobe caused mainly by a parasitic longitudinal field component. It is known that this problem can be overcome by focusing radially polarized light. Here we demonstrate that other polarization distributions based on a linear combination of transverse electric (TE1) and transverse magnetic (TM1) fields can give a beam even narrower than for the radially polarized case. Special cases of this combination are identified, corresponding to the smallest width (TE1), and the maximum peak intensity compared with the side lobes (electric dipole polarization). Axially-symmetric forms can be generated by illumination with elliptically polarized light. A particular case is azimuthal polarization with a phase singularity, which is equivalent to TE1. For a semi-angular aperture of 60°, the TE1 case gives a central lobe width 9% narrower than for radially polarized illumination, while for plane polarized illumination it is 12% wider than the radially polarized case.     

贝塞尔光束与激光打孔

当高斯激光束用于打小孔时，焦深很小。截断的贝塞尔光束的主极大具有很长的焦深，可降低调焦精度，用于打小孔时优于高斯光束，但是分析表明两者的成孔质量和所能实现的深径比差不多。本文通过计算指出环状分布的光束经透镜后可在焦平面产生适用于激光打孔的贝塞尔－高斯光束，这是一种高效、简单实用的方法。     

Evanescent Bessel beam generation through filtering highly focused cylindrical vector beams with a defect mode one-dimensional photonic crystal

We propose a simple setup for generating evanescent Bessel beams using the defect mode of one-dimensional (1D) photonic crystal. The angular selectivity provided by the defect mode mimics the role of an axicon for Bessel beam generation. When an azimuthally polarized beam is strongly focused onto a 1D defect mode photonic crystal interface, an evanescent Bessel beam of the first-order is produced, while an evanescent Bessel beam of the zeroth-order will be created under a radially polarized beam illumination. Switching between a donut shape and a solid focal distribution can be easily realized by controlling the polarization of the illumination. Such a versatile evanescent Bessel beam generation may find potential applications in optical trapping.     

Negative axial radiation forces on solid spheres and shells in a Bessel beam

Prior computations predict that fluid spheres illuminated by an acoustic Bessel beam can be subjected to a radiation force directed opposite the direction of beam propagation. The prediction of negative acoustic radiation force is extended to the cases of a solid poly(methylmethacrylate) PMMA sphere in water and an empty aluminum spherical shell in water. Compared with the angular scattering patterns for plane wave illumination, the scattering into the back hemisphere is suppressed when the radiation force is negative. This investigation may be helpful in the development of acoustic tweezers and in the development of methods for manipulating objects during space flight.     

水下任意刚性散射体对Bessel波的散射特性分析

本文利用Bessel波的谐波展开式, 采用T矩阵方法的推导思路, 建立了水下任意刚性散射体在Bessel波照射下的声散射场计算公式. 以水下刚性椭球体和两端附连半球的刚性圆柱体为例, 计算了在不同波锥角β 下的反向散射形态函数, 同时, 依据镜反射波和绕行波的干涉物理模型, 给出了预报Bessel波照射下的反向散射形态函数峰峰间隔值的计算模型. 仿真结果表明本文提出的Bessel波照射下反向散射形态函数峰峰间隔值预报方法是准确有效的, 同时也说明, 本文建立的基于T矩阵法计算水下任意刚性散射体在Bessel波束下的声散射场方法是有效的, 这拓展了T矩阵法的应用领域.     

Conversion of high-order Laguerre-Gaussian beams into Bessel beams of increased, reduced or zeroth order by use of a helical axicon

We propose a new method for transformation of a Laguerre-Gaussian beam of azimuthal index l and radial index n = 0 (LG_l,0) into a vortex, diverging or nondiverging Bessel beam, which can have increased or decreased phase singularity order, or into a zeroth order Bessel beam, by means of a helical axicon. The Bessel beam divergence or nondivergence depends upon the waist position of the input Laguerre-Gaussian beam, regarding the plane where the helical axicon is situated.The expressions for the amplitude and the intensity distribution of the diffracted wave field, in the process of Fresnel diffraction, are deduced using the stationary phase method. The theoretical analysis for the vortex radius and the maximum propagation distance of the Bessel beams obtained is presented.     

Quasi Bessel beam by Billet's N-split lens

This study utilizes the focal property of a classical Billet's split lens to create more focal points by splitting the lens. This approach distributes the focal points circularly on the focal plane. This study explores the characteristics of beam propagation and analytically derives the asymptotic characteristics of beam propagation based on the stationary phase approximation and the moment-free Filon-type method. Results show that the unique Billet's N-split lens can generate a quasi Bessel beam if the number of splitting N is large enough, e.g., N ≧ 24. This study also explores the diffraction efficiency of corresponding quasi Bessel beam and the influence of aperture size. The potential advantage of proposed split lens approach is that, unlike the classical means of annular aperture, this simple lens approach allows a much larger throughput in creating the Bessel beam and hence the Bessel beam could have more optical energy.     

Magnetic properties of epitaxial-grown exchange-coupled FePt/FeRh bilayer films

The propagation of a laser beam through a micro-lens array (MLA) was simulated using Finite Time Difference Domain (FDTD) method. The intensity distribution at different output planes away from the micro-lens array surface was investigated. As compared to the focal plane, the intensity distribution observed at those out-of-focus planes varies, which is attributed to the interference and diffraction of output laser beams. The simulated results were counter checked by placing a physical MLA under an illumination of a 488 nm continuous wave Argon Ion laser and images were captured for different output planes. Both simulation and experimental results show a great similarity in terms of the distribution patterns. By changing the lens sag height with respect to the lens diameter, the full width at half maximum (FWHM) of the focused laser spot and its corresponding maximum energy flux were analyzed. A FWHM of 160 nm can be achieved by proper selection of lens sag height. It is also found that the energy flux is proportional to numerical aperture (NA).     

Scattering of a Bessel beam by a sphere

The exact scattering by a sphere centered on a Bessel beam is expressed as a partial wave series involving the scattering angle relative to the beam axis and the conical angle of the wave vector components of the Bessel beam. The sphere is assumed to have isotropic material properties so that the nth partial wave amplitude for plane wave scattering is proportional to a known partial-wave coefficient. The scattered partial waves in the Bessel beam case are also proportional to the same partial-wave coefficient but now the weighting factor depends on the properties of the Bessel beam. When the wavenumber-radius product ka is large, for rigid or soft spheres the scattering is peaked in the backward and forward directions along the beam axis as well as in the direction of the conical angle. These properties are geometrically explained and some symmetry properties are noted. The formulation is also suitable for elastic and fluid spheres. A partial wave expansion of the Bessel beam is noted.     

Experimental investigation of light storage of diffraction-free and quasi-diffraction-free beams in hot atomic gas cell

In this article we report on the experimental investigation of light storage for several types of diffractionfree beams (Bessel and Airy beams) and quasi-diffraction-free beams by utilizing electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) technique in a hot atomic gas cell. The experimental results show that the diffraction-free and quasi-diffraction-free beams have better storage performances when compared with ordinary images possessing similar spatial profiles. Meanwhile, the Bessel beams and the quasidiffraction-free images are able to maintain their spatial profiles with a long storage time while the sidelobes of the Airy beam are gradually depleted with the increment of the storage time. We quantitatively analyze the storage results and give physical explanations behind these phenomena. Furthermore, the self-healing of the retrieved diffraction-free beams is verified, signifying that their characteristics preserve well after storage.     

Fiber-coupled multiplexed confocal microscope

We describe a new parallel scanning mechanism for confocal microscopy that is inherently fiber-optic compatible and that retains the simplicity of the line scanning confocal microscope. The method works by employing an incoherent fiber-optic bundle that maps a line illumination pattern back on itself on double passing, while separating the fibers that carry photons from out-of-focus sample planes. The transformation permits efficient rejection of out-of-focus photons by a slit aperture.     

非偏振贝塞尔高斯光束的球散射

无衍射光束球散射性质的研究目前一般采用贝塞尔光束,但是贝塞尔光束在物理上是不可实现的。贝塞尔高斯光束作为近似无衍射光束,是亥姆霍兹方程在傍轴条件下的解,并且可以用激光振荡器直接产生,但其光束宽是有限的。应用傅里叶变换,平面波谱展开和球面矢量波函数展开法,推导了非偏振贝塞尔高斯光束的球散射远场的无量纲散射函数。通过数值模拟,对非偏振的贝塞尔高斯光束与贝塞尔光束,高斯光束的球散射远场进行了比较,比较发现:当球散射体偏离光轴时,非偏振贝塞尔高斯光束跟贝塞尔光束散射远场的差异主要是散射强度的差异,但是散射极点所在的方向基本保持不变;贝塞尔高斯光束和贝塞尔光束的散射在光束圆锥角方向上比较显著,但高斯光束的前向散射比较显著。     

环形障碍物-轴棱锥产生局域空心光束

提出一种产生局域空心光束(bottle beam)的新方法,它是在传统的轴棱锥底面上放置一个环形障碍物.平面波入射到带有环形障碍物的轴棱锥底面时,将在轴棱锥产生的最大无衍射距离内形成bottle beam,而在bottle beam的前后仍然保持无衍射贝塞尔光.通过变化障碍物大小及轴棱锥底角实现bottle beam尺寸的控制.利用衍射理论描述了平面波经带有环形障碍物的轴棱锥产生bottle beam的原理,分析和模拟了传输过程中不同位置的截面光强分布及整个过程的三维光强分布,并给出相关的实验结果.研究结果对bottlebeam的实际应用具有积极的意义.     

部分Bessel形电磁波

给出了满足Maxwell方程的自弯曲电磁波解(部分Bessel函数), 其可以通过发射调制初始相位和发射方向的一组平面波干涉合成来实现. 自弯曲电磁波在一定传播距离内保持波束形状不变, 其传播轨道接近圆形. 这类曲线加速的电磁波不同于Ariy波束, 其中部分Bessel波束的弯曲角度可以远大于Ariy波. 半Bessel 波束的Poynting矢量表明主瓣能够保持能量不扩散且偏转接近180°. 此外, 同时发射一对半Bessel电磁波能够在一定区域内实现对消, 即在该域内实现电磁波自屏蔽.     

散斑照明宽场荧光层析显微成像技术研究

介绍了一种新的宽场荧光层析显微方法.在传统宽场显微镜中引入散斑图案照明样品,控制散斑图案的动态变化,利用CCD相机记录对应的一系列荧光图像.由于焦平面内强度变化远比焦平面外强度变化剧烈,通过合适的算法能够获得焦平面的层析分辨的荧光显微图像.标定了系统参数,并研究了不同的图像重建算法对系统性能的影响,获得了不同生物组织样品的层析图像.实验表明,该显微方法能用于组织光学切片成像,在临床医学中具有实际应用价值. 关键词： 荧光 散斑照明 荧光显微 层析     

Axial radiation force of a bessel beam on a sphere and direction reversal of the force

An expression is derived for the radiation force on a sphere placed on the axis of an ideal acoustic Bessel beam propagating in an inviscid fluid. The expression uses the partial-wave coefficients found in the analysis of the scattering when the sphere is placed in a plane wave traveling in the same external fluid. The Bessel beam is characterized by the cone angle beta of its plane wave components where beta=0 gives the limiting case of an ordinary plane wave. Examples are found for fluid spheres where the radiation force reverses in direction so the force is opposite the direction of the beam propagation. Negative axial forces are found to be correlated with conditions giving reduced backscattering by the beam. This condition may also be helpful in the design of acoustic tweezers for biophysical applications. Other potential applications include the manipulation of objects in microgravity. Islands in the (ka, beta) parameter plane having a negative radiation force are calculated for the case of a hexane drop in water. Here k is the wave number and a is the drop radius. Low frequency approximations to the radiation force are noted for rigid, fluid, and elastic solid spheres in an inviscid fluid.     

Acoustic radiation force on a sphere in standing and quasi-standing zero-order Bessel beam tweezers

Starting from the exact acoustic scattering from a sphere immersed in an ideal fluid and centered along the propagation axis of a standing or quasi-standing zero-order Bessel beam, explicit partial-wave representations for the radiation force are derived. A standing or a quasi-standing acoustic field is the result of propagating two equal or unequal amplitude zero-order Bessel beams, respectively, along the same axis but in opposite sense. The Bessel beam is characterized by the half-cone angle β of its plane wave components, such that β = 0 represents a plane wave. It is assumed here that the half-cone angle β for each of the counter-propagating acoustic Bessel beams is equal. Fluid, elastic and viscoelastic spheres immersed in water are treated as examples. Results indicate the capability of manipulating spherical targets based on their mechanical and acoustical properties. This condition provides an impetus for further designing acoustic tweezers operating with standing or quasi-standing Bessel acoustic waves. Potential applications include particle manipulation in micro-fluidic lab-on-chips as well as in reduced gravity environments.