Ultrasensitive optomechanical magnetometry.

A cavity optomechanical magneto-meter operating in the 100 pT range is reported. The device operates at earth field, achieves tens of megahertz bandwidth with 60 µm spatial resolution and microwatt optical-power requirements. These unique capabilities may have a broad range of applications including cryogen-free and microfluidic magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and investigation of spin-physics in condensed matter systems.

Back-scatter based whispering gallery mode sensing.

Whispering gallery mode biosensors allow selective unlabelled detection of single proteins and, combined with quantum limited sensitivity, the possibility for noninvasive real-time observation of motor molecule motion. However, to date technical noise sources, most particularly low frequency laser noise, have constrained such applications. Here we introduce a new technique for whispering gallery mode sensing based on direct detection of back-scattered light. This experimentally straightforward technique is immune to frequency noise in principle, and further, acts to suppress thermorefractive noise. We demonstrate 27 dB of frequency noise suppression, eliminating frequency noise as a source of sensitivity degradation and allowing an absolute frequency shift sensitivity of 76 kHz. Our results open a new pathway towards single molecule biophysics experiments and ultrasensitive biosensors.

Ultrasensitive real-time measurement of dissipation and dispersion in a whispering-gallery mode microresonator.

We present the characterization of the recently developed cavity enhanced amplitude modulation laser absorption spectroscopy (CEAMLAS) technique to measure dissipation within the evanescent field of a whispering-gallery mode resonator, and demonstrate the parallel use of CEAMLAS and the Pound-Drever-Hall measurement techniques to provide both dissipation and dispersive real-time microresonator measurements. Using an atomic force microscope tip, we introduce a controlled perturbation to the evanescent field of the resonator. In this case, dissipative sensing allows up to 16.8 dB sensitivity improvement over dispersive measurements, providing the possibility for enhanced sensitivity in application such as biomolecule detection.

Optical lock-in particle tracking in optical tweezers.

We demonstrate a lock-in particle tracking scheme in optical tweezers based on stroboscopic modulation of an illuminating optical field. This scheme is found to evade low frequency noise sources while otherwise producing an equivalent position measurement to continuous measurement. This was demonstrated to yield up to 20 dB of noise suppression at both low frequencies (< 1 kHz), where low frequency electronic noise was significant, and around 630 kHz where laser relaxation oscillations introduced laser noise. The setup is simple, and compatible with any trapping optics.

Critical coupling control of a microresonator by laser amplitude modulation.

We present a laser amplitude modulation technique to actively stabilize the critical coupling of a microresonator by controlling the evanescent coupling gap from an optical fiber taper. It is a form of nulled lock-in detection, which decouples laser intensity fluctuations from the critical coupling measurement. We achieved a stabilization bandwidth of ∼ 20 Hz, with up to 5 orders of magnitude displacement noise suppression at 10 mHz, and an inferred gap stability of better than a picometer/√Hz.

Cavity optoelectromechanical regenerative amplification.

Cavity optoelectromechanical regenerative amplification is demonstrated. An optical cavity enhances mechanical transduction, allowing sensitive measurement even for heavy oscillators. A 27.3 MHz mechanical mode of a microtoroid was linewidth narrowed to 6.6 ± 1.4 mHz, 30 times smaller than previously achieved with radiation pressure driving in such a system. These results may have applications in areas such as ultrasensitive optomechanical mass spectroscopy.

Optical pattern recognition via adaptive spatial homodyne detection.

We present an experimental demonstration of an optical pattern recognition scheme based on spatial homodyne detection. Our scheme is adaptive, all-optical, utilizes a single-element photo-detector, and provides a single parameter readout to quantify the efficacy of pattern recognition, thereby allowing very fast pattern recognition speeds. The spatial homodyne detector was applied to the identification of one- and two-dimensional phase profiles.

Cooling and control of a cavity optoelectromechanical system.

We implement a cavity optoelectromechanical system integrating electrical actuation capabilities of nanoelectromechanical devices with ultrasensitive mechanical transduction achieved via intracavity optomechanical coupling. Electrical gradient forces as large as 0.40 microN are realized, with simultaneous mechanical transduction sensitivity of 1.5x10{-18} m Hz{-1/2} representing a 3 orders of magnitude improvement over any nanoelectromechanical system to date. Optoelectromechanical feedback cooling is demonstrated, exhibiting strong squashing of the in-loop transduction signal. Out-of-loop transduction provides accurate temperature calibration even in the critical paradigm where measurement backaction induces optomechanical correlations.

Effective spherical aberration compensation by use of a nematic liquid-crystal device.

The next generation of optical data storage system beyond DVDs will use blue laser light and an objective lens with a high numerical aperture of 0.85 to increase storage capacity. Such high numerical aperture systems have an inherent higher sensitivity to aberrations. In particular, the spherical aberration caused by cover layer thickness tolerances and--more obvious--by dual-layer disks with a typical separation of approximately 20 microm between the two layers must be compensated. We propose a novel transmissive nematic liquid-crystal device, which is capable of compensating spherical aberration that occurs during the operation of optical pickup systems.

Confocal laser scanning microscopy of urinary bladder after intravesical instillation of a fluorescent dye.

OBJECTIVES: To assess the potential of confocal laser scanning microscopy for imaging of the urinary bladder after intravesical instillation of a fluorescent dye. METHODS: The study was performed on the bladder of male Copenhagen rats. For confocal fluorescence microscopy (CFM), a standard confocal laser scanning microscope (Zeiss LSM 410) was used. Before measuring, the fluorescent marker SYTO 17 was instilled intravesically. After 2 hours of incubation, the rat was killed, the bladder excised and opened, and CFM was performed starting from the surface going through the urothelium and superficial layers of the lamina propria. Except for the opening incision, the bladder was left intact and no biopsies were taken. After imaging, the bladder was sent for conventional histologic studies. RESULTS: CFM allows imaging of cellular details of the entire urothelium (superficial umbrella cells, intermediate, and basal urothelial cells) and superficial layers of the lamina propria. CFM images are close to those obtained by standard microscopy after conventional hematoxylin-eosin staining. Cell structure (eg, shape, size, chromatin texture, nucleoli, mitotic figures, nuclear/cytoplasmic ratio), as well as the structure of the connective tissue (eg, collagen fibers, blood vessels, erythrocytes), can be studied, allowing a standard histologic evaluation. Furthermore, in contrast to conventional histologic evaluation, CFM provides three-dimensional information and allows the study of intact tissue representing the true in vivo situation. CONCLUSIONS: CFM enables the study of the microscopic anatomy of bladder mucosa in its in vivo state. In combination with optical fiber bundles, endoscopic microscopy of the bladder may be possible in the future.