Tomographic diffractive microscopy with agile illuminations for imaging targets in a noisy background.

Tomographic diffractive microscopy is a marker-free optical digital imaging technique in which three-dimensional samples are reconstructed from a set of holograms recorded under different angles of incidence. We show experimentally that, by processing the holograms with singular value decomposition, it is possible to image objects in a noisy background that are invisible with classical wide-field microscopy and conventional tomographic reconstruction procedure. The targets can be further characterized with a selective quantitative inversion.

Structured illumination fluorescence microscopy with distorted excitations using a filtered blind-SIM algorithm.

Structured illumination microscopy (SIM) is a powerful technique for obtaining super-resolved fluorescence maps of samples, but it is very sensitive to aberrations or misalignments affecting the excitation patterns. Here, we present a reconstruction algorithm that is able to process SIM data even if the illuminations are strongly distorted. The approach is an extension of the recent blind-SIM technique, which reconstructs simultaneously the sample and the excitation patterns without a priori information on the latter. Our algorithm was checked on synthetic and experimental data using distorted and nondistorted illuminations. The reconstructions were similar to that obtained by up-to-date SIM methods when the illuminations were periodic and remained artifact-free when the illuminations were strongly distorted.

Nanometric resolution with far-field optical profilometry.

We show experimentally that a resolution far beyond that of conventional far-field optical profilometers can be reached with optical diffraction tomography. This result is obtained in the presence of multiple scattering when using an adapted inverse scattering algorithm for profile reconstruction. This new profilometry technique, whose resolution can be compared to that of atomic microscopes, also gives access to the permittivity of the surface.

Tomographic diffractive microscopy with a wavefront sensor.

Tomographic diffractive microscopy is a recent imaging technique that reconstructs quantitatively the three-dimensional permittivity map of a sample with a resolution better than that of conventional wide-field microscopy. Its main drawbacks lie in the complexity of the setup and in the slowness of the image recording as both the amplitude and the phase of the field scattered by the sample need to be measured for hundreds of successive illumination angles. In this Letter, we show that, using a wavefront sensor, tomographic diffractive microscopy can be implemented easily on a conventional microscope. Moreover, the number of illuminations can be dramatically decreased if a constrained reconstruction algorithm is used to recover the sample map of permittivity.

Full polarization optical profilometry.

Optical digital tomographic microscopy can be used for profilometry. The profile of the surface can be estimated from measurements of the complex diffracted far field obtained when the sample is illuminated successively under various incidences. Outside the validity domain of perturbative theories of diffraction, the profile is determined by using an iterative inverse wave scattering numerical method. In this paper we show that, for perfectly conducting surfaces, the two fundamental polarization cases involve different distances of interaction in the multiple scattering phenomenon. The use of both polarization cases in the inversion process leads to a considerable improvement of the lateral resolution. Robustness to noise is also discussed.

Full wave optical profilometry.

We show that tomographic diffractive microscopy can be used for profilometry applications with high transverse resolution. We present an iterative reconstruction procedure, based on a rigorous wave scattering model, that permits us to retrieve the profile of rough metallic interfaces from the complex scattered field. The transversal resolution is subwavelength, and can even fall below the classical resolution limit if the profile is rough enough for multiple interactions to occur. Large profiles, with tens of wavelength size, can be investigated.

Dielectric thin films for maximized absorption with standard quality black surfaces.

Optical coatings deposited on rough black surfaces permit one to reduce scattering and increase absorption with broadband properties. To optimize the optogeometrical parameters (thickness, refractive index) of the coating, to obtain the best performances, it is necessary to know the refractive index of the bare surface. For this purpose we use both theoretical and experimental approaches. It is shown that with our method the total amount of scattered light from a common standard black surface can be reduced by a factor of 10. An absorption of greater than 99.5% is obtained.

Scattering-reduction effect with overcoated rough surfaces: theory and experiment.

We show that a scattering-reduction effect is obtained by coating a rough surface with an antireflection layer. This research is a generalization of Amra's [J. Opt. Soc. Am. A 10, 365-374 (1993)] study of smooth surfaces conducted with a first-order theory to the case of rough surfaces. We show that the differential method with the R matrix algorithm can be used to study scattering from multilayered rough surfaces. A comparison between numerical and experimental results is given.

Scattering from rough inhomogeneous media: splitting of surface and volume scattering.

The intensity scattered by particles randomly placed beneath a rough interface is studied with rigorous simulations. It is shown that the angular intensity pattern is close to that obtained by adding the intensity scattered by particles under a flat surface to that scattered by a rough homogeneous surface whose permittivity is evaluated with an effective-medium theory. This heuristic splitting rule is accurate for a large range of parameters that are well beyond any perturbative treatment.

Ellipsometry of light scattering from multilayer coatings.

A scatterometer is extended and allows us to perform ellipsometric measurements on scattered light in each direction of space. Experimental data are given for single thin-film layers and optical coatings and reveal unexpected results. The phenomena are investigated by means of the electromagnetic theories of surface and bulk scattering that emphasize the role of partial correlation and localized defects.

Increasing the angular tolerance of resonant grating filters with doubly periodic structures.

One can increase the angular tolerance of resonant grating filters without modifying the spectral bandwidth by adding a second grating component parallel to the first one. The angular tolerance and the filter linewidth can be controlled by the designer in an independent way. Numerical results show that this property permits the use of waveguide-grating filters with standard collimated beams.

Interferometric measurement of the phase of diffracted waves near the plasmon resonances of metallic gratings.

We propose a method for analyzing both theoretically and experimentally the behavior of the phase of the waves diffracted by gratings. The method is applied to the study of resonance phenomena. It is used for determining the optogeometrical parameters of a metallic grating. We show that the experimental setup, which is insensitive to mechanical drifts or thermal fluctuations, can be used for sensing purposes.

Influence of chromatic dispersion on a dual-wavelength passive-homodyne detection method for fiber-coupled interferometers.

The passive-homodyne method is very attractive for demodulating optical signals available at the output of interferometric sensors by the use of coherence multiplexing. Phase measurement and the use of two broadband sources with different central wavelengths permit a resolution of λ/10(5) to be achieved with a 20-µ range-sensor optical path difference. However, dispersive birefringent elements are required in this technique, which has some disturbing effects on the correlation signal position, on its envelope form, and on the measured phase. An analytical treatment of the problem and a numerical validation are described. Experimental evidence of the effects predicted by theory is presented.

Angle-resolved polarimetric phase measurement for the characterization of gratings.

A goniometric ellipsometer is used to recover the optogeometrical parameters of metallic gratings. The phase difference between TE and TM polarizations in all the diffracted orders is measured as a function of the incidence angle. The groove depth, together with the refractive indices of all the media of the diffracting structure, is determined for a holographic sinusoidal aluminum grating. It is shown that a thin layer of alumina on top of the grating must be considered.

Extraction of light from sources located inside waveguide grating structures.

A crossed waveguide grating is presented that can extract the total guided-mode power emitted by a pointsource dipole located in the structure. Results obtained with rigorous numerical simulations are compared with a simple graphic analysis to facilitate an understanding of the far-field radiation pattern of such a luminescent device.