Damping-Driven Time Reversal for Waves.

Damping is usually associated with irreversibility. Here, we present a counterintuitive concept to achieve time reversal of waves propagating in a lossless medium using a transitory dissipation pulse. Applying a sudden and strong damping in a limited time generates a time-reversed wave. In the limit of a high damping shock, this amounts to "freezing" the initial wave by maintaining the wave amplitude while canceling its time derivative. The initial wave then splits in two counterpropagating waves with half of its amplitude and time evolutions in opposite directions. We implement this damping-based time reversal using phonon waves propagating in a lattice of interacting magnets placed on an air cushion. We show with computer simulations that this concept also applies to broadband time reversal in complex disordered systems.

Distortion matrix approach for ultrasound imaging of random scattering media.

Focusing waves inside inhomogeneous media is a fundamental problem for imaging. Spatial variations of wave velocity can strongly distort propagating wave fronts and degrade image quality. Adaptive focusing can compensate for such aberration but is only effective over a restricted field of view. Here, we introduce a full-field approach to wave imaging based on the concept of the distortion matrix. This operator essentially connects any focal point inside the medium with the distortion that a wave front, emitted from that point, experiences due to heterogeneities. A time-reversal analysis of the distortion matrix enables the estimation of the transmission matrix that links each sensor and image voxel. Phase aberrations can then be unscrambled for any point, providing a full-field image of the medium with diffraction-limited resolution. Importantly, this process is particularly efficient in random scattering media, where traditional approaches such as adaptive focusing fail. Here, we first present an experimental proof of concept on a tissue-mimicking phantom and then, apply the method to in vivo imaging of human soft tissues. While introduced here in the context of acoustics, this approach can also be extended to optical microscopy, radar, or seismic imaging.

Functional ultrasound imaging of deep visual cortex in awake nonhuman primates.

Deep regions of the brain are not easily accessible to investigation at the mesoscale level in awake animals or humans. We have recently developed a functional ultrasound (fUS) technique that enables imaging hemodynamic responses to visual tasks. Using fUS imaging on two awake nonhuman primates performing a passive fixation task, we constructed retinotopic maps at depth in the visual cortex (V1, V2, and V3) in the calcarine and lunate sulci. The maps could be acquired in a single-hour session with relatively few presentations of the stimuli. The spatial resolution of the technology is illustrated by mapping patterns similar to ocular dominance (OD) columns within superficial and deep layers of the primary visual cortex. These acquisitions using fUS suggested that OD selectivity is mostly present in layer IV but with extensions into layers II/III and V. This imaging technology provides a new mesoscale approach to the mapping of brain activity at high spatiotemporal resolution in awake subjects within the whole depth of the cortex.

Phase-conjugate mirror for water waves driven by the Faraday instability.

The Faraday instability appears on liquid baths submitted to vertical oscillations above a critical value. The pattern of standing ripples at half the vibrating frequency that results from this parametric forcing is usually shaped by the boundary conditions imposed by the enclosing receptacle. Here, we show that the time modulation of the medium involved in the Faraday instability can act as a phase-conjugate mirror--a fact which is hidden in the extensively studied case of the boundary-driven regime. We first demonstrate the complete analogy with the equations governing its optical counterpart. We then use water baths combining shallow and deep areas of arbitrary shapes to spatially localize the Faraday instability. We give experimental evidence of the ability of the Faraday instability to generate counterpropagating phase-conjugated waves for any propagating signal wave. The canonical geometries of a point and plane source are implemented. We also verify that Faraday-based phase-conjugate mirrors hold the genuine property of being shape independent. These results show that a periodic modulation of the effective gravity can perform time-reversal operations on monochromatic propagating water waves, with a remarkable efficiency compared with wave manipulation in other fields of physics.

Manifestation of aberrations in full-field optical coherence tomography.

We report on a theoretical model for image formation in full-field optical coherence tomography (FFOCT). Because the spatial incoherence of the illumination acts as a virtual confocal pinhole in FFOCT, its imaging performance is equivalent to a scanning time-gated coherent confocal microscope. In agreement with optical experiments enabling a precise control of aberrations, FFOCT is shown to have nearly twice the resolution of standard imaging at moderate aberration level. Beyond a rigorous study on the sensitivity of FFOCT with respect to aberrations, this theoretical model paves the way towards an optimized design of adaptive optics and computational tools for high-resolution and deep imaging of biological tissues.

Negative refractive index and acoustic superlens from multiple scattering in single negative metamaterials.

Metamaterials, man-made composite media structured on a scale much smaller than a wavelength, offer surprising possibilities for engineering the propagation of waves. One of the most interesting of these is the ability to achieve superlensing--that is, to focus or image beyond the diffraction limit. This originates from the left-handed behavior--the property of refracting waves negatively--that is typical of negative index metamaterials. Yet reaching this goal requires the design of 'double negative' metamaterials, which act simultaneously on the permittivity and permeability in electromagnetics, or on the density and compressibility in acoustics; this generally implies the use of two different kinds of building blocks or specific particles presenting multiple overlapping resonances. Such a requirement limits the applicability of double negative metamaterials, and has, for example, hampered any demonstration of subwavelength focusing using left-handed acoustic metamaterials. Here we show that these strict conditions can be largely relaxed by relying on media that consist of only one type of single resonant unit cell. Specifically, we show with a simple yet general semi-analytical model that judiciously breaking the symmetry of a single negative metamaterial is sufficient to turn it into a double negative one. We then demonstrate that this occurs solely because of multiple scattering of waves off the metamaterial resonant elements, a phenomenon often disregarded in these media owing to their subwavelength patterning. We apply our approach to acoustics and verify through numerical simulations that it allows the realization of negative index acoustic metamaterials based on Helmholtz resonators only. Finally, we demonstrate the operation of a negative index acoustic superlens, achieving subwavelength focusing and imaging with spot width and resolution 7 and 3.5 times better than the diffraction limit, respectively. Our findings have profound implications for the physics of metamaterials, highlighting the role of their subwavelength crystalline structure, and hence entering the realm of metamaterial crystals. This widens the scope of possibilities for designing composite media with novel properties in a much simpler way than has been possible so far.

Fourier transform acousto-optic imaging with off-axis holographic detection.

Acousto-optic (AO) imaging is an in-depth optical imaging technique of highly scattering media. One challenging end-application for this technique is to perform imaging of living biological tissues. Indeed, because it relies on coherent illumination, AO imaging is sensitive to speckle decorrelation occurring on the millisecond time scale. Camera-based detections are well suited for in vivo imaging provided their integration time is lower than those decorrelation time scales. We present Fourier transform acousto-optic imaging combined with off-axis holography, which relies on plane waves and long-duration pulses. We demonstrate, for the first time to the best of our knowledge, a two-dimensional imaging system fully compatible with in vivo imaging prerequisites. The method is validated experimentally by performing in-depth imaging inside a multiple scattering sample.

Shaping reverberating sound fields with an actively tunable metasurface.

A reverberating environment is a common complex medium for airborne sound, with familiar examples such as music halls and lecture theaters. The complexity of reverberating sound fields has hindered their meaningful control. Here, by combining acoustic metasurface and adaptive wavefield shaping, we demonstrate the versatile control of reverberating sound fields in a room. This is achieved through the design and the realization of a binary phase-modulating spatial sound modulator that is based on an actively reconfigurable acoustic metasurface. We demonstrate useful functionalities including the creation of quiet zones and hotspots in a typical reverberating environment.

Measuring Dirac Cones in a Subwavelength Metamaterial.

The exciting discovery of bidimensional systems in condensed matter physics has triggered the search of their photonic analogues. In this Letter, we describe a general scheme to reproduce some of the systems ruled by a tight-binding Hamiltonian in a locally resonant metamaterial; by specifically controlling the structure and the composition it is possible to engineer the band structure at will. We numerically and experimentally demonstrate this assertion in the microwave domain by reproducing the band structure of graphene, the most famous example of those 2D systems, and by accurately extracting the Dirac cones. This is direct evidence that opting for a crystalline description of those subwavelength scaled systems, as opposed to the usual description in terms of effective parameters, makes them a really convenient tabletop platform to investigate the tantalizing challenges that solid-state physics offer.

Precise Localization of Multiple Noncooperative Objects in a Disordered Cavity by Wave Front Shaping.

Complicated multipath trajectories of waves in disordered cavities cause object localization to be very challenging with traditional ray-tracing approaches. Yet it is known that information about the object position is encoded in the Green's function. After a calibration step, traditional time-reversal approaches retrieve a source's location from a broadband impulse response measurement. Here, we show that a nonemitting object's scattering contribution to a reverberant medium suffices to localize the object. We demonstrate our finding in the microwave domain. Then, we further simplify the scheme by replacing the temporal degrees of freedom (d.o.f.) of the broadband measurement with spatial d.o.f. obtained from wave front shaping. A simple electronically reconfigurable reflectarray inside the cavity dynamically modulates parts of the cavity boundaries, thereby providing spatial d.o.f. The demonstrated ability to localize multiple noncooperative objects with a single-frequency scheme may have important applications for sensors in smart homes.

3D functional ultrasound imaging of the cerebral visual system in rodents.

3D functional imaging of the whole brain activity during visual task is a challenging task in rodents due to the complex tri-dimensional shape of involved brain regions and the fine spatial and temporal resolutions required to reveal the visual tract. By coupling functional ultrasound (fUS) imaging with a translational motorized stage and an episodic visual stimulation device, we managed to accurately map and to recover the activity of the visual cortices, the Superior Colliculus (SC) and the Lateral Geniculate Nuclei (LGN) in 3D. Cerebral Blood Volume (CBV) responses during visual stimuli were found to be highly correlated with the visual stimulus time profile in visual cortices (r=0.6), SC (r=0.7) and LGN (r=0.7). These responses were found dependent on flickering frequency and contrast, and optimal stimulus parameters for largest CBV increases were obtained. In particular, increasing the flickering frequency higher than 7Hz revealed a decrease of visual cortices response while the SC response was preserved. Finally, cross-correlation between CBV signals exhibited significant delays (d=0.35s +/-0.1s) between blood volume response in SC and visual cortices in response to our visual stimulus. These results emphasize the interest of fUS imaging as a whole brain neuroimaging modality for brain vision studies in rodent models.

Full-field spatially incoherent illumination interferometry: a spatial resolution almost insensitive to aberrations.

We show that with spatially incoherent illumination, the point spread function (PSF) width/spatial resolution of an imaging interferometer like that used in full-field optical coherence tomography (OCT) is almost insensitive to aberrations. In these systems, aberrations mostly induce a reduction of the signal level that leads to a loss of the signal-to-noise ratio without broadening the system PSF. This is demonstrated by comparison with traditional scanning OCT and wide-field OCT with spatially coherent illuminations. Theoretical analysis and numerical calculation as well as experimental results are provided to show this specific merit of incoherent illumination in full-field OCT. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time that such a result has been demonstrated.

Spatiotemporal Wave Front Shaping in a Microwave Cavity.

Controlling waves in complex media has become a major topic of interest, notably through the concepts of time reversal and wave front shaping. Recently, it was shown that spatial light modulators can counterintuitively focus waves both in space and time through multiple scattering media when illuminated with optical pulses. In this Letter, we transpose the concept to a microwave cavity using flat arrays of electronically tunable resonators. We prove that maximizing the Green's function between two antennas at a chosen time yields diffraction limited spatiotemporal focusing. Then, changing the photons' dwell time inside the cavity, we modify the relative distribution of the spatial and temporal degrees of freedom (DOF), and we demonstrate that it has no impact on the field enhancement: wave front shaping makes use of all available DOF, irrespective of their spatial or temporal nature. Our results prove that wave front shaping using simple electronically reconfigurable arrays of reflectors is a viable approach to the spatiotemporal control of microwaves, with potential applications in medical imaging, therapy, telecommunications, radar, or sensing. They also offer new fundamental insights regarding the coupling of spatial and temporal DOF in complex media.

From Loschmidt daemons to time-reversed waves.

Time-reversal invariance can be exploited in wave physics to control wave propagation in complex media. Because time and space play a similar role in wave propagation, time-reversed waves can be obtained by manipulating spatial boundaries or by manipulating time boundaries. The two dual approaches will be discussed in this paper. The first approach uses 'time-reversal mirrors' with a wave manipulation along a spatial boundary sampled by a finite number of antennas. Related to this method, the role of the spatio-temporal degrees of freedom of the wavefield will be emphasized. In a second approach, waves are manipulated from a time boundary and we show that 'instantaneous time mirrors', mimicking the Loschmidt point of view, simultaneously acting in the entire space at once can also radiate time-reversed waves.

Scanning-free imaging through a single fiber by random spatio-spectral encoding.

We present an approach for 2D imaging through a single fiber without the need for scanners. A random scattering medium placed next to the distal end of the fiber is used to encode the collected light from every imaged pixel with a different random spectral signature. We demonstrate imaging of externally illuminated 2D objects from a single measured spectrum at the fiber's proximal end. The technique is insensitive to fiber bending, an advantage for endoscopic applications.

Wave-Field Shaping in Cavities: Waves Trapped in a Box with Controllable Boundaries.

Electromagnetic cavities are used in numerous domains of applied and fundamental physics, from microwave ovens and electromagnetic compatibility to masers, quantum electrodynamics (QED), and quantum chaos. The wave fields established in cavities are statically fixed by their geometry, which are usually modified by using mechanical parts like mode stirrers in reverberation chambers or screws in masers and QED. Nevertheless, thanks to integral theorems, tailoring the cavity boundaries theoretically permits us to design at will the wave fields they support. Here, we show in the microwave domain that it is achievable dynamically simply by using electronically tunable metasurfaces that locally modify the boundaries, switching them in real time from Dirichlet to Neumann conditions. We prove that at a high modal density, counterintuitively, it permits us to create wave patterns presenting hot spots of intense energy. We explain and model the physical mechanism underlying the concept, which allows us to find a criterion ensuring that modifying parts of a cavity's boundaries turn it into a completely different one. We finally prove that this approach even permits us, in the limiting case where the cavity supports only well-separated resonances, to choose the frequencies at which the latter occur.

Retrieving time-dependent Green's functions in optics with low-coherence interferometry.

We report on the passive measurement of time-dependent Green's functions in the optical frequency domain with low-coherence interferometry. Inspired by previous studies in acoustics and seismology, we show how the correlations of a broadband and incoherent wave field can directly yield the Green's functions between scatterers of a complex medium. Both the ballistic and multiple scattering components of the Green's function are retrieved. This approach opens important perspectives for optical imaging and characterization in complex scattering media.

Functional ultrasound imaging of the brain.

We present functional ultrasound (fUS), a method for imaging transient changes in blood volume in the whole brain at better spatiotemporal resolution than with other functional brain imaging modalities. fUS uses plane-wave illumination at high frame rate and can measure blood volumes in smaller vessels than previous ultrasound methods. fUS identifies regions of brain activation and was used to image whisker-evoked cortical and thalamic responses and the propagation of epileptiform seizures in the rat brain.

Hybridized resonances to design tunable binary phase metasurface unit cells.

The recent concept of metasurfaces is a powerful tool to shape waves by governing precisely the phase response of each constituting element through its resonance properties. While most efforts are devoted to realize reconfigurable metasurfaces that allow such complete phase control, for many applications a binary one is sufficient. Here, we propose and demonstrate through experiments and simulations a binary state tunable phase reflector based on the concept of hybridized resonators as unit cell for a possible metasurface. The concept presents the great advantages to be very general, scalable to all frequency domains and above all very robust to fluctuations induced by the tunable mechanism, as we prove it at microwave frequencies using electronically tunable patch reflectors.

Time-reversal generation of rogue waves.

The formation of extreme localizations in nonlinear dispersive media can be explained and described within the framework of nonlinear evolution equations, such as the nonlinear Schrödinger equation (NLS). Within the class of exact NLS breather solutions on a finite background, which describe the modulational instability of monochromatic wave trains, the hierarchy of rational solutions localized in both time and space is considered to provide appropriate prototypes to model rogue wave dynamics. Here, we use the time-reversal invariance of the NLS to propose and experimentally demonstrate a new approach to constructing strongly nonlinear localized waves focused in both time and space. The potential applications of this time-reversal approach include remote sensing and motivated analogous experimental analysis in other nonlinear dispersive media, such as optics, Bose-Einstein condensates, and plasma, where the wave motion dynamics is governed by the NLS.