Speckle-displacement-based wavemeter for mode-hop and side-mode detection.

A speckle-displacement-based wavemeter is combined with a spatial-fundamental-mode-pass filter to eliminate the influence of multimode operation on the directionality of the resulting output from a distributed Bragg reflector (DBR) tapered laser. The proposed setup is characterized theoretically and experimentally, and detections of mode hops and side-mode suppression ratios (SMSRs) in the optical output are demonstrated. The laser illuminates a rough surface at an oblique angle, and a camera observes the corresponding speckle pattern from an almost identical back-scattering direction. As the wavelength of the laser shifts, the speckle pattern responds with a corresponding displacement, which is approximately linear with respect to the shift within the detection area. The wavemeter tracks continuously the shifts of the speckles pattern by tracking the peak of the covariance function of sequentially acquired images. In this way, the speckle-displacement-based wavemeter achieves a spectral resolution of 10.4 MHz. Mode hops in the laser do not cause any impeding decorrelation of the speckle patterns. Interestingly, the actual SMSR is related to the peak height and width of the absolute covariance function. A wavemeter, which is capable of measuring wavelengths, mode hops, and SMSRs, is highly useful for spectroscopy, quantum optics, nonlinear frequency conversion, and other applications requiring stable single-frequency laser light, especially when using diode lasers.

Synthetic photoplethysmography (PPG) of the radial artery through parallelized Monte Carlo and its correlation to body mass index (BMI).

Cardiovascular disease is one of the leading causes of death in the United States and obesity significantly increases the risk of cardiovascular disease. The measurement of blood pressure (BP) is critical in monitoring and managing cardiovascular disease hence new wearable devices are being developed to make BP more accessible to physicians and patients. Several wearables utilize photoplethysmography from the wrist vasculature to derive BP assessment although many of these devices are still at the experimental stage. With the ultimate goal of supporting instrument development, we have developed a model of the photoplethysmographic waveform derived from the radial artery at the volar surface of the wrist. To do so we have utilized the relation between vessel biomechanics through Finite Element Method and Monte Carlo light transport model. The model shows similar features to that seen in PPG waveform captured using an off the shelf device. We observe the influence of body mass index on the PPG signal. A degradation the PPG signal of up to 40% in AC to DC signal ratio was thus observed.

MCmatlab: an open-source, user-friendly, MATLAB-integrated three-dimensional Monte Carlo light transport solver with heat diffusion and tissue damage (Erratum).

The erratum corrects an error in the originally provided equation for ΔT.

Protein Composition of the Subretinal Fluid Suggests Selective Diffusion of Vitreous Proteins in Retinal Detachment.

Purpose: To study the proteome of the subretinal fluid (SRF) from rhegmatogenous retinal detachment (RRD) in search for novel markers for improved diagnosis and prognosis of RRD. Methods: Human undiluted SRF obtained during vitrectomy for primary RRD using a 41-gauge needle (n = 24) was analyzed and compared to vitreous humor from 2-day postmortem eyes (n = 20). Sample preparation underwent nanoflow liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. Label-free quantification (LFQ) using MaxQuant was used to determine differentially expressed proteins between SRF and vitreous humor. The intensity-based absolute quantification (iBAQ) was used to rank proteins according to their molar fractions within groups. Identification of proteins beyond the quantitative level was performed using the Mascot search engine. Results: The protein concentration of the control vitreous humor was lower and more consistent (1.2 ± 0.4 mg) than that of the SRF (17.9 ± 22 mg). The iBAQ analysis showed high resemblance between SRF and vitreous humor, except for crystallins solely identified in vitreous humor. The LFQ analysis found 38 protein misregulations between SRF and vitreous humor of which the blood coagulation pathway was found to be enriched using the PANTHER Classification System. Combined, the iBAQ, LFQ, and Mascot analysis found an overlap only in chitinase-3-like protein 1 and galectin-3-binding protein unique to the SRF. Conclusions: The proteome of the SRF was highly represented by proteins involved in proteolysis. Such proteins can possibly serve as targets in modulating the effects of SRF in RD. Translational Relevance: To identify potential novel biomarkers for therapeutic targeting in RD.

Microsecond pulse-mode operation of a micro-integrated high-power external-cavity tapered diode laser at 808 nm.

We investigate microsecond pulse-mode operation of a micro-integrated high-power diode laser based on volume Bragg grating external-cavity feedback around 808 nm. The laser system contains a tapered amplifier consisting of a ridge-waveguide section and a tapered section with separated electrical contacts. Thus, the diode laser system can be pulsed by modulating the injected current either to the ridge waveguide section (IRW) or to the tapered amplifier section (ITA). With a trigger signal of a 50 µs pulse width and a 10 kHz repetition rate, comparing the modulation depth, peak output power, beam propagation factor, and spectral bandwidth, we conclude that the pulse-mode operation achieved by modulating the ITA gives better results than by modulating the IRW due to the decreased thermal effect. At a constant IRW of 0.2 A and a modulated ITA of 6.0 A, 4.3 W of peak output power is obtained with an emission spectral bandwidth with an upper bound of 0.2 nm, and a beam propagation factor in the slow axis, Mslow2, of 2.6 (1/e2). The modulation depth is almost 100%. The results show that the tapered diode laser system may be a good candidate for microsecond pulse-mode solid-state lasers.

Micro-integrated high-power narrow-linewidth external-cavity tapered diode laser at 808 nm.

A novel compact micro-integrated high-power narrow-linewidth external-cavity diode laser around 808 nm is demonstrated. The laser system contains a tapered amplifier consisting of a ridge-waveguide section and a tapered section with separated electrical contacts. Thus, the injection currents to both sections can be controlled independently. An external volume Bragg grating is utilized for spectral narrowing and stabilization. The diode laser system is integrated on a 5mm×13mm aluminum nitride micro-optical bench on a conduction cooled package mount with a footprint of 25mm×25mm. The diode laser system is characterized by measuring the output power and spectrum with the injection currents to the ridge-waveguide section (IRW) and tapered amplifier section (ITA) changed in steps of 25 and 50 mA, respectively. At IRW=200mA and ITA=6.0A, 3.5 W of output power is obtained with an emission spectral linewidth with an upper bound of 6 pm, and a beam propagation factor in the slow axis, M2, of 2.6 (1/e2). The characterization of the temperature stabilization of the laser system shows an increase of the wavelength at a rate of 6.5 pm/K, typical for the applied volume Bragg grating.

MCmatlab: an open-source, user-friendly, MATLAB-integrated three-dimensional Monte Carlo light transport solver with heat diffusion and tissue damage.

While there exist many Monte Carlo (MC) programs for solving the radiative transfer equation (RTE) in biological tissues, we have identified a need for an open-source MC program that is sufficiently user-friendly for use in an education environment, in which detailed knowledge of compiling or UNIX command-line cannot be assumed. Therefore, we introduce MCmatlab, an open-source codebase thus far consisting of (a) a fast three-dimensional MC RTE solver and (b) a finite-element heat diffusion and Arrhenius-based thermal tissue damage simulator, both run in MATLAB. The kernel for both of these solvers is written in parallelized C and implemented as MATLAB MEX functions, combining the speed of C with the familiarity and versatility of MATLAB. We compare the RTE solver to Steven Jacques' mcxyz, which it is inspired by, and present example results generated by the thermal model. MCmatlab is easy to install and use and can be used by students and experienced researchers alike for simulating tissue light propagation and, optionally, thermal damage.

Second-harmonic-generation-based technique for examining laser diode wavelength dynamics in the µs to ms range.

Wavelength information is essential for any researcher in optics and photonics, and for this reason, a wide range of devices is available for measuring it. However, the techniques available today are limited either to a resolution of nanometers or a measurement rate of kHz. In this paper, we present a simple but highly versatile technique based on second-harmonic generation to measure fast wavelength dynamics of laser diodes. We demonstrate a resolution of 0.7 pm and a measurement rate in the MHz range. The measurement rate is limited only by the photodetector, and the wavelength resolution is limited mainly by the length of the nonlinear crystal and the noise of the detectors. The technique can, e.g., be used to investigate the mode-hop behavior of laser diodes during pulsed operation. To demonstrate this, we show the wavelength changes of a laser diode during a single pulse.

Coherent laser phase retrieval in the presence of measurement imperfections and incoherent light.

Phase retrieval is a powerful numerical method that can be used to determine the wavefront of laser beams based only on intensity measurements, without the use of expensive, low-resolution specialized wavefront sensors such as Shack-Hartmann sensors. However, phase retrieval techniques generally suffer from poor convergence and fidelity when the input measurements contain electronic or optical noise and/or an incoherent intensity contribution overlapped with the otherwise spatially coherent laser beam. Here, we present an implementation of a modified version of the standard multiple-plane Gerchberg-Saxton algorithm and demonstrate that it is highly successful at extracting the intensity profile and wavefront of the spatially coherent part of the light from various lasers, including tapered laser diodes, at a very high fidelity despite the presence of incoherent light and noise.

Deep modulation of second-harmonic light by wavelength detuning of a laser diode.

Power modulated visible lasers are interesting for a number of applications within areas such as laser displays and medical laser treatments. In this paper, we present a system for modulating the second-harmonic light generated by single-pass frequency doubling of a distributed feedback (DFB) master oscillator power amplifier (MOPA) laser diode with separate electrical contacts for the MO and the PA. A modulation depth in excess of 97% from 0.1 Hz to 10 kHz is demonstrated. This is done by wavelength tuning of the laser diode using only a 40 mA adjustment of the current through the MO. The bandwidth of the modulation is limited by the electronics. This method has the potential to decrease the size as well as cost of modulated visible lasers. The achievable optical powers will increase as DFB MOPAs are further developed.

Highly efficient single-pass sum frequency generation by cascaded nonlinear crystals.

The cascading of nonlinear crystals has been established as a simple method to greatly increase the conversion efficiency of single-pass second-harmonic generation compared to a single-crystal scheme. Here, we show for the first time that the technique can be extended to sum frequency generation, despite differences in the phase relations of the involved fields. An unprecedented 5.5 W of continuous-wave diffraction-limited green light is generated from the single-pass sum frequency mixing of two diode lasers in two periodically poled nonlinear crystals (conversion efficiency 50%). The technique is generally applicable and can be applied to any combination of fundamental wavelengths and nonlinear crystals.