Suppression of the Talbot effect in Fourier transform acousto-optic imaging.

We report on the observation and correction of an imaging artifact attributed to the Talbot effect in the context of acousto-optic imaging using structured acoustic waves. When ultrasound waves are emitted with a periodic structure, the Talbot effect produces π-phase shifts of that periodic structure at every half of the Talbot distance in propagation. This unwanted artifact is detrimental to the image reconstruction, which assumes near-field diffraction is negligible. Here, we demonstrate both theoretically and experimentally how imposing an additional phase modulation on the acoustic periodic structure induces a symmetry constraint leading to the annihilation of the Talbot effect. This will significantly improve the acousto-optic image reconstruction quality and allows for an improvement of the reachable spatial resolution of the image.

Optical coherent detection through multi-scattering media by wave-mixing cleaning effect in liquid-crystal OASLM.

Liquid-crystal (LC) optically addressable spatial light modulators (OASLMs) allow control of the phase and amplitude of optical beams. By performing wave mixing in an OASLM, we show that coherent phase detection can be achieved for light beams passing through highly scattering media, such as foam layers with several cm thicknesses. Thanks to the adaptive response of our OASLM, the phase information on the speckle signal is transferred at the output of the OASLM to the plane wave reference beam, allowing the cleaning of optical distortions and the direct measurement of amplitude phase modulations with a small diameter single photodiode. A good signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) is demonstrated for foam thickness up to 3 cm. These properties, together with the recently demonstrated sub-ms response time of our OASLM, make the method compatible with foreseen applications for imaging in biomedical tissues and turbid media.

kHz-speed optically induced phase gratings with liquid crystal light valves in transient dynamic mode.

Liquid crystal light valves (LCLV) are optically addressable spatial light modulators that allow controlling the phase and amplitude properties of optical beams. We show that sub-milliseconds phase and amplitude modulations can be obtained when operating the LCLV in the transient dynamic mode by setting the working point close to the saturation of the response. Thanks to the large birefringence of the liquid crystals, this condition provides enough phase shifts to respond to the needs of several methods for optical measurement, dynamic holography, interferometry, and imaging through phase disturbing media, while providing kilohertz (kHz) speed. These values of response times also allow foreseeing applications, for example, in biophotonics, and for monitoring the environment.

Shear-enhanced diffraction from thin permanent gratings in dye-doped nematic liquid crystal cells.

Permanent gratings are recorded in planar-aligned dye-doped nematic liquid crystal cells under visible light illumination. By increasing the irradiation intensity and exposure time, several diffraction orders of the recorded gratings are obtained in the Raman-Nath diffraction regime. By applying a dynamic transverse shear on one of the confining plates of the cell, an enhancement of the diffraction efficiency is achieved, which follows the period of the grating. By microscope inspection under static displacement of the upper plate, surface gratings formed by the dye adsorption are revealed in both the front and rear windows of the cell, indicating that the diffraction amplification originates from a coherent superposition of the diffracted orders when the gratings are displaced half a period. The effect provides self-matched amplification of diffraction with a simple cell, a single photo-inscription stage, and elementary displacement steps.

Off-axis digital holography with multiplexed volume Bragg gratings.

We report on an optical imaging design based on common-path off-axis digital holography, using a multiplexed volume Bragg grating. In the reported method, a reference optical wave is made by deflection and spatial filtering through a volume Bragg grating. This design has several advantages, including simplicity, stability, and robustness against misalignment.

Refractive index and gain grating in Nd:YVO4: application to speckle vibrometry and photoacoustic detection.

Probing local displacements on a scattering surface can be achieved using an adaptive interferometer. The photorefractive-crystal-based interferometer is popular, but alternatives exist such as an adaptive gain interferometer. Such setups take advantage of the nonlinear phenomena in laser media. Because of the gain saturation, it is possible to write a gain hologram and a refractive index hologram to achieve an adaptive interferometer with a linear response. In addition, laser-media-based setups have a fast response time (≤100 µs), which makes them interesting for applications such as detection of photoacoustic waves in living biological samples.

Shaping the light amplified in a multimode fiber.

Propagation of light in multimode optical fibers usually gives a spatial and temporal randomization of the transmitted field similar to the propagation through scattering media. Randomization still applies when scattering or multimode propagation occurs in gain media. We demonstrate that appropriate structuration of the input beam wavefront can shape the light amplified by a rare-earth-doped multimode fiber. Profiling of the wavefront was achieved by a deformable mirror in combination with an iterative optimization process. We present experimental results and simulations showing the shaping of a single sharp spot at different places in the output cross-section of an ytterbium-doped fiber amplifier. Cleaning and narrowing of the amplifier far-field pattern was realized as well. Tailoring the wavefront to shape the amplified light can also serve to improve the effective gain. The shaping approach still works under gain saturation, showing the robustness of the method. Modeling and experiments attest that the shaping is effective even with a highly multimode fiber amplifier carrying up to 127 modes.

Continuously tunable femtosecond delay-line based on liquid crystal cells.

We introduce a new device for group and phase delay steering of femtosecond pulse trains that makes use of cascaded, electrically driven, nematic liquid-crystal cells. Based on this approach we demonstrate a continuously tunable optical delay line. The simple collinear implementation with no moving parts enables to shape the achievable temporal range with sub-femtosecond accuracy. By appropriately choosing the bias voltages applied to the cascaded cells, the imparted group delay can be made either positive or negative and precisely adjusted. Moreover, independent control of the group delay and the phase of femtosecond pulses is demonstrated.

Towards new applications using capillary waveguides.

In this paper we demonstrate the enhancement of the sensing capabilities of glass capillaries. We exploit their properties as optical and acoustic waveguides to transform them potentially into high resolution minimally invasive endoscopic devices. We show two possible applications of silica capillary waveguides demonstrating fluorescence and optical-resolution photoacoustic imaging using a single 330 µm-thick silica capillary. A nanosecond pulsed laser is focused and scanned in front of a capillary by digital phase conjugation through the silica annular ring of the capillary, used as an optical waveguide. We demonstrate optical-resolution photoacoustic images of a 30 µm-thick nylon thread using the water-filled core of the same capillary as an acoustic waveguide, resulting in a fully passive endoscopic device. Moreover, fluorescence images of 1.5 µm beads are obtained collecting the fluorescence signal through the optical waveguide. This kind of silica-capillary waveguide together with wavefront shaping techniques such as digital phase conjugation, paves the way to minimally invasive multi-modal endoscopy.

Adaptive holographic interferometer at 1.55 µm based on optically addressed spatial light modulator.

We report the realization of an adaptive holographic interferometer based on two-beam coupling in an optically addressed liquid crystal spatial light modulator operating at 1.55-µm. The system allows efficient phase demodulation in noisy environment and behaves as an optical high-pass filter, with a cut-off frequency of approximately 10 Hz, thus filtering slow phase disturbances (due to, for example, temperature variations or low frequency fluctuations) and keeping the detection linear without the need of heterodyne or active stabilization.

Self-adaptive vibrometry with CMOS-LCOS digital holography.

A self-adaptive interferometer based on digital holography is here reported for applications involving measurements of very small amplitude vibrations. The two-beam coupling gain is optimized through an electronic feedback, while the dynamic character of the hologram allows reaching a high sensitivity of the interferometric measurements even in unstable environments and with strongly distorted wave-fronts. The frequency bandwidth of the adaptive interferometer and its spatial resolution are determined, respectively, by the maximum frame rate and the pixel size of the camera and of the spatial light modulator used to build the digital holographic setup.

Modelization and optimized speckle detection scheme in photorefractive self-referenced acousto-optic imaging.

A photorefractive BSO single crystal can be used for axially resolved acousto-optic imaging of thick scattering media in absence of a reference beam. This configuration renders the experimental setup easier to realize for imaging through thick scattering media with an improved optical etendue. We present here a model and simulations that explains these results. It is based on the spatial heterogeneity of the speckle pattern incident on the crystal. Optimization of the detector position and of the speckle grain size is confirmed by the model.

Transmissive liquid crystal light-valve for near-infrared applications.

An optical valve is realized by associating a nematic liquid crystal layer with a Cr-doped gallium arsenide as a photoconductive substrate. The light-valve is shown to efficiently operate in transmission at 1.06 µm optical wavelength. The optical phase shift and refractive index change are measured as a function of the incident light intensity and of the voltage applied. Additionally, the light-valve is shown to act as a self-defocusing medium. Combining transmissive properties and nonlinear features, applications for dynamic holography in the near-infrared region of the spectrum can be envisaged.

Dynamic ultrasound modulated optical tomography by self-referenced photorefractive holography.

Photorefractive Bi(12)SiO(20) single crystal is used for acousto-optic imaging in thick scattering media in the green part of the spectrum, in an adaptive speckle correlation configuration. Light fields at the output of the scattering sample exhibit typical speckle grains of 1 µm size within the volume of the nonlinear crystal. This heterogeneous illumination induces a complex refractive index structure without applying a reference beam on the crystal, leading to a self-referenced diffraction correlation scheme. We demonstrate that this simple and robust configuration is able to perform axially resolved ultrasound modulated optical tomography of thick scattering media with an improved optical etendue.

Time resolved three-dimensional acousto-optic imaging of thick scattering media.

Acousto-optic imaging is based on light interaction with focused ultrasound in a scattering medium. Thanks to photorefractive holography combined with pulsed ultrasound, we perform a time-resolved detection of ultrasound-modulated photons in the therapeutic window (780 nm). A high-gain SPS:Te crystal is used for this purpose and enables us to image through large optical thickness (500 mean free paths). We are able to generate three-dimensional (3D) acousto-optic images by translating a multielement ultrasound probe in only one direction. A 3D absorbing object is imaged through a 3 cm thick phantom.

Design and optimization of a high-efficiency array generator in the mid-IR with binary subwavelength grooves.

We have designed a high-efficiency array generator composed of subwavelength grooves etched in a GaAs substrate for operation at 4.5 µm. The method used combines rigorous coupled wave analysis with an optimization algorithm. The optimized beam splitter has both a high efficiency (∼96%) and a good intensity uniformity (∼0.2%). The fabrication error tolerances are numerically calculated, and it is shown that this subwavelength array generator could be fabricated with current electron beam writers and inductively coupled plasma etching. Finally, we studied the effect of a simple and realistic antireflection coating on the performance of the beam splitter.

Comparison of depth-of-focus-enhancing pupil masks based on a signal-to-noise-ratio criterion after deconvolution.

We consider optimization of hybrid imaging systems including a pupil mask for enhancing the depth of field and a digital deconvolution step. In a previous paper [Opt. Lett. 34, 2970 (2009)] we proposed an optimization criterion based on the signal-to-noise ratio of the restored image. We use this criterion in order to optimize different families of phase or amplitude masks and to compare them, on an objective basis, for different desired defocus ranges. We show that increasing the number of parameters of the masks allows one to obtain better performance.

Photorefractive acousto-optic imaging in thick scattering media at 790 nm with a Sn(2)P(2)S(6):Te crystal.

Acousto-optic imaging is based on ultrasound modulation of multiply scattered light in thick media. We experimentally demonstrate the possibility to perform a self-adaptive wavefront holographic detection at 790nm, within the optical therapeutic window where absorption of biological tissues is minimized. A high-gain Te-doped Sn(2)P(2)S(6) crystal is used for this purpose. Optical absorbing objects embedded within a thick scattering phantom are imaged by use of pulsed ultrasound to get a dynamic millimetric axial resolution. Our technique represents an interesting approach for breast cancer detection.

Slow-light birefringence and polarization interferometry.

By performing two-beam coupling experiments in a liquid-crystal light valve, we report a large slow-light birefringence (SLB) phenomenon, with orthogonal polarization states traveling at very different group velocities. We show that SLB can be exploited for realizing a common-path polarization interferometer able to detect phase variations with enhanced sensitivity.

Increase in depth of field taking into account deconvolution by optimization of pupil mask.

We consider optimization of hybrid imaging systems including a phase mask for enhancing the depth of field and a digital deconvolution step. We propose an image quality criterion that takes into account the variability of the system's point-spread function along the expected defocus range and the noise enhancement induced by deconvolution. Considering the classical cubic phase mask as an example, we show that the optimization of this criterion may lead to filter parameters that are significantly different from those usually proposed to ensure the strict invariance of the PSF.