Nonlinear ptychographic coherent diffractive imaging.

Ptychographic Coherent diffractive imaging (PCDI) is a significant advance in imaging allowing the measurement of the full electric field at a sample without use of any imaging optics. So far it has been confined solely to imaging of linear optical responses. In this paper we show that because of the coherence-preserving nature of nonlinear optical interactions, PCDI can be generalised to nonlinear optical imaging. We demonstrate second harmonic generation PCDI, directly revealing phase information about the nonlinear coefficients, and showing the general applicability of PCDI to nonlinear interactions.

Ptychographic coherent diffractive imaging with orthogonal probe relaxation.

Ptychography is a scanning coherent diffractive imaging (CDI) technique that relies upon a high level of stability of the illumination during the course of an experiment. This is particularly an issue for coherent short wavelength sources, where the beam intensity is usually tightly focused on the sample in order to maximize the photon flux density on the illuminated region of the sample and thus a small change in the beam position results in a significant change in illumination of the sample. We present an improved ptychographic method that allows for limited stability of the illumination wavefront and thus significantly improve the reconstruction quality without additional prior knowledge. We have tested our reconstruction method in a proof of concept experiment, where the beam instability of a visible light source was emulated using a piezo driven mirror, and also in a short wavelength microscopy CDI setup using a high harmonic generation source in the extreme ultraviolet range. Our work shows a natural extension of the ptychography method that paves the way to use ptychographic imaging with any limited pointing stability coherent source such as free electron or soft X-ray lasers and improve reconstruction quality of long duration synchrotron experiments.

Ptychographic imaging with a compact gas-discharge plasma extreme ultraviolet light source.

We report the demonstration of a scanning probe coherent diffractive imaging method (also known as ptychographic CDI) using a compact and partially coherent gas-discharge plasma source of extreme ultraviolet (EUV) radiation at a 17.3 nm wavelength. Until now, CDI has been mainly carried out with coherent, high-brightness light sources, such as third generation synchrotrons, x-ray free-electron lasers, and high harmonic generation. Here we performed ptychographic lensless imaging of an extended sample using a compact, lab-scale source. The CDI reconstructions were achieved by applying constraint relaxation to the CDI algorithm. Experimental results indicate that our method can handle the low spatial coherence and broadband nature of the EUV illumination, as well as the residual background due to visible light emitted by the gas-discharge source. The ability to conduct ptychographic imaging with lab-scale and partially coherent EUV sources is expected to significantly expand the applications of this powerful CDI method.

Numerical study of nonlinear interactions in a multimode waveguide.

Multimode nonlinear pulse propagation within a Ta(2)O(5) rectangular rib waveguide has been numerically simulated. The study provides information relating to both the localized spectral evolution along the waveguide and the transverse spectral variation across the guide. The results explain measurements from our previous near-field scanning microscopy experiments that were designed to map continuum generation along and across such waveguides, and that deviated significantly from simple theory. The simulations predict an increased nonlinear phase modulation compared to that occurring in nonlinear single-mode waveguides, due to intermodal nonlinear effects such as cross-phase modulation, leading to an enhanced spectral broadening.

Imaging of free-space interference patterns used to manufacture fiber bragg gratings.

A technologically important use of the free-space interference patterns formed by phase gratings is in the creation of the refractive-index variation along optical fiber Bragg gratings. The patterns can be imaged directly by use of a tapered optical fiber tip, which acts as a local probe of the optical field. We present measurements of these patterns under varying conditions and compare them with theoretical predictions. In discussing the results within the context of fiber grating manufacture, we also demonstrate the effects of incident-beam misalignment and wave-front curvature.

Fluorescence of Ti(3+) ions thermally diffused into sapphire.

The thermal diffusion of Ti(3+) ions into sapphire is demonstrated, and the spectroscopic characteristics of the locally doped region are presented. The spectral line shape, polarization dependence, and excited-state lifetime of indiffused Ti:sapphire are in excellent agreement with previously published data for high-quality, bulk-doped Ti:sapphire laser crystals. The observed diffusion rate at 1950 degrees C is of the order of D = 10(-14) m(2) s(-1). These results represent a significant step in the development of a versatile broadly tunable waveguide laser based on the Ti(3+):sapphire material system established for conventional bulk lasers.

Site distribution in resin beads as determined by confocal Raman spectroscopy.

Scanning confocal Raman spectroscopy was used to study the distribution of reactive sites within a resin bead used for solid-phase synthesis. The distribution of NH2 groups in aminomethylated polystyrene resin (APS) was determined by doping with varying amounts of 4-cyanobenzoic acid. The extent of loading was determined by both elemental analysis and ninhydrin assays. The spatial distribution of the coupled 4-cyanobenzamide within the bead was determined to an in-plane resolution of 1 microm and depth resolution of about 4 microm, using the strong Raman CN stretching vibrational transition at 2230 cm(-1). Dry and swollen beads were studied and the distribution was found to be essentially uniform throughout the bead in all cases.

Spectroscopic properties of Nd 3 + and Pr 3 + in gallate glasses with low phonon energies.

Absorption and fluorescence spectra of Nd3 +were measured in potassium tantalum gallate, lead bismuth gallate (PBG), fluorozirconate (ZBLAN), and Ge-Ga-S glasses. A Judd -Ofelt analysis was performed to determine the spontaneous emission probability and stimulated emission cross section of the4 F3/2 ?4 I11/2 transition of Nd3 +. Raman spectra were studied to clarify the maximum phonon energies of the glasses. The fluorescence of the1 G4?3 H5 transition of Pr3 + in a dehydrated PBG glass was observed for the first time to our knowledge. The PBG glass has a higher quantum efficiency than that of ZBLAN glass based on the Judd -Ofelt analysis.

Photosensitivity of lead germanate glass waveguides grown by pulsed laser deposition.

We report very large photoinduced refractive-index changes Dn, of the order of ~10(2), in lead germanate glass waveguides grown by pulsed-laser deposition. The magnitude of Dn was derived from measurements of diffraction efficiency for gratings written by exposure to 244-nm light through a phase mask, whereas the sign of Dn was determined from ellipsometric data. Results are shown for films grown under oxygen pressures ranging from 1 chi 10(-2) to 6 chi 10(-2)mbars (1.33mbars=1 Torr).