Controlled fragmentation of multimaterial fibres and films via polymer cold-drawing.

Polymer cold-drawing is a process in which tensile stress reduces the diameter of a drawn fibre (or thickness of a drawn film) and orients the polymeric chains. Cold-drawing has long been used in industrial applications, including the production of flexible fibres with high tensile strength such as polyester and nylon. However, cold-drawing of a composite structure has been less studied. Here we show that in a multimaterial fibre composed of a brittle core embedded in a ductile polymer cladding, cold-drawing results in a surprising phenomenon: controllable and sequential fragmentation of the core to produce uniformly sized rods along metres of fibre, rather than the expected random or chaotic fragmentation. These embedded structures arise from mechanical-geometric instabilities associated with 'neck' propagation. Embedded, structured multimaterial threads with complex transverse geometry are thus fragmented into a periodic train of rods held stationary in the polymer cladding. These rods can then be easily extracted via selective dissolution of the cladding, or can self-heal by thermal restoration to re-form the brittle thread. Our method is also applicable to composites with flat rather than cylindrical geometries, in which case cold-drawing leads to the break-up of an embedded or coated brittle film into narrow parallel strips that are aligned normally to the drawing axis. A range of materials was explored to establish the universality of this effect, including silicon, germanium, gold, glasses, silk, polystyrene, biodegradable polymers and ice. We observe, and verify through nonlinear finite-element simulations, a linear relationship between the smallest transverse scale and the longitudinal break-up period. These results may lead to the development of dynamical and thermoreversible camouflaging via a nanoscale Venetian-blind effect, and the fabrication of large-area structured surfaces that facilitate high-sensitivity bio-detection.

Polyethersulfone optical fibers with thermally induced microbubbles for custom side-scattering profiles.

Polyethersulfone (PES) optical fibers are drawn and thermally processed in order to generate variable side-illumination profiles. The thermal treatment allows microbubbles to be formed in an outer layer of the PES fiber, providing light scattering with controllable amplitudes (0.25-2.5 cm-1). Several fibers with different scattering profiles, such as uniform axial irradiation and multiple irradiation spots, are demonstrated. A small microbubble-induced scattering spot on the surface may be used for side-coupling of ambient light into the fiber. These mechanically flexible all-PES fibers with custom-designable scattering profiles may be useful for spatially tuned delivery of light for various applications, including phototherapy.

Toggling between active and passive imaging with an omni-resonant micro-cavity.

While passive illumination schemes often utilize a broadband spectral acceptance, the performance of active illumination with a laser is improved by narrowband spectral filtering at the sensor. We present an experimental demonstration of an optical cavity structure that is capable of toggling between two performance limits: narrowband resonant and broadband omni-resonant transmission. To achieve omni-resonance without modifying the cavity, the incident optical field is pre-conditioned by associating each wavelength with a particular incidence angle that enables a broad continuous spectrum to resonate with the cavity. This strategy can help seamlessly combine passive and active illumination in the same system.

Digital design of multimaterial photonic particles.

Scattering of light from dielectric particles whose size is on the order of an optical wavelength underlies a plethora of visual phenomena in nature and is a foundation for optical coatings and paints. Tailoring the internal nanoscale geometry of such "photonic particles" allows tuning their optical scattering characteristics beyond those afforded by their constitutive materials-however, flexible yet scalable processing approaches to produce such particles are lacking. Here, we show that a thermally induced in-fiber fluid instability permits the "digital design" of multimaterial photonic particles: the precise allocation of high refractive-index contrast materials at independently addressable radial and azimuthal coordinates within its 3D architecture. Exploiting this unique capability in all-dielectric systems, we tune the scattering cross-section of equisized particles via radial structuring and induce polarization-sensitive scattering from spherical particles with broken internal rotational symmetry. The scalability of this fabrication strategy promises a generation of optical coatings in which sophisticated functionality is realized at the level of the individual particles.

Light-Guiding Biomaterials for Biomedical Applications.

Optical techniques used in medical diagnosis, surgery, and therapy require efficient and flexible delivery of light from light sources to target tissues. While this need is currently fulfilled by glass and plastic optical fibers, recent emergence of biointegrated approaches, such as optogenetics and implanted devices, call for novel waveguides with certain biophysical and biocompatible properties and desirable shapes beyond what the conventional optical fibers can offer. To this end, exploratory efforts have begun to harness various transparent biomaterials to develop waveguides that can serve existing applications better and enable new applications in future photomedicine. Here, we review the recent progress in this new area of research for developing biomaterial-based optical waveguides. We begin with a survey of biological light-guiding structures found in plants and animals, a source of inspiration for biomaterial photonics engineering. We describe natural and synthetic polymers and hydrogels that offer appropriate optical properties, biocompatibility, biodegradability, and mechanical flexibility have been exploited for light-guiding applications. Finally, we briefly discuss perspectives on biomedical applications that may benefit from the unique properties and functionalities of light-guiding biomaterials.

Structured spheres generated by an in-fibre fluid instability.

From drug delivery to chemical and biological catalysis and cosmetics, the need for efficient fabrication pathways for particles over a wide range of sizes, from a variety of materials, and in many different structures has been well established. Here we harness the inherent scalability of fibre production and an in-fibre Plateau-Rayleigh capillary instability for the fabrication of uniformly sized, structured spherical particles spanning an exceptionally wide range of sizes: from 2 mm down to 20 nm. Thermal processing of a multimaterial fibre controllably induces the instability, resulting in a well-ordered, oriented emulsion in three dimensions. The fibre core and cladding correspond to the dispersed and continuous phases, respectively, and are both frozen in situ on cooling, after which the particles are released when needed. By arranging a variety of structures and materials in a macroscopic scaled-up model of the fibre, we produce composite, structured, spherical particles, such as core-shell particles, two-compartment 'Janus' particles, and multi-sectioned 'beach ball' particles. Moreover, producing fibres with a high density of cores allows for an unprecedented level of parallelization. In principle, 10(8) 50-nm cores may be embedded in metres-long, 1-mm-diameter fibre, which can be induced to break up simultaneously throughout its length, into uniformly sized, structured spheres.

Reconfigurable opto-thermal graded-index waveguiding in bulk chalcogenide glasses.

In the absence of suitable deposition processes, the fabrication of graded-index chalcogenide waveguides or fibers remains an outstanding challenge. Here, by exploiting the strong thermo-optic effect present in chalcogenide glasses, we experimentally demonstrate non-permanent optically-induced waveguides in bulk As2Se3 rods using a 1.55 µm wavelength laser. This single-step process can be used not only to self-trap the writing beam, but also to guide another optical beam at a different wavelength in the opto-thermally inscribed waveguide channel. These results could pave the way towards harnessing nonlinear effects in graded-index chalcogenide guided settings.

Octave-spanning coherent perfect absorption in a thin silicon film.

Although optical absorption is an intrinsic materials property, it can be manipulated through structural modification. Coherent perfect absorption increases absorption to 100% interferometrically but is typically realized only over narrow bandwidths using two laser beams with fixed phase relationship. We show that engineering a thin film's photonic environment severs the link between the effective absorption of the film and its intrinsic absorption while eliminating, in principle, bandwidth restrictions. Employing thin aperiodic dielectric mirrors, we demonstrate coherent perfect absorption in a 2 µm thick film of polycrystalline silicon using a single incoherent beam of light at all the resonances across a spectrally flat, octave-spanning near-infrared spectrum, ≈800-1600 nm. Critically, these mirrors have wavelength-dependent reflectivity devised to counterbalance the decline in silicon's intrinsic absorption at long wavelengths.

In-fiber production of polymeric particles for biosensing and encapsulation.

Polymeric micro- and nanoparticles are becoming a mainstay in biomedicine, medical diagnostics, and therapeutics, where they are used in implementing sensing mechanisms, as imaging contrast agents, and in drug delivery. Current approaches to the fabrication of such particles are typically finely tuned to specific monomer or polymer species, size ranges, and structures. We present a general scalable methodology for fabricating uniformly sized spherical polymeric particles from a wide range of polymers produced with complex internal architectures and continuously tunable diameters extending from the millimeter scale down to 50 nm. Controllable access to such a wide range of sizes enables broad applications in cancer treatment, immunology, and vaccines. Our approach harnesses thermally induced, predictable fluid instabilities in composite core/cladding polymer fibers drawn from a macroscopic scaled-up model called a "preform." Through a stack-and-draw process, we produce fibers containing a multiplicity of identical cylindrical cores made of the polymers of choice embedded in a polymer cladding. The instability leads to the breakup of the initially intact cores, independent of the polymer chemistry, into necklaces of spherical particles held in isolation within the cladding matrix along the entire fiber length. We demonstrate here surface functionalization of the extracted particles for biodetection through specific protein-protein interactions, volumetric encapsulation of a biomaterial in spherical polymeric shells, and the combination of both surface and volumetric functionalities in the same particle. These particles used in distinct modalities may be produced from the desired biocompatible polymer by changing only the geometry of the macroscopic preform from which the fiber is drawn.

Robust multimaterial tellurium-based chalcogenide glass fibers for mid-wave and long-wave infrared transmission.

We describe an approach for producing robust multimaterial chalcogenide glass fibers for mid-wave and long-wave mid-infrared transmission. By combining the traditional rod-in-tube process with multimaterial coextrusion, we prepare a hybrid glass-polymer preform that is drawn continuously into a robust step-index fiber with a built-in, thermally compatible polymer jacket. Using tellurium-based chalcogenides, the fibers have a transparency window covering the 3-12 µm spectral range, making them particularly attractive for delivering quantum cascade laser light and in space applications.

Multimaterial preform coextrusion for robust chalcogenide optical fibers and tapers.

The development of robust infrared fibers is crucial for harnessing the capabilities of new mid-infrared lasers. We present a novel approach to the fabrication of chalcogenide glass fiber preforms: one-step multimaterial extrusion. The preform consists of a glass core and cladding surrounded by a built-in, thermally compatible, polymer jacket for mechanical support. Using this approach we extrude several preform structures and draw them into robust composite fibers. Furthermore, the polymer cladding allows us to produce robust tapers with submicrometer core diameter.

Octave-spanning infrared supercontinuum generation in robust chalcogenide nanotapers using picosecond pulses.

We report on infrared supercontinuum generation extending over more than one octave of bandwidth, from 850 nm to 2.35 µm, produced in a single spatial mode from a robust, compact, composite chalcogenide glass nanotaper. A picosecond laser at 1.55 µm pumps a high-index-contrast, all-solid nanotaper that strongly confines the field to a 480 nm diameter core, while a thermally compatible built-in polymer jacket lends the nanotaper mechanical stability.

Thermal drawing of high-density macroscopic arrays of well-ordered sub-5-nm-diameter nanowires.

We investigate the lower limit of nanowire diameters stably produced by the process of thermal fiber drawing and fiber tapering. A centimeter-scale macroscopic cylindrical preform containing the nanowire material in the core encased in a polymer scaffold cladding is thermally drawn in the viscous state to a fiber. By cascading several iterations of the process, continuous reduction of the diameter of an amorphous semiconducting chalcogenide glass is demonstrated. Starting from a 10-mm-diameter rod we thermally draw hundreds of meters of continuous sub-5-nm-diameter nanowires. Using this approach, we produce macroscopic lengths of high-density, well-ordered, globally oriented nanowire arrays.

Omni-resonant optical micro-cavity.

Optical cavities transmit light only at discrete resonant frequencies, which are well-separated in micro-structures. Despite attempts at the construction of planar 'white-light cavities', the benefits accrued upon optically interacting with a cavity - such as resonant field buildup - have remained confined to narrow linewidths. Here, we demonstrate achromatic optical transmission through a planar Fabry-Pérot micro-cavity via angularly multiplexed phase-matching that exploits a bio-inspired grating configuration. By correlating each wavelength with an appropriate angle of incidence, a continuous spectrum resonates and the micro-cavity is rendered transparent. The locus of a single-order 0.7-nm-wide resonance is de-slanted in spectral-angular space to become a 60-nm-wide achromatic resonance spanning multiple cavity free-spectral-ranges. The result is an 'omni-resonant' planar micro-cavity in which light resonates continuously over a broad spectral span. This approach severs the link between the resonance bandwidth and the cavity-photon lifetime, thereby promising resonant enhancement of linear and nonlinear optical effects over broad bandwidths in ultrathin devices.

Basis-neutral Hilbert-space analyzers.

Interferometry is one of the central organizing principles of optics. Key to interferometry is the concept of optical delay, which facilitates spectral analysis in terms of time-harmonics. In contrast, when analyzing a beam in a Hilbert space spanned by spatial modes - a critical task for spatial-mode multiplexing and quantum communication - basis-specific principles are invoked that are altogether distinct from that of 'delay'. Here, we extend the traditional concept of temporal delay to the spatial domain, thereby enabling the analysis of a beam in an arbitrary spatial-mode basis - exemplified using Hermite-Gaussian and radial Laguerre-Gaussian modes. Such generalized delays correspond to optical implementations of fractional transforms; for example, the fractional Hankel transform is the generalized delay associated with the space of Laguerre-Gaussian modes, and an interferometer incorporating such a 'delay' obtains modal weights in the associated Hilbert space. By implementing an inherently stable, reconfigurable spatial-light-modulator-based polarization-interferometer, we have constructed a 'Hilbert-space analyzer' capable of projecting optical beams onto any modal basis.