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Holographic techniques for augmented reality and virtual reality near-eye displays
Jae-Hyeung Park, Byoungho Lee
Published Published online: 22 February 2022,  doi: 10.37188/lam.2022.009
Near-eye displays are the main platform devices for many augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) applications. As a wearable device, a near-eye display should have a compact form factor and be lightweight. Furthermore, a large field of view and sufficient eyebox are crucial for immersive viewing conditions. Natural three-dimensional (3D) image presentation with proper focus cues is another requirement that enables a comfortable viewing experience and natural user interaction. Finally, in the case of AR, the device should allow for an optical see-through view of the real world. Conventional bulk optics and two-dimensional display panels exhibit clear limitations when implementing these requirements. Holographic techniques have been applied to near-eye displays in various aspects to overcome the limitations of conventional optics. The wavefront reconstruction capability of holographic techniques has been extensively exploited to develop optical see-through 3D holographic near-eye displays of glass-like form factors. In this article, the application of holographic techniques to AR and VR near-eye displays is reviewed. Various applications are introduced, such as static holographic optical components and dynamic holographic display devices. Current issues and recent progress are also reviewed, providing a comprehensive overview of holographic techniques that are applied to AR and VR near-eye displays.
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The state-of-the-art in computer generated holography for 3D display
David Blinder, Tobias Birnbaum, Tomoyoshi Ito, Tomoyoshi Shimobaba
Published Published online: 10 June 2022,  doi: 10.37188/lam.2022.035

Holographic displays have the promise to be the ultimate 3D display technology, able to account for all visual cues. Recent advances in photonics and electronics gave rise to high-resolution holographic display prototypes, indicating that they may become widely available in the near future. One major challenge in driving those display systems is computational: computer generated holography (CGH) consists of numerically simulating diffraction, which is very computationally intensive. Our goal in this paper is to give a broad overview of the state-of-the-art in CGH. We make a classification of modern CGH algorithms, we describe different algorithmic CGH acceleration techniques, discuss the latest dedicated hardware solutions and indicate how to evaluate the perceptual quality of CGH. We summarize our findings, discuss remaining challenges and make projections on the future of CGH.

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Fabry–Perot-based phase demodulation of heterodyne light-induced thermoelastic spectroscopy
Ziting Lang, Shunda Qiao, Yufei Ma
Published Published online: 21 August 2023,  doi: 10.37188/lam.2023.023

Fabry–Perot (F–P)-based phase demodulation of heterodyne light-induced thermoelastic spectroscopy (H-LITES) was demonstrated for the first time in this study. The vibration of a quartz tuning fork (QTF) was detected using the F–P interference principle instead of an electrical signal through the piezoelectric effect of the QTF in traditional LITES to avoid thermal noise. Given that an Fabry–Perot interferometer (FPI) is vulnerable to disturbances, a phase demodulation method that has been demonstrated theoretically and experimentally to be an effective solution for instability was used in H-LITES. The sensitivity of the F–P phase demodulation method based on the H-LITES sensor was not associated with the wavelength or power of the probe laser. Thus, stabilising the quadrature working point (Q-point) was no longer necessary. This new method of phase demodulation is structurally simple and was found to be resistant to interference from light sources and the surroundings using the LITES technique.

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Resolution enhancement of digital holographic microscopy via synthetic aperture: a review
Peng Gao, Caojin Yuan
Published Published online: 27 January 2022,  doi: 10.37188/lam.2022.006
Digital holographic microscopy (DHM), which combines digital holography with optical microscopy, is a wide field, minimally invasive quantitative phase microscopy (QPM) approach for measuring the 3D shape or the inner structure of transparent and translucent samples. However, limited by diffraction, the spatial resolution of conventional DHM is relatively low and incompatible with a wide field of view (FOV) owing to the spatial bandwidth product (SBP) limit of the imaging systems. During the past decades, many efforts have been made to enhance the spatial resolution of DHM while preserving a large FOV by trading with unused degrees of freedom. Illumination modulation techniques, such as oblique illumination, structured illumination, and speckle illumination, can enhance the resolution by adding more high-frequency information to the recording system. Resolution enhancement is also achieved by extrapolation of a hologram or by synthesizing a larger hologram by scanning the sample, the camera, or inserting a diffraction grating between the sample and the camera. For on-chip DHM, spatial resolution is achieved using pixel super-resolution techniques. In this paper, we review various resolution enhancement approaches in DHM and discuss the advantages and disadvantages of these approaches. It is our hope that this review will contribute to advancements in DHM and its practical applications in many fields.
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Article
All-silicon low-loss THz temporal differentiator based on microring waveguide resonator platform
Yunjie Rui, Shuyu Zhou, Xuecou Tu, Xu Yan, Bingnan Yan, Chen Zhang, Ziyao Ye, Huilin Zhang, Jingya Xie, Qing-Yuan Zhao, La-Bao Zhang, Xiao-Qing Jia, Huabing Wang, Jian Chen, Lin Kang, Peiheng Wu
Accepted  doi: 10.37188/lam.2024.017
[PDF](30)

Microring resonators have been widely used to fabricate passive optical devices such as wavelength division multiplexers, differentiators, and integrators. Research on terahertz (THz) components has been accelerated by these photonics technologies, and compact and integrated time-domain differentiator that enable low-loss, high-speed THz signal processing, and can be packaged for THz applications are necessary. In this study, an on-chip THz temporal differentiator based on all-silicon photonic technology was developed. This device primarily consisted of a microring waveguide resonator and was packaged with standard waveguide compatibility. The device performed time-domain differentiation on input signals at a frequency of 405.45 GHz and an insertion loss and a working bandwidth of 2.5 dB and 0.36 GHz, respectively. The differentiator handled various periodic waveforms. The device performed as an edge detector, which detected step-like edges in high-speed input signals through differential effects. This development holds significant promise for future THz data processing technologies and THz communication systems.

Article
Laser speckle grayscale lithography: a new tool for fabricating highly sensitive flexible capacitive pressure sensors
Yong Zhou, Kun Wang, Junkun Mao, Yifei Ma, Mei Wang, Suotang Jia, Xuyuan Chen, Zhaomin Tong
Accepted  doi: 10.37188/lam.2024.016
[PDF](52)

Achieving a high sensitivity for practical applications has always been one of the main developmental directions for wearable flexible pressure sensors. This paper introduces a laser speckle grayscale lithography system and a novel method for fabricating random conical array microstructures using grainy laser speckle patterns. Its feasibility is attributed to the autocorrelation function of the laser speckle intensity, which adheres to a first-order Bessel function of the first kind. Through objective speckle size and exposure dose manipulations, we developed a microstructured photoresist with various micromorphologies. These microstructures were used to form polydimethylsiloxane microstructured electrodes that were used in flexible capacitive pressure sensors. These sensors exhibited an ultra-high sensitivity: 19.76 kPa-1 for the low-pressure range of 0–100 Pa. Their minimum detection threshold was 1.9 Pa, and they maintained stability and resilience over 10,000 test cycles. These sensors proved to be adept at capturing physiological signals and providing tactile feedback, thereby emphasizing their practical value.

Article
Differential mode-gain equalization via femtosecond laser micromachining-induced refractive index tailoring
Cong Zhang, Senyu Zhang, Yan Zeng, Yue Wang, Meng Xiang, Di Lin, Songnian Fu, Yuwen Qin
Accepted  doi: 10.37188/lam.2024.014
[PDF](106)

The mode-division multiplexing technique combined with a few-mode erbium-doped fiber amplifier (FM-EDFA) demonstrates significant potential for solving the capacity limitation of standard single-mode fiber (SSMF) transmission systems. However, the differential mode gain (DMG) arising in the FM-EDFA fundamentally limits its transmission capacity and length. Herein, an innovative DMG equalization strategy using femtosecond laser micromachining to adjust the refractive index (RI) is presented. Variable mode-dependent attenuations can be achieved according to the DMG profile of the FM-EDFA, enabling DMG equalization. To validate the proposed strategy, DMG equalization of the commonly used FM-EDFA configuration was investigated. Simulation results revealed that by optimizing both the length and RI modulation depth of the femtosecond laser-tailoring area, the maximum DMG (DMGmax) among the three linear-polarized (LP) mode-group was mitigated from 10 dB to 1.52 dB, whereas the average DMG (DMGave) over the C-band was reduced from 8.95 dB to 0.78 dB. Finally, a 2-LP mode-group DMG equalizer was experimentally demonstrated, resulting in a reduction of the DMGmax from 2.09 dB to 0.46 dB, and a reduction of DMGave over the C band from 1.64 dB to 0.26 dB, with only a 1.8-dB insertion loss. Moreover, a maximum range of variable DMG equalization was achieved with 5.4 dB, satisfying the requirements of the most commonly used 2-LP mode-group amplification scenarios.

Article
Single-shot 3D incoherent imaging with diffuser endoscopy
Julian Lich, Tom Glosemeyer, Jürgen Czarske, Robert Kuschmierz
Accepted  doi: 10.37188/lam.2024.015
[PDF](200)

Minimally invasive endoscopy offers a high potential for biomedical imaging applications. However, conventional fiberoptic endoscopes require lens systems which are not suitable for real-time 3D imaging. Instead, a diffuser is utilized for passively encoding incoherent 3D objects into 2D speckle patterns. Neural networks are employed for fast computational image reconstruction beyond the optical memory effect. In this paper, we demonstrate single-shot 3D incoherent fiber imaging with keyhole access at video rate. Applying the diffuser fiber endoscope for fluorescence imaging is promising for in vivo deep brain diagnostics with cellular resolution.

Article
Breaking the speed limitation of wavemeter through spectra-space-time mapping
Zheng Gao, Ting Jiang, Mingming Zhang, Yuxuan Xiong, Hao Wu, Ming Tang
Accepted  doi: 10.37188/lam.2024.013
[PDF](85)

Speckle patterns generated by the intermodal interference of multimode fibers enable accurate broadband wavelength measurements. However, the measurement speed is limited by the frame rate of the camera that captures the patterns. We propose a compact and cost-effective ultrafast wavemeter based on multimode and multicore fibers, which employs spectral–spatial–temporal mapping. The speckle patterns generated by multimode fibers enable spectral-to-spatial mapping, which is then sampled by a multicore fiber into a pulse sequence to implement spatial-to-temporal mapping. A high-speed single-pixel photodetector is employed to capture the pulse sequence, which is analysed using a multilayer perceptron to estimate the wavelength. The feasibility of the proposed wavelength estimation method is experimentally verified, achieving a measurement rate of 100 MHz with a resolution of 2.7 pm in a 1 nm operation bandwidth.

Article
Motion-copying method with symbol sequence-based phase switch control for intelligent optical manufacturing
Yutang Wang, Dapeng Tian, Haixiang Hu, Yan Li, Shiquan Ni
Accepted  doi: 10.37188/lam.2024.012
[PDF](113)

Implementation of robot-based motion control in optical machining demonstrably enhances the machining quality. The introduction of motion-copying method enables learning and replicating manipulation from experienced technicians. Nevertheless, the location uncertainties of objects and frequent switching of manipulated spaces in practical applications impose constraints on their further advancement. To address this issue, a motion-copying system with a symbol-sequence-based phase switch control (SSPSC) scheme was developed by transferring the operating skills and intelligence of technicians to mechanisms. The manipulation process is decomposed, symbolised, rearranged, and reproduced according to the manufacturing characteristics regardless of the change in object location. A force-sensorless adaptive sliding-mode-assisted reaction force observer (ASMARFOB), wherein a novel dual-layer adaptive law was designed for high-performance fine force sensing, was established. The uniformly ultimate boundedness (UUB) of the ASMARFOB is guaranteed based on the Lyapunov stability theory, and the switching stability of the SSPSC was examined. Validation simulations and experiments demonstrated that the proposed method enables better motion reproduction with high consistency and adaptability. The findings of this study can provide effective theoretical and practical guidance for high-precision intelligent optical manufacturing.

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Efficient synthesis of vitamin D3 in a 3D ultraviolet photochemical microreactor fabricated using an ultrafast laser
Aodong Zhang, Jian Xu, Lingling Xia, Ming Hu, Yunpeng Song, et al.
Published Published online: 16 March 2024,  doi: 10.37188/lam.2024.010

Large-scale, high-precision, and high-transparency microchannels hold great potential for developing high-performance continuous-flow photochemical reactions. We demonstrated ultrafast laser-enabled fabrication of three-dimensional microchannel reactors in ultraviolet (UV) grade fused silica which exhibit high transparency under the illumination of UV light sources of wavelengths well below 300 nm with excellent mixing efficiency. With the fabricated glass microchannel reactors, we demonstrated continuous-flow photochemical synthesis of vitamin D3 with UV LED array light sources.

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Large dynamic range Shack-Hartmann wavefront sensor based on adaptive spot matching
Jiamiao Yang, Jichong Zhou, Lirong Qiu, Rongjun Shao, Linxian Liu, et al.
Published Published online: 16 March 2024,  doi: 10.37188/lam.2024.007

The Shack-Hartmann wavefront sensor (SHWS) is widely used for high-speed, precise, and stable wavefront measurements. However, conventional SHWSs encounter a limitation in that the focused spot from each microlens is restricted to a single microlens, leading to a limited dynamic range. Herein, we propose an adaptive spot matching (ASM)-based SHWS to extend the dynamic range. This approach involves seeking an incident wavefront that best matches the detected spot distribution by employing a Hausdorff-distance-based nearest-distance matching strategy. The ASM-SHWS enables comprehensive spot matching across the entire imaging plane without requiring initial spot correspondences. Furthermore, due to its global matching capability, ASM-SHWS can maintain its capacity even if a portion of the spots are missing. Experiments showed that the ASM-SHWS could measure a high-curvature spherical wavefront with a local slope of 204.97 mrad, despite a 12.5% absence of spots. This value exceeds that of the conventional SHWS by a factor of 14.81.

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Low bend loss, high index, composite morphology ultra-fast laser written waveguides for photonic integrated circuits
A. J. Ross-Adams, T. T. Fernandez, M. J. Withford, S. Gross
Published Published online: 14 March 2024,  doi: 10.37188/lam.2024.009

We demonstrate a novel, composite laser written 3D waveguide, fabricated in boro-aluminosilicate glass, with a refractive index contrast of 1.12 × 10−2. The waveguide is fabricated using a multi-pass approach which leverages the respective refractive index modification mechanisms of both the thermal and athermal inscription regimes. We present the study and optimisation of inscription parameters for maximising positive refractive index change and ultimately demonstrate a dramatic advancement on the state of the art of bend losses in laser-written waveguides. The 1.0 dB cm−1 bend loss cut-off radius is reduced from 10 mm to 4 mm, at a propagation wavelength of 1550 nm.

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Adaptive multiscale microscope with fast zooming, extended working distance, and large field of view
Yi Zheng, Xin Wang, Zhao Jiang, Jinbo Xu, Rongying Yuan, et al.
Published Published online: 07 March 2024,  doi: 10.37188/lam.2024.008

The field-of-view (FOV), depth of field, and resolution of conventional microscopes are constrained by each other; therefore, a zoom function is required. Traditional zoom methods lose real-time performance and have limited information throughput, severely limiting their application, especially in three-dimensional dynamic imaging and large-amount or large-size sample scanning. Here, an adaptive multiscale (AMS) imaging mechanism combining the benefits of liquid lenses and multiscale imaging techniques is proposed to realize the functions of fast zooming, wide working distance (WD) range and large FOV on a self-developed AMS microscope. The design principles were revealed. Moreover, a nonuniform-distortion-correction algorithm and a composite patching algorithm were designed to improve image quality. The continuous tunable magnification range of the AMS microscope is from 9× to 18×, with the corresponding FOV diameters and resolution ranging from 2.31 to 0.98 mm and from 161 to 287 line-pairs/mm, respectively. The extended WD range is 0.8 mm and the zoom response time is 38 ms. Experiments demonstrated the advantages of the proposed microscope in pathological sample scanning, thick-sample imaging, microfluidic process monitoring, and the observation of living microorganisms. The proposed microscope is the first step towards zoom multiscale imaging technology and is expected to be applied in life sciences, medical diagnosis, and industrial detection.

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A multi-photon (7 × 7)-focus 3D laser printer based on a 3D-printed diffractive optical element and a 3D-printed multi-lens array
Pascal Kiefer, Vincent Hahn, Sebastian Kalt, Qing Sun, Yolita M. Eggeler, et al.
Published Published online: 06 March 2024,  doi: 10.37188/lam.2024.003

One of the challenges in the field of multi-photon 3D laser printing lies in further increasing the print speed in terms of voxels/s. Here, we present a setup based on a 7 × 7 focus array (rather than 3 × 3 in our previous work) and using a focus velocity of about 1 m/s (rather than 0.5 m/s in our previous work) at the diffraction limit (40×/NA1.4 microscope objective lens). Combined, this advance leads to a ten times increased print speed of about 108 voxels/s. We demonstrate polymer printing of a chiral metamaterial containing more than 1.7 × 1012 voxels as well as millions of printed microparticles for potential pharmaceutical applications. The critical high-quality micro-optical components of the setup, namely a diffractive optical element generating the 7 × 7 beamlets and a 7 × 7 lens array, are manufactured by using a commercial two-photon grayscale 3D laser printer.

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Multivariate relationships between microstructure evolution and strengthening mechanisms in laser powder bed fusion of Al-Mn-Sc alloy: towards improved fatigue performance
Huaping Tang, Chaofeng Gao, Shiheng Zhang, Xiaojing Xiong, Sheng Cao, et al.
Published Published online: 24 January 2024,  doi: 10.37188/lam.2024.001
The effects of direct aging treatment (at 300 °C for 5 hours) on selective laser melted (SLMed) Al-4.5Mn-1.5Mg-0.9Sc-0.2Zr alloy were investigated in this work, with the microstructure, fatigue behaviors, and fracture characteristics examined to determine the primary cause of fatigue crack source. The results revealed that the microstructure of the investigated alloy comprised fine equiaxed and columnar grains. Upon aging treatment, a significant number of nano-scaled Al3(Sc, Zr) precipitates were dispersed within the grains, leading to a substantial increase in strengths. The yield strength improved from 431 MPa to 568 MPa, representing an increase of more than 32%, while the fatigue strength improved from 180 MPa to 220 MPa after aging treatment. Nevertheless, the fracture toughness decreased significantly from \begin{document}$ 25.1\; {\rm{MPa}}\cdot \sqrt{\rm m} $\end{document} to \begin{document}$ 12.3 \;{\rm{MPa}}\cdot \sqrt{\rm m} $\end{document}. The results of the fatigue fracture characteristics indicate that the Mn-rich phase and the formation of defects such as pores and poor powder fusion are the sources of fatigue cracking. Although direct aging treatment can significantly increase the yield strength, decrease the rate of fatigue crack propagation, and thus improve the fatigue performance, it deteriorates the fracture toughness, and thus shortens the fatigue life of the alloy as well.
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Bessel-beam-based side-view measurement of seven-core fibre internal core distribution
Liuwei Zhan, Runze Zhu, Hongwei Tong, Haogong Feng, Kanghu Zhou, et al.
Published Published online: 26 January 2023,  doi: 10.37188/lam.2024.002

Accurate knowledge of the internal core distribution of multicore fibres (MCFs) is essential, given their widespread application, including in fibre splicing, bundle fan-in/fan-out, mode coupling, writing gratings, and fibre drawing. However, the extensive use of MCFs is restricted by the limited methods available to precisely measure the fibre core distribution, as the measurement accuracy determines the performance of the product. In this study, a side-view and nondestructive scheme based on Bessel beam illumination was proposed for measuring the internal core distribution of a seven-core fibre. Bessel beams offer a large focal length in a scattering medium, and exhibit a unique pattern when propagating in an off-axis medium with a spatially varying refractive index. The results revealed that a long focal length and unique pattern influence the image contrast in the case of Bessel beams, which differs from a typical Gaussian beam. Further, high-precision measurement of a seven-core fibre core distribution based on a Bessel beam was demonstrated using a digital correlation method. A deep learning approach was used to improve the measurement precision to 0.2° with an accuracy of 96.8%. The proposed side-view Bessel-beam-based method has the potential to handle more complex MCFs and photonic crystal fibres.

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Review
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Microsphere-assisted quantitative phase microscopy: a review
Vahid Abbasian, Tobias Pahl, Lucie Hüser, Sylvain Lecler, Paul Montgomery, et al.
Published Published online: 15 March 2024,  doi: 10.37188/lam.2024.006

Light microscopes are the most widely used devices in life and material sciences that allow the study of the interaction of light with matter at a resolution better than that of the naked eye. Conventional microscopes translate the spatial differences in the intensity of the reflected or transmitted light from an object to pixel brightness differences in the digital image. However, a phase microscope converts the spatial differences in the phase of the light from or through an object to differences in pixel brightness. Interference microscopy, a phase-based approach, has found application in various disciplines. While interferometry has brought nanometric axial resolution, the lateral resolution in quantitative phase microscopy (QPM) has still remained limited by diffraction, similar to other traditional microscopy systems. Enhancing the resolution has been the subject of intense investigation since the invention of the microscope in the 17th century. During the past decade, microsphere-assisted microscopy (MAM) has emerged as a simple and effective approach to enhance the resolution in light microscopy. MAM can be integrated with QPM for 3D label-free imaging with enhanced resolution. Here, we review the integration of microspheres with coherence scanning interference and digital holographic microscopies, discussing the associated open questions, challenges, and opportunities.

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Direct laser writing on halide perovskites: from mechanisms to applications
Yuhang Sheng, Xiaoming Wen, Baohua Jia, Zhixing Gan
Published Published online: 13 March 2024,  doi: 10.37188/lam.2024.004

Metal halide perovskites have emerged as game-changing semiconductor materials in optoelectronics. As an efficient micro-/nano-manufacturing technology, direct laser writing (DLW) has been extensively used to fabricate patterns, micro/nanostructures, and pixel arrays on perovskites to promote their optoelectronic applications. Owing to the unique ionic properties and soft lattices of perovskites, DLW can introduce rich light–matter interactions, including laser ablation, crystallisation, ion migration, phase segregation, photoreaction, and other transitions, which enable diverse functionalities in addition to the intrinsic properties of perovskites. Based on their patterned structures, perovskites have numerous applications in displays, optical information encryption, solar cells, light-emitting diodes, lasers, photodetectors, and planar lenses, which are comprehensively discussed in this review. Finally, we discuss the challenges that must be addressed for the future development of this fascinating field.

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Meta-device: advanced manufacturing
Borui Leng, Yao Zhang, Din Ping Tsai, Shumin Xiao
Published Published online: 07 March 2024,  doi: 10.37188/lam.2024.005

Metasurfaces are one of the most promising devices to break through the limitations of bulky optical components. By offering a new method of light manipulation based on the light-matter interaction in subwavelength nanostructures, metasurfaces enable the efficient manipulation of the amplitude, phase, polarization, and frequency of light and derive a series of possibilities for important applications. However, one key challenge for the realization of applications for meta-devices is how to fabricate large-scale, uniform nanostructures with high resolution. In this review, we review the state-of-the-art nanofabrication techniques compatible with the manufacture of meta-devices. Maskless lithography, masked lithography, and other nanofabrication techniques are highlighted in detail. We also delve into the constraints and limitations of the current fabrication methods while providing some insights on solutions to overcome these challenges for advanced nanophotonic applications.

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Editorial
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ISSN 2689-9620    EISSN 2831-4093

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