In the optical wireless communication systems proposed by Gibson, et al, the information is encoded as states of orbital
angular momentum (OAM) of light and the transmitter unit can produce laser beam with single OAM-state in a time-slot.
Recently we have proved that it is possible to generate multiple OAM-states simultaneously by single spatial light
modulator. This method is adopted in our free-space optical wireless communication system and these OAM-states can
be detected in the receiving unit by a computer-generated hologram. Hence, the transmission capacity is enhanced
significantly without increasing the complexity of system.
Light assisted micro-manipulation techniques have provided a non-invasive technique to investigate microscopic world. Employing micro-optical elements for laser beam shaping can aggrandize the trapping capabilities of conventional optical tweezers system. In the paper we report the design parameters and fabrication techniques of diversified micro-optical elements. High quality Laguerre-Gaussian beams, Bessel beams, self-imaged bottle beams and fractional Bessel beams were achieved using such micro-optical elements. We further integrated these micro-elements in conventional optical tweezers systems for various trapping applications. Such micro-elements were high efficient (in terms of power conversion) which is an important criteria to be incorporated with the optical trapping systems. Due to its micro-size such micro-elements are potential candidates to be integrated with lab-on-a-chip techniques to realize next generation "miniaturized optical trap".
Optical tweezers technique has aggrandized the light-matter interaction, whereby researchers have employed light forces from colloidal sciences to biomedical applications. There have been constant quests to integrate novel beams in tweezers system for myriads of novel applications. In this paper, we report optical tweezers system based on self-imaged optical bottle beams, which has some distinct advantages over other conventional beams like Gaussian, Laguerre-Gaussian and Bessel beams in few applications. A self-imaged bottle beam is obtained by superimposing two Bessel beams with varying radial wavevectors. A self-imaged bottle beam possesses three-dimensional intensity-null points along the propagation axis and by varying the radial wavevectors of the Bessel beams number of bottles; location of bottles and the dimension of the bottles can be pre-determined. Moreover, by dynamically varying the parameters of radial wavevector of interfering Bessel beams, the dynamic potential-well obtained are capable of transporting both high and low indices microparticle in conveyor-belt arrangement along the longitudinal axis. Bottle beams belongs to the family of propagation-invariant beams and hence inherent the propagation-invariance and self-reconstruction properties of Bessel beam together with three-dimensional trapping potential contrary to Bessel beam whereby the particles trapped in the central core are loosing defined in the longitudinal axis. Such bottle beams also holds promise applications in blue-detuned optical taps for the optical confinement of laser-cooled atoms in three-dimensional dark region.
The quest for applying optical tweezers system for novel applications has aggrandized its trapping capabilities since its inception. Researchers have proposed and applied light based micro-manipulation technique in the field of colloidal sciences, bioscience, MEMS and the count is limitless. In this paper we report the self-imaged optical bottle beam based optical tweezers system. A self-imaged bottle beam possesses three-dimensional intensity-null points along the propagation axis. The transverse intensity profile of the self-imaged bottle beam oscillates along the propagation axis, hence providing three-dimensional trapping potential for high and low indices microparticles at constructive and destructive interference points, respectively. Bottle beam based optical tweezer system adds the beneficial property of Gaussian and Bessel beam based trapping systems by providing three-dimensional trapping potential and self-reconstruction ability, respectively. As self-imaged bottle beam belong to the family of propagation-invariant beams, it can be used to trap chain of high and low indices microparticles three-dimensionally along the propagation directions, which can be used to periodically stack microparticles (of different refractive index) longitudinally.
Optical trapping and manipulation are based on three types of the force and momentum, in the range of pN, to grab, lift and rotate microparticles due to the light intensity or phase distribution. In the first type, particles are trapped in the highest intensity region of the beam due to optical gradient force for high refractive index particles with respective to its surrounding medium. Secondly, orbital angular momentum (OAM) of a beam can be transferred to a particle due to phase singularity within a beam. Thirdly, spin angular momentum (SAM) can be transferred to the particles due to the circular polarization of the beam. In recent years, microfabricated optical elements have been used to modulate the amplitude and phase of the optical beam to create new generation of optical tweezers with additional manipulation dimensions. In this paper, a review of our recent discoveries of optical trapping and manipulation using micro-beam shaping and micro-optical elements will be presented.
A hybrid encryption and decryption technique for optical information security is proposed. In this method, the iterative Fourier transform algorithm is employed to optimize the encrypted hologram and the decryption key as binary phase-only diffractive optical elements, which were fabricated by electron-beam lithography. In a simple optical setup, the optical decryption is implemented by superimposing the encrypted hologram and the decryption key. Numerical simulation and optical experiment confirm the proposed technique as a simple and easy implementation for optical decryption.
The Laguerre-Gaussian beams or higher-order Bessel beams, which possess a full-doughnut shaped intensity pattern at the center, repel the low index particles away from the dark central spot due to radiation pressure. Optical beams with fractional helical phase are possible solutions to this problem, as they possess a clear opening slit. By using a spatial light modulator, we demonstrate the control of an opening slit by embedding different fractional helical phase into Bessel beams and Gaussian beams. This dynamic opening and closing of the slit will allow a possible selective process of the micro-particles. This is also a new way to control the guiding of particles in the transverse plane instead of the propagation direction.
In optical communications and optical interconnects, high coupling efficiency between a laser diode and a single mode fiber is indispensable, while the coupling loss mainly originates from the mismatch of their numerical apertures. In order to improve the coupling efficiency, it is a practical scheme to introduce a refractive microlens between them. Nevertheless, the fabrication of refractive microlens array (MLA) often required complicated lithographic and etching process. Moreover, structural homogeneity and dimensional uniformity of fabricated MLA were difficult to sustain. In this paper, we extend the application of low-cost inorganic-organic SiO2/ZrO2 sol-gel glass with a simple reflow technique for fabrication of refractive MLA. The intrinsic advantages of hybrid sol-gel material lay not only as an etch-free single-step fabrication material, but also, its uniformity and other excellent optical properties. The adoption of reflow technique in the fabrication of refractive MLA is much more economical and suitable to mass production as expensive high-energy beam-sensitive gray-scale mask, or etching processes is not required. The fabricated refractive MLA have excellent surface smoothness and dimension uniformity, which can provide high coupling efficiency of a laser diode to a single mode fiber. The proposed microlens coupling scheme has the advantages of low coupling loss, low cost and small package volume.
In micro-optical elements design, in order to achieve an optimal performance and reduce the undesired background optical system noise, multilevel phase-only micro-optical elements and/or continuous-relief structures are required. The multilevel and continuous relief structures can be fabricated by multiple exposures through a set of binary masks, electron-beam direct writing, laser-beam direct writing and grey scale masks. For mass production of cost-effective monolithic micro-optical elements, the high-energy beam-sensitive (HEBS) glass offers an opportunity to generate a grey-scale mask for analogue 3D surface relief structures. In this paper, a negative-tone inorganic-organic hybrid SiO2/TiO2 glass is investigated for the fabrication of refractive and diffractive micro-optical elements. The sol-gel material enjoys an advantage over the conventional photoresist based fabrication techniques due to its single step etching-free process.
Based on the theory of artificial material index and state- of-the-art electron beam lithographic nano-structure technique, a phase-only polarization-selective form- birefringent-computer-generated-hologram generated by the combination of two independent phase-only binary-computer- generated-hologram can be implemented as an optical switch to reconstruct two different images by either TE or TM polarization.
Past works has demonstrated that both Phase- and Amplitude two-level Binary-Computer-Generated-Holograms would generally resolve identical reconstruction image profiles but with different diffraction efficiency. In this paper, we investigate and study the difference in diffraction efficiency and reconstruction image quality of a two-level binary and multi-level Amplitude- and Phase-CGH.
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