Volume holographic printing using unconventional angular multiplexing for three-dimensional display.

We propose and demonstrate a volume holographic printing method for dynamic three-dimensional (3D) display with an expanded space-bandwidth product (SBP) using unconventional angular multiplexing techniques. By wavefront encoding of the 3D scene, with the help of computer-generated holography, the object beam is loaded onto a 2D phase spatial light modulator (SLM) with a limited SBP. The printing method then writes a single hologram through the interference of the object beam with a reference beam as a holographic element (hogel) in the volume holographic polymer. In addition, multiple 3D scenes can be recorded and dynamically reconstructed by angular multiplexing in the same hogel location. The SBP can be increased by two orders of magnitude compared to the conventional holographic printing method, showing the potential to realize a dynamic and high-resolution 3D display.

Nanopillar array on a fiber facet for highly sensitive surface-enhanced Raman scattering.

A highly-sensitive optical fiber surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) sensor has been developed by interference lithography. While one facet of the optical fiber is patterned with silver-coated nanopillar array as a SERS platform, the other end of the probe is used, in a remote end detection, to couple the excitation laser into the fiber and send the SERS signal to the spectrometer. SERS performance of the probe is characterized using trans-1,2-bis(4-pyridyl)-ethylene (BPE) monolayer and an enhancement factor of 1.2 × 10(7) can be achieved by focusing the laser directly onto the nanopillar array (front end detection). We also demonstrate that this probe can be used for in situ remote sensing of toluene vapor by the remote end detection. Such a fiber SERS probe shows great potential for molecular detection in various sensing applications.

Direct molecule-specific glucose detection by Raman spectroscopy based on photonic crystal fiber.

This paper reports the first step toward the development of a glucose biosensor based on Raman spectroscopy and a photonic crystal fiber (PCF) probe. Historically, it has been very challenging to detect glucose directly by Raman spectroscopy due to its inherently small Raman scattering cross-section. In this work, we report the first quantitative glucose Raman detection in the physiological concentration range (0-25 mM) with a low laser power (2 mW), a short integration time (30 s), and an extremely small sampling volume (~50 nL) using the highly sensitive liquid-filled PCF probe. As a proof of concept, we also demonstrate the molecular specificity of this technique in the presence of a competing sugar, such as fructose. High sensitivity, flexibility, reproducibility, low cost, small sampling volume, and in situ remote sensing capability make PCF a very powerful platform for potential glucose detection based on Raman spectroscopy.

Highly sensitive detection of proteins and bacteria in aqueous solution using surface-enhanced Raman scattering and optical fibers.

We report the detection of the proteins lysozyme and cytochrome c as well as the live bacterial cells of Shewanella oneidensis MR-1 in aqueous solutions with sensitivities order(s) of magnitude higher than those previously reported. Two highly sensitive surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS)-based biosensors using optical fibers have been employed for such label-free macromolecule detections. The first sensor is based on a tip-coated multimode fiber (TCMMF) with a double-substrate "sandwich" structure, and a detection limit of 0.2 µg/mL is achieved in protein detections. The second sensor is based on a liquid core photonic crystal fiber (LCPCF) with a better confinement of light inside the fiber core, and a detection limit of 10(6) cells/mL is achieved for the bacteria detection. Both SERS biosensors show great potential for highly sensitive and molecule-specific detection and identification of biomolecules.

Channel analysis of the volume holographic correlator for scene matching.

A channel model of the volume holographic correlator (VHC) is proposed and demonstrated to improve the accuracy in the scene matching application with the multi-sample parallel estimation (MPE) algorithm. A quantity related to the space-bandwidth product is used to describe the recognition ability in the scene matching system by MPE. A curve is given to optimize the number of samples with the required recognition accuracy. The theoretical simulation and the experimental results show the validity of the channel model. The proposed model provides essential theoretical predictions and implementation guidelines for using the multi-sample parallel estimation method to achieve the highest accuracy.

High-sensitivity molecular sensing using hollow-core photonic crystal fiber and surface-enhanced Raman scattering.

A high-sensitivity molecular sensor using a hollow-core photonic crystal fiber (HCPCF) based on surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) has been experimentally demonstrated and theoretically analyzed. A factor of 100 in sensitivity enhancement is shown in comparison to direct sampling under the same conditions. With a silver nanoparticle colloid as the SERS substrate and Rhodamine 6G as a test molecule, the lowest detectable concentration is 10(-10) M with a liquid-core photonic crystal fiber (LCPCF) probe, and 10(-8) M for direct sampling. The high sensitivity provided by the LCPCF SERS probe is promising for molecular detection in various sensing applications.

Portable fiber sensors based on surface-enhanced Raman scattering.

Two portable molecular sensing systems based on surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) have been experimentally demonstrated using either a tip-coated multimode fiber (TCMMF) or a liquid core photonic crystal fiber (LCPCF) as the SERS probe. With Rhodamine 6G as a test molecule, the TCMMF-portable SERS system achieved 2-3 times better sensitivity than direct sampling (focusing the laser light directly into the sample without the fiber probe), and a highly sensitive LCPCF-portable SERS system reached a sensitivity up to 59 times that of direct sampling, comparable to the sensitivity enhancement achieved using fiber probes in the bulky Renishaw system. These fiber SERS probes integrated with a portable Raman spectrometer provide a promising scheme for a compact and flexible molecular sensing system with high sensitivity and portability.

Matched spectral filter based on reflection holograms for analyte identification.

A matched spectral filter set that provides automatic preliminary analyte identification is proposed and analyzed. Each matched spectral filter in the set containing the multiple spectral peaks corresponding to the Raman spectrum of a substance is capable of collecting the specified spectrum into the detector simultaneously. The filter set is implemented by multiplexed volume holographic reflection gratings. The fabrication of a matched spectral filter in an Fe:LiNbO(3) crystal is demonstrated to match the Raman spectrum of the sample Rhodamine 6G (R6G). An interference alignment method is proposed and used in the fabrication to ensure that the multiplexed gratings are in the same direction at a high angular accuracy of 0.0025 degrees . Diffused recording beams are used to control the bandwidth of the spectral peaks. The reflection spectrum of the filter is characterized using a modified Raman spectrometer. The result of the filter's reflection spectrum matches that of the sample R6G. A library of such matched spectral filters will facilitate a fast detection with a higher sensitivity and provide a capability for preliminary molecule identification.

Molecular fiber sensors based on surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS).

Molecular sensors based on surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) and optical fibers have been widely used in biological, environmental and chemical detection procedures due to their unique advantages, such as molecular specificity, high sensitivity and flexibility. In this paper, we review the development and highlight some of the important milestones of SERS fiber sensor development with emphasis on recent work to improve the sensitivity of the fiber sensors. In particular in the area to increase the sensitivity, we've reviewed various methods of sample preparation as well as different fiber SERS sensors. One way is to strengthen the field enhancement around the surface of the probe tip and the other is to increase the number of the interacting particles during the SERS process. These techniques are known as the double substrate "sandwich" structure (DSSS) and the liquid core photonic crystal fiber (LCPCF), and in both cases the sensitivities are significantly improved. These fiber sensors were tested with Rhodamine 6G, human insulin and tryptophan and showed excellent performance.

Novel index-guided photonic crystal fiber surface-enhanced Raman scattering probe.

We demonstrate a novel index-guided (IG) photonic crystal fiber (PCF) surface-enhanced Raman probe. Different from a regular PCF, the IGPCF has four big air holes inserted between the solid silica core and the photonic crystal cladding holes. The gold nanoparticles, serving as the surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) substrate, are either coated on the inner surface of the holes or mixed in the analyte solution in two separate experiments, respectively. The analyte solution enters the holes via the capillary effect. The excitation light propagating in the silica core interacts with the gold nanoparticles and the analyte through the evanescent wave which extends significantly into the four big holes when they are filled with liquid leading to a large interaction volume between the excitation light and the nanoparticles/analyte.

Manipulation and light-induced agglomeration of carbon nanotubes through optical trapping of attached silver nanoparticles.

A simple experimental method has been demonstrated for manipulating multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) bundles through the optical trapping of attached silver nanoparticles (SNPs). In our experiments, without the SNPs, the MWCNTs cannot be trapped due to their irregular shapes and large aspect ratio. However, when mixed with SNPs, the MWCNTs can be successfully trapped along with the SNPs using a TEM(00) mode laser at 532 nm. This is attributed to the optical trapping of the SNPs and attractive interaction or binding between the SNPs and MWCNTs due to electrostatic and van der Waals forces. Therefore, optical manipulation of MWCNT bundles is achieved through the manipulation of the attached silver nanoparticles/aggregates. In addition, we have observed the phenomenon of light-induced further agglomeration of SNPs/MWCNTs which could potentially be exploited for fabricating patterned MWCNT films for future nanoscale devices and other applications.

Micro displacement sensor based on line-defect resonant cavity in photonic crystal.

A micro displacement sensor and its sensing technique based on line-defect resonant cavity in photonic crystals (PhCs) are presented. The line-defect resonant cavity is formed by a fixed and a mobile PhC segments. With a proper operating frequency, a quasi-linear measurement of micro-displacement is achieved with sensitivity of 1.15 a(-1) ( a is the lattice constant) and Q factor of 40. The sensitivity can be adjusted easily by varying either Q factor or operating frequency of the sensing system. In addition, the sensing range can be broadened to -0.55 a ~0.60 a by using multiple operating frequencies. The properties of the micro displacement sensor are analyzed theoretically and simulated using finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method.

Complete polarization controller based on magneto-optic crystals and fixed quarter wave plates.

We propose and demonstrate a polarization controller, which is a concatenation of three Faraday rotators based on magneto-optic crystals separated by two fixed quarter wave plates. Comparing with former schemes, this polarization controller is fast, accurate and stable because it is completely driven by electric signals and has no mechanically moving parts.It is simple-structured and low-cost. Moreover, it is programmable to convert an arbitrary state of polarization (SOP) from the input to any designated SOP at the output. It can also be used as a polarization scrambler. It has potential applications in the research of the polarization dependence of optical communication systems or the compensation of polarization mode dispersion (PMD), etc.

Orthogonal polarization dual-channel holographic memory in cationic ring-opening photopolymer.

A dual-channel holographic recording technique and its corresponding memory scheme in the cationic ring-opening photopolymer are presented. In the dual-channel technique, a pair of holograms are recorded simultaneously with two orthogonal polarization channels in the common volume of the material, and are reconstructed concurrently with negligible inter-channel crosstalk. The grating strengths of these two channels are investigated and the relevant parameters for equal diffraction intensity readout are optimized. Combining the dual-channel technique with speckle shift multiplexing, a high-density holographic memory is realized. This dual-channel scheme enables the users to interact with the storage medium from an additional channel. The simultaneous nature of the two channels also offers a faster data transfer rate in both the recording and reading processes.

Strong phase-controlled fiber Bragg gratings for dispersion compensation.

Dispersion-compensating fiber Bragg gratings with approximately 99.9% reflectivity that are made by continuous apodization and phase control are demonstrated. These strong dispersion-compensating gratings provide precision second-order, third-order, or even more complex dispersion compensation, as well as sufficient transmission isolation to be used at add-drop stages without additional filtering. A 99.84% grating with a constant approximately 700-ps/nm dispersion and a 99.94% grating with dispersion varying linearly from 1000 to -1000 ps/nm are demonstrated.