Modified variational autoencoder for inversely predicting plasmonic nanofeatures for generating structural color.

We apply a modified variational autoencoder (VAE) regressor for inversely retrieving the topological parameters of the building blocks of plasmonic composites for generating structural colors as per requirement. We demonstrate results of a comparison study between inverse models based on generative VAEs as well as conventional tandem networks that have been favored traditionally. We describe our strategy for improving the performance of our model by filtering the simulated dataset prior to training. The VAE- based inverse model links the electromagnetic response expressed as the structural color to the geometrical dimensions from the latent space using a multilayer perceptron regressor and shows better accuracy over a conventional tandem inverse model.

Leveraging long short-term memory (LSTM)-based neural networks for modeling structure-property relationships of metamaterials from electromagnetic responses.

We report a neural network model for predicting the electromagnetic response of mesoscale metamaterials as well as generate design parameters for a desired spectral behavior. Our approach entails treating spectral data as time-varying sequences and the inverse problem as a single-input multiple output model, thereby compelling the network architecture to learn the geometry of the metamaterial designs from the spectral data in lieu of abstract features.

Bead-based multiplex detection of dengue biomarkers in a portable imaging device.

Dengue is one of the most rapidly spreading mosquito-borne viral diseases in the world. Differential diagnosis is a crucial step for the management of the disease and its epidemiology. Point-of-care testing of blood-borne dengue biomarkers provides an advantageous approach in many health care settings, and the ability to follow more than one biomarker at once could significantly improve the management of the disease. Bead-based multiplex technologies (suspension array) can measure multiple biomarker targets simultaneously by using recognition molecules immobilized on microsphere beads. The overarching objective of our work is to develop a portable detection device for the simultaneous measurement of multiple biomarkers important in dengue diagnosis, monitoring and treatment. Here, we present a bead-based assay for the detection of one of the four serotypes of dengue virus non-structural protein (DENV-NS1) as well as its cognate human IgG. In this system, the fluorescent microspheres containing the classification fluorophore and detection fluorophore are imaged through a microfluidic chip using an infinity-corrected microscope system. Calibration curves were plotted for median fluorescence intensity against known concentrations of DENV-NS1 protein and anti-NS1 human IgG. The limit of quantitation was 7.8 ng/mL and 15.6 ng/mL, respectively. The results of this study demonstrate the feasibility of the multiplex detection of dengue biomarkers and present its analytical performance parameters. The proposed imaging device holds potential for point-of-care testing of biomarkers on a highly portable system, and it may facilitate the diagnosis and prevention of dengue as well as other infectious diseases.

Publisher Correction: Femtosecond laser fabrication of silver nanostructures on glass for surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy.

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.

Femtosecond laser fabrication of silver nanostructures on glass for surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy.

We report on an optimized fabrication protocol for obtaining silver nanoparticles on fused silica substrates via laser photoreduction of a silver salt solution. We find that multiple scans of the laser over the surface leads to a more uniform coverage of densely packed silver nanoparticles of approximately 50 nm diameter on the fused silica surface. Our substrates yield Raman enhancement factors of the order of 1011 of the signal detected from crystal violet. We use a theoretical model based on scanning electron microscope (SEM) images of our substrates to explain our experimental results. We also demonstrate how our technique can be extended to embedding silver nanoparticles in buried microfluidic channels in glass. The in situ laser inscription of silver nanoparticles on a laser machined, sub-surface, microfluidic channel wall within bulk glass paves the way for developing 3D, monolithic, fused silica surface enhance Raman spectroscopy (SERS) microfluidic sensing devices.

Slanted channel microfluidic chip for 3D fluorescence imaging of cells in flow.

Three-dimensional cellular imaging techniques have become indispensable tools in biological research and medical diagnostics. Conventional 3D imaging approaches employ focal stack collection to image different planes of the cell. In this work, we present the design and fabrication of a slanted channel microfluidic chip for 3D fluorescence imaging of cells in flow. The approach employs slanted microfluidic channels fabricated in glass using ultrafast laser inscription. The slanted nature of the microfluidic channels ensures that samples come into and go out of focus, as they pass through the microscope imaging field of view. This novel approach enables the collection of focal stacks in a straight-forward and automated manner, even with off-the-shelf microscopes that are not equipped with any motorized translation/rotation sample stages. The presented approach not only simplifies conventional focal stack collection, but also enhances the capabilities of a regular widefield fluorescence microscope to match the features of a sophisticated confocal microscope. We demonstrate the retrieval of sectioned slices of microspheres and cells, with the use of computational algorithms to enhance the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) in the collected raw images. The retrieved sectioned images have been used to visualize fluorescent microspheres and bovine sperm cell nucleus in 3D while using a regular widefield fluorescence microscope. We have been able to achieve sectioning of approximately 200 slices per cell, which corresponds to a spatial translation of ∼ 15 nm per slice along the optical axis of the microscope.

Diffractive Optical Analysis for Refractive Index Sensing using Transparent Phase Gratings.

We report the implementation of a micro-patterned, glass-based photonic sensing element that is capable of label-free biosensing. The diffractive optical analyzer is based on the differential response of diffracted orders to bulk as well as surface refractive index changes. The differential read-out suppresses signal drifts and enables time-resolved determination of refractive index changes in the sample cell. A remarkable feature of this device is that under appropriate conditions, the measurement sensitivity of the sensor can be enhanced by more than two orders of magnitude due to interference between multiply reflected diffracted orders. A noise-equivalent limit of detection (LoD) of 6 × 10(-7) was achieved with this technique with scope for further improvement.

Low loss fusion splicing of micron scale silica fibers.

Tapered micron-sized optical fibers may be important in the future for development of microscale integrated photonic devices. Complex photonic circuits require many devices and a robust technique for interconnection. We demonstrate splicing of four micron diameter step-index air-clad silica microfibers using a CO2 laser. We obtain splice losses lower than 0.3%. Compared with evanescent coupling of microfibers, our splices are more mechanically stable and efficient.

Self referenced Yb-fiber-laser frequency comb using a dispersion micromanaged tapered holey fiber.

We demonstrate a fully stabilized frequency comb in the 1mum spectral region based on an Yb-fiber oscillator and a cladding pumped chirped pulse Yb-fiber amplifier whose output is spectrally broadened in a dispersion micromanaged holey fiber. The dispersion micromanaged fiber is used to generate efficient, low noise spectral components at 523nm which are heterodyned with the second harmonic of the amplifier output for standard f-to-2f self-referenced carrier envelope offset frequency detection. For comb stabilization we phase-lock this offset frequency and the oscillator repetition frequency simultaneously to an RF reference by feedback controlling the oscillator pump diode current and the driving voltage of an intracavity piezo-electric fiber stretcher respectively.

End-sealing short dispersion micromanaged tapered holey fibers by hole-collapsing.

We have recently shown that fiber dispersion can be manipulated on a sub-millimeter scale, and discussed its importance in production of low-noise supercontinuum generation. In this paper, we report the fabrication of dispersion micromanaged (DMM) holey fibers that have been structurally modified to offer greater environmental stability and have reduced sensitivity towards alignment in input coupling. Our results show that end-sealed devices can be made while retaining key features of the dispersion micromanagement.