Label-free somatic cell cytometry in raw milk using acoustophoresis.

A microfluidic system for cell enumeration in raw milk was developed. The new method, preconditions the milk sample using acoustophoresis that removes lipid particles which are larger than a few micrometers. The acoustophoretic preprocessing eliminates the need for conventional sample preparation techniques, which include chemical solvents, cell labeling and centrifugation, and facilitates rapid cell enumeration using microscopy or coulter counter measurements. By introducing an acoustic standing wave with three pressure nodes in a microchannel at the same time as the milk sample is laminated to the channel center, lipids are acoustically driven to the closest pressure antinode at each side of the channel center and the cells in the milk sample are focused in the central pressure node. The extracted center fraction with cells becomes sufficiently clean from lipid vesicles to enable enumeration of somatic cells without any labeling step either by direct light microscopy or by coulter counting. Obtained lipid free milk fractions clearly revealed the cell fraction when analyzed by Coulter Counting. Cell counting as measured by a Coulter Counter after acoustophoretic lipid depletion aligned with the corresponding data obtained by reference measurements based on fluorescence staining and subsequent flow cytometer analysis.

Dielectric properties of water in butter and water-AOT-heptane systems measured using terahertz time-domain spectroscopy.

We investigate the dielectric properties of water confined in nanometer-sized inverse micelles in mixtures of water, AOT, and heptane. We show that the dielectric properties of the confined water are dependent on the water pool size and different from those of bulk water. We also discuss the dielectric properties of different vegetable oils, lard, and butter, and use these properties to deduce the dielectric properties of water in butter, which are shown to deviate significantly from the dielectric properties of bulk water.

Harmonic microchip acoustophoresis: a route to online raw milk sample precondition in protein and lipid content quality control.

A microfluidic approach for raw milk sample preconditioning prior to protein and lipid content analysis has been developed. The system utilizes microchip acoustophoresis and is a further extension of our previously reported multiple node ultrasonic standing wave focusing platform (Grenvall, C., Augustsson, P., Matsuoka, H. and Laurell, T. Proc. Micro Total Anal. Syst. 2008, 1, 161-163). The microfluidic approach offers a method for rapid raw milk quality control using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR). Two acoustophoresis modes are explored, 2 lambda/2 and 3 lambda/2, offering lipid content enrichment or depletion, respectively. Lipid content depletion above 90% was accomplished. FT-IR data on microchip-processed raw milk samples, enabling direct lipid and protein content analysis, are reported. Most importantly, the harmonic operational modes bypass the problem of lipid aggregation and subsequent clogging, inherent in lambda/2 acoustophoresis systems.

Large-mode-area erbium-ytterbium-doped photonic-crystal fiber amplifier for high-energy femtosecond pulses at 1.55 microm.

We report a high-energy femtosecond fiber amplifier based on an air-cladded single-transverse-mode erbium-ytterbium-codoped photonic-crystal fiber with a 26-microm mode-field-diameter. 700-fs, 47-MHz pulses at 1557 nm were amplified and compressed to near-transform-limited 100-fs, 7.4-nJ pulses with 54-kW peak powers without chirped-pulse amplification. A linearly polarized output with an extinction ratio exceeding 42 dB was obtained by double-pass configuration. As an application, supercontinuum spanning from 1000 to 2500 nm was generated by a successive 2-m high-nonlinear fiber with a 140-mW average power.

Photonic crystal fiber with a hybrid honeycomb cladding.

We consider an air-silica honeycomb lattice and demonstrate a new approach to the formation of a core defect. Typically, a high or low-index core is formed by adding a high-index region or an additional air-hole (or other low-index material) to the lattice, but here we discuss how a core defect can be formed by manipulating the cladding region ratherthan the core region itself. Germanium-doping of the honeycomb lattice has recently been suggested for the formation of a photonic band-gap guiding silica-core and here we experimentally demonstrate how an index-guiding silica-core can be formed by fluorine-doping of the honeycomb lattice.

Polarization maintaining large mode area photonic crystal fiber.

We report on a polarization maintaining large mode area photonic crystal fiber. Unlike, previous work on polarization maintaining photonic crystal fibers, birefringence is introduced using stress applying parts. This has allowed us to realize fibers, which are both single mode at any wavelength and have a practically constant birefringence for any wavelength. The fibers presented in this work have mode field diameters from about 4 to 6.5 micron, and exhibit a typical birefringence of 1.510(-4).

Highly polarized photonic crystal fiber laser.

We report on the design of a polarization maintaining, double-clad, Yb doped photonic crystal fiber and demonstrate its lasing properties. The polarizing properties of the fiber rely on birefringence and differential loss introduced by an anisotropic hole structure. Due to a slight leak from the core to the inner cladding only ~80% of the output light is in the core mode. We have demonstrated 2.9W of output in this mode with a polarization ratio in excess of 200:1.

Mode-field radius of photonic crystal fibers expressed by the V parameter.

We numerically calculate the equivalent mode-field radius of the fundamental mode in a photonic crystal fiber (PCF) and show that this is a function of the V parameter only and not the relative hole size. This dependence is similar to what is found for graded-index standard fibers, and we furthermore show that the relation for the PCF can be excellently approximated with the same general mathematical expression. This is to our knowledge the first semianalytical description of the mode-field radius of a PCF.

Modal cutoff and the V parameter in photonic crystal fibers.

We address the long-standing unresolved problem concerning the V parameter in a photonic crystal fiber. In formulating the parameter appropriate for a core defect in a periodic structure, we argue that the multimode cutoff occurs at a wavelength lambda* that satisfies VPCF(lambda*) = pi. By comparing this approach with numerics and recent cutoff calculations we confirm this result.

Experimental investigation of cutoff phenomena in nonlinear photonic crystal fibers.

Modal cutoff is investigated experimentally in a series of high-quality nonlinear photonic crystal fibers. We demonstrate a suitable measurement technique with which to determine the cutoff wavelength and verify the technique by inspecting the near field of the modes that may be excited below and above the cutoff. We observe a double-peak structure in the cutoff spectra, which is attributed to splitting of the higher-order modes. The cutoff is measured for seven different fiber geometries with different pitches and relative hole sizes, and very good agreement with recent theoretical work is found.

Reduced microdeformation attenuation in large-mode-area photonic crystal fibers for visible applications.

We consider large-mode-area photonic crystal fibers for visible applications in which microdeformation-induced attenuation becomes a potential problem when the effective area A(eff) is sufficiently large compared to lambda2. We argue that a slight increase in fiber diameter D can be used in screening the high-frequency components of the microdeformation spectrum mechanically, and we confirm this experimentally for both 15- and 20-microm core fibers. For typical bending radii (R approximately 16 cm) the operating bandwidth increases by approximately 3-400 nm to the low-wavelength side.

Near-field to far-field transition of photonic crystal fibers: symmetries and interference phenomena.

The transition from the near to the far field of the fundamental mode radiating out of a photonic crystal fiber is investigated experimentally and theoretically. It is observed that the hexagonal shape of the near field rotates two times by pi/6 when moving into the far field, and eventually six satellites form around a nearly gaussian far-field pattern. A semi-empirical model is proposed, based on describing the near field as a sum of seven gaussian distributions, which qualitatively explains all the observed phenomena and quantitatively predicts the relative intensity of the six satellites in the far field.