Quantitative imaging of anisotropic material properties with vectorial ptychography

Following the recent establishment of the formalism of vectorial ptychography [Ferrand et al., Opt. Lett. 40, 5144 (2015)], first measurements are reported in the optical range, demonstrating the capability of the proposed method to map the four parameters of the Jones matrix of an anisotropic specimen, and therefore to quantify a wide range of optical material properties, including power transmittance, optical path difference, diattenuation, retardance, and fast-axis orientation.Comment: 5 figures, accepted for publication in Optics Letter

Ptychography in anisotropic media

International audiencePtychography is described in the context of polarized light probing anisotropic specimen, i.e., showing properties of birefringence and/or diattenuation. We establish an optimization strategy using a vectorial formalism. A measurement scheme using a set of linearly polarized probes and linear polarization analyzers is proposed, allowing to retrieve the full anisotropy map of the specimen

Optical properties of multilayered porous silicon

International audienceWe present a short review of some optical devices based on multilayered porous silicon, which can be easily obtained by varying the formation current during the etching process. These include Bragg reflectors and Fabry–Pérot microcavities, which can be adjusted from the visible to the near infrared. The interface roughness, tragic in the case of multilayers, is studied. It can be drastically reduced when changing the electrolyte viscosity. The high reflectivities obtained in this way are measured by Cavity Ring–Down Spectroscopy. Problems occurring when realising thin layers and an efficient way to adjust precisely the optical thicknesses of the thin layers constituting the multilayered structure are also presented. Finally we present a method of calculation of the emission which takes absorption into account and is able to explain the angular dependence of the luminescence

Le silicium nanoporeux : microstructuration diélectrique et application aux structures photoniques avancées

International audienceThe aim of this work is to elaborate and study photonic bandgap microstructures using nanoporous silicon.
Planar microstructures like microcavities are first considered, and their influence on both angular and spectral distributions of photoluminescence are investigated. The primary conclusion derived from these studies is that it is essential to control the propagation of light in the plane, too.
Thus, the lateral propagation of light, enhanced by a vertical structuring of the optical index (step-index waveguide as well as Bragg reflection waveguide) is studied. Furthermore, a numerical model based on the standard transfer-matrix method is suggested to calculate guiding losses.
Finally, a holographic process is utilized to obtain a lateral structuring of the optical index, thereby allowing the investigation of its effects on the guided light. The transmittance, measured on a multimode waveguide using white light, shows several stopbands, which are attributed to diagonal and off-diagonal couplings. The comparison of these measurements to the coupled-mode theory allows a map of the optical index to be plotted. A strong birefringence in regions that were illuminated during the holographic process was illustrated. This suggests a stronger decrease of the extraordinary index (delta n = -0.4) than the ordinary index (delta n = -0.22). With a period of 450 nm, these values of index contrast are promising, even if the effective depth on which the index is modulated is only 0.5 μm.Ce travail est consacré à la réalisation et à l'étude de microstructures photoniques à base de silicium nanoporeux.
Nous commençons notre étude par des structures planaires de type microcavité, dont nous caractérisons l'influence sur la photoluminescence du matériau, en termes de redistribution spectrale et angulaire. Il apparaît très vite la nécessité de contrôler la propagation de la lumière dans le plan de la structure.
Aussi, nous cherchons d'abord à favoriser la propagation latérale au moyen d'une structuration verticale de l'indice, et nous étudions le guidage au moyen de deux types de structures, exploitant soit à un guidage conventionnel par réflexion totale interne, soit à un guidage par réflexion de Bragg. À cette occasion nous proposons une méthode numérique, basée sur le formalisme des matrices de transfert, permettant de calculer l'atténuation de la puissance transportée dans le plan. 
Par la suite, nous mettons à profit le procédé holographique de structuration d'indice démontré par des travaux antérieurs et étudions son influence sur la lumière guidée. La transmission, mesurée en lumière blanche sur un guide multimode révèle de multiples bandes interdites que nous interprétons en termes de couplages diagonaux et non diagonaux. La confrontation des mesures avec une modélisation par la méthode des modes couplés nous permet d'établir une carte d'indice de notre structure. Il apparaît une biréfringence marquée dans les régions insolées par le procédé holographique, caractérisées par une diminution deux fois plus importante de l'indice extraordinaire (delta n = -0,4) que de l'indice ordinaire (delta n = -0,22). Avec une période de 450 nm, ces valeurs de contraste sont encourageantes, bien que la modulation d'indice ne soit présente que sur une profondeur effective de l'ordre de 0,5 μm

Isotropic diffraction-limited focusing using a single objective lens

International audienceFocusing a light beam through a lens produces an anisotropic spot elongated along the optical axis, because the light comes from only one side of the focal point. Using the time-reversal concept, we show that isotropic focusing can be realized by placing a mirror after the focal point and shaping the incident beam. This idea is applied to confocal microscopy and brings about a dramatic improvement of the axial resolution

The Efficacy of Transformer-based Adversarial Attacks in Security Domains

Today, the security of many domains rely on the use of Machine Learning to detect threats, identify vulnerabilities, and safeguard systems from attacks. Recently, transformer architectures have improved the state-of-the-art performance on a wide range of tasks such as malware detection and network intrusion detection. But, before abandoning current approaches to transformers, it is crucial to understand their properties and implications on cybersecurity applications. In this paper, we evaluate the robustness of transformers to adversarial samples for system defenders (i.e., resiliency to adversarial perturbations generated on different types of architectures) and their adversarial strength for system attackers (i.e., transferability of adversarial samples generated by transformers to other target models). To that effect, we first fine-tune a set of pre-trained transformer, Convolutional Neural Network (CNN), and hybrid (an ensemble of transformer and CNN) models to solve different downstream image-based tasks. Then, we use an attack algorithm to craft 19,367 adversarial examples on each model for each task. The transferability of these adversarial examples is measured by evaluating each set on other models to determine which models offer more adversarial strength, and consequently, more robustness against these attacks. We find that the adversarial examples crafted on transformers offer the highest transferability rate (i.e., 25.7% higher than the average) onto other models. Similarly, adversarial examples crafted on other models have the lowest rate of transferability (i.e., 56.7% lower than the average) onto transformers. Our work emphasizes the importance of studying transformer architectures for attacking and defending models in security domains, and suggests using them as the primary architecture in transfer attack settings.Comment: Accepted to IEEE Military Communications Conference (MILCOM), AI for Cyber Workshop, 202

Evaluating Participatory Modeling: Developing a Framework for Cross-case Analysis

Participatory modeling is increasingly recognised as an effective way to assist collective decision-making processes in the domain of natural resource management. This paper introduces a framework for evaluating projects that have adopted a participatory modeling approach. This framework – known as the ‘Protocol of Canberra’ – was developed through a collaboration between French and Australian researchers engaged in participatory modeling and evaluation research. The framework seeks to assess the extent to which different participatory modeling practices reinforce or divert from the theoretical assumptions they are built upon. The paper discusses the application of the framework in three case-studies, two from Australia and one from the Pacific island of the Republic of Kiribati. The paper concludes with some comments for future use of the framework in a range of participatory modeling contexts, including fostering consideration of why and how different methodological approaches are used to achieve project aims and to build a collective vision amongst diverse stakeholders.participation, modeling, evaluation, complex systems science

Optical-fiber-microsphere for remote fluorescence correlation spectroscopy

International audienceFluorescence correlation spectroscopy (FCS) is a versatile method that would greatly benefit to remote optical-fiber fluorescence sensors. However, the current state-of-the-art struggles with high background and low detection sensitivities that prevent the extension of fiber-based FCS down to the single-molecule level. Here we report the use of an optical fiber combined with a latex microsphere to perform FCS analysis. The sensitivity of the technique is demonstrated at the single molecule level thanks to a photonic nanojet effect. This offers new opportunities for reducing the bulky microscope setup and extending FCS to remote or in vivo applications

Two-photon fluorescence isotropic-single-objective microscopy

International audienceTwo-photon excitation provides efficient optical sectioning in three-dimensional fluorescence microscopy, independently of a confocal detection. In two-photon laser-scanning microscopy, the image resolution is governed by the volume of the excitation light spot, which is obtained by focusing the incident laser beam through the objective lens of the microscope. The light spot being strongly elongated along the optical axis, the axial resolution is much lower than the transverse one. In this Letter we show that it is possible to strongly reduce the axial size of the excitation spot by shaping the incident beam and using a mirror in place of a standard glass slide to support the sample. Provided that the contribution of sidelobes can be removed through deconvolution procedures, this approach should allow us to achieve similar axial and lateral resolution

Isotropic Single Objective (ISO) microscopy : Theory and Experiment

International audienceIsotropic single-objective (ISO) microscopy is a recently proposed imaging technique that can theoretically exhibit the same axial and transverse resolutions as 4Pi microscopy while using a classical single-objective confocal microscope. This achievement is obtained by placing the sample on a mirror and shaping the illumination beam so that the interference of the incident and mirror-reflected fields yields a quasi-spherical spot. In this work, we model the image formation in the ISO fluorescence microscope and simulate its point spread function. Then, we describe the experimental implementation and discuss its practical difficulties