Blind Ghost Imaging

Ghost imaging is an unconventional optical imaging technique that reconstructs the shape of an object combining the measurement of two signals: one that interacted with the object, but without any spatial information, the other containing spatial information, but that never interacted with the object. Ghost imaging is a very flexible technique, that has been generalized to the single-photon regime, to the time domain, to infrared and terahertz frequencies, and many more conditions. Here we demonstrate that ghost imaging can be performed without ever knowing the patterns illuminating the object, but using patterns correlated with them, doesn't matter how weakly. As an experimental proof we exploit the recently discovered correlation between the reflected and transmitted light from a scattering layer, and reconstruct the image of an object hidden behind a scattering layer using only the reflected light, which never interacts with the object. This method opens new perspectives for non-invasive imaging behind or within turbid media.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure

Coherent control of photocurrent in a strongly scattering photoelectrochemical system

A fundamental issue that limits the efficiency of many photoelectrochemical systems is that the photon absorption length is typically much longer than the electron diffusion length. Various photon management schemes have been developed to enhance light absorption; one simple approach is to use randomly scattering media to enable broadband and wide-angle enhancement. However, such systems are often opaque, making it difficult to probe photo-induced processes. Here we use wave interference effects to modify the spatial distribution of light inside a highly-scattering dye-sensitized solar cell to control photon absorption in a space-dependent manner. By shaping the incident wavefront of a laser beam, we enhance or suppress photocurrent by increasing or decreasing light concentration on the front side of the mesoporous photoanode where the collection efficiency of photoelectrons is maximal. Enhanced light absorption is achieved by reducing reflection through the open boundary of the photoanode via destructive interference, leading to a factor of two increase in photocurrent. This approach opens the door to probing and manipulating photoelectrochemical processes in specific regions inside nominally opaque media.Comment: 21 pages, 4 figures, in submission. The first two authors contributed equally to this paper, and should be regarded as co-first author

Depth-Targeted Energy Delivery Deep Inside Scattering Media

Diffusion makes it difficult to predict and control wave transport through a medium. Overcoming wave diffusion to deliver energy into a target region deep inside a diffusive system is an important challenge for applications, but also represents an interesting fundamental question. It is known that coherently controlling the incident wavefront allows diffraction-limited focusing inside a diffusive system, but in many applications, the targets are significantly larger than a focus and the maximum deliverable energy remains unknown. Here we introduce the \u27deposition matrix\u27, which maps an input wavefront to the internal field distribution, and we theoretically predict the ultimate limit on energy enhancement at any depth. Additionally, we find that the maximum obtainable energy enhancement occurs at three-fourths the thickness of the diffusive system, regardless of its scattering strength. We experimentally verify our predictions by measuring the deposition matrix in two-dimensional diffusive waveguides. The experiment gives direct access to the internal field distribution from the third dimension, and we can excite the eigenstates to enhance or suppress the energy within an extended target region. Our analysis reveals that such enhancement or suppression results from both selective transmission-eigenchannel excitation and constructive or destructive interference among these channels

Delivering Broadband Light Deep Inside Diffusive Media

Wavefront shaping enables targeted delivery of coherent light into random-scattering media, such as biological tissue, by constructive interference of scattered waves. However, broadband waves have short coherence times, weakening the interference effect. Here, we introduce a broadband deposition matrix that identifies a single input wavefront that maximizes the broadband energy delivered to an extended target deep inside a diffusive system. We experimentally demonstrate that long-range spatial and spectral correlations result in a six-fold energy enhancement for targets containing more than 1500 speckle grains and located at a depth of up to ten transport mean free paths, even when the coherence time is an order of magnitude shorter than the diffusion dwell time of light in the scattering sample. In the broadband (fast decoherence) limit, enhancement of energy delivery to extended targets becomes nearly independent of the target depth and dissipation. Our experiments, numerical simulations, and analytic theory establish the fundamental limit for broadband energy delivery deep into a diffusive system, which has important consequences for practical applications.Comment: 17 pages, 10 figure

Angular Memory Effect of Transmission Eigenchannels

The optical memory effect has emerged as a powerful tool for imaging through multiple-scattering media; however, the finite angular range of the memory effect limits the field of view. Here, we demonstrate experimentally that selective coupling of incident light into a high-transmission channel increases the angular memory-effect range. This enhancement is attributed to the robustness of the high-transmission channels against perturbations such as sample tilt or wave front tilt. Our work shows that the high-transmission channels provide an enhanced field of view for memory-effect-based imaging through diffusive media

Towards a random laser with cold atoms

Atoms can scatter light and they can also amplify it by stimulated emission. From this simple starting point, we examine the possibility of realizing a random laser in a cloud of laser-cooled atoms. The answer is not obvious as both processes (elastic scattering and stimulated emission) seem to exclude one another: pumping atoms to make them behave as amplifier reduces drastically their scattering cross-section. However, we show that even the simplest atom model allows the efficient combination of gain and scattering. Moreover, supplementary degrees of freedom that atoms offer allow the use of several gain mechanisms, depending on the pumping scheme. We thus first study these different gain mechanisms and show experimentally that they can induce (standard) lasing. We then present how the constraint of combining scattering and gain can be quantified, which leads to an evaluation of the random laser threshold. The results are promising and we draw some prospects for a practical realization of a random laser with cold atoms.Comment: Accepcted for publication by J. Opt. A for the special issue on nanolasers and random lasers (to be published early 2010

Lumière dans les milieux atomiques désordonnés : théorie des matrices euclidiennes et lasers aléatoires

This thesis is devoted to the study of the properties of light emitted by a collection of atomic scatterers distributed at random positions in Euclidean space and interacting with the electromagnetic field. In this respect, an ab initio analytic theory of random lasing is formulated in terms of the statistical properties of the so-called `Green's matrix'. The latter belongs to the family of Euclidean random matrices (ERM's), for which we develop an analytic theory giving access to their eigenvalue distribution. First, we derive quantum microscopic equations for the electric field and atomic operators, and show how the non-Hermitian Green's matrix (a matrix with elements equal to the Green's function of the Hemholtz equation between pairs of atoms in the system) emerges in the quantum formalism. We provide expressions for the intensity and the spectrum of light in terms of the properties of the Green's matrix, characterize quantum Langevin forces, and reveal how the semiclassical random laser threshold is washed out by quantum fluctuations (chapters 2 and 3). A mesoscopic and semiclassical description of light scattered by an arbitrary large number of pumped atoms randomly distributed in free space is the subject of chapter 4. After deriving a universal lasing threshold condition valid for any configuration of atoms, we provide a microscopic derivation of transport equation in the presence of gain, discuss various approximations of the latter (Bethe-Salpeter, Boltzmann, diffusion equations), reveal a mapping to ERM's, and analyze the lasing threshold condition inferred from the transport equation. Facing the problem of characterizing analytically the statistical properties of the Green's matrix, we develop in chapters 5 and 6 a theory for Hermitian and non-Hermitian ERM's in the limit of large matrix size. We obtain self-consistent equations for the resolvent and the eigenvector correlator of arbitrary ERM and apply our results to three different ERM's relevant to wave propagation in random media: the three-dimensionnal Green's matrix, its imaginary part and its real part. From a physical point of view, we are able to describe analytically with a fair precision the full probability distribution of decay rates of light emitted by a large number of atoms, as well as of the collective frequency shift induced by the light-matter interaction. In addition, we promote the idea that the eigenvalue distribution of the Green's matrix can serve as a map on which signatures of various regimes of disorder can be distinguished (ballistic, diffusive, localized, effective medium, and superradiance regimes). Finally, we combine microscopic equations of motion of light-matter interaction with our results for non-Hermitian ERM's to tackle the problem of random lasing. Lasing threshold and the intensity of laser emission are calculated analytically in the semiclassical approximation, and the spectrum of light below threshold is computed by taking into account quantum effects. Our theory applies all the way from low to high density of atoms.Cette thèse présente une étude des propriétés de la lumière émise par des diffuseurs atomiques distribués aléatoirement dans l'espace euclidien, et interagissant avec le champ électromagnétique. Dans ce cadre, une théorie ab initio des lasers aléatoires est formulée en terme des propriétés statistiques de la `matrice de Green'. Cette dernière appartient à la famille des matrices aléatoires euclidiennes (MAE) pour lesquelles nous développons une théorie analytique donnant notamment accès à la distribution de probabilité de leurs valeurs propres. Dans un premier temps, nous démontrons les équations quantiques microscopiques régissant la dynamique du champ électrique ainsi que celle des opérateurs atomiques, et explicitons comment la matrice de Green (dont les éléments sont égaux à la fonction de Green de l'équation de Helmholtz évaluée entre les différentes paires d'atomes constituant le milieu) émerge naturellement du formalisme quantique. Nous exprimons à la fois l'intensité et le spectre de la lumière en termes des propriétés de la matrice de Green, caractérisons les forces de Langevin quantiques, et montrons de quelle manière le seuil semi-classique d'un laser aléatoire est affecté par la prise en considération des fluctuations quantiques (chapitres 2 et 3). Une description mésoscopique et semi-classique de la lumière diffusée par un grand nombre d'atomes soumis à une pompe externe et distribués aléatoirement dans l'espace libre est présentée dans le quatrième chapitre. Après avoir établi une condition de seuil laser universelle, valide quelle que soit la configuration des atomes, nous démontrons une équation de transport obéie par l'intensité moyenne en présence de gain, discutons différentes approximations de cette dernière (équation de Bethe-Salpeter, équation de Boltzmann, équation de diffusion), établissons un `mapping' avec les MAE, et analysons la condition de seuil laser déduite de l'équation de transport. Poussés par la volonté de caractériser analytiquement les propriétés statistiques de la matrice de Green, nous développons dans les chapitres 5 et 6 une théorie générale des MAE, hermitiennes et non hermitiennes, valide dans la limite de grande taille matricielle. Nous obtenons des équations couplées pour la résolvante et le corrélateur des vecteur propres d'une MAE arbitraire, puis testons la validité de nos résultats sur trois matrices jouant un rôle important dans l'étude de la propagation des ondes en milieux désordonnés: la matrice de Green dans l'espace tridimensionnel, sa partie imaginaire, et sa partie réelle. D'un point de vue physique, nous sommes capables de décrire analytiquement avec une bonne précision la distribution de probabilité des taux d'émission lumineux dus à un grand nombre d'atomes, ainsi que celle du déplacement lumineux collectif dû à l'interaction lumière-matière. Par ailleurs, nous proposons d'utiliser la distribution des valeurs propres de la matrice de Green non hermitienne comme une carte unique sur laquelle peuvent s'identifier différents régimes de désordre (balistique, diffusif, localisé, milieu effectif, superradiance). Finalement, nous combinons les équations microscopiques de l'interaction lumière-matière avec nos résultats relatifs aux MAE non-hermitiennes afin de caractériser dans le détail le comportement des lasers aléatoires. Le seuil laser ainsi que l'intensité au delà du seuil sont calculés analytiquement dans l'approximation semi-classique, et le spectre de la lumière sous le seuil est évalué en prenant en compte les effets quantiques. Notre théorie s'applique aussi bien à basse densité qu'à haute densité de diffuseurs atomiques