Single-Scattering Optical Tomography

We consider the problem of optical tomographic imaging in the mesoscopic regime where the photon mean free path is of order of the system size. Within the accuracy of the single-scattering approximation to the radiative transport equation, we show that it is possible to recover the extinction coefficient of an inhomogeneous medium from angularly-resolved measurements. Applications to biomedical imaging are described and illustrated with numerical simulations.Comment: Finalized and submitted to PR

Optical Magnetometer Incorporating Photonic Crystals

According to a proposal, photonic crystals would be used to greatly increase the sensitivities of optical magnetometers that are already regarded as ultrasensitive. The proposal applies, more specifically, to a state-of-the-art type of quantum coherent magnetometer that exploits the electromagnetically-induced-transparency (EIT) method for determining a small change in a magnetic field indirectly via measurement of the shift, induced by that change, in the hyperfine levels of resonant atoms exposed to the field

Single-Scattering Optical Tomography: Simultaneous Reconstruction of Scattering and Absorption

We demonstrate that simultaneous reconstruction of scattering and absorption of a mesoscopic system using angularly-resolved measurements of scattered light intensity is possible. Image reconstruction is realized based on the algebraic inversion of a generalized Radon transform relating the scattering and absorption coefficients of the medium to the measured light intensity and derived using the single-scattering approximation to the radiative transport equation.Comment: This is a sequel to physics/070311

Inversion formulas for the broken-ray Radon transform

We consider the inverse problem of the broken ray transform (sometimes also referred to as the V-line transform). Explicit image reconstruction formulas are derived and tested numerically. The obtained formulas are generalizations of the filtered backprojection formula of the conventional Radon transform. The advantages of the broken ray transform include the possibility to reconstruct the absorption and the scattering coefficients of the medium simultaneously and the possibility to utilize scattered radiation which, in the case of the conventional X-ray tomography, is typically discarded.Comment: To be submitted to Inverse Problem

Novel hybrid organic/inorganic 2D quasiperiodic PC: from diffraction pattern to vertical light extraction

Recently, important efforts have been dedicated to the realization of a fascinating class of new photonic materials or metamaterials, known as photonic quasicrystals (PQCs), in which the lack of the translational symmetry is compensated by rotational symmetries not achievable by the conventional periodic crystals. As ever, more advanced functionality is demanded and one strategy is the introduction of non-linear and/or active functionality in photonic materials. In this view, core/shell nanorods (NRs) are a promising active material for light-emitting applications. In this article a two-dimensional (2D) hybrid a 2D octagonal PQC which consists of air rods in an organic/inorganic nanocomposite is proposed and experimentally demonstrated. The nanocomposite was prepared by incorporating CdSe/CdS core/shell NRs into a polymer matrix. The PQC was realized by electron beam lithography (EBL) technique. Scanning electron microscopy, far field diffraction and spectra measurements are used to characterize the experimental structure. The vertical extraction of the light, by the coupling of the modes guided by the PQC slab to the free radiation via Bragg scattering, consists of a narrow red emissions band at 690 nm with a full width at half-maximum (FWHM) of 21.5 nm. The original characteristics of hybrid materials based on polymers and colloidal NRs, able to combine the unique optical properties of the inorganic moiety with the processability of the host matrix, are extremely appealing in view of their technological impact on the development of new high performing optical devices such as organic light-emitting diodes, ultra-low threshold lasers, and non-linear devices

Semiclassical model of stimulated Raman scattering in photonic crystals

We study the stimulated Raman scattering (SRS) of light from an atomic system embedded in a photonic crystal and coherently pumped by a laser field. In our study, the electromagnetic field is treated classically and the atomic system is described quantum mechanically. Considering a decomposition of the pump and Stokes fields into the Bloch modes of the photonic crystals and using a multiscale analysis, we derive the Maxwell-Bloch equations for SRS in photonic crystals. These equations contain effective parameters that characterize the SRS gain, the nonlinear atomic response to the electromagnetic field, and the group velocity and that can be calculated in terms of the Bloch modes of the unperturbed photonic crystal. We show that if the pump laser frequency is tuned near a photonic band edge and the atomic system is carefully chosen such that the Stokes mode matches another photonic band edge, low-threshold, enhanced Raman amplification is possible. Possible physical realizations of SRS in photonic crystals are also discussed

Nonreciprocal broken ray transforms with applications to fluorescence imaging

Broken ray transforms (BRTs) are typically considered to be reciprocal, meaning that the transform is independent of the direction in which a photon travels along a given broken ray. However, if the photon can change its energy (or be absorbed and re-radiated at a different frequency) at the vertex of the ray, then reciprocity is lost. In optics, non-reciprocal BRTs are applicable to imaging problems with fluorescent contrast agents. In the case of x-ray imaging, problems with single Compton scattering also give rise to non-reciprocal BRTs. In this paper, we focus on tomographic optical fluorescence imaging and show that, by reversing the path of a photon and using the non-reciprocity of the data function, we can reconstruct simultaneously and independently all optical properties of the medium (the intrinsic attenuation coefficients at the excitation and the fluorescence frequency and the concentration of the contrast agent). Our results are also applicable to inverting BRTs that arise due to single Compton scattering

Improving solar cell efficiency using photonic band-gap materials

The potential of using photonic crystal structures for realizing highly efficient and reliable solar-cell devices is presented. We show that due their ability to modify the spectral and angular characteristics of thermal radiation, photonic crystals emerge as one of the leading candidates for frequency- and angular-selective radiating elements in thermophotovoltaic devices. We show that employing photonic crystal-based angle- and frequency-selective absorbers facilitates a strong enhancement of the conversion efficiency of solar cell devices without using concentrators. © 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved