Complex shaping of the depth of focus

In this manuscript an exact solution to the inverse problem of axial beam shaping along the focus of a convergent lens is found. This allows to extend, within the framework of the scalar theory of diffraction, the mathematical formalism of complex pupils to include axial phase modulation. Numerical simulations based on Fourier transform as well as convolution operations indicate that amplitude and phase modulation can be performed simultaneously. It is also shown that include or not phase modulation in the beam shaping process can increase its efficiency more than three times. In addition, an analytical expression for the Gouy phase that depends on the introduced phase modulation was also derived. It is expected that obtained results benefit many photonic applications involving the control and manipulation of light along the focal region

Fractal Generalized Zone Plates

The construction of fractal generalized zone plates (FraGZPs) from a set of periodic diffractive optical elements with circular symmetry is proposed. This allows us to increase the number of foci of a conventional fractal zone plate (FraZP), keeping the self-similarity property within the axial irradiance. The focusing properties of these fractal diffractive optical elements for points not only along but also in the close vicinity of the optical axis are investigated. In both cases analytical expressions for the irradiance are derived. Numerical simulations of the energetic efficiency of FraGZPs under plane wave illumination are carried out. In addition, some effects on the axial irradiance caused by the variation in area of their transparent rings are shown.Comment: Submitted to Optics Express, 200

Encoding of arbitrary micrometric complex illumination patterns with reduced speckle

In nonlinear microscopy, phase-only spatial light modulators (SLMs) allow achieving simultaneous two-photon excitation and fluorescence emission from specific regionof-interests (ROIs). However, as iterative Fourier transform algorithms (IFTAs) can only approximate the illumination of selected ROIs, both image formation and/or signal acquisition can be largely affected by the spatial irregularities of the illumination patterns and the speckle noise. To overcome these limitations, we propose an alternative complex illumination method (CIM) able to generate simultaneous excitation of large-area ROIs with full control over the amplitude and phase of light and reduced speckle. As a proof-of-concept we experimentally demonstrate single-photon and second harmonic generation (SHG) with structured illumination over large-area ROIs

Effects of mitigation of pixel crosstalk in the encoding of complex fields using the double-phase method

We report on unwanted effects of pixel cross-talk and its mitigation on the experimental realization of the double-phase method with phase-only spatial light modulators. We experimentally demonstrate that a generalized sampling scheme can reduce nonuniform phase modulation due to the pixel cross-talk phenomenon and, consequently, improve the quality of amplitude and phase images obtained with this encoding method. To corroborate our proposal, several experiments to reconstruct amplitude-only as well as fully independent amplitude and phase patterns under different spatial sampling schemes were carried out. We also show how a convenient implementation of the well-known polarization-based phase-shifting technique can be employed to measure the encoded complex field using only a conventional CMOS camera

Encoding complex fields by using a phase-only optical element

We show that the amplitude and phase information from a two-dimensional complex field can be synthesized from a phase-only optical element with micrometric resolution. The principle of the method is based on the combination of two spatially sampled phase elements by using a low-pass filter at the Fourier plane of a 4 - f optical system. The proposed encoding technique was theoretically demonstrated, as well as experimentally validated with the help of a phase-only spatial light modulator for phase encoding, a conventional CMOS camera to measure the amplitude of the complex field, and a Shack-Hartmann wavefront sensor to determine its phase.This work was funded by the Generalitat Valenciana through the programme (PROMETEO/2012/021), and by University Jaume I through the project P1·1B2013-53. The authors are also very grateful to the SCIC of the Universitat Jaume I for the use of the femtosecond laser

Diffractive digital lensless holographic microscopy with fine spectral tuning

We experimentally demonstrate an all-diffractive optical setup for digital lensless holographic microscopy with easy wavelength line selection and micrometric resolution. In the proposed system, an ultrashort laser pulse is focused with a diffractive lens (DL) onto a pinhole of diameter close to its central wavelength to achieve a highly spatially coherent illumination cone as well as a spectral line with narrow width. To scan the complete spectrum of the light source the DL is displaced with respect to the pinhole plane. The proposed microscopy setup allows us to spectrally separate contributions from different sections of a sample, which may be attractive for several applications in life sciences

Second-harmonic illumination to enhance multispectral digital lensless holographic microscopy

Multispectral digital lensless holographic microscopy (MDLHM) operating with second-harmonic illumination is shown. Added to the improvement of the spatial resolution of the previously reported MDLHM operating with near-infrared illumination, this second-harmonic MDLHM shows promise as a tool to study the behavior of biological samples under a broad spectral illumination. This illumination is generated by focusing a highly spatially coherent ultrashort pulsed radiation into an uncoated Type 1 β-BaB2O4 (BBO) nonlinear crystal. The second-harmonic MDLHM allows achieving multispectral images of biological samples with enhanced micrometer spatial resolution. The illumination wavelength of the second-harmonic MDLHM can be tuned by displacing a focusing optics with respect to a pinhole; spatially resolved information at different wavelengths of the sample can then be retrieved.Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (MINECO) (FI2013-40666-P); Generalitat Valenciana (ISIC 2012/03, PROMETEO 2012-021); Universitat Jaume I (P1-1B2012-55); Universidad Nacional de Colombia (UN) (Hermes 28751)