Manipulating the transmission matrix of scattering media for nonlinear imaging beyond the memory effect

The measurement of the Transmission Matrix (TM) of a scattering medium is of great interest for imaging. It can be acquired directly by interferometry using an internal reference wavefront. Unfortunately, internal reference fields are scattered by the medium which results in a speckle that makes the TM measurement heterogeneous across the output field of view. We demonstrate how to correct for this effect using the intrinsic properties of the TM. For thin scattering media, we exploit the memory effect of the medium and the reference speckle to create a corrected TM. For highly scattering media where the memory effect is negligible, we use complementary reference speckles to compose a new TM, not compromised by the speckled reference anymore. Using this correction, we demonstrate large field of view second harmonic generation imaging through thick biological media

Enhanced nonlinear imaging through scattering media using transmission matrix based wavefront shaping

Despite the tremendous progresses in wavefront control through or inside complex scattering media, several limitations prevent reaching practical feasibility for nonlinear imaging in biological tissues. While the optimization of nonlinear signals might suffer from low signal to noise conditions and from possible artifacts at large penetration depths, it has nevertheless been largely used in the multiple scattering regime since it provides a guide star mechanism as well as an intrinsic compensation for spatiotemporal distortions. Here, we demonstrate the benefit of Transmission Matrix (TM) based approaches under broadband illumination conditions, to perform nonlinear imaging. Using ultrashort pulse illumination with spectral bandwidth comparable but still lower than the spectral width of the scattering medium, we show strong nonlinear enhancements of several orders of magnitude, through thicknesses of a few transport mean free paths, which corresponds to millimeters in biological tissues. Linear TM refocusing is moreover compatible with fast scanning nonlinear imaging and potentially with acoustic based methods, which paves the way for nonlinear microscopy deep inside scattering media

Filtering of matter symmetry properties by circularly polarized nonlinear optics

International audienceWe propose a direct readout of symmetry information in matter using nonlinear optics. From combinations of circularly and longitudinally polarized optical fields, we construct irreducible spherical field tensors for second- and third-order nonlinear processes. The coupling of these field tensors to the matter susceptibility tensors allows filtering out of the susceptibility symmetries independently of the sample orientation in the laboratory frame. Experimental demonstrations are conducted on microcrystals, in a microscopy configuration compatible with symmetry order imaging

Quantitative analysis of light scattering in polarization-resolved nonlinear microscopy

International audiencePolarization resolved nonlinear microscopy (PRNM) is a powerful technique to gain microscopic structural information in biological media. However, deep imaging in a variety of biological specimens is hindered by light scattering phenomena, which not only degrades the image quality but also affects the polarization state purity. In order to quantify this phenomenon and give a framework for polarization resolved microscopy in thick scattering tissues, we develop a characterization methodology based on four wave mixing (FWM) process. More specifically, we take advantage of two unique features of FWM, meaning its ability to produce an intrinsic in-depth local coherent source and its capacity to quantify the presence of light depolarization in isotropic regions inside a sample. By exploring diverse experimental layouts in phantoms with different scattering properties, we study systematically the influence of scattering on the nonlinear excitation and emission processes. The results show that depolarization mechanisms for the nonlinearly generated photons are highly dependent on the scattering center size, the geometry used (epi/forward) and, most importantly, on the thickness of the sample. We show that the use of an un-analyzed detection makes the polarization-dependence read-out highly robust to scattering effects, even in regimes where imaging might be degraded. The effects are illustrated in polarization resolved imaging of myelin lipid organization in mouse spinal cord

Wide field fluorescence epi-microscopy behind a scattering medium enabled by speckle correlations

Fluorescence microscopy is widely used in biological imaging, however scattering from tissues strongly limits its applicability to a shallow depth. In this work we adapt a methodology inspired from stellar speckle interferometry, and exploit the optical memory effect to enable fluorescence microscopy through a turbid layer. We demonstrate efficient reconstruction of micrometer-size fluorescent objects behind a scattering medium in epi-microscopy, and study the specificities of this imaging modality (magnification, field of view, resolution) as compared to traditional microscopy. Using a modified phase retrieval algorithm to reconstruct fluorescent objects from speckle images, we demonstrate robust reconstructions even in relatively low signal to noise conditions. This modality is particularly appropriate for imaging in biological media, which are known to exhibit relatively large optical memory ranges compatible with tens of micrometers size field of views, and large spectral bandwidths compatible with emission fluorescence spectra of tens of nanometers widths

Coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering through thick biological tissues by single wavefront shaping

Coherent Anti Stokes Raman Scattering (CARS) offers many advantages for nonlinear bio-imaging, thanks to its sub-cellular spatial resolution and unique chemical specificity. Its working principle requires two incident pulsed laser beams with distinct frequencies to be focused in space and time, which focus quality however rapidly deteriorates when propagating at large depths in biological tissues. The depth limits of CARS and the capability of wavefront correction to overcome these limits are currently unknown. In this work we exploit the spectral correlation properties of the transmission matrix of a scattering medium in a pulsed regime, to recover coherent focusing for two distant incident CARS wavelengths which propagation is initially uncorrelated. Using wavefront shaping with a single spatial light modulator, we recover CARS generation through thick mice spinal cord tissues where initially no signal is measurable due to scattering, and demonstrate point scanning over large field of views of tens of micrometers.Comment: 25 pages, 7 figure

Periodic skyrmionic textures via conformal cartographic projections

We find periodic skyrmionic textures via conformal cartographic projections that map either an entire spherical parameter space or a hemisphere onto every regular polygon that provides regular tessellations of the plane. These maps preserve the sign of the Skyrme density throughout the entire space. We implement these textures in the polarization state of a laser beam, and demonstrate that paraxial fields where a periodic texture preserving the sign of the Skyrme density is implemented in the polarization state distribution unavoidably exhibit zeros