Light Field Research Articles

Focal volume optics for composite structuring in transparent solids

Abstract Achieving high-level integration of composite micro-nano structures with different structural characteristics through a minimalist and universal process has long been the goal pursued by advanced manufacturing research but is rarely explored due to the absence of instructive mechanisms. Here, we revealed a controllable ultrafast laser-induced focal volume light field and experimentally succeeded in highly efficient one-step composite structuring in multiple transparent solids. A pair of spatially coupled twin periodic structures reflecting light distribution in the focal volume are simultaneously created and independently tuned by engineering ultrafast laser-matter interaction. We demonstrated that the generated composite micro-nano structures are applicable to multi-dimensional information integration, nonlinear diffractive elements, and multi-functional optical modulation. This work presents the experimental verification of highly universal all-optical fabrication of composite micro-nano structures with independent controllability in multiple degrees of freedom, expands the current cognition of ultrafast laser-based material modification in transparent solids, and establishes a new scientific aspect of strong-field optics, namely, focal volume optics for composite structuring transparent solids.

Vortex light field microscopy: 3D spectral single-molecule imaging with a twist

3D single-molecule imaging reveals nanoscale structures in cell volumes but is limited by the need for spectrally distinct fluorophores. We address this limitation with vortex light field microscopy (VLFM), a 3D spectral single-molecule localization technique with 25 nm spatial and 3 nm spectral precision over a 4 µm depth of field. By modifying our previous single-molecule light field microscope with an azimuthally oriented prism array, we generated spectral disparity orthogonal to axial disparity, enabling simultaneous spatial and spectral localization on a single detector. We demonstrate VLFM with four-color 3D single-particle tracking and two-color 3D dSTORM imaging in fixed cells, successfully identifying dyes with spectral peaks just 15 nm apart. This shows VLFM’s potential for enhancing spatial biology workflows requiring highly multiplexed imaging.

Ultra-broadband achromaticity of metalens with low-relative phase enabled by wide-band fusion

Metalenses have a high design degree of freedom in controlling the light field and excellent performance in chromatic aberration elimination. However, in designing ultra-broadband achromatic metalenses, integrating multiple types of unit structures is necessary to compensate for phase differences caused by different incident wavelengths. Here, we propose an ultra-broadband achromatic metalens composed only of a single type of square nano-pillar. which controls the entire operating band by utilizing three wide-band fusions, and have characteristics depending on the phase coverage and relative phase. In the operational range of 2–5 μm, the achromatic metalens demonstrates a maximum focal shift of 2.1 μm. The average focal shift is 0.98 %, the average NA value is 0.35, with an average relative phase of 0.77π. The average transmittance and focus efficiency are 94.17 % and 58.7 %, respectively. This broad-spectrum fusion design strategy simplifies manufacturing complexity while maintaining high focusing efficiency and transmittance levels throughout the entire operational bandwidth. This design approach can improve image resolution and quality by minimizing chromatic aberration.

Wigner function and intensity moments of spatio-temporal light fields

Abstract The Wigner distribution function and its spatial-angular moments (intensity-moments) are known as efficient instruments for characterization of complex quasimonochromatic light beams and their transformations. In this paper, the generalization of the WF-based approach to spatio-temporal (ST) light fields (wave packets, short pulses) is considered. It is shown that the ST intensity moments are related with the important characteristics of the wave-packet structure, especially, with the transverse orbital angular momentum (OAM) being a specific feature of the ST optical vortices (STOV). The ST moments’ transformations in a paraxial optical system obey simple and unified rules involving the ray-transfer ABCD-matrix of the system. On this base, and with simple examples of the OAM-carrying optical pulses, the schemes and mechanisms of the STOV generation and transformation are presented. Examples of non-vortex ST wave packets with the transverse OAM, their possible realizations are discussed as well as the relations between the OAM and the visible pulse rotations. The regular and unified formalism, developed in this paper, can be generalized and applied to more complex situations where the ST field propagates through inhomogeneous and random (scattering) media.

Continuous focus field strength adjustment in scattered field based on the third-order correlation of light fields

Continuous focus field strength adjustment in scattered field based on the third-order correlation of light fields

3D reconstruction from focus for lensless imaging

The lensless camera is an ultra-thin imaging system that utilizes encoding elements instead of lenses to perceive the light field and reconstruct it through computational methods. Early studies have demonstrated that lensless cameras can encode 3D scenes at various depths in caustic patterns with varying sizes, known as point spread functions (PSFs). By deconvolving measurements with these PSFs, the reconstruction exhibits distinct focusing effects: objects in the focal plane appear sharp, while objects in other planes become blurred. Building upon this feature, we propose a feedforward network based on depth from focus to generate the depth map and the all-in-focus image by reconstructing the focal stack and deriving the probability of pixel clarity. Using our optimization framework, we present superior and more stable depth estimation than previous methods in both simulated data and real measurements captured by our lensless camera.

Light attenuation parameterization in a highly turbid mega estuary and its impact on the coastal planktonic ecosystem

Light is essential for phytoplankton photosynthesis and many other biogeochemical processes in the aquatic system. However, light regimes vary greatly in the estuaries and coasts due to the optical complexity of the Case-2 waters. In this study, observed vertical profiles of photosynthetically active radiation (PAR; 400-700 nm) in a highly turbid mega estuary, the Changjiang (Yangtze River) Estuary, are used to quantify the effects of sedimentary and biogeochemical components on PAR attenuation in the water column and associated ecological impacts. The in-situ data suggest suspended sediment plays the most crucial role in light diffuse attenuation coefficient (Kd) distribution, followed by salinity (i.e., an index for colored dissolved organic matter) and phytoplankton chlorophyll-a. A new parameterization of Kd, based on suspended sediment, chlorophyll-a concentration, and salinity, is fitted using multiple linear regression. The previous and new Kd parameterizations are further applied to a coupled hydrodynamics-sediment-ecosystem model to simulate spring phytoplankton blooms. Comparative model runs reveal that the new Kd parameterization resulted in a better representation of the spring bloom patterns in magnitude, horizontal distribution, and vertical thickness of the high chlorophyll-a band offshore the turbidity maximum zone during the spring bloom. In summary, accurate representations of underwater light fields in the optically complex Case-2 water are critical in understanding biophysical processes that control planktonic ecosystem dynamics in the estuaries and coastal seas.

Adaptive-modulated fast fluctuation super-resolution microscopy

Fluorescence microscopy has significantly advanced biological imaging at the nanoscale, particularly with the advent of super-resolution microscopy (SRM), which transcends the Abbe diffraction limit. Most cutting-edge SR methods require high-precision optical setups, which constrain the widespread adoption of SRM. Fluorescence fluctuation-based SRM (FF-SRM) can break the diffraction limit without complex optical components, making it particularly well-suited for biological imaging. However, conventional FF-SRM methods, such as super-resolution optical fluctuation imaging (SOFI), still require specific fluorescent molecular blinking properties. Instead of enhancing the intrinsic blinking characteristics by finding specific fluorescent markers, employing optical methods such as spatial light modulation to adjust the excitation light field allows for easier and more flexible matching of the on-time ratio with the analysis of temporal stochastic intensity fluctuations. Nevertheless, the specific parameters of the modulation patterns have not been thoroughly explored, despite their crucial influence on the reconstruction quality. Herein, we propose adaptive-modulated fast fluctuation super-resolution microscopy. Our method demonstrates theoretically and experimentally that restricting the size of modulation units in a certain range ensures better image quality with fewer artifacts and signal losses. We find it still significantly effective when applied to other FF-SRM. Overall, the further development of the adaptive modulation technique has made it more stable in behavior and maintained high-quality imaging, presenting broader prospects for super resolution imaging based on statistical analysis.

Autler-Townes splitting and linear dichroism in colloidal CdSe nanoplatelets driven by near-infrared pulses.

Coherent interaction between light fields and matter has led to many exotic physical phenomena, one of which is the Autler-Townes splitting originating from the optical Stark effect of a three-level system. It has been well documented for atoms, molecules, and low-dimensional, epitaxial-grown semiconductors but rarely for solution-processed samples. Here, we report on Autler-Townes splitting observed in CdSe nanoplatelets. The strong intersubband transition of these nanoplatelets situated in the near-infrared allows us to coherently drive it with femtosecond near-infrared pulses, and meanwhile, their strong interband transition in the visible records the resultant spectral changes. The splitting is most prominent with cross-polarized, linear pump-probe pulses, consistent with the orthogonal polarizations of interband and intersubband transition dipoles. When the nanoplatelets are driven from tilted incident angles, we observe anomalous spectral lineshapes arising from a competition between interband and intersubband drivings, which are nevertheless quantitatively captured by our dressed-state model simulation.

Three-dimensional reconstruction of light field based on phase restoration for highly reflective surfaces

Three-dimensional reconstruction of light field based on phase restoration for highly reflective surfaces

Fringe photometric stereo

In fringe projection profilometry (FPP), a high spatial frequency of fringe typically indicates powerful error suppression capability; however, it complicates phase unwrapping, necessitating a greater number of patterns and thus compromising the real-time performance of scanning. In this letter, we report a fringe photometric stereo (FPS) to completely bypass phase unwrapping for recovering the continuous 3D surface. We reveal the linear mapping relationship between the phase gradient and depth gradient, thereby facilitating the computation of depth gradients from phase gradients. Thus, we can employ depth gradients to reconstruct high-quality 3D profiles. Experimental results demonstrate that our FPS surpasses traditional phase-shifting profilometry in mitigating Gaussian noise. Our approach enables high-quality and unambiguous 3D reconstruction using single-frequency fringe patterns, relying solely on a camera and a projector without the need for dual, multiple, or light field cameras, thereby paving a path to high-speed and precision 3D imaging.

Beam quality measurement and image analysis of RF optical emission system

With the development of radio-over-fiber (ROF), beam quality is also an important parameter in evaluating ROF systems. Therefore, this paper selects the low-frequency to very high frequency (VHF) direct modulated optical emission system to verify its feasibility and excellent performance. It then analyzes the beam quality and image processing. In this paper, MATLAB is selected for the theoretical simulation, then CMOS is used to collect light spots, RayCiV2.5 is used to Gaussian fit the light field intensity distribution, and finally the ideal and actual light spot parameters are compared. Due to the influence of noise, this paper also preprocessed the image by brightness adjustment, filtering, edge fitting, etc. It proposed a fast two-sided filtering algorithm, which obtained a high peak signal-to-noise ratio (PSNR) and strong applicability. The results show that the edge-mode rejection ratio is as high as 33.6 dB, the beam quality is good, and it can be well applied in ROF. The M2 factor is 2.75, the optical field intensity Gaussian fit is 99.8 %, and the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) is as high as 54.7 dB. Moreover, the image is robust after fast bilateral filtering.

Adjustable viewpoint allocation for enhancing the viewing angle and reducing the crosstalk in super multi-view display.

In this Letter, we propose an adjustable viewpoint allocation method with forward and backward ray tracing to enhance the viewing angle and reduce the crosstalk in super multi-view (SMV) display. The synthetic image (SI) is initially calculated by backward ray tracing according to the viewing distance and the viewpoint interval. Forward ray tracing is then performed on the result of the viewpoint allocation to correct the deviation between the actual and the ideal viewpoint positions. Optical experiments are performed to verify the effectiveness of the proposed method. The results show that the proposed method effectively suppresses the crosstalk between viewpoints and eliminates artifacts in adjacent viewing areas within the ideal viewing angle, thereby enhancing the actual viewing angle. Meanwhile, due to the ability of reallocating information on the SI, the proposed method can achieve varying information density from different views. It is expected that our proposed method could be widely used in light field display to realize high quality display in the future.

Vector modulation of fully-polarized phase conjugate light field through scattering media

Vector modulation of the light field through scattering media holds significant scientific and application value in areas such as optical imaging, optical communications, nonlinear optics, and biomedicine. Digital optical phase conjugation (DOPC), grounded in the time reversal principle, has been extensively investigated for wavefront shaping in scattering media. Nonetheless, reports on vector modulation of phase conjugate beams via DOPC remain scarce. In this study, we propose a vector DOPC to recover and modulate the polarization state of the phase conjugate beams based on vector decomposition and superimposition of light field. First, pre-set two orthogonal polarization basis probe beams to pass through a multimode fiber and use digital holography to record the phase distribution of their orthogonal polarization components in the speckle field. Then, perform polarization-preserving phase conjugation and vector superposition of both components simultaneously. By altering the phase difference and amplitude ratio between the two, vector modulation of the synthesized phase conjugate beam can be achieved. Theoretical analysis aligns well with experimental results, demonstrating a positive impact on understanding the physical properties of scattering media and expanding the applications of the DOPC technique.

Pixel-wise matching cost function for robust light field depth estimation

Depth estimation has significant potential in industrial applications, such as robot navigation. Light Field (LF) technology captures both spatial and angular information of a scene, enabling precise depth acquisition. Stereo matching technology has been commonly used for this task in LF imaging. However, previous methods typically compute the matching cost by simply shifting images with predefined offsets, causing poor performance in regions with sudden depth distribution changes (e.g., edges). To address this issue, we propose a Pixel-wise Matching Cost Function (PMCF) to estimate depth in units of pixel, then design a pixel-based network, termed PixelNet, for depth prediction, which achieves top rankings on the HCI 4D light field benchmark. Specifically, our cost function consists of two modules: the range search strategy and the modulation mechanism. The range search strategy enables the network to iteratively optimize depth on a per-pixel basis, while the modulation mechanism effectively handles scene noise and occlusions. By integrating these two modules, our function enables the generation of depth maps with sharper edges and smoother surfaces, compared with previous methods. Finally, we design a pixel-based network and apply it to both synthetic and real-world scenes, demonstrating that our method outperforms state-of-the-art methods in both scenes. Furthermore, PixelNet can also function as a post-processing network that can be seamlessly integrated with existing methods for depth refinement.

Time Delays as Attosecond Probe of Interelectronic Coherence and Entanglement.

Attosecond chronoscopy enables the exploration of correlated electron dynamics in real time. One key observable of attosecond physics is the determination of "time zero" of photoionization, the time delay with which the wave packet of the ionized electron departs from the ionic core. This observable has become accessible by experimental advances in attosecond streaking and reconstruction of attosecond beating by interference of two-photon transitions (RABBIT) techniques. In this Letter, we explore photoionization time delays by strong extreme ultraviolet fields beyond the linear-response limit. We identify novel signatures in time delays signifying strong coupling between atoms and light fields and the light-field dressing of the ion. As a prototypical case, we study the interelectronic coherence and entanglement in helium driven by a strong extreme ultraviolet field. By the numerical solution of the time-dependent Schrödinger equation in its full dimensionality, we show that the time delay of the photoionized electron allows one to monitor the ultrafast variations of coherence dynamics and entanglement in real time.

Depth-resolved imaging through scattering media using time-gated light field tomography

Depth-resolved imaging through scattering media using time-gated light field tomography

Naked-eye light field display technology based on mini/micro light emitting diode panels: a systematic review and meta-analysis

The light field display technology based on panel light modulation has obvious industrial advantages. However, light field displays still causes discomfort for users in practical applications, due to issues such as angle of view, number of viewpoints, and crosstalk, etc. As a new type of high performance 2D display technology, mini/micro light emitting diode (MLED) has the potential to provide higher quality 3D display effects, but it may also bring new technological challenges. This paper provides a detailed investigation of technical principles and the latest research progress in light field display technology based on panel light modulation, and analyzes the industrial and academic research difficulties, which are brought about by the combination of MLED and naked-eye light field display. This paper is the first to complete a technical review specifically focused on MLED and naked-eye light field display, which is expected to accelerate the technological development and application process of naked-eye light field display based on MLED panels.

Controllable three-dimensional helical energy backflow in an optical focusing field.

The energy of light generally moves forward along the light propagation direction. However, in recent years, a counter-intuitive effect has been discovered that energy backflow can occur in certain special light fields. Presently, controlling the energy backflow of light for application requirements is becoming a significant challenge. Here we propose a method to generate and control a three-dimensional helical energy backflow (HEB) optical field. By designing an exponential helical conical phase mask, the energy backflow region in a common tightly focused field can be stretched into a three-dimensional helical shape with an ultra-long longitudinal length. The length of the HEB region can be flexibly extended up to 47.6λ by varying the exponential phase index and the initial topological charge. Furthermore, we demonstrate that nanoparticles within the HEB field are subjected to optical pulling forces, thereby drawing the nanoparticles back to the light source. This work presents a new, to the best of our knowledge, approach for the three-dimensional manipulation of the energy backflow field with potential applications in nanoparticle manipulation and detection.

Stretchable plasmonic metasurfaces for deformation monitoring

Abstract Metasurfaces have recently gained significant attention due to the strong capacity in light field manipulation. However, most traditional metasurfaces are fabricated on rigid substrates, which fix their functionality after fabrication and limit their applications in dynamic measurement fields. In this work, we designed and fabricated a silver metasurface embedded in a stretchable substrate for sensing applications. This metasurface can generate different point cloud patterns under varying stretch ratios when illuminated by a laser beam. By collecting and analyzing the patterns, we can precisely reconstruct the deformation of the metasurface. Furthermore, the sample exhibits excellent performance under incident light of various wavelengths. These results pave the way for developing microdevices with novel capabilities based on flexible metamaterials.