Rayleigh Range Research Articles

Optical Guiding in 50-Meter-Scale Air Waveguides

The distant projection of high-peak and average-power laser beams in the atmosphere is a long-standing goal with a wide range of applications. Our early proof-of-principle experiments [Phys. Rev. X 4, 011027 (2014)] presented one solution to this problem, employing the energy deposition of femtosecond filaments in air to sculpt millisecond-lifetime sub-meter-length air waveguides. Here, we demonstrate air waveguiding at the 50-m scale, 60×longer, making many practical applications now possible. We employ a new method for filament energy deposition: multifilamentation of Laguerre-Gaussian LG01 “donut” modes. We first investigate the detailed physics of this scheme over a shorter 8-m in-lab propagation range corresponding to 13 Rayleigh lengths of the guided pulse. We then use these results to demonstrate optical guiding over 45 m in the hallway adjacent to the lab, corresponding to 70 Rayleigh lengths. Injection of a continuous-wave probe beam into these waveguides demonstrates very long lifetimes of tens of milliseconds.3 MoreReceived 9 August 2022Revised 30 November 2022Accepted 7 December 2022DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevX.13.011006Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article’s title, journal citation, and DOI.Published by the American Physical SocietyPhysics Subject Headings (PhySH)Research AreasAngular momentum of lightLight-matter interactionNonlinear opticsOptics & lasersUltrafast opticsInterdisciplinary PhysicsAtomic, Molecular & Optical

Intense vortical-field generation using coherent superposition of multiple vortex beams

Coherent beam combining technology applied to multiple vortex beams is a promising method to generate high-power vortex beams. We utilize the coherent combination of multiple Laguerre-Gaussian beams at the waist plane and propose theoretically a practical generation system for a high-power beam carrying orbital angular momentum by considering oblique incidence. The results demonstrate that the orbital angular momentum distribution of the combined field is similar to that of a single Laguerre-Gaussian beam within the Rayleigh length. Moreover, the combined field has relativistic intensity local spots that exhibit stable spatial propagation. The proposed system may potentially be applied to intense vortical fields, large scale nuclear fusion device, such as suppressing stimulated Raman scattering and filamentation when a laser beam propagates in plasma.

Laser Scribing of Graphene Oxide Using Bessel Beam for Humidity Sensing

Laser-scribed graphene oxide (GO) shows great promise for high-performance, cost-effective humidity sensors. However, when using the commonly employed Gaussian beam, the Rayleigh length is relatively short, leading to potential stability issues during large-area processing, especially when defocusing occurs. In this paper, we utilize a diffraction-free Bessel beam to one-step fabricate reduced graphene oxide (rGO) electrodes specifically designed for humidity sensing applications. The effects of defocusing and laser power on the line width and resistance of the fabricated electrodes are investigated, giving the optimal processing parameters for Bessel laser writing of GO. The line width, resistance, and sheet resistance of the rGO electrode are stable at a defocusing distance within ±1.00 mm. Defocusing also proves to be effective in reducing the ablation region during the fabrication process. The temperature and humidity responses of the electrodes are examined, focusing on those fabricated with typical defocusing settings, and the related mechanisms are discussed. Proof-of-principle rGO/GO/rGO humidity sensors are demonstrated, and were one-step fabricated using a Bessel beam with both focusing and defocusing settings. The corresponding humidity response results evidence that rGO humidity sensors can be fabricated using a Bessel beam, even in the defocusing cases. The investigation into the Bessel-beam-based laser fabrication technique offers promising prospects for rapid, flexible, and cost-effective production of graphene-based humidity sensors. Meanwhile, the study of defocusing may enhance the fabrication stability to withstand defocusing conditions effectively.

Generation of a curved plasma channel from a discharged capillary for intense laser guiding

Abstract Straight plasma channels are widely used to guide relativistic intense laser pulses over several Rayleigh lengths for laser wakefield acceleration. Recently, a curved plasma channel with gradually varied curvature was suggested to guide a fresh intense laser pulse and merge it into a straight channel for staged wakefield acceleration [Phys. Rev. Lett. 120, 154801 (2018)]. In this work, we report the generation of such a curved plasma channel from a discharged capillary. Both longitudinal and transverse density distributions of the plasma inside the channel were diagnosed by analyzing the discharging spectroscopy. Effects of the gas-filling mode, back pressure and discharging voltage on the plasma density distribution inside the specially designed capillary are studied. Experiments show that a longitudinally uniform and transversely parabolic plasma channel with a maximum channel depth of 47.5 μm and length of 3 cm can be produced, which is temporally stable enough for laser guiding. Using such a plasma channel, a laser pulse with duration of 30 fs has been successfully guided along the channel with the propagation direction bent by 10.4°.

Deep learning enhanced NIR-II volumetric imaging of whole mice vasculature

Fluorescence imaging through the second near-infrared window (NIR-II,1000–1700 nm) allows in-depth imaging. However, current imaging systems use wide-field illumination and can only provide low-contrast 2D information, without depth resolution. Here, we systematically apply a light-sheet illumination, a time-gated detection, and a deep-learning algorithm to yield high-contrast high-resolution volumetric images. To achieve a large FoV (field of view) and minimize the scattering effect, we generate a light sheet as thin as 100.5 μm with a Rayleigh length of 8 mm to yield an axial resolution of 220 µm. To further suppress the background, we time-gate to only detect long lifetime luminescence achieving a high contrast of up to 0.45 <italic>Ι</italic>_contrast. To enhance the resolution, we develop an algorithm based on profile protrusions detection and a deep neural network and distinguish vasculature from a low-contrast area of 0.07 <italic>Ι</italic>_contrast to resolve the 100 μm small vessels. The system can rapidly scan a volume of view of 75 × 55 × 20 mm³ and collect 750 images within 6 mins. By adding a scattering-based modality to acquire the 3D surface profile of the mice skin, we reveal the whole volumetric vasculature network with clear depth resolution within more than 1 mm from the skin. High-contrast large-scale 3D animal imaging helps us expand a new dimension in NIR-II imaging.

Advanced Mapping of Optically-Blind and Optically-Active Nitrogen Chemical Impurities in Natural Diamonds

Natural diamonds with a rich variety of optically blind and optically active nitrogen impurity centers were explored at a nano/microscale on the surface and in bulk by a number of advanced chemical and structural analytical tools in order to achieve a comprehensive characterization by establishing enlightening links between their analysis results. First, novel compositional relationships were established between high-energy X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and low-energy Fourier-transform infrared vibrational spectroscopy (FT-IR) signals of nitrogen impurity defects acquired in the microscopy mode at the same positions of the diamond surface, indicating the verification XPS modality for qualitative and quantitative FT-IR analysis of high concentrations of nitrogen and other chemical impurity defects in diamond. Second, depth-dependent spatial distributions of diverse photoluminescence (PL)-active nitrogen defects were acquired in the confocal scanning mode in an octahedral diamond and then for the first time corrected to the related Raman signals of the carbon lattice to rule out artefacts of the confocal parameter and to reveal different micron-scale ontogenetic layers in the impurity distributions on its surface. Third, intriguing connections between local structural micro-scale defects (dislocation slip bands of plastic deformation zones) visualized by optical microscopy and Raman microspectroscopy, and related distributions of stress-sensitive PL-active nitrogen impurity defects in the proximity of these planes inside bulk diamonds were revealed. These findings demonstrate the broad instrumental opportunities for comprehensive in situ studies of the chemical, structural, and mechanical micro-features in diamonds, from the surface into bulk.

Galvanometer driven optical system for laser dynamic focusing.

This paper proposes a novel dynamic focusing module driven by galvanometers to position the laser focus with high speed and high precision. Thanks to the extremely high repeatability and the fast response time of galvanometers, the repeatability of the laser focus positioning is far less than the Rayleigh length of the beam and its response time is around 600 µs. An important feature of the proposed module lies in that it can be further integrated to an XY galvo scanner to realize a 3-axis laser scanning system. Due to the same galvanometers of the dynamic focus module and the XY scanner, the laser focus could be positioned in a simultaneous, rapid and precise manner in all three axes. Various simulation and experimental results demonstrate the feasibility and performance of the proposed dynamic focus module and the processing capability of the 3-axis scanning system with the proposed module.

Influence of the focusing characteristics of near-infrared lasers on the maintenance of plasma luminescence

The interaction of 980-nm continuous laser radiation with the plasma of a continuous optical discharge in xenon lamps at a pressure of p = 12 atm has been studied. The threshold power and characteristics of the laser required to sustain the xenon plasma became our focus. According to the theory of Gaussian beam propagation, the laser parameters after collimation and focusing are obtained by combining ZEMAX simulation and the actual measurement. The influence of the beam waist ω0, which determines the power density distribution at focus, and the Rayleigh range Z0, which determines the energy concentration range, on the threshold maintenance power is expounded. The results show that there is a threshold power density for the generation of plasma, whose value is about 1,500–2,000 W/mm2, and that the threshold maintenance power of the plasma shows an overall decreasing trend with decreasing ω0. When ω0 is reduced to a higher power density that can easily maintain the thermodynamic equilibrium process of the plasma, the mismatch between Z0 and the plasma size caused by the decrease in Z0 makes the threshold power tend to be stable and increasing.

Optical-resolution photoacoustic microscopy with a needle-shaped beam.

Optical-resolution photoacoustic microscopy (OR-PAM) can visualize wavelength-dependent optical absorption at the cellular level. However, OR-PAM suffers from a limited depth of field (DOF) due to the tight focus of the optical excitation beam, making it challenging to acquire high-resolution images of samples with uneven surfaces or high-quality volumetric images without z-scanning. To overcome this limitation, we propose needle-shaped beam photoacoustic microscopy (NB-PAM), which can extend the DOF to up to ~28-fold Rayleigh lengths via customized diffractive optical elements (DOEs). The DOE generate a needle beam with a well-maintained beam diameter, a uniform axial intensity distribution, and negligible sidelobes. The advantage of using NB-PAM is demonstrated by both histology-like imaging of fresh slide-free organs using a 266 nm laser and in vivo mouse brain vasculature imaging using a 532 nm laser. The approach provides new perspectives for slide-free intraoperative pathological imaging and in-vivo organ-level imaging.

Nonlinear focusing of terahertz laser beam using a layered superconductor

We theoretically study the propagation of a Terahertz (THz) Gaussian beam through a thin sample of layered superconductor. We consider the beam axis and the superconducting layers to be perpendicular to the sample interface, while the electric field in the beam is perpendicular to the layers. We show that, in such a geometry, the Josephson current between the superconducting layers supports lensing of the beam instead of divergence on the Rayleigh range. Moreover, due to the nonlinearity, the focal length and waist of the transmitted beam depend on the incident beam intensity. These dependences demonstrate nontrivial hysteresis behavior that can be observed in experiments with THz lasers.

High purity orbital angular momentum of light.

We present a novel technique for generating beams of light carrying orbital angular momentum (OAM) that increases mode purity and decreases singularity splitting by orders of magnitude. This technique also works to control and mitigate beam divergence within propagation distances less than the Rayleigh length. Additionally, we analyze a tunable parameter of this technique that can change the ratio of beam purity to power to fit desired specifications. Beam generation via this technique is achievable using only phase-modulating optical elements, which reduces experimental complexity and beam energy loss.

Astigmatic-Invariant Structured Singular Beams

We investigate the transformation of structured Laguerre–Gaussian (sLG) beams after passing through a cylindrical lens. The resulting beam, ab astigmatic structured Laguerre–Gaussian (asLG) beam, depends on quantum numbers (n,ℓ) and three parameters. Two of them are control parameters of the initial sLG beam, the amplitude ϵ and phase θ. The third one is the ratio of the Rayleigh length z0 and the focal length f of the cylindrical lens. It was theoretically revealed and experimentally confirmed that the asLG beam keeps the intensity shape of the initial sLG beam when the parameters satisfy simple conditions: ϵ is unity and the tangent of the phase parameter θ/2 is equal to the above ratio. We also found sharp bursts and dips of the orbital angular momentum (OAM) in the asLG beams in the vicinity of the point where the OAM turns to zero. The heights and depths of these bursts and dips significantly exceed the OAM maximum and minimum values of the initial sLG beam and are controlled by the radial number n.

Transmission characteristics of linear Gaussian array beams propagating through seawater to air

We examine the transmission characteristics of linear Gaussian array beams (LGABs) propagating through seawater to air considering oceanic and atmospheric turbulences. We derive the expressions of the mean-squared beam width and Rayleigh range of LGABs for the case of both coherent and incoherent combinations using stochastic wave theory and the extended Huygens–Fresnel principle. In addition, the properties of mean-squared beam width versus propagation distance are studied. Furthermore, the characteristics of the Rayleigh range versus the ocean turbulence parameters and beam number as well as the interval distance are investigated. In the seawater–air interface, the Rayleigh range of LGABs is up to three times higher than that of the underwater circumstance. Moreover, the Rayleigh range increases linearly with the increase of interval distance in a turbulent ocean and turbulent atmosphere. It can be concluded that the Rayleigh range is more affected by the rate of dissipation of turbulent kinetic energy and the rate of dissipation of mean-square temperature than by the parameter related to temperature and salinity.

Optimizing the coupling efficiency of spontaneous parametric down-conversion photon pairs into single-mode fibers

Both correlated-mode coupling efficiency and photon pair flux (brightness) of spontaneous parametric down-conversion (SPDC) coupled into single-mode fibers are key parameters for various quantum information science applications. We present an experimental investigation on the optimization of the correlated-mode coupling efficiency and the brightness of frequency-degenerated SPDC photon pairs into single-mode optical fibers. Using photon pairs generated from a type-I phase-matched bulk $\ensuremath{\beta}$-barium borate crystal pumped by a continuous-wave laser, we carefully evaluated both the correlated-mode coupling efficiency and the brightness of SPDC light coupled to a single-mode optical fiber, while continuously changing the focusing of the pump and collection modes, experimenting with Rayleigh lengths from 3 to 280 (for the pump) and 0.2 to 20 (for the collection) times the crystal length. The measured data suggest that the correlated-mode coupling efficiency can be close to unity for any pump focus, however, the optimal Rayleigh length of the collection mode depends on the pump focus parameter, and the brightness can be increased by tightening the pump focus, provided that the Rayleigh length of the collection mode is precisely adjusted. A maximal correlated-mode coupling efficiency of $99.0\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}1.3%$ was experimentally achieved. These results will be useful for photonic quantum science and technology using SPDC sources with high heralding efficiencies.

High accuracy astigmatic-focusing system for laser targets.

An accurate location of the focal position with respect to a solid target is a key task for different applications, for instance, in laser driven plasma acceleration for x-ray generation where minimum required intensities are above 1014W/cm2. For such practical applications, new approaches for focus location and target delivery techniques are needed to achieve the required intensity, repeatability, and stability. There are different techniques to accomplish the focusing and target positioning task such as interferometry-, microscopy-, astigmatism-, and nonlinear-optics-based techniques, with their respective advantages and limitations. We present improvements of a focusing technique based on an astigmatic method with potential applications where maximum intensity at the target position is necessary. The presented technique demonstrates high accuracy up to 5 µm, below the Rayleigh range, and also its capability to work in rough surfaces targets and tilt tolerance of the target, with respect to the normal of the target surface.

Excitation of surface plasmon polaritons by diffraction-free and vector beams.

Surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) are traditionally excited by plane waves within the Rayleigh range of a focused transverse-magnetic (TM) Gaussian beam. Here we investigate and confirm the coupling between SPPs and two-dimensional Gaussian and Bessel-Gauss wave packets, as well as one-dimensional light sheets and space-time wave packets. We encode the incoming wavefronts with spatially varying states of polarization; then we couple the respective TM components of radial and azimuthal vector beam profiles to confirm polarization-correlation and spatial-mode selectivity. Our results do not require material optimization or multi-dimensional confinement via periodically corrugated metal surfaces to achieve coupling at a greater extent, hereby outlining a pivotal, yet commonly overlooked, path towards the development of long-range biosensors and all-optical integrated plasmonic circuits.

Propagation-invariant space-time supermodes in a multimode waveguide

When an optical pulse is spatially localized in a highly multimoded waveguide, its energy is typically distributed among a multiplicity of modes, thus giving rise to a speckled transverse spatial profile that undergoes erratic changes with propagation. It has been suggested theoretically that pulsed multimode fields in which each wavelength is locked to an individual mode at a prescribed axial wavenumber will propagate invariantly along the waveguide at a tunable group velocity. In this conception, an initially localized field remains localized along the waveguide. Here, we provide proof-of-principle experimental confirmation for the existence of this class of pulsed guided fields, which we denote “space-time supermodes,” and verify their propagation invariance in a planar waveguide. By superposing up to 21 modes, each assigned to a prescribed wavelength, we construct space-time (ST) supermodes in a 170-µm-thick planar glass waveguide with group indices extending from ≈ 1 to ≈ 2 . The initial transverse width of the field is 6 µm, and the waveguide length is 9.1 mm, which is ≈ 257 × the associated Rayleigh range. A variety of axially invariant transverse spatial profiles are produced by judicious selection of the modes contributing to the ST supermode, including single-peak and multi-peak fields, dark fields (containing a spatial dip), and even flat uniform intensity profiles.

High-resolution two-photon fluorescence microscope imaging of nanodiamonds containing NV color centers

Fluorescent nanodiamonds containing nitrogen-vacancy (NV) color centers play an important role in nanoscale sensing for their unique properties, including extraordinary photon stability, bio-compatibility, and chemical inertness at room temperature. Two-photon fluorescence imaging of fluorescent nanodiamonds (FNDs) has been studied with a picosecond pulsed laser operating at 1032 nm. We obtained an imaging resolution of 318 nm at nearly a third of the excitation wavelength with 70 nm FNDs. In this case, the resolution was improved by 2.2-fold, compared with the diffraction-limited resolution of the near-infrared (NIR) single-photon confocal microscopic imaging. The axial resolution of the imaging is about 750 nm, which is about 1.4 times higher than the Rayleigh length under the same excitation. The fluorescence spectra of visible and near-infrared excitation of FNDs are similar, suggesting that the energy levels involved in the two processes are identical. With the unique advantages of high spatial resolution, high signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), and infrared window matching, the study of two-photon excitation microscope imaging of FNDs is conducive to its broader application in biology, physics, and materials sciences.

Trigeminal Nerve Affection in Patients with Neuro-Sjögren Detected by Corneal Confocal Microscopy

Background: Patients with Sjögren’s syndrome and polyneuropathy more frequently develop cranial nerve affection when compared to patients with chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP). We therefore aimed to analyze trigeminal corneal nerve fibre characteristics in both patient groups. Methods: A total of 26 patients with Sjögren’s syndrome associated neuropathy and 29 patients with CIDP were recruited at our university hospital and compared to 6 healthy controls. Dry eye symptoms and signs were assessed via clinical examination and the Ocular Disease Surface Index questionnaire. Trigeminal corneal nerve fibres were analyzed via corneal confocal microscopy (CCM) as a non-invasive in vivo microscopy. Results: CCM revealed significantly reduced corneal nerve fibre density and corneal nerve fibre main branch density in the Neuro-Sjögren group when compared with healthy controls. There were no significant group differences between the Neuro-Sjögren and the CIDP group for any of the microscopic parameters. Dry eye assessment showed similarly reduced scores for both patient groups, while healthy controls showed better results for objective dry eye signs. There was no correlation between microscopic parameters of the corneal confocal microscopy and parameters of dry eye assessment. Conclusions: Our data revealed trigeminal corneal nerve affection in patients with neuropathy associated with Sjögren’s syndrome and patients with CIDP detected by CCM. No difference was found between both neuropathy groups indicating that CCM is not able to distinguish between both entities.

Critical analysis of in-plane free-space light beam coupling using photonic curved micromirrors

Free-space coupling of Gaussian light beams using flat and curved photonic microelectromechanical systems mirrors was analyzed in detail. The theoretical background and the non-ideal effects, such as limited micromirror extent, asymmetry in the curvature of spherical micromirrors, misaligned axes, and micromirror surface irregularities, were analyzed. The derived formulas were used to study and compare theoretically and experimentally the behavior of flat (one-dimensional), cylindrical (two-dimensional), and spherical (three-dimensional) micromirrors. The analysis focused on the regime of dimensions in which the curved micromirrors radius of curvature is comparable to the incident beam Rayleigh range, also corresponding to a reference spot size. A transfer matrix-based field and power coupling coefficients were derived for general micro-optical systems accounting for different matrix parameters in the tangential and sagittal planes of the microsystem taking into account the possible non-idealities. The results were presented in terms of normalized quantities such that the findings are general and can be applied to different situations. In addition, silicon micromirrors were fabricated with controlled shapes and used to experimentally analyze the coupling efficiency at the visible and near-infrared wavelengths.