Uniaxial Birefringent Crystal Research Articles

Modes of wide-aperture acousto-optic diffraction in a uniaxial birefringent crystal

Acousto-optic (AO) anisotropic interaction in uniaxial birefringent crystals is a widespread and versatile approach to tunable spectral filtration of light. Its principal constraints are limited values of spectral and angular bandwidth restricting the light transmission and imaging performance of AO filters. A way to overcome these drawbacks is simultaneous Bragg diffraction of two or more light beams. In this paper, we discuss and compare the main features of four available modes of anisotropic wide-aperture AO interactions in uniaxial birefringent crystals. We calculate the angular aperture, spectral resolution and other parameters and estimate the spectral image quality features related to each one. Theoretical consideration and computational modeling are carried out for tellurium dioxide (TeO2)—the main AO crystal. Derived results are important for the development of AO imaging devices, particularly multi-channel AO tunable filters.

New spin-resolved thermal radiation laws for nonreciprocal bianisotropic media

A chiral absorber of light can emit spin-polarized (circularly polarized) thermal radiation based on Kirchhoff’s law which equates spin-resolved emissivity with spin-resolved absorptivity for reciprocal media at thermal equilibrium. No such law is known for nonreciprocal media. In this work, we discover three spin-resolved Kirchhoff’s laws of thermal radiation applicable for both reciprocal and nonreciprocal planar media. In particular, these laws are applicable to multi-layered or composite slabs of generic bianisotropic material classes which include (uniaxial or biaxial) birefringent crystals, (gyrotropic) Weyl semimetals, magnetized semiconductors, plasmas, ferromagnets and ferrites, (magnetoelectric) topological insulators, metamaterials and multiferroic media. We also propose an experiment to verify these laws using a single system of doped indium antimonide (InSb) thin film in an external magnetic field. Furthermore, we reveal a surprising result that the planar slabs of all these material classes can emit partially circularly polarized thermal light without requiring any surface patterning, and identify planar configurations which can experience nontrivial thermal optomechanical forces and torques upon thermal emission into the external environment at lower temperature (nonequilibrium). Our work also provides a new fundamental insight of detailed balance of angular momentum (in addition to energy) of equilibrium thermal radiation, and paves the way for practical functionalities based on thermal radiation using nonreciprocal bianisotropic materials.

Speckle-free smoothing of coherence laser beams by a homogenizer on uniaxial high birefringent crystal

We report on a new type of a random phase plate (RPP) that can be applied for effective homogenization of coherent laser beams. The RPP is fabricated on a uniaxial birefringent crystal, ensuring the absence of speckles within the processing plane due to two orthogonally polarized beamlets with π phase difference. High fabrication speed ∼ 2 mm2/s of RPP takes at least 10 minutes to fabricate it. RPPs test showed the transformation of Gauss intensity distribution to the flat-top one characterized by low-intensity modulation ∼1% of the coherent laser beam. Then, RPP was applied in a picosecond laser setup for ZnO film microprocessing.

Tight Focusing Properties of Circularly Polarized Annular Multi-Gaussian Beam through a Uniaxial Birefringent Crystal

Tight Focusing Properties of Circularly Polarized Annular Multi-Gaussian Beam through a Uniaxial Birefringent Crystal

Counter‐Propagating Optical Trapping of Resonant Nanoparticles Using a Uniaxial Crystal

AbstractLaser tweezing of optically resonant nanostructures, such as plasmonic nanoparticles and high‐index dielectric nanoresonators, is extremely challenging because the enhanced light–matter interaction usually amplifies radiation pressure to an extent where conventional single beam gradient trapping in three dimensions becomes impossible. Such particles are therefore typically trapped off resonance or in two dimensions only. To extend the application potential of optical tweezers to the resonant case, focus splitting inside a uniaxial birefringent crystal and reflection from a mirror is used to develop a counter‐propagating beam configuration based on a single microscope objective. The setup allows one to trap and rapidly rotate resonant gold nanorods in water far from any interface, thereby opening a range of possibilities for novel studies of resonantly enhanced optical forces and interactions in uniform environments.

Acousto-optic tunable spectral filtration of stereoscopic images.

We propose a new technique for three-dimensional (3-D) imaging in arbitrary spectral intervals. It is based on a simultaneous diffraction of two divergent stereoscopic light beams on a single acoustic wave propagating in a uniaxial birefringent crystal. We discuss in detail this configuration of acousto-optic (AO) interaction, derive basic relations, and experimentally demonstrate the applicability of the proposed approach to 3-D spectral imaging. A stereo-imager of this type may be produced as an ultra-compact embeddable optical element, which is promising for many imaging applications.

Quantum energy inequalities in premetric electrodynamics

Pre-metric electrodynamics is a covariant framework for electromagnetism with a general constitutive law. Its lightcone structure can be more complicated than that of Maxwell theory as is shown by the phenomenon of birefringence. We study the energy density of quantized pre-metric electrodynamics theories with linear constitutive laws admitting a single hyperbolicity double-cone and show that averages of the energy density along the worldlines of suitable observers obey a Quantum Energy Inequality (QEI) in states that satisfy a microlocal spectrum condition. The worldlines must meet two conditions: (a) the classical weak energy condition must hold along them, and (b) their velocity vectors have positive contractions with all positive frequency null covectors (we call such trajectories `subluminal'). After stating our general results, we explicitly quantize the electromagnetic potential in a translationally invariant uniaxial birefringent crystal. Since the propagation of light in such a crystal is governed by two nested lightcones, the theory shows features absent in ordinary (quantized) Maxwell electrodynamics. We then compute a QEI bound for worldlines of inertial `subluminal' observers, which generalizes known results from the Maxwell theory. Finally, it is shown that the QEIs fail along trajectories that have velocity vectors which are timelike with respect to only one of the lightcones.

Tightly Focusing Properties of Radially Polarized Double Ring Shaped Beam through a Uniaxial Birefringent Crystal

Tightly Focusing Properties of Radially Polarized Double Ring Shaped Beam through a Uniaxial Birefringent Crystal

Generating multiple focal structures with circularly polarized double ring shaped beam and axial birefringence

The properties of circularly polarized double ring shaped beam tightly focused through a uniaxial birefringent crystal are studied numerically by the use vectorial diffraction theory for small birefringence. Novel focal structures such as splitting of single focal spot into multiple spots and the focal shift of maximum intensity can be obtained with the proper combination of the topological charge [n], birefringence [Δn], and the pupil to beam ratio [β] of the input circularly polarized double ring shaped beam.

High-magnification super-resolution FINCH microscopy using birefringent crystal lens interferometers.

Fresnel incoherent correlation holography (FINCH) microscopy is a promising approach for high-resolution biological imaging but has so far been limited to use with low-magnification, low-numerical-aperture configurations. We report the use of in-line incoherent interferometers made from uniaxial birefringent α-barium borate (α-BBO) or calcite crystals that overcome the aberrations and distortions present with previous implementations that employed spatial light modulators or gradient refractive index lenses. FINCH microscopy incorporating these birefringent elements and high-numerical-aperture oil immersion objectives could outperform standard wide-field fluorescence microscopy, with, for example, a 149 nm lateral point spread function at a wavelength of 590 nm. Enhanced resolution was confirmed with sub-resolution fluorescent beads. Taking the Golgi apparatus as a biological example, three different proteins labelled with GFP and two other fluorescent dyes in HeLa cells were resolved with an image quality that is comparable to similar samples captured by structured illumination microscopy.

Fabrication of quartz microcylinders by laser interference lithography for angular optical tweezers

The use of optical tweezers (OTs) and spin angular momentum transfer to birefringent particles allows new mechanical measurements in systems where torque and rotation are relevant parameters at the single-molecule level. There is a growing interest in developing simple, fast, and inexpensive protocols to produce a large number of submicron scale cylinders of quartz, a positive uniaxial birefringent crystal, to be employed for such angular measurements in OTs. Here, we show that laser interference lithography, a method well known for its simplicity, fulfills these requirements and produces quartz cylindrical particles that we successfully use to apply and measure optical torque in the piconewton nm range in an optical torque wrench.

Study of myocardial cell inhomogeneity of the human heart: Simulation and validation using polarized light imaging.

The arrangement or architecture of myocardial cells plays a fundamental role in the heart's function and its change was shown to be directly linked to heart diseases. Inhomogeneity level is an important index of myocardial cell arrangements in the human heart. The authors propose to investigate the inhomogeneity level of myocardial cells using polarized light imaging simulations and experiments. The idea is based on the fact that the myosin filaments in myocardial cells have the same properties as those of a uniaxial birefringent crystal. The method then consists in modeling the myosin filaments of myocardial cells as uniaxial birefringent crystal, simulating the behavior of the latter by means of the Mueller matrix, and measuring the final intensity of polarized light and consequently the inhomogeneity level of myocardial cells in each voxel through the use of crossed polarizers. The method was evaluated on both simulated and real tissues and under various myocardial cell configurations including parallel cells, crossed cells, and cells with random orientations. When myocardial cells run perfectly parallel to each other, all the polarized light was blocked by those parallel myocardial cells, and a high homogeneity level was observed. However, if myocardial cells were not parallel to each other, some leakage of the polarized light was observed, thus causing the decrease of the polarized light amplitude and homogeneity level. The greater the crossing angle between myocardial cells, the smaller the amplitude of the polarized light and the greater the inhomogeneity level. For two populations of myocardial cell crossing at an angle, the resulting azimuth angle of the voxel was the bisector of this angle. Moreover, the value of the inhomogeneity level began to decrease from a nonzero value when the voxel was not totally homogeneous, containing for example cell crossing. The proposed method enables the physical information of myocardial tissues to be estimated and the inhomogeneity level of a volume or voxel to be quantified, which opens new ways to study the microstructures of the human myocardium and helps understanding how heart diseases modify myocardial cells and change their mechanical properties.

A unit structure Rochon prism based on the extraordinary refraction of uniaxial birefringent crystals

Based on the Fermat's principle, the universal theory of refraction and reflection of extraordinary rays (e-rays) in the uniaxial crystal is formulated. Using this theory, a new unit structure prism is designed, and its properties are studied. Based on the theoretical results, such a prism is achieved experimentally by using the Iceland crystal. In both theoretical and experimental studies, this new prism shows excellent polarization splitting performances such as big and adjustable splitting angle, comparing to the conventional Rochon prism. For the sample prism with the optical axis angle of 45°, the splitting angle reaches 19.8°in the normal incidence, and the maximum splitting angle reaches 28.44° while the incidence angle is -4°.

Transfer matrix for treating stratified media including birefringent crystals

Birefringent crystals are extensively used to manipulate polarized light. The generalized transfer matrix developed allows efficient calculation of the full polarization state of light transmitted through and reflected by a stack of arbitrarily many discrete layers of isotropic and birefringent materials at any frequency and angle of incidence. The matrix of a uniaxial birefringent crystal with arbitrary rotation is calculated, along with its reduction to the matrix of an isotropic medium. This method is of great practical importance where tight control of systematic effects is needed in optical systems employing birefringent crystals, one example being wave plates used by cosmic microwave background polarimetry with wide field-of-view telescopes.

Static polarization-difference interference imaging spectrometer

A static polarization-difference imaging spectrometer is conceptually described and demonstrated through experiment. It consists of a Wollaston prism, a Savart polariscope, a linear analyzer, and a CCD camera. This design improves the existing polarization-difference system by eliminating its moving parts and obtaining the spectral variation of the polarization state, and making the system more compact and robust. After simultaneously acquiring two sequential interference images corresponding to two orthogonal polarization states, the hyperspectral images of the states can be reconstructed, respectively. The use of uniaxial birefringent crystal can widen the detectable spectral region.

Terahertz generation by optical rectification in uniaxial birefringent crystals

The angular dependence of terahertz (THz) emission from birefringent crystals can differ significantly from that of cubic crystals. Here we consider optical rectification in uniaxial birefringent materials, such as chalcopyrite crystals. The analysis is verified in (110)-cut ZnGeP_2 and compared to (zincblende) GaP. Although the crystals share the same nonzero second-order tensor elements, the birefringence in chalcopyrite crystals cause the pump pulse polarization to evolve as it propagates through the crystal, resulting in a drastically different angular dependence in chalcopyrite crystals. The analysis is extended to {012}- and {114}-cut chalcopyrite crystals and predicts more efficient conversion for the {114} crystal cut over the {012}- and {110}-cuts.

The Degree of Mutual Anisotropy of Biological Liquid Crystals Net during the Diagnostics of Human Tissues Birefringence

To characterize the degree of consistency of parameters of the optically uniaxial birefringent liquid crystals (protein fibrils) nets of biological tissues a new parameter-complex degree of mutual anisotropy is suggested. The technique of polarization measuring the coordinate distributions of the complex degree of mutual anisotropy of biological tissues is developed. It is shown that statistic approach to the analysis of complex degree of mutual anisotropy distributions of biological tissues of various morphological and physiological states and optical thicknesses appears to be more sensitive and efficient in differentiation of physiological state in comparison with investigations of complex degree of mutual polarization of the corresponding laser images.

Topology of Generic Polarization Singularities in Birefringent Crystals

An optical vortex incident on a birefringent crystal unfolds into a complex topological structure of lines of circular polarization (C-lines) and surfaces of linear polarization (L-surfaces). The incident beam splits into two orthogonally polarized beams of ordinary and extraordinary polarization. Extraordinary refraction causes a shift of the extraordinarily polarized beam even under normal incidence. This shift together with the different phase velocities of both beams is the origin of an intriguing pattern of polarization singularities. We measure spatially resolved the full set of Stokes parameters after the beam passed the crystal to determine experimentally the spatial structure of the polarization singularities in three dimensions, two spatial directions (x,y) and one (Λ) corresponding to the relative phase retardation between ordinary and extraordinary beam. The observed unfolding of the initial phase singularity is the most generic case of the generation of polarization singularities in uniaxial or biaxial birefringent crystals. It can be describe in a very general way in terms of Stokes parameters where the polarization singularities arise naturally from the zeros of the Stokes parameters.

Tightly Focusing of Circularly Polarized Vortex Beams through a Uniaxial Birefringent Crystal

Under the approximation of small birefringence, the properties of circularly polarized vortex beams tightly focused through a uniaxial birefringent crystal are studied. With the proper combination of the topological charge and the birefringence, the small focus, the small bottle beam and the inverse c-shaped intensity profile can be obtained. The effects of the focal shift and the Strehl ratio on the birefringence are analysed. A relation between angular momentum (included spin and orbital) and topological Pancharatnam charge is also presented.

Tight focusing of radially and azimuthally polarized vortex beams through a uniaxial birefringent crystal

Under the approximation of small birefringence, the properties of radially and azimuthally polarized vortex beams tightly focused through a uniaxial birefringent crystal are investigated. The contour plots of intensity distribution near the focus and in the real focal plane are illustrated by performing numerical calculations. The dependence of the focal shift on numerical aperture and birefringence are analyzed. Moreover, the Strehl ratio in the real focal plane as a function of birefringence is also analyzed. It is revealed that the variation of birefringence has no influence on the focal shift and the Strehl ratio of azimuthally polarized vortex beams.