Compact all-diffractive setup for spectral synthesis with non-uniform illumination
Optical filters based on diffractive optical elements (DOE) have received increased attention since the development of the first synthetic spectrum as a tool for correlation spectroscopy [1]. The production of a synthetic spectrum requires the design of a DOE that transforms the spectrum associated with the incident light into the spectrum of interest. Based on this procedure, several approaches have been reported in the literature [1–4]. In general, these configurations employ angular dispersion elements for spectrum tailoring, so they are restricted to working off-axis, and most of them need an extra focusing refractive lens.
Self-similar focusing with generalized devil's lenses
[EN] We introduce the generalized devil's lenses (GDLs) as a new family of diffractive kinoform lenses whose structure is based on the generalized Cantor set. The focusing properties of different members of this family are analyzed. It is shown that under plane wave illumination the GDLs give a single main focus surrounded by many subsidiary foci. It is shown that the total number of subsidiary foci is higher than the number of foci corresponding to conventional devil's lenses; however, the self-similar behavior of the axial irradiance is preserved to some extent. (C) 2011 Optical Society of America
Parallel laser micromachining based on diffractive optical elements with dispersion compensated femtosecond pulses
We experimentally demonstrate multi-beam high spatial resolution laser micromachining with femtosecond pulses. The effects of chromatic aberrations as well as pulse stretching on the material processed due to diffraction were significantly mitigated by using a suited dispersion compensated module (DCM). This permits to increase the area of processing in a factor 3 in comparison with a conventional setup. Specifically, 52 blind holes have been drilled simultaneously onto a stainless steel sample with a 30 fs laser pulse in a parallel processing configuration.
Diffractive pulse-front tilt for low-coherence digital holography
We use a diffractive lens to generate the proper pulse-front-tilt to record full-field off-axis holograms with a 10fs laser source. We experimentally demonstrate optical sectioning of three-dimensional samples with a resolution of about 5 microns.
Free-motion beam propagation factor measurement by means of a liquid crystal SLM
We propose a compact and robust method to measure beam propagation factor (M2) of continuous wave (cw) laser beams. In contrast to the conventional scanning procedure described in the ISO/DIS 11146 standard, our proposal takes advantage of the features of programmable liquid crystal spatial light modulators (SLMs) where a lens is codified. Then, by using a CCD at a fixed position, the beam width according to the second order moment of the irradiance is determined for each focal length of the codified lenses. After adjusting the measured data to the theoretical focusing behavior of a real laser beam, the beam propagation factor is obtained. The proposed method was successfully validated in t…
Diffractive optics for processing ultrashort light pulses
In this work we combine, in principle, two disjoint optical fields, diffractive optics and ultrashort light radiation. This combination allows us to manipulate in a very unconventional manner femtosecond pulses and, on the other hand, to implement a set of novel applications. In our case we have focused our attention on material processing and biophotonics applications.
Experimental generation of high-contrast Talbot images with an ultrashort laser pulse
A femtosecond Ti:sapphire laser oscillator emitting pulses with 800 nm central wavelength, 10.9 fs pulse width, and 75 MHz repetition rate, combined with a dispersion-compensated diffractive system, was used to implement a large-area, high-contrast, broadband optical interference technique based on the Talbot effect. Chromatic artifacts associated with the huge spectrum of the optical source (approximately 150 nm) are compensated for with an air-separated hybrid diffractive-refractive lens doublet. The spatial resolution of the chromatically compensated Talbot images under femtosecond illumination is nearly identical to that achieved under continuous wave monochromatic illumination. Further…
Diffractive optics for high-resolution low-coherence digital holography
We study the properties of the recording of off-axis holograms when a 10 fs pulsed laser is used as illumination source. A proper optical design involving one diffractive lens outside a Michelson interferometer enables the recording of full-field off-axis holograms with high resolution and optical sectioning. We demonstrate our approach with some experimental results that show optical sectioning with a maximum resolution of 3.5 µm. We note that the axial resolution of the technique is reduced up to 9 µm when the object beam travels through a few millimeters of glass due to the pulse broadening along dispersive media.
Wavelength tuning of femtosecond pulses generated in nonlinear crystals by using diffractive lenses
We demonstrate that diffractive lenses (DLs) can be used as a simple method to tune the central wavelength of femtosecond pulses generated from second-order nonlinear optical processes in birefringent crystals. The wavelength tunability is achieved by changing the relative distance between the nonlinear crystal and the DL, which acts in a focusing configuration. Besides the many practical applications of the so-generated pulses, the proposed method might be extended to other wavelength ranges by demonstrated similar effects on other nonlinear processes, such as high-order harmonic generation.
Spatio-temporal control of ultra-short pulses by using diffractive optical elements
Diffractive optical elements (DOEs) have shown their applicability to control the spatio-temporal characteristics of ultra-short laser pulses. DOEs can provide high efficiency, compactness, very low material dispersion and, when implemented with spatial light modulators, real-time pulse engineering. In this communication, we report management of temporal and spectral profiles of ultra-short pulses by means of a quasi-direct space-to-time (QDST) pulse shaper. Moreover, we present spatio-temporal control, including dispersion compensation, by DOEs, and applications for activating nonlinear processes. On the other hand, we have achieved complete spatial control of ultra-short pulses, overcomin…
Femtosecond digital lensless holographic microscopy to image biological samples
The use of femtosecond laser radiation in digital lensless holographic microscopy (DLHM) to image biological samples is presented. A mode-locked Ti:Sa laser that emits ultrashort pulses of 12 fs intensity FWHM, with 800 nm mean wavelength, at 75 MHz repetition rate is used as a light source. For comparison purposes, the light from a light-emitting diode is also used. A section of the head of a drosophila melanogaster fly is studied with both light sources. The experimental results show very different effects of the pinhole size on the spatial resolution with DLHM. Unaware phenomena on the field of the DLHM are analyzed.
Dispersion management in two-photon microscopy by using diffractive optical elements.
We demonstrate efficient generation of wide-field fluorescence signals in two-photon microscopy exploiting diffractive optical elements and short pulses by using a dispersion-compensated beam delivery optics module. Computer-generated holograms are codified onto a phase-only spatial light modulator, which allows for arbitrary single-shot patterning of the sample. Spatiotemporal shaping of the pulse is mandatory to overcome spatial chirp and pulse-front tilt effects that spread both in space and time the irradiance patterns, thus limiting not only the spatial resolution but also the signal-to-noise ratio in two-photon microscopy. By using a multipass amplifier delivering 30 fs, 0.8 mJ pulses…
Polyadic devil's lenses.
Devil’s lenses (DLs) were recently proposed as a new kind of kinoform lens in which the phase structure is characterized by the “devil’s staircase” function. DLs are considered fractal lenses because they are constructed following the geometry of the triadic Cantor set and because they provide self-similar foci along the optical axis. Here, DLs are generalized allowing the inclusion of polyadic Cantor distributions in their design. The lacunarity of the selected polyadic fractal distribution is an additional design parameter. The results are coined polyadic DLs. Construction requirements and interrelations among the different parameters of these new fractal lenses are also presented. It is …
Effects of femtosecond laser and other surface treatments on the bond strength of metallic and ceramic orthodontic brackets to zirconia.
Femtosecond laser has been proposed as a method for conditioning zirconia surfaces to boost bond strength. However, metallic or ceramic bracket bonding to femtosecond lasertreated zirconia surfaces has not been tested. This study compared the effects of four conditioning techniques, including femtosecond laser irradiation, on shear bond strength (SBS) of metallic and ceramic brackets to zirconia.Three hundred zirconia plates were divided into five groups: 1) control (C); 2) sandblasting (APA); 3) silica coating and silane (SC); 4) femtosecond laser (FS); 5) sandblasting followed by femtosecond laser (APA+SC). A thermal imaging camera measured temperature changes in the zirconia during irrad…
The effects of lasers on bond strength to ceramic materials: A systematic review and meta-analysis
Lasers have recently been introduced as an alternative means of conditioning dental ceramic surfaces in order to enhance their adhesive strength to cements and other materials. The present systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to review and quantitatively analyze the available literature in order to determine which bond protocols and laser types are the most effective. A search was conducted in the Pubmed, Embase and Scopus databases for papers published up to April 2017. PRISMA guidelines for systematic review and meta-analysis were followed. Fifty-two papers were eligible for inclusion in the review. Twenty-five studies were synthesized quantitatively. Lasers were found to increase bo…
Dispersion Compensation in Holograms Reconstructed by Femtosecond Light Pulses
This chapter describes how the spatiotemporal dispersion associated with the diffraction of broadband femtosecond light pulses through computer generated holograms (CGHs) can be compensated to a first order with a properly designed dispersion compensation module (DCM). The angular dispersion of the beam associated to CGHs leads to both spatial and temporal distortion of the pulse. Some experiments in one-shot second harmonic generation, wide-field two-photon microscopy, and parallel micromachining are shown to study the quality of the compensation performed with the DCM.
Diffractive optics for quasi-direct space-to-time pulse shaping.
The strong chromatic behavior associated with a conventional diffractive lens is fully exploited to propose a novel optical device for pulse shaping in the femtosecond regime. This device consists of two optical elements: a spatially patterned circularly symmetric mask and a kinoform diffractive lens, which are facing each other. The system performs a mapping between the spatial position of the masking function expressed in the squared radial coordinate and the temporal position in the output waveform. This space-to-time conversion occurs at the chromatic focus of the diffractive lens, and makes it possible to tailor the output central wavelength along the axial location of the output point…
Diffractive optics for spectral tuning of second harmonic and supercontinuum generated in nonlinear crystals
It is shown that diffractive lenses can tune the spectrum of femtosecond pulses after nonlinear optical processes. We focus on spectra of second-order pulses generated in birefringent crystals and supercontinuum in sapphire crystals. The tunability is achieved by changing the relative distance between the nonlinear crystal and the diffractive lens.
High-visibility interference fringes with femtosecond laser radiation.
We propose and experimentally demonstrate an interferometer for femtosecond pulses with spectral bandwidth about 100 nm. The scheme is based on a Michelson interferometer with a dispersion compensating module. A diffractive lens serves the purpose of equalizing the optical-path-length difference for a wide range of frequencies. In this way, it is possible to register high-contrast interference fringes with micrometric resolution over the whole area of a commercial CCD sensor for broadband femtosecond pulses.