arXiv subjects

Sylvain Gigan

Publications and source records attributed to Sylvain Gigan.

At least 127 records · Page 7Linked to original sources

arXiv2015

Reference-less measurement of the transmission matrix of a highly scattering material using a DMD and phase retrieval techniques

This paper investigates experimental means of measuring the transmission matrix (TM) of a highly scattering medium, with the simplest optical setup. Spatial light modulation is performed by a digital micromirror device (DMD), allowing high rates and high pixel counts but only binary amplitude modulation. We used intensity measurement only, thus avoiding the need for a reference beam. Therefore, the phase of the TM has to be estimated through signal processing techniques of phase retrieval. Here, we compare four different phase retrieval principles on noisy experimental data. We validate our estimations of the TM on three criteria : quality of prediction, distribution of singular values, and quality of focusing. Results indicate that Bayesian phase retrieval algorithms with variational approaches provide a good tradeoff between the computational complexity and the precision of the estimates.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2015

Characterization of the angular memory effect of scattered light in biological tissues

High resolution optical microscopy is essential in neuroscience but suffers from scattering in biological tissues. It therefore grants access to superficial layers only. Recently developed techniques use scattered photons for imaging by exploiting angular correlations in transmitted light and could potentially increase imaging depths. But those correlations (`angular memory effect') are of very short range and, in theory, only present behind and not inside scattering media. From measurements on neural tissues and complementary simulations, we find that strong forward scattering in biological tissues can enhance the memory effect range (and thus the possible field-of-view) by more than an order of magnitude compared to isotropic scattering for $\sim$1\,mm thick tissue layers.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2014

Invariance property of wave scattering through disordered media

A fundamental insight in the theory of diffusive random walks is that the mean length of trajectories traversing a finite open system is independent of the details of the diffusion process. Instead, the mean trajectory length depends only on the system's boundary geometry and is thus unaffected by the value of the mean free path. Here we show that this result is rooted on a much deeper level than that of a random walk, which allows us to extend the reach of this universal invariance property beyond the diffusion approximation. Specifically, we demonstrate that an equivalent invariance relation also holds for the scattering of waves in resonant structures as well as in ballistic, chaotic or in Anderson localized systems. Our work unifies a number of specific observations made in quite diverse fields of science ranging from the movement of ants to nuclear scattering theory. Potential experimental realizations using light fields in disordered media are discussed.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2014

Imaging With Nature: Compressive Imaging Using a Multiply Scattering Medium

The recent theory of compressive sensing leverages upon the structure of signals to acquire them with much fewer measurements than was previously thought necessary, and certainly well below the traditional Nyquist-Shannon sampling rate. However, most implementations developed to take advantage of this framework revolve around controlling the measurements with carefully engineered material or acquisition sequences. Instead, we use the natural randomness of wave propagation through multiply scattering media as an optimal and instantaneous compressive imaging mechanism. Waves reflected from an object are detected after propagation through a well-characterized complex medium. Each local measurement thus contains global information about the object, yielding a purely analog compressive sensing method. We experimentally demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach for optical imaging by using a 300-micrometer thick layer of white paint as the compressive imaging device. Scattering media are thus promising candidates for designing efficient and compact compressive imagers.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2014

Scanning-free imaging through a single fiber by random spatio-spectral encoding

We present an approach for two-dimensional (2D) imaging through a single single-mode or multimode fiber without the need for scanners. A random scattering medium placed next to the distal end of the fiber is used to encode the collected light from every imaged pixel with a different random spectral signature. 2D objects illuminated by a white-light source are then imaged from a single measured spectrum at the fiber's proximal end. The technique is insensitive to fiber bending, an advantage for endoscopic applications.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2014

Non-invasive real-time imaging through scattering layers and around corners via speckle correlations

Imaging with optical resolution through and inside complex samples is a difficult challenge with important applications in many fields. The fundamental problem is that inhomogeneous samples, such as biological tissues, randomly scatter and diffuse light, impeding conventional image formation. Despite many advancements, no current method enables to noninvasively image in real-time using diffused light. Here, we show that owing to the memory-effect for speckle correlations, a single image of the scattered light, captured with a standard high-resolution camera, encodes all the information that is required to image through the medium or around a corner. We experimentally demonstrate single-shot imaging through scattering media and around corners using incoherent light and various samples, from white paint to dynamic biological samples. Our lensless technique is simple, does not require laser sources, wavefront-shaping, nor time-gated detection, and is realized here using a camera-phone. It has the potential to enable imaging in currently inaccessible scenarios.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2014

Speckle Optical Tweezers: Micromanipulation with Random Light Fields

Current optical manipulation techniques rely on carefully engineered setups and samples. Although similar conditions are routinely met in research laboratories, it is still a challenge to manipulate microparticles when the environment is not well controlled and known a priori, since optical imperfections and scattering limit the applicability of this technique to real-life situations, such as in biomedical or microfluidic applications. Nonetheless, scattering of coherent light by disordered structures gives rise to speckles, random diffraction patterns with well-defined statistical properties. Here, we experimentally demonstrate how speckle fields can become a versatile tool to efficiently perform fundamental optical manipulation tasks such as trapping, guiding and sorting. We anticipate that the simplicity of these "speckle optical tweezers" will greatly broaden the perspectives of optical manipulation for real-life applications.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2014

Light Focusing and Two-Dimensional Imaging Through Scattering Media using the Photoacoustic Transmission-Matrix with an Ultrasound Array

We implement the photoacoustic transmission-matrix approach on a two-dimensional photoacoustic imaging system, using a 15 MHz linear ultrasound array. Using a black leaf skeleton as a complex absorbing structure, we demonstrate that the photoacoustic transmission-matrix approach allows to reveal structural features that are invisible in conventional photoacoustic images, as well as to selectively control light focusing on absorbing targets, leading to a local enhancement of the photoacoustic signal.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2014

Single-photon entanglement generation by wavefront shaping in a multiple-scattering medium

We demonstrate the control of entanglement of a single photon between several spatial modes propagating through a strongly scattering medium. Measurement of the scattering matrix allows the wavefront of the photon to be shaped to compensate the distortions induced by multiple scattering events. The photon can thus be directed coherently to a single or multi-mode output. Using this approach we show how entanglement across different modes can be manipulated despite the enormous wavefront disturbance caused by the scattering medium.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2013

Improving visibility in photoacoustic imaging using dynamic speckle illumination

In high-frequency photoacoustic imaging with uniform illumination, homogeneous photo-absorbing structures may be invisible because of their large size or limited-view issues. Here we show that, by exploiting dynamic speckle illumination, it is possible to reveal features which are normally invisible with a photoacoustic system comprised of a 20MHz linear ultrasound array. We demonstrate imaging of a 5 mm diameter absorbing cylinder and a 30 micrometer black thread arranged in a complex shape. The hidden structures are directly retrieved from photoacoustic images recorded for different random speckle illuminations of the phantoms by assessing the variation in the value of each pixel over the illumination patterns.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2013

Improving Photoacoustic-guided Focusing in Scattering Media by Spectrally Filtered Detection

We experimentally and numerically study the potential of photoacoustic-guiding for light focusing through scattering samples via wavefront-shaping and iterative optimization. We experimentally demonstrate that the focusing efficiency on an extended absorber can be improved by iterative optimization of the high frequency components of the broadband photoacoustic signal detected with a spherically focused transducer. We demonstrate more than 8-fold increase in the photoacoustic signal generated by a 30 microns wire using a narrow frequency band around 60MHz. We numerically confirm that such optimization leads to a smaller optical focus than using the low frequency content of the photoacoustic feedback.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2013

Demonstration of an ultracold micro-optomechanical oscillator in a cryogenic cavity

Preparing and manipulating quantum states of mechanical resonators is a highly interdisciplinary undertaking that now receives enormous interest for its far-reaching potential in fundamental and applied science. Up to now, only nanoscale mechanical devices achieved operation close to the quantum regime. We report a new micro-optomechanical resonator that is laser cooled to a level of 30 thermal quanta. This is equivalent to the best nanomechanical devices, however, with a mass more than four orders of magnitude larger (43 ng versus 1 pg) and at more than two orders of magnitude higher environment temperature (5 K versus 30 mK). Despite the large laser-added cooling factor of 4,000 and the cryogenic environment, our cooling performance is not limited by residual absorption effects. These results pave the way for the preparation of 100-um scale objects in the quantum regime. Possible applications range from quantum-limited optomechanical sensing devices to macroscopic tests of quantum physics.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2013

Brownian Motion in a Speckle Light Field: Tunable Anomalous Diffusion and Deterministic Optical Manipulation

The motion of particles in random potentials occurs in several natural phenomena ranging from the mobility of organelles within a biological cell to the diffusion of stars within a galaxy. A Brownian particle moving in the random optical potential associated to a speckle, i.e., a complex interference pattern generated by the scattering of coherent light by a random medium, provides an ideal mesoscopic model system to study such phenomena. Here, we derive a theory for the motion of a Brownian particle in a speckle and, in particular, we identify its universal characteristic timescale levering on the universal properties of speckles. This theoretical insight permits us to identify several interesting unexplored phenomena and applications. As an example of the former, we show the possibility of tuning anomalous diffusion continuously from subdiffusion to superdiffusion. As an example of the latter, we show the possibility of harnessing the speckle memory effect to perform some basic deterministic optical manipulation tasks such as guiding and sorting by employing random speckles, which might broaden the perspectives of optical manipulation for real-life applications by providing a simple and cost-effective technique.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2012

Taming random lasers through active spatial control of the pump

Active control of the pump spatial profile is proposed to exercise control over random laser emission. We demonstrate numerically the selection of any desired lasing mode from the emission spectrum. An iterative optimization method is employed, first in the regime of strong scattering where modes are spatially localized and can be easily selected using local pumping. Remarkably, this method works efficiently even in the weakly scattering regime, where strong spatial overlap of the modes precludes spatial selectivity. A complex optimized pump profile is found, which selects the desired lasing mode at the expense of others, thus demonstrating the potential of pump shaping for robust and controllable singlemode operation of a random laser.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2011

Exploiting the Time-Reversal Operator for Adaptive Optics, Selective Focusing and Scattering Pattern Analysis

We report on the experimental measurement of the backscattering matrix of a weakly scattering medium in optics, composed of a few dispersed gold nanobeads. The DORT method (Decomposition of the Time Reversal Operator) is applied to this matrix and we demonstrate selective and efficient focusing on individual scatterers, even through an aberrating layer. Moreover, we show that this approach provides the decomposition of the scattering pattern of a single nanoparticle. These results open important perspectives for optical imaging, characterization and selective excitation of nanoparticles.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2011

Shaping speckles: spatio-temporal focussing of an ultrafast pulse through a multiply scattering medium

The multiple scattering of coherent light is a problem of both fundamental and applied importance. In optics, phase conjugation allows spatial focussing and imaging through a multiply scattering medium; however, temporal control is nonetheless elusive, and multiple scattering remains a challenge for femtosecond science. Here, we report on the spatially and temporally resolved measurement of a speckle field produced by the propagation of an ultrafast optical pulse through a thick strongly scattering medium. Using spectral pulse shaping, we demonstrate the spatially localized temporal recompression of the output speckle to the Fourier-limit duration, offering an optical analogue to time-reversal experiments in the acoustic regime. This approach shows that a multiply scattering medium can be put to profit for light manipulation at the femtosecond scale, and has a diverse range of potential applications that includes quantum control, biological imaging and photonics.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2009

Ground-state cooling of a micromechanical oscillator: generalized framework for cold damping and cavity-assisted cooling schemes

We provide a general framework to describe cooling of a micromechanical oscillator to its quantum ground state by means of radiation-pressure coupling with a driven optical cavity. We apply it to two experimentally realized schemes, back-action cooling via a detuned cavity and cold-damping quantum-feedback cooling, and we determine the ultimate quantum limits of both schemes for the full parameter range of a stable cavity. While both allow to reach the oscillator's quantum ground state, we find that back-action cooling is more efficient in the good cavity limit, i.e. when the cavity bandwidth is smaller than the mechanical frequency, while cold damping is more suitable for the bad cavity limit. The results of previous treatments are recovered as limiting cases of specific parameter regimes.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2008

Monocrystalline AlGaAs heterostructures for high-reflectivity high-Q micromechanical resonators in the MHz regime

We present high-performance megahertz micromechanical oscillators based on freestanding epitaxial AlGaAs distributed Bragg reflectors. Compared with dielectric reflectors, the low mechanical loss of the monocrystalline heterostructure gives rise to significant improvements in the achievable mechanical quality factor Q while simultaneously exhibiting near unity reflectivity. Experimental characterization yields an optical reflectivity exceeding 99.98% and mechanical quality factors up to 20 000 at 4 K. This materials system is not only an interesting candidate for optical coatings with ultralow thermal noise, but also provides a promising path toward quantum optical control of massive micromechanical mirrors.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗