Entangled photon pair sources relying on spontaneous parametric down-conversion (SPDC) are an essential ingredient for optical quantum technologies. Currently, the vast majority of SPDC sources is based on solid-state crystals. However, their rigid nature implies a careful design of the source as well as it limits the two-photon state that can be generated, without much possibility of tuning it. Here, we demonstrate a new generation of efficient, highly tunable sources of entangled photons based on recently discovered liquid crystal materials called ferroelectric nematic liquid crystals (FNLC). In addition to other highly desirable properties that liquid crystals possess, such as the ability to self-assemble into complex structures, strong response to the electric field and integrability into complex optical systems, FNLCs also possess considerable optical nonlinearity. This, as we demonstrate, enables also efficient SPDC generation and opens the door for promising new functionalities in quantum technologies. This work demonstrates the first-ever realization of SPDC in soft, organic matter, with the possibility of controlling the molecular order and thus tuning the two-photon polarization state. We show that almost any polarization state can be generated by simply adjusting the twist of the molecular orientation along the sample. Additionally, by applying only a few volts, we can drastically alter both the emission rate and the generated state of photon pairs, which enables real-time tunability. Developed concepts could lead to complex multi-pixel devices generating quantum light with real time tunability and therefore hold the potential to have a huge impact in the field of quantum technologies.
In this study, we investigate the use of microlasers as light sources for digital holographic microscopy embedded in the sample. Microlasers are 50-μm sized dye-doped self-assembled cholesteric liquid-crystal microdroplets that isotropically emit single-mode laser light. By employing an epi-illumination configuration of a standard optical microscope, we excited a single microlaser beneath the sample plane and subsequently acquired in-line holograms of various samples placed between the microlaser and microscope objective. Embedding the light source enabled us to uniquely acquire in-line digital holograms in transmission even though the sample is observed in an epi-illumination configuration and could in principle be infinitely thick on one side.
We demonstrated single-photon emission from hBN color centers embedded inside live cells and their application to cellular barcoding. Each color center can exist in one out of 470 possible distinguishable states. A combination of a few color centers per cell can be used to uniquely tag virtually an unlimited number of cells. This barcoding technique is superior to others in almost all respects, including ease of production by a single-step procedure, biocompatibility and biodegradability, emission stability, no photobleaching, small size and a huge number of unique barcodes.
Bio-integrated lasers, that are lasers implanted into cells and tissues, are gaining interest from the research community. Here we show how microlasers and microcavities based on whispering gallery modes can be used for sensing different processes in biological materials including inside cells. By making microcavities of a predefined size they can also be used to encode some information and for cell tracking. Sensing and tracking can be applied to highly scattering tissues.
We demonstrate non-contact temperature measurement with 0.1 K precision at distances of several meters using omnidirectional laser emission from dye-doped cholesteric liquid crystal droplets freely floating in a fluid medium. Upon the excitation with a pulsed laser the liquid crystal droplet emits laser light due to 3D Bragg lasing in all directions. The spectral position of the lasing is highly dependent on temperature, which enables remote and contact-less temperature measurement with high precision. Both laser excitation and collection of light emitted by microlasers is performed through a 20 cm aperture optics at a distance of up to several meters. The optical excitation volume, where the droplets are excited and emit the laser light, is approx. 10 cubic millimeters. The measurement is performed with sub-second speed when several droplets pass through the excitation volume due to their thermal motion. Since the method is based solely on measuring the spectral position of a single and strong laser line, it is quite insensitive to scattering, absorption and background signals, such as auto-fluorescence. This enables a wide use in science and industry, with a detection range exceeding tens of meters.
Biocompatible Optical Needle Array (BONA) is showing to be a powerful tool complementing the novel antibacterial blue light therapy. BONA is able to deliver light to deeper skin tissue layers successfully as shown in experiments. In this study, we will discuss BONA’s design, mechanical and optical properties, production method, plus propose improvements to optimize it all. A special skin phantom with photosensitizer was developed in order to investigate how light is delivered inside the tissue. The phantom shows the light scattering pattern through photobleach, allowing us to determine length, thickness and spacing between needles. Other quantitative optical properties as penetration depth were determined using a different phantom (using PDMS). Mechanical properties as needle resistance were determined using one axis of a custom biaxial tensile strain device. The results led us to conclude that besides the great results, there is still room for improvements regarding tip sharpness and manufacturing time and cost, which would be solved with the enhanced fabrication method proposed.
When liquid crystals are dispersed in an immiscible fluid, microdroplets of liquid crystal are spontaneously formed in a fraction of a second. They have optically anisotropic internal structure, which is determined by the ordering of liquid crystal molecules at the interface. Spherical droplets of a nematic liquid crystal can function as whispering-gallery-mode microresonators with an unprecedented width of wavelength tunability by an electric field. WGM pulsed lasing in dyedoped nematic microdroplets is sensitive to strain, temperature and presence of molecules that change molecular orientation at the interface. Omnidirectional 3D lasing was demonstrated in droplets of chiral nematic liquid crystals that form 3D Bragg-onion resonators. We present recent progress in this field, including electric tuning of 3D lasing from chiral nematic droplets and self-assembly of ferroelectric smectic-C* microdroplets with the onion-Bragg structure. We show that anisotropic fibres could be self-assembled from smectic liquid crystals.
In this work we show resonant transfer of light from a planar polymer waveguide into a high index solid microsphere
(BaTiO3) or nematic liquid crystal microdroplet. BaTiO3 spheres were deposited on the waveguide
surface either in dry form or as dispersion in pure water. On the other hand nematic liquid crystal (NLC)
droplets were dispersed in a 10 mM sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) in water that promoted perpendicular surface
anchoring of 5CB and therefore radial droplet configuration. Planar waveguides were produced by spinning a
high refractive index polymer (1.68 at 632 nm) onto a soda lime glass. We used two different sources of light,
either 671 nm diode laser or the supercontinuum (SC) laser for the mode launching into the thin film waveguide
using a prism film coupler. The resonant tunneling of light from the waveguide into the high index spheres and
LC microcavities was observed in the case of SC illumination, because the spectrum of light radiated from the
both microcavities clearly showed whispering gallery modes.
In this work we show that nematic liquid-crystal droplets can be used as low-loss and highly tunable whisperinggallery
mode (WGM) optical microcavities. They are spontaneously formed by mixing the liquid crystal with an
immiscible liquid. The optical modes can be tuned either by applying an electric field, changing the temperature
or by mechanical deformation. The tuning range for the electric field is as high as 20 nm at 2.6 V/μm for a ~ 600
nm WGM in 17 μm diameter droplets. Tuning is fast and almost linear with the applied voltage. In the case of
the temperature tuning, we can shift the modes by more than 15 nm at a temperature change of 30 K. Further,
we can also apply mechanical deformation to a free standing film of PDMS polymer containing the liquid crystal
droplets. At 15% strain the mode shift is more than 30 nm. In all the three cases the tuning exceeds the free
spectral range of the resonators and is completely reversible.
The interactions between different types of colloidal particles are measured and analyzed. We use these interactions to
build different self-assembled microstructures, such as dimers, chains, wires, crystals and superstructures. In the
experiments we have used different size, different symmetry of colloids (elastic dipoles and quadrupoles) and different
way of colloidal binding (via localized defects and via entangled defects). We use optical tweezers for directed selfassembly
of colloidal particles. Special attention is devoted to the hierarchical superstructures of large and small
particles. We show that smaller, submicron colloidal particles are trapped into the topological defect rings or loops,
twisting around larger colloidal particles, which are sources of strong nematic deformations. Various possible
applications are discussed, especially in photonics and metamaterials.
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