A successful application of self-interference digital holographic microscopy in combination with a sample-rotation-based tomography module for three-dimensional (3-D) label-free quantitative live cell imaging with subcellular resolution is demonstrated. By means of implementation of a hollow optical fiber as the sample cuvette, the observation of living cells in different 3-D matrices is enabled. The fiber delivers a stable and accurate rotation of a cell or cell cluster, providing quantitative phase data for tomographic reconstruction of the 3-D refractive index distribution with an isotropic spatial resolution. We demonstrate that it is possible to clearly distinguish and quantitatively analyze several cells grouped in a “3-D cluster” as well as subcellular organelles like the nucleoli and local internal refractive index changes.

Interest in measuring displacement gradients, such as rotation and strain, is growing in many areas of geophysical research. This results in an urgent demand for reliable and field-deployable instruments measuring these quantities. In order to further establish a high-quality standard for rotation and strain measurements in seismology, we organized a comparative sensor test experiment that took place in November 2019 at the Geophysical Observatory of the Ludwig-Maximilians University Munich in Fürstenfeldbruck, Germany. More than 24 different sensors, including three-component and single-component broadband rotational seismometers, six-component strong-motion sensors and Rotaphone systems, as well as the large ring laser gyroscopes ROMY and a Distributed Acoustic Sensing system, were involved in addition to 14 classical broadband seismometers and a 160 channel, 4.5 Hz geophone chain. The experiment consisted of two parts: during the first part, the sensors were co-located in a huddle test recording self-noise and signals from small, nearby explosions. In a second part, the sensors were distributed into the field in various array configurations recording seismic signals that were generated by small amounts of explosive and a Vibroseis truck. This paper presents details on the experimental setup and a first sensor performance comparison focusing on sensor self-noise, signal-to-noise ratios, and waveform similarities for the rotation rate sensors. Most of the sensors show a high level of coherency and waveform similarity within a narrow frequency range between 10 Hz and 20 Hz for recordings from a nearby explosion signal. Sensor as well as experiment design are critically accessed revealing the great need for reliable reference sensors.

A tunable graphene-based hyperbolic metamaterial is designed and numerically investigated in the mid-infrared frequencies. Theoretical analysis proves that by adjusting the chemical potential of graphene from 0.2 eV to 0.8 eV, the reflectance can be blue-shifted up to 2.3 µm. Furthermore, by modifying the number of graphene monolayers in the hyperbolic metamaterial stack, we are able to shift the plasmonic resonance up to 3.6 µm. Elliptic and type II hyperbolic dispersions are shown for three considered structures. Importantly, a blue/red-shift and switching of the reflectance are reported at different incident angles in TE/TM modes. The obtained results clearly show that graphene-based hyperbolic metamaterials with reversibly controlled tunability may be used in the next generation of nonlinear tunable and reversibly switchable devices operating in the mid-IR range.

We propose a novel tomographic measurement approach that enables a noise suppressed characterization of microstructures. The idea of this work is based on a finding that coherent noise in the input phase data generates an artificial circular structure whose magnitude is the highest at the centre of tomographic reconstruction. This method decreases the noise level by applying an unconventional tomographic measurement configuration with an object deliberately shifted with respect to the rotation axis. This enables a spatial separation between the reconstructed sample structure and the area of the largest refractive index perturbations. The input phase data defocusing that is a by-product of the introduced modification is numerically corrected with an automatic focus correction algorithm. The proposed method is validated with simulations and experimental measurements of an optical microtip.

Graphene-based hyperbolic metamaterials provide a unique scaffold for designing nanophotonic devices with active functionalities. In this work, we have theoretically demonstrated that the characteristics of a polarization-dependent tunable hyperbolic microcavity in the mid-infrared frequencies could be realized by modulating the thickness of the dielectric layers, and thus breaking periodicity in a graphene-based hyperbolic metamaterial stack. Transmission of the tunable microcavity shows a Fabry–Perot resonant mode with a Q-factor > 20, and a sixfold local enhancement of electric field intensity. It was found that by varying the gating voltage of graphene from 2 to 8 V, the device could be self-regulated with respect to both the intensity (up to 30%) and spectrum (up to 2.1 µm). In addition, the switching of the device was considered over a wide range of incident angles for both the transverse electric and transverse magnetic modes. Finally, numerical analysis indicated that a topological transition between elliptic and type II hyperbolic dispersion could be actively switched. The proposed scheme represents a remarkably versatile platform for the mid-infrared wave manipulation and may find applications in many multi-functional architectures, including ultra-sensitive filters, low-threshold lasers, and photonic chips.

Optical Diffraction Tomography is a technique for retrieving a 3-dimensional refractive index distribution from phase objects without destroying the structure of the samples. In the article we discuss the selection and implementation of full and limited angle version of tomographic reconstruction processes together with the analysis of different methods for gathering projections. We present two efficient implementations of full and limited angle tomographic systems including total processing paths and providing the examplary results of 3-D refractive index determination measurements of biological samples.