This research focuses on the development of a non-invasive/minimally invasive optogenetic technique. The study delves into how visible (VIS) and near-infrared (NIR) light interacts with ex vivo mouse head tissues, highlighting the advantages of the NIR-II biological window for deeper tissue penetration and reduced light absorption and scattering. Our computer simulations and experimental results demonstrated that over 12% of initial light irradiation passes through 1 mm tissue (skin and skull), reaching the brain cortex, potentially enabling minimally invasive neural activation. Moreover, this work reveals the nonlinear optical properties of genetically engineered truncated monomeric and dimeric bacterial phytochromes, demonstrating their photoconversion efficiency of up to 73% in the NIR-II range and potential for optogenetics. This discovery opens new avenues in advanced neurostimulation and biomedical research by enhancing tissue penetration and minimizing invasiveness.
Current medicine might be greatly enhanced by the ability to in vivo control and monitor neurons using opsins/phytochromes expressed in neural cells. The fundamental challenge with non-invasive neural cell activity regulation is a high absorption of visible light into biological tissues. This drawback could be mitigated by the photoconversion of phytochromes in spectral ranges with higher tissue transparency. In this study, we first demonstrated two-photon Pr→Pfr conversion of monomeric phytochrome at 1.2 μm wavelength. We did a comparison of linear and nonlinear conversion of truncated DrBphP bacterial phytochromes. This work provides a structured understanding of the optical properties of the dimer and monomer of phytochrome as well as their potential for use in optogenetics.
In this contribution, we discuss the features of design and polarimetric inspection of terahertz achromatic waveplates. The design of the crystalline quartz half-wave plate was performed taking into account the ellipticity and the introduced phase difference between the orthogonal components of the output radiation polarization vector. The designed waveplate are relatively thin, work equally efficiently in the frequency range from 0.4 to 1.4 THz, and, most importantly, are cheap to manufacture. The modification of the experimental terahertz time-domain spectroscopy polarimetric setup involving direct waveform detection is proposed. The proposed polarimetry THz time-domain spectrometer with electro-optic detection shows parasitical signals absence and easier measurement procedure.
The realisation of hyperspectral terahertz imaging is a significant step towards understanding of the life sciences on all scales. A key to this understanding is the retrieval of dielectric properties from such images, a task which is plagued by experimental limitations, challenging the terahertz community for more than two decades. In this contribution, we propose a new combined retrieval methodology to overcome misalignments and Fabry-Pérot effects on the extraction of the dielectric properties of human bone samples through the combination of the Kramers-Kronig relations and Fabry-Pérot reflection modelling. Results extracted from ∼100 µm human bone slices composed largely of collagen are consistent with those measured for pristine collagen samples. This represents another stepping-stone towards the adoption of terahertz imaging into pre- and clinical practice.
This work presents the generation of pulsed THz radiation from a quantum dot photoconductive antenna (PCA) pumped at 800nm. The work investigates the output and characteristics of the generated THz from the QD PCA alongside a comparison with a commercial antenna from Teravil. The QD PCA outputs significantly higher THz power at low pump powers than the commercial PCA and would therefore be suitable for any application that would require a low-pump power such as the use of semiconductor lasers as pump sources for THz generation.
KEYWORDS: Excitons, Organic semiconductors, Solar energy, Absorption, Organic photovoltaics, Energy efficiency, Laser systems engineering, Spectroscopes, Data acquisition
Here, using single-material OPV device and laser system with sub-10fs time resolution, we track in time the formation of localised excitonic states. For this we employ a combination of pump-probe (PP) spectroscopy, sensitive to concentration of excited states, and pump-push-photocurrent (PPPC) technique, sensitive to the state localisation. Combining both methods to monitor charge dynamics at real operation condition allows to separate and track the evolution of strongly bound and spontaneously dissociating excited states. Our data show that PP and PPPC measurement do not follow the same trend, and the discrepancy between the states probed by PP and PPPC indicates that excitons acquire localised character within first 50fs after formation. Results may be useful for a new realisation of efficient donor-acceptor OPV design.
We present the overview of the results on the development of compact THz setups based on the quantum dot photoconductive antennas obtained during the past five years. We demonstrate the potential of the InAs/GaAs Quantum-Dot based setups to become an efficient approach to compact, room-temperature operating CW and pulsed terahertz setups for spectroscopy and imaging. We describe the photoelectronic processes in quantum dot substrates and reveal the role of quantum dots in free carrier lifetimes and the formation of the ultrafast photocurrent. We demonstrate the operation mode of the proposed antennas in pulsed and CW regimes under resonant (carriers are excited only inside the quantum dots) and off-resonant (carriers are excited in the bulk volume of the substrate) pumps with compact quantum dot semiconductor lasers. The results allow suggesting the quantum dot based setups as a new approach to field condition compact THz sources for imaging and spectroscopy.
In this contribution, we investigate the features of the two-beam interference of a set of wave trains, in which one of the beams contains an orbital angular momentum caused by the presence of inline topologically charged vortices in each spectral component. The infrared pump beam that generates terahertz radiation is first doubled in Mach-Zehnder interferometer with a specific time delay value to form the wave train with quasidiscrete temporal spectrum. Then, the two delayed terahertz pulses are split into two arms. One of the arms contains a delay line and geometric phase shaping elements for broadband uniformly topologically charged beam formation. The resulting structures are combined with a beamsplitter and detected with a terahertz holographic system upon their propagation. We analyze the features of the resulting spatio-frequency structures and discuss the possibility to implement the information encoding without spectral decomposition.
In this contribution, we present the direct comparison between Ophir Pyrocam IV and Terasense Tera-1024 cameras used for imaging of terahertz (THz) and sub-THz signals. We compare general properties, such as frequency dependent and polarisation dependent sensitivity, angle dependent sensitivity essential for holographic and noncollinear interferometric measurements, and draw a conclusion about the most suitable camera for the discussed imaging approaches. Both cameras show acceptable performance and sensitivity at imaging both 0.14 THz and 0.3 THz signals. The Terasense camera, expectedly, shows stronger polarisation dependent properties, however, is significantly more angle independent, showing an acceptable performance at all tested incident angles up to 50 degrees. At the same time, although the angle dependence is stronger for the Ophir camera, it has smaller pixel pitch and more extended post-processing features, thus making it somewhat better suited for noncollinear interferometric and holographic sub THz imaging.
Terahertz pulse time-domain holography (THz PTDH) is an ultimate technique both for the measurement of object properties in the THz range and broadband wavefront sensing. In this proceeding, we reveal the key principles of the technique, including the layout solutions for recording a collimated THz wavefront in the form of spatio-temporal profiles. The possibilities to investigate ultrashort THz field propagation dynamics based on the data measured in one transverse plane is discussed. The evolution for both transverse and longitudinal components of the electromagnetic field thus can be estimated. We illustrate these possibilities on the example of Bessel-Gaussian pulsed THz beam propagation formed by an on axicon lens.
We investigate an approach to short and medium-range wireless communications based on the use of terahertz beams possessing an orbital angular momentum (OAM) that allows for noise-resistant broadband carrier. A the- oretical model of the proposed beams generation is developed and numerical predictions are given for propagation and visualization of complex-structured THz beams, including ones carrying a unit topological charge on a large number of spectral components of broadband terahertz radiation. The assessment method which in our case is terahertz pulse time-domain holography allows for analyzing spatio-temporal and spatio-spectral evolution of arbitrary shaped THz wave trains during their propagation in free space and interaction with obstacles.
Lead-halide perovskites are currently the highest-performing solution-processable semiconductors for solar energy conversion, with record efficiencies rapidly approaching that of the Shockley-Queisser limit for single-junction solar cells. Further progress in the development of lead-halide perovskite solar cells must overcome this limit, which largely stems from the ultrafast relaxation of high-energy hot carriers above the bandedge. In this contribution, we use a highly-specialized pump-push-probe technique to unravel the key parameters which control hot carrier cooling in bulk and nanocrystal (NC) lead bromide perovskites with different material composition, NC diameter and surface treatment. All samples exhibit slower cooling for higher hot carrier densities, which we assign to a phonon bottleneck mechanism. By comparing this density-dependent cooling behavior in the different samples, we find that the weak quantum confinement of electronic states and the surface defects in the NCs play no observable role in the hot carrier relaxation. Meanwhile, in accordance with our previous observations for bulk perovskites, we show that the cation plays a critical role towards carrier cooling in the perovskite NCs, as evidenced by the faster overall cooling in the hybrid FAPbBr3 NCs with respect to the all-inorganic CsPbBr3 NCs. These observations highlight the crucial role of the cations toward the phononic properties of lead-halide perovskites, and further point towards the defect tolerance of these emerging solution-processed semiconductors.
A continuous wave (CW) terahertz source emitting in a broad frequency range (1-5THz) is promising towards achieving a compact, high power, finely tunable, room temperature terahertz generation system which will be of immense significance towards the realisation of terahertz applications in spectroscopy, communication, sensing, and imaging among others. We have demonstrated a tunable continuous-wave Quantum Dot external cavity laser emitting at two frequencies for continuous wave terahertz emission in a Quantum dot Photoconductive Antenna (PCA). The external cavity QD Laser has been characterised with tunability of 152nm and a tuning range from 1143nm -1295.8nm that lies within the THz difference frequency for the generation of THz radiation from QD based PCAs.
Herein, we numerically investigate terahertz photoconductive antennas (PCAs) based on optimized plasmonic nanostructures and absorption enhancement in nanocylinders. Metallic nanostructures playing an important role in nanophotonic applications are a hot topic nowadays. Such applications are possible due to their capability to focus or intensify electromagnetic fields close to the metal by employing excitation approach of surface plasmon polaritons. Plasmonic behavior in the visible to near-infrared light spectrum is achievable due to the metallic nanostructures employment. Herein, we study the absorption enhancement of silver and transparent-conducting oxides (TCO) nanocylinders with different diameters by means of effective medium approximation. This study also reports on the stronger enhancement in the case of TCO nanocylinders. The results show that resonant absorption amplitude and wavelength are dramatically affected by the thickness of the nanostructure as well as by the distances between nanocylinders. The outputs reported here provide a fertile ground for precise control of the nanowire structures for sensing and other enhanced optical applications. Because of compact structure, simple fabrication and room temperature operation, PCAs provide THz wave generation and detection. Moreover, PCAs are widely used in time domain THz imaging and spectroscopy systems for generating pulsed THz radiation. It is worthwhile noting, that in case of TCO nanocylinders, absorption enhancement for NIR wavelengths, being relevant for present THz generation setup, reaches up to 5-fold leading to 25-fold increase in THz radiation.
In this proceeding, we present the description of the numerical approach for resolution enhancement, field of view widening and noise reduction in pulse time-domain holography. The approach comprises iterative procedure of the recorded hologram self-extrapolation into wider spatial area, and consecutive ‘self-healing’ of an object. The concept has been proofed on a synthetically generated pulse time-domain holograms. The proposed method is sought after, especially in THz range, where the distance between the object and the hologram lies in the order of several tens of wavelengths, and the detector sizes are usually limited, and with minor modifications can be applied for other THz holographic approaches.
In this proceeding, we discuss the method that allows for field of view and reconstruction quality enhancement of pulsed THz holograms recorded by matrix detectors that do not exceed the the object transverse dimensions, at distances, that are comparable with the object size. The method comprises the use of random phase mask situated between the object and the hologram, at the hologram registration process. The introduced phase variation levels out the input from closer and further (to the hologram pixel) points of the object, and thus improves overall reconstruction quality. Here, we study numerically this approach and demonstrate 4 times increase of the properly reconstructed object area, if compared to the undisturbed hologram recording, and consecutive increase of the correlation between the reconstructed and actual object from 0.34 to 0.82.
We present our recent results on CW and pulsed THz generation in quantum dot(QD) based photoconductive antennae(PCA) pumped by ultrafast and dual wavelength semiconductor lasers. QDPCA substrate incorporates InAs QDs in GaAs matrix, thus keeping semiconductor carrier mobility at higher levels that is typical for SI GaAs, while QDs themselves serve as lifetime shortening centres, allowing to achieve subpicosecond operation as in LT-GaAs. Thus, such substrates combine the advantages and lacking the disadvantages of GaAs and LT-GaAs, which are the most popular materials so far, and thus can be used for both CW and pulsed THz generation. Moreover, by changing QD size and mutual allocation, effective pump wavelengths can be tuned in the range between 0.9-1.3 μm, which is well beyond the GaAs energies, hence compact and relatively cheap ultrafast and narrow line double-wavelength semiconductor and fibre pump lasers can be used for pumping such antennae for both pulsed and CW THz generation.
For double wavelength operation of semiconductor lasers, we implement either stacked double volume Bragg gratings, or double-Littrow configuration with two independent diffraction gratings to achieve tunability of the generated THz signal. High thermal tolerance of QD wafers allowed pumping single-gapped antennae with lasers producing up to 250 mW of CW optical power at simultaneous double wavelength operation and up to 1W average optical power in pulsed regime.
We show these QD based antennae combined with such pump lasers to generate pulsed and CW THz radiation that is superlinearly proportional to pump power and bias applied to antenna.
Here we overview our work on quantum dot based THz photoconductive antennae, capable of being pumped at very high optical intensities of higher than 1W optical mean power, i.e. about 50 times higher than the conventional LT-GaAs based antennae. Apart from high thermal tolerance, defect-free GaAs crystal layers in an InAs:GaAs quantum dot structure allow high carrier mobility and ultra-short photo carrier lifetimes simultaneously. Thus, they combine the advantages and lacking the disadvantages of GaAs and LT-GaAs, which are the most popular materials so far, and thus can be used for both CW and pulsed THz generation. By changing quantum dot size, composition, density of dots and number of quantum dot layers, the optoelectronic properties of the overall structure can be set over a reasonable range-compact semiconductor pump lasers that operate at wavelengths in the region of 1.0 μm to 1.3 μm can be used. InAs:GaAs quantum dot-based antennae samples show no saturation in pulsed THz generation for all average pump powers up to 1W focused into 30 μm spot. Generated THz power is super-linearly proportional to laser pump power. The generated THz spectrum depends on antenna design and can cover from 150 GHz up to 1.5 THz.
In this paper, we present review and latest results obtained in the scope of terahertz holographic and other
methods for phase retrieval in terahertz imaging. Not only accurate change of amplitude, but also rigorous
phase retrieval is essential for precise calculation of optical parameters of the samples in terahertz range. Pulse
terahertz holography introduced some years ago shows itself as perfect method for overall-object phase retrieval
technique, but in the same time it allows measurement with low signal to noise that leads to less precise derivation
of sample optical parameters. And certainly just point-by-point terahertz time-domain spectroscopy provides the
most precise information of sample phase, but it is rather time consuming and has low spatial resolution as well.
The other possible way assumes, in contrary to pulse terahertz holography and spectroscopy, using narrow-band
continuous terahertz source, which tunability might also make the measurement process easier. And diffraction
patterns registered with microbolometer array or any other terahertz intensity sensor placed at several different
distances from the object and/or taken for several different terahertz frequencies are used for phase retrieval in
this case. We present both numerical predictions and experimental results for the proposed methods, estimate
the achievable spatial and other limits of the techniques and compare them to the others used in different spectral
ranges.
An iterative wavefront retrieval method based on intensity measurements formed by several wavelengths is investigated
in the present contribution. This multiwavelength technique is extended to use the intensity distributions
recorded in various planes of the volume speckle field. The ability to retrieve the wavefront using speckle patterns
is demonstrated in experiment. Two different experimental techniques have been used. The first proposed
method allows one to record three different intensity distributions corresponding to the three CCD RGB channels
at single exposure. This gives the advantage in the analysis of fast processes, e.g. phase microscopy of moving
biological cell-like objects investigation. The second technique involves using a large number of wavelengths of
supercontinuum radiation formed by photonic-crystal fiber. This approach provides faster and more accurate
convergence of the proposed method, has simple and rugged recording scheme with fiber optic elements.
We present a wavefront retrieval method for radiation comprising several wavelengths. Both numerical models
and experimental results are presented. Numerical modeling implies iterative phase retrieval procedure for all
wavelengths in spectrum. For reconstruction we can use two different algorithms, one inherits from one proposed
by Osten, Pedrini and Almoro, the second one implies expansion by Hermite-Gauss or Laguerre-Gauss basis set
which allows to decrease calculation time consumption. In experiment, speckle patterns can be formed either
by spectral supercontinuum radiation from photonic-crystal fiber (PCF) or by Stokes components of stimulated
Raman scattering (SRS) from second harmonic of pulse Nd:YAG laser radiation in barium nitrate crystal.
In this paper, we present description of new methods developed for imaging with terahertz(THz) waves - methods of THz pulse holography. We present two methods - referenceless THz pulse holography and THz
pulse holography with reference beam. Modeling and theoretic results already presented earlier 1,2 are followed by setup for THz holography design and obtained experimental results on referenceless THz pulse holographic
object imaging.
This paper is dedicated to THz pulse holography with reference beam, opposite to our last year report on THz pulse
holography without reference beam1.
With reference source, we can use not only wavefront inversion modelling for reconstruction, but also reconstruction
by shorter wavelength radiation that is much easier to be viewed. Using almost the same setup as in THz holography
with reference beam, after digital registration we can reproduce hologram at the desired THz wavelength scaled to the
desired reconstruction wavelength, then, we use standard scheme for reconstruction. Taking into account time needed for
computational reconstruction, the new approach looks promising especially for practical purposes.
A comparison between reconstruction techniques related to resolution and noise dependency is given.
The main idea of suggested THz holographic system is to measure amplitude-phase diffraction patterns of an object at
THz range and further digital processing of obtained data.
For check of the method verifying numerical calculations have been carried out and the holograms of amplitude and
phase arbitrary shaped transparencies were obtained and reconstructed numerically.
Possible advances in computational object reconstruction as well as reconstruction resolution are discussed and
implemented.
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