Using coherence theory, the partially coherent flat-topped vortex hollow beam is introduced. The analytical equation for propagation of a partially coherent flat-topped vortex hollow beam in turbulent atmosphere is derived, using the extended Huygens-Fresnel diffraction integral formula. The influence of coherence length, beam order N, topological charge M, and structure constant of the turbulent atmosphere on the average intensity of this beam propagating in turbulent atmosphere are analyzed using numerical examples.

In this paper, we theoretically and experimentally analyze the impact of speckle size of pseudo-thermal light source on ghost imaging. A larger size of speckle can bring improvements in SNR and visibility. At the same time, the edge blur of the retrieved image will become more serious. We also present a setup which can mitigate the edge blur of larger speckle while maintaining the advantages of higher SNR and visibility by changing the speckle size of the object beam with a concave lens.

Since the direct-gradient (DG) method uses the Shack-Hartmann wave front sensor (SH-WFS), based on the phase-conjugation principle, for atmospheric compensation in free-space optical (FSO) communication, it cannot effectively correct high-order aberrations. While the stochastic parallel gradient descent (SPGD) can compensate the distorted wave front, it requires more calculations, which is sometimes undesirable for an FSO system. A hybrid compensation (HC) method is proposed by properly using the DG method and SPGD algorithm to improve the performance of FSO communication. Simulations show that this method can well compensate wave-front aberrations and upgrade the coupling efficiency with few computations, preferable correction results, and rapid convergence rate.

The monitoring and measurement of the motion of a human joint is very important in screening for degenerative brain diseases and tracking the rehabilitation process. Since there are various medical fields to benefit from angular motion measurement, the necessity for monitoring of human joint movement is increasing. In this study, the optical sensor is composed of a light emission unit with a red LED and an optical fiber, and a reception unit with an arrangement of three photodiodes. The angular detection range was widened with the use of multiple photodiodes and the developed algorithm. The result will be useful for designing an effective angular sensor with low cost and small size.

This paper deals with a design method and capacity loss of an efficient multi-level modulation scheme for dimmable visible light communications (VLC) systems that use light-emitting diodes (LEDs) with efficiency droop. To this end, the impact of such an impairment on dimmable VLC is addressed with respect to multi-level modulations based on pulse-amplitude modulation (PAM) via data-rate optimization formulation.

Visible Light Communication (VLC) using Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) within the existing lighting infrastructure can reduce the implementation cost and may gain higher throughput than radio frequency (RF) or Infrared (IR) based wireless systems. Current indoor VLC systems may suffer from poor downlink resource allocation problems and small system throughput. To address these two issues, we propose an algorithm called a conflict graph scheduling (CGS) algorithm, including a conflict graph and a scheme that is based on the conflict graph. The conflict graph can ensure that users are able to transmit data without interference. The scheme considers the user fairness and system throughput, so that they both can get optimum values. Simulation results show that the proposed algorithm can guarantee significant improvement of system throughput under the premise of fairness.

A hybrid color and grayscale images encryption scheme based on the quaternion Hartley transform (QHT), the two-dimensional (2D) logistic map, the double random phase encoding (DRPE) in gyrator transform (GT) domain and the three-step phase-shifting interferometry (PSI) is presented. First, we propose a new color image processing tool termed as the quaternion Hartley transform, and we develop an efficient method to calculate the QHT of a quaternion matrix. In the presented encryption scheme, the original color and grayscale images are represented by quaternion algebra and processed holistically in a vector manner using QHT. To enhance the security level, a 2D logistic map-based scrambling technique is designed to permute the complex amplitude, which is formed by the components of the QHT-transformed original images. Subsequently, the scrambled data is encoded by the GT-based DRPE system. For the convenience of storage and transmission, the resulting encrypted signal is recorded as the real-valued interferograms using three-step PSI. The parameters of the scrambling method, the GT orders and the two random phase masks form the keys for decryption of the secret images. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed scheme has high security level and certain robustness against data loss, noise disturbance and some attacks such as chosen plaintext attack.

In this paper, a new asymmetric public key cryptography based on the modified RSA algorithm is proposed by using logic-based optical processing. The proposed asymmetric public key algorithm is realized into an optical schematic, where AND, OR and XOR logic operations are implemented by using free space digital optics architecture. Schematically, the proposed optical configuration has an advantage of generating the public keys simultaneously. Another advantage is that the suggested optical setup can also be used for message encryption and decryption by simply replacing data inputs of SLMs in the optical configuration. The last merit is that the optical configuration has a 2-D array data format which can increase the key length easily. This can provide longer 2-D key length resulting in a higher security cryptosystem than the conventional 1-D key length cryptosystem. Results of numerical simulation and differential cryptanalysis are presented to verify that the proposed method shows the effectiveness in the optical asymmetric cryptographic system.

A new compact conformal dome optical system was established, and the aberration characteristics of the dome were investigated using Zernike aberration theory. The aberrations induced by the dome at different fields of regard (FORs) from 30° to 100° were effectively balanced by a rotating cylindrical lens. This kind of optical system can be widely used in top-view optical searching devices. A design method was introduced and the optimization results analyzed in detail. The results showed that the Zernike aberrations produced by the conformal dome were decreased dramatically. Also, a complete conformal optical system was designed, to further illustrate the aberration correction effect of the rotating cylindrical lens. Using a cylindrical lens not only provided a large FOR, but also simplified enormously the structure of the conformal optical system.

This paper proposes an optical system for complex holographic display that enhances the quality of the reconstructed three-dimensional image. This work focuses on a new design for an optical system and the evaluation of the complex holographic display, using a single spatial light modulator (SLM) and a circular grating. The optical system is based on a 4-f system in which the imaginary and real information of the hologram is displayed on concentric rectangular areas of the SLM and circular grating. Thus, this method overcomes the lack of accuracy in the pixel positions between two window holograms in previous studies, and achieves a higher intensity of the real object points of the reconstructed hologram than the original phase-reconstructed hologram. The proposed method provides approximately 30% less NMRS (Normal Root Mean Square) error, compared to previous systems, which is verified by both simulation and optical experiment.

Red blood cells (RBCs) are customarily adhered to a bio-functionalised substrate to make them stationary in interferometric phase-imaging modalities. This can make them susceptible to receive alterations in innate morphology due to their own weight. Optical tweezers (OTs) often driven by Gaussian profile of a laser beam is an alternative modality to overcome contact-induced perturbation but at the same time a steeply focused laser beam might cause photo-damage. In order to address both the photo-damage and substrate adherence induced perturbations, we were motivated to stabilize the RBC in OTs by utilizing a laser beam of ‘arbitrary intensity profile’ generated by a source having cavity imperfections per se. Thus the immobilized RBC was investigated for phase-imaging with sinusoidal interferograms generated by a compact and robust Michelson interferometer which was designed from a cubic beam splitter having one surface coated with reflective material and another adjacent coplanar surface aligned against a mirror. Reflected interferograms from bilayers membrane of a trapped RBC were recorded and analyzed. Our phase-imaging set-up is limited to work in reflection configuration only because of the availability of an upright microscope. Due to RBC’s membrane being poorly reflective for visible wavelengths, quantitative information in the signal is weak and therefore, the quality of experimental results is limited in comparison to results obtained in transmission mode by various holographic techniques reported elsewhere.

Recently laser speckle contrast (LSC) imaging has become a widely used optical method for in vivo assessment of blood flow in the animal brain. LSC imaging is useful for monitoring brain hemodynamics with relatively high spatio-temporal resolution. A speckle contrast imaging system has been implemented with electrical sensory stimulation apparatus. LSC imaging is combined with optical intrinsic signal imaging in order to measure changes in cerebral blood flow as well as neural activity in response to electrical sensory stimulation applied to the hindlimb region of the mouse brain. We found that blood flow and oxygen consumption are correlated and both sides of hindlimb activation regions are symmetrically located. This apparatus could be used to monitor spatial or temporal responses of cerebral blood flow in animal disease models such as ischemic stroke or cortical spreading depression.

A novel optical design for high resolution, large field of view (FOV) and multispectral remote sensing is presented. An f/7.3 Korsch and two f/17.9 Cook three-mirror optical systems are integrated by sharing the primary and secondary mirrors, bias of the FOV, decentering of the apertures and reasonable structure arrangement. The aperture stop of the Korsch system is located on the primary mirror, while those of the Cook systems are on the exit pupils. High resolution image with spectral coverage from visible to near-infrared (NIR) can be acquired through the Korsch system with a focal length of 14 m, while wide-field imaging is accomplished by the two Cook systems whose focal lengths are both 13.24 m. The full FOV is 4°×0.13°, a coverage width of 34.9 km at the altitude of 500 km can then be acquired by push-broom imaging. To facilitate controlling the stray light, the intermediate images and the real exit pupils are spatially available. After optimization, a near diffraction-limited performance and a compact optical package are achieved. The sharing of the on-axis primary and secondary mirrors reduces the cost of fabrication, test, and manufacture effectively. Besides, the two tertiary mirrors of the Cook systems possess the same parameters, further cutting down the cost.

A pupil filter is a useful technique for modifying the light intensity distribution near the focus of an optical system to realize depth of field (DOF) extension and superresolution. In this paper, we proposed a new design of the phase only pupil filter by using Zernike polynomials. The effect of design parameters of the new filters on DOF extension and superresolution are discussed, such as defocus Strehl ratio (S.R.), superresolution factor (G) and relative first side lobe intensity (M). In comparison with the other two types of pupil filters, the proposed filter presents its advantages on controlling both the axial and radial light intensity distribution. Finally, defocused imaging simulations are carried out to further demonstrate the effectiveness and superiority of the proposed pupil filter on DOF extension and superresolution in an optical imaging system.

We develop a new method to globally calibrate the feature points that are derived from the binocular systems at different positions. A three-DOF (degree of freedom) global calibration system is established to move and rotate the 3D calibration board to an arbitrary position. A three-DOF global calibration model is constructed for the binocular systems at different positions. The three-DOF calibration model unifies the 3D coordinates of the feature points from different binocular systems into a unique world coordinate system that is determined by the initial position of the calibration board. Experiments are conducted on the binocular systems at the coaxial and diagonal positions. The experimental root-mean-square errors between the true and reconstructed 3D coordinates of the feature points are 0.573 mm, 0.520 mm and 0.528 mm at the coaxial positions. The experimental root-mean-square errors between the true and reconstructed 3D coordinates of the feature points are 0.495 mm, 0.556 mm and 0.627 mm at the diagonal positions. This method provides a global and accurate calibration to unity the measurement points of different binocular vision systems into the same world coordinate system.

The shape and location of the cutoff shield in a projection-type headlight system were optimized by a ray-tracing technique. A shield based on a Petsval surface showed better cutoff characteristics than a flat or cylindrical shield, such as a sharp intensity gradient and less color separation at the cutoff line. Adjustment of the shield’s location between the reflector and the aspheric lens further improved its cutoff characteristics.

In this study, we have investigated a high-temperature AlN nucleation layer and AlGaN epilayers on c-plane sapphire substrate by low-pressure metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (LP-MOCVD). High resolution X-ray diffraction (HRXRD), atomic force microscopy (AFM), scanning electron microscope (SEM) and Raman scattering measurements have been exploited to study the crystal quality, surface morphology, and residual strain of the HT-AlN nucleation layer. These analyses reveal that the insertion of an LT-AlN nucleation layer can improve the crystal quality, smooth the surface morphology of the HT-AlN nucleation layer and further reduce the threading dislocation density of AlGaN epifilms. The mechanism of inserting an LT-AlN nucleation layer to enhance the optical properties of HT-AlN nucleation layer and AlGaN epifilm are discussed from the viewpoint of driving force of reaction in this paper.

The influence of Au/Ni-based contact formed on a lightly-doped (7.3×1017cm−3, Zn-doped) InGaAsP layer for electrical compensation of surface plasmon polariton (SPP) propagation under various rapid thermal annealing (RTA) conditions has been studied. The active control of SPP propagation is realized by electrically pumping the InGaAsP multiple quantum wells (MQWs) beneath the metal planar waveguide. The metal planar film acts as the electric contact layer and SPP waveguide, simultaneously. The RTA process can lower the metal-semiconductor electric contact resistance. Nevertheless, it inevitably increases the contact interface morphological roughness, which is detrimental to SPP propagation. Based on this dilemma, in this work we focus on studying the influence of RTA conditions on electrical control of SPPs. The experimental results indicate that there is obvious degradation of electrical pumping compensation for SPP propagation loss in the devices annealed at 400℃ compared to those with no annealing treatment. With increasing annealing duration time, more significant degradation of the active performance is observed even under sufficient current injection. When the annealing temperature is set at 400℃ and the duration time approaches 60s, the SPP propagation is nearly no longer supported as the waveguide surface morphology is severely changed. It seems that eutectic mixture stemming from the RTA process significantly increases the metal film roughness and interferes with the SPP signal propagation.

I propose a vector passive harmonic mode-locked fiber laser based on topological insulator Bi2Se3 interacting with a fiber taper with a diameter of 7 μm. The particles of topological insulator are deposited uniformly onto the fiber taper with light pressure effect. By incorporating the fabricated saturable absorber into an Er-doped fiber laser cavity, stable mode-locked fiber is obtained. Due to the intense evanescent field of the fiber taper, strong confinement of light enhances the nonlinearity of the laser cavity, and passive harmonic mode-locking is performed. I observe a maximum harmonic mode-locking of 356th, corresponding to a frequency of 3.57 GHz. The pulse duration is 824 fs, and the full width at half maximum of the spectrum is about 8.2 nm. The polarization dependent loss of the saturable absorber is ~ 2.5 dB in the wavelength range of the C band. As the cavity contains no other polarization dependent device, the mode-locked laser is functioning in the vector state. The harmonic order vs pump power is investigated. To the best of our knowledge, this report is the highest frequency mode-locked fiber laser based on Bi2Se3. Experimental results indicate that the topological insulator Bi2Se3 functioning with a thin fiber taper is effective for vector harmonic mode-locking.

For visual measurement under dynamic scenarios, a zoom lens camera is more flexible than a fixed one. However, the challenges of distortion prediction within the whole focal range limit the widespread application of zoom lens cameras greatly. Thus, a novel sequential distortion correction method for a zoom lens camera is proposed in this study. In this paper, a distortion assessment method without coupling effect is depicted by an elaborated chessboard pattern. Then, the appropriate distortion correction model for a zoom lens camera is derived from the comparisons of some existing models and methods. To gain a rectified image at any zoom settings, a global distortion correction modeling method is developed with bundle adjustment. Based on some selected zoom settings, the optimized quadratic functions of distortion parameters are obtained from the global perspective. Using the proposed method, we can rectify all images from the calibrated zoom lens camera. Experimental results of different zoom lens cameras validate the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed method.

To evaluate the autofocusing performance of recent mobile phone cameras, it is necessary to determine the peak position of the center field MTF (Modulation Transfer Function), -known as the through focus MTF- of the module. However, the MTF peak position found by conventional methods deviates from the ideal position due to the focus scanning resolution of mobile phone cameras. This inaccurate peak position results in false judgements of the optical performance, leading to yield losses or customer complaints. An increase in the focus scanning resolution can address this problem, but the manufacturing UPH (Unit per Hour) level will also unfortunately increase as well, resulting in a loss of manufacturing capabilities. In this paper, several fitting models are studied to find an accurate MTF peak position within a short period of time. With an analysis of a large amount of manufacturing data, it is demonstrated that the fitting methods can reduce false judgements and simultaneously increase the capabilities of the manufacturing system.

We demonstrated the pretilt angle effect on the viewing angle properties of a single-domain fringe-field switching (FFS) liquid crystal (LC) mode. By performing the Póincare sphere analysis, we investigated, in detail, the origin of the viewing angle asymmetry that exists in the single-domain FFS LC mode both in the field-on and field-off states. Using this analysis, we confirmed that the pretilt angle reduces the viewing angle symmetry in the single-domain FFS LC mode. Finally, we examined the effect of a zero pretilt angle on the viewing angle symmetry by evaluating real single-domain FFS LC cells.

Surface protein internalin (InlA) is a major virulence factor of the food-borne pathogen L. monocytogenes. It plays an important role in bacteria crossing the host's barrier by specific interaction with the cell adhesion molecule E-cadherin. Study of this protein will help to find better ways to prevent listeriosis. In this study, a monoclonal antibody against InlA was used to detect InlA. The reaction was label-free and monitored in real time with an oblique-incidence reflectivity-difference (OI-RD) technique. The kinetic constants k_on and k_off and the equilibrium dissociation constant K_d for this reaction were also obtained. These parameters indicate that the antibody is capable of detecting InlA. Additionally, the results also demonstrate the feasibility of using OI-RD for proteomics research and bacteria detection.

Terahertz (THz) generation by a GaP ridge waveguide with a collinear modal phase-matching scheme based on cascaded difference frequency generation (DFG) processes is theoretically analyzed. The cascaded Stokes interaction processes and the cascaded anti-Stokes interaction processes are investigated from coupled wave equations. THz intensities and quantum conversion efficiency are calculated. Compared with non-cascaded DFG processes, THz intensities from 11-order cascaded DFG processes are increased to 5.48. The quantum conversion efficiency of 177.9% in cascaded processes can be realized, exceeding the Manley-Rowe limit.

In this paper, a novel full-aperture reflective null measuring method is proposed to detect the transmission wavefront of a conformal dome surface. An aspheric compensator is designed and placed behind the dome to reflect the aspheric testing wave back to the same path. To ensure the feasibility of this method, tolerance analysis is conducted, and guidance to assembly is given accordingly. The accuracy of this method is verified to be λ/30 (λ =3.39 μm) by Monte Carlo algorithm. In addition, the influence of different error factors, including the thickness error and decenter error of the dome, on the testing wavefront is analyzed. Simulation and experiment indicate that this method is practical and simple, and can measure the conformal domes precisely and comprehensively.

The independent operation of a color filter for incident polarization is demonstrated using a guided-mode resonance (GMR) filter employing a metal-insulator-metal (MIM) waveguide. To achieve independent operation, a rectangular MIM grating is proposed as a wave-guide resonator. The design considerations are discussed and include how to determine the grating period and slit width. Power flow distribution is observed with slit width variation. Blue-green, green-red, and blue-red filters for corresponding x- and y-polarizations are demonstrated as application examples with numerical simulation with rectangle-shaped MIM grating. As a practical application, feasibility as a chromatic polarizer is discussed.

We investigated surface-roughness-dependent optical loss in a plasmonic cavity consisting of a semiconductor nanodisk/silver nanopan structure. Numerical simulations show that the quality factors of plasmonic resonant modes significantly depend on the surface roughness of the dielectric-metal interface in the cavity structure. In the transverse-magnetic-like whispering-gallery plasmonic mode excited in a structure with disk diameter of 1000 nm, the total quality factor decreased from 260 to 130 with increasing root-mean-square (rms) surface roughness from 0 to 5 nm. This quantitative theoretical study shows that the smooth metal surface plays a critical role in high-performance plasmonic devices.

The distributions of (or constraints for) amplitude and phase around C-points, including Lemon, Mon-Star and Star, are studied. A Cartesian coordinate system with origin at the C-point is established. Four curves, where the azimuthal angles of polarization ellipses are 0°, 45°, 90°, and 135° respectively, are used to determine the distributions. Discussions of these constraints illustrate why Mon-Star is rarer than Lemon or Star in experiments. The transformation relationships between these three polarization singularities (PSs) are also discussed. We construct suitable functions for amplitude and phase according to their constraints, and simulate several PSs of particular shapes. With the development of modulation techniques for amplitude and phase, it is clear that this work is helpful for generating arbitrarily shaped C-points in experiments.

An enzyme-free optical method is proposed for estimating high concentrations of glucose in a glucose-lactose mixture, based on a predictive equation that takes advantage of the reflective optical power observed at two discrete wavelengths. Compared to the conventional absorption spectroscopy method based on Beer's Law, which is mainly valid for concentrations below hundreds of mg/dL, the proposed scheme, which relies on reflection signals, can be applied to measure higher glucose concentrations, of even several g/dL in a glucose-lactose mixture. Two probe wavelengths of 1160 and 1300 nm were selected to provide a linear relationship between the reflective power and pure glucose/lactose concentration, where the relevant linear coefficients were derived to complete the predictive equation. Glucose concentrations from 2 to 7 g/dL in a glucose-lactose mixture were efficiently estimated, using the established predictive equation based on monitored reflective powers. The standard error of prediction was 1.17 g/dL.

Oil pollution seriously endangers the biological environment and human health. Due to the diversity of oils and the complexity of oil composition, it is of great significance to identify the oil contaminants. The 3-D fluorescence spectrum combined with a second order correction algorithm was adopted to measure an oil mixture with overlapped fluorescence spectra. The self-weighted alternating trilinear decomposition (SWATLD) is a kind of second order correction, which has developed rapidly in recent years. Micellar solutions of #0 diesel, #93 gasoline and ordinary kerosene in different concentrations were made up. The 3-D fluorescence spectra of the mixed oil solutions were measured by a FLS920 fluorescence spectrometer. The SWATLD algorithm was applied to decompose the spectrum data. The predict concentration and recovery rate obtained by the experiment show that the SWATLD algorithm has advantages of insensitivity to component number and high resolution for mixed oils.