Frederik Schaal

3D Holographic Imaging and Trapping for Non-Invasive Cell Identification and Tracking

Real-time high-throughput identification, screening, characterization, and processing of biological specimen is of great interest to a host of areas spanning from cell biology and medicine to security and defense. Much like human biometrics, microorganisms exhibit natural signatures that can be used for identification. In this paper, we first overview two optical techniques, namely digital holographic microscopy and holographic optical tweezers which can non-invasively image, manipulate, and identify microorganisms in three dimensions. The two methods bear similarities in their optics and implementation. Thus, we have proposed a new approach to identification of micro/nano organisms and cells by combining the two methods of digital holographic microscopy and holographic optical tweezers which can be integrated into a single compact hardware. The proposed system can simultaneously sense, control, identify, and track cells and microorganisms in three dimensions. New possibilities that arise from the proposed method are discussed.

Novel thin-disk oscillator concept for the generation of radially polarized femtosecond laser pulses

We report on the first demonstration of a radially polarized passively mode-locked thin-disk oscillator. Radial polarization was achieved by the use of a novel circular grating waveguide output coupler. We showed mode-locked operation up to a maximum average output power of 13.3 W with an optical efficiency of 21.8%. The degree of radial polarization of the emitted beam was measured to be 97±1%. The laser system generated pulses with a duration of 907 fs and an energy of 316 nJ corresponding to a peak power of 0.35 MW. To the best of our knowledge, these values exceed the performance of previously reported radially polarized mode-locked oscillator systems.

Advanced Scanning Laser‐Doppler Vibrometer with Computer Generated Holograms

In this paper we present a novel technique for steering the beam of a scanning laser‐Doppler vibrometer (LDV) using a Spatial Light Modulator (SLM). Computer Generated Holograms (CGH) are employed to obtain the phase maps displayed by the SLM. Due to this approach, spurious diffraction orders are generated. We present concepts to suppress these diffraction orders so as to realize a scanning vibrometer. We discuss the properties and limitations of this solution. Different SLMs have been evalutated and a compact scanning vibrometer based on a Holoeye Pluto SLM has been realized. First measurement results are presented. In addition, we demonstrate simulations on the reduction of speckle related signal dropouts. Drop‐Outs can be reduced by adapting the measurement‐beam wavefront with the CGH to maximize the light power collected with the vibrometer aperture. We have explored an approach to optimize the signal strength by adapting the coefficients of the Zernike polynomials of an additional wavefront shift.

Applications of diffractive optical elements for optical measurement techniques

Diffractive optical elements offer a high degree of freedom for controlling phase and spectral behavior in optical designs. This enables new and compact optical sensors and measurement systems. We show several recent applications which bene t from unique properties of diffractive optical elements. The applications include: field aberration correction e.g. for microscopic projection applications through microscope objective lenses, a 200 channel microscope objective integrated optical addressing system, diffractive/refractive hybrid optics for high efficiency beam shaping and deflection angle enlargement of spatial light modulators.

Tunable non-pixelated spatial polarization shaping including an integrated optical addressing unit

We present a device for tunable spatial polarization shaping, based on a red light photo-addressable cell. Such a cell compartment is based on a bisazobenzene containing photoaligning layer and a rubbed PI aligning and is filled with the LC mixture E5. Switchable spatial addressing patterns are generated by a 200 channel micro optical addressing unit based on a red VCSEL array (λ = 650 nm) and diffractive beam shapers.

Making, testing, applying: some progress in the field of micro-optics at ITO

Microoptical components play an increasing role in different technology fields such as medical engineering, materials and information processing, imaging and metrology. But their realization needs the combination of modern design concepts with sophisticated processing technologies, new materials and design tools. Furthermore, the introduction of ambitious processing technologies must be accompanied by effective metrology and inspection tools. Therefore, this paper reports about the technologies for making microoptics at ITO. Because sophisticated measurement tools are an indispensable part of the fabrication process, the paper describes our multi-scale inspection approach for the testing of microstructures on wafer-scale level. Finally, some representative applications of microoptical components for advanced measurement and imaging are explained.

Characterization of photochromic computer-generated holograms for optical testing

We investigate the possibility to produce photochromic CGHs with maskless lithography methods. For this purpose, optical properties and requirements of photochromic materials will be shown. A diarylethene-based polyurethane is developed and characterized. The resolution limit and the in uence of the writing parameters on the produced patterns, namely speed rate and light power, have been determined. After the optimization of the writing process, gratings and Fresnel Zone Plates are produced on the photochromic layer and diraction eciencies are measured. Improvements and perspectives will be discussed.

Towards one trillion positions

How accurately can you determine positions using a non-expensive imaging system? We demonstrate a system, that has the potential to achieve position detections over a large measurement field (200 x 200 mm) for one million times one million 2D positions. Non-expensive telecentric imaging of the large object field is achieved using a large diffractive front element in combination with two small off-the-shelf lenses. The position measurement itself is considerably improved using a simple replication technique: the point to be measured is replicated N-times and the centers of gravity of the N points are averaged. By this approach discretization errors and camera noise are reduced by the square root of the number of points. We describe the system, discuss the error model and show experimental results for the DOE-based telecentric imaging and the position detection sensing.