Luiz G. Neto

Optical implementation of image encryption using random phase encoding

In the optical implementation of image encryption using ran- dom phase encoding proposed by Refregier and Javidi the random phase mask is not band limited. Speckle noise can thus destroy optical reconstruction of the encrypted images. We demonstrate encryption of speckle-free kinoforms by smoothed random phase masks. Optical veri- fication of the encrypted images is shown.

Implementation of image encryption using the phase-contrast technique

An image encoding scheme using the phase-contrast technique and a random phase distribution is proposed to encrypt images in phase masks. The robustness of the encoding is assured by the non-linearities intrinsic to the phase-contrast technique and the bandwidth of the random phase distribution. The advantage of this method, compared to the previous methods proposed, is the direct encoding of the image without any iterative calculation to generate the phase mask. This approach permits practical applications since the final phase mask could be implemented using thermoplastic plates and spatial light modulators (Slims).

Efficient band-pass color filters enabled by resonant modes and plasmons near the Rayleigh anomaly

We design and fabricate efficient, narrow-band, transmission color filters whose operating principle resides in a narrow-band guided-mode resonance associated with a surface-plasmon resonance. The fundamental device consists of an aluminum grating over a 200-nm-thick aluminum oxide film on a glass substrate. Numerical simulations show a sharp resonance-derived spectral profile that is additionally shaped by a neighboring Rayleigh anomaly. Besides the Rayleigh effect, we show numerically that the narrow bandwidth is predominantly due to the low refractive-index contrast between the waveguide film and the substrate. Red, green, and blue filters are fabricated using ultraviolet holographic lithography followed by a lift-off process. The experimental spectral efficiency in transmission exceeds 80% with full-width-at-half-maximum linewidths near 20 nm. We provide color images of the zero-order transmitted spectra, and illustrate the pure colors associated with the modal resonance extracted as side-coupled output light.

Design, fabrication, and characterization of a full complex-amplitude modulation diffractive optical element

The use of diffractive optical elements (DOEs) is increasing for several industrial applications. Most elements modulate the phase of incoming light or its amplitude, but not both. The phase modulation DOE is the most popular because it has a high diffraction efficiency. However, the phase-only limitation may reduce the freedom in the element design, increasing the design complexity for a desired optimal solution. To overcome this limitation, a novel, full complex-amplitude modulation DOE is presented. This element allows full control over both phase and amplitude modulation of any optical wave front. This flexibility introduces more freedom in the element design and improves the elements optical performance, even in a near-field operation regime. The phase grating of the element was fabricated in an amorphous hydrogenated carbon film. The amplitude modulation was obtained by patterning a reflective aluminum thin film, which was deposited on top of the phase grating. The apertures in the metal film determine the quantity of transmitted light. The use of a reflective layer in the fabrication decreases the risk of laser-induced damage since no absorption is involved in the process. With this device it is possible to obtain extremely efficient spatial filtering and reconstruct low noise images.

Design, fabrication, and characterization of Fresnel lens array with spatial filtering for passive infrared motion sensors

A cubic-phase distribution is applied in the design, fabrication and characterization of inexpensive Fresnel lens arrays for passive infrared motion sensors. The resulting lens array produces a point spread function (PSF) capable of distinguish the presence of humans from pets by the employment of the so-called wavefront coding method. The cubic phase distribution used in the design can also reduce the optical aberrations present in the system. This aberration control allows a high tolerance in the fabrication of the lenses and in the alignment errors of the sensor. In order to proof the principle, a lens was manufactured on amorphous hydrogenated carbon thin film, by well-known micro fabrication process steps. The optical results demonstrates that the optical power falling onto the detector surface is attenuated for targets that present a mass that is horizontally distributed in space (e.g. pets) while the optical power is enhanced for targets that present a mass vertically distributed in space (e.g. humans). Then a mould on steel was fabricated by laser engraving, allowing large-scale production of the lens array in polymeric material. A polymeric lens was injected and its optical transmittance was characterized by Fourier Transform Infrared Spectrometry technique, which has shown an adequate optical transmittance in the 8-14 μm wavelength range. Finally the performance of the sensor was measured in a climate-controlled test laboratory constructed for this purpose. The results show that the sensor operates normally with a human target, with a 12 meter detection zone and within an angle of 100 degrees. On the other hand, when a small pet runs through a total of 22 different trajectories no sensor trips are observed. The novelty of this work is the fact that the so-called pet immunity function was implemented in a purely optical filtering. As a result, this approach allows the reduction of some hardware parts as well as decreasing the software complexity, once the information about the intruder is optically processed before it is transduced by the pyroelectric sensor.

Design and fabrication of a hybrid diffractive optical device for multiple-line generation over a wide angle

A new hybrid optical device that is capable of splitting a monochromatic laser beam into an arbitrary number of lines over a wide angle is presented. It consists of a binary surface-relief computer-generated phase hologram and a continuous parabolic surface-relief grating. In this device the phase hologram serves to generate three small, parallel lines while the continuous parabolic surface-relief phase grating acts as an array of diverging parabolic lenses to widen these lines. The binary surface-relief was generated into one side of a quartz substrate through a plasma-etching process, and the parabolic profile was generated into a thick photoresist deposited on the other side of the quartz substrate. Calculations showed that a diverging parabolic lens with a f-number of 0.5 would deliver the desired optical pattern of multiple beams distributed over 90 degrees . A surface-relief depth of 6.0 mum was calculated with consideration of the phase distributions of such lens. The parabolic profiles were fabricated in a 10-mum-thick photoresist, by use of a contact exposure through a mask with a space pattern of repetitive 4- and 6-mum lines. He-Ne laser light was passed through a device that generated three parallel lines over a 90 degrees angle. The resulting diffraction patterns were characterized, and a satisfying result was obtained. The resulting multiple-line pattern can be used in robot vision and other applications.

Diffractive phase-shift lithography photomask operating in proximity printing mode

A phase shift proximity printing lithographic mask is designed, manufactured and tested. Its design is based on a Fresnel computer-generated hologram, employing the scalar diffraction theory. The obtained amplitude and phase distributions were mapped into discrete levels. In addition, a coding scheme using sub-cells structure was employed in order to increase the number of discrete levels, thus increasing the degree of freedom in the resulting mask. The mask is fabricated on a fused silica substrate and an amorphous hydrogenated carbon (a:C-H) thin film which act as amplitude modulation agent. The lithographic image is projected onto a resist coated silicon wafer, placed at a distance of 50 microm behind the mask. The results show a improvement of the achieved resolution--linewidth as good as 1.5 microm--what is impossible to obtain with traditional binary masks in proximity printing mode. Such achieved dimensions can be used in the fabrication of MEMS and MOEMS devices. These results are obtained with a UV laser but also with a small arc lamp light source exploring the partial coherence of this source.

Implementation of Fresnel full complex-amplitude digital holograms

The use of diffractive optical elements (DOEs) is increasing for several industrial applications, such as beam shaping and optical filtering. Most elements modulate the phase of the incoming light or its amplitude, but not both. To overcome this limitation, we developed a full complex-amplitude modulation DOE. We employed well-established integrated circuit fabrication steps to fabricate the devices at relatively low cost and with high precision. Using this approach, the new elements optical performances are improved even for near-field operations. With this device it is possible to obtain the total control of the zeroth order transmitted light, resulting in low-noise reconstructed images.

Zeroth-order phase-contrast technique

What we believe to be a new phase-contrast technique is proposed to recover intensity distributions from phase distributions modulated by spatial light modulators (SLMs) and binary diffractive optical elements (DOEs). The phase distribution is directly transformed into intensity distributions using a 4f optical correlator and an iris centered in the frequency plane as a spatial filter. No phase-changing plates or phase dielectric dots are used as a filter. This method allows the use of twisted nematic liquid-crystal televisions (LCTVs) operating in the real-time phase-mostly regime mode between 0 and p to generate high-intensity multiple beams for optical trap applications. It is also possible to use these LCTVs as input SLMs for optical correlators to obtain high-intensity Fourier transform distributions of input amplitude objects.

Design and fabrication of SiO/sub 2//Si/sub 3/N/sub 4/ integrated-optics waveguides on silicon substrates

In this paper, the design and fabrication of silicon-based optical waveguides are revisited. The goal is to develop a novel design and deposition process to minimize leakage losses. Interface roughness and Si/sub 3/N/sub 4/ stoichiometry are examined. The optical loss is measured and contributions from scattering and absorption are determined.