Tomoko Otsu

Stable and flexible multiple spot pattern generation using LCOS spatial light modulator

The LCOS spatial light modulator (LCOS-SLM) can generate desired multiple spot patterns (MSPs) via the application of suitable computer-generated-holograms (CGHs), but the MSP intensity distribution varies because ambient temperature affects the phase modulation characteristic and causes wavefront distortion. To generate high-optical-quality MSPs we use our hardware-compensated (with a Peltier system to even out phase modulation) and software-corrected (via multiplication of the CGH by temperature correction coefficients) LCOS-SLMs. Experimental results with a 14 × 14 MSP generation show that the hardware-compensated LCOS-SLM provides stable MSPs between 9 to 32 °C. The software-corrected LCOS-SLM provides uniform spots over twice the temperature range obtained with conventional SLM method. We confirm that our methods are highly efficient for use in two-photon excitation microscopy application such as multifocal mulitphoton microscopy.

Self-distortion compensation of spatial light modulator under temperature-varying conditions

Conventional methods of compensating for self-distortion in liquid-crystal-on-silicon spatial light modulators (LCOS-SLM) are based on aberration correction, where the wavefront of the incident beam is modulated to compensate for aberrations caused by the imperfect optical flatness of the LCOS-SLM surface. However, the phase distribution of an LCOS-SLM varies with changes in ambient temperature and requires additional correction. We report a novel phase compensation method under temperature-varying conditions based on an orthonormal Legendre series expansion of the phase distribution. We investigated the temperature dependency by controlling the ambient temperature with an incubator and successfully corrected for self-distortion in a temperature range of 20 °C to 50 °C. Our approach has the potential to be adopted in tight-focusing applications which require wavefront modulation with very high accuracy.

Estimation of trapping position in three-dimensional off-axis trapping with optical vortices

Dynamics of micrometer-sized dielectric objects can be controlled by optical tweezers with scanning light, however, the trapped objects fail to track the scan when drag exceeds the trapping by too quick movement. On the other hand, optical vortices (OVs), which have a property of carrying angular momenta, can directly control torque on objects rather than their position. Laguerre-Gaussian (LG) beams are the most familiar examples of OV and have been studied extensively so far. Revolution of the objects trapped by the LG beams provides typical models of nonequilibrium statistical system, but stable mid-water trapping by the LG beams becomes essential to evaluate physical properties of the system without extrinsic hydrodynamic effects,. Nevertheless, off-axis revolutions of small objects trapped in mid-water by the LG beams have not yet been established with secure evidences. Here we report stable off-axis trapping of dielectric spheres in mid-water using high-quality LG beams generated by a holographic complex-amplitude modulation method. Direct evidence of the three-dimensional off-axis LG trapping was established via estimating the trapping position by measuring the change of revolution radii upon pressing the spheres onto glass walls. Resultantly, the axial trapping position was determined as about half the wavelength behind the beam waist position. This result provides a direct scientific evidence for possibility of off-axis three-dimensional trapping with a single LG beam, moreover, suggests applications as powerful tools for studying energy-conversion mechanisms and nonequilibrium nature in biological molecules under torque.