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Optical forces provide an efficient way to sort particles and biological materials according to their optical properties. However, both enhanced optical forces and a large interaction volume are needed in order to optically sort a large number of nanoparticles. We investigate the use of a tapered glass capillary as an optofluidic platform for optical manipulation and optical sorting applications. Tapered capillaries with micrometre and sub-micrometre sizes are fabricated. After filling the tapered capillary with a colloidal solution of red fluorescent diamond particles, a green laser light is coupled into the capillary. The tapered capillary acts both as a microfluidic channel and as an optical waveguide, making it possible for the light to interact with the particles inside the sample solution. Using an incident laser power of few tens of milliwatts, we achieve optical transportation of the brightest particles inside the tapered part of the capillary. Particle velocities as high as few tens of micrometres per second are measured. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to the action of the scattering force, particles that are optically trapped at the surface of a waveguide are propelled in the direction of the light propagation. In this work, we demonstrate an original approach for creating tunable periodic arrays of optical traps along a few-mode silicon nanophotonic waveguide. We show how the near-field optical forces at the surface of the waveguide are periodically modulated when two guided modes with different propagation constants are simultaneously excited. The phenomenon is used to achieve stable trapping of a large number of dielectric particles or bacteria along a single waveguide. By controlling the light coupling conditions and the laser wavelength, we investigate several techniques for manipulating the trapped particles. Especially, we demonstrate that the period of the optical lattice can be finely tuned by adjusting the laser wavelength. This effect can be used to control the trap positions, and thus transport the trapped particles in both directions along the waveguide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nanophotonics excels at confining light into nanoscale optical mode volumes and generating dramatically enhanced light matter interactions. These unique aspects have been unveiling a plethora of fundamentally new optical phenomena, yet a critical issue ahead for nanophotonics is the development of novel devices and applications that can take advantage of these nano-scale effects. It is expected that nanophotonics will lead to disruptive technologies in energy harvesting, quantum and integrated photonics, optical computing and including biosensing. To this end, our research is focused on the application of nanophotonics to introduce powerful biosensors that can have impact on a wide range of areas including basic research in life sciences, early disease diagnostics, safety and point-of-care testing. In particular, we exploit nanophotonics and its integration with microfluidics to address key challenges of current biosensors and develop devices that can enable label-free, ultra-sensitive, multiplexed, rapid and real-time measurements on biomolecules, pathogens and living systems. In this talk I will present some of our recent work on nanophotonic meta surfaces for biosensing and bioimaging as well as their applications in real-world settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To accelerate the virtual product development of using optical simulation software, the Robust Design Optimization approach is very promising. Optical designs can be explored thoroughly by means of sensitivity analysis. This includes the identification of relevant input parameters and the modelling of inputs vs. outputs to understand their dependencies and interactions. Furthermore, the intelligent definition of objective functions for an efficient subsequent optimization is of high importance for multi-objective optimization tasks. To find the best trade-off between two or more merit functions, a Pareto optimization is the best choice. As a result, not only one design, but a front of best designs is obtained and the most appropriate design can be selected by the decision maker. Additionally, the best trade-off between output variation of the robustness (tolerance) and optimization targets can be found to secure the manufacturability of the optical design by several advanced approaches. The benefit of this Robust Design Optimization approach will be demonstrated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Space-Time Digital Holography (STDH) exploits the object motion to record the hologram in a hybrid space-time domain. This representation adds new capabilities to conventional DH, such as unlimited extension of the Field of View (FoV) and tunable phase shifting. Here we show that STDH is able to improve the spatial resolution as well. Differently from other super-resolution approaches, stitching between holograms or their spectra is no longer required. Moreover, we introduce a new STDH modality to record and process hybrid space-time representations. This allows improving resolution with one single object scan, paving the way to the use of STDH for super resolution imaging onboard Lab on a Chip devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Suspensions carrying deformable inclusions are ubiquitous in nature and applications. Hence, high-throughput characterization of the mechanical properties of soft particles is of great interest. Recently, a non-invasive optofluidic technique has been developed for the measurement of the interfacial tension between two immiscible liquids [8]. We have adapted such technique to the case of soft solid beads, thus designing a non-invasive optofluidic device for the measurement of the mechanical properties of deformable particles from real-time optical imaging of their deformation. The device consists of a cylindrical microfluidic channel with a cross-section reduction in which we make initially spherical soft beads flow suspended in a Newtonian carrier. By imaging the deformation of a particle in real time while it goes through the constriction, it is possible to get a measure of its elastic modulus through a theoretically derived-correlation. We provide both experimental and numerical validation of our device. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Through the efforts to fuse planar optics and microfluidics in order to produce dye lasers, biosensors, trapping and cell sorting device, we can notice the rising interest in optofluidics since early and mid 2000's. However mass production of these devices heavily relies on fast and easy patterning of the constituent material. PDMS, being one of these materials, gained an added value because of its elasticity, hydrophobicity and permeability to gaz. Nonetheless, these specifications are not convenient for all types of applications. The growing capability to use Hybrid Organic-Inorganic materials for the fabrication of integrated optics components and microfluidic channels is what makes this class of materials an ideal candidate for this integration. This work aims to implement, on the same chip, an optical and a microfluidic layer using Sol-Gel processing of Organic-Inorganic materials. The interest in this vertical integration arises from the need to manipulate the fluid in the microchannels using evanescent field optical pressure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, the fabrication of optical waveguides embedded in fused silica (Suprasil1) and boro-aluminosilicate glass (Eagle2000) is demonstrated with femtosecond laser direct writing, as well as their suitability to be brought to the surface, through wet etching, for enhanced evanescent coupling with the external dielectric medium. Fused silica demonstrated to be inappropriate in this particular application, as the guiding region is at the bottom of the induced modification, creating a barrier between the guided mode and the substrate's boundary. Furthermore, the existence of nanogratings meant that, upon contact of the top of the induced modification with the substrate's boundary, the waveguide is quickly etched. Eagle2000 demonstrated to be superior to fused silica due to its characteristic modification cross-section and absence of nanogratings, which allowed the placement of the guiding region as close to the substrate's surface as required. However, surface roughness arising from the creation of insoluble products in the HF solution was found. The addition of HCl to dissolve these products was implemented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In many diagnostic applications, there is a growing demand for small cost effective portable devices that enable fast on-site analysis. For this target, we are developing an integrated approach of a previously reported surface-sensitive measurement system based on total internal reflection excitation and supercritical angle fluorescence detection. The integrated measurement platform includes a polystyrene substrate on which the fluidic channels for sample transport, waveguides for fluorescence excitation and the readout optics are fabricated. In addition, thin layers with dielectric properties differing from those of polystyrene may be needed on the fluidic channels for optimal sample transport or biomolecule immobilisation. Here, special attention is paid to the influence of the dielectric environment near the solid-liquid interface on the fluorescence distribution and to the design of the readout optics. The first version of the designed readout optics of the integrated measurement platform is presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As beamline emittance reaching the diffraction limit, the demand for focusing mirrors over one meter in length is ever increasing. Bending mirrors, are competitive for its adjustable radius and high manufacture precision, whose final surface form is managed by a delicate bending of a high precision plane. A special contour plays an essential role and benefits this final touch, given that the computed torque along the length closely correlates with the corresponding width of the optics. However, it poses main challenges with severe edge effect, deformation and metrology to the fabrication of the precursor plane mirror. This paper reports on a fast processing technology for a 1.26-meter-long plane as a bending mirror with irregular shape. A smooth surface with a slope error of 0.67 urad(RMS) and 0.3nm roughness is achieved through deterministic flexible finishing of robot polishing system and annular polishing, providing a high precision and cost-effective method to meet the growing needs for long X-ray mirrors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Conventional three-dimensional optics requires curvature to control the wave front of light thus making it difficult to reduce the size of the optical systems. Furthermore, for correction of optical aberrations, complex optical systems comprising more than one lens are used. This adds additional bulk, mass and complexity to the optical systems. Recent development in diffractive optics has enabled new thin lightweight optical elements such as metalenses. We introduce resonant laser printing technique as a flexible photo-thermal technology for metalens fabrication with the ability to control the light with microscale precision. Our laser printed metalenses can be integrated in bio-sensors, bio-imaging systems, and optofluidical devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fs-laser micromachining is a high precision fabrication technique that can be used to write novel three-dimensional structures, depending on the nature of light-matter interaction. In fused silica, the material modification can lead to (i) an increase of the refractive index around the focal volume, resulting in the formation of optical circuits, or (ii) an enhancement of the etch rate of the laser-affected zones relative to the pristine material, leading to a selective and anisotropic etching reaction that enables fabrication of microfluidic systems. Here, both effects are combined to fabricate a Fabry-Pérot interferometer, where optical waveguides and microfluidic channels are integrated monolithically in a fused silica chip. By filling the channel with a magnetic fluid whose refractive index changes with an external magnetic field, the device can be used as a magnetic field sensor. A linear sensitivity of -0.12 nm/mT is obtained in the 5.0±0.5 to 33.0±0.5 mT range, with the field being applied parallel to the light propagation direction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The electrophoretic mobility of a single nanoparticle depends on its surface charge and its environment. Thus the change of the mobility can reflect the change in its chemical and physical properties. We present a high-bandwidth method to measure the electrophoretic mobility, based on optical tweezers and electrophoresis. We envision studying of nanoscale chemical processes as a possible application of this method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The thickness of thin liquid films is of great interest to industrial processes and life science. However, there are not appropriate quantitative experimental tools for an adequate study of film evolution in case of not-ideal conditions. Here, we show the application of a holographic system for the evaluation of the 3D topography and thickness of evolving protein films. We use a custom holographic microscope that combines quantitative phase imaging with materials engineering. This technique offers an unprecedented level of details and we anticipate that it will promote a deeper understanding of the underlying physics of thin film dynamics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Micro-scale optical components play a critical role in many applications, in particular when these components are capable of dynamically responding to different stimuli with a controlled variation of their optical behavior. Here, we discuss the potential of micro-scale bi-phase emulsion droplets as a material platform for dynamic fluid optical components. Such droplets act as liquid compound micro-lenses with dynamically tunable focal lengths. They can be reconfigured to focus or scatter light and form images. In addition, we discuss how these droplets can be used to create iridescent structural color with large angular spectral separation. Experimental demonstrations of the emulsion droplet optics are complemented by theoretical analysis and wave-optical modelling. Finally, we provide evidence of the droplets utility as fluidic optical elements in potential application scenarios. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In optical manufacturing, the depth of subsurface damages (SSD) depicts an important quality aspect of optical elements. Nowadays, the investigation methods of the damage zone are mostly destructive and allow a sampling of the substrates only. This leads to a lack of statistical reliability. In this paper, one aim is to develop an easy and cheap procedure to evaluate the probes. Therefore, a spherical polishing and chemical etching is introduced. By means of imaging processing software the acquired data is analysed, which eliminates the operator influence und increases the reproducibility. Applying binarizing and shape detection algorithms the SSD structures is detected and the number of pixels per structure is calculated. The percentage of SSD over the depth fit with an exponential curve displays a maximum depth as a single value. The development of a method to choose the best threshold value represents an approach to quantify the uncertainty of the resulting SSD-depth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Optofludic lab-on-chips are compact microsystems that allow the manipulation, the analysis and the imaging of cells with high throughput even at the single cell level. The optofluidic microscopes on chip here presented are fabricated by femtosecond laser micromachining followed by chemical etching. The technique is ideally suited for rapid prototyping and allows 3D geometries and perfect alignment between microfluidic and optical components networks. The devices have been validated on cancer cell lines by imaging in three dimensions both clusters of cells growing on spheres and single cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The application of advanced optical imaging technology for platelet biology is in its infancy. In this talk, we shall introduce the potential impact of optical imaging in understanding the roles of platelets in thrombus formation and in hemostasis. We will summarize how techniques in optical imaging has enabled exploration of morphological, molecular and fluidic parameters that determine platelet adhesion, activation and consequent roles in thrombus formation. Finally, we discuss the convergence of multiple imaging modalities towards a complete understanding of platelet roles in thrombus formation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We discuss the latest developments in guided mode resonances for sensing and imaging and compare them to alternative approaches such as plasmonic nanohole arrays. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The possibility to investigate cells in microfluidic flow by using a full 3D morphometry analysis is highly demanded to achieve information about their healthiness. Recently, the tomographic flow cytometry by digital holography has been demonstrated to monitor red blood cells in microfluidics environment by simply applying flux pressure to induce random self-rotation of flowing cells. Here, we provide a microfluidic solution to engineer the flow with the aim to ensure the full 360 degree of angle rotation of all cells in the field of view. We test the proposed methods for circulating tumour cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two silicon carbide (SiC) lightweight off-axis aspheric mirrors were fabricated by using robot polishing technology. One is a primary mirror with dimension 380mm×328mm, the other is a tertiary mirror with dimension 294mm×238mm. The robot polishing technology is the combination of CCOS technology and a 6-axises industrial robot. The setup of robot polishing system is discussed, and the mirror aspheric grinding, surface polishing and figuring process are reported in this paper. The final surface shape error of primary mirror is 11.4nm RMS, and the tertiary is 12.1nm RMS. The capability of off-axis aspheric mirror fabricating on robot polishing system is verified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Deep neural networks (DNN) are employed to measure the flow rate and the concentration of the liquid using the images of the droplets in a microfluidic device. The trained networks are able to measure flow rates and concentrations with good accuracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Monolithic multi-surface telescopes combined with freeform optical surfaces provide improvements in optical performance in a smaller footprint as compared to systems with spherical surfaces, while providing superior mechanical stability to traditional telescope assemblies. Three different monolithic telescope concepts, in different configurations and optical performance were produced as proof of concepts. The results of the telescopes are presented as well as the unique manufacturing and testing challenges to produce these monolithic optical systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a new approach in the production method of high-aperture diffraction gratings with high diffraction efficiency on convex and concave working surfaces with large deflection based on the use of an original pendulum-type ruling engine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Membrane-pneumatic support systems for mirror mounting are often used at JSC LZOS during working surface tests while producing of large-dimensioned optical components of astronomical and space application. However, in some cases, it is necessary to support the mirror by glued interface elements. In such case, the difference in the surface shape between the standard and the technological support, which is considered during figuring, is calculated by means of modelling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

JSC LZOS successfully applies Computer Generated Holograms (CGH) for testing of on- and off-axis surfaces of large-dimensioned optical components for their alignment with respect to interferometer, for defining of aspherical surface optical vertex position with respect to the geometrical center and for optical systems alignment. All this allows producing of large-dimensioned aspherical on- and off-axis astronomical and space mirrors with high accuracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The increasing variety of optical components and materials, combined with stricter surface tolerance requirements, necessitate refining existing polishing processes and developing innovative new polishing solutions and metrology technologies. A fast, reproducible laser polishing process would offer considerable economic benefits over conventional mechanical polishing processes and interest a broad variety of optics manufacturers. In this work, a holistic approach is taken to address the various aspects of glass polishing and form correction via a novel laser polishing system design, the use of a measurement strategy that can be integrated inline and simulation results that are correlated with process parameter studies for different materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this contribution, the surface uniformity of classically-manufactured fused silica windows was investigated via laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy. It is shown that for all investigated samples a comparatively high aluminium content was found at the edge of the surface with respect to its centre. This contamination can be attributed to residues from lapping and polishing agents and leads to a mentionable non-uniformity of the surface in terms of chemical composition and optical properties, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Freeform optical elements are state of the art for several years to fabricate very high performance optical systems with the necessity of, e.g., strong folding in mirror system or correction of typical asymmetric aberrations in mirror systems as well as lens systems. For freeform mirror systems, in particular for metal mirrors, the metrology is well understood and iterative process chains are well established. For transmission elements with a freeform surface on both sides, manufacturing, metrology, and correction for both sides in a parallel manner is quite difficult. The article presents a method to measure such an optical element and correct it with a well-defined correction step to have both sides in a well-defined position to each other. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Shack-Hartman wavefront sensor is a common metrology tool in the field of laser, adaptive optics and astronomy. However, this technique is still scarcely used in optics and optical system metrology. With the development of manufacturing techniques and the increasing need for optical characterization in the industry, the Shack-Hartmann wavefront sensor emerges as an efficient complementary tool to the well-established Fizeau interferometry for optical system metrology. Moreover, the raise of smart vehicles equipped with optical sensors and augmented reality, the optical characterization of glass and transparent flat materials becomes an issue that can be addressed with Shack-Hartmann sensors. Aberration measurements of challenging optics will be presented such as optical filters, thin flat optics, aspheric lenses and large optical assemblies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In computer controlled subapertur polishing the formation of mid spatial frequency errors (MSFE) needs special attention. In this work the formation of MSFE in feed direction is investigated using the ADAPT tool from Satisloh. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ion beam figuring (IBF) is an established method in high-end surface manufacturing. However, the direct processing of desired materials as standard Al alloys (e.g. Al6061)fails, since the surface roughness increases drastically as a result of inhomogeneous etching due to structural, crystallographic and chemical irregularities inside the material matrix. As an alternative figuring technology reactive ion-beam etching (RIBE) is a promising route. RIBE provides the direct machining of Al alloys while preserving the surface roughness almostin its initial state. The RIBE process with nitrogengasis focused more detailedin this study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymer (CFRP) has excellent physical and chemical properties which make it a promising material in making large space borne components, especially in making antenna reflectors and ultra-lightweight space mirrors. These components are usually in large scale to achieve the application requirements. In this research, a dual-robots fabrication system was in-house developed to meet the requirement for figuring a large off-axis parabolic CFRP antenna reflector with the size of 2.4m×4.58m. To make sure that whole surface of the antenna reflector could be covered by the fabrication system, the surface was divided into six regions to accomplish the fabrication. In addition, a special designed tool was utilized to adapt to the curvature variation of the surface. The final surface form accuracies obtained for areas ≤φ1750mm, ≤φ2400mm and the whole surface of the antenna reflector were 13.5μm RMS, 23.4μm RMS and 45.8μm RMS, respectively. Feasibility and surface figuring accuracy of the dual-robots system in fabricating large scale components were verified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Magnetorheological Finishing (MRF) is widely regarded as an effective technique to polish and figure aspheric optics. MRF based on Robot Arm is developed by us. This new machine is more flexible, efficient, cost-effective and smaller space-usage in optical shop, compared with the traditional MRF machines. The components of MRF based on Robot Arm are introduced firstly. Position-attitude control and polishing tool path are also studied in this paper. The experiments and application of MRF based on Robot Arm demonstrate the effectiveness and validity of MRF based on Robot Arm in optical fabrication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the differentiation between machine's static and dynamic footprint (FP). The results have shown progressing footprint variation related to tool's tilt angle. Continuous tilt angle compensation has been applied to offset this effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to improve the quality of injection-moulded polymer optic parts, it is necessary to improve the quality of the respective steel moulds. For this reason, it is not only necessary to improve the surface roughness of the mould, but also its geometrical shape. The material removal obtained from robot pad polishing is too low. This makes a shape correction after the milling step a very prolonged process. The aim of this work is to use a polishing chain to improve the surface quality of steel samples in terms of shape deviation and surface roughness. This correction polishing chain uses the robot fluid jet polishing for the geometrical shape correction and afterwards the robot pad polishing for the improvement of the surface roughness. Due to the high material removal rates of the fluid jet polishing, it is possible to correct the geometrical shape of steel moulds very fast up to a certain deviation. The pad polishing process improves the surface roughness of the steel samples. A correction of the shape deviation of more than 80% with a RMS of approximately 8 nm was obtained. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The quality of optical components such as lenses or mirrors can be described by shape errors and surface roughness. With increasing optic sizes, the stability of the polishing process becomes more and more important. Parameters such as chemical stability of the polishing slurry or tool wear are key elements for a deterministic computer controlled polishing (CCP) process. High sophisticated CCP processes such as magnetorheological finishing (MRF) or the zeeko bonnet polishing process rely on the stability of the relevant process parameters for the prediction of the desired material removal. The aim of this work is to monitor many process-relevant parameters by using sensors attached to the polishing head and to the polishing process. Examples are a rpm and a torque sensor mounted close to the polishing pad, a vibration sensor for the oscillation bearings, as well as a tilt sensor and a force sensor for measuring the polishing pressure. By means of a machine learning system, predictions of tool wear and the related surface quality shall be made. The aim is the detection of the critical influence factors during the polishing process and to have a predictive maintenance system for tool path planning and for tool change intervals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The plastic subsurface damages distribution of fused silica optics polished with different pads are investigated. The elastic interaction model, plastic indentation model and wear relationships are combined together to theoretically characterize the plastic subsurface damages distribution in different polishing processes, which shows consistent results with experiments. It reveals that most of the polishing induced subsurface damages are plastic damages. A few largest polishing particles in the tail end distribution mainly decide the final depth distribution and density of the polishing induced plastic subsurface damages. The larger pad elastic modulus will make the few largest polishing particles bear much larger load and generate larger proportion of observable plastic subsurface damages. Using polishing pad with lower elastic modulus is prominent for restricting the generation of fractures and plastic damages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A method for testing the transmitted wavefront of large aperture long-focal-length lens with a multizone computer-generated hologram (CGH) is proposed. The multizone CGH has 5 zones: one main zone for the null testing of long-focal-length lens and four auxiliary zones for the pre-alignment of measured lens. Both 1st order wavefront and 0th order wavefront of CGH are measured, and 0th order wavefront is used to calibrate the substrate error. To verify this test approach, a 450mm×450mm multizone CGH is designed and fabricated for testing the spatial filter lens. Experiments and error analysis are carried out. The results show that the desired precision can be reached with use of CGH. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]