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Delivering light to an object is one of the key steps in any imaging exercise. Tools such as LEDs and lasers are available to achieve this. These components are integrated into systems such as microscopy, medical imaging, remote sensing, and so many more. Motivated by the need for affordable and open access alternatives that are globally relevant, we share the designs and build instructions for modular light source devices that use simple, off-the-shelf components. Light emitted by near-infrared, red, green and blue LEDs are combined with a choice of mirrors or X-Cube prisms to deliver collimated beams of light., Comment: 10 pages, 7 figures

We measure optical chirality within an apparatus for demonstrating the Bell inequality. This differs from current polarimetry as it enables the measurement of optical activity with unpolarised light.

Light-field cameras allow the acquisition of both the spatial and angular components of the light-field. The conventional way to perform such acquisitions leads to a strong spatio-angular resolution limitation but correlation-enabled plenoptic cameras have been introduced recently that relax this constraint. Here we use a computational version of this concept to acquire realistic light-fields images using a commercial DSLR Camera lens as an imaging system. By placing the image sensor in the focal plane of a lens, within the camera we ensure the acquisition of pure angular components together with the spatial information. We perform an acquisition presenting a high spatio-angular rays resolution obtained through a trade off of the temporal resolution. The acquisition reported is photo-realistic and the acquisition of diffraction limited features is observed with the setup. Finally, we demonstrate the refocusing abilities of the camera.

Optical activity is a macroscopic property of chiral molecules which manifests as a rotation of the plane of linear polarization when light passes through a sample. We have developed a compact Bell inequality experiment for quantum probing of chiral liquids, based on polarization measurements. In particular, we show that we can use a Bell-type inequality configuration to measure the optical activity of D-Limonene, a chiral molecule which is a major component in the oil of citrus fruit peels.

Alternatives to focal-plane detector arrays have emerged in recent years and are now being widely investigated. One of the most promising of these are single-pixel imaging techniques. Single-pixel techniques recreate a scene using the knowledge of projected patterns and the measured backscattered signals. This research investigates the implications of using idealised patterns, Fourier-transformed patterns and camera-captured patterns generated by plane wave decomposition methods. Hadamard patterns are projected into the far-field of the phased-array modulator source and used for robust reconstruction in a reflective arrangement. The choice of the optimal pattern sets from these sources are used for single-pixel imaging reconstruction and compressed sensing. The technique is robust to poor signal-to-noise conditions and is applicable in cases where a limited number of measurements are possible. Our technique and methodology can be further applied to any region of the electromagnetic spectrum where phased-array sources are available, such as in the radar regime.

Open-source technologies and solutions have paved the way for making science accessible the world over. Motivated to contribute to the direction of open-source methods, our current research presents a complete workflow of building a microscope using 3D printing and easily accessible optical components to collect images of biological samples. Further, these images are classified using machine learning algorithms to illustrate both the effectiveness of this method and show the disadvantages of classifying images that are visually similar. The second outcome of this research is an openly accessible dataset of the images collected, OPEN-BIOset, and made available to the machine learning community for future research. The research adopts the OpenFlexure Delta Stage microscope (https://openflexure.org/) that allows motorised control and maximum stability of the samples when imaging. A Raspberry Pi camera is used for imaging the samples in a transmission-based illumination setup. The imaging data collected is catalogued and organised for classification using TensorFlow. Using visual interpretation, we have created subsets from amongst the samples to experiment for the best classification results. We found that by removing similar samples, the categorical accuracy achieved was 99.9% and 99.59% for the training and testing sets. Our research shows evidence of the efficacy of open source tools and methods. Future approaches will use improved resolution images for classification and other modalities of microscopy will be realised based on the OpenFlexure microscope.

Microrheology with optical tweezers (MOT) measurements are usually performed using optical traps that are close to isotropic across the plane being imaged, but little is known about what happens when this is not the case. In this work, we investigate the effect of anisotropic optical traps on microrheology measurements. This is an interesting problem from a fundamental physics perspective, but it also has practical ramifications because in 3D all optical traps are anisotropic due to the difference in the intensity distribution of the trapping laser along axes parallel and perpendicular to the direction of beam propagation. We find that attempting viscosity measurements with highly anisotropic optical traps will return spurious results, unless the axis with maximum variance in bead position is identified. However, for anisotropic traps with two axes of symmetry such as traps with an elliptical cross section, the analytical approach introduced in this work allows us to explore a wider range of time scales than those accessible with symmetric traps. We have also identified a threshold level of anisotropy in optical trap strength of ~30%, below which conventional methods using a single arbitrary axis can still be used to extract valuable microrheological results. We envisage that the outcomes of this study will have important practical ramifications on how all MOT measurements should be conducted and analyzed in future applications.

We have developed a portable gas imaging camera for identifying methane leaks in real-time. The camera uses active illumination from distributed feedback InGaAs laser diodes tuned to the 1653 nm methane absorption band. An InGaAs focal plane sensor array images the active illumination. The lasers are driven off resonance every alternate frame so that computer vision can extract the gas data. A colour image is captured simultaneously and the data is superimposed to guide the operator. Image stabilisation has been employed to allow detection with a moving camera, successfully imaging leaks from mains pressure gas supplies at a range of up to 3 m and flow rates as low as 0.05 L min−1.

Optical tweezers have contributed substantially to the advancement of micro-manipulation. However, they do have restrictions, mainly the limited range of materials that yield to optical trapping. Here we propose a method of employing optically trapped objects to manipulate the surrounding fluid and thus particles freely diffusing within it. We create and investigate a reconfigurable active-feedback system of optically trapped actuators, capable of manipulating translational and rotational motion of one or more nearby free objects.

It is established that the mechanical properties of hydrogels control the fate of (stem) cells. However, despite its importance, a one-to-one correspondence between gels' stiffness and cell behaviour is still missing from literature. In this work, the viscoelastic properties of Poly(ethylene-glycol) (PEG)-based hydrogels - broadly used in 3D cell cultures and whose mechanical properties can be tuned to resemble those of different biological tissues - are investigated by means of rheological measurements performed at different length scales. When compared with literature values, the outcomes of this work reveal that conventional bulk rheology measurements may overestimate the stiffness of hydrogels by up to an order of magnitude. It is demonstrated that this apparent stiffening is caused by an induced 'tensional state' of the gel network, due to the application of a compressional normal force during measurements. Moreover, it is shown that the actual stiffness of the hydrogels is instead accurately determined by means of passive-video-particle-tracking (PVPT) microrheology measurements, which are inherently performed at cells length scales and in absence of any externally applied force. These results underpin a methodology for measuring the linear viscoelastic properties of hydrogels that are representative of the mechanical constraints felt by cells in 3D hydrogel cultures.

Modern digital cameras employ silicon focal plane array (FPA) image sensors featuring millions of pixels. However, it is possible to make a camera that only needs one pixel. In these cameras a spatial light modulator, placed before or after the object to be imaged, applies a time-varying pattern and synchronized intensity measurements are made with a single-pixel detector. The principle of compressed sensing then allows an image to be generated. As the approach suits a wide a variety of detector technologies, images can be collected at wavelengths outside the reach of FPA technology or at high frame rates or in three dimensions. Promising applications include the visualization of hazardous gas leaks and 3D situation awareness for autonomous vehicles. Rather than requiring millions of pixels, it is possible to make a camera that only needs one pixel. This Review details the working principle, advantages, technical considerations and future potential of single-pixel imaging.

The sorting of objects into groups is a fundamental operation, critical in the preparation and purification of populations of cells, crystals, beads, or droplets, necessary for research and applications in biology, chemistry, and materials science. Most of the efforts exploring such purification have focused on two areas: the degree of separation and the measurement precision required for effective separation. Conventionally, achieving good separation ultimately requires that the objects are considered one by one (which can be both slow and expensive), and the ability to measure the sorted objects by increasing sensitivity as well as reducing sorting errors. Here we present an approach to sorting that addresses both critical limitations with a scheme that allows us to approach the theoretical limit for the accuracy of sorting decisions. Rather than sorting individual objects, we sort the objects in ensembles, via a set of registers which are then in turn sorted themselves into a second symmetric set of registers in a lossless manner. By repeating this process, we can arrive at high sorting purity with a low set of constraints. We demonstrate both the theory behind this idea and identify the critical parameters (ensemble population and sorting time), and show the utility and robustness of our method with simulations and experimental systems spanning several orders of scale, sorting populations of macroscopic beads and microfluidic droplets. Our method is general in nature and simplifies the sorting process, and thus stands to enhance many different areas of science, such as purification, enrichment of rare objects, and separation of dynamic populations.

Significance The emergence of “negative” frequencies in physical systems is often accompanied by intriguing consequences. For example, supersonic motion between a source and an observer leads to a negative Doppler-shifted frequency, the physical meaning of which is time reversal of the received signal. To our knowledge, the rotational analogue of this situation—the consequences of generating negative rotationally Doppler-shifted waves—has not been studied. Here we show, using an acoustic source, that a negative rotational Doppler shift is associated with a handedness reversal of the orbital angular momentum carried by the wave. We demonstrate that this handedness reversal can occur even at significantly subsonic velocities, making our findings relevant to interactions of ultrafast rotating systems with optical frequency radiation., The linear Doppler shift is familiar as the rise and fall in pitch of a siren as it passes by. Less well known is the rotational Doppler shift, proportional to the rotation rate between source and receiver, multiplied by the angular momentum carried by the beam. In extreme cases the Doppler shift can be larger than the rest-frame frequency and for a red shift, the observed frequency then becomes “negative.” In the linear case, this effect is associated with the time reversal of the received signal, but it can be observed only with supersonic relative motion between the source and receiver. However, the rotational case is different; if the radius of rotation is smaller than the wavelength, then the velocities required to observe negative frequencies are subsonic. Using an acoustic source at ≈100 Hz we create a rotational Doppler shift larger than the laboratory-frame frequency. We observe that once the red-shifted wave passes into the “negative frequency” regime, the angular momentum associated with the sound is reversed in sign compared with that of the laboratory frame. These low-velocity laboratory realizations of extreme Doppler shifts have relevance to superoscillatory fields and offer unique opportunities to probe interactions with rotating bodies and aspects of pseudorelativistic frame translation.

Photon interference and bunching are widely studied quantum effects that have also been proposed for high precision measurements. Here we construct a theoretical description of photon-interferometry on rotating platforms, specifically exploring the relation between non-inertial motion, relativity, and quantum mechanics. On the basis of this, we then propose an experiment where photon entanglement can be revealed or concealed solely by controlling the rotational motion of an interferometer, thus providing a route towards studies at the boundary between quantum mechanics and relativity., 8 pages, 4 figures

Although quantum physics is well understood in inertial reference frames (flat spacetime), a current challenge is the search for experimental evidence of non-trivial or unexpected behaviour of quantum systems in non-inertial frames. Here, we present a novel test of quantum mechanics in a non-inertial reference frame: we consider Hong-Ou-Mandel (HOM) interference on a rotating platform and study the effect of uniform rotation on the distinguishability of the photons. Both theory and experiments show that the rotational motion induces a relative delay in the photon arrival times at the exit beamsplitter and that this delay is observed as a shift in the position of the HOM dip. This experiment can be extended to a full general relativistic test of quantum physics using satellites in Earth orbit and indicates a new route towards the use of photonic technologies for investigating quantum mechanics at the interface with relativity.

Spatially coherent helically phased light beams carry orbital angular momentum (OAM) and contain phase singularities at their centre. Destructive interference at the position of the phase singularity means the intensity at this point is necessarily zero, which results in a high contrast between the centre and the surrounding annular intensity distribution. Beams of reduced spatial coherence yet still carrying OAM have previously been referred to as Rankine vortices. Such beams no longer possess zero intensity at their centre, exhibiting a contrast that decreases as their spatial coherence is reduced. In this work, we study the contrast of a vortex beam as a function of its spatial coherence and topological charge. We show that beams carrying higher values of topological charge display a radial intensity contrast that is more resilient to a reduction in spatial coherence of the source.

Single-pixel imaging systems can obtain images from a wide range of wavelengths at low-cost compared to those using conventional multi-pixel, focal-plane array sensors, especially at wavelengths outside the visible spectrum. The ability to sense short-wave infrared radiation with single-pixel techniques extends imaging capability to adverse weather conditions and environments, such as fog, haze, or night time. In this work, we demonstrate a dual-band single-pixel telescope for imaging at both visible (VIS) and short-wave infrared (SWIR) spectral regions simultaneously under some of these outdoor weather conditions. At 64 × 64 pixel-resolution, our system has achieved continuous VIS and SWIR imaging of various objects at a frame rate up to 2.4 Hz. Visual and contrast comparison between the reconstructed VIS and SWIR images emphasizes the significant contribution of infrared observation using the single-pixel technique. The single-pixel telescope provides an alternative cost-effective imaging solution for synchronized dual-waveband optical applications.

Waves can carry both linear and angular momentum. When the wave is transverse (e.g. light), the angular momentum can be characterised by the “spin” angular momentum associated with circular polarisation, and the “orbital” angular momentum (OAM) arising from the phase cross-section of the beam. When the wave is longitudinal (e.g. sound) there is no polarization and hence no spin angular momentum. However, a suitably phase-structured sound beam can still carry OAM. Observing the transfer of OAM from sound to a macroscopic object provides an excellent opportunity to study the exchange of energy between waves and matter. In this paper we show how to build a compact free-space acoustic spanner based on a 3D-printed sound-guiding structure and common electronic components. We first characterise the sound fields by measuring both phase and amplitude maps, and then show a video of our free-space acoustic spanner in action, in which macroscopic objects spin in a circular motion and change direction of rotation according to the handedness of the OAM acoustic field.

We have built microstructured sheets that rotate, on transmission, the direction of light rays by an arbitrary, but fixed, angle around the sheet normal. These ray-rotation sheets comprise two pairs of confocal lenticular arrays. In addition to rotating the direction of transmitted light rays, our sheets also offset ray position sideways on the scale of the diameter of the lenticules. If this ray offset is sufficiently small so that it cannot be resolved, our ray-rotation sheets appear to perform generalized refraction.

We present a combined holographic optical tweezers and confocal Raman spectroscopy instrument which allows fast, flexible, and interactive manipulation with molecular measurement of interacting live cell systems. Multiple laser foci created using a spatial light modulator are simultaneously used for optical trapping and spontaneous Raman spectroscopy. To enable confocal Raman measurements with high spectral resolution, a digital micro-mirror device was used to generate reflective pinholes which are matched to each laser trap. We demonstrate this unique capability by initiating complex interactions between multiple live cells whilst non-invasively acquiring Raman spectra of the processes with high spatial, spectral, and temporal resolution.

Single-pixel cameras are both elegant and intellectually appealing, but can they outperform a camera based upon a focal-plane detector array? Single-pixel cameras use a digital mirror device to apply a time varying mask to an image of the scene, and a single-pixel detector to measure the light transmission through each of these masks. Given knowledge of the mask patterns and the measured transmissions, an image of the object is calculated.

The quantised nature of the electromagnetic field sets the classical limit to the sensitivity of position measurements. However, techniques based on the properties of quantum states can be exploited to accurately measure the relative displacement of a physical object beyond this classical limit. In this work, we use a simple scheme based on the split-detection of quantum correlations to measure the position of a shadow at the single-photon light level, with a precision that exceeds the shot-noise limit. This result is obtained by analysing the correlated signals of bi-photon pairs, created in parametric downconversion and detected by an electron multiplying CCD (EMCCD) camera employed as a split-detector. By comparing the measured statistics of spatially anticorrelated and uncorrelated photons we were able to observe a significant noise reduction corresponding to an improvement in position sensitivity of up to 17% (0.8dB). Our straightforward approach to sub-shot-noise position measurement is compatible with conventional shadow-sensing techniques based on the split-detection of light-fields, and yields an improvement that scales favourably with the detector's quantum efficiency.

We demonstrate a camera which can image methane gas at video rates, using only a single-pixel detector and structured illumination. The light source is an infrared laser diode operating at 1.651μm tuned to an absorption line of methane gas. The light is structured using an addressable micromirror array to pattern the laser output with a sequence of Hadamard masks. The resulting backscattered light is recorded using a single-pixel InGaAs detector which provides a measure of the correlation between the projected patterns and the gas distribution in the scene. Knowledge of this correlation and the patterns allows an image to be reconstructed of the gas in the scene. For the application of locating gas leaks the frame rate of the camera is of primary importance, which in this case is inversely proportional to the square of the linear resolution. Here we demonstrate gas imaging at ~25 fps while using 256 mask patterns (corresponding to an image resolution of 16×16). To aid the task of locating the source of the gas emission, we overlay an upsampled and smoothed image of the low-resolution gas image onto a high-resolution color image of the scene, recorded using a standard CMOS camera. We demonstrate for an illumination of only 5mW across the field-of-view imaging of a methane gas leak of ~0.2 litres/minute from a distance of ~1 metre.

Time-of-flight 3D imaging is an important tool for applications such as remote sensing, machine vision and autonomous navigation. Conventional time-of-flight three-dimensional imaging systems that utilize a raster scanned laser to measure the range of each pixel in the scene sequentially, inherently have acquisition times that scale directly with the resolution. Here we show a modified time-of-flight 3D camera employing structured illumination, which uses a visible camera to enable a novel compressed sensing technique, minimising the acquisition time as well as providing a high-resolution reflectivity map for image overlay. Furthermore, a quantitative assessment of the 3D imaging performance is provided.

Single-pixel cameras provide a means to perform imaging at wavelengths where pixelated detector arrays are expensive or limited. The image is reconstructed from measurements of the correlation between the scene and a series of masks. Although there has been much research in the field in recent years, the fact that the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) scales poorly with increasing resolution has been one of the main limitations prohibiting the uptake of such systems. Microscanning is a technique that provides a final higher resolution image by combining multiple images of a lower resolution. Each of these low resolution images is subject to a sub-pixel sized lateral displacement. In this work we apply a digital microscanning approach to an infrared single-pixel camera. Our approach requires no additional hardware, but is achieved simply by using a modified set of masks. Compared to the conventional Hadamard based single-pixel imaging scheme, our proposed framework improves the SNR of reconstructed images by ∼ 50 % for the same acquisition time. In addition, this strategy also provides access to a stream of low-resolution ‘preview’ images throughout each high-resolution acquisition.

Lorenz-Mie scattering theory allows to predict the field scattered by spherical objects illuminated by coherent light. By fitting the fringe pattern resulting from the interference of incident and scattered light, it is possible to track and size colloidal particles with a few nanometer precision. Using digital holographic microscopy (DHM) we extend the applications of Lorenz-Mie theory to hollow spherical structures and to extremely high pressure conditions. On the one hand, we geometrically and optically characterize complex colloids as polymer-shelled microbubbles, with high precision, low costs and short acquisition time. These microbubbles are likely to be unique tools for targeted drug delivery and are currently used as contrast agents for sonography. We measured size, shell thickness and refractive index for hundreds of polymeric microbubbles showing that shell thickness displays a large variation that is strongly correlated with its refractive index and thus with its composition. On the other hand we demonstrate that DHM can be used for accurate 3D tracking and sizing of a holographically trapped colloidal probe in a diamond anvil cell (DAC). Polystyrene beads were trapped in water up to Gigapascal pressures while simultaneously recording in-line holograms at 1 KHz frame rate. This technique may potentially provide a new method for spatially resolved pressure measurements inside a DAC. © (2016) COPYRIGHT Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE). Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.

We report the ability to move and arrange patterns of live embryonic stem cells using holographic optical tweezers. Single cell suspensions of mouse embryonic stem cells were manipulated with holographic optical tweezers into a variety of patterns including lines, curves and circles. Individual cells were also lifted out of the sample plane highlighting the potential for 3D positional control. Trypan blue dye exclusion and Live/Dead™ staining (CMFDA−1, EthHD−1) showed that the cells were still viable after manipulation with the optical tweezers. The ability to move individual stem cells into specific, pre-defined patterns provides a method to study how arrangement and associated small-scale interactions occur between neighbouring cells.

We report the design, construction and characterization of a 4 mega-pixel, optically-addressed, spatial light modulator (OSLM). The intensity distribution corresponding to a kinoform is displayed across two wide-screen liquid crystal on silicon displays, the images of which are combined and relayed to the address face of a 40 mm aperture OSLM. This spatially varying intensity profile is converted into a phase hologram on the readout side of the OSLM. When illuminated at 532 nm we measure a first-order diffraction efficiency of ≈50% at 400 line pairs and ≈20% at 900 line pairs. We show that aberration associated with the non-flatness of the device can be corrected within software by modification of the hologram.

In this work, we demonstrate a modified photometric stereo system with perfect pixel\ud registration, capable of reconstructing continuous real-time 3D video at ~8 Hz for 64 x 64 image resolution by employing evolutionary compressed sensing.

We demonstrate that Digital Holographic Microscopy can be used for accurate 3D tracking and sizing of a colloidal probe trapped in a diamond anvil cell (DAC). Polystyrene beads were optically trapped in water up to Gigapascal pressures while simultaneously recording in-line holograms at 1 KHz frame rate. Using Lorenz-Mie scattering theory to fit interference patterns, we detected a 10% shrinking in the bead’s radius due to the high applied pressure. Accurate bead sizing is crucial for obtaining reliable viscosity measurements and provides a convenient optical tool for the determination of the bulk modulus of probe material. Our technique may provide a new method for pressure measurements inside a DAC.

We use an ultrashort-pulsed laser and a high-speed spatial light modulator to illuminate a scene with a series of patterns. A photomultiplier and fast electronics are used to histogram the first-photon backscattered from which a computer algorithm can reconstruct 3D images.

We apply an inverse problem approach to locating a known gas source in a desert setting from simultaneous measurements of gas concentration and wind data. We use a random search algorithm with simulated annealing to generate candidate distributions of source strengths and positions. These distributions are then assessed by means of a cost function, which quantifies the degree to which the postulated source distribution accounts for the measured gas concentrations. We present results from using three cost functions with differing regularisation terms. We assess the robustness of these and the differing regularisation terms by the progressive addition of random noise and systematic offsets to the concentration data. We show that for our application, the best reconstructions are obtained by using a multiplicative regularisation parameter defined to minimise the total gas emissions.

Time-of-flight three-dimensional imaging is an important tool for applications such as object recognition and remote sensing. Conventional time-of-flight three-dimensional imaging systems frequently use a raster scanned laser to measure the range of each pixel in the scene sequentially. Here we show a modified time-of-flight three-dimensional imaging system, which can use compressed sensing techniques to reduce acquisition times, whilst distributing the optical illumination over the full field of view. Our system is based on a single-pixel camera using short-pulsed structured illumination and a high-speed photodiode, and is capable of reconstructing 128 × 128-pixel resolution three-dimensional scenes to an accuracy of ∼3 mm at a range of ∼5 m. Furthermore, by using a compressive sampling strategy, we demonstrate continuous real-time three-dimensional video with a frame-rate up to 12 Hz. The simplicity of the system hardware could enable low-cost three-dimensional imaging devices for precision ranging at wavelengths beyond the visible spectrum., A three-dimensional imaging system which distributes the optical illumination over the full field-of-view is sought after. Here, the authors demonstrate the capability of reconstructing 128 × 128 pixel resolution three-dimensional scenes to an accuracy of 3 mm as well as real-time video with a frame-rate up to 12 Hz.

Photometric stereo is a three dimensional (3D) imaging technique that uses multiple 2D images, obtained from a fixed camera perspective, with different illumination directions. Compared to other 3D imaging methods such as geometry modeling and 3D-scanning, it comes with a number of advantages, such as having a simple and efficient reconstruction routine. In this work, we describe a low-cost accessory to a commercial digital single-lens reflex (DSLR) camera system allowing fast reconstruction of 3D objects using photometric stereo. The accessory consists of four white LED lights fixed to the lens of a commercial DSLR camera and a USB programmable controller board to sequentially control the illumination. 3D images are derived for different objects with varying geometric complexity and results are presented, showing a typical height error of

Conventional cameras rely upon a pixelated sensor to provide spatial resolution. An alternative approach replaces the sensor with a pixelated transmission mask encoded with a series of binary patterns. Combining knowledge of the series of patterns and the associated filtered intensities, measured by single-pixel detectors, allows an image to be deduced through data inversion. In this work we extend the concept of a ‘single-pixel camera’ to provide continuous real-time video at 10 Hz , simultaneously in the visible and short-wave infrared, using an efficient computer algorithm. We demonstrate our camera for imaging through smoke, through a tinted screen, whilst performing compressive sampling and recovering high-resolution detail by arbitrarily controlling the pixel-binning of the masks. We anticipate real-time single-pixel video cameras to have considerable importance where pixelated sensors are limited, allowing for low-cost, non-visible imaging systems in applications such as night-vision, gas sensing and medical diagnostics.

We have developed a system for the rapid fabrication of low cost 3D devices and systems in the laboratory with micro-scale features yet cm-scale objects. Our system is inspired by maskless lithography, where a digital micromirror device (DMD) is used to project patterns with resolution up to 10 µm onto a layer of photoresist. Large area objects can be fabricated by stitching projected images over a 5cm2 area. The addition of a z-stage allows multiple layers to be stacked to create 3D objects, removing the need for any developing or etching steps but at the same time leading to true 3D devices which are robust, configurable and scalable. We demonstrate the applications of the system by printing a range of micro-scale objects as well as a fully functioning microfluidic droplet device and test its integrity by pumping dye through the channels.