Researchers have found a way to pre-treat a laser beam so that it enters opaque surfaces without dispersing - like a headlight that's able to cut through heavy fog at full strength.

The discovery from scientists at Yale University and the Missouri University of Science and Technology has potential applications for deep-tissue imaging and optogenetics, in which light is used to probe and manipulate cells in living tissue.

A study announcing the technique appears in the March 4 edition of the journal Nature Photonics.

"Typically, an optical beam propagating through a diffusive medium such as fog will spread laterally, but we have discovered that a special preparation of the laser beam can transmit all incoming light without lateral spread," said principal investigator Hui Cao, the John C. Malone Professor of Applied Physics and of Physics at Yale.

The researchers used a spatial light modulator (SLM) and a charge-coupled device (CCD) camera to analyze an opaque material that is made of a layer of white paint. The SLM tailored the laser beam incident on the front surface of the material, and the CCD camera records intensity profiles behind it. With this information, the laser finds a "route" through the white paint.

The result is a beam that is more concentrated, with more light per volume inside and behind the opaque material. In addition to a layer of white paint, the materials in which the laser would be effective include biological tissue, fog, paper, and milk.

"Our method works for any opaque medium that does not absorb light," Cao said.

The first author of the study is Yale postdoctoral research associate Hasan Y?lmaz. Additional authors are Yale postdoctoral researcher Chia Wei Hsu and Missouri University of Science and Technology associate professor Alexey Yamilov.

"Enhancing optical energy in opaque scattering media is extremely important in optogenetics and deep-tissue imaging," Y?lmaz said. "Currently, penetration depth to probe and stimulate or image neurons inside the brain tissue is limited due to multiple-scattering."

Related Links
Yale University
Space Technology News - Applications and Research

Tweet

Thanks for being here; We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain. With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords. Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year. If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Contributor $5 Billed Once credit card or paypal		SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter $5 Billed Monthly paypal only

Physicists build random anti-laser
Washington (UPI) Mar 4, 2019
Scientists in Austria have built the inverse of a laser, an anti-laser. Lasers turns energy into a specific light frequency. The device developed by researchers at the Vienna University of Technology does the opposite, absorbing a specific color of light and scattering nearly all of the energy. The anti-laser technology - described this week in the journal Nature - may offer applications in a variety of electronic and optical fields. "Every day we are dealing with waves that are ... read more