Optical techniques articles within Nature Communications

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  • Article
    | Open Access

    Two photon polymerization (TPP) allows nanofabrication of three dimensional objects with complex geometries, but is considered to be slow with a limited fabrication rate. Here the authors present a TPP technique based on a digital mirror device scanner which allows for fast parallel nanofabrication with improved precision and flexibility.

    • Qiang Geng
    • , Dien Wang
    •  & Shih-Chi Chen

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The optical transmission of images through a multimode fibre remains an outstanding challenge. Here, the authors implement a method that statistically reconstructs the inverse transformation matrix for a fibre and demonstrate real-time imaging of natural scenes in full colour, high resolution and high frame rate.

    • Piergiorgio Caramazza
    • , Oisín Moran
    •  & Daniele Faccio

  • Article
    | Open Access

    3D single molecule localization microscopy suffers from several experimental biases that degrade the resolution or localization precision. Here the authors present a dual-view detection scheme combining supercritical angle fluorescence and astigmatic imaging to obtain precise and unbiased 3D super resolution images.

    • Clément Cabriel
    • , Nicolas Bourg
    •  & Sandrine Lévêque-Fort

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Hyperspectral imaging (HSI) enables recording both morphological and biochemical information, but image acquisition time and geometric distortions limit its clinical applicability. Here the authors overcome these challenges with an endoscope combining HSI and white light to correct for image distortion during freehand operation.

    • Jonghee Yoon
    • , James Joseph
    •  & Sarah E. Bohndiek

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Bringing atomic beam technology to the chip scale is challenging due to the long distance required to filter the velocity distribution. Here, the authors report an engineering strategy for on-chip filtering of the velocity profile of atomic beams by fabricating planar, etched microchannel arrays.

    • Chao Li
    • , Xiao Chai
    •  & C. Raman

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Here, the authors control concentration quenching in a stoichiometric Er3+ compound using a core−shell nanostructured host and an integrated optical waveguide circuit excitation platform. The efficient telecom to ultraviolet upconversion allows for exploration of photonic applications involving upconversion nanomaterials.

    • Tianying Sun
    • , Yuhua Li
    •  & Feng Wang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Multicolour images are difficult to acquire with large-scale microscopy approaches. Here the authors present a microtome-assisted microscope capable of trichromatic two-photon excitation and label-free nonlinear modalities based on wavelength mixing, and use it to analyze astrocyte morphology and neuronal projections in thick brain samples.

    • Lamiae Abdeladim
    • , Katherine S. Matho
    •  & Emmanuel Beaurepaire

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The link between how the stiffness of the cornea affects stem cells is unclear. Here, the authors use Brillouin spectro-microscopy to show that mechanical properties of the cornea affect epithelial stem cells and after injury, treating the cornea with collagenase suppresses YAP activation, assisting in regeneration.

    • Ricardo M. Gouveia
    • , Guillaume Lepert
    •  & Che J. Connon

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Imaging the mouse brain using glass cranial windows has limitations in terms of flexibility and long-term imaging. Here the authors engineer transparent polymer skulls that can fit various skull morphologies and can be implanted for over 300 days, enabling simultaneous high resolution brain imaging and electrophysiology across large cortical areas.

    • Leila Ghanbari
    • , Russell E. Carter
    •  & Suhasa B. Kodandaramaiah

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Optical tweezing with intense lasers can be harmful to biological specimens and limits the types of materials that can be trapped. Here, the authors demonstrate an indirect optical trapping approach which uses hydrodynamic forces to exert nanoscale-precision control over aqueous particles, without directly illuminating them.

    • Unė G. Būtaitė
    • , Graham M. Gibson
    •  & David B. Phillips

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The characterization of biomacromolecule structural vibrations has been impeded by a broad continuous vibrational density of states obscuring molecule specific vibrations. A terahertz microscopy system using polarization control produces signatures to dynamically fingerprint proteins and a RNA G-quadruplex.

    • Katherine A. Niessen
    • , Mengyang Xu
    •  & Andrea G. Markelz

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Long acquisition time and high illumination intensities needed in super-resolution imaging often generate photobleaching and phototoxicity. Here the authors develop a non-deterministic scanning approach based on a real-time feedback system that enables faster acquisition with lower light doses for in vivo imaging.

    • Jes Dreier
    • , Marco Castello
    •  & Ilaria Testa

  • Article
    | Open Access

    With the wide adoption of ultrasound methods in biomedical and technological diagnostics, sensitive probes are in demand. Here, the authors employ cavity optomechanics where optical and mechanical resonances are coupled, both enhancing the sensitivity of the device and allowing its chip-integration.

    • Sahar Basiri-Esfahani
    • , Ardalan Armin
    •  & Warwick P. Bowen

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Optical imaging of tissue is a powerful technique but delivering light deep into scattering tissue is not possible without using invasive methods. Here, the authors demonstrate that patterned ultrasound can define and control the trajectory of light in tissue using pressure-induced index contrasts.

    • Maysamreza Chamanzar
    • , Matteo Giuseppe Scopelliti
    •  & Michel M. Maharbiz

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Measuring multiple neurophysiologic variables usually requires bulky benchtop optical systems and working with anesthetized animals. Here the authors present a miniature portable microscope for neurovascular imaging in awake rodents, combining fluorescence, intrinsic optical signals and laser speckle contrast.

    • Janaka Senarathna
    • , Hang Yu
    •  & Arvind P. Pathak

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Understanding the pH changes at cell surfaces is important for understanding the mechanisms of different physiological processes. Here, the authors report on the development of a cell membrane anchored gold nanoparticle for surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy determination of pH.

    • Leonardo Puppulin
    • , Shigekuni Hosogi
    •  & Yoshinori Marunaka

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The measure of microscopic forces is currently dominated by optical methods requiring parameter-based analyses and long data acquisitions. This work describes a fast and parameter-free method that can characterize both the conservative and non-conservative force fields acting on Brownian particles.

    • Laura Pérez García
    • , Jaime Donlucas Pérez
    •  & Giovanni Volpe

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Alignment and orientation of the molecules allows studying the photon-molecule interactions in greater detail. Here the authors demonstrate the three-dimensional orientation of SO2 molecules in using COLTRIMS and orthogonally polarized laser pulses but in the absence of DC field.

    • Kang Lin
    • , Ilia Tutunnikov
    •  & Jian Wu

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Natural genetic transformation in bacteria requires DNA binding at the surface of competent cells. Here, Mirouze et al. show that wall teichoic acids are specifically produced or modified during competence in Bacillus subtilis and promote (directly or indirectly) DNA binding at the cell surface.

    • Nicolas Mirouze
    • , Cécile Ferret
    •  & Rut Carballido-López

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Self-interaction of a bound state through its coupling to the continuum is a phenomenon that is very difficult to observe. Here, the authors optically collide atomic clouds of rubidium and potassium to observe the self-interaction energy through precise measurements of magnetically tunable Feshbach resonances.

    • Ryan Thomas
    • , Matthew Chilcott
    •  & Niels Kjærgaard

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Negative optical torque has been predicted theoretically, but experimental demonstrations have been scarce. Here, the authors show that the optical torque in a mesoscopic optical matter array can be reversed depending on number, separation and configuration of nanoparticles in a circularly polarized optical trap.

    • Fei Han
    • , John A. Parker
    •  & Zijie Yan

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The short exciton life time in atomically thin transition metal dichalcogenides poses limitations to efficient control of the valley pseudospin and coherence. Here, the authors manipulate the exciton coherence in a WSe2 monolayer embedded in an optical microcavity in the strong light-matter coupling regime.

    • S. Dufferwiel
    • , T. P. Lyons
    •  & A. I. Tartakovskii

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Tagging and tracking cells with multiplexed labels can help study complex cellular behaviors in living systems. Here, Jo et al. propose and demonstrate the use of Fabry-Perot-like resonances in dielectric microspheres as such a label and call these reflectophores.

    • Yongjae Jo
    • , Junhwan Kwon
    •  & Myunghwan Choi

  • Article
    | Open Access

    FISH-based techniques to image and count mRNA in single cells can be limited by the photophysical properties of organic dyes. Here the authors develop photostable quantum dot FISH probes for multiplexed imaging.

    • Yang Liu
    • , Phuong Le
    •  & Andrew M. Smith

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Fourier transform spectrometers are generally limited to slow scanning rates at high resolution. Here the authors demonstrate highly efficient Fourier transform spectroscopy using a dynamic phase-control technique that enables fast acquisition without compromising bandwidth or resolution.

    • Kazuki Hashimoto
    •  & Takuro Ideguchi

  • Article
    | Open Access

    On-chip spectrometers typically have limited spectral channels and low signal to noise ratios. Here the authors introduce a digital architecture that uses switches to change the interferometer path lengths, enabling exponentially more spectral channels per circuit element and lower noise by leveraging a machine learning reconstruction algorithm.

    • Derek M. Kita
    • , Brando Miranda
    •  & Juejun Hu

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Non-Hermitian properties were proposed to be beneficial to sensing but it is not clear if this concept can be extended to the quantum regime. Here, Lau and Clerk self-consistently consider the impact of noise and measurement, and identify that nonreciprocity can improve sensing capabilities.

    • Hoi-Kwan Lau
    •  & Aashish A. Clerk

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Enabling concurrent, high throughput analysis of single nano particles would greatly increase the capacity to study size, composition and inter and intra particle population variance. Here, the authors present a comprehensive platform for single particle automated Raman trapping analysis without any target modification.

    • Jelle Penders
    • , Isaac J. Pence
    •  & Molly M. Stevens

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Analysis of bioluminescence images of bacterial distributions in living animals is mostly manual and semiquantitative. Here, the authors present an analysis platform featuring an animal mold, a probabilistic organ atlas, and a mirror gantry to perform automatic in vivo bioluminescence quantification.

    • Alexander D. Klose
    •  & Neal Paragas

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Remote sensing of geomagnetic fields in mesosphere is both challenging and interesting to explore the magnetic field structures and atomic collision processes. Here the authors demonstrate an atomic magnetometer that utilizes the Larmor frequency in sodium atoms and operates in kilometers range.

    • Felipe Pedreros Bustos
    • , Domenico Bonaccini Calia
    •  & Simon Rochester

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Synthetic active particles with inter-particle propulsion have been served as a model system to study the collective animal behaviors. Here, Khadka et al. add complexity to the model by spatially controlling particle motions through a laser feedback loop in response to the collective dynamics of particles.

    • Utsab Khadka
    • , Viktor Holubec
    •  & Frank Cichos

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Non-line-of-sight sensing requires purposely controlling some of the properties of light during the measurement process. Here, the authors show that reflection from a diffusive surface preserves some coherence properties and the shape and the distance to an incoherently illuminated object can be measured using the spatial coherence function.

    • M. Batarseh
    • , S. Sukhov
    •  & A. Dogariu

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Angle-resolved monitoring of structure parameters during crystal growth is often slow owing to mechanical movements. Here, the authors use second harmonic scattering and Fourier-plane imaging to dynamically monitor size, shape and concentration of ZIF-8 in situ during the growth process.

    • Stijn Van Cleuvenbergen
    • , Zachary J. Smith
    •  & Monique A. van der Veen

  • Article
    | Open Access

    A known limitation of super-resolution STED microscopy is the need of high laser power which can cause photobleaching and phototoxicity. Here the authors further optimize this method and show that modulating STED intensity during acquisition results in an enhanced resolution and reduced background.

    • Maria J. Sarmento
    • , Michele Oneto
    •  & Luca Lanzanò

  • Article
    | Open Access

    One-dimensional materials such as carbon nanotubes have many applications, but not all of their properties can be described in the same way as for conventional media. Here, the authors devise a method to measure the complex optical susceptibility in a 1D nanomaterial and demonstrate it for carbon nanotubes.

    • Fengrui Yao
    • , Can Liu
    •  & Kaihui Liu

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Super-resolution microscopy often suffers from low contrast and slow recording times. Here the authors present an optical implementation which makes the fluorescent proteins’ ON–OFF switching cycles more efficient, enhancing contrast and spatio-temporal resolution in 3D cell and tissue imaging.

    • Luciano A. Masullo
    • , Andreas Bodén
    •  & Ilaria Testa

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Energy transfer from carotenoids to chlorophylls in light-harvesting is still not fully understood, especially in the ultrafast regime. Here, the authors investigate the coherent dynamics of this process in peridinin-chlorophyll a-protein complex via 2D electronic spectroscopy and quantum chemical calculations.

    • Elena Meneghin
    • , Andrea Volpato
    •  & Elisabetta Collini

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Non-destructive methods to image metabolism in situ in living tissues are limited. Here the authors combine deuterium oxide probing and stimulated Raman scattering microscopy to image lipid metabolic dynamics and protein synthesis in cells and in vivo in mice, C. elegans, and zebrafish.

    • Lingyan Shi
    • , Chaogu Zheng
    •  & Wei Min

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