Optical techniques articles within Nature Communications

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  • Article
    | Open Access

    Physical unclonable functions with inherent randomness are promising candidates for secure labeling systems. Here the authors demonstrate such a function using gap-enhanced Raman tags to create high-capacity and high-security labels for anticounterfeiting.

    • Yuqing Gu
    • , Chang He
    •  & Jian Ye

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Diffuse optical flowmetry is widely used to assess blood flow dynamics, but has remained difficult to interpret. Here, the authors use interferometric near-infrared spectroscopy, revealing additional information about optical phase and time-of-flight, and observe the Brownian nature of blood flow dynamics in humans.

    • Oybek Kholiqov
    • , Wenjun Zhou
    •  & Vivek J. Srinivasan

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Detection of small, translucent particles is challenging due to their low inherent scattering. Here, the authors present an easy, high-throughput, label-free method for detecting nanoparticles in low volumes of liquids on a disposable chip, using an acoustically actuated lens-free holographic system.

    • Aniruddha Ray
    • , Muhammad Arslan Khalid
    •  & Aydogan Ozcan

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Multi-view SPIM imaging can improve coverage of large samples such as whole embryos, but the procedure increases phototoxicity and involves manual steps that can introduce inconsistencies. Here the authors develop a smart rotation workflow that performs on-the-fly image analysis and identifies optimal set of views to maximize sample coverage.

    • Jiaye He
    •  & Jan Huisken

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Scientific complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (sCMOS) cameras have advanced the imaging field, but they often suffer from additional noise compared to CCD sensors. Here the authors present a content-adaptive algorithm for the automatic correction of sCMOS-related noise for fluorescence microscopy.

    • Biagio Mandracchia
    • , Xuanwen Hua
    •  & Shu Jia

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Here, the authors report parametric down-conversion of X-rays into long wavelength radiation in gallium arsenide and lithium niobate crystals, with efficiencies about 4 orders of magnitude stronger than the efficiencies measured in any material studied previously. They explore the lack of inversion symmetry as a possible physical mechanism.

    • S. Sofer
    • , O. Sefi
    •  & S. Shwartz

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Particle manipulation is still challenging even with the many tools available, especially manipulating particles on a surface. Here, the authors report a technique for nanomanipulation of various objects on solid substrates by modulating particle-substrate interactions through laser-induced opto-thermal dynamics.

    • Jingang Li
    • , Yaoran Liu
    •  & Yuebing Zheng

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Although polarized Raman microscopy is sensitive to orientation changes, quantitative information has been missing. Here, the authors use simultaneous registration of multiple Raman scattering spectra obtained at different polarizations and show quantitative orientation mapping

    • Oleksii Ilchenko
    • , Yuriy Pilgun
    •  & Anja Boisen

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Thermal characterization of biological tissues can traditionally provide either large fields of view or high resolution. By the development of super-resolution infrared photo-thermal imaging, the authors reconstruct temperature-based maps of absorptive centers in millimeter-sized biological samples.

    • M. Bouzin
    • , M. Marini
    •  & M. Collini

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Sensing DNA bases by surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) in plasmonic nanopores has suffered from rapid flow through of molecules. Here, the authors attach DNA molecules to gold nanoparticles which, due to electro-plasmonic trapping, allow for controlled residence times and discrimination of single nucleotides.

    • Jian-An Huang
    • , Mansoureh Z. Mousavi
    •  & Francesco De Angelis

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Mesoscale investigations of material microarchitecture using small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) methods have been limited by long measurement times. Here, the authors present an X-ray diffractive optics method which enables single shot acquisition of SAXS signals over large areas.

    • Matias Kagias
    • , Zhentian Wang
    •  & Marco Stampanoni

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Here, the authors describe the control of the temporal shape and polarization of the total transmission through a multimode fibre. Most of the previous works studied spatial control of the output field at the expense of the temporal behaviour.

    • Mickael Mounaix
    •  & Joel Carpenter

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The ability to image macrophages in vivo would provide insights into homeostasis and disease but current imaging agents have effects on viability and functionality. Here the authors develop an optoacoustic probe based on a homogentisic acid-derived pigment related to melanin, capable of visualizing macrophage migration in mice.

    • Ina Weidenfeld
    • , Christian Zakian
    •  & Andre C. Stiel

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The use of optical traps has been limited to materials dispersed in aqueous media, which restricts the materials and range of experiments. Here, the authors demonstrate the alignment and assembly of composite structures made of a bismuth nanocrystal and a germanium nanowire in organic solvents.

    • Matthew J. Crane
    • , Elena P. Pandres
    •  & Peter J. Pauzauskie

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The use of Raman spectroscopy for pathogen identification is hampered by the weak Raman signal and phenotypic diversity of bacterial cells. Here the authors generate an extensive dataset of bacterial Raman spectra and apply deep learning to identify common bacterial pathogens and predict antibiotic treatment from noisy Raman spectra.

    • Chi-Sing Ho
    • , Neal Jean
    •  & Jennifer Dionne

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Tradeoffs between size and performance have limited plasmonic structural color vibrancy at high resolution. Here the authors present a nanophotonic resonant metal-coated nanowire capable of being used as a size invariant, vibrant multicolor pixel.

    • June Sang Lee
    • , Ji Yeon Park
    •  & Jerome K. Hyun

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Polarization microscopy has been combined with single-molecule localization, but it’s often limited in either speed or resolution. Here the authors present polarized Structured Illumination Microscopy (pSIM), a method that uses polarized laser excitation to measure dye orientation during fast super-resolution live cell imaging.

    • Karl Zhanghao
    • , Xingye Chen
    •  & Peng Xi

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Quantitative phase imaging techniques have been limited by multiple scattering of light or its use in transmission mode. Here, the authors show a gradient light interference microscopy method in a reflection geometry which allows for label-free phase imaging of bulk and opaque samples.

    • Mikhail E. Kandel
    • , Chenfei Hu
    •  & Gabriel Popescu

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Activatable fluorophores are of interest for a wide range of applications but the need for caging groups complicates their development and application. Here, the authors report on a photoactivatable silicon rhodamine derivative and its application in live cell imaging and single-particle tracking.

    • Michelle S. Frei
    • , Philipp Hoess
    •  & Kai Johnsson

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Nanosecond imaging techniques, such as fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy (FLIM), are limited by low efficiency of current detectors. Here, the authors implement an electro-optic approach using Pockels cells for wide-field image gating and demonstrate high throughput FLIM on standard camera sensors.

    • Adam J. Bowman
    • , Brannon B. Klopfer
    •  & Mark A. Kasevich

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Though resonant infrared (IR) detectors are an attractive thermal imaging technology owing to its high performance potential, realizing devices with high sensitivity remains a challenge. Here, the authors report high-sensitivity resonant IR sensors based on thermo-responsive shape memory polymers.

    • Ulas Adiyan
    • , Tom Larsen
    •  & Herbert Shea

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Generally infrared and Raman spectroscopic methods are needed to study the symmetric and asymmetric molecular vibrational modes. Here the authors demonstrate complementary vibrational spectroscopy to organic molecules by simultaneously measuring their symmetric and anti-symmetric vibrations with one setup.

    • Kazuki Hashimoto
    • , Venkata Ramaiah Badarla
    •  & Takuro Ideguchi

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Sequential acquisition and image reconstruction in super-resolved structured illumination microscopy (SR-SIM) is time-consuming. Here the authors optimise both acquisition and reconstruction software to achieve multicolour SR-SIM at video frame-rates with reconstructed images displaying with only milliseconds delay during the experiment.

    • Andreas Markwirth
    • , Mario Lachetta
    •  & Marcel Müller

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The manufacturing process for GRIN lenses causes a symmetric birefringence variation which is considered a deficiency. Here, the authors show how this birefringence can generate vector vortex beams and form the basis of a Müller matrix polarimeter with potential for endoscopic label-free cancer diagnostics.

    • Chao He
    • , Jintao Chang
    •  & Martin J. Booth

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Chronic cranial windows (CCW) enable long-term imaging of brain activity, but usually they only provide passive optical access to the tissue. Here the authors develop an active CCW integrated with an ultrasound detector which enables long-term photoacoustic imaging of the cortical vasculature in live mice with higher image quality.

    • Hao Li
    • , Biqin Dong
    •  & Cheng Sun

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Current particle manipulation techniques using light are limited by optical effects, such as diffraction, or lack of dynamic capabilities. The authors report a strategy that combines conventional optical traps with plasmonic tweezers to gain maneuverability of the trapped particles while maintaining plasmonic trap efficiencies.

    • Souvik Ghosh
    •  & Ambarish Ghosh

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The speed of surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) imaging is generally limited due to low Raman signals. Here, the authors develop bright gap-enhanced Raman tags with external hot spots and demonstrate their use in fast near-infrared bioimaging.

    • Yuqing Zhang
    • , Yuqing Gu
    •  & Jian Ye

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Coherent anti-Stokes Raman Scattering (CARS) accesses the vibrational properties of a material via nonlinear four-wave mixing (FWM); CARS in graphene has not been observed to date despite its high nonlinear third-order susceptibility. Here, the authors devised a FWM scheme to perform stimulated Raman spectroscopy in single and multi-layer graphene through CARS.

    • A. Virga
    • , C. Ferrante
    •  & T. Scopigno

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Liquid crystal networks can morph their shape in response to electrical stimulus. Here the authors provide a detailed description of their deformation mechanism and introduce a method to observe the dynamic surface of liquid crystal elastomers. This could help with the development of smart materials.

    • Hanne M. van der Kooij
    • , Slav A. Semerdzhiev
    •  & Joris Sprakel

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Spin-information transport or transfer is essential for spintronics applications and often relies on high purity and quality materials. Here, the authors report on the defect-tolerant solution-processed Ruddlesden–Popper halide perovskites, where a spin propagation length of 600 nm was achieved via spin funneling.

    • David Giovanni
    • , Jia Wei Melvin Lim
    •  & Tze Chien Sum

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Molecular movies provide crucial information of fundamental processes like energy and charge transfer, bond breaking etc. Here the authors show the time evolution of the rotational wave packet called the molecular movie of OCS molecules by Coulomb explosion imaging.

    • Evangelos T. Karamatskos
    • , Sebastian Raabe
    •  & Jochen Küpper

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Optical imaging through barriers is highly desired for many applications. Here the authors demonstrate a time-of-flight technique that can passively localize light sources and reflective objects through diffusive barriers and around corners.

    • Jeremy Boger-Lombard
    •  & Ori Katz

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Although quantum biological electron transfer is important in many biological processes, imaging of the events in live cells has remained challenging. Here, the authors demonstrate real-time optical detection of quantum biological electron tunnelling between nanoparticles and cytochrome c inside living cells.

    • Hongbao Xin
    • , Wen Jing Sim
    •  & Luke P. Lee

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Fourier ring correlation (FRC) analysis is commonly used in fluorescence microscopy to measure effective image resolution. Here, the authors demonstrate that FRC can also be leveraged in blind image restoration methods, such as image deconvolution.

    • Sami Koho
    • , Giorgio Tortarolo
    •  & Giuseppe Vicidomini

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Light-sheet microscopes are increasingly used for imaging cleared tissues, but have imposed constraints on sample geometries and protocols. Here the authors present a multi-immersion open-top light-sheet microscope to overcome these limitations and enable high-throughput imaging of samples processed with various clearing protocols.

    • Adam K. Glaser
    • , Nicholas P. Reder
    •  & Jonathan T. C. Liu

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Chip-scale, room-temperature terahertz sensing can potentially enable many applications, but remains restricted in terms of spectrum, angle of incidence and polarization. Here the authors report a methodology for a CMOS-based, programmable THz sensor surface that allows dynamic adaption in all three properties.

    • Xue Wu
    • , Huaixi Lu
    •  & Kaushik Sengupta

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The authors demonstrate an optical trap where particles are trapped inside of a laser cavity. This is possible due to intracavity nonlinear feedback forces that produce stronger confinement on all 3 axes than standard optical tweezers, which greatly reduces the laser intensity needed to trap the same particle.

    • Fatemeh Kalantarifard
    • , Parviz Elahi
    •  & Giovanni Volpe

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Radiation induced sample deformation can be a limiting factor for X-ray imaging resolution at the nanoscale. The authors report a tomographic model that estimates and accounts for morphological changes during data acquisition and enables reconstruction of a high-resolution image ab initio.

    • Michal Odstrcil
    • , Mirko Holler
    •  & Manuel Guizar-Sicairos

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Despite recent advances in simulations of tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (TERS) under highly confined fields, a simply physical mechanism has remained elusive. Here, the authors show that single molecule TERS images can be explained by local sub-molecular density changes induced by the confined near-field during the Raman process.

    • Xing Chen
    • , Pengchong Liu
    •  & Lasse Jensen

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Modern high-resolution X-ray microscopy techniques suffer from limited field-of-view or longer acquisition times. Here the authors use structured illumination to enable fast, full-field super-resolution transmission microscopy, even for optically thick specimens and at hard X-ray energies.

    • Benedikt Günther
    • , Lorenz Hehn
    •  & Franz Pfeiffer

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The unique valley and spin texture of atomically thin transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) allows the observation of the valley Zeeman effect for neutral and charged excitons. Here, the authors unveil the underlying physics of the magneto-optical response and valley Zeeman splitting of trions in tungsten-based TMDs.

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

  • 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

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