Information encryption with optical technologies has become increasingly important due to remarkable multidimensional capabilities of light fields. However, the optical encryption protocols proposed to date have been primarily based on the first-order field characteristics, which are strongly affected by interference effects and make the systems become quite unstable during light-matter interaction. Here, we introduce an alternative optical encryption protocol whereby the information is encoded into the second-order spatial coherence distribution of a structured random light beam via a generalized van Cittert-Zernike theorem. We show that the proposed approach has two key advantages over its conventional counterparts. First, the complexity of measuring the spatial coherence distribution of light enhances the encryption protocol security. Second, the relative insensitivity of the second-order statistical characteristics of light to environmental noise makes the protocol robust against the environmental fluctuations, e.g, the atmospheric turbulence. We carry out experiments to demonstrate the feasibility of the coherence-based encryption method with the aid of a fractional Fourier transform. Our results open up a promising avenue for further research into optical encryption in complex environments.

Protein assays show great importance in medical research and disease diagnoses. Liquid crystals (LCs), as a branch of sensitive materials, offer promising applicability in the field of biosensing. Herein, we developed an ultrasensitive biosensor for the detection of low-concentration protein molecules, employing LC-amplified optofluidic resonators. In this design, the orientation of LCs was disturbed by immobilized protein molecules through the reduction of the vertical anchoring force from the alignment layer. A biosensing platform based on the whispering-gallery mode (WGM) from the LC-amplified optofluidic resonator was developed and explored, in which the spectral wavelength shift was monitored as the sensing parameter. The microbubble structure provided a stable and reliable WGM resonator with a high Q factor for LCs. It is demonstrated that the wall thickness of the microbubble played a key role in enhancing the sensitivity of the LC-amplified WGM microcavity. It is also found that protein molecules coated on the internal surface of microbubble led to their interactions with laser beams and the orientation transition of LCs. Both effects amplified the target information and triggered a sensitive wavelength shift in WGM spectra. A detection limit of 1 fM for bovine serum albumin (BSA) was achieved to demonstrate the high-sensitivity of our sensing platform in protein assays. Compared to the detection using a conventional polarized optical microscope (POM), the sensitivity was improved by seven orders of magnitude. Furthermore, multiple types of proteins and specific biosensing were also investigated to verify the potential of LC-amplified optofluidic resonators in the biomolecular detection. Our studies indicate that LC-amplified optofluidic resonators offer a new solution for the ultrasensitive real-time biosensing and the characterization of biomolecular interactions.

Distributed time-domain Brillouin scattering fiber sensors have been widely used to measure the changes of the temperature and strain. The linear dependence of the temperature and strain on the Brillouin frequency shift enabled the distributed temperature and strain sensing based on mapping of the Brillouin gain spectrum. In addition, an acoustic wave can be detected by the four wave mixing (FWM) associated SBS process, in which phase matching condition is satisfied via up-down conversion of SBS process through birefringence matching before and after the conversion process. Brillouin scattering can be considered as the scattering of a pump wave from a moving grating (acoustic phonon) which induces a Doppler frequency shift in the resulting Stokes wave. The frequency shift is dependent on many factors including the velocity of sound in the scattering medium as well as the index of refraction. Such a process can be used to monitor the gain of random fiber laser based on SBS, the distributed acoustic wave reflect the distributed SBS gain for random lasing radiation, as well as the relative intensity noise inside the laser gain medium. In this review paper, the distributed time-domain sensing system based on Brillouin scattering including Brillouin optical time-domain reflectometry (BOTDR), Brillouin optical time-domain analysis (BOTDA), and FWM enhanced SBS for acoustic wave detection are introduced for their working principles and recent progress. The distributed Brillouin sensors based on specialty fibers for simultaneous temperature and strain measurement are summarized. Applications for the Brillouin scattering time-domain sensors are briefly discussed.

Measurements and imaging of the mechanical response of biological cells are critical for understanding the mechanisms of many diseases, and for fundamental studies of energy, signal and force transduction. The recent emergence of Brillouin microscopy as a powerful non-contact, label-free way to non-invasively and non-destructively assess local viscoelastic properties provides an opportunity to expand the scope of biomechanical research to the sub-cellular level. Brillouin spectroscopy has recently been validated through static measurements of cell viscoelastic properties, however, fast (sub-second) measurements of sub-cellular cytomechanical changes have yet to be reported. In this report, we utilize a custom multimodal spectroscopy system to monitor for the very first time the rapid viscoelastic response of cells and subcellular structures to a short-duration electrical impulse. The cytomechanical response of three subcellular structures - cytoplasm, nucleoplasm, and nucleoli - were monitored, showing distinct mechanical changes despite an identical stimulus. Through this pioneering transformative study, we demonstrate the capability of Brillouin spectroscopy to measure rapid, real-time biomechanical changes within distinct subcellular compartments. Our results support the promising future of Brillouin spectroscopy within the broad scope of cellular biomechanics.

Holography is an essential technique of generating three-dimensional images. Recently, quantum holography with undetected photons (QHUP) has emerged as a groundbreaking method capable of capturing complex amplitude images. Despite its potential, the practical application of QHUP has been limited by susceptibility to phase disturbances, low interference visibility, and limited spatial resolution. Deep learning, recognized for its ability in processing complex data, holds significant promise in addressing these challenges. In this report, we present an ample advancement in QHUP achieved by harnessing the power of deep learning to extract images from single-shot holograms, resulting in vastly reduced noise and distortion, alongside a notable enhancement in spatial resolution. The proposed and demonstrated deep learning QHUP (DL-QHUP) methodology offers a transformative solution by delivering high-speed imaging, improved spatial resolution, and superior noise resilience, making it suitable for diverse applications across an array of research fields stretching from biomedical imaging to remote sensing. DL-QHUP signifies a crucial leap forward in the realm of holography, demonstrating its immense potential to revolutionize imaging capabilities and pave the way for advancements in various scientific disciplines. The integration of DL-QHUP promises to unlock new possibilities in imaging applications, transcending existing limitations and offering unparalleled performance in challenging environments.

Stimulated Raman scattering (SRS) microscopy is a highly sensitive chemical imaging technique. However, the SRS imaging performance hinges on two key factors: the reliance on low-noise but bulky solid-state laser sources and stringent sample requirements necessitated by high numerical aperture (NA) optics. Here, we present a fiber laser based stimulated Raman photothermal (SRP) microscope that addresses these limitations. While appreciating the portability and compactness of a noisy source, fiber laser SRP enables a two-order-of-magnitude improvement in signal to noise ratio over fiber laser SRS without balance detection. Furthermore, with the use of low NA, long working distance optics for signal collection, SRP expands the allowed sample space from millimeters to centimeters, which diversifies the sample formats to multi-well plates and thick tissues. The sensitivity and imaging depth are further amplified by using urea for both thermal enhancement and tissue clearance. Together, fiber laser SRP microscopy provides a robust, user-friendly platform for diverse applications.

Thermal logic aims to create thermal counterparts to electronic circuits. In this work, we investigate experimentally the response of an analog memory device based on a thin film of an antiferromagnetic metal CuMnAs to bursts of heat pulses generated by the absorption of femtosecond laser pulses at room ambient temperature. When a threshold temperature in the heat-based short-term memory of the device is exceeded, the output of the in-memory logic operations is transferred within the same device to a long-term memory, where it can be retrieved at macroscopic times. The long-term memory is based on magnetoresistive switching from a reference low-resistive uniform magnetic state to high-resistive metastable nanofragmented magnetic states. The in-memory heat-based logic operations and the conversion of the outputs into the electrically-readable long-term magnetoresistive memory were performed at sub-nanosecond time scales, making them compatible with the GHz frequencies of standard electronics. Finally, we demonstrate the possibility of rapidly resetting the long-term memory to the reference low-resistive state by heat pulses.