Related papers: SCALES for Keck: Optical Design
Phase-sensitive coherent imaging exploits changes in the phases of backscattered light to observe tiny alterations of scattering structures or variations of the refractive index. But moving scatterers or a fluctuating refractive index…
The scanning fiber endoscope (SFE), an ultra-small optical imaging device with a large field-of-view (FOV) for having a clear forward view into the interior of blood vessels, has great potential in the cardio-vascular disease diagnosis and…
Diffractive surfaces shape optical wavefronts for applications in spectroscopy, high-speed communication, and imaging. The performance of these structures is primarily determined by how precisely they can be patterned. Fabrication…
The Santa cruz Extreme Adaptive optics Lab (SEAL) is a visible/near-infrared wavelength testbed designed to support technology development for high contrast imaging on large, segmented, ground-based telescopes. SEAL saw first light in 2021…
Adaptive optics is a technique mostly used on large telescopes. It turns out to be challenging for smaller telescopes (0.5~2m) due to the small isoplanatic angle, small subapertures and high correction speeds needed at visible wavelengths,…
High-contrast imaging for the detection and characterization of exoplanets relies on the instrument's capability to block out the light of the host star. Some current post-processing methods for calibrating out the residual speckles use…
We introduce the soft curvature and spectroscopy (SCANS) system: a versatile, electronics-free, fluidically actuated soft manipulator capable of assessing the spectral properties of objects either in hand or through pre-touch caging. This…
The Infrared Astronomical Satellite (IRAS) had a tremendous impact on many areas of modern astrophysics. In particular it revealed the ubiquity of infrared cirrus that are a spectacular manifestation of the interstellar medium complexity…
The increasing demand for wireless networks of higher capacity requires key-enabling technologies. Optical wireless communication (OWC) arises as a complementary technology to radio frequency (RF) systems that can support high aggregate…
Super-resolution optical microscopy is a rapidly evolving scientific field dedicated to imaging sub-wavelength sized objects, leaving its mark in multiple branches of biology and technology. While several super-resolution optical microscopy…
The super-oscillation lens (SOL) can achieve super-resolution focusing but have to trade-off with weaker hotspots and higher sidebands. We propose a single compound SOL to achieve reflective confocal imaging in principle without additional…
We design, fabricate, and characterize multifunctional and compact diffractive microlenses with sub-wavelength thickness and the capability to simultaneously focus visible and near-infrared spectral bands at two different focal positions…
Intermediate Scattering Functions (ISF's) are measured for colloidal hard sphere systems using both Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS) and X-ray Photon Correlation Spectroscopy (XPCS). We compare the techniques, and discuss the advantages and…
An optical vortex coronagraph has been implemented within the NIRC2 camera on the Keck II telescope and used to carry out on-sky tests and observations. The development of this new L'-band observational mode is described, and an initial…
In recent years, a great deal of emphasis has been placed on achieving the diffraction limit with large aperture telescopes. For a well matched focal-plane instrument, the diffraction limit provides the highest possible angular resolution…
The InfraRed Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS) is the first-light client instrument for the Narrow Field Infrared Adaptive Optics System (NFIRAOS) on the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT). IRIS includes three natural guide star (NGS) On-Instrument…
Spectral imaging is a fundamental diagnostic technique with widespread application. Conventional spectral imaging approaches have intrinsic limitations on spatial and spectral resolutions due to the physical components they rely on. To…
We propose a new approach for high-contrast imaging at the diffraction limit using segmented telescopes in a modest observation bandwidth. This concept, named "spectroscopic fourth-order coronagraphy", is based on a fourth-order coronagraph…
The ambitious scientific goals of the SKA require a matching capability for calibration of atmospheric propagation errors, which contaminate the observed signals. We demonstrate a scheme for correcting the direction-dependent ionospheric…
We develop a novel hyperspectral imaging system using structured illumination in an SLM-based Michelson interferometer. In our design, we use a reflective SLM as a mirror in one of the arms of a Michelson interferometer, and scan the…