Polarization-dependent nonlinear phase contrast by using dye-doped nematic liquid crystals

Rosario Porras-Aguilar; Marcelo D. Iturbe-Castillo; Julio C. Ramirez-San-Juan; Oscar Baldovino-Pantaleon; David Sanchez de la Llave; Ruben Ramos-Garcia; Luis Arroyo-Carrasco

doi:10.1117/12.791556

27 August 2008 Polarization-dependent nonlinear phase contrast by using dye-doped nematic liquid crystals

Rosario Porras-Aguilar, Marcelo D. Iturbe-Castillo, Julio C. Ramirez-San-Juan, Oscar Baldovino-Pantaleon, David Sanchez de la Llave, Ruben Ramos-Garcia, Luis Arroyo-Carrasco

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 7050, Liquid Crystals XII; 705006 (2008) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.791556
Event: Photonic Devices + Applications, 2008, San Diego, California, United States

Abstract

Nonlinear phase contrast microscopy is an optical technique that uses an intensity-dependent refractive index material to produce high-contrasted images of transparent specimens. Earlier proposal of liquid crystals as phase filters for phase contrast applications used optically addressed spatial light modulators fabricated with photoconductive film. Here, we propose the use of a simpler planar nematic liquid crystal cell doped with 1% wt methyl red. Owing to their polarization dependent enhancement factor a tunable phase filter can be photoinduced efficiently. Thus, images of different degree of contrast (and even contrast reversal) can be obtained either by rotating the polarization vector. All optical real-time imaging of dynamic events can be performed and image processing such as edge enhancement is demonstrated.

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Rosario Porras-Aguilar, Marcelo D. Iturbe-Castillo, Julio C. Ramirez-San-Juan, Oscar Baldovino-Pantaleon, David Sanchez de la Llave, Ruben Ramos-Garcia, and Luis Arroyo-Carrasco "Polarization-dependent nonlinear phase contrast by using dye-doped nematic liquid crystals", Proc. SPIE 7050, Liquid Crystals XII, 705006 (27 August 2008); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.791556

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