This PDF file contains the front matter associated with SPIE Proceedings Volume 9956, including the Title Page, Copyright information, Table of Contents, and Conference Committee listing.

We have constructed an electron gun that delivers highly charged femtosecond electron pulses to a target with kHz repetition rate. Electron pulses are generated by femtosecond laser pulses in a photoemission process and are accelerated up to 100 kV and compressed to sub-picosecond duration. Compression is essential to compensate for the space charge effect that increases the size of electron pulses in all directions significantly. The pulses are compressed transversely by magnetic lenses and longitudinally by the longitudinal electric field of a radio-frequency cavity. The longitudinal compression is achieved by decelerating the electrons in the leading edge of the pulse, and accelerating the electrons in the trailing edge of the pulse. This results in the pulse compressing and reaching the minimum pulse duration at a known distance from the compression cavity. The short pulse duration and high repetition rate will be essential to observe subpicosecond dynamic processes in molecules in gas phase with a good signal to noise ratio. A streak camera, consisting of a millimeter-sized parallel plate capacitor, was used to measure the pulse duration in situ.

Recent experiments have shown that by combining a femtosecond laser with an electron microscope, dynamics at the nanoscale with femtosecond temporal resolution can be followed. These ultrafast electron microscopy (UEM) techniques have allowed a variety of experimental studies on nanoscale material systems to be conducted, including the ability to image plasmon dynamics in real time. We will discuss how UEM can also be used to study fundamental quantum problems, present some recent experimental results and we will discuss how future experimental improvements will push the temporal resolution from hundreds of femtoseconds down to the single femtosecond regime and below.

Compared with other imaging probes such as fluorescent dyes and quantum dots, second-harmonic radiating imaging probes (SHRIMPs) provide a unique ultrafast, coherent optical contrast that is free of photobleaching and emission intermittency. Using the second-harmonic signal emitted from SHRIMPs, harmonic holography achieves threedimensional holographic imaging with a color contrast similar to fluorescence microscopy where the uninterested background scattering is efficiently suppressed by an optical filter. The coherent contrast provided by SHRIMPs also enables imaging through turbid media via digital phase conjugation. Here we review the developments and applications of SHRIMPs and harmonic holography.

Beta-site APP cleaving enzyme 1 (BACE1) is a type I transmembrane aspartyl protease. In the amyloidogenic pathway, BACE1 provides β-secretase activity that cleaves the amyloid precursor protein (APP) that leads to amyloid beta (Aβ) peptides. The aggregation of these Aβ will ultimately results in amyloid plaque formation, a hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Amyloid aggregation leads to progressive memory impairment and neural loss. Recent detergent protein extraction studies suggest that the untreated BACE1 protein forms a dimer that has significantly higher catalytic activity than its monomeric counterpart. Here, we examine the dimerization hypothesis of BACE1 in cultured HEK293 cells using fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (FCS). Cells were transfected with a BACE1-EGFP fusion protein construct and imaged using confocal and DIC microscopy to monitor labeled BACE1 localization and distribution within the cell. Our one-photon fluorescence fluctuation autocorrelation of BACE1- EGFP on the plasma membrane of HEK cells is modeled using two diffusing species on the plasma membrane with estimated diffusion coefficients of 1.39 x 10^-7 cm²/sec and 2.8 x 10^-8 cm²/sec under resting conditions and STA-200 inhibition, respectively. Anomalous diffusion model also provided adequate description of the observed autocorrelation function of BACE1- EGFP on the plasma membrane with an estimate exponent (α) of 0.8 and 0.5 for resting and STA-200 treated cells, respectively. The corresponding hydrodynamic radius of this transmembrane fusion protein was estimated using the measured diffusion coefficients assuming both Stokes-Einstein and Saffman-Delbruck models. Our results suggest a complex diffusion pattern of BACE1-EGFP on the plasma membrane of HEK cells with the possibility for dimer formation, especially under STA-200 inhibition.

Semiconductors systems exhibiting excitonic properties are discussed in terms of their coherent response, which is extracted using two-dimensional coherent spectroscopy. This control method allows for separation of quantum pathways that comprise the optical response, such as interactions between excitons, their dephasing rates, the effects of many-body interactions and the role of structure on the microscopic electronic environment. Additional controls, such as polarization can be used to further distinguish biexcitons and suppress many-body interactions. These result are compared and contrasted with those from a semiconductor microcavity where the excitons form polaritonic modes due to normal-mode splitting. Rephrasing spectra map the detuning dependence of the exciton-polariton branches. Increasing the detuning shifts all features to higher energy and the expected anti-crossing is observed. An isolated biexciton is seen only at negative detuning, separated by a binding energy. For positive detuning, the spectral weight of the off-diagonal features swap, as the lower polariton branch and biexciton come into resonance. This indicates that the off-diagonal features are sensitive to the interactions of the exciton-polaritons and other resonances in the system.

We investigate the possibility for superluminality effects at the femtosecond pulse propagation in the medium with nanorods, if second harmonic generation (SGH) and two-photon luminescence (TPL) take place. On basis of semiclassical approach, we derive a set of equations, which describe the atomic states and electric fields dynamics. We show the possibility of light acceleration and soliton formation, if nanorod aspect ratio changing occurs due to their reshaping because two photon absorption (TPA) of optical energy, and investigate TPL and SHG in the medium with nanorods under sequential one-photon absorptions.

The ultrafast temporal dynamics of a single ZnO nanowire is probed using an ultraviolet femtosecond Kerr-gated wide field fluorescence microscope. The microscope is a comprehensive tool that not only operates in steady state and transient mode but can also function as both an ultrafast imaging instrument as well as a femtosecond fluorescence spectrometer. The sub 90 femtosecond temporal resolution and sub micron spatial resolution facilitate the measurement of ultrafast dynamics of single nanostructures. The steady state and temporal emission from a single ZnO nanowire is observed at different fluences. At high fluences the carrier density exceeds that of the Mott density and bandgap renormalization is observed in the transient spectra. Morphological anomalies resulted in enhanced localized emission from regions along the nanowire. Selective area analysis facilitated extraction of emission dynamics from a single region on the nanowire and provided insight into how structural inhomogeneities affect ultrafast phenomenon occurring in a single nanowire.

We have developed a new method, transient grating photoluminescence spectroscopy (TGPLS), allowing the collection of broadband ultrafast photoluminescence spectroscopy with low photoluminescence background. In TGPLS, two ultrafast laser pulses generate a multiplexed transient grating (TG) by the optical Kerr effect. The gated signal is diffracted by the TG and spatially separated from background fluorescence. This high performance nonlinear optical gate delivers time resolution less than 200 fs, spectral bandwidth covering the entire visible region with extremely low fluorescence background. Here we present two applications of TGPLS that provide deeper insight into ultrafast energy transfer in multi-chromophore perylene arrays and ultrafast structural relaxation in oligothiophenes.

Mid-infrared photothermal spectroscopy is a pump-probe technique for label-free and non-destructive sample characterization by targeting intrinsic vibrational modes. In this method, the mid-infrared pump beam excites a temperature-induced change in the refractive index of the sample. This laser-induced change in the refractive index is measured by a near-infrared probe laser using lock-in detection. At increased pump powers, emerging nonlinear phenomena not previously demonstrated in other mid-infrared techniques are observed. Nonlinear study of a 6 μm-thick 4-Octyl-4’-Cyanobiphenyl (8CB) liquid crystal sample is conducted by targeting the C=C stretching band at 1606 cm^-1. At high pump powers, nonlinear signal enhancement and multiple pitchfork bifurcations of the spectral features are observed. An explanation of the nonlinear peak splitting is provided by the formation of bubbles in the sample at high pump powers. The discontinuous refractive index across the bubble interface results in a decrease in the forward scatter of the probe beam. This effect can be recorded as a bifurcation of the absorption peak in the photothermal spectrum. These nonlinear effects are not present in direct measurements of the mid-infrared beam. Evolution of the nonlinear photothermal spectrum of 8CB liquid crystal with increasing pump power shows enhancement of the absorption peak at 1606 cm^-1. Multiple pitchfork bifurcations and spectral narrowing of the photothermal spectrum are demonstrated. This novel nonlinear regime presents potential for improved spectral resolution as well as a new regime for sample characterization in mid-infrared photothermal spectroscopy.

With the development of mode-division-multiplexing (MDM), few mode fibers (FMFs) have found a wide range of applications in optical sensing and communications. However, how to precisely control the mode composition of optical signals in FMFs remains a difficult challenge. In this paper, we present an adaptive mode control method that can selectively excite the linearly polarized (LP) mode within the FMF. The method is based on using optical pulses reflected by a fiber Bragg grating (FBG) for wavefront optimization. Two potential applications are discussed. First, we theoretically demonstrate the feasibility of large scale multiplexing of absorption based fiber optical sensors. Second, we discuss the possibility of using mode dependent loss to reconstruct the spatial distributions of absorptive chemicals diffused within a FMF.

The work presents the results of studies of samples of human articular surface of the knee joint, obtained by Raman spectroscopy implementedduring endoprosthesis replacement surgery . The main spectral characteristics of articular surface areas with varying degrees of cartilage damage were detected at 956 cm^-1, 1066 cm^-1 wavenumbers, corresponding to phosphate and carbonate, and at 1660 cm^-1, 1271 cm^-1 wavenumbers, corresponding to amide I and amide III. Criteria allowing to identify the degree of articular hyaline cartilage damage were introduced.

This work presents the results of spectral analysis of biopolymer materials that are implemented in medical sphere. Polymer samples containing polycaprolactone and iron oxides of different valence were used in the studies. Raman spectroscopy method was used as a main control method. Relative content of iron and polycaprolactone in studied materials was assessed using ratio of RS intensities values at 604 cm^-1 and 1726 cm^-1 wavenumbers to intensity value of 1440 cm^-1 line.