Young-Woon Choi

A single multimode fiber is considered an ideal optical element for endoscopic imaging due to the possibility of direct image transmission via multiple spatial modes. However, the wave distortion induced by the mode dispersion has been a fundamental limitation. In this Letter, we propose a method for eliminating the effect of mode dispersion and therefore realize wide-field endoscopic imaging by using only a single multimode fiber with no scanner attached to the fiber. Our method will potentiall

We report that disordered media made of randomly distributed nanoparticles can be used to overcome the diffraction limit of a conventional imaging system. By developing a method to extract the original image information from the multiple scattering induced by the turbid media, we dramatically increase a numerical aperture of the imaging system. As a result, the resolution is enhanced by more than 5 times over the diffraction limit, and the field of view is extended over the physical area of the

We report the first direct observation of an exceptional point (EP) in an open quantum composite of a single atom and a high-Q cavity mode. The atom-cavity coupling constant was made a continuous variable by utilizing the multisublevel nature of a single rubidium atom when it is optimally coupled to the cavity mode. The spectroscopic properties of quasieigenstates of the atom-cavity composite were experimentally investigated near the EP. Branch-point singularity of quasieigenenergies was observe

We developed an off-axis quantitative phase microscopy that works for a light source with an extremely short spatial coherence length in order to reduce the diffraction noise and enhance the spatial resolution. A dynamic speckle wave whose coherence length is 440 nm was used as an illumination source. To implement an off-axis interferometry for a source of low spatial coherence, a diffraction grating was inserted in the reference beam path. In doing so, an oblique illumination was generated with

Multiple scatterings occurring in a turbid medium attenuate the intensity of propagating waves. Here, we propose a method to efficiently deliver light energy to the desired target depth in a scattering medium. We measure the time-resolved reflection matrix of a scattering medium using coherent time-gated detection. From this matrix, we derive and experimentally implement an incident wave pattern that optimizes the detected signal corresponding to a specific arrival time. This leads to enhanced l

“Turbidity” caused by multiple light scattering distorts the propagation of waves, and thus undermines optical imaging. For example, translucent biological tissues exhibiting optical turbidity have posed limitations on the imaging depth and energy transmission. Here, we introduce a novel method called turbid lens imaging (TLI) that records a transmission matrix of a scattering medium charactering the input-output response of the medium. The knowledge of this transmission matrix allows one to fin

Ultrathin lensless fibre endoscopes offer minimally invasive investigation, but they mostly operate as a rigid type due to the need for prior calibration of a fibre probe. Furthermore, most implementations work in fluorescence mode rather than label-free imaging mode, making them unsuitable for general medical diagnosis. Herein, we report a fully flexible ultrathin fibre endoscope taking 3D holographic images of unstained tissues with 0.85-μm spatial resolution. Using a bare fibre bundle as thin

We demonstrate a quantitative reflection-phase microscope based on time-varying speckle-field illumination. Due to the short spatial coherence length of the speckle field, the proposed imaging system features superior lateral resolution, 520 nm, as well as high-depth selectivity, 1.03 μm. Off-axis interferometric detection enables wide-field and single-shot imaging appropriate for high-speed measurements. In addition, the measured phase sensitivity of this method, which is the smallest measurabl

We report on synthetic aperture microscopy through a highly turbid medium. We first recorded a transmission matrix for the turbid medium with an angular basis of 20,000 complex images covering 0.6 NA. This effectively converts the medium into a lens of the same NA. Distorted images of a target object are then taken at 500 different angles of illumination covering 0.6 NA. For each of the distorted images, the original object image is reconstructed from the transmission matrix by the recently deve

The coordinated motion of a cell is fundamental to many important biological processes such as development, wound healing, and phagocytosis. For eukaryotic cells, such as amoebae or animal cells, the cell motility is based on crawling and involves a complex set of internal biochemical events. A recent study reported very interesting crawling behavior of single cell amoeba: in the absence of an external cue, free amoebae move randomly with a noisy, yet, discernible sequence of 'run-and-turns' ana

Many disease states are associated with cellular biomechanical changes as markers. Label-free phase microscopes are used to quantify thermally driven interface fluctuations, which allow the deduction of important cellular rheological properties. Here, the spatio-temporal coherence of light was used to implement a high-speed reflection phase microscope with superior depth selectivity and higher phase sensitivity. Nanometric scale motion of cytoplasmic structures can be visualized with fine detail

Thin waveguides such as graded-index lenses and fiber bundles are often used as imaging probes for high-resolution endomicroscopes. However, strong back-reflection from the end surfaces of the probes makes it difficult for them to resolve weak contrast objects, especially in the reflectance-mode imaging. Here we propose a method to spatially isolate illumination pathways from detection channels, and demonstrate wide-field reflectance imaging free from back-reflection noise. In the image fiber bu

The numerical aperture (NA) of a multimode optical fiber sets the limit of the information transport capacity along the spatial degree of freedom. In this Letter, we report that the application of a highly disordered medium can overcome the capacity limit set by the fiber NA. Specifically, we coated the input surface of a multimode fiber with a disordered medium made of ZnO nanoparticles and transported a wide-field image through the fiber with a spatial resolution beyond the diffraction limit g

Our study demonstrated the potential role of M1 as a live vector for enhancing the feasibility of PTT in cancer treatment.

Dual-depth spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) enables high-resolution in vivo whole-eye imaging. Two orthogonally polarized beams from a source are focused simultaneously on two axial positions of the anterior segment and the retina. For the detector arm, a 1×2 ultrafast optical switch sequentially delivers two spectral interference signals to a single spectrometer, which extends the in-air axial depth range up to 9.44 mm. An off-pivot complex conjugate removal technique doubl