TecnOPTO - Optical and Optoelectronic Technologies
| Responsible | Ignacio Moreno and María del Mar Sánchez |
| Website | http://tecnopto.edu.umh.es/ |
| @tecnoptoUMH |
RESEARCH SUMMARY
Light-based technologies find applications in a myriad of areas. We develop research projects in Physical Optics and Optolectronics for light shaping applications and advanced optical bioimaging. Our main research lines include programmable and adaptive optics using spatial light modulators, diffractive optics and polarization optics. By means of these optical techniques we achieve full spatial control of the amplitude, phase and polarization of light. Such structured light beams find applications in a myriad of areas, including laser materials processing, particle trapping or manipulation, and microscopy.
RESEARCH LINES
Line 1: Spatial light modulators for programmable and adaptive optics
We are experts in liquid-crystal optoelectronic devices to build programmable and adaptive optical elements. We develop models and highly accurate characterization techniques for determining their optical modulation, thus allowing their optimal operation. Our applications of high-resolution liquid-crystal spatial light modulators (SLM) encompasses efficient diffractive optical elements such as polarization diffraction gratings, programmable arrays of lenses, optical vortices and vector beams. Microstructured liquid-crystal retarders, such as q-plates, are also spectrally characterized and employed to build efficient and compact optical setups for polarization conversion.
At the top, pictures of two high-resolution SLMs from Thorlabs and from Holoeye available at TecnOPTO Lab. At the bottom, photograph of a tunable liquid-crystal q-plate placed between crossed and parallel polarizers (left) and interferograms for determining the deformation of a LCOS display (right).
Line 2: Structured light, singular optics and vector beams
We are experts in diffractive and polarization optics for the generation, manipulation and detection of structured light beams, which are laser beams with specially designed shapes in the amplitude, phase or state of polarization. For that purpose, we design digital diffractive optical elements (DOE) and implement them on SLM-based setups or as geometrical-phase elements. Relevant designs include diffraction gratings with optimal efficiency and control of the state of polarization on the diffraction orders, arrays of optical vortices with customized topological charge, and diffractive axicons that yield Bessel beams where the polarization state changes upon the propagation axis.
Examples of structured laser beams featuring different scalar and vector modes.
Line 3: Advanced imaging, polarimetric and spectral imaging
Non-conventional imaging techniques are prompting advances in optical imaging with applications from quality control in industry to biomedical. We apply advanced optical imaging techniques, including near-infrared (NIR) imaging, hyperspectral imaging, birefringence imaging and polarimetric imaging, both at macroscopic level but also in optical microscopes. These techniques are applied to the analysis of different kind of samples, including biological tissues.
NIR camera available at TecnOPTO Lab, and images of different samples.
D. Marco, G. López-Morales, M. M. Sánchez-López, A. Lizana, I. Moreno and J. Campos
Customized depolarization spatial patterns with dynamic retardance functions
Scientific Reports 11, 9415 (2021). PDF
P. García-Martínez, I. Moreno, M. M. Sánchez-López, J. Gomis, P. Martínez and A. Cofré
Programmable supercontinuum laser spectrum generator based on a liquid-crystal on silicon spatial light modulator
Frontiers in Physics 9, 651147 (2021). PDF
D. Marco, A. Vargas, M. M. Sánchez-López and I. Moreno
Measuring the spatial deformation of a liquid-crystal on silicon display with a self-interference effect
Optics Letters 45 (16), 4480-4483 (2020). Post-print
P. García-Martínez, D. Marco, J. L. Martínez-Fuentes, M. M. Sánchez-López, I. Moreno
Efficient on-axis SLM engineering of optical vector modes
Optics & Lasers in Engineering 125, 105859 (2020). Post-print
M. M. Sánchez-López, I. Abella, D. Puerto-García, J. A. Davis, I. Moreno
Spectral performance of a zero-order liquid-crystal polymer commercial q-plate for the generation of vector beams at different wavelengths
Optics & Laser Technology 106, 168–176 (2018). Post-print
A. Messaadi, M. M. Sánchez-López, A. Vargas, P. García-Martínez, I. Moreno
Achromatic linear retarder with tunable retardance
Optics Letters 43(14), 3277-3280 (2018). Post-print
I. Moreno, J. A. Davis, K. Badham, M. M. Sánchez-López, J. E. Holland, D. M. Cottrell
Vector beam polarization state spectrum analyzer
Scientific Reports 7, 2216 (2017).
A. Van Eeckhout, A. Lizana, E. Garcia-Caurel, J. J. Gil, A. Sansa, C. Rodríguez, I. Estévez, E. González, J. C. Escalera, I. Moreno, J. Campos
Polarimetric imaging of biological tissues based on the indices of polarimetric purity
Journal of Biophotonics 10(12), e201700189 (2017).
A. Lizana, A. Van Eeckhout, K. Adamczyk, C. Rodríguez, J.C. Escalera, E. Garcia-Caurel, I. Moreno, J. Campos
Polarization gating based on Mueller matrices
Journal of Biomedical Optics 22(5), 056004 (2017).
J. A. Davis, I. Moreno K. Badham, M. M. Sánchez-López, D. M. Cottrell
Nondiffracting vector beams where the charge and the polarization state vary with propagation distance
Optics Letters 41(10), 2270-2273 (2016).
Devices and systems of structured light for polarimetry and spectral control (PID2021-126509OB-C22). Funding agency: Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación. Proyectos de Generación de Conocimiento. Duration: 2022-2025.
IP1: Ignacio Moreno Soriano IP2: Pascuala García-Martínez
Structured Light: fundamentals, devices and applications (CIAICO/2021/276). Funding agency: Conselleria de Innovación, Ciencia y Sociedad Digital, GVA. AICO program for Consolidated Groups of the Comunitat Valenciana. Duration: 2022-2024.
PI1: Ignacio Moreno Soriano PI2: Mª del Mar Sánchez López
Design and fabrication of geometric phase elements for applications in optical polarimetry (GRISOLIAP/2020/004). Funding agency: Generalitat Valenciana, Santiago Grisolía Program. Duration: 2020-2023.
PI: Ignacio Moreno Soriano
Development of vectorial and polarimetric optical instrumentation (PROMETEO-2017-154). Funding agency: Conselleria d’Educació, Investigació, Cultura i Esport, Generalitat Valenciana, Spain. PROMETEO program for Groups of Excellency in Comunitat Valenciana. Duration: 2017-2021.
PI: María del Mar Sánchez López
Polarimetric structured light systems based on geometric phase and spatial light modulators (RTI2018-097107-B-C33). Funding agency: Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities, Spain. Duration: 2019-2021.
PI1: Ignacio Moreno Soriano PI2: Mª del Mar Sánchez López
The science and the technology of light – Essential tools for the 21st century, talk (in Spanish) by Ignacio Moreno at “Jornada de la Luz”, organized by COSCE – Confederación de Sociedades Científicas de España, the 6th of June, 2019 (the presentation starts at minute 9 in the video). https://youtu.be/f36MiHWe0oo
Recent PhD dissertations
David Marco Castillo (2021). Design and characterization of spatial light modulator optical systems and geometrical phase elements for the generation of structured light.
Abdelghafour Gherici Messaadi (2021). Retardadores ópticos en un rango espectral extendido: caracterización y filtros birrefringentes.
Aaron Cofré Henríquez (2018). Advanced diffractive systems for the generation of optical vortices and beams with structured polarization.