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Lead halide perovskites are widely employed in photonic and light-emitting devices because of their rich optoelectronic properties and simplicity of fabrication based on low-cost flexible technologies. Perovskite bulk crystals and films demonstrate outstanding nonlinear characteristics with large optical nonlinearities exceeding the nonlinear susceptibilities of conventional semiconductor materials by several orders of magnitude. One of the promising approaches for further enhancement of the nonlinear response of perovskites as dielectric photonic materials is to employ optical resonances of structured surfaces, or metasurfaces. Nonlocal metasurfaces supporting lattice modes over many unit cells provide a new approach to both spatial and spectral control of light fields, and they may deliver improved characteristics of nonlinear effects for a wide range of applications associated with broadband excitation of multiple high-quality resonances. Here we report on the first observation of enhanced fifth harmonic generation in MAPbBr3 halide perovskite nonlocal metasurfaces driven by high-quality resonances at the generated harmonic wavelength in the visible frequency range. The demonstrated enhancement is about 2 orders of magnitude compared to an unpatterned MAPbBr3 film of the same thickness, and is broadband by virtue of the excitation of multiple resonant modes in the highly nonlocal regime. Our work suggests a novel approach for achieving parametric processes in resonant dielectric structures with high efficiency.

Photoacoustic imaging is an imaging technology which combines the advantages of high-resolution optical imaging and deep detection depth of acoustic imaging. Photoacoustic imaging combined with hysteroscopy may be a new diagnostic technique for endometrial cancer. However, the energy loss after pulsed laser passing through the hysteroscope is very large. Therefore, the energy of pulsed laser after hysteroscopy based on photoacoustic imaging is worth further discussion. A coupling Program of pulsed laser and hysteroscope based on the optical path of pulsed laser and hysteroscope was designed in this paper. The Program was optimized by ZEMAX simulation, and then the optimal effect of pulsed laser observation through hysteroscopy was verified by phantom experiment. The results show that the pulsed laser can obtain better photoacoustic signals after passing through our coupling module. This method is expected to be applied to the detection of endometrial diseases in clinic.

In biology, release of Ca²⁺ ions in the cytosol is essential to trigger or control many cell functions. Calcium signaling acutely depends on lipid membrane permeability to Ca²⁺. For proper understanding of membrane permeability to Ca²⁺, both membrane hydration and the structure of the hydrophobic core must be taken into account. Here, we vary the hydrophobic core of bilayer membranes and observe different types of behavior in high-throughput wide-field second harmonic imaging. Ca²⁺ translocation is observed through mono-unsaturated (DOPC:DOPA) membranes, reduced upon the addition of cholesterol, and completely inhibited for branched (DPhPC:DPhPA) and poly-unsaturated (SLPC:SLPA) lipid membranes. We propose, using molecular dynamics simulations, that ion transport occurs through ion-induced transient pores, which requires nonequilibrium membrane restructuring. This results in different rates at different locations and suggests that the hydrophobic structure of lipids plays a much more sophisticated regulating role than previously thought.

A computational and experimental study is conducted to examine how directivity associated with a finite aperture sensor affects photoacoustic tomography (PAT) image reconstruction. Acoustic signals for the simulation work were computed using a discrete particle approach from three numerical phantoms including a vasculature. The theoretical framework and a Monte Carlo approach for construction of a tissue configuration are discussed in detail. While simulating forward data, the directivity of the sensor was taken into account. The image reconstruction was accomplished using system matrix based methods like l₂ norm Tikhonov regularization, l₁ norm regularization and total variation (TV) minimization. Accordingly, two different system matrices were constructed- (i) assuming transducer as a point detector (PD) and (ii) retaining properties of a finite detector with directivity (FDWD). Image reconstruction was also performed utilizing experimentally measured PA signals. Both the computational and experimental results demonstrate that blur-free PAT imaging can be achieved with the FDWD method. Additionally, TV minimization provides marginally better image reconstruction compared to the other schemes.

Near-infrared photoacoustic imaging (NIR-PAI) combines the advantages of optical and ultrasound imaging to provide anatomical and functional information of tissues with high resolution. Although NIR-PAI is promising, its widespread use is hindered by the limited availability of NIR contrast agents. J-aggregates (JA) made of indocyanine green dye (ICG) represents an attractive class of biocompatible contrast agents for PAI. Here, we present a facile synthesis method that combines ICG and ICG-azide dyes for producing contrast agents with tunable size down to 230 nm and direct functionalization with targeting moieties. The ICG-JA platform has a detectable PA signal in vitro that is two times stronger than whole blood and high photostability. The targeting ability of ICG-JA was measured in vitro using HeLa cells. The ICG-JA platform was then injected into mice and in vivo NIR-PAI showed enhanced visualization of liver and spleen for 90 min post-injection with a contrast-to-noise ratio of 2.42.

High-index dielectric subwavelength structures and metasurfaces are capable of enhancing light-matter interaction by orders of magnitude via geometry-dependent optical resonances. This enhancement, however, comes with a fundamental limitation of a narrow spectral range of operation in the vicinity of one or few resonant frequencies. Here we tackle this limitation and introduce an innovative and practical approach to achieve spectrally tunable enhancement of light-matter interaction with resonant metasurfaces. We design and fabricate {\it resonance-gradient metasurfaces} with varying geometrical parameters that translate into resonant frequencies dependence on one of the coordinates of the metasurface. The metasurfaces are composed of bone-like nanoresonators which are made of germanium, and they support high-Q optical resonances in the mid-IR spectral range. We apply this general concept to observe the resonant enhancement of the 3rd and 5th harmonics generated from the gradient metasurfaces being used in conjunction with a tunable excitation laser to provide a wide spectral coverage of resonantly-enhanced tunable generation of multiple optical harmonics.

Exogenous contrast agents in photoacoustic imaging help improve spatial resolution and penetration depth and enable targeted molecular imaging. To screen efficient photoacoustic signaling materials as contrast agents, we propose a light absorption-weighted figure of merit (FOM) that can be calculated using material data from the literature and numerically simulated light absorption cross-sections. The calculated light absorption-weighted FOM shows that a Ti nanodisc has a photoacoustic conversion performance similar to that of an Au nanodisc and better than that of a Pt nanodisc. The photoacoustic imaging results of Ti, Au, and Pt nanodiscs, which are physically synthesized with identical shapes and dimensions, experimentally demonstrated that the Ti nanodisc could be a highly efficient contrast agent.

A new versatile patent-pending technology enabling new operation regimes and a unique set of features in the industrialgrade 30 W-level average power femtosecond hybrid laser is introduced in this work. The developed technology, based on the use of an all-in-fiber active fiber loop (AFL), enabled to form GHz bursts of ultrashort laser pulses with any desired pulse repetition rate and any number of pulses in a burst with identical intra-burst pulse separation. Furthermore, the AFL allowed to tune pulse duration from a few hundred femtoseconds to picoseconds and even up to the nanosecond range.

Abstract Significant effort focused on developing photoactivatable theranostics for localized image guided therapy of cancer by thermal ablation. In this context iron complexes were recently identified as photoactivatable theranostic agents with adequate biocompatibility and body clearance. Herein, a series of FeII complexes bearing polypyridine or N-heterocyclic carbenes is reported that rely on rational complex engineering to red-shift their MLCT based excited-state deactivation via a straightforward approach. The non-radiative decay of their MLCT upon irradiation is exploited for theranostic purposes by combining both tracking in photoacoustic imaging (PA) and photothermal therapy (PTT). The influence of structural modifications introduced herein on the solubility and stability of the complexes in biorelevant aqueous media is discussed. The relationship between complexes’ design, production of contrast in photoacoustic and photothermal efficiency are explored to develop tailored PA/PTT theranostic agents.

Two-dimensional matrix transducer arrays are the most appropriate imaging probes for acquiring dual-modal 3D photoacoustic (PA)/ultrasound (US) images. However, they have small footprints which limit the field-of-view (FOV) to less than 10 mm × 10 mm and degrade the spatial resolution. In this study, we demonstrate a dual-modal PA and US imaging system (using a 2D matrix transducer array and a motorized 2D scanning system) to enlarge the FOV of volumetric images. Multiple PA volumes were merged to form a wide-field image of approximately 45 mm × 45 mm. In vivo imaging was demonstrated using rat sentinel lymph nodes (SLNs) and bladders stained with methylene blue. We believe that this volumetric PA/US imaging technique with a 2D matrix transducer array can be a useful tool for narrow-field real-time monitoring and wide-field imaging of various preclinical and clinical studies.