Coherence switching of a vertical-cavity semiconductor-laser for multimode biomedical imaging (Conference Presentation)

Hui Cao; Sebastian Knitter; Changgeng Liu; Brandon Redding; Mustafa Kezar Khokha M.D.; Michael Andrew Choma M.D.

doi:10.1117/12.2251513

24 April 2017 Coherence switching of a vertical-cavity semiconductor-laser for multimode biomedical imaging (Conference Presentation)

Hui Cao, Sebastian Knitter, Changgeng Liu, Brandon Redding, Mustafa Kezar Khokha M.D., Michael Andrew Choma M.D.

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 10075, Biophysics, Biology and Biophotonics II: the Crossroads; 1007502 (2017) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2251513
Event: SPIE BiOS, 2017, San Francisco, California, United States

Abstract

Speckle formation is a limiting factor when using coherent sources for imaging and sensing, but can provide useful information about the motion of an object. Illumination sources with tunable spatial coherence are therefore desirable as they can offer both speckled and speckle-free images. Efficient methods of coherence switching have been achieved with a solid-state degenerate laser, and here we demonstrate a semiconductor-based degenerate laser system that can be switched between a large number of mutually incoherent spatial modes and few-mode operation. Our system is designed around a semiconductor gain element, and overcomes barriers presented by previous low spatial coherence lasers. The gain medium is an electrically-pumped vertical external cavity surface emitting laser (VECSEL) with a large active area. The use of a degenerate external cavity enables either distributing the laser emission over a large (~1000) number of mutually incoherent spatial modes or concentrating emission to few modes by using a pinhole in the Fourier plane of the self-imaging cavity. To demonstrate the unique potential of spatial coherence switching for multimodal biomedical imaging, we use both low and high spatial coherence light generated by our VECSEL-based degenerate laser for imaging embryo heart function in Xenopus, an important animal model of heart disease. The low-coherence illumination is used for high-speed (100 frames per second) speckle-free imaging of dynamic heart structure, while the high-coherence emission is used for laser speckle contrast imaging of the blood flow.

Conference Presentation

Citation Download Citation

Hui Cao, Sebastian Knitter, Changgeng Liu, Brandon Redding, Mustafa Kezar Khokha M.D., and Michael Andrew Choma M.D. "Coherence switching of a vertical-cavity semiconductor-laser for multimode biomedical imaging (Conference Presentation)", Proc. SPIE 10075, Biophysics, Biology and Biophotonics II: the Crossroads, 1007502 (24 April 2017); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2251513

ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE

INSTITUTIONAL
Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.

SELECT YOUR INSTITUTION

PERSONAL
Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.

PERSONAL SIGN IN

No SPIE Account? Create one

PURCHASE THIS CONTENT

SUBSCRIBE TO DIGITAL LIBRARY

50 downloads per 1-year subscription

Members: $195

Non-members: $335 ADD TO CART

25 downloads per 1 - year subscription

Members: $145

Non-members: $250 ADD TO CART

PURCHASE SINGLE ARTICLE

Includes PDF, HTML & Video, when available

Members: $17.00

Non-members: $21.00 ADD TO CART

PROCEEDINGS
PRESENTATION

WATCH
PRESENTATION SAVE TO MY LIBRARY

GET CITATION

KEYWORDS

Semiconductor lasers

Semiconductors

Spatial coherence

Switching

Biomedical optics

Heart

Coherence (optics)

Show All Keywords

Keywords/Phrases

Search In:

Publication Years