2024 Vol. 5, No. 1

Editorial
Article
Multivariate relationships between microstructure evolution and strengthening mechanisms in laser powder bed fusion of Al-Mn-Sc alloy: towards improved fatigue performance
Huaping Tang, Chaofeng Gao, Shiheng Zhang, Xiaojing Xiong, Sheng Cao, et al.
Published. 2024, 5(1) : 5-20 doi: 10.37188/lam.2024.001
The effects of direct aging treatment (at 300 °C for 5 hours) on selective laser melted (SLMed) Al-4.5Mn-1.5Mg-0.9Sc-0.2Zr alloy were investigated in this work, with the microstructure, fatigue behaviors, and fracture characteristics examined to determine the primary cause of fatigue crack source. The results revealed that the microstructure of the investigated alloy comprised fine equiaxed and columnar grains. Upon aging treatment, a significant number of nano-scaled Al3(Sc, Zr) precipitates were dispersed within the grains, leading to a substantial increase in strengths. The yield strength improved from 431 MPa to 568 MPa, representing an increase of more than 32%, while the fatigue strength improved from 180 MPa to 220 MPa after aging treatment. Nevertheless, the fracture toughness decreased significantly from \begin{document}$ 25.1\; {\rm{MPa}}\cdot {\sqrt{\rm m}} $\end{document} to \begin{document}$ 12.3 \;{\rm{MPa}}\cdot \sqrt{\rm m} $\end{document}. The results of the fatigue fracture characteristics indicate that the Mn-rich phase and the formation of defects such as pores and poor powder fusion are the sources of fatigue cracking. Although direct aging treatment can significantly increase the yield strength, decrease the rate of fatigue crack propagation, and thus improve the fatigue performance, it deteriorates the fracture toughness, and thus shortens the fatigue life of the alloy as well.
Bessel-beam-based side-view measurement of seven-core fibre internal core distribution
Liuwei Zhan, Runze Zhu, Hongwei Tong, Haogong Feng, Kanghu Zhou, et al.
Published. 2024, 5(1) : 21-27 doi: 10.37188/lam.2024.002

Accurate knowledge of the internal core distribution of multicore fibres (MCFs) is essential, given their widespread application, including in fibre splicing, bundle fan-in/fan-out, mode coupling, writing gratings, and fibre drawing. However, the extensive use of MCFs is restricted by the limited methods available to precisely measure the fibre core distribution, as the measurement accuracy determines the performance of the product. In this study, a side-view and nondestructive scheme based on Bessel beam illumination was proposed for measuring the internal core distribution of a seven-core fibre. Bessel beams offer a large focal length in a scattering medium, and exhibit a unique pattern when propagating in an off-axis medium with a spatially varying refractive index. The results revealed that a long focal length and unique pattern influence the image contrast in the case of Bessel beams, which differs from a typical Gaussian beam. Further, high-precision measurement of a seven-core fibre core distribution based on a Bessel beam was demonstrated using a digital correlation method. A deep learning approach was used to improve the measurement precision to 0.2° with an accuracy of 96.8%. The proposed side-view Bessel-beam-based method has the potential to handle more complex MCFs and photonic crystal fibres.

A multi-photon (7 × 7)-focus 3D laser printer based on a 3D-printed diffractive optical element and a 3D-printed multi-lens array
Pascal Kiefer, Vincent Hahn, Sebastian Kalt, Qing Sun, Yolita M. Eggeler, et al.
Published. 2024, 4(1) : 28-41 doi: 10.37188/lam.2024.003

One of the challenges in the field of multi-photon 3D laser printing lies in further increasing the print speed in terms of voxels/s. Here, we present a setup based on a 7 × 7 focus array (rather than 3 × 3 in our previous work) and using a focus velocity of about 1 m/s (rather than 0.5 m/s in our previous work) at the diffraction limit (40×/NA1.4 microscope objective lens). Combined, this advance leads to a ten times increased print speed of about 108 voxels/s. We demonstrate polymer printing of a chiral metamaterial containing more than 1.7 × 1012 voxels as well as millions of printed microparticles for potential pharmaceutical applications. The critical high-quality micro-optical components of the setup, namely a diffractive optical element generating the 7 × 7 beamlets and a 7 × 7 lens array, are manufactured by using a commercial two-photon grayscale 3D laser printer.

Large dynamic range Shack-Hartmann wavefront sensor based on adaptive spot matching
Jiamiao Yang, Jichong Zhou, Lirong Qiu, Rongjun Shao, Linxian Liu, et al.
Published. 2024, 4(1) : 42-51 doi: 10.37188/lam.2024.007

The Shack-Hartmann wavefront sensor (SHWS) is widely used for high-speed, precise, and stable wavefront measurements. However, conventional SHWSs encounter a limitation in that the focused spot from each microlens is restricted to a single microlens, leading to a limited dynamic range. Herein, we propose an adaptive spot matching (ASM)-based SHWS to extend the dynamic range. This approach involves seeking an incident wavefront that best matches the detected spot distribution by employing a Hausdorff-distance-based nearest-distance matching strategy. The ASM-SHWS enables comprehensive spot matching across the entire imaging plane without requiring initial spot correspondences. Furthermore, due to its global matching capability, ASM-SHWS can maintain its capacity even if a portion of the spots are missing. Experiments showed that the ASM-SHWS could measure a high-curvature spherical wavefront with a local slope of 204.97 mrad, despite a 12.5% absence of spots. This value exceeds that of the conventional SHWS by a factor of 14.81.

Low bend loss, high index, composite morphology ultra-fast laser written waveguides for photonic integrated circuits
Andrew Ross-Adams, Toney Teddy Fernandez, Michael Withford, Simon Gross
Published. 2024, 5(1) : 52-61 doi: 10.37188/lam.2024.009

We demonstrate a novel, composite laser written 3D waveguide, fabricated in boro-aluminosilicate glass, with a refractive index contrast of 1.12 × 10−2. The waveguide is fabricated using a multi-pass approach which leverages the respective refractive index modification mechanisms of both the thermal and athermal inscription regimes. We present the study and optimisation of inscription parameters for maximising positive refractive index change and ultimately demonstrate a dramatic advancement on the state of the art of bend losses in laser-written waveguides. The 1.0 dB cm−1 bend loss cut-off radius is reduced from 10 mm to 4 mm, at a propagation wavelength of 1550 nm.

Adaptive multiscale microscope with fast zooming, extended working distance, and large field of view
Yi Zheng, Xin Wang, Zhao Jiang, Jinbo Xu, Rongying Yuan, et al.
Published. 2024, 5(1) : 62-74 doi: 10.37188/lam.2024.008

The field-of-view (FOV), depth of field, and resolution of conventional microscopes are constrained by each other; therefore, a zoom function is required. Traditional zoom methods lose real-time performance and have limited information throughput, severely limiting their application, especially in three-dimensional dynamic imaging and large-amount or large-size sample scanning. Here, an adaptive multiscale (AMS) imaging mechanism combining the benefits of liquid lenses and multiscale imaging techniques is proposed to realize the functions of fast zooming, wide working distance (WD) range and large FOV on a self-developed AMS microscope. The design principles were revealed. Moreover, a nonuniform-distortion-correction algorithm and a composite patching algorithm were designed to improve image quality. The continuous tunable magnification range of the AMS microscope is from 9× to 18×, with the corresponding FOV diameters and resolution ranging from 2.31 to 0.98 mm and from 161 to 287 line-pairs/mm, respectively. The extended WD range is 0.8 mm and the zoom response time is 38 ms. Experiments demonstrated the advantages of the proposed microscope in pathological sample scanning, thick-sample imaging, microfluidic process monitoring, and the observation of living microorganisms. The proposed microscope is the first step towards zoom multiscale imaging technology and is expected to be applied in life sciences, medical diagnosis, and industrial detection.

Efficient synthesis of vitamin D3 in a 3D ultraviolet photochemical microreactor fabricated using an ultrafast laser
Aodong Zhang, Jian Xu, Lingling Xia, Ming Hu, Yunpeng Song, et al.
Published. 2024, 5(1) : 75-83 doi: 10.37188/lam.2024.010

Large-scale, high-precision, and high-transparency microchannels hold great potential for developing high-performance continuous-flow photochemical reactions. We demonstrated ultrafast laser-enabled fabrication of three-dimensional microchannel reactors in ultraviolet (UV) grade fused silica which exhibit high transparency under the illumination of UV light sources of wavelengths well below 300 nm with excellent mixing efficiency. With the fabricated glass microchannel reactors, we demonstrated continuous-flow photochemical synthesis of vitamin D3 with UV LED array light sources.

3D printed multicore fiber-tip discriminative sensor for magnetic field and temperature measurements
Cong Xiong, Caoyuan Wang, Ruowei Yu, Wei Ji, Yu Qin, et al.
Published. 2024, 5(1) : 84-94 doi: 10.37188/lam.2024.018

Miniaturized fiber-optic magnetic field sensors have attracted considerable interest owing to their superiorities in anti-electromagnetic interference and compactness. However, the intrinsic thermodynamic properties of the material make temperature cross-sensitivity a challenging problem in terms of sensing accuracy and reliability. In this study, an ultracompact multicore fiber (MCF) tip sensor was designed to discriminatively measure the magnetic field and temperature, which was subsequently evaluated experimentally. The novel 3D printed sensing component consists of a bowl-shaped microcantilever and a polymer microfluid-infiltrated microcavity on the end-facet of an MCF, acting as two miniaturized Fabry-Perot interferometers. The magnetic sensitivity of the microcantilever was implemented by incorporating an iron micro ball into the microcantilever, and the microfluid-infiltrated microcavity enhanced the capability of highly sensitive temperature sensing. Using this tiny fiber-facet device in the two channels of an MCF allows discriminative measurements of the magnetic field and temperature by determining the sensitivity coefficient matrix of two parameters. The device exhibited a high magnetic field intensity sensitivity, approximately 1805.6 pm/mT with a fast response time of ~ 213 ms and a high temperature sensitivity of 160.3 pm/℃. Moreover, the sensor had a low condition number of 11.28, indicating high reliability in two-parameter measurements. The proposed 3D printed MCF-tip probes, which detect multiple signals through multiple channels within a single fiber, can provide an ultracompact, sensitive, and reliable scheme for discriminative measurements. The bowl-shaped microcantilever also provides a useful platform for incorporating microstructures with functional materials, extending multi-parameter sensing scenarios and promoting the application of MCFs.

Review
Meta-device: advanced manufacturing
Borui Leng, Yao Zhang, Din Ping Tsai, Shumin Xiao
Published. 2024, 5(1) : 117-132 doi: 10.37188/lam.2024.005
Metasurfaces are one of the most promising devices to break through the limitations of bulky optical components. By offering a new method of light manipulation based on the light-matter interaction in subwavelength nanostructures, metasurfaces enable the efficient manipulation of the amplitude, phase, polarization, and frequency of light and derive a series of possibilities for important applications. However, one key challenge for the realization of applications for meta-devices is how to fabricate large-scale, uniform nanostructures with high resolution. In this review, we review the state-of-the-art nanofabrication techniques compatible with the manufacture of meta-devices. Maskless lithography, masked lithography, and other nanofabrication techniques are highlighted in detail. We also delve into the constraints and limitations of the current fabrication methods while providing some insights on solutions to overcome these challenges for advanced nanophotonic applications.
Direct laser writing on halide perovskites: from mechanisms to applications
Yuhang Sheng, Xiaoming Wen, Baohua Jia, Zhixing Gan
Published. 2024, 4(1) : 95-116 doi: 10.37188/lam.2024.004

Metal halide perovskites have emerged as game-changing semiconductor materials in optoelectronics. As an efficient micro-/nano-manufacturing technology, direct laser writing (DLW) has been extensively used to fabricate patterns, micro/nanostructures, and pixel arrays on perovskites to promote their optoelectronic applications. Owing to the unique ionic properties and soft lattices of perovskites, DLW can introduce rich light–matter interactions, including laser ablation, crystallisation, ion migration, phase segregation, photoreaction, and other transitions, which enable diverse functionalities in addition to the intrinsic properties of perovskites. Based on their patterned structures, perovskites have numerous applications in displays, optical information encryption, solar cells, light-emitting diodes, lasers, photodetectors, and planar lenses, which are comprehensively discussed in this review. Finally, we discuss the challenges that must be addressed for the future development of this fascinating field.

Microsphere-assisted quantitative phase microscopy: a review
Vahid Abbasian, Tobias Pahl, Lucie Hüser, Sylvain Lecler, Paul Montgomery, et al.
Published. 2024, 5(1) : 133-152 doi: 10.37188/lam.2024.006

Light microscopes are the most widely used devices in life and material sciences that allow the study of the interaction of light with matter at a resolution better than that of the naked eye. Conventional microscopes translate the spatial differences in the intensity of the reflected or transmitted light from an object to pixel brightness differences in the digital image. However, a phase microscope converts the spatial differences in the phase of the light from or through an object to differences in pixel brightness. Interference microscopy, a phase-based approach, has found application in various disciplines. While interferometry has brought nanometric axial resolution, the lateral resolution in quantitative phase microscopy (QPM) has still remained limited by diffraction, similar to other traditional microscopy systems. Enhancing the resolution has been the subject of intense investigation since the invention of the microscope in the 17th century. During the past decade, microsphere-assisted microscopy (MAM) has emerged as a simple and effective approach to enhance the resolution in light microscopy. MAM can be integrated with QPM for 3D label-free imaging with enhanced resolution. Here, we review the integration of microspheres with coherence scanning interference and digital holographic microscopies, discussing the associated open questions, challenges, and opportunities.