CAPES; CNPq / Neste trabalho, os fundamentos da modulação acusto-óptica em redes de difração são apresentados. Através de uma análise detalhada dos modos de excitação mecânicos, mostrou-se que dois tipos predominantes de excitação acústica podem ser encontrados na fibra óptica dependendo da frequência acústica aplicada. Através da caracterização do modulador acusto-óptico, foi possível desenvolver novas aplicações, dentre as quais pode-se citar um dispositivo de inserção e retirada de canais em links ópticos cuja velocidade de chaveamento é uma das maiores apresentadas até agora na literatura, um compensador de dispersão sintonizável de banda estreita, um filtro óptico baseado na modulação acusto-óptica de uma rede de Bragg com uma diferença de fase, um novo método para controlar a escrita de redes de Bragg durante o processo de gravação utilizando-se da técnica da máscara de fase e um sensor de viscosidade, cuja aplicação pode ser considerada a mais promissora. / In this work, the fundamentals of the acousto-optic modulation in diffraction gratings are presented. By means of a detailed analysis of the mechanical excitation modes applied to the modulator set, it was noticed that two predominant modes of acoustic excitation can be found in the optical fiber depending on the applied acoustic frequency. Through this characterization, it was possible to develop new applications, such as a fast acousto-optic add-drop multiplexing for optical channels, which produces one of the fastest switching device presented in the literature, a narrow tunable single channel dispersion compensator, a tunable optical filter based on the acousto-optic modulation of a phase-shifted fiber Bragg grating, a new method to control the spectrum of Bragg gratings during the writing process and a viscosity sensor, whose application can be considered the most promising.

Cellular internalization of large therapeutic agents such as proteins or nucleic acids is a challenging task because of the presence of the plasma membrane. One strategy to facilitate intracellular drug uptake is to induce transient pores in the cell membrane through physical delivery strategies. Physical approaches are attractive as they offer more generic applicability compared with viral or biochemical counterparts. Pulsed laser light can induce the endothermic carbon-steam reaction in carbon-nanoparticle suspensions to produce explosive photoacoustic effects in the surrounding medium. In this study, for the first time, these photoacoustic forces were used to transiently permeabilize the cell membrane to deliver macromolecules into cells. Intracellular delivery using this method was demonstrated in multiple cell types for uptake of small molecules, proteins and DNA. At optimized conditions, uptake was seen in up to 50% of cells with nearly 100% viability and in 90% of cells with ≥90% viability, which compared favorably with other physical methods of drug delivery. Cellular bioeffects were shown to be a consequence of laser-carbon interaction and correlated with properties of the carbon and laser, such as carbon concentration and size, laser pulse duration, wavelength, intensity and exposure time. Similar results were observed using two different lasers, a femtosecond Ti: Sapphire laser and a nanosecond Nd: YAG laser. Uptake was also shown in murine skeletal muscles in vivo with up to 40% efficiency compared to non-irradiated controls. This synergistic use of nanotechnology with advanced laser technology could provide an alternative to viral and chemical-based drug and gene delivery.