With the development of pixelated liquid crystal displays, a new paradigm has emerged in the field of optics. Essentially, these displays enable interfacing a computer program with light, and therefore allow a wide range of light beams to be created. In this thesis, I shall be using liquid crystal displays to create phase diffraction patterns and, in this case, the displays are more commonly referred to as Spatial Light Modulators (SLMs). One area where SLMs have shown particular promise is that of optical microscopy. Here, they have been used in two different applications, namely holographic optical tweezers and SLM microscopy; this thesis concerns both. The aim of the thesis is to explore and develop new techniques combining SLMs with microscopy. The first part of this thesis goes into results of the experiments I have carried out in holographic optical tweezers. Hydrodynamic interactions play an important role in many physical and biological processes. I present experimental evidence for the partial synchronisation of the stochastic oscillations of two spheres in a bistable optical trap. This experiment showed that, even in the absence of an external driving force, a degree of synchronisation still exists due to the Brownian motion alone. I then describe a new procedure to protect the optical trap from contamination in sensitive samples. Microrheology using optical tweezers requires lengthy position measurements in order to obtain the linear viscoelastic properties of fluids and this measurement is often compromised by freely diffusing material entering the trap. I then apply rotational Doppler velocimetry to a particle spinning in an optical tweezers. This is the first time that structured illumination has been used to determine rotation rate in the micro regime. The second part describes the development of an SLM microscope and a series of experiments I carried out with it. The set up of the microscope is described and images are characterised in terms of the point spread function. I also demonstrate the multimodal capabilities by diffracting three different images, each with a unique spatial frequency filter, onto a single camera chip. Next, I report the development of some new frequency filters, namely holographic stereo microscopy and three variations, including stereo with defocus which mimics human binocular vision where we have two eyes (views) of the world, each having its own lens. I used 3D particle tracking to investigate sedimentation in a confined microscope sample. This experiment brought together SLM microscopy and optical tweezers to create a new technique for particle sizing, or study surface effects. This thesis describes several new applications of SLMs in microscopy, with the common theme being that the SLM is placed in the Fourier plane of the sample. Both holographic optical tweezers and SLM microscopy have been expanded by the techniques I have developed. In future, this work will serve as foundation for the combination for 3D particle tracking and visualisation with SLM microscopy, whilst microrheology will benefit from the new approaches.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:622056 |
| Date | January 2014 |
| Creators | Lee, Michael Peter |
| Publisher | University of Glasgow |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Source | http://theses.gla.ac.uk/5552/ |
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