Origin and nature of measurement bias in catadioptric parallel goniophotometers.

We briefly categorize and compare parallel goniophotometers, which are instruments capable of simultaneously measuring the far-field distribution of light scattered by a surface or emitted by a source over a large solid angle. Little is known about the accuracy and reliability of an appealing category, the catadioptric parallel goniophotometers (CPGs), which exploit a curved reflector and a lens system. We analyzed the working principle common to all the different design configurations of a CPG and established the specifications implicitly imposed on the lens system.

Multiple scattering in optical coherence tomography. II. Experimental and theoretical investigation of cross talk in wide-field optical coherence tomography.

We present a comprehensive study of multiple-scattering effects in wide-field optical coherence tomography (OCT) realized with spatially coherent illumination. Imaging a sample made of a cleaved mirror embedded in an aqueous suspension of microspheres revealed that, despite temporal coherence gating, multiple scattering can induce significant coherent optical cross talk. The latter is a serious limitation to the method, since it prevents shot-noise-limited detection and diffraction-limited imaging in scattering samples.

Multiple scattering in optical coherence tomography. I. Investigation and modeling.

We present a new model of optical coherence tomography (OCT) taking into account multiple scattering. A theoretical analysis and experimental investigation reveals that in OCT, despite multiple scattering, the field backscattered from the sample is generally spatially coherent and that the resulting interference signal with the reference field is stationary relative to measurement time. On the basis of this result, we model an OCT signal as a sum of spatially coherent fields with random-phase arguments--constant during measurement time--caused by multiple scattering.

Speckle statistics in optical coherence tomography.

The two previously reported calculations of the amplitude distribution of speckles in optical coherence tomography, each based on a different mathematical formulation, yield different results. We show that a modification of an initial assumption in one of the formulations leads to equivalent results.

Application of magnetohydrodynamic actuation to continuous flow chemistry.

Continuous flow microreactors with an annular microchannel for cyclical chemical reactions were fabricated by either bulk micromachining in silicon or by rapid prototyping using EPON SU-8. Fluid propulsion in these unusual microchannels was achieved using AC magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) actuation. This integrated micropumping mechanism obviates the use of moving parts by acting locally on the electrolyte, exploiting its inherent conductive nature.

Video-rate three-dimensional optical coherence tomography.

Most current optical coherence tomography systems provide two-dimensional cross-sectional or en face images. Successive adjacent images have to be acquired to reconstruct three-dimensional objects, which can be time consuming. Here we demonstrate three-dimensional optical coherence tomography (3D OCT) at video rate.