Publications by authors named "Zhi-Han Zhu"

Article Synopsis
  • Astigmatic unitary transformations enable the smooth transition between various states of paraxial Gaussian beams, specifically Hermite-Laguerre-Gaussian (HLG) modes, on a modal sphere.
  • The research explores how complex structured Gaussian beams, formed from different HLG modal spheres, evolve through astigmatic transformation, leading to unique pattern changes similar to the Talbot effect.
  • Using Ince-Gaussian modes for demonstration, the study outlines a new theoretical framework for converting beam structures, potentially leading to innovative applications in the field of structured light.
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Article Synopsis
  • The text discusses the importance of manipulating light's properties for photonics, particularly using nonlinear wavefront shaping to create beams with diverse characteristics.
  • It introduces a novel concept of nonlinear geometric phase in ferroelectric nematic fluids, which enables unique optical effects like second-harmonic optical vortices with spin-locking.
  • Additionally, the study highlights the ability to dynamically adjust these light properties through temperature, electric fields, and mechanical forces, suggesting new possibilities for applications in areas like quantum computing and optical communications.
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Orbital angular momentum (OAM) conservation plays an important role in shaping and controlling structured light with nonlinear optics. The OAM of a beam originating from three-wave mixing should be the sum or difference of the other two inputs because no light-matter OAM exchange occurs in parametric nonlinear interactions. Here, we report anomalous OAM transfer in parametric upconversion, in which a Hermite-Gauss mode signal interacts with a specially engineered pump capable of astigmatic transformation, resulting in Laguerre-Gaussian mode sum-frequency generation (SFG).

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Our previous study demonstrated the potential therapeutic role of human neural stem cell-derived exosomes (hNSC-Exo) in ischemic stroke. Here, we loaded brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) into exosomes derived from NSCs to construct engineered exosomes (BDNF-hNSC-Exo) and compared their effects with those of hNSC-Exo on ischemic stroke both in vitro and in vivo. In a model of HO-induced oxidative stress in NSCs, BDNF-hNSC-Exo markedly enhanced cell survival.

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The Ince-Gaussian (IG) mode, a recently discovered type of structured Gaussian beam, corresponds to eigenfunctions of the paraxial wave equation in elliptical coordinates. This propagation-invariant mode is of significance in various domains, in particular, its nonlinear transformation; however, there have been few relevant studies to date. In this Letter, we report the parametric upconversion of IG modes and associated full-field selection rule for the first time, to the best of our knowledge.

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It is well known that when a laser is reflected from a rough surface or transmitted through a diffusive medium, a speckle pattern will be formed at a given observation plane. An important parameter of speckle is its size, which for the case of homogeneous illumination, well-known relations for its computation have been derived. This is not the case for structured light beams of non-homogeneous intensity and phase distribution.

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Article Synopsis
  • Brain ischemic stroke is a major cause of death and disability, and there aren't great treatments for it right now.
  • Scientists think that using neural stem cells (NSCs) could help because they can turn into different types of nerve cells and help repair damage.
  • The review talks about improving NSC treatment, the problems with using NSCs in clinics, and a new idea of using NSC-derived exosomes for therapy, which might be a safer option.
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Stokes polarimetry (SP) is a powerful technique that enables spatial reconstruction of the state of polarization (SoP) of a light beam using only intensity measurements. A given SoP is reconstructed from a set of four Stokes parameters, which are computed through four intensity measurements. Since all intensities must be performed on the same beam, it is common to record each intensity individually, one after the other, limiting its performance to light beams with static SoP.

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Article Synopsis
  • Laser remote sensing is a cool tool that helps measure how fast things are moving!
  • Most methods only measure speed in one direction, but this new technique can measure speed in three dimensions!
  • The researchers tested their new method with an experiment to show that it works!
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Purpose: Hormone-dependent breast cancer is the most common form of breast cancer, and inhibiting 17β-HSD1 can play an attractive role in decreasing estrogen and cancer cell proliferation. However, the majority of existing inhibitors have been developed from estrogens and inevitably possess residual estrogenicity. siRNA knockdown provides a highly specific way to block a targeted enzyme, being especially useful to avoid estrogenicity.

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Cholesteric liquid crystal (CLC) chiral superstructures exhibit unique features; that is, polychromatic and spin-determined phase modulation. Here, a concept for digitalized chiral superstructures is proposed, which further enables the arbitrary manipulation of reflective geometric phase and may significantly upgrade existing optical apparatus. By encoding a specifically designed binary pattern, an innovative CLC optical vortex (OV) processor is demonstrated.

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Article Synopsis
  • - The question of whether quantum states are real remains unresolved in quantum mechanics, with past experiments suggesting a rejection of their realism.
  • - A new twisted double-slit experiment reveals that photons have a more tangible existence during their flight than previously understood, showing discrepancies between measurement states and propagation states.
  • - The findings suggest that wavefunctions represent the actual existence and evolution of quantum particles, not just mathematical tools for predicting outcomes, thereby clarifying misconceptions about their role.
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Stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS), a fundamental nonlinear interaction between light and acoustic waves occurring in any transparency material, has been broadly studied for several decades and gained rapid progress in integrated photonics recently. However, the SBS noise arising from the unwanted coupling between photons and spontaneous non-coherent phonons in media is inevitable. Here, we propose and experimentally demonstrate this obstacle can be overcome via a method called orbital angular momentum mode division filtering.

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