We present an optimization of the dynamics of integrated optical switches based on thermal phase shifters. These devices have been fabricated in the volume of glass substrates by femtosecond laser micromachining and are constituted by an integrated Mach–Zehnder interferometer and a superficial heater. Simulations, surface micromachining and innovative layouts allowed us to improve the temporal response of the optical switches down to a few milliseconds. In addition, taking advantage of an electrical pulse shaping approach where an optimized voltage signal is applied to the heater, we proved a switching time as low as 78 µs, about two orders of magnitude shorter with respect to the current state of the art of thermally-actuated optical switches in glass.

Structured Illumination Microscopy (SIM) is a key technology for high resolution and super-resolution imaging of biological cells and molecules. The spread of portable and easy-to-align SIM systems requires the development of novel methods to generate a light pattern and to shift it across the field of view of the microscope. Here we show a miniaturized chip that incorporates optical waveguides, splitters, and phase shifters, to generate a 2D structured illumination pattern suitable for SIM microscopy. The chip creates three point-sources, coherent and controlled in phase, without the need for further alignment. Placed in the pupil of a microscope’s objective, the three sources generate a hexagonal illumination pattern on the sample, which is spatially translated thanks to thermal phase shifters. We validate and use the chip, upgrading a commercial inverted fluorescence microscope to a SIM setup and we image biological sample slides, extending the resolution of the microscope.

No abstract

Structured Illumination Microscopy (SIM) is a key technology for high resolution and super-resolution imaging of biological cells and molecules. The spread of portable and easy-to-align SIM systems requires the development of novel methods to generate a light pattern and to shift it across the field of view of the microscope. Here we show a miniaturized chip that incorporates optical waveguides, splitters, and phase shifters, to generate a 2D structured illumination pattern suitable for SIM microscopy. The chip creates three point-sources, coherent and controlled in phase, without the need for further alignment. Placed in the pupil of a microscope’s objective, the three sources generate a hexagonal illumination pattern on the sample, which is spatially translated thanks to thermal phase shifters. We validate and use the chip, upgrading a commercial inverted fluorescence microscope to a SIM setup and we image biological sample slides, extending the resolution of the microscope.