Adaptive Optical Elements for Microscopy

Development and use of adaptive components for 3D scanning in microscopy
BIOLAS is working on the development of novel adaptive components such as adaptive lenses [1-4] and adaptive prisms [5], which enable fast and flexible 3D scans, e.g. in confocal microscopy. Novel lenses with two degrees of freedom can be used to compensate for axial focus shift and sample-induced aberrations [3, 4]. In addition to the high scanning flexibility and potentially high scanning rates, the novel adaptive components offer the possibility to realize very compact, "handheld" microscopes.

[1] N. Koukourakis, M. Finkeldey, M. Stürmer, C. Leithold, N.C. Gerhardt, M.R. Hofmann, U. Wallrabe, J.W. Czarske, and A. Fischer, “Axial scanning in confocal microscopy employing adaptive lenses (CAL)”, Opt. Express 22 (5), 6025-6039 (2014).
[2] K. Philipp, A. Smolarski, N. Koukourakis, A. Fischer, M. Stürmer, U. Wallrabe, J. Czarske “Volumetric HiLo microscopy employing an electrically tunable lens”, Opt. Express 24(13), 15029-15041 (2016).
[3] K. Philipp, F. Lemke, S. Scholz, U. Wallrabe, M.C. Wapler, N. Koukourakis, J.W. Czarske, “Diffraction-limited axial scanning in thick biological tissue employing an aberration correcting adaptive lens”, Nature Scientific Reports 9, 9532, (2019).
[4] F. Lemke, Y. Frey, B. P. Bruno, K. Philipp, N. Koukourakis, J. Czarske, U. Wallrabe and M. C. Wapler, “Multiphysics simulation of the aspherical deformation of piezo-glass membrane lenses including hysteresis, fabrication and nonlinear effects”, Smart Materials and Structures, Volume 28, Number 5 (2019).
[5] Adaptive Prism