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PhysRevLett.119.058101.pdf (3.2 MB)

Nonlinear self-action of light through biological suspensions

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posted on 2023-06-09, 07:35 authored by Anna Bezryadina, Tobias Hansson, Rekha Gautam, Benjamin Wetzel, Graham Siggins, Andrew Kalmbach, Josh Lamstein, Daniel Gallardo, Edward J Carpenter, Andrew Ichimura, Roberto Morandotti, Zhigang Chen
It is commonly thought that biological media cannot exhibit an appreciable nonlinear optical response. We demonstrate, for the first time to our knowledge, a tunable optical nonlinearity in suspensions of cyanobacteria that leads to robust propagation and strong self-action of a light beam. By deliberately altering the host environment of the marine bacteria, we show experimentally that nonlinear interaction can result in either deep penetration or enhanced scattering of light through the bacterial suspension, while the viability of the cells remains intact. A theoretical model is developed to show that a nonlocal nonlinearity mediated by optical forces (including both gradient and forward-scattering forces) acting on the bacteria explains our experimental observations

History

Publication status

  • Published

File Version

  • Published version

Journal

Physical Review Letters

ISSN

0031-9007

Publisher

American Physical Society

Issue

5

Volume

119

Department affiliated with

  • Physics and Astronomy Publications

Full text available

  • Yes

Peer reviewed?

  • Yes

Legacy Posted Date

2017-08-10

First Open Access (FOA) Date

2017-08-10

First Compliant Deposit (FCD) Date

2017-08-10

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