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Single-shot quantitative phase gradient microscopy using a system of multifunctional metasurfaces

Nature Photonics volume 14, pages 109–114 (2020)Cite this article

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Abstract

Quantitative phase imaging (QPI) of transparent samples plays an essential role in multiple biomedical applications, and miniaturizing these systems will enable their adoption into point-of-care and in vivo applications. Here, we propose a compact quantitative phase gradient microscope (QGPM) based on two dielectric metasurface layers, inspired by a classical differential interference contrast (DIC) microscope. Owing to the multifunctionality and compactness of the dielectric metasurfaces, the QPGM simultaneously captures three DIC images to generate a quantitative phase gradient image in a single shot. The volume of the metasurface optical system is on the order of 1 mm3. Imaging experiments with various phase resolution samples verify the capability to capture quantitative phase gradient data, with phase gradient sensitivity better than 92.3 mrad μm−1 and single-cell resolution. The results showcase the potential of metasurfaces for developing miniaturized QPI systems for label-free cellular imaging and point-of-care devices.

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Fig. 1: Schematic of a metasurface-based QPGM and its operation principle.
Fig. 2: Design and fabrication of the metasurfaces.
Fig. 3: Imaging experiment with the QPGM based on two separate metasurface layers.
Fig. 4: Imaging with the doublet QPGM formed from monolithic integration of two metasurface layers on the same substrate.

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Data availability

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon request.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Caltech Innovation Initiative programe. The device nanofabrication was performed at the Kavli Nanoscience Institute at Caltech. We thank C. Choi and C. Yang for Fourier ptychography microscope measurements and helpful discussions. H.K. acknowledges a fellowship from Ilju organization.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. T. J. Watson Laboratory of Applied Physics and Kavli Nanoscience Institute, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA

    Hyounghan Kwon, Ehsan Arbabi, Seyedeh Mahsa Kamali, MohammadSadegh Faraji-Dana & Andrei Faraon

  2. Department of Electrical Engineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA

    Hyounghan Kwon, Ehsan Arbabi, Seyedeh Mahsa Kamali, MohammadSadegh Faraji-Dana & Andrei Faraon

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  1. Hyounghan Kwon
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Contributions

H.K. and A.F. conceived the project. H.K., E.A., S.M.K. and M.F.-D. designed and fabricated the samples. H.K. performed the simulations and measurements. H.K., E.A., S.M.K. and M.F. analysed the data. H.K., E.A. and A.F. co-wrote the manuscript. All authors discussed the results and commented on the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Andrei Faraon.

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H.K., E.A. and A.F. have submitted a patent application based on the idea presented in this work.

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This file contains more information about the work, Supplementary Figs. 1–13 and Tables 1 and 2.

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Kwon, H., Arbabi, E., Kamali, S.M. et al. Single-shot quantitative phase gradient microscopy using a system of multifunctional metasurfaces. Nat. Photonics 14, 109–114 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41566-019-0536-x

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