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Label-free Brillouin endo-microscopy for the quantitative 3D imaging of sub-micrometre biology (2024)
Journal Article
La Cavera, S., Chauhan, V. M., Hardiman, W., Yao, M., Fuentes-Domínguez, R., Setchfield, K., …Clark, M. (2024). Label-free Brillouin endo-microscopy for the quantitative 3D imaging of sub-micrometre biology. Communications Biology, 7(1), Article 451. https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-024-06126-4

This report presents an optical fibre-based endo-microscopic imaging tool that simultaneously measures the topographic profile and 3D viscoelastic properties of biological specimens through the phenomenon of time-resolved Brillouin scattering. This u... Read More about Label-free Brillouin endo-microscopy for the quantitative 3D imaging of sub-micrometre biology.

Driving next generation manufacturing through advanced metals characterisation capability (2024)
Journal Article
Clare, A., Seita, M., Speidel, A., Collins, P., & Clark, M. (2024). Driving next generation manufacturing through advanced metals characterisation capability. Scripta Materialia, 246, Article 116009. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scriptamat.2024.116009

Understanding the effects of manufacturing methods upon materials has driven constant innovation for over 300 years. While our ability to fabricate metallurgical wonders extends into the annals of history our ability to understand the scientific prin... Read More about Driving next generation manufacturing through advanced metals characterisation capability.

Classification of cancer cells at the sub-cellular level by phonon microscopy using deep learning (2023)
Journal Article
Pérez-Cota, F., Martínez-Arellano, G., La Cavera III, S., Hardiman, W., Thornton, L., Fuentes-Domínguez, R., …Clark, M. (2023). Classification of cancer cells at the sub-cellular level by phonon microscopy using deep learning. Scientific Reports, 13, Article 16228. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-42793-9

There is a consensus about the strong correlation between the elasticity of cells and tissue and their normal, dysplastic, and cancerous states. However, developments in cell mechanics have not seen significant progress in clinical applications. In t... Read More about Classification of cancer cells at the sub-cellular level by phonon microscopy using deep learning.

Living cells as a biological analog of optical tweezers – a non-invasive microrheology approach (2023)
Journal Article
Hardiman, W., Clark, M., Friel, C., Huett, A., Pérez-Cota, F., Setchfield, K., …Tassieri, M. (2023). Living cells as a biological analog of optical tweezers – a non-invasive microrheology approach. Acta Biomaterialia, 166, 317-325. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actbio.2023.04.039

Microrheology, the study of fluids on micron length-scales, promises to reveal insights into cellular biology, including mechanical biomarkers of disease and the interplay between biomechanics and cellular function. Here a minimally-invasive passive... Read More about Living cells as a biological analog of optical tweezers – a non-invasive microrheology approach.

Parallel imaging with phonon microscopy using a multi-core fibre bundle detection (2023)
Journal Article
Fuentes-Domínguez, R., Yao, M., Hardiman, W., La Cavera III, S., Setchfield, K., Pérez-Cota, F., …Clark, M. (2023). Parallel imaging with phonon microscopy using a multi-core fibre bundle detection. Photoacoustics, 31, Article 100493. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pacs.2023.100493

In this paper, we show a proof-of-concept method to parallelise phonon microscopy measurements for cell elasticity imaging by demonstrating a 3-fold increase in acquisition speed which is limited by current acquisition hardware. Phonon microscopy is... Read More about Parallel imaging with phonon microscopy using a multi-core fibre bundle detection.

Imaging Microstructure on Optically Rough Surfaces Using Spatially Resolved Acoustic Spectroscopy (2023)
Journal Article
Li, W., Dryburgh, P., Pieris, D., Patel, R., Clark, M., & Smith, R. J. (2023). Imaging Microstructure on Optically Rough Surfaces Using Spatially Resolved Acoustic Spectroscopy. Applied Sciences, 13(6), Article 3424. https://doi.org/10.3390/app13063424

The microstructure of a material defines many of its mechanical properties. Tracking the microstructure of parts during their manufacturing is needed to ensure the designed performance can be obtained, especially for additively manufactured parts. Me... Read More about Imaging Microstructure on Optically Rough Surfaces Using Spatially Resolved Acoustic Spectroscopy.

Polarization-Sensitive Super-Resolution Phononic Reconstruction of Nanostructures (2022)
Journal Article
Fuentes-Domínguez, R., Naznin, S., La Cavera III, S., Cousins, R., Pérez-Cota, F., Smith, R. J., & Clark, M. (2022). Polarization-Sensitive Super-Resolution Phononic Reconstruction of Nanostructures. ACS Photonics, https://doi.org/10.1021/acsphotonics.1c01607

In this paper, we show for the first time the polarization-sensitive super-resolution phononic reconstruction of multiple nanostructures in a liquid environment by overcoming the diffraction limit of the optical system (1 μm). By using time-resolved... Read More about Polarization-Sensitive Super-Resolution Phononic Reconstruction of Nanostructures.

Phonon imaging in 3D with a fibre probe (2021)
Journal Article
La Cavera III, S., Pérez-Cota, F., Smith, R. J., & Clark, M. (2021). Phonon imaging in 3D with a fibre probe. Light: Science and Applications, 10, Article 91. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41377-021-00532-7

We show for the first time that a single ultrasonic imaging fibre is capable of simultaneously accessing 3D spatial information and mechanical properties from microscopic objects. The novel measurement system consists of two ultrafast lasers that exc... Read More about Phonon imaging in 3D with a fibre probe.

3D phonon microscopy with sub-micron axial-resolution (2021)
Journal Article
Smith, R. J., Perez-Cota, F., Marques, L., & Clark, M. (2021). 3D phonon microscopy with sub-micron axial-resolution. Scientific Reports, 11(1), Article 3301. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-82639-w

© 2021, The Author(s). Brillouin light scattering (BLS) is an emerging method for cell imaging and characterisation. It allows elasticity-related contrast, optical resolution and label-free operation. Phonon microscopy detects BLS from laser generate... Read More about 3D phonon microscopy with sub-micron axial-resolution.

Design of a resonant Luneburg lens for surface acoustic waves (2020)
Journal Article
Fuentes-Domínguez, R., Yao, M., Colombi, A., Dryburgh, P., Pieris, D., Jackson-Crisp, A., …Clark, M. (2021). Design of a resonant Luneburg lens for surface acoustic waves. Ultrasonics, 111, Article 106306. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ultras.2020.106306

© 2020 In this work we employ additive manufacturing to print a circular array of micropillars on an aluminium slab turning its top surface into a graded index metasurface for surface acoustic waves (SAW). The graded metasurface reproduces a Luneburg... Read More about Design of a resonant Luneburg lens for surface acoustic waves.

Picosecond ultrasonics for elasticity-based imaging and characterization of biological cells (2020)
Journal Article
Pérez-Cota, F., Fuentes-Domínguez, R., La Cavera III, S., Hardiman, W., Yao, M., Setchfield, K., …Clark, M. (2020). Picosecond ultrasonics for elasticity-based imaging and characterization of biological cells. Journal of Applied Physics, 128(16), Article 160902. https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0023744

© 2020 Author(s). Characterization of the elasticity of biological cells is growing as a new way to gain insight into cell biology. Cell mechanics are related to most aspects of cellular behavior, and applications in research and medicine are broad.... Read More about Picosecond ultrasonics for elasticity-based imaging and characterization of biological cells.

Tailored elastic surface to body wave Umklapp conversion (2020)
Journal Article
Chaplain, G. J., De Ponti, J. M., Colombi, A., Fuentes-Dominguez, R., Dryburg, P., Pieris, D., …Craster, R. V. (2020). Tailored elastic surface to body wave Umklapp conversion. Nature Communications, 11(1), Article 3267. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-17021-x

© 2020, The Author(s). Elastic waves guided along surfaces dominate applications in geophysics, ultrasonic inspection, mechanical vibration, and surface acoustic wave devices; precise manipulation of surface Rayleigh waves and their coupling with pol... Read More about Tailored elastic surface to body wave Umklapp conversion.

Characterising the size and shape of metallic nano-structures by their acoustic vibrations (2020)
Journal Article
Fuentes-Domínguez, R., Naznin, S., Marques, L., Pérez-Cota, F., Smith, R. J., & Clark, M. (2020). Characterising the size and shape of metallic nano-structures by their acoustic vibrations. Nanoscale, 12(26), 14230-14236. https://doi.org/10.1039/d0nr03410j

© 2020 The Royal Society of Chemistry. The characterisation of metallic nano-structures is of great importance as their optical properties are strongly dependent on their size and shape. Inaccurate size or shape characterisation can result in mislead... Read More about Characterising the size and shape of metallic nano-structures by their acoustic vibrations.

Time resolved Brillouin fiber-spectrometer (2019)
Journal Article
La Cavera, S., Pérez-Cota, F., Fuentes-Domínguez, R., Smith, R. J., & Clark, M. (2019). Time resolved Brillouin fiber-spectrometer. Optics Express, 27(18), 25064-25071. https://doi.org/10.1364/OE.27.025064

This report introduces a novel time resolved Brillouin spectrometer, consisting of an opto-acoustic transducer which resides on the tip of a single-mode optical fiber of arbitrary length with 125 µm outer diameter and 5 µm sensing diameter. Demonstra... Read More about Time resolved Brillouin fiber-spectrometer.

Thickness measurement of polymer thin films with high frequency ultrasonic transducers (2019)
Presentation / Conference Contribution
Smith, R. J., Cavera, S. L., Pérez-Cota, F., Marques, L., & Clark, M. (2018, July). Thickness measurement of polymer thin films with high frequency ultrasonic transducers. Presented at 45th Annual Review of Progress in Quantitative Nondestructive Evaluation, Vermont, USA

© 2019 Author(s). In this paper we present a method for characterizing the thickness, and more interestingly, the variation of thickness in polymer thin films (

New insights into the mechanical properties of Acanthamoeba castellanii cysts as revealed by phonon microscopy (2019)
Journal Article
Pérez-Cota, F., Smith, R. J., Elsheikha, H. M., & Clark, M. (2019). New insights into the mechanical properties of Acanthamoeba castellanii cysts as revealed by phonon microscopy. Biomedical Optics Express, 10(5), 2399-2408. https://doi.org/10.1364/BOE.10.002399

The single cell eukaryotic protozoan Acanthamoeba castellanii exhibits a remarkable ability to switch from a vegetative trophozoite stage to a cystic form, in response to stressors. This phenotypic switch involves changes in gene expression and synth... Read More about New insights into the mechanical properties of Acanthamoeba castellanii cysts as revealed by phonon microscopy.

Non destructive evaluation of biological cells (2018)
Presentation / Conference Contribution
Pérez-Cota, F., Smith, R. J., Moradi, E., Webb, K. F., & Clark, M. (2019). Non destructive evaluation of biological cells. AIP Conference Proceedings, 2102, https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5099737

© 2019 Author(s). Regenerative medicine promises to be the next revolution in health care. This technology, which will be the first systematic manufacturing of biological parts for human consumption, requires non destructive evaluatioin (NDE) thechni... Read More about Non destructive evaluation of biological cells.

Active chiral control of GHz acoustic whispering-gallery modes (2017)
Journal Article
Mezil, S., Fujita, K., Osuka, P. H., Tomoda, M., Clark, M., Wright, O. B., & Matsuda, O. (in press). Active chiral control of GHz acoustic whispering-gallery modes. Applied Physics Letters, https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4994886

We selectively generate chiral surface-acoustic whispering gallery modes in the gigahertz range on a microscopic disk by means of an ultrafast time-domain technique incorporating a spatial light modulator. Active chiral control is achieved by making... Read More about Active chiral control of GHz acoustic whispering-gallery modes.

Enhanced sensing and conversion of ultrasonic Rayleigh waves by elastic metasurfaces (2017)
Journal Article
Colombi, A., Ageeva, V., Smith, R. J., Clare, A. T., Patel, R., Clark, M., …Craster, R. V. (2017). Enhanced sensing and conversion of ultrasonic Rayleigh waves by elastic metasurfaces. Scientific Reports, 7(1), Article 6750. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-07151-6

Recent years have heralded the introduction of metasurfaces that advantageously combine the vision of sub-wavelength wave manipulation, with the design, fabrication and size advantages associated with surface excitation. An important topic within met... Read More about Enhanced sensing and conversion of ultrasonic Rayleigh waves by elastic metasurfaces.

Orientation imaging of macro-sized polysilicon grains on wafers using spatially resolved acoustic spectroscopy (2017)
Journal Article
Patel, R., Li, W., Smith, R. J., Sharples, S. D., & Clark, M. (2017). Orientation imaging of macro-sized polysilicon grains on wafers using spatially resolved acoustic spectroscopy. Scripta Materialia, 140, 67-70. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scriptamat.2017.07.003

Due to its economical production process polysilicon, or multicrystalline silicon, is widely used to produce solar cell wafers. However, the conversion efficiencies are often lower than equivalent monocrystalline or thin film cells, with the structur... Read More about Orientation imaging of macro-sized polysilicon grains on wafers using spatially resolved acoustic spectroscopy.