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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.

Real-time embedded pressure and flow rate sensor in polydimethylsiloxane-based microchannel using fiber Bragg grating technique (2024)
Journal Article
Zhang, Z., Hou, T., Ren, Y., Wang, C., Wang, Z., Pan, H., Li, P., Smith, R., & Wang, J. (2024). Real-time embedded pressure and flow rate sensor in polydimethylsiloxane-based microchannel using fiber Bragg grating technique. Flow Measurement and Instrumentation, 96, Article 102551. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.flowmeasinst.2024.102551

Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) has attracted huge interest as the soft material for microchannel fabrication, due to its high biocompatibility, durability and low cost. The rheological properties of the fluid and the deformable properties of PDMS substr... Read More about Real-time embedded pressure and flow rate sensor in polydimethylsiloxane-based microchannel using fiber Bragg grating technique.

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.

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.

Non-destructive detection of machining-induced white layers through grain size and crystallographic texture-sensitive methods (2021)
Journal Article
Brown, M., Pieris, D., Wright, D., Crawforth, P., M'Saoubi, R., McGourlay, J., …Ghadbeigi, H. (2021). Non-destructive detection of machining-induced white layers through grain size and crystallographic texture-sensitive methods. Materials and Design, 200, Article 109472. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matdes.2021.109472

Detection of machining-induced white layers is currently a destructive inspection process with a form of cross-sectional microscopy required. This paper, therefore, reports on the development of a novel non-destructive inspection method for detecting... Read More about Non-destructive detection of machining-induced white layers through grain size and crystallographic texture-sensitive methods.

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.

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.

Determining the crystallographic orientation of hexagonal crystal structure materials with surface acoustic wave velocity measurements (2020)
Journal Article
Lain'e, S. J., Dryburgh, P., Smith, R. J., Marrow, P., Lainé, S. J., Sharples, S. D., …Li, W. (2020). Determining the crystallographic orientation of hexagonal crystal structure materials with surface acoustic wave velocity measurements. Ultrasonics, 108, Article 106171. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ultras.2020.106171

© 2020 Throughout our engineered environment, many materials exhibit a crystalline lattice structure. The orientation of such lattices is crucial in determining functional properties of these structures, including elasticity and magnetism. Hence, too... Read More about Determining the crystallographic orientation of hexagonal crystal structure materials with surface acoustic wave velocity measurements.

Apparent attenuation by opto-acoustic defocus in phonon microscopy (2020)
Journal Article
Fuentes-Domínguez, R., La Cavera, S., Pérez-Cota, F., La Cavera III, S., Naznin, S., Fuentes-Dominguez, R., …Clark, M. (2020). Apparent attenuation by opto-acoustic defocus in phonon microscopy. Photoacoustics, 19, Article 100180. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pacs.2020.100180

© 2020 The Author(s) Understanding the mechanical properties of biological cells is a challenging problem for the life sciences partly because there are limited methods for mapping elasticity with high resolution. Phonon microscopy is a form of Brill... Read More about Apparent attenuation by opto-acoustic defocus in phonon microscopy.

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.

Super-resolution imaging using nano-bells (2018)
Journal Article
Fuentes-Dominguez, R., Pérez-Cota, F., Naznin, S., Smith, R. J., & Clark, M. (2018). Super-resolution imaging using nano-bells. Scientific Reports, 8, 1-9. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-34744-6

In this paper we demonstrate a new scheme for optical super-resolution, inspired, in-part, by PALM and STORM. In this scheme each object in the field of view is tagged with a signal that allows them to be detected separately. By doing this we can ide... Read More about Super-resolution imaging using nano-bells.

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.

Sensitive detection of voltage transients using differential intensity surface plasmon resonance system (2017)
Journal Article
Abayzeed, S. A., Smith, R. J., Webb, K. F., Somekh, M. G., & See, C. W. (2017). Sensitive detection of voltage transients using differential intensity surface plasmon resonance system. Optics Express, 25(25), 31552-31567. https://doi.org/10.1364/OE.25.031552

This paper describes theoretical and experimental study of the fundamentals of using surface plasmon resonance (SPR) for label-free detection of voltage. Plasmonic voltage sensing relies on the capacitive properties of metal-electrolyte interface tha... Read More about Sensitive detection of voltage transients using differential intensity surface plasmon resonance system.

Cell imaging by phonon microscopy: sub-optical wavelength ultrasound for non-invasive imaging (2017)
Journal Article
Perez-Cota, F., Smith, R. J., Moradi, E., Leija, A. L., Velickovic, K., Marques, L., …Clark, M. (2017). Cell imaging by phonon microscopy: sub-optical wavelength ultrasound for non-invasive imaging

The mechanical properties of cells play an important role in cell function and behavior. This paper presents recent developments that have enabled the use of laser-generated phonons (ultrasound) with sub-optical wavelengths to look inside living cell... Read More about Cell imaging by phonon microscopy: sub-optical wavelength ultrasound for non-invasive imaging.