PhysRevLett.119.058101.pdf (3.2 MB)
Download fileNonlinear self-action of light through biological suspensions
journal contribution
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 ChenIt 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 LettersISSN
0031-9007Publisher
American Physical SocietyExternal DOI
Issue
5Volume
119Department affiliated with
- Physics and Astronomy Publications
Full text available
- Yes
Peer reviewed?
- Yes