Focusing and imaging with increased numerical apertures through multimode fibers with micro-fabricated optics

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates that micro-fabricated optics on multimode fibers can significantly increase their numerical aperture, enabling high-resolution imaging and optical scanning in minimally invasive endoscopy.

Contribution

The authors introduce a method using two-photon polymerization to fabricate micro-optics on multimode fibers, achieving near-unity numerical aperture and enhanced imaging resolution.

Findings

Achieved a numerical aperture close to 1 on multimode fibers.

Demonstrated submicrometer optical scanning (300 nm FWHM).

Improved fluorescence imaging resolution.

Abstract

The use of individual multimode optical fibers in endoscopy applications has the potential to provide highly miniaturized and noninvasive probes for microscopy and optical micromanipulation. A few different strategies have been proposed recently, but they all suffer from intrinsically low resolution related to the low numerical aperture of multimode fibers. Here, we show that two-photon polymerization allows for direct fabrication of micro-optics components on the fiber end, resulting in an increase of the numerical aperture to a value that is close to 1. Coupling light into the fiber through a spatial light modulator, we were able to optically scan a submicrometer spot (300 nm FWHM) over an extended region, facing the opposite fiber end. Fluorescence imaging with improved resolution is also demonstrated.