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Updated: May 16, 2026
Compact Lens-less Digital Holographic Microscope for MEMS Inspection and Characterization
Published on: July 5, 2016
Shedding light on diatom photonics by means of digital holography
Giuseppe Di Caprio1, Giuseppe Coppola, Luca De Stefano
1Institute for Microelectronics and Microsystems, National Council for Research, Via P. Castellino 111, I-80131 Naples, Italy; Rowland Institute, Harvard University, 100 E. Land Boulevard, 02142 Cambridge MA, USA.
Abstract:
Diatoms are among the dominant phytoplankters in the world's oceans, and their external silica investments, resembling artificial photonic crystals, are expected to play an active role in light manipulation. Digital holography allowed studying the interaction with light of Coscinodiscus wailesii cell wall reconstructing the light confinement inside the cell cytoplasm, condition that is hardly accessible via standard microscopy. The full characterization of the propagated beam, in terms of quantitative phase and intensity, removed a long-standing ambiguity about the origin of the light confinement. The data were discussed in the light of living cell behavior in response to their environment.
