Giovanni Pierattini

Bio: Giovanni Pierattini is an academic researcher from ARCO. The author has contributed to research in topics: Digital holography & Holography. The author has an hindex of 25, co-authored 128 publications receiving 3222 citations. Previous affiliations of Giovanni Pierattini include Olivetti.

A New Interferometric Technique for the Measurement of Elastic Anisotropy of Nematic Liquid Crystals

Abstract: It is well known that a continuous wave laser beam impinging on a nematic liquid crystals film can induce a change in the orientation of the molecular director. In the case of homeotropic alignment and for a p-polarized obliquely incident beam, the reorientation process has no threshold and the sample exhibits a giant optical nonlinearity due to the laser-induced change in refractive index of the medium. In the small distortion approximation the phase change is governed by a linear differential equation whose coefficients depend on the ratio between the elastic constants. In this paper we describe an interferometric technique based on high precision two-dimensional spatial fringe analysis Fourier method for measuring the elastic constants of nematic liquid crystals. Since the determination of the elastic anisotropy relies on the measurement of the ratios between the elastic constants, this technique provides a powerful and high accuracy method for characterizing nematic liquid crystals.

Combining lateral shear interferometry with digital holography for quantitative phase microscopy

Abstract: By combining the concept of Lateral Shear Interferometry (LSI) with Digital Holography we demonstrate that quantitative phase microscopy (QPM) can be used for investigation in different field of applications. The proposed approach gives some important advantages compared to other methods used for QPM. The method is a true single image QPM approach. In fact by using the digital shear of the reconstructed phase map in the image plane the defocus aberration introduced by the microscope objective can efficiently removed. In addition in most cases the unwrapping procedure can be avoided greatly simplifying the phase-map recovery for quantitative measurement. Numerical lateral shear of the reconstructed wave front in the image plane makes it possible to retrieve the derivative of the wave front. In analogy with the standard procedure usually applied in optical testing by means of LSI, the wave front can be reconstructed.

Interferometric method for concurrent measurement of the thermo-optic coefficients of quartz retarders

Abstract: We present and discuss a Fabry-Perot type interferometric method that permits the concurrent measurement of the thermo-optic coefficients of quartz retarders in the thermal range 25-300 degrees C. The magnitude of both the coefficients is found to increase slightly with increasing temperature.

Fourier-transform method of fringe-pattern analysis for computer-based topography and interferometry

Abstract: A fast-Fourier-transform method of topography and interferometry is proposed. By computer processing of a noncontour type of fringe pattern, automatic discrimination is achieved between elevation and depression of the object or wave-front form, which has not been possible by the fringe-contour-generation techniques. The method has advantages over moire topography and conventional fringe-contour interferometry in both accuracy and sensitivity. Unlike fringe-scanning techniques, the method is easy to apply because it uses no moving components.

Femtosecond laser micromachining in transparent materials

Abstract: Femtosecond laser micromachining can be used either to remove materials or to change a material's properties, and can be applied to both absorptive and transparent substances. Over the past decade, this technique has been used in a broad range of applications, from waveguide fabrication to cell ablation. This review describes the physical mechanisms and the main experimental parameters involved in the femtosecond laser micromachining of transparent materials, and important emerging applications of the technology. Interactions between laser and matter are fascinating and have found a wide range of applications. This article gives an overview of the fundamental physical mechanisms in the processing of transparent materials using ultrafast lasers, as well as important emerging applications of the technology.

Digital recording and numerical reconstruction of holograms

Abstract: This article describes the principles and major applications of digital recording and numerical reconstruction of holograms (digital holography). Digital holography became feasible since charged coupled devices (CCDs) with suitable numbers and sizes of pixels and computers with sufficient speed became available. The Fresnel or Fourier holograms are recorded directly by the CCD and stored digitally. No film material involving wet-chemical or other processing is necessary. The reconstruction of the wavefield, which is done optically by illumination of a hologram, is performed by numerical methods. The numerical reconstruction process is based on the Fresnel–Kirchhoff integral, which describes the diffraction of the reconstructing wave at the micro-structure of the hologram. In the numerical reconstruction process not only the intensity, but also the phase distribution of the stored wavefield can be computed from the digital hologram. This offers new possibilities for a variety of applications. Digital holography is applied to measure shape and surface deformation of opaque bodies and refractive index fields within transparent media. Further applications are imaging and microscopy, where it is advantageous to refocus the area under investigation by numerical methods.

Principles and techniques of digital holographic microscopy

Abstract: Digital holography is an emerging field of new paradigm in general imaging applications. We present a review of a subset of the research and development activities in digital holography, with emphasis on microscopy techniques and applications. First, the basic results from the general theory of holography, based on the scalar diffraction theory, are summarized, and a general description of the digital holographic microscopy process is given, including quantitative phase microscopy. Several numerical diffraction methods are described and compared, and a number of representative configurations used in digital holography are described, including off-axis Fresnel, Fourier, image plane, in-line, Gabor, and phase-shifting digital holographies. Then we survey numerical techniques that give rise to unique capabilities of digital holography, including suppression of dc and twin image terms, pixel resolution control, optical phase unwrapping, aberration compensation, and others. A survey is also given of representative application areas, including biomedical microscopy, particle field holography, micrometrology, and holographic tomography, as well as some of the special techniques, such as holography of total internal reflection, optical scanning holography, digital interference holography, and heterodyne holography. The review is intended for students and new researchers interested in developing new techniques and exploring new applications of digital holography.