SOFT MATTER SEMINAR SERIES - High-Speed Optical Imaging Methods for Soft Matter Science
Abstract
Optical imaging allows robust interrogation of soft matter systems using lightweight equipment. We will present two distinct approaches, Differential Dynamic Microscopy (DDM) and Digital holographic microscopy (DHM), that shift the burden from expensive specialist equipment to efficient high-performance algorithms.
Differential Dynamic Microscopy (DDM) combines real space imaging with analysis in Fourier space to extract the same quantity as dynamic light scattering (DLS), the intermediate scattering function. This allows high-throughput quantification of sample dynamics and opens up a variety of research otherwise inaccessible without specialist equipment. After introducing the technique, the benefits of DDM for particle sizing and associated studies (e.g. colloidal stability) will be discussed, and then be finished with a brief overview of other soft-matter applications.
Digital holographic microscopy (DHM) is a real-space imaging technique that tracks the position and configuration of microscopic objects in 3D, at typical capture rates of 100-1000 volumes per second. The apparatus can be simple and compact, suitable for deployment in harsh/challenging environments. Case studies from biological soft matter systems including bacteria in complex fluids, environmental isolates of extremophile archaea, and the three-dimensional flagellar beat of Chlamydomonas algae will be introduced.