Ricerc@Sapienza

The point-spread function of an optical system imaged by a camera carries, in its geometrical details, key information on the optical components that are part of the system. In this work we explore the possibility of detecting anomalous structures buried under the skin surface by studying the deformations of the ideal Airy-disk point-spread function of a terahertz microscope, which are observed when the skin becomes one of the reflecting surfaces of the optical system. A custom terahertz microscope working in reflection mode at an angle of incidence of 45 degree has been built.

Particle Therapy (PT) is a radiation therapy technique in which solid tumors are treated with charged ions and exploits the achievable highly localized dose delivery, allowing to spare healthy tissues and organs at risk. The development of a range monitoring technique to be used on-line, during the treatment, capable to reach millimetric precision is considered one of the important steps towards an optimization of the PT efficacy and of the treatment quality.

Liquid crystals (LC) can be successfully adopted as waveguides for photonic devices and optofluidic systems, while poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) is a cheap and easy to implement soft material which allows the making of any geometry. Modelization and making of several LC embedded in PDMS photonic devices are presented in this work. The theoretical study of the waveguides’ inner structure was performed by Monte Carlo simulations of the molecular ordering inside the microchannel.