OSE Seminar by Dr. Kathrin Spendier, on "Dual-frequency nematic liquid crystal based optical filters and their application in fluorescence microscopy"
Departmental News
Posted: September 30, 2021
Date: Thursday, October 7, 2021
Time: 12:15 PM - 1:15 PM
Location: PAIS, Room 3205
Zoom Link for OSE Seminar
Join Zoom Meeting
https://unm.zoom.us/j/91623429014
Meeting ID: 916 2342 9014
Abstract:
Fast switching optical filters are of vast interest for multiple applications in various fields, from biomedical imaging and microscopy to light detection and ranging (LIDAR) systems. Modern applications require multispectral narrowband tunable devices with fast switching speeds. This presentation will introduce dual-frequency nematic liquid crystal tunable filters that can be continuously tuned to the wanted optical filter parameters with switching speeds in the ms regime. Our filter prototype was added to a fluorescent microscope to control which spectral wavelengths from fluorescent samples reach the detector. We find that the quality of our fluorescence images is similar to those obtained by conventional filters.
Biography:
Kathrin Spendier is an Associate Professor in the Department of Physics and Energy Science at the University of Colorado Colorado Springs, where she has been since 2012. Before starting her tenure track position in 2013, she was a Research Associate at the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs BioFrontiers Center. She received a B.S. and Ph.D. in Physics from the University of New Mexico in 2006 and 2012. Her research interests span both experimental and theoretical biophysics. Much of her work has been investigating the role of cell surface curvature in disease models and the use of metallic nanoparticles in biomedical applications. In her research, she has explored super-resolution microscopy techniques and magnetic particle-based drug delivery systems. In addition, she is developing reaction-diffusion models to study cell membrane protein dynamics.
