Interferometric mapping of material properties using thermal perturbation

Optical phase changes induced by transient perturbations provide a sensitive measure of material properties. We demonstrate the high sensitivity and speed of such methods, using two interferometric techniques: quantitative phase imaging (QPI) in transmission and phase-resolved optical coherence tomography (OCT) in reflection. Shot-noise–limited QPI can resolve energy deposition of about 3.4 mJ/cm(2) in a single pulse, which corresponds to 0.8 °C temperature rise in a single cell. OCT can detect deposition of 24 mJ/cm(2) energy between two scattering interfaces producing signals with about 30-dB signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), and 4.7 mJ/cm(2) when SNR is 45 dB. Both techniques can image thermal changes within the thermal confinement time, which enables accurate single-shot mapping of absorption coefficients even in highly scattering samples, as well as electrical conductivity and many other material properties in biological samples at cellular scale. Integration of the phase changes along the beam path helps increase sensitivity, and the signal relaxation time reveals the size of hidden objects. These methods may enable multiple applications, ranging from temperature-controlled retinal laser therapy or gene expression to mapping electric current density and characterization of semiconductor devices with rapid pump–probe measurements.