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The diffraction-free property of space-time wave packets has led to an abundance of interest in the field of optical physics. This feature may also find utility in applications for biomedical optics. Specifically, the programmability of the space-time light sheet can yield µm-thick light sheets with widths that resist diffraction in free space over several millimeters, whereas similarly sized Airy, Bessel, or Gaussian light sheets diverge significantly when focused to reach comparable widths. Here, we experimentally and numerically demonstrate this, and confirm that a 10-µm-thick space-time light sheet, achieved without a focusing lens and synthesized by tuning the spectral tilt angle of the light cone, maintains its width over a free-space propagation distance of 2 mm. In comparison, we find that over the same propagation distance, the Airy, Bessel, and Gaussian light sheets, all with starting thicknesses of ∼10 µm, become ∼4.5× to ∼10× wider, respectively. Space-time light sheets thus offer an opportunity for significantly extended depth-of-focus for light sheet microscopy. 

Two-photon polymerization (TPP) is an advanced 3D fabrication technique capable of creating features with submicron precision. A primary challenge in TPP lies in the facile and accurate characterization of fabrication quality, particularly for structures possessing complex internal features. In this study, we introduce an automated brightfield layerwise evaluation technique that enables a simple-to-implement approach forin situmonitoring and quality assessment of TPP-fabricated structures. Our approach relies on sequentially acquired brightfield images during the TPP writing process and using background subtraction and image processing to extract layered spatial features. We experimentally validate our method by printing a fibrous tissue scaffold and successfully achieve an overall system-adjusted fidelity of 87.5%in situ. Our method is readily adaptable in most TPP systems and can potentially facilitate high-quality TPP manufacturing of sophisticated microstructures. 

Surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) are traditionally excited by plane waves within the Rayleigh range of a focused transverse-magnetic (TM) Gaussian beam. Here we investigate and confirm the coupling between SPPs and two-dimensional Gaussian and Bessel–Gauss wave packets, as well as one-dimensional light sheets and space-time wave packets. We encode the incoming wavefronts with spatially varying states of polarization; then we couple the respective TM components of radial and azimuthal vector beam profiles to confirm polarization-correlation and spatial-mode selectivity. Our results do not require material optimization or multi-dimensional confinement via periodically corrugated metal surfaces to achieve coupling at a greater extent, hereby outlining a pivotal, yet commonly overlooked, path towards the development of long-range biosensors and all-optical integrated plasmonic circuits.