Light scattering in inhomogeneous media, such as biological tissues, induces wavefront distortions which limit effective focusing in many optical applications. Examples range from microscopy and nanosurgery to astronomy. In recent years, ongoing efforts in the field of adaptive optics have made the correction of spatial distortions possible by wavefront-shaping techniques. However, when ultrashort pulses are employed scattering induces also temporal distortions which hinder their use in applications such as multiphoton microscopy and quantum control experiments.

I'll present how, quite surprisingly, the correction of both spatial and temporal distortions can be attained by manipulating only the spatial degrees of freedom of the incident wavefront, through optimization of a nonlinear signal; A result which may open new possibilities for nonlinear imaging in scattering media.

Reference:

O.Katz, Y.Bromberg, E.Small, and Y.Silberberg, Nature Photonics 5, 372 (2011).