Turning Tissues Transparent by Time-Reversing Light

Changhuei Yang
CalTech

Thursday, November 12, 2009 at 3:00pm
Engr IV Room 57-124

Abstract
The reason we can't see through our hands isn't because our hands absorb light strongly. Instead, it is because our hands scatter light strongly. Interestingly, light scattering in tissues may look random but their trajectories are deterministic. As such, it is possible to create a situation where light scattered from a tissue will retrace their paths through the tissue. This can be accomplished by time-reversing a light field via holography. I will report on our recent findings and point out a few applications for this phenomenon.

Biography
Professor Yang graduated from MIT in 2002 and has steadily moved towards warmer climate thereafter. After short stints at ESPCI (Paris) and Duke University, he settled down in Caltech in Dec 2003. Professor Yang received the NSF CAREER award and the Coulter Foundation Early Career Phase I and II Awards. In 2008 he was named one of Discover Magazines 20 Best Brains Under 40.