Expérimental
The ability to control the wavefront at the output of an imaging system allows to correct the imaging system optical aberration but also to impose a controlled deformation to encode specific information in the recorded images. Diffractive optical elements (DOE) provide an efficient mean to manipulate light. In multifocus microscopy (MFM) for instance [2,3], a DOE is placed in the back focal plane. It plays two roles: first, it splits the emission into a specific array of equal-intensity diffraction orders, and second it applies a specific deformation of the wavefront in each diffraction order. The grating splits the emission into several paths while imposing a specific defocusing or focusing power to each. In MFM multiple imaging planes are thus formed side by side on the same camera allowing a fast and sensitive volumetric imaging of biological samples. Still the wavelength-dependent diffraction properties of DOE can limit the use of MFM for multicolor applications [3]. The purpose of this internship is to explore new methods for the realization of achromatic DOE [5]. In addition, the use of DOE as a mean to detect and identify different fluorescent species with distinct spectral properties will be explored. Such developments will be further tested for single molecule imaging in real biological systems. We aim to study the molecular organization and interplay of several nuclear factors that are involved in nuclear organization.