Wireless overhead line temperature sensor based on RF cavity resonance

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ghafourian, Maryam; Nezhad, Abolghasem Zeidaabadi; Bridges, Greg E; Thomson, Douglas J

2013-01-01

The importance of maximizing power transfer through overhead transmission lines necessitates the use of dynamic power control to keep transmission line temperatures within acceptable limits. Excessive conductor operating temperatures lead to an increased sag of the transmission line conductor and may reduce their expected life. In this paper, a passive wireless sensor based on a resonant radio frequency (RF) cavity is presented which can be used to measure overhead transmission line temperature. The temperature sensor does not require a power supply and can be easily clamped to the power line with an antenna attached. Changing temperature causes a change of cavity dimensions and a shift in resonant frequency. The resonant frequency of the cavity can be interrogated wirelessly. This temperature sensor has a resolution of 0.07 °C and can be interrogated from distances greater than 4.5 m. The sensor has a deviation from linearity of less than 2 °C. (paper)

Optimized spectroscopic scheme for enhanced precision CO measurements with applications to urban source attribution

Science.gov (United States)

Nottrott, A.; Hoffnagle, J.; Farinas, A.; Rella, C.

2014-12-01

Carbon monoxide (CO) is an urban pollutant generated by internal combustion engines which contributes to the formation of ground level ozone (smog). CO is also an excellent tracer for emissions from mobile combustion sources. In this work we present an optimized spectroscopic sampling scheme that enables enhanced precision CO measurements. The scheme was implemented on the Picarro G2401 Cavity Ring-Down Spectroscopy (CRDS) analyzer which measures CO2, CO, CH4 and H2O at 0.2 Hz. The optimized scheme improved the raw precision of CO measurements by 40% from 5 ppb to 3 ppb. Correlations of measured CO2, CO, CH4 and H2O from an urban tower were partitioned by wind direction and combined with a concentration footprint model for source attribution. The application of a concentration footprint for source attribution has several advantages. The upwind extent of the concentration footprint for a given sensor is much larger than the flux footprint. Measurements of mean concentration at the sensor location can be used to estimate source strength from a concentration footprint, while measurements of the vertical concentration flux are necessary to determine source strength from the flux footprint. Direct measurement of vertical concentration flux requires high frequency temporal sampling and increases the cost and complexity of the measurement system.

Chemical sensors based on quantum cascade lasers

Science.gov (United States)

Tittel, Frank K.; Kosterev, Anatoliy A.; Rochat, Michel; Beck, Mattias; Faist, Jerome

2002-09-01

There is an increasing need in many chemical sensing applications ranging from industrial process control to environmental science and medical diagnostics for fast, sensitive, and selective gas detection based on laser spectroscopy. The recent availability of novel pulsed and cw quantum cascade distributed feedback (QC-DFB) lasers as mid-infrared spectroscopic sources address this need. A number of spectroscopic techniques have been demonstrated. For example, the authors have employed QC-DFB lasers for the monitoring and quantification of several trace gases and isotopic species in ambient air at ppmv and ppbv levels by means of direct absorption, wavelength modulation, cavity enhanced and cavity ringdown spectroscopy. In this work, pulsed thermoelectrically cooled QC-DFB lasers operating at ~15.6 μm were characterized for spectroscopic gas sensing applications. A new method for wavelength scanning based on the repetition rate modulation was developed. A non-wavelength-selective pyroelectric detector was incorporated in the gas sensor giving an advantage of room-temperature operation and low cost. Absorption lines of CO2 and H2O were observed in ambient air providing information about the concentration of these species.

Beating quantum limits in an optomechanical sensor by cavity detuning

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Arcizet, O.; Briant, T.; Heidmann, A.; Pinard, M.

2006-01-01

We study the quantum limits in an optomechanical sensor based on a detuned high-finesse cavity with a movable mirror. We show that the radiation pressure exerted on the mirror by the light in the detuned cavity induces a modification of the mirror dynamics and makes the mirror motion sensitive to the signal. This leads to an amplification of the signal by the mirror dynamics, and to an improvement of the sensor sensitivity beyond the standard quantum limit, up to an ultimate quantum limit only related to the mechanical dissipation of the mirror. This improvement is somewhat similar to the one predicted in detuned signal-recycled gravitational-wave interferometers, and makes a high-finesse cavity a model system to test these quantum effects

Repetitively Mode-Locked Cavity-Enhanced Absorption Spectroscopy (RML-CEAS for Near-Infrared Gas Sensing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Qixin He

2017-12-01

Full Text Available A Pound-Drever-Hall (PDH-based mode-locked cavity-enhanced sensor system was developed using a distributed feedback diode laser centered at 1.53 µm as the laser source. Laser temperature scanning, bias control of the piezoelectric ceramic transducer (PZT and proportional-integral-derivative (PID feedback control of diode laser current were used to repetitively lock the laser modes to the cavity modes. A gas absorption spectrum was obtained by using a series of absorption data from the discrete mode-locked points. The 15 cm-long Fabry-Perot cavity was sealed using an enclosure with an inlet and outlet for gas pumping and a PZT for cavity length tuning. The performance of the sensor system was evaluated by conducting water vapor measurements. A linear relationship was observed between the measured absorption signal amplitude and the H2O concentration. A minimum detectable absorption coefficient of 1.5 × 10–8 cm–1 was achieved with an averaging time of 700 s. This technique can also be used for the detection of other trace gas species by targeting the corresponding gas absorption line.

Enhanced photoelastic modulation in silica phononic crystal cavities

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Ingi; Iwamoto, Satoshi; Arakawa, Yasuhiko

2018-04-01

The enhanced photoelastic modulation in quasi-one-dimensional (1D) phononic crystal (PnC) cavities made of fused silica is experimentally demonstrated. A confined acoustic wave in the cavity can induce a large birefringence through the photoelastic effect and enable larger optical modulation amplitude at the same acoustic power. We observe a phase retardation of ∼26 mrad of light passing through the cavity when the exciting acoustic frequency is tuned to the cavity mode resonance of ∼500 kHz at 2.5 V. In the present experiment, a 16-fold enhancement of retardation in the PnC cavity is demonstrated compared with that in a bar-shaped silica structure. Spatially resolved optical retardation measurement reveals that the large retardation is realized only around the cavity reflecting the localized nature of the acoustic cavity mode. The enhanced interactions between acoustic waves and light can be utilized to improve the performance of acousto-optic devices such as photoelastic modulators.

Real-time multiplexed digital cavity-enhanced spectroscopy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Boyson, Toby K.; Dagdigian, Paul J.; Pavey, Karl D.; Fitzgerald, Nicholas J.; Spence, Thomas G.; Moore, David S.; Harb, Charles C.

2015-01-01

Cavity-enhanced spectroscopy is a sensitive optical absorption technique but one where the practical applications have been limited to studying small wavelength ranges. In addition, this Letter shows that wideband operation can be achieved by combining techniques usually reserved for the communications community with that of cavity-enhanced spectroscopy, producing a multiplexed real-time cavity-enhanced spectrometer. We use multiple collinear laser sources operating asynchronously and simultaneously while being detected on a single photodetector. This is synonymous with radio frequency (RF) cellular systems in which signals are detected on a single antenna but decoded uniquely. Here, we demonstrate results with spectra of methyl salicylate and show parts-per-billion per root hertz sensitivity measured in real-time

Cavity-enhanced surface-plasmon resonance sensing: modeling and performance

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Giorgini, A; Avino, S; Malara, P; Zullo, R; Gagliardi, G; Homola, J; De Natale, P

2014-01-01

We investigate the performance of a surface-plasmon-resonance refractive-index (RI) sensor based on an optical resonator. The resonator transforms RI changes of liquid samples, interacting with the surface plasmon excited by near-infrared light, into a variation of the intra-cavity optical loss. Cavity ring-down measurements are provided as a proof of concept of RI sensing on calibrated mixtures. A characterization of the overall sensor response and noise features as well as a discussion on possible improvements is carried out. A reproducibility analysis shows that a resolution of 10 −7 –10 −8  RIU is within reach over observation times of 1–30 s. The ultimate resolution is set only by intrinsic noise features of the cavity-based method, pointing to a potential limit below 10 −10  RIU/√Hz. (paper)

Cost-effective optical fiber pressure sensor based on intrinsic Fabry-Perot interferometric micro-cavities

Science.gov (United States)

Domingues, M. Fátima; Rodriguez, Camilo A.; Martins, Joana; Tavares, Cátia; Marques, Carlos; Alberto, Nélia; André, Paulo; Antunes, Paulo

2018-05-01

In this work, a cost-effective procedure to manufacture optical fiber pressure sensors is presented. This has a high relevance for integration in robotic exoskeletons or for gait plantar pressure monitoring within the physical rehabilitation scenarios, among other applications. The sensing elements are based on Fabry-Perot interferometric (FPI) micro-cavities, created from the recycling of optical fibers previously destroyed by the catastrophic fuse effect. To produce the pressure sensors, the fiber containing the FPI micro-cavities was embedded in an epoxy resin cylinder used as pressure transducer and responsible to transfer the pressure applied on its surface to the optical fiber containing the FPI micro-cavity. Before the embedding process, some FPI sensors were also characterized to strain variations. After that, the effect of the encapsulation of the FPI structure into the resin was assessed, from which a slight decrease on the FPI interferogram fringes visibility was verified, indicating a small increase in the micro-cavity length. Up on the sensors characterization, a linear dependence of the wavelength shift with the induced pressure was obtained, which leads to a maximum sensitivity of 59.39 ± 1.7 pm/kPa. Moreover, direct dependence of the pressure sensitivity with the micro-cavity volume and length was found.

A Compact Microwave Microfluidic Sensor Using a Re-Entrant Cavity.

Science.gov (United States)

Hamzah, Hayder; Abduljabar, Ali; Lees, Jonathan; Porch, Adrian

2018-03-19

A miniaturized 2.4 GHz re-entrant cavity has been designed, manufactured and tested as a sensor for microfluidic compositional analysis. It has been fully evaluated experimentally with water and common solvents, namely methanol, ethanol, and chloroform, with excellent agreement with the expected behaviour predicted by the Debye model. The sensor's performance has also been assessed for analysis of segmented flow using water and oil. The samples' interaction with the electric field in the gap region has been maximized by aligning the sample tube parallel to the electric field in this region, and the small width of the gap (typically 1 mm) result in a highly localised complex permittivity measurement. The re-entrant cavity has simple mechanical geometry, small size, high quality factor, and due to the high concentration of electric field in the gap region, a very small mode volume. These factors combine to result in a highly sensitive, compact sensor for both pure liquids and liquid mixtures in capillary or microfluidic environments.

Laser of optical fiber composed by two coupled cavities: application as optical fiber sensor; Laser de fibra optica compuesto por dos cavidades acopladas: aplicacion como sensor de fibra optica

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Vazquez S, R.A.; Kuzin, E.A.; Ibarra E, B. [Instituto Nacional de Astrofisica, Optica y Electronica (INAOE), A.P. 51 y 216, 72000 Puebla (Mexico); May A, M. [Universidad Autonoma del Carmen (UNACAR) Av. 56 No. 4 por Av. Concordia, Campeche (Mexico); Shlyagin, M.; Marquez B, I. [Centro de Investigacion Cientifica y de Ensenanza Superior de Ensenada (CICESE), 22860 Ensenada, Baja California (Mexico)]. e-mail: ravsa100@hotmail.com

2004-07-01

We show an optical fiber laser sensor which consist of two cavities coupled and three fiber Bragg gratings. We used one Bragg grating (called reference) and two Bragg gratings (called sensors), which have the lower reflection wavelength. The reference grating with the two sensors grating make two cavities: first one is the internal cavity which has 4230 m of length and the another one is the external cavity which has 4277 m of length. Measuring the laser beating frequency for a resonance cavity and moving the frequency peaks when the another cavity is put in resonance, we prove that the arrangement can be used as a two points sensor for determining the difference of temperature or stress between these two points. (Author)

Miniature Chemical Sensor Combining Molecular Recognition with Evanescent Wave Cavity Ring-Down Spectroscopy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pipino, Andrew C. R.; Meuse, Curtis W.

2002-01-01

To address the chemical sensing needs of DOE, a new class of chemical sensors is being developed that enables qualitative and quantitative, remote, real-time, optical diagnostics of chemical species in hazardous gas, liquid, and semi-solid phases by employing evanescent wave cavity ringdown spectroscopy (EW-CRDS). The sensitivity of EW-CRDS was demonstrated previously under Project No.60231. The objective of this project is to enhance the range of application and selectivity of the technique by combining EW-CRDS with refractive-index-sensitive nanoparticle optics, molecular recognition (MR) chemistry, and by utilizing the polarization-dependence of EW-CRDS. Research Progress and Implications

Vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser vapor sensor using swelling polymer reflection modulation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ansbæk, Thor; Nielsen, Claus Højgård; Dohn, Søren

2012-01-01

Vapor detection using a low-refractive index polymer for reflection modulation of the top mirror in a vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) is demonstrated. The VCSEL sensor concept presents a simple method to detect the response of a sensor polymer in the presence of volatile organic...

Design and analysis on fume exhaust system of blackbody cavity sensor for continuously measuring molten steel temperature

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Guohui Mei

2017-03-01

Full Text Available Fume exhaust system is the main component of the novel blackbody cavity sensor with a single layer tube, which removes the fume by gas flow along the exhaust pipe to keep the light path clean. However, the gas flow may break the conditions of blackbody cavity and results in the poor measurement accuracy. In this paper, we analyzed the influence of the gas flow on the temperature distribution of the measuring cavity, and then calculated the integrated effective emissivity of the non-isothermal cavity based on Monte-Carlo method, accordingly evaluated the sensor measurement accuracy, finally obtained the maximum allowable flow rate for various length of the exhaust pipe to meet the measurement accuracy. These results will help optimize the novel blackbody cavity sensor design and use it better for measuring the temperature of molten steel.

Cavity-enhanced spectroscopy and sensing

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gagliardi, Gianluca [CNR-Istituto Nazionale di Ottica (INO), Pozzuoli (Italy); Loock, Hans-Peter (ed.) [Queen' s Univ., Kingston, ON (Canada). Dept. of Chemistry

2014-07-01

The book reviews the dramatic recent advances in the use of optical resonators for high sensitivity and high resolution molecular spectroscopy as well as for chemical, mechanical and physical sensing. It encompasses a variety of cavities including those made of two or more mirrors, optical fiber loops, fiber gratings and spherical cavities. The book focuses on novel techniques and their applications. Each chapter is written by an expert and/or pioneer in the field. These experts also provide the theoretical background in optics and molecular physics where needed. Examples of recent breakthroughs include the use of frequency combs (Nobel prize 2005) for cavity enhanced sensing and spectroscopy, the use of novel cavity materials and geometries, the development of optical heterodyne detection techniques combined to active frequency-locking schemes. These methods allow the use and interrogation of optical resonators with a variety of coherent light sources for trace gas detection and sensing of strain, temperature and pressure.

Cavity-enhanced spectroscopy and sensing

CERN Document Server

Loock, Hans-Peter

2014-01-01

The book reviews the dramatic recent advances in the use of optical resonators for high sensitivity and high resolution molecular spectroscopy as well as for chemical, mechanical and physical sensing.  It encompasses a variety of cavities including those made of two or more mirrors, optical fiber loops, fiber gratings and spherical cavities. The book focuses on novel techniques and their applications. Each chapter is written by an expert and/or pioneer in the field. These experts also provide the theoretical background in optics and molecular physics where needed. Examples of recent breakthroughs include the use of frequency combs (Nobel prize 2005) for cavity enhanced sensing and spectroscopy, the use of novel cavity materials and geometries, the development of optical heterodyne detection techniques combined to active frequency-locking schemes. These methods allow the use and interrogation of optical resonators with a variety of coherent light sources for trace gas detection and sensing of strain, temperat...

Cavity enhancement by controlled directional scattering

Science.gov (United States)

Winston, R.

1980-01-01

A method for designing cavity enclosures is presented that can be applied to the design of a nonimaging concentrator. The method maintains high transmission at the expense of some concentration in the presence of a gap between the reflector and the receiver. The slight loss of concentration may be partly offset by enhanced absorption of radiation by the receiver, resulting from the cavity effect.

Effect of Surface Plasmon Coupling to Optical Cavity Modes on the Field Enhancement and Spectral Response of Dimer-Based sensors

KAUST Repository

Alrasheed, Salma; Di Fabrizio, Enzo M.

2017-01-01

with the resonant modes of a Fabry-Perot (FP) cavity. The strong coupling is demonstrated by the large anticrossing in the reflection spectra and a Rabi splitting of 76 meV. Up to 2-fold enhancement increase can be achieved compared to that without using the cavity

Cavity-enhanced surface-plasmon resonance sensing: Modeling and performance

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Giorgini, A.; Avino, S.; Malara, P.; Zullo, R.; Gaglio, G.; Homola, Jiří; De Natale, P.

2014-01-01

Roč. 25, č. 1 (2014), 015205 ISSN 0957-0233 Institutional support: RVO:67985882 Keywords : optical resonators * optical sensors * cavity ring-down spectroscopy Subject RIV: JA - Electronics ; Optoelectronics, Electrical Engineering Impact factor: 1.433, year: 2014

Non-spectroscopic surface plasmon sensor with a tunable sensitivity

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wen, Qiuling; Han, Xu; Hu, Chuang; Zhang, Jiasen

2015-01-01

We demonstrate a non-spectroscopic surface plasmon sensor with a tunable sensitivity which is based on the relationship between the wave number of surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) on metal film and the refractive index of the specimen in contact with the metal film. A change in the wave number of the SPPs results in a variation in the propagation angle of the leakage radiation of the SPPs. A reference light is used to interfere with the leakage radiation, and the refractive index of the specimen can be obtained by measuring the period of the interference fringes. The sensitivity of the sensor can be tuned by changing the incident direction of the reference light and this cannot be realized by conventional surface plasmon sensors. For a reference angle of 1.007°, the sensitivity and resolution of the sensor are 4629 μm/RIU (RIU stands for refractive index unit) and 3.6 × 10 −4 RIU, respectively. In addition, the sensor only needs a monochromatic light source, which simplifies the measurement setup and reduces the cost

Broadband cavity-enhanced absorption spectroscopy in the ultraviolet spectral region for measurements of nitrogen dioxide and formaldehyde

Science.gov (United States)

Washenfelder, R. A.; Attwood, A. R.; Flores, J. M.; Zarzana, K. J.; Rudich, Y.; Brown, S. S.

2016-01-01

Formaldehyde (CH2O) is the most abundant aldehyde in the atmosphere, and it strongly affects photochemistry through its photolysis. We describe simultaneous measurements of CH2O and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) using broadband cavity-enhanced absorption spectroscopy in the ultraviolet spectral region. The light source consists of a continuous-wave diode laser focused into a Xenon bulb to produce a plasma that emits high-intensity, broadband light. The plasma discharge is optically filtered and coupled into a 1 m optical cavity. The reflectivity of the cavity mirrors is 0.99930 ± 0.00003 (1- reflectivity = 700 ppm loss) at 338 nm, as determined from the known Rayleigh scattering of He and zero air. This mirror reflectivity corresponds to an effective path length of 1.43 km within the 1 m cell. We measure the cavity output over the 315-350 nm spectral region using a grating monochromator and charge-coupled device array detector. We use published reference spectra with spectral fitting software to simultaneously retrieve CH2O and NO2 concentrations. Independent measurements of NO2 standard additions by broadband cavity-enhanced absorption spectroscopy and cavity ring-down spectroscopy agree within 2 % (slope for linear fit = 1.02 ± 0.03 with r2 = 0.998). Standard additions of CH2O measured by broadband cavity-enhanced absorption spectroscopy and calculated based on flow dilution are also well correlated, with r2 = 0.9998. During constant mixed additions of NO2 and CH2O, the 30 s measurement precisions (1σ) of the current configuration were 140 and 210 pptv, respectively. The current 1 min detection limit for extinction measurements at 315-350 nm provides sufficient sensitivity for measurement of trace gases in laboratory experiments and ground-based field experiments. Additionally, the instrument provides highly accurate, spectroscopically based trace gas detection that may complement higher precision techniques based on non-absolute detection methods. In addition to

Effect of heater geometry and cavity volume on the sensitivity of a thermal convection-based tilt sensor

Science.gov (United States)

Han, Maeum; Keon Kim, Jae; Kong, Seong Ho; Kang, Shin-Won; Jung, Daewoong

2018-06-01

This paper reports a micro-electro-mechanical-system (MEMS)-based tilt sensor using air medium. Since the working mechanism of the sensor is the thermal convection in a sealed chamber, structural parameters that can affect thermal convection must be considered to optimize the performance of the sensor. This paper presents the experimental results that were conducted by optimizing several parameters such as the heater geometry, input power and cavity volume. We observed that an increase in the heating power and cavity volume can improve the sensitivity, and heater geometry plays important role in performance of the sensor.

Spectroscopic enhancement in nanoparticles embedded glasses

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sahar, M. R., E-mail: mrahim057@gmail.com; Ghoshal, S. K., E-mail: mrahim057@gmail.com [Advanced Optical Material Research Group, Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 81310, Skudai, Johor Bahru, Johor (Malaysia)

2014-09-25

This presentation provides an overview of the recent progress in the enhancement of the spectroscopic characteristics of the glass embedded with nanoparticles (NPs). Some of our research activities with few significantly new results are highlighted and facilely analyzed. The science and technology dealing with the manipulation of the physical properties of rare earth doped inorganic glasses by embedding metallic NPs or nanoclusters produce the so-called 'nanoglass'. Meanwhile, the spectroscopic enhancement relates the intensity of the luminescence measured at certain transition. The enhancement which expectedly due to the 'plasmonics wave' (referring to the coherent coupling of photons to free electron oscillations called plasmon) occurs at the interface between a conductor and a dielectric. Plasmonics being an emerging concept in advanced optical material of nanophotonics has given this material the ability to exploit the optical response at nanoscale and opened up a new avenue in metal-based glass optics. There is a vast array of plasmonic NPs concepts yet to be explored, with applications spanning solar cells, (bio) sensing, communications, lasers, solid-state lighting, waveguides, imaging, optical data transfer, display and even bio-medicine. Localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) can enhance the optical response of nanoglass by orders of magnitude as observed. The luminescence enhancement and surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) are new paradigm of research. The enhancement of luminescence due to the influence of metallic NPs is the recurring theme of this paper.

Plasmonic nano-sensor based on metal-dielectric-metal waveguide with the octagonal cavity ring

Science.gov (United States)

Ghorbani, Saeed; Dashti, Mohammad Ali; Jabbari, Masoud

2018-06-01

In this paper, a refractive index plasmonic sensor including a waveguide of metal–insulator–metal with side coupled octagonal cavity ring has been suggested. The sensory and transmission feature of the structure has been analyzed numerically using Finite Element Method numerical solution. The effect of coupling distance and changing the width of metal–insulator–metal waveguide and refractive index of the dielectric located inside octagonal cavity—which are the effective factors in determining the sensory feature—have been examined so completely that the results of the numerical simulation show a linear relation between the resonance wavelength and refractive index of the liquid/gas dielectric material inside the octagonal cavity ring. High sensitivity of the sensor in the resonance wavelength, simplicity and a compact geometry are the advantages of the refractive plasmonic sensor advised which make that possible to use it for designing high performance nano-sensor and bio-sensing devices.

Gain-assisted broadband ring cavity enhanced spectroscopy

Science.gov (United States)

Selim, Mahmoud A.; Adib, George A.; Sabry, Yasser M.; Khalil, Diaa

2017-02-01

Incoherent broadband cavity enhanced spectroscopy can significantly increase the effective path length of light-matter interaction to detect weak absorption lines over broad spectral range, for instance to detect gases in confined environments. Broadband cavity enhancement can be based on the decay time or the intensity drop technique. Decay time measurement is based on using tunable laser source that is expensive and suffers from long scan time. Intensity dependent measurement is usually reported based on broadband source using Fabry-Perot cavity, enabling short measurement time but suffers from the alignment tolerance of the cavity and the cavity insertion loss. In this work we overcome these challenges by using an alignment-free ring cavity made of an optical fiber loop and a directional coupler, while having a gain medium pumped below the lasing threshold to improve the finesse and reduce the insertion loss. Acetylene (C2H2) gas absorption is measured around 1535 nm wavelength using a semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA) gain medium. The system is analyzed for different ring resonator forward coupling coefficient and loses, including the 3-cm long gas cell insertion loss and fiber connector losses used in the experimental verification. The experimental results are obtained for a coupler ratio of 90/10 and a fiber length of 4 m. The broadband source is the amplified spontaneous emission of another SOA and the output is measured using a 70pm-resolution optical spectrum analyzer. The absorption depth and the effective interaction length are improved about an order of magnitude compared to the direct absorption of the gas cell. The presented technique provides an engineering method to improve the finesse and, consequently the effective length, while relaxing the technological constraints on the high reflectivity mirrors and free-space cavity alignment.

Molecular cavity optomechanics as a theory of plasmon-enhanced Raman scattering.

Science.gov (United States)

Roelli, Philippe; Galland, Christophe; Piro, Nicolas; Kippenberg, Tobias J

2016-02-01

The exceptional enhancement of Raman scattering by localized plasmonic resonances in the near field of metallic nanoparticles, surfaces or tips (SERS, TERS) has enabled spectroscopic fingerprinting down to the single molecule level. The conventional explanation attributes the enhancement to the subwavelength confinement of the electromagnetic field near nanoantennas. Here, we introduce a new model that also accounts for the dynamical nature of the plasmon-molecule interaction. We thereby reveal an enhancement mechanism not considered before: dynamical backaction amplification of molecular vibrations. We first map the system onto the canonical Hamiltonian of cavity optomechanics, in which the molecular vibration and the plasmon are parametrically coupled. We express the vacuum optomechanical coupling rate for individual molecules in plasmonic 'hot-spots' in terms of the vibrational mode's Raman activity and find it to be orders of magnitude larger than for microfabricated optomechanical systems. Remarkably, the frequency of commonly studied molecular vibrations can be comparable to or larger than the plasmon's decay rate. Together, these considerations predict that an excitation laser blue-detuned from the plasmon resonance can parametrically amplify the molecular vibration, leading to a nonlinear enhancement of Raman emission that is not predicted by the conventional theory. Our optomechanical approach recovers known results, provides a quantitative framework for the calculation of cross-sections, and enables the design of novel systems that leverage dynamical backaction to achieve additional, mode-selective enhancements. It also provides a quantum mechanical framework to analyse plasmon-vibrational interactions in terms of molecular quantum optomechanics.

Cavity enhanced eigenmode multiplexing for volume holographic data storage

Science.gov (United States)

Miller, Bo E.; Takashima, Yuzuru

2017-08-01

Previously, we proposed and experimentally demonstrated enhanced recording speeds by using a resonant optical cavity to semi-passively increase the reference beam power while recording image bearing holograms. In addition to enhancing the reference beam power the cavity supports the orthogonal reference beam families of its eigenmodes, which can be used as a degree of freedom to multiplex data pages and increase storage densities for volume Holographic Data Storage Systems (HDSS). While keeping the increased recording speed of a cavity enhanced reference arm, image bearing holograms are multiplexed by orthogonal phase code multiplexing via Hermite-Gaussian eigenmodes in a Fe:LiNbO3 medium with a 532 nm laser at two Bragg angles for expedited recording of four multiplexed holograms. We experimentally confirmed write rates are enhanced by an average factor of 1.1, and page crosstalk is about 2.5%. This hybrid multiplexing opens up a pathway to increase storage density while minimizing modifications to current angular multiplexing HDSS.

A Compact Microwave Microfluidic Sensor Using a Re-Entrant Cavity

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hayder Hamzah

2018-03-01

Full Text Available A miniaturized 2.4 GHz re-entrant cavity has been designed, manufactured and tested as a sensor for microfluidic compositional analysis. It has been fully evaluated experimentally with water and common solvents, namely methanol, ethanol, and chloroform, with excellent agreement with the expected behaviour predicted by the Debye model. The sensor’s performance has also been assessed for analysis of segmented flow using water and oil. The samples’ interaction with the electric field in the gap region has been maximized by aligning the sample tube parallel to the electric field in this region, and the small width of the gap (typically 1 mm result in a highly localised complex permittivity measurement. The re-entrant cavity has simple mechanical geometry, small size, high quality factor, and due to the high concentration of electric field in the gap region, a very small mode volume. These factors combine to result in a highly sensitive, compact sensor for both pure liquids and liquid mixtures in capillary or microfluidic environments.

Hybrid III-V/SOI resonant cavity enhanced photodetector

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Learkthanakhachon, Supannee; Taghizadeh, Alireza; Park, Gyeong Cheol

2016-01-01

A hybrid III–V/SOI resonant-cavity-enhanced photodetector (RCE-PD) structure comprising a high-contrast grating (HCG) reflector, a hybrid grating (HG) reflector, and an air cavity between them, has been proposed and investigated. In the proposed structure, a light absorbing material is integrated...... as part of the HG reflector, enabling a very compact vertical cavity. Numerical investigations show that a quantum efficiency close to 100 % and a detection linewidth of about 1 nm can be achieved, which are desirable for wavelength division multiplexing applications. Based on these results, a hybrid RCE...

Tunable photonic cavities for in-situ spectroscopic trace gas detection

Science.gov (United States)

Bond, Tiziana; Cole, Garrett; Goddard, Lynford

2012-11-13

Compact tunable optical cavities are provided for in-situ NIR spectroscopy. MEMS-tunable VCSEL platforms represents a solid foundation for a new class of compact, sensitive and fiber compatible sensors for fieldable, real-time, multiplexed gas detection systems. Detection limits for gases with NIR cross-sections such as O.sub.2, CH.sub.4, CO.sub.x and NO.sub.x have been predicted to approximately span from 10.sup.ths to 10s of parts per million. Exemplary oxygen detection design and a process for 760 nm continuously tunable VCSELS is provided. This technology enables in-situ self-calibrating platforms with adaptive monitoring by exploiting Photonic FPGAs.

Coherent cavity-enhanced dual-comb spectroscopy.

Science.gov (United States)

Fleisher, Adam J; Long, David A; Reed, Zachary D; Hodges, Joseph T; Plusquellic, David F

2016-05-16

Dual-comb spectroscopy allows for the rapid, multiplexed acquisition of high-resolution spectra without the need for moving parts or low-resolution dispersive optics. This method of broadband spectroscopy is most often accomplished via tight phase locking of two mode-locked lasers or via sophisticated signal processing algorithms, and therefore, long integration times of phase coherent signals are difficult to achieve. Here we demonstrate an alternative approach to dual-comb spectroscopy using two phase modulator combs originating from a single continuous-wave laser capable of > 2 hours of coherent real-time averaging. The dual combs were generated by driving the phase modulators with step-recovery diodes where each comb consisted of > 250 teeth with 203 MHz spacing and spanned > 50 GHz region in the near-infrared. The step-recovery diodes are passive devices that provide low-phase-noise harmonics for efficient coupling into an enhancement cavity at picowatt optical powers. With this approach, we demonstrate the sensitivity to simultaneously monitor ambient levels of CO2, CO, HDO, and H2O in a single spectral region at a maximum acquisition rate of 150 kHz. Robust, compact, low-cost and widely tunable dual-comb systems could enable a network of distributed multiplexed optical sensors.

Resonant cavity enhanced multi-analyte sensing

Science.gov (United States)

Bergstein, David Alan

Biological research and medicine increasingly depend on interrogating binding interactions among small segments of DNA, RNA, protein, and bio-specific small molecules. Microarray technology, which senses the affinity for target molecules in solution for a multiplicity of capturing agents fixed to a surface, has been used in biological research for gene expression profiling and in medicine for molecular biomarker detection. Label-free affinity sensing is preferable as it avoids fluorescent labeling of the target molecules, reducing test cost and variability. The Resonant Cavity Imaging Biosensor (RCIB) is a label-free optical inference based technique introduced that scales readily to high throughput and employs an optical resonant cavity to enhance sensitivity by a factor of 100 or more. Near-infrared light centered at 1512.5 nm couples resonantly through a cavity constructed from Si/SiO2 Bragg reflectors, one of which serves as the binding surface. As the wavelength is swept 5 nm, an Indium-Gallium-Arsenide digital camera monitors cavity transmittance at each pixel with resolution 128 x 128. A wavelength shift in the local resonant response of the optical cavity indicates binding. Positioning the sensing surface with respect to the standing wave pattern of the electric field within the cavity, one can control the sensitivity of the measurement to the presence of bound molecules thereby enhancing or suppressing sensitivity where appropriate. Transmitted intensity at thousands of pixel locations are recorded simultaneously in a 10 s, 5 nm scan. An initial proof-of-principle setup was constructed. A sample was fabricated with 25, 100 mum wide square regions, each with a different density of 1 mum square depressions etched 12 nm into the S1O 2 surface. The average depth of each etched region was found with 0.05 nm RMS precision when the sample remains loaded in the setup and 0.3 nm RMS precision when the sample is removed and replaced. Selective binding of the protein

Noise-Immune Cavity-Enhanced Optical Frequency Comb Spectroscopy

Science.gov (United States)

Rutkowski, Lucile; Khodabakhsh, Amir; Johanssson, Alexandra C.; Foltynowicz, Aleksandra

2015-06-01

We present noise-immune cavity-enhanced optical frequency comb spectroscopy (NICE-OFCS), a recently developed technique for sensitive, broadband, and high resolution spectroscopy. In NICE-OFCS an optical frequency comb (OFC) is locked to a high finesse cavity and phase-modulated at a frequency precisely equal to (a multiple of) the cavity free spectral range. Since each comb line and sideband is transmitted through a separate cavity mode in exactly the same way, any residual frequency noise on the OFC relative to the cavity affects each component in an identical manner. The transmitted intensity contains a beat signal at the modulation frequency that is immune to frequency-to-amplitude noise conversion by the cavity, in a way similar to continuous wave noise-immune cavity-enhanced optical heterodyne molecular spectroscopy (NICE-OHMS). The light transmitted through the cavity is detected with a fast-scanning Fourier-transform spectrometer (FTS) and the NICE-OFCS signal is obtained by fast Fourier transform of the synchronously demodulated interferogram. Our NICE-OFCS system is based on an Er:fiber femtosecond laser locked to a cavity with a finesse of ˜9000 and a fast-scanning FTS equipped with a high-bandwidth commercial detector. We measured NICE-OFCS signals from the 3νb{1}+νb{3} overtone band of CO_2 around 1.57 μm and achieved absorption sensitivity 6.4×10-11cm-1 Hz-1/2 per spectral element, corresponding to a minimum detectable CO_2 concentration of 25 ppb after 330 s integration time. We will describe the principles of the technique and its technical implementation, and discuss the spectral lineshapes of the NICE-OFCS signals. A. Khodabakhsh, C. Abd Alrahman, and A. Foltynowicz, Opt. Lett. 39, 5034-5037 (2014). J. Ye, L. S. Ma, and J. L. Hall, J. Opt. Soc. Am. B 15, 6-15 (1998). A. Khodabakhsh, A. C. Johansson, and A. Foltynowicz, Appl. Phys. B (2015) doi:10.1007/s00340-015-6010-7.

Enhanced spectroscopic gas sensors using in-situ grown carbon nanotubes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

De Luca, A.; Cole, M. T.; Milne, W. I. [Department of Engineering, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB3 0FA (United Kingdom); Hopper, R. H.; Boual, S.; Ali, S. Z. [Cambridge CMOS Sensors Ltd., Deanland House, 160 Cowley Road, Cambridge CB4 0DL (United Kingdom); Warner, J. H.; Robertson, A. R. [Department of Materials, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3PH (United Kingdom); Udrea, F. [Department of Engineering, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB3 0FA (United Kingdom); Cambridge CMOS Sensors Ltd., Deanland House, 160 Cowley Road, Cambridge CB4 0DL (United Kingdom); Gardner, J. W. [School of Engineering, University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7AL (United Kingdom)

2015-05-11

In this letter, we present a fully complementary-metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) compatible microelectromechanical system thermopile infrared (IR) detector employing vertically aligned multi-walled carbon nanotubes (CNT) as an advanced nano-engineered radiation absorbing material. The detector was fabricated using a commercial silicon-on-insulator (SOI) process with tungsten metallization, comprising a silicon thermopile and a tungsten resistive micro-heater, both embedded within a dielectric membrane formed by a deep-reactive ion etch following CMOS processing. In-situ CNT growth on the device was achieved by direct thermal chemical vapour deposition using the integrated micro-heater as a micro-reactor. The growth of the CNT absorption layer was verified through scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and Raman spectroscopy. The functional effects of the nanostructured ad-layer were assessed by comparing CNT-coated thermopiles to uncoated thermopiles. Fourier transform IR spectroscopy showed that the radiation absorbing properties of the CNT adlayer significantly enhanced the absorptivity, compared with the uncoated thermopile, across the IR spectrum (3 μm–15.5 μm). This led to a four-fold amplification of the detected infrared signal (4.26 μm) in a CO{sub 2} non-dispersive-IR gas sensor system. The presence of the CNT layer was shown not to degrade the robustness of the uncoated devices, whilst the 50% modulation depth of the detector was only marginally reduced by 1.5 Hz. Moreover, we find that the 50% normalized absorption angular profile is subsequently more collimated by 8°. Our results demonstrate the viability of a CNT-based SOI CMOS IR sensor for low cost air quality monitoring.

Different optical properties in different periodic slot cavity geometrical morphologies

Science.gov (United States)

Zhou, Jing; Shen, Meng; Du, Lan; Deng, Caisong; Ni, Haibin; Wang, Ming

2016-09-01

In this paper, optical properties of two-dimensional periodic annular slot cavity arrays in hexagonal close-packing on a silica substrate are theoretically characterized by finite difference time domain (FDTD) simulation method. By simulating reflectance spectra, electric field distribution, and charge distribution, we confirm that multiple cylindrical surface plasmon resonances can be excited in annular inclined slot cavities by linearly polarized light, in which the four reflectance dips are attributed to Fabry-Perot cavity resonances in the coaxial cavity. A coaxial waveguide mode TE11 will exist in these annular cavities, and the wavelengths of these reflectance dips are effectively tailored by changing the geometrical pattern of slot cavity and the dielectric materials filled in the cavities. These resonant wavelengths are localized in annular cavities with large electric field enhancement and dissipate gradually due to metal loss. The formation of an absorption peak can be explained from the aspect of phase matching conditions. We observed that the proposed structure can be tuned over the broad spectral range of 600-4000 nm by changing the outer and inner radii of the annular gaps, gap surface topography. Meanwhile, different lengths of the cavity may cause the shift of resonance dips. Also, we study the field enhancement at different vertical locations of the slit. In addition, dielectric materials filling in the annular gaps will result in a shift of the resonance wavelengths, which make the annular cavities good candidates for refractive index sensors. The refractive index sensitivity of annular cavities can also be tuned by the geometry size and the media around the cavity. Annular cavities with novel applications can be implied as surface enhanced Raman spectra substrates, refractive index sensors, nano-lasers, and optical trappers. Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 61178044), the Natural Science Foundation

Evaluation of microwave cavity gas sensor for in-vessel monitoring of dry cask storage systems

Science.gov (United States)

Bakhtiari, S.; Gonnot, T.; Elmer, T.; Chien, H.-T.; Engel, D.; Koehl, E.; Heifetz, A.

2018-04-01

Results are reported of research activities conducted at Argonne to assess the viability of microwave resonant cavities for extended in-vessel monitoring of dry cask storage system (DCSS) environment. One of the gases of concern to long-term storage in canisters is water vapor, which appears due to evaporation of residual moisture from incompletely dried fuel assembly. Excess moisture could contribute to corrosion and deterioration of components inside the canister, which would in turn compromise maintenance and safe transportation of such systems. Selection of the sensor type in this work was based on a number of factors, including good sensitivity, fast response time, small form factor and ruggedness of the probing element. A critical design constraint was the capability to mount and operate the sensor using the existing canister penetrations-use of existing ports for thermocouple lances. Microwave resonant cavities operating at select resonant frequency matched to the rotational absorption line of the molecule of interest offer the possibility of highly sensitive detection. In this study, two prototype K-band microwave cylindrical cavities operating at TE01n resonant modes around the 22 GHz water absorption line were developed and tested. The sensors employ a single port for excitation and detection and a novel dual-loop inductive coupling for optimized excitation of the resonant modes. Measurement of the loaded and unloaded cavity quality factor was obtained from the S11 parameter. The acquisition and real-time analysis of data was implemented using software based tools developed for this purpose. The results indicate that the microwave humidity sensors developed in this work could be adapted to in-vessel monitoring applications that require few parts-per-million level of sensitivity. The microwave sensing method for detection of water vapor can potentially be extended to detection of radioactive fission gases leaking into the interior of the canister through

Surface enhanced Raman scattering spectroscopic waveguide

Science.gov (United States)

Lascola, Robert J; McWhorter, Christopher S; Murph, Simona H

2015-04-14

A waveguide for use with surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy is provided that includes a base structure with an inner surface that defines a cavity and that has an axis. Multiple molecules of an analyte are capable of being located within the cavity at the same time. A base layer is located on the inner surface of the base structure. The base layer extends in an axial direction along an axial length of an excitation section. Nanoparticles are carried by the base layer and may be uniformly distributed along the entire axial length of the excitation section. A flow cell for introducing analyte and excitation light into the waveguide and a method of applying nanoparticles may also be provided.

Highly Sensitive Reentrant Cavity-Microstrip Patch Antenna Integrated Wireless Passive Pressure Sensor for High Temperature Applications

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fei Lu

2017-01-01

Full Text Available A novel reentrant cavity-microstrip patch antenna integrated wireless passive pressure sensor was proposed in this paper for high temperature applications. The reentrant cavity was analyzed from aspects of distributed model and equivalent lumped circuit model, on the basis of which an optimal sensor structure integrated with a rectangular microstrip patch antenna was proposed to better transmit/receive wireless signals. In this paper, the proposed sensor was fabricated with high temperature resistant alumina ceramic and silver metalization with weld sealing, and it was measured in a hermetic metal tank with nitrogen pressure loading. It was verified that the sensor was highly sensitive, keeping stable performance up to 300 kPa with an average sensitivity of 981.8 kHz/kPa at temperature 25°C, while, for high temperature measurement, the sensor can operate properly under pressure of 60–120 kPa in the temperature range of 25–300°C with maximum pressure sensitivity of 179.2 kHz/kPa. In practical application, the proposed sensor is used in a method called table lookup with a maximum error of 5.78%.

A cavity ring-down spectroscopy sensor for real-time Hall thruster erosion measurements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, B. C.; Huang, W.; Tao, L.; Yamamoto, N.; Yalin, A. P.; Gallimore, A. D.

2014-01-01

A continuous-wave cavity ring-down spectroscopy sensor for real-time measurements of sputtered boron from Hall thrusters has been developed. The sensor uses a continuous-wave frequency-quadrupled diode laser at 250 nm to probe ground state atomic boron sputtered from the boron nitride insulating channel. Validation results from a controlled setup using an ion beam and target showed good agreement with a simple finite-element model. Application of the sensor for measurements of two Hall thrusters, the H6 and SPT-70, is described. The H6 was tested at power levels ranging from 1.5 to 10 kW. Peak boron densities of 10 ± 2 × 10 14 m −3 were measured in the thruster plume, and the estimated eroded channel volume agreed within a factor of 2 of profilometry. The SPT-70 was tested at 600 and 660 W, yielding peak boron densities of 7.2 ± 1.1 × 10 14 m −3 , and the estimated erosion rate agreed within ∼20% of profilometry. Technical challenges associated with operating a high-finesse cavity in the presence of energetic plasma are also discussed

Chemo-spectroscopic sensor for carboxyl terminus overexpressed in carcinoma cell membrane.

Science.gov (United States)

Stanca, Sarmiza E; Matthäus, Christian; Neugebauer, Ute; Nietzsche, Sandor; Fritzsche, Wolfgang; Dellith, Jan; Heintzmann, Rainer; Weber, Karina; Deckert, Volker; Krafft, Christoph; Popp, Jürgen

2015-10-01

Certain carboxyl groups of the plasma membrane are involved in tumorgenesis processes. A gold core-hydroxyapatite shell (AuHA) nanocomposite is introduced as chemo-spectroscopic sensor to monitor these carboxyl groups of the cell membrane. Hydroxyapatite (HA) plays the role both of a chemical detector and of a biocompatible Raman marker. The principle of detection is based on chemical interaction between the hydroxyl groups of the HA and the carboxyl terminus of the proteins. The AuHA exhibits a surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) signal at 954 cm(-1) which can be used for its localization. The bio-sensing capacity of AuHA towards human skin epidermoid carcinoma (A431) and Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cell lines is investigated using Raman microspectroscopic imaging. The localization of AuHA on cells is correlated with scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy and structured illumination fluorescence microscopy. This qualitative approach is a step towards a quantitative study of the proteins terminus. This method would enable further studies on the molecular profiling of the plasma membrane, in an attempt to provide accurate cell identification. Using a gold core-hydroxyapatite shell (AuHA) nanocomposite, the authors in this paper showed the feasibility of detecting and differentiating cell surface molecules by surface enhanced Raman scattering. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Mid-Infrared Tunable Resonant Cavity Enhanced Detectors

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hans Zogg

2008-09-01

Full Text Available Mid-infrared detectors that are sensitive only in a tunable narrow spectral band are presented. They are based on the Resonant Cavity Enhanced Detector (RCED principle and employing a thin active region using IV-VI narrow gap semiconductor layers. A Fabry-Pérot cavity is formed by two mirrors. The active layer is grown onto one mirror, while the second mirror can be displaced. This changes the cavity length thus shifting the resonances where the detector is sensitive. Using electrostatically actuated MEMS micromirrors, a very compact tunable detector system has been fabricated. Mirror movements of more than 3 μm at 30V are obtained. With these mirrors, detectors with a wavelength tuning range of about 0.7 μm have been realized. Single detectors can be used in mid-infrared micro spectrometers, while a detector arrangement in an array makes it possible to realize Adaptive Focal Plane Arrays (AFPA.

Cavity Ring-down Spectroscopic System And Method

KAUST Repository

Alquaity, Awad Bin Saud

2015-05-14

A system and method for cavity ring-down spectroscopy can include a pulsed quantum cascade laser, an optical ring-down cavity, a photodetector, and an oscilloscope. The system and method can produce pulse widths of less than 200 ns with bandwidths greater than 300 pm, as well as provide temporal resolution of greater than 10 .mu.s.

Cavity Ring-down Spectroscopic System And Method

KAUST Repository

Alquaity, Awad Bin Saud; Farooq, Aamir

2015-01-01

A system and method for cavity ring-down spectroscopy can include a pulsed quantum cascade laser, an optical ring-down cavity, a photodetector, and an oscilloscope. The system and method can produce pulse widths of less than 200 ns with bandwidths greater than 300 pm, as well as provide temporal resolution of greater than 10 .mu.s.

Sensitivity Enhancement of FBG-Based Strain Sensor.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Ruiya; Chen, Yiyang; Tan, Yuegang; Zhou, Zude; Li, Tianliang; Mao, Jian

2018-05-17

A novel fiber Bragg grating (FBG)-based strain sensor with a high-sensitivity is presented in this paper. The proposed FBG-based strain sensor enhances sensitivity by pasting the FBG on a substrate with a lever structure. This typical mechanical configuration mechanically amplifies the strain of the FBG to enhance overall sensitivity. As this mechanical configuration has a high stiffness, the proposed sensor can achieve a high resonant frequency and a wide dynamic working range. The sensing principle is presented, and the corresponding theoretical model is derived and validated. Experimental results demonstrate that the developed FBG-based strain sensor achieves an enhanced strain sensitivity of 6.2 pm/με, which is consistent with the theoretical analysis result. The strain sensitivity of the developed sensor is 5.2 times of the strain sensitivity of a bare fiber Bragg grating strain sensor. The dynamic characteristics of this sensor are investigated through the finite element method (FEM) and experimental tests. The developed sensor exhibits an excellent strain-sensitivity-enhancing property in a wide frequency range. The proposed high-sensitivity FBG-based strain sensor can be used for small-amplitude micro-strain measurement in harsh industrial environments.

Enhancing forensic science with spectroscopic imaging

Science.gov (United States)

Ricci, Camilla; Kazarian, Sergei G.

2006-09-01

This presentation outlines the research we are developing in the area of Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopic imaging with the focus on materials of forensic interest. FTIR spectroscopic imaging has recently emerged as a powerful tool for characterisation of heterogeneous materials. FTIR imaging relies on the ability of the military-developed infrared array detector to simultaneously measure spectra from thousands of different locations in a sample. Recently developed application of FTIR imaging using an ATR (Attenuated Total Reflection) mode has demonstrated the ability of this method to achieve spatial resolution beyond the diffraction limit of infrared light in air. Chemical visualisation with enhanced spatial resolution in micro-ATR mode broadens the range of materials studied with FTIR imaging with applications to pharmaceutical formulations or biological samples. Macro-ATR imaging has also been developed for chemical imaging analysis of large surface area samples and was applied to analyse the surface of human skin (e.g. finger), counterfeit tablets, textile materials (clothing), etc. This approach demonstrated the ability of this imaging method to detect trace materials attached to the surface of the skin. This may also prove as a valuable tool in detection of traces of explosives left or trapped on the surfaces of different materials. This FTIR imaging method is substantially superior to many of the other imaging methods due to inherent chemical specificity of infrared spectroscopy and fast acquisition times of this technique. Our preliminary data demonstrated that this methodology will provide the means to non-destructive detection method that could relate evidence to its source. This will be important in a wider crime prevention programme. In summary, intrinsic chemical specificity and enhanced visualising capability of FTIR spectroscopic imaging open a window of opportunities for counter-terrorism and crime-fighting, with applications ranging

5-μm vertical external-cavity surface-emitting laser (VECSEL) for spectroscopic applications

Science.gov (United States)

Rahim, M.; Khiar, A.; Felder, F.; Fill, M.; Zogg, H.; Sigrist, M. W.

2010-08-01

Mid-IR tunable VECSELs (Vertical External-Cavity Surface-Emitting Lasers) emitting at 4-7 μm wavelengths and suitable for spectroscopic sensing applications are described. They are realized with lead-chalcogenide (IV-VI) narrow band gap materials. The active part, a single 0.6-2-μm thick PbTe or PbSe gain layer, is grown onto an epitaxial Bragg mirror consisting of two or three Pb1- y Eu y Te/BaF2 quarter-wavelength layer pairs. All layers are deposited by MBE in a single run employing a BaF2 or Si substrate, no further processing is needed. The cavity is completed with an external curved top mirror, which is again realized with an epitaxial Bragg structure. Pumping is performed optically with a 1.5-μm laser. Maximum output power for pulsed operation is currently up to >1 Wp at -173°C and >10 mW at 10°C. In continuous wave (CW) operation, 18 mW at 100 K are reached. Still higher operating temperatures and/or powers are expected with better heat-removal structures and better designs employing QW (Quantum-Wells). Advantages of mid-IR VECSELs compared to edge-emitting lasers are their very good beam quality (circular beam with 15 μm are accessible with Pb1- y X y Z (X=Sr, Eu, Sn, Z=Se, Te) and/or including QW.

Cavity-enhanced eigenmode and angular hybrid multiplexing in holographic data storage systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Miller, Bo E; Takashima, Yuzuru

2016-12-26

Resonant optical cavities have been demonstrated to improve energy efficiencies in Holographic Data Storage Systems (HDSS). The orthogonal reference beams supported as cavity eigenmodes can provide another multiplexing degree of freedom to push storage densities toward the limit of 3D optical data storage. While keeping the increased energy efficiency of a cavity enhanced reference arm, image bearing holograms are multiplexed by orthogonal phase code multiplexing via Hermite-Gaussian eigenmodes in a Fe:LiNbO3 medium with a 532 nm laser at two Bragg angles. We experimentally confirmed write rates are enhanced by an average factor of 1.1, and page crosstalk is about 2.5%. This hybrid multiplexing opens up a pathway to increase storage density while minimizing modification of current angular multiplexing HDSS.

Method of absorbance correction in a spectroscopic heating value sensor

Science.gov (United States)

Saveliev, Alexei; Jangale, Vilas Vyankatrao; Zelepouga, Sergeui; Pratapas, John

2013-09-17

A method and apparatus for absorbance correction in a spectroscopic heating value sensor in which a reference light intensity measurement is made on a non-absorbing reference fluid, a light intensity measurement is made on a sample fluid, and a measured light absorbance of the sample fluid is determined. A corrective light intensity measurement at a non-absorbing wavelength of the sample fluid is made on the sample fluid from which an absorbance correction factor is determined. The absorbance correction factor is then applied to the measured light absorbance of the sample fluid to arrive at a true or accurate absorbance for the sample fluid.

Investigation of various cavity configurations for metamaterial-enhanced field-localizing wireless power transfer

Science.gov (United States)

Bui, Huu Nguyen; Pham, Thanh Son; Ngo, Viet; Lee, Jong-Wook

2017-09-01

Controlling power to an unintended area is an important issue for enabling wireless power transfer (WPT) systems. The control allows us to enhance efficiency as well as suppress unnecessary flux leakage. The flux leakage from WPT can be reduced effectively via selective field localization. To realize field localization, we propose the use of cavities formed on a single metamaterial slab that acts as a defected metasurface. The cavity is formed by strong field confinement using a hybridization bandgap (HBG), which is created by wave interaction with a two-dimensional array of local resonators on the metasurface. This approach using an HBG demonstrates strong field localization around the cavity regions. Motivated by this result, we further investigate various cavity configurations for different sizes of the transmitter (Tx) and receiver (Rx) resonators. Experiments show that the area of field localization increases with the number of cavities, confirming the successful control of different cavity configurations on the metasurface. Transmission measurements of different cavities show that the number of cavities is an important parameter for efficiency, and excess cavities do not enhance the efficiency but increase unnecessary power leakage. Thus, there exists an optimum number of cavities for a given size ratio between the Tx and Rx resonators. For a 6:1 size ratio, this approach achieves efficiency improvements of 3.69× and 1.59× compared to free space and a uniform metasurface, respectively. For 10:1 and 10:2 size ratios, the efficiency improvements are 3.26× and 1.98× compared to free space and a uniform metasurface, respectively.

On-chip spectroscopy with thermally tuned high-Q photonic crystal cavities

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Liapis, Andreas C., E-mail: andreas.liapis@gmail.com; Gao, Boshen; Siddiqui, Mahmudur R. [The Institute of Optics, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York 14627 (United States); Shi, Zhimin [Department of Physics, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida 33620 (United States); Boyd, Robert W. [The Institute of Optics, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York 14627 (United States); Department of Physics and School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario K1N 6N5 (Canada)

2016-01-11

Spectroscopic methods are a sensitive way to determine the chemical composition of potentially hazardous materials. Here, we demonstrate that thermally tuned high-Q photonic crystal cavities can be used as a compact high-resolution on-chip spectrometer. We have used such a chip-scale spectrometer to measure the absorption spectra of both acetylene and hydrogen cyanide in the 1550 nm spectral band and show that we can discriminate between the two chemical species even though the two materials have spectral features in the same spectral region. Our results pave the way for the development of chip-size chemical sensors that can detect toxic substances.

Surface-enhanced Raman scattering of amorphous silica gel adsorbed on gold substrates for optical fiber sensors

Science.gov (United States)

Degioanni, S.; Jurdyc, A. M.; Cheap, A.; Champagnon, B.; Bessueille, F.; Coulm, J.; Bois, L.; Vouagner, D.

2015-10-01

Two kinds of gold substrates are used to produce surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) of amorphous silica obtained via the sol-gel route using tetraethoxysilane Si(OC2H5)4 (TEOS) solution. The first substrate consists of a gold nanometric film elaborated on a glass slide by sputter deposition, controlling the desired gold thickness and sputtering current intensity. The second substrate consists of an array of micrometer-sized gold inverted pyramidal pits able to confine surface plasmon (SP) enhancing electric field, which results in a distribution of electromagnetic energy inside the cavities. These substrates are optically characterized to observe SPR with, respectively, extinction and reflectance spectrometries. Once coated with thin layers of amorphous silica (SiO2) gel, these samples show Raman amplification of amorphous SiO2 bands. This enhancement can occur in SERS sensors using amorphous SiO2 gel as shells, spacers, protective coatings, or waveguides, and represents particularly a potential interest in the field of Raman distributed sensors, which use the amorphous SiO2 core of optical fibers as a transducer to make temperature measurements.

Cavity-enhanced resonant tunneling photodetector at telecommunication wavelengths

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pfenning, Andreas; Hartmann, Fabian; Langer, Fabian; Höfling, Sven; Kamp, Martin; Worschech, Lukas

2014-01-01

An AlGaAs/GaAs double barrier resonant tunneling diode (RTD) with a nearby lattice-matched GaInNAs absorption layer was integrated into an optical cavity consisting of five and seven GaAs/AlAs layers to demonstrate cavity enhanced photodetection at the telecommunication wavelength 1.3 μm. The samples were grown by molecular beam epitaxy and RTD-mesas with ring-shaped contacts were fabricated. Electrical and optical properties were investigated at room temperature. The detector shows maximum photocurrent for the optical resonance at a wavelength of 1.29 μm. At resonance a high sensitivity of 3.1×10 4 A/W and a response up to several pA per photon at room temperature were found

Theoretical evaluation of a mechanism of precipitate-enhanced cavity swelling during irradiation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mansur, L.K.

1981-03-01

It is often observed experimentally in complex alloys such as the austenitic stainless steels that the largest cavities produced during irradiation are attached to second phase precipitate particles. One hypothesis that such observations suggest is that the precipitate-matrix interface may assist in the collection of irradiation-produced point defects which are channelled to the attached cavities. A theoretical analysis is developed to evaluate this mechanism. It is found that the growth of cavities attached to precipitates is increased compared to the growth of cavities in the matrix. The relative growth rates of the two types of cavities are also affected by differences in bias and differences in sink strength. The relationships required to evaluate these effects are developed and the consequences of enhanced point defect collection are explored in some detail

Lead salt resonant cavity enhanced detector with MEMS mirror

Science.gov (United States)

Felder, F.; Fill, M.; Rahim, M.; Zogg, H.; Quack, N.; Blunier, S.; Dual, J.

2010-01-01

We describe a tunable resonant cavity enhanced detector (RCED) for the mid-infrared employing narrow gap lead-chalcogenide (IV-VI) layers on a Si substrate. The device consists of an epitaxial Bragg reflector layer, a thin p-n+ heterojunction with PbSrTe as detecting layer and a micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS) micromirror as second mirror. Despite the thin absorber layer the sensitivity is even higher than for a conventional detector. Tunability is achieved by changing the cavity length with a vertically movable MEMS mirror. The device may be used as miniature infrared spectrometer to cover the spectral range from 30 μm.

Spectroscopically Enhanced Method and System for Multi-Factor Biometric Authentication

Science.gov (United States)

Pishva, Davar

This paper proposes a spectroscopic method and system for preventing spoofing of biometric authentication. One of its focus is to enhance biometrics authentication with a spectroscopic method in a multifactor manner such that a person's unique ‘spectral signatures’ or ‘spectral factors’ are recorded and compared in addition to a non-spectroscopic biometric signature to reduce the likelihood of imposter getting authenticated. By using the ‘spectral factors’ extracted from reflectance spectra of real fingers and employing cluster analysis, it shows how the authentic fingerprint image presented by a real finger can be distinguished from an authentic fingerprint image embossed on an artificial finger, or molded on a fingertip cover worn by an imposter. This paper also shows how to augment two widely used biometrics systems (fingerprint and iris recognition devices) with spectral biometrics capabilities in a practical manner and without creating much overhead or inconveniencing their users.

Enhancing optical nonreciprocity by an atomic ensemble in two coupled cavities

Science.gov (United States)

Song, L. N.; Wang, Z. H.; Li, Yong

2018-05-01

We study the optical nonreciprocal propagation in an optical molecule of two coupled cavities with one of them interacting with a two-level atomic ensemble. The effect of increasing the number of atoms on the optical isolation ratio of the system is studied. We demonstrate that the significant nonlinearity supplied by the coupling of the atomic ensemble with the cavity leads to the realization of greatly-enhanced optical nonreciprocity compared with the case of single atom.

Temperature Sensitivity of an Atomic Vapor Cell-Based Dispersion-Enhanced Optical Cavity

Science.gov (United States)

Myneni, K.; Smith, D. D.; Chang, H.; Luckay, H. A.

2015-01-01

Enhancement of the response of an optical cavity to a change in optical path length, through the use of an intracavity fast-light medium, has previously been demonstrated experimentally and described theoretically for an atomic vapor cell as the intracavity resonant absorber. This phenomenon may be used to enhance both the scale factor and sensitivity of an optical cavity mode to the change in path length, e.g. in gyroscopic applications. We study the temperature sensitivity of the on-resonant scale factor enhancement, S(sub o), due to the thermal sensitivity of the lower-level atom density in an atomic vapor cell, specifically for the case of the Rb-87 D(sub 2) transition. A semi-empirical model of the temperature-dependence of the absorption profile, characterized by two parameters, a(sub o)(T) and gamma(sub a)(T) allows the temperature-dependence of the cavity response, S(sub o)(T) and dS(sub o)/dT to be predicted over a range of temperature. We compare the predictions to experiment. Our model will be useful in determining the useful range for S(sub o), given the practical constraints on temperature stability for an atomic vapor cell.

A hybrid polarization-selective atomic sensor for radio-frequency field detection with a passive resonant-cavity field amplifier

OpenAIRE

Anderson, David A.; Paradis, Eric G.; Raithel, Georg

2018-01-01

We present a hybrid atomic sensor that realizes radio-frequency electric field detection with intrinsic field amplification and polarization selectivity for robust high-sensitivity field measurement. The hybrid sensor incorporates a passive resonator element integrated with an atomic vapor cell that provides amplification and polarization selectivity for detection of incident radio-frequency fields. The amplified intra-cavity radio-frequency field is measured by atoms using a quantum-optical ...

UV plasmonic enhancement through three dimensional nano-cavity antenna array in aluminum

Science.gov (United States)

Mao, Jieying; Stevenson, Peter; Montanaric, Danielle; Wang, Yunshan; Shumaker-Parry, Jennifer S.; Harris, Joel M.; Blair, Steve

2017-08-01

Metallic nanostructure can enhance fluorescence through excited surface plasmons which increase the local field as well as improve its quantum efficiency. When coupling to cavity resonance with proper gap dimension, gap hot spots can be generated to interact with fluorescence at their excitation/emission region in UV. A 3D nano-cavity antenna array in Aluminum has been conducted to generate local hot spot resonant at fluorescence emission resonance. Giant field enhancement has been achieved through coupling fundamental resonance modes of nanocavity into surface plasmons polaritons (SPPs). In this work, two distinct plasmonic structure of 3D resonant cavity nanoantenna has been studied and its plasmonic response has been scaled down to the UV regime through finite-difference-time-domain (FDTD) method. Two different strategies for antenna fabrication will be conducted to obtain D-coupled Dots-on-Pillar Antenna array (D2PA) through Focus Ion Beam (FIB) and Cap- Hole Pair Antenna array (CHPA) through nanosphere template lithography (NTL). With proper optimization of the structures, D2PA and CHPA square array with 280nm pitch have achieved distinct enhancement at fluorophore emission wavelength 350nm and excitation wavelength 280nm simultaneously. Maximum field enhancement can reach 20 and 65 fold in the gap of D2PA and CHPA when light incident from substrate, which is expected to greatly enhance fluorescent quantum efficiency that will be confirmed in fluorescence lifetime measurement.

Controlling surface adsorption to enhance the selectivity of porphyrin based gas sensors

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Evyapan, M., E-mail: mevyapan@gmail.com [Department of Physics, University of Balikesir, Balikesir, 10145 (Turkey); Chemical and Biological Engineering, University of Sheffield, Mappin Building, S1 3JD (United Kingdom); Dunbar, A.D.F. [Chemical and Biological Engineering, University of Sheffield, Mappin Building, S1 3JD (United Kingdom)

2016-01-30

specific ratios in order to control the selectivity of the resulting barrier layers. Spectroscopic Ellipsometry (SE) and Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) measurements were carried out to analyze the structure of the porous barrier layers. It was found that the orientation of the calix[8]arene molecules was well controlled within the Langmuir layers such that molecular ring lies flat on the EHO layers when deposited. However, the calix[6]arene and calix[4]arene molecules were quite not so reliably oriented. The sensor films (with and without the addition of the different selective barrier layers) were exposed to various carboxylic acid vapors. More specifically, acetic acid, butyric acid and hexanoic acid were chosen due to their different molecular sizes. The uncovered EHO films were highly sensitive to all the carboxylic acids. The porosity of the barrier layers which influences their selectivity was investigated by changing the size of the acid molecules. Upon deposition of a barrier layer on top of EHO film the sensing response rate and magnitude were changed depending on both the barrier layer structure and molecular size of the analyte vapor. The optical sensing results show that by controlling the size of the pores in the barrier layer it can be used as a size selective layer which limits the diffusion of analyte molecules into the sensor and in extreme cases stopping the diffusion completely. Therefore the selectivity of this sensor system has been enhanced by adding a controllable barrier layer. The enhanced sensors have been used to differentiate between acetic, butyric and hexanoic acids.

Utilizing an open-microcavity optoacoustic sensor for spectroscopic determination of methemoglobin concentration

Science.gov (United States)

Peterson, Ralph W.; Kadugodinandareddy, Kavya; Karunakaran, Vinitha; Whitney, Casey; Ling, Jian; Ye, Jing Yong

2015-03-01

We present a simple, non-destructive photoacoustic spectroscopy method utilizing a unique open-microcavity optoacoustic sensor to measure the concentration ratio of Methemoglobin (MetHb) in an optically scattering medium. Elevated levels of MetHb, present for example in the blood disorder Methemeglobinemia, cannot be detected by conventional pulse oximetry, and may result in inaccurate arterial oxygen saturation measurements. Samples with different ratios of Oxygenated Hemoglobin (HbO2), Deoxygenated Hemoglobin (HHb), and MetHb were obtained and mixed with nanoscale latex beads to present an optical scattering effect. Polymer encapsulated hemoglobin (PEH) samples were also studied. A sample chamber containing 20 μL of each sample was positioned directly underneath our patented optoacoustic sensor. Unlike a piezoelectric transducer, our optoacoustic sensor allows an excitation laser beam from an OPO laser to pass through and be absorbed by the sample to produce a photoacoustic signal. The cavity layer of the optoacoustic sensor is exposed directly to the resulting ultrasound signal, which causes an intensity modulation of a HeNe laser that is used to monitor the resonance condition of the sensor. A probe laser beam is total internally reflected off of the sensor and detected with a fiber-coupled APD detector. Three wavelengths are chosen for our excitation laser based on the absorption peaks and isobestic points of HHb, HbO2, and MetHb. Using established values of the molar extinction coefficients of HbO2, HHb, and MetHb a set of three simultaneous equations can be solved to accurately determine the concentration ratio of MetHb.

Copper spherical cavity arrays: Fluorescence enhancement in PFO films

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Spada, Edna R., E-mail: edspada@gmail.com [Instituto de Física de São Carlos, Universidade de São Paulo, Caixa Postal 369, 13560-970, São Carlos, SP (Brazil); Valente, Gustavo T.; Pereira-da-Silva, Marcelo A. [Instituto de Física de São Carlos, Universidade de São Paulo, Caixa Postal 369, 13560-970, São Carlos, SP (Brazil); Sartorelli, Maria L. [Departamento de Física, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Caixa Postal 476, 88040-900, Florianópolis, SC (Brazil); Guimarães, Francisco E.G.; Faria, Roberto M. [Instituto de Física de São Carlos, Universidade de São Paulo, Caixa Postal 369, 13560-970, São Carlos, SP (Brazil)

2017-01-15

This manuscript addresses the use of a well-ordered antidot copper nanostructure as a active substrate for surface enhancement fluorescence (SEF). The antidot array was produced by electrodeposition and nanosphere lithography and characterized by microscopy technique, its successful application as SEF-active substrates was verified using polyfluorene (PFO) as a probe layer. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) was used to evaluate the regularity of the metal surface as well PFO coated process and confocal laser fluorescence microscopy (CLSM) to determine the behavior exhibited by the fluorescent layer due to the existence of the nanostructured surface. No accumulation PFO in the cavities was detected and the more intense emission regions coincides with the position of the cavities and is at about one order of magnitude higher.

On-chip plasmonic cavity-enhanced spontaneous emission rate at the zero-phonon line

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Siampour, Hamidreza; Kumar, Shailesh; Bozhevolnyi, Sergey I.

Highly confined surface plasmon polariton (SPP) modes can be utilized to enhance light-matter interaction at the single emitter level of quantum optical systems [1-4]. Dielectric-loaded SPP waveguides (DLSPPWs) confine SPPs laterally with relatively low propagation loss, enabling to benefit both ...... and an up to 42-fold spontaneous emission rate enhancement at the zero-phonon line (a ∼7-fold resonance enhancement in addition to a ∼6-fold broadband enhancement) is achieved, revealing the potential of our approach for on-chip realization of quantum-optical networks....... from a large Purcell factor and from a large radiative efficiency (low quenching rates) [1, 2]. In this work, we present a DLSPPW-based Bragg cavity resonator to direct emission from a single diamond nitrogen vacancy (NV) center into the zero-phonon line (Fig. 1). A quality factor of ∼70 for the cavity...

Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering Using Silica Whispering-Gallery Mode Resonators

Science.gov (United States)

Anderson, Mark S.

2013-01-01

The motivation of this work was to have robust spectroscopic sensors for sensitive detection and chemical analysis of organic and molecular compounds. The solution is to use silica sphere optical resonators to provide surface-enhanced spectroscopic signal. Whispering-gallery mode (WGM) resonators made from silica microspheres were used for surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) without coupling to a plasmonic mechanism. Large Raman signal enhancement is observed by exclusively using 5.08-micron silica spheres with 785-nm laser excitation. The advantage of this non-plasmonic approach is that the active substrate is chemically inert silica, thermally stable, and relatively simple to fabricate. The Raman signal enhancement is broadly applicable to a wide range of molecular functional groups including aliphatic hydrocarbons, siloxanes, and esters. Applications include trace organic analysis, particularly for in situ planetary instruments that require robust sensors with consistent response.

Resonant cavity enhanced light harvesting in flexible thin-film organic solar cells

KAUST Repository

Sergeant, Nicholas P.

2013-04-24

Dielectric/metal/dielectric (DMD) electrodes have the potential to significantly increase the absorption efficiency and photocurrent in flexible organic solar cells. We demonstrate that this enhancement is attributed to a broadband cavity resonance. Silver-based semitransparent DMD electrodes with sheet resistances below 10 ohm/sq. are fabricated on flexible polyethylene terephthalate (PET) substrates in a high-throughput roll-to-roll sputtering tool. We carefully study the effect of the semitransparent DMD electrode (here composed of ZnxSnyOz/Ag/InxSn yOz) on the optical device performance of a copper phthalocyanine (CuPc)/fullerene (C60) bilayer cell and illustrate that a resonant cavity enhanced light trapping effect dominates the optical behavior of the device. © 2013 Optical Society of America.

High Quality Plasmonic Sensors Based on Fano Resonances Created through Cascading Double Asymmetric Cavities.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Xiangao; Shao, Mingzhen; Zeng, Xiaoqi

2016-10-18

In this paper, a type of compact nanosensor based on a metal-insulator-metal structure is proposed and investigated through cascading double asymmetric cavities, in which their metal cores shift along different axis directions. The cascaded asymmetric structure exhibits high transmission and sharp Fano resonance peaks via strengthening the mutual coupling of the cavities. The research results show that with the increase of the symmetry breaking in the structure, the number of Fano resonances increase accordingly. Furthermore, by modulating the geometrical parameters appropriately, Fano resonances with high sensitivities to the changes in refractive index can be realized. A maximum figure of merit (FoM) value of 74.3 is obtained. Considerable applications for this work can be found in bio/chemical sensors with excellent performance and other nanophotonic integrated circuit devices such as optical filters, switches and modulators.

High Quality Plasmonic Sensors Based on Fano Resonances Created through Cascading Double Asymmetric Cavities

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xiangao Zhang

2016-10-01

Full Text Available In this paper, a type of compact nanosensor based on a metal-insulator-metal structure is proposed and investigated through cascading double asymmetric cavities, in which their metal cores shift along different axis directions. The cascaded asymmetric structure exhibits high transmission and sharp Fano resonance peaks via strengthening the mutual coupling of the cavities. The research results show that with the increase of the symmetry breaking in the structure, the number of Fano resonances increase accordingly. Furthermore, by modulating the geometrical parameters appropriately, Fano resonances with high sensitivities to the changes in refractive index can be realized. A maximum figure of merit (FoM value of 74.3 is obtained. Considerable applications for this work can be found in bio/chemical sensors with excellent performance and other nanophotonic integrated circuit devices such as optical filters, switches and modulators.

Molecularly imprinted sensor based on Russian Matryoshka structured molecules for enhanced specific identification and double amplification in ultra-trace Tb3+ determination.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Jianping; Yang, Bin; Pan, Hongcheng; Xu, Guobao

2018-06-30

The selective and sensitive detection of rare earth elements is thought to be difficult because the concentration of those elements in the sample is commonly at a low level and they normally have severe mutual interference which is caused by homologous chemical properties. In this study, a novel molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) sensor was fabricated for highly sensitive and selective determination of ultra-trace Tb 3+ . The Tb 3+ -ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid complex (Tb-EDTA) as the template molecule was incorporated into mono-6-mercapto-β-cyclodextrin (mono-6-SH-β-CD) to form a Russian Matryoshka (RM)-structured molecule (CD/Tb-EDTA). Titanium isopropoxide was utilized in vapor sol-gel polymerization to construct MIP membrane. Moreover, the selectivity of the RM MIP sensor was remarkably enhanced by the "triple-selectivity" recognition of EDTA-to-Tb 3+ , β-CD-to-(Tb-EDTA), and 3D cavity-to-(CD/Tb-EDTA), while the sensitivity of the MIP sensor was significantly improved by ECL signal enhancement based on double amplification, in other words, the electrochemiluminescence resonance energy transfer (ECL-RET) between the ECL donor of CD/Tb-EDTA and the ECL acceptor of Ru(bpy) 3 2+ , and the ECL enhancement by the co-reactant of CD/Tb-EDTA on Ru(bpy) 3 Cl 2 . When the imprinted cavities were occupied by Tb-EDTA during rebinding, the host-guest inclusion structured complex was formed and the ECL intensities produced by the Ru(bpy) 3 Cl 2 ECL system increased with increasing concentration of Tb-EDTA. The proposed sensor was used for quantitative analysis of Tb 3+ with concentrations ranging from 8.00 × 10 -13 mol/L to 4.00 × 10 -9 mol/L and successfully applied to detect Tb 3+ in seawater samples. The detection limit of the sensor was found to be 3.90 × 10 -13 mol/L (DL = 3δ b /K), which is lower than previously reported values. Thus, the fabricated sensor is feasible for practical applications. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights

The Enhanced Formaldehyde-Sensing Properties of P3HT-ZnO Hybrid Thin Film OTFT Sensor and Further Insight into Its Stability

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Huiling Tai

2015-01-01

Full Text Available A thin-film transistor (TFT having an organic–inorganic hybrid thin film combines the advantage of TFT sensors and the enhanced sensing performance of hybrid materials. In this work, poly(3-hexylthiophene (P3HT-zinc oxide (ZnO nanoparticles’ hybrid thin film was fabricated by a spraying process as the active layer of TFT for the employment of a room temperature operated formaldehyde (HCHO gas sensor. The effects of ZnO nanoparticles on morphological and compositional features, electronic and HCHO-sensing properties of P3HT-ZnO thin film were systematically investigated. The results showed that P3HT-ZnO hybrid thin film sensor exhibited considerable improvement of sensing response (more than two times and reversibility compared to the pristine P3HT film sensor. An accumulation p-n heterojunction mechanism model was developed to understand the mechanism of enhanced sensing properties by incorporation of ZnO nanoparticles. X-ray photoelectron spectroscope (XPS and atomic force microscopy (AFM characterizations were used to investigate the stability of the sensor in-depth, which reveals the performance deterioration was due to the changes of element composition and the chemical state of hybrid thin film surface induced by light and oxygen. Our study demonstrated that P3HT-ZnO hybrid thin film TFT sensor is beneficial in the advancement of novel room temperature HCHO sensing technology.

Magnetic field mapping for HIE-ISOLDE cavities

CERN Document Server

Bianchi, Antonio

2015-01-01

In this report the importance of a magnetic field mapping (B-mapping) around the HIE-ISOLDE superconducting cavities is described. In fact the cavities are not always above the HIE-ISOLDE specification, so it is important to understand the reason of their bad performances and improve them. For doing the B-mapping, the supports for three fluxgate sensors are designed and manufactured. The material of the supports is PEEK: a proper thermoplastic for the extreme operation conditions of the cavities. According to simulation of behavior of external magnetic field, an initial configuration of the sensors is proposed for the first measurements, in order to get the extent of Meissner effect around the superconducting cavities.

Quantum-Noise-Limited Sensitivity Enhancement of a Passive Optical Cavity by a Fast-Light Medium

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, David D.; Luckay, H. A.; Chang, Hongrok; Myneni, Krishna

2016-01-01

We demonstrate for a passive optical cavity containing a dispersive atomic medium, the increase in scale factor near the critical anomalous dispersion is not cancelled by mode broadening or attenuation, resulting in an overall increase in the predicted quantum-noise-limited sensitivity. Enhancements of over two orders of magnitude are measured in the scale factor, which translates to greater than an order-of-magnitude enhancement in the predicted quantum-noise-limited measurement precision, by temperature tuning a low-pressure vapor of non-interacting atoms in a low-finesse cavity close to the critical anomalous dispersion condition. The predicted enhancement in sensitivity is confirmed through Monte-Carlo numerical simulations.

Quantum-Noise-Limited Sensitivity-Enhancement of a Passive Optical Cavity by a Fast-Light Medium

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, David D.; Luckay, H. A.; Chang, Hongrok; Myneni, Krishna

2016-01-01

We demonstrate for a passive optical cavity containing an intracavity dispersive atomic medium, the increase in scale factor near the critical anomalous dispersion is not cancelled by mode broadening or attenuation, resulting in an overall increase in the predicted quantum-noiselimited sensitivity. Enhancements of over two orders of magnitude are measured in the scale factor, which translates to greater than an order-of-magnitude enhancement in the predicted quantumnoise- limited measurement precision, by temperature tuning a low-pressure vapor of noninteracting atoms in a low-finesse cavity close to the critical anomalous dispersion condition. The predicted enhancement in sensitivity is confirmed through Monte-Carlo numerical simulations.

Fiber-linked interferometric pressure sensor

Science.gov (United States)

Beheim, G.; Fritsch, K.; Poorman, R. N.

1987-01-01

A fiber-optic pressure sensor is described which uses a diaphragm to modulate the mirror separation of a Fabry-Perot cavity (the sensing cavity). A multimode optical fiber delivers broadband light to the sensing cavity and returns the spectrally modulated light which the cavity reflects. The sensor's output spectrum is analyzed using a tunable Fabry-Perot cavity (the reference cavity) to determine the mismatch in the mirror separations of the two cavities. An electronic servo control uses this result to cause the mirror separation of the reference cavity to equal that of the sensing cavity. The displacement of the pressure-sensing diaphragm is then obtained by measuring the capacitance of the reference cavity's metal-coated mirrors. Relative to other fiber-optic sensors, an important advantage of this instrument is its high immunity to the effects of variations in both the transmissivity of the fiber link and the wavelength of the optical source.

III-V-on-Silicon Photonic Integrated Circuits for Spectroscopic Sensing in the 2-4 μm Wavelength Range.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Ruijun; Vasiliev, Anton; Muneeb, Muhammad; Malik, Aditya; Sprengel, Stephan; Boehm, Gerhard; Amann, Markus-Christian; Šimonytė, Ieva; Vizbaras, Augustinas; Vizbaras, Kristijonas; Baets, Roel; Roelkens, Gunther

2017-08-04

The availability of silicon photonic integrated circuits (ICs) in the 2-4 μm wavelength range enables miniature optical sensors for trace gas and bio-molecule detection. In this paper, we review our recent work on III-V-on-silicon waveguide circuits for spectroscopic sensing in this wavelength range. We first present results on the heterogeneous integration of 2.3 μm wavelength III-V laser sources and photodetectors on silicon photonic ICs for fully integrated optical sensors. Then a compact 2 μm wavelength widely tunable external cavity laser using a silicon photonic IC for the wavelength selective feedback is shown. High-performance silicon arrayed waveguide grating spectrometers are also presented. Further we show an on-chip photothermal transducer using a suspended silicon-on-insulator microring resonator used for mid-infrared photothermal spectroscopy.

Cavity-Type DNA Origami-Based Plasmonic Nanostructures for Raman Enhancement.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhao, Mengzhen; Wang, Xu; Ren, Shaokang; Xing, Yikang; Wang, Jun; Teng, Nan; Zhao, Dongxia; Liu, Wei; Zhu, Dan; Su, Shao; Shi, Jiye; Song, Shiping; Wang, Lihua; Chao, Jie; Wang, Lianhui

2017-07-05

DNA origami has been established as addressable templates for site-specific anchoring of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs). Given that AuNPs are assembled by charged DNA oligonucleotides, it is important to reduce the charge repulsion between AuNPs-DNA and the template to realize high yields. Herein, we developed a cavity-type DNA origami as templates to organize 30 nm AuNPs, which formed dimer and tetramer plasmonic nanostructures. Transmission electron microscopy images showed that high yields of dimer and tetramer plasmonic nanostructures were obtained by using the cavity-type DNA origami as the template. More importantly, we observed significant Raman signal enhancement from molecules covalently attached to the plasmonic nanostructures, which provides a new way to high-sensitivity Raman sensing.

Dual-recycled cavity-enhanced Michelson interferometer for gravitational-wave detection.

Science.gov (United States)

Müller, Guido; Delker, Tom; Tanner, David B; Reitze, David

2003-03-01

The baseline design for an Advanced Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (Advanced LIGO) is a dual-recycled Michelson interferometer with cavities in each of the Michelson interferometer arms. We describe one possible length-sensing and control scheme for such a dual-recycled, cavity-enhanced Michelson interferometer. We discuss the principles of this scheme and derive the first-order sensing signals. We also present a successful experimental verification of our length-sensing system using a prototype tabletop interferometer. Our results demonstrate the robustness of the scheme against deviations from the idealized design. We also identify potential weaknesses and discuss possible improvements. These results as well as other benchtop experiments that we present form the basis for a sensing and control scheme for Advanced LIGO.

Pump-probe differencing technique for cavity-enhanced, noise-canceling saturation laser spectroscopy.

Science.gov (United States)

de Vine, Glenn; McClelland, David E; Gray, Malcolm B; Close, John D

2005-05-15

We present an experimental technique that permits mechanical-noise-free, cavity-enhanced frequency measurements of an atomic transition and its hyperfine structure. We employ the 532-nm frequency-doubled output from a Nd:YAG laser and an iodine vapor cell. The cell is placed in a folded ring cavity (FRC) with counterpropagating pump and probe beams. The FRC is locked with the Pound-Drever-Hall technique. Mechanical noise is rejected by differencing the pump and probe signals. In addition, this differenced error signal provides a sensitive measure of differential nonlinearity within the FRC.

Cavity Ring-Down Absorption of O2 in Air as a Temperature Sensor for an Open and a Cryogenic Optical Cavity.

Science.gov (United States)

Nyaupane, Parashu R; Perez-Delgado, Yasnahir; Camejo, David; Wright, Lesley M; Manzanares, Carlos E

2017-05-01

The A-band of oxygen has been measured at low resolution at temperatures between 90 K and 373 K using the phase shift cavity ring down (PS-CRD) technique. For temperatures between 90 K and 295 K, the PS-CRD technique presented here involves an optical cavity attached to a cryostat. The static cell and mirrors of the optical cavity are all inside a vacuum chamber at the same temperature of the cryostat. The temperature of the cell can be changed between 77 K and 295 K. For temperatures above 295 K, a hollow glass cylindrical tube without windows has been inserted inside an optical cavity to measure the temperature of air flowing through the tube. The cavity consists of two highly reflective mirrors which are mounted parallel to each other and separated by a distance of 93 cm. In this experiment, air is passed through a heated tube. The temperature of the air flowing through the tube is determined by measuring the intensity of the oxygen absorption as a function of the wavenumber. The A-band of oxygen is measured between 298 K and 373 K, with several air flow rates. To obtain the temperature, the energy of the lower rotational state for seven selected rotational transitions is linearly fitted to a logarithmic function that contains the relative intensity of the rotational transition, the initial and final rotational quantum numbers, and the energy of the transition. Accuracy of the temperature measurement is determined by comparing the calculated temperature from the spectra with the temperature obtained from a calibrated thermocouple inserted at the center of the tube. This flowing air temperature sensor will be used to measure the temperatures of cooling air at the input (cold air) and output (hot air) after cooling the blades of a laboratory gas turbine. The results could contribute to improvements in turbine blade cooling design.

Recent Advances and Applications of External Cavity-QCLs towards Hyperspectral Imaging for Standoff Detection and Real-Time Spectroscopic Sensing of Chemicals

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ralf Ostendorf

2016-05-01

Full Text Available External-cavity quantum cascade lasers (EC-QCL are now established as versatile wavelength-tunable light sources for analytical spectroscopy in the mid-infrared (MIR spectral range. We report on the realization of rapid broadband spectral tuning with kHz scan rates by combining a QCL chip with a broad gain spectrum and a resonantly driven micro-opto-electro-mechanical (MOEMS scanner with an integrated diffraction grating in Littrow configuration. The capability for real-time spectroscopic sensing based on MOEMS EC-QCLs is demonstrated by transmission measurements performed on polystyrene reference absorber sheets, as well as on hazardous substances, such as explosives. Furthermore, different applications for the EC-QCL technology in spectroscopic sensing are presented. These include the fields of process analysis with on- or even inline capability and imaging backscattering spectroscopy for contactless identification of solid and liquid contaminations on surfaces. Recent progress in trace detection of explosives and related precursors in relevant environments as well as advances in food quality monitoring by discriminating fresh and mold contaminated peanuts based on their MIR backscattering spectrum is shown.

Cavity-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy for Food Chain Management

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vincenz Sandfort

2018-02-01

Full Text Available Comprehensive food chain management requires the monitoring of many parameters including temperature, humidity, and multiple gases. The latter is highly challenging because no low-cost technology for the simultaneous chemical analysis of multiple gaseous components currently exists. This contribution proposes the use of cavity enhanced Raman spectroscopy to enable online monitoring of all relevant components using a single laser source. A laboratory scale setup is presented and characterized in detail. Power enhancement of the pump light is achieved in an optical resonator with a Finesse exceeding 2500. A simulation for the light scattering behavior shows the influence of polarization on the spatial distribution of the Raman scattered light. The setup is also used to measure three relevant showcase gases to demonstrate the feasibility of the approach, including carbon dioxide, oxygen and ethene.

Machine learning enhanced optical distance sensor

Science.gov (United States)

Amin, M. Junaid; Riza, N. A.

2018-01-01

Presented for the first time is a machine learning enhanced optical distance sensor. The distance sensor is based on our previously demonstrated distance measurement technique that uses an Electronically Controlled Variable Focus Lens (ECVFL) with a laser source to illuminate a target plane with a controlled optical beam spot. This spot with varying spot sizes is viewed by an off-axis camera and the spot size data is processed to compute the distance. In particular, proposed and demonstrated in this paper is the use of a regularized polynomial regression based supervised machine learning algorithm to enhance the accuracy of the operational sensor. The algorithm uses the acquired features and corresponding labels that are the actual target distance values to train a machine learning model. The optimized training model is trained over a 1000 mm (or 1 m) experimental target distance range. Using the machine learning algorithm produces a training set and testing set distance measurement errors of learning. Applications for the proposed sensor include industrial scenario distance sensing where target material specific training models can be generated to realize low <1% measurement error distance measurements.

Oriented Edge-Based Feature Descriptor for Multi-Sensor Image Alignment and Enhancement

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Myung-Ho Ju

2013-10-01

Full Text Available In this paper, we present an efficient image alignment and enhancement method for multi-sensor images. The shape of the object captured in a multi-sensor images can be determined by comparing variability of contrast using corresponding edges across multi-sensor image. Using this cue, we construct a robust feature descriptor based on the magnitudes of the oriented edges. Our proposed method enables fast image alignment by identifying matching features in multi-sensor images. We enhance the aligned multi-sensor images through the fusion of the salient regions from each image. The results of stitching the multi-sensor images and their enhancement demonstrate that our proposed method can align and enhance multi-sensor images more efficiently than previous methods.

Composite cavity based fiber optic Fabry–Perot strain sensors demodulated by an unbalanced fiber optic Michelson interferometer with an electrical scanning mirror

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang, Jianzhong; Yang, Jun; Sun, Weimin; Yuan, Libo; Jin, Wencai; Peng, G D

2008-01-01

A composite cavity based fiber optic Fabry–Perot strain sensor system, interrogated by a white light source and demodulated by an unbalanced fiber optic Michelson interferometer with an electrical scanning mirror, is proposed and demonstrated. Comparing with the traditional extrinsic fiber optic Fabry–Perot strain sensor, the potential multiplexing capability and the dynamic measurement range are improved simultaneously. At the same time, the measurement stability of the electrical scanning mirror system is improved by the self-referenced signal of the sensor structure

Analysis of a four-mirror-cavity enhanced Michelson interferometer.

Science.gov (United States)

Thüring, André; Lück, Harald; Danzmann, Karsten

2005-12-01

We investigate the shot-noise-limited sensitivity of a four-mirror-cavity enhanced Michelson interferometer. The intention of this interferometer topology is the reduction of thermal lensing and the impact of the interferometers contrast although transmissive optics are used with high circulating powers. The analytical expressions describing the light fields and the frequency response are derived. Although the parameter space has 11 dimensions, a detailed analysis of the resonance feature gives boundary conditions allowing systematic parameter studies.

Crescent shaped Fabry-Perot fiber cavity for ultra-sensitive strain measurement

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Ye; Wang, D. N.; Chen, W. P.

2016-12-01

Optical Fabry-Perot interferometer sensors based on inner air-cavity is featured with compact size, good robustness and high strain sensitivity, especially when an ultra-thin air-cavity is adopted. The typical shape of Fabry-Perot inner air-cavity with reflection mode of operation is elliptic, with minor axis along with and major axis perpendicular to the fiber length. The first reflection surface is diverging whereas the second one is converging. To increase the visibility of the output interference pattern, the length of major axis should be large for a given cavity length. However, the largest value of the major axis is limited by the optical fiber diameter. If the major axis length reaches the fiber diameter, the robustness of the Fabry-Perot cavity device would be decreased. Here we demonstrate an ultra-thin crescent shaped Fabry-Perot cavity for strain sensing with ultra-high sensitivity and low temperature cross-sensitivity. The crescent-shape cavity consists of two converging reflection surfaces, which provide the advantages of enhanced strain sensitivity when compared with elliptic or D-shaped FP cavity. The device is fabricated by fusion splicing an etched multimode fiber with a single mode fiber, and hence is simple in structure and economic in cost.

Manipulating the wavelength-drift of a Tm laser for resonance enhancement in an intra-cavity pumped Ho laser.

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Haizhou; Huang, Jianhong; Liu, Huagang; Li, Jinhui; Lin, Zixiong; Ge, Yan; Dai, Shutao; Deng, Jing; Lin, Wenxiong

2018-03-05

We demonstrate an enhancement mechanism and thermal model for intra-cavity pumped lasers, where resonance enhancement in intra-cavity pumped Ho laser was achieved by manipulating the wavelength-drift nature of the Tm laser for the first time. Optical conversion efficiency of 37.5% from an absorbed 785 nm diode laser to a Ho laser was obtained with a maximum output power of 7.51 W at 2122 nm, which is comparable to the conversion efficiency in 1.9 μm LD pumped Ho lasers. Meanwhile, more severe thermal effects in the Ho-doped gain medium than the Tm-doped one at high power operation were verified based on the built thermal model. This work benefits the design or evaluation of intra-cavity pumped lasers, and the resonance enhancement originated from the difference in reabsorption loss between stark levels at the lasing manifolds of quasi-three-level rare-earth ions has great interest to improve the existing intra-cavity pumped lasers or explore novel lasers.

Tunable Resonant-Cavity-Enhanced Photodetector with Double High-Index-Contrast Grating Mirrors

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Learkthanakhachon, Supannee; Yvind, Kresten; Chung, Il-Sug

2013-01-01

In this paper, we propose a broadband-tunable resonant-cavity-enhanced photodetector (RCE-PD) structure with double high-index-contrast grating (HCG) mirrors and numerically investigate its characteristics. The detector is designed to operate at 1550-nm wavelength. The detector structure consists....... Furthermore, the fact that it can be fabricated on a silicon platform offers us a possibility of integration with electronics.......In this paper, we propose a broadband-tunable resonant-cavity-enhanced photodetector (RCE-PD) structure with double high-index-contrast grating (HCG) mirrors and numerically investigate its characteristics. The detector is designed to operate at 1550-nm wavelength. The detector structure consists...... of a top InP HCG mirror, a p-i-n photodiode embedding multiple quantum wells, and a Si HCG mirror formed in the Si layer of a silicon-on-insulator wafer. The detection wavelength can be changed by moving the top InP HCG mirror suspended in the air. High reflectivity and small penetration length of HCGs...

Enhancing the sensitivity of mid-IR quantum cascade laser-based cavity-enhanced absorption spectroscopy using RF current perturbation.

Science.gov (United States)

Manfred, Katherine M; Kirkbride, James M R; Ciaffoni, Luca; Peverall, Robert; Ritchie, Grant A D

2014-12-15

The sensitivity of mid-IR quantum cascade laser (QCL) off-axis cavity-enhanced absorption spectroscopy (CEAS), often limited by cavity mode structure and diffraction losses, was enhanced by applying a broadband RF noise to the laser current. A pump-probe measurement demonstrated that the addition of bandwidth-limited white noise effectively increased the laser linewidth, thereby reducing mode structure associated with CEAS. The broadband noise source offers a more sensitive, more robust alternative to applying single-frequency noise to the laser. Analysis of CEAS measurements of a CO(2) absorption feature at 1890  cm(-1) averaged over 100 ms yielded a minimum detectable absorption of 5.5×10(-3)  Hz(-1/2) in the presence of broadband RF perturbation, nearly a tenfold improvement over the unperturbed regime. The short acquisition time makes this technique suitable for breath applications requiring breath-by-breath gas concentration information.

III–V-on-Silicon Photonic Integrated Circuits for Spectroscopic Sensing in the 2–4 μm Wavelength Range

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Ruijun; Vasiliev, Anton; Muneeb, Muhammad; Malik, Aditya; Sprengel, Stephan; Boehm, Gerhard; Amann, Markus-Christian; Šimonytė, Ieva; Vizbaras, Augustinas; Vizbaras, Kristijonas; Baets, Roel; Roelkens, Gunther

2017-01-01

The availability of silicon photonic integrated circuits (ICs) in the 2–4 μm wavelength range enables miniature optical sensors for trace gas and bio-molecule detection. In this paper, we review our recent work on III–V-on-silicon waveguide circuits for spectroscopic sensing in this wavelength range. We first present results on the heterogeneous integration of 2.3 μm wavelength III–V laser sources and photodetectors on silicon photonic ICs for fully integrated optical sensors. Then a compact 2 μm wavelength widely tunable external cavity laser using a silicon photonic IC for the wavelength selective feedback is shown. High-performance silicon arrayed waveguide grating spectrometers are also presented. Further we show an on-chip photothermal transducer using a suspended silicon-on-insulator microring resonator used for mid-infrared photothermal spectroscopy. PMID:28777291

Porous photonic crystal external cavity laser biosensor

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Huang, Qinglan [Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois 61801 (United States); Peh, Jessie; Hergenrother, Paul J. [Department of Chemistry, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois 61801 (United States); Cunningham, Brian T. [Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois 61801 (United States); Department of Bioengineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois 61801 (United States)

2016-08-15

We report the design, fabrication, and testing of a photonic crystal (PC) biosensor structure that incorporates a porous high refractive index TiO{sub 2} dielectric film that enables immobilization of capture proteins within an enhanced surface-area volume that spatially overlaps with the regions of resonant electromagnetic fields where biomolecular binding can produce the greatest shifts in photonic crystal resonant wavelength. Despite the nanoscale porosity of the sensor structure, the PC slab exhibits narrowband and high efficiency resonant reflection, enabling the structure to serve as a wavelength-tunable element of an external cavity laser. In the context of sensing small molecule interactions with much larger immobilized proteins, we demonstrate that the porous structure provides 3.7× larger biosensor signals than an equivalent nonporous structure, while the external cavity laser (ECL) detection method provides capability for sensing picometer-scale shifts in the PC resonant wavelength caused by small molecule binding. The porous ECL achieves a record high figure of merit for label-free optical biosensors.

Enhanced chemical weapon warning via sensor fusion

Science.gov (United States)

Flaherty, Michael; Pritchett, Daniel; Cothren, Brian; Schwaiger, James

2011-05-01

Torch Technologies Inc., is actively involved in chemical sensor networking and data fusion via multi-year efforts with Dugway Proving Ground (DPG) and the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA). The objective of these efforts is to develop innovative concepts and advanced algorithms that enhance our national Chemical Warfare (CW) test and warning capabilities via the fusion of traditional and non-traditional CW sensor data. Under Phase I, II, and III Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) contracts with DPG, Torch developed the Advanced Chemical Release Evaluation System (ACRES) software to support non real-time CW sensor data fusion. Under Phase I and II SBIRs with DTRA in conjunction with the Edgewood Chemical Biological Center (ECBC), Torch is using the DPG ACRES CW sensor data fuser as a framework from which to develop the Cloud state Estimation in a Networked Sensor Environment (CENSE) data fusion system. Torch is currently developing CENSE to implement and test innovative real-time sensor network based data fusion concepts using CW and non-CW ancillary sensor data to improve CW warning and detection in tactical scenarios.

Cascaded-cavity Fabry-Perot interferometer for simultaneous measurement of temperature and strain with cross-sensitivity compensation

Science.gov (United States)

Tian, Jiajun; Jiao, Yuzhu; Ji, Shaobo; Dong, Xiaolong; Yao, Yong

2018-04-01

We propose and demonstrate a fiber sensor for simultaneous temperature and strain measurements. The proposed sensor is implemented by a cascaded-cavity Fabry-Perot (FP) fiber interferometer. The two cascaded FP cavities comprise a micro-air-cavity in a hollow-core tube fiber and a micro-silica-cavity in a standard single-mode fiber. To separate the interference spectrum of each FP cavity, the total spectrum is filtered in the frequency domain through band-pass filters, whose central frequencies were predesigned based on the relationship between the spatial frequency and free spectral range of each FP cavity. The different cross-sectional areas and thermal-optic coefficients of the two FP cavities confer different sensitivities to temperature and strain. Both parameters were measured simultaneously by tracking the wavelength shifts in the filtered interference spectra of the FP cavities. Moreover, the temperature-strain cross-sensitivity was compensated by solving a sensitivity-coefficient matrix equation for the two cavities, using the calibrated temperatures and strains. Other advantages of the proposed sensor are simple fabrication and an all-fiber structure. Owing to these properties, the proposed sensor is potentially applicable to real sensing applications.

Thumb-size ultrasonic-assisted spectroscopic imager for in-situ glucose monitoring as optional sensor of conventional dialyzers

Science.gov (United States)

Nogo, Kosuke; Mori, Keita; Qi, Wei; Hosono, Satsuki; Kawashima, Natsumi; Nishiyama, Akira; Wada, Kenji; Ishimaru, Ichiro

2016-03-01

We proposed the ultrasonic-assisted spectroscopic imaging for the realization of blood-glucose-level monitoring during dialytic therapy. Optical scattering and absorption caused by blood cells deteriorate the detection accuracy of glucose dissolved in plasma. Ultrasonic standing waves can agglomerate blood cells at nodes. In contrast, around anti-node regions, the amount of transmitted light increases because relatively clear plasma appears due to decline the number of blood cells. Proposed method can disperse the transmitted light of plasma without time-consuming pretreatment such as centrifugation. To realize the thumb-size glucose sensor which can be easily attached to dialysis tubes, an ultrasonic standing wave generator and a spectroscopic imager are required to be small. Ultrasonic oscillators are ∅30[mm]. A drive circuit of oscillators, which now size is 41×55×45[mm], is expected to become small. The trial apparatus of proposed one-shot Fourier spectroscopic imager, whose size is 30×30×48[mm], also can be little-finger size in principal. In the experiment, we separated the suspension mixed water and micro spheres (Θ10[mm) into particles and liquid regions with the ultrasonic standing wave (frequency: 2[MHz]). Furthermore, the spectrum of transmitted light through the suspension could be obtained in visible light regions with a white LED.

Towards passive and active laser stabilization using cavity-enhanced atomic interaction

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Schäffer, Stefan Alaric; Christensen, Bjarke Takashi Røjle; Rathmann, Stefan Mossor

2017-01-01

Ultra stable frequency references such as the ones used in optical atomic clocks and for quantum metrology may be obtained by stabilizing a laser to an optical cavity that is stable over time. State-of-the-art frequency references are constructed in this way, but their stabilities are currently...... experimental efforts derived from these proposals, to use cavity-enhanced interaction with atomic 88Sr samples as a frequency reference for laser stabilization. Such systems can be realized using both passive and active approaches where either the atomic phase response is used as an error signal, or the narrow...... atomic transition itself is used as a source for a spectrally pure laser. Both approaches shows the promise of being able to compete with the current state of the art in stable lasers and have similar limitations on their ultimately achievable linewidths [1, 2]....

Application of Cavity Enhanced Absorption Spectroscopy to the Detection of Nitric Oxide, Carbonyl Sulphide, and Ethane—Breath Biomarkers of Serious Diseases

Science.gov (United States)

Wojtas, Jacek

2015-01-01

The paper presents one of the laser absorption spectroscopy techniques as an effective tool for sensitive analysis of trace gas species in human breath. Characterization of nitric oxide, carbonyl sulphide and ethane, and the selection of their absorption lines are described. Experiments with some biomarkers showed that detection of pathogenic changes at the molecular level is possible using this technique. Thanks to cavity enhanced spectroscopy application, detection limits at the ppb-level and short measurements time (ethane, respectively. The conducted experiments show that this type of diagnosis would significantly increase chances for effective therapy of some diseases. Additionally, it offers non-invasive and real time measurements, high sensitivity and selectivity as well as minimizing discomfort for patients. For that reason, such sensors can be used in screening for early detection of serious diseases. PMID:26091398

A spectroscopic transfer standard for accurate atmospheric CO measurements

Science.gov (United States)

Nwaboh, Javis A.; Li, Gang; Serdyukov, Anton; Werhahn, Olav; Ebert, Volker

2016-04-01

Atmospheric carbon monoxide (CO) is a precursor of essential climate variables and has an indirect effect for enhancing global warming. Accurate and reliable measurements of atmospheric CO concentration are becoming indispensable. WMO-GAW reports states a compatibility goal of ±2 ppb for atmospheric CO concentration measurements. Therefore, the EMRP-HIGHGAS (European metrology research program - high-impact greenhouse gases) project aims at developing spectroscopic transfer standards for CO concentration measurements to meet this goal. A spectroscopic transfer standard would provide results that are directly traceable to the SI, can be very useful for calibration of devices operating in the field, and could complement classical gas standards in the field where calibration gas mixtures in bottles often are not accurate, available or stable enough [1][2]. Here, we present our new direct tunable diode laser absorption spectroscopy (dTDLAS) sensor capable of performing absolute ("calibration free") CO concentration measurements, and being operated as a spectroscopic transfer standard. To achieve the compatibility goal stated by WMO for CO concentration measurements and ensure the traceability of the final concentration results, traceable spectral line data especially line intensities with appropriate uncertainties are needed. Therefore, we utilize our new high-resolution Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy CO line data for the 2-0 band, with significantly reduced uncertainties, for the dTDLAS data evaluation. Further, we demonstrate the capability of our sensor for atmospheric CO measurements, discuss uncertainty calculation following the guide to the expression of uncertainty in measurement (GUM) principles and show that CO concentrations derived using the sensor, based on the TILSAM (traceable infrared laser spectroscopic amount fraction measurement) method, are in excellent agreement with gravimetric values. Acknowledgement Parts of this work have been

High sensitivity detection of NO2 employing cavity ringdown spectroscopy and an external cavity continuously tunable quantum cascade laser.

Science.gov (United States)

Rao, Gottipaty N; Karpf, Andreas

2010-09-10

A trace gas sensor for the detection of nitrogen dioxide based on cavity ringdown spectroscopy (CRDS) and a continuous wave external cavity tunable quantum cascade laser operating at room temperature has been designed, and its features and performance characteristics are reported. By measuring the ringdown times of the cavity at different concentrations of NO(2), we report a sensitivity of 1.2 ppb for the detection of NO(2) in Zero Air.

An Energy-Efficient Approach to Enhance Virtual Sensors Provisioning in Sensor Clouds Environments.

Science.gov (United States)

Lemos, Marcus Vinícius de S; Filho, Raimir Holanda; Rabêlo, Ricardo de Andrade L; de Carvalho, Carlos Giovanni N; Mendes, Douglas Lopes de S; Costa, Valney da Gama

2018-02-26

Virtual sensors provisioning is a central issue for sensors cloud middleware since it is responsible for selecting physical nodes, usually from Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN) of different owners, to handle user's queries or applications. Recent works perform provisioning by clustering sensor nodes based on the correlation measurements and then selecting as few nodes as possible to preserve WSN energy. However, such works consider only homogeneous nodes (same set of sensors). Therefore, those works are not entirely appropriate for sensor clouds, which in most cases comprises heterogeneous sensor nodes. In this paper, we propose ACxSIMv2, an approach to enhance the provisioning task by considering heterogeneous environments. Two main algorithms form ACxSIMv2. The first one, ACASIMv1, creates multi-dimensional clusters of sensor nodes, taking into account the measurements correlations instead of the physical distance between nodes like most works on literature. Then, the second algorithm, ACOSIMv2, based on an Ant Colony Optimization system, selects an optimal set of sensors nodes from to respond user's queries while attending all parameters and preserving the overall energy consumption. Results from initial experiments show that the approach reduces significantly the sensor cloud energy consumption compared to traditional works, providing a solution to be considered in sensor cloud scenarios.

Fundamental limitations of cavity-assisted atom interferometry

Science.gov (United States)

Dovale-Álvarez, M.; Brown, D. D.; Jones, A. W.; Mow-Lowry, C. M.; Miao, H.; Freise, A.

2017-11-01

Atom interferometers employing optical cavities to enhance the beam splitter pulses promise significant advances in science and technology, notably for future gravitational wave detectors. Long cavities, on the scale of hundreds of meters, have been proposed in experiments aiming to observe gravitational waves with frequencies below 1 Hz, where laser interferometers, such as LIGO, have poor sensitivity. Alternatively, short cavities have also been proposed for enhancing the sensitivity of more portable atom interferometers. We explore the fundamental limitations of two-mirror cavities for atomic beam splitting, and establish upper bounds on the temperature of the atomic ensemble as a function of cavity length and three design parameters: the cavity g factor, the bandwidth, and the optical suppression factor of the first and second order spatial modes. A lower bound to the cavity bandwidth is found which avoids elongation of the interaction time and maximizes power enhancement. An upper limit to cavity length is found for symmetric two-mirror cavities, restricting the practicality of long baseline detectors. For shorter cavities, an upper limit on the beam size was derived from the geometrical stability of the cavity. These findings aim to aid the design of current and future cavity-assisted atom interferometers.

Enhanced direct-modulated bandwidth of 37 GHz by a multi-section laser with a coupled-cavity-injection-grating design

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bach, L.; Kaiser, W.; Reithmaier, J.P.

2003-01-01

Using a new multi-section laser concept based on a coupled-cavity-injection-grating design, the material related intrinsic 3 dB modulation bandwidth can be enhanced up to 37 GHz for a 1.5 mm long device.......Using a new multi-section laser concept based on a coupled-cavity-injection-grating design, the material related intrinsic 3 dB modulation bandwidth can be enhanced up to 37 GHz for a 1.5 mm long device....

Functionalised zinc oxide nanowire gas sensors: Enhanced NO(2) gas sensor response by chemical modification of nanowire surfaces.

Science.gov (United States)

Waclawik, Eric R; Chang, Jin; Ponzoni, Andrea; Concina, Isabella; Zappa, Dario; Comini, Elisabetta; Motta, Nunzio; Faglia, Guido; Sberveglieri, Giorgio

2012-01-01

Surface coating with an organic self-assembled monolayer (SAM) can enhance surface reactions or the absorption of specific gases and hence improve the response of a metal oxide (MOx) sensor toward particular target gases in the environment. In this study the effect of an adsorbed organic layer on the dynamic response of zinc oxide nanowire gas sensors was investigated. The effect of ZnO surface functionalisation by two different organic molecules, tris(hydroxymethyl)aminomethane (THMA) and dodecanethiol (DT), was studied. The response towards ammonia, nitrous oxide and nitrogen dioxide was investigated for three sensor configurations, namely pure ZnO nanowires, organic-coated ZnO nanowires and ZnO nanowires covered with a sparse layer of organic-coated ZnO nanoparticles. Exposure of the nanowire sensors to the oxidising gas NO(2) produced a significant and reproducible response. ZnO and THMA-coated ZnO nanowire sensors both readily detected NO(2) down to a concentration in the very low ppm range. Notably, the THMA-coated nanowires consistently displayed a small, enhanced response to NO(2) compared to uncoated ZnO nanowire sensors. At the lower concentration levels tested, ZnO nanowire sensors that were coated with THMA-capped ZnO nanoparticles were found to exhibit the greatest enhanced response. ΔR/R was two times greater than that for the as-prepared ZnO nanowire sensors. It is proposed that the ΔR/R enhancement in this case originates from the changes induced in the depletion-layer width of the ZnO nanoparticles that bridge ZnO nanowires resulting from THMA ligand binding to the surface of the particle coating. The heightened response and selectivity to the NO(2) target are positive results arising from the coating of these ZnO nanowire sensors with organic-SAM-functionalised ZnO nanoparticles.

Exceptional points enhance sensing in an optical microcavity

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Weijian; Kaya Özdemir, Şahin; Zhao, Guangming; Wiersig, Jan; Yang, Lan

2017-08-01

Sensors play an important part in many aspects of daily life such as infrared sensors in home security systems, particle sensors for environmental monitoring and motion sensors in mobile phones. High-quality optical microcavities are prime candidates for sensing applications because of their ability to enhance light-matter interactions in a very confined volume. Examples of such devices include mechanical transducers, magnetometers, single-particle absorption spectrometers, and microcavity sensors for sizing single particles and detecting nanometre-scale objects such as single nanoparticles and atomic ions. Traditionally, a very small perturbation near an optical microcavity introduces either a change in the linewidth or a frequency shift or splitting of a resonance that is proportional to the strength of the perturbation. Here we demonstrate an alternative sensing scheme, by which the sensitivity of microcavities can be enhanced when operated at non-Hermitian spectral degeneracies known as exceptional points. In our experiments, we use two nanoscale scatterers to tune a whispering-gallery-mode micro-toroid cavity, in which light propagates along a concave surface by continuous total internal reflection, in a precise and controlled manner to exceptional points. A target nanoscale object that subsequently enters the evanescent field of the cavity perturbs the system from its exceptional point, leading to frequency splitting. Owing to the complex-square-root topology near an exceptional point, this frequency splitting scales as the square root of the perturbation strength and is therefore larger (for sufficiently small perturbations) than the splitting observed in traditional non-exceptional-point sensing schemes. Our demonstration of exceptional-point-enhanced sensitivity paves the way for sensors with unprecedented sensitivity.

Fiber Optic Based Thermometry System for Superconducting RF Cavities

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kochergin, Vladimir [Microxact Inc.

2013-05-06

Thermometry is recognized as the best technique to identify and characterize losses in SRF cavities. The most widely used and reliable apparatus for temperature mapping at cryogenic temperatures is based on carbon resistors (RTDs). The use of this technology on multi-cell cavities is inconvenient due to the very large number of sensors required to obtain sufficient spatial resolution. Recent developments make feasible the use of multiplexible fiber optic sensors for highly distributed temperature measurements. However, sensitivity of multiplexible cryogenic temperature sensors was found extending only to 12K at best and thus was not sufficient for SRF cavity thermometry. During the course of the project the team of MicroXact, JLab and Virginia Tech developed and demonstrated the multiplexible fiber optic sensor with adequate response below 20K. The demonstrated temperature resolution is by at least a factor of 60 better than that of the best multiplexible fiber optic temperature sensors reported to date. The clear path toward at least 10times better temperature resolution is shown. The first to date temperature distribution measurements with ~2.5mm spatial resolution was done with fiber optic sensors at 2K to4K temperatures. The repeatability and accuracy of the sensors were verified only at 183K, but at this temperature both parameters significantly exceeded the state of the art. The results of this work are expected to find a wide range of applications, since the results are enabling the whole new testing capabilities, not accessible before.

Cavity-enhanced spontaneous emission rates for rhodamine 6-G in levitated microdroplets

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Barnes, M.D.; Whitten, W.B.; Ramsey, J.M.; Arnold, S.

1992-01-01

Fluorescence decay kinetics of Rhodamine 6-G molecules in levitated glycerol microdroplets (4--20 microns in diameter) have been investigated to determine the effects of spherical cavity resonances on spontaneous emission rates. For droplet diameters greater than 10 microns, the fluorescence lifetime is essentially the same as in bulk glycerol. As the droplet diameter is decreased below 10 microns, bi-exponential decay behavior is observed with a slow component whose rate is similar to bulk glycerol, and a fast component whose rate is as much as a factor of 10 larger than the bulk decay rate. This fast component is attributed to cavity enhancement of the spontaneous emission rate and, within the weak coupling approximation, a value for the homogeneous linewidth at room temperature can be estimated from the fluorescence lifetime data

Low Power Greenhouse Gas Sensors for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

David J. Lary

2012-05-01

Full Text Available We demonstrate compact, low power, lightweight laser-based sensors for measuring trace gas species in the atmosphere designed specifically for electronic unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV platforms. The sensors utilize non-intrusive optical sensing techniques to measure atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations with unprecedented vertical and horizontal resolution (~1 m within the planetary boundary layer. The sensors are developed to measure greenhouse gas species including carbon dioxide, water vapor and methane in the atmosphere. Key innovations are the coupling of very low power vertical cavity surface emitting lasers (VCSELs to low power drive electronics and sensitive multi-harmonic wavelength modulation spectroscopic techniques. The overall mass of each sensor is between 1–2 kg including batteries and each one consumes less than 2 W of electrical power. In the initial field testing, the sensors flew successfully onboard a T-Rex Align 700E robotic helicopter and showed a precision of 1% or less for all three trace gas species. The sensors are battery operated and capable of fully automated operation for long periods of time in diverse sensing environments. Laser-based trace gas sensors for UAVs allow for high spatial mapping of local greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmospheric boundary layer where land/atmosphere fluxes occur. The high-precision sensors, coupled to the ease-of-deployment and cost effectiveness of UAVs, provide unprecedented measurement capabilities that are not possible with existing satellite-based and suborbital aircraft platforms.

Ramsey interferometry of Rydberg ensembles inside microwave cavities

Science.gov (United States)

Sommer, Christian; Genes, Claudiu

2018-06-01

We study ensembles of Rydberg atoms in a confined electromagnetic environment such as is provided by a microwave cavity. The competition between standard free space Ising type and cavity-mediated interactions leads to the emergence of different regimes where the particle‑particle couplings range from the typical van der Waals r ‑6 behavior to r ‑3 and to r-independence. We apply a Ramsey spectroscopic technique to map the two-body interactions into a characteristic signal such as intensity and contrast decay curves. As opposed to previous treatments requiring high-densities for considerable contrast and phase decay (Takei et al 2016 Nat. Comms. 7 13449; Sommer et al 2016 Phys. Rev. A 94 053607), the cavity scenario can exhibit similar behavior at much lower densities.

Enhancement of acousto-optical coupling in two-dimensional air-slot phoxonic crystal cavities by utilizing surface acoustic waves

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ma, Tian-Xue [Institute of Engineering Mechanics, Beijing Jiaotong University, Beijing 100044 (China); Wang, Yue-Sheng, E-mail: yswang@bjtu.edu.cn [Institute of Engineering Mechanics, Beijing Jiaotong University, Beijing 100044 (China); Zhang, Chuanzeng [Department of Civil Engineering, University of Siegen, D-57068 Siegen (Germany)

2017-01-30

A phoxonic crystal is a periodically patterned material that can simultaneously localize optical and acoustic modes. The acousto-optical coupling in two-dimensional air-slot phoxonic crystal cavities is investigated numerically. The photons can be well confined in the slot owing to the large electric field discontinuity at the air/dielectric interfaces. Besides, the surface acoustic modes lead to the localization of the phonons near the air-slot. The high overlap of the photonic and phononic cavity modes near the slot results in a significant enhancement of the moving interface effect, and thus strengthens the total acousto-optical interaction. The results of two cavities with different slot widths show that the coupling strength is dependent on the slot width. It is expected to achieve a strong acousto-optical/optomechanical coupling in air-slot phoxonic crystal structures by utilizing surface acoustic modes. - Highlights: • Two-dimensional air-slot phoxonic crystal cavities which can confine simultaneously optical and acoustic waves are proposed. • The acoustic and optical waves are highly confined near/in the air-slot. • The high overlap of the photonic and phononic cavity modes significantly enhances the moving interface effect. • Different factors which affect the acousto-optical coupling are discussed.

Imaging properties of small-pixel spectroscopic x-ray detectors based on cadmium telluride sensors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Koenig, Thomas; Schulze, Julia; Zuber, Marcus; Rink, Kristian; Oelfke, Uwe; Butzer, Jochen; Hamann, Elias; Cecilia, Angelica; Zwerger, Andreas; Fauler, Alex; Fiederle, Michael

2012-01-01

Spectroscopic x-ray imaging by means of photon counting detectors has received growing interest during the past years. Critical to the image quality of such devices is their pixel pitch and the sensor material employed. This paper describes the imaging properties of Medipix2 MXR multi-chip assemblies bump bonded to 1 mm thick CdTe sensors. Two systems were investigated with pixel pitches of 110 and 165 μm, which are in the order of the mean free path lengths of the characteristic x-rays produced in their sensors. Peak widths were found to be almost constant across the energy range of 10 to 60 keV, with values of 2.3 and 2.2 keV (FWHM) for the two pixel pitches. The average number of pixels responding to a single incoming photon are about 1.85 and 1.45 at 60 keV, amounting to detective quantum efficiencies of 0.77 and 0.84 at a spatial frequency of zero. Energy selective CT acquisitions are presented, and the two pixel pitches' abilities to discriminate between iodine and gadolinium contrast agents are examined. It is shown that the choice of the pixel pitch translates into a minimum contrast agent concentration for which material discrimination is still possible. We finally investigate saturation effects at high x-ray fluxes and conclude with the finding that higher maximum count rates come at the cost of a reduced energy resolution. (paper)

Birefringence Optical Feedback with a Folded Cavity in HeNe Laser

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wu Yun; Tan Yi-Dong

2013-01-01

The birefringence optical feedback with a folded cavity in HeNe laser is investigated. A theory model based on the equivalent cavity of the Fabry—Perot interferometer is presented. The phase difference between the two intensities in birefringence feedback is twice the retardation of the wave plate. The phase difference is invariable when the length of the feedback cavity changes. With the adoption of a cube corner prism (CCP) to form a folded cavity, the fringe frequency is doubled, and the resolution of the displacement sensor based on birefringence optical feedback with a folded cavity is improved. A resistance chain of 5-fold subdivision and 4-fold logic subdivision is used as further subdivision. The resolution of λ/80 is obtained eventually; for 632.8 nm HeNe laser it is 7.91 nm. The displacement sensor based on birefringence optical feedback with a folded cavity is simple and of high resolution, large measurement range, low cost, and is of great application potential in industry

Particle acceleration and wave emissions associated with the formation of auroral cavities and enhancements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Winglee, R.M.; Pritchett, P.L.; Dusenbery, P.B.

1988-01-01

Observations from DE 1 and electrostatic particle simulations are combined in an effort to provide a unified model for (nightside) auroral particle acceleration and wave emissions and their association with plasma cavities and enhancements. The observations show that enhanced electron precipitation during inverted-V events is associated with broadband electrostatic bursts (BEB), increased upward field-aligned currents, and density enhancements. These regions are flanked by return current regions where the density is depleted (i.e., by plasma cavities). Perpendicular acceleration of ambient plasma ions can occur in both upward and return current regions. It is shown through the simulations that these processes are integrally related and are not independent of each other. The free energy for the auroral particle acceleration can be provided by energetic ion beams in the plasma sheet boundary layer with nonzero perpendicular energy. The perpendicular energy allows charge separation between the beam ions and costreaming electrons to occur. The resultant space charge fields accelerate electrons on the same field lines as the costreaming electrons downward toward the ionosphere, without the beam ions actually propagating down to auroral altitudes. Ambient plasma electrons on adjacent field lines are accelerated upward, forming a return current

Hybrid Photonic Cavity with Metal-Organic Framework Coatings for the Ultra-Sensitive Detection of Volatile Organic Compounds with High Immunity to Humidity

Science.gov (United States)

Tao, Jifang; Wang, Xuerui; Sun, Tao; Cai, Hong; Wang, Yuxiang; Lin, Tong; Fu, Dongliang; Ting, Lennon Lee Yao; Gu, Yuandong; Zhao, Dan

2017-01-01

Detection of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) at parts-per-billion (ppb) level is one of the most challenging tasks for miniature gas sensors because of the high requirement on sensitivity and the possible interference from moisture. Herein, for the first time, we present a novel platform based on a hybrid photonic cavity with metal-organic framework (MOF) coatings for VOCs detection. We have fabricated a compact gas sensor with detection limitation ranging from 29 to 99 ppb for various VOCs including styrene, toluene, benzene, propylene and methanol. Compared to the photonic cavity without coating, the MOF-coated solution exhibits a sensitivity enhancement factor up to 1000. The present results have demonstrated great potential of MOF-coated photonic resonators in miniaturized gas sensing applications.

Self-injection locking of the DFB laser through an external ring fiber cavity: Application for phase sensitive OTDR acoustic sensor

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

J.L. Bueno Escobedo

Full Text Available Self-injection locking of DFB laser implemented through the laser coupling with an external fiber optic ring cavity allows its direct employment as an interrogating light source for a phase sensitive OTDR acoustic sensor. Distributed detection and localization of dynamic perturbations of the optical fiber is experimentally demonstrated at the distance of 9270 m. Keywords: Self-injection locking, Optical fiber resonator, φ-OTDR

An electrically driven cavity-enhanced source of indistinguishable photons with 61% overall efficiency

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. Schlehahn

2016-04-01

Full Text Available We report on an electrically driven efficient source of indistinguishable photons operated at pulse-repetition rates f up to 1.2 GHz. The quantum light source is based on a p-i-n-doped micropillar cavity with integrated self-organized quantum dots, which exploits cavity quantum electrodynamics effects in the weak coupling regime to enhance the emission of a single quantum emitter coupled to the cavity mode. We achieve an overall single-photon extraction efficiency of (61 ± 11 % for a device triggered electrically at f = 625 MHz. Analyzing the suppression of multi-photon emission events as a function of excitation repetition rate, we observe single-photon emission associated with g(2HBT(0 values between 0.076 and 0.227 for f ranging from 373 MHz to 1.2 GHz. Hong-Ou-Mandel-type two-photon interference experiments under pulsed current injection at 487 MHz reveal a photon-indistinguishability of (41.1 ± 9.5 % at a single-photon emission rate of (92 ± 23 MHz.

Surface-enhanced Raman fiberoptic sensors for remote monitoring

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Stokes, D.L.; Alarie, J.P.; Vo-Dinh, T. [Oak Ridge National Lab., TN (United States). Health Sciences Research Div.

1995-09-01

A new sensor design for remote surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) measurements has been developed for environmental applications. The design features the modification of an optical fiber using layers of alumina microparticles and silver coatings for inducing the SERS effect at the sensing probe. A single fiber carries both the laser excitation and the SERS signal radiation, keeping optical parameters at the remote tip simple and consistent. The small tip size achievable with this configuration also demonstrates potential of this new design as a microsensor for in-situ measurement in microenvironments. Details of sensor tip fabrication and optical system design are described. SERS spectra of aqueous environmental samples acquired in-situ using the SERS sensor are also presented to illustrate the effectiveness of the SERS sensor.

Quartz-Enhanced Photoacoustic Spectroscopy: A Review

Science.gov (United States)

Patimisco, Pietro; Scamarcio, Gaetano; Tittel, Frank K.; Spagnolo, Vincenzo

2014-01-01

A detailed review on the development of quartz-enhanced photoacoustic sensors (QEPAS) for the sensitive and selective quantification of molecular trace gas species with resolved spectroscopic features is reported. The basis of the QEPAS technique, the technology available to support this field in terms of key components, such as light sources and quartz-tuning forks and the recent developments in detection methods and performance limitations will be discussed. Furthermore, different experimental QEPAS methods such as: on-beam and off-beam QEPAS, quartz-enhanced evanescent wave photoacoustic detection, modulation-cancellation approach and mid-IR single mode fiber-coupled sensor systems will be reviewed and analysed. A QEPAS sensor operating in the THz range, employing a custom-made quartz-tuning fork and a THz quantum cascade laser will be also described. Finally, we evaluated data reported during the past decade and draw relevant and useful conclusions from this analysis. PMID:24686729

Quartz-Enhanced Photoacoustic Spectroscopy: A Review

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pietro Patimisco

2014-03-01

Full Text Available A detailed review on the development of quartz-enhanced photoacoustic sensors (QEPAS for the sensitive and selective quantification of molecular trace gas species with resolved spectroscopic features is reported. The basis of the QEPAS technique, the technology available to support this field in terms of key components, such as light sources and quartz-tuning forks and the recent developments in detection methods and performance limitations will be discussed. Furthermore, different experimental QEPAS methods such as: on-beam and off-beam QEPAS, quartz-enhanced evanescent wave photoacoustic detection, modulation-cancellation approach and mid-IR single mode fiber-coupled sensor systems will be reviewed and analysed. A QEPAS sensor operating in the THz range, employing a custom-made quartz-tuning fork and a THz quantum cascade laser will be also described. Finally, we evaluated data reported during the past decade and draw relevant and useful conclusions from this analysis.

Fast thermometry for superconducting rf cavity testing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Orris, Darryl; Bellantoni, Leo; Carcagno, Ruben H.; Edwards, Helen; Harms, Elvin Robert; Khabiboulline, Timergali N.; Kotelnikov, Sergey; Makulski, Andrzej; Nehring, Roger; Pischalnikov, Yuriy; Fermilab

2007-01-01

Fast readout of strategically placed low heat capacity thermometry can provide valuable information of Superconducting RF (SRF) cavity performance. Such a system has proven very effective for the development and testing of new cavity designs. Recently, several resistance temperature detectors (RTDs) were installed in key regions of interest on a new 9 cell 3.9 GHz SRF cavity with integrated HOM design at FNAL. A data acquisition system was developed to read out these sensors with enough time and temperature resolution to measure temperature changes on the cavity due to heat generated from multipacting or quenching within power pulses. The design and performance of the fast thermometry system will be discussed along with results from tests of the 9 cell 3.9GHz SRF cavity

Fast thermometry for superconducting rf cavity testing

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Orris, Darryl; Bellantoni, Leo; Carcagno, Ruben H.; Edwards, Helen; Harms, Elvin Robert; Khabiboulline, Timergali N.; Kotelnikov, Sergey; Makulski, Andrzej; Nehring, Roger; Pischalnikov, Yuriy; /Fermilab

2007-06-01

Fast readout of strategically placed low heat capacity thermometry can provide valuable information of Superconducting RF (SRF) cavity performance. Such a system has proven very effective for the development and testing of new cavity designs. Recently, several resistance temperature detectors (RTDs) were installed in key regions of interest on a new 9 cell 3.9 GHz SRF cavity with integrated HOM design at FNAL. A data acquisition system was developed to read out these sensors with enough time and temperature resolution to measure temperature changes on the cavity due to heat generated from multipacting or quenching within power pulses. The design and performance of the fast thermometry system will be discussed along with results from tests of the 9 cell 3.9GHz SRF cavity.

Selective recognition of Pr3+ based on fluorescence enhancement sensor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ganjali, M.R.; Hosseini, M.; Ghafarloo, A.; Khoobi, M.; Faridbod, F.; Shafiee, A.; Norouzi, P.

2013-01-01

(E)-2-(1-(4-hydroxy-2-oxo-2H-chromen-3-yl)ethylidene) hydrazinecarbothioamide (L) has been used to detect trace amounts of praseodymium ion in acetonitrile–water solution (MeCN/H 2 O) by fluorescence spectroscopy. The fluorescent probe undergoes fluorescent emission intensity enhancement upon binding to Pr 3+ ions in MeCN/H 2 O (9/1:v/v) solution. The fluorescence enhancement of L is attributed to a 1:1 complex formation between L and Pr 3+ , which has been utilized as the basis for selective detection of Pr 3+ . The sensor can be applied to the quantification of praseodymium ion with a linear range of 1.6 × 10 −7 to 1.0 × 10 −5 M. The limit of detection was 8.3 × 10 −8 M. The sensor exhibits high selectivity toward praseodymium ions in comparison with common metal ions. The proposed fluorescent sensor was successfully used for determination of Pr 3+ in water samples. - Highlights: • A new fluorescent sensor is introduced as a selective probe for Pr 3+ detection. • Fluorescent intensity of the chemical probe enhances upon binding to Pr 3+ ion. • The sensor can be used for Pr 3+ determination in the range of 1.6 × 10 −7 –1.0 × 10 −5 M

Low-Cost Fiber Optic Pressure Sensor

Science.gov (United States)

Sheem, Sang K.

2003-07-22

The size and cost of fabricating fiber optic pressure sensors is reduced by fabricating the membrane of the sensor in a non-planar shape. The design of the sensors may be made in such a way that the non-planar membrane becomes a part of an air-tight cavity, so as to make the membrane resilient due to the air-cushion effect of the air-tight cavity. Such non-planar membranes are easier to make and attach.

Multiple Sensor Camera for Enhanced Video Capturing

Science.gov (United States)

Nagahara, Hajime; Kanki, Yoshinori; Iwai, Yoshio; Yachida, Masahiko

A resolution of camera has been drastically improved under a current request for high-quality digital images. For example, digital still camera has several mega pixels. Although a video camera has the higher frame-rate, the resolution of a video camera is lower than that of still camera. Thus, the high-resolution is incompatible with the high frame rate of ordinary cameras in market. It is difficult to solve this problem by a single sensor, since it comes from physical limitation of the pixel transfer rate. In this paper, we propose a multi-sensor camera for capturing a resolution and frame-rate enhanced video. Common multi-CCDs camera, such as 3CCD color camera, has same CCD for capturing different spectral information. Our approach is to use different spatio-temporal resolution sensors in a single camera cabinet for capturing higher resolution and frame-rate information separately. We build a prototype camera which can capture high-resolution (2588×1958 pixels, 3.75 fps) and high frame-rate (500×500, 90 fps) videos. We also proposed the calibration method for the camera. As one of the application of the camera, we demonstrate an enhanced video (2128×1952 pixels, 90 fps) generated from the captured videos for showing the utility of the camera.

Infrared laser spectroscopic trace gas sensing

Science.gov (United States)

Sigrist, Markus

2016-04-01

Chemical sensing and analyses of gas samples by laser spectroscopic methods are attractive owing to several advantages such as high sensitivity and specificity, large dynamic range, multi-component capability, and lack of pretreatment or preconcentration procedures. The preferred wavelength range comprises the fundamental molecular absorption range in the mid-infared between 3 and 15 μm, whereas the near-infrared range covers the (10-100 times weaker) higher harmonics and combination bands. The availability of near-infrared and, particularly, of broadly tunable mid-infrared sources like external cavity quantum cascade lasers (EC-QCLs), interband cascade lasers (ICLs), difference frequency generation (DFG), optical parametric oscillators (OPOs), recent developments of diode-pumped lead salt semiconductor lasers, of supercontinuum sources or of frequency combs have eased the implementation of laser-based sensing devices. Sensitive techniques for molecular absorption measurements include multipass absorption, various configurations of cavity-enhanced techniques such as cavity ringdown (CRD), or of photoacoustic spectroscopy (PAS) including quartz-enhanced (QEPAS) or cantilever-enhanced (CEPAS) techniques. The application requirements finally determine the optimum selection of laser source and detection scheme. In this tutorial talk I shall discuss the basic principles, present various experimental setups and illustrate the performance of selected systems for chemical sensing of selected key atmospheric species. Applications include an early example of continuous vehicle emission measurements with a mobile CO2-laser PAS system [1]. The fast analysis of C1-C4 alkanes at sub-ppm concentrations in gas mixtures is of great interest for the petrochemical industry and was recently achieved with a new type of mid-infrared diode-pumped piezoelectrically tuned lead salt vertical external cavity surface emitting laser (VECSEL) [2]. Another example concerns measurements on short

Three-Dimensional Morphology of a Coronal Prominence Cavity

Science.gov (United States)

Gibson, S. E.; Kucera, T. A.; Rastawicki, D.; Dove, J.; deToma, G.; Hao, J.; Hill, S.; Hudson, H. S.; Marque, C.; McIntosh, P. S.;

All-Digital Time-Domain CMOS Smart Temperature Sensor with On-Chip Linearity Enhancement.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Chun-Chi; Chen, Chao-Lieh; Lin, Yi

2016-01-30

This paper proposes the first all-digital on-chip linearity enhancement technique for improving the accuracy of the time-domain complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) smart temperature sensor. To facilitate on-chip application and intellectual property reuse, an all-digital time-domain smart temperature sensor was implemented using 90 nm Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs). Although the inverter-based temperature sensor has a smaller circuit area and lower complexity, two-point calibration must be used to achieve an acceptable inaccuracy. With the help of a calibration circuit, the influence of process variations was reduced greatly for one-point calibration support, reducing the test costs and time. However, the sensor response still exhibited a large curvature, which substantially affected the accuracy of the sensor. Thus, an on-chip linearity-enhanced circuit is proposed to linearize the curve and achieve a new linearity-enhanced output. The sensor was implemented on eight different Xilinx FPGA using 118 slices per sensor in each FPGA to demonstrate the benefits of the linearization. Compared with the unlinearized version, the maximal inaccuracy of the linearized version decreased from 5 °C to 2.5 °C after one-point calibration in a range of -20 °C to 100 °C. The sensor consumed 95 μW using 1 kSa/s. The proposed linearity enhancement technique significantly improves temperature sensing accuracy, avoiding costly curvature compensation while it is fully synthesizable for future Very Large Scale Integration (VLSI) system.

Resonant-frequency discharge in a multi-cell radio frequency cavity

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Popović, S.; Upadhyay, J.; Nikolić, M.; Vušković, L.; Mammosser, J.

2014-01-01

We are reporting experimental results on a microwave discharge operating at resonant frequency in a multi-cell radio frequency (RF) accelerator cavity. Although the discharge operated at room temperature, the setup was constructed so that it could be used for plasma generation and processing in fully assembled active superconducting radio-frequency cryo-module. This discharge offers a mechanism for removal of a variety of contaminants, organic or oxide layers, and residual particulates from the interior surface of RF cavities through the interaction of plasma-generated radicals with the cavity walls. We describe resonant RF breakdown conditions and address the issues related to resonant detuning due to sustained multi-cell cavity plasma. We have determined breakdown conditions in the cavity, which was acting as a plasma vessel with distorted cylindrical geometry. We discuss the spectroscopic data taken during plasma removal of contaminants and use them to evaluate plasma parameters, characterize the process, and estimate the volatile contaminant product removal

Resonant-frequency discharge in a multi-cell radio frequency cavity

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Popovic, S; Upadhyay, J; Mammosser, J; Nikolic, M; Vuskovic, L

2014-11-07

We are reporting experimental results on microwave discharge operating at resonant frequency in a multi-cell radio frequency (RF) accelerator cavity. Although the discharge operated at room temperature, the setup was constructed so that it could be used for plasma generation and processing in fully assembled active superconducting radio-frequency (SRF) cryomodule (in situ operation). This discharge offers an efficient mechanism for removal of a variety of contaminants, organic or oxide layers, and residual particulates from the interior surface of RF cavities through the interaction of plasma-generated radicals with the cavity walls. We describe resonant RF breakdown conditions and address the problems related to generation and sustaining the multi-cell cavity plasma, which are breakdown and resonant detuning. We have determined breakdown conditions in the cavity, which was acting as a plasma vessel with distorted cylindrical geometry. We discuss the spectroscopic data taken during plasma removal of contaminants and use them to evaluate plasma parameters, characterize the process, and estimate the volatile contaminant product removal.

Auxetic Mechanical Metamaterials to Enhance Sensitivity of Stretchable Strain Sensors.

Science.gov (United States)

Jiang, Ying; Liu, Zhiyuan; Matsuhisa, Naoji; Qi, Dianpeng; Leow, Wan Ru; Yang, Hui; Yu, Jiancan; Chen, Geng; Liu, Yaqing; Wan, Changjin; Liu, Zhuangjian; Chen, Xiaodong

2018-03-01

Stretchable strain sensors play a pivotal role in wearable devices, soft robotics, and Internet-of-Things, yet these viable applications, which require subtle strain detection under various strain, are often limited by low sensitivity. This inadequate sensitivity stems from the Poisson effect in conventional strain sensors, where stretched elastomer substrates expand in the longitudinal direction but compress transversely. In stretchable strain sensors, expansion separates the active materials and contributes to the sensitivity, while Poisson compression squeezes active materials together, and thus intrinsically limits the sensitivity. Alternatively, auxetic mechanical metamaterials undergo 2D expansion in both directions, due to their negative structural Poisson's ratio. Herein, it is demonstrated that such auxetic metamaterials can be incorporated into stretchable strain sensors to significantly enhance the sensitivity. Compared to conventional sensors, the sensitivity is greatly elevated with a 24-fold improvement. This sensitivity enhancement is due to the synergistic effect of reduced structural Poisson's ratio and strain concentration. Furthermore, microcracks are elongated as an underlying mechanism, verified by both experiments and numerical simulations. This strategy of employing auxetic metamaterials can be further applied to other stretchable strain sensors with different constituent materials. Moreover, it paves the way for utilizing mechanical metamaterials into a broader library of stretchable electronics. © 2018 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Multi-pulse enhanced laser ion acceleration using plasma half cavity targets

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Scott, G. G.; Brenner, C. M.; Neely, D.; Green, J. S.; Robinson, A. P. L.; Spindloe, C.; Bagnoud, V.; Brabetz, C.; Zielbauer, B.; Carroll, D. C.; MacLellan, D. A.; McKenna, P.; Roth, M.; Wagner, F.

2012-01-01

We report on a plasma half cavity target design for laser driven ion acceleration that enhances the laser to proton energy conversion efficiency and has been found to modify the low energy region of the proton spectrum. The target design utilizes the high fraction of laser energy reflected from an ionized surface and refocuses it such that a double pulse interaction is attained. We report on numerical simulations and experimental results demonstrating that conversion efficiencies can be doubled, compared to planar foil interactions, when the secondary pulse is delivered within picoseconds of the primary pulse.

Multi-pulse enhanced laser ion acceleration using plasma half cavity targets

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Scott, G. G.; Brenner, C. M.; Neely, D. [Central Laser Facility, STFC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, OX11 0QX Didcot (United Kingdom); Department of Physics SUPA, University of Strathclyde, G4 0NG Glasgow (United Kingdom); Green, J. S.; Robinson, A. P. L.; Spindloe, C. [Central Laser Facility, STFC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, OX11 0QX Didcot (United Kingdom); Bagnoud, V.; Brabetz, C.; Zielbauer, B. [PHELIX Group, Gesellschaft fuer Schwerionenforschung, D-64291 Darmstadt (Germany); Carroll, D. C.; MacLellan, D. A.; McKenna, P. [Department of Physics SUPA, University of Strathclyde, G4 0NG Glasgow (United Kingdom); Roth, M. [Fachbereich Physik, Technische Universitaet Darmstadt, D-64289 Darmstadt (Germany); Wagner, F. [PHELIX Group, Gesellschaft fuer Schwerionenforschung, D-64291 Darmstadt (Germany); Fachbereich Physik, Technische Universitaet Darmstadt, D-64289 Darmstadt (Germany)

2012-07-09

We report on a plasma half cavity target design for laser driven ion acceleration that enhances the laser to proton energy conversion efficiency and has been found to modify the low energy region of the proton spectrum. The target design utilizes the high fraction of laser energy reflected from an ionized surface and refocuses it such that a double pulse interaction is attained. We report on numerical simulations and experimental results demonstrating that conversion efficiencies can be doubled, compared to planar foil interactions, when the secondary pulse is delivered within picoseconds of the primary pulse.

Virtual sensors for active noise control in acoustic-structural coupled enclosures using structural sensing: part II--Optimization of structural sensor placement.

Science.gov (United States)

Halim, Dunant; Cheng, Li; Su, Zhongqing

2011-04-01

The work proposed an optimization approach for structural sensor placement to improve the performance of vibro-acoustic virtual sensor for active noise control applications. The vibro-acoustic virtual sensor was designed to estimate the interior sound pressure of an acoustic-structural coupled enclosure using structural sensors. A spectral-spatial performance metric was proposed, which was used to quantify the averaged structural sensor output energy of a vibro-acoustic system excited by a spatially varying point source. It was shown that (i) the overall virtual sensing error energy was contributed additively by the modal virtual sensing error and the measurement noise energy; (ii) each of the modal virtual sensing error system was contributed by both the modal observability levels for the structural sensing and the target acoustic virtual sensing; and further (iii) the strength of each modal observability level was influenced by the modal coupling and resonance frequencies of the associated uncoupled structural/cavity modes. An optimal design of structural sensor placement was proposed to achieve sufficiently high modal observability levels for certain important panel- and cavity-controlled modes. Numerical analysis on a panel-cavity system demonstrated the importance of structural sensor placement on virtual sensing and active noise control performance, particularly for cavity-controlled modes.

Enhanced performance in capacitive force sensors using carbon nanotube/polydimethylsiloxane nanocomposites with high dielectric properties

Science.gov (United States)

Jang, Hyeyoung; Yoon, Hyungsuk; Ko, Youngpyo; Choi, Jaeyoo; Lee, Sang-Soo; Jeon, Insu; Kim, Jong-Ho; Kim, Heesuk

2016-03-01

Force sensors have attracted tremendous attention owing to their applications in various fields such as touch screens, robots, smart scales, and wearable devices. The force sensors reported so far have been mainly focused on high sensitivity based on delicate microstructured materials, resulting in low reproducibility and high fabrication cost that are limitations for wide applications. As an alternative, we demonstrate a novel capacitive-type force sensor with enhanced performance owing to the increased dielectric properties of elastomers and simple sensor structure. We rationally design dielectric elastomers based on alkylamine modified-multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWCNT)/polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) composites, which have a higher dielectric constant than pure PDMS. The alkylamine-MWCNTs show excellent dispersion in a PDMS matrix, thus leading to enhanced and reliable dielectric properties of the composites. A force sensor array fabricated with alkylamine-MWCNT/PDMS composites presents an enhanced response due to the higher dielectric constant of the composites than that of pure PDMS. This study is the first to report enhanced performance of capacitive force sensors by modulating the dielectric properties of elastomers. We believe that the disclosed strategy to improve the sensor performance by increasing the dielectric properties of elastomers has great potential in the development of capacitive force sensor arrays that respond to various input forces.Force sensors have attracted tremendous attention owing to their applications in various fields such as touch screens, robots, smart scales, and wearable devices. The force sensors reported so far have been mainly focused on high sensitivity based on delicate microstructured materials, resulting in low reproducibility and high fabrication cost that are limitations for wide applications. As an alternative, we demonstrate a novel capacitive-type force sensor with enhanced performance owing to the increased

Molecular insight into the inclusion of the dietary plant flavonol fisetin and its chromophore within a chemically modified γ-cyclodextrin: Multi-spectroscopic, molecular docking and solubility studies.

Science.gov (United States)

Pahari, Biswapathik; Chakraborty, Sandipan; Sengupta, Pradeep K

2018-09-15

We explored the encapsulation of dietary plant flavonols fisetin and its chromophore 3-hydroxyflavone, within 2-hydroxypropyl-γ-cyclodextrin (HPγ-CDx) nano-cavity in aqueous solution using multi-spectroscopic approaches and molecular docking. Upon addition of HPγ-CDx, dramatic changes occur in the intrinsic 'two color' fluorescence behavior of the fluorophores. This is manifested by significant increase in the steady state fluorescence intensities, anisotropies, average fluorescence lifetimes and rotational correlation times. Furthermore, in the CDx environment, intrinsically achiral flavonols exhibit prominent induced circular dichroism bands. These findings indicate that the flavonol molecules spontaneously enter the relatively hydrophobic, chiral environment of the HPγ-CDx nano-cavities. Molecular docking computations corroborate the spectroscopic findings, and predict selectivity in orientation of the encapsulated flavonols. HPγ-CDx inclusion increases the aqueous solubility of individual flavonols ∼100-1000 times. The present study demonstrates that the hydroxypropyl substituent in γ-CDx controls the inclusion mode of the flavonols, leading to their enhanced solubilization and altered spectral signatures. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

CT findings of malignant nasal cavity tumors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ku, Young Mi; Chun, Kyung Ah; Choi, Kyu Ho; Yu, Won Jong; Kim, Young Joo; Kim, Sung Hoon; Park, Seog Hee; Shinn, Kyung Sub

1997-01-01

To evaluate the CT findings of malignant nasal cavity tumors. Retrospective analysis was performed on 20 patients with pathologically-proven malignant nasal cavity tumors. Using CT, we analysed their location, extent of bone destruction and of involvement of adjacent structures, and enhancing pattern. A total of 20 cases included nine squamous cell carcinomas, three olfactory neuroblastomas, three lymphomas, two polymorphic reticulosis, one adenoid cystic carcinoma, one undifferentiated carcinoma and one metastasis from renal cell carcinoma. All cases except one adenoid cystic carcinoma and one squamous cell carcinoma revealed bone destruction or erosion. Aggressive bone destruction and irregular enhancement were seen in eight cases of squamous cell carcinoma, seven cases of which showed involvement of the adjacent paranasal sinuses, nasopharynx, and orbit. Olfactory neuroblastomas were centered in the superior nasal cavity and the adjacent ethmoid sinus, and erosion or destruction of the cribriform plate had occurred. Lymphomas showed bilateral involvement, with uniform contrast enhancement. Polymorphic reticuloses showed perforation or erosion of the nasal septum, with bilateral involvement of the nasal cavity. The location, presence of bone destruction, involvement of adjacent structures, and enhancement pattern of tumor on CT can be helpful for the differential diagnosis of malignant nasal cavity tumors

Sensitivity-Enhanced Wearable Active Voiceprint Sensor Based on Cellular Polypropylene Piezoelectret.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Wenbo; Zhao, Sheng; Wu, Nan; Zhong, Junwen; Wang, Bo; Lin, Shizhe; Chen, Shuwen; Yuan, Fang; Jiang, Hulin; Xiao, Yongjun; Hu, Bin; Zhou, Jun

2017-07-19

Wearable active sensors have extensive applications in mobile biosensing and human-machine interaction but require good flexibility, high sensitivity, excellent stability, and self-powered feature. In this work, cellular polypropylene (PP) piezoelectret was chosen as the core material of a sensitivity-enhanced wearable active voiceprint sensor (SWAVS) to realize voiceprint recognition. By virtue of the dipole orientation control method, the air layers in the piezoelectret were efficiently utilized, and the current sensitivity was enhanced (from 1.98 pA/Hz to 5.81 pA/Hz at 115 dB). The SWAVS exhibited the superiorities of high sensitivity, accurate frequency response, and excellent stability. The voiceprint recognition system could make correct reactions to human voices by judging both the password and speaker. This study presented a voiceprint sensor with potential applications in noncontact biometric recognition and safety guarantee systems, promoting the progress of wearable sensor networks.

Plasma Evolution within an Erupting Coronal Cavity

Science.gov (United States)

Long, David M.; Harra, Louise K.; Matthews, Sarah A.; Warren, Harry P.; Lee, Kyoung-Sun; Doschek, George A.; Hara, Hirohisa; Jenkins, Jack M.

2018-03-01

Coronal cavities have previously been observed to be associated with long-lived quiescent filaments and are thought to correspond to the associated magnetic flux rope. Although the standard flare model predicts a coronal cavity corresponding to the erupting flux rope, these have only been observed using broadband imaging data, restricting an analysis to the plane-of-sky. We present a unique set of spectroscopic observations of an active region filament seen erupting at the solar limb in the extreme ultraviolet. The cavity erupted and expanded rapidly, with the change in rise phase contemporaneous with an increase in nonthermal electron energy flux of the associated flare. Hot and cool filamentary material was observed to rise with the erupting flux rope, disappearing suddenly as the cavity appeared. Although strongly blueshifted plasma continued to be observed flowing from the apex of the erupting flux rope, this outflow soon ceased. These results indicate that the sudden injection of energy from the flare beneath forced the rapid eruption and expansion of the flux rope, driving strong plasma flows, which resulted in the eruption of an under-dense filamentary flux rope.

Selective chloroform sensor using thiol functionalized reduced graphene oxide at room temperature

Science.gov (United States)

Midya, Anupam; Mukherjee, Subhrajit; Roy, Shreyasee; Santra, Sumita; Manna, Nilotpal; Ray, Samit K.

2018-02-01

This paper presents a highly selective chloroform sensor using functionalised reduced graphene oxide (RGO) as a sensing layer. Thiol group is covalently attached on the basal plan of RGO film by a simple one-step aryl diazonium chemistry to improve its selectivity. Several spectroscopic techniques like X-ray photoelectron, Raman and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy confirm successful thiol functionalization of RGO. Finally, the fabricated chemiresistor type sensor is exposed to chloroform in the concentration range 200-800 ppm (parts per million). The sensor shows a 4.3% of response towards 800 ppm chloroform. The selectivity of the sensor is analyzed using various volatile organic compounds as well. The devices show enhanced response and faster recovery attributed to the physiosorption of chloroform onto thiol functionalized graphene making them attractive for 2D materials based sensing applications.

Polymer laser bio-sensors

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kristensen, Anders; Vannahme, Christoph; Hermannsson, Pétur Gordon

2014-01-01

Organic dye based distributed feed-back lasers, featuring narrow linewidth and thus high quality spectral resolution, are used as highly sensitive refractive index sensors. The design, fabrication and application of the laser intra-cavity sensors are discussed....

VIBRATIONAL SPECTROSCOPIC SENSORS Fundamentals, Instrumentation and Applications

Science.gov (United States)

Kraft, Martin

In textbook descriptions of chemical sensors, almost invariably a chemical sensor is described as a combination of a (dumb) transducer and a (smart) recognition layer. The reason for this is that most transducers, while (reasonably) sensitive, have limited analyte specificity. This is in particular true for non-optical, e.g. mass-sensitive or electrochemical systems, but also many optical transducers are as such incapable of distinguishing between different substances. Consequently, to build sensors operational in multicomponent environments, such transducers must be combined with physicochemical, chemical or biochemical recognition systems providing the required analyte specificity. Although advancements have been made in this field over the last years, selective layers are frequently not (yet) up to the demands set by industrial or environmental applications, in particular when operated over prolonged periods of time. Another significant obstacle are cross-sensitivities that may interfere with the analytical accuracy. Together, these limitations restrict the real-world applicability of many otherwise promising chemical sensors.

Field-effect enhanced triboelectric colloidal quantum dot flexible sensor

Science.gov (United States)

Meng, Lingju; Xu, Qiwei; Fan, Shicheng; Dick, Carson R.; Wang, Xihua

2017-10-01

Flexible electronics, which is of great importance as fundamental sensor and communication technologies for many internet-of-things applications, has established a huge market encroaching into the trillion-dollar market of solid state electronics. For the capability of being processed by printing or spraying, colloidal quantum dots (CQDs) play an increasingly important role in flexible electronics. Although the electrical properties of CQD thin-films are expected to be stable on flexible substrates, their electrical performance could be tuned for applications in flexible touch sensors. Here, we report CQD touch sensors employing polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) triboelectric films. The electrical response of touching activity is enhanced by incorporating CQD field-effect transistors into the device architecture. Thanks to the use of the CQD thin film as a current amplifier, the field-effect CQD touch sensor shows a fast response to various touching materials, even being bent to a large curvature. It also shows a much higher output current density compared to a PDMS triboelectric touch sensor.

Multipoint sensor based on fiber Bragg gratings

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mendez-Zepeda, O; Munoz-Aguirre, S; Beltran-Perez, G; Castillo-Mixcoatl, J

2011-01-01

In some control and industrial measurement systems of physical variables (pressure, temperature, flow, etc) it is necessary one system and one sensor to control each process. On the other hand, there are systems such as PLC (Programmable Logic Control), which can process several signals simultaneously. However it is still necessary to use one sensor for each variable. Therefore, in the present work the use of a multipoint sensor to solve such problem has been proposed. The sensor consists of an optical fiber laser with two Fabry-Perot cavities constructed using fiber Bragg gratings (FBG). In the same system is possible to measure changes in two variables by detecting the intermodal separation frequency of each cavity and evaluate their amplitudes. The intermodal separation frequency depends on each cavity length. The sensor signals are monitored through an oscilloscope or a PCI card and after that acquired by PC, where they are analyzed and displayed. Results of the evaluation of the intermodal frequency separation peak amplitude behavior with FBG stretching are presented.

Raman spectroscopic studies of hydrogen clathrate hydrates.

Science.gov (United States)

Strobel, Timothy A; Sloan, E Dendy; Koh, Carolyn A

2009-01-07

Raman spectroscopic measurements of simple hydrogen and tetrahydrofuran+hydrogen sII clathrate hydrates have been performed. Both the roton and vibron bands illuminate interesting quantum dynamics of enclathrated H(2) molecules. The complex vibron region of the Raman spectrum has been interpreted by observing the change in population of these bands with temperature, measuring the absolute H(2) content as a function of pressure, and with D(2) isotopic substitution. Quadruple occupancy of the large sII clathrate cavity shows the highest H(2) vibrational frequency, followed by triple and double occupancies. Singly occupied small cavities display the lowest vibrational frequency. The vibrational frequencies of H(2) within all cavity environments are redshifted from the free gas phase value. At 76 K, the progression from ortho- to para-H(2) occurs over a relatively slow time period (days). The rotational degeneracy of H(2) molecules within the clathrate cavities is lifted, observed directly in splitting of the para-H(2) roton band. Raman spectra from H(2) and D(2) hydrates suggest that the occupancy patterns between the two hydrates are analogous, increasing confidence that D(2) is a suitable substitute for H(2). The measurements suggest that Raman is an effective and convenient method to determine the relative occupancy of hydrogen molecules in different clathrate cavities.

Optical fiber laser sensor with a cavity of 8.6 Km formed by two fiber Bragg gratings used as mirrors

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

May A, M.; Kuzin, E.A.; Vazquez S, R.A. [Instituto Nacional de Astrofisica, Optica y Electronica, A. P. 51 y 216, C.P. 72000 Puebla (Mexico); Basurto P, M.A. [Universidad Autonoma del Estado de Morelos, Av. Universidad No. 1001, Col. Chamilpa, C.P. 62210 Cuernavaca, Morelos (Mexico); Shlyagin, M.G.; Marquez B, I. [Centro de Investigacion Cientifica y de Ensenanza Superior de Ensenada, C.P. 22860 Ensenada, Baja California (Mexico)

2002-07-01

We report the operation of a fiber laser sensor made by an Erbium Doped Fiber pumped at 980 nm, an 8.67 km passive fiber and two fiber Bragg gratings placed at the ends of the laser cavity. Under normal conditions, the Bragg gratings have different reflection wavelengths and laser emission is not generated. The two Bragg gratings can be placed at the same reflection wavelength when the Bragg grating with the lowest reflective wavelength is strained which can be used as a sensor element. The laser generation thus shows that the Bragg grating is under strain. Furthermore, our configuration give us the possibility for knowing the distance between two Bragg gratings when the laser beating frequency is measured. A measurement precision better than 25 m in 8.67 Km is shown to be feasible. (Author)

Optical fiber laser sensor with a cavity of 8.6 Km formed by two fiber Bragg gratings used as mirrors

CERN Document Server

May, M; Vázquez, R A; Basurto, M A; Shlyagin, M G; Márquez, I

2002-01-01

We report the operation of a fiber laser sensor made by an Erbium Doped Fiber pumped at 980 nm, an 8.67 km passive fiber and two fiber Bragg gratings placed at the ends of the laser cavity. Under normal conditions, the Bragg gratings have different reflection wavelengths and laser emission is not generated. The two Bragg gratings can be placed at the same reflection wavelength when the Bragg grating with the lowest reflective wavelength is strained which can be used as a sensor element. The laser generation thus shows that the Bragg grating is under strain. Furthermore, our configuration give us the possibility for knowing the distance between two Bragg gratings when the laser beating frequency is measured. A measurement precision better than 25 m in 8.67 Km is shown to be feasible. (Author)

Harnessing the mode mixing in optical fiber-tip cavities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Podoliak, Nina; Horak, Peter; Takahashi, Hiroki; Keller, Matthias

2017-01-01

We present a systematic numerical study of Fabry–Pérot optical cavities with Gaussian-shape mirrors formed between tips of optical fibers. Such cavities can be fabricated by laser machining of fiber tips and are promising systems for achieving strong coupling between atomic particles and an optical field as required for quantum information applications. Using a mode mixing matrix method, we analyze the cavity optical eigenmodes and corresponding losses depending on a range of cavity-shape parameters, such as mirror radius of curvature, indentation depth and cavity length. The Gaussian shape of the mirrors causes mixing of optical modes in the cavity. We investigate the effect of the mode mixing on the coherent atom-cavity coupling as well as the mode matching between the cavity and a single-mode optical fiber. While the mode mixing is associated with increased cavity losses, it can also lead to an enhancement of the local optical field. We demonstrate that around the resonance between the fundamental and 2nd order Laguerre–Gaussian modes of the cavity it is possible to obtain 50% enhancement of the atom-cavity coupling at the cavity center while still maintaining low cavity losses and high cavity-fiber optical coupling. (paper)

Microscopic theory of cavity-enhanced single-photon emission from optical two-photon Raman processes

Science.gov (United States)

Breddermann, Dominik; Praschan, Tom; Heinze, Dirk; Binder, Rolf; Schumacher, Stefan

2018-03-01

We consider cavity-enhanced single-photon generation from stimulated two-photon Raman processes in three-level systems. We compare four fundamental system configurations, one Λ -, one V-, and two ladder (Ξ -) configurations. These can be realized as subsystems of a single quantum dot or of quantum-dot molecules. For a new microscopic understanding of the Raman process, we analyze the Heisenberg equation of motion applying the cluster-expansion scheme. Within this formalism an exact and rigorous definition of a cavity-enhanced Raman photon via its corresponding Raman correlation is possible. This definition for example enables us to systematically investigate the on-demand potential of Raman-transition-based single-photon sources. The four system arrangements can be divided into two subclasses, Λ -type and V-type, which exhibit strongly different Raman-emission characteristics and Raman-emission probabilities. Moreover, our approach reveals whether the Raman path generates a single photon or just induces destructive quantum interference with other excitation paths. Based on our findings and as a first application, we gain a more detailed understanding of experimental data from the literature. Our analysis and results are also transferable to the case of atomic three-level-resonator systems and can be extended to more complicated multilevel schemes.

Miniature chemical sensor combining molecular recognition with evanescent wave cavity ring-down spectroscopy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pipino, Andrew C. R.

2004-01-01

A new chemical detection technology has been realized that addresses DOE environmental management needs. The new technology is based on a variant of the sensitive optical absorption technique, cavity ring-down spectroscopy (CRDS). Termed evanescent-wave cavity ring-down spectroscopy (EW-CRDS), the technology employs a miniature solid-state optical resonator having an extremely high Q-factor as the sensing element, where the high-Q is achieved by using ultra-low-attenuation optical materials, ultra-smooth surfaces, and ultra-high reflectivity coatings, as well as low-diffraction-loss designs. At least one total-internal reflection (TIR) mirror is integral to the resonator permitting the concomitant evanescent wave to probe the ambient environment. Several prototypes have been designed, fabricated, characterized, and applied to chemical detection. Moreover, extensions of the sensing concept have been explored to enhance selectivity, sensitivity, and range of application. Operating primarily in the visible and near IR regions, the technology inherently enables remote detection by optical fiber. Producing 11 archival publications, 5 patents, 19 invited talks, 4 conference proceedings, a CRADA, and a patent-license agreement, the project has realized a new chemical detection technology providing >100 times more sensitivity than comparable technologies, while also providing practical advantages

Performance scaling via passive pulse shaping in cavity-enhanced optical parametric chirped-pulse amplification.

Science.gov (United States)

Siddiqui, Aleem M; Moses, Jeffrey; Hong, Kyung-Han; Lai, Chien-Jen; Kärtner, Franz X

2010-06-15

We show that an enhancement cavity seeded at the full repetition rate of the pump laser can automatically reshape small-signal gain across the interacting pulses in an optical parametric chirped-pulse amplifier for close-to-optimal operation, significantly increasing both the gain bandwidth and the conversion efficiency, in addition to boosting gain for high-repetition-rate amplification. Applied to a degenerate amplifier, the technique can provide an octave-spanning gain bandwidth.

Vacuum field energy and spontaneous emission in anomalously dispersive cavities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bradshaw, Douglas H.; Di Rosa, Michael D.

2011-01-01

Anomalously dispersive cavities, particularly white-light cavities, may have larger bandwidth to finesse ratios than their normally dispersive counterparts. Partly for this reason, they have been proposed for use in laser interferometer gravitational-wave observatory (LIGO)-like gravity-wave detectors and in ring-laser gyroscopes. In this paper we analyze the quantum noise associated with anomalously dispersive cavity modes. The vacuum field energy associated with a particular cavity mode is proportional to the cavity-averaged group velocity of that mode. For anomalously dispersive cavities with group index values between 1 and 0, this means that the total vacuum field energy associated with a particular cavity mode must exceed (ℎ/2π)ω/2. For white-light cavities in particular, the group index approaches zero and the vacuum field energy of a particular spatial mode may be significantly enhanced. We predict enhanced spontaneous emission rates into anomalously dispersive cavity modes and broadened laser linewidths when the linewidth of intracavity emitters is broader than the cavity linewidth.

Quantitative Detection of Singlet O2 by Cavity-Enhanced Absorption

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Williams, Skip; Gupta, Manish; Owano, Thomas; Baer, Douglas S; O'Keefe, Anthony; Yarkony, David R; Matsika, Spiridoula

2004-01-01

.... The method is based on sensitive off-axis integrated-cavity-output spectroscopy (ICOS). Off-axis ICOS allows narrowband, continuous-wave lasers to be used in conjunction with optical cavities to record sensitive absorption measurements...

Security Enhanced User Authentication Protocol for Wireless Sensor Networks Using Elliptic Curves Cryptography

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Younsung Choi

2014-06-01

Full Text Available Wireless sensor networks (WSNs consist of sensors, gateways and users. Sensors are widely distributed to monitor various conditions, such as temperature, sound, speed and pressure but they have limited computational ability and energy. To reduce the resource use of sensors and enhance the security of WSNs, various user authentication protocols have been proposed. In 2011, Yeh et al. first proposed a user authentication protocol based on elliptic curve cryptography (ECC for WSNs. However, it turned out that Yeh et al.’s protocol does not provide mutual authentication, perfect forward secrecy, and key agreement between the user and sensor. Later in 2013, Shi et al. proposed a new user authentication protocol that improves both security and efficiency of Yeh et al.’s protocol. However, Shi et al.’s improvement introduces other security weaknesses. In this paper, we show that Shi et al.’s improved protocol is vulnerable to session key attack, stolen smart card attack, and sensor energy exhausting attack. In addition, we propose a new, security-enhanced user authentication protocol using ECC for WSNs.

Security enhanced user authentication protocol for wireless sensor networks using elliptic curves cryptography.

Science.gov (United States)

Choi, Younsung; Lee, Donghoon; Kim, Jiye; Jung, Jaewook; Nam, Junghyun; Won, Dongho

2014-06-10

Wireless sensor networks (WSNs) consist of sensors, gateways and users. Sensors are widely distributed to monitor various conditions, such as temperature, sound, speed and pressure but they have limited computational ability and energy. To reduce the resource use of sensors and enhance the security of WSNs, various user authentication protocols have been proposed. In 2011, Yeh et al. first proposed a user authentication protocol based on elliptic curve cryptography (ECC) for WSNs. However, it turned out that Yeh et al.'s protocol does not provide mutual authentication, perfect forward secrecy, and key agreement between the user and sensor. Later in 2013, Shi et al. proposed a new user authentication protocol that improves both security and efficiency of Yeh et al.'s protocol. However, Shi et al.'s improvement introduces other security weaknesses. In this paper, we show that Shi et al.'s improved protocol is vulnerable to session key attack, stolen smart card attack, and sensor energy exhausting attack. In addition, we propose a new, security-enhanced user authentication protocol using ECC for WSNs.

Ultrasensitive and broadband magnetometry with cavity optomechanics

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Li, Bei-Bei; Bulla, Douglas; Bilek, Jan

2017-01-01

We achieved sensitivity of 30 pT/Hz1/2 and working bandwidth larger than 100 MHz, using cavity optomechanical magnetometry, and also demonstrated quantum light enhanced sensitivity in such a magnetometer.......We achieved sensitivity of 30 pT/Hz1/2 and working bandwidth larger than 100 MHz, using cavity optomechanical magnetometry, and also demonstrated quantum light enhanced sensitivity in such a magnetometer....

A microelectromechanically controlled cavity optomechanical sensing system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Miao Houxun; Srinivasan, Kartik; Aksyuk, Vladimir

2012-01-01

Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) have been applied to many measurement problems in physics, chemistry, biology and medicine. In parallel, cavity optomechanical systems have achieved quantum-limited displacement sensitivity and ground state cooling of nanoscale objects. By integrating a novel cavity optomechanical structure into an actuated MEMS sensing platform, we demonstrate a system with high-quality-factor interferometric readout, electrical tuning of the optomechanical coupling by two orders of magnitude and a mechanical transfer function adjustable via feedback. The platform separates optical and mechanical components, allowing flexible customization for specific scientific and commercial applications. We achieve a displacement sensitivity of 4.6 fm Hz -1/2 and a force sensitivity of 53 aN Hz -1/2 with only 250 nW optical power launched into the sensor. Cold-damping feedback is used to reduce the thermal mechanical vibration of the sensor by three orders of magnitude and to broaden the sensor bandwidth by approximately the same factor, to above twice the fundamental frequency of ≈40 kHz. The readout sensitivity approaching the standard quantum limit is combined with MEMS actuation in a fully integrated, compact, low-power, stable system compatible with Si batch fabrication and electronics integration. (paper)

Enhanced performance of a filter-sensor system.

Science.gov (United States)

Sasaki, Isao; Josowicz, Mira; Janata, Jirí; Glezer, Ari

2006-06-01

In this paper are addressed two important, but seemingly unrelated issues: long term performance of a gas sensing array and performance of an air purification unit. It is shown that when considered together, the system can be regarded as a "smart filter". The enhancement is achieved by periodic differential sampling and measurement of the "upstream" and "downstream" gases of a filter. The correctly functioning filter supplies the "zero gas" from the downstream for the continuous sensor baseline correction. A key element in this scheme is the synthetic jet that delivers well-defined pulses of the two gases. The deterioration of the performance of the "smart filter" can be diagnosed from the response pattern of the sensor. The approach has been demonstrated on removal/sensing of ammonia gas from air.

A technique for monitoring fast tuner piezoactuator preload forces for superconducting rf cavities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pischalnikov, Y.; Branlard, J.; Carcagno, R.; Chase, B.; Edwards, H.; Orris, D.; Makulski, A.; McGee, M.; Nehring, R.; Poloubotko, V.; Sylvester, C.; Fermilab

2007-01-01

The technology for mechanically compensating Lorentz Force detuning in superconducting RF cavities has already been developed at DESY. One technique is based on commercial piezoelectric actuators and was successfully demonstrated on TESLA cavities [1]. Piezo actuators for fast tuners can operate in a frequency range up to several kHz; however, it is very important to maintain a constant static force (preload) on the piezo actuator in the range of 10 to 50% of its specified blocking force. Determining the preload force during cool-down, warm-up, or re-tuning of the cavity is difficult without instrumentation, and exceeding the specified range can permanently damage the piezo stack. A technique based on strain gauge technology for superconducting magnets has been applied to fast tuners for monitoring the preload on the piezoelectric assembly. The design and testing of piezo actuator preload sensor technology is discussed. Results from measurements of preload sensors installed on the tuner of the Capture Cavity II (CCII)[2] tested at FNAL are presented. These results include measurements during cool-down, warmup, and cavity tuning along with dynamic Lorentz force compensation

A technique for monitoring fast tuner piezoactuator preload forces for superconducting rf cavities

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pischalnikov, Y.; Branlard, J.; Carcagno, R.; Chase, B.; Edwards, H.; Orris, D.; Makulski, A.; McGee, M.; Nehring, R.; Poloubotko, V.; Sylvester, C.; /Fermilab

2007-06-01

The technology for mechanically compensating Lorentz Force detuning in superconducting RF cavities has already been developed at DESY. One technique is based on commercial piezoelectric actuators and was successfully demonstrated on TESLA cavities [1]. Piezo actuators for fast tuners can operate in a frequency range up to several kHz; however, it is very important to maintain a constant static force (preload) on the piezo actuator in the range of 10 to 50% of its specified blocking force. Determining the preload force during cool-down, warm-up, or re-tuning of the cavity is difficult without instrumentation, and exceeding the specified range can permanently damage the piezo stack. A technique based on strain gauge technology for superconducting magnets has been applied to fast tuners for monitoring the preload on the piezoelectric assembly. The design and testing of piezo actuator preload sensor technology is discussed. Results from measurements of preload sensors installed on the tuner of the Capture Cavity II (CCII)[2] tested at FNAL are presented. These results include measurements during cool-down, warmup, and cavity tuning along with dynamic Lorentz force compensation.

Compact, self-contained enhanced-vision system (EVS) sensor simulator

Science.gov (United States)

Tiana, Carlo

2007-04-01

We describe the model SIM-100 PC-based simulator, for imaging sensors used, or planned for use, in Enhanced Vision System (EVS) applications. Typically housed in a small-form-factor PC, it can be easily integrated into existing out-the-window visual simulators for fixed-wing or rotorcraft, to add realistic sensor imagery to the simulator cockpit. Multiple bands of infrared (short-wave, midwave, extended-midwave and longwave) as well as active millimeter-wave RADAR systems can all be simulated in real time. Various aspects of physical and electronic image formation and processing in the sensor are accurately (and optionally) simulated, including sensor random and fixed pattern noise, dead pixels, blooming, B-C scope transformation (MMWR). The effects of various obscurants (fog, rain, etc.) on the sensor imagery are faithfully represented and can be selected by an operator remotely and in real-time. The images generated by the system are ideally suited for many applications, ranging from sensor development engineering tradeoffs (Field Of View, resolution, etc.), to pilot familiarization and operational training, and certification support. The realistic appearance of the simulated images goes well beyond that of currently deployed systems, and beyond that required by certification authorities; this level of realism will become necessary as operational experience with EVS systems grows.

Plasmonic nanocarrier grid-enhanced Raman sensor for studies of anticancer drug delivery.

Science.gov (United States)

Kurzątkowska, Katarzyna; Santiago, Ty; Hepel, Maria

2017-05-15

Targeted drug delivery systems using nanoparticle nanocarriers offer remarkable promise for cancer therapy by discriminating against devastating cytotoxicity of chemotherapeutic drugs to healthy cells. To aid in the development of new drug nanocarriers, we propose a novel plasmonic nanocarrier grid-enhanced Raman sensor which can be applied for studies and testing of drug loading onto the nanocarriers, attachment of targeting ligands, dynamics of drug release, assessment of nanocarrier stability in biological environment, and general capabilities of the nanocarrier. The plasmonic nanogrid sensor offers strong Raman enhancement due to the overlapping plasmonic fields emanating from the nearest-neighbor gold nanoparticle nanocarriers and creating the enhancement "hot spots". The sensor has been tested for immobilization of an anticancer drug gemcitabine (2',2'-difluoro-2'-deoxycytidine, GEM) which is used in treatment of pancreatic tumors. The drawbacks of currently applied treatment include high systemic toxicity, rapid drug decay, and low efficacy (ca. 20%). Therefore, the development of a targeted GEM delivery system is highly desired. We have demonstrated that the proposed nanocarrier SERS sensor can be utilized to investigate attachment of targeting ligands to nanocarriers (attachment of folic acid ligand recognized by folate receptors of cancer cells is described). Further testing of the nanocarrier SERS sensor involved drug release induced by lowering pH and increasing GSH levels, both occurring in cancer cells. The proposed sensor can be utilized for a variety of drugs and targeting ligands, including those which are Raman inactive, since the linkers can act as the Raman markers, as illustrated with mercaptobenzoic acid and para-aminothiophenol. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Spectroscopic study on a thermoelectron-enhanced microplasma jet

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ito, Tsuyohito; Nishiyama, Hiroyuki; Terashima, Kazuo; Sugimoto, Kyozo; Yoshikawa, Hirohisa; Takahashi, Hideaki; Sakurai, Takeki

2004-01-01

An Ar thermoelectron-enhanced microplasma (TEMP) jet was characterized by spectroscopic study. The 1s 5 lowest metastable densities at the core of the plasma and very close to the substrate, about 4 mm apart from the torch, were obtained successfully using laser absorption spectroscopy (LAS) and laser induced evanescent-mode fluorescence spectroscopy (LIEF). For TEMP generated with 450 MHz, 5 W and 60 Torr, these densities were estimated to be about 3 x 10 12 cm -3 and about 10 10 cm -3 , by the LAS and LIEF methods, respectively. Moreover, gaseous temperature was also estimated as about 700 K by the LAS method. Depopulation of the 1s 5 metastable atoms might be caused primarily by gaseous diffusion between the torch and the substrate. Finally, we report a device with a TEMP generator at the top of a flexible fibre called the 'plasma fibre', which allows plasma processing in any location, as with laser processing using an optical fibre. This article was due to be published in issue 23 of 2003. To access this special issue, please follow this link: http://www.iop.org/EJ/toc/0022-3727/36/23

Enhanced Strain Measurement Range of an FBG Sensor Embedded in Seven-Wire Steel Strands.

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Jae-Min; Kim, Chul-Min; Choi, Song-Yi; Lee, Bang Yeon

2017-07-18

FBG sensors offer many advantages, such as a lack of sensitivity to electromagnetic waves, small size, high durability, and high sensitivity. However, their maximum strain measurement range is lower than the yield strain range (about 1.0%) of steel strands when embedded in steel strands. This study proposes a new FBG sensing technique in which an FBG sensor is recoated with polyimide and protected by a polyimide tube in an effort to enhance the maximum strain measurement range of FBG sensors embedded in strands. The validation test results showed that the proposed FBG sensing technique has a maximum strain measurement range of 1.73% on average, which is 1.73 times higher than the yield strain of the strands. It was confirmed that recoating the FBG sensor with polyimide and protecting the FBG sensor using a polyimide tube could effectively enhance the maximum strain measurement range of FBG sensors embedded in strands.

Modeling and Simulation of a Resonant-Cavity-Enhanced InGaAs/GaAs Quantum Dot Photodetector

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

W. W. Wang

2015-01-01

Full Text Available We simulated and analyzed a resonant-cavity-enhancedd InGaAs/GaAs quantum dot n-i-n photodiode using Crosslight Apsys package. The resonant cavity has a distributed Bragg reflector (DBR at one side. Comparing with the conventional photodetectors, the resonant-cavity-enhanced photodiode (RCE-PD showed higher detection efficiency, faster response speed, and better wavelength selectivity and spatial orientation selectivity. Our simulation results also showed that when an AlAs layer is inserted into the device structure as a blocking layer, ultralow dark current can be achieved, with dark current densities 0.0034 A/cm at 0 V and 0.026 A/cm at a reverse bias of 2 V. We discussed the mechanism producing the photocurrent at various reverse bias. A high quantum efficiency of 87.9% was achieved at resonant wavelength of 1030 nm with a FWHM of about 3 nm. We also simulated InAs QD RCE-PD to compare with InGaAs QD. At last, the photocapacitance characteristic of the model has been discussed under different frequencies.

Design of rf conditioner cavities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Govil, R.; Rimmer, R.A.; Sessler, A.; Kirk, H.G.

1992-06-01

Theoretical studies are made of radio frequency structures which can be used to condition electron beams so as to greatly reduce the stringent emittance requirements for successful lasing in a free-electron laser. The basic strategy of conditioning calls for modulating an electron beam in the transverse dimension, by a periodic focusing channel, while it traverses a series of rf cavities, each operating in a TM 210 mode. In this paper, we analyze the cavities both analytically and numerically (using MAFIA simulations). We find that when cylindrical symmetry is broken the coupling impedance can be greatly enhanced. We present results showing various performance characteristics as a function of cavity parameters, as well as possible designs for conditioning cavities

A Micromachined Capacitive Pressure Sensor Using a Cavity-Less Structure with Bulk-Metal/Elastomer Layers and Its Wireless Telemetry Application

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yogesh B. Gianchandani

2008-04-01

Full Text Available This paper reports a micromachined capacitive pressure sensor intended for applications that require mechanical robustness. The device is constructed with two micromachined metal plates and an intermediate polymer layer that is soft enough to deform in a target pressure range. The plates are formed of micromachined stainless steel fabricated by batch-compatible micro-electro-discharge machining. A polyurethane roomtemperature- vulcanizing liquid rubber of 38-μm thickness is used as the deformable material. This structure eliminates both the vacuum cavity and the associated lead transfer challenges common to micromachined capacitive pressure sensors. For frequency-based interrogation of the capacitance, passive inductor-capacitor tanks are fabricated by combining the capacitive sensor with an inductive coil. The coil has 40 turns of a 127-μmdiameter copper wire. Wireless sensing is demonstrated in liquid by monitoring the variation in the resonant frequency of the tank via an external coil that is magnetically coupled with the tank. The sensitivity at room temperature is measured to be 23-33 ppm/KPa over a dynamic range of 340 KPa, which is shown to match a theoretical estimation. Temperature dependence of the tank is experimentally evaluated.

Energy Efficient Clustering Protocol to Enhance Performance of Heterogeneous Wireless Sensor Network: EECPEP-HWSN

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Santosh V. Purkar

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Heterogeneous wireless sensor network (HWSN fulfills the requirements of researchers in the design of real life application to resolve the issues of unattended problem. But, the main constraint faced by researchers is the energy source available with sensor nodes. To prolong the life of sensor nodes and thus HWSN, it is necessary to design energy efficient operational schemes. One of the most suitable approaches to enhance energy efficiency is the clustering scheme, which enhances the performance parameters of WSN. A novel solution proposed in this article is to design an energy efficient clustering protocol for HWSN, to enhance performance parameters by EECPEP-HWSN. The proposed protocol is designed with three level nodes namely normal, advanced, and super, respectively. In the clustering process, for selection of cluster head we consider different parameters available with sensor nodes at run time that is, initial energy, hop count, and residual energy. This protocol enhances the energy efficiency of HWSN and hence improves energy remaining in the network, stability, lifetime, and hence throughput. It has been found that the proposed protocol outperforms than existing well-known LEACH, DEEC, and SEP with about 188, 150, and 141 percent respectively.

Photoacoustic CO2-Sensor for Automotive Applications

OpenAIRE

Huber, J.; Weber, C.; Eberhardt, A.; Wöllenstein, J.

2016-01-01

We present a field-tested miniaturized spectroscopic CO2 sensor which is based on the photoacoustic effect. The sensor is developed for automotive applications and considers the requirements for the usage in vehicles. The sensor measures two measurement ranges simultaneously: The monitoring of the indoor air quality and the detection of possible leakages of the coolant in CO2 air-conditioning systems. The sensor consists of a miniaturized innovative photoacoustic sensor unit with integrated e...

Acetone vapor sensing using a vertical cavity surface emitting laser diode coated with polystyrene

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ansbæk, Thor; Nielsen, Claus Højgaard; Larsen, Niels Bent

2009-01-01

We report theoretical and experimental on a new vapor sensor, using a single-mode vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) coated with a polymer sensor coating, which can detect acetone vapor at a volume fraction of 2.5%. The sensor provides the advantage of standard packaging, small form...

Observation of modulation speed enhancement, frequency modulation suppression, and phase noise reduction by detuned loading in a coupled-cavity semiconductor laser

OpenAIRE

Vahala, Kerry; Paslaski, Joel; Yariv, Amnon

1985-01-01

Simultaneous direct modulation response enhancement, phase noise (linewidth) reduction, and frequency modulation suppression are produced in a coupled-cavity semiconductor laser by the detuned loading mechanism.

Fabrication of bimetallic microfluidic surface-enhanced Raman scattering sensors on paper by screen printing.

Science.gov (United States)

Qu, Lu-Lu; Song, Qi-Xia; Li, Yuan-Ting; Peng, Mao-Pan; Li, Da-Wei; Chen, Li-Xia; Fossey, John S; Long, Yi-Tao

2013-08-20

Au-Ag bimetallic microfluidic, dumbbell-shaped, surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) sensors were fabricated on cellulose paper by screen printing. These printed sensors rely on a sample droplet injection zone, and a SERS detection zone at either end of the dumbbell motif, fabricated by printing silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) and gold nanoparticles (Au NPs) successively with microscale precision. The microfluidic channel was patterned using an insulating ink to connect these two zones and form a hydrophobic circuit. Owing to capillary action of paper in the millimeter-sized channels, the sensor could enable self-filtering of fluids to remove suspended particles within wastewater without pumping. This sensor also allows sensitive SERS detection, due to advantageous combination of the strong surface enhancement of Ag NPs and excellent chemical stability of Au NPs. The SERS performance of the sensors was investigated by employing the probe rhodamine 6G, a limit of detection (LOD) of 1.1×10(-13)M and an enhancement factor of 8.6×10(6) could be achieved. Moreover, the dumbbell-shaped bimetallic sensors exhibited good stability with SERS performance being maintained over 14 weeks in air, and high reproducibility with less than 15% variation in spot-to-spot SERS intensity. Using these dumbbell-shaped bimetallic sensors, substituted aromatic pollutants in wastewater samples could be quantitatively analyzed, which demonstrated their excellent capability for rapid trace pollutant detection in wastewater samples in the field without pre-separation. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Environmental sensing with optical fiber sensors processed with focused ion beam and atomic layer deposition

Science.gov (United States)

Flores, Raquel; Janeiro, Ricardo; Dahlem, Marcus; Viegas, Jaime

2015-03-01

We report an optical fiber chemical sensor based on a focused ion beam processed optical fiber. The demonstrated sensor is based on a cavity formed onto a standard 1550 nm single-mode fiber by either chemical etching, focused ion beam milling (FIB) or femtosecond laser ablation, on which side channels are drilled by either ion beam milling or femtosecond laser irradiation. The encapsulation of the cavity is achieved by optimized fusion splicing onto a standard single or multimode fiber. The empty cavity can be used as semi-curved Fabry-Pérot resonator for gas or liquid sensing. Increased reflectivity of the formed cavity mirrors can be achieved with atomic layer deposition (ALD) of alternating metal oxides. For chemical selective optical sensors, we demonstrate the same FIB-formed cavity concept, but filled with different materials, such as polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) which show selective swelling when immersed in different solvents. Finally, a reducing agent sensor based on a FIB formed cavity partially sealed by fusion splicing and coated with a thin ZnO layer by ALD is presented and the results discussed. Sensor interrogation is achieved with spectral or multi-channel intensity measurements.

Electronically-Scanned Pressure Sensors

Science.gov (United States)

Coe, C. F.; Parra, G. T.; Kauffman, R. C.

1984-01-01

Sensors not pneumatically switched. Electronic pressure-transducer scanning system constructed in modular form. Pressure transducer modules and analog to digital converter module small enough to fit within cavities of average-sized wind-tunnel models. All switching done electronically. Temperature controlled environment maintained within sensor modules so accuracy maintained while ambient temperature varies.

Software authentication to enhance trust in body sensor networks

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Groot, de J.A.; Bui, T.V.; Linnartz, J.P.M.G.; Lukkien, J.J.; Verhoeven, R.; Jøsang, A.; Samarati, P.; Petrocchi, M.

2013-01-01

This paper studies an approach to enhance the trust in the widespread use of Body Sensor Networks (BSN) in Healthcare. To address the wide variety in medical indications and differences between patients, we assume that such BSNs are programmable and highly flexible in their functionality. Yet this

Wireless passive polymer-derived SiCN ceramic sensor with integrated resonator/antenna

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Yan; Yu, Yuxi; San, Haisheng; Wang, Yansong; An, Linan

2013-10-01

This paper presents a passive wireless polymer-derived silicon carbonitride (SiCN) ceramic sensor based on cavity radio frequency resonator together with integrated slot antenna. The effect of the cavity sensor dimensions on the Q-factor and resonant frequency is investigated by numerical simulation. A sensor with optimal dimensions is designed and fabricated. It is demonstrated that the sensor signal can be wirelessly detected at distances up to 20 mm. Given the high-temperature stability of the SiCN, the sensor is very promising for high-temperature wireless sensing applications.

A Two-Phase Coverage-Enhancing Algorithm for Hybrid Wireless Sensor Networks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Qingguo Zhang

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Providing field coverage is a key task in many sensor network applications. In certain scenarios, the sensor field may have coverage holes due to random initial deployment of sensors; thus, the desired level of coverage cannot be achieved. A hybrid wireless sensor network is a cost-effective solution to this problem, which is achieved by repositioning a portion of the mobile sensors in the network to meet the network coverage requirement. This paper investigates how to redeploy mobile sensor nodes to improve network coverage in hybrid wireless sensor networks. We propose a two-phase coverage-enhancing algorithm for hybrid wireless sensor networks. In phase one, we use a differential evolution algorithm to compute the candidate’s target positions in the mobile sensor nodes that could potentially improve coverage. In the second phase, we use an optimization scheme on the candidate’s target positions calculated from phase one to reduce the accumulated potential moving distance of mobile sensors, such that the exact mobile sensor nodes that need to be moved as well as their final target positions can be determined. Experimental results show that the proposed algorithm provided significant improvement in terms of area coverage rate, average moving distance, area coverage–distance rate and the number of moved mobile sensors, when compare with other approaches.

The cavity electromagnetic field within the polarizable continuum model of solvation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pipolo, Silvio, E-mail: silvio.pipolo@nano.cnr.it [Center S3, CNR Institute of Nanoscience, Modena (Italy); Department of Physics, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Modena (Italy); Corni, Stefano, E-mail: stefano.corni@nano.cnr.it [Center S3, CNR Institute of Nanoscience, Modena (Italy); Cammi, Roberto, E-mail: roberto.cammi@unipr.it [Department of Chemistry, Università degli studi di Parma, Parma (Italy)

2014-04-28

Cavity field effects can be defined as the consequences of the solvent polarization induced by the probing electromagnetic field upon spectroscopies of molecules in solution, and enter in the definitions of solute response properties. The polarizable continuum model of solvation (PCM) has been extended in the past years to address the cavity-field issue through the definition of an effective dipole moment that couples to the external electromagnetic field. We present here a rigorous derivation of such cavity-field treatment within the PCM starting from the general radiation-matter Hamiltonian within inhomogeneous dielectrics and recasting the interaction term to a dipolar form within the long wavelength approximation. To this aim we generalize the Göppert-Mayer and Power-Zienau-Woolley gauge transformations, usually applied in vacuo, to the case of a cavity vector potential. Our derivation also allows extending the cavity-field correction in the long-wavelength limit to the velocity gauge through the definition of an effective linear momentum operator. Furthermore, this work sets the basis for the general PCM treatment of the electromagnetic cavity field, capable to describe the radiation-matter interaction in dielectric media beyond the long-wavelength limit, providing also a tool to investigate spectroscopic properties of more complex systems such as molecules close to large nanoparticles.

Selectivity enhancement of indium-doped SnO2 gas sensors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Salehi, A.

2002-01-01

Indium doping was used to enhance the selectivity of SnO 2 gas sensor. Both indium-doped and undoped SnO 2 gas sensors fabricated with different deposition techniques were investigated. The changes in the sensitivity of the sensors caused by selective gases (hydrogen and wood smoke) ranging from 500 to 3000 ppm were measured at different temperatures from 50 to 300 deg. C. The sensitivity peaks of the samples exhibit different values for selective gases with a response time of approximately 0.5 s. Thermally evaporated indium-doped SnO 2 gas sensor shows a considerable increase in the sensitivity peak of 27% in response to wood smoke, whereas it shows a sensitivity peak of 7% to hydrogen. This is in contrast to the sputter deposited indium-doped SnO 2 gas sensor, which exhibits a much lower sensitivity peak of approximately 2% to hydrogen and wood smoke compared to undoped SnO 2 gas sensors fabricated by chemical vapor deposition and spray pyrolysis. Scanning electron microscopy shows that different deposition techniques result in different porosity of the films. It is observed that the thermally evaporated indium-doped SnO 2 gas sensor shows high porosity, while the sputtered sample exhibits almost no porosity

Cavity enhanced interference of orthogonal modes in a birefringent medium

Science.gov (United States)

Kolluru, Kiran; Saha, Sudipta; Gupta, S. Dutta

2018-03-01

Interference of orthogonal modes in a birefringent crystal mediated by a rotator is known to lead to interesting physical effects (Solli et al., 2003). In this paper we show that additional feedback offered by a Fabry-Perot cavity (containing the birefringent crystal and the rotator) can lead to a novel strong interaction regime. Usual signatures of the strong interaction regime like the normal mode splitting and avoided crossings, sensitive to the rotator orientation, are reported. A high finesse cavity is shown to offer an optical setup for measuring small angles. The results are based on direct calculations of the cavity transmissions along with an analysis of its dispersion relation.

Passive Wireless Temperature Sensors with Enhanced Sensitivity and Range, Phase I

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — This proposal describes the development of passive surface acoustic wave (SAW) temperature sensors with enhanced sensitivity and detection range for NASA application...

Extraordinary Effects in Quasi-Periodic Gold Nanocavities: Enhanced Transmission and Polarization Control of Cavity Modes.

Science.gov (United States)

Dhama, Rakesh; Caligiuri, Vincenzo; Petti, Lucia; Rashed, Alireza R; Rippa, Massimo; Lento, Raffaella; Termine, Roberto; Caglayan, Humeyra; De Luca, Antonio

2018-01-23

Plasmonic quasi-periodic structures are well-known to exhibit several surprising phenomena with respect to their periodic counterparts, due to their long-range order and higher rotational symmetry. Thanks to their specific geometrical arrangement, plasmonic quasi-crystals offer unique possibilities in tailoring the coupling and propagation of surface plasmons through their lattice, a scenario in which a plethora of fascinating phenomena can take place. In this paper we investigate the extraordinary transmission phenomenon occurring in specifically patterned Thue-Morse nanocavities, demonstrating noticeable enhanced transmission, directly revealed by near-field optical experiments, performed by means of a scanning near-field optical microscope (SNOM). SNOM further provides an intuitive picture of confined plasmon modes inside the nanocavities and confirms that localization of plasmon modes is based on size and depth of nanocavities, while cross talk between close cavities via propagating plasmons holds the polarization response of patterned quasi-crystals. Our performed numerical simulations are in good agreement with the experimental results. Thus, the control on cavity size and incident polarization can be used to alter the intensity and spatial properties of confined cavity modes in such structures, which can be exploited in order to design a plasmonic device with customized optical properties and desired functionalities, to be used for several applications in quantum plasmonics.

Recent advances of mid-infrared compact, field deployable sensors: principles and applications

Science.gov (United States)

Tittel, Frank; Gluszek, Aleksander; Hudzikowski, Arkadiusz; Dong, Lei; Li, Chunguang; Patimisco, Pietro; Sampaolo, Angelo; Spagnolo, Vincenzo; Wojtas, Jacek

2016-04-01

The recent development of compact interband cascade lasers(ICLs) and quantum cascade lasers (QCLs) based trace gas sensors will permit the targeting of strong fundamental rotational-vibrational transitions in the mid-infrared which are one to two orders of magnitude more intense than transitions in the overtone and combination bands in the near-infrared. This has led to the design and fabrication of mid-infrared compact, field deployable sensors for use in the petrochemical industry, environmental monitoring and atmospheric chemistry. Specifically, the spectroscopic detection and monitoring of four molecular species, methane (CH4) [1], ethane (C2H6), formaldehyde (H2CO) [2] and hydrogen sulphide (H2S) [3] will be described. CH4, C2H6 and H2CO can be detected using two detection techniques: mid-infrared tunable laser absorption spectroscopy (TDLAS) using a compact multi-pass gas cell and quartz enhanced photoacoustic spectroscopy (QEPAS). Both techniques utilize state-of-the-art mid-IR, continuous wave (CW), distributed feedback (DFB) ICLs and QCLs. TDLAS was performed with an ultra-compact 54.6m effective optical path length innovative spherical multipass gas cell capable of 435 passes between two concave mirrors separated by 12.5 cm. QEPAS used a small robust absorption detection module (ADM) which consists of a quartz tuning fork (QTF), two optical windows, gas inlet/outlet ports and a low noise frequency pre-amplifier. Wavelength modulation and second harmonic detection were employed for spectral data processing. TDLAS and QEPAS can achieve minimum detectable absorption losses in the range from 10-8 to 10-11cm-1/Hz1/2. Several recent examples of real world applications of field deployable gas sensors will be described. For example, an ICL based TDLAS sensor system is capable of detecting CH4 and C2H6 concentration levels of 1 ppb in a 1 sec. sampling time, using an ultra-compact, robust sensor architecture. H2S detection was realized with a THz QEPAS sensor

Near-infrared incoherent broadband cavity enhanced absorption spectroscopy (NIR-IBBCEAS) for detection and quantification of natural gas components.

Science.gov (United States)

Prakash, Neeraj; Ramachandran, Arun; Varma, Ravi; Chen, Jun; Mazzoleni, Claudio; Du, Ke

2018-06-28

The principle of near-infrared incoherent broadband cavity enhanced absorption spectroscopy was employed to develop a novel instrument for detecting natural gas leaks as well as for testing the quality of natural gas mixtures. The instrument utilizes the absorption features of methane, butane, ethane, and propane in the wavelength region of 1100 nm to 1250 nm. The absorption cross-section spectrum in this region for methane was adopted from the HITRAN database, and those for the other three gases were measured in the laboratory. A singular-value decomposition (SVD) based analysis scheme was employed for quantifying methane, butane, ethane, and propane by performing a linear least-square fit. The developed instrument achieved a detection limit of 460 ppm, 141 ppm, 175 ppm and 173 ppm for methane, butane, ethane, and propane, respectively, with a measurement time of 1 second and a cavity length of 0.59 m. These detection limits are less than 1% of the Lower Explosive Limit (LEL) for each gas. The sensitivity can be further enhanced by changing the experimental parameters (such as cavity length, lamp power etc.) and using longer averaging intervals. The detection system is a low-cost and portable instrument suitable for performing field monitorings. The results obtained on the gas mixture emphasize the instrument's potential for deployment at industrial facilities dealing with natural gas, where potential leaks pose a threat to public safety.

Piezo activated mode tracking system for widely tunable mode-hop-free external cavity mid-IR semiconductor lasers

Science.gov (United States)

Wysocki, Gerard (Inventor); Tittel, Frank K. (Inventor); Curl, Robert F. (Inventor)

2010-01-01

A widely tunable, mode-hop-free semiconductor laser operating in the mid-IR comprises a QCL laser chip having an effective QCL cavity length, a diffraction grating defining a grating angle and an external cavity length with respect to said chip, and means for controlling the QCL cavity length, the external cavity length, and the grating angle. The laser of claim 1 wherein said chip may be tuned over a range of frequencies even in the absence of an anti-reflective coating. The diffraction grating is controllably pivotable and translatable relative to said chip and the effective QCL cavity length can be adjusted by varying the injection current to the chip. The laser can be used for high resolution spectroscopic applications and multi species trace-gas detection. Mode-hopping is avoided by controlling the effective QCL cavity length, the external cavity length, and the grating angle so as to replicate a virtual pivot point.

Geometric Model of a Coronal Cavity

Science.gov (United States)

Kucera, Therese A.; Gibson, S. E.; Ratawicki, D.; Dove, J.; deToma, G.; Hao, J.; Hudson, H. S.; Marque, C.; McIntosh, P. S.; Reeves, K. K.;

Optical cavity furnace for semiconductor wafer processing

Science.gov (United States)

Sopori, Bhushan L.

2014-08-05

An optical cavity furnace 10 having multiple optical energy sources 12 associated with an optical cavity 18 of the furnace. The multiple optical energy sources 12 may be lamps or other devices suitable for producing an appropriate level of optical energy. The optical cavity furnace 10 may also include one or more reflectors 14 and one or more walls 16 associated with the optical energy sources 12 such that the reflectors 14 and walls 16 define the optical cavity 18. The walls 16 may have any desired configuration or shape to enhance operation of the furnace as an optical cavity 18. The optical energy sources 12 may be positioned at any location with respect to the reflectors 14 and walls defining the optical cavity. The optical cavity furnace 10 may further include a semiconductor wafer transport system 22 for transporting one or more semiconductor wafers 20 through the optical cavity.

A Multi-Phase Based Fluid-Structure-Microfluidic interaction sensor for Aerodynamic Shear Stress

Science.gov (United States)

Hughes, Christopher; Dutta, Diganta; Bashirzadeh, Yashar; Ahmed, Kareem; Qian, Shizhi

2014-11-01

A novel innovative microfluidic shear stress sensor is developed for measuring shear stress through multi-phase fluid-structure-microfluidic interaction. The device is composed of a microfluidic cavity filled with an electrolyte liquid. Inside the cavity, two electrodes make electrochemical velocimetry measurements of the induced convection. The cavity is sealed with a flexible superhydrophobic membrane. The membrane will dynamically stretch and flex as a result of direct shear cross-flow interaction with the seal structure, forming instability wave modes and inducing fluid motion within the microfluidic cavity. The shear stress on the membrane is measured by sensing the induced convection generated by membrane deflections. The advantages of the sensor over current MEMS based shear stress sensor technology are: a simplified design with no moving parts, optimum relationship between size and sensitivity, no gaps such as those created by micromachining sensors in MEMS processes. We present the findings of a feasibility study of the proposed sensor including wind-tunnel tests, microPIV measurements, electrochemical velocimetry, and simulation data results. The study investigates the sensor in the supersonic and subsonic flow regimes. Supported by a NASA SBIR phase 1 contract.

Laser-induced shockwave propagation from ablation in a cavity

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zeng Xianzhong; Mao Xianglei; Mao, Samuel S.; Wen, S.-B.; Greif, Ralph; Russo, Richard E.

2006-01-01

The propagation of laser-induced shockwaves from ablation inside of cavities was determined from time-resolved shadowgraph images. The temperature and electron number density of the laser-induced plasma was determined from spectroscopic measurements. These properties were compared to those for laser ablation on the flat surface under the same energy and background gas condition. A theoretical model was proposed to determine the amount of energy and vaporized mass stored in the vapor plume based on these measurements

Nanometer-scale displacement measurement with high resolution using dual cavity Fabry-Pérot interferometer for biomimetic robots.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Jin-Hyuk; Kim, Dae-Hyun

2014-10-01

A sensor of a biomimetic robot has to measure very small environmental changes such as, nanometer scale strains or displacements. Fiber optic sensor can be also one of candidates for the biomimetic sensor because the sensor is like thread and the shape of the sensor is similar to muscle fiber. A fiber optic interferometer, which is an optical-based sensor, can measure displacement precisely, so such device has been widely studied for the measurement of displacement on a nanometer-scale. Especially, a Quadrature Phase-Shifted Fiber Fabry-Pérot interferometer (QPS-FFPI) uses phase-information for this measurement, allowing it to provide a precision result with high resolution. In theory, the QPS-FFPI generates two sinusoidal signals of which the phase difference should be 90 degrees for the exact measurement of the displacement. In order to guarantee the condition of the phase difference, the relative adjustment of the cavities of the optical fibers is required. However, with such precise adjustment it is very hard to fix the proper difference of the two cavities for quadrature-phase-shifting. In this paper, a dual-cavity FFPI is newly proposed to measure the displacement on a nanometer-scale with a specific type of signal processing. In the signal processing, a novel phase-compensation algorithm is applied to force the phase difference to be exactly 90 degrees without any physical adjustment. As a result, the paper shows that the phase-compensated dual-cavity FFPI can effectively measure nanometer-scale displacement with high resolution under dynamic conditions.

Two ions coupled to an optical cavity : from an enhanced quantum computer interface towards distributed quantum computing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Casabone, B.

2015-01-01

Distributed quantum computing, an approach to scale up the computational power of quantum computers, requires entanglement between nodes of a quantum network. In our research group, two building blocks of schemes to entangle two ion-based quantum computers using cavity-based quantum interfaces have recently been demonstrated: ion-photon entanglement and ion-photon state mapping. In this thesis work, we extend the first building block in order to entangle two ions located in the same optical cavity. The entanglement generated by this protocol is efficient and heralded, and as it does not rely on the fact that ions interact with the same cavity, our results are a stepping stone towards the efficient generation of entanglement of remote ion-based quantum computers. In the second part of this thesis, we discuss how collective effects can be used to improve the performance of a cavity-based quantum interface. We show that by using two ions in the so-called superradiant state, the coupling strength between the two ions and the optical cavity is effectively increased compared to the single-ion case. As a complementary result, the creation of a state of two ions that exhibits a reduced coupling strength to the optical cavity, i.e., a subradiant state, is shown. Finally, we demonstrate a direct application of the increased coupling strength that the superradiant state exhibits by showing an enhanced version of the ion-photon state mapping process. By using the current setup and a second one that is being assembled, we intend to build a quantum network. The heralded ion-ion entanglement protocol presented in this thesis work will be used to entangle ions located in both setups, an experiment that requires photons generated in both apparatuses to be indistinguishable. Collective effects then can be used to modify the waveform of photons exiting the cavity in order to effect the desired photon indistinguishability. (author) [de

Heterogeneously integrated silicon photonics for the mid-infrared and spectroscopic sensing.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Yu; Lin, Hongtao; Hu, Juejun; Li, Mo

2014-07-22

Besides being the foundational material for microelectronics, crystalline silicon has long been used for the production of infrared lenses and mirrors. More recently, silicon has become the key material to achieve large-scale integration of photonic devices for on-chip optical interconnect and signal processing. For optics, silicon has significant advantages: it offers a very high refractive index and is highly transparent in the spectral range from 1.2 to 8 μm. To fully exploit silicon’s superior performance in a remarkably broad range and to enable new optoelectronic functionalities, here we describe a general method to integrate silicon photonic devices on arbitrary foreign substrates. In particular, we apply the technique to integrate silicon microring resonators on mid-infrared compatible substrates for operation in the mid-infrared. These high-performance mid-infrared optical resonators are utilized to demonstrate, for the first time, on-chip cavity-enhanced mid-infrared spectroscopic analysis of organic chemicals with a limit of detection of less than 0.1 ng.

SAW passive wireless sensor-RFID tags with enhanced range, Phase I

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — This proposal describes the development of passive wireless surface acoustic wave (SAW) RFID sensor-tags with enhanced range for remote monitoring of large groups of...

3D microwave cavity with magnetic flux control and enhanced quality factor

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Reshitnyk, Yarema [The University of Queensland, School of Mathematics and Physics, St Lucia (Australia); Jerger, Markus [The University of Queensland, ARC Centre of Excellence for Engineered Quantum Systems, 4072 (Australia); Fedorov, Arkady [The University of Queensland, School of Mathematics and Physics, St Lucia (Australia); The University of Queensland, ARC Centre of Excellence for Engineered Quantum Systems, 4072 (Australia)

2016-12-15

Three-dimensional (3D) microwave cavities have been extensively used for coupling and interacting with superconducting quantum bits (qubits), providing a versatile platform for quantum control experiments and for realizing hybrid quantum systems. While having high quality factors (>10{sup 6}) superconducting cavities do not permit magnetic field control of qubits. In contrast, cavities made of normal metals are transparent to magnetic fields, but experience lower quality factors (∝10{sup 4}). We have created a hybrid cavity which is primarily composed of aluminium but also contains a small copper insert reaching the internal quality factor of ≅10{sup 5}, an order of magnitude improvement over all previously tested normal metal cavities. In order to demonstrate precise magnetic control, we performed spectroscopy of three superconducting qubits, where individual control of each qubit's frequency was exerted with small external wire coils. An improvement in quality factor and magnetic field control makes this 3D hybrid cavity an attractive new element for circuit quantum electrodynamics experiments. (orig.)

Application of Cavity Enhanced Absorption Spectroscopy to the Detection of Nitric Oxide, Carbonyl Sulphide, and Ethane--Breath Biomarkers of Serious Diseases.

Science.gov (United States)

Wojtas, Jacek

2015-06-17

The paper presents one of the laser absorption spectroscopy techniques as an effective tool for sensitive analysis of trace gas species in human breath. Characterization of nitric oxide, carbonyl sulphide and ethane, and the selection of their absorption lines are described. Experiments with some biomarkers showed that detection of pathogenic changes at the molecular level is possible using this technique. Thanks to cavity enhanced spectroscopy application, detection limits at the ppb-level and short measurements time (laser and a tunable laser system consisting of an optical parametric oscillator and difference frequency generator. Setup using the first source provided a detection limit of 30 ppb for nitric oxide and 250 ppb for carbonyl sulphide. During experiments employing a second laser, detection limits of 0.9 ppb and 0.3 ppb were obtained for carbonyl sulphide and ethane, respectively. The conducted experiments show that this type of diagnosis would significantly increase chances for effective therapy of some diseases. Additionally, it offers non-invasive and real time measurements, high sensitivity and selectivity as well as minimizing discomfort for patients. For that reason, such sensors can be used in screening for early detection of serious diseases.

Transducer-based fiber Bragg grating high-temperature sensor with enhanced range and stability

Science.gov (United States)

Mamidi, Venkata Reddy; Kamineni, Srimannarayana; Ravinuthala, Lakshmi Narayana Sai Prasad; Tumu, Venkatappa Rao

2017-09-01

Fiber Bragg grating (FBG)-based high-temperature sensor with enhanced-temperature range and stability has been developed and tested. The sensor consists of an FBG and a mechanical transducer, which furnishes a linear temperature-dependent tensile strain on FBG by means of differential linear thermal expansion of two different ceramic materials. The designed sensor is tested over a range: 20°C to 1160°C and is expected to measure up to 1500°C.

Sensitivity of Pressure Sensors Enhanced by Doping Silver Nanowires

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Baozhang Li

2014-06-01

Full Text Available We have developed a highly sensitive flexible pressure sensor based on a piezopolymer and silver nanowires (AgNWs composite. The composite nanofiber webs are made by electrospinning mixed solutions of poly(inylidene fluoride (PVDF and Ag NWs in a cosolvent mixture of dimethyl formamide and acetone. The diameter of the fibers ranges from 200 nm to 500 nm, as demonstrated by SEM images. FTIR and XRD results reveal that doping Ag NWs into PVDF greatly enhances the content of β phase in PVDF. This β phase increase can be attributed to interactions between the Ag NWs and the PVDF matrix, which forces the polymer chains to be embedded into the β phase crystalline. The sensitivity of the pressure sensors agrees well with the FTIR and XRD characteristics. In our experiments, the measured sensitivity reached up to 30 pC/N for the nanofiber webs containing 1.5 wt% Ag NWs, which is close to that of poly(vinylidene fluoride-trifluoroethylene [P(VDF-TrFE, (77/23]. This study may provide a new method of fabricating high performance flexible sensors at relatively low cost compared with sensors based on [P(VDF-TrFE, (77/23].

A semantically rich and standardised approach enhancing discovery of sensor data and metadata

Science.gov (United States)

Kokkinaki, Alexandra; Buck, Justin; Darroch, Louise

2016-04-01

The marine environment plays an essential role in the earth's climate. To enhance the ability to monitor the health of this important system, innovative sensors are being produced and combined with state of the art sensor technology. As the number of sensors deployed is continually increasing,, it is a challenge for data users to find the data that meet their specific needs. Furthermore, users need to integrate diverse ocean datasets originating from the same or even different systems. Standards provide a solution to the above mentioned challenges. The Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) has created Sensor Web Enablement (SWE) standards that enable different sensor networks to establish syntactic interoperability. When combined with widely accepted controlled vocabularies, they become semantically rich and semantic interoperability is achievable. In addition, Linked Data is the recommended best practice for exposing, sharing and connecting information on the Semantic Web using Uniform Resource Identifiers (URIs), Resource Description Framework (RDF) and RDF Query Language (SPARQL). As part of the EU-funded SenseOCEAN project, the British Oceanographic Data Centre (BODC) is working on the standardisation of sensor metadata enabling 'plug and play' sensor integration. Our approach combines standards, controlled vocabularies and persistent URIs to publish sensor descriptions, their data and associated metadata as 5 star Linked Data and OGC SWE (SensorML, Observations & Measurements) standard. Thus sensors become readily discoverable, accessible and useable via the web. Content and context based searching is also enabled since sensors descriptions are understood by machines. Additionally, sensor data can be combined with other sensor or Linked Data datasets to form knowledge. This presentation will describe the work done in BODC to achieve syntactic and semantic interoperability in the sensor domain. It will illustrate the reuse and extension of the Semantic Sensor

Opto-mechanical lab-on-fibre seismic sensors detected the Norcia earthquake.

Science.gov (United States)

Pisco, Marco; Bruno, Francesco Antonio; Galluzzo, Danilo; Nardone, Lucia; Gruca, Grzegorz; Rijnveld, Niek; Bianco, Francesca; Cutolo, Antonello; Cusano, Andrea

2018-04-27

We have designed and developed lab-on-fibre seismic sensors containing a micro-opto-mechanical cavity on the fibre tip. The mechanical cavity is designed as a double cantilever suspended on the fibre end facet and connected to a proof mass to tune its response. Ground acceleration leads to displacement of the cavity length, which in turn can be remotely detected using an interferometric interrogation technique. After the sensors characterization, an experimental validation was conducted at the Italian National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV), which is responsible for seismic surveillance over the Italian country. The fabricated sensors have been continuously used for long periods to demonstrate their effectiveness as seismic accelerometer sensors. During the tests, fibre optic seismic accelerometers clearly detected the seismic sequence that culminated in the severe Mw6.5 Norcia earthquake that struck central Italy on October 30, 2016. The seismic data provided by the optical sensors were analysed by specialists at the INGV. The wave traces were compared with state-of-the-art traditional sensors typically incorporated into the INGV seismic networks. The comparison verifies the high fidelity of the optical sensors in seismic wave detection, indicating their suitability for a novel class of seismic sensors to be employed in practical scenarios.

On the importance of telemetric temperature sensor location during intraperitoneal implantation in rats.

Science.gov (United States)

Chapon, P A; Bulla, J; Gauthier, A; Moussay, S

2014-04-01

This study aims to assess the thermal homogeneity of the intraperitoneal (IP) cavity and the relevance of using a fixed telemetric temperature sensor at a given location in studying rodents. Ten rats were intraperitoneally implanted with three Jonah® capsules each; after assessing the accuracy and reliability of the sensors. Two capsules were attached, one to the right iliac fossa (RIF) and the other to the left hypochondrium (LH), and another was placed between the intestines but not attached (Free). In the ex vivo condition, the differences between sensors and reference values remained in the range of ±0.1. In the in vivo condition, each sensor enabled the observation of temperature patterns. However, sensor location affected mean and median temperature values while the rats were moving freely. Indeed, temperature data collected in the LH were 0.1 significantly higher than those collected in the RIF and temperature data collected in the LH were 0.11 significantly higher than those collected with the Free capsules. In in vivo conditions, intra-sensor variability of temperature data was not affected by sensor location. Taking into account sensor accuracy, similar intra-sensor variability, and mean differences observed between the three locations, the impact of sensor location within the IP cavity could be considered negligible. In in vivo conditions, temperature differences between locations regularly exceeded ±0.2 and reached up to 2.5. These extreme values could be explained by behavioral factors such as food or water intake. Finally, considering the good thermal homogeneity of the IP cavity and possible adverse consequences of sensor attachment, it seems better to let sensors range free within the cavity.

Implementation of intra-cavity beam shaping technique to enhance pump efficiency

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Litvin, IA

2012-02-01

Full Text Available In this work the author proposes an implementation of a new intra-cavity beam shaping technique to vary the intensity distribution of the fundamental mode in a resonator cavity while maintaining a constant intensity distribution at the output...

Standards development for fiber optic spectroscopic components for adverse environments

Science.gov (United States)

Saggese, Steven J.; Greenwell, Roger A.

1994-09-01

Optical fiber sensors are finding wider use in all types of applications involving adverse environments, including exposure to radiation. In order to effectively characterize and evaluate the performance of a fiber sensor system for a radiation environment, such as within a nuclear power plant or in a radioactive waste storage/disposal facility, it is beneficial to develop standard test procedures. Science & Engineering Associates (SEA) has developed two such procedures for the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) which address the testing of optical fibers for remote Raman spectroscopic and broadband sensor applications in a steady state radiation environment.

Inhibited emission of electromagnetic modes confined in subwavelength cavities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Le Thomas, N.; Houdre, R.

2011-01-01

We experimentally demonstrate the active inhibition of subwavelength confined cavity modes emission and quality factor enhancement by controlling the cavity optical surrounding. The intrinsic radiation angular spectrum of modes confined in planar photonics crystal cavities as well as its modifications depending on the environment are inferred via a transfer matrix modeling and k-space imaging.

ENHANCEMENT OF THE SENSITIVITY AND SELECTIVITY OF THE VOLTAMMETRIC SENSOR FOR URIC ACID USING MOLECULARLY IMPRINTED POLYMER

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Miratul Khasanah

2010-12-01

Full Text Available The sensitivity and selectivity of voltammetric sensor for uric acid can be improved by modifying the working electrode using a polymer with a molecular template (molecularly imprinted polymer, MIP. Polymer and MIP was synthesized from methacrylic acid (MAA as monomer, ethylene glycol dimethacrylic acid (EGDMA as cross-linker, uric acid (UA as template and the results were characterized by various methods. The poly-MAA formation was identified by a decrease in the intensity of infrared (IR spectra at ~1540 cm-1 (C=C and an increase at ~1700 cm-1 (C=O compared to the IR spectra of the MAA and EGDMA. The SEM analysis showed that the cavity of polymer is small enough (~ 0.1 µm and homogeneous. Establishment of MIP was carried out by extracting of the uric acid from the polymer network. The IR spectra of MIP exhibited the decrease in intensity at ~1700 cm-1 (C=O compared to the non imprinted polymer (NIP. The data of BET analysis showed that polymer pore size increase slightly from 37.71 Å to 38.02 Å after the extraction process of uric acid from the polymer network. Its may be due to incomplete extraction of uric acid from the polymer network. Modifications of hanging mercury drop electrode using MIP made from MAA, EGDMA, and UA with a mole ratio of 1:3:1 produced a sensitive and selective voltammetric sensor for uric acid. The sensitivity obtained was 16.405 nA L/µg. The presence of ascorbic acid in equal concentration with uric acid decreased the current response of only 0.08%. Compared to HMDE electrode, the sensitivity and selectivity of the HMDE-MIP sensor enhanced about 100 and 700 times, respectively. The detection limit was found to be 5.94 x10-10 M.

Detection of shock-heated hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) by off-axis cavity-enhanced absorption spectroscopy (OA-CEAS)

KAUST Repository

Alquaity, Awad

2017-11-11

Cavity-enhanced absorption spectroscopy (CEAS) is a promising technique for studying chemical reactions due to its desirable characteristics of high sensitivity and fast time-response by virtue of the increased path length and relatively short photon residence time inside the cavity. Off-axis CEAS (OA-CEAS) is particularly suited for the shock tube applications as it is insensitive to slight misalignments, and cavity noise is suppressed due to non-overlapping multiple reflections of the probe beam inside the cavity. Here, OA-CEAS is demonstrated in the mid-IR region at 1310.068 cm−1 to monitor trace concentrations of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). This particular probe frequency was chosen to minimize interference from other species prevalent in combustion systems and in the atmosphere. The noise-equivalent detection limit is found to be 3.25 × 10−5 cm−1, and the gain factor of the cavity is 131. This corresponds to a detection limit of 74 ppm of H2O2 at typical high-temperature combustion conditions (1200 K and 1 atm) and 12 ppm of H2O2 at ambient conditions (296 K and 1 atm). To our knowledge, this is the first successful application of the OA-CEAS technique to detect H2O2 which is vital species in combustion and atmospheric science.

Detection of shock-heated hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) by off-axis cavity-enhanced absorption spectroscopy (OA-CEAS)

KAUST Repository

Alquaity, Awad; KC, Utsav; Popov, Alber; Farooq, Aamir

2017-01-01

Cavity-enhanced absorption spectroscopy (CEAS) is a promising technique for studying chemical reactions due to its desirable characteristics of high sensitivity and fast time-response by virtue of the increased path length and relatively short photon residence time inside the cavity. Off-axis CEAS (OA-CEAS) is particularly suited for the shock tube applications as it is insensitive to slight misalignments, and cavity noise is suppressed due to non-overlapping multiple reflections of the probe beam inside the cavity. Here, OA-CEAS is demonstrated in the mid-IR region at 1310.068 cm−1 to monitor trace concentrations of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). This particular probe frequency was chosen to minimize interference from other species prevalent in combustion systems and in the atmosphere. The noise-equivalent detection limit is found to be 3.25 × 10−5 cm−1, and the gain factor of the cavity is 131. This corresponds to a detection limit of 74 ppm of H2O2 at typical high-temperature combustion conditions (1200 K and 1 atm) and 12 ppm of H2O2 at ambient conditions (296 K and 1 atm). To our knowledge, this is the first successful application of the OA-CEAS technique to detect H2O2 which is vital species in combustion and atmospheric science.

Fabrication of plasmonic cavity arrays for SERS analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Ning; Feng, Lei; Teng, Fei; Lu, Nan

2017-05-01

The plasmonic cavity arrays are ideal substrates for surface enhanced Raman scattering analysis because they can provide hot spots with large volume for analyte molecules. The large area increases the probability to make more analyte molecules on hot spots and leads to a high reproducibility. Therefore, to develop a simple method for creating cavity arrays is important. Herein, we demonstrate how to fabricate a V and W shape cavity arrays by a simple method based on self-assembly. Briefly, the V and W shape cavity arrays are respectively fabricated by taking KOH etching on a nanohole and a nanoring array patterned silicon (Si) slides. The nanohole array is generated by taking a reactive ion etching on a Si slide assembled with monolayer of polystyrene (PS) spheres. The nanoring array is generated by taking a reactive ion etching on a Si slide covered with a monolayer of octadecyltrichlorosilane before self-assembling PS spheres. Both plasmonic V and W cavity arrays can provide large hot area, which increases the probability for analyte molecules to deposit on the hot spots. Taking 4-Mercaptopyridine as analyte probe, the enhancement factor can reach 2.99 × 105 and 9.97 × 105 for plasmonic V cavity and W cavity array, respectively. The relative standard deviations of the plasmonic V and W cavity arrays are 6.5% and 10.2% respectively according to the spectra collected on 20 random spots.

Interactive green street enhancement using light dependent sensors and actuators

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Wouters, Ivo; Chen, W.; Oorschot, van B.; Smeenk, W.

2008-01-01

We propose and demonstrate a design of an interactive green street facility using light dependent sensors and actuators for enhancing the social cohesion of people. We show that electronics and green design can have positive effect on social interaction in a neighbourhood by a design example, called

Cavity air flow behavior during filling in microinjection molding

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Griffiths, C.A.; Dimov, S.S.; Scholz, S.

2011-01-01

Process monitoring of microinjection molding (μ-IM) is of crucial importance in understanding the effects of different parameter settings on the process, especially on its performance and consistency with regard to parts' quality. Quality factors related to mold cavity air evacuation can provide...... valuable information about the process dynamics and also about the filling of a cavity by a polymer melt. In this paper, a novel experimental setup is proposed to monitor maximum air flow and air flow work as an integral of the air flow over time by employing a microelectromechanical system gas sensor...... the effects of process parameters on cavity air evacuation, and the influence of air evacuation on the part flow length. © 2011 American Society of Mechanical Engineers....

Sensitivity Enhancement of a PPM Level Capacitive Moisture Sensor

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lokesh Kumar

2017-05-01

Full Text Available Measurement of moisture at ppm or ppb level is very difficult and the fabrication of such sensors at low cost is always challenging. High sensitivity is an important parameter for trace level (ppm humidity sensors. Anelectronic detection circuit for interfacing the humidity sensor with high sensitivity requires a simple hardware circuit with few active devices. The recent trends for increasing the sensitivity include fabricating nanoporous film with a very large surface area. In the present work, the sensitivity of a parallel plate capacitive type sensor with metal oxide sensing film has been significantly improved with an aim to detect moisture from 3 to 100 ppm in the industrial process gases used to fabricate semiconductors and other sensitive electronic devices. The sensitivity has been increased by (i fabricating a nanoporous film of aluminum oxide using the sol-gel method and (ii increasing the cross-sectional area of a parallel plate capacitor. A novel double sided capacitive structure has been proposed where two capacitors have been fabricated—one on the top and one on the bottom side of a flat alumina substrate—and then the capacitors are connected in parallel. The structure has twice the sensitivity of a single sensor in the same ppm range but the size of the structure remains unchanged. The important characteristics of the sensors such as the sensitivity (S = Δ C Δ p p m × 100 , the response time (tr, and the recovery time (tc are determined and compared with a commercial SHAW, UKdew point meter. The fabricated double sided sensor has comparable sensitivity (S = 100%, tr (s = 28, tc (s = 40 with the commercial meter (S = 100.5%, tr (s = 258 but has a faster response time. The proposed method of sensitivity enhancement is simple, and mass producible.

Highly versatile fiber-based optical Fabry-Pérot gas sensor.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Jing; Sun, Yuze; Fan, Xudong

2009-02-16

We develop a versatile, compact, and sensitive fiber-based optical Fabry-Pérot (FP) gas sensor. The sensor probe is composed of a silver layer and a vapor-sensitive polymer layer that are sequentially deposited on the cleaved fiber endface, thus forming an FP cavity. The interference spectrum resulting from the reflected light at the silver-polymer and polymer-air interfaces changes when the polymer is exposed to gas analytes. This structure enables using any polymer regardless of the polymer refractive index (RI), which significantly enhances the sensor versatility. In experiments, we use polyethylene glycol (PEG) 400 (RI=1.465-1.469) and Norland Optical Adhesive (NOA) 81 (RI=1.53-1.56) as the gas sensing polymer and show drastically different sensor response to hexanol, methanol, and acetone. The estimated sensitivity for methanol vapor is 3.5 pm/ppm and 0.1 pm/ppm for PEG 400 and NOA 81, respectively, with a detection limit on the order of 1-10 ppm. Gas sensing for the analytes delivered in both continuous flow mode and pulsed mode is demonstrated.

Boronic acid based imprinted electrochemical sensor for rutin recognition and detection.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Chunlei; Wang, Qi; Zhong, Min; Kan, Xianwen

2016-10-21

Multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) and boronic acid based molecular imprinting polymer (MIP) were successively modified on a glassy carbon electrode surface to fabricate a novel electrochemical sensor for rutin recognition and detection. 3-Aminophenylboronic acid (APBA) was chosen as a monomer for the electropolymerization of MIP film in the presence of rutin. In addition to the imprinted cavities in MIP film to complement the template molecule in shape and functional groups, the high affinity between the boronic acid group of APBA and vicinal diols of rutin also enhanced the selectivity of the sensor, which made the sensor display a good selectivity to rutin. Moreover, the modified MWNTs improved the sensitivity of the sensor for rutin detection. The mole ratios of rutin and APBA, electropolymerized scan cycles and rates, and pH value of the detection solution were optimized. Under optimal conditions, the sensor was used to detect rutin in a linear range from 4.0 × 10 -7 to 1.0 × 10 -5 mol L -1 with a detection limit of 1.1 × 10 -7 mol L -1 . The sensor has also been applied to assay rutin in tablets with satisfactory results.

DE-Sync: A Doppler-Enhanced Time Synchronization for Mobile Underwater Sensor Networks.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhou, Feng; Wang, Qi; Nie, DongHu; Qiao, Gang

2018-05-25

Time synchronization is the foundation of cooperative work among nodes of underwater sensor networks; it takes a critical role in the research and application of underwater sensor networks. Although numerous time synchronization protocols have been proposed for terrestrial wireless sensor networks, they cannot be directly applied to underwater sensor networks. This is because most of them typically assume that the propagation delay among sensor nodes is negligible, which is not the case in underwater sensor networks. Time synchronization is mainly affected by a long propagation delay among sensor nodes due to the low propagation speed of acoustic signals. Furthermore, sensor nodes in underwater tend to experience some degree of mobility due to wind or ocean current, or some other nodes are on self-propelled vehicles, such as autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs). In this paper, we propose a Doppler-enhanced time synchronization scheme for mobile underwater sensor networks, called DE-Sync. Our new scheme considers the effect of the clock skew during the process of estimating the Doppler scale factor and directly substitutes the Doppler scale factor into linear regression to achieve the estimation of the clock skew and offset. Simulation results show that DE-Sync outperforms existing time synchronization protocols in both accuracy and energy efficiency.

Cavity enhanced rephased amplified spontaneous emission

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

A Williamson, Lewis; J Longdell, Jevon

2014-01-01

Amplified spontaneous emission is usually treated as an incoherent noise process. Recent theoretical and experimental work using rephasing optical pulses has shown that rephased amplified spontaneous emission (RASE) is a potential source of wide bandwidth time-delayed entanglement. Due to poor echo efficiency the plain RASE protocol does not in theory achieve perfect entanglement. Experiments done to date show a very small amount of entanglement at best. Here we show that RASE can, in principle, produce perfect multimode time-delayed two mode squeezing when the active medium is placed inside a Q-switched cavity. (paper)

An Enhanced PSO-Based Clustering Energy Optimization Algorithm for Wireless Sensor Network.

Science.gov (United States)

Vimalarani, C; Subramanian, R; Sivanandam, S N

2016-01-01

Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) is a network which formed with a maximum number of sensor nodes which are positioned in an application environment to monitor the physical entities in a target area, for example, temperature monitoring environment, water level, monitoring pressure, and health care, and various military applications. Mostly sensor nodes are equipped with self-supported battery power through which they can perform adequate operations and communication among neighboring nodes. Maximizing the lifetime of the Wireless Sensor networks, energy conservation measures are essential for improving the performance of WSNs. This paper proposes an Enhanced PSO-Based Clustering Energy Optimization (EPSO-CEO) algorithm for Wireless Sensor Network in which clustering and clustering head selection are done by using Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) algorithm with respect to minimizing the power consumption in WSN. The performance metrics are evaluated and results are compared with competitive clustering algorithm to validate the reduction in energy consumption.

Cavity-enhanced resonant photoacoustic spectroscopy with optical feedback cw diode lasers: A novel technique for ultratrace gas analysis and high-resolution spectroscopy.

Science.gov (United States)

Hippler, Michael; Mohr, Christian; Keen, Katherine A; McNaghten, Edward D

2010-07-28

Cavity-enhanced resonant photoacoustic spectroscopy with optical feedback cw diode lasers (OF-CERPAS) is introduced as a novel technique for ultratrace gas analysis and high-resolution spectroscopy. In the scheme, a single-mode cw diode laser (3 mW, 635 nm) is coupled into a high-finesse linear cavity and stabilized to the cavity by optical feedback. Inside the cavity, a build-up of laser power to at least 2.5 W occurs. Absorbing gas phase species inside the cavity are detected with high sensitivity by the photoacoustic effect using a microphone embedded in the cavity. To increase sensitivity further, coupling into the cavity is modulated at a frequency corresponding to a longitudinal resonance of an organ pipe acoustic resonator (f=1.35 kHz and Q approximately 10). The technique has been characterized by measuring very weak water overtone transitions near 635 nm. Normalized noise-equivalent absorption coefficients are determined as alpha approximately 4.4x10(-9) cm(-1) s(1/2) (1 s integration time) and 2.6x10(-11) cm(-1) s(1/2) W (1 s integration time and 1 W laser power). These sensitivities compare favorably with existing state-of-the-art techniques. As an advantage, OF-CERPAS is a "zero-background" method which increases selectivity and sensitivity, and its sensitivity scales with laser power.

Design of Transparent Anodes for Resonant Cavity Enhanced Light Harvesting in Organic Solar Cells

KAUST Repository

Sergeant, Nicholas P.

2012-01-03

The use of an ITO-free MoO 3/Ag/MoO 3 anode to control the photon harvesting in PCDTBT:PC 70BM solar cells is proposed. At first sight, the fact that these anodes possess reduced far-field transmission compared to ITO may seem to be a disadvantage. But, despite this, we show that by carefully tuning the resonant optical cavity we can enhance the external quantum efficiency close to the band edge of PCDTBT, resulting in high photocurrent and power conversion efficiency on par with ITO. Copyright © 2012 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Micro and Nanotechnologies Enhanced Biomolecular Sensing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tza-Huei Wang

2013-07-01

Full Text Available This editorial summarizes some of the recent advances of micro and nanotechnology-based tools and devices for biomolecular detection. These include the incorporation of nanomaterials into a sensor surface or directly interfacing with molecular probes to enhance target detection via more rapid and sensitive responses, and the use of self-assembled organic/inorganic nanocomposites that inhibit exceptional spectroscopic properties to enable facile homogenous assays with efficient binding kinetics. Discussions also include some insight into microfluidic principles behind the development of an integrated sample preparation and biosensor platform toward a miniaturized and fully functional system for point of care applications.

Optimal Background Attenuation for Fielded Spectroscopic Detection Systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Robinson, Sean M.; Ashbaker, Eric D.; Schweppe, John E.; Siciliano, Edward R.

2007-01-01

Radiation detectors are often placed in positions difficult to shield from the effects of terrestrial background gamma radiation. This is particularly true in the case of Radiation Portal Monitor (RPM) systems, as their wide viewing angle and outdoor installations make them susceptible to radiation from the surrounding area. Reducing this source of background can improve gross-count detection capabilities in the current generation of non-spectroscopic RPM's as well as source identification capabilities in the next generation of spectroscopic RPM's. To provide guidance for designing such systems, the problem of shielding a general spectroscopic-capable RPM system from terrestrial gamma radiation is considered. This analysis is carried out by template matching algorithms, to determine and isolate a set of non-threat isotopes typically present in the commerce stream. Various model detector and shielding scenarios are calculated using the Monte-Carlo N Particle (MCNP) computer code. Amounts of nominal-density shielding needed to increase the probability of detection for an ensemble of illicit sources are given. Common shielding solutions such as steel plating are evaluated based on the probability of detection for 3 particular illicit sources of interest, and the benefits are weighed against the incremental cost of shielding. Previous work has provided optimal shielding scenarios for RPMs based on gross-counting measurements, and those same solutions (shielding the internal detector cavity, direct shielding of the ground between the detectors, and the addition of collimators) are examined with respect to their utility to improving spectroscopic detection

Enhanced efficiency of plasma acceleration in the laser-induced cavity pressure acceleration scheme

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Badziak, J; Rosiński, M; Jabłoński, S; Pisarczyk, T; Chodukowski, T; Parys, P; Rączka, P; Krousky, E; Ullschmied, J; Liska, R; Kucharik, M

2015-01-01

Among various methods for the acceleration of dense plasmas the mechanism called laser-induced cavity pressure acceleration (LICPA) is capable of achieving the highest energetic efficiency. In the LICPA scheme, a projectile placed in a cavity is accelerated along a guiding channel by the laser-induced thermal plasma pressure or by the radiation pressure of an intense laser radiation trapped in the cavity. This arrangement leads to a significant enhancement of the hydrodynamic or electromagnetic forces driving the projectile, relative to standard laser acceleration schemes. The aim of this paper is to review recent experimental and numerical works on LICPA with the emphasis on the acceleration of heavy plasma macroparticles and dense ion beams. The main experimental part concerns the research carried out at the kilojoule sub-nanosecond PALS laser facility in Prague. Our measurements performed at this facility, supported by advanced two-dimensional hydrodynamic simulations, have demonstrated that the LICPA accelerator working in the long-pulse hydrodynamic regime can be a highly efficient tool for the acceleration of heavy plasma macroparticles to hyper-velocities and the generation of ultra-high-pressure (>100 Mbar) shocks through the collision of the macroparticle with a solid target. The energetic efficiency of the macroparticle acceleration and the shock generation has been found to be significantly higher than that for other laser-based methods used so far. Using particle-in-cell simulations it is shown that the LICPA scheme is highly efficient also in the short-pulse high-intensity regime and, in particular, may be used for production of intense ion beams of multi-MeV to GeV ion energies with the energetic efficiency of tens of per cent, much higher than for conventional laser acceleration schemes. (paper)

Geometrically induced surface polaritons in planar nanostructured metallic cavities

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Davids, P. S. [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States); Intravia, F [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States); Dalvit, Diego A. [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)

2014-01-14

We examine the modal structure and dispersion of periodically nanostructured planar metallic cavities within the scattering matrix formulation. By nanostructuring a metallic grating in a planar cavity, artificial surface excitations or spoof plasmon modes are induced with dispersion determined by the periodicity and geometric characteristics of the grating. These spoof surface plasmon modes are shown to give rise to new cavity polaritonic modes at short mirror separations that modify the density of modes in nanostructured cavities. The increased modal density of states form cavity polarirons have a large impact on the fluctuation induced electromagnetic forces and enhanced hear transfer at short separations.

Quartz-Enhanced Photoacoustic Spectroscopy Sensor with a Small-Gap Quartz Tuning Fork

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yu-Fei Ma

2018-06-01

Full Text Available A highly sensitive quartz-enhanced photoacoustic spectroscopy (QEPAS sensor based on a custom quartz tuning fork (QTF with a small-gap of 200 μm was demonstrated. With the help of the finite element modeling (FEM simulation software COMSOL, the change tendency of the QEPAS signal under the influence of the laser beam vertical position and the length of the micro-resonator (mR were calculated theoretically. Water vapor (H2O was selected as the target analyte. The experimental results agreed well with those of the simulation, which verified the correctness of the theoretical model. An 11-fold signal enhancement was achieved with the addition of an mR with an optimal length of 5 mm in comparison to the bare QTF. Finally, the H2O-QEPAS sensor, which was based on a small-gap QTF, achieved a minimum detection limit (MDL of 1.3 ppm, indicating an improvement of the sensor performance when compared to the standard QTF that has a gap of 300 μm.

Highly Sensitive Cadmium Concentration Sensor Using Long Period Grating

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. S. Lalasangi

2011-08-01

Full Text Available In this paper we have proposed a simple and effective Long Period Grating chemical sensor for detecting the traces of Cadmium (Cd++ in drinking water at ppm level. Long Period gratings (LPG were fabricated by point-by-point technique with CO2 laser. We have characterized the LPG concentration sensor sensitivity for different solutions of Cd concentrations varying from 0.01 ppm to 0.04 ppm by injecting white Light source and observed transmitted spectra using Optical Spectrum Analyzer (OSA. Proper reagents have been used in the solutions for detection of the Cd species. The overall shift in wavelength is 10 nm when surrounding medium gradually changed from water to 0.04 ppm of cadmium concentrations. A comparative study has been done using sophisticated spectroscopic atomic absorption spectrometer (AAS and Inductively Coupled Plasma (ICP instruments. The spectral sensitivity enhancement was done by modifying grating surface with gold nanoparticles.

Capillary hemangioma of adult nasal cavity: a case report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Paik, Sang Hyun; Kim, Hyun Sook; Kim, Wan Seop; Cho, Sung Bum; Choi, Yun Sun; Chung, Myung Jin; Kim, Seog Joon; Yoon, Sook Ja; Yoon, Yong Kyu

2002-01-01

Capillary hemangioma of the adult nasal cavity is rare. We report a case which occurred in the right nasal cavity of a 25-year-old woman, together with the multiphase enhanced CT findings. The patients who had a history of recurrent nasal bleeding, had experienced nasal obstruction and swelling during the two-month period prior to presentation, and one month before presentation, spontaneous vaginal delivery occurred. Physical examination revealed the presence of a well-defined round mass, with redness in the right nasal vertibule. The mass showed rim enhancement at early arterial-phase CT scanning, increased enhancement at the late arterial phase, and moderately homogeneous enhancement at the delayed phase

Optical Fibre Temperature Sensor Based On A Blackbody Radiation

Science.gov (United States)

Hypszer, Ryszard; Plucinski, Jerzy; Wierzba, Henryk J.

1990-01-01

The principle of operation of the fibre optical temperature sensor based on a blackbody radiation and its construction model is given in the paper. A quartz rod of 0.6 mm diameter and 20 cm length with a blackbody cavity at the one end was used to construct the sensor. The cavity was made by vacuum evaporation of a chromium layer and a silicone monooxide layer was used as a protection. Infrared radiation is transmitted by the fibre optic to the detection circuit. This sensor enables temperature measurement from 400 to 1200°C. The range of measurement is determined by the detection sensitivity and by rod softening. The resolution is of the order of 10-2°C. The sensor calibration was done by using PtRh1O-Pt thermocouple.

The statistics of foreshock cavities: results of a Cluster survey

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

L. Billingham

2008-11-01

Full Text Available We use Cluster magnetic field, thermal ion, and energetic particle observations upstream of the Earth's bow shock to investigate the occurrence patterns of foreshock cavities. Such cavities are thought to form when bundles of magnetic field connect to the quasi-parallel bow shock. Shock-processed suprathermal ions can then stream along the field, back against the flow of the solar wind. These suprathermals enhance the pressure on shock-connected field lines causing them to expand into the surrounding ambient solar wind plasma. Foreshock cavities exhibit depressions in magnetic field magnitude and thermal ion density, associated with enhanced fluxes of energetic ions. We find typical cavity duration to be few minutes with interior densities and magnetic field magnitudes dropping to ~60% of those in the surrounding solar wind. Cavities are found to occur preferentially in fast, moderate magnetic field strength solar wind streams. Cavities are observed in all parts of the Cluster orbit upstream of the bow shock. When localised in a coordinate system organised by the underlying physical processes in the foreshock, there is a systematic change in foreshock cavity location with IMF cone angle. At low (high cone angles foreshock cavities are observed outside (inside the expected upstream boundary of the intermediate ion foreshock.

The statistics of foreshock cavities: results of a Cluster survey

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

L. Billingham

2008-11-01

Full Text Available We use Cluster magnetic field, thermal ion, and energetic particle observations upstream of the Earth's bow shock to investigate the occurrence patterns of foreshock cavities. Such cavities are thought to form when bundles of magnetic field connect to the quasi-parallel bow shock. Shock-processed suprathermal ions can then stream along the field, back against the flow of the solar wind. These suprathermals enhance the pressure on shock-connected field lines causing them to expand into the surrounding ambient solar wind plasma. Foreshock cavities exhibit depressions in magnetic field magnitude and thermal ion density, associated with enhanced fluxes of energetic ions. We find typical cavity duration to be few minutes with interior densities and magnetic field magnitudes dropping to ~60% of those in the surrounding solar wind. Cavities are found to occur preferentially in fast, moderate magnetic field strength solar wind streams. Cavities are observed in all parts of the Cluster orbit upstream of the bow shock. When localised in a coordinate system organised by the underlying physical processes in the foreshock, there is a systematic change in foreshock cavity location with IMF cone angle. At low (high cone angles foreshock cavities are observed outside (inside the expected upstream boundary of the intermediate ion foreshock.

An Enhanced PSO-Based Clustering Energy Optimization Algorithm for Wireless Sensor Network

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

C. Vimalarani

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Wireless Sensor Network (WSN is a network which formed with a maximum number of sensor nodes which are positioned in an application environment to monitor the physical entities in a target area, for example, temperature monitoring environment, water level, monitoring pressure, and health care, and various military applications. Mostly sensor nodes are equipped with self-supported battery power through which they can perform adequate operations and communication among neighboring nodes. Maximizing the lifetime of the Wireless Sensor networks, energy conservation measures are essential for improving the performance of WSNs. This paper proposes an Enhanced PSO-Based Clustering Energy Optimization (EPSO-CEO algorithm for Wireless Sensor Network in which clustering and clustering head selection are done by using Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO algorithm with respect to minimizing the power consumption in WSN. The performance metrics are evaluated and results are compared with competitive clustering algorithm to validate the reduction in energy consumption.

Ubiquitous healthcare computing with SEnsor Grid Enhancement with Data Management System (SEGEDMA).

Science.gov (United States)

Preve, Nikolaos

2011-12-01

Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) can be deployed to monitor the health of patients suffering from critical diseases. Also a wireless network consisting of biomedical sensors can be implanted into the patient's body and can monitor the patients' conditions. These sensor devices, apart from having an enormous capability of collecting data from their physical surroundings, are also resource constraint in nature with a limited processing and communication ability. Therefore we have to integrate them with the Grid technology in order to process and store the collected data by the sensor nodes. In this paper, we proposed the SEnsor Grid Enhancement Data Management system, called SEGEDMA ensuring the integration of different network technologies and the continuous data access to system users. The main contribution of this work is to achieve the interoperability of both technologies through a novel network architecture ensuring also the interoperability of Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) and HL7 standards. According to the results, SEGEDMA can be applied successfully in a decentralized healthcare environment.

Radiation-pressure-mediated control of an optomechanical cavity

Science.gov (United States)

Cripe, Jonathan; Aggarwal, Nancy; Singh, Robinjeet; Lanza, Robert; Libson, Adam; Yap, Min Jet; Cole, Garrett D.; McClelland, David E.; Mavalvala, Nergis; Corbitt, Thomas

2018-01-01

We describe and demonstrate a method to control a detuned movable-mirror Fabry-Pérot cavity using radiation pressure in the presence of a strong optical spring. At frequencies below the optical spring resonance, self-locking of the cavity is achieved intrinsically by the optomechanical (OM) interaction between the cavity field and the movable end mirror. The OM interaction results in a high rigidity and reduced susceptibility of the mirror to external forces. However, due to a finite delay time in the cavity, this enhanced rigidity is accompanied by an antidamping force, which destabilizes the cavity. The cavity is stabilized by applying external feedback in a frequency band around the optical spring resonance. The error signal is sensed in the amplitude quadrature of the transmitted beam with a photodetector. An amplitude modulator in the input path to the cavity modulates the light intensity to provide the stabilizing radiation pressure force.

Portable broadband cavity-enhanced spectrometer utilizing Kalman filtering: application to real-time, in situ monitoring of glyoxal and nitrogen dioxide.

Science.gov (United States)

Fang, Bo; Zhao, Weixiong; Xu, Xuezhe; Zhou, Jiacheng; Ma, Xiao; Wang, Shuo; Zhang, Weijun; Venables, Dean S; Chen, Weidong

2017-10-30

This article describes the development and field application of a portable broadband cavity enhanced spectrometer (BBCES) operating in the spectral range of 440-480 nm for sensitive, real-time, in situ measurement of ambient glyoxal (CHOCHO) and nitrogen dioxide (NO 2 ). The instrument utilized a custom cage system in which the same SMA collimators were used in the transmitter and receiver units for coupling the LED light into the cavity and collecting the light transmitted through the cavity. This configuration realised a compact and stable optical system that could be easily aligned. The dimensions and mass of the optical layer were 676 × 74 × 86 mm 3 and 4.5 kg, respectively. The cavity base length was about 42 cm. The mirror reflectivity at λ = 460 nm was determined to be 0.9998, giving an effective absorption pathlength of 2.26 km. The demonstrated measurement precisions (1σ) over 60 s were 28 and 50 pptv for CHOCHO and NO 2 and the respective accuracies were 5% and 4%. By applying a Kalman adaptive filter to the retrieved concentrations, the measurement precisions of CHOCHO and NO 2 were improved to 8 pptv and 40 pptv in 21 s.

Optimum thermal design of microchannel heat sink with triangular reentrant cavities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Xia Guodong; Chai Lei; Wang Haiyan; Zhou Mingzheng; Cui Zhenzhen

2011-01-01

The effect of geometric parameters on water flow and heat transfer characteristics in microchannel heat sink with triangular reentrant cavities is numerically investigated. A three-dimensional laminar flow model, consisting of Navier-Stokes equations and energy conservation equation, with the conjugate heat transfer between the silicon base and water taken into consideration is solved numerically. In order to find the optimum geometric parameters, four variables, representing the distance and geometry of the triangular reentrant cavity, are designed. It is found that the vortices in the triangular reentrant cavities lead to chaotic advection and can greatly enhance the convective fluid mixing. The thermal and hydraulic boundary layers are interrupted and the repeated developing flow enhances heat transfer in the constant cross-section segment. Furthermore, the effects of the four design variables on heat transfer augmentation and pressure drop penalty are investigated depending on different Reynolds numbers by using the simulated annealing method. Based on the thermal enhancement factor performance maps, the optimal geometric parameters are obtained in principle. - Research highlights: → The microchannels with different triangular reentrant cavities are numerically investigated. → The heat transfer enhancement attributes to fluid mixing and redeveloped thermal boundary layers. → The optimal distance and geometry of the triangular reentrant cavity are obtained in principle.

Planarized nanophotonic sensor for real-time fluid sensing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yazhao Liu

2017-09-01

Full Text Available A planarized on-chip nanophotonic sensor based on a photonic crystal cavity is realized in this work. The sensor was embedded in a solid protecting material (flowable oxide with perfect filled holes: this eliminates problems of fouling in practical applications. The functional area of the sensor is created by carefully removing the protecting material only on the top surface of the cavity. A wavelength shift of 7.5 nm was observed in experiment which is very close to a simulation result of 9.0 nm for sensing water (n=1.33 and crude oil (n=1.45 samples. Swift and accurate sensing was verified by a real-time dynamic measurement with rapidly alternating analytes in a microfluid channel.

A Simple Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopic Method for on-Site Screening of Tetracycline Residue in Whole Milk

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sagar Dhakal

2018-02-01

Full Text Available Therapeutic and subtherapeutic use of veterinary drugs has increased the risk of residue contamination in animal food products. Antibiotics such as tetracycline are used for mastitis treatment of lactating cows. Milk expressed from treated cows before the withdrawal period has elapsed may contain tetracycline residue. This study developed a simple surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopic (SERS method for on-site screening of tetracycline residue in milk and water. Six batches of silver colloid nanoparticles were prepared for surface enhancement measurement. Milk-tetracycline and water-tetracycline solutions were prepared at seven concentration levels (1000, 500, 100, 10, 1, 0.1, and 0.01 ppm and spiked with silver colloid nanoparticles. A 785 nm Raman spectroscopic system was used for spectral measurement. Tetracycline vibrational modes were observed at 1285, 1317 and 1632 cm−1 in water-tetracycline solutions and 1322 and 1621 cm−1 (shifted from 1317 and 1632 cm−1, respectively in milk-tetracycline solutions. Tetracycline residue concentration as low as 0.01 ppm was detected in both the solutions. The peak intensities at 1285 and 1322 cm−1 were used to estimate the tetracycline concentrations in water and milk with correlation coefficients of 0.92 for water and 0.88 for milk. Results indicate that this SERS method is a potential tool that can be used on-site at field production for qualitative and quantitative detection of tetracycline residues.

A Simple Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopic Method for on-Site Screening of Tetracycline Residue in Whole Milk.

Science.gov (United States)

Dhakal, Sagar; Chao, Kuanglin; Huang, Qing; Kim, Moon; Schmidt, Walter; Qin, Jianwei; Broadhurst, C Leigh

2018-02-01

Therapeutic and subtherapeutic use of veterinary drugs has increased the risk of residue contamination in animal food products. Antibiotics such as tetracycline are used for mastitis treatment of lactating cows. Milk expressed from treated cows before the withdrawal period has elapsed may contain tetracycline residue. This study developed a simple surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopic (SERS) method for on-site screening of tetracycline residue in milk and water. Six batches of silver colloid nanoparticles were prepared for surface enhancement measurement. Milk-tetracycline and water-tetracycline solutions were prepared at seven concentration levels (1000, 500, 100, 10, 1, 0.1, and 0.01 ppm) and spiked with silver colloid nanoparticles. A 785 nm Raman spectroscopic system was used for spectral measurement. Tetracycline vibrational modes were observed at 1285, 1317 and 1632 cm -1 in water-tetracycline solutions and 1322 and 1621 cm -1 (shifted from 1317 and 1632 cm -1 , respectively) in milk-tetracycline solutions. Tetracycline residue concentration as low as 0.01 ppm was detected in both the solutions. The peak intensities at 1285 and 1322 cm -1 were used to estimate the tetracycline concentrations in water and milk with correlation coefficients of 0.92 for water and 0.88 for milk. Results indicate that this SERS method is a potential tool that can be used on-site at field production for qualitative and quantitative detection of tetracycline residues.

Optical filter finesses enhancement based on nested coupled cavities and active medium

Science.gov (United States)

Adib, George A.; Sabry, Yasser M.; Khalil, Diaa

2016-04-01

Optical filters with relatively large FSR and narrow linewidth are simultaneously needed for different applications. The ratio between the FSR and the 3-dB linewidth is given by finesse of the filter, which is solely determined by the different energy loss mechanisms limited by the technology advancement. In this work, we present a novel coupled-cavity configuration embedding an optical filter and a gain medium; allowing an overall finesse enhancement and simultaneous FSR and 3-dB linewidth engineering beyond the technological limits of the filter fabrication method. The configuration consists of two resonators. An active ring resonator comprises an optical gain medium and a passive resonator. In one configuration, the optical filter is the passive resonator itself. In a second configuration, the passive resonator is another ring resonator that embeds the optical filter. The presented configurations using a semiconductor optical amplifier are applied one time to a mechanically Fabry-Perot filter in the first presented configuration; and a second time to a fiber ring filter in the second presented configuration. The mechanical filter has an original 3-dB linewidth of 1nm and an FSR that is larger than 100nm while the enhanced linewidth is about 0.3nm. The fiber ring filter length is 4 m and directional coupler ratios of 90/10corresponding to a 3-dBlinewidth of about 4MHz and an FSR of 47 MHz. The enhanced 3- dBlinewidth of the overall filter configuration is 200kHz, demonstrating finesse enhancement up to20 times the original finesse of the filter.

Dynamics of bad-cavity-enhanced interaction with cold Sr atoms for laser stabilization

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Schäffer, S. A.; Christensen, B. T.R.; Henriksen, M. R.

2017-01-01

Hybrid systems of cold atoms and optical cavities are promising systems for increasing the stability of laser oscillators used in quantum metrology and atomic clocks. In this paper we map out the atom-cavity dynamics in such a system and demonstrate limitations as well as robustness of the approach....... We investigate the phase response of an ensemble of cold Sr88 atoms inside an optical cavity for use as an error signal in laser frequency stabilization. With this system we realize a regime where the high atomic phase shift limits the dynamical locking range. The limitation is caused by the cavity...

Diagnostics and treatment of 1.3 GHz Nb cavities

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tamashevich, Yegor

2017-01-15

increase the accuracy of the measurements. A new program code for quench localisation calculating the path of the second-sound wave was developed. This allows the signals from all sensors to be used, regardless of their position relative to the quench site. The new approach was validated using additional techniques such as a temperature mapping and an optical inspection of the inner cavity surface. Furthermore, a new multi-sensor for second-sound wave detection in the helium vessel of a cavity was developed and successfully tested on a serial-production XFEL cavity. The determined quench site location was confirmed by subsequent optical inspection. The algorithm localises the quench without mode measurements i.e. there is no need to dismount HOM-antennas which requires special procedures and must be performed in a clean-room. The mathematical approach described in this paper can be applied for second-sound tests of superconductive cavities of various shapes and dimensions.

Diagnostics and treatment of 1.3 GHz Nb cavities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tamashevich, Yegor

2017-01-01

for quench localisation calculating the path of the second-sound wave was developed. This allows the signals from all sensors to be used, regardless of their position relative to the quench site. The new approach was validated using additional techniques such as a temperature mapping and an optical inspection of the inner cavity surface. Furthermore, a new multi-sensor for second-sound wave detection in the helium vessel of a cavity was developed and successfully tested on a serial-production XFEL cavity. The determined quench site location was confirmed by subsequent optical inspection. The algorithm localises the quench without mode measurements i.e. there is no need to dismount HOM-antennas which requires special procedures and must be performed in a clean-room. The mathematical approach described in this paper can be applied for second-sound tests of superconductive cavities of various shapes and dimensions.

Hemispherical cavities on silicon substrates: an overview of micro fabrication techniques

Science.gov (United States)

Poncelet, O.; Rasson, J.; Tuyaerts, R.; Coulombier, M.; Kotipalli, R.; Raskin, J.-P.; Francis, L. A.

2018-04-01

Hemispherical photonic crystals found in species like Papilio blumei and Cicendella chinensis have inspired new applications like anti-counterfeiting devices and gas sensors. In this work, we investigate and compare four different ways to micro fabricate such hemispherical cavities: using colloids as template, by wet (HNA) or dry (XeF2) isotropic etching of silicon and by electrochemical etching of silicon. The shape and the roughness of the obtained cavities have been discussed and the pros/cons for each method are highlighted.

Development of a portable heavy-water leak sensor based on laser absorption spectroscopy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Lim; Park, Hyunmin; Kim, Taek-Soo; Kim, Minho; Jeong, Do-Young

2016-01-01

Highlights: • We developed a compact and portable laser sensor for a detection of heavy water leakage. • The sensor is wearable and also easy to use to search for the leak point. • It is sensitive enough to find invisible very tiny leaks. - Abstract: A compact and portable leak sensor based on cavity enhanced absorption spectroscopy has been newly developed for a detection of heavy water leakage which may happen in the facilities using heavy water such as pressurized heavy water reactor (PHWR). The developed portable sensor is suitable as an individual instrument for the measuring leak rate and finding the leak location because it is sufficiently compact in size and weight and operated by using an internal battery. In the performance test, the minimum detectable leak rate was estimated as 0.05 g/day from the calibration curve. This new sensor is expected to be a reliable and promising device for the detection of heavy water leakage since it has advantages on real-time monitoring and early detection for nuclear safety.

An external-cavity quantum cascade laser operating near 5.2 µm combined with cavity ring-down spectroscopy for multi-component chemical sensing

Science.gov (United States)

Dutta Banik, Gourab; Maity, Abhijit; Som, Suman; Pal, Mithun; Pradhan, Manik

2018-04-01

We report on the performance of a widely tunable continuous wave mode-hop-free external-cavity quantum cascade laser operating at λ ~ 5.2 µm combined with cavity ring-down spectroscopy (CRDS) technique for high-resolution molecular spectroscopy. The CRDS system has been utilized for simultaneous and molecule-specific detection of several environmentally and bio-medically important trace molecular species such as nitric oxide, nitrous oxide, carbonyl sulphide and acetylene (C2H2) at ultra-low concentrations by probing numerous rotationally resolved ro-vibrational transitions in the mid-IR spectral region within a relatively small spectral range of ~0.035 cm-1. This continuous wave external-cavity quantum cascade laser-based multi-component CRDS sensor with high sensitivity and molecular specificity promises applications in environmental sensing as well as non-invasive medical diagnosis through human breath analysis.

Allan Deviation Plot as a Tool for Quartz-Enhanced Photoacoustic Sensors Noise Analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Giglio, Marilena; Patimisco, Pietro; Sampaolo, Angelo; Scamarcio, Gaetano; Tittel, Frank K; Spagnolo, Vincenzo

2016-04-01

We report here on the use of the Allan deviation plot to analyze the long-term stability of a quartz-enhanced photoacoustic (QEPAS) gas sensor. The Allan plot provides information about the optimum averaging time for the QEPAS signal and allows the prediction of its ultimate detection limit. The Allan deviation can also be used to determine the main sources of noise coming from the individual components of the sensor. Quartz tuning fork thermal noise dominates for integration times up to 275 s, whereas at longer averaging times, the main contribution to the sensor noise originates from laser power instabilities.

Cavity pressure/residual stress measurements from the Non-Proliferation Experiment

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Heinle, R.A.; Hudson, B.C. [Lawrence Livermore National Lab., CA (United States); Hatch, M.A. Jr.

1994-12-31

The Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory planned and conducted experiments on the Non-Proliferation Experiment to determine post-detonation gas pressure inside the explosive cavity and the residual rock stress in the region immediately outside the cavity. Before detonation there was significant concern that steam and detonation products would create very high temperatures and pressure in the blast cavity that would exist for weeks and months after firing. This could constitute a safety hazard to personnel re-entering the tunnel. Consequently the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory was asked to field its Cavity Pressure/Residual stress monitor system on the Non-Proliferation Experiment. We obtained experimental data for the first 600 ms after the explosion and again several weeks after detonation upon tunnel re-entry. We recorded early-time cavity pressure of about 8.3 MPa. In addition we believe that the ends of our sensor hoses were subjected to an ambient driving pressure of about 0.5 MPa (absolute) that persisted until at least three weeks after zero time.

Polymer-coated vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser diode vapor sensor

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ansbæk, Thor; Nielsen, Claus Højgaard; Larsen, Niels Bent

2010-01-01

We report a new method for monitoring vapor concentration of volatile organic compounds using a vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL). The VCSEL is coated with a polymer thin film on the top distributed Bragg reflector (DBR). The analyte absorption is transduced to the electrical domain ...

A colorimetric tetrathiafulvalene-calix 4 pyrrole anion sensor

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, K. A.

2012-01-01

The interaction and colorimetric sensing properties of a tetrathiafulvalene substituted calix[4]pyrrole sensor with anions were investigated using H-1 NMR and absorption spectroscopic techniques. Visual color changes were observed upon addition of different anions (Cl-, Br-, CN-, and Ac......O-) to a solution of the sensor. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved....

Enhanced performance of microfluidic soft pressure sensors with embedded solid microspheres

Science.gov (United States)

Shin, Hee-Sup; Ryu, Jaiyoung; Majidi, Carmel; Park, Yong-Lae

2016-02-01

The cross-sectional geometry of an embedded microchannel influences the electromechanical response of a soft microfluidic sensor to applied surface pressure. When a pressure is exerted on the surface of the sensor deforming the soft structure, the cross-sectional area of the embedded channel filled with a conductive fluid decreases, increasing the channel’s electrical resistance. This electromechanical coupling can be tuned by adding solid microspheres into the channel. In order to determine the influence of microspheres, we use both analytic and computational methods to predict the pressure responses of soft microfluidic sensors with two different channel cross-sections: a square and an equilateral triangular. The analytical models were derived from contact mechanics in which microspheres were regarded as spherical indenters, and finite element analysis (FEA) was used for simulation. For experimental validation, sensor samples with the two different channel cross-sections were prepared and tested. For comparison, the sensor samples were tested both with and without microspheres. All three results from the analytical models, the FEA simulations, and the experiments showed reasonable agreement confirming that the multi-material soft structure significantly improved its pressure response in terms of both linearity and sensitivity. The embedded solid particles enhanced the performance of soft sensors while maintaining their flexible and stretchable mechanical characteristic. We also provide analytical and experimental analyses of hysteresis of microfluidic soft sensors considering a resistive force to the shape recovery of the polymer structure by the embedded viscous fluid.

Cavity QED with single trapped Ca+-ions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mundt, A.B.

2003-02-01

This thesis reports on the design and setup of a vacuum apparatus allowing the investigation of cavity QED effects with single trapped 40 Ca + ions. The weak coupling of ion and cavity in the 'bad cavity limit' may serve to inter--convert stationary and flying qubits. The ion is confined in a miniaturized Paul trap and cooled via the Doppler effect to the Lamb--Dicke regime. The extent of the atomic wave function is less than 30 nm. The ion is enclosed by a high finesse optical cavity. The technically--involved apparatus allows movement of the trap relative to the cavity and the trapped ion can be placed at any position in the standing wave. By means of a transfer lock the cavity can be resonantly stabilized with the S 1/2 ↔ D 5/2 quadrupole transition at 729 nm (suitable as a qubit) without light at that wavelength being present in the cavity. The coupling of the cavity field to the S 1/2 ↔ D 5/2 quadrupole transition is investigated with various techniques in order to determine the spatial dependence as well as the temporal dynamics. The orthogonal coupling of carrier and first--order sideband transitions at field nodes and antinodes is explored. The coherent interaction of the ion and the cavity field is confirmed by exciting Rabi oscillations with short resonant pulses injected into the cavity. Finally, first experimental steps towards the observation of cavity enhanced spontaneous emission have been taken. (author)

Micro Electro-Mechanical System (MEMS) Pressure Sensor for Footwear

Science.gov (United States)

Kholwadwala, Deepesh K.; Rohrer, Brandon R.; Spletzer, Barry L.; Galambos, Paul C.; Wheeler, Jason W.; Hobart, Clinton G.; Givler, Richard C.

2008-09-23

Footwear comprises a sole and a plurality of sealed cavities contained within the sole. The sealed cavities can be incorporated as deformable containers within an elastic medium, comprising the sole. A plurality of micro electro-mechanical system (MEMS) pressure sensors are respectively contained within the sealed cavity plurality, and can be adapted to measure static and dynamic pressure within each of the sealed cavities. The pressure measurements can provide information relating to the contact pressure distribution between the sole of the footwear and the wearer's environment.

Classification of reflected signals from cavitated tooth surfaces using an artificial intelligence technique incorporating a fiber optic displacement sensor

Science.gov (United States)

Rahman, Husna Abdul; Harun, Sulaiman Wadi; Arof, Hamzah; Irawati, Ninik; Musirin, Ismail; Ibrahim, Fatimah; Ahmad, Harith

2014-05-01

An enhanced dental cavity diameter measurement mechanism using an intensity-modulated fiber optic displacement sensor (FODS) scanning and imaging system, fuzzy logic as well as a single-layer perceptron (SLP) neural network, is presented. The SLP network was employed for the classification of the reflected signals, which were obtained from the surfaces of teeth samples and captured using FODS. Two features were used for the classification of the reflected signals with one of them being the output of a fuzzy logic. The test results showed that the combined fuzzy logic and SLP network methodology contributed to a 100% classification accuracy of the network. The high-classification accuracy significantly demonstrates the suitability of the proposed features and classification using SLP networks for classifying the reflected signals from teeth surfaces, enabling the sensor to accurately measure small diameters of tooth cavity of up to 0.6 mm. The method remains simple enough to allow its easy integration in existing dental restoration support systems.

MR imaging of oropharynx and oral cavity

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vogl, T.; Markl, A.F.; Bruning, R.; Greves, G.; Kang, K.; Lissner, J.A.

1988-01-01

The effect of intravenously administered Gd-DTPA on signal intensity, in the oropharynx and oral cavity was analyzed, in comparison with plain imaging the examinations were carried out on 150 patients, with a 1.5-T magnetic resonance (MR) imaging unit. During and after the application of Gd-DTPA, flash images with a repetition time of 30, an echo time of 12 msec, and a 20 0 flip angle were acquired over a period of 7 minutes. In 89 patients, malignant tumors were discovered, located primarily in the oropharynx and oral cavity. Plain MR imaging was equal to or better than computed tomograph in all patients except five. Marked contrast enhancement was observed in carcinomas, sarcomas, and inflammation. The enhancement of signal intensity versus time allowed a better differentiation of histologic features. MR imaging contributes substantially to the imaging of the oropharynx and oral cavity by improved soft-tissue contrast and the capacity for multiplanar imaging

Insights to Superconducting Radio-Frequency Cavity Processing from First Principles Calculations and Spectroscopic Techniques

Science.gov (United States)

Ford, Denise Christine

Insights to the fundamental processes that occur during the manufacturing of niobium superconducting radio-frequency (SRF) cavities are provided via analyses of density functional theory calculations and Raman, infrared, and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectra. I show that during electropolishing fluorine is bound and released by the reaction of the acid components in the solution: HF + H2SO4 HFSO3 + H2O. This result implies that new recipes can possibly be developed on the principle of controlled release of fluorine by a chemical reaction. I also show that NMR or Raman spectroscopy can be used to monitor the free fluorine when polishing with the standard electropolishing recipe. Density functional theory was applied to calculate the properties of common processing impurities---hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, and carbon---in the niobium. These impurities lower the superconducting transition temperature of niobium, and hydride precipitates are at best weakly superconducting. I modeled several of the niobium hydride phases relevant to SRF cavities, and explain the phase changes in the niobium hydrogen system based on the charge transfer between niobium and hydrogen and the strain field inside of the niobium. I also present evidence for a niobium lattice vacancy serving as a nucleation center for hydride phase formation. In considering the other chemical impurities in niobium, I show that the absorption of oxygen into a niobium lattice vacancy is preferred over the absorption of hydrogen, which indicates that oxygen can block these phase nucleation centers. I also show that dissolved oxygen atoms can trap dissolved hydrogen atoms to prevent niobium hydride phase formation. Nitrogen and carbon were studied in less depth, but behaved similarly to oxygen. Based on these results and a literature survey, I propose a mechanism for the success of the low-temperature anneal applied to niobium SRF cavities. Finally, I present the beginning of a model to describe magnetic

Insights to Superconducting Radio-Frequency Cavity Processing from First Principles Calculations and Spectroscopic Techniques

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ford, Denise Christine [Northwestern Univ., Evanston, IL (United States)

2013-03-01

Insights to the fundamental processes that occur during the manufacturing of niobium superconducting radio-frequency (SRF) cavities are provided via analyses of density functional theory calculations and Raman, infrared, and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectra. I show that during electropolishing fluorine is bound and released by the reaction of the acid components in the solution: HF + H₂SO₄ <-> HFSO₃ + H₂O. This result implies that new recipes can possibly be developed on the principle of controlled release of fluorine by a chemical reaction. I also show that NMR or Raman spectroscopy can be used to monitor the free fluorine when polishing with the standard electropolishing recipe. Density functional theory was applied to calculate the properties of common processing impurities – hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, and carbon – in the niobium. These impurities lower the superconducting transition temperature of niobium, and hydride precipitates are at best weakly superconducting. I modeled several of the niobium hydride phases relevant to SRF cavities, and explain the phase changes in the niobium hydrogen system based on the charge transfer between niobium and hydrogen and the strain field inside of the niobium. I also present evidence for a niobium lattice vacancy serving as a nucleation center for hydride phase formation. In considering the other chemical impurities in niobium, I show that the absorption of oxygen into a niobium lattice vacancy is preferred over the absorption of hydrogen, which indicates that oxygen can block these phase nucleation centers. I also show that dissolved oxygen atoms can trap dissolved hydrogen atoms to prevent niobium hydride phase formation. Nitrogen and carbon were studied in less depth, but behaved similarly to oxygen. Based on these results and a literature survey, I propose a mechanism for the success of the low-temperature anneal applied to niobium SRF cavities. Finally, I

Virtual sensors for active noise control in acoustic-structural coupled enclosures using structural sensing: robust virtual sensor design.

Science.gov (United States)

Halim, Dunant; Cheng, Li; Su, Zhongqing

2011-03-01

The work was aimed to develop a robust virtual sensing design methodology for sensing and active control applications of vibro-acoustic systems. The proposed virtual sensor was designed to estimate a broadband acoustic interior sound pressure using structural sensors, with robustness against certain dynamic uncertainties occurring in an acoustic-structural coupled enclosure. A convex combination of Kalman sub-filters was used during the design, accommodating different sets of perturbed dynamic model of the vibro-acoustic enclosure. A minimax optimization problem was set up to determine an optimal convex combination of Kalman sub-filters, ensuring an optimal worst-case virtual sensing performance. The virtual sensing and active noise control performance was numerically investigated on a rectangular panel-cavity system. It was demonstrated that the proposed virtual sensor could accurately estimate the interior sound pressure, particularly the one dominated by cavity-controlled modes, by using a structural sensor. With such a virtual sensing technique, effective active noise control performance was also obtained even for the worst-case dynamics. © 2011 Acoustical Society of America

Noise-Immune Cavity-Enhanced Optical Heterodyne Molecular Spectrometry Modelling Under Saturated Absorption

Science.gov (United States)

Dupré, Patrick

2015-06-01

The Noise-Immune Cavity-Enhanced Optical Heterodyne Molecular Spectrometry (NICE-OHMS) is a modern technique renowned for its ultimate sensitivity, because it combines long equivalent absorption length provided by a high finesse cavity, and a detection theoretically limited by the sole photon-shot-noise. One fallout of the high finesse is the possibility to accumulating strong intracavity electromagnetic fields (EMF). Under this condition, molecular transitions can be easy saturated giving rise to the usual Lamb dips (or hole burning). However, the unusual shape of the basically trichromatic EMF (due to the RF lateral sidebands) induces nonlinear couplings, i.e., new crossover transitions. An analytical methodology will be presented to calculate spectra provided by NICE-OHMS experiments. It is based on the solutions of the equations of motion of an open two-blocked-level system performed in the frequency-domain (optically thin medium). Knowing the transition dipole moment, the NICE-OHMS signals (``absorption-like'' and ``dispersion-like'') can be simulated by integration over the Doppler shifts and by paying attention to the molecular Zeeman sublevels and to the EMF polarization The approach has been validated by discussion experimental data obtained on two transitions of {C2H2} in the near-infrared under moderated saturation. One of the applications of the saturated absorption is to be able to simultaneously determine the transition intensity and the density number while only one these 2 quantities can only be assessed in nonlinear absorption. J. Opt. Soc. Am. B 32, 838 (2015) Optics Express 16, 14689 (2008)

Dependence of mis-alignment sensitivity of ring laser gyro cavity on cavity parameters

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sun Feng; Zhang Xi; Zhang Hongbo; Yang Changcheng, E-mail: sunok1234@sohu.com [Huazhong Institute of Electro-Optics - Wuhan National Lab for Optoelectronics, Wuhan, Hubei (China)

2011-02-01

The ring laser gyroscope (RLG), as a rotation sensor, has been widely used for navigation and guidance on vehicles and missiles. The environment of strong random-vibration and large acceleration may deteriorate the performance of the RLG due to the vibration-induced tilting of the mirrors. In this paper the RLG performance is theoretically analyzed and the parameters such as the beam diameter at the aperture, cavity mirror alignment sensitivities and power loss due to the mirror tilting are calculated. It is concluded that by carefully choosing the parameters, the significant loss in laser power can be avoided.

Cross-Selectivity Enhancement of Poly(vinylidene fluoride-hexafluoropropylene-Based Sensor Arrays for Detecting Acetone and Ethanol

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ali Daneshkhah

2017-03-01

Full Text Available Two methods for cross-selectivity enhancement of porous poly(vinylidene fluoride-hexafluoropropylene (PVDF-HFP/carbon black (CB composite-based resistive sensors are provided. The sensors are tested with acetone and ethanol in the presence of humid air. Cross-selectivity is enhanced using two different methods to modify the basic response of the PVDF-HFP/CB sensing platform. In method I, the adsorption properties of PVDF-HFP/CB are altered by adding a polyethylene oxide (PEO layer or by treating with infrared (IR. In method II, the effects of the interaction of acetone and ethanol are enhanced by adding diethylene carbonate (DEC or PEO dispersed in DEC (PEO/DEC to the film. The results suggest the approaches used in method I alter the composite ability to adsorb acetone and ethanol, while in method II, they alter the transduction characteristics of the composite. Using these approaches, sensor relative response to acetone was increased by 89% compared with the PVDF-HFP/CB untreated film, whereas sensor relative response to ethanol could be decreased by 57% or increased by 197%. Not only do these results demonstrate facile methods for increasing sensitivity of PVDF-HFP/CB film, used in parallel they demonstrate a roadmap for enhancing system cross-selectivity that can be applied to separate units on an array. Fabrication methods, experimental procedures and results are presented and discussed.

Spectroscopic imaging of X-rays anew look

CERN Document Server

Heijne, Erik H M

2003-01-01

In recent hybrid imaging devices a segmented (50-100mum) semiconductor sensor matrix is matched to a separate readout chip made in some standard silicon CMOS technology. The large number of contacts are made by high-density bump bonding interconnect technology. Extended functionality with hundreds of transistors in each electronics cell can serve a variety of purposes. Fluctuations in the response of the sensor matrix can be compensated in real-time. A single photon processing circuit in each pixel can achieve spectroscopic imaging by energy measurement even at high rates. However, it is necessary to take into account the distribution of the signals over adjacent pixels. Another possibility is the discrimination by energy of photon conversions in stacked layers with increasing absorption.

IR sensitivity enhancement of CMOS Image Sensor with diffractive light trapping pixels.

Science.gov (United States)

Yokogawa, Sozo; Oshiyama, Itaru; Ikeda, Harumi; Ebiko, Yoshiki; Hirano, Tomoyuki; Saito, Suguru; Oinoue, Takashi; Hagimoto, Yoshiya; Iwamoto, Hayato

2017-06-19

We report on the IR sensitivity enhancement of back-illuminated CMOS Image Sensor (BI-CIS) with 2-dimensional diffractive inverted pyramid array structure (IPA) on crystalline silicon (c-Si) and deep trench isolation (DTI). FDTD simulations of semi-infinite thick c-Si having 2D IPAs on its surface whose pitches over 400 nm shows more than 30% improvement of light absorption at λ = 850 nm and the maximum enhancement of 43% with the 540 nm pitch at the wavelength is confirmed. A prototype BI-CIS sample with pixel size of 1.2 μm square containing 400 nm pitch IPAs shows 80% sensitivity enhancement at λ = 850 nm compared to the reference sample with flat surface. This is due to diffraction with the IPA and total reflection at the pixel boundary. The NIR images taken by the demo camera equip with a C-mount lens show 75% sensitivity enhancement in the λ = 700-1200 nm wavelength range with negligible spatial resolution degradation. Light trapping CIS pixel technology promises to improve NIR sensitivity and appears to be applicable to many different image sensor applications including security camera, personal authentication, and range finding Time-of-Flight camera with IR illuminations.

Cavity-enhanced Raman spectroscopy with optical feedback cw diode lasers for gas phase analysis and spectroscopy.

Science.gov (United States)

Salter, Robert; Chu, Johnny; Hippler, Michael

2012-10-21

A variant of cavity-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (CERS) is introduced, in which diode laser radiation at 635 nm is coupled into an external linear optical cavity composed of two highly reflective mirrors. Using optical feedback stabilisation, build-up of circulating laser power by 3 orders of magnitude occurs. Strong Raman signals are collected in forward scattering geometry. Gas phase CERS spectra of H(2), air, CH(4) and benzene are recorded to demonstrate the potential for analytical applications and fundamental molecular studies. Noise equivalent limits of detection in the ppm by volume range (1 bar sample) can be achieved with excellent linearity with a 10 mW excitation laser, with sensitivity increasing with laser power and integration time. The apparatus can be operated with battery powered components and can thus be very compact and portable. Possible applications include safety monitoring of hydrogen gas levels, isotope tracer studies (e.g., (14)N/(15)N ratios), observing isotopomers of hydrogen (e.g., radioactive tritium), and simultaneous multi-component gas analysis. CERS has the potential to become a standard method for sensitive gas phase Raman spectroscopy.

Multidimensional and interference effects in atom trapping by a cavity field

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vukics, A; Domokos, P; Ritsch, H

2004-01-01

We study the trapping of a driven two-level atom in a strongly coupled single-mode cavity field. The cavity can significantly enhance the cooling in the direction perpendicular to the cavity axis and thus the standard Doppler-cooling scheme together with a transverse high-finesse resonator yields long trapping times up to the range of seconds. By the addition of a weak cavity pump, trapping can be achieved in the direction of the cavity axis as well. The system is sensitive to the relative phase of the atomic and cavity pumps due to the interference of the fields injected and scattered into the cavity mode. Variation of the phase difference leads to a switching between two possible trap positions along the cavity axis

Narrow-line external cavity diode laser micro-packaging in the NIR and MIR spectral range

Science.gov (United States)

Jiménez, A.; Milde, T.; Staacke, N.; Aßmann, C.; Carpintero, G.; Sacher, J.

2017-07-01

Narrow-linewidth tunable diode lasers are an important tool for spectroscopic instrumentation. Conventional external cavity diode lasers offer high output power and narrow linewidth. However, most external cavity diode lasers are designed as laboratory instrument and do not allow portability. In comparison, other commonly used lasers, like distributed feedback lasers (DFB) that are capable of driving a handheld device, are limited in power and show linewidths which are not sufficiently narrow for certain applications. We present new miniaturized types of tunable external cavity diode laser which overcome the drawbacks of conventional external cavity diode lasers and which preserve the advantages of this laser concept. Three different configurations are discussed in this article. The three types of miniaturized external cavity diode laser systems achieve power values of more than 50 mW within the 1.4 μm water vapor absorption band with excellent side-mode suppression and linewidth below 100 kHz. Typical features outstand with respect to other type of laser systems which are of extended use such as DFB laser diodes. The higher output power and the lower linewidth will enable a higher sensitivity and resolution for a wide range of applications.

Probing the evaporation of ternary ethanol-methanol-water droplets by cavity enhanced Raman scattering.

Science.gov (United States)

Howle, Chris R; Homer, Chris J; Hopkins, Rebecca J; Reid, Jonathan P

2007-10-21

Cavity enhanced Raman scattering is used to characterise the evolving composition of ternary aerosol droplets containing methanol, ethanol and water during evaporation into a dry nitrogen atmosphere. Measurements made using non-linear stimulated Raman scattering from these ternary alcohol-water droplets allow the in situ determination of the concentration of the two alcohol components with high accuracy. The overlapping spontaneous Raman bands of the two alcohol components, arising from C-H stretching vibrational modes, are spectrally-resolved in stimulated Raman scattering measurements. We also demonstrate that the evaporation measurements are consistent with a quasi-steady state evaporation model, which can be used to interpret the evaporation dynamics occurring at a range of pressures at a particular evaporation time.

Enhanced gas sensing performance of TiO2 functionalized magneto-optical SPR sensors

OpenAIRE

Manera, Maria Grazia; Montagna, G.; Ferreiro-Vila, Elías; González-García, Lola; Sánchez-Valencia, J.R.; González-Elipe, Agustín R.; Cebollada, Alfonso; García-Martín, José Miguel; García-Martín, Antonio; Armelles Reig, Gaspar; Rella, Roberto

2011-01-01

Porous TiO2 thin films deposited by glancing angle deposition are used as sensing layers to monitor their sensing capabilities towards Volatile Organic Compounds both in a standard Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR) sensor and in Magneto-Optical Surface Plasmon Resonance (MO-SPR) configuration in order to compare their sensing performances. Here our results on the enhanced sensing capability of these TiO2 functionalized MO-SPR sensors with Au/Co/Au transducers with respect to traditional SPR gas...

Thermal microphotonic sensor and sensor array

Science.gov (United States)

Watts, Michael R [Albuquerque, NM; Shaw, Michael J [Tijeras, NM; Nielson, Gregory N [Albuquerque, NM; Lentine, Anthony L [Albuquerque, NM

2010-02-23

A thermal microphotonic sensor is disclosed for detecting infrared radiation using heat generated by the infrared radiation to shift the resonant frequency of an optical resonator (e.g. a ring resonator) to which the heat is coupled. The shift in the resonant frequency can be determined from light in an optical waveguide which is evanescently coupled to the optical resonator. An infrared absorber can be provided on the optical waveguide either as a coating or as a plate to aid in absorption of the infrared radiation. In some cases, a vertical resonant cavity can be formed about the infrared absorber to further increase the absorption of the infrared radiation. The sensor can be formed as a single device, or as an array for imaging the infrared radiation.

Fiber Temperature Sensor Based on Micro-mechanical Membranes and Optical Interference Structure

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liu Yueming; Tian Weijian; Hua Jing

2011-01-01

A novel fiber temperature sensor is presented theoretically and experimentally in this paper. Its working principle is based on Optical Fabry-Perot interference structure that is formed between a polished optical fiber end and micro-mechanical Bi-layered membranes. When ambient temperature is varying, Bi-layered membranes will be deflected and the length of Fabry-Perot cavity will be changed correspondingly. By detecting the reflecting optical intensity from the Fabry-Perot cavity, the ambient temperature can be measured. Using finite element software ANSYS, the sensor structure was optimized based on optical Interference theory and Bi-layered membranes thermal expansion theory, and theoretical characteristics was simulated by computer software. In the end, using optical fiber 2x2 coupler and photo-electrical detector, the fabricated sample sensor was tested successfully by experiment that demonstrating above theoretical analysis and simulation results. This sensor has some favorable features, such as: micro size owing to its micro-mechanical structure, high sensitivity owing to its working Fabry-Perot interference cavity structure, and optical integration character by using optical fiber techniques.

Enhancing source location protection in wireless sensor networks

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Juan; Lin, Zhengkui; Wu, Di; Wang, Bailing

2015-12-01

Wireless sensor networks are widely deployed in the internet of things to monitor valuable objects. Once the object is monitored, the sensor nearest to the object which is known as the source informs the base station about the object's information periodically. It is obvious that attackers can capture the object successfully by localizing the source. Thus, many protocols have been proposed to secure the source location. However, in this paper, we examine that typical source location protection protocols generate not only near but also highly localized phantom locations. As a result, attackers can trace the source easily from these phantom locations. To address these limitations, we propose a protocol to enhance the source location protection (SLE). With phantom locations far away from the source and widely distributed, SLE improves source location anonymity significantly. Theory analysis and simulation results show that our SLE provides strong source location privacy preservation and the average safety period increases by nearly one order of magnitude compared with existing work with low communication cost.

Monitoring of subsurface extended cavities prone to instabilities

Science.gov (United States)

Bigarre, Pascal; Nadim, Charles-Édouard; Lahaie, Frantz

2010-05-01

Natural or abandoned anthropogenic cavities are to be found in various contexts all around the world. In France, shallow cavities count rises up to several hundreds of thousands. It concerns complex cavities as old abandoned multilevel quarries, extended mines or naturally interlaced karsts. Risk assessment related to these cavities, such as sinkholes or pillar failure, conducts usually to short term strategy based on regular visual inspections until a more definitive risk reduction strategy is adopted. However, if no definitive remediation appears as feasible, for technical or socio-economic reasons, monitoring by regular visual inspection of specialists rises several crucial issues in the long term: safety conditions for the inspection team, limited reactivity of the monitoring due to the period between two inspections and finally difficulties to detect reliably and exhaustively early signs of evolution when local disorders are spread over a large underground area. Several well-proofed techniques are available to detect subsurface cavities, but it is less common when considering field instrumentation applied to permanent monitoring in such context. Indeed, classical geotechnical measurement based on strain and displacement sensors give very local information and cannot be deployed at a large scale with a correct coverage within a reasonable cost/benefit ratio. Moreover this type of instrumentation requires significant efforts and equipment for installation underground, must be placed right inside the most hazardous zones whenever it is feasible and is often not retrievable. Yet a continuous remote monitoring can save a regular control on site and may provide unique information about the kinetic of potential sinkholes and local ground failures. To proceed with this matter, INERIS develops and tests new tools and methods to facilitate the setting up of operational devices for remote monitoring and alert applied to subsurface extended cavities. Such systems aim to

Fabrications and Performance of Wireless LC Pressure Sensors through LTCC Technology.

Science.gov (United States)

Lin, Lin; Ma, Mingsheng; Zhang, Faqiang; Liu, Feng; Liu, Zhifu; Li, Yongxiang

2018-01-25

This paper presents a kind of passive wireless pressure sensor comprised of a planar spiral inductor and a cavity parallel plate capacitor fabricated through low-temperature co-fired ceramic (LTCC) technology. The LTCC material with a low Young's modulus of ~65 GPa prepared by our laboratory was used to obtain high sensitivity. A three-step lamination process was applied to construct a high quality cavity structure without using any sacrificial materials. The effects of the thickness of the sensing membranes on the sensitivity and detection range of the pressure sensors were investigated. The sensor with a 148 μm sensing membrane showed the highest sensitivity of 3.76 kHz/kPa, and the sensor with a 432 μm sensing membrane presented a high detection limit of 2660 kPa. The tunable sensitivity and detection limit of the wireless pressure sensors can meet the requirements of different scenes.

Enhancing the accuracy of subcutaneous glucose sensors: a real-time deconvolution-based approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Guerra, Stefania; Facchinetti, Andrea; Sparacino, Giovanni; Nicolao, Giuseppe De; Cobelli, Claudio

2012-06-01

Minimally invasive continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) sensors can greatly help diabetes management. Most of these sensors consist of a needle electrode, placed in the subcutaneous tissue, which measures an electrical current exploiting the glucose-oxidase principle. This current is then transformed to glucose levels after calibrating the sensor on the basis of one, or more, self-monitoring blood glucose (SMBG) samples. In this study, we design and test a real-time signal-enhancement module that, cascaded to the CGM device, improves the quality of its output by a proper postprocessing of the CGM signal. In fact, CGM sensors measure glucose in the interstitium rather than in the blood compartment. We show that this distortion can be compensated by means of a regularized deconvolution procedure relying on a linear regression model that can be updated whenever a pair of suitably sampled SMBG references is collected. Tests performed both on simulated and real data demonstrate a significant accuracy improvement of the CGM signal. Simulation studies also demonstrate the robustness of the method against departures from nominal conditions, such as temporal misplacement of the SMBG samples and uncertainty in the blood-to-interstitium glucose kinetic model. Thanks to its online capabilities, the proposed signal-enhancement algorithm can be used to improve the performance of CGM-based real-time systems such as the hypo/hyper glycemic alert generators or the artificial pancreas.

Evaluation and environmental correction of ambient CO2 measurements from a low-cost NDIR sensor

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

C. R. Martin

2017-07-01

Full Text Available Non-dispersive infrared (NDIR sensors are a low-cost way to observe carbon dioxide concentrations in air, but their specified accuracy and precision are not sufficient for some scientific applications. An initial evaluation of six SenseAir K30 carbon dioxide NDIR sensors in a lab setting showed that without any calibration or correction, the sensors have an individual root mean square error (RMSE between  ∼ 5 and 21 parts per million (ppm compared to a research-grade greenhouse gas analyzer using cavity enhanced laser absorption spectroscopy. Through further evaluation, after correcting for environmental variables with coefficients determined through a multivariate linear regression analysis, the calculated difference between the each of six individual K30 NDIR sensors and the higher-precision instrument had an RMSE of between 1.7 and 4.3 ppm for 1 min data. The median RMSE improved from 9.6 for off-the-shelf sensors to 1.9 ppm after correction and calibration, demonstrating the potential to provide useful information for ambient air monitoring.

Evaluation and environmental correction of ambient CO2 measurements from a low-cost NDIR sensor

Science.gov (United States)

Martin, Cory R.; Zeng, Ning; Karion, Anna; Dickerson, Russell R.; Ren, Xinrong; Turpie, Bari N.; Weber, Kristy J.

2017-07-01

Non-dispersive infrared (NDIR) sensors are a low-cost way to observe carbon dioxide concentrations in air, but their specified accuracy and precision are not sufficient for some scientific applications. An initial evaluation of six SenseAir K30 carbon dioxide NDIR sensors in a lab setting showed that without any calibration or correction, the sensors have an individual root mean square error (RMSE) between ˜ 5 and 21 parts per million (ppm) compared to a research-grade greenhouse gas analyzer using cavity enhanced laser absorption spectroscopy. Through further evaluation, after correcting for environmental variables with coefficients determined through a multivariate linear regression analysis, the calculated difference between the each of six individual K30 NDIR sensors and the higher-precision instrument had an RMSE of between 1.7 and 4.3 ppm for 1 min data. The median RMSE improved from 9.6 for off-the-shelf sensors to 1.9 ppm after correction and calibration, demonstrating the potential to provide useful information for ambient air monitoring.

Photo-acoustic sensor based on an inexpensive piezoelectric film transducer and an amplitude-stabilized single-mode external cavity diode laser for in vitro measurements of glucose concentration

Science.gov (United States)

Bayrakli, Ismail; Erdogan, Yasar Kemal

2018-06-01

The present paper focuses on development of a compact photo-acoustic sensor using inexpensive components for glucose analysis. An amplitude-stabilized wavelength-tunable single-mode external cavity diode laser operating around 1050 nm was realized and characterized for the use of laser beam as an excitation light source. In the established setup, a fine tuning range of 9 GHz was achieved. The glucose solution was obtained by diluting D-glucose in sterile water. The acoustic signal generated by the optical excitation was detected via a chip piezoelectric film transducer. A detection limit of 50 mM (900 mg/dl) was achieved. The device may be of great interest for its applications in medicine and health monitoring. The sensor is promising for non-invasive in vivo glucose measurements from interstitial fluid.

Process Factors Influence on Cavity Pressure Behavior in Microinjection Moulding

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Griffiths, C. A.; Dimov, S. S.; Scholz, S.

2011-01-01

about the filling behavior of different polymer melts. In this paper, a pressure sensor mounted inside a tool cavity was employed to analyse maximum cavity pressure, pressure increase rate during filling and pressure work. The influence of four mu IM parameters, melt temperature, mould temperature......Process monitoring of microinjection moulding (mu IM) is of crucial importance when analysing the effect of different parameter settings on the process and then in assessing its quality. Quality factors related to cavity pressure can provide valuable information about the process dynamics and also......, injection speed, and packing pressure on these three pressure-related process parameters was investigated. A design of experiment study was conducted by moulding a test part, a microfluidic component, in three different polymer materials, PP, ABS, and PC. The results show a similar process behavior for all...

Review of cavity optomechanical cooling

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liu Yong-Chun; Hu Yu-Wen; Xiao Yun-Feng; Wong Chee Wei

2013-01-01

Quantum manipulation of macroscopic mechanical systems is of great interest in both fundamental physics and applications ranging from high-precision metrology to quantum information processing. For these purposes, a crucial step is to cool the mechanical system to its quantum ground state. In this review, we focus on the cavity optomechanical cooling, which exploits the cavity enhanced interaction between optical field and mechanical motion to reduce the thermal noise. Recent remarkable theoretical and experimental efforts in this field have taken a major step forward in preparing the motional quantum ground state of mesoscopic mechanical systems. This review first describes the quantum theory of cavity optomechanical cooling, including quantum noise approach and covariance approach; then, the up-to-date experimental progresses are introduced. Finally, new cooling approaches are discussed along the directions of cooling in the strong coupling regime and cooling beyond the resolved sideband limit. (topical review - quantum information)

NO2 trace measurements by optical-feedback cavity-enhanced absorption spectroscopy

Science.gov (United States)

Ventrillard-Courtillot, I.; Foldes, T.; Romanini, D.

2009-04-01

In order to reach the sub-ppb NO2 detection level required for environmental applications in remote areas, we are developing a spectrometer that exploits a technique that we introduced several years ago, named Optical-Feedback Cavity-Enhanced Absorption Spectroscopy (OF-CEAS) [1]. It allows very sensitive and selective measurements, together with the realization of compact and robust set-ups as was subsequently demonstrated during measurements campaigns in harsh environments [2,3]. OF-CEAS benefits from the optical feedback (OF) to efficiently inject a cw-laser in a high finesse cavity (typically F >10 000). Absorption spectra are acquired on a small spectral region (~1 cm-1) that enables selective and quantitative measurements at a fast acquisition rate (~10 Hz) with a detection limit of several 10-10 cm-1 as reported in this paper. Spectra are obtained with high spectral resolution (~150 MHz) and are self calibrated by cavity rind-down measurements regularly performed (typically every second). Therefore, OF-CEAS appears very attractive for NO2 trace detection. This work is performed in the blue spectral region where NO2 has intense electronic transitions. Our setup involves a commercial extended cavity diode laser (ECDL) working at room temperature around 411nm. A first setup was developed [4] to demonstrate that OF sensitivity of ECDL is fully consistent with this technique, initially introduced with distributed feedback diode lasers in the near infrared region. In this paper we will report on a new set-up developed for in-situ measurements with proper mechanical, acoustic and thermal insulation. Additionally, new data processing was implemented allowing real time concentration measurements. It is based on a reference spectra recorded under controlled conditions by OF-CEAS and used later to fit the observed spectra. We will present measurements performed with calibrated NO2 reference samples demonstrating a good linearity of the apparatus. The minimum detectable

Nonlinearity Mechanism and Correction of Sapphire Fiber Temperature Sensor on Blackbody Cavity

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tiejun Cao

2014-06-01

Full Text Available Based on the principle of blackbody radiation, sapphire optic fiber temperature sensor has been more widely used in recent years, and its temperature range is between 800 ~ 2000 oC, and the response time is in 10-2 magnitude, and transient temperature measurement can be high precision in harsh environments. Nonlinear constraints on sapphire fiber temperature sensor affect the accuracy and stability of the sensor. In order to solve the nonlinear problems which exist in the measurement, at first, the sapphire fiber optic temperature sensor temperature measurement principle and nonlinear generation mechanism are studied; secondly piecewise linear interpolation and spline interpolation linearization algorithm is designed with combining the nonlinear characteristics of sapphire optical fiber temperature sensor, and the program is designed on its linear and associated signal processing. Experimental results show that a good linearization of sapphire fiber optic temperature sensor can been achieved in this method.

How spectroscopic x-ray imaging benefits from inter-pixel communication

CERN Document Server

Koenig, Thomas; Hamann, Elias; Cecilia, Angelica; Ballabriga, Rafael; Campbell, Michael; Ruat, Marie; Tlustos, Lukas; Fauler, Alex; Fiederle, Michael; Baumbach, Tilo

2014-01-01

Spectroscopic x-ray imaging based on pixellated semiconductor detectors can be sensitive to charge sharing and K-fluorescence, depending on the sensor material used, its thickness and the pixel pitch employed. As a consequence, spectroscopic resolution is partially lost. In this paper, we study a new detector ASIC, the Medipix3RX, that offers a novel feature called charge summing, which is established by making adjacent pixels communicate with each other. Consequently, single photon interactions resulting in multiple hits are almost completely avoided. We investigate this charge summing mode with respect to those of its imaging properties that are of interest in medical physics and benchmark them against the case without charge summing. In particular, we review its influence on spectroscopic resolution and find that the low energy bias normally present when recording energy spectra is dramatically reduced. Furthermore, we show that charge summing provides a modulation transfer function which is almost indepen...

Wideband perfect coherent absorber based on white-light cavity

Science.gov (United States)

Kotlicki, Omer; Scheuer, Jacob

2015-03-01

Coherent Perfect Absorbers (CPAs) are optical cavities which can be described as time-reversed lasers where light waves that enter the cavity, coherently interfere and react with the intra-cavity losses to yield perfect absorption. In contrast to lasers, which benefit from high coherency and narrow spectral linewidths, for absorbers these properties are often undesirable as absorption at a single frequency is highly susceptible to spectral noise and inappropriate for most practical applications. Recently, a new class of cavities, characterized by a spectrally wide resonance has been proposed. Such resonators, often referred to as White Light Cavities (WLCs), include an intra-cavity superluminal phase element, designed to provide a phase response with a slope that is opposite in sign and equal in magnitude to that of light propagation through the empty cavity. Consequently, the resonance phase condition in WLCs is satisfied over a band of frequencies providing a spectrally wide resonance. WLCs have drawn much attention due to their attractiveness for various applications such as ultra-sensitive sensors and optical buffering components. Nevertheless, WLCs exhibit inherent losses that are often undesirable. Here we introduce a simple wideband CPA device that is based on the WLC concept along with a complete analytical analysis. We present analytical and FDTD simulations of a practical, highly compact (12µm), Silicon based WLC-CPA that exhibits a flat and wide absorption profile (40nm) and demonstrate its usefulness as an optical pulse terminator (>35db isolation) and an all optical modulator that span the entire C-Band and exhibit high immunity to spectral noise.

Intra-laser-cavity microparticle sensing with a dual-wavelength distributed-feedback laser

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bernhardi, Edward H.; van der Werf, Kees O; Hollink, Anton J F; Wörhoff, Kerstin; de Ridder, René M; Subramaniam, Vinod; Pollnau, Markus

An integrated intra-laser-cavity microparticle sensor based on a dual-wavelength distributed-feedback channel waveguide laser in ytterbium-doped amorphous aluminum oxide on a silicon substrate is demonstrated. Real-time detection and accurate size measurement of single micro-particles with diameters

Quartz-enhanced photo-acoustic spectroscopy for breath analyses

Science.gov (United States)

Petersen, Jan C.; Lamard, Laurent; Feng, Yuyang; Focant, Jeff-F.; Peremans, Andre; Lassen, Mikael

2017-03-01

An innovative and novel quartz-enhanced photoacoustic spectroscopy (QEPAS) sensor for highly sensitive and selective breath gas analysis is introduced. The QEPAS sensor consists of two acoustically coupled micro- resonators (mR) with an off-axis 20 kHz quartz tuning fork (QTF). The complete acoustically coupled mR system is optimized based on finite element simulations and experimentally verified. Due to the very low fabrication costs the QEPAS sensor presents a clear breakthrough in the field of photoacoustic spectroscopy by introducing novel disposable gas chambers in order to avoid cleaning after each test. The QEPAS sensor is pumped resonantly by a nanosecond pulsed single-mode mid-infrared optical parametric oscillator (MIR OPO). Spectroscopic measurements of methane and methanol in the 3.1 μm to 3.7 μm wavelength region is conducted. Demonstrating a resolution bandwidth of 1 cm-1. An Allan deviation analysis shows that the detection limit at optimum integration time for the QEPAS sensor is 32 ppbv@190s for methane and that the background noise is solely due to the thermal noise of the QTF. Spectra of both individual molecules as well as mixtures of molecules were measured and analyzed. The molecules are representative of exhaled breath gasses that are bio-markers for medical diagnostics.

Effect of Axisymmetric Aft Wall Angle Cavity in Supersonic Flow Field

Science.gov (United States)

Jeyakumar, S.; Assis, Shan M.; Jayaraman, K.

2018-03-01

Cavity plays a significant role in scramjet combustors to enhance mixing and flame holding of supersonic streams. In this study, the characteristics of axisymmetric cavity with varying aft wall angles in a non-reacting supersonic flow field are experimentally investigated. The experiments are conducted in a blow-down type supersonic flow facility. The facility consists of a supersonic nozzle followed by a circular cross sectional duct. The axisymmetric cavity is incorporated inside the duct. Cavity aft wall is inclined with two consecutive angles. The performance of the aft wall cavities are compared with rectangular cavity. Decreasing aft wall angle reduces the cavity drag due to the stable flow field which is vital for flame holding in supersonic combustor. Uniform mixing and gradual decrease in stagnation pressure loss can be achieved by decreasing the cavity aft wall angle.

Active control of turbulent boundary layer-induced sound transmission through the cavity-backed double panels

Science.gov (United States)

Caiazzo, A.; Alujević, N.; Pluymers, B.; Desmet, W.

2018-05-01

This paper presents a theoretical study of active control of turbulent boundary layer (TBL) induced sound transmission through the cavity-backed double panels. The aerodynamic model used is based on the Corcos wall pressure distribution. The structural-acoustic model encompasses a source panel (skin panel), coupled through an acoustic cavity to the radiating panel (trim panel). The radiating panel is backed by a larger acoustic enclosure (the back cavity). A feedback control unit is located inside the acoustic cavity between the two panels. It consists of a control force actuator and a sensor mounted at the actuator footprint on the radiating panel. The control actuator can react off the source panel. It is driven by an amplified velocity signal measured by the sensor. A fully coupled analytical structural-acoustic model is developed to study the effects of the active control on the sound transmission into the back cavity. The stability and performance of the active control system are firstly studied on a reduced order model. In the reduced order model only two fundamental modes of the fully coupled system are assumed. Secondly, a full order model is considered with a number of modes large enough to yield accurate simulation results up to 1000 Hz. It is shown that convincing reductions of the TBL-induced vibrations of the radiating panel and the sound pressure inside the back cavity can be expected. The reductions are more pronounced for a certain class of systems, which is characterised by the fundamental natural frequency of the skin panel larger than the fundamental natural frequency of the trim panel.

Integration of nanostructured materials with MEMS microhotplate platforms to enhance chemical sensor performance

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Benkstein, Kurt D.; Martinez, Carlos J.; Li, Guofeng; Meier, Douglas C.; Montgomery, Christopher B.; Semancik, Steve

2006-01-01

The development of miniaturized chemical sensors is an increasingly active area of research. Such devices, particularly when they feature low mass and low power budgets, can impact a broad range of applications including industrial process monitoring, building security and extraterrestrial exploration. Nanostructured materials, because of their high surface area, can provide critical enhancements in the performance of chemical microsensors. We have worked to integrate nanomaterial films with MEMS (microelectromechanical systems) microhotplate platforms developed at the National Institute of Standards and Technology in order to gain the benefits of both the materials and the platforms in high-performance chemical sensor arrays. Here, we describe our success in overcoming the challenges of integration and the benefits that we have achieved with regard to the critical sensor performance characteristics of sensor response, speed, stability and selectivity. Nanostructured metal oxide sensing films were locally deposited onto microhotplates via chemical vapor deposition and microcapillary pipetting, and conductive polymer nanoparticle films were deposited via electrophoretic patterning. All films were characterized by scanning electron microscopy and evaluated as conductometric gas sensors

Multiple approaches for enhancing all-organic electronics photoluminescent sensors: Simultaneous oxygen and pH monitoring

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Liu, Rui; Xiao, Teng; Cui, Weipan [Ames Laboratory-USDOE and Department of Physics and Astronomy, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011 (United States); Shinar, Joseph, E-mail: jshinar@iastate.edu [Ames Laboratory-USDOE and Department of Physics and Astronomy, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011 (United States); Shinar, Ruth, E-mail: rshinar@iastate.edu [Microelectronics Research Center and Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011 (United States)

2013-05-17

Graphical abstract: -- Highlights: •Novel simply-fabricated all-organic electronics pH and oxygen optical monitor. •Excitation sources: directionally emitting, narrowed multicolor microcavity OLEDs. •Photodetectors: small molecule- or polymer-based with selective spectral responses. •Sensor film: structured high molecular weight polystyrene:polyethylene glycol blend. •×1.9 sensitivity enhancement and ×2.7 increase in the photoluminescence for oxygen. -- Abstract: Key issues in using organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs) as excitation sources in structurally integrated photoluminescence (PL)-based sensors are the low forward light outcoupling, the OLEDs’ broad electroluminescence (EL) bands, and the long-lived remnant EL that follows an EL pulse. The outcoupling issue limits the detection sensitivity (S) as only ∼20% of the light generated within standard OLEDs can be forward outcoupled and used for sensor probe excitation. The EL broad band interferes with the analyte-sensitive PL, leading to a background that reduces S and dynamic range. In particular, these issues hinder designing compact sensors, potentially miniaturizable, that are devoid of optical filters and couplers. We address these shortcomings by introducing easy-to-employ multiple approaches for outcoupling improvement, PL enhancement, and background EL reduction leading to novel, compact all-organic device architectures demonstrated for simultaneous monitoring of oxygen and pH. The sensor comprises simply-fabricated, directionally-emitting, narrower-band, multicolor microcavity OLED excitation and small molecule- and polymer-based organic photodetectors (OPDs) with a more selective spectral response. Additionally, S and PL intensity for oxygen are enhanced by using polystyrene (PS):polyethylene glycol (PEG) blends as the sensing film matrix. By utilizing higher molecular weight PS, the ratio τ{sub 0}/τ{sub 100} (PL decay time τ at 0% O{sub 2}/τ at 100% O{sub 2}) that is often used

Optical temperature sensor with enhanced sensitivity by employing hybrid waveguides in a silicon Mach-Zehnder interferometer

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Guan, Xiaowei; Wang, Xiaoyan; Frandsen, Lars Hagedorn

2016-01-01

We report on a novel design of an on-chip optical temperature sensor based on a Mach-Zehnder interferometer configuration where the two arms consist of hybrid waveguides providing opposite temperature-dependent phase changes to enhance the temperature sensitivity of the sensor. The sensitivity...... of the fabricated sensor with silicon/polymer hybrid waveguides is measured to be 172 pm/°C, which is two times larger than a conventional all-silicon optical temperature sensor (∼80 pm/°C). Moreover, a design with silicon/titanium dioxide hybrid waveguides is by calculation expected to have a sensitivity as high...

The water vapour continuum in near-infrared windows - Current understanding and prospects for its inclusion in spectroscopic databases

Science.gov (United States)

Shine, Keith P.; Campargue, Alain; Mondelain, Didier; McPheat, Robert A.; Ptashnik, Igor V.; Weidmann, Damien

2016-09-01

Spectroscopic catalogues, such as GEISA and HITRAN, do not yet include information on the water vapour continuum that pervades visible, infrared and microwave spectral regions. This is partly because, in some spectral regions, there are rather few laboratory measurements in conditions close to those in the Earth's atmosphere; hence understanding of the characteristics of the continuum absorption is still emerging. This is particularly so in the near-infrared and visible, where there has been renewed interest and activity in recent years. In this paper we present a critical review focusing on recent laboratory measurements in two near-infrared window regions (centred on 4700 and 6300 cm-1) and include reference to the window centred on 2600 cm-1 where more measurements have been reported. The rather few available measurements, have used Fourier transform spectroscopy (FTS), cavity ring down spectroscopy, optical-feedback - cavity enhanced laser spectroscopy and, in very narrow regions, calorimetric interferometry. These systems have different advantages and disadvantages. Fourier Transform Spectroscopy can measure the continuum across both these and neighbouring windows; by contrast, the cavity laser techniques are limited to fewer wavenumbers, but have a much higher inherent sensitivity. The available results present a diverse view of the characteristics of continuum absorption, with differences in continuum strength exceeding a factor of 10 in the cores of these windows. In individual windows, the temperature dependence of the water vapour self-continuum differs significantly in the few sets of measurements that allow an analysis. The available data also indicate that the temperature dependence differs significantly between different near-infrared windows. These pioneering measurements provide an impetus for further measurements. Improvements and/or extensions in existing techniques would aid progress to a full characterisation of the continuum - as an example, we

Low-field magnetotransport in graphene cavity devices

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, G. Q.; Kang, N.; Li, J. Y.; Lin, Li; Peng, Hailin; Liu, Zhongfan; Xu, H. Q.

2018-05-01

Confinement and edge structures are known to play significant roles in the electronic and transport properties of two-dimensional materials. Here, we report on low-temperature magnetotransport measurements of lithographically patterned graphene cavity nanodevices. It is found that the evolution of the low-field magnetoconductance characteristics with varying carrier density exhibits different behaviors in graphene cavity and bulk graphene devices. In the graphene cavity devices, we observed that intravalley scattering becomes dominant as the Fermi level gets close to the Dirac point. We associate this enhanced intravalley scattering to the effect of charge inhomogeneities and edge disorder in the confined graphene nanostructures. We also observed that the dephasing rate of carriers in the cavity devices follows a parabolic temperature dependence, indicating that the direct Coulomb interaction scattering mechanism governs the dephasing at low temperatures. Our results demonstrate the importance of confinement in carrier transport in graphene nanostructure devices.

Deterministically entangling multiple remote quantum memories inside an optical cavity

Science.gov (United States)

Yan, Zhihui; Liu, Yanhong; Yan, Jieli; Jia, Xiaojun

2018-01-01

Quantum memory for the nonclassical state of light and entanglement among multiple remote quantum nodes hold promise for a large-scale quantum network, however, continuous-variable (CV) memory efficiency and entangled degree are limited due to imperfect implementation. Here we propose a scheme to deterministically entangle multiple distant atomic ensembles based on CV cavity-enhanced quantum memory. The memory efficiency can be improved with the help of cavity-enhanced electromagnetically induced transparency dynamics. A high degree of entanglement among multiple atomic ensembles can be obtained by mapping the quantum state from multiple entangled optical modes into a collection of atomic spin waves inside optical cavities. Besides being of interest in terms of unconditional entanglement among multiple macroscopic objects, our scheme paves the way towards the practical application of quantum networks.

Acoustic Detection Of Loose Particles In Pressure Sensors

Science.gov (United States)

Kwok, Lloyd C.

1995-01-01

Particle-impact-noise-detector (PIND) apparatus used in conjunction with computer program analyzing output of apparatus to detect extraneous particles trapped in pressure sensors. PIND tester essentially shaker equipped with microphone measuring noise in pressure sensor or other object being shaken. Shaker applies controlled vibration. Output of microphone recorded and expressed in terms of voltage, yielding history of noise subsequently processed by computer program. Data taken at sampling rate sufficiently high to enable identification of all impacts of particles on sensor diaphragm and on inner surfaces of sensor cavities.

High Quality Plasmonic Sensors Based on Fano Resonances Created through Cascading Double Asymmetric Cavities

OpenAIRE

Zhang, Xiangao; Shao, Mingzhen; Zeng, Xiaoqi

2016-01-01

In this paper, a type of compact nanosensor based on a metal-insulator-metal structure is proposed and investigated through cascading double asymmetric cavities, in which their metal cores shift along different axis directions. The cascaded asymmetric structure exhibits high transmission and sharp Fano resonance peaks via strengthening the mutual coupling of the cavities. The research results show that with the increase of the symmetry breaking in the structure, the number of Fano resonances ...

Enhanced heat transfer in partially open square cavities with thin fin by using electric field

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kasayapanand, N.; Kiatsiriroat, T.

2009-01-01

Numerical modeling of the electric field effect on the natural convection in the partially open square cavities with thin fin attached is investigated. The interactions among electric, flow, and temperature fields are analyzed by using a computational fluid dynamics technique. It is found that the flow and heat transfer enhancements are a decreasing function of the Rayleigh number. Moreover, the volume flow rate and heat transfer coefficient are substantially improved by electrohydrodynamic especially at low aperture size, high aperture position, and high inclined angle. Surprisingly, the maximum convective heat transfer is obtained at the minimum electrical energy consumption by placing electrodes at a suitable position. The optimum electrode arrangements for both single fin and multiple fins are also achieved

Optical fiber sensors for harsh environments

Science.gov (United States)

Xu, Juncheng; Wang, Anbo

2007-02-06

A diaphragm optic sensor comprises a ferrule including a bore having an optical fiber disposed therein and a diaphragm attached to the ferrule, the diaphragm being spaced apart from the ferrule to form a Fabry-Perot cavity. The cavity is formed by creating a pit in the ferrule or in the diaphragm. The components of the sensor are preferably welded together, preferably by laser welding. In some embodiments, the entire ferrule is bonded to the fiber along the entire length of the fiber within the ferrule; in other embodiments, only a portion of the ferrule is welded to the fiber. A partial vacuum is preferably formed in the pit. A small piece of optical fiber with a coefficient of thermal expansion chosen to compensate for mismatches between the main fiber and ferrule may be spliced to the end of the fiber.

Modeling of Coupled Nano-Cavity Lasers

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Skovgård, Troels Suhr

-of-states and it is argued that Purcell enhancement should also be included in stimulated recombination term, contrary to the common practice in the literature. It is shown that for quantum well devices, the Purcell enhancement is effectively independent of the cavity quality factor due to the broad electronic density......-of-states relative to the optical density-of-states. The low effective Purcell eect for quantum well devices limits the highest possible modulation bandwidth to a few tens of gigahertz, which is comparable to the performance of conventional diode lasers. Compared to quantum well devices, quantum dot devices have...... is useful for design of coupled systems. A tight-binding description for coupled nanocavity lasers is developed and employed to investigate the phase-locking behavior for the system of two coupled cavities. Phase-locking is found to be critically dependent on exact parameter values and to be dicult...

Cavity quantum electrodynamics with Anderson-localized modes

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sapienza, Luca; Nielsen, Henri Thyrrestrup; Stobbe, Søren

2010-01-01

by a factor of 15 on resonance with the Anderson-localized mode, and 94% of the emitted single photons coupled to the mode. Disordered photonic media thus provide an efficient platform for quantum electrodynamics, offering an approach to inherently disorder-robust quantum information devices.......A major challenge in quantum optics and quantum information technology is to enhance the interaction between single photons and single quantum emitters. This requires highly engineered optical cavities that are inherently sensitive to fabrication imperfections. We have demonstrated a fundamentally...... different approach in which disorder is used as a resource rather than a nuisance. We generated strongly confined Anderson-localized cavity modes by deliberately adding disorder to photonic crystal waveguides. The emission rate of a semiconductor quantum dot embedded in the waveguide was enhanced...

Enhancement of methane gas sensing characteristics of graphene oxide sensor by heat treatment and laser irradiation.

Science.gov (United States)

Assar, Mohammadreza; Karimzadeh, Rouhollah

2016-12-01

The present study uses a rapid, easy and practical method for cost-effective fabrication of a methane gas sensor. The sensor was made by drop-casting a graphene oxide suspension onto an interdigital circuit surface. The electrical conductivity and gas-sensing characteristics of the sensor were determined and then heat treatment and in situ laser irradiation were applied to improve the device conductivity and gas sensitivity. Real-time monitoring of the evolution of the device current as a function of heat treatment time revealed significant changes in the conductance of the graphene oxide sensor. The use of low power laser irradiation enhanced both the electrical conductivity and sensing response of the graphene oxide sensor. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Multiple approaches for enhancing all-organic electronics photoluminescent sensors: simultaneous oxygen and pH monitoring.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Rui; Xiao, Teng; Cui, Weipan; Shinar, Joseph; Shinar, Ruth

2013-05-17

Key issues in using organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs) as excitation sources in structurally integrated photoluminescence (PL)-based sensors are the low forward light outcoupling, the OLEDs' broad electroluminescence (EL) bands, and the long-lived remnant EL that follows an EL pulse. The outcoupling issue limits the detection sensitivity (S) as only ~20% of the light generated within standard OLEDs can be forward outcoupled and used for sensor probe excitation. The EL broad band interferes with the analyte-sensitive PL, leading to a background that reduces S and dynamic range. In particular, these issues hinder designing compact sensors, potentially miniaturizable, that are devoid of optical filters and couplers. We address these shortcomings by introducing easy-to-employ multiple approaches for outcoupling improvement, PL enhancement, and background EL reduction leading to novel, compact all-organic device architectures demonstrated for simultaneous monitoring of oxygen and pH. The sensor comprises simply-fabricated, directionally-emitting, narrower-band, multicolor microcavity OLED excitation and small molecule- and polymer-based organic photodetectors (OPDs) with a more selective spectral response. Additionally, S and PL intensity for oxygen are enhanced by using polystyrene (PS):polyethylene glycol (PEG) blends as the sensing film matrix. By utilizing higher molecular weight PS, the ratio τ0/τ100 (PL decay time τ at 0% O2/τ at 100% O2) that is often used to express S increases ×1.9 to 20.7 relative to the lower molecular weight PS, where this ratio is 11.0. This increase reduces to ×1.7 when the PEG is added (τ0/τ100=18.2), but the latter results in an increase ×2.7 in the PL intensity. The sensor's response time is <10s in all cases. The microporous structure of these blended films, with PEG decorating PS pores, serves a dual purpose. It results in light scattering that reduces the EL that is waveguided in the substrate of the OLEDs and

Enhancement of Adaptive Cluster Hierarchical Routing Protocol using Distance and Energy for Wireless Sensor Networks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nawar, N.M.; Soliman, S.E.; Kelash, H.M.; Ayad, N.M.

2014-01-01

The application of wireless networking is widely used in nuclear applications. This includes reactor control and fire dedication system. This paper is devoted to the application of this concept in the intrusion system of the Radioisotope Production Facility (RPF) of the Egyptian Atomic Energy Authority. This includes the tracking, monitoring and control components of this system. The design and implementation of wireless sensor networks has become a hot area of research due to the extensive use of sensor networks to enable applications that connect the physical world to the virtual world [1-2]. The original LEACH is named a communication protocol (clustering-based); the extended LEACH’s stochastic cluster head selection algorithm by a deterministic component. Depending on the network configuration an increase of network lifetime can be accomplished [3]. The proposed routing mechanisms after enhancement divide the nodes into clusters. A cluster head performs its task which is considerably more energy-intensive than the rest of the nodes inside sensor network. So, nodes rotate tasks at different rounds between a cluster head and other sensors throughout the lifetime of the network to balance the energy dissipation [4-5].The performance improvement when using routing protocol after enhancement of the algorithm which takes into consideration the distance and the remaining energy for choosing the cluster head by obtains from the advertise message. Network Simulator (Ns2 simulator) is used to prove that LEACH after enhancement performs better than the original LEACH protocol in terms of Average Energy, Network Life Time, Delay, Throughput and Overhead.

Design and Optimization of Thermophotovoltaic System Cavity with Mirrors

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tian Zhou

2016-09-01

Full Text Available Thermophotovoltaic (TPV systems can convert radiant energy into electrical power. Here we explore the design of the TPV system cavity, which houses the emitter and the photovoltaic (PV cells. Mirrors are utilized in the cavity to modify the spatial and spectral distribution within. After discussing the basic concentric tubular design, two novel cavity configurations are put forward and parametrically studied. The investigated variables include the shape, number, and placement of the mirrors. The optimization objectives are the optimized efficiency and the extended range of application of the TPV system. Through numerical simulations, the relationship between the design parameters and the objectives are revealed. The results show that careful design of the cavity configuration can markedly enhance the performance of the TPV system.

Simple home-made sensors for potentiometric titrations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Selig, W.

1982-04-01

A sensor for potentiometric titrations was prepared by coating a spectroscopic graphite rod with a solution of poly(vinyl chloride) and dioctyphthalate in tetrahydrofuran. The reference electrode was an Ag/AgCl single-junction electrode. The sensor was used in precipitation, acid-base, compleximetric, and redox titrations. Preparation of the coated-graphite sensor is simple and rapid. Moreover, it is quite inexpensive. A limitation is its applicability in aqueous media only, because organic solvents will dissolve the membrane. Various uncoated types of graphite have also been investigated as sensors, particularly in two applications of interest in the analysis of propellants: the titration of nitroform and perchlorate. Obviously, these sensors can be used also in nonaqueous, or partially nonaqueous media. These sensors may also find use in the potentiometric titration of fluoride vs La(III) or Th

A Molecularly Imprinted Electrochemical Gas Sensor to Sense Butylated Hydroxytoluene in Air

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shadi Emam

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Alzheimer’s disease (AD is a neurodegenerative disease, which affects millions of people worldwide. Curing this disease has not gained much success so far. Exhaled breath gas analysis offers an inexpensive, noninvasive, and immediate method for detecting a large number of diseases, including AD. In this paper, a new method is proposed to detect butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT in the air, which is one of the chemicals found in the breath print of AD patients. A three-layer sensor was formed through deposition of a thin layer of graphene onto a glassy carbon substrate. Selective binding of the analyte was facilitated by electrochemically initiated polymerization of a solution containing the desired target molecule. Subsequent polymerization and removal of the analyte yielded a layer of polypyrrole, a conductive polymer, on top of the sensor containing molecularly imprinted cavities selective for the target molecule. Two sets of sensors have been developed. First, the graphene sensor has been fabricated with a layer of reduced graphene oxide (RGO and tested over 5–100 part per million (ppm. For the second batch, Prussian blue was added to graphene before polymerization, mainly for enhancing the electrochemical properties. The sensor was tested over 0.02-1 parts per billion (ppb level of concentration while the sensor resistance has been monitored.

Fingerprint enhancement using a multispectral sensor

Science.gov (United States)

Rowe, Robert K.; Nixon, Kristin A.

2005-03-01

The level of performance of a biometric fingerprint sensor is critically dependent on the quality of the fingerprint images. One of the most common types of optical fingerprint sensors relies on the phenomenon of total internal reflectance (TIR) to generate an image. Under ideal conditions, a TIR fingerprint sensor can produce high-contrast fingerprint images with excellent feature definition. However, images produced by the same sensor under conditions that include dry skin, dirt on the skin, and marginal contact between the finger and the sensor, are likely to be severely degraded. This paper discusses the use of multispectral sensing as a means to collect additional images with new information about the fingerprint that can significantly augment the system performance under both normal and adverse sample conditions. In the context of this paper, "multispectral sensing" is used to broadly denote a collection of images taken under different illumination conditions: different polarizations, different illumination/detection configurations, as well as different wavelength illumination. Results from three small studies using an early-stage prototype of the multispectral-TIR (MTIR) sensor are presented along with results from the corresponding TIR data. The first experiment produced data from 9 people, 4 fingers from each person and 3 measurements per finger under "normal" conditions. The second experiment provided results from a study performed to test the relative performance of TIR and MTIR images when taken under extreme dry and dirty conditions. The third experiment examined the case where the area of contact between the finger and sensor is greatly reduced.

Design of 650 MHz, β=0.61, 5-cell SRF cavity and development of single cell niobium cavity

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Seth, Sudeshna; Som, Sumit; Bhattacharyya, Pranab

2015-01-01

In India, DAE laboratories and other institutes are now actively involved in research and development activities on SRF cavities and associated technologies for the proposed high current, high energy proton linear accelerators like ISNS/IADS and also for the FERMILAB PIP-II program under Indian institutions-Fermilab collaboration (IIFC). As part of the above activities, VECC, Kolkata, has been involved in the design, analysis and development of a 650 MHz, β=0.61, 5-cell elliptical shape Superconducting RF linac cavity. RF design involves optimization of the geometry to get acceptable values of field enhancement factors (magnetic and electric), R/Q , Geometric factor, coupling factor and field flatness. This paper describes the RF design using 2-D superfish and 3-D CST Microwave studio and multipacting analysis using 2-D Multipac2.1 and 3-D CST Particle Studio. A prototype 1-cell aluminum cavity and a prototype 5-cell copper cavity have been fabricated using die-punch assembly designed for fabrication of elliptical half-cells to check the procedures for forming and to make sure the desired frequency and field flatness could be obtained. RF characterization has been carried out for both the prototypes using Vector Network Analyzer and Bead pull measurement set up.The fabrication of a single-cell niobium cavity has been carried out indigenously and with the help of Electron Beam Welding (EBW) facility at IUAC, New Delhi. CMM measurement and RF characterization of the niobium half cells and full cell cavities have been carried out. This paper describes the development and measurement of prototype cavities and single cell niobium cavity. (author)

Crosslinked basement membrane-based coatings enhance glucose sensor function and continuous glucose monitoring in vivo.

Science.gov (United States)

Klueh, Ulrike; Ludzinska, Izabela; Czajkowski, Caroline; Qiao, Yi; Kreutzer, Donald L

2018-01-01

Overcoming sensor-induced tissue reactions is an essential element of achieving successful continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) in the management of diabetes, particularly when used in closed loop technology. Recently, we demonstrated that basement membrane (BM)-based glucose sensor coatings significantly reduced tissue reactions at sites of device implantation. However, the biocompatible BM-based biohydrogel sensor coating rapidly degraded over a less than a 3-week period, which effectively eliminated the protective sensor coating. In an effort to increase the stability and effectiveness of the BM coating, we evaluated the impact of crosslinking BM utilizing glutaraldehyde as a crosslinking agent, designated as X-Cultrex. Sensor performance (nonrecalibrated) was evaluated for the impact of these X-Cultrex coatings in vitro and in vivo. Sensor performance was assessed over a 28-day time period in a murine CGM model and expressed as mean absolute relative difference (MARD) values. Tissue reactivity of Cultrex-coated, X-Cultrex-coated, and uncoated glucose sensors was evaluated over a 28-day time period in vivo using standard histological techniques. These studies demonstrated that X-Cultrex-based sensor coatings had no effect on glucose sensor function in vitro. In vivo, glucose sensor performance was significantly enhanced following X-Cultrex coating throughout the 28-day study. Histological evaluations of X-Cultrex-treated sensors demonstrated significantly less tissue reactivity when compared to uncoated sensors. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part A: 106A: 7-16, 2018. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Nanoscale resonant-cavity-enhanced germanium photodetectors with lithographically defined spectral response for improved performance at telecommunications wavelengths.

Science.gov (United States)

Balram, Krishna C; Audet, Ross M; Miller, David A B

2013-04-22

We demonstrate the use of a subwavelength planar metal-dielectric resonant cavity to enhance the absorption of germanium photodetectors at wavelengths beyond the material's direct absorption edge, enabling high responsivity across the entire telecommunications C and L bands. The resonant wavelength of the detectors can be tuned linearly by varying the width of the Ge fin, allowing multiple detectors, each resonant at a different wavelength, to be fabricated in a single-step process. This approach is promising for the development of CMOS-compatible devices suitable for integrated, high-speed, and energy-efficient photodetection at telecommunications wavelengths.

Glucose oxidase probe as a surface-enhanced Raman scattering sensor for glucose.

Science.gov (United States)

Qi, Guohua; Wang, Yi; Zhang, Biying; Sun, Dan; Fu, Cuicui; Xu, Weiqing; Xu, Shuping

2016-10-01

Glucose oxidase (GOx) possessing a Raman-active chromophore (flavin adenine dinucleotide) is used as a signal reporter for constructing a highly specific "turn off" surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) sensor for glucose. This sensing chip is made by the electrostatic assembly of GOx over silver nanoparticle (Ag NP)-functionalized SERS substrate through a positively charged polyelectrolyte linker under the pH of 6.86. To trace glucose in blood serum, owing to the reduced pH value caused by the production of gluconic acid in the GOx-catalyzed oxidation reaction, the bonding force between GOx and polyelectrolyte weakens, making GOx drop off from the sensing chip. As a result, the SERS intensity of GOx on the chip decreases along with the concentration of glucose. This glucose SERS sensor exhibits excellent selectivity based on the specific GOx/glucose catalysis reaction and high sensitivity to 1.0 μM. The linear sensing range is 2.0-14.0 mM, which also meets the requirement on the working range of the human blood glucose detection. Using GOx as a probe shows superiority over other organic probes because GOx almost has no toxicity to the biological system. This sensing mechanism can be applied for intracellular in vivo SERS monitoring of glucose in the future. Graphical abstract Glucose oxidase is used as a Raman signal reporter for constructing a highly specific glucose surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) sensor.

Enhancement of fiber-optic low-coherence Fabry-Pérot interferometer with ZnO ALD films

Science.gov (United States)

Hirsch, Marzena; Listewnik, Paulina; Jedrzejewska-Szczerska, Małgorzata

2018-04-01

In this paper investigation of the enhanced fiber-optic low coherence Fabry-Pérot interferometer with zinc oxide (ZnO) film deposited by atomic layer deposition (ALD) was presented. Model of the interferometer, which was constructed of single-mode optical fiber with applied ZnO ALD films, was built. The interferometer was also examined by means of experiment. Measurements were performed for both reflective and transmission modes, using wavelengths of 1300 nm and 1500 nm. The measurements with the air cavity showed the best performance in terms of a visibility of the interference signal can be achieved for small cavity lengths ( 50μm) in both configurations. Combined with the enhancement of reflectance of the interferometer mirrors due to the ALD film, proposed construction could be successfully applied in refractive index (RI) sensor that can operate with improved visibility of the signal even in 1.3-1.5 RI range as well as with small volume samples, as shown by the modeling.

Chip-integrated plasmonic cavity-enhanced single nitrogen-vacancy center emission

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Siampour, Hamidreza; Kumar, Shailesh; Bozhevolnyi, Sergey I.

2017-01-01

High temporal stability and spin dynamics of individual nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers in diamond crystals make them one of the most promising quantum emitters operating at room temperature. We demonstrate a chip-integrated cavity-coupled emission into propagating surface plasmon polariton (SPP...

In-line open-cavity Fabry-Pérot interferometer formed by C-shaped fiber fortemperature-insensitive refractive index sensing.

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Chuang; Liu, Zhengyong; Zhang, A Ping; Guan, Bai-Ou; Tam, Hwa-Yaw

2014-09-08

We report an open-cavity optical fiber Fabry-Pérot interferometer (FPI) capable of measuring refractive index with very low temperature cross-sensitivity. The FPI was constructed by splicing a thin piece of C-shaped fiber between two standard single-mode fibers. The refractive index (RI) response of the FPI was characterized using water-ethanol mixtures with RI in the range of 1.33 to 1.36. The RI sensitivity was measured to be 1368 nm/RIU at the wavelength of 1600 nm with good linearity. Thanks to its all-glass structure, the FPI exhibits very low temperature cross-sensitivity of 3.04 × 10⁻⁷ RIU/°C. The effects of cavity length on the performance of the sensor were also studied. A shorter cavity gives rise to broader measurement range while offering larger detection limit, and vice versa. What's more, the effect of material dispersion of analyte on the sensitivity of open-cavity FPIs was identified for the first time. The sensor is compact in size and easy to fabricate. It is potentially useful for label-free optical sensing of chemical and biological samples.

Collapse–revival of squeezing of two atoms in dissipative cavities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zou Hong-Mei; Fang Mao-Fa

2016-01-01

Based on the time-convolutionless master-equation approach, we investigate the squeezing dynamics of two atoms in dissipative cavities. We find that the atomic squeezing is related to initial atomic states, atom–cavity couplings, non-Markovian effects and resonant frequencies of an atom and its cavity. The results show that a collapse–revival phenomenon will occur in the atomic squeezing and this process is accompanied by the buildup and decay of entanglement between two atoms. Enhancing the atom–cavity coupling can increase the frequency of the collapse–revival of the atomic squeezing. The stronger the non-Markovian effect is, the more obvious the collapse–revival phenomenon is. In particular, if the atom–cavity coupling or the non-Markovian effect is very strong, the atomic squeezing will tend to a stably periodic oscillation in a long time. The oscillatory frequency of the atomic squeezing is dependent on the resonant frequency of the atom and its cavity. (paper)

Mixed convection of ferrofluids in a lid driven cavity with two rotating cylinders

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fatih Selimefendigil

2015-09-01

Full Text Available Mixed convection of ferrofluid filled lid driven cavity in the presence of two rotating cylinders were numerically investigated by using the finite element method. The cavity is heated from below, cooled from driven wall and rotating cylinder surfaces and side vertical walls of the cavity are assumed to be adiabatic. A magnetic dipole source is placed below the bottom wall of the cavity. The study is performed for various values of Reynolds numbers (100 ≤ Re ≤ 1000, angular rotational speed of the cylinders (−400 ≤ Ω ≤ 400, magnetic dipole strengths (0 ≤ γ ≤ 500, angular velocity ratios of the cylinders (0.25≤Ωi/Ωj≤4 and diameter ratios of the cylinders (0.5≤Di/Dj≤2. It is observed that flow patterns and thermal transport within the cavity are affected by variation in Reynolds number and magnetic dipole strength. The results of this investigation revealed that cylinder angular velocities, ratio of the angular velocities and diameter ratios have profound effect on heat transfer enhancement within the cavity. Averaged heat transfer enhancements of 181.5 % is achieved for clockwise rotation of the cylinder at Ω = −400 compared to motionless cylinder case. Increasing the angular velocity ratio from Ω2/Ω1=0.25 to Ω2/Ω1=4 brings about 91.7 % of heat transfer enhancement.

Geometrical modification of magnetoelastic sensors to enhance sensitivity

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pacella, Nina; DeRouin, Andrew; Pereles, Brandon; Ghee Ong, Keat

2015-01-01

The magnetoelastic sensor is a wireless, passive sensor platform typically comprised of a strip of magnetoelastic material that exhibits a mechanical vibration when under the excitation of a magnetic ac field. At the resonant frequency, the vibration of the sensor is most prominent, generating a significant secondary magnetic field that can be detected with a remotely located coil. Biological and chemical sensing can be realized by functionalizing a mass- or elasticity-changing coating on the magnetoelastic sensor, causing a shift in the resonant frequency when exposed to the target analyte. To date, most magnetoelastic sensors are rectangular and are designed to sense a uniform coating over the entire sensor surface. This paper presents a new magnetoelastic sensor design with higher sensitivity, achieved by applying non-uniform coatings and altering the sensor to a triangular shape. In addition, the new design allows the magnetoelastic sensor to form a sensor array that requires only a fraction of sample volume for multi-parameter sensing compared to the current sensor design. (paper)

Multiple approaches for enhancing all-organic electronics photoluminescent sensors: Simultaneous oxygen and pH monitoring

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liu, Rui; Xiao, Teng; Cui, Weipan; Shinar, Joseph; Shinar, Ruth

2013-01-01

Graphical abstract: -- Highlights: •Novel simply-fabricated all-organic electronics pH and oxygen optical monitor. •Excitation sources: directionally emitting, narrowed multicolor microcavity OLEDs. •Photodetectors: small molecule- or polymer-based with selective spectral responses. •Sensor film: structured high molecular weight polystyrene:polyethylene glycol blend. •×1.9 sensitivity enhancement and ×2.7 increase in the photoluminescence for oxygen. -- Abstract: Key issues in using organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs) as excitation sources in structurally integrated photoluminescence (PL)-based sensors are the low forward light outcoupling, the OLEDs’ broad electroluminescence (EL) bands, and the long-lived remnant EL that follows an EL pulse. The outcoupling issue limits the detection sensitivity (S) as only ∼20% of the light generated within standard OLEDs can be forward outcoupled and used for sensor probe excitation. The EL broad band interferes with the analyte-sensitive PL, leading to a background that reduces S and dynamic range. In particular, these issues hinder designing compact sensors, potentially miniaturizable, that are devoid of optical filters and couplers. We address these shortcomings by introducing easy-to-employ multiple approaches for outcoupling improvement, PL enhancement, and background EL reduction leading to novel, compact all-organic device architectures demonstrated for simultaneous monitoring of oxygen and pH. The sensor comprises simply-fabricated, directionally-emitting, narrower-band, multicolor microcavity OLED excitation and small molecule- and polymer-based organic photodetectors (OPDs) with a more selective spectral response. Additionally, S and PL intensity for oxygen are enhanced by using polystyrene (PS):polyethylene glycol (PEG) blends as the sensing film matrix. By utilizing higher molecular weight PS, the ratio τ 0 /τ 100 (PL decay time τ at 0% O 2 /τ at 100% O 2 ) that is often used to express S

Noise-immune cavity-enhanced analytical atomic spectrometry — NICE-AAS — A technique for detection of elements down to zeptogram amounts

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Axner, Ove; Ehlers, Patrick; Hausmaninger, Thomas; Silander, Isak; Ma, Weiguang

2014-01-01

Noise-immune cavity-enhanced optical heterodyne molecular spectroscopy (NICE-OHMS) is a powerful technique for detection of molecular compounds in gas phase that is based on a combination of two important concepts: frequency modulation spectroscopy (FMS) for reduction of noise, and cavity enhancement, for prolongation of the interaction length between the light and the sample. Due to its unique properties, it has demonstrated unparalleled detection sensitivity when it comes to detection of molecular constituents in the gas phase. However, despite these, it has so far not been used for detection of atoms, i.e. for elemental analysis. The present work presents an assessment of the expected performance of Doppler-broadened (Db) NICE-OHMS for analytical atomic spectrometry, then referred to as noise-immune cavity-enhanced analytical atomic spectrometry (NICE-AAS). After a description of the basic principles of Db-NICE-OHMS, the modulation and detection conditions for optimum performance are identified. Based on a previous demonstrated detection sensitivity of Db-NICE-OHMS of 5 × 10 −12 cm −1 Hz −1∕2 (corresponding to a single-pass absorbance of 7 × 10 −11 over 10 s), the expected limits of detection (LODs) of Hg and Na by NICE-AAS are estimated. Hg is assumed to be detected in gas phase directly while Na is considered to be atomized in a graphite furnace (GF) prior to detection. It is shown that in the absence of spectral interferences, contaminated sample compartments, and optical saturation, it should be feasible to detect Hg down to 10 zg/cm 3 (10 fg/m 3 or 10 −5 ng/m 3 ), which corresponds to 25 atoms/cm 3 , and Na down to 0.5 zg (zg = zeptogram = 10 −21 g), representing 50 zg/mL (parts-per-sextillion, pps, 1:10 21 ) in liquid solution (assuming a sample of 10 μL) or solely 15 atoms injected into the GF, respectively. These LODs are several orders of magnitude lower (better) than any previous laser-based absorption technique previously demonstrated

Dual-etalon, cavity-ring-down, frequency comb spectroscopy.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Strecker, Kevin E.; Chandler, David W.

2010-10-01

The 'dual etalon frequency comb spectrometer' is a novel low cost spectometer with limited moving parts. A broad band light source (pulsed laser, LED, lamp ...) is split into two beam paths. One travels through an etalon and a sample gas, while the second arm is just an etalon cavity, and the two beams are recombined onto a single detector. If the free spectral ranges (FSR) of the two cavities are not identical, the intensity pattern at the detector with consist of a series of heterodyne frequencies. Each mode out of the sample arm etalon with have a unique frequency in RF (radio-frequency) range, where modern electronics can easily record the signals. By monitoring these RF beat frequencies we can then determine when an optical frequencies is absorbed. The resolution is set by the FSR of the cavity, typically 10 MHz, with a bandwidth up to 100s of cm{sup -1}. In this report, the new spectrometer is described in detail and demonstration experiments on Iodine absorption are carried out. Further we discuss powerful potential next generation steps to developing this into a point sensor for monitoring combustion by-products, environmental pollutants, and warfare agents.

Shock-Tube Measurement of Acetone Dissociation Using Cavity-Enhanced Absorption Spectroscopy of CO.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Shengkai; Sun, Kai; Davidson, David F; Jeffries, Jay B; Hanson, Ronald K

2015-07-16

A direct measurement for the rate constant of the acetone dissociation reaction (CH3COCH3 = CH3CO + CH3) was conducted behind reflected shock wave, utilizing a sub-ppm sensitivity CO diagnostic achieved by cavity-enhanced absorption spectroscopy (CEAS). The current experiment eliminated the influence from secondary reactions and temperature change by investigating the clean pyrolysis of <20 ppm acetone in argon. For the first time, the acetone dissociation rate constant (k1) was directly measured over 5.5 orders of magnitude with a high degree of accuracy: k1 (1004-1494 K, 1.6 atm) = 4.39 × 10(55) T(-11.394) exp(-52 140K/T) ± 24% s(-1). This result was seen to agree with most previous studies and has bridged the gap between their temperature and pressure conditions. The current work also served as an example demonstration of the potential of using the CEAS technique in shock-tube kinetics studies.

Prominence mass supply and the cavity

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Schmit, Donald J.; Innes, D. [Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research, D-37191 Katlenburg-Lindau (Germany); Gibson, S. [High Altitude Observatory, National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, CO 80307 (United States); Luna, M. [Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias, E-38200 La Laguna, Tenerife (Spain); Karpen, J. [NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771 (United States)

2013-12-20

A prevalent but untested paradigm is often used to describe the prominence-cavity system: the cavity is under-dense because it is evacuated by supplying mass to the condensed prominence. The thermal non-equilibrium (TNE) model of prominence formation offers a theoretical framework to predict the thermodynamic evolution of the prominence and the surrounding corona. We examine the evidence for a prominence-cavity connection by comparing the TNE model with diagnostics of dynamic extreme ultraviolet (EUV) emission surrounding the prominence, specifically prominence horns. Horns are correlated extensions of prominence plasma and coronal plasma which appear to connect the prominence and cavity. The TNE model predicts that large-scale brightenings will occur in the Solar Dynamics Observatory Atmospheric Imaging Assembly 171 Å bandpass near the prominence that are associated with the cooling phase of condensation formation. In our simulations, variations in the magnitude of footpoint heating lead to variations in the duration, spatial scale, and temporal offset between emission enhancements in the other EUV bandpasses. While these predictions match well a subset of the horn observations, the range of variations in the observed structures is not captured by the model. We discuss the implications of our one-dimensional loop simulations for the three-dimensional time-averaged equilibrium in the prominence and the cavity. Evidence suggests that horns are likely caused by condensing prominence plasma, but the larger question of whether this process produces a density-depleted cavity requires a more tightly constrained model of heating and better knowledge of the associated magnetic structure.

Prominence Mass Supply and the Cavity

Science.gov (United States)

Schmit, Donald J.; Gibson, S.; Luna, M.; Karpen, J.; Innes, D.

2013-01-01

A prevalent but untested paradigm is often used to describe the prominence-cavity system; the cavity is under-dense because it it evacuated by supplying mass to the condensed prominence. The thermal non-equilibrium (TNE) model of prominence formation offers a theoretical framework to predict the thermodynamic evolutin of the prominence and the surrounding corona. We examine the evidence for a prominence-cavity connection by comparing the TNE model and diagnostics of dynamic extreme ultraviolet (EUV) emission surrounding the prominence, specifically prominence horns. Horns are correlated extensions of prminence plasma and coronal plasma which appear to connect the prominence and cavity. The TNE model predicts that large-scale brightenings will occur in the Solar Dynamics Observatory Atmospheric Imaging Assembly 171 A badpass near he prominence that are associated with the cooling phase of condensation formation. In our simulations, variations in the magnitude of footpoint heating lead to variations in the duration, spatial scale, and temporal offset between emission enhancements in the other EUV bandpasses. While these predictions match well a subset of the horn observations, the range of variations in the observed structures is not captured by the model. We discuss the implications of one-dimensional loop simulations for the three-dimensional time-averaged equilibrium in the prominence and the cavity. Evidence suggests that horns are likely caused by condensing prominence plasma, but the larger question of whether this process produces a density-depleted cavity requires a more tightly constrained model of heating and better knowledge of the associated magnetic structure.

Acoustic sensor for in-pile fuel rod fission gas release measurement

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fourmentel, D.; Villard, J. F.; Ferrandis, J. Y.; Augereau, F.; Rosenkrantz, E.; Dierckx, M.

2009-01-01

We have developed a specific acoustic sensor to improve the knowledge of fission gas release in Pressurized Water Reactor (PWR) fuel rods when irradiated in materials testing reactors. In order to perform experimental programs related to the study of the fission gas release kinetics, the CEA (French Nuclear Energy Commission) acquired the ability to equip a pre-irradiated PWR fuel rod with three sensors, allowing the simultaneous on-line measurements of the following parameters: - fuel temperature with a centre-line thermocouple type C, - internal pressure with a specific counter-pressure sensor, - fraction of fission gas released in the fuel rod with an innovative acoustic sensor. The third detector is the subject of this paper. This original acoustic sensor has been designed to measure the molar mass and pressure of the gas contained in the fuel rod plenum. For in-pile instrumentation, the fraction of fission gas, such as Krypton and Xenon, in Helium, can be deduced online from this measurement. The principle of this acoustical sensor is the following: a piezoelectric transducer generates acoustic waves in a cavity connected to the fuel rod plenum. The acoustic waves are propagated and reflected in this cavity and then detected by the transducer. The data processing of the signal gives the velocity of the acoustic waves and their amplitude, which can be related respectively to the molar mass and to the pressure of the gas. The piezoelectric material of this sensor has been qualified in nuclear conditions (gamma and neutron radiations). The complete sensor has also been specifically designed to be implemented in materials testing reactors conditions. For this purpose some technical points have been studied in details: - fixing of the piezoelectric sample in a reliable way with a suitable signal transmission, - size of the gas cavity to avoid any perturbation of the acoustic waves, - miniaturization of the sensor because of narrow in-pile experimental devices

Measurement of Microvibration by Using Dual-Cavity Fiber Fabry-Perot Interferometer for Structural Health Monitoring

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dae-Hyun Kim

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Extensive researches have recently been performed to study structural integrity using structural vibration data measured by in-structure sensors. A fiber optic sensor is one of candidates for the in-structure sensors because it is low in cost, light in weight, small in size, resistant to EM interference, long in service life, and so forth. Especially, an interferometric fiber optic sensor is very useful to measure vibrations with high resolution and accuracy. In this paper, a dual-cavity fiber Fabry-Perot interferometer was proposed with a phase-compensating algorithm for measuring micro-vibration. The interferometer has structurally two arbitrary cavities; therefore the initial phase difference between two sinusoidal signals induced from the interferometer was also arbitrary. In order to do signal processing including an arc-tangent method, a random value of the initial phase difference is automatically adjusted to the exact 90 degrees in the phase-compensating algorithm part. For the verification of the performance of the interferometer, a simple vibration-test was performed to measure micro-vibration caused by piezoelectric transducer (PZT. As an experimental result, the interferometer attached on the PZT successfully measured the 50 Hz-vibration of which the absolute displacement oscillated between −424 nm and +424 nm.

Storage of laser pulses in a Fabry-Perot optical cavity for high flux x-ray

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Takezawa, K.; Honda, Y.; Sasao, N.; Araki, S.; Higashi, Y.; Taniguchi, T.; Urakawa, J.; Nomura, M.; Sakai, H.

2004-01-01

We have a plan to produce a high flux x-ray for medical use by using a Fabry-Perot optical cavity in which the lower pulses from a mode-locked laser are stored and enhanced. In this plan, the X-ray is produced from the Compton scattering of electrons in a storage ring with the laser light in the optical cavity. In order to increase X-ray flux, high power laser light is necessary. We show the enhancement of the laser power from the model locked laser with a Fabry-Perot optical cavity. (author)

Spectroscopic On-Line Monitoring of Cu/W Contacts Erosion in HVCBs Using Optical-Fibre Based Sensor and Chromatic Methodology.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Zhixiang; Jones, Gordon R; Spencer, Joseph W; Wang, Xiaohua; Rong, Mingzhe

2017-03-06

Contact erosion is one of the most crucial factors affecting the electrical service lifetime of high-voltage circuit breakers (HVCBs). On-line monitoring the contacts' erosion degree is increasingly in demand for the sake of condition based maintenance to guarantee the functional operation of HVCBs. A spectroscopic monitoring system has been designed based upon a commercial 245 kV/40 kA S F 6 live tank circuit breaker with copper-tungsten (28 wt % and 72 wt %) arcing contacts at atmospheric S F 6 pressure. Three optical-fibre based sensors are used to capture the time-resolved spectra of arcs. A novel approach using chromatic methods to process the time-resolved spectral signal has been proposed. The processed chromatic parameters have been interpreted to show that the time variation of spectral emission from the contact material and quenching gas are closely correlated to the mass loss and surface degradation of the plug arcing contact. The feasibility of applying this method to online monitoring of contact erosion is indicated.

Spectroscopic On-Line Monitoring of Cu/W Contacts Erosion in HVCBs Using Optical-Fibre Based Sensor and Chromatic Methodology

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zhixiang Wang

2017-03-01

Full Text Available Contact erosion is one of the most crucial factors affecting the electrical service lifetime of high-voltage circuit breakers (HVCBs. On-line monitoring the contacts’ erosion degree is increasingly in demand for the sake of condition based maintenance to guarantee the functional operation of HVCBs. A spectroscopic monitoring system has been designed based upon a commercial 245 kV/40 kA S F 6 live tank circuit breaker with copper–tungsten (28 wt % and 72 wt % arcing contacts at atmospheric S F 6 pressure. Three optical-fibre based sensors are used to capture the time-resolved spectra of arcs. A novel approach using chromatic methods to process the time-resolved spectral signal has been proposed. The processed chromatic parameters have been interpreted to show that the time variation of spectral emission from the contact material and quenching gas are closely correlated to the mass loss and surface degradation of the plug arcing contact. The feasibility of applying this method to online monitoring of contact erosion is indicated.

Human Papillomavirus and Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor in Oral Cavity and Oropharyngeal Squamous Cell Carcinoma: Correlation With Dynamic Contrast-Enhanced MRI Parameters.

Science.gov (United States)

Choi, Yoon Seong; Park, Mina; Kwon, Hyeong Ju; Koh, Yoon Woo; Lee, Seung-Koo; Kim, Jinna

2016-02-01

The objective of this study was to investigate differences in dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI (DCE-MRI) parameters on the basis of the status of human papillomavirus (HPV) and epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) biomarkers in patients with squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the oral cavity and oropharynx by use of histogram analysis. A total of 22 consecutive patients with oral cavity and oropharyngeal SCC underwent DCE-MRI before receiving treatment. DCE parameter maps of the volume transfer constant (K(trans)), the flux rate constant (kep), and the extravascular extracellular volume fraction (ve) were obtained. The histogram parameters were calculated using the entire enhancing tumor volume and were compared between the patient subgroups on the basis of HPV and EGFR biomarker statuses. The cumulative histogram parameters of K(trans) and kep showed lower values in the HPV-negative and EFGR-overexpression group than in the HPV-positive EGFR-negative group. These differences were statistically significant for the mean (p = 0.009), 25th, 50th, and 75th percentile values of K(trans) and for the 25th percentile value of kep when correlated with HPV status in addition to the mean K(trans) value (p = 0.047) and kep value (p = 0.004) when correlated with EGFR status. No statistically significant difference in ve was found on the basis of HPV and EGFR status. DCE-MRI is useful for the assessment of the tumor microenvironment associated with HPV and EGFR biomarkers before treatment of patients with oral cavity and oropharyngeal SCC.

Enhancing thermal reliability of fiber-optic sensors for bio-inspired applications at ultra-high temperatures

Science.gov (United States)

Kang, Donghoon; Kim, Heon-Young; Kim, Dae-Hyun

2014-07-01

The rapid growth of bio-(inspired) sensors has led to an improvement in modern healthcare and human-robot systems in recent years. Higher levels of reliability and better flexibility, essential features of these sensors, are very much required in many application fields (e.g. applications at ultra-high temperatures). Fiber-optic sensors, and fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensors in particular, are being widely studied as suitable sensors for improved structural health monitoring (SHM) due to their many merits. To enhance the thermal reliability of FBG sensors, thermal sensitivity, generally expressed as αf + ξf and considered a constant, should be investigated more precisely. For this purpose, the governing equation of FBG sensors is modified using differential derivatives between the wavelength shift and the temperature change in this study. Through a thermal test ranging from RT to 900 °C, the thermal sensitivity of FBG sensors is successfully examined and this guarantees thermal reliability of FBG sensors at ultra-high temperatures. In detail, αf + ξf has a non-linear dependence on temperature and varies from 6.0 × 10-6 °C-1 (20 °C) to 10.6 × 10-6 °C-1 (650 °C). Also, FBGs should be carefully used for applications at ultra-high temperatures due to signal disappearance near 900 °C.

Evanescent-wave and ambient chiral sensing by signal-reversing cavity ringdown polarimetry.

Science.gov (United States)

Sofikitis, Dimitris; Bougas, Lykourgos; Katsoprinakis, Georgios E; Spiliotis, Alexandros K; Loppinet, Benoit; Rakitzis, T Peter

2014-10-02

Detecting and quantifying chirality is important in fields ranging from analytical and biological chemistry to pharmacology and fundamental physics: it can aid drug design and synthesis, contribute to protein structure determination, and help detect parity violation of the weak force. Recent developments employ microwaves, femtosecond pulses, superchiral light or photoionization to determine chirality, yet the most widely used methods remain the traditional methods of measuring circular dichroism and optical rotation. However, these signals are typically very weak against larger time-dependent backgrounds. Cavity-enhanced optical methods can be used to amplify weak signals by passing them repeatedly through an optical cavity, and two-mirror cavities achieving up to 10(5) cavity passes have enabled absorption and birefringence measurements with record sensitivities. But chiral signals cancel when passing back and forth through a cavity, while the ubiquitous spurious linear birefringence background is enhanced. Even when intracavity optics overcome these problems, absolute chirality measurements remain difficult and sometimes impossible. Here we use a pulsed-laser bowtie cavity ringdown polarimeter with counter-propagating beams to enhance chiral signals by a factor equal to the number of cavity passes (typically >10(3)); to suppress the effects of linear birefringence by means of a large induced intracavity Faraday rotation; and to effect rapid signal reversals by reversing the Faraday rotation and subtracting signals from the counter-propagating beams. These features allow absolute chiral signal measurements in environments where background subtraction is not feasible: we determine optical rotation from α-pinene vapour in open air, and from maltodextrin and fructose solutions in the evanescent wave produced by total internal reflection at a prism surface. The limits of the present polarimeter, when using a continuous-wave laser locked to a stable, high

Image accuracy and representational enhancement through low-level, multi-sensor integration techniques

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Baker, J.E.

1993-05-01

Multi-Sensor Integration (MSI) is the combining of data and information from more than one source in order to generate a more reliable and consistent representation of the environment. The need for MSI derives largely from basic ambiguities inherent in our current sensor imaging technologies. These ambiguities exist as long as the mapping from reality to image is not 1-to-1. That is, if different 44 realities'' lead to identical images, a single image cannot reveal the particular reality which was the truth. MSI techniques can be divided into three categories based on the relative information content of the original images with that of the desired representation: (1) ''detail enhancement,'' wherein the relative information content of the original images is less rich than the desired representation; (2) ''data enhancement,'' wherein the MSI techniques axe concerned with improving the accuracy of the data rather than either increasing or decreasing the level of detail; and (3) ''conceptual enhancement,'' wherein the image contains more detail than is desired, making it difficult to easily recognize objects of interest. In conceptual enhancement one must group pixels corresponding to the same conceptual object and thereby reduce the level of extraneous detail. This research focuses on data and conceptual enhancement algorithms. To be useful in many real-world applications, e.g., autonomous or teleoperated robotics, real-time feedback is critical. But, many MSI/image processing algorithms require significant processing time. This is especially true of feature extraction, object isolation, and object recognition algorithms due to their typical reliance on global or large neighborhood information. This research attempts to exploit the speed currently available in state-of-the-art digitizers and highly parallel processing systems by developing MSI algorithms based on pixel rather than global-level features

Cavity-assisted mesoscopic transport of fermions: Coherent and dissipative dynamics

Science.gov (United States)

Hagenmüller, David; Schütz, Stefan; Schachenmayer, Johannes; Genes, Claudiu; Pupillo, Guido

2018-05-01

We study the interplay between charge transport and light-matter interactions in a confined geometry by considering an open, mesoscopic chain of two-orbital systems resonantly coupled to a single bosonic mode close to its vacuum state. We introduce and benchmark different methods based on self-consistent solutions of nonequilibrium Green's functions and numerical simulations of the quantum master equation, and derive both analytical and numerical results. It is shown that in the dissipative regime where the cavity photon decay rate is the largest parameter, the light-matter coupling is responsible for a steady-state current enhancement scaling with the cooperativity parameter. We further identify different regimes of interest depending on the ratio between the cavity decay rate and the electronic bandwidth. Considering the situation where the lower band has a vanishing bandwidth, we show that for a high-finesse cavity, the properties of the resonant Bloch state in the upper band are transferred to the lower one, giving rise to a delocalized state along the chain. Conversely, in the dissipative regime with low-cavity quality factors, we find that the current enhancement is due to a collective decay of populations from the upper to the lower band.

X-ray photoelectron spectroscopic evidence for bacteria-enhanced dissolution of hornblende

Science.gov (United States)

Kalinowski, B. E.; Liermann, L. J.; Brantley, S. L.; Barnes, A.; Pantano, C. G.

2000-04-01

hornblende surface. Surface complexation is favored because of the extremely high association constants for siderophore + Fe(III). X-ray photoelectron spectroscopic data is therefore consistent with a model wherein enhanced Fe release by these bacteria or desferrioxamine B is caused by Fe-siderophore complexation at the silicate surface. Such complexation presumably weakens bonds between the Fe and the oxide lattice, causing enhanced Fe leaching and an Fe-depleted surface. Some leaching may also be due to LMWOA, although this is interpreted to be of secondary importance.

Experimental observations of effects of inert gas on cavity formation during irradiation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Farrell, K.

1980-04-01

Cavity (void) formation and swelling in non-fissile materials during neutron irradiation and charged particle bombardments are reviewed. Helium is the most important inert gas and is primarily active as a cavity nucleant. It also enhances formation of dislocation structure. Preimplantation of helium overstimulates cavity nucleation and gives a different temperature response of swelling than when helium is coimplanted during the damage process. Helium affects, and is affected by, radiation-induced phase instability. Many of these effects are explainable in terms of cavity nucleation on submicroscopic critical size gas bubbles, and on the influence of the neutral sink strength of such bubbles. Titanium and zirconium resist cavity formation when vacancy loops are present

Experimental observations of effects of inert gas on cavity formation during irradiation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Farrell, K.

1980-04-01

Cavity (void) formation and swelling in non-fissile materials during neutron irradiation and charged particle bombardments are reviewed. Helium is the most important inert gas and is primarily active as a cavity nucleant. It also enhances formation of dislocation structure. Preimplantation of helium overstimulates cavity nucleation and gives a different temperature response of swelling than when helium is coimplanted during the damage process. Helium affects, and is affected by, radiation-induced phase instability. Many of these effects are explainable in terms of cavity nucleation on submicroscopic critical size gas bubbles, and on the influence of the neutral sink strength of such bubbles. Titanium and zirconium resist cavity formation when vacancy loops are present.

Optical sensors for earth observation. Chikyu kansokuyo kogaku sensor

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ono, A [National Research Laboratory of Metrology, Tsukuba (Japan)

1991-10-10

Developments are made on an optical imager (ASTER) used to collect mainly images of land areas and an infrared sounder (IMG) to measure vertical air temperature distribution and vertical concentration distribution of specific gases, as satellite mounted sensors for earth observation. All the sensor characteristics of the ASTER comprising a visible near infrared radiometer, short wave infrared radiometer and thermal infrared radiometer are required to be capable of providing measurement, evaluation and assurance at the required accuracies during the entire life time. A problem to be solved is how to combine the on-ground calibration prior to launching, on-satellite calibration, and calibration between the test site and the sensors. The IMG is a Fourier transform spectroscopic infrared sounder, which is demanded of a high wave resolution over extended periods of time as well as a high radiation measuring capability. Also required are the level elevation of analysis algorithms to solve inverse problems from the observed radiation spectra, and the data base with high accuracy. 19 refs., 4 figs., 4 tabs.

A novel, highly efficient cavity backshort design for far-infrared TES detectors

Science.gov (United States)

Bracken, C.; de Lange, G.; Audley, M. D.; Trappe, N.; Murphy, J. A.; Gradziel, M.; Vreeling, W.-J.; Watson, D.

2018-03-01

In this paper we present a new cavity backshort design for TES (transition edge sensor) detectors which will provide increased coupling of the incoming astronomical signal to the detectors. The increased coupling results from the improved geometry of the cavities, where the geometry is a consequence of the proposed chemical etching manufacturing technique. Using a number of modelling techniques, predicted results of the performance of the cavities for frequencies of 4.3-10 THz are presented and compared to more standard cavity designs. Excellent optical efficiency is demonstrated, with improved response flatness across the band. In order to verify the simulated results, a scaled model cavity was built for testing at the lower W-band frequencies (75-100 GHz) with a VNA system. Further testing of the scale model at THz frequencies was carried out using a globar and bolometer via an FTS measurement set-up. The experimental results are presented, and compared to the simulations. Although there is relatively poor comparison between simulation and measurement at some frequencies, the discrepancies are explained by means of higher-mode excitation in the measured cavity which are not accounted for in the single-mode simulations. To verify this assumption, a better behaved cylindrical cavity is simulated and measured, where excellent agreement is demonstrated in those results. It can be concluded that both the simulations and the supporting measurements give confidence that this novel cavity design will indeed provide much-improved optical coupling for TES detectors in the far-infrared/THz band.

Stakeholder Attitudes Toward and Values Embedded in a Sensor-Enhanced Personal Emergency Response System

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Dahl, Yngve; Farshchian, Babak; Vilarinho, Thomas

2016-01-01

This paper provides an empirical understanding of concerns that the application of a sensor-enhanced medical alert system, or personal emergency response (PER) system, raises from the perspective of care receivers (users) and care providers. Data were gathered in the context of a field trial...

Security Enhancement of Wireless Sensor Networks Using Signal Intervals.

Science.gov (United States)

Moon, Jaegeun; Jung, Im Y; Yoo, Jaesoo

2017-04-02

Various wireless technologies, such as RF, Bluetooth, and Zigbee, have been applied to sensor communications. However, the applications of Bluetooth-based wireless sensor networks (WSN) have a security issue. In one pairing process during Bluetooth communication, which is known as simple secure pairing (SSP), the devices are required to specify I/O capability or user interference to prevent man-in-the-middle (MITM) attacks. This study proposes an enhanced SSP in which a nonce to be transferred is converted to a corresponding signal interval. The quantization level, which is used to interpret physical signal intervals, is renewed at every connection by the transferred nonce and applied to the next nonce exchange so that the same signal intervals can represent different numbers. Even if attackers eavesdrop on the signals, they cannot understand what is being transferred because they cannot determine the quantization level. Furthermore, the proposed model does not require exchanging passkeys as data, and the devices are secure in the case of using a fixed PIN. Subsequently, the new quantization level is calculated automatically whenever the same devices attempt to connect with each other. Therefore, the pairing process can be protected from MITM attacks and be convenient for users.

Noise-immune cavity-enhanced analytical atomic spectrometry - NICE-AAS - A technique for detection of elements down to zeptogram amounts

Science.gov (United States)

Axner, Ove; Ehlers, Patrick; Hausmaninger, Thomas; Silander, Isak; Ma, Weiguang

2014-10-01

Noise-immune cavity-enhanced optical heterodyne molecular spectroscopy (NICE-OHMS) is a powerful technique for detection of molecular compounds in gas phase that is based on a combination of two important concepts: frequency modulation spectroscopy (FMS) for reduction of noise, and cavity enhancement, for prolongation of the interaction length between the light and the sample. Due to its unique properties, it has demonstrated unparalleled detection sensitivity when it comes to detection of molecular constituents in the gas phase. However, despite these, it has so far not been used for detection of atoms, i.e. for elemental analysis. The present work presents an assessment of the expected performance of Doppler-broadened (Db) NICE-OHMS for analytical atomic spectrometry, then referred to as noise-immune cavity-enhanced analytical atomic spectrometry (NICE-AAS). After a description of the basic principles of Db-NICE-OHMS, the modulation and detection conditions for optimum performance are identified. Based on a previous demonstrated detection sensitivity of Db-NICE-OHMS of 5 × 10- 12 cm- 1 Hz- 1/2 (corresponding to a single-pass absorbance of 7 × 10- 11 over 10 s), the expected limits of detection (LODs) of Hg and Na by NICE-AAS are estimated. Hg is assumed to be detected in gas phase directly while Na is considered to be atomized in a graphite furnace (GF) prior to detection. It is shown that in the absence of spectral interferences, contaminated sample compartments, and optical saturation, it should be feasible to detect Hg down to 10 zg/cm3 (10 fg/m3 or 10- 5 ng/m3), which corresponds to 25 atoms/cm3, and Na down to 0.5 zg (zg = zeptogram = 10- 21 g), representing 50 zg/mL (parts-per-sextillion, pps, 1:1021) in liquid solution (assuming a sample of 10 μL) or solely 15 atoms injected into the GF, respectively. These LODs are several orders of magnitude lower (better) than any previous laser-based absorption technique previously demonstrated under atmospheric

All-fiber, long-active-length Fabry-Perot strain sensor.

Science.gov (United States)

Pevec, Simon; Donlagic, Denis

2011-08-01

This paper presents a high-sensitivity, all-silica, all-fiber Fabry-Perot strain-sensor. The proposed sensor provides a long active length, arbitrary length of Fabry-Perot cavity, and low intrinsic temperature sensitivity. The sensor was micro-machined from purposely-developed sensor-forming fiber that is etched and directly spliced to the lead-in fiber. This manufacturing process has good potential for cost-effective, high-volume production. Its measurement range of over 3000 µε, and strain-resolution better than 1 µε were demonstrated by the application of a commercial, multimode fiber-based signal processor.

Magnesium Diboride thin Films, multilayers, and coatings for SRF cavities

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Xi, Xiaoxing [Temple Univ., Philadelphia, PA (United States)

2017-08-17

Superconducting radio frequency (SRF) cavities currently use low-temperature superconductor niobium, and the Nb SRF cavities have approached the performance levels predicted theoretically. Compared to Nb, MgB₂ becomes superconducting at a much higher temperature and promises a better RF performance in terms of higher quality factor Q and higher acceleration capability. An MgB₂ SRF technology can significantly reduce the operating costs of particle accelerators when these potentials are realized. This project aimed to advance the development of an MgB₂ SRF technology. It had two main objectives: (1) materials issues of MgB₂ thin films and multilayers related to their applications in SRF cavities; and (2) coating single-cell cavities for testing at RF frequencies. The key technical thrust of the project is the deposition of high quality clean MgB₂ films and coatings by the hybrid physical-chemical vapor deposition (HPCVD) technique, which was developed in my group. We have achieved technical progress in each of the two areas. For the first objective, we have confirmed that MgB₂ thin film coatings can be used to effectively enhance the vortex penetration field of an SRF cavity. A vortex is a normal region in the shape of spaghetti that threads through a superconductor. Its existence is due to an applied magnetic field that is greater than a so-called lower critical field, H_c1. Once a vortex enters the superconductor, its movement leads to loss. This has been shown to be the reason for an SRF cavity to break down. Thus, enhancing the magnetic field for a vortex to enter the superconductor that forms the SRF cavity has be a goal of intense research. To this end, Gurevich proposed that a coating of thin superconductor layer can impede the vortex entrance. In this project, we have done two important experiment to test this concept. One, we showed that the enhancement of H_c1 can be

CMOS image sensor with contour enhancement

Science.gov (United States)

Meng, Liya; Lai, Xiaofeng; Chen, Kun; Yuan, Xianghui

2010-10-01

Imitating the signal acquisition and processing of vertebrate retina, a CMOS image sensor with bionic pre-processing circuit is designed. Integration of signal-process circuit on-chip can reduce the requirement of bandwidth and precision of the subsequent interface circuit, and simplify the design of the computer-vision system. This signal pre-processing circuit consists of adaptive photoreceptor, spatial filtering resistive network and Op-Amp calculation circuit. The adaptive photoreceptor unit with a dynamic range of approximately 100 dB has a good self-adaptability for the transient changes in light intensity instead of intensity level itself. Spatial low-pass filtering resistive network used to mimic the function of horizontal cell, is composed of the horizontal resistor (HRES) circuit and OTA (Operational Transconductance Amplifier) circuit. HRES circuit, imitating dendrite of the neuron cell, comprises of two series MOS transistors operated in weak inversion region. Appending two diode-connected n-channel transistors to a simple transconductance amplifier forms the OTA Op-Amp circuit, which provides stable bias voltage for the gate of MOS transistors in HRES circuit, while serves as an OTA voltage follower to provide input voltage for the network nodes. The Op-Amp calculation circuit with a simple two-stage Op-Amp achieves the image contour enhancing. By adjusting the bias voltage of the resistive network, the smoothing effect can be tuned to change the effect of image's contour enhancement. Simulations of cell circuit and 16×16 2D circuit array are implemented using CSMC 0.5μm DPTM CMOS process.

Enhancing thermal reliability of fiber-optic sensors for bio-inspired applications at ultra-high temperatures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kang, Donghoon; Kim, Heon-Young; Kim, Dae-Hyun

2014-01-01

The rapid growth of bio-(inspired) sensors has led to an improvement in modern healthcare and human–robot systems in recent years. Higher levels of reliability and better flexibility, essential features of these sensors, are very much required in many application fields (e.g. applications at ultra-high temperatures). Fiber-optic sensors, and fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensors in particular, are being widely studied as suitable sensors for improved structural health monitoring (SHM) due to their many merits. To enhance the thermal reliability of FBG sensors, thermal sensitivity, generally expressed as α f + ξ f and considered a constant, should be investigated more precisely. For this purpose, the governing equation of FBG sensors is modified using differential derivatives between the wavelength shift and the temperature change in this study. Through a thermal test ranging from RT to 900 °C, the thermal sensitivity of FBG sensors is successfully examined and this guarantees thermal reliability of FBG sensors at ultra-high temperatures. In detail, α f + ξ f has a non-linear dependence on temperature and varies from 6.0 × 10 −6  °C −1 (20 °C) to 10.6 × 10 −6  °C −1 (650 °C). Also, FBGs should be carefully used for applications at ultra-high temperatures due to signal disappearance near 900 °C. (paper)

Enhanced Key Management Protocols for Wireless Sensor Networks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Baojiang Cui

2015-01-01

Full Text Available With rapid development and extensive use of wireless sensor networks (WSNs, it is urgent to enhance the security for WSNs, in which key management is an effective way to protect WSNs from various attacks. However, different types of messages exchanged in WSNs typically have different security requirements which cannot be satisfied by a single keying mechanism. In this study, a basic key management protocol is described for WSNs based on four kinds of keys, which can be derived from an initial master key, and an enhanced protocol is proposed based on Diffie-Hellman algorithm. The proposed scheme restricts the adverse security impact of a captured node to the rest of WSNs and meets the requirement of energy efficiency by supporting in-network processing. The master key protection, key revocation mechanism, and the authentication mechanism based on one-way hash function are, respectively, discussed. Finally, the performance of the proposed scheme is analyzed from the aspects of computational efficiency, storage requirement and communication cost, and its antiattack capability in protecting WSNs is discussed under various attack models. In this paper, promising research directions are also discussed.

Tailored Algorithm for Sensitivity Enhancement of Gas Concentration Sensors Based on Tunable Laser Absorption Spectroscopy.

Science.gov (United States)

Vargas-Rodriguez, Everardo; Guzman-Chavez, Ana Dinora; Baeza-Serrato, Roberto

2018-06-04

In this work, a novel tailored algorithm to enhance the overall sensitivity of gas concentration sensors based on the Direct Absorption Tunable Laser Absorption Spectroscopy (DA-ATLAS) method is presented. By using this algorithm, the sensor sensitivity can be custom-designed to be quasi constant over a much larger dynamic range compared with that obtained by typical methods based on a single statistics feature of the sensor signal output (peak amplitude, area under the curve, mean or RMS). Additionally, it is shown that with our algorithm, an optimal function can be tailored to get a quasi linear relationship between the concentration and some specific statistics features over a wider dynamic range. In order to test the viability of our algorithm, a basic C 2 H 2 sensor based on DA-ATLAS was implemented, and its experimental measurements support the simulated results provided by our algorithm.

Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering Sensor on an Optical Fiber Probe Fabricated with a Femtosecond Laser

OpenAIRE

Ma, Xiaodong; Huo, Haibin; Wang, Wenhui; Tian, Ye; Wu, Nan; Guthy, Charles; Shen, Mengyan; Wang, Xingwei

2010-01-01

A novel fabrication method for surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) sensors that used a fast femtosecond (fs) laser scanning process to etch uniform patterns and structures on the endface of a fused silica optical fiber, which is then coated with a thin layer of silver through thermal evaporation is presented. A high quality SERS signal was detected on the patterned surface using a Rhodamine 6G (Rh6G) solution. The uniform SERS sensor built on the tip of the optical fiber tip was small, l...

Rotational cooling of polar molecules by Stark-tuned cavity resonance

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ooi, C. H. Raymond

2003-01-01

A general scheme for rotational cooling of diatomic heteronuclear molecules is proposed. It uses a superconducting microwave cavity to enhance the spontaneous decay via Purcell effect. Rotational cooling can be induced by sequentially tuning each rotational transition to cavity resonance, starting from the highest transition level to the lowest one using an electric field. Electrostatic multipoles can be used to provide large confinement volume with essentially homogeneous background electric field

Amorphous Pd-assisted H 2 detection of ZnO nanorod gas sensor with enhanced sensitivity and stability

KAUST Repository

Kim, Hyeonghun

2018-02-05

For monitoring H2 concentrations in air, diverse resistive gas sensors have been demonstrated. In particular, Pd-decorated metal oxides have shown remarkable selectivity and sensing response for H2 detection. In this work, H2 sensing behavior of amorphous Pd layer covering ZnO nanorods (am-Pd/ZnO NRs) is investigated. This is the first report on the enhanced gas sensing performance attained by using an amorphous metal layer. The amorphous Pd layer is generated by reduction reaction with a strong reducing agent (NaBH4), and it covers the ZnO nanorods completely with a thickness of 2 ∼ 5 nm. For comparison, crystalline Pd nanoparticles-decorated ZnO nanorods (c-Pd/ZnO NRs) are produced using a milder reducing agent like hydrazine. Comparing the c-Pd/ZnO NRs sensor and other previously reported hydrogen sensors based on the crystalline Pd and metal oxides, the am-Pd/ZnO NRs sensor exhibits a remarkable sensing response (12,400% at 2% H2). The enhancement is attributed to complete cover of the amorphous Pd layer on the ZnO NRs, inducing larger interfaces between the Pd and ZnO. In addition, the amorphous Pd layer prevents surface contamination of the ZnO NRs. Therefore, the am-Pd/ZnO NRs sensor maintains initial sensing performance even after 5 months.

Amorphous Pd-assisted H 2 detection of ZnO nanorod gas sensor with enhanced sensitivity and stability

KAUST Repository

Kim, Hyeonghun; Pak, Yusin; Jeong, Yeonggyo; Kim, Woochul; Kim, Jeongnam; Jung, Gun Young

2018-01-01

For monitoring H2 concentrations in air, diverse resistive gas sensors have been demonstrated. In particular, Pd-decorated metal oxides have shown remarkable selectivity and sensing response for H2 detection. In this work, H2 sensing behavior of amorphous Pd layer covering ZnO nanorods (am-Pd/ZnO NRs) is investigated. This is the first report on the enhanced gas sensing performance attained by using an amorphous metal layer. The amorphous Pd layer is generated by reduction reaction with a strong reducing agent (NaBH4), and it covers the ZnO nanorods completely with a thickness of 2 ∼ 5 nm. For comparison, crystalline Pd nanoparticles-decorated ZnO nanorods (c-Pd/ZnO NRs) are produced using a milder reducing agent like hydrazine. Comparing the c-Pd/ZnO NRs sensor and other previously reported hydrogen sensors based on the crystalline Pd and metal oxides, the am-Pd/ZnO NRs sensor exhibits a remarkable sensing response (12,400% at 2% H2). The enhancement is attributed to complete cover of the amorphous Pd layer on the ZnO NRs, inducing larger interfaces between the Pd and ZnO. In addition, the amorphous Pd layer prevents surface contamination of the ZnO NRs. Therefore, the am-Pd/ZnO NRs sensor maintains initial sensing performance even after 5 months.

Improvement of cavity performance in the Saclay/Cornell/DESY's SC cavities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kako, E.; Noguchi, S.; Ono, M.

2000-01-01

Development of 1.3 GHz Nb superconducting cavities for TESLA (TeV Energy Superconducting Linear Collider) has been carried out with international collaboration. Three Saclay single-cell cavities, one Cornell two-cell cavity and one DESY nine-cell cavity were sent to KEK in order to compare the cavity performance. These cavities were tested at KEK after the following surface treatment: 1) high pressure rinsing, HPR, 2) chemical polishing and HPR, 3) electropolishing and HPR. The test results, especially, improvement of the cavity performance due to electropolishing are reported in this paper. (author)

Optical sensor for real-time weld defect detection

Science.gov (United States)

Ancona, Antonio; Maggipinto, Tommaso; Spagnolo, Vincenzo; Ferrara, Michele; Lugara, Pietro M.

2002-04-01

In this work we present an innovative optical sensor for on- line and non-intrusive welding process monitoring. It is based on the spectroscopic analysis of the optical VIS emission of the welding plasma plume generated in the laser- metal interaction zone. Plasma electron temperature has been measured for different chemical species composing the plume. Temperature signal evolution has been recorded and analyzed during several CO2-laser welding processes, under variable operating conditions. We have developed a suitable software able to real time detect a wide range of weld defects like crater formation, lack of fusion, excessive penetration, seam oxidation. The same spectroscopic approach has been applied for electric arc welding process monitoring. We assembled our optical sensor in a torch for manual Gas Tungsten Arc Welding procedures and tested the prototype in a manufacturing industry production line. Even in this case we found a clear correlation between the signal behavior and the welded joint quality.

A flow-through amperometric sensor based on dialysis tubing and free enzyme reactors

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bohm, S.; Pijanowska, D.G.; Pijanowska, D.; Olthuis, Wouter; Bergveld, Piet

2001-01-01

A generic flow-through amperometric microenzyme sensor is described, which is based on semi-permeable dialysis tubing carrying the sample to be analyzed. This tubing (300 μm OD) is led through a small cavity, containing the working and reference electrode. By filling this cavity with a few μl of an

Wireless Sensor Networks--A Hands-On Modular Experiments Platform for Enhanced Pedagogical Learning

Science.gov (United States)

Taslidere, E.; Cohen, F. S.; Reisman, F. K.

2011-01-01

This paper presents the use of wireless sensor networks (WSNs) in educational research as a platform for enhanced pedagogical learning. The aim here with the use of a WSN platform was to go beyond the implementation stage to the real-life application stage, i.e., linking the implementation to real-life applications, where abstract theory and…

Hall effect enhanced low-field sensitivity in a three-contact extraordinary magnetoresistance sensor

KAUST Repository

Sun, Jian

2012-06-06

An extraordinary magnetoresistance (EMR) device with a 3-contact geometry has been fabricated and characterized. A large enhancement of the output sensitivity at low magnetic fields compared to the conventional EMR device has been found, which can be attributed to an additional influence coming from the Hall effect. Output sensitivities of 0.19 mV/T at zero-field and 0.2 mV/T at 0.01 T have been measured in the device, which is equivalent to the ones of the conventional EMR sensors with a bias of ∼0.04 T. The exceptional performance of EMR sensors in the high field region is maintained in the 3-contact device.

The mid-IR silicon photonics sensor platform (Conference Presentation)

Science.gov (United States)

Kimerling, Lionel; Hu, Juejun; Agarwal, Anuradha M.

2017-02-01

Advances in integrated silicon photonics are enabling highly connected sensor networks that offer sensitivity, selectivity and pattern recognition. Cost, performance and the evolution path of the so-called `Internet of Things' will gate the proliferation of these networks. The wavelength spectral range of 3-8um, commonly known as the mid-IR, is critical to specificity for sensors that identify materials by detection of local vibrational modes, reflectivity and thermal emission. For ubiquitous sensing applications in this regime, the sensors must move from premium to commodity level manufacturing volumes and cost. Scaling performance/cost is critically dependent on establishing a minimum set of platform attributes for point, wearable, and physical sensing. Optical sensors are ideal for non-invasive applications. Optical sensor device physics involves evanescent or intra-cavity structures for applied to concentration, interrogation and photo-catalysis functions. The ultimate utility of a platform is dependent on sample delivery/presentation modalities; system reset, recalibration and maintenance capabilities; and sensitivity and selectivity performance. The attributes and performance of a unified Glass-on-Silicon platform has shown good prospects for heterogeneous integration on materials and devices using a low cost process flow. Integrated, single mode, silicon photonic platforms offer significant performance and cost advantages, but they require discovery and qualification of new materials and process integration schemes for the mid-IR. Waveguide integrated light sources based on rare earth dopants and Ge-pumped frequency combs have promise. Optical resonators and waveguide spirals can enhance sensitivity. PbTe materials are among the best choices for a standard, waveguide integrated photodetector. Chalcogenide glasses are capable of transmitting mid-IR signals with high transparency. Integrated sensor case studies of i) high sensitivity analyte detection in

Thermal and chemical treatment of polymer optical fiber Bragg grating sensors for enhanced mechanical sensitivity

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pospori, Andreas; Marques, C. A. F.; Saez-Rodriguez, D.

2017-01-01

An investigation of the thermal annealing effects on the strain, stress, and force sensitivities of polymer optical fiber Bragg grating sensors is performed. We demonstrate for the first time that the fiber annealing can enhance both stress and force sensitivities of Bragg grating sensors......, with the possible cause being the molecular relaxation of the polymer when fiber is raised above the β-transition temperature. A simple, cost-effective, but well controlled method for fiber annealing is also presented in this work. In addition, the effects of chemical etching on the strain, stress, and force...... sensitivities have been investigated. Results show that fiber etching too can increase the force sensitivity, and it can also affect the strain and stress sensitivities of the Bragg grating sensors....

Thermal and chemical treatment of polymer optical fiber Bragg grating sensors for enhanced mechanical sensitivity

Science.gov (United States)

Pospori, A.; Marques, C. A. F.; Sáez-Rodríguez, D.; Nielsen, K.; Bang, O.; Webb, D. J.

2017-07-01

An investigation of the thermal annealing effects on the strain, stress, and force sensitivities of polymer optical fiber Bragg grating sensors is performed. We demonstrate for the first time that the fiber annealing can enhance both stress and force sensitivities of Bragg grating sensors, with the possible cause being the molecular relaxation of the polymer when fiber is raised above the β -transition temperature. A simple, cost-effective, but well controlled method for fiber annealing is also presented in this work. In addition, the effects of chemical etching on the strain, stress, and force sensitivities have been investigated. Results show that fiber etching too can increase the force sensitivity, and it can also affect the strain and stress sensitivities of the Bragg grating sensors.

Mid infrared resonant cavity detectors and lasers with epitaxial lead-chalcogenides

Science.gov (United States)

Zogg, H.; Rahim, M.; Khiar, A.; Fill, M.; Felder, F.; Quack, N.

2010-09-01

Wavelength tunable emitters and detectors in the mid-IR wavelength region allow applications including thermal imaging and gas spectroscopy. One way to realize such tunable devices is by using a resonant cavity. By mechanically changing the cavity length with MEMS mirror techniques, the wavelengths may be tuned over a considerable range. Resonant cavity enhanced detectors (RCED) are sensitive at the cavity resonance only. They may be applied for low resolution spectroscopy, and, when arrays of such detectors are realized, as multicolour IR-FPA or "IR-AFPA", adaptive focal plane arrays. We report the first room temperature mid-IR VECSEL (vertical external cavity surface emitting laser) with a wavelength above 3 μm. The active region is just 850 nm PbSe, followed by a 2.5 pair Bragg mirror. Output power is > 10 mW at RT.

Optomechanic interactions in phoxonic cavities

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bahram Djafari-Rouhani

2014-12-01

Full Text Available Phoxonic crystals are periodic structures exhibiting simultaneous phononic and photonic band gaps, thus allowing the confinement of both excitations in the same cavity. The phonon-photon interaction can be enhanced due to the overlap of both waves in the cavity. In this paper, we discuss some of our recent theoretical works on the strength of the optomechanic coupling, based on both photoelastic and moving interfaces mechanisms, in different (2D, slabs, strips phoxonic crystals cavities. The cases of two-dimensional infinite and slab structures will enable us to mention the important role of the symmetry and degeneracy of the modes, as well as the role of the materials whose photoelastic constants can be wavelength dependent. Depending on the phonon-photon pair, the photoelastic and moving interface mechanisms can contribute in phase or out-of-phase. Then, the main part of the paper will be devoted to the optomechanic interaction in a corrugated nanobeam waveguide exhibiting dual phononic/photonic band gaps. Such structures can provide photonic modes with very high quality factor, high frequency phononic modes of a few GHz inside a gap and optomechanical coupling rate reaching a few MHz.

Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering Physics and Applications

CERN Document Server

Kneipp, Katrin; Kneipp, Harald

2006-01-01

Almost 30 years after the first reports on surface-enhanced Raman signals, the phenomenon of surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) is now well established. Yet, explaining the enhancement of a spectroscopic signal by fouteen orders of magnitude continues to attract the attention of physicists and chemists alike. And, at the same time and rapidly growing, SERS is becoming a very useful spectroscopic tool with exciting applications in many fields. SERS gained particular interest after single-molecule Raman spectroscopy had been demonstrated. This bookl summarizes and discusses present theoretical approaches that explain the phenomenon of SERS and reports on new and exciting experiments and applications of the fascinating spectroscopic effect.

All-in-one: a versatile gas sensor based on fiber enhanced Raman spectroscopy for monitoring postharvest fruit conservation and ripening.

Science.gov (United States)

Jochum, Tobias; Rahal, Leila; Suckert, Renè J; Popp, Jürgen; Frosch, Torsten

2016-03-21

In today's fruit conservation rooms the ripening of harvested fruit is delayed by precise management of the interior oxygen (O2) and carbon dioxide (CO2) levels. Ethylene (C2H4), a natural plant hormone, is commonly used to trigger fruit ripening shortly before entering the market. Monitoring of these critical process gases, also of the increasingly favored cooling agent ammonia (NH3), is a crucial task in modern postharvest fruit management. The goal of this work was to develop and characterize a gas sensor setup based on fiber enhanced Raman spectroscopy for fast (time resolution of a few minutes) and non-destructive process gas monitoring throughout the complete postharvest production chain encompassing storage and transport in fruit conservation chambers as well as commercial fruit ripening in industrial ripening rooms. Exploiting a micro-structured hollow-core photonic crystal fiber for analyte gas confinement and sensitivity enhancement, the sensor features simultaneous quantification of O2, CO2, NH3 and C2H4 without cross-sensitivity in just one single measurement. Laboratory measurements of typical fruit conservation gas mixtures showed that the sensor is capable of quantifying O2 and CO2 concentration levels with accuracy of 3% or less with respect to reference concentrations. The sensor detected ammonia concentrations, relevant for chemical alarm purposes. Due to the high spectral resolution of the gas sensor, ethylene could be quantified simultaneously with O2 and CO2 in a multi-component mixture. These results indicate that fiber enhanced Raman sensors have a potential to become universally usable on-site gas sensors for controlled atmosphere applications in postharvest fruit management.

X-ray quantum optics with Moessbauer nuclei in thin-film cavities

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Heeg, Kilian Peter

2014-12-09

In this thesis thin-film cavities with embedded Moessbauer nuclei probed by near-resonant X-ray light are studied from a quantum optical perspective. A theoretical framework is developed and compact expressions for the observables are derived for the linear excitation regime, which is encountered in current experiments. Even advanced cavity layouts can be modeled in excellent agreement with the results of previous experiments and semi-classical approaches. In the absence of magnetic hyperfine splitting, the spectral response of the system is found to be formed by tunable Fano profiles. An experimental implementation of this line shape control allows to extract spectroscopic signatures with high precision and to reconstruct the phase of the nuclear transition in good agreement with the theoretical predictions. The alignment of medium magnetization and polarization control of the X-rays enable to engineer advanced quantum optical level schemes, in which vacuum induced coherence effects are predicted and successfully demonstrated in an experiment. Furthermore, it is shown that group velocity control for x-ray pulses can be achieved in the cavity. A scheme for its observation is proposed and then employed to experimentally confirm sub-luminal X-ray propagation. Finally, non-linear effects, which could become accessible with future light sources, are explored and a non-linear line shape control mechanism is discussed.

The HITRAN 2004 molecular spectroscopic database

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rothman, L.S. [Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Atomic and Molecular Physics Division, Cambridge, MA 02138 (United States)]. E-mail: lrothman@cfa.harvard.edu; Jacquemart, D. [Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Atomic and Molecular Physics Division, Cambridge, MA 02138 (United States); Barbe, A. [Universite de Reims-Champagne-Ardenne, Groupe de Spectrometrie Moleculaire et Atmospherique, 51062 Reims (France)] (and others)

2005-12-01

This paper describes the status of the 2004 edition of the HITRAN molecular spectroscopic database. The HITRAN compilation consists of several components that serve as input for radiative transfer calculation codes: individual line parameters for the microwave through visible spectra of molecules in the gas phase; absorption cross-sections for molecules having dense spectral features, i.e., spectra in which the individual lines are unresolvable; individual line parameters and absorption cross-sections for bands in the ultra-violet; refractive indices of aerosols; tables and files of general properties associated with the database; and database management software. The line-by-line portion of the database contains spectroscopic parameters for 39 molecules including many of their isotopologues. The format of the section of the database on individual line parameters of HITRAN has undergone the most extensive enhancement in almost two decades. It now lists the Einstein A-coefficients, statistical weights of the upper and lower levels of the transitions, a better system for the representation of quantum identifications, and enhanced referencing and uncertainty codes. In addition, there is a provision for making corrections to the broadening of line transitions due to line mixing.

The HITRAN 2004 molecular spectroscopic database

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rothman, L.S.; Jacquemart, D.; Barbe, A.

2005-01-01

This paper describes the status of the 2004 edition of the HITRAN molecular spectroscopic database. The HITRAN compilation consists of several components that serve as input for radiative transfer calculation codes: individual line parameters for the microwave through visible spectra of molecules in the gas phase; absorption cross-sections for molecules having dense spectral features, i.e., spectra in which the individual lines are unresolvable; individual line parameters and absorption cross-sections for bands in the ultra-violet; refractive indices of aerosols; tables and files of general properties associated with the database; and database management software. The line-by-line portion of the database contains spectroscopic parameters for 39 molecules including many of their isotopologues. The format of the section of the database on individual line parameters of HITRAN has undergone the most extensive enhancement in almost two decades. It now lists the Einstein A-coefficients, statistical weights of the upper and lower levels of the transitions, a better system for the representation of quantum identifications, and enhanced referencing and uncertainty codes. In addition, there is a provision for making corrections to the broadening of line transitions due to line mixing

Investigation of the pressure generated in the mould cavity during polyurethane integral skin foam moulding

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

2008-07-01

Full Text Available An industrial scale measuring system was set up to investigate the pressure arising in the mould cavity during polyurethane integral skin foaming. The system is able to measure the pressure arising in the mould cavity and the pressure distribution using a piezoresistive pressure sensor. The pressure distribution was measured at 18 points along the mould surface at constant production parameters. Then six production parameters, which affect the pressure, were investigated in detail with the Taguchi method of experimental design. The results of the design were processed by ANOVA (analysis of variance. Three major influencing parameters were estimated by regression analysis. Finally an equation was developed to give a good estimation to the pressure arising in the mould cavity.

Production cavity and central optics for a light shining through a wall experiment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hodajerdi, Reza

2015-02-01

The unexplained nature of dark matter and dark energy is a prominent reason for investigating physics beyond the standard model of particle physics (SM). Some extensions of the SM propose weakly interacting slim particles (WISPs). In an attempt to prove the existence of these particles, Light shining through the wall (LSW) experiments explore a very weak coupling between WISPs and photons (and viceversa). LSW experiments employ high-power lasers that provide a well defined flux of photons for the WISP-Photon conversion. The ALPS-I experiment at DESY in Hamburg was the first successful experiment with a high finesse optical resonator to enhance the laser power in a strong magnetic field in order to increase the photon to WISP conversion probability. The ALPS-II experimental concept adds a second optical cavity to also increase the reconversion probability. Both cavities are separated by a wall, amplify light at 1064 nm and share a common optical axis. Operating these two cavities inside 20 straightened HERA superconducting dipole magnets and using a transition edge sensor (TES) as a single photon detector will make the ALPS-II experiment almost three orders of magnitude more sensitive than its predecessor. Since photons, originating from reconverted WISPs in the regeneration cavity (RC) have 1064 nm wavelengths, the RC has to be locked to the production cavity (PC) with light of a different wavelength. Therefore frequency doubled PCs light will be used to lock the RC. This 532 nm light shall not arrive at the TES to prevent background noise. To achieve this, an optical attenuation system for wavelengths different from 1064 nm is required. In my thesis, the required attenuation was estimated and an optical setup was proposed and constructed and tested. It attenuates green photons by a factor of of 10 -18 and transmits 85% of the infrared photons. Furthermore the high finesse production cavity of ALPS-IIa was set up and characterized during this thesis. The PC reached

Quantum Electronics for Atomic Physics

CERN Document Server

Nagourney, Warren

2010-01-01

Quantum Electronics for Atomic Physics provides a course in quantum electronics for researchers in atomic physics. The book covers the usual topics, such as Gaussian beams, cavities, lasers, nonlinear optics and modulation techniques, but also includes a number of areas not usually found in a textbook on quantum electronics. It includes such practical matters as the enhancement of nonlinear processes in a build-up cavity, impedance matching into a cavity, laser frequencystabilization (including servomechanism theory), astigmatism in ring cavities, and atomic/molecular spectroscopic techniques

New method to improve the accuracy of quench position measurement on a superconducting cavity by a second sound method

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

ZhenChao Liu

2012-09-01

Full Text Available Quench is a common phenomenon in a superconducting cavity and often limits the accelerating gradient of the cavity. Accurate location of the quench site, typically located at a material or geometrical defect, is the key to improve the cavity accelerating gradient. Here, the second sound propagation in liquid helium II is used to detect the quench location on the cavity. The technique is relatively convenient and complements the traditional temperature mapping which measures the “prequench” temperature rise on the cavity using an array of sensors. The speed of the second sound in liquid helium II is roughly 1.7  cm/ms at 2 K which is sufficiently fast to provide a millimeter-size position resolution. However, the dynamics of the quench at the cavity surface are also found to significantly affect the achievable resolution with real cavities. Here we use a dynamic quench model, based on ANSYS, to calculate the quench area and the temperature distribution on the cavity. The detection error caused by the thermal conduction in the niobium was calculated.

Phononic crystals with one-dimensional defect as sensor materials

Science.gov (United States)

Aly, Arafa H.; Mehaney, Ahmed

2017-09-01

Recently, sensor technology has attracted great attention in many fields due to its importance in many engineering applications. In the present work, we introduce a study using the innovative properties of phononic crystals in enhancing a new type of sensors based on the intensity of transmitted frequencies inside the phononic band gaps. Based on the transfer matrix method and Bloch theory, the expressions of the reflection coefficient and dispersion relation are presented. Firstly, the influences of filling fraction ratio and the angle of incidence on the band gap width are discussed. Secondly, the localization of waves inside band gaps is discussed by enhancing the properties of the defected phononic crystal. Compared to the periodic structure, localization modes involved within the band structure of phononic crystals with one and two defect layers are presented and compared. Trapped localized modes can be detected easily and provide more information about defected structures. Such method could increase the knowledge of manufacturing defects by measuring the intensity of propagated waves in the resonant cavities and waveguides. Moreover, several factors enhance the role of the defect layer on the transmission properties of defected phononic crystals are presented. The acoustic band gap can be used to detect or sense the type of liquids filling the defect layer. The liquids make specific resonant modes through the phononic band gaps that related to the properties of each liquid. The frequency where the maximum resonant modes occur is correlated to material properties and allows to determine several parameters such as the type of an unknown material.

Quartz enhanced photoacoustic H{sub 2}S gas sensor based on a fiber-amplifier source and a custom tuning fork with large prong spacing

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wu, Hongpeng; Liu, Xiaoli; Zheng, Huadan; Yin, Xukun; Ma, Weiguang; Zhang, Lei; Yin, Wangbao; Jia, Suotang [State Key Laboratory of Quantum Optics and Quantum Optics Devices, Institute of Laser Spectroscopy, Shanxi University, Taiyuan 030006 (China); Sampaolo, Angelo [Dipartimento Interateneo di Fisica, Università degli Studi di Bari and Politecnico di Bari, CNR-IFN UOS BARI, Via Amendola 173, Bari 70126 (Italy); Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Rice University, Houston, Texas 77005 (United States); Dong, Lei, E-mail: donglei@sxu.edu.cn [State Key Laboratory of Quantum Optics and Quantum Optics Devices, Institute of Laser Spectroscopy, Shanxi University, Taiyuan 030006 (China); Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Rice University, Houston, Texas 77005 (United States); Patimisco, Pietro; Spagnolo, Vincenzo [Dipartimento Interateneo di Fisica, Università degli Studi di Bari and Politecnico di Bari, CNR-IFN UOS BARI, Via Amendola 173, Bari 70126 (Italy); Tittel, Frank K. [Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Rice University, Houston, Texas 77005 (United States)

2015-09-14

A quartz enhanced photoacoustic spectroscopy (QEPAS) sensor, employing an erbium-doped fiber amplified laser source and a custom quartz tuning fork (QTF) with its two prongs spaced ∼800 μm apart, is reported. The sensor employs an acoustic micro-resonator (AmR) which is assembled in an “on-beam” QEPAS configuration. Both length and vertical position of the AmR are optimized in terms of signal-to-noise ratio, significantly improving the QEPAS detection sensitivity by a factor of ∼40, compared to the case of a sensor using a bare custom QTF. The fiber-amplifier-enhanced QEPAS sensor is applied to H{sub 2}S trace gas detection, reaching a sensitivity of ∼890 ppb at 1 s integration time, similar to those obtained with a power-enhanced QEPAS sensor equipped with a standard QTF, but with the advantages of easy optical alignment, simple installation, and long-term stability.

Structural sensing of interior sound for active control of noise in structural-acoustic cavities.

Science.gov (United States)

Bagha, Ashok K; Modak, S V

2015-07-01

This paper proposes a method for structural sensing of acoustic potential energy for active control of noise in a structural-acoustic cavity. The sensing strategy aims at global control and works with a fewer number of sensors. It is based on the established concept of radiation modes and hence does not add too many states to the order of the system. Acoustic potential energy is sensed using a combination of a Kalman filter and a frequency weighting filter with the structural response measurements as the inputs. The use of Kalman filter also makes the system robust against measurement noise. The formulation of the strategy is presented using finite element models of the system including that of sensors and actuators so that it can be easily applied to practical systems. The sensing strategy is numerically evaluated in the framework of Linear Quadratic Gaussian based feedback control of interior noise in a rectangular box cavity with a flexible plate with single and multiple pairs of piezoelectric sensor-actuator patches when broadband disturbances act on the plate. The performance is compared with an "acoustic filter" that models the complete transfer function from the structure to the acoustic domain. The sensing performance is also compared with a direct estimation strategy.

Flexible nanomembrane photonic-crystal cavities for tensilely strained-germanium light emission

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yin, Jian; Wang, Xiaowei; Paiella, Roberto [Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Photonics Center, Boston University, 8 Saint Mary' s Street, Boston, Massachusetts 02215 (United States); Cui, Xiaorui; Sookchoo, Pornsatit; Lagally, Max G. [Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Wisconsin – Madison, 1509 University Avenue, Madison, Wisconsin 53706 (United States)

2016-06-13

Flexible photonic-crystal cavities in the form of Si-column arrays embedded in polymeric films are developed on Ge nanomembranes using direct membrane assembly. The resulting devices can sustain large biaxial tensile strain under mechanical stress, as a way to enhance the Ge radiative efficiency. Pronounced emission peaks associated with photonic-crystal cavity resonances are observed in photoluminescence measurements. These results show that ultrathin nanomembrane active layers can be effectively coupled to an optical cavity, while still preserving their mechanical flexibility. Thus, they are promising for the development of strain-enabled Ge lasers, and more generally uniquely flexible optoelectronic devices.

A molecularly imprinted electrochemiluminescence sensor based on the mimetic enzyme catalytic effect for ultra-trace Ni2+ determination.

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Bin; Li, Jianping; Zhang, Lianming; Xu, Guobao

2016-10-21

A novel molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) electrochemiluminescence (MIP-ECL) sensor was developed for the highly sensitive and selective determination of ultra-trace levels of Ni 2+ . The complex Ni 2+ -dimethylglyoxime (Ni-DMG) was chosen as the template molecule to construct the MIP and then acted as a mimetic enzyme to catalyse the oxidisation of luminol to enhance the ECL signal. When the imprinted cavities were occupied by Ni-DMG in the rebinding process, the ECL intensities produced by the luminol-H 2 O 2 ECL system on the MIP-modified electrode surface increased with increased concentration of the Ni-DMG complex. The highly sensitive determination of Ni 2+ was achieved through a catalytic reaction. This technique could be used for the quantitative analysis of Ni 2+ with concentrations from 3.0 × 10 -12 mol L -1 to 6.0 × 10 -9 mol L -1 . The detection limit was 1.01 × 10 -12 mol L -1 , which is much lower than that reported previously. In addition, the allowable amounts of interference ions in the MIP-ECL sensor were higher than that in other common molecularly imprinted sensors because of its excellent recognition of 3D cavity-to-complex molecules and ligand-to-metal ions. This method was successfully used to determine Ni 2+ in real samples, such as apples, carrots and grapes, and has been proven feasible for practical applications.

Security Enhancement of Wireless Sensor Networks Using Signal Intervals

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jaegeun Moon

2017-04-01

Full Text Available Various wireless technologies, such as RF, Bluetooth, and Zigbee, have been applied to sensor communications. However, the applications of Bluetooth-based wireless sensor networks (WSN have a security issue. In one pairing process during Bluetooth communication, which is known as simple secure pairing (SSP, the devices are required to specify I/O capability or user interference to prevent man-in-the-middle (MITM attacks. This study proposes an enhanced SSP in which a nonce to be transferred is converted to a corresponding signal interval. The quantization level, which is used to interpret physical signal intervals, is renewed at every connection by the transferred nonce and applied to the next nonce exchange so that the same signal intervals can represent different numbers. Even if attackers eavesdrop on the signals, they cannot understand what is being transferred because they cannot determine the quantization level. Furthermore, the proposed model does not require exchanging passkeys as data, and the devices are secure in the case of using a fixed PIN. Subsequently, the new quantization level is calculated automatically whenever the same devices attempt to connect with each other. Therefore, the pairing process can be protected from MITM attacks and be convenient for users.

Single-nanoparticle detection with slot-mode photonic crystal cavities

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wang, Cheng; Kita, Shota; Lončar, Marko, E-mail: loncar@seas.harvard.edu [School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138 (United States); Quan, Qimin [Rowland Institute at Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02142 (United States); Li, Yihang [School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138 (United States); Department of Electronic Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084 (China)

2015-06-29

Optical cavities that are capable for detecting single nanoparticles could lead to great progress in early stage disease diagnostics and the study of biological interactions on the single-molecule level. In particular, photonic crystal (PhC) cavities are excellent platforms for label-free single-nanoparticle detection, owing to their high quality (Q) factors and wavelength-scale modal volumes. Here, we demonstrate the design and fabrication of a high-Q (>10{sup 4}) slot-mode PhC nanobeam cavity, which is able to strongly confine light in the slotted regions. The enhanced light-matter interaction results in an order of magnitude improvement in both refractive index sensitivity (439 nm/RIU) and single-nanoparticle sensitivity compared with conventional dielectric-mode PhC cavities. Detection of single polystyrene nanoparticles with radii of 20 nm and 30 nm is demonstrated in aqueous environments (D{sub 2}O), without additional laser and temperature stabilization techniques.

Enhancement of NH3 gas sensitivity at room temperature by carbon nanotube-based sensor coated with Co nanoparticles.

Science.gov (United States)

Nguyen, Lich Quang; Phan, Pho Quoc; Duong, Huyen Ngoc; Nguyen, Chien Duc; Nguyen, Lam Huu

2013-01-30

Multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) film has been fabricated onto Pt-patterned alumina substrates using the chemical vapor deposition method for NH(3) gas sensing applications. The MWCNT-based sensor is sensitive to NH(3) gas at room temperature. Nanoclusters of Co catalysts have been sputtered on the surface of the MWCNT film to enhance gas sensitivity with respect to unfunctionalized CNT films. The gas sensitivity of Co-functionalized MWCNT-based gas sensors is thus significantly improved. The sensor exhibits good repeatability and high selectivity towards NH(3), compared with alcohol and LPG.

Measuring intracellular redox conditions using GFP-based sensors

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Björnberg, Olof; Ostergaard, Henrik; Winther, Jakob R

2006-01-01

Recent years have seen the development of methods for analyzing the redox conditions in specific compartments in living cells. These methods are based on genetically encoded sensors comprising variants of Green Fluorescent Protein in which vicinal cysteine residues have been introduced at solvent......-exposed positions. Several mutant forms have been identified in which formation of a disulfide bond between these cysteine residues results in changes of their fluorescence properties. The redox sensors have been characterized biochemically and found to behave differently, both spectroscopically and in terms...... of redox properties. As genetically encoded sensors they can be expressed in living cells and used for analysis of intracellular redox conditions; however, which parameters are measured depends on how the sensors interact with various cellular redox components. Results of both biochemical and cell...

1999-2003 Shortwave Characterizations of Earth Radiation Budget Satellite (ERBS)/Earth Radiation Budget Experiment (ERBE) Broadband Active Cavity Radiometer Sensors

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Robert B., III; Smith, George L.; Wong, Takmeng

2008-01-01

From October 1984 through May 2005, the NASA Earth Radiation Budget Satellite (ERBS/ )/Earth Radiation Budget Experiment (ERBE)ERBE nonscanning active cavity radiometers (ACR) were used to monitor long-term changes in the earth radiation budget components of the incoming total solar irradiance (TSI), earth-reflected TSI, and earth-emitted outgoing longwave radiation (OLR). From September1984 through September 1999, using on-board calibration systems, the ERBS/ERBE ACR sensor response changes, in gains and offsets, were determined from on-orbit calibration sources and from direct observations of the incoming TSI through calibration solar ports at measurement precision levels approaching 0.5 W/sq m , at satellite altitudes. On October 6, 1999, the onboard radiometer calibration system elevation drive failed. Thereafter, special spacecraft maneuvers were performed to observe cold space and the sun in order to define the post-September 1999 geometry of the radiometer measurements, and to determine the October 1999-September 2003 ERBS sensor response changes. Analyses of these special solar and cold space observations indicate that the radiometers were pointing approximately 16 degrees away from the spacecraft nadir and on the anti-solar side of the spacecraft. The special observations indicated that the radiometers responses were stable at precision levels approaching 0.5 W/sq m . In this paper, the measurement geometry determinations and the determinations of the radiometers gain and offset are presented, which will permit the accurate processing of the October 1999 through September 2003 ERBE data products at satellite and top-of-the-atmosphere altitudes.

Development of optical inspection system of L-band SRF cavity

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tajima, Yujiro; Iwashita, Yoshihisa; Hayano, Hitoshi

2008-01-01

The International Linear Collider (ILC) will require about 15,000 1.3 GHz superconducting radio frequency (SRF) accelerating cavities with high accelerating gradient (>35 MV/m) in its main linac. The high yield (80%) of successful high gradient cavities is necessary. Both of the yield and the accelerating gradient of SRF cavities does not reach the required level at present. We think that the gradient of the SRF cavities is limited by irregularities on the interior surface of the cavities, for example, fine dusts (1μm), balls (100μm) and pits (100μm): electrons emitted from the fine dusts by the tunnel effect are accelerated in the electric field, and consume the stored energy of the cavities (Field Emission). The balls and pits cause a breakdown by a magnetic field enhancement or a thermal current concentration (Thermal Breakdown). To prevent these problems the interior surface are treated by polishing and rinsing. The relation between the surface states and the gradient limitations, however, is still not clarified. To study the relation, we are developing an optical inspection system of the interior surface. (author)

The statistics of foreshock cavities: results of a Cluster survey

OpenAIRE

L. Billingham; S. J. Schwartz; D. G. Sibeck

2008-01-01

We use Cluster magnetic field, thermal ion, and energetic particle observations upstream of the Earth's bow shock to investigate the occurrence patterns of foreshock cavities. Such cavities are thought to form when bundles of magnetic field connect to the quasi-parallel bow shock. Shock-processed suprathermal ions can then stream along the field, back against the flow of the solar wind. These suprathermals enhance the pressure on shock-connected field lines causing them to expand into th...

Ozone Sensor for Application in Medium Voltage Switchboard

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Letizia De Maria

2009-01-01

Full Text Available The application of a new spectroscopic type fiber sensor for ozone detection in electrical components of Medium Voltage (MV network is evaluated. The sensor layout is based on the use of an optical retroreflector, to improve the detection sensitivity, and it was especially designed for detecting in situ rapid changes of ozone concentration. Preliminary tests were performed in a typical MV switchboard. Artificial defects simulated predischarge phenomena arising during real operating conditions. Results are discussed by a comparison with data simultaneously acquired with a standard partial discharge system.

On the field dependent surface resistance of niobium on copper cavities

CERN Document Server

Junginger, Tobias

2015-01-01

The surface resistance Rs of superconducting cavities prepared by sputter coating a thin niobium film on a copper substrate increases significantly stronger with the applied RF field compared to cavities of bulk material. A possible cause is that due to the thermal boundary resistance between the copper substrate and the niobium film Rs is enhanced due to global heating of the inner cavity wall. Introducing helium gas in the cavity and measuring its pressure as a function of applied field allowed to conclude that the inner surface of the cavity is heated up by only 60+/-60 mK when Rs increases with Eacc by 100 nOhm. This is more than one order of magnitude less than what one would expect from global heating. Additionally the effect of cooldown speed and low temperature baking have been investigated in the framework of these experiments. It is shown that for current state of the art niobium on copper cavities there is only a detrimental effect of low temperature baking. A fast cooldown results in a lowered Rs.

Tunable single quantum dot nanocavities for cavity QED experiments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kaniber, M; Laucht, A; Neumann, A; Bichler, M; Amann, M-C; Finley, J J

2008-01-01

We present cavity quantum electrodynamics experiments performed on single quantum dots embedded in two-dimensional photonic crystal nanocavities. We begin by describing the structural and optical properties of the quantum dot sample and the photonic crystal nanocavities and compare the experimental results with three-dimensional calculations of the photonic properties. The influence of the tailored photonic environment on the quantum dot spontaneous emission dynamics is studied using spectrally and spatially dependent time-resolved spectroscopy. In ensemble and single dot measurements we show that the photonic crystals strongly enhance the photon extraction efficiency and, therefore, are a promising concept for realizing efficient single-photon sources. Furthermore, we demonstrate single-photon emission from an individual quantum dot that is spectrally detuned from the cavity mode. The need for controlling the spectral dot-cavity detuning is discussed on the basis of shifting either the quantum dot emission via temperature tuning or the cavity mode emission via a thin film deposition technique. Finally, we discuss the recently discovered non-resonant coupling mechanism between quantum dot emission and cavity mode for large detunings which drastically lowers the purity of single-photon emission from dots that are spectrally coupled to nanocavity modes.

Suspended polytetrafluoroethylene nanostructure electret film in dual variable cavities for self-powered micro-shock sensing

Science.gov (United States)

Zhu, Jianxiong; Chen, Cong; Guo, Xiaoyu

2018-04-01

We report a suspended polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) nanostructure electret film in dual variable cavities for a self-powered micro-shock sensing application. The prototype contained series variable air cavities, a suspended nanostructure PTFE electret film and independent electrode films. The charges on the suspended nanostructure PTFE electret film provided the electrostatic field around the electret film in the series variable air cavities. When the reported device was driven by a micro-shock pressure, the inducted electrostatic charges on both the top and bottom electrodes would vary as the micro-shock pressing or releasing. Experimental results showed that the maximum of a short-circuit current density (J sc ) and an open-circuit voltage (V oc ) reached 3 ± 0.1 nA cm‑2 and 3.6 ± 0.1 V, respectively. It was found that the parameter J sc was more advantageous in identifying stronger shocks (parameter acceleration a bigger than 0.1 m s‑2), whereas the parameter V oc was more sensitive for weaker shocks, such as acceleration a smaller than 0.1 m s‑2. Moreover, finger continuous micro-shock pressure taps application was used to demonstrate the mechanical energy conversion performance with 4.5 ± 0.2 V open-circuit voltages. The research on the nanostructure electret PTFE film in series dual variable air cavities not only gave us a fresh idea about the principle and design of the shocking sensor, but also provided an easy fabrication and a low cost shocking sensor for the Internet of Things (IoT) systems.

Fiber-Amplifier-Enhanced QEPAS Sensor for Simultaneous Trace Gas Detection of NH3 and H2S

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hongpeng Wu

2015-10-01

Full Text Available A selective and sensitive quartz enhanced photoacoustic spectroscopy (QEPAS sensor, employing an erbium-doped fiber amplifier (EDFA, and a distributed feedback (DFB laser operating at 1582 nm was demonstrated for simultaneous detection of ammonia (NH3 and hydrogen sulfide (H2S. Two interference-free absorption lines located at 6322.45 cm−1 and 6328.88 cm−1 for NH3 and H2S detection, respectively, were identified. The sensor was optimized in terms of current modulation depth for both of the two target gases. An electrical modulation cancellation unit was equipped to suppress the background noise caused by the stray light. An Allan-Werle variance analysis was performed to investigate the long-term performance of the fiber-amplifier-enhanced QEPAS sensor. Benefitting from the high power boosted by the EDFA, a detection sensitivity (1σ of 52 parts per billion by volume (ppbv and 17 ppbv for NH3 and H2S, respectively, were achieved with a 132 s data acquisition time at atmospheric pressure and room temperature.

Fiber-Amplifier-Enhanced QEPAS Sensor for Simultaneous Trace Gas Detection of NH3 and H2S

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Hongpeng; Dong, Lei; Liu, Xiaoli; Zheng, Huadan; Yin, Xukun; Ma, Weiguang; Zhang, Lei; Yin, Wangbao; Jia, Suotang

2015-01-01

A selective and sensitive quartz enhanced photoacoustic spectroscopy (QEPAS) sensor, employing an erbium-doped fiber amplifier (EDFA), and a distributed feedback (DFB) laser operating at 1582 nm was demonstrated for simultaneous detection of ammonia (NH3) and hydrogen sulfide (H2S). Two interference-free absorption lines located at 6322.45 cm−1 and 6328.88 cm−1 for NH3 and H2S detection, respectively, were identified. The sensor was optimized in terms of current modulation depth for both of the two target gases. An electrical modulation cancellation unit was equipped to suppress the background noise caused by the stray light. An Allan-Werle variance analysis was performed to investigate the long-term performance of the fiber-amplifier-enhanced QEPAS sensor. Benefitting from the high power boosted by the EDFA, a detection sensitivity (1σ) of 52 parts per billion by volume (ppbv) and 17 ppbv for NH3 and H2S, respectively, were achieved with a 132 s data acquisition time at atmospheric pressure and room temperature. PMID:26506351

Controlling spontaneous emission dynamics in semiconductor micro cavities

Science.gov (United States)

Gayral, B.

Spontaneous emission of light can be controlled, cavity quantum electrodynamics tells us, and many experiments in atomic physics demonstrated this fact. In particular, coupling an emitter to a resonant photon mode of a cavity can enhance its spontaneous emission rate: this is the so-called Purcell effect. Though appealing it might seem to implement these concepts for the benefit of light-emitting semiconductor devices, great care has to be taken as to which emitter/cavity system should be used. Semiconductor quantum boxes prove to be good candidates for witnessing the Purcell effect. Also, low volume cavities having a high optical quality in other words a long photon storage time are required. State-of-the-art fabrication techniques of such cavities are presented and discussed.We demonstrate spontaneous emission rate enhancement for InAs/GaAs quantum boxes in time-resolved and continuous-wave photoluminescence experiments. This is done for two kinds of cavities, namely GaAs/AlAs micropillars (global enhancement by a factor of 5), and GaAs microdisks (global enhancement by a factor of 20). Prospects for lasers, light-emitting diodes and single photon sources based on the Purcell effect are discussed. L'émission spontanée de lumière peut être contrôlée, ainsi que nous l'enseigne l'électrodynamique quantique en cavité, ce fait a été démontré expérimentalement en physique atomique. En particulier, coupler un émetteur à un mode photonique résonnant d'une cavité peut exalter son taux d'émission spontanée : c'est l'effet Purcell. Bien qu'il semble très prometteur de mettre en pratique ces concepts pour améliorer les dispositifs semi-conducteurs émetteurs de lumière, le choix du système émetteur/cavité est crucial. Nous montrons que les boîtes quantiques semi-conductrices sont des bons candidats pour observer l'effet Purcell. Il faut par ailleurs des cavités de faible volume ayant une grande qualité optique en d'autres mots un long temps de

An Enhanced Secure Identity-Based Certificateless Public Key Authentication Scheme for Vehicular Sensor Networks.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Congcong; Zhang, Xi; Wang, Haiping; Li, Dongfeng

2018-01-11

Vehicular sensor networks have been widely applied in intelligent traffic systems in recent years. Because of the specificity of vehicular sensor networks, they require an enhanced, secure and efficient authentication scheme. Existing authentication protocols are vulnerable to some problems, such as a high computational overhead with certificate distribution and revocation, strong reliance on tamper-proof devices, limited scalability when building many secure channels, and an inability to detect hardware tampering attacks. In this paper, an improved authentication scheme using certificateless public key cryptography is proposed to address these problems. A security analysis of our scheme shows that our protocol provides an enhanced secure anonymous authentication, which is resilient against major security threats. Furthermore, the proposed scheme reduces the incidence of node compromise and replication attacks. The scheme also provides a malicious-node detection and warning mechanism, which can quickly identify compromised static nodes and immediately alert the administrative department. With performance evaluations, the scheme can obtain better trade-offs between security and efficiency than the well-known available schemes.

An Enhanced Secure Identity-Based Certificateless Public Key Authentication Scheme for Vehicular Sensor Networks

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Congcong; Zhang, Xi; Wang, Haiping; Li, Dongfeng

2018-01-01

Vehicular sensor networks have been widely applied in intelligent traffic systems in recent years. Because of the specificity of vehicular sensor networks, they require an enhanced, secure and efficient authentication scheme. Existing authentication protocols are vulnerable to some problems, such as a high computational overhead with certificate distribution and revocation, strong reliance on tamper-proof devices, limited scalability when building many secure channels, and an inability to detect hardware tampering attacks. In this paper, an improved authentication scheme using certificateless public key cryptography is proposed to address these problems. A security analysis of our scheme shows that our protocol provides an enhanced secure anonymous authentication, which is resilient against major security threats. Furthermore, the proposed scheme reduces the incidence of node compromise and replication attacks. The scheme also provides a malicious-node detection and warning mechanism, which can quickly identify compromised static nodes and immediately alert the administrative department. With performance evaluations, the scheme can obtain better trade-offs between security and efficiency than the well-known available schemes. PMID:29324719

M13 Bacteriophage/Silver Nanowire Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering Sensor for Sensitive and Selective Pesticide Detection.

Science.gov (United States)

Koh, Eun Hye; Mun, ChaeWon; Kim, ChunTae; Park, Sung-Gyu; Choi, Eun Jung; Kim, Sun Ho; Dang, Jaejeung; Choo, Jaebum; Oh, Jin-Woo; Kim, Dong-Ho; Jung, Ho Sang

2018-03-28

A surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) sensor comprising silver nanowires (AgNWs) and genetically engineered M13 bacteriophages expressing a tryptophan-histidine-tryptophan (WHW) peptide sequence (BPWHW) was fabricated by simple mixing of BPWHW and AgNW solutions, followed by vacuum filtration onto a glass-fiber filter paper (GFFP) membrane. The AgNWs stacked on the GFFP formed a high density of SERS-active hot spots at the points of nanowire intersections, and the surface-coated BPWHW functioned as a bioreceptor for selective pesticide detection. The BPWHW-functionalized AgNW (BPWHW/AgNW) sensor was characterized by scanning electron microscopy, confocal scanning fluorescence microscopy, atomic force microscopy, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The Raman signal enhancement and the selective pesticide SERS detection properties of the BPWHW/AgNW sensor were investigated in the presence of control substrates such as wild-type M13 bacteriophage-decorated AgNWs (BPWT/AgNW) and undecorated AgNWs (AgNW). The BPWHW/AgNW sensor exhibited a significantly higher capture capability for pesticides, especially paraquat (PQ), than the control SERS substrates, and it also showed a relatively higher selectivity for PQ than for other bipyridylium pesticides such as diquat and difenzoquat. Furthermore, as a field application test, PQ was detected on the surface of PQ-pretreated apple peels, and the results demonstrated the feasibility of using a paper-based SERS substrate for on-site residual pesticide detection. The developed M13 bacteriophage-functionalized AgNW SERS sensor might be applicable for the detection of various pesticides and chemicals through modification of the M13 bacteriophage surface peptide sequence.

Quantum state detection and state preparation based on cavity-enhanced nonlinear interaction of atoms with single photon

Science.gov (United States)

Hosseini, Mahdi

Our ability to engineer quantum states of light and matter has significantly advanced over the past two decades, resulting in the production of both Gaussian and non-Gaussian optical states. The resulting tailored quantum states enable quantum technologies such as quantum optical communication, quantum sensing as well as quantum photonic computation. The strong nonlinear light-atom interaction is the key to deterministic quantum state preparation and quantum photonic processing. One route to enhancing the usually weak nonlinear light-atom interactions is to approach the regime of cavity quantum electrodynamics (cQED) interaction by means of high finesse optical resonators. I present results from the MIT experiment of large conditional cross-phase modulation between a signal photon, stored inside an atomic quantum memory, and a control photon that traverses a high-finesse optical cavity containing the atomic memory. I also present a scheme to probabilistically change the amplitude and phase of a signal photon qubit to, in principle, arbitrary values by postselection on a control photon that has interacted with that state. Notably, small changes of the control photon polarization measurement basis by few degrees can substantially change the amplitude and phase of the signal state. Finally, I present our ongoing effort at Purdue to realize similar peculiar quantum phenomena at the single photon level on chip scale photonic systems.

Inhibition of charge recombination for enhanced dye-sensitized solar cells and self-powered UV sensors by surface modification

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chu, Liang, E-mail: chuliang@njupt.edu.cn [Advanced Energy Technology Center, Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunications (NUPT), Nanjing 210046 (China); Wuhan National Laboratory for Optoelectronics (WNLO)-School of Physics, Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST), Wuhan 430074 (China); Qin, Zhengfei; Liu, Wei [School of Materials Science and Engineering (SMSE), Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunications (NUPT), Nanjing 210046 (China); Ma, Xin’guo, E-mail: maxg2013@sohu.com [Hubei Collaborative Innovation Center for High-efficiency Utilization of Solar Energy, Hubei University of Technology, Wuhan 430068 (China)

2016-12-15

Graphical abstract: Inhibition of charge recombination was utilized to prolong electrode lifetime in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) and self-powered UV sensors based on TiO{sub 2}-modified SnO{sub 2} photoelectrodes. The electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and open-circuit voltage decay measurements indicated that the electron lifetime was significantly prolonged in DSSCs after TiO{sub 2} modification. And in self-powered UV sensors, the sensitivity and response time were enhanced. - Highlights: • The surface modification to inhibit charge recombination was utilized in photovoltaic devices. • Inhibition of charge recombination can prolong electrode lifetime in photovoltaic devices. • Enhanced DSSCs and self-powered UV sensors based on SnO{sub 2} photoelectrodes were obtained by TiO{sub 2} modification. - Abstract: The surface modification to inhibit charge recombination was utilized in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) and self-powered ultraviolet (UV) sensors based on SnO{sub 2} hierarchical microspheres by TiO{sub 2} modification. For DSSCs with SnO{sub 2} photoelectrodes modified by TiO{sub 2}, the power conversion efficiency (PCE) was improved from 1.40% to 4.15% under standard AM 1.5G illumination (100 mW/cm{sup 2}). The electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and open-circuit voltage decay measurements indicated that the charge recombination was effectively inhibited, resulting in long electron lifetime. For UV sensors with SnO{sub 2} photoelectrodes modified by TiO{sub 2} layer, the self-powered property was more obvious, and the sensitivity and response time were enhanced from 91 to 6229 and 0.15 s to 0.055 s, respectively. The surface modification can engineer the interface energy to inhibit charge recombination, which is a desirable approach to improve the performance of photoelectric nanodevice.

Large area thinned planar sensors for future high-luminosity-LHC upgrades

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wittig, T.; Lawerenz, A.; Röder, R.

2016-01-01

Planar hybrid silicon sensors are a well proven technology for past and current particle tracking detectors in HEP experiments. However, the future high-luminosity upgrades of the inner trackers at the LHC experiments pose big challenges to the detectors. A first challenge is an expected radiation damage level of up to 2⋅ 10 16 n eq /cm 2 . For planar sensors, one way to counteract the charge loss and thus increase the radiation hardness is to decrease the thickness of their active area. A second challenge is the large detector area which has to be built as cost-efficient as possible. The CiS research institute has accomplished a proof-of-principle run with n-in-p ATLAS-Pixel sensors in which a cavity is etched to the sensor's back side to reduce its thickness. One advantage of this technology is the fact that thick frames remain at the sensor edges and guarantee mechanical stability on wafer level while the sensor is left on the resulting thin membrane. For this cavity etching technique, no handling wafers are required which represents a benefit in terms of process effort and cost savings. The membranes with areas of up to ∼ 4 × 4 cm 2 and thicknesses of 100 and 150 μm feature a sufficiently good homogeneity across the whole wafer area. The processed pixel sensors show good electrical behaviour with an excellent yield for a suchlike prototype run. First sensors with electroless Ni- and Pt-UBM are already successfully assembled with read-out chips.

Large area thinned planar sensors for future high-luminosity-LHC upgrades

Science.gov (United States)

Wittig, T.; Lawerenz, A.; Röder, R.

2016-12-01

Planar hybrid silicon sensors are a well proven technology for past and current particle tracking detectors in HEP experiments. However, the future high-luminosity upgrades of the inner trackers at the LHC experiments pose big challenges to the detectors. A first challenge is an expected radiation damage level of up to 2ṡ 1016 neq/cm2. For planar sensors, one way to counteract the charge loss and thus increase the radiation hardness is to decrease the thickness of their active area. A second challenge is the large detector area which has to be built as cost-efficient as possible. The CiS research institute has accomplished a proof-of-principle run with n-in-p ATLAS-Pixel sensors in which a cavity is etched to the sensor's back side to reduce its thickness. One advantage of this technology is the fact that thick frames remain at the sensor edges and guarantee mechanical stability on wafer level while the sensor is left on the resulting thin membrane. For this cavity etching technique, no handling wafers are required which represents a benefit in terms of process effort and cost savings. The membranes with areas of up to ~ 4 × 4 cm2 and thicknesses of 100 and 150 μm feature a sufficiently good homogeneity across the whole wafer area. The processed pixel sensors show good electrical behaviour with an excellent yield for a suchlike prototype run. First sensors with electroless Ni- and Pt-UBM are already successfully assembled with read-out chips.

A Many-Atom Cavity QED System with Homogeneous Atom-Cavity Coupling

OpenAIRE

Lee, Jongmin; Vrijsen, Geert; Teper, Igor; Hosten, Onur; Kasevich, Mark A.

2013-01-01

We demonstrate a many-atom-cavity system with a high-finesse dual-wavelength standing wave cavity in which all participating rubidium atoms are nearly identically coupled to a 780-nm cavity mode. This homogeneous coupling is enforced by a one-dimensional optical lattice formed by the field of a 1560-nm cavity mode.

Cavity Cooling of Nanoparticles: Towards Matter-Wave experiments

Science.gov (United States)

Millen, James; Kuhn, Stefan; Arndt, Markus

2016-05-01

Levitated systems are a fascinating addition to the world of optically-controlled mechanical resonators. It is predicted that nanoparticles can be cooled to their c.o.m. ground state via the interaction with an optical cavity. By freeing the oscillator from clamping forces dissipation and decoherence is greatly reduced, leading to the potential to produce long-lived, macroscopically spread, mechanical quantum states, allowing tests of collapse models and any mass limit of quantum physics. Reaching the low pressures required to cavity-cool to the ground state has proved challenging. Our approach is to cavity cool a beam of nanoparticles in high vacuum. We can cool the c.o.m. motion of nanospheres a few hundred nanometers in size. Looking forward, we will utilize novel microcavities to enhance optomechanical cooling, preparing particles in a coherent beam ideally suited to ultra-high mass interferometry at 107 a.m.u.

Segmented trapped vortex cavity

Science.gov (United States)

Grammel, Jr., Leonard Paul (Inventor); Pennekamp, David Lance (Inventor); Winslow, Jr., Ralph Henry (Inventor)

2010-01-01

An annular trapped vortex cavity assembly segment comprising includes a cavity forward wall, a cavity aft wall, and a cavity radially outer wall there between defining a cavity segment therein. A cavity opening extends between the forward and aft walls at a radially inner end of the assembly segment. Radially spaced apart pluralities of air injection first and second holes extend through the forward and aft walls respectively. The segment may include first and second expansion joint features at distal first and second ends respectively of the segment. The segment may include a forward subcomponent including the cavity forward wall attached to an aft subcomponent including the cavity aft wall. The forward and aft subcomponents include forward and aft portions of the cavity radially outer wall respectively. A ring of the segments may be circumferentially disposed about an axis to form an annular segmented vortex cavity assembly.

Enhancement of NH3 Gas Sensitivity at Room Temperature by Carbon Nanotube-Based Sensor Coated with Co Nanoparticles

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lich Quang Nguyen

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWCNT film has been fabricated onto Pt-patterned alumina substrates using the chemical vapor deposition method for NH3 gas sensing applications. The MWCNT-based sensor is sensitive to NH3 gas at room temperature. Nanoclusters of Co catalysts have been sputtered on the surface of the MWCNT film to enhance gas sensitivity with respect to unfunctionalized CNT films. The gas sensitivity of Co-functionalized MWCNT-based gas sensors is thus significantly improved. The sensor exhibits good repeatability and high selectivity towards NH3, compared with alcohol and LPG.

A New Coumarin-Based Colorimetric and Fluorometric Sensor for Cu{sup 2+}

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

An, Kyounglyong; Jun, Kun [Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of); Park, Koon Ha [Chungnam National Univ., Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

2014-07-15

We have developed a new colorimetric and fluorescent 'turn-off' sensor for Cu{sup 2+} based on coumarin Shiff base of hydroxycinnamaldehyde. It displays a 50 nm red-shift of maximum absorption band with color change from colorless to greenish-yellow upon addition of Cu{sup 2+} in 10 mM tris-HCl buffer solution (acetonitrile/water = 9:1, pH = 7.01). And also remarkable fluorescence quenching was observed upon the addition of Cu{sup 2+}. The 1:2 stoichiometry of sensor complex (sensor A + Cu{sup 2+}) was confirmed by Job's plot based on absorption titration. Chemosensors, small chemical compounds that sense the presence of analytes or energy, typically consist of two components: a receptor moiety that interacts with the target analytes and a read-out system that signals binding. And one of the most utilized research tool for the study of chemosensors employs a colorimetric and fluorometric spectroscopic techniques. So far successful reports on metal ion sensors have been documented including our recent result. Many different kinds of optical or fluorescent sensors have several advantages (such as high sensitivity and selectivity, non-destructive analysis, low cost and real-time monitoring), which allow naked-eye detection of color and fluorescent emission change upon metal ion binding without the use of any expensive spectroscopic equipment.

Sensitivity enhancement of polysilicon piezo-resistive pressure sensors with phosphorous diffused resistors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sivakumar, K; Dasgupta, N; Bhat, K N; Natarajan, K

2006-01-01

It is generally accepted that the piezo-resistive coefficient in single crystal silicon is higher when P-type impurities such as boron are used for doping the resistors. In this paper we demonstrate that the sensitivity of polycrystalline silicon piezo-resistive pressure sensors can be enhanced considerably when phosphorus diffusion source is used instead of boron dopant for realizing the piezo-resistors. Pressure sensors have been designed and fabricated with the polycrystalline piezo-resistors connected in the form of a Wheatstone bridge and laid out on thermal oxide grown on membranes obtained with a Silicon On Insulator (SOI) approach. The SOI wafers required for this purpose have been realized in-house by Silicon Fusion Bonding (SFB) and etch back technique in our laboratory. This approach provides excellent isolation between the resistors and enables zero temperature coefficient of the polysilicon resistor. The results obtained in our laboratory have clearly demonstrated that by optimizing the phosphorus diffusion temperature and duration, it is possible to achieve sensitivities in excess of 20mV /Bar for bridge input voltage of 10V, with linearity within 1% over a differential pressure range up to 10Bar (10 6 Pascal), and burst pressure in excess of 50 Bar as compared to the 10mV /Bar sensitivity obtained with boron doped polysilicon piezo-resistors. This enhancement is attributed to grain boundary passivation by phosphorous atoms

MR imaging of hemangiomas in oral cavity

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Toyoda, Keiko; Kobayashi, Masao; Tada, Shimpei.

1995-01-01

Eleven patients with hemangioma in the oral cavity were studied by MR imaging using spin-echo T 1 - and fast SE T 2 -weighted sequences. The hemangioma was iso-intense to muscles on T 1 -weighted images, and markedly hyperintense on T 2 -weighted images. The lesions were lobulated in margin. Four lesions showed internal spotty and/or curvilinear structures of low signal intensity. After administration of Gd-DTPA, three of seven lesions showed uniform contrast enhancement, three lesions showed partial or marginal enhancement, and remaining one lesion did not show enhancement effect. We conclude that MR imaging of oral hemangiomas is useful in delineating extent of the lesion. (author)

Effects of Core Cavity on a Flow Distribution

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kwon, Tae-Soon; Kim, Kihwan [Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

2016-10-15

The axial pressure drop is removed in the free core condition, But the actual core has lots of fuel bundles and mixing vanes to the flow direction. The axial pressure drop induces flow uniformity. In a uniform flow having no shear stress, the cross flow or cross flow mixing decreases. The mixing factor is important in the reactor safety during a Steam Line Break (SLB) or Main Steam Line Break (MSLB) transients. And the effect of core cavity is needed to evaluate the realistic core mixing factor quantification. The multi-dimensional flow mixing phenomena in a core cavity has been studied using a CFD code. The 1/5-scale model was applied for the reactor flow analysis. A single phase water flow conditions were considered for the 4-cold leg and DVI flows. To quantify the mixing intensity, a boron scalar was introduced to the ECC injection water at cold legs and DVI nozzles. The present CFD pre-study was performed to quantify the effects of core structure on the mixing phenomena. The quantified boron mixing scalar in the core simulator model represented the effect of core cavity on the core mixing phenomena. This simulation results also give the information for sensor resolution to measure the boron concentration in the experiments and response time to detect mixing phenomena at the core and reactor vessel.

Dual-resonances approach to broadband cavity-assisted optical signal processing beyond the carrier relaxation rate

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Heuck, Mikkel; Kristensen, Philip Trøst; Mørk, Jesper

2014-01-01

We propose and analyze a differential control scheme for cavity-enhanced optical signal processing devices based on carrier nonlinearities. The scheme relies on two optical cavities to increase the bandwidth beyond the limit given by the slowest carrier relaxation rate of the medium. Practical...

Enhancing performances of a resistivity-type hydrogen sensor based on Pd/SnO2/RGO nanocomposites.

Science.gov (United States)

Peng, Yitian; Zheng, Lulu; Zou, Kun; Li, Cong

2017-05-26

Palladium/tin oxide/reduced graphene oxide (Pd/SnO 2 /RGO) nanocomposites with Pd and SnO 2 crystalline nanoparticles of high density and uniformity coated on RGO have been synthesized by a two-step reduction process. A novel hydrogen (H 2 ) sensor based on Pd/SnO 2 /RGO nanocomposites was fabricated by placing Pd/SnO 2 /RGO nanocomposites onto a pair of gold electrodes. The Pd/SnO 2 /RGO nanocomposite-based sensor exhibited higher responses than Pd/RGO to H 2 because the introduction of SnO 2 nanoparticles enhances H 2 adsorption and forms a P-N junction with RGO. The sensor shows a high response of 55% to 10 000 ppm H 2 , and a low detection limit, fast response, good selectivity and repeatability due to a combination effect of the Pd and SnO 2 nanoparticles. The studies provide a novel strategy for great potential applications of graphene-based gas sensors.

Implosion of the small cavity and large cavity cannonball targets

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nishihara, Katsunobu; Yamanaka, Chiyoe.

1984-01-01

Recent results of cannonball target implosion research are briefly reviewed with theoretical predictions for GEKKO XII experiments. The cannonball targets are classified into two types according to the cavity size ; small cavity and large cavity. The compression mechanisms of the two types are discussed. (author)

Efficient Characterization of Protein Cavities within Molecular Simulation Trajectories: trj_cavity.

Science.gov (United States)

Paramo, Teresa; East, Alexandra; Garzón, Diana; Ulmschneider, Martin B; Bond, Peter J

2014-05-13

Protein cavities and tunnels are critical in determining phenomena such as ligand binding, molecular transport, and enzyme catalysis. Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations enable the exploration of the flexibility and conformational plasticity of protein cavities, extending the information available from static experimental structures relevant to, for example, drug design. Here, we present a new tool (trj_cavity) implemented within the GROMACS ( www.gromacs.org ) framework for the rapid identification and characterization of cavities detected within MD trajectories. trj_cavity is optimized for usability and computational efficiency and is applicable to the time-dependent analysis of any cavity topology, and optional specialized descriptors can be used to characterize, for example, protein channels. Its novel grid-based algorithm performs an efficient neighbor search whose calculation time is linear with system size, and a comparison of performance with other widely used cavity analysis programs reveals an orders-of-magnitude improvement in the computational cost. To demonstrate its potential for revealing novel mechanistic insights, trj_cavity has been used to analyze long-time scale simulation trajectories for three diverse protein cavity systems. This has helped to reveal, respectively, the lipid binding mechanism in the deep hydrophobic cavity of a soluble mite-allergen protein, Der p 2; a means for shuttling carbohydrates between the surface-exposed substrate-binding and catalytic pockets of a multidomain, membrane-proximal pullulanase, PulA; and the structural basis for selectivity in the transmembrane pore of a voltage-gated sodium channel (NavMs), embedded within a lipid bilayer environment. trj_cavity is available for download under an open-source license ( http://sourceforge.net/projects/trjcavity ). A simplified, GROMACS-independent version may also be compiled.

Detection of Second Sound in He-II for Thermal Quench Mapping of Superconducting Radio Frequency Accelerating Cavities

CERN Document Server

Stegmaier, Tobias; Kind, Matthias; Furci, Hernán; Koettig, Torsten; Peters, Benedikt

The development of future particle accelerators requires intensive testing of superconducting radio frequency cavities with different sizes and geometries. Non-contact thermometry quench localisation techniques proved to be beneficial for the localisation of surface defects that can originate a quench (sudden loss of superconducting state). These techniques are based on the detection of second sound in helium II. Transition Edge Sensors (TES) are highly sensitive thin film thermometers with fast time response. In the present work, their capability as a thermal quench mapping device for superconducting radio frequency cavities is proven experimentally by detecting second sound waves emitted by SMD heaters in a He-II bath at saturated vapour pressure. A characterisation of the sensors at steady bath temperatures was conducted to calculate the thermal sensitivity. An intense metallurgical study of gold-tin TES with different compositions revealed important relations between the superconducting behaviour and the ...

Enhanced Bank of Kalman Filters Developed and Demonstrated for In-Flight Aircraft Engine Sensor Fault Diagnostics

Science.gov (United States)

Kobayashi, Takahisa; Simon, Donald L.

2005-01-01

In-flight sensor fault detection and isolation (FDI) is critical to maintaining reliable engine operation during flight. The aircraft engine control system, which computes control commands on the basis of sensor measurements, operates the propulsion systems at the demanded conditions. Any undetected sensor faults, therefore, may cause the control system to drive the engine into an undesirable operating condition. It is critical to detect and isolate failed sensors as soon as possible so that such scenarios can be avoided. A challenging issue in developing reliable sensor FDI systems is to make them robust to changes in engine operating characteristics due to degradation with usage and other faults that can occur during flight. A sensor FDI system that cannot appropriately account for such scenarios may result in false alarms, missed detections, or misclassifications when such faults do occur. To address this issue, an enhanced bank of Kalman filters was developed, and its performance and robustness were demonstrated in a simulation environment. The bank of filters is composed of m + 1 Kalman filters, where m is the number of sensors being used by the control system and, thus, in need of monitoring. Each Kalman filter is designed on the basis of a unique fault hypothesis so that it will be able to maintain its performance if a particular fault scenario, hypothesized by that particular filter, takes place.

Enhanced sensitivity fibre Bragg grating (FBG) load sensor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Correia, Ricardo; Chehura, Edmon; Li, Jin; James, Stephen W; Tatam, Ralph P

2010-01-01

The characterization of a load sensor based on the transverse loading of a subsection of a fibre Bragg grating (FBG) embedded within a cube of epoxy resin is presented. When the epoxy resin cube is loaded transverse to the axis of the fibre, its deformation transduces the load to a strain along the axis of the optical fibre, which changes the period of the embedded section of the FBG. This creates a spectral dropout within the bandwidth of the FBG, with an absolute wavelength that is linearly dependent on the applied load. This technique enhances the sensitivity of the FBG to transverse loading by a factor of 15, to 2.9 × 10 −2 ± 0.01 nm N −1 , when compared to the direct transverse loading of a bare fibre, and also protects the fibre from mechanical damage at the loading point

High sensitivity and high Q-factor nanoslotted parallel quadrabeam photonic crystal cavity for real-time and label-free sensing

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yang, Daquan [Rowland Institute at Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02142 (United States); State Key Laboratory of Information Photonics and Optical Communications, School of Information and Communication Engineering, Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, Beijing 100876 (China); School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138 (United States); Kita, Shota; Wang, Cheng; Lončar, Marko [School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138 (United States); Liang, Feng; Quan, Qimin [Rowland Institute at Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02142 (United States); Tian, Huiping; Ji, Yuefeng [State Key Laboratory of Information Photonics and Optical Communications, School of Information and Communication Engineering, Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, Beijing 100876 (China)

2014-08-11

We experimentally demonstrate a label-free sensor based on nanoslotted parallel quadrabeam photonic crystal cavity (NPQC). The NPQC possesses both high sensitivity and high Q-factor. We achieved sensitivity (S) of 451 nm/refractive index unit and Q-factor >7000 in water at telecom wavelength range, featuring a sensor figure of merit >2000, an order of magnitude improvement over the previous photonic crystal sensors. In addition, we measured the streptavidin-biotin binding affinity and detected 10 ag/mL concentrated streptavidin in the phosphate buffered saline solution.

Method of increasing power within an optical cavity with long path lengths

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Leen, John Brian; Bramall, Nathan E.

2018-03-13

A cavity-enhanced absorption spectroscopy instrument has an optical cavity with two or more cavity mirrors, one mirror of which having a hole or other aperture for injecting a light beam, and the same or another mirror of which being partially transmissive to allow exit of light to a detector. A spherical-spherical configuration with at least one astigmatic mirror or a spherical-cylindrical configuration where the spherical mirror could also be astigmatic prevents a reentrant condition wherein the injected beam would prematurely exit the cavity through the aperture. This combination substantially increases the number of passes of the injected beam through a sample volume for sensitive detection of chemical species even in less than ideal conditions including low power laser or LED sources, poor mirror reflectivity or detector noise at the wavelengths of interest, or cavity alignment issues such as vibration or temperature and pressure changes.

Transverse jet-cavity interactions with the influence of an impinging shock

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zare-Behtash, H.; Lo, K.H.; Kontis, K.; Ukai, T.; Obayashi, S.

2015-01-01

Highlights: • Experimental study of shock-jet-cavity in a supersonic freestream is conducted. • Shock impingement at the cavity leading edge lifts the shear layer, encouraging momentum transfer. • Shock impingement close to the jet location increases the number of smaller turbulent structures. - Abstract: For high-speed air breathing engines, fuel injection and subsequent mixing with air is paramount for combustion. The high freestream velocity poses a great challenge to efficient mixing both in macroscale and microscale. Utilising cavities downstream of fuel injection locations, as a means to hold the flow and stabilise the combustion, is one mechanism which has attracted much attention, requiring further research to study the unsteady flow features and interactions occurring within the cavity. In this study we combine the transverse jet injection upstream of a cavity with an impinging shock to see how this interaction influences the cavity flow, since impinging shocks have been shown to enhance mixing of transverse jets. Utilising qualitative and quantitative methods: schlieren, oilflow, PIV, and PSP the induced flowfield is analysed. The impinging shock lifts the shear layer over the cavity and combined with the instabilities generated by the transverse jet creates a highly complicated flowfield with numerous vertical structures. The interaction between the oblique shock and the jet leads to a relatively uniform velocity distribution within the cavity

BIOME: An Ecosystem Remote Sensor Based on Imaging Interferometry

Science.gov (United States)

Peterson, David L.; Hammer, Philip; Smith, William H.; Lawless, James G. (Technical Monitor)

1994-01-01

Until recent times, optical remote sensing of ecosystem properties from space has been limited to broad band multispectral scanners such as Landsat and AVHRR. While these sensor data can be used to derive important information about ecosystem parameters, they are very limited for measuring key biogeochemical cycling parameters such as the chemical content of plant canopies. Such parameters, for example the lignin and nitrogen contents, are potentially amenable to measurements by very high spectral resolution instruments using a spectroscopic approach. Airborne sensors based on grating imaging spectrometers gave the first promise of such potential but the recent decision not to deploy the space version has left the community without many alternatives. In the past few years, advancements in high performance deep well digital sensor arrays coupled with a patented design for a two-beam interferometer has produced an entirely new design for acquiring imaging spectroscopic data at the signal to noise levels necessary for quantitatively estimating chemical composition (1000:1 at 2 microns). This design has been assembled as a laboratory instrument and the principles demonstrated for acquiring remote scenes. An airborne instrument is in production and spaceborne sensors being proposed. The instrument is extremely promising because of its low cost, lower power requirements, very low weight, simplicity (no moving parts), and high performance. For these reasons, we have called it the first instrument optimized for ecosystem studies as part of a Biological Imaging and Observation Mission to Earth (BIOME).

The system of enclosed optical cavities as a tool for laser photons storing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Androsov, V.P.; Karnaukhov, I.M.; Telegin, Yu.N.

2004-01-01

The calculation of the system consisting of two optical cavities enclosed one into another is performed in the plane-wave approximation. It is shown that under definite conditions one can obtain an enhancement of the electromagnetic field in the internal cavity as compared to the case of direct excitation of the cavity with an electromagnetic wave of the same amplitude. The comparative analysis of these two approaches is carried out. We suppose to apply the proposed system with moderate-reflectivity mirrors (R=0.99) for accumulating laser photons in the optical cavity of the X-ray source LESR-N100 based on Compton scattering of the laser beam on relativistic electrons stored in the ring

Enhancement of slope efficiency and output power in GaN-based vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers with a SiO2-buried lateral index guide

Science.gov (United States)

Kuramoto, Masaru; Kobayashi, Seiichiro; Akagi, Takanobu; Tazawa, Komei; Tanaka, Kazufumi; Saito, Tatsuma; Takeuchi, Tetsuya

2018-03-01

We have achieved a high output power of 6 mW from a 441 nm GaN-based vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) under continuous wave (CW) operation, by reducing both the internal loss and the reflectivity of the front cavity mirror. A preliminary analysis of the internal loss revealed an enormously high transverse radiation loss in a conventional GaN-based VCSEL without lateral optical confinement (LOC). Introducing an LOC structure enhanced the slope efficiency by a factor of 4.7, with a further improvement to a factor of 6.7 upon reducing the front mirror reflectivity. The result was a slope efficiency of 0.87 W/A and an external differential quantum efficiency of 32% under pulsed operation. A flip-chip-bonded VCSEL also exhibited a high slope efficiency of 0.64 W/A and an external differential quantum efficiency of 23% for the front-side output under CW operation. The reflectivity of the cavity mirror was adjusted by varying the number of AlInN/GaN distributed Bragg reflector pairs from 46 to 42, corresponding to reflectivity values from 99.8% to 99.5%. These results demonstrate that a combination of internal loss reduction and cavity mirror control is a very effective way of obtaining a high output GaN-based VCSEL.

Micromachined capacitive pressure sensor with signal conditioning electronics

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Fragiacomo, Giulio

signal) of the device. Fusion bonding of two wafers has been used in order to obtain the cavities, this is also the only non-standard cleanroom process involved in the fabrication of the transducers. The device developed can measure absolute pressures from 0 to 10 bar with sensitivity up to 80 p...... characterized and presented at Grundfos Direct Sensors A/S and constitute the preliminary work for a new product which is intended target the low power or wireless pressure sensor for harsh environment market....

Enhancement of chitosan-graphene oxide SPR sensor with a multi-metallic layers of Au–Ag–Au nanostructure for lead(II) ion detection

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kamaruddin, Nur Hasiba [Department of Electric, Electronic and Systems Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 UKM Bangi, Selangor (Malaysia); Bakar, Ahmad Ashrif A., E-mail: ashrif@ukm.edu.my [Department of Electric, Electronic and Systems Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 UKM Bangi, Selangor (Malaysia); Yaacob, Mohd Hanif; Mahdi, Mohd Adzir [Wireless and Photonic Network Research Centre, Faculty of Engineering, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 Serdang, Selangor (Malaysia); Zan, Mohd Saiful Dzulkefly [Department of Electric, Electronic and Systems Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 UKM Bangi, Selangor (Malaysia); Shaari, Sahbudin [Institute of Microengineering and Nanoelectronics, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 UKM Bangi, Selangor (Malaysia)

2016-01-15

Highlights: • Tri-metallic Au–Ag–Au CS-GO SPR sensor was fabricated for the first time. • The tri-metallic nanostructure provided an enhanced evanescent field. • Successful functionalization of the CS-GO sensing layer. • Superior performance for lead(II) ion detection. - Abstract: We demonstrate the enhancement of surface plasmon resonance (SPR) technique by implementing a multi-metallic layers of Au–Ag–Au nanostructure in the chitosan-graphene oxide (CS-GO) SPR sensor for lead(II) ion detection. The performance of the sensor is analyzed via SPR measurements, from which the sensitivity, signal-to-noise ratio and repeatability are determined. The nanostructure layers are characterized using field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). We showed that the proposed structure has increased the shift in the SPR angle up to 3.5° within the range of 0.1–1 ppm due to the enhanced evanescent field at the sensing layer-analyte interface. This sensor also exhibits great repeatability which benefits from the stable multi-metallic nanostructure. The SNR value of 0.92 for 5 ppm lead(II) ion solution and reasonable linearity range up to that concentration shows that the tri-metallic CS-GO SPR sensor gives a good response towards the lead(II) ion solution. The CS-GO SPR sensor is also sensitive to at least a 10{sup −5} change in the refractive index. The results prove that our proposed tri-metallic CS-GO SPR sensor demonstrates a strong performance and reliability for lead(II) ion detection in accordance with the standardized lead safety level for wastewater.

Built-in hyperspectral camera for smartphone in visible, near-infrared and middle-infrared lights region (second report): sensitivity improvement of Fourier-spectroscopic imaging to detect diffuse reflection lights from internal human tissues for healthcare sensors

Science.gov (United States)

Kawashima, Natsumi; Hosono, Satsuki; Ishimaru, Ichiro

2016-05-01

We proposed the snapshot-type Fourier spectroscopic imaging for smartphone that was mentioned in 1st. report in this conference. For spectroscopic components analysis, such as non-invasive blood glucose sensors, the diffuse reflection lights from internal human skins are very weak for conventional hyperspectral cameras, such as AOTF (Acousto-Optic Tunable Filter) type. Furthermore, it is well known that the spectral absorption of mid-infrared lights or Raman spectroscopy especially in long wavelength region is effective to distinguish specific biomedical components quantitatively, such as glucose concentration. But the main issue was that photon energies of middle infrared lights and light intensities of Raman scattering are extremely weak. For improving sensitivity of our spectroscopic imager, the wide-field-stop & beam-expansion method was proposed. Our line spectroscopic imager introduced a single slit for field stop on the conjugate objective plane. Obviously to increase detected light intensities, the wider slit width of the field stop makes light intensities higher, regardless of deterioration of spatial resolutions. Because our method is based on wavefront-division interferometry, it becomes problems that the wider width of single slit makes the diffraction angle narrower. This means that the narrower diameter of collimated objective beams deteriorates visibilities of interferograms. By installing the relative inclined phaseshifter onto optical Fourier transform plane of infinity corrected optical systems, the collimated half flux of objective beams derived from single-bright points on objective surface penetrate through the wedge prism and the cuboid glass respectively. These two beams interfere each other and form the infererogram as spatial fringe patterns. Thus, we installed concave-cylindrical lens between the wider slit and objective lens as a beam expander. We successfully obtained the spectroscopic characters of hemoglobin from reflected lights from

A Miniaturized Optical Sensor with Integrated Gas Cell

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Ayerden, N.P.; Ghaderi, M.; De Graaf, G.; Wolffenbuttel, R.F.

2015-01-01

The design, fabrication and characterization of a highly integrated optical gas sensor is presented. The gas cell takes up most of the space in a microspectrometer and is the only component that has so far not been miniaturized. Using the tapered resonator cavity of a linear variable optical filter

MEMS Fabry-Perot sensor interrogated by optical system-on-a-chip for simultaneous pressure and temperature sensing.

Science.gov (United States)

Pang, Cheng; Bae, Hyungdae; Gupta, Ashwani; Bryden, Kenneth; Yu, Miao

2013-09-23

We present a micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) based Fabry-Perot (FP) sensor along with an optical system-on-a-chip (SOC) interrogator for simultaneous pressure and temperature sensing. The sensor employs a simple structure with an air-backed silicon membrane cross-axially bonded to a 45° polished optical fiber. This structure renders two cascaded FP cavities, enabling simultaneous pressure and temperature sensing in close proximity along the optical axis. The optical SOC consists of a broadband source, a MEMS FP tunable filter, a photodetector, and the supporting circuitry, serving as a miniature spectrometer for retrieving the two FP cavity lengths. Within the measured pressure and temperature ranges, experimental results demonstrate that the sensor exhibits a good linear response to external pressure and temperature changes.

Enhancement of sensitivity and bandwidth of gravitational wave detectors using fast-light-based white light cavities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Salit, M; Shahriar, M S

2010-01-01

The effect of gravitational waves (GWs) has been observed indirectly, by monitoring the change in the orbital frequency of neutron stars in a binary system as they lose energy via gravitational radiation. However, GWs have not yet been observed directly. The initial LIGO apparatus has not yet observed GWs. The advanced LIGO (AdLIGO) will use a combination of improved techniques in order to increase the sensitivity. Along with power recycling and a higher power laser source, the AdLIGO will employ signal recycling (SR). While SR would increase sensitivity, it would also reduce the bandwidth significantly. Previously, we and others have investigated, theoretically and experimentally, the feasibility of using a fast-light-based white light cavity (WLC) to circumvent this constraint. However, in the previous work, it was not clear how one would incorporate the white light cavity effect. Here, we first develop a general model for Michelson-interferometer-based GW detectors that can be easily adapted to include the effects of incorporating a WLC into the design. We then describe a concrete design of a WLC constructed as a compound mirror, to replace the signal recycling mirror. This design is simple, robust, completely non-invasive, and can be added to the AdLIGO system without changing any other optical elements. We show a choice of parameters for which the signal sensitivity as well as the bandwidth are enhanced significantly over what is planned for the AdLIGO, covering the entire spectrum of interest for gravitational waves

On-line data processing apparatus for spectroscopic measurements of atomic uranium

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Miron, E.; Levin, L.A.; Erez, G; Baumatz, D; Goren, I.; Shpancer, I.

1977-01-01

A computer-based apparatus for on-line spectroscopic measurements of atomic uranium is described. The system is capable of enhancing the signal-to-noise ratio by averaging, and performing calculations. Computation flow charts and programs are included

Continuously tunable pulsed Ti:Sa laser self-seeded by an extended grating cavity

CERN Document Server

Li, Ruohong; Rothe, Sebastian; Teigelhöfer, Andrea; Mostamand, Maryam

2016-01-01

A continuously tunable titanium:sapphire (Ti:Sa) laser self-seeded by an extended grating cavity was demonstrated and characterized. By inserting a partially reflecting mirror inside the cavity of a classic single-cavity grating laser, two oscillators are created: a broadband power oscillator, and a narrowband oscillator with a prism beam expander and a diffraction grating in Littrow configuration. By coupling the grating cavity oscillation into the power oscillator, a power-enhanced narrow-linewidth laser oscillation is achieved. Compared to the classic grating laser, this simple modification significantly increases the laser output power without considerably broadening the linewidth. With most of the oscillating laser power confined inside the broadband power cavity and lower power incident onto the grating, the new configuration also allows higher pump power, which is typically limited by the thermal deformation of the grating coating at high oscillation power.

Red-cockaded woodpecker nest-cavity selection: relationships with cavity age and resin production

Science.gov (United States)

Richard N. Conner; Daniel Saenz; D. Craig Rudolph; William G. Ross; David L. Kulhavy

1998-01-01

The authors evaluated selection of nest sites by male red-cockaded woodpeckers (Picoides borealis) in Texas relative to the age of the cavity when only cavities excavated by the woodpeckers were available and when both naturally excavated cavities and artificial cavities were available. They also evaluated nest-cavity selection relative to the ability of naturally...

Efficiency of different methods of extra-cavity second harmonic generation of continuous wave single-frequency radiation.

Science.gov (United States)

Khripunov, Sergey; Kobtsev, Sergey; Radnatarov, Daba

2016-01-20

This work presents for the first time to the best of our knowledge a comparative efficiency analysis among various techniques of extra-cavity second harmonic generation (SHG) of continuous-wave single-frequency radiation in nonperiodically poled nonlinear crystals within a broad range of power levels. Efficiency of nonlinear radiation transformation at powers from 1 W to 10 kW was studied in three different configurations: with an external power-enhancement cavity and without the cavity in the case of single and double radiation pass through a nonlinear crystal. It is demonstrated that at power levels exceeding 1 kW, the efficiencies of methods with and without external power-enhancement cavities become comparable, whereas at even higher powers, SHG by a single or double pass through a nonlinear crystal becomes preferable because of the relatively high efficiency of nonlinear transformation and fairly simple implementation.

Plasma processing of superconducting radio frequency cavities

Science.gov (United States)

Upadhyay, Janardan

The development of plasma processing technology of superconducting radio frequency (SRF) cavities not only provides a chemical free and less expensive processing method, but also opens up the possibility for controlled modification of the inner surfaces of the cavity for better superconducting properties. The research was focused on the transition of plasma etching from two dimensional flat surfaces to inner surfaces of three dimensional (3D) structures. The results could be applicable to a variety of inner surfaces of 3D structures other than SRF cavities. Understanding the Ar/Cl2 plasma etching mechanism is crucial for achieving the desired modification of Nb SRF cavities. In the process of developing plasma etching technology, an apparatus was built and a method was developed to plasma etch a single cell Pill Box cavity. The plasma characterization was done with the help of optical emission spectroscopy. The Nb etch rate at various points of this cavity was measured before processing the SRF cavity. Cylindrical ring-type samples of Nb placed on the inner surface of the outer wall were used to measure the dependence of the process parameters on plasma etching. The measured etch rate dependence on the pressure, rf power, dc bias, temperature, Cl2 concentration and diameter of the inner electrode was determined. The etch rate mechanism was studied by varying the temperature of the outer wall, the dc bias on the inner electrode and gas conditions. In a coaxial plasma reactor, uniform plasma etching along the cylindrical structure is a challenging task due to depletion of the active radicals along the gas flow direction. The dependence of etch rate uniformity along the cylindrical axis was determined as a function of process parameters. The formation of dc self-biases due to surface area asymmetry in this type of plasma and its variation on the pressure, rf power and gas composition was measured. Enhancing the surface area of the inner electrode to reduce the