Scattering of strongly absorbed particles near the Coulomb barrier

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fernandez, B.

1979-01-01

The elastic scattering of strongly absorbed particles near the Coulomb barrier is sensitive to one size parameter, which is the distance at which the real nuclear potential has some fixed value, 0.2 MeV for α-particle, 1 MeV for 16 O. This size parameter can be related in a simple way to the radial distance of the target nucleus where the density takes some given value, 2x10 -3 nucleon /fm 3 for α-particle scattering and 5x10 -3 nucleon/fm 3 for 16 O scattering

Microscopic analysis of saturable absorbers: Semiconductor saturable absorber mirrors versus graphene

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hader, J.; Moloney, J. V. [Nonlinear Control Strategies, Inc., 3542 N. Geronimo Ave., Tucson, Arizona 85705 (United States); College of Optical Sciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona 85721 (United States); Yang, H.-J.; Scheller, M. [College of Optical Sciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona 85721 (United States); Koch, S. W. [Department of Physics and Materials Sciences Center, Philipps Universität Marburg, Renthof 5, 35032 Marburg (Germany)

2016-02-07

Fully microscopic many-body calculations are used to study the influence of strong sub-picosecond pulses on the carrier distributions and corresponding optical response in saturable absorbers used for mode-locking—semiconductor (quantum well) saturable absorber mirrors (SESAMs) and single layer graphene based saturable absorber mirrors (GSAMs). Unlike in GSAMs, the saturation fluence and recovery time in SESAMs show a strong spectral dependence. While the saturation fluence in the SESAM is minimal at the excitonic bandgap, the optimal recovery time and least pulse distortion due to group delay dispersion are found for excitation higher in the first subband. For excitation near the SESAM bandgap, the saturation fluence is about one tenth of that in the GSAM. At energies above the bandgap, the fluences in both systems become similar. A strong dependence of the saturation fluence on the pulse width in both systems is caused by carrier relaxation during the pulse. The recovery time in graphene is found to be about two to four times faster than that in the SESAMs. The occurrence of negative differential transmission in graphene is shown to be caused by dopant related carriers. In SESAMs, a negative differential transmission is found when exciting below the excitonic resonance where excitation induced dephasing leads to an enhancement of the absorption. Comparisons of the simulation data to the experiment show a very good quantitative agreement.

Monte Carlo simulation of reflection spectra of random multilayer media strongly scattering and absorbing light

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Meglinskii, I V

2001-01-01

The reflection spectra of a multilayer random medium - the human skin - strongly scattering and absorbing light are numerically simulated. The propagation of light in the medium and the absorption spectra are simulated by the stochastic Monte Carlo method, which combines schemes for calculations of real photon trajectories and the statistical weight method. The model takes into account the inhomogeneous spatial distribution of blood vessels, water, and melanin, the degree of blood oxygenation, and the hematocrit index. The attenuation of the incident radiation caused by reflection and refraction at Fresnel boundaries of layers inside the medium is also considered. The simulated reflection spectra are compared with the experimental reflection spectra of the human skin. It is shown that a set of parameters that was used to describe the optical properties of skin layers and their possible variations, despite being far from complete, is nevertheless sufficient for the simulation of the reflection spectra of the human skin and their quantitative analysis. (laser applications and other topics in quantum electronics)

On the perturbative calculation of the vibration noise by strong absorbers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pazsit, I.; Karlsson, J.

1997-01-01

In two previous papers the neutron noise, induced by small vibrations of a strong absorber, was treated (Pazsit 1984, 1988). In these, two different rod models and corresponding different linearization procedures were used. The first, called the Feinberg-Galanin-Williams (FGW) model, uses a δ-function approximation of both the static and the vibrating rod. This model corresponds to preserving the static boundary condition (logarithmic derivative) at the surface of the moving rod. The second, a perturbative approach called the ε/d model, starts with a finite absorber and represents the vibration by two stationary absorbing layers with strengths fluctuating in opposite phase. It was found that these two models lead to differing results, indicating a contradiction. In this paper we show that the reason for this contradiction is that the previous results based on the ε/d model are in error. The error is due to the fact that the effect of the static rod was neglected in the Green's function. The correct ε/d result is calculated here in both one and two dimensions and is shown to be equivalent to the FGW results. This serves also as a confirmation of the two-dimensional FGW result which had earlier been derived only by heuristic arguments. (Author)

All-optical packet envelope detection using a slow semiconductor saturable absorber gate and a semiconductor optical amplifier

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Porzi, C.; Fresi, F.; Poti, L.; Bogoni, A.; Guina, M.; Orsila, L.; Okhotnikov, O.; Calabretta, N.

2008-01-01

Abstract—We propose a simple and effective scheme for alloptical packet envelope detection (AO-PED), exploiting a slow saturable absorber-based vertical cavity semiconductor gate and a semiconductor optical amplifier. A high extinction ratio of 15 dB was measured for the recovered envelope signal.

Optical Properties and Aging of Light Absorbing Secondary Organic Aerosol

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Liu, Jiumeng; Lin, Peng; Laskin, Alexander; Laskin, Julia; Kathmann, Shawn M.; Wise, Matthew E.; Caylor, Ryan; Imholt, Felisha; Selimovic, Vanessa; Shilling, John E.

2016-10-14

The light-absorbing organic aerosol (OA), commonly referred to as “brown carbon (BrC)”, has attracted considerable attention in recent years because of its potential to affect atmospheric radiation balance, especially in the ultraviolet region and thus impact photochemical processes. A growing amount of data has indicated that BrC is prevalent in the atmosphere, which has motivated numerous laboratory and field studies; however, our understanding of the relationship between the chemical composition and optical properties of BrC remains limited. We conducted chamber experiments to investigate the effect of various VOC precursors, NOx concentrations, photolysis time and relative humidity (RH) on the light absorption of selected secondary organic aerosols (SOA). Light absorption of chamber generated SOA samples, especially aromatic SOA, was found to increase with NOx concentration, at moderate RH, and for the shortest photolysis aging times. The highest mass absorption coefficients (MAC) value is observed from toluene SOA products formed under high NOx conditions at moderate RH, in which nitro-aromatics were previously identified as the major light absorbing compounds. BrC light absorption is observed to decrease with photolysis time, correlated with a decline of the organonitrate fraction of SOA. SOA formed from mixtures of aromatics and isoprene absorb less visible and UV light than SOA formed from aromatic precursors alone on a mass basis. However, the mixed-SOA absorption was underestimated when optical properties were predicted using a two-product SOA formation model, as done in many current climate models. Further investigation, including analysis on detailed mechanisms, are required to explain the discrepancy.

Adsorption properties of BSA and DsRed proteins deposited on thin SiO2 layers: optically non-absorbing versus absorbing proteins

Science.gov (United States)

Scarangella, A.; Soumbo, M.; Villeneuve-Faure, C.; Mlayah, A.; Bonafos, C.; Monje, M.-C.; Roques, C.; Makasheva, K.

2018-03-01

Protein adsorption on solid surfaces is of interest for many industrial and biomedical applications, where it represents the conditioning step for micro-organism adhesion and biofilm formation. To understand the driving forces of such an interaction we focus in this paper on the investigation of the adsorption of bovine serum albumin (BSA) (optically non-absorbing, model protein) and DsRed (optically absorbing, naturally fluorescent protein) on silica surfaces. Specifically, we propose synthesis of thin protein layers by means of dip coating of the dielectric surface in protein solutions with different concentrations (0.01-5.0 g l-1). We employed spectroscopic ellipsometry as the most suitable and non-destructive technique for evaluation of the protein layers’ thickness and optical properties (refractive index and extinction coefficient) after dehydration, using two different optical models, Cauchy for BSA and Lorentz for DsRed. We demonstrate that the thickness, the optical properties and the wettability of the thin protein layers can be finely controlled by proper tuning of the protein concentration in the solution. These results are correlated with the thin layer morphology, investigated by AFM, FTIR and PL analyses. It is shown that the proteins do not undergo denaturation after dehydration on the silica surface. The proteins arrange themselves in a lace-like network for BSA and in a rod-like structure for DsRed to form mono- and multi-layers, due to different mechanisms driving the organization stage.

Optical properties and aging of light-absorbing secondary organic aerosol

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

J. Liu

2016-10-01

Full Text Available The light-absorbing organic aerosol (OA commonly referred to as “brown carbon” (BrC has attracted considerable attention in recent years because of its potential to affect atmospheric radiation balance, especially in the ultraviolet region and thus impact photochemical processes. A growing amount of data has indicated that BrC is prevalent in the atmosphere, which has motivated numerous laboratory and field studies; however, our understanding of the relationship between the chemical composition and optical properties of BrC remains limited. We conducted chamber experiments to investigate the effect of various volatile organic carbon (VOC precursors, NOx concentrations, photolysis time, and relative humidity (RH on the light absorption of selected secondary organic aerosols (SOA. Light absorption of chamber-generated SOA samples, especially aromatic SOA, was found to increase with NOx concentration, at moderate RH, and for the shortest photolysis aging times. The highest mass absorption coefficient (MAC value is observed from toluene SOA products formed under high-NOx conditions at moderate RH, in which nitro-aromatics were previously identified as the major light-absorbing compounds. BrC light absorption is observed to decrease with photolysis time, correlated with a decline of the organic nitrate fraction of SOA. SOA formed from mixtures of aromatics and isoprene absorb less visible (Vis and ultraviolet (UV light than SOA formed from aromatic precursors alone on a mass basis. However, the mixed SOA absorption was underestimated when optical properties were predicted using a two-product SOA formation model, as done in many current climate models. Further investigation, including analysis on detailed mechanisms, are required to explain the discrepancy.

Strong optical feedback in birefringent dual frequency laser

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

Mao Wei; Zhang Shu-Lian

2006-01-01

Strong optical feedback in a birefringent dual frequency He-Ne laser with a high reflectivity feedback mirror has been investigated for the first time. The output characteristics of two orthogonally polarized modes are demonstrated in two different optical feedback cases: one is for both modes being fed back and the other is for only one of the modes being fed back. Strong mode competition can be observed between the two modes with strong optical feedback. And when one mode's intensity is near its maximum, the other mode is nearly extinguished. When both modes are fed back into the laser cavity, the mode competition is stronger than when only one mode is fed back. The difference in initial intensity between the two orthogonally polarized modes plays an important role in the mode competition, which has been experimentally and theoretically demonstrated.

Optical spectral weight anomalies and strong correlation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Toschi, A.; Capone, M.; Ortolani, M.; Calvani, P.; Lupi, S.; Castellani, C.

2007-01-01

The anomalous behavior observed in the optical spectral weight (W) of the cuprates provides valuable information about the physics of these compounds. Both the doping and the temperature dependences of W are hardly explained through conventional estimates based on the f-sum rule. By computing the optical conductivity of the doped Hubbard model with the Dynamical Mean Field Theory, we point out that the strong correlation plays a key role in determining the basic features of the observed anomalies: the proximity to a Mott insulating phase accounts simultaneously for the strong temperature dependence of W and for its zero temperature value

Water-based metamaterial absorbers for optical transparency and broadband microwave absorption

Science.gov (United States)

Pang, Yongqiang; Shen, Yang; Li, Yongfeng; Wang, Jiafu; Xu, Zhuo; Qu, Shaobo

2018-04-01

Naturally occurring water is a promising candidate for achieving broadband absorption. In this work, by virtue of the optically transparent character of the water, the water-based metamaterial absorbers (MAs) are proposed to achieve the broadband absorption at microwave frequencies and optical transparence simultaneously. For this purpose, the transparent indium tin oxide (ITO) and polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) are chosen as the constitutive materials. The water is encapsulated between the ITO backed plate and PMMA, serving as the microwave loss as well as optically transparent material. Numerical simulations show that the broadband absorption with the efficiency over 90% in the frequency band of 6.4-30 GHz and highly optical transparency of about 85% in the visible region can be achieved and have been well demonstrated experimentally. Additionally, the proposed water-based MA displays a wide-angle absorption performance for both TE and TM waves and is also robust to the variations of the structure parameters, which is much desired in a practical application.

Absorbed Dose Distribution in a Pulse Radiolysis Optical Cell

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Miller, Arne; McLaughlin, W. L.

1975-01-01

When a liquid solution in an optical cell is irradiated by an intense pulsed electron beam, it may be important in the chemical analysis of the solution to know the distribution of energy deposited throughout the cell. For the present work, absorbed dose distributions were measured by thin...... radiochromic dye film dosimeters placed at various depths in a quartz glass pulse radiolysis cell. The cell was irradiated with 30 ns pulses from a field-emission electron accelerator having a broad spectrum with a maximum energy of ≈MeV. The measured three-dimensional dose distributions showed sharp gradients...... in dose at the largest penetration depths in the cell and at the extreme lateral edges of the cell interior near the optical windows. This method of measurement was convenient because of the high spatial resolution capability of the detector and the linearity and absence of dose-rate dependence of its...

Optical activity and ultraviolet absorbance detection of dansyl L-amino acids separated by gradient liquid chromatography

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

1987-04-01

Many scientific investigations (e.g., geochronology, pharmaceuticals) have the need to determine enantiometric ratios of amino acids and other compounds. It has been reported that OA/UV or OA/RI (refractive index) are ideal methods for the determination of enantiomeric ratios without the need for chiral columns, chiral eluents, or diasteromer preparation. Unfortunately, only three amino acids are naturally UV absorbing (254 nm), and RI sensitivity for amino acids is low. Derivatization by several methods (o-phthalaldehyde, dansyl, phenylisothiocyanate, fluorescamine, 2,4-dinitrofluorobenzene, and phenylthiohydantoin) renders all amino acids UV absorbing and makes UV or fluorescence viable techniques for amino acids determinations. A previously neglected aspect of derivatization is the effect on optical activity. These highly polar groups influence the chiral center of amino acids drastically (electronic and steric effects). The shifting of the absorption band to the proximity of the wavelength used for OA measurements further enhances the importance of the substituent. The authors report here the determination of 17 dansyl amino acids in a mixture by UV absorbance and optical activity. This involves gradient elution. Previously, the optical activity detector (OAD) has been used only with isocratic HPLC.

Ultraviolet absorbance as a proxy for total dissolved mercury in streams

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dittman, Jason A.; Shanley, James B.; Driscoll, Charles T.; Aiken, George R.; Chalmers, Ann T.; Towse, Janet E.

2009-01-01

Stream water samples were collected over a range of hydrologic and seasonal conditions at three forested watersheds in the northeastern USA. Samples were analyzed for dissolved total mercury (THg d ), DOC concentration and DOC composition, and UV 254 absorbance across the three sites over different seasons and flow conditions. Pooling data from all sites, we found a strong positive correlation of THg d to DOC (r 2 = 0.87), but progressively stronger correlations of THg d with the hydrophobic acid fraction (HPOA) of DOC (r 2 = 0.91) and with UV 254 absorbance (r 2 = 0.92). The strength of the UV 254 absorbance-THg d relationship suggests that optical properties associated with dissolved organic matter may be excellent proxies for THg d concentration in these streams. Ease of sample collection and analysis, the potential application of in-situ optical sensors, and the possibility for intensive monitoring over the hydrograph make this an effective, inexpensive approach to estimate THg d flux in drainage waters. - Ultraviolet absorbance measurements are a cost-effective proxy to estimate dissolved mercury concentration in stream water.

Dual-mode optical fiber-based tweezers for robust trapping and manipulation of absorbing particles in air

Science.gov (United States)

Sil, Souvik; Kanti Saha, Tushar; Kumar, Avinash; Bera, Sudipta K.; Banerjee, Ayan

2017-12-01

We develop an optical tweezers system using a single dual-mode optical fiber where mesoscopic absorbing particles can be trapped in three dimensions and manipulated employing photophoretic forces. We generate a superposition of fundamental and first order Hermite-Gaussian beam modes by the simple innovation of coupling a laser into a commercial optical fiber designed to be single mode for a wavelength higher than that of the laser. We achieve robust trapping of the absorbing particles for hours using both the pure fundamental and superposition mode beams and attain large manipulation velocities of ˜5 mm s-1 in the axial direction and ˜0.75 mm s-1 in the radial direction. We then demonstrate that the superposition mode is more effective in trapping and manipulation compared to the fundamental mode by around 80%, which may be increased several times by the use of a pure first order Hermite-Gaussian mode. The work has promising implications for trapping and spectroscopy of aerosols in air using simple optical fiber-based traps.

Ultraviolet absorbance as a proxy for total dissolved mercury in streams

Science.gov (United States)

Dittman, J.A.; Shanley, J.B.; Driscoll, C.T.; Aiken, G.R.; Chalmers, A.T.; Towse, J.E.

2009-01-01

Stream water samples were collected over a range of hydrologic and seasonal conditions at three forested watersheds in the northeastern USA. Samples were analyzed for dissolved total mercury (THgd), DOC concentration and DOC composition, and UV254 absorbance across the three sites over different seasons and flow conditions. Pooling data from all sites, we found a strong positive correlation of THgd to DOC (r2 = 0.87), but progressively stronger correlations of THgd with the hydrophobic acid fraction (HPOA) of DOC (r2 = 0.91) and with UV254 absorbance (r2 = 0.92). The strength of the UV254 absorbance-THgd relationship suggests that optical properties associated with dissolved organic matter may be excellent proxies for THgd concentration in these streams. Ease of sample collection and analysis, the potential application of in-situ optical sensors, and the possibility for intensive monitoring over the hydrograph make this an effective, inexpensive approach to estimate THgd flux in drainage waters. ?? 2009 Elsevier Ltd.

[Study on optical characteristics of chromophoric dissolved organic matter (CDOM) in rainwater by fluorescence excitation-emission matrix and absorbance spectroscopy].

Science.gov (United States)

Cheng, Yuan-yue; Guo, Wei-dong; Long, Ai-min; Chen, Shao-yong

2010-09-01

The optical characteristics of chromophoric dissolved organic matter (CDOM) were determined in rain samples collected in Xiamen Island, during a rainy season in 2007, using fluorescence excitation-emission matrix spectroscopy associated with UV-Vis absorbance spectra. Results showed that the absorbance spectra of CDOM in rain samples decreased exponentially with wavelength. The absorbance coefficient at 300 nm [a(300)] ranged from 0.27 to 3.45 m(-1), which would be used as an index of CDOM abundance, and the mean value was 1.08 m(-1). The content of earlier stage of precipitation events was higher than that of later stage of precipitation events, which implied that anthropogenic sources or atmospheric pollution or air mass types were important contributors to CDOM levels in precipitation. EEMs spectra showed 4 types of fluorescence signals (2 humic-like fluorescence peaks and 2 protein-like fluorescence peaks) in rainwater samples, and there were significant positive correlations of peak A with C and peak B with S, showing their same sources or some relationship of the two humic-like substance and the two protein-like substance. The strong positive correlations of the two humic-like fluorescence peaks with a(300), suggested that the chromophores responsible for absorbance might be the same as fluorophores responsible for fluorescence. Results showed that the presence of highly absorbing and fluorescing CDOM in rainwater is of significant importance in atmospheric chemistry and might play a previously unrecognized role in the wavelength dependent spectral attenuation of solar radiation by atmospheric waters.

ADAPTIVE OPTICS IMAGING OF A MASSIVE GALAXY ASSOCIATED WITH A METAL-RICH ABSORBER

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chun, Mark R.; Kulkarni, Varsha P.; Gharanfoli, Soheila; Takamiya, Marianne

2010-01-01

The damped and sub-damped Lyα absorption (DLA and sub-DLA) line systems in quasar spectra are believed to be produced by intervening galaxies. However, the connection of quasar absorbers to galaxies is not well-understood, since attempts to image the absorbing galaxies have often failed. While most DLAs appear to be metal poor, a population of metal-rich absorbers, mostly sub-DLAs, has been discovered in recent studies. Here we report high-resolution K-band imaging with the Keck laser guide star adaptive optics (LGSAO) system of the field of quasar SDSSJ1323-0021 in search of the galaxy producing the z = 0.72 sub-DLA absorber. With a metallicity of 2-4 times the solar level, this absorber is one of the most metal-rich systems found to date. Our data show a large bright galaxy with an angular separation of only 1.''25 from the quasar, well-resolved from the quasar at the high resolution of our data. The galaxy has a magnitude of K = 17.6-17.9, which corresponds to a luminosity of ∼3-6 L*. Morphologically, the galaxy is fitted with a model with an effective radius, enclosing half of the total light, of R e = 4 kpc and a bulge-to-total ratio of 0.4-1.0, indicating a substantial bulge stellar population. Based on the mass-metallicity relation of nearby galaxies, the absorber galaxy appears to have a stellar mass of ∼>10 11 M sun . Given the small impact parameter (9.0 kpc at the absorber redshift), this massive galaxy appears to be responsible for the metal-rich sub-DLA. The absorber galaxy is consistent with the metallicity-luminosity relation observed for nearby galaxies, but is near the upper end of metallicity. Our study marks the first application of LGSAO for the study of the structure of galaxies producing distant quasar absorbers. Finally, this study offers the first example of a massive galaxy with a substantial bulge producing a metal-rich absorber.

Critical experiments on an enriched uranium solution system containing periodically distributed strong thermal neutron absorbers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rothe, R.E.

1996-01-01

A series of 62 critical and critical approach experiments were performed to evaluate a possible novel means of storing large volumes of fissile solution in a critically safe configuration. This study is intended to increase safety and economy through use of such a system in commercial plants which handle fissionable materials in liquid form. The fissile solution's concentration may equal or slightly exceed the minimum-critical-volume concentration; and experiments were performed for high-enriched uranium solution. Results should be generally applicable in a wide variety of plant situations. The method is called the 'Poisoned Tube Tank' because strong neutron absorbers (neutron poisons) are placed inside periodically spaced stainless steel tubes which separate absorber material from solution, keeping the former free of contamination. Eight absorbers are investigated. Both square and triangular pitched lattice patterns are studied. Ancillary topics which closely model typical plant situations are also reported. They include the effect of removing small bundles of absorbers as might occur during inspections in a production plant. Not taking the tank out of service for these inspections would be an economic advantage. Another ancillary topic studies the effect of the presence of a significant volume of unpoisoned solution close to the Poisoned Tube Tank on the critical height. A summary of the experimental findings is that boron compounds were excellent absorbers, as expected. This was true for granular materials such as Gerstley Borate and Borax; but it was also true for the flexible solid composed of boron carbide and rubber, even though only thin sheets were used. Experiments with small bundles of absorbers intentionally removed reveal that quite reasonable tanks could be constructed that would allow a few tubes at a time to be removed from the tank for inspection without removing the tank from production service

Enhancement of absorption and color contrast in ultra-thin highly absorbing optical coatings

Science.gov (United States)

Kats, Mikhail A.; Byrnes, Steven J.; Blanchard, Romain; Kolle, Mathias; Genevet, Patrice; Aizenberg, Joanna; Capasso, Federico

2013-09-01

Recently a new class of optical interference coatings was introduced which comprises ultra-thin, highly absorbing dielectric layers on metal substrates. We show that these lossy coatings can be augmented by an additional transparent subwavelength layer. We fabricated a sample comprising a gold substrate, an ultra-thin film of germanium with a thickness gradient, and several alumina films. The experimental reflectivity spectra showed that the additional alumina layer increases the color range that can be obtained, in agreement with calculations. More generally, this transparent layer can be used to enhance optical absorption, protect against erosion, or as a transparent electrode for optoelectronic devices.

TESTING THE POSSIBLE INTRINSIC ORIGIN OF THE EXCESS VERY STRONG Mg II ABSORBERS ALONG GAMMA-RAY BURST LINES-OF-SIGHT

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cucchiara, A.; Jones, T.; Charlton, J. C.; Fox, D. B.; Einsig, D.; Narayanan, A.

2009-01-01

The startling discovery by Prochter et al. that the frequency of very strong (W r (2796)>1 A) Mg II absorbers along gamma-ray burst (GRB) lines of sight ([dN/dz] GRB = 0.90) is more than three times the frequency along quasar lines of sight ([dN/dz] QSO = 0.24), over similar redshift ranges, has yet to be understood. In particular, explanations appealing to dust antibias in quasar samples, partial covering of the quasar sources, and gravitational-lensing amplification of the GRBs have all been carefully examined and found wanting. We therefore reconsider the possibility that the excess of very strong Mg II absorbers toward GRBs is intrinsic either to the GRBs themselves or to their immediate environment, and associated with bulk outflows with velocities as large as v max ∼ 0.3c. In order to examine this hypothesis, we accumulate a sample of 27 W r (2796)>1 A absorption systems found toward 81 quasars, and compare their properties to those of 8 W r (2796) > 1 A absorption systems found toward six GRBs; all systems have been observed at high spectral resolution (R = 45, 000) using the Ultraviolet and Visual Echelle Spectrograph on the Very Large Telescope. We make multiple comparisons of the absorber properties across the two populations, testing for differences in metallicity, ionization state, abundance patterns, dust abundance, kinematics, and phase structure. We find no significant differences between the two absorber populations using any of these metrics, implying that, if the excess of absorbers along GRB lines of sight are indeed intrinsic, they must be produced by a process which has strong similarities to the processes yielding strong Mg II systems associated with intervening galaxies. Although this may seem a priori unlikely, given the high outflow velocities required for any intrinsic model, we note that the same conclusion was reached, recently, with respect to the narrow absorption line systems seen in some quasars.

Chiral monolithic absorbent constructed by optically active helical-substituted polyacetylene and graphene oxide: preparation and chiral absorption capacity.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Weifei; Wang, Bo; Yang, Wantai; Deng, Jianping

2015-02-01

Chiral monolithic absorbent is successfully constructed for the first time by using optically active helical-substituted polyacetylene and graphene oxide (GO). The preparative strategy is facile and straightforward, in which chiral-substituted acetylene monomer (Ma), cross-linker (Mb), and alkynylated GO (Mc) undergo copolymerization to form the desired monolithic absorbent in quantitative yield. The resulting monoliths are characterized by circular dichroism, UV-vis absorption, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), FT-IR, Raman, energy-dispersive spectrometer (EDS), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET), XPS, and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) techniques. The polymer chains derived from Ma form chiral helical structures and thus provide optical activity to the monoliths, while GO sheets contribute to the formation of porous structures. The porous structure enables the monolithic absorbents to demonstrate a large swelling ratio in organic solvents, and more remarkably, the helical polymer chains provide optical activity and further enantio-differentiating absorption ability. The present study establishes an efficient and versatile methodology for preparing novel functional materials, in particular monolithic chiral materials based on substituted polyacetylene and GO. © 2014 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Characterization of weak, fair and strong neutron absorbing materials by means of neutron transmission: Beam hardening effect

Science.gov (United States)

Kharfi, F.; Bastuerk, M.; Boucenna, A.

2006-09-01

The characterization of neutron absorbing materials as well as quantification of neutron attenuation through matter is very essential in various fields, namely in shielding calculation. The objective of this work is to describe an experimental procedure to be used for the determination of neutron transmission through different materials. The proposed method is based on the relation between the gray value measured on neutron radiography image and the corresponding inducing neutron beam. For such a purpose, three kinds of materials (in shape of plate) were investigated using thermal neutrons: (1) boron-alloyed stainless steel as strong absorber; (2) copper and steel as fair absorbers and (3) aluminum as weak absorber. This work is not limited to the determination of neutron transmission through matters; it is also spread out to the measure of the surface density of the neutron absorbing elements (ρs) as a function of thickness of neutron absorbing material such as boron-alloyed stainless steel. The beam hardening effect depending on material thickness was also studied using the neutron transmission measurements. A theoretical approach was used to interpret the experimental results. The neutron transmission measurements were performed at the Neutron Radiography and Tomography facility of the Atomic Institute of the Austrian Universities in Vienna. Finally, a Maxwellian neutron distribution of incident neutron beam was used in the theoretical calculations of neutron energy shift in order to compare with experiments results. The obtained experimental results are in a good agreement with the developed theoretical approach.

Two-Photon Absorbing Molecules as Potential Materials for 3D Optical Memory

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kazuya Ogawa

2014-01-01

Full Text Available In this review, recent advances in two-photon absorbing photochromic molecules, as potential materials for 3D optical memory, are presented. The investigations introduced in this review indicate that 3D data storage processing at the molecular level is possible. As 3D memory using two-photon absorption allows advantages over existing systems, the use of two-photon absorbing photochromic molecules is preferable. Although there are some photochromic molecules with good properties for memory, in most cases, the two-photon absorption efficiency is not high. Photochromic molecules with high two-photon absorption efficiency are desired. Recently, molecules having much larger two-photon absorption cross sections over 10,000 GM (GM= 10−50 cm4 s molecule−1 photon−1 have been discovered and are expected to open the way to realize two-photon absorption 3D data storage.

Manipulation of resonant Auger processes with strong optical fields

Science.gov (United States)

Picón, Antonio; Buth, Christian; Doumy, Gilles; Krässig, Bertold; Young, Linda; Southworth, Stephen

2013-05-01

We recently reported on the optical control of core-excited states of a resonant Auger process in neon. We have focused on the resonant excitation 1 s --> 1s-1 3 p , while a strong optical field may resonantly couple two core-excited states (1s-1 3 p and 1s-1 3 s) in the Rydberg manifold as well as dressing the continuum. There is a clear signature in the Auger electron spectrum of the inner-shell dynamics induced by the strong optical field: i) the Auger electron spectrum is modified by the rapid optical-induced population transfer from the 1s-1 3 p state to the 1s-1 3 s state during their decay. ii) The angular anisotropy parameter, defining the angular distribution of the Auger electron, is manifested in the envelope of the (angle-integrated) sidebands. This work is funded by the Office of Basic Energy Sciences, Office of Science, U.S. Department of Energy, under Contract No. DE-AC02-06CH11357.

A THz plasmonics perfect absorber and Fabry-Perot cavity mechanism (Conference Presentation)

Science.gov (United States)

Zhou, Jiangfeng; Bhattarai, Khagendra; Silva, Sinhara; Jeon, Jiyeon; Kim, Junoh; Lee, Sang Jun; Ku, Zahyun

2016-10-01

The plasmonic metamaterial perfect absorber (MPA) is a recently developed branch of metamaterial which exhibits nearly unity absorption within certain frequency range.[1-6] The optically thin MPA possesses characteristic features of angular-independence, high Q-factor and strong field localization that have inspired a wide range of applications including electromagnetic wave absorption,[3, 7, 8] spatial[6] and spectral[5] modulation of light,[9] selective thermal emission,[9] thermal detecting[10] and refractive index sensing for gas[11] and liquid[12, 13] targets. In this work, we demonstrate a MPA working at terahertz (THz) regime and characterize it using an ultrafast THz time-domain spectroscopy (THz-TDS). Our study reveal an ultra-thin Fabry-Perot cavity mechanism compared to the impedance matching mechanism widely adopted in previous study [1-6]. Our results also shows higher-order resonances when the cavities length increases. These higher order modes exhibits much larger Q-factor that can benefit potential sensing and imaging applications. [1] C. M. Watts, X. L. Liu, and W. J. Padilla, "Metamaterial Electromagnetic Wave Absorbers," Advanced Materials, vol. 24, pp. 98-120, Jun 19 2012. [2] M. Hedayati, F. Faupel, and M. Elbahri, "Review of Plasmonic Nanocomposite Metamaterial Absorber," Materials, vol. 7, pp. 1221-1248, 2014. [3] N. I. Landy, S. Sajuyigbe, J. J. Mock, D. R. Smith, and W. J. Padilla, "Perfect metamaterial absorber," Physical Review Letters, vol. 100, p. 207402, May 23 2008. [4] H. R. Seren, G. R. Keiser, L. Cao, J. Zhang, A. C. Strikwerda, K. Fan, et al., "Optically Modulated Multiband Terahertz Perfect Absorber," Advanced Optical Materials, vol. 2, pp. 1221-1226, 2014. [5] D. Shrekenhamer, J. Montoya, S. Krishna, and W. J. Padilla, "Four-Color Metamaterial Absorber THz Spatial Light Modulator," Advanced Optical Materials, vol. 1, pp. 905-909, 2013. [6] S. Savo, D. Shrekenhamer, and W. J. Padilla, "Liquid Crystal Metamaterial Absorber Spatial

Reducing uncertainties associated with filter-based optical measurements of light absorbing carbon particles with chemical information

Science.gov (United States)

Engström, J. E.; Leck, C.

2011-08-01

The presented filter-based optical method for determination of soot (light absorbing carbon or Black Carbon, BC) can be implemented in the field under primitive conditions and at low cost. This enables researchers with small economical means to perform monitoring at remote locations, especially in the Asia where it is much needed. One concern when applying filter-based optical measurements of BC is that they suffer from systematic errors due to the light scattering of non-absorbing particles co-deposited on the filter, such as inorganic salts and mineral dust. In addition to an optical correction of the non-absorbing material this study provides a protocol for correction of light scattering based on the chemical quantification of the material, which is a novelty. A newly designed photometer was implemented to measure light transmission on particle accumulating filters, which includes an additional sensor recording backscattered light. The choice of polycarbonate membrane filters avoided high chemical blank values and reduced errors associated with length of the light path through the filter. Two protocols for corrections were applied to aerosol samples collected at the Maldives Climate Observatory Hanimaadhoo during episodes with either continentally influenced air from the Indian/Arabian subcontinents (winter season) or pristine air from the Southern Indian Ocean (summer monsoon). The two ways of correction (optical and chemical) lowered the particle light absorption of BC by 63 to 61 %, respectively, for data from the Arabian Sea sourced group, resulting in median BC absorption coefficients of 4.2 and 3.5 Mm-1. Corresponding values for the South Indian Ocean data were 69 and 97 % (0.38 and 0.02 Mm-1). A comparison with other studies in the area indicated an overestimation of their BC levels, by up to two orders of magnitude. This raises the necessity for chemical correction protocols on optical filter-based determinations of BC, before even the sign on the

Reducing uncertainties associated with filter-based optical measurements of light absorbing carbon particles with chemical information

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

J. E. Engström

2011-08-01

Full Text Available The presented filter-based optical method for determination of soot (light absorbing carbon or Black Carbon, BC can be implemented in the field under primitive conditions and at low cost. This enables researchers with small economical means to perform monitoring at remote locations, especially in the Asia where it is much needed.

One concern when applying filter-based optical measurements of BC is that they suffer from systematic errors due to the light scattering of non-absorbing particles co-deposited on the filter, such as inorganic salts and mineral dust. In addition to an optical correction of the non-absorbing material this study provides a protocol for correction of light scattering based on the chemical quantification of the material, which is a novelty. A newly designed photometer was implemented to measure light transmission on particle accumulating filters, which includes an additional sensor recording backscattered light. The choice of polycarbonate membrane filters avoided high chemical blank values and reduced errors associated with length of the light path through the filter.

Two protocols for corrections were applied to aerosol samples collected at the Maldives Climate Observatory Hanimaadhoo during episodes with either continentally influenced air from the Indian/Arabian subcontinents (winter season or pristine air from the Southern Indian Ocean (summer monsoon. The two ways of correction (optical and chemical lowered the particle light absorption of BC by 63 to 61 %, respectively, for data from the Arabian Sea sourced group, resulting in median BC absorption coefficients of 4.2 and 3.5 Mm⁻¹. Corresponding values for the South Indian Ocean data were 69 and 97 % (0.38 and 0.02 Mm⁻¹. A comparison with other studies in the area indicated an overestimation of their BC levels, by up to two orders of magnitude. This raises the necessity for chemical correction protocols on optical filter

Research on the strong optical feedback effects based on spectral analysis method

Science.gov (United States)

Zeng, Zhaoli; Qu, XueMin; Li, Weina; Zhang, Min; Wang, Hao; Li, Tuo

2018-01-01

The strong optical feedback has the advantage of generating high resolution fringes. However, these feedback fringes usually seem like the noise signal when the feedback level is high. This defect severely limits its practical application. In this paper, the generation mechanism of noise fringes with strong optical feedback is studied by using spectral analysis method. The spectral analysis results show that, in most cases, the noise-like fringes are observed owing to the strong multiple high-order feedback. However, at certain feedback cavity condition, there may be only one high-order feedback beam goes back to the laser cavity, the noise-like fringes can change to the cosine-like fringes. And the resolution of this fringe is dozens times than that of the weak optical feedback. This research provides a method to obtain high resolution cosine-like fringes rather than noise signal in the strong optical feedback, which makes it possible to be used in nanoscale displacement measurements.

Critical power for self-focusing of optical beam in absorbing media

Science.gov (United States)

Qi, Pengfei; Zhang, Lin; Lin, Lie; Zhang, Nan; Wang, Yan; Liu, Weiwei

2018-04-01

Self-focusing effects are of central importance for most nonlinear optical effects. The critical power for self-focusing is commonly investigated theoretically without considering a material’s absorption. Although this is practicable for various materials, investigating the critical power for self-focusing in media with non-negligible absorption is also necessary, because this is the situation usually met in practice. In this paper, the simple analytical expressions describing the relationships among incident power, absorption coefficient and focal position are provided by a simple physical model based on the Fermat principle. Expressions for the absorption dependent critical power are also derived; these can play important roles in experimental and applied research on self-focusing-related nonlinear optical phenomena in absorbing media. Numerical results, based on the nonlinear wave equation—and which can predict experimental results perfectly—are also presented, and agree quantitatively with the analytical results proposed in this paper.

Study of the strongly ionized medium in active galactic n ('Warm Absorber'): multi-wavelength modelling and plasma diagnostics in the X-ray spectral range

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Porquet, Delphine

1999-01-01

The so-called 'Warm Absorber' medium is observed in the central region of Active Galactic Nuclei and particularly in Seyfert l galaxies. lt is mainly characterized by O(VII) and O(VIII) absorption edges detected in the soft X-rays. Its study (modelization and observation) is an important key tool to understand Active Galactic Nuclei. The work presented here consists in modelling the Warm Absorber, and in developing X-ray spectroscopy diagnostics to constrain the physical parameters of any hot medium such as the Warm Absorber. The physical parameters of the Warm Absorber (density, temperature, ionization processes..) are difficult to determine only on the basis of present X-ray data. In particular, the value of the density cannot be derived only from the modelling of the resonance lines and of the soft X-ray absorption edges since there are almost insensitive to the density in the range of values expected for the Warm Absorber. lt is why we have developed diagnostic methods based on a multi-wavelength approach. The modelling is made with two complementary computational codes: PEGAS, and IRIS which takes into account the most accurate atomic data. With these two codes, we have modelled several types of plasma ionisation processes (photoionized plasmas and/or collisional). Results for the Warm Absorber were compared to multi-wavelength observations (mainly the optical iron coronal lines [Fe X] 6375 Angstroms, [Fe XI] 7892 Angstroms, and [Fe XIV] 5303 Angstroms). The proposed method has allowed to show that the Warm Absorber could be responsible of the emission of these lines totally or partially. All models of the Warm Absorber producing coronal line equivalent widths larger than observed were ruled out. This strongly constrains the physical parameters of the Warm Absorber, and particularly its density (n H ≥10 10 cm -3 ). The new generation of X-ray satellites (Chandra/AXAF, XMM...) will produce spectra at high spectral resolution and high sensitivity

Optical Time-of-Flight and Absorbance Imaging of Biologic Media

Science.gov (United States)

Benaron, David A.; Stevenson, David K.

1993-03-01

Imaging the interior of living bodies with light may assist in the diagnosis and treatment of a number of clinical problems, which include the early detection of tumors and hypoxic cerebral injury. An existing picosecond time-of-flight and absorbance (TOFA) optical system has been used to image a model biologic system and a rat. Model measurements confirmed TOFA principles in systems with a high degree of photon scattering; rat images, which were constructed from the variable time delays experienced by a fixed fraction of early-arriving transmitted photons, revealed identifiable internal structure. A combination of light-based quantitative measurement and TOFA localization may have applications in continuous, noninvasive monitoring for structural imaging and spatial chemometric analysis in humans.

Absorber transmissivities in 57Fe Moessbauer spectroscopy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ballet, O.

1985-01-01

Some useful relations are derived for the polarization dependent optical index of 57 Fe Moessbauer absorbers. Real rotation matrices are extensively used and, besides wave-direction dependence, their properties simplify also the treatment of texture and f-anisotropy. The derivation of absorber transmissivities from the optical index is discussed with a special emphasis on line overlapping. (Auth.)

Precious metals in SDSS quasar spectra. II. Tracking the evolution of strong, 0.4 < z < 2.3 Mg II absorbers with thousands of systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Seyffert, Eduardo N.; Simcoe, Robert A.; Cooksey, Kathy L.; O'Meara, John M.; Kao, Melodie M.; Prochaska, J. Xavier

2013-01-01

We have performed an analysis of over 34,000 Mg II doublets at 0.36 < z < 2.29 in Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) Data Release 7 quasar spectra; the catalog, advanced data products, and tools for analysis are publicly available. The catalog was divided into 14 small redshift bins with roughly 2500 doublets in each and from Monte Carlo simulations, we estimate 50% completeness at rest equivalent width W r ≈ 0.8 Å. The equivalent width frequency distribution is described well by an exponential model at all redshifts, and the distribution becomes flatter with increasing redshift, i.e., there are more strong systems relative to weak ones. Direct comparison with previous SDSS Mg II surveys reveals that we recover at least 70% of the doublets in these other catalogs, in addition to detecting thousands of new systems. We discuss how these surveys came by their different results, which qualitatively agree but because of the very small uncertainties, differ by a statistically significant amount. The estimated physical cross section of Mg II-absorbing galaxy halos increased approximately threefold from z = 0.4 to z = 2.3, while the W r ≥ 1 Å absorber line density, dN MgII /dX, grew by roughly 45%. Finally, we explore the different evolution of various absorber populations—damped Lyα absorbers, Lyman limit systems, strong C IV absorbers, and strong and weaker Mg II systems—across cosmic time (0 < z < 6).

Evaluating a novel application of optical fibre evanescent field absorbance: rapid measurement of red colour in winegrape homogenates

Science.gov (United States)

Lye, Peter G.; Bradbury, Ronald; Lamb, David W.

Silica optical fibres were used to measure colour (mg anthocyanin/g fresh berry weight) in samples of red wine grape homogenates via optical Fibre Evanescent Field Absorbance (FEFA). Colour measurements from 126 samples of grape homogenate were compared against the standard industry spectrophotometric reference method that involves chemical extraction and subsequent optical absorption measurements of clarified samples at 520 nm. FEFA absorbance on homogenates at 520 nm (FEFA520h) was correlated with the industry reference method measurements of colour (R2 = 0.46, n = 126). Using a simple regression equation colour could be predicted with a standard error of cross-validation (SECV) of 0.21 mg/g, with a range of 0.6 to 2.2 mg anthocyanin/g and a standard deviation of 0.33 mg/g. With a Ratio of Performance Deviation (RPD) of 1.6, the technique when utilizing only a single detection wavelength, is not robust enough to apply in a diagnostic sense, however the results do demonstrate the potential of the FEFA method as a fast and low-cost assay of colour in homogenized samples.

Theoretical Analysis and Design of Ultrathin Broadband Optically Transparent Microwave Metamaterial Absorbers

Science.gov (United States)

Deng, Ruixiang; Li, Meiling; Muneer, Badar; Zhu, Qi; Shi, Zaiying; Song, Lixin; Zhang, Tao

2018-01-01

Optically Transparent Microwave Metamaterial Absorber (OTMMA) is of significant use in both civil and military field. In this paper, equivalent circuit model is adopted as springboard to navigate the design of OTMMA. The physical model and absorption mechanisms of ideal lightweight ultrathin OTMMA are comprehensively researched. Both the theoretical value of equivalent resistance and the quantitative relation between the equivalent inductance and equivalent capacitance are derived for design. Frequency-dependent characteristics of theoretical equivalent resistance are also investigated. Based on these theoretical works, an effective and controllable design approach is proposed. To validate the approach, a wideband OTMMA is designed, fabricated, analyzed and tested. The results reveal that high absorption more than 90% can be achieved in the whole 6~18 GHz band. The fabricated OTMMA also has an optical transparency up to 78% at 600 nm and is much thinner and lighter than its counterparts. PMID:29324686

Theoretical Analysis and Design of Ultrathin Broadband Optically Transparent Microwave Metamaterial Absorbers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ruixiang Deng

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Optically Transparent Microwave Metamaterial Absorber (OTMMA is of significant use in both civil and military field. In this paper, equivalent circuit model is adopted as springboard to navigate the design of OTMMA. The physical model and absorption mechanisms of ideal lightweight ultrathin OTMMA are comprehensively researched. Both the theoretical value of equivalent resistance and the quantitative relation between the equivalent inductance and equivalent capacitance are derived for design. Frequency-dependent characteristics of theoretical equivalent resistance are also investigated. Based on these theoretical works, an effective and controllable design approach is proposed. To validate the approach, a wideband OTMMA is designed, fabricated, analyzed and tested. The results reveal that high absorption more than 90% can be achieved in the whole 6~18 GHz band. The fabricated OTMMA also has an optical transparency up to 78% at 600 nm and is much thinner and lighter than its counterparts.

Mixtures of Strongly Interacting Bosons in Optical Lattices

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Buonsante, P.; Penna, V.; Giampaolo, S. M.; Illuminati, F.; Vezzani, A.

2008-01-01

We investigate the properties of strongly interacting heteronuclear boson-boson mixtures loaded in realistic optical lattices, with particular emphasis on the physics of interfaces. In particular, we numerically reproduce the recent experimental observation that the addition of a small fraction of 41 K induces a significant loss of coherence in 87 Rb, providing a simple explanation. We then investigate the robustness against the inhomogeneity typical of realistic experimental realizations of the glassy quantum emulsions recently predicted to occur in strongly interacting boson-boson mixtures on ideal homogeneous lattices

An omnidirectional electromagnetic absorber made of metamaterials

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cheng Qiang; Cui Tiejun; Jiang Weixiang; Cai Bengeng

2010-01-01

In a recent theoretical work by Narimanov and Kildishev (2009 Appl. Phys. Lett. 95 041106) an optical omnidirectional light absorber based on metamaterials was proposed, in which theoretical analysis and numerical simulations showed that all optical waves hitting the absorber are trapped and absorbed. Here we report the first experimental demonstration of an omnidirectional electromagnetic absorber in the microwave frequency. The proposed device is composed of non-resonant and resonant metamaterial structures, which can trap and absorb electromagnetic waves coming from all directions spirally inwards without any reflections due to the local control of electromagnetic fields. It is shown that the absorption rate can reach 99 per cent in the microwave frequency. The all-directional full absorption property makes the device behave like an 'electromagnetic black body', and the wave trapping and absorbing properties simulate, to some extent, an 'electromagnetic black hole.' We expect that such a device could be used as a thermal emitting source and to harvest electromagnetic waves.

Metal–insulator–metal light absorber: a continuous structure

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yan, M

2013-01-01

A type of light absorber made of continuous layers of metal and dielectric films is studied. The metal films can have thicknesses close to their skin depths in the wavelength range concerned, which allows for both light transmission and reflection. Resonances induced by multiple reflections in the structure, when combined with the inherent lossy nature of metals, result in strong absorption spectral features. An eigen-mode analysis is carried out for the plasmonic multilayer nanostructures which provides a generic understanding of the absorption features. Experimentally, the calculation is verified by a reflection measurement with a representative structure. Such an absorber is simple to fabricate. The highly efficient absorption characteristics can be potentially deployed for optical filter designs, sensors, accurate photothermal temperature control in a micro-environment and even for backscattering reduction of small particles, etc. (paper)

ABSORBANCE, ABSORPTION COEFFICIENT, AND APPARENT QUANTUM YIELD: A COMMENT ON AMBIGUITY IN THE USE OF THESE OPTICAL CONCEPTS

Science.gov (United States)

Several important optical terms such as "absorbance" and "absorption coefficient" are frequently used ambiguously in the current peer-reviewed literature. Since they are important terms that are required to derive other quantities such as the "apparent quantum yield" of photoprod...

Absorber for terahertz radiation management

Science.gov (United States)

Biallas, George Herman; Apeldoorn, Cornelis; Williams, Gwyn P.; Benson, Stephen V.; Shinn, Michelle D.; Heckman, John D.

2015-12-08

A method and apparatus for minimizing the degradation of power in a free electron laser (FEL) generating terahertz (THz) radiation. The method includes inserting an absorber ring in the FEL beam path for absorbing any irregular THz radiation and thus minimizes the degradation of downstream optics and the resulting degradation of the FEL output power. The absorber ring includes an upstream side, a downstream side, and a plurality of wedges spaced radially around the absorber ring. The wedges form a scallop-like feature on the innermost edges of the absorber ring that acts as an apodizer, stopping diffractive focusing of the THz radiation that is not intercepted by the absorber. Spacing between the scallop-like features and the shape of the features approximates the Bartlett apodization function. The absorber ring provides a smooth intensity distribution, rather than one that is peaked on-center, thereby eliminating minor distortion downstream of the absorber.

Distributed Intrusion Sensor Using DFB Laser with Optical Feedback and Saturable Absorber

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kyoo Nam Choi

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Characteristics of a distributed intrusion sensor using a coherent DFB laser diode with an external optical feedback and saturable absorber were experimentally investigated. The stimulus at a location of 2 km using a PZT transducer placed the location of a simulated intruder in Φ-OTDR trace after averaging 32 times. Field trials demonstrated the detection of a vehicle and a pedestrian crossing above the sensing line and a loop in a burial depth of 50 cm. This distributed intrusion sensor using a coherent DFB laser diode as the light source had the advantages of a simple structure and intruder detection capability at the underground burial location.

Investigations on laser transmission welding of absorber-free thermoplastics

Science.gov (United States)

Mamuschkin, Viktor; Olowinsky, Alexander; Britten, Simon W.; Engelmann, Christoph

2014-03-01

Within the plastic industry laser transmission welding ranks among the most important joining techniques and opens up new application areas continuously. So far, a big disadvantage of the process was the fact that the joining partners need different optical properties. Since thermoplastics are transparent for the radiation of conventional beam sources (800- 1100 nm) the absorbance of one of the joining partners has to be enhanced by adding an infrared absorber (IR-absorber). Until recently, welding of absorber-free parts has not been possible. New diode lasers provide a broad variety of wavelengths which allows exploiting intrinsic absorption bands of thermoplastics. The use of a proper wavelength in combination with special optics enables laser welding of two optically identical polymer parts without absorbers which can be utilized in a large number of applications primarily in the medical and food industry, where the use of absorbers usually entails costly and time-consuming authorization processes. In this paper some aspects of the process are considered as the influence of the focal position, which is crucial when both joining partners have equal optical properties. After a theoretical consideration, an evaluation is carried out based on welding trials with polycarbonate (PC). Further aspects such as gap bridging capability and the influence of thickness of the upper joining partner are investigated as well.

The origin of enhanced optical absorption in solar cells with metal nanoparticles embedded in the active layer

KAUST Repository

Lee, Jung-Yong

2010-04-29

We analyze the enhancement in optical absorption of an absorbing medium when spherical metal nanoparticles are embedded in it. Our analysis uses generalized Mie theory to calculate the absorbed optical power as a function of the distance from the metal nanoparticle. This analysis is used to evaluate the potential of enhancing optical absorption in thin-film solar cells by embedding spherical metal nanoparticles. We consider the trade-off between maximizing overall optical absorption and ensuring that a large fraction of the incident optical power is dissipated in the absorbing host medium rather than in the metal nanoparticle. We show that enhanced optical absorption results from strong scattering by the metal nanoparticle which locally enhances the optical electric fields. We also discuss the effect of a thin dielectric encapsulation of the metal nanoparticles. ©2010 Optical Society of America.

The origin of enhanced optical absorption in solar cells with metal nanoparticles embedded in the active layer

KAUST Repository

Lee, Jung-Yong; Peumans, Peter

2010-01-01

We analyze the enhancement in optical absorption of an absorbing medium when spherical metal nanoparticles are embedded in it. Our analysis uses generalized Mie theory to calculate the absorbed optical power as a function of the distance from the metal nanoparticle. This analysis is used to evaluate the potential of enhancing optical absorption in thin-film solar cells by embedding spherical metal nanoparticles. We consider the trade-off between maximizing overall optical absorption and ensuring that a large fraction of the incident optical power is dissipated in the absorbing host medium rather than in the metal nanoparticle. We show that enhanced optical absorption results from strong scattering by the metal nanoparticle which locally enhances the optical electric fields. We also discuss the effect of a thin dielectric encapsulation of the metal nanoparticles. ©2010 Optical Society of America.

Low Absorbance Measurements

Science.gov (United States)

Harris, T. D.; Williams, A. M.

1983-10-01

The application of low absorption measurements to dilute solute determination requires specific instrumental characteristics. The use of laser intracavity absorption and thermal lens calorimetry to measure concentration is shown. The specific operating parameters that determine sensitivity are delineated along with the limits different measurement strategies impose. Finally areas of improvement in components that would result in improve sensitivity, accuracy, and reliability are discussed. During the past decade, a large number of methods have been developed for measuring the light absorbed by transparent materials. These include measurements on gases, liquids, and solids. The activity has been prompted by a variety of applications and a similar variety of disciplines. In Table 1 some representative examples of these methods is shown along with their published detection limits.1 It is clear that extraordinarily small absorbances can be measured. Most of the methods can be conveniently divided into two groups. These groups are those that measure the transmission of the sample and those that measure the light absorbed by the sample. The light absorbed methods are calorimetric in character. The advantages and disadvantages of each method varies depending on the principal application for which they were developed. The most prevalent motivation has been to characterize the bulk optical properties of transparent materials. Two examples are the development of extremely transparent glasses for use as fiber optic materials and the development of substrates for high power laser operation.

Absorber Alignment Measurement Tool for Solar Parabolic Trough Collectors: Preprint

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Stynes, J. K.; Ihas, B.

2012-04-01

As we pursue efforts to lower the capital and installation costs of parabolic trough solar collectors, it is essential to maintain high optical performance. While there are many optical tools available to measure the reflector slope errors of parabolic trough solar collectors, there are few tools to measure the absorber alignment. A new method is presented here to measure the absorber alignment in two dimensions to within 0.5 cm. The absorber alignment is measured using a digital camera and four photogrammetric targets. Physical contact with the receiver absorber or glass is not necessary. The alignment of the absorber is measured along its full length so that sagging of the absorber can be quantified with this technique. The resulting absorber alignment measurement provides critical information required to accurately determine the intercept factor of a collector.

The Spatial and Temporal Distributions of Absorbing Aerosols over East Asia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Litai Kang

2017-10-01

Full Text Available Absorbing aerosols can strongly absorb solar radiation and have a profound impact on the global and regional climate. Black carbon (BC, organic carbon (OC and dust are three major types of absorbing aerosols. In order to deepen the overall understanding of absorbing aerosols over East Asia and provide a basis for further investigation of its role in enhanced warming in drylands, the spatial-temporal distribution of absorbing aerosols over East Asia for the period of 2005–2016 was investigated based on the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI satellite retrievals. Overall, high values of Aerosol Absorption Optical Depth (AAOD mainly distribute near dust sources as well as BC and OC sources. AAOD reaches its maximum during spring over East Asia as a result of dust activity and biomass burning. Single-scattering albedo (SSA is comparatively high (>0.96 in the most part of East Asia in the summer, indicating the dominance of aerosol scattering. Hyper-arid regions have the highest Aerosol Optical Depth (AOD and AAOD among the five climatic regions, with springtime values up to 0.72 and 0.04, respectively. Humid and sub-humid regions have relatively high AOD and AAOD during the spring and winter and the highest SSA during the summer. AAOD in some areas shows significant upward trends, which is likely due to the increase of BC and OC emission. SSA shows overall downward trends, indicating the enhancement of the aerosol absorption. Analysis of emission inventory and dust index data shows that BC and OC emissions mainly come from the humid regions, while dust sources mainly distribute in drylands.

Angular-momentum-assisted dissociation of CO in strong optical fields

Science.gov (United States)

Mullin, Amy; Ogden, Hannah; Murray, Matthew; Liu, Qingnan; Toro, Carlos

2017-04-01

Filaments are produced in CO gas by intense, chirped laser pulses. Visible emission from C2 is observed as a result of chemical reactions of highly excited CO. At laser intensities greater than 1014 W cm-2, the C2 emission shows a strong dependence on laser polarization. Oppositely chirped pulses of light with ω0 = 800 nm are recombined spatially and temporally to generate angularly accelerating electric fields (up to 30 THz) that either have an instantaneous linear polarization or act as a dynamic polarization grating that oscillates among linear and circular polarizations. The angularly accelerating linear polarization corresponds to an optical centrifuge that concurrently drives molecules into high rotational states (with J 50) and induces strong-field dissociation. Higher order excitation is observed for the time-varying laser polarization configuration that does not induce rotational excitation. The results indicate that the presence of rotational angular momentum lowers the threshold for CO dissociation in strong optical fields by coupling nuclear and electronic degrees of freedom. Support from NSF CHE-1058721 and the University of Maryland.

Absorbed dose in AgBr in direct film for photon energies (<150 keV): relation to optical density. Theoretical calculation and experimental evaluation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Helmrot, E.; Alm Carlsson, G.

1996-01-01

Calculations of absorbed dose in the silver bromide were compared with measurements of optical densities in Ultra-speed and Ektaspeed films for a broad range (25-145 kV) of X-ray energy. The calculated absorbed dose values were appropriately averaged over the complete photon energy spectrum, which was determined experimentally using a Compton spectrometer. For the whole range of tube potentials used, the measured optical densities of the films were found to be proportional to the mean absorbed dose in the AgBr grains calculated according to GREENING's theory. They were also found to be proportional to the collision kerma in silver bromide (K c,AgBr ) indicating proportionality between K c,AgBr and the mean absorbed dose in silver bromide. While GREENING's theory shows that the quotient of the mean absorbed dose in silver bromide and K c,AgBr varies with photon energy, this is not apparent when averaged over the broad (diagnostic) X-ray energy spectra used here. Alternatively, proportionality between K c,AgBr and the mean absorbed dose in silver bromide can be interpreted as resulting from a combination of the SPIERS-CHARLTON theory, valid at low photon energies ( c,AgBr (at the position of the film) independent of photon energy. The importance of taking the complete X-ray energy spectrum into full account in deriving K c,AgBr is clearly demonstrated, showing that the concept of effective energy must be used with care. (orig./HP)

Annealing effect on the structural and optical properties of Cr/α-Cr2O3 monodispersed particles based solar absorbers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Khamlich, S.; McCrindle, R.; Nuru, Z.Y.; Cingo, N.; Maaza, M.

2013-01-01

Graphical abstract: A cost-effective and environmentally friendly green chemical method, the so-called aqueous chemical growth (ACG) method, was used to deposit chromium/alpha-chromium(III) oxide, Cr/α-Cr 2 O 3 , monodispersed particles, for solar absorbers applications. Highlights: ► Cr/α-Cr 2 O 3 have been deposited by the aqueous chemical growth (ACG) method. ► High temperature annealing affects the optical selectivity of the deposited particles. ► Oxygen diffusion to the interface at high temperature results in the oxidization of the substrate. - Abstract: A cost-effective and environmentally friendly green chemical method, the so-called aqueous chemical growth (ACG) method, was used to deposit chromium/alpha-chromium(III) oxide, Cr/α-Cr 2 O 3 , monodispersed particles, for solar absorbers applications. The deposited particles were annealed at various temperatures in a hydrogen atmosphere for 2 h to study the annealing temperature dependence of the structural, chemical and optical properties of the particles grown on tantalum substrates. The deposited Cr/α-Cr 2 O 3 was characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), attenuated total reflection (ATR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive spectrometry (EDS), and diffuse reflectance UV–vis–NIR spectroscopy. The XRD and ATR analysis indicated that by increasing annealing temperature, the particles crystallinity was improved and Ta 2 O 5 was formed around 600 °C, due to the fast oxygen diffusion from the deposited α-Cr 2 O 3 toward the tantalum substrate. The optical measurements show that samples annealed at 400 and 500 °C exhibit the targeted high absorbing optical characteristics of “Black chrome”, while those annealed below 400 °C and above 500 °C show a significant low absorptivity and high emissivity.

Understanding the strong intervening O VI absorber at zabs ˜ 0.93 towards PG1206+459

Science.gov (United States)

Rosenwasser, B.; Muzahid, S.; Charlton, J. C.; Kacprzak, G. G.; Wakker, B. P.; Churchill, C. W.

2018-05-01

We have obtained new observations of the partial Lyman limit absorber at zabs=0.93 towards quasar PG 1206+459, and revisit its chemical and physical conditions. The absorber, with N({H I})˜ 10^{17.0} cm-2 and absorption lines spread over ≳1000 km s-1 in velocity, is one of the strongest known O VI absorbers at \\log N({{O VI}})= 15.54 ± 0.17. Our analysis makes use of the previously known low- (e.g. Mg II), intermediate- (e.g. Si IV), and high-ionization (e.g. C IV, N V, Ne VIII) metal lines along with new Hubble Space Telescope (HST)/Cosmic Origins Spectrograph (COS) observations that cover O VI and an HST/ACS image of the quasar field. Consistent with previous studies, we find that the absorber has a multiphase structure. The low-ionization phase arises from gas with a density of \\log (n_H/cm^{-3})˜ -2.5 and a solar to supersolar metallicity. The high-ionization phase stems from gas with a significantly lower density, i.e. \\log (n_H/cm^{-3}) ˜ -3.8, and a near-solar to solar metallicity. The high-ionization phase accounts for all of the absorption seen in C IV, N V, and O VI. We find the the detected Ne VIII, reported by Tripp et al. (2011), is best explained as originating in a stand-alone collisionally ionized phase at T˜ 10^{5.85} K, except in one component in which both O VI and Ne VIII can be produced via photoionization. We demonstrate that such strong O VI absorption can easily arise from photoionization at z ≳ 1, but that, due to the decreasing extragalactic UV background radiation, only collisional ionization can produce large O VI features at z ˜ 0. The azimuthal angle of ˜88° of the disc of the nearest (68 kpc) luminous (1.3L*) galaxy at zgal = 0.9289, which shows signatures of recent merger, suggests that the bulk of the absorption arises from metal enriched outflows.

Isolating Weakly and Strongly-Absorbing Classes of Carbonaceous Aerosol: Optical Properties, Abundance and Lifecycle

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bond, Tami C. [Univ. of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, IL (United States); Rood, Mark J. [Univ. of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, IL (United States); Riemer, Nicole [Univ. of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, IL (United States)

2013-09-15

absorption. Aging by NH₃ produces a mild increase in the hygroscopicity of BrC, and a greater increase in cloud condensation nucleus activity. Therefore, reactions with NH₃ form compounds that absorb more light than the original aerosol and act as surfactants, increasing the likelihood that these particles will participate in cloud formation. The particle-resolved model PartMC was enhanced to include additional physical processes. It was calibrated against chamber results, and we needed to account for the non-spherical structure of particle agglomerates, even for ammonium sulfate. We implemented the “volatility basis set” (VBS) framework in the model. The updated PartMC-MOSAIC model was able to simulate gas and aerosol concentrations from the CARES campaign at levels similar to observations. The PartMC model was used to evaluate plume dynamics affecting CCN activity of biomass burning aerosols early in a plume. Coagulation limits emission of CCN to about 1016 per kg of fuel. Co-emitted, semi-volatile organic compounds or emission at small particle sizes can homogenize composition before plume exit, and SVOC co-emission can be the main factor determining plume-exit CCN for hydrophobic or small particles. When externally-mixed, accumulation-mode particles are emitted in the absence of SVOCs, CCN can be overestimated by up to a factor of two. This means that measurements made on aerosol from all phases of combustion gathered into a single chamber may incorrectly estimate CCN properties. Based on the findings here, we make some recommendations for use in large-scale models: (1) inventories should represent “internally” versus “externally” mixed under certain combustion conditions; (2) consideration of non-spherical particles when coagulation is important for climate-relevant properties near sources; (3) designating organic biomass particles as weakly absorbing; (4) “inherent absorption” and hygroscopicity are not altered with aging by ozone

Optical Properties of Moderately-Absorbing Organic and Mixed Organic/Inorganic Particles at Very High Humidities

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bond, Tami C; Rood, Mark J; Brem, Benjamin T; Mena-Gonzalez, Francisco C; Chen, Yanju

2012-04-16

Relative humidity (RH) affects the water content of an aerosol, altering its ability to scatter and absorb light, which is important for aerosol effects on climate and visibility. This project involves in situ measurement and modeling of aerosol optical properties including absorption, scattering and extinction at three visible wavelengths (467, 530, 660 nm), for organic carbon (OC) generated by pyrolysis of biomass, ammonium sulfate and sodium chloride, and their mixtures at controlled RH conditions. Novel components of this project include investigation of: (1) Changes in all three of these optical properties at scanned RH conditions; (2) Optical properties at RH values up to 95%, which are usually extrapolated instead of measured; and (3) Examination of aerosols generated by the pyrolysis of wood, which is representative of primary atmospheric organic carbon, and its mixture with inorganic aerosol. Scattering and extinction values were used to determine light absorption by difference and single scattering albedo values. Extensive instrumentation development and benchmarking with independently measured and modeled values were used to obtain and evaluate these new results. The single scattering albedo value for a dry absorbing polystyrene microsphere benchmark agreed within 0.02 (absolute value) with independently published results at 530 nm. Light absorption by a nigrosin (sample light-absorbing) benchmark increased by a factor of 1.24 +/-0.06 at all wavelengths as RH increased from 38 to 95%. Closure modeling with Mie theory was able to reproduce this increase with the linear volume average (LVA) refractive index mixing rule for this water soluble compound. Absorption by biomass OC aerosol increased by a factor of 2.1 +/- 0.7 and 2.3 +/- 1.2 between 32 and 95% RH at 467 nm and 530 nm, but there was no detectable absorption at 660 nm. Additionally, the spectral dependence of absorption by OC that was observed with filter measurements was confirmed qualitatively

A Ten-Year Global Record of Absorbing Aerosols Above Clouds from OMI's Near-UV Observations

Science.gov (United States)

Jethva, Hiren; Torres, Omar; Ahn, Changwoo

2016-01-01

Aerosol-cloud interaction continues to be one of the leading uncertain components of climate models, primarily due to the lack of an adequate knowledge of the complex microphysical and radiative processes associated with the aerosol-cloud system. The situations when aerosols and clouds are found in the same atmospheric column, for instance, when light-absorbing aerosols such as biomass burning generated carbonaceous particles or wind-blown dust overlay low-level cloud decks, are commonly found over several regional of the world. Contrary to the cloud-free scenario over dark surface, for which aerosols are known to produce a net cooling effect (negative radiative forcing) on climate, the overlapping situation of absorbing aerosols over cloud can potentially exert a significant level of atmospheric absorption and produces a positive radiative forcing at top-of-atmosphere. The magnitude of direct radiative effects of aerosols above cloud depends directly on the aerosol loading, microphysical-optical properties of the aerosol layer and the underlying cloud deck, and geometric cloud fraction. We help in addressing this problem by introducing a novel product of optical depth of absorbing aerosols above clouds retrieved from near-UV observations made by the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) on board NASA's Aura platform. The presence of absorbing aerosols above cloud reduces the upwelling radiation reflected by cloud and produces a strong 'color ratio' effect in the near-UV region, which can be unambiguously detected in the OMI measurements. Physically based on this effect, the OMACA algorithm retrieves the optical depths of aerosols and clouds simultaneously under a prescribed state of atmosphere. The algorithm architecture and results from a ten-year global record including global climatology of frequency of occurrence and above-cloud aerosol optical depth, and a discussion on related future field campaigns are presented.

Optical pulling of airborne absorbing particles and smut spores over a meter-scale distance with negative photophoretic force

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lin, Jinda; Hart, Adam G.; Li, Yong-qing, E-mail: liy@ecu.edu [Department of Physics, East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina 27858-4353 (United States)

2015-04-27

We demonstrate optical pulling of single light-absorbing particles and smut spores in air over a meter-scale distance using a single collimated laser beam based on negative photophoretic force. The micron-sized particles are pulled towards the light source at a constant speed of 1–10 cm/s in the optical pulling pipeline while undergoing transverse rotation at 0.2–10 kHz. The pulled particles can be manipulated and precisely positioned on the entrance window with an accuracy of ∼20 μm, and their chemical compositions can be characterized with micro-Raman spectroscopy.

Slow-light enhanced optical detection in liquid-infiltrated photonic crystals

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pedersen, Martin Erland Vestergaard; Rishøj, Lars Søgaard; Steffensen, Henrik

2007-01-01

Slow-light enhanced optical detection in liquid-infiltrated photonic crystals is theoretically studied. Using a scattering-matrix approach and the Wigner–Smith delay time concept, we show that optical absorbance benefits both from slow-light phenomena as well as a high filling factor of the energy...... residing in the liquid. Utilizing strongly dispersive photonic crystal structures, we numerically demonstrate how liquid-infiltrated photonic crystals facilitate enhanced light–matter interactions, by potentially up to an order of magnitude. The proposed concept provides strong opportunities for improving...

Stable optical soliton in the ring-cavity fiber system with carbon nanotube as saturable absorber

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Bang-Qing; Ma, Yu-Lan; Yang, Tie-Mei

2018-01-01

Main attention focuses on the theoretical study of the ring-cavity fiber laser system with carbon nanotubes (CNT) as saturable absorber (SA). The system is modelled as a non-standard Schrödinger equation with the coefficients blended real and imaginary numbers. New stable exact soliton solution is constructed by the bilinear transformation method for the system. The influences of the key parameters related to CNTs and SA on the optical pulse soliton are discussed in simulation. The soliton amplitude and phase can be tuned by choosing suitable parameters.

Strongly-correlated ultracold atoms in optical lattices

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dao, Tung-Lam

2008-01-01

This thesis is concerned with the theoretical study of strongly correlated quantum states of ultra-cold fermionic atoms trapped in optical lattices. This field has grown considerably in recent years, following the experimental progress made in cooling and controlling atomic gases, which has led to the observation of the first Bose-Einstein condensation (in 1995). The trapping of these gases in optical lattices has opened a new field of research at the interface between atomic physics and condensed matter physics. The observation of the transition from a superfluid to a Mott insulator for bosonic atoms paved the way for the study of strongly correlated phases and quantum phase transitions in these systems. Very recently, the investigation of the Mott insulator state of fermionic atoms provides additional motivation to conduct such theoretical studies. This thesis can be divided broadly into two types of work: - On the one hand, we have proposed a new type of spectroscopy to measure single-particle correlators and associated physical observables in these strongly correlated states. - On the other hand, we have studied the ground state of the fermionic Hubbard model under different conditions (mass imbalance, population imbalance) by using analytical techniques and numerical simulations. In a collaboration with J. Dalibard and C. Salomon (LKB at the ENS Paris) and I. Carusotto (Trento, Italy), we have proposed and studied a novel spectroscopic method for the measurement and characterization of single particle excitations (in particular, the low energy excitations, namely the quasiparticles) in systems of cold fermionic atoms, with energy and momentum resolution. This type of spectroscopy is an analogue of angular-resolved photoemission in solid state physics (ARPES). We have shown, via simple models, that this method of measurement can characterize quasiparticles not only in the 'conventional' phases such as the weakly interacting gas in the lattice or in Fermi

Optical Control of Mechanical Mode-Coupling within a MoS2 Resonator in the Strong-Coupling Regime.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Chang-Hua; Kim, In Soo; Lauhon, Lincoln J

2015-10-14

Two-dimensional (2-D) materials including graphene and transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) are an exciting platform for ultrasensitive force and displacement detection in which the strong light-matter coupling is exploited in the optical control of nanomechanical motion. Here we report the optical excitation and displacement detection of a ∼ 3 nm thick MoS2 resonator in the strong-coupling regime, which has not previously been achieved in 2-D materials. Mechanical mode frequencies can be tuned by more than 12% by optical heating, and they exhibit avoided crossings indicative of strong intermode coupling. When the membrane is optically excited at the frequency difference between vibrational modes, normal mode splitting is observed, and the intermode energy exchange rate exceeds the mode decay rate by a factor of 15. Finite element and analytical modeling quantifies the extent of mode softening necessary to control intermode energy exchange in the strong coupling regime.

Strong Broadband Terahertz Optical Activity through Control of the Blaschke Phase with Chiral Metasurfaces

Science.gov (United States)

Cole, Michael A.; Chen, Wen-chen; Liu, Mingkai; Kruk, Sergey S.; Padilla, Willie J.; Shadrivov, Ilya V.; Powell, David A.

2017-07-01

We demonstrate terahertz chiral metamaterials that achieve resonant transmission and strong optical activity. This response is realized in a metasurface coupled to its Babinet complement, with additional twist. Uniquely, the optical activity achieved in this type of metamaterial is weakly dispersive around the resonant transmission maxima, but it can be highly dispersive around the transmission minima. It has recently been shown that this unique optical activity response is closely related to zeros in the transmission spectra of circular polarizations through the Kramers-Kronig relations and strong resonant features in the optical activity spectrum corresponding to the Blaschke phase terms. Here we demonstrate how modifying the meta-atom geometry greatly affects the location and magnitude of these Blaschke phase terms. We study three different meta-atoms, which are variations on the simple cross structure. Their responses are measured using terahertz time-domain spectroscopy and analyzed via numerical simulations.

Optical properties and thermal stability of TiAlN/AlON tandem absorber prepared by reactive DC/RF magnetron sputtering

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Barshilia, Harish C.; Selvakumar, N.; Rajam, K.S. [Surface Engineering Division, National Aerospace Laboratories, Bangalore 560 017 (India); Biswas, A. [Spectroscopy Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Center, Mumbai 400 085 (India)

2008-11-15

Spectrally selective TiAlN/AlON tandem absorbers were deposited on copper and stainless steel substrates using a reactive DC/RF magnetron sputtering system. The compositions and thicknesses of the individual component layers were optimized to achieve high absorptance ({alpha}=0.931-0.942) and low emittance ({epsilon}=0.05-0.06) on copper substrate. The experimental spectroscopic ellipsometric data have been fitted with the theoretical models to derive the dispersion of the optical constants (n and k). In order to study the thermal stability of the tandem absorbers, they were subjected to heat treatment (in air and vacuum) for different durations and temperatures. The tandem absorber deposited on Cu substrates exhibited high solar selectivity ({alpha}/{epsilon}) of 0.946/0.07 even after heat treatment in air up to 600 C for 2 h. At 625 C, the solar selectivity decreased significantly on Cu substrates (e.g., {alpha}/{epsilon}=0.924/0.30). The tandem absorber on Cu substrates was also stable in air up to 100 h at 400 C with a solar selectivity of 0.919/0.06. Studies on the accelerated aging tests indicated that the activation energy for the degradation of the tandem absorber is of the order of 100 kJ/mol. (author)

Ni-Al Alloys as Alternative EUV Mask Absorber

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vu Luong

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Extreme ultraviolet (EUV lithography is being industrialized as the next candidate printing technique for high-volume manufacturing of scaled down integrated circuits. At mask level, the combination of EUV light at oblique incidence, absorber thickness, and non-uniform mirror reflectance through incidence angle, creates photomask-induced imaging aberrations, known as mask 3D (M3D effects. A possible mitigation for the M3D effects in the EUV binary intensity mask (BIM, is to use mask absorber materials with high extinction coefficient κ and refractive coefficient n close to unity. We propose nickel aluminide alloys as a candidate BIM absorber material, and characterize them versus a set of specifications that a novel EUV mask absorber must meet. The nickel aluminide samples have reduced crystallinity as compared to metallic nickel, and form a passivating surface oxide layer in neutral solutions. Composition and density profile are investigated to estimate the optical constants, which are then validated with EUV reflectometry. An oxidation-induced Al L2 absorption edge shift is observed, which significantly impacts the value of n at 13.5 nm wavelength and moves it closer to unity. The measured optical constants are incorporated in an accurate mask model for rigorous simulations. The M3D imaging impact of the nickel aluminide alloy mask absorbers, which predict significant M3D reduction in comparison to reference absorber materials. In this paper, we present an extensive experimental methodology flow to evaluate candidate mask absorber materials.

Strongly nonlinear optical glass fibers from noncentrosymmetric phase-change chalcogenide materials.

Science.gov (United States)

Chung, In; Jang, Joon I; Malliakas, Christos D; Ketterson, John B; Kanatzidis, Mercouri G

2010-01-13

We report that the one-dimensional polar selenophosphate compounds APSe(6) (A = K, Rb), which show crystal-glass phase-change behavior, exhibit strong second harmonic generation (SHG) response in both crystal and glassy forms. The crystalline materials are type-I phase-matchable with SHG coefficients chi((2)) of 151.3 and 149.4 pm V(-1) for K(+) and Rb(+) salts, respectively, which is the highest among phase-matchable nonlinear optical (NLO) materials with band gaps over 1.0 eV. The glass of APSe(6) exhibits comparable SHG intensities to the top infrared NLO material AgGaSe(2) without any poling treatments. APSe(6) exhibit excellent mid-IR transparency. We demonstrate that starting from noncentrosymmetric phase-change materials such as APSe(6) (A = K, Rb), we can obtain optical glass fibers with strong, intrinsic, and temporally stable second-order nonlinear optical (NLO) response. The as-prepared glass fibers exhibit SHG and difference frequency generation (DFG) responses over a wide range of wavelengths. Raman spectroscopy and pair distribution function (PDF) analyses provide further understanding of the local structure in amorphous state of KPSe(6) bulk glass and glass fiber. We propose that this approach can be widely applied to prepare permanent NLO glass from materials that undergo a phase-change process.

Observation of Lorentzian lineshapes in the room temperature optical spectra of strongly coupled Jaggregate/metal hybrid nanostructures by linear two-dimensional optical spectroscopy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang, Wei; Sommer, Ephraim; De Sio, Antonietta; Gross, Petra; Vogelgesang, Ralf; Lienau, Christoph; Vasa, Parinda

2014-01-01

We analyze the linear optical reflectivity spectra of a prototypical, strongly coupled metal/molecular hybrid nanostructure by means of a new experimental approach, linear two-dimensional optical spectroscopy. White-light, broadband spectral interferometry is used to measure amplitude and spectral phase of the sample reflectivity or transmission with high precision and to reconstruct the time structure of the electric field emitted by the sample upon impulsive excitation. A numerical analysis of this time-domain signal provides a two-dimensional representation of the coherent optical response of the sample as a function of excitation and detection frequency. The approach is used to study a nanostructure formed by depositing a thin J-aggregated dye layer on a gold grating. In this structure, strong coupling between excitons and surface plasmon polaritons results in the formation of hybrid polariton modes. In the strong coupling regime, Lorentzian lineshape profiles of different polariton modes are observed at room temperature. This is taken as an indication that the investigated strongly coupled polariton excitations are predominantly homogeneously broadened at room temperature. This new approach presents a versatile, simple and highly precise addition to nonlinear optical spectroscopic techniques for the analysis of line broadening phenomena. (paper)

The Relationship Between Dissolved Organic Matter Composition and Organic Matter Optical Properties in Freshwaters

Science.gov (United States)

Aiken, G.; Spencer, R. G.; Butler, K.

2010-12-01

Dissolved organic matter (DOM) chemistry and flux are potentially useful, albeit, underutilized, indicators of watershed characteristics, climate influences on watershed hydrology and soils, and changes associated with resource management. Source materials, watershed geochemistry, oxidative processes and hydrology exert strong influences on the nature and reactivity of DOM in aquatic systems. The molecules that comprise DOM, in turn, control a number of environmental processes important for ecosystem function including light penetration and photochemistry, microbial activity, mineral dissolution/precipitation, and the transport and reactivity of hydrophobic compounds and metals (e.g. Hg). In particular, aromatic molecules derived from higher plants exert strong controls on aquatic photochemistry, and on the transport and biogeochemistry of metals. Assessment of DOM composition and transport, therefore, can provide a basis for understanding watershed processes and biogeochemistry of rivers and streams. Here we present results of multi-year studies designed to assess the seasonal and spatial variability of DOM quantity and quality for 57 North American Rivers. DOM concentrations and composition, based on DOM fractionation on XAD resins, ultraviolet (UV)/visible absorption and fluorescence spectroscopic analyses, and specific compound analyses, varied greatly both between sites and seasonally within a given site. DOM in these rivers exhibited a wide range of concentration (4000 µM C* L-1) and specific ultra-violet absorbance at 254 nm (SUVA254) (0.6 to 5 L *mg C-1 *m-1), an optical measurement that is an indicator of aromatic carbon content. In almost all systems, UV absorbance measured at specific wavelengths (e.g. 254 nm) correlated strongly with DOM and hydrophobic organic acid (HPOA) content (aquatic humic substances). The relationships between dissolved organic carbon (DOC) concentration and absorbance for the range of systems were quite variable due to

Optical programmable metamaterials

Science.gov (United States)

Gong, Cheng; Zhang, Nan; Dai, Zijie; Liu, Weiwei

2018-02-01

We suggest and demonstrate the concept of optical programmable metamaterials which can configure the device's electromagnetic parameters by the programmable optical stimuli. In such metamaterials, the optical stimuli produced by a FPGA controlled light emitting diode array can switch or combine the resonance modes which are coupled in. As an example, an optical programmable metamaterial terahertz absorber is proposed. Each cell of the absorber integrates four meta-rings (asymmetric 1/4 rings) with photo-resistors connecting the critical gaps. The principle and design of the metamaterials are illustrated and the simulation results demonstrate the functionalities for programming the metamaterial absorber to change its bandwidth and resonance frequency.

A high absorbance material for solar collectors' applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Oliva, A I; Maldonado, R D; Díaz, E A; Montalvo, A I

2013-01-01

In this work, we proposed a low cost material to be used as an excellent absorber for solar collectors, to increase its thermal efficiency by the high capacity to absorb solar radiation. The material, known as 'smoke black' (soot) can be obtained by the incomplete combustion of organic materials, such as the oxygen-acetylene, paraffin, or candles. A comparative analysis between the optical properties (reflectance, absorbance, and emissivity) measured on three covered copper surfaces (without paint, with a commercial matte black paint, and with smoke black) shows amazing optical results for the smoke black. Reflectance values of the smoke black applied over copper surfaces improves 56 times the values obtained from commercial black paints. High values of emissivity (E=0.9988) were measured on the surface covered with smoke black by spectrophotometry in the UV-VIS range, which represents about 7% of increment as compared with the value obtained for commercial black paints (E=0.938). The proposed high absorbance material can be easily applied on any kind of surfaces at low cost.

Hybrid plasmonic systems: from optical transparencies to strong coupling and entanglement

Science.gov (United States)

Gray, Stephen K.

2018-02-01

Classical electrodynamics and quantum mechanical models of quantum dots and molecules interacting with plasmonic systems are discussed. Calculations show that just one quantum dot interacting with a plasmonic system can lead to interesting optical effects, including optical transparencies and more general Fano resonance features that can be tailored with ultrafast laser pulses. Such effects can occur in the limit of moderate coupling between quantum dot and plasmonic system. The approach to the strong coupling regime is also discussed. In cases with two or more quantum dots within a plasmonic system, the possibility of quantum entanglement mediated through the dissipative plasmonic structure arises.

The temporal evolution process from fluorescence bleaching to clean Raman spectra of single solid particles optically trapped in air

Science.gov (United States)

Gong, Zhiyong; Pan, Yong-Le; Videen, Gorden; Wang, Chuji

2017-12-01

We observe the entire temporal evolution process of fluorescence and Raman spectra of single solid particles optically trapped in air. The spectra initially contain strong fluorescence with weak Raman peaks, then the fluorescence was bleached within seconds, and finally only the clean Raman peaks remain. We construct an optical trap using two counter-propagating hollow beams, which is able to stably trap both absorbing and non-absorbing particles in air, for observing such temporal processes. This technique offers a new method to study dynamic changes in the fluorescence and Raman spectra from a single optically trapped particle in air.

Chemical Sensors Based on Optical Ring Resonators

Science.gov (United States)

Homer, Margie; Manfreda, Allison; Mansour, Kamjou; Lin, Ying; Ksendzov, Alexander

2005-01-01

Chemical sensors based on optical ring resonators are undergoing development. A ring resonator according to this concept is a closed-circuit dielectric optical waveguide. The outermost layer of this waveguide, analogous to the optical cladding layer on an optical fiber, is a made of a polymer that (1) has an index of refraction lower than that of the waveguide core and (2) absorbs chemicals from the surrounding air. The index of refraction of the polymer changes with the concentration of absorbed chemical( s). The resonator is designed to operate with relatively strong evanescent-wave coupling between the outer polymer layer and the electromagnetic field propagating along the waveguide core. By virtue of this coupling, the chemically induced change in index of refraction of the polymer causes a measurable shift in the resonance peaks of the ring. In a prototype that has been used to demonstrate the feasibility of this sensor concept, the ring resonator is a dielectric optical waveguide laid out along a closed path resembling a racetrack (see Figure 1). The prototype was fabricated on a silicon substrate by use of standard techniques of thermal oxidation, chemical vapor deposition, photolithography, etching, and spin coating. The prototype resonator waveguide features an inner cladding of SiO2, a core of SixNy, and a chemical-sensing outer cladding of ethyl cellulose. In addition to the ring Chemical sensors based on optical ring resonators are undergoing development. A ring resonator according to this concept is a closed-circuit dielectric optical waveguide. The outermost layer of this waveguide, analogous to the optical cladding layer on an optical fiber, is a made of a polymer that (1) has an index of refraction lower than that of the waveguide core and (2) absorbs chemicals from the surrounding air. The index of refraction of the polymer changes with the concentration of absorbed chemical( s). The resonator is designed to operate with relatively strong

Conical Refraction Bottle Beams for Entrapment of Absorbing Droplets.

Science.gov (United States)

Esseling, Michael; Alpmann, Christina; Schnelle, Jens; Meissner, Robert; Denz, Cornelia

2018-03-22

Conical refraction (CR) optical bottle beams for photophoretic trapping of airborne absorbing droplets are introduced and experimentally demonstrated. CR describes the circular split-up of unpolarised light propagating along an optical axis in a biaxial crystal. The diverging and converging cones lend themselves to the construction of optical bottle beams with flexible entry points. The interaction of single inkjet droplets with an open or partly open bottle beam is shown implementing high-speed video microscopy in a dual-view configuration. Perpendicular image planes are visualized on a single camera chip to characterize the integral three-dimensional movement dynamics of droplets. We demonstrate how a partly opened optical bottle transversely confines liquid objects. Furthermore we observe and analyse transverse oscillations of absorbing droplets as they hit the inner walls and simultaneously measure both transverse and axial velocity components.

Q-switched Yb3+:YAG laser using plasmonic Cu2-xSe quantum dots as saturable absorbers

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Yimeng; Zhan, Yi; Lee, Sooho; Wang, Li; Zhang, Xinping

2018-04-01

Cu2-xSe quantum dots (QDs) were synthesized by organometallic synthesis methods. Due to heavy self-doping, the Cu2-xSe QDs exhibit particle plasmon resonance in the near-infrared. Transient absorption spectroscopic investigation revealed strong nonlinear optical absorption and bleaching performance of the QDs under femtosecond pulse excitation, which enabled the Cu2-xSe QDs to be excellent saturable absorbers and applied in Q-switched or mode-locked lasers. A passively Q-switched Yb3+:YAG solid-state laser at 1.03 μm was achieved by coating Cu2-xSe QDs as saturable absorbers onto one of the output coupler of the V-shaped linear cavity.

An ultra-broadband multilayered graphene absorber

KAUST Repository

Amin, Muhammad

2013-01-01

An ultra-broadband multilayered graphene absorber operating at terahertz (THz) frequencies is proposed. The absorber design makes use of three mechanisms: (i) The graphene layers are asymmetrically patterned to support higher order surface plasmon modes that destructively interfere with the dipolar mode and generate electromagnetically induced absorption. (ii) The patterned graphene layers biased at different gate voltages backedup with dielectric substrates are stacked on top of each other. The resulting absorber is polarization dependent but has an ultra-broadband of operation. (iii) Graphene\\'s damping factor is increased by lowering its electron mobility to 1000cm 2=Vs. Indeed, numerical experiments demonstrate that with only three layers, bandwidth of 90% absorption can be extended upto 7THz, which is drastically larger than only few THz of bandwidth that can be achieved with existing metallic/graphene absorbers. © 2013 Optical Society of America.

Stability of aerosol droplets in Bessel beam optical traps under constant and pulsed external forces

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

David, Grégory; Esat, Kıvanç; Hartweg, Sebastian; Cremer, Johannes; Chasovskikh, Egor; Signorell, Ruth

2015-01-01

We report on the dynamics of aerosol droplets in optical traps under the influence of additional constant and pulsed external forces. Experimental results are compared with simulations of the three-dimensional droplet dynamics for two types of optical traps, the counter-propagating Bessel beam (CPBB) trap and the quadruple Bessel beam (QBB) trap. Under the influence of a constant gas flow (constant external force), the QBB trap is found to be more stable compared with the CPBB trap. By contrast, under pulsed laser excitation with laser pulse durations of nanoseconds (pulsed external force), the type of trap is of minor importance for the droplet stability. It typically needs pulsed laser forces that are several orders of magnitude higher than the optical forces to induce escape of the droplet from the trap. If the droplet strongly absorbs the pulsed laser light, these escape forces can be strongly reduced. The lower stability of absorbing droplets is a result of secondary thermal processes that cause droplet escape

Stability of aerosol droplets in Bessel beam optical traps under constant and pulsed external forces

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

David, Grégory; Esat, Kıvanç; Hartweg, Sebastian; Cremer, Johannes; Chasovskikh, Egor; Signorell, Ruth, E-mail: rsignorell@ethz.ch [Laboratory of Physical Chemistry, ETH Zürich, Vladimir-Prelog-Weg 2, CH-8093 Zürich (Switzerland)

2015-04-21

We report on the dynamics of aerosol droplets in optical traps under the influence of additional constant and pulsed external forces. Experimental results are compared with simulations of the three-dimensional droplet dynamics for two types of optical traps, the counter-propagating Bessel beam (CPBB) trap and the quadruple Bessel beam (QBB) trap. Under the influence of a constant gas flow (constant external force), the QBB trap is found to be more stable compared with the CPBB trap. By contrast, under pulsed laser excitation with laser pulse durations of nanoseconds (pulsed external force), the type of trap is of minor importance for the droplet stability. It typically needs pulsed laser forces that are several orders of magnitude higher than the optical forces to induce escape of the droplet from the trap. If the droplet strongly absorbs the pulsed laser light, these escape forces can be strongly reduced. The lower stability of absorbing droplets is a result of secondary thermal processes that cause droplet escape.

Stability of aerosol droplets in Bessel beam optical traps under constant and pulsed external forces.

Science.gov (United States)

David, Grégory; Esat, Kıvanç; Hartweg, Sebastian; Cremer, Johannes; Chasovskikh, Egor; Signorell, Ruth

2015-04-21

We report on the dynamics of aerosol droplets in optical traps under the influence of additional constant and pulsed external forces. Experimental results are compared with simulations of the three-dimensional droplet dynamics for two types of optical traps, the counter-propagating Bessel beam (CPBB) trap and the quadruple Bessel beam (QBB) trap. Under the influence of a constant gas flow (constant external force), the QBB trap is found to be more stable compared with the CPBB trap. By contrast, under pulsed laser excitation with laser pulse durations of nanoseconds (pulsed external force), the type of trap is of minor importance for the droplet stability. It typically needs pulsed laser forces that are several orders of magnitude higher than the optical forces to induce escape of the droplet from the trap. If the droplet strongly absorbs the pulsed laser light, these escape forces can be strongly reduced. The lower stability of absorbing droplets is a result of secondary thermal processes that cause droplet escape.

Stability of aerosol droplets in Bessel beam optical traps under constant and pulsed external forces

Science.gov (United States)

David, Grégory; Esat, Kıvanç; Hartweg, Sebastian; Cremer, Johannes; Chasovskikh, Egor; Signorell, Ruth

2015-04-01

We report on the dynamics of aerosol droplets in optical traps under the influence of additional constant and pulsed external forces. Experimental results are compared with simulations of the three-dimensional droplet dynamics for two types of optical traps, the counter-propagating Bessel beam (CPBB) trap and the quadruple Bessel beam (QBB) trap. Under the influence of a constant gas flow (constant external force), the QBB trap is found to be more stable compared with the CPBB trap. By contrast, under pulsed laser excitation with laser pulse durations of nanoseconds (pulsed external force), the type of trap is of minor importance for the droplet stability. It typically needs pulsed laser forces that are several orders of magnitude higher than the optical forces to induce escape of the droplet from the trap. If the droplet strongly absorbs the pulsed laser light, these escape forces can be strongly reduced. The lower stability of absorbing droplets is a result of secondary thermal processes that cause droplet escape.

Optical Pulsing in an Absorbing Liquid

Science.gov (United States)

Barnes, Jacob; Evans, Dean; Guha, Shekhar

2003-03-01

A continuous-wave laser can be converted into a series of repetitive pulses by focusing the laser beam into an absorbing liquid (e.g. nigrosine dissolved in a solvent), where the mechanism responsible for the pulses is the scattering of light off of photo-generated bubbles. The dependence of the pulsation frequency on the solvent, power, and cell thickness will be shown. The authors would like to acknowledge the contributions made by Prof. Daniel Lathrop (University of Maryland, Department of Physics) at the APS March 2002 meeting.

Reverse-absorbance-modulation-optical lithography for optical nanopatterning at low light levels

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Majumder, Apratim, E-mail: apratim.majumder@utah.edu; Wan, Xiaowen; Masid, Farhana; Menon, Rajesh [Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah 84112 (United States); Pollock, Benjamin J.; Andrew, Trisha L. [Department of Chemistry, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin 53706 (United States); Soppera, Olivier [Mulhouse Institute for Material Sciences, CNRS LRC 7228, BP2488, Mulhouse 68200 (France)

2016-06-15

Absorbance-Modulation-Optical Lithography (AMOL) has been previously demonstrated to be able to confine light to deep sub-wavelength dimensions and thereby, enable patterning of features beyond the diffraction limit. In AMOL, a thin photochromic layer that converts between two states via light exposure is placed on top of the photoresist layer. The long wavelength photons render the photochromic layer opaque, while the short-wavelength photons render it transparent. By simultaneously illuminating a ring-shaped spot at the long wavelength and a round spot at the short wavelength, the photochromic layer transmits only a highly confined beam at the short wavelength, which then exposes the underlying photoresist. Many photochromic molecules suffer from a giant mismatch in quantum yields for the opposing reactions such that the reaction initiated by the absorption of the short-wavelength photon is orders of magnitude more efficient than that initiated by the absorption of the long-wavelength photon. As a result, large intensities in the ring-shaped spot are required for deep sub-wavelength nanopatterning. In this article, we overcome this problem by using the long-wavelength photons to expose the photoresist, and the short-wavelength photons to confine the “exposing” beam. Thereby, we demonstrate the patterning of features as thin as λ/4.7 (137 nm for λ = 647 nm) using extremely low intensities (4-30 W/m{sup 2}, which is 34 times lower than that required in conventional AMOL). We further apply a rigorous model to explain our experiments and discuss the scope of the reverse-AMOL process.

Self-shielding and burn-out effects in the irradiation of strongly-neutron-absorbing material

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sekine, T.; Baba, H.

1978-01-01

Self-shielding and burn-out effects are discussed in the evaluation of radioisotopes formed by neutron irradiation of a strongly-neutron-absorbing material. A method of the evaluation of such effects is developed both for thermal and epithermal neutrons. Gadolinium oxide uniformly mixed with graphite powder was irradiated by reactor-neutrons together with pieces of a Co-Al alloy wire (the content of Co being 0.475%) as the neutron flux monitor. The configuration of the samples and flux monitors in each of two irradiations is illustrated. The yields of activities produced in the irradiated samples were determined by the γ-spectrometry with a Ge(Li) detector of a relative detection efficiency of 8%. Activities at the end of irradiation were estimated by corrections due to pile-up, self-absorption, detection efficiency, branching ratio, and decay of the activity. Results of the calculation are discussed in comparison with the observed yields of 153 Gd, 160 Tb, and 161 Tb for the case of neutron irradiation of disc-shaped targets of gadolinium oxide. (T.G.)

Enhancement of Optical Adaptive Sensing by Using a Dual-Stage Seesaw-Swivel Actuator with a Tunable Vibration Absorber

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Po-Chien Chou

2011-05-01

Full Text Available Technological obstacles to the use of rotary-type swing arm actuators to actuate optical pickup modules in small-form-factor (SFF disk drives stem from a hinge’s skewed actuation, subsequently inducing off-axis aberrations and deteriorating optical quality. This work describes a dual-stage seesaw-swivel actuator for optical pickup actuation. A triple-layered bimorph bender made of piezoelectric materials (PZTs is connected to the suspension of the pickup head, while the tunable vibration absorber (TVA unit is mounted on the seesaw swing arm to offer a balanced force to reduce vibrations in a focusing direction. Both PZT and TVA are designed to satisfy stable focusing operation operational requirements and compensate for the tilt angle or deformation of a disc. Finally, simulation results verify the performance of the dual-stage seesaw-swivel actuator, along with experimental procedures and parametric design optimization confirming the effectiveness of the proposed system.

Counter-rotating standing spin waves: A magneto-optical illusion

Science.gov (United States)

Shihab, S.; Thevenard, L.; Lemaître, A.; Gourdon, C.

2017-04-01

We excite perpendicular standing spin waves by a laser pulse in a GaMnAsP ferromagnetic layer and detect them using time-resolved magneto-optical effects. Quite counterintuitively, we find the first two excited modes to be of opposite chirality. We show that this can only be explained by taking into account absorption and optical phase shift inside the layer. This optical illusion is particularly strong in weakly absorbing layers. These results provide a correct identification of spin waves modes, enabling a trustworthy estimation of their respective weight as well as an unambiguous determination of the spin stiffness parameter.

Optical transmission through aerosol deposits on diffusely reflective filters: a method for measuring the absorbing component of aerosol particles

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rosen, H.; Novakov, T.

1983-01-01

It is unclear why the backscattered radiation from nonabsorbing particles should not make a significant contribution to the optical attenuation measurement. This is especially true where the absorbing component represents only a very small fraction of the aerosol mass. In this Letter we present a simple theoretical model which accounts for all these observations and points out the critical role of the filter substrate as an almost perfect diffuse reflector in the technique

Extending "Deep Blue" Aerosol Retrieval Coverage to Cases of Absorbing Aerosols Above Clouds: Sensitivity Analysis and First Case Studies

Science.gov (United States)

Sayer, A. M.; Hsu, N. C.; Bettenhausen, C.; Lee, J.; Redemann, J.; Schmid, B.; Shinozuka, Y.

2016-01-01

Cases of absorbing aerosols above clouds (AACs), such as smoke or mineral dust, are omitted from most routinely processed space-based aerosol optical depth (AOD) data products, including those from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS). This study presents a sensitivity analysis and preliminary algorithm to retrieve above-cloud AOD and liquid cloud optical depth (COD) for AAC cases from MODIS or similar sensors, for incorporation into a future version of the "Deep Blue" AOD data product. Detailed retrieval simulations suggest that these sensors should be able to determine AAC AOD with a typical level of uncertainty approximately 25-50 percent (with lower uncertainties for more strongly absorbing aerosol types) and COD with an uncertainty approximately10-20 percent, if an appropriate aerosol optical model is known beforehand. Errors are larger, particularly if the aerosols are only weakly absorbing, if the aerosol optical properties are not known, and the appropriate model to use must also be retrieved. Actual retrieval errors are also compared to uncertainty envelopes obtained through the optimal estimation (OE) technique; OE-based uncertainties are found to be generally reasonable for COD but larger than actual retrieval errors for AOD, due in part to difficulties in quantifying the degree of spectral correlation of forward model error. The algorithm is also applied to two MODIS scenes (one smoke and one dust) for which near-coincident NASA Ames Airborne Tracking Sun photometer (AATS) data were available to use as a ground truth AOD data source, and found to be in good agreement, demonstrating the validity of the technique with real observations.

Extending "Deep Blue" aerosol retrieval coverage to cases of absorbing aerosols above clouds: Sensitivity analysis and first case studies

Science.gov (United States)

Sayer, A. M.; Hsu, N. C.; Bettenhausen, C.; Lee, J.; Redemann, J.; Schmid, B.; Shinozuka, Y.

2016-05-01

Cases of absorbing aerosols above clouds (AACs), such as smoke or mineral dust, are omitted from most routinely processed space-based aerosol optical depth (AOD) data products, including those from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS). This study presents a sensitivity analysis and preliminary algorithm to retrieve above-cloud AOD and liquid cloud optical depth (COD) for AAC cases from MODIS or similar sensors, for incorporation into a future version of the "Deep Blue" AOD data product. Detailed retrieval simulations suggest that these sensors should be able to determine AAC AOD with a typical level of uncertainty ˜25-50% (with lower uncertainties for more strongly absorbing aerosol types) and COD with an uncertainty ˜10-20%, if an appropriate aerosol optical model is known beforehand. Errors are larger, particularly if the aerosols are only weakly absorbing, if the aerosol optical properties are not known, and the appropriate model to use must also be retrieved. Actual retrieval errors are also compared to uncertainty envelopes obtained through the optimal estimation (OE) technique; OE-based uncertainties are found to be generally reasonable for COD but larger than actual retrieval errors for AOD, due in part to difficulties in quantifying the degree of spectral correlation of forward model error. The algorithm is also applied to two MODIS scenes (one smoke and one dust) for which near-coincident NASA Ames Airborne Tracking Sun photometer (AATS) data were available to use as a ground truth AOD data source, and found to be in good agreement, demonstrating the validity of the technique with real observations.

Optical switching based on the manipulation of microparticles in a colloidal liquid using strong scattering force

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liu Jin; Liu Zheng-Qi; Feng Tian-Hua; Dai Qiao-Feng; Wu Li-Jun; Lan Sheng

2010-01-01

This paper demonstrates the realization of an optical switch by optically manipulating a large number of polystyrene spheres contained in a capillary. The strong scattering force exerted on polystyrene spheres with a large diameter of 4.3 μm is employed to realize the switching operation. A transparent window is opened for the signal light when the polystyrene spheres originally located at the beam centre are driven out of the beam region by the strong scattering force induced by the control light. The switching dynamics under different incident powers is investigated and compared with that observed in the optical switch based on the formation of optical matter. It is found that a large extinction ratio of ∼ 30 dB and fast switching-on and switching-off times can be achieved in this type of switch. (classical areas of phenomenology)

Experimental demonstration of single-mode fiber coupling over relatively strong turbulence with adaptive optics.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Mo; Liu, Chao; Xian, Hao

2015-10-10

High-speed free-space optical communication systems using fiber-optic components can greatly improve the stability of the system and simplify the structure. However, propagation through atmospheric turbulence degrades the spatial coherence of the signal beam and limits the single-mode fiber (SMF) coupling efficiency. In this paper, we analyze the influence of the atmospheric turbulence on the SMF coupling efficiency over various turbulences. The results show that the SMF coupling efficiency drops from 81% without phase distortion to 10% when phase root mean square value equals 0.3λ. The simulations of SMF coupling with adaptive optics (AO) indicate that it is inevitable to compensate the high-order aberrations for SMF coupling over relatively strong turbulence. The SMF coupling efficiency experiments, using an AO system with a 137-element deformable mirror and a Hartmann-Shack wavefront sensor, obtain average coupling efficiency increasing from 1.3% in open loop to 46.1% in closed loop under a relatively strong turbulence, D/r0=15.1.

Optical properties and electronic transitions of DNA oligonucleotides as a function of composition and stacking sequence.

Science.gov (United States)

Schimelman, Jacob B; Dryden, Daniel M; Poudel, Lokendra; Krawiec, Katherine E; Ma, Yingfang; Podgornik, Rudolf; Parsegian, V Adrian; Denoyer, Linda K; Ching, Wai-Yim; Steinmetz, Nicole F; French, Roger H

2015-02-14

The role of base pair composition and stacking sequence in the optical properties and electronic transitions of DNA is of fundamental interest. We present and compare the optical properties of DNA oligonucleotides (AT)10, (AT)5(GC)5, and (AT-GC)5 using both ab initio methods and UV-vis molar absorbance measurements. Our data indicate a strong dependence of both the position and intensity of UV absorbance features on oligonucleotide composition and stacking sequence. The partial densities of states for each oligonucleotide indicate that the valence band edge arises from a feature associated with the PO4(3-) complex anion, and the conduction band edge arises from anti-bonding states in DNA base pairs. The results show a strong correspondence between the ab initio and experimentally determined optical properties. These results highlight the benefit of full spectral analysis of DNA, as opposed to reductive methods that consider only the 260 nm absorbance (A260) or simple purity ratios, such as A260/A230 or A260/A280, and suggest that the slope of the absorption edge onset may provide a useful metric for the degree of base pair stacking in DNA. These insights may prove useful for applications in biology, bioelectronics, and mesoscale self-assembly.

Propagation of optical pulses in a resonantly absorbing medium: Observation of negative velocity in Rb vapor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tanaka, H.; Hayami, K.; Furue, S.; Nakayama, K.; Niwa, H.; Kohmoto, T.; Kunitomo, M.; Fukuda, Y.

2003-01-01

Propagation of optical pulses in a resonantly absorbing medium is studied. Propagation time of nanosecond pulses was measured for the Rb D 1 transition. At the center of two absorption lines, delay of the pulse peak which is about ten times as large as the pulse width was observed, where zero delay is defined for the propagation with the light velocity in vacuum. On the other hand, at the peak of an absorption line, negative delay was observed for large absorption, where the advance time is as large as 25% of the pulse width. Simulation including the effect of absorption and phase shift reproduced well the experimental results

Strongly correlated Fermi-Bose mixtures in disordered optical lattices

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sanchez-Palencia, L; Ahufinger, V; Kantian, A; Zakrzewski, J; Sanpera, A; Lewenstein, M

2006-01-01

We investigate theoretically the low-temperature physics of a two-component ultracold mixture of bosons and fermions in disordered optical lattices. We focus on the strongly correlated regime. We show that, under specific conditions, composite fermions, made of one fermion plus one bosonic hole, form. The composite picture is used to derive an effective Hamiltonian whose parameters can be controlled via the boson-boson and the boson-fermion interactions, the tunnelling terms and the inhomogeneities. We finally investigate the quantum phase diagram of the composite fermions and show that it corresponds to the formation of Fermi glasses, spin glasses and quantum percolation regimes

Strongly correlated Fermi-Bose mixtures in disordered optical lattices

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sanchez-Palencia, L [Laboratoire Charles Fabry de l' Institut d' Optique, CNRS and Universite Paris-Sud XI, Bat 503, Centre scientifique, F-91403 Orsay Cedex (France); Ahufinger, V [ICREA and Grup d' optica, Departament de FIsica, Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona, E-08193 Belaterra (Barcelona) (Spain); Kantian, A [Institut fuer Theoretische Physik, Universitaet Innsbruck, A-6020 Innsbruck (Austria); Zakrzewski, J [Instytut Fizyki imienia Mariana Smoluchowskiego i Centrum Badan Ukladow Zlozonych imienia Marka Kaca, Uniwersytet Jagiellonski, ulica Reymonta 4, PL-30-059 Krakow (Poland); Sanpera, A [ICREA and Grup de FIsica Teorica, Departament de FIsica, Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona, E-08193 Belaterra (Barcelona) (Spain); Lewenstein, M [ICREA and ICFO-Institut de Ciencies Fotoniques, Parc Mediterrani de la TecnologIa, E-08860 Castelldefels (Barcelona) (Spain); Institut fuer Theoretische Physik, Universitaet Hannover, D-30167 Hannover (Germany)

2006-05-28

We investigate theoretically the low-temperature physics of a two-component ultracold mixture of bosons and fermions in disordered optical lattices. We focus on the strongly correlated regime. We show that, under specific conditions, composite fermions, made of one fermion plus one bosonic hole, form. The composite picture is used to derive an effective Hamiltonian whose parameters can be controlled via the boson-boson and the boson-fermion interactions, the tunnelling terms and the inhomogeneities. We finally investigate the quantum phase diagram of the composite fermions and show that it corresponds to the formation of Fermi glasses, spin glasses and quantum percolation regimes.

Semiconductor saturable absorbers for ultrafast terahertz signals

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hoffmann, Matthias C.; Turchinovich, Dmitry

2010-01-01

states, due to conduction band onparabolicity and scattering into satellite valleys in strong THz fields. Saturable absorber parameters, such as linear and nonsaturable transmission, and saturation fluence, are extracted by fits to a classic saturable absorber model. Further, we observe THz pulse......We demonstrate saturable absorber behavior of n-type semiconductors GaAs, GaP, and Ge in the terahertz THz frequency range at room temperature using nonlinear THz spectroscopy. The saturation mechanism is based on a decrease in electron conductivity of semiconductors at high electron momentum...

Integrated polymer waveguides for absorbance detection in chemical analysis systems

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mogensen, Klaus Bo; El-Ali, Jamil; Wolff, Anders

2003-01-01

A chemical analysis system for absorbance detection with integrated polymer waveguides is reported for the first time. The fabrication procedure relies on structuring of a single layer of the photoresist SU-8, so both the microfluidic channel network and the optical components, which include planar....... The emphasis of this paper is on the signal-to-noise ratio of the detection and its relation to the sensitivity. Two absorbance cells with an optical path length of 100 μm and 1000 μm were characterized and compared in terms of sensitivity, limit of detection and effective path length for measurements...

Performances of Free-Space Optical Communication System Over Strong Turbulence

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ucuk Darusalam

2014-08-01

Full Text Available We report an experimental of free-space optical communication (FSOC system that use tube propagation simulator (TPS as the turbulence medium. The FSOC system usewavelength of 1550 nm at the rate transmission of 1000 Mbps and amplified with EDFA at the output of +23 dBm. Index structure of 10-15–10-13 as the representation of atmosphere index turbulences are used for simulation of intensity distribution model or scintillation. The simulation use gammagamma and K model as well. The beam wave propagation models used in simulation are plane wave, spherical wave and Gaussian wave. Spherical wave achieves highest performance via gamma-gamma in strong turbulence. While Gaussian wave achieves highest performance also via K model. We also found, characteristical FSOC system performance is calculated more accurately with gamma-gamma method for strong turbulence than K model. The performances from gamma-gamma for strong turbulenceare at 22.55 dB, at 5.33×10-4, and at 9.41 ×10-6. 

Fréchet derivative with respect to the shape of a strongly convex nonscattering region in optical tomography

Science.gov (United States)

Hyvönen, Nuutti

2007-10-01

The aim of optical tomography is to reconstruct the optical properties inside a physical body, e.g. a neonatal head, by illuminating it with near-infrared light and measuring the outward flux of photons on the object boundary. Because a brain consists of strongly scattering tissue with imbedded cavities filled by weakly scattering cerebrospinal fluid, propagation of near-infrared photons in the human head can be treated by combining the diffusion approximation of the radiative transfer equation with geometrical optics to obtain the radiosity-diffusion forward model of optical tomography. At the moment, a disadvantage with the radiosity-diffusion model is that the locations of the transparent cavities must be known in advance in order to be able to reconstruct the physiologically interesting quantities, i.e., the absorption and the scatter in the strongly scattering brain tissue. In this work we show that the boundary measurement map of optical tomography is Fréchet differentiable with respect to the shape of a strongly convex nonscattering region. Using this result, we introduce a numerical algorithm for approximating an unknown nonscattering cavity by a ball if the background diffuse optical properties of the object are known. The functionality of the method is demonstrated through two-dimensional numerical experiments.

Design, simulation and optimization of a solar dish collector with spiral-coil thermal absorber

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pavlović Saša R.

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The efficient conversion of solar radiation into heat at high temperature levels requires the use of concentrating solar collectors. The goal of this paper is to present the optical and the thermal analysis of a parabolic dish concentrator with a spiral coil receiver. The parabolic dish reflector consists of 11 curvilinear trapezoidal reflective petals constructed by PMMA with silvered mirror layer and has a diameter of 3.8 m, while its focal distance is 2.26m. This collector is designed with commercial software SolidWorks and simulated, optically and thermally in its Flow Simulation Studio. The optical analysis proved that the ideal position of the absorber is at 2.1m from the reflector in order to maximize the optical efficiency and to create a relative uniform heat flux over the absorber. In thermal part of the analysis, the energetic efficiency was calculated approximately 65%, while the exergetic efficiency is varied from 4% to 15% according to the water inlet temperature. Moreover, other important parameters as the heat flux and temperature distribution over the absorber are presented. The pressure drop of the absorber coil is calculated at 0.07bar, an acceptable value.

Comparative analysis method of permanent metallic stents (XIENCE) and bioresorbable poly-L-lactic (PLLA) scaffolds (Absorb) on optical coherence tomography at baseline and follow-up

NARCIS (Netherlands)

T. Nakatani (Tomoya); Y. Sotomi (Yohei); Y. Ishibashi (Yuki); M.J. Grundeken (Maik); H. Tateishi (Hiroki); E. Tenekecioglu (Erhan); Y. Zeng (Yaping); P. Suwannasom (Pannipa); E.S. Regar (Eveline); M. Radu (Maria); L. Räber (Lorenz); H.G. Bezerra (Hiram); M.A. Costa (Marco); Fitzgerald, P. (Peter); F. Prati (Francesco); R.A. Costa (Ricardo); J. Dijkstra (Jouke); T. Kimura (Takeshi); K. Kozuma (Ken); K. Tanabe (Kengo); T. Akasaka (Takashi); C. di Mario (Carlo); P.W.J.C. Serruys (Patrick); Y. Onuma (Yoshinobu); G. Guagliumi (Giulio)

2016-01-01

textabstractAims: Fully bioresorbable Absorb poly-L-lactic-acid (PLLA) scaffolds (Abbott Vascular, Santa Clara, CA, USA) are a novel approach for the treatment of coronary narrowing. Due to the translucency of the material (PLLA), the optical coherence tomography (OCT) measurement methods used in

Design of broadband absorber using 2-D materials for thermo-photovoltaic cell application

Science.gov (United States)

Agarwal, Sajal; Prajapati, Y. K.

2018-04-01

Present study is done to analyze a nano absorber for thermo-photovoltaic cell application. Optical absorbance of two-dimensional materials is exploited to achieve high absorbance. It is found that few alternating layers of graphene/transition metal dichalcogenide provide high absorbance of electromagnetic wave in visible as well as near infrared region. Four transition metal dichalcogenides are considered and found that most of these provide perfect absorbance for almost full considered wavelength range i.e. 200-1000 nm. Demonstrated results confirm the extended operating region and improved absorbance of the proposed absorber in comparison to the existing absorbers made of different materials. Further, absorber performance is improved by using thin layers of gold and chromium. Simple geometry of the proposed absorber also ensures easy fabrication.

Surface emission of InxGa1-xN epilayers under strong optical excitation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jiang, H.X.; Lin, J.Y.; Khan, M.A.; Chen, Q.; Yang, J.W.

1997-01-01

Effects of strong optical excitation on the properties of surface emission from an InGaN/GaN heterostructure grown by metal-organic chemical-vapor deposition have been investigated. An intriguing feature observed was that as the excitation intensity increased the surface emission spectrum evolved abruptly from a single dominating band to two dominating bands at a critical intensity. This phenomenon has a sharp phase transition or a switching character and can be accounted for by (i) the formation of an electron endash hole plasma state in the InGaN vertical cavity under strong optical excitation, (ii) the photoreflectance effect (variation of index of refraction with excitation intensity), and (c) the Fabry endash Pacute erot interference effect in the InGaN vertical cavity. These findings are expected to have impact on the design of the laser structures, in particular on the design of the vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser diodes based on III-nitride wide-band-gap semiconductors. copyright 1997 American Institute of Physics

Structural and optical properties of Cu2ZnSnS4 thin film absorbers from ZnS and Cu3SnS4 nanoparticle precursors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lin, Xianzhong; Kavalakkatt, Jaison; Kornhuber, Kai; Levcenko, Sergiu; Lux-Steiner, Martha Ch.; Ennaoui, Ahmed

2013-01-01

Cu 2 ZnSnS 4 (CZTS) has been considered as an alternative absorber layer to Cu(In,Ga)Se 2 due to its earth abundant and environmentally friendly constituents, optimal direct band gap of 1.4–1.6 eV and high absorption coefficient in the visible range. In this work, we propose a solution-based chemical route for the preparation of CZTS thin film absorbers by spin coating of the precursor inks composed of Cu 3 SnS 4 and ZnS NPs and annealing in Ar/H 2 S atmosphere. X-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy were used to characterize the structural properties. The chemical composition was determined by energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. Optical properties of the CZTS thin film absorbers were studied by transmission, reflection and photoluminescence spectroscopy

Influence of nanoscale temperature rises on photoacoustic generation: Discrimination between optical absorbers based on thermal nonlinearity at high frequency.

Science.gov (United States)

Simandoux, Olivier; Prost, Amaury; Gateau, Jérôme; Bossy, Emmanuel

2015-03-01

In this work, we experimentally investigate thermal-based nonlinear photoacoustic generation as a mean to discriminate between different types of absorbing particles. The photoacoustic generation from solutions of dye molecules and gold nanospheres (same optical densities) was detected using a high frequency ultrasound transducer (20 MHz). Photoacoustic emission was observed with gold nanospheres at low fluence for an equilibrium temperature around 4 °C, where the linear photoacoustic effect in water vanishes, highlighting the nonlinear emission from the solution of nanospheres. The photoacoustic amplitude was also studied as a function of the equilibrium temperature from 2 °C to 20 °C. While the photoacoustic amplitude from the dye molecules vanished around 4 °C, the photoacoustic amplitude from the gold nanospheres remained significant over the whole temperature range. Our preliminary results suggest that in the context of high frequency photoacoustic imaging, nanoparticles may be discriminated from molecular absorbers based on nanoscale temperature rises.

Graphene Based Terahertz Absorber Designed With Effective Surface Conductivity Approach

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Andryieuski, Andrei; Pizzocchero, Filippo; Booth, Tim

Young field of terahertz (THz) science and technology demands new materials and devices, such as filters, modulators, polarization converters and absorbers. Graphene, a recently discovered single-atom-thick material, provides exciting properties for functional terahertz applications. Graphene...... conductivity and how to use it in optical design. We demonstrate a tunable THz perfect absorber, which consists of continuous graphene various structured graphene metamaterials above a metal mirror. Changing the Fermi level from 0 eV to 0.5 eV allows for drastic changes in absorbance from less than 0.1 to 1...

Spectrally and spatially resolved photoluminescence. Lateral fluctuations and depth profiles of Cu(In,Ga)Se2-absorbers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Neumann, Oliver

2013-01-01

The aim of this thesis is the development and refinement of photoluminescence (PL) methods for inhomogeneous absorbers to identify lateral fluctuations and depth-dependent variations of spectroscopic, optical and opto-electronic properties in the submicron/micron range. The first approach deals with the spectral investigation of PL emission from the front and the rear side of an absorber, whereas the second idea is about the analysis of PL spectra from the front side of the absorber for different absorber thicknesses. Another technique for determination of depth-dependent variations are confocal PL measurements at cross sections of absorbers. The last concept pursues the study of lateral fluctuations with an optical near-field microscope on specially prepared absorbers. These four strategies are demonstrated with samples based on Cu(In,Ga)Se 2 .

THEORETICAL EVOLUTION OF OPTICAL STRONG LINES ACROSS COSMIC TIME

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kewley, Lisa J.; Dopita, Michael A.; Sutherland, Ralph [Research School for Astronomy and Astrophysics, Mount Stromlo Observatory, Cotter Road, Weston, ACT 2611 (Australia); Leitherer, Claus [Space Telescope Science Institute, 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218 (United States); Dave, Romeel [Department of Astronomy/Steward Observatory, 933 North Cherry Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85721-0065 (United States); Yuan, Tiantian [Institute for Astronomy, University of Hawaii, 2680 Woodlawn Drive, Honolulu, HI 96822 (United States); Allen, Mark [Observatoire de Strasbourg, UMR 7550, Strasbourg 67000 (France); Groves, Brent, E-mail: kewley@mso.anu.edu.au [Max-Planck-Institut fuer Astronomie, Koenigstuhl 17, D-69117 Heidelberg (Germany)

2013-09-10

We use the chemical evolution predictions of cosmological hydrodynamic simulations with our latest theoretical stellar population synthesis, photoionization, and shock models to predict the strong line evolution of ensembles of galaxies from z = 3 to the present day. In this paper, we focus on the brightest optical emission-line ratios, [N II]/H{alpha} and [O III]/H{beta}. We use the optical diagnostic Baldwin-Phillips-Terlevich (BPT) diagram as a tool for investigating the spectral properties of ensembles of active galaxies. We use four redshift windows chosen to exploit new near-infrared multi-object spectrographs. We predict how the BPT diagram will appear in these four redshift windows given different sets of assumptions. We show that the position of star-forming galaxies on the BPT diagram traces the interstellar medium conditions and radiation field in galaxies at a given redshift. Galaxies containing active galactic nucleus (AGN) form a mixing sequence with purely star-forming galaxies. This mixing sequence may change dramatically with cosmic time, due to the metallicity sensitivity of the optical emission-lines. Furthermore, the position of the mixing sequence may probe metallicity gradients in galaxies as a function of redshift, depending on the size of the AGN narrow-line region. We apply our latest slow shock models for gas shocked by galactic-scale winds. We show that at high redshift, galactic wind shocks are clearly separated from AGN in line ratio space. Instead, shocks from galactic winds mimic high metallicity starburst galaxies. We discuss our models in the context of future large near-infrared spectroscopic surveys.

Sb2Te3 crystal a potential absorber material for broadband photodetector: A first-principles study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Abdullahi Lawal

Full Text Available Antimony telluride (Sb2Te3, a layered semiconductor material, is considered a promising absorbing material for a high-performance optoelectronic device within broadband wavelengths because of remarkable features like strong optical absorbance and the narrow direct band gap. In this work, based on the first-principles approach, we investigate in detail the structural, electronic and optical properties of the hexagonal Sb2Te3 compound. The structural and electronic properties were computed using the first-principles approach, treating exchange–correlation potential with generalized gradient approximation (GGA within density functional theory (DFT. Furthermore, for accurate prediction of the band gap, we go beyond DFT and calculated band structure using GW correction. The optical properties, namely, imaginary and real parts of complex dielectric function, absorption coefficient, refractive index, reflectivity, extinction coefficient, electron energy loss function and optical conductivity are performed by quasi-particle many-body perturbation theory (MBPT via Bethe-Salpeter equation (BSE. The computed structural parameters are in good agreement with available experimental data. The obtained quasi-particle (GW correction band structure show the semiconducting character of Sb2Te3 material with a direct band gap Eg of 0.221 eV, in agreement with previously reported value (Eg = 0.210 eV while the projected density of states indicates (PDOS that the p-orbital of Sb and Te atoms are responsible for material properties near the Fermi level. To our knowledge, our first reported calculations of optical properties, with the inclusion of electron-hole effects are consistent with available experimental measurements. Consistencies of our findings with experimental data validate the effectiveness of electron-hole interaction for theoretical investigation of optical properties. Keywords: DFT, Quasi-particle many-body perturbation theory, Bethe

Optical design of a reaction chamber for weakly absorbed light. II. Parallel mirrors, multitravel

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Devaney, J.J.; Finch, F.T.

1975-06-01

This report outlines the possibilities to be found using one or more diffraction-limited high-quality light beams to activate a weakly absorbing gas in a regime where the diffraction spread can be controlled by converging optical devices to within a ratio of √2 of the minimum at the beam waist (corresponding lengths between converging elements are within twice the Rayleigh range). Our designs use plane or cylindrical parallel mirrors down which a light beam is repeatedly reflected. In the first design variation, the beam is re-reflected up the parallel mirrors to the entrance aperture where it can be returned repeatedly for a number of multiply reflecting ''travels'' up and down the parallel mirror reaction chamber. In the second variation, the return of the beam after each multiply reflecting ''travel'' down the chamber is external to the chamber and is achieved by two mirror reflections. For diffraction control the return mirrors can be made converging. For multiple laser excitation, any of the external return mirrors can be replaced by a laser. The advantage of these designs is a high degree of uniformity of chamber illumination with a reasonably high number of passes. Drawbacks of the designs are the large space needed for beam return (many tens of meters for some parameters) and (common to all high optical quality chambers) the figuring and reflectivity demands on the mirrors. (U.S.)

Optical absorptions in ZnO/a-Si distributed Bragg reflectors

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chen, Aqing, E-mail: aqchen@hdu.edu.cn; Chen, Zhian [Hangzhou Dianzi University, College of Materials & Environmental Engineering (China); Zhu, Kaigui [Beihang University, Department of physics (China); Ji, Zhenguo [Hangzhou Dianzi University, College of Materials & Environmental Engineering (China)

2017-01-15

The distributed Bragg reflectors (DBRs) consisting of alternating layers of ZnO and heavy doped amorphous silicon (a-Si) have been fabricated by magnetron sputtering. It is novel to find that the optical absorptions exist in the stopband of the DBRs, and that many discrete strong optical absorption peaks exist in the wavelength range of visible to near-infrared. The calculated results by FDTD show that the absorptions in the stopband mainly exist in the first a-Si layer, and that the light absorbed by other a-Si layers inside contributes to the two absorption peaks in near-infrared range. The strong absorptions ranged from visible to infrared open new possibilities to the enhancement of the performance of amorphous silicon solar cells.

Nanodiamonds for optical bioimaging

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hui, Yuen Yung; Chang, Huan-Cheng [Institute of Atomic and Molecular Sciences, Academia Sinica, Taipei 10617, Taiwan (China); Cheng, Chia-Liang, E-mail: yyhui@pub.iams.sinica.edu.t, E-mail: clcheng@mail.ndhu.edu.t, E-mail: hchang@gate.sinica.edu.t [Department of Physics, National Dong-Hwa University, Hualien 97401, Taiwan (China)

2010-09-22

Diamond has received increasing attention for its promising biomedical applications. The material is highly biocompatible and can be easily conjugated with bioactive molecules. Recently, nanoscale diamond has been applied as light scattering labels and luminescent optical markers. The luminescence, arising from photoexcitation of colour centres, can be substantially enhanced when type Ib diamond nanocrystals are bombarded by a high-energy particle beam and then annealed to form negatively charged nitrogen-vacancy centres. The centre absorbs strongly at 560 nm, fluoresces efficiently in the far-red region and is exceptionally photostable (without photoblinking and photobleaching). It is an ideal candidate for long-term imaging and tracking in complex cellular environments. This review summarizes recent advances in the development of fluorescent nanodiamonds for optical bioimaging with single particle sensitivity and nanometric resolution.

Nanodiamonds for optical bioimaging

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hui, Yuen Yung; Chang, Huan-Cheng; Cheng, Chia-Liang

2010-01-01

Diamond has received increasing attention for its promising biomedical applications. The material is highly biocompatible and can be easily conjugated with bioactive molecules. Recently, nanoscale diamond has been applied as light scattering labels and luminescent optical markers. The luminescence, arising from photoexcitation of colour centres, can be substantially enhanced when type Ib diamond nanocrystals are bombarded by a high-energy particle beam and then annealed to form negatively charged nitrogen-vacancy centres. The centre absorbs strongly at 560 nm, fluoresces efficiently in the far-red region and is exceptionally photostable (without photoblinking and photobleaching). It is an ideal candidate for long-term imaging and tracking in complex cellular environments. This review summarizes recent advances in the development of fluorescent nanodiamonds for optical bioimaging with single particle sensitivity and nanometric resolution.

Communication: Strong excitonic and vibronic effects determine the optical properties of Li₂O₂

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

García Lastra, Juan Maria; Bass, J. D.; Thygesen, Kristian Sommer

2011-01-01

The band structure and optical absorption spectrum of lithium peroxide (Li2O2) is calculated from first-principles using the G0W0 approximation and the Bethe-Salpeter equation, respectively. A strongly localized (Frenkel type) exciton corresponding to the π*→σ* transition on the O2 −2 peroxide ion...

Transmission line model and fields analysis of metamaterial absorber in the terahertz band.

Science.gov (United States)

Wen, Qi-Ye; Xie, Yun-Song; Zhang, Huai-Wu; Yang, Qing-Hui; Li, Yuan-Xun; Liu, Ying-Li

2009-10-26

Metamaterial (MM) absorber is a novel device to provide near-unity absorption to electromagnetic wave, which is especially important in the terahertz (THz) band. However, the principal physics of MM absorber is still far from being understood. In this work, a transmission line (TL) model for MM absorber was proposed, and with this model the S-parameters, energy consumption, and the power loss density of the absorber were calculated. By this TL model, the asymmetric phenomenon of THz absorption in MM absorber is unambiguously demonstrated, and it clarifies that strong absorption of this absorber under studied is mainly related to the LC resonance of the split-ring-resonator structure. The distribution of power loss density in the absorber indicates that the electromagnetic wave is firstly concentrated into some specific locations of the absorber and then be strongly consumed. This feature as electromagnetic wave trapper renders MM absorber a potential energy converter. Based on TL model, some design strategies to widen the absorption band were also proposed for the purposes to extend its application areas.

Contrast-enhanced photoacoustic imaging with an optical wavelength of 1064 nm

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Jeesu; Park, Sara; Park, Gyeong Bae; Choi, Wonseok; Jeong, Unyong; Kim, Chulhong

2018-02-01

Photoacoustic (PA) imaging is a biomedical imaging method that can provide both structural and functional information of living tissues beyond the optical diffusion limit by combining the concepts of conventional optical and ultrasound imaging methods. Although endogenous chromophores can be utilized to acquire PA images of biological tissues, exogenous contrast agents that absorb near-infrared (NIR) lights have been extensively explored to improve the contrast and penetration depth of PA images. Here, we demonstrate Bi2Se3 nanoplates, that strongly absorbs NIR lights, as a contrast agent for PA imaging. In particularly, the Bi2Se3 nanoplates produce relatively strong PA signals with an optical wavelength of 1064 nm, which has several advantages for deep tissue imaging including: (1) relatively low absorption by other intrinsic chromophores, (2) cost-effective light source using Nd:YAG laser, and (3) higher available energy than other NIR lights according to American National Standards Institute (ANSI) safety limit. We have investigated deep tissue imaging capability of the Bi2Se3 nanoplates by acquiring in vitro PA images of microtubes under chicken breast tissues. We have also acquired in vivo PA images of bladders, gastrointestinal tracts, and sentinel lymph nodes in mice after injection of the Bi2Se3 nanoplates to verify their applicability to a variety of biomedical research. The results show the promising potential of the Bi2Se3 nanoplates as a PA contrast agent for deep tissue imaging with an optical wavelength of 1064 nm.

Towards three-dimensional optical metamaterials

Science.gov (United States)

Tanaka, Takuo; Ishikawa, Atsushi

2017-12-01

Metamaterials have opened up the possibility of unprecedented and fascinating concepts and applications in optics and photonics. Examples include negative refraction, perfect lenses, cloaking, perfect absorbers, and so on. Since these metamaterials are man-made materials composed of sub-wavelength structures, their development strongly depends on the advancement of micro- and nano-fabrication technologies. In particular, the realization of three-dimensional metamaterials is one of the big challenges in this research field. In this review, we describe recent progress in the fabrication technologies for three-dimensional metamaterials, as well as proposed applications.

Reflection and Refraction of Light in Absorbing Media

Science.gov (United States)

Katsumata, Koichi; Sasaki, Shosuke

2018-05-01

The results of a rigorous calculation of optical phenomena in absorbing media based on Maxwell's equations are reported. In the case of an absorbing dielectric, we assume a complex dielectric constant. We find an expression for the angle of refraction as a function of the incident angle and the real and imaginary parts of the complex dielectric constant, all of which are real. The amplitudes of the reflected and transmitted waves are calculated on the same footing. These amplitudes are shown to be complex, from which we deduce the magnitude and phase change of the reflection and transmission coefficients. The same argument applies to an absorbing magnetic material if we replace the complex dielectric constant by a complex magnetic permeability.

Analyzing quantum jumps of one and two atoms strongly coupled to an optical cavity

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Reick, Sebastian; Mølmer, Klaus; Alt, Wolfgang

2010-01-01

We induce quantum jumps between the hyperfine ground states of one and two cesium atoms, strongly coupled to the mode of a high-finesse optical resonator, and analyze the resulting random telegraph signals. We identify experimental parameters to deduce the atomic spin state nondestructively from ...

Absorbing aerosols at high relative humidity: linking hygroscopic growth to optical properties

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

J. Michel Flores

2012-06-01

Full Text Available One of the major uncertainties in the understanding of Earth's climate system is the interaction between solar radiation and aerosols in the atmosphere. Aerosols exposed to high humidity will change their chemical, physical, and optical properties due to their increased water content. To model hydrated aerosols, atmospheric chemistry and climate models often use the volume weighted mixing rule to predict the complex refractive index (RI of aerosols when they interact with high relative humidity, and, in general, assume homogeneous mixing. This study explores the validity of these assumptions. A humidified cavity ring down aerosol spectrometer (CRD-AS and a tandem hygroscopic DMA (differential mobility analyzer are used to measure the extinction coefficient and hygroscopic growth factors of humidified aerosols, respectively. The measurements are performed at 80% and 90%RH at wavelengths of 532 nm and 355 nm using size-selected aerosols with different degrees of absorption; from purely scattering to highly absorbing particles. The ratio of the humidified to the dry extinction coefficients (fRH_ext(%RH, Dry is measured and compared to theoretical calculations based on Mie theory. Using the measured hygroscopic growth factors and assuming homogeneous mixing, the expected RIs using the volume weighted mixing rule are compared to the RIs derived from the extinction measurements.

We found a weak linear dependence or no dependence of fRH(%RH, Dry with size for hydrated absorbing aerosols in contrast to the non-monotonically decreasing behavior with size for purely scattering aerosols. No discernible difference could be made between the two wavelengths used. Less than 7% differences were found between the real parts of the complex refractive indices derived and those calculated using the volume weighted mixing rule, and the imaginary parts had up to a 20% difference. However, for substances with growth factor less than 1

Low-cost nonlinear optics experiment for undergraduate instructional laboratory and lecture demonstration

Science.gov (United States)

Turchiello, Rozane de F.; Pereira, Luiz A. A.; Gómez, Sergio L.

2017-07-01

This paper presents a simple and affordable experiment on the thermal lens effect, suitable for an undergraduate educational laboratory or as a tabletop demonstration in a lecture on nonlinear optics. Such an experiment exploits the formation of a lens in an absorbing medium illuminated by a laser beam with a Gaussian intensity profile. As an absorber, we use a commercial soy sauce, which exhibits a strong thermal lensing effect. Additionally, we show how to measure the radius of a Gaussian beam using the knife-edge method, and how to estimate the focal length of the induced thermal lens.

Optical Regeneration and Noise in Semiconductor Devices

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Öhman, Filip

2005-01-01

In this report all-optical 2R-regeneration in optical communication systems is investigated. A simple regenerator device based on concatenated semiconductor optical amplifiers (SOAs) and electro absorbers (EAs) is introduced and examined. Experiments show that the monolithic SOA-EA 2R-regenerator......In this report all-optical 2R-regeneration in optical communication systems is investigated. A simple regenerator device based on concatenated semiconductor optical amplifiers (SOAs) and electro absorbers (EAs) is introduced and examined. Experiments show that the monolithic SOA-EA 2R...

Blood glucose measurement with multiple quantum cascade lasers using hollow-optical fiber-based ATR spectroscopy

Science.gov (United States)

Yoshioka, K.; Kino, S.; Matsuura, Y.

2018-02-01

For non-invasive blood glucose measurement, a measurement system based on mid-infrared ATR spectroscopy equipped with a combination of a QCL as a light source and a hollow-optical fiber as a beam delivery medium is developed. Firstly the measurement sensitivity of the system is evaluated by using glucose solutions and the result shows a significant correlation between optical absorbance and solution concentration. It is also confirmed that the system has a sensitivity that is enough for blood glucose measurement. Then optical absorption of human lips in the mid-infrared wavelength region is measured using a QCL with a wavenumber of 1080 cm-1 where human tissue exhibits strong absorption of glucose and its metabolites. As a result, the measured absorption follows the change of blood glucose well with a time delay of around 10 minutes and correlation factor between the absorbance and the blood glucose level is 0.42.

Research of the absorbance detection and fluorescence detection for multifunctional nutrition analyzer

Science.gov (United States)

Ni, Zhengyuan; Yan, Huimin; Ni, Xuxiang; Zhang, Xiuda

2017-10-01

The research of the multifunctional analyzer which integrates absorbance detection, fluorescence detection, time-resolved fluorescence detection, biochemical luminescence detection methods, can make efficient detection and analysis for a variety of human body nutrients. This article focuses on the absorbance detection and fluorescence detection system. The two systems are modular in design and controlled by embedded system, to achieve automatic measurement according to user settings. In the optical path design, the application of confocal design can improve the optical signal acquisition capability, and reduce the interference. A photon counter is used for detection, and a high performance counter module is designed to measure the output of photon counter. In the experiment, we use neutral density filters and potassium dichromate solution to test the absorbance detection system, and use fluorescein isothiocyanate FITC for fluorescence detection system performance test. The experimental results show that the absorbance detection system has a detection range of 0 4OD, and has good linearity in the detection range, while the fluorescence detection system has a high sensitivity of 1pmol/L concentration.

Optical supercavitation in soft matter.

Science.gov (United States)

Conti, C; DelRe, E

2010-09-10

We investigate theoretically, numerically, and experimentally nonlinear optical waves in an absorbing out-of-equilibrium colloidal material at the gelification transition. At a sufficiently high optical intensity, absorption is frustrated and light propagates into the medium. The process is mediated by the formation of a matter-shock wave due to optically induced thermodiffusion and largely resembles the mechanism of hydrodynamical supercavitation, as it is accompanied by a dynamic phase-transition region between the beam and the absorbing material.

Absorber Model: the Halo-like model for the Lyman-α forest

Science.gov (United States)

Iršič, Vid; McQuinn, Matthew

2018-04-01

We present a semi-analytic model for the Lyman-α forest that is inspired by the Halo Model. This model is built on the absorption line decomposition of the forest. Flux correlations are decomposed into those within each absorption line (the 1-absorber term) and those between separate lines (the 2-absorber term), treating the lines as biased tracers of the underlying matter fluctuations. While the nonlinear exponential mapping between optical depth and flux requires an infinite series of moments to calculate any statistic, we show that this series can be re-summed (truncating at the desired order in the linear matter overdensity). We focus on the z=2–3 line-of-sight power spectrum. Our model finds that 1-absorber term dominates the power on all scales, with most of its contribution coming from H I columns of 1014–1015 cm‑2, while the smaller 2-absorber contribution comes from lower columns that trace overdensities of a few. The prominence of the 1-absorber correlations indicates that the line-of-sight power spectrum is shaped principally by the lines' number densities and their absorption profiles, with correlations between lines contributing to a lesser extent. We present intuitive formulae for the effective optical depth as well as the large-scale limits of 1-absorber and 2-absorber terms, which simplify to integrals over the H I column density distribution with different equivalent-width weightings. With minimalist models for the bias of absorption systems and their peculiar velocity broadening, our model predicts values for the density bias and velocity gradient bias that are consistent with those found in simulations.

Optical pulling and pushing forces exerted on silicon nanospheres with strong coherent interaction between electric and magnetic resonances.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Hongfeng; Panmai, Mingcheng; Peng, Yuanyuan; Lan, Sheng

2017-05-29

We investigated theoretically and numerically the optical pulling and pushing forces acting on silicon (Si) nanospheres (NSs) with strong coherent interaction between electric and magnetic resonances. We examined the optical pulling and pushing forces exerted on Si NSs by two interfering waves and revealed the underlying physical mechanism from the viewpoint of electric- and magnetic-dipole manipulation. As compared with a polystyrene (PS) NS, it was found that the optical pulling force for a Si NS with the same size is enlarged by nearly two orders of magnitude. In addition to the optical pulling force appearing at the long-wavelength side of the magnetic dipole resonance, very large optical pushing force is observed at the magnetic quadrupole resonance. The correlation between the optical pulling/pushing force and the directional scattering characterized by the ratio of the forward to backward scattering was revealed. More interestingly, it was found that the high-order electric and magnetic resonances in large Si NSs play an important role in producing optical pulling force which can be generated by not only s-polarized wave but also p-polarized one. Our finding indicates that the strong coherent interaction between the electric and magnetic resonances existing in nanoparticles with large refractive indices can be exploited to manipulate the optical force acting on them and the correlation between the optical force and the directional scattering can be used as guidance. The engineering and manipulation of optical forces will find potential applications in the trapping, transport and sorting of nanoparticles.

Extending differential optical absorption spectroscopy for limb measurements in the UV

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

J. Puķīte

2010-05-01

Full Text Available Methods of UV/VIS absorption spectroscopy to determine the constituents in the Earth's atmosphere from measurements of scattered light are often based on the Beer-Lambert law, like e.g. Differential Optical Absorption Spectroscopy (DOAS. While the Beer-Lambert law is strictly valid for a single light path only, the relation between the optical depth and the concentration of any absorber can be approximated as linear also for scattered light observations at a single wavelength if the absorption is weak. If the light path distribution is approximated not to vary with wavelength, also linearity between the optical depth and the product of the cross-section and the concentration of an absorber can be assumed. These assumptions are widely made for DOAS applications for scattered light observations.

For medium and strong absorption of scattered light (e.g. along very long light-paths like in limb geometry the relation between the optical depth and the concentration of an absorber is no longer linear. In addition, for broad wavelength intervals the differences in the travelled light-paths at different wavelengths become important, especially in the UV, where the probability for scattering increases strongly with decreasing wavelength.

However, the DOAS method can be extended to cases with medium to strong absorptions and for broader wavelength intervals by the so called air mass factor modified (or extended DOAS and the weighting function modified DOAS. These approaches take into account the wavelength dependency of the slant column densities (SCDs, but also require a priori knowledge for the air mass factor or the weighting function from radiative transfer modelling.

We describe an approach that considers the fitting results obtained from DOAS, the SCDs, as a function of wavelength and vertical optical depth and expands this function into a Taylor series of both quantities. The Taylor coefficients are then applied as

Influence of wind speed on free space optical communication performance for Gaussian beam propagation through non Kolmogorov strong turbulence

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Deng Peng; Yuan Xiuhua; Zeng Yanan; Zhao Ming; Luo Hanjun

2011-01-01

In free-space optical communication links, atmospheric turbulence causes fluctuations in both the intensity and the phase of the received signal, affecting link performance. Most theoretical treatments have been described by Kolmogorov's power spectral density model through weak turbulence with constant wind speed. However, several experiments showed that Kolmogorov theory is sometimes incomplete to describe atmospheric turbulence properly, especially through the strong turbulence with variable wind speed, which is known to contribute significantly to the turbulence in the atmosphere. We present an optical turbulence model that incorporates into variable wind speed instead of constant value, a non-Kolmogorov power spectrum that uses a generalized exponent instead of constant standard exponent value 11/3, and a generalized amplitude factor instead of constant value 0.033. The free space optical communication performance for a Gaussian beam wave of scintillation index, mean signal-to-noise ratio , and mean bit error rate , have been derived by extended Rytov theory in non-Kolmogorov strong turbulence. And then the influence of wind speed variations on free space optical communication performance has been analyzed under different atmospheric turbulence intensities. The results suggest that the effects of wind speed variation through non-Kolmogorov turbulence on communication performance are more severe in many situations and need to be taken into account in free space optical communication. It is anticipated that this work is helpful to the investigations of free space optical communication performance considering wind speed under severe weather condition in the strong atmospheric turbulence.

Optical properties of selectively absorbing C/NiO nanocomposite coatings

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Roro, Kittessa T

2010-12-01

Full Text Available Nanocomposite thin films are widely used for solar thermal applications. Using carbon nanoparticle containing metal oxide as a spectrally selective solar absorber coating has grown significantly in recent years. Recently, Katumba et al. have...

Dual-band absorber for multispectral plasmon-enhanced infrared photodetection

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yu, Peng; Ashalley, Eric; Wang, Zhiming; Wu, Jiang; Govorov, Alexander

2016-01-01

For most of the reported metamaterial absorbers, the peak absorption only occurs at one single wavelength. Here, we investigated a dual-band absorber which is based on simple gold nano-rings. Two absorption peaks can be readily achieved in 3–5 µ m and 8–14 µ m via tuning the width and radius of gold nano-rings and dielectric constant. The average maximum absorption of two bands can be as high as 95.1% (−0.22 dB). Based on the simulation results, the perfect absorber with nano-rings demonstrates great flexibility to create dual-band or triple-band absorption, and thus holds potential for further applications in thermophotovoltaics, multicolor infrared focal plane arrays, optical filters, and biological sensing applications. (paper)

Erbium concentration dependent absorbance in tellurite glass

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sazali, E. S., E-mail: mdsupar@utm; Rohani, M. S., E-mail: mdsupar@utm; Sahar, M. R., E-mail: mdsupar@utm; Arifin, R., E-mail: mdsupar@utm; Ghoshal, S. K., E-mail: mdsupar@utm; Hamzah, K., E-mail: mdsupar@utm [Advanced Optical Material Research Group, Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 81310, Skudai, Johor Bahru, Johor (Malaysia)

2014-09-25

Enhancing the optical absorption cross-section in topically important rare earth doped tellurite glasses is challenging for photonic devices. Controlled synthesis and detailed characterizations of the optical properties of these glasses are important for the optimization. The influence of varying concentration of Er{sup 3+} ions on the absorbance characteristics of lead tellurite glasses synthesized via melt-quenching technique are investigated. The UV-Vis absorption spectra exhibits six prominent peaks centered at 490, 526, 652, 800, 982 and 1520 nm ascribed to the transitions in erbium ion from the ground state to the excited states {sup 4}F{sub 7/2}, {sup 2}H{sub 11/2}, {sup 4}F{sub 9/2}, {sup 4}I{sub 9/2}, {sup 2}H{sub 11/2} and {sup 4}I{sub 13/2}, respectively. The results are analyzed by means of optical band gap E{sub g} and Urbach energy E{sub u}. The values of the energy band gap are found decreased from 2.82 to 2.51 eV and the Urbach energy increased from 0.15 to 0.24 eV with the increase of the Er{sub 2}O{sub 3} concentration from 0 to 1.5 mol%. The excellent absorbance of the prepared tellurite glasses makes them suitable for fabricating solid state lasers.

Absorbing Aerosols: Field and Laboratory Studies of Black Carbon and Dust

Science.gov (United States)

Aiken, A. C.; Flowers, B. A.; Dubey, M. K.

2011-12-01

Currently, absorbing aerosols are thought to be the most uncertain factor in atmospheric climate models (~0.4-1.2 W/m2), and the 2nd most important factor after CO2 in global warming (1.6 W/m2; Ramanathan and Carmichael, Nature Geoscience, 2008; Myhre, Science, 2009). While most well-recognized atmospheric aerosols, e.g., sulfate from power-plants, have a cooling effect on the atmosphere by scattering solar radiation, black carbon (BC or soot) absorbs sunlight strongly which results in a warming of the atmosphere. Dust particles are also present globally and can absorb radiation, contributing to a warmer and drier atmosphere. Direct on-line measurements of BC and hematite, an absorbing dust aerosol, can be made with the Single Particle Soot Photometer (SP2), which measures the mass of the particles by incandescence on an individual particle basis. Measurements from the SP2 are combined with absorption measurements from the three-wavelength photoacoustic soot spectrometer (PASS-3) at 405, 532, and 781 nm and the ultraviolet photoacoustic soot spectrometer (PASS-UV) at 375 nm to determine wavelength-dependent mass absorption coefficients (MACs). Laboratory aerosol samples include flame-generated soot, fullerene soot, Aquadag, hematite, and hematite-containing dusts. Measured BC MAC's compare well with published values, and hematite MAC's are an order of magnitude less than BC. Absorbing aerosols measured in the laboratory are compared with those from ambient aerosols measured during the Las Conchas fire and BEACHON-RoMBAS. The Las Conchas fire was a wildfire in the Jemez Mountains of New Mexico that burned over 100,000 acres during the Summer of 2011, and BEACHON-RoMBAS (Bio-hydro-atmosphere interactions of Energy, Aerosols, Carbon, H2O, Organics & Nitrogen - Rocky Mountain Biogenic Aerosol Study) is a field campaign focusing on biogenic aerosols at the Manitou Forest Observatory near Colorado Springs, CO in Summer 2011. Optical properties and size

Optical investigation of the strong spin-orbit-coupled magnetic semimetal YbMnBi2

Science.gov (United States)

Chaudhuri, Dipanjan; Cheng, Bing; Yaresko, Alexander; Gibson, Quinn D.; Cava, R. J.; Armitage, N. P.

2017-08-01

Strong spin-orbit coupling (SOC) can result in ground states with nontrivial topological properties. The situation is even richer in magnetic systems where the magnetic ordering can potentially have strong influence over the electronic band structure. The class of A MnBi2 (A = Sr, Ca) compounds are important in this context as they are known to host massive Dirac fermions with strongly anisotropic dispersion, which is believed to be due to the interplay between strong SOC and magnetic degrees of freedom. We report the optical conductivity of YbMnBi2, a newly discovered member of this family and a proposed Weyl semimetal (WSM) candidate with broken time reversal symmetry. Together with density functional theory (DFT) band-structure calculations, we show that the complex conductivity can be interpreted as the sum of an intraband Drude response and interband transitions. We argue that the canting of the magnetic moments that has been proposed to be essential for the realization of the WSM in an otherwise antiferromagnetically ordered system is not necessary to explain the optical conductivity. We believe our data is explained qualitatively by the uncanted magnetic structure with a small offset of the chemical potential from strict stochiometry. We find no definitive evidence of a bulk Weyl nodes. Instead, we see signatures of a gapped Dirac dispersion, common in other members of A MnBi2 family or compounds with similar 2D network of Bi atoms. We speculate that the evidence for a WSM seen in ARPES arises through a surface magnetic phase. Such an assumption reconciles all known experimental data.

Degradation of unglazed rough graphite-aluminium solar absorber surfaces in simulated acid and neutral rain

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Konttinen, P.; Lund, P.D.; Salo, T.

2005-01-01

Degradation mechanisms of unglazed solar absorber surfaces based on aluminium substrate were studied. Rough graphite-aluminium surfaces were total-immersion subjected to aerated and de-aerated simulated neutral and acid rain. Test conditions were based on calculated absorber stagnation temperature and global rain acidity measurements. Changes in optical properties, elemental composition and sample mass were examined by spectrometry, energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry and thermogravimetry, respectively. The absorbers exhibited almost no degradation at pH value of 3.5. At pH 5.5 alumina on the surface hydrated significantly degrading the optical properties of the surfaces severely in most cases. Therefore these absorber surfaces can not be recommended to be used in non-glazed applications if they are exposed to rain with pH exceeding ∼ 3.5-4.5. The total-immersion test needs to be developed further as the test results exhibited poor temperature and time dependency thus preventing accurate service lifetime estimates. Still, these tests were useful in determining favourable and non-favourable operating conditions for the absorber surfaces based on aluminium substrate. (author)

Iterative maximum a posteriori (IMAP-DOAS for retrieval of strongly absorbing trace gases: Model studies for CH4 and CO2 retrieval from near infrared spectra of SCIAMACHY onboard ENVISAT

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

C. Frankenberg

2005-01-01

Full Text Available In the past, differential optical absorption spectroscopy (DOAS has mostly been employed for atmospheric trace gas retrieval in the UV/Vis spectral region. New spectrometers such as SCIAMACHY onboard ENVISAT also provide near infrared channels and thus allow for the detection of greenhouse gases like CH4, CO2, or N2O. However, modifications of the classical DOAS algorithm are necessary to account for the idiosyncrasies of this spectral region, i.e. the temperature and pressure dependence of the high resolution absorption lines. Furthermore, understanding the sensitivity of the measurement of these high resolution, strong absorption lines by means of a non-ideal device, i.e. having finite spectral resolution, is of special importance. This applies not only in the NIR, but can also prove to be an issue for the UV/Vis spectral region. This paper presents a modified iterative maximum a posteriori-DOAS (IMAP-DOAS algorithm based on optimal estimation theory introduced to the remote sensing community by rodgers76. This method directly iterates the vertical column densities of the absorbers of interest until the modeled total optical density fits the measurement. Although the discussion in this paper lays emphasis on satellite retrieval, the basic principles of the algorithm also hold for arbitrary measurement geometries. This new approach is applied to modeled spectra based on a comprehensive set of atmospheric temperature and pressure profiles. This analysis reveals that the sensitivity of measurement strongly depends on the prevailing pressure-height. The IMAP-DOAS algorithm properly accounts for the sensitivity of measurement on pressure due to pressure broadening of the absorption lines. Thus, biases in the retrieved vertical columns that would arise in classical algorithms, are obviated. Here, we analyse and quantify these systematic biases as well as errors due to variations in the temperature and pressure profiles, which is indispensable for

Secure data storage by three-dimensional absorbers in highly scattering volume medium

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Matoba, Osamu; Matsuki, Shinichiro; Nitta, Kouichi

2008-01-01

A novel data storage in a volume medium with highly scattering coefficient is proposed for data security application. Three-dimensional absorbers are used as data. These absorbers can not be measured by interferometer when the scattering in a volume medium is strong enough. We present a method to reconstruct three-dimensional absorbers and present numerical results to show the effectiveness of the proposed data storage.

Corundum-based transparent infrared absorbers

KAUST Repository

Schwingenschlögl, Udo

2009-10-01

Hypothetical corundum-based compounds are studied by electronic structure calculations. One quarter of the Al atoms in Al2O3 is replaced by a 3d transition metal from the M = Ti, ..., Zn (d1, ..., d9) series. Structure optimisations are performed for all the M-Al2O3 compounds and the electronic states are evaluated. Due to the M substitutes, narrow partially filled bands are formed at the Fermi energy. Beyond, for M = Ni and M = Cu the optical properties of Al2O3 in the visible range are conserved, while for M = Ti, ..., Co the systems form high accuracy optical filters. Since the compounds absorb the infrared radiation, the M = Ni and M = Cu systems are good candidates for heat-protective coatings. © 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Visualisation of details of a complicated inner structure of model objects by the method of diffusion optical tomography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tret'yakov, Evgeniy V; Shuvalov, Vladimir V; Shutov, I V

2002-01-01

An approximate algorithm is tested for solving the problem of diffusion optical tomography in experiments on the visualisation of details of the inner structure of strongly scattering model objects containing scattering and semitransparent inclusions, as well as absorbing inclusions located inside other optical inhomogeneities. The stability of the algorithm to errors is demonstrated, which allows its use for a rapid (2 - 3 min) image reconstruction of the details of objects with a complicated inner structure. (laser biology and medicine)

Rigorous modelling of light's intensity angular-profile in Abbe refractometers with absorbing homogeneous fluids

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

García-Valenzuela, A; Contreras-Tello, H; Márquez-Islas, R; Sánchez-Pérez, C

2013-01-01

We derive an optical model for the light intensity distribution around the critical angle in a standard Abbe refractometer when used on absorbing homogenous fluids. The model is developed using rigorous electromagnetic optics. The obtained formula is very simple and can be used suitably in the analysis and design of optical sensors relying on Abbe type refractometry.

Influence of absorbed pump profile on the temperature distribution ...

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

Influence of absorbed pump profile on the temperature distribution within a diode side-pumped laser rod ... Department of Physics, Marvdasht Branch, Islamic Azad University, Marvdasht, Iran; Institute of Optics and Laser, Malek-ashtar University of Technology, Shahin Shahr, Postal Code: 83145/115, Iran; Department of ...

A Q-Switched Erbium-Doped Fiber Laser with a Carbon Nanotube Based Saturable Absorber

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Harun, S. W.; Ismail, M. A.; Ahmad, F.; Ismail, M. F.; Nor, R. M.; Zulkepely, N. R.; Ahmad, H.

2012-01-01

We demonstrate a simple, compact and low cost Q-switched erbium-doped fiber laser (EDFL) using single-wall carbon nanotubes (CNTs) as a saturable absorber for possible applications in metrology, sensing, and medical diagnostics. The EDFL operates at around 1560 nm with repetition rates of 16.1 kHz and 6.4 kHz with saturable absorbers SA1 and SA2 at a pump power of 120 mW. The absorbers are constructed by optically driven deposition and normal deposition techniques. It is observed that the optical deposition method produces a Q-switched EDFL with a lower threshold of 70 mW and better Q-switching performance compared to that of the normal deposition method. The EDFL also has pulse energy of 90.3 nJ and pulse width of 11.6 μs at 120 mW pump power

Graphene-based absorber exploiting guided mode resonances in one-dimensional gratings.

Science.gov (United States)

Grande, M; Vincenti, M A; Stomeo, T; Bianco, G V; de Ceglia, D; Aközbek, N; Petruzzelli, V; Bruno, G; De Vittorio, M; Scalora, M; D'Orazio, A

2014-12-15

A one-dimensional dielectric grating, based on a simple geometry, is proposed and investigated to enhance light absorption in a monolayer graphene exploiting guided mode resonances. Numerical findings reveal that the optimized configuration is able to absorb up to 60% of the impinging light at normal incidence for both TE and TM polarizations resulting in a theoretical enhancement factor of about 26 with respect to the monolayer graphene absorption (≈2.3%). Experimental results confirm this behavior showing CVD graphene absorbance peaks up to about 40% over narrow bands of a few nanometers. The simple and flexible design points to a way to realize innovative, scalable and easy-to-fabricate graphene-based optical absorbers.

Structural and optical properties of Cu{sub 2}ZnSnS{sub 4} thin film absorbers from ZnS and Cu{sub 3}SnS{sub 4} nanoparticle precursors

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lin, Xianzhong, E-mail: lin.xianzhong@helmholtz-berlin.de [Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie GmbH, Hahn-Meitner-Platz 1, D-14109 Berlin (Germany); Kavalakkatt, Jaison [Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie GmbH, Hahn-Meitner-Platz 1, D-14109 Berlin (Germany); Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin (Germany); Kornhuber, Kai; Levcenko, Sergiu [Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie GmbH, Hahn-Meitner-Platz 1, D-14109 Berlin (Germany); Lux-Steiner, Martha Ch. [Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie GmbH, Hahn-Meitner-Platz 1, D-14109 Berlin (Germany); Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin (Germany); Ennaoui, Ahmed, E-mail: ennaoui@helmholtz-berlin.de [Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie GmbH, Hahn-Meitner-Platz 1, D-14109 Berlin (Germany)

2013-05-01

Cu{sub 2}ZnSnS{sub 4} (CZTS) has been considered as an alternative absorber layer to Cu(In,Ga)Se{sub 2} due to its earth abundant and environmentally friendly constituents, optimal direct band gap of 1.4–1.6 eV and high absorption coefficient in the visible range. In this work, we propose a solution-based chemical route for the preparation of CZTS thin film absorbers by spin coating of the precursor inks composed of Cu{sub 3}SnS{sub 4} and ZnS NPs and annealing in Ar/H{sub 2}S atmosphere. X-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy were used to characterize the structural properties. The chemical composition was determined by energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. Optical properties of the CZTS thin film absorbers were studied by transmission, reflection and photoluminescence spectroscopy.

Analytical modeling of light transport in scattering materials with strong absorption.

Science.gov (United States)

Meretska, M L; Uppu, R; Vissenberg, G; Lagendijk, A; Ijzerman, W L; Vos, W L

2017-10-02

We have investigated the transport of light through slabs that both scatter and strongly absorb, a situation that occurs in diverse application fields ranging from biomedical optics, powder technology, to solid-state lighting. In particular, we study the transport of light in the visible wavelength range between 420 and 700 nm through silicone plates filled with YAG:Ce 3+ phosphor particles, that even re-emit absorbed light at different wavelengths. We measure the total transmission, the total reflection, and the ballistic transmission of light through these plates. We obtain average single particle properties namely the scattering cross-section σ s , the absorption cross-section σ a , and the anisotropy factor µ using an analytical approach, namely the P3 approximation to the radiative transfer equation. We verify the extracted transport parameters using Monte-Carlo simulations of the light transport. Our approach fully describes the light propagation in phosphor diffuser plates that are used in white LEDs and that reveal a strong absorption (L/l a > 1) up to L/l a = 4, where L is the slab thickness, l a is the absorption mean free path. In contrast, the widely used diffusion theory fails to describe this parameter range. Our approach is a suitable analytical tool for industry, since it provides a fast yet accurate determination of key transport parameters, and since it introduces predictive power into the design process of white light emitting diodes.

Three dimensional measurements of absorbed dose in BNCT by Fricke-gel imaging

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gambarini, G.; Agosteo, S.; Marchesi, P.; Nava, E.; Palazzi, P.; Pecci, A.; Rosa, R.; Rosi, G.; Tinti, R.

2001-01-01

A method has been studied for absorbed dose imaging and profiling in a phantom exposed to thermal or epithermal neutron fields, also discriminating between various contributions to the absorbed dose. The proposed technique is based on optical imaging of FriXy-gel phantoms, which are proper tissue-equivalent phantoms acting as continuous dosimeters. Convenient modifications in phantom composition allow, from differential measurements, the discrimination of various contributions to the absorbed dose. The dosimetry technique is based on a chemical dosimeter incorporated in a tissue-equivalent gel (Agarose). The chemical dosimeter is a ferrous sulphate solution (which is the main component of the standard Fricke dosimeter) added with a metal ion indicator (Xylenol Orange). The absorbed dose is measured by analysing the variation of gel optical absorption in the visible spectrum, imaged by means of a CCD camera provided with a suitable filter. The technique validity has been tested by irradiating and analysing phantoms in the thermal facility of the fast research reactor TAPIRO (ENEA, Casaccia, Italy). In a cylindrical phantom simulating a head, we have imaged the therapy dose from thermal neutron reactions with 10 B and the dose in healthy tissue not containing boron. In tissue without boron, we have discriminated between the two main contributions to the absorbed dose, which comes from the 1 H(n,γ) 2 H and 14 N(n,p) 14 C reactions. The comparison with the results of other experimental techniques and of simulations reveals that the technique is very promising. A method for the discrimination of fast neutron contribution to the absorbed dose, still in an experimental stage, is proposed too. (author)

Review of Plasmonic Nanocomposite Metamaterial Absorber

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mehdi Keshavarz Hedayati

2014-02-01

Full Text Available Plasmonic metamaterials are artificial materials typically composed of noble metals in which the features of photonics and electronics are linked by coupling photons to conduction electrons of metal (known as surface plasmon. These rationally designed structures have spurred interest noticeably since they demonstrate some fascinating properties which are unattainable with naturally occurring materials. Complete absorption of light is one of the recent exotic properties of plasmonic metamaterials which has broadened its application area considerably. This is realized by designing a medium whose impedance matches that of free space while being opaque. If such a medium is filled with some lossy medium, the resulting structure can absorb light totally in a sharp or broad frequency range. Although several types of metamaterials perfect absorber have been demonstrated so far, in the current paper we overview (and focus on perfect absorbers based on nanocomposites where the total thickness is a few tens of nanometer and the absorption band is broad, tunable and insensitive to the angle of incidence. The nanocomposites consist of metal nanoparticles embedded in a dielectric matrix with a high filling factor close to the percolation threshold. The filling factor can be tailored by the vapor phase co-deposition of the metallic and dielectric components. In addition, novel wet chemical approaches are discussed which are bio-inspired or involve synthesis within levitating Leidenfrost drops, for instance. Moreover, theoretical considerations, optical properties, and potential application of perfect absorbers will be presented.

Organic-inorganic hybrid optical foils with strong visible reflection, excellent near infrared-shielding ability and high transparency

Science.gov (United States)

Zhou, Yijie; Huang, Aibin; Zhou, Huaijuan; Ji, Shidong; Jin, Ping

2018-03-01

Research on functional flexible films has recently been attracting widespread attention especially with regards to foils, which can be designed artificially on the basis of the practical requirements. In this work, a foil with high visible reflection and a strong near infrared shielding efficiency was prepared by a simple wet chemical method. In the process of making this kind of optical foil, emulsion polymerization was first introduced to synthesize polymer opals, which were further compressed between two pieces of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) foil under polymer melting temperature to obtain a photonic crystal film with a strong reflection in the visible region to block blue rays. The following step was to coat a layer of the inorganic nano paint, which was synthesized by dispersing Cs-doped WO3 (CWO) nanoparticles homogenously into organic resin on the surface of the PET to achieve a high near infrared shielding ability. The final composite foil exhibited unique optical properties such as high visible reflectance (23.9%) to block blue rays, and excellent near infrared shielding efficiency (98.0%), meanwhile it still maintained a high transparency meaning that this foil could potentially be applied in energy-saving window films. To sum up, this study provides new insight into devising flexible hybrid films with novel optical properties, which could be further extended to prepare other optical films for potential use in automobile, architectural and other decorative fields.

Large-area and highly crystalline MoSe2 for optical modulator

Science.gov (United States)

Yin, Jinde; Chen, Hao; Lu, Wei; Liu, Mengli; Li, Irene Ling; Zhang, Min; Zhang, Wenfei; Wang, Jinzhang; Xu, Zihan; Yan, Peiguang; Liu, Wenjun; Ruan, Shuangchen

2017-12-01

Transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) have been successfully used as broadband optical modulator materials for pulsed fiber laser systems. However, the nonlinear optical absorptions of exfoliated TMDs are strongly limited by their nanoflakes morphology with uncontrollable lateral size and thickness. In this work, we provide an effective method to fully explore the nonlinear optical properties of MoSe2. Large-area and high quality lattice MoSe2 grown by chemical vapor deposition method was adopted as an optical modulator for the first time. The large-area MoSe2 shows excellent nonlinear optical absorption with a large modulation depth of 21.7% and small saturable intensity of 9.4 MW cm-2. After incorporating the MoSe2 optical modulator into fiber laser cavity as a saturable absorber, a highly stable Q-switching operation with single pulse energy of 224 nJ is achieved. The large-area MoSe2 possessing superior nonlinear optical properties compared to exfoliated nanoflakes affords possibility for the larger-area two-dimensional materials family as high performance optical devices.

G-index: A new metric to describe dynamic refractive index effects in HPLC absorbance detection.

Science.gov (United States)

Kraiczek, Karsten G; Rozing, Gerard P; Zengerle, Roland

2018-09-01

High performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with a solvent gradient and absorbance detection is one of the most widely used methods in analytical chemistry. The observed absorbance baseline is affected by the changes in the refractive index (RI) of the mobile phase. Near the limited of detection, this complicates peak quantitation. The general aspects of these RI-induced apparent absorbance effects are discussed. Two different detectors with fundamentally different optics and flow cell concepts, a variable-wavelength detector equipped with a conventional flow cell and a diode-array detector equipped with a liquid core waveguide flow cell, are compared with respect to their RI behavior. A simple method to separate static - partly unavoidable - RI effects from dynamic RI effects is presented. It is shown that the dynamic RI behavior of an absorbance detector can be well described using a single, relatively easy-to-determine metric called the G-index. The G-index is typically in the order of a few seconds and its sign depends on the optical flow cell concept. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Photoluminescence-based quality control for thin film absorber layers of photovoltaic devices

Science.gov (United States)

Repins, Ingrid L.; Kuciauskas, Darius

2015-07-07

A time-resolved photoluminescence-based system providing quality control during manufacture of thin film absorber layers for photovoltaic devices. The system includes a laser generating excitation beams and an optical fiber with an end used both for directing each excitation beam onto a thin film absorber layer and for collecting photoluminescence from the absorber layer. The system includes a processor determining a quality control parameter such as minority carrier lifetime of the thin film absorber layer based on the collected photoluminescence. In some implementations, the laser is a low power, pulsed diode laser having photon energy at least great enough to excite electron hole pairs in the thin film absorber layer. The scattered light may be filterable from the collected photoluminescence, and the system may include a dichroic beam splitter and a filter that transmit the photoluminescence and remove scattered laser light prior to delivery to a photodetector and a digital oscilloscope.

Three-dimensional determination of absorbed dose by spectrophotometric analysis of ferrous-sulphate agarose gel

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gambarini, G.; Gomarasca, G.; Marchesini, R.; Pecci, A.; Pirola, L.; Tomatis, S.

1999-01-01

We describe a technique to obtain three-dimensional (3-D) imaging of an absorbed dose by optical transmittance measurements of phantoms composed by agarose gel in which a ferrous sulphate and xylenol orange solution are incorporated. The analysis of gel samples is performed by acquiring transmittance images with a system based on a CCD camera provided with an interference filter matching the optical absorption peak of interest. The proposed technique for 3-D measurements of an absorbed dose is based on the imaging of phantoms composed of sets of properly piled up gel slices. The slice thickness was optimized in order to obtain a good image contrast as well as a good in-depth spatial resolution. To test the technique, a phantom has been irradiated with a collimated γ-beam and then analysed. Proper software was adapted in order to visualise the images of all slices and to attain the 2-D profiles of the dose absorbed by each slice

Fault Detection for Automotive Shock Absorber

Science.gov (United States)

Hernandez-Alcantara, Diana; Morales-Menendez, Ruben; Amezquita-Brooks, Luis

2015-11-01

Fault detection for automotive semi-active shock absorbers is a challenge due to the non-linear dynamics and the strong influence of the disturbances such as the road profile. First obstacle for this task, is the modeling of the fault, which has been shown to be of multiplicative nature. Many of the most widespread fault detection schemes consider additive faults. Two model-based fault algorithms for semiactive shock absorber are compared: an observer-based approach and a parameter identification approach. The performance of these schemes is validated and compared using a commercial vehicle model that was experimentally validated. Early results shows that a parameter identification approach is more accurate, whereas an observer-based approach is less sensible to parametric uncertainty.

Laser pushing or pulling of absorbing airborne particles

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wang, Chuji, E-mail: cw175@msstate.edu; Gong, Zhiyong [Mississippi State University, Starkville, Mississippi 39759 (United States); Pan, Yong-Le; Videen, Gorden [U.S. Army Research Laboratory, 2800 Powder Mill Road, Adelphi, Maryland 20783 (United States)

2016-07-04

A single absorbing particle formed by carbon nanotubes in the size range of 10–50 μm is trapped in air by a laser trapping beam and concurrently illuminated by another laser manipulating beam. When the trapping beam is terminated, the movement of the particle controlled by the manipulating beam is investigated. We report our observations of light-controlled pushing and pulling motions. We show that the movement direction has little relationship with the particle size and manipulating beam's parameters but is dominated by the particle's orientation and morphology. With this observation, the controllable optical manipulation is now able to be generalized to arbitrary particles, including irregularly shaped absorbing particles that are shown in this work.

Determining the Absorbance Spectra of Photochromic Materials From Measured Spectrophotometer Data

Science.gov (United States)

Downie, John D.

1998-01-01

If a two-state photochromic material is optically bleached, the absorbance spectrum data measured by a spectrophotometer is in general comprised of components from both the ground state and the upper state. Under general conditions, it may be difficult to extract the actual upper state spectrum from the spectrum of the bleached material. A simple algorithm is presented here for the recovery of the pure absorbance spectra of the upper state of a material such as bacteriorhodopsin, given single wavelength bleaching illumination, steady-state conditions, and accurate knowledge of phototransition rates and thermal decay rates.

Aligned metal absorbers and the ultraviolet background at the end of reionization

Science.gov (United States)

Doughty, Caitlin; Finlator, Kristian; Oppenheimer, Benjamin D.; Davé, Romeel; Zackrisson, Erik

2018-04-01

We use observations of spatially aligned C II, C IV, Si II, Si IV, and O I absorbers to probe the slope and intensity of the ultraviolet background (UVB) at z ˜ 6. We accomplish this by comparing observations with predictions from a cosmological hydrodynamic simulation using three trial UVBs applied in post-processing: a spectrally soft, fluctuating UVB calculated using multifrequency radiative transfer; a soft, spatially uniform UVB; and a hard, spatially uniform `quasars-only' model. When considering our paired high-ionization absorbers (C IV/Si IV), the observed statistics strongly prefer the hard, spatially uniform UVB. This echoes recent findings that cosmological simulations generically underproduce strong C IV absorbers at z > 5. A single low/high ionization pair (Si II/Si IV), by contrast, shows a preference for the HM12 UVB, whereas two more (C II/C IV and O I/C IV) show no preference for any of the three UVBs. Despite this, future observations of specific absorbers, particularly Si IV/C IV, with next-generation telescopes probing to lower column densities should yield tighter constraints on the UVB.

Photodimerization in dipeptides for high capacity optical digital storage

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ramanujam, P.S.; Berg, R.H.

2004-01-01

We have developed peptide materials with chromophores that undergo cycloaddition, suitable for terabit optical digital storage in a 5.25 in. disc. The rationale behind this design is that the length and rigidity of the backbone can be adjusted to facilitate the formation of a photodimer without...... large physical movements of the chromophores on exposure to UV light. Initially strongly absorbing films transmit up to 50% of light on irradiation at dimerizing wavelengths. This property can be utilized to record grey levels. An intensity-dependent transmission behavior has been observed that may...

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.

Performance analysis of relay-assisted all-optical FSO networks over strong atmospheric turbulence channels with pointing errors

KAUST Repository

Yang, Liang

2014-12-01

In this study, we consider a relay-assisted free-space optical communication scheme over strong atmospheric turbulence channels with misalignment-induced pointing errors. The links from the source to the destination are assumed to be all-optical links. Assuming a variable gain relay with amplify-and-forward protocol, the electrical signal at the source is forwarded to the destination with the help of this relay through all-optical links. More specifically, we first present a cumulative density function (CDF) analysis for the end-to-end signal-to-noise ratio. Based on this CDF, the outage probability, bit-error rate, and average capacity of our proposed system are derived. Results show that the system diversity order is related to the minimum value of the channel parameters.

Shock absorber

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Housman, J.J.

1978-01-01

A shock absorber is described for use in a hostile environment at the end of a blind passage for absorbing impact loads. The shock absorber includes at least one element which occupies the passage and which is comprised of a porous brittle material which is substantially non-degradable in the hostile environment. A void volume is provided in the element to enable the element to absorb a predetermined level of energy upon being crushed due to impact loading

BAT AGN Spectroscopic Survey. VIII. Type 1 AGN with Massive Absorbing Columns

Science.gov (United States)

Shimizu, T. Taro; Davies, Richard I.; Koss, Michael; Ricci, Claudio; Lamperti, Isabella; Oh, Kyuseok; Schawinski, Kevin; Trakhtenbrot, Benny; Burtscher, Leonard; Genzel, Reinhard; Lin, Ming-yi; Lutz, Dieter; Rosario, David; Sturm, Eckhard; Tacconi, Linda

2018-04-01

We explore the relationship between X-ray absorption and optical obscuration within the BAT AGN Spectroscopic Survey (BASS), which has been collecting and analyzing the optical and X-ray spectra for 641 hard X-ray selected (E > 14 keV) active galactic nuclei (AGNs). We use the deviation from a linear broad Hα-to-X-ray relationship as an estimate of the maximum optical obscuration toward the broad line region (BLR) and compare the A V to the hydrogen column densities ({N}{{H}}) found through systematic modeling of their X-ray spectra. We find that the inferred columns implied by A V toward the BLR are often orders of magnitude less than the columns measured toward the X-ray emitting region, indicating a small-scale origin for the X-ray absorbing gas. After removing 30% of Sy 1.9s that potentially have been misclassified due to outflows, we find that 86% (164/190) of the Type 1 population (Sy 1–1.9) are X-ray unabsorbed as expected based on a single obscuring structure. However, 14% (26/190), of which 70% (18/26) are classified as Sy 1.9, are X-ray absorbed, suggesting that the BLR itself is providing extra obscuration toward the X-ray corona. The fraction of X-ray absorbed Type 1 AGNs remains relatively constant with AGN luminosity and Eddington ratio, indicating a stable BLR covering fraction.

A comprehensive simulation model of the performance of photochromic films in absorbance-modulation-optical-lithography

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Apratim Majumder

2016-03-01

Full Text Available Optical lithography is the most prevalent method of fabricating micro-and nano-scale structures in the semiconductor industry due to the fact that patterning using photons is fast, accurate and provides high throughput. However, the resolution of this technique is inherently limited by the physical phenomenon of diffraction. Absorbance-Modulation-Optical Lithography (AMOL, a recently developed technique has been successfully demonstrated to be able to circumvent this diffraction limit. AMOL employs a dual-wavelength exposure system in conjunction with spectrally selective reversible photo-transitions in thin films of photochromic molecules to achieve patterning of features with sizes beyond the far-field diffraction limit. We have developed a finite-element-method based full-electromagnetic-wave solution model that simulates the photo-chemical processes that occur within the thin film of the photochromic molecules under illumination by the exposure and confining wavelengths in AMOL. This model allows us to understand how the material characteristics influence the confinement to sub-diffraction dimensions, of the transmitted point spread function (PSF of the exposure wavelength inside the recording medium. The model reported here provides the most comprehensive analysis of the AMOL process to-date, and the results show that the most important factors that govern the process, are the polarization of the two beams, the ratio of the intensities of the two wavelengths, the relative absorption coefficients and the concentration of the photochromic species, the thickness of the photochromic layer and the quantum yields of the photoreactions at the two wavelengths. The aim of this work is to elucidate the requirements of AMOL in successfully circumventing the far-field diffraction limit.

A comprehensive simulation model of the performance of photochromic films in absorbance-modulation-optical-lithography

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Majumder, Apratim; Helms, Phillip L.; Menon, Rajesh, E-mail: rmenon@eng.utah.edu [Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah 84112 (United States); Andrew, Trisha L. [Department of Chemistry, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin 53706 (United States)

2016-03-15

Optical lithography is the most prevalent method of fabricating micro-and nano-scale structures in the semiconductor industry due to the fact that patterning using photons is fast, accurate and provides high throughput. However, the resolution of this technique is inherently limited by the physical phenomenon of diffraction. Absorbance-Modulation-Optical Lithography (AMOL), a recently developed technique has been successfully demonstrated to be able to circumvent this diffraction limit. AMOL employs a dual-wavelength exposure system in conjunction with spectrally selective reversible photo-transitions in thin films of photochromic molecules to achieve patterning of features with sizes beyond the far-field diffraction limit. We have developed a finite-element-method based full-electromagnetic-wave solution model that simulates the photo-chemical processes that occur within the thin film of the photochromic molecules under illumination by the exposure and confining wavelengths in AMOL. This model allows us to understand how the material characteristics influence the confinement to sub-diffraction dimensions, of the transmitted point spread function (PSF) of the exposure wavelength inside the recording medium. The model reported here provides the most comprehensive analysis of the AMOL process to-date, and the results show that the most important factors that govern the process, are the polarization of the two beams, the ratio of the intensities of the two wavelengths, the relative absorption coefficients and the concentration of the photochromic species, the thickness of the photochromic layer and the quantum yields of the photoreactions at the two wavelengths. The aim of this work is to elucidate the requirements of AMOL in successfully circumventing the far-field diffraction limit.

Synthesis and strong optical limiting response of graphite oxide covalently functionalized with gallium phthalocyanine

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Yong-Xi; Zhu, Jinhui; Chen, Yu; Zhang, Jinjuan; Wang, Jun; Zhang, Bin; He, Ying; Blau, Werner J.

2011-05-01

A soluble graphite oxide (GO) axially substituted gallium phthalocyanine (PcGa) hybrid material (GO-PcGa) was for the first time synthesized by the reaction of tBu4PcGaCl with GO in anhydrous DMSO at 110 °C in the presence of K2CO3. The formation of a Ga-O bond between PcGa and GO has been confirmed by x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. In contrast to GO, the D and G bands of GO-PcGa in the Raman spectrum are shifted to the lower wavenumbers by Δν = 11 and 18 cm - 1, respectively. At the same level of concentration of 0.1 g l - 1, GO-PcGa exhibit much larger nonlinear optical extinction coefficients and strong optical limiting performance than GO, tBu4PcGaCl and C60 at both 532 and 1064 nm, implying a remarkable accumulation effect as a result of the covalent link between GO and PcGa. GO-PcGa possesses three main mechanisms for the nonlinear optical response—nonlinear light scattering, two-photon absorption and reverse saturable absorption for the 532 nm pulses and nonlinear light scattering for the 1064 nm pulses. tBu4PcGaCl does not make any significant contribution to the optical limiting at 1064 nm, while GO-PcGa has a much greater optical limiting response than GO at this wavelength, this suggesting that the PcGa moiety could certainly play an unknown but important role in the GO-PcGa material system.

Shock absorbing structure

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kojima, Naoki; Matsushita, Kazuo.

1992-01-01

Small pieces of shock absorbers are filled in a space of a shock absorbing vessel which is divided into a plurality of sections by partitioning members. These sections function to prevent excess deformation or replacement of the fillers upon occurrence of falling accident. Since the shock absorbing small pieces in the shock absorbing vessel are filled irregularly, shock absorbing characteristics such as compression strength is not varied depending on the direction, but they exhibit excellent shock absorbing performance. They surely absorb shocks exerted on a transportation vessel upon falling or the like. If existing artificial fillers such as pole rings made of metal or ceramic and cut pieces such as alumium extrusion molding products are used as the shock absorbing pieces, they have excellent fire-proofness and cold resistance since the small pieces are inflammable and do not contain water. (T.M.)

High-temperature stable absorber coatings for linear concentrating solar thermal power plants; Hochtemperaturstabile Absorberschichten fuer linear konzentrierende solarthermische Kraftwerke

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hildebrandt, Christina

2009-03-23

This work describes the development of new absorber coatings for different applications - para-bolic trough and linear Fresnel collectors - and operating conditions - absorber in vacuum or in air. The demand for higher efficiencies of solar thermal power plants using parabolic trough technology results in higher temperatures in the collectors and on the absorber tubes. As heat losses increase strongly with increasing temperatures, the need for a lower emissivity of the absorber coating at constant absorptivity arises. The linear Fresnel application envisions ab-sorber tubes stable in air at high temperatures of about 450 C, which are to date commercially not available. This work comprises the theoretical background, the modeling and the fabrication of absorber tubes including the technology transfer to a production-size inline sputter coater. In annealing tests and accompanying optical measurements, degradation processes have been observed and specified more precisely by material characterization techniques. The simulations provided the capability of different materials used as potential IR-reflector. The highest selectivity can be achieved by applying silver which consequently has been chosen for the application in absorber coatings of the parabolic trough technology. Thin silver films how-ever need to be stabilized when used at high temperatures. Appropriate barrier layers as well as process and layer parameters were identified. A high selectivity was achieved and stability of the absorber coating for 1200 h at 500 C in vacuum has been demonstrated. For the application in air, silver was also analyzed as a potential IR-reflector. Even though the stability could be increased considerably, it nevertheless proved to be insufficient. The main factors influencing stability in a positive way are the use of higher quality polishing, additional barrier layers and adequate process parameters. This knowledge was applied for developing coatings which are stable in air at

A new method to determine the mixing state of light absorbing carbonaceous using the measured aerosol optical properties and number size distributions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

N. Ma

2012-03-01

Full Text Available In this paper, the mixing state of light absorbing carbonaceous (LAC was investigated with a two-parameter aerosol optical model and in situ aerosol measurements at a regional site in the North China Plain (NCP. A closure study between the hemispheric backscattering fraction (HBF measured by an integrating nephelometer and that calculated with a modified Mie model was conducted. A new method was proposed to retrieve the ratio of the externally mixed LAC mass to the total mass of LAC (r_ext-LAC based on the assumption that the ambient aerosol particles were externally mixed and consisted of a pure LAC material and a core-shell morphology in which the core is LAC and the shell is a less absorbing material. A Monte Carlo simulation was applied to estimate the overall influences of input parameters of the algorithm to the retrieved r_ext-LAC. The diurnal variation of r_ext-LAC was analyzed and the PartMC-MOSAIC model was used to simulate the variation of the aerosol mixing state. Results show that, for internally mixed particles, the assumption of core-shell mixture is more appropriate than that of homogenous mixture which has been widely used in aerosol optical calculations. A significant diurnal pattern of the retrieved r_ext-LAC was found, with high values during the daytime and low values at night. The consistency between the retrieved r_ext-LAC and the model results indicates that the diurnal variation of LAC mixing state is mainly caused by the diurnal evolution of the mixing layer.

A checkerboard selective absorber with excellent spectral selectivity

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yang, Liu, E-mail: optyang@zju.edu.cn [Centre for Optical and Electromagnetic Research, State Key Laboratory of Modern Optical Instrumentation, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058 (China); School of Electrical, Computer, and Engineering, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona 85287 (United States); Mo, Lei; Chen, Tuo [Centre for Optical and Electromagnetic Research, State Key Laboratory of Modern Optical Instrumentation, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058 (China); Department of Physics, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027 (China); Forsberg, Erik [Centre for Optical and Electromagnetic Research, State Key Laboratory of Modern Optical Instrumentation, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058 (China); He, Sailing [Centre for Optical and Electromagnetic Research, State Key Laboratory of Modern Optical Instrumentation, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058 (China); Department of Electromagnetic Engineering, JORCEP, Roy Institute of Technology (KTH), S-100 44 Stockholm (Sweden)

2015-11-14

A selective absorber with excellent spectral selectivity is proposed and analyzed. The absorber is based on a germanium (Ge) checkerboard on top of a tantalum (Ta) substrate. At wavelengths shorter than the 1.2 μm cutoff, a very high absorption is achieved due to strong cavity resonances in the Ge nanosquares, and their interactions with adjacent nanocavities and the bottom Ta substrate. At longer wavelengths, absorption is greatly suppressed due to destructive interference between the transparent checkerboard layer and the highly reflective Ta substrate. To better describe the superior selectivity of our configuration, a new figure of merit (FOM) is introduced. We observe a FOM value of 0.88 compared to 0.69 for its planar counterpart. We also conduct a thermal analysis to verify the excellent selectivity of our absorber. A high temperature can be achieved and maintained, promising good potential for applications in solar thermophotovoltaic systems.

An experimental study of an energy absorbing restrainer for piping systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sone, A.; Suzuki, K.

1989-01-01

Recently, in the seismic design methodology of the piping systems in nuclear power plants, new and improved design criteria and calculation techniques which will lead to more reliable and cost saving design products have been investigated. For instance, problems for reducing the snubbers in nuclear power plants which provide high costs for their inspections and maintenances and related flexible design problems for the dynamic piping systems have been investigated. Thus, in order to replace snubbers, various types of alternative supporting devices such as dynamic absorbers, gapped support and energy absorbing support devices have been proposed. A number of energy absorbing restrainers have been designed in Japan and United-States by allowing yield to occur during strong earthquakes. Advantages and disadvantages of these restrainers were examined analytically and experimentally. In order to overcome the disadvantages, the authors introduced new absorbing material LSPZ (laminated super plastic zinc) in which SPZ is expected to have reliable ductility and also efficient energy absorbability still under the normal temperature condition. This paper is devoted to an experimental works for this updated absorbing restrainer

Calculated optical absorption of different perovskite phases

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Castelli, Ivano Eligio; Thygesen, Kristian Sommer; Jacobsen, Karsten Wedel

2015-01-01

We present calculations of the optical properties of a set of around 80 oxides, oxynitrides, and organometal halide cubic and layered perovskites (Ruddlesden-Popper and Dion-Jacobson phases) with a bandgap in the visible part of the solar spectrum. The calculations show that for different classes...... of perovskites the solar light absorption efficiency varies greatly depending not only on bandgap size and character (direct/indirect) but also on the dipole matrix elements. The oxides exhibit generally a fairly weak absorption efficiency due to indirect bandgaps while the most efficient absorbers are found...... in the classes of oxynitride and organometal halide perovskites with strong direct transitions....

Black Cr/a-Cr2O3 nanoparticles based solar absorbers

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Khamlich, S

2012-01-01

Full Text Available and attenuated total reflection, as well as UV–vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy. The samples aged for more than 40 h at 75 °C exhibit the targeted high absorbing optical characteristic “Black chrome” while those aged for =40 h show a significant high UV–vis...

Radiation and shielding around beam absorbers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hurkmans, A.; Maas, R.

1978-12-01

During operational conditions it is anticipated that a fair amount of the total available beam power is dumped in either the slit system on one of the beam dumps. Thses beam absorbers therefore become strong radioactive sources. The radiation level due to the absorption of a 100 kW electron beam is estimated and the problem of residual activity is treated. Proposed shielding materials are discussed. (C.F.)

Low-Crosstalk Composite Optical Crosspoint Switches

Science.gov (United States)

Pan, Jing-Jong; Liang, Frank

1993-01-01

Composite optical switch includes two elementary optical switches in tandem, plus optical absorbers. Like elementary optical switches, composite optical switches assembled into switch matrix. Performance enhanced by increasing number of elementary switches. Advantage of concept: crosstalk reduced to acceptably low level at moderate cost of doubling number of elementary switches rather than at greater cost of tightening manufacturing tolerances and exerting more-precise control over operating conditions.

Ultra-thin, conformal, and hydratable color-absorbers using silk protein hydrogel

Science.gov (United States)

Umar, Muhammad; Min, Kyungtaek; Jo, Minsik; Kim, Sunghwan

2018-06-01

Planar and multilayered photonic devices offer unprecedented opportunities in biological and chemical sensing due to strong light-matter interactions. However, uses of rigid substances such as semiconductors and dielectrics confront photonic devices with issues of biocompatibility and a mechanical mismatch for their application on humid, uneven, and soft biological surfaces. Here, we report that favorable material traits of natural silk protein led to the fabrication of an ultra-thin, conformal, and water-permeable (hydratable) metal-insulator-metal (MIM) color absorber that was mapped on soft, curved, and hydrated biological interfaces. Strong absorption was induced in the MIM structure and could be tuned by hydration and tilting of the sample. The transferred MIM color absorbers reached the exhibition of a very strong resonant absorption in the visible and near infra-red ranges. In addition, we demonstrated that the conformal resonator could function as a refractometric glucose sensor applied on a contact lens.

Does a leaf absorb radiation in the near infrared (780-900 nm) region? A new approach to quantifying optical reflection, absorption and transmission of leaves.

Science.gov (United States)

Merzlyak, Mark N; Chivkunova, Olga B; Melø, T B; Naqvi, K Razi

2002-01-01

The following question is addressed here: do healthy leaves absorb, as the spectra published over the last 50 years indicate, some 5-20% of incident radiation in the 780-900 nm region? The answer is found to be negative, and previous findings result from incomplete collection of the transmitted light by the detection system (even when the leaf is placed next to, but outside, the entrance port of an integrating sphere). A simple remedy for this inherent flaw in the experimental arrangement is applied successfully to leaves (of 10 unrelated species) differing in thickness, age and pigment content. The study has shown that, from an optical standpoint, a leaf tissue is a highly scattering material, and the infinite reflectance of a leaf is exceedingly sensitive to trace amounts of absorbing components. It is shown that water contributes, in a thick leaf (Kalanchoe blossfeldiana), an easily detectable signal even in the 780-900 nm region. The practical benefits resulting from improved measurements of leaf spectra are pointed out.

Manipulating light with strongly modulated photonic crystals

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Notomi, Masaya

2010-01-01

Recently, strongly modulated photonic crystals, fabricated by the state-of-the-art semiconductor nanofabrication process, have realized various novel optical properties. This paper describes the way in which they differ from other optical media, and clarifies what they can do. In particular, three important issues are considered: light confinement, frequency dispersion and spatial dispersion. First, I describe the latest status and impact of ultra-strong light confinement in a wavelength-cubic volume achieved in photonic crystals. Second, the extreme reduction in the speed of light is reported, which was achieved as a result of frequency dispersion management. Third, strange negative refraction in photonic crystals is introduced, which results from their unique spatial dispersion, and it is clarified how this leads to perfect imaging. The last two sections are devoted to applications of these novel properties. First, I report the fact that strong light confinement and huge light-matter interaction enhancement make strongly modulated photonic crystals promising for on-chip all-optical processing, and present several examples including all-optical switches/memories and optical logics. As a second application, it is shown that the strong light confinement and slow light in strongly modulated photonic crystals enable the adiabatic tuning of light, which leads to various novel ways of controlling light, such as adiabatic frequency conversion, efficient optomechanics systems, photon memories and photons pinning.

Dynamics of Molecular Gyroscopes Created by Strong Optical Fields

Science.gov (United States)

Mullin, Amy

2015-03-01

We explore the behavior of molecules in ultra-high angular momentum states prepared in an optical centrifuge and detected with transient IR absorption spectroscopy. In the optical centrifuge, the polarizable electron cloud of molecules interacts with the electric field of linearly polarized light that angularly accelerates over the time of the optical pulse. The centrifuge pulse is generated by combining oppositely chirped pulsed of light. Trapped molecules are driven into high angular momentum states that are spatially oriented with the optical field and have energies far above the average at 300 K. High resolution transient IR spectroscopy reveals the dynamics of collisional energy transfer for the super-rotors. Polarization-dependent studies show that the initial angular momentum orientation persists for many collisions, indicating that molecules in an optical centrifuge behave as quantum gyroscopes. Time-dependent population and energy profiles for individual J- states give information about the dynamics of super-rotors. Research support provided by NSF and the University of Maryland.

Absorbing Property of Multi-layered Short Carbon Fiber Absorbing Coating

OpenAIRE

Liu, Zhaohui; Tao, Rui; Ban, Guodong; Luo, Ping

2018-01-01

The radar absorbing coating was prepared with short carbon fiber asabsorbent and waterborne polyurethane (WPU) as matrix resin. The coating’s absorbing property was tested with vectornetwork analyzer, using aramid honeycomb as air layer which was matched withcarbon fiber coating. The results demonstrate that the single-layered carbonfiber absorbing coating presented relatively poor absorbing property when thelayer was thin, and the performance was slightly improved after the matched airlayer ...

Self-assembly of highly efficient, broadband plasmonic absorbers for solar steam generation.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhou, Lin; Tan, Yingling; Ji, Dengxin; Zhu, Bin; Zhang, Pei; Xu, Jun; Gan, Qiaoqiang; Yu, Zongfu; Zhu, Jia

2016-04-01

The study of ideal absorbers, which can efficiently absorb light over a broad range of wavelengths, is of fundamental importance, as well as critical for many applications from solar steam generation and thermophotovoltaics to light/thermal detectors. As a result of recent advances in plasmonics, plasmonic absorbers have attracted a lot of attention. However, the performance and scalability of these absorbers, predominantly fabricated by the top-down approach, need to be further improved to enable widespread applications. We report a plasmonic absorber which can enable an average measured absorbance of ~99% across the wavelengths from 400 nm to 10 μm, the most efficient and broadband plasmonic absorber reported to date. The absorber is fabricated through self-assembly of metallic nanoparticles onto a nanoporous template by a one-step deposition process. Because of its efficient light absorption, strong field enhancement, and porous structures, which together enable not only efficient solar absorption but also significant local heating and continuous stream flow, plasmonic absorber-based solar steam generation has over 90% efficiency under solar irradiation of only 4-sun intensity (4 kW m(-2)). The pronounced light absorption effect coupled with the high-throughput self-assembly process could lead toward large-scale manufacturing of other nanophotonic structures and devices.

MAGIICAT I. THE Mg II ABSORBER-GALAXY CATALOG

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Nielsen, Nikole M.; Churchill, Christopher W. [New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM 88003 (United States); Kacprzak, Glenn G.; Murphy, Michael T., E-mail: nnielsen@nmsu.edu [Swinburne University of Technology, Victoria 3122 (Australia)

2013-10-20

We describe the Mg II Absorber-Galaxy Catalog, MAGIICAT, a compilation of 182 spectroscopically identified intermediate redshift (0.07 ≤ z ≤ 1.1) galaxies with measurements of Mg II λλ2796, 2803 absorption from their circumgalactic medium within projected distances of 200 kpc from background quasars. In this work, we present 'isolated' galaxies, which are defined as having no spectroscopically identified galaxy within a projected distance of 100 kpc and a line of sight velocity separation of 500 km s{sup –1}. We standardized all galaxy properties to the ΛCDM cosmology and galaxy luminosities, absolute magnitudes, and rest-frame colors to the B- and K-band on the AB system. We present galaxy properties and rest-frame Mg II equivalent width, W{sub r} (2796), versus galaxy redshift. The well-known anti-correlation between W{sub r} (2796) and quasar-galaxy impact parameter, D, is significant to the 8σ level. The mean color of MAGIICAT galaxies is consistent with an Sbc galaxy for all redshifts. We also present B- and K-band luminosity functions for different W{sub r} (2796) and redshift subsamples: 'weak absorbing' [W{sub r} (2796) < 0.3 Å], 'strong absorbing' [W{sub r} (2796) ≥ 0.3 Å], low redshift (z < (z)), and high redshift (z ≥ (z)), where (z) = 0.359 is the median galaxy redshift. Rest-frame color B – K correlates with M{sub K} at the 8σ level for the whole sample but is driven by the strong absorbing, high-redshift subsample (6σ). Using M{sub K} as a proxy for stellar mass and examining the luminosity functions, we infer that in lower stellar mass galaxies, Mg II absorption is preferentially detected in blue galaxies and the absorption is more likely to be weak.

Secured Optical Communications Using Quantum Entangled Two-Photon Transparency Modulation

Science.gov (United States)

Kojima, Jun (Inventor); Nguyen, Quang-Viet (Inventor); Lekki, John (Inventor)

2015-01-01

A system and method is disclosed wherein optical signals are coded in a transmitter by tuning or modulating the interbeam delay time (which modulates the fourth-order coherence) between pairs of entangled photons. The photon pairs are either absorbed or not absorbed (transparent) by an atomic or molecular fluorescer in a receiver, depending on the inter-beam delay that is introduced in the entangled photon pairs. Upon the absorption, corresponding fluorescent optical emissions follow at a certain wavelength, which are then detected by a photon detector. The advantage of the disclosed system is that it eliminates a need of a coincidence counter to realize the entanglement-based secure optical communications because the absorber acts as a coincidence counter for entangled photon pairs.

Photoacoustic Determination of Non-radiative Relaxation Time of Absorbing Centers in Maize Seeds

Science.gov (United States)

Domínguez-Pacheco, A.; Hernández-Aguilar, C.; Cruz-Orea, A.

2017-07-01

Using non-destructive photothermal techniques, it is possible to characterize non-homogenous materials to obtain its optical and thermal properties through photoacoustic spectroscopy (PAS). In photoacoustic (PA) phenomena, there are transient states of thermal excitation, when samples absorb the incident light; these states manifest an excitation process that generates the PA signal, being in direct relation with the non-radiative relaxation times with the sample absorbent centers. The objective of this study was to determine the non-radiative relaxation times associated with different absorbent centers of corn seeds ( Zea mays L.), by using PAS. A frequency scan was done at different wavelengths (350 nm, 470 nm and 650 nm) in order to obtain the non-radiative relaxation times with different types of maize seeds.

Efficiency enhancement of perovskite solar cells using structural and morphological improvement of CH3NH3PbI3 absorber layers

Science.gov (United States)

Alidaei, Maryam; Izadifard, Morteza; Ghazi, Mohammad E.; Ahmadi, Vahid

2018-01-01

Perovskite solar cells have been heavily investigated due to their unique properties such as high power conversion efficiency (PCE), low-cost fabrication by solution processes, high diffusion length, large absorption coefficient, and direct and tunable band gap. PCE of perovskite devices is strongly dependent on the absorber layer properties such as morphology, crystallinity, and compactness, which are required to be optimized. In this work, the CH3NH3PbI3 (170-480 nm) absorber layers with various methylammonium iodine (MAI) concentrations (7, 10, 20 and 40 mg ml-1) and perovskite solar cells with the fluorine-doped tin oxide (400 nm)/C-TiO2 (30 nm)/Meso-TiO2 (400 nm)/CH3NH3PbI3 (170-480 nm)/P3HT (30 nm)/Au (100 nm) structure were fabricated. A two-step solution process was used for deposition of the CH3NH3PbI3 absorber layers. The morphology, crystal structure, and optical properties of the perovskite layer grown on glass and also the photovoltaic properties of the fabricated solar cells were studied. The results obtained showed that by controlling the deposition conditions, due to the reduction in charge recombination, PCE enhancement of the perovskite solar cell (up to 11.6%) was accessible.

Tunable omnidirectional absorber and mode splitter based on semiconductor photonic crystal

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ding, Guo-Wen; Liu, Shao-Bin; Zhang, Hai-Feng; Kong, Xiang-Kun; Li, Hai-Ming

2015-01-01

In this paper, the properties of one-dimensional (1D) photonic crystals (PCs) composed of the semiconductor (GaAs) and dielectric layers are theoretically investigated by the transfer matrix method (TMM). The absorption of semiconductor layers is investigated theoretically. Due to the magneto-optical Voigt effect, the dielectric constant of the semiconductor is modified differently in different modes and frequency ranges. If the frequency range of the incident wave is larger than the plasma frequency, TE and TM modes of the incident wave will be absorbed in a wide incident angle. TM wave will be absorbed but TE wave will be reflected while the frequency range is less than the plasma frequency. The absorption of semiconductor can also be tuned by varying the external magnetic field. The proposed PCs have a reconfigurable application to design a tunable omnidirectional absorber and mode splitter at same time

Absorber design for a Scheffler-Type Solar Concentrator

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ruelas, José; Palomares, Juan; Pando, Gabriel

2015-01-01

Highlights: • Receiver and absorber design methodology based in a solar image in the focal surface. • Stirling absorber dimensions based in a solar image in the focal surface of a STSC. • Comparative study of a solar image in the focal surface from different optical model. • A Monte-Carlo ray-tracing method was used to set STSC cavity receiver aperture. - Abstract: Ray tracing software, digital close range photogrammetry and the Monte-Carlo ray-tracing method have proven to be precise and efficient measurement techniques for the assessment of the shape accuracies of solar concentrators and their components. This paper presents a new method and results for the geometric aspect of a focal image for a Scheffler-Type Solar Concentrator (STSC) using ray tracing, digital close range photogrammetry and the Monte-Carlo ray-tracing method to establish parameters that allow for the design of the most suitable absorber and receiver geometry for coupling the STSC to a Stirling engine. The results of the ray tracing software, digital close range photogrammetry and Monte-Carlo ray tracing technique in STSC are associated with a Stirling receiver. When using the method to perform simulations, we found that the most suitable solar image geometry has an elliptical shape and area of 0.0065 m 2 on average. Although this result is appropriate, the geometry of the receiver is modified to fit an absorber and cavity receiver to improve the heat transfer by radiation

Method of absorbing UF6 from gaseous mixtures in alkamine absorbents

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lafferty, R.H.; Smiley, S.H.; Radimer, K.J.

1976-01-01

A method is described for recovering UF 6 from gaseous mixtures by absorption in a liquid. The liquid absorbent must have a relatively low viscosity and at least one component of the absorbent is an alkamine having less than 3 carbon atoms bonded to the amino nitrogen, less than 2 of the carbon atoms other than those bonded to the amino nitrogen are free of the hydroxy radical and precipitate the absorbed uranium from the absorbent. At least one component of the absorbent is chosen from the group consisting of ethanolamine, diethanolamine, and 3-methyl-3-amino-propane-diol-1,2

Effect of absorbing impurities on the accuracy of the optical method for the detection of the iodine-containing substances resulting from the processing of waste nuclear fuel

Science.gov (United States)

Kireev, S. V.; Simanovsky, I. G.; Shnyrev, S. L.

2010-12-01

The study is aimed at an increase in the accuracy of the optical method for the detection of the iodine-containing substances in technological liquids resulting form the processing of the waste nuclear fuel. It is demonstrated that the accuracy can be increased owing to the measurements at various combinations of wavelengths depending on the concentrations of impurities that are contained in the sample under study and absorb in the spectral range used for the detection of the iodine-containing substances.

Strongly correlated quasi-one-dimensional bands: Ground states, optical absorption, and phonons

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Campbell, D.K.; Gammel, J.T.; Loh, E.Y. Jr.

1989-01-01

Using the Lanczos method for exact diagonalization on systems up to 14 sites, combined with a novel ''phase randomization'' technique for extracting more information from these small systems, we investigate several aspects of the one-dimensional Peierls-Hubbard Hamiltonian, in the context of trans-polyacetylene: the dependence of the ground state dimerization on the strength of the electron-electron interactions, including the effects of ''off-diagonal'' Coulomb terms generally ignored in the Hubbard model; the phonon vibrational frequencies and dispersion relations, and the optical absorption properties, including the spectrum of absorptions as a function of photon energy. These three different observables provide considerable insight into the effects of electron-electron interactions on the properties of real materials and thus into the nature of strongly correlated electron systems. 29 refs., 11 figs

A study on the optics of copper indium gallium (di)selenide (CIGS) solar cells with ultra-thin absorber layers.

Science.gov (United States)

Xu, Man; Wachters, Arthur J H; van Deelen, Joop; Mourad, Maurice C D; Buskens, Pascal J P

2014-03-10

We present a systematic study of the effect of variation of the zinc oxide (ZnO) and copper indium gallium (di)selenide (CIGS) layer thickness on the absorption characteristics of CIGS solar cells using a simulation program based on finite element method (FEM). We show that the absorption in the CIGS layer does not decrease monotonically with its layer thickness due to interference effects. Ergo, high precision is required in the CIGS production process, especially when using ultra-thin absorber layers, to accurately realize the required thickness of the ZnO, cadmium sulfide (CdS) and CIGS layer. We show that patterning the ZnO window layer can strongly suppress these interference effects allowing a higher tolerance in the production process.

Quantum optical signatures in strong-field laser physics: Infrared photon counting in high-order-harmonic generation.

Science.gov (United States)

Gonoskov, I A; Tsatrafyllis, N; Kominis, I K; Tzallas, P

2016-09-07

We analytically describe the strong-field light-electron interaction using a quantized coherent laser state with arbitrary photon number. We obtain a light-electron wave function which is a closed-form solution of the time-dependent Schrödinger equation (TDSE). This wave function provides information about the quantum optical features of the interaction not accessible by semi-classical theories. With this approach we can reveal the quantum optical properties of high harmonic generation (HHG) process in gases by measuring the photon statistics of the transmitted infrared (IR) laser radiation. This work can lead to novel experiments in high-resolution spectroscopy in extreme-ultraviolet (XUV) and attosecond science without the need to measure the XUV light, while it can pave the way for the development of intense non-classical light sources.

Scintillating plate calorimeter optical design

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

McNeil, R.; Fazely, A.; Gunasingha, R.; Imlay, R.; Lim, J.

1990-01-01

A major technical challenge facing the builder of a general purpose detector for the SSC is to achieve an optimum design for the calorimeter. Because of its fast response and good energy resolution, scintillating plate sampling calorimeters should be considered as a possible technology option. The work of the Scintillating Plate Calorimeter Collaboration is focused on compensating plate calorimeters. Based on experimental and simulation studies, it is expected that a sampling calorimeter with alternating layers of high-Z absorber (Pb, W, DU, etc.) and plastic scintillator can be made compensating (e/h = 1.00) by suitable choice of the ratio of absorber/scintillator thickness. Two conceptual designs have been pursued by this subsystem collaboration. One is based on lead as the absorber, with read/out of the scintillator plates via wavelength shifter fibers. The other design is based on depleted uranium as the absorber with wavelength shifter (WLS) plate readout. Progress on designs for the optical readout of a compensating scintillator plate calorimeter are presented. These designs include readout of the scintillator plates via wavelength shifter plates or fiber readout. Results from radiation damage studies of the optical components are presented

Valley- and spin-polarized oscillatory magneto-optical absorption in monolayer MoS2 quantum rings

Science.gov (United States)

Oliveira, D.; Villegas-Lelovsky, L.; Soler, M. A. G.; Qu, Fanyao

2018-03-01

Besides optical valley selectivity, strong spin-orbit interaction along with Berry curvature effects also leads to unconventional valley- and spin-polarized Landau levels in monolayer transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs) under a perpendicular magnetic field. We find that these unique properties are inherited to the magneto-optical absorption spectrum of the TMDC quantum rings (QRs). In addition, it is robust against variation of the magnetic flux and of the QR geometry. In stark contrast to the monolayer bulk material, the MoS2 QRs manifest themselves in both the optical valley selectivity and unprecedented size tunability of the frequency of the light absorbed. We also find that when the magnetic field setup is changed, the phase transition from Aharonov-Bohm (AB) quantum interference to aperiodic oscillation of magneto-optical absorption spectrum takes place. The exciton spectrum in a realistic finite thickness MoS2 QR is also discussed.

Optimized reflectors for non-tracking solar collectors with tubular absorbers

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Muschaweck, Julius [Optics and Energy Consulting, Munich (Germany); Spirkl, Wolfgang [Ludwig-Maximilians Univ., Sektion Physik, Munich (Germany); Timinger, Andreas [Optics and Energy Consulting, Munich (Germany); ZAE Bayern, Solar Thermal and Biomass Dept., Munich (Germany); Benz, Nikolaus; Doerfler, Michael; Gut, Martin [ZAE Bayern, Solar Thermal and Biomass Dept., Munich (Germany); Kose, Erwin [microtherm Energietecjnik GmbH, Lods, 25 (France)

2000-07-01

We present an approach to find optimal reflector shapes for non-tracking solar collectors under practical constraints. We focus on cylindrical absorbers and reflectors with translational symmetry. Under idealised circumstances, edge ray reflectors are well known to be optimal. However, it is not clear how optimal reflectors should be shaped in order to obtain maximum utilisable energy for given operating temperatures under practical constraints like reflectivity less than unity, real radiation data, size limits, and gaps between the reflector and the absorber. For a prototype collector with a symmetric edge ray reflector and a tubular absorber, we derive from calorimetric measurements under outdoor conditions the optical efficiency as a function of the incidence angle. Using numerical optimisation and raytracing, we compare truncated symmetric edge ray reflectors, truncated asymmetric edge ray reflectors and free forms parametrized by Bezier splines. We find that asymmetric edge ray reflectors are optimal. For reasonable operating conditions, truncated asymmetric edge ray reflectors allow much better land use and easily adapt to a large range of roof tilt angles with marginal changes in collector construction. Except near the equator, they should increase the yearly utilisable energy per absorber tube by several percent as compared to the prototype collector with symmetric reflectors. (Author)

An Extended Multi-Zone Model for the MCG-6-30-15 Warm Absorber

Science.gov (United States)

Morales, R.; Fabian, A. C.; Reynolds, C. S.

2000-01-01

The variable warm absorber seen with ASCA in the X-ray spectrum of MCG 6-30-15 shows complex time behaviour in which the optical depth of O VIII anticorrelates with the flux whereas that of O VII is unchanging. The explanation in terms of a two zone absorber has since been challenged by BeppoSAX observations. These present a more complicated behaviour for the O VII edge. The explanation we offer for both ASCA and BeppoSAX observations requires a very simple photoionization model together with the presence of a third, intermediate, zone and a period of very low luminosity. In practice warm absorbers are likely to be extended, multi-zone regions of which only part causes directly observable absorption edges at any given time depending on the value of the luminosity.

Optical supercavitation in soft-matter

OpenAIRE

Conti, Claudio; DelRe, Eugenio

2010-01-01

We investigate theoretically, numerically, and experimentally nonlinear optical waves in an absorbing out-of-equilibrium colloidal material at the gelification transition. At a sufficiently high optical intensity, absorption is frustrated and light propagates into the medium. The process is mediated by the formation of a matter-shock wave due to optically induced thermodiffusion and largely resembles the mechanism of hydrodynamical supercavitation, as it is accompanied by a dynamic phase-tran...

Determination of optical band gap of powder-form nanomaterials with improved accuracy

Science.gov (United States)

Ahsan, Ragib; Khan, Md. Ziaur Rahman; Basith, Mohammed Abdul

2017-10-01

Accurate determination of a material's optical band gap lies in the precise measurement of its absorption coefficients, either from its absorbance via the Beer-Lambert law or diffuse reflectance spectrum via the Kubelka-Munk function. Absorption coefficients of powder-form nanomaterials calculated from absorbance spectrum do not match those calculated from diffuse reflectance spectrum, implying the inaccuracy of the traditional optical band gap measurement method for such samples. We have modified the Beer-Lambert law and the Kubelka-Munk function with proper approximations for powder-form nanomaterials. Applying the modified method for powder-form nanomaterial samples, both absorbance and diffuse reflectance spectra yield exactly the same absorption coefficients and therefore accurately determine the optical band gap.

Optically Transparent Wood from a Nanoporous Cellulosic Template: Combining Functional and Structural Performance.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Yuanyuan; Fu, Qiliang; Yu, Shun; Yan, Min; Berglund, Lars

2016-04-11

Optically transparent wood (TW) with transmittance as high as 85% and haze of 71% was obtained using a delignified nanoporous wood template. The template was prepared by removing the light-absorbing lignin component, creating nanoporosity in the wood cell wall. Transparent wood was prepared by successful impregnation of lumen and the nanoscale cellulose fiber network in the cell wall with refractive-index-matched prepolymerized methyl methacrylate (MMA). During the process, the hierarchical wood structure was preserved. Optical properties of TW are tunable by changing the cellulose volume fraction. The synergy between wood and PMMA was observed for mechanical properties. Lightweight and strong transparent wood is a potential candidate for lightweight low-cost, light-transmitting buildings and transparent solar cell windows.

Tuning Transpiration by Interfacial Solar Absorber-Leaf Engineering.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhuang, Shendong; Zhou, Lin; Xu, Weichao; Xu, Ning; Hu, Xiaozhen; Li, Xiuqiang; Lv, Guangxin; Zheng, Qinghui; Zhu, Shining; Wang, Zhenlin; Zhu, Jia

2018-02-01

Plant transpiration, a process of water movement through a plant and its evaporation from aerial parts especially leaves, consumes a large component of the total continental precipitation (≈48%) and significantly influences global water distribution and climate. To date, various chemical and/or biological explorations have been made to tune the transpiration but with uncertain environmental risks. In recent years, interfacial solar steam/vapor generation is attracting a lot of attention for achieving high energy transfer efficiency. Various optical and thermal designs at the solar absorber-water interface for potential applications in water purification, seawater desalination, and power generation appear. In this work, the concept of interfacial solar vapor generation is extended to tunable plant transpiration by showing for the first time that the transpiration efficiency can also be enhanced or suppressed through engineering the solar absorber-leaf interface. By tuning the solar absorption of membrane in direct touch with green leaf, surface temperature of green leaf will change accordingly because of photothermal effect, thus the transpiration efficiency as well as temperature and relative humidity in the surrounding environment will be tuned. This tunable transpiration by interfacial absorber-leaf engineering can open an alternative avenue to regulate local atmospheric temperature, humidity, and eventually hydrologic cycle.

Enhanced Measurements of Chromophoric Dissolved Organic Matter (CDOM) for Water Quality Analysis using a New Simultaneous Absorbance and Fluorescence Instrument

Science.gov (United States)

Gilmore, A. M.

2009-12-01

Water quality, with respect to suspended particles and dissolved organic and inorganic compounds, is now recognized as one of the top global environmental concerns. Contemporary research indicates fluorescence spectral analyses coupled with UV-VIS absorbance assays have the potential, especially when combined and coordinated, to facilitate rapid, robust quantification of a wide range of compounds, including interactions among them. Fluorescence excitation-emission matrices (EEMs) collected over the UV-VIS region provide a wealth of information on chromophoric dissolved organic matter (CDOM). CDOM includes humic and fulvic acid, chlorophyll, petroleum, protein, amino acid, quinone, fertilizer, pesticide, sewage and numerous other compound classes. Analysis of the EEMs using conventional and multivariate techniques, including primarily parallel factor analysis (PARAFAC), provides information about many types of CDOM relevant to carbon cycling and pollution of fresh, marine and drinking water sources. Of critical concern also are the CDOM interactions with, and optical activities of, dissolved inorganic compounds. Many of the inorganic compounds and oxygen demand parameters can be analyzed with a wide range of UV-VIS absorbance assays. The instrument is designed and optimized for high UV throughput and low stray light performance. The sampling optics are optimized for both fluorescence and absorbance detection with the same sample. Both EEM and absorbance measurements implement NIST traceable instrument correction and calibration routines. The fluorescence detection utilizes a high dynamic range CCD coupled to a high-resolution spectrograph while absorbance utilizes diode based detection with a high dynamic range and extremely low-stray light specifications. The CDOM analysis is facilitated by a transfer of the data and model information with the PARAFAC routine. The EEM analysis software package facilitates coordinated correction of and correlation with the

How to assess good candidate molecules for self-activated optical power limiting

Science.gov (United States)

Lundén, Hampus; Glimsdal, Eirik; Lindgren, Mikael; Lopes, Cesar

2018-03-01

Reverse saturable absorbers have shown great potential to attenuate laser radiation. Good candidate molecules and various particles have successfully been incorporated into different glass matrices, enabling the creation of self-activated filters against damaging laser radiation. Although the performance of such filters has been impressive, work is still ongoing to improve the performance in a wider range of wavelengths and pulse widths. The purpose of this tutorial is, from an optical engineering perspective, to give an understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of this class of smart materials, how relevant photophysical parameters are measured and influence system performance and comment on the pitfalls in experimental evaluation of materials. A numerical population model in combination with simple physical formulas is used to demonstrate system behavior from a performance standpoint. Geometrical reasoning shows the advantage of reverse saturable absorption over nonlinear scattering due to a fraction of scattered light being recollected by imaging system optics. The numerical population model illustrates the importance of the optical power limiting performance during the leading edge of a nanosecond pulse, which is most strongly influenced by changes in the two-photon absorption cross section and the triplet linear absorption cross section for a modeled Pt-acetylide. This tutorial not only targets optical engineers evaluating reverse saturable absorbing materials but also aims to assist researchers with a chemistry background working on optical power limiting materials. We also present photophysical data for a series of coumarins that can be useful for the determination of quantum yields and two-photon cross sections and show examples of characterization of molecules with excited triplet states.

Generic finite size scaling for discontinuous nonequilibrium phase transitions into absorbing states

Science.gov (United States)

de Oliveira, M. M.; da Luz, M. G. E.; Fiore, C. E.

2015-12-01

Based on quasistationary distribution ideas, a general finite size scaling theory is proposed for discontinuous nonequilibrium phase transitions into absorbing states. Analogously to the equilibrium case, we show that quantities such as response functions, cumulants, and equal area probability distributions all scale with the volume, thus allowing proper estimates for the thermodynamic limit. To illustrate these results, five very distinct lattice models displaying nonequilibrium transitions—to single and infinitely many absorbing states—are investigated. The innate difficulties in analyzing absorbing phase transitions are circumvented through quasistationary simulation methods. Our findings (allied to numerical studies in the literature) strongly point to a unifying discontinuous phase transition scaling behavior for equilibrium and this important class of nonequilibrium systems.

Parabolic solar concentrators with fully illuminated inverted V absorber; Coletor concentrador parabolico composto (CPC) com absorvedor V invertido completamente iluminado

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Brandao, Braulio Bezerra

2004-10-01

Although literature on parabolic solar concentrators is numerically considerable, there are no publications regarding CPC with fully illuminate, inverted V absorber, nothing is mentioned about optical and geometric properties or, collected thermal energy. This type of solar concentrator exists in the international market, but with little known divulgence of its properties, perhaps explained because of industrial protection. In the first part of this work, the equations that define the concentrator cavity curve and its optical and geometric properties were deduced and studied in detail, by a numeric simulation program, elaborated in Meatball language. Additionally, optimization studies about the viability of the construction of this collector were carried out, relative truncation effects (the elimination of the upper part of the cavity) on the optics and geometric properties and the annual energy generated by the equipment. For the CPC concentrator collectors with fully illuminated inverted V absorbers and ideal (without truncation) it was concluded that in the configuration in which the angle of angular acceptance of the CPC is equal to the apex angle of the absorber, there occurs a minimum perimeter of the reflector cavity, when the nominal concentration and the size of the absorber are constant. Regarding the CPC concentrator collectors fully illuminated with inverted V absorber and with optimized truncation, it is shown, for a concentrator of 1.2 concentration, a good related reflector surface length and opening, and a mean number of reflections and generated thermal energy that this occurs for concentrators arising from concentrators with acceptance angles among 33.75 up to 45.58 degrees. (author)

Frequency and time domain analysis of an external cavity laser with strong filtered optical feedback

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Detoma, Enrico; Tromborg, Bjarne; Montrosset, Ivo

The stability properties of an external cavity laser with strong grating-filtered optical feedback to an anti-reflection coated facet are studied with a general frequency domain model. The model takes into account non-linear effects like four wave mixing and gain compression. A small......-signal analysis in the frequency domain allows a calculation of the range of operation without mode hopping around the grating reflectivity peak. This region should be as large as possible for proper operation of the tunable laser source. The analysis shows this stabilizing effect of mode coupling and gain...

Comparative study between optical densitometry and spectrophotometry for evaluation of PMMA dosimeters

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Louback, Luana Trevenzoli; Meira-Belo, Luiz C.

2011-01-01

The use of dosimetric systems based on color changes in PMMA is standardized by ISO/ASTM 51276:2002(E). In a general way, the evaluation of doses in these materials is done correlating the optical absorbance of the material and the absorbed dose. Usually, the absorbance is measured using a spectrophotometer at a wavelength suitably chosen. In the present work, it was performed a comparative study between the techniques of spectrophotometry and optical densitometry in dyed PMMA dosimeters type Harwell RED 4034 and PMMA samples commercially available in Brazil. The main results of this study were the determination of the radiochromic response for different samples of PMMA and the determination of the calibration conditions using a 60 Co beam. The studied materials are suitable for use as routine dosimeters, covering the range of the 500Gy to 100kGy. A direct comparison between the red dyed PMMA and the Harwell RED 4034 Perspex showed that the stabilization time and the fading of the radiochromic information in red dyed PMMA samples is higher than in RED 4034. However, both effects occur on period of weeks, which does not preclude its routine use. Furthermore, the increase in absorbance due to exposure to radiation, determined by the difference between specific absorbance of the irradiated sample and a non-irradiated one, is significantly higher in PMMA with red dyed that the RED 4034. In fact, the amplitude of absorbance peak of a sample irradiated with red dyed PMMA 2kGy and read at 602nm has the same order of magnitude from a peak of RED 4034 irradiated with 10 kGy and read at 640nm. A direct consequence of this fact is the real possibility of using simpler equipment (optical densitometer in this case) to measure the optical absorbance and evaluates the absorbed dose. (author)

Linear Transformation of the Polarization Modes in Coiled Optical Spun-Fibers with Strong Unperturbed Linear Birefringence. I. Nonresonant Transformation

Science.gov (United States)

Malykin, G. B.; Pozdnyakova, V. I.

2018-03-01

A linear transformation of orthogonal polarization modes in coiled optical spun-fibers with strong unperturbed linear birefringence, which causes the emergence of the dependences of the integrated elliptical birefringence and the ellipticity and azimuth of the major axis of the ellipse, as well as the polarization state of radiation (PSR), on the length of optical fiber has been considered. Optical spun-fibers are subjected to a strong mechanical twisting, which is frozen into the structure of the optical fiber upon cooling, in the process of being drawn out from the workpiece. Since the values of the local polarization parameters of coiled spunwaveguides vary according to a rather complex law, the calculations were carried out by numerical modeling of the parameters of the Jones matrices. Since the rotation speed of the axes of the birefringence is constant on a relatively short segment of a coiled optical spun-fiber in the accompanying torsion (helical) coordinate system, the so-called "Ginzburg helical polarization modes" (GHPMs)—two mutually orthogonal ellipses with the opposite directions of traversal, the axis of which rotate relative to the fixed coordinate system uniformly and unidirectionally—are approximately the local normal polarization modes of such optical fiber. It has been shown that, despite the fact that the unperturbed linear birefringence of the spun-fibers significantly exceeds the linear birefringence, which is caused by the winding on a coil, the integral birefringence of an extended segment of such a fiber coincides in order of magnitude with the linear birefringence, which is caused by the winding on the coil, and the integral polarization modes tend asymptotically to circular ones. It has been also shown that the values of the circular birefringence of twisted single-mode fibers, which were calculated in a nonrotating and torsion helical coordinate systems, differ significantly. It has been shown that the polarization phenomena occur

High-Temperature Tolerance in Multi-Scale Cermet Solar-Selective Absorbing Coatings Prepared by Laser Cladding.

Science.gov (United States)

Pang, Xuming; Wei, Qian; Zhou, Jianxin; Ma, Huiyang

2018-06-19

In order to achieve cermet-based solar absorber coatings with long-term thermal stability at high temperatures, a novel single-layer, multi-scale TiC-Ni/Mo cermet coating was first prepared using laser cladding technology in atmosphere. The results show that the optical properties of the cermet coatings using laser cladding were much better than the preplaced coating. In addition, the thermal stability of the optical properties for the laser cladding coating were excellent after annealing at 650 °C for 200 h. The solar absorptance and thermal emittance of multi-scale cermet coating were 85% and 4.7% at 650 °C. The results show that multi-scale cermet materials are more suitable for solar-selective absorbing coating. In addition, laser cladding is a new technology that can be used for the preparation of spectrally-selective coatings.

High-Temperature Tolerance in Multi-Scale Cermet Solar-Selective Absorbing Coatings Prepared by Laser Cladding

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xuming Pang

2018-06-01

Full Text Available In order to achieve cermet-based solar absorber coatings with long-term thermal stability at high temperatures, a novel single-layer, multi-scale TiC-Ni/Mo cermet coating was first prepared using laser cladding technology in atmosphere. The results show that the optical properties of the cermet coatings using laser cladding were much better than the preplaced coating. In addition, the thermal stability of the optical properties for the laser cladding coating were excellent after annealing at 650 °C for 200 h. The solar absorptance and thermal emittance of multi-scale cermet coating were 85% and 4.7% at 650 °C. The results show that multi-scale cermet materials are more suitable for solar-selective absorbing coating. In addition, laser cladding is a new technology that can be used for the preparation of spectrally-selective coatings.

Monte Carlo simulation of radiative transfer in scattering, emitting, absorbing slab with gradient index

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Huang Yong; Liang Xingang; Xia Xinlin

2005-01-01

The Monte Carlo method is used to simulate the thermal emission of absorbing-emitting-scattering slab with gradient index. Three Monte Carlo ray-tracing strategies are considered. The first strategy is keeping the real distribution of the refractive index and to trace bundles in a curve route. The second strategy is discretizing the slab into sub-layers, each having constant refractive index. The bundle is traced in a straight route in each sub-layer and the reflection at the inner interface is taken into account. The third strategy is similar to the second one but only the total reflection at the inner interface is computed. Little difference is observed among the results of apparent thermal emission by these three different Monte Carlo ray tracing strategies. The results also show that the apparent hemispherical emissivity non-monotonously varies with increasing optical thickness of the slab with strong scattering gradient index. Many parameters can influence the apparent thermal emission greatly

Aperiodic-metamaterial-based absorber

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Quanlong Yang

2017-09-01

Full Text Available The periodic-metamaterial-based perfect absorber has been studied broadly. Conversely, if the unit cell in the metamaterial-based absorber is arranged aperiodically (aperiodic-metamaterial-based absorber, how does it perform? Inspired by this, here we present a systematic study of the aperiodic-metamaterial-based absorber. By investigating the response of metamaterial absorbers based on periodic, Fibonacci, Thue-Morse, and quasicrystal lattices, we found that aperiodic-metamaterial-based absorbers could display similar absorption behaviors as the periodic one in one hand. However, their absorption behaviors show different tendency depending on the thicknesses of the spacer. Further studies on the angle and polarization dependence of the absorption behavior are also presented.

Two new methods used to simulate the circumferential solar flux density concentrated on the absorber of a parabolic trough solar collector

Science.gov (United States)

Guo, Minghuan; Wang, Zhifeng; Sun, Feihu

2016-05-01

The optical efficiencies of a solar trough concentrator are important to the whole thermal performance of the solar collector, and the outer surface of the tube absorber is a key interface of energy flux. So it is necessary to simulate and analyze the concentrated solar flux density distributions on the tube absorber of a parabolic trough solar collector for various sun beam incident angles, with main optical errors considered. Since the solar trough concentrators are linear focusing, it is much of interest to investigate the solar flux density distribution on the cross-section profile of the tube absorber, rather than the flux density distribution along the focal line direction. Although a few integral approaches based on the "solar cone" concept were developed to compute the concentrated flux density for some simple trough concentrator geometries, all those integral approaches needed special integration routines, meanwhile, the optical parameters and geometrical properties of collectors also couldn't be changed conveniently. Flexible Monte Carlo ray trace (MCRT) methods are widely used to simulate the more accurate concentrated flux density distribution for compound parabolic solar trough concentrators, while generally they are quite time consuming. In this paper, we first mainly introduce a new backward ray tracing (BRT) method combined with the lumped effective solar cone, to simulate the cross-section flux density on the region of interest of the tube absorber. For BRT, bundles of rays are launched at absorber-surface points of interest, directly go through the glass cover of the absorber, strike on the uniformly sampled mirror segment centers in the close-related surface region of the parabolic reflector, and then direct to the effective solar cone around the incident sun beam direction after the virtual backward reflection. All the optical errors are convoluted into the effective solar cone. The brightness distribution of the effective solar cone is supposed

Optical sensor for measuring American Lobster vitality

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tomassetti, Brian R. A.; Vetelino, John F.

2011-01-01

The vitality of the American Lobster (Homarus americanus) is correlated to the total hemolymph protein (THP) in lobster hemolymph (blood). The standard technique for determining lobster vitality is to draw blood from a lobster and measure THP with a refractometer. This technique is invasive and endangers the lobster's health since blood must be drawn from the lobster. In the present work an optical sensor is developed to measure a lobster's vitality in vivo. It is comprised of a broadband light source, a monochromator, a fiber optic reflection probe, a spectrometer and a computer. This sensor measures protein concentrations by exciting a lobster with 280 nm and 334 nm wavelength light sources and measuring the corresponding absorbance peaks for THP and the fluorescence peak for hemocyanin (Hc), the majority protein in hemolymph. In this work several lobsters are tested. For each lobster, absorbance and fluorescence peaks are measured using the sensor and compared to protein concentrations measured using a refractometer. It is found that the shell thickness and muscle density, which correspond directly to protein concentration and the molting stage of the lobster have a significant effect on the absorbance and fluorescence measurements. It is also found that within specific molting stages, such as pre-molt and post-molt, protein concentration measured with a refractometer correlates linearly to absorbance and fluorescence measurements with the optical sensor.

Optical Sensor for Measuring American Lobster Vitality

Science.gov (United States)

Tomassetti, Brian R. A.; Vetelino, John F.

2011-06-01

The vitality of the American Lobster (Homarus americanus) is correlated to the total hemolymph protein (THP) in lobster hemolymph (blood). The standard technique for determining lobster vitality is to draw blood from a lobster and measure THP with a refractometer. This technique is invasive and endangers the lobster's health since blood must be drawn from the lobster. In the present work an optical sensor is developed to measure a lobster's vitality in vivo. It is comprised of a broadband light source, a monochromator, a fiber optic reflection probe, a spectrometer and a computer. This sensor measures protein concentrations by exciting a lobster with 280 nm and 334 nm wavelength light sources and measuring the corresponding absorbance peaks for THP and the fluorescence peak for hemocyanin (Hc), the majority protein in hemolymph. In this work several lobsters are tested. For each lobster, absorbance and fluorescence peaks are measured using the sensor and compared to protein concentrations measured using a refractometer. It is found that the shell thickness and muscle density, which correspond directly to protein concentration and the molting stage of the lobster have a significant effect on the absorbance and fluorescence measurements. It is also found that within specific molting stages, such as pre-molt and post-molt, protein concentration measured with a refractometer correlates linearly to absorbance and fluorescence measurements with the optical sensor.

Absorbing rods for nuclear fast neutron reactor absorbing assembly

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Aji, M.; Ballagny, A.; Haze, R.

1986-01-01

The invention proposes a neutron absorber rod for neutron absorber assembly of a fast neutron reactor. The assembly comprises a bundle of vertical rods, each one comprising a stack of pellets made of a neutron absorber material contained in a long metallic casing with a certain radial play with regard to this casing; this casing includes traps for splinters from the pellets which may appear during reactor operation, at the level of contact between adjacent pellets. The present invention prevents the casing from rupture involved by the disintegration of the pellets producing pieces of boron carbide of high hardness [fr

Multi-band microwave metamaterial absorber based on coplanar Jerusalem crosses

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Guo-Dong; Liu, Ming-Hai; Hu, Xi-Wei; Kong, Ling-Hua; Cheng, Li-Li; Chen, Zhao-Quan

2014-01-01

The influence of the gap on the absorption performance of the conventional split ring resonator (SRR) absorber is investigated at microwave frequencies. Our simulated results reveal that the geometry of the square SRR can be equivalent to a Jerusalem cross (JC) resonator and its corresponding metamaterial absorber (MA) is changed to a JC absorber. The JC MA exhibits an experimental absorption peak of 99.1% at 8.72 GHz, which shows an excellent agreement with our simulated results. By simply assembling several JCs with slightly different geometric parameters next to each other into a unit cell, a perfect multi-band absorption can be effectively obtained. The experimental results show that the MA has four distinct and strong absorption peaks at 8.32 GHz, 9.8 GHz, 11.52 GHz and 13.24 GHz. Finally, the multi-reflection interference theory is introduced to interpret the absorption mechanism.

Strong doping of the n-optical confinement layer for increasing output power of high- power pulsed laser diodes in the eye safe wavelength range

Science.gov (United States)

Ryvkin, Boris S.; Avrutin, Eugene A.; Kostamovaara, Juha T.

2017-12-01

An analytical model for internal optical losses at high power in a 1.5 μm laser diode with strong n-doping in the n-side of the optical confinement layer is created. The model includes intervalence band absorption by holes supplied by both current flow and two-photon absorption (TPA), as well as the direct TPA effect. The resulting losses are compared with those in an identical structure with a weakly doped waveguide, and shown to be substantially lower, resulting in a significant improvement in the output power and efficiency in the structure with a strongly doped waveguide.

A broadband metamaterial absorber based on multi-layer graphene in the terahertz region

Science.gov (United States)

Fu, Pan; Liu, Fei; Ren, Guang Jun; Su, Fei; Li, Dong; Yao, Jian Quan

2018-06-01

A broadband metamaterial absorber, composed of the periodic graphene pattern on SiO2 dielectric with the double layer graphene films inserted in it and all of them backed by metal plan, is proposed and investigated. The simulation results reveal that the wide absorption band can be flexibly tuned between the low-frequency band and the high-frequency band by adjusting graphene's Fermi level. The absorption can achieve 90% in 5.50-7.10 THz, with Fermi level of graphene is 0.3 eV, while in 6.98-9.10 THz with Fermi level 0.6 eV. Furthermore, the proposed structure can be switched from reflection (>81%) to absorption (>90%) over the whole operation band, when the Fermi level of graphene varies from 0 to 0.6 eV. Besides, the proposed absorber is insensitive to the polarization and can work over a wide range of incident angle. Compared with the previous broadband absorber, our graphene based wideband terahertz absorber can enable a wide application of high performance terahertz devices, including sensors, imaging devices and electro-optic switches.

Methods for absorbing neutrons

Science.gov (United States)

Guillen, Donna P [Idaho Falls, ID; Longhurst, Glen R [Idaho Falls, ID; Porter, Douglas L [Idaho Falls, ID; Parry, James R [Idaho Falls, ID

2012-07-24

A conduction cooled neutron absorber may include a metal matrix composite that comprises a metal having a thermal neutron cross-section of at least about 50 barns and a metal having a thermal conductivity of at least about 1 W/cmK. Apparatus for providing a neutron flux having a high fast-to-thermal neutron ratio may include a source of neutrons that produces fast neutrons and thermal neutrons. A neutron absorber positioned adjacent the neutron source absorbs at least some of the thermal neutrons so that a region adjacent the neutron absorber has a fast-to-thermal neutron ratio of at least about 15. A coolant in thermal contact with the neutron absorber removes heat from the neutron absorber.

A Path to High-Efficiency Optical Coupling for HIRMES

Science.gov (United States)

Miller, Timothy M.; Brown, Ari-David; Costen, Nicholas; Franz, David; Kutyrev, Alexander; Mikula, Vilem; Miller, Kevin H.; Moseley, S. Harvey; Oxborrow, Joseph; Rostem, Karwan; Wollack, Edward J.

2018-05-01

The high-resolution mid-infrared spectrometer (HIRMES) under development for Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy is an instrument operating in the 25-122 μm spectral range with a spectral resolution R = Δλ/λ 100,000 and has two absorber-coupled transition edge sensor bolometric detector focal planes. We have developed novel NbTiN low-stress absorber coatings which have the required optical impedance across the HIRMES operating band. The low intrinsic stress of these coatings allow for a peak-to-valley corrugation amplitude coupled bolometric detector applications, because it helps in controlling the optical loading from out-of-band radiation. We also discuss a novel method for integrating a wedged-reflective absorber termination to the detector array.

Effects of high neutron doses and duration of the chemical etching on the optical properties of CR-39

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sahoo, G.S.; Tripathy, S.P.; Paul, S.; Sharma, S.C.; Joshi, D.S.; Gupta, A.K.; Bandyopadhyay, T.

2015-01-01

Effects of the duration of chemical etching on the transmittance, absorbance and optical band gap width of the CR-39 (Polyallyl diglycol carbonate) detectors irradiated to high neutron doses (12.7, 22.1, 36.0 and 43.5 Sv) were studied. The neutrons were produced by bombardment of a thick Be target with 12 MeV protons of different fluences. The unirradiated and neutron-irradiated CR-39 detectors were subjected to a stepwise chemical etching at 1 h intervals. After each step, the transmission spectra of the detectors were recorded in the range from 200 to 900 nm, and the absorbances and optical band gap widths were determined. The effect of the etching on the light transmittance of unirradiated detectors was insignificant, whereas it was very significant in the case of the irradiated detectors. The dependence of the optical absorbance on the neutron dose is linear at short etching periods, but exponential at longer ones. The optical band gap narrows with increasing etching time. It is more significant for the irradiated dosimeters than for the unirradiated ones. The rate of the narrowing of the optical band gap with increasing neutron dose increases with increasing duration of the etching. - Highlights: • The variation of optical properties of CR-39 at very high neutron dose is analyzed. Etching process is found to play a crucial role for change in optical properties of neutron-irradiated CR-39. • The optical absorbance varies linearly at lower dose, at very high dose absorbance saturation occurs. The dose at which saturation absorbance is observed shifts towards lower neutron dose with increase in etching time. • The rate of decrease in optical band gap with respect to neutron dose is found to be more at higher etching durations

Black carbon or brown carbon? The nature of light-absorbing carbonaceous aerosols

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. O. Andreae

2006-01-01

Full Text Available Although the definition and measurement techniques for atmospheric 'black carbon' ('BC' or 'elemental carbon'' ('EC' have long been subjects of scientific controversy, the recent discovery of light-absorbing carbon that is not black ('brown carbon, Cbrown' makes it imperative to reassess and redefine the components that make up light-absorbing carbonaceous matter (LAC in the atmosphere. Evidence for the atmospheric presence of Cbrown comes from (1 spectral aerosol light absorption measurements near specific combustion sources, (2 observations of spectral properties of water extracts of continental aerosol, (3 laboratory studies indicating the formation of light-absorbing organic matter in the atmosphere, and (4 indirectly from the chemical analogy of aerosol species to colored natural humic substances. We show that brown carbon may severely bias measurements of 'BC' and 'EC' over vast parts of the troposphere, especially those strongly polluted by biomass burning, where the mass concentration of Cbrown is high relative to that of soot carbon. Chemical measurements to determine 'EC' are biased by the refractory nature of Cbrown as well as by complex matrix interferences. Optical measurements of 'BC' suffer from a number of problems: (1 many of the presently used instruments introduce a substantial bias into the determination of aerosol light absorption, (2 there is no unique conversion factor between light absorption and 'EC' or 'BC' concentration in ambient aerosols, and (3 the difference in spectral properties between the different types of LAC, as well as the chemical complexity of Cbrown, lead to several conceptual as well as practical complications. We also suggest that due to the sharply increasing absorption of Cbrown towards the UV, single-wavelength light absorption measurements may not be adequate for the assessment of absorption of solar radiation in the troposphere. We discuss the possible consequences of these effects for our

Supercomputations and big-data analysis in strong-field ultrafast optical physics: filamentation of high-peak-power ultrashort laser pulses

Science.gov (United States)

Voronin, A. A.; Panchenko, V. Ya; Zheltikov, A. M.

2016-06-01

High-intensity ultrashort laser pulses propagating in gas media or in condensed matter undergo complex nonlinear spatiotemporal evolution where temporal transformations of optical field waveforms are strongly coupled to an intricate beam dynamics and ultrafast field-induced ionization processes. At the level of laser peak powers orders of magnitude above the critical power of self-focusing, the beam exhibits modulation instabilities, producing random field hot spots and breaking up into multiple noise-seeded filaments. This problem is described by a (3  +  1)-dimensional nonlinear field evolution equation, which needs to be solved jointly with the equation for ultrafast ionization of a medium. Analysis of this problem, which is equivalent to solving a billion-dimensional evolution problem, is only possible by means of supercomputer simulations augmented with coordinated big-data processing of large volumes of information acquired through theory-guiding experiments and supercomputations. Here, we review the main challenges of supercomputations and big-data processing encountered in strong-field ultrafast optical physics and discuss strategies to confront these challenges.

Optical quantitation of absorbers in variously shaped turbid media based on the microscopic Beer-Lambert law. A new approach to optical computerized tomography.

Science.gov (United States)

Tsuchiya, Y; Urakami, T

1998-02-09

To determine the concentrations of an absorber in variously shaped turbid media such as human tissue, we propose analytical expressions for diffuse re-emission in time and frequency domains, based on the microscopic Beer-Lambert law that holds true when we trace a zigzag photon path in the medium. Our expressions are implicit for the scattering properties, the volume shape, and the source-detector separation. We show that three observables are sufficient to determine the changes in the concentration and the absolute concentrations of an absorber in scattering media as long as the scattering property remains constant. The three observables are: the re-emission, the mean pathlength or group delay, and the extinction coefficient of the absorber. We also show that our equations can be extended to describe photon migration in nonuniform media. The validity of the predictions is confirmed by measuring a tissue-like phantom.

An electrochromatography chip with integrated waveguides for UV absorbance detection

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gustafsson, O; Mogensen, K B; Ohlsson, P D; Kutter, J P; Liu, Y; Jacobson, S C

2008-01-01

A silicon-based microchip for electrochromatographic separations is presented. Apart from a microfluidic network, the microchip has integrated UV-transparent waveguides for detection and integrated couplers for optical fibers on the chip, yielding the most complete chromatography microchip to date in terms of the integration of optical components. The microfluidic network and the optical components are fabricated in a single etching step in silicon and subsequently thermally oxidized. The separation column consists of a regular array of microfabricated solid support structures with a monolayer of an octylsilane covalently bonded to the surfaces to provide chromatographic interaction. The chip features a 1 mm long U-shaped detection cell and planar silicon dioxide waveguides that couple light to and from the detection cell. Microfabricated on-chip fiber couplers assure perfect alignment of optical fibers to the waveguides. The entire oxidized silicon microchip structure is sealed with a glass lid. Reversed phase electrochromatographic separation of three neutral compounds is demonstrated using UV absorbance detection at 254 nm. Baseline separation of the analytes is achieved in less than two minutes

Effect of the bio-absorbent on the microwave absorption property of the flaky CIPs/rubber absorbers

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cheng, Yang; Xu, Yonggang, E-mail: xuyonggang221@163.com; Cai, Jun; Yuan, Liming; Zhang, Deyuan

2015-09-01

Microwave absorbing composites filled with flaky carbonyl iron particles (CIPs) and the bio-absorbent were prepared by using a two-roll mixer and a vulcanizing machine. The electromagnetic (EM) parameters were measured by a vector network analyzer and the reflection loss (RL) was measured by the arch method in the frequency range of 1–4 GHz. The uniform dispersion of the absorbents was verified by comparing the calculated RL with the measured one. The results confirm that as the bio-absorbent was added, the permittivity was increased due to the volume content of absorbents, and the permeability was enlarged owing to the volume content of CIPs and interactions between the two absorbents. The composite filled with bio-absorbents achieved an excellent absorption property at a thickness of 1 mm (minimum RL reaches −7.8 dB), and as the RL was less than −10 dB the absorption band was widest (2.1–3.8 GHz) at a thickness of 2 mm. Therefore, the bio-absorbent is a promising additive candidate on fabricating microwave absorbing composites with a thinner thickness and wider absorption band. - Graphical abstract: Morphology of composites filled with flaky CIPs and the bio-absorbent. The enhancement of bio-absorbent on the electromagnetic absorption property of composites filled with flaky carbonyl iron particles (CIPs) is attributed to the interaction of the two absorbents. The volume content of the FCMPs with the larger shape CIPs play an important role in this effects, the composites filled with irons and bio-absorbents can achieve wider-band and thinner-thickness absorbing materials. - Highlights: • Absorbers filled with bio-absorbents and CIPs was fabricated. • Bio-absorbents enhanced the permittivity and permeability of the composites. • The absorbent interactions play a key role in the enhancement mechanism. • Bio-absorbents enhanced the composite RL in 1–4 GHz.

Influence of the electromagnetic parameters on the surface wave attenuation in thin absorbing layers

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Yinrui; Li, Dongmeng; Wang, Xian; Nie, Yan; Gong, Rongzhou

2018-05-01

This paper describes the relationships between the surface wave attenuation properties and the electromagnetic parameters of radar absorbing materials (RAMs). In order to conveniently obtain the attenuation constant of TM surface waves over a wide frequency range, the simplified dispersion equations in thin absorbing materials were firstly deduced. The validity of the proposed method was proved by comparing with the classical dispersion equations. Subsequently, the attenuation constants were calculated separately for the absorbing layers with hypothetical relative permittivity and permeability. It is found that the surface wave attenuation properties can be strongly tuned by the permeability of RAM. Meanwhile, the permittivity should be appropriate so as to maintain high cutoff frequency. The present work provides specific methods and designs to improve the attenuation performances of radar absorbing materials.

Evaluation of an optical fiber probe for in vivo measurement of the photoacoustic response of tissues

Science.gov (United States)

Beard, Paul C.; Mills, Timothy N.

1995-05-01

A miniature (1 mm diameter) all-optical photoacoustic probe for generating and detecting ultrasonic thermoelastic waves in biological media at the tip of an optical fiber has been developed. The probe provides a compact and convenient means of performing pulsed photoacoustic spectroscopy for the characterization of biological tissue. The device is based upon a transparent Fabry Perot polymer film ultrasound sensor mounted directly over the end of a multimode optical fiber. The optical fiber is used to deliver nanosecond laser pulses to the tissue producing thermoelastic waves which are then detected by the sensor. Detection sensitivities of 53 mv/MPa and a 10 kPa acoustic noise floor have been demonstrated giving excellent signal to noise ratios in a strong liquid absorber. Lower, but clearly detectable, signals in post mortem human aorta have also been observed. The performance and small physical size of the device suggest that it has the potential to perform remote in situ photoacoustic measurements in tissue.

Dark solitons in erbium-doped fiber lasers based on indium tin oxide as saturable absorbers

Science.gov (United States)

Guo, Jia; Zhang, Huanian; Li, Zhen; Sheng, Yingqiang; Guo, Quanxin; Han, Xile; Liu, Yanjun; Man, Baoyuan; Ning, Tingyin; Jiang, Shouzhen

2018-04-01

Dark solitons, which have good stability, long transmission distance and strong anti-interference ability. By using a coprecipitation method, the high quality indium tin oxide (ITO) were prepared with an average diameter of 34.1 nm. We used a typical Z-scan scheme involving a balanced twin-detector measurement system to investigated nonlinear optical properties of the ITO nanoparticles. The saturation intensity and modulation depths are 13.21 MW/cm2 and 0.48%, respectively. In an erbium-doped fiber (EDF) lasers, we using the ITO nanoparticles as saturable absorber (SA), and the formation of dark soliton is experimentally demonstrated. The generated dark solitons are centered at the wavelength of 1561.1 nm with a repetition rate of 22.06 MHz. Besides, the pulse width and pulse-to-pulse interval of the dark solitons is ∼1.33ns and 45.11 ns, respectively. These results indicate that the ITO nanoparticles is a promising nanomaterial for ultrafast photonics.

On the radiative effects of light-absorbing impurities on snowpack evolution

Science.gov (United States)

Dumont, M.; Tuzet, F.; Lafaysse, M.; Arnaud, L.; Picard, G.; Lejeune, Y.; Lamare, M.; Morin, S.; Voisin, D.; Di Mauro, B.

2017-12-01

The presence of light absorbing impurities in snow strongly decreases snow reflectance leading to an increase in the amount of solar energy absorbed by the snowpack. This effect is also known as impurities direct radiative effect. The change in the amount of energy absorbed by the snowpack modifies the temperature profile inside the snowpack and in turn snow metamorphism (impurities indirect radiative effects). In this work, we used the detailed snowpack model SURFEX/ISBA-Crocus with an explicit representation of snow light-absorbing impurities content (Tuzet et al., 2017) fed by medium-resolution ALADIN-Climate atmospheric model to represent dust and black carbon atmospheric deposition fluxes. The model is used at two sites: Col de Porte (medium elevation site in the French Alps) and Torgnon (high elevation site in the Italian Alps). The simulations are compared to in-situ observations and used to quantify the effects of light-absorbing impurities on snow melt rate and timing. The respective parts of the direct and indirect radiative effects of light-absorbing impurities in snow are also computed for the two sites, emphasizing the need to account for the interactions between snow metamorphism and LAI radiative properties, to accurately predict the effects of light-absorbing impurities in snow. Moreover, we describe how automated hyperspectral reflectance can be used to estimate effective impurities surface content in snow. Finally we demonstrate how these reflectances measurements either from in situ or satellite data can be used via an assimilation scheme to constrain snowpack ensemble simulations and better predict the snowpack state and evolution.

THE HIGH A{sub V} Quasar Survey: Reddened Quasi-Stellar Objects selected from optical/near-infrared photometry. II

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Krogager, J.-K.; Fynbo, J. P. U.; Vestergaard, M. [Dark Cosmology Centre, Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen, Juliane Maries Vej 30, DK-2100 Copenhagen Ø (Denmark); Geier, S. [Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC), E-38205 La Laguna, Tenerife (Spain); Venemans, B. P. [Max-Planck Institute for Astronomy, Königstuhl 17, D-69117 Heidelberg (Germany); Ledoux, C. [European Southern Observatory, Alonso de Córdova 3107, Vitacura, Casilla 19001, Santiago 19 (Chile); Møller, P. [European Southern Observatory, Karl-Schwarzschildstrasse 2, D-85748 Garching bei München (Germany); Noterdaeme, P. [Institut d’Astrophysique de Paris, CNRS-UPMC, UMR7095, 98bis bd Arago, F-75014 Paris (France); Kangas, T.; Pursimo, T.; Smirnova, O. [Nordic Optical Telescope, Apartado 474, E-38700 Santa Cruz de La Palma (Spain); Saturni, F. G. [Tuorla Observatory, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Turku, Väisäläntie 20, 21500 Piikkiö (Finland)

2015-03-15

Quasi-stellar objects (QSOs) whose spectral energy distributions (SEDs) are reddened by dust either in their host galaxies or in intervening absorber galaxies are to a large degree missed by optical color selection criteria like the ones used by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). To overcome this bias against red QSOs, we employ a combined optical and near-infrared (near-IR) color selection. In this paper, we present a spectroscopic follow-up campaign of a sample of red candidate QSOs which were selected from the SDSS and the UKIRT Infrared Deep Sky Survey (UKIDSS). The spectroscopic data and SDSS/UKIDSS photometry are supplemented by mid-infrared photometry from the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer. In our sample of 159 candidates, 154 (97%) are confirmed to be QSOs. We use a statistical algorithm to identify sightlines with plausible intervening absorption systems and identify nine such cases assuming dust in the absorber similar to Large Magellanic Cloud sightlines. We find absorption systems toward 30 QSOs, 2 of which are consistent with the best-fit absorber redshift from the statistical modeling. Furthermore, we observe a broad range in SED properties of the QSOs as probed by the rest-frame 2 μm flux. We find QSOs with a strong excess as well as QSOs with a large deficit at rest-frame 2 μm relative to a QSO template. Potential solutions to these discrepancies are discussed. Overall, our study demonstrates the high efficiency of the optical/near-IR selection of red QSOs.

Utilization of a new optical sensor unit to monitor the electrochemical elimination of selected dyes in water

Science.gov (United States)

Valica, M.; Černá, T.; Hostin, S.

2017-10-01

This paper presents results obtained by developed optical sensor, which consist from multi-wavelength LED light source and two photodetectors capable of measuring the change in optical signal along two different optical paths (absorbance and reflectance measurements). Arduino microcomputer was used for light source management and optical signal data measuring and recording. Analytical validation of developed optical sensor is presented in this paper. The performance of the system has been tested with varying water solution of dyes (malachite green, methyl orange, trypan red). These results show strong correlations between the optical signal response and colour change from the dyes. Sensor was used for continual in-situ monitoring of electrochemical elimination of selected dyes (current density 15.7 mA cm-2, electrolyte volume 4 L and NaCl concentration 2 g L-1). Maximum decolorization level varies with each dye. For malachite green was obtain 92,7 % decolorization (25 min); methyl orange 90,8% (8,5 min) and trypan red 84,7% decolorization after 33 min of electrochemical treatment.

Experimental demonstration of ultrasensitive sensing with terahertz metamaterial absorbers: A comparison with the metasurfaces

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cong, Longqing; Singh, Ranjan, E-mail: ranjans@ntu.edu.sg [Division of Physics and Applied Physics, School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore 637371 (Singapore); Centre for Disruptive Photonic Technologies, School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore 637371 (Singapore); Tan, Siyu [School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, Oklahoma 87074 (United States); Key Lab of All Optical Network and Advanced Telecommunication Network of EMC, Institute of Lightwave Technology, Beijing Jiaotong University, Beijing 100044 (China); Yahiaoui, Riad [XLIM, Limoges University, CNRS, UMR 7252, 7 rue Jules Vallès, F-19100 Brive (France); Yan, Fengping [Key Lab of All Optical Network and Advanced Telecommunication Network of EMC, Institute of Lightwave Technology, Beijing Jiaotong University, Beijing 100044 (China); Zhang, Weili [School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, Oklahoma 87074 (United States)

2015-01-19

Planar metasurfaces and plasmonic resonators have shown great promise for sensing applications across the electromagnetic domain ranging from the microwaves to the optical frequencies. However, these sensors suffer from lower figure of merit and sensitivity due to the radiative and the non-radiative loss channels in the plasmonic metamaterial systems. We demonstrate a metamaterial absorber based ultrasensitive sensing scheme at the terahertz frequencies with significantly enhanced sensitivity and an order of magnitude higher figure of merit compared to planar metasurfaces. Magnetic and electric resonant field enhancement in the impedance matched absorber cavity enables stronger interaction with the dielectric analyte. This finding opens up opportunities for perfect metamaterial absorbers to be applied as efficient sensors in the finger print region of the electromagnetic spectrum with several organic, explosive, and bio-molecules that have unique spectral signature at the terahertz frequencies.

Absorbant materials

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Quetier, Monique.

1978-11-01

Absorbants play a very important part in the nuclear industry. They serve for the control, shut-down and neutron shielding of reactors and increase the capacity of spent fuel storage pools and of special transport containers. This paper surveys the usual absorbant materials, means of obtainment, their essential characteristics relating to their use and their behaviour under neutron irradiation [fr

Average [O II] nebular emission associated with Mg II absorbers: dependence on Fe II absorption

Science.gov (United States)

Joshi, Ravi; Srianand, Raghunathan; Petitjean, Patrick; Noterdaeme, Pasquier

2018-05-01

We investigate the effect of Fe II equivalent width (W2600) and fibre size on the average luminosity of [O II] λλ3727, 3729 nebular emission associated with Mg II absorbers (at 0.55 ≤ z ≤ 1.3) in the composite spectra of quasars obtained with 3 and 2 arcsec fibres in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. We confirm the presence of strong correlations between [O II] luminosity (L_{[O II]}) and equivalent width (W2796) and redshift of Mg II absorbers. However, we show L_{[O II]} and average luminosity surface density suffer from fibre size effects. More importantly, for a given fibre size, the average L_{[O II]} strongly depends on the equivalent width of Fe II absorption lines and found to be higher for Mg II absorbers with R ≡W2600/W2796 ≥ 0.5. In fact, we show the observed strong correlations of L_{[O II]} with W2796 and z of Mg II absorbers are mainly driven by such systems. Direct [O II] detections also confirm the link between L_{[O II]} and R. Therefore, one has to pay attention to the fibre losses and dependence of redshift evolution of Mg II absorbers on W2600 before using them as a luminosity unbiased probe of global star formation rate density. We show that the [O II] nebular emission detected in the stacked spectrum is not dominated by few direct detections (i.e. detections ≥3σ significant level). On an average, the systems with R ≥ 0.5 and W2796 ≥ 2 Å are more reddened, showing colour excess E(B - V) ˜ 0.02, with respect to the systems with R < 0.5 and most likely trace the high H I column density systems.

Black Cr/α-Cr2O3 nanoparticles based solar absorbers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Khamlich, S.; Nemraoui, O.; Mongwaketsi, N.; McCrindle, R.; Cingo, N.; Maaza, M.

2012-01-01

Monodisperse spherical core–shell particles of Cr/α-Cr 2 O 3 with high adhesion were successfully coated on rough copper substrates by a simple self-assembly-like method for the use in solar thermal absorbers. The structure and morphology of the core-shell particles of Cr/α-Cr 2 O 3 were effectively controlled by deposition temperature and the pH of the initial precursor solution. Their characterizations were carried out with X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive spectrometry and attenuated total reflection, as well as UV–vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy. The samples aged for more than 40 h at 75 °C exhibit the targeted high absorbing optical characteristic “Black chrome” while those aged for ≤40 h show a significant high UV–vis diffuse reflectance “green color”.

Possible Quantum Absorber Effects in Cortical Synchronization

Science.gov (United States)

Kämpf, Uwe

The Wheeler-Feynman transactional "absorber" approach was proposed originally to account for anomalous resonance coupling between spatio-temporally distant measurement partners in entangled quantum states of so-called Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen paradoxes, e.g. of spatio-temporal non-locality, quantum teleportation, etc. Applied to quantum brain dynamics, however, this view provides an anticipative resonance coupling model for aspects of cortical synchronization and recurrent visual action control. It is proposed to consider the registered activation patterns of neuronal loops in so-called synfire chains not as a result of retarded brain communication processes, but rather as surface effects of a system of standing waves generated in the depth of visual processing. According to this view, they arise from a counterbalance between the actual input's delayed bottom-up data streams and top-down recurrent information-processing of advanced anticipative signals in a Wheeler-Feynman-type absorber mode. In the framework of a "time-loop" model, findings about mirror neurons in the brain cortex are suggested to be at least partially associated with temporal rather than spatial mirror functions of visual processing, similar to phase conjugate adaptive resonance-coupling in nonlinear optics.

Designing Plasmonic Materials and Optical Metasurfaces for Light Manipulation and Optical Sensing

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Wenxiang

Metamaterials are artificial materials designed to create optical properties that do not exist in nature. They are assemblies of subwavelength structures that are tailored in size, shape, composition, and orientation to realize the desired property. Metamaterials are promising for applications in diverse areas: optical filters, lenses, holography, sensors, photodetectors, photovoltaics, photocatalysts, medical devices, and many more, because of their excellent abilities in bending, absorbing, enhancing and blocking light. However, the practical use of metamaterials is challenged by the lack of plasmonic materials with proper permittivity for different applications and the slow and expensive fabrication methods available to pattern sub-wavelength structures. We have also only touched the surface in exploring the innovative uses of metamaterials to solve world problems. In this thesis, we study the fundamental optical properties of metamaterial building blocks by designing material permittivity. We continuously tune the interparticle distance in colloidal Au nanocrystal (NC) solids via the partial ligand exchange process. Then we combine top-down nanoimprint lithography with bottom-up assembly of colloidal NCs to develop a large-area, low-cost fabrication method for subwavelength nanostructures. Via this method, we fabricate and characterize nano-antenna arrays of different sizes and demonstrate metasurface quarter wave-plates of different bandwidth, and compare their performances with simulation results. We also integrate the metasurfaces with chemically- and mechanically-responsive polymers for strong-signal sensing. In the first design, we combine ultrathin plasmonic nanorods with hydrogel to fabricate optical moisture sensors for agricultural use. In the second application, we design mechanically tunable Au grating resonances on a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) substrate. The dimensions of Au grating are carefully engineered to achieve a hybridized, ultrasharp, and

Monolithic integration of optical waveguides for absorbance detection in microfabricated electrophoresis devices

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mogensen, Klaus Bo; Petersen, Nickolaj Jacob; Hübner, Jörg

2001-01-01

. The waveguides on the device were connected to optical fibers, which enabled alignment free operation due to the absence of free-space optics. A 750 mum long U-shaped detection cell was used to facilitate longitudinal absorption detection. To minimize geometrically induced band broadening at the turn in the U......The fabrication and performance of an electrophoretic separation chip with integrated of optical waveguides for absorption detection is presented. The device was fabricated on a silicon substrate by standard microfabrication techniques with the use of two photolithographic mask steps...

Autoclave growth, magnetic, and optical properties of GdB6 nanowires

Science.gov (United States)

Han, Wei; Wang, Zhen; Li, Qidong; Liu, Huatao; Fan, Qinghua; Dong, Youzhong; Kuang, Quan; Zhao, Yanming

2017-12-01

High-quality single crystalline gadolinium hexaboride (GdB6) nanowires have been successfully prepared at very low temperatures of 200-240 °C by a high pressure solid state (HPSS) method in an autoclave with a new chemical reaction route, where Gd, H3BO3, Mg and I2 were used as raw materials. The crystal structure, morphology, valence, magnetic and optical absorption properties were investigated using XRD, FESEM, HRTEM, XPS, SQUID magnetometry and optical measurements. HRTEM images and SAED patterns reveal that the GdB6 nanowires are single crystalline with a preferred growth direction along [001]. The XPS spectrum suggests that the valence of Gd ion in GdB6 is trivalent. The effective magnetic momentum per Gd3+ in GdB6 is about 6.26 μB. The optical properties exhibit weak absorption in the visible light range, but relatively strong absorbance in the NIR and UV range. Low work function and high NIR absorption can make GdB6 nanowires a potential solar radiation shielding material for solar cells or other NIR blocking applications.

Metamaterial electromagnetic wave absorbers.

Science.gov (United States)

Watts, Claire M; Liu, Xianliang; Padilla, Willie J

2012-06-19

The advent of negative index materials has spawned extensive research into metamaterials over the past decade. Metamaterials are attractive not only for their exotic electromagnetic properties, but also their promise for applications. A particular branch-the metamaterial perfect absorber (MPA)-has garnered interest due to the fact that it can achieve unity absorptivity of electromagnetic waves. Since its first experimental demonstration in 2008, the MPA has progressed significantly with designs shown across the electromagnetic spectrum, from microwave to optical. In this Progress Report we give an overview of the field and discuss a selection of examples and related applications. The ability of the MPA to exhibit extreme performance flexibility will be discussed and the theory underlying their operation and limitations will be established. Insight is given into what we can expect from this rapidly expanding field and future challenges will be addressed. Copyright © 2012 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Optically Unraveling the Edge Chirality-Dependent Band Structure and Plasmon Damping in Graphene Edges.

Science.gov (United States)

Duan, Jiahua; Chen, Runkun; Cheng, Yuan; Yang, Tianzhong; Zhai, Feng; Dai, Qing; Chen, Jianing

2018-05-01

The nontrivial topological origin and pseudospinorial character of electron wavefunctions make edge states possess unusual electronic properties. Twenty years ago, the tight-binding model calculation predicted that zigzag termination of 2D sheets of carbon atoms have peculiar edge states, which show potential application in spintronics and modern information technologies. Although scanning probe microscopy is employed to capture this phenomenon, the experimental demonstration of its optical response remains challenging. Here, the propagating graphene plasmon provides an edge-selective polaritonic probe to directly detect and control the electronic edge state at ambient condition. Compared with armchair, the edge-band structure in the bandgap gives rise to additional optical absorption and strongly absorbed rim at zigzag edge. Furthermore, the optical conductivity is reconstructed and the anisotropic plasmon damping in graphene systems is revealed. The reported approach paves the way for detecting edge-specific phenomena in other van der Waals materials and topological insulators. © 2018 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Nonlinear optical behaviour of absorbing CdSxSe1-x interference filters

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ferencz, K.; Szipoecs, R.

1988-01-01

First experimental results of nonlinear, thin film interference filter wedges with mixed CdS x Se 1-x as spacer material at the 633 nm wavelength of He-Ne laser are reported. Optical bistability is observed with less than 7.5 mW of optical power in single-cavity structures. The change in refractive index is found to be positive which is in accordance with the thermal mechanism of nonlinearity. Producing a double-cavity structure a device is obtained which works as an optical astable multivibrator having periodical change of transmission as the function of time. (author)

Modeling Optical and Radiative Properties of Clouds Constrained with CARDEX Observations

Science.gov (United States)

Mishra, S. K.; Praveen, P. S.; Ramanathan, V.

2013-12-01

Carbonaceous aerosols (CA) have important effects on climate by directly absorbing solar radiation and indirectly changing cloud properties. These particles tend to be a complex mixture of graphitic carbon and organic compounds. The graphitic component, called as elemental carbon (EC), is characterized by significant absorption of solar radiation. Recent studies showed that organic carbon (OC) aerosols absorb strongly near UV region, and this faction is known as Brown Carbon (BrC). The indirect effect of CA can occur in two ways, first by changing the thermal structure of the atmosphere which further affects dynamical processes governing cloud life cycle; secondly, by acting as cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) that can change cloud radiative properties. In this work, cloud optical properties have been numerically estimated by accounting for CAEDEX (Cloud Aerosol Radiative Forcing Dynamics Experiment) observed cloud parameters and the physico-chemical and optical properties of aerosols. The aerosol inclusions in the cloud drop have been considered as core shell structure with core as EC and shell comprising of ammonium sulfate, ammonium nitrate, sea salt and organic carbon (organic acids, OA and brown carbon, BrC). The EC/OC ratio of the inclusion particles have been constrained based on observations. Moderate and heavy pollution events have been decided based on the aerosol number and BC concentration. Cloud drop's co-albedo at 550nm was found nearly identical for pure EC sphere inclusions and core-shell inclusions with all non-absorbing organics in the shell. However, co-albedo was found to increase for the drop having all BrC in the shell. The co-albedo of a cloud drop was found to be the maximum for all aerosol present as interstitial compare to 50% and 0% inclusions existing as interstitial aerosols. The co-albedo was found to be ~ 9.87e-4 for the drop with 100% inclusions existing as interstitial aerosols externally mixed with micron size mineral dust with 2

PREFACE: Strongly correlated electron systems Strongly correlated electron systems

Science.gov (United States)

Saxena, Siddharth S.; Littlewood, P. B.

2012-07-01

make use of 'small' electrons packed to the highest possible density. These are by definition 'strongly correlated'. For example: good photovoltaics must be efficient optical absorbers, which means that photons will generate tightly bound electron-hole pairs (excitons) that must then be ionised at a heterointerface and transported to contacts; efficient solid state refrigeration depends on substantial entropy changes in a unit cell, with large local electrical or magnetic moments; efficient lighting is in a real sense the inverse of photovoltaics; the limit of an efficient battery is a supercapacitor employing mixed valent ions; fuel cells and solar to fuel conversion require us to understand electrochemistry on the scale of a single atom; and we already know that the only prospect for effective high temperature superconductivity involves strongly correlated materials. Even novel IT technologies are now seen to have value not just for novel function but also for efficiency. While strongly correlated electron systems continue to excite researchers and the public alike due to the fundamental science issues involved, it seems increasingly likely that support for the science will be leveraged by its impact on energy and sustainability. Strongly correlated electron systems contents Strongly correlated electron systemsSiddharth S Saxena and P B Littlewood Magnetism, f-electron localization and superconductivity in 122-type heavy-fermion metalsF Steglich, J Arndt, O Stockert, S Friedemann, M Brando, C Klingner, C Krellner, C Geibel, S Wirth, S Kirchner and Q Si High energy pseudogap and its evolution with doping in Fe-based superconductors as revealed by optical spectroscopyN L Wang, W Z Hu, Z G Chen, R H Yuan, G Li, G F Chen and T Xiang Structural investigations on YbRh2Si2: from the atomic to the macroscopic length scaleS Wirth, S Ernst, R Cardoso-Gil, H Borrmann, S Seiro, C Krellner, C Geibel, S Kirchner, U Burkhardt, Y Grin and F Steglich Confinement of chiral magnetic

Fiber-optic-coupled dosemeter for remote optical sensing of radiation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Justus, B.L.; Huston, A.L.

1996-01-01

Remote sensing technologies for the detection and measurement of ionizing radiation exposure are of current interest for applications such as patient dose verification during radiotherapy and the monitoring of environmental contaminants. Fiberoptic-based sensing is attractive due to the advantages of small size, low cost, long life and freedom from electromagnetic interference. Several fiberoptic-based radiation sensing systems have been described that utilize radiation induced changes in the optical characteristics of the fiber such as reduced transmission as a result of darkening of the glass, optical phase shifts due to heating, or changes in the birefringence of a polarization-maintaining fiber. The measurement of radiation induced darkening is limited in both sensitivity and dynamic range and requires long fiber lengths. Phase shift measurements require the use of single-mode lasers, phase sensitive interferometric detection, long fiber lengths and complex signal processing techniques. Alternatively, thermoluminescent (TL) phosphor powders have been coated onto fiberoptic cables and remote dosimetry measurements performed using traditional laser heating techniques. The sensitivity is limited by the requirement for a very thin layer of phosphor material, due to problems associated with light scattering and efficient heating by thermal diffusion. In this paper we report the development of an all-optical, fiber-optic-coupled, thermoluminescence dosemeter for remote radiation sensing that offers significant advantages compared to previous technologies. We recently reported the development of an optically transparent, TL glass material having exceptionally good characteristics for traditional dosimetry applications. We also reported a modified TL glass incorporating a rare earth ion dopant in order to absorb light from a semiconductor laser and utilize the absorbed light energy to internally heat the glass and release the trapped electrons. (author)

Study of thermal effects and optical properties of an innovative absorber in integrated collector storage solar water heater

Science.gov (United States)

Taheri, Yaser; Alimardani, Kazem; Ziapour, Behrooz M.

2015-10-01

Solar passive water heaters are potential candidates for enhanced heat transfer. Solar water heaters with an integrated water tank and with the low temperature energy resource are used as the simplest and cheapest recipient devices of the solar energy for heating and supplying hot water in the buildings. The solar thermal performances of one primitive absorber were determined by using both the experimental and the simulation model of it. All materials applied for absorber such as the cover glass, the black colored sands and the V shaped galvanized plate were submerged into the water. The water storage tank was manufactured from galvanized sheet of 0.0015 m in thickness and the effective area of the collector was 0.67 m2. The absorber was installed on a compact solar water heater. The constructed flat-plate collectors were tested outdoors. However the simulation results showed that the absorbers operated near to the gray materials and all experimental results showed that the thermal efficiencies of the collector are over than 70 %.

1 Mixing state and absorbing properties of black carbon during Arctic haze

Science.gov (United States)

Zanatta, Marco; Gysel, Martin; Eleftheriadis, Kosas; Laj, Paolo; Hans-Werner, Jacobi

2016-04-01

The Arctic atmosphere is periodically affected by the Arctic haze occurring in spring. One of its particulate components is the black carbon (BC), which is considered to be an important contributor to climate change in the Arctic region. Beside BC-cloud interaction and albedo reduction of snow, BC may influence Arctic climate interacting directly with the solar radiation, warming the corresponding aerosol layer (Flanner, 2013). Such warming depends on BC atmospheric burden and also on the efficiency of BC to absorb light, in fact the light absorption is enhanced by mixing of BC with other atmospheric non-absorbing materials (lensing effect) (Bond et al., 2013). The BC reaching the Arctic is evilly processed, due to long range transport. Aging promote internal mixing and thus absorption enhancement. Such modification of mixing and is quantification after long range transport have been observed in the Atlantic ocean (China et al., 2015) but never investigated in the Arctic. During field experiments conducted at the Zeppelin research site in Svalbard during the 2012 Arctic spring, we investigated the relative precision of different BC measuring techniques; a single particle soot photometer was then used to assess the coating of Arctic black carbon. This allowed quantifying the absorption enhancement induced by internal mixing via optical modelling; the optical assessment of aged black carbon in the arctic will be of major interest for future radiative forcing assessment.Optical characterization of the total aerosol indicated that in 2012 no extreme smoke events took place and that the aerosol population was dominated by fine and non-absorbing particles. Low mean concentration of rBC was found (30 ng m-3), with a mean mass equivalent diameter above 200 nm. rBC concentration detected with the continuous soot monitoring system and the single particle soot photometer was agreeing within 15%. Combining absorption coefficient observed with an aethalometer and rBC mass

Noninvasive label-free monitoring of cosmetics and pharmaceuticals in human skin using nonlinear optical microscopy (Conference Presentation)

Science.gov (United States)

Osseiran, Sam; Wang, Hequn; Evans, Conor L.

2017-02-01

Over the past decade, nonlinear optical microscopy has seen a dramatic rise in its use in research settings due to its noninvasiveness, enhanced penetration depth, intrinsic optical sectioning, and the ability to probe chemical compounds with molecular specificity without exogenous contrast agents. Nonlinear optical techniques including two-photon excitation fluorescence (2PEF), fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy (FLIM), second harmonic generation (SHG), coherent anti-Stokes and stimulated Raman scattering (CARS and SRS, respectively), as well as transient and sum frequency absorption (TA and SFA, respectively), have been widely used to explore the physiology and microanatomy of skin. Recently, these modalities have shed light on dermal processes that could not have otherwise been observed, including the spatiotemporal monitoring of cosmetics and pharmaceuticals. However, a challenge quickly arises when studying such chemicals in a dermatological context: many exogenous compounds have optical signatures that can interfere with the signals that would otherwise be acquired from intact skin. For example, oily solvents exhibit strong signals when probing CH2 vibrations with CARS/SRS; chemical sun filters appear bright in 2PEF microscopy; and darkly colored compounds readily absorb light across a broad spectrum, producing strong TA/SFA signals. Thus, this discussion will first focus on the molecular contrast in skin that can be probed using the aforementioned nonlinear optical techniques. This will be followed by an overview of strategies that take advantage of the exogenous compounds' optical signatures to probe spatiotemporal dynamics while preserving endogenous information from skin.

Evolutionary dynamics of fluctuating populations with strong mutualism

Science.gov (United States)

Chotibut, Thiparat; Nelson, David

2013-03-01

Evolutionary game theory with finite interacting populations is receiving increased attention, including subtle phenomena associated with number fluctuations, i.e., ``genetic drift.'' Models of cooperation and competition often utilize a simplified Moran model, with a strictly fixed total population size. We explore a more general evolutionary model with independent fluctuations in the numbers of two distinct species, in a regime characterized by ``strong mutualism.'' The model has two absorbing states, each corresponding to fixation of one of the two species, and allows exploration of the interplay between growth, competition, and mutualism. When mutualism is favored, number fluctuations eventually drive the system away from a stable fixed point, characterized by cooperation, to one of the absorbing states. Well-mixed populations will thus be taken over by a single species in a finite time, despite the bias towards cooperation. We calculate both the fixation probability and the mean fixation time as a function of the initial conditions and carrying capacities in the strong mutualism regime, using the method of matched asymptotic expansions. Our results are compared to computer simulations.

All-optical, thermo-optical path length modulation based on the vanadium-doped fibers.

Science.gov (United States)

Matjasec, Ziga; Campelj, Stanislav; Donlagic, Denis

2013-05-20

This paper presents an all-fiber, fully-optically controlled, optical-path length modulator based on highly absorbing optical fiber. The modulator utilizes a high-power 980 nm pump diode and a short section of vanadium-co-doped single mode fiber that is heated through absorption and a non-radiative relaxation process. The achievable path length modulation range primarily depends on the pump's power and the convective heat-transfer coefficient of the surrounding gas, while the time response primarily depends on the heated fiber's diameter. An absolute optical length change in excess of 500 µm and a time-constant as short as 11 ms, were demonstrated experimentally. The all-fiber design allows for an electrically-passive and remote operation of the modulator. The presented modulator could find use within various fiber-optics systems that require optical (remote) path length control or modulation.

Flow restrictor silicon membrane microvalve actuated by optically controlled paraffin phase transition

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kolari, K; Havia, T; Stuns, I; Hjort, K

2014-01-01

Restrictor valves allow proportional control of fluid flow but are rarely integrated in microfluidic systems. In this study, an optically actuated silicon membrane restrictor microvalve is demonstrated. Its actuation is based on the phase transition of paraffin, using a paraffin wax mixed with a suitable concentration of optically absorbing nanographite particles. Backing up the membrane with oil (the melted paraffin) allows for a compliant yet strong contact to the valve seat, which enables handling of high pressures. At flow rates up to 30 µL min −1 and at a pressure of 2 bars, the valve can successfully be closed and control the flow level by restriction. The use of this paraffin composite as an adhesive layer sandwiched between the silicon valve and glass eases fabrication. This type of restrictor valve is best suited for high pressure, low volume flow silicon-based nanofluidic systems. (paper)

Assessment of capabilities of multiangle imaging photo-polarimetry for atmospheric correction in presence of absorbing aerosols

Science.gov (United States)

Kalashnikova, O. V.; Garay, M. J.; Xu, F.; Seidel, F. C.; Diner, D. J.

2015-12-01

Satellite remote sensing of ocean color is a critical tool for assessing the productivity of marine ecosystems and monitoring changes resulting from climatic or environmental influences. Yet water-leaving radiance comprises less than 10% of the signal measured from space, making correction for absorption and scattering by the intervening atmosphere imperative. Traditional ocean color retrieval algorithms utilize a standard set of aerosol models and the assumption of negligible water-leaving radiance in the near-infrared. Modern improvements have been developed to handle absorbing aerosols such as urban particulates in coastal areas and transported desert dust over the open ocean, where ocean fertilization can impact biological productivity at the base of the marine food chain. Even so, imperfect knowledge of the absorbing aerosol optical properties or their height distribution results in well-documented sources of error. In the UV, the problem of UV-enhanced absorption and nonsphericity of certain aerosol types are amplified due to the increased Rayleigh and aerosol optical depth, especially at off-nadir view angles. Multi-angle spectro-polarimetric measurements have been advocated as an additional tool to better understand and retrieve the aerosol properties needed for atmospheric correction for ocean color retrievals. The central concern of the work to be described is the assessment of the effects of absorbing aerosol properties on water leaving radiance measurement uncertainty by neglecting UV-enhanced absorption of carbonaceous particles and by not accounting for dust nonsphericity. In addition, we evaluate the polarimetric sensitivity of absorbing aerosol properties in light of measurement uncertainties achievable for the next generation of multi-angle polarimetric imaging instruments, and demonstrate advantages and disadvantages of wavelength selection in the UV/VNIR range. The phase matrices for the spherical smoke particles were calculated using a standard

Understanding the electric field control of the electronic and optical properties of strongly-coupled multi-layered quantum dot molecules.

Science.gov (United States)

Usman, Muhammad

2015-10-21

Strongly-coupled quantum dot molecules (QDMs) are widely employed in the design of a variety of optoelectronic, photovoltaic, and quantum information devices. An efficient and optimized performance of these devices demands engineering of the electronic and optical properties of the underlying QDMs. The application of electric fields offers a way to realise such a control over the QDM characteristics for a desired device operation. We performed multi-million-atom atomistic tight-binding calculations to study the influence of electric fields on the electron and hole wave function confinements and symmetries, the ground-state transition energies, the band-gap wavelengths, and the optical transition modes. Electrical fields parallel (Ep) and anti-parallel (Ea) to the growth direction were investigated to provide a comprehensive guide for understanding the electric field effects. The strain-induced asymmetry of the hybridized electron states is found to be weak and can be balanced by applying a small Ea electric field, of the order of 1 kV cm(-1). The strong interdot couplings completely break down at large electric fields, leading to single QD states confined at the opposite edges of the QDM. This mimics a transformation from a type-I band structure to a type-II band structure for the QDMs, which is a critical requirement for the design of intermediate-band solar cells (IBSCs). The analysis of the field-dependent ground-state transition energies reveals that the QDM can be operated both as a high dipole moment device by applying large electric fields and as a high polarizability device under the application of small electric field magnitudes. The quantum confined Stark effect (QCSE) red shifts the band-gap wavelength to 1.3 μm at the 15 kV cm(-1) electric field; however the reduced electron-hole wave function overlaps lead to a decrease in the interband optical transition strengths by roughly three orders of magnitude. The study of the polarisation-resolved optical

Hydraulic shock absorbers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Thatcher, G.; Davidson, D. F.

1984-01-01

A hydraulic shock absorber of the dash pot kind for use with electrically conducting liquid such as sodium, has magnet means for electro magnetically braking a stream of liquid discharged from the cylinder. The shock absorber finds use in a liquid metal cooled nuclear reactor for arresting control rods

Reflection measurements of microwave absorbers

Science.gov (United States)

Baker, Dirk E.; van der Neut, Cornelis A.

1988-12-01

A swept-frequency interferometer is described for making rapid, real-time assessments of localized inhomogeneities in planar microwave absorber panels. An aperture-matched exponential horn is used to reduce residual reflections in the system to about -37 dB. This residual reflection is adequate for making comparative measurements on planar absorber panels whose reflectivities usually fall in the -15 to -25 dB range. Reflectivity measurements on a variety of planar absorber panels show that multilayer Jaumann absorbers have the greatest inhomogeneity, while honeycomb absorbers generally have excellent homogeneity within a sheet and from sheet to sheet. The test setup is also used to measure the center frequencies of resonant absorbers. With directional couplers and aperture-matched exponential horns, the technique can be easily applied in the standard 2 to 40 GHz waveguide bands.

An Electrochromatography Chip with Integrated Waveguides for UV Absorbance Detection

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Gustafsson, Omar; Mogensen, Klaus Bo; Ohlsson, Pelle Daniel

2008-01-01

A silicon-based microchip for electrochromatographic separations is presented. Apart from a microfluidic network, the microchip has integrated UV-transparent waveguides for detection and integrated couplers for optical fibers on the chip, yielding the most complete chromatography microchip to date...... to the waveguides. The entire oxidized silicon microchip structure is sealed with a glass lid. Reversed phase electrochromatographic separation of three neutral compounds is demonstrated using UV absorbance detection at 254 nm. Baseline separation of the analytes is achieved in less than two minutes....

Fluoroscopic screen which is optically homogeneous

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1975-01-01

A high efficiency fluoroscopic screen for X-ray examination consists of an optically homogeneous crystal plate of fluorescent material such as activated cesium iodide, supported on a transparent protective plate, with the edges of the assembly beveled and optically coupled to a light absorbing compound. The product is dressed to the desired thickness and provided with an X-ray-transparent light-opaque cover. (Auth.)

Corrosion resistant neutron absorbing coatings

Science.gov (United States)

Choi, Jor-Shan [El Cerrito, CA; Farmer, Joseph C [Tracy, CA; Lee, Chuck K [Hayward, CA; Walker, Jeffrey [Gaithersburg, MD; Russell, Paige [Las Vegas, NV; Kirkwood, Jon [Saint Leonard, MD; Yang, Nancy [Lafayette, CA; Champagne, Victor [Oxford, PA

2012-05-29

A method of forming a corrosion resistant neutron absorbing coating comprising the steps of spray or deposition or sputtering or welding processing to form a composite material made of a spray or deposition or sputtering or welding material, and a neutron absorbing material. Also a corrosion resistant neutron absorbing coating comprising a composite material made of a spray or deposition or sputtering or welding material, and a neutron absorbing material.

Determination of the scattering coefficient of biological tissue considering the wavelength and absorption dependence of the anisotropy factor

Science.gov (United States)

Fukutomi, Daichi; Ishii, Katsunori; Awazu, Kunio

2016-04-01

The anisotropy factor g, one of the optical properties of biological tissues, has a strong influence on the calculation of the scattering coefficient μ s in inverse Monte Carlo (iMC) simulations. It has been reported that g has the wavelength and absorption dependence; however, few attempts have been made to calculate μ s using g values by taking the wavelength and absorption dependence into account. In this study, the angular distributions of scattered light for biological tissue phantoms containing hemoglobin as a light absorber were measured by a goniometric optical setup at strongly (405 nm) and weakly (664 nm) absorbing wavelengths to obtain g. Subsequently, the optical properties were calculated with the measured values of g by integrating sphere measurements and an iMC simulation, and compared with the results obtained with a conventional g value of 0.9. The μ s values with measured g were overestimated at the strongly absorbing wavelength, but underestimated at the weakly absorbing wavelength if 0.9 was used in the iMC simulation.

Improvements in brain activation detection using time-resolved diffuse optical means

Science.gov (United States)

Montcel, Bruno; Chabrier, Renee; Poulet, Patrick

2005-08-01

An experimental method based on time-resolved absorbance difference is described. The absorbance difference is calculated over each temporal step of the optical signal with the time-resolved Beer-Lambert law. Finite element simulations show that each step corresponds to a different scanned zone and that cerebral contribution increases with the arrival time of photons. Experiments are conducted at 690 and 830 nm with a time-resolved system consisting of picosecond laser diodes, micro-channel plate photo-multiplier tube and photon counting modules. The hemodynamic response to a short finger tapping stimulus is measured over the motor cortex. Time-resolved absorbance difference maps show that variations in the optical signals are not localized in superficial regions of the head, which testify for their cerebral origin. Furthermore improvements in the detection of cerebral activation is achieved through the increase of variations in absorbance by a factor of almost 5 for time-resolved measurements as compared to non-time-resolved measurements.

Photoacoustic contrast imaging of biological tissues with nanodiamonds fabricated for high near-infrared absorbance.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Ti; Cui, Huizhong; Fang, Chia-Yi; Su, Long-Jyun; Ren, Shenqiang; Chang, Huan-Cheng; Yang, Xinmai; Forrest, M Laird

2013-02-01

Radiation-damaged nanodiamonds (DNDs) are potentially ideal optical contrast agents for photoacoustic (PA) imaging in biological tissues due to their low toxicity and high optical absorbance. PA imaging contrast agents have been limited to quantum dots and gold particles, since most existing carbon-based nanoparticles, including fluorescent nanodiamonds, do not have sufficient optical absorption in the near-infrared (NIR) range. A new DND by He+ ion beam irradiation with very high NIR absorption was synthesized. These DNDs produced a 71-fold higher PA signal on a molar basis than similarly dimensioned gold nanorods, and 7.1 fmol of DNDs injected into rodents could be clearly imaged 3 mm below the skin surface with PA signal enhancement of 567% using an 820-nm laser wavelength.

Fiber optic fluid detector

Science.gov (United States)

Angel, S.M.

1987-02-27

Particular gases or liquids are detected with a fiber optic element having a cladding or coating of a material which absorbs the fluid or fluids and which exhibits a change of an optical property, such as index of refraction, light transmissiveness or fluoresence emission, for example, in response to absorption of the fluid. The fluid is sensed by directing light into the fiber optic element and detecting changes in the light, such as exit angle changes for example, that result from the changed optical property of the coating material. The fluid detector may be used for such purposes as sensing toxic or explosive gases in the atmosphere, measuring ground water contamination or monitoring fluid flows in industrial processes, among other uses. 10 figs.

PWR burnable absorber evaluation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cacciapouti, R.J.; Weader, R.J.; Malone, J.P.

1995-01-01

The purpose of the study was to evaluate the relative neurotic efficiency and fuel cycle cost benefits of PWR burnable absorbers. Establishment of reference low-leakage equilibrium in-core fuel management plans for 12-, 18- and 24-month cycles. Review of the fuel management impact of the integral fuel burnable absorber (IFBA), erbium and gadolinium. Calculation of the U 3 O 8 , UF 6 , SWU, fuel fabrication, and burnable absorber requirements for the defined fuel management plans. Estimation of fuel cycle costs of each fuel management plan at spot market and long-term market fuel prices. Estimation of the comparative savings of the different burnable absorbers in dollar equivalent per kgU of fabricated fuel. (author)

Optical properties of Sb(Se,Te)I and photovoltaic applications

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tablero, C., E-mail: ctablero@etsit.upm.es

2016-09-05

SbXI (X = Se, Te) are ferroelectric semiconductors that allow a variety of applications including optoelectronic and photovoltaic applications. An analysis of the optical properties is carried out starting from first-principles density-functional theory with orbital-dependent one-electron potentials. To go into the contributions to the optical properties more deeply, the absorption coefficients have been split into inter- and intra-species contributions and into atomic angular momentum contributions. The optical results are used to evaluate the efficiencies when this material is used to absorb sunlight at several sunlight concentrations and the usual radiative and the ferroelectric photovoltaic mechanisms. The results indicate their applicability in photovoltaic devices as absorbent of the solar spectrum with high conversion efficiency. - Highlights: • The SbXI (X = Se, Te) are ferroelectric semiconductors with a high optical absorption. • The absorption coefficients have been split into different contributions to understand the cause of the high absorption. • Using the first-principles results the maximum efficiency of this photovoltaic absorber material has been estimated. • The efficiency of this compound is near the maximum efficiency for single-gap solar cells even using small-width devices. • The coexistence of the R-PV and R-PV effects has been evaluated.

[Absorbable coronary stents. New promising technology].

Science.gov (United States)

Erbel, Raimund; Böse, Dirk; Haude, Michael; Kordish, Igor; Churzidze, Sofia; Malyar, Nasser; Konorza, Thomas; Sack, Stefan

2007-06-01

Coronary stent implantation started in Germany 20 years ago. In the beginning, the progress was very slow and accelerated 10 years later. Meanwhile, coronary stent implantation is a standard procedure in interventional cardiology. From the beginning of permanent stent implantation, research started to provide temporary stenting of coronary arteries, first with catheter-based systems, later with stent-alone technology. Stents were produced from polymers or metal. The first polymer stent implantation failed except the Igaki-Tamai stent in Japan. Newly developed absorbable polymer stents seem to be very promising, as intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) and optical coherence tomography have demonstrated. Temporary metal stents were developed based on iron and magnesium. Currently, the iron stent is tested in peripheral arteries. The absorbable magnesium stent (Biotronik, Berlin, Germany) was tested in peripheral arteries below the knee and meanwhile in the multicenter international PROGRESS-AMS (Clinical Performance and Angiographic Results of Coronary Stenting with Absorbable Metal Stents) study. The first magnesium stent implantation was performed on July 30, 2004 after extended experimental testing in Essen. The magnesium stent behaved like a bare-metal stent with low recoil of 5-7%. The stent struts were absorbed when tested with IVUS. Stent struts were not visible by fluoroscopy or computed tomography (CT) as well as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). That means, that the magnesium stent is invisible and therefore CT and MRI can be used for imaging of interventions. Only using micro-CT the stent struts were visible. The absorption process could be demonstrated in a patient 18 days after implantation due to suspected acute coronary syndrome, which was excluded. IVUS showed a nice open lumen. Stent struts were no longer visible, but replaced by tissue indicating the previous stent location. Coronary angiography after 4 months showed an ischemia-driven target lesion

Highly efficient, versatile, self-Q-switched, high-repetition-rate microchip laser generating Ince–Gaussian modes for optical trapping

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jun Dong; Yu He; Xiao Zhou; Shengchuang Bai [Department of Electronics Engineering, School of Information Science and Engineering, Xiamen, 361005 (China)

2016-03-31

Lasers operating in the Ince-Gaussian (IG) mode have potential applications for optical manipulation of microparticles and formation of optical vortices, as well as for optical trapping and optical tweezers. Versatile, self-Q-switched, high-peak-power, high-repetition-rate Cr, Nd:YAG microchip lasers operating in the IG mode are implemented under tilted, tightly focused laser-diode pumping. An average output power of over 2 W is obtained at an absorbed pump power of 6.4 W. The highest optical-to-optical efficiency of 33.2% is achieved at an absorbed pump power of 3.9 W. Laser pulses with a pulse energy of 7.5 μJ, pulse width of 3.5 ns and peak power of over 2 kW are obtained. A repetition rate up to 335 kHz is reached at an absorbed pump power of 5.8 W. Highly efficient, versatile, IG-mode lasers with a high repetition rate and a high peak power ensure a better flexibility in particle manipulation and optical trapping. (control of laser radiation parameters)

Multi-channel coherent perfect absorbers

KAUST Repository

Bai, Ping

2016-05-18

The absorption efficiency of a coherent perfect absorber usually depends on the phase coherence of the incident waves on the surfaces. Here, we present a scheme to create a multi-channel coherent perfect absorber in which the constraint of phase coherence is loosened. The scheme has a multi-layer structure such that incident waves in different channels with different angular momenta can be simultaneously and perfectly absorbed. This absorber is robust in achieving high absorption efficiency even if the incident waves become "incoherent" and possess "random" wave fronts. Our work demonstrates a unique approach to designing highly efficient metamaterial absorbers. © CopyrightEPLA, 2016.

Multi-channel coherent perfect absorbers

KAUST Repository

Bai, Ping; Wu, Ying; Lai, Yun

2016-01-01

The absorption efficiency of a coherent perfect absorber usually depends on the phase coherence of the incident waves on the surfaces. Here, we present a scheme to create a multi-channel coherent perfect absorber in which the constraint of phase coherence is loosened. The scheme has a multi-layer structure such that incident waves in different channels with different angular momenta can be simultaneously and perfectly absorbed. This absorber is robust in achieving high absorption efficiency even if the incident waves become "incoherent" and possess "random" wave fronts. Our work demonstrates a unique approach to designing highly efficient metamaterial absorbers. © CopyrightEPLA, 2016.

Feynman Integrals with Absorbing Boundaries

OpenAIRE

Marchewka, A.; Schuss, Z.

1997-01-01

We propose a formulation of an absorbing boundary for a quantum particle. The formulation is based on a Feynman-type integral over trajectories that are confined to the non-absorbing region. Trajectories that reach the absorbing wall are discounted from the population of the surviving trajectories with a certain weighting factor. Under the assumption that absorbed trajectories do not interfere with the surviving trajectories, we obtain a time dependent absorption law. Two examples are worked ...

Optical switching in nonlinear photonic crystals lightly doped with nanostructures

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Singh, Mahi R [Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Western Ontario, London, ON N6A 3K7 (Canada); Lipson, R H [Department of Chemistry, University of Western Ontario, London, ON N6A 5B7 (Canada)

2008-01-14

A possible switching mechanism has been investigated for nonlinear photonic crystals doped with an ensemble of non-interacting three-level nanoparticles. In this scheme, an intense pump laser field is used to change the refractive index of the nonlinear photonic crystal while a weaker probe field monitors an absorption transition in the nanoparticles. In the absence of the strong laser field the system transmits the probe field when the resonance energy of the nanoparticles lies near the edge of the photonic band gap due to strong coupling between the photonic crystal and the nanoparticles. However, upon application of an intense pump laser field the system becomes absorbing due to a band edge frequency shift that arises due to a nonlinear Kerr effect which changes the refractive index of the crystal. It is anticipated that the optical switching mechanism described in this work can be used to make new types of photonic devices.

Influence of absorbers on the reactivity of the reactor; Odredjivanje uticaja apsorbera na reaktivnost reaktora

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Martinc, R [Institute of Nuclear Sciences Boris Kidric, Vinca, Beograd (Serbia and Montenegro)

1961-12-15

Influence of absorbers on the reactivity of the reactor was calculated by two-group diffusion theory applying corrections for boundary conditions derived from the transport theory because diffusion theory in not applicable in the vicinity of boundary surfaces especially in case of strong absorbers. This report shows the calculations of central absorber efficiency in the core with and without reflector, and efficiency of the group of absorbers randomly placed in the core. Approximation method for determining the efficiency of the absorber is described as well as numerical verification of results. Effective absorber dimensions and the influence of gaps on the reactor dimensions are shown. [Serbo-Croat] Uticaj apsorbera na reaktivnost reaktora racunat je primenom difuzione dvogrupne teorije uz korekcije kod primene granicnih uslova koje daje transportna teorija za efektivne dimenzije apsorbera posto difuziona teorija ne moze da primeni u blizini granicnih povrsina posebno kod jakih apsorbera. U ovom izvestaju dati su proracuni efektivnosti centralnog apsorbera u reflektovanom u nereflektovanom reaktoru, efektivnosti grupe proizvoljno ubacenih apsorbera. Dat je i prikaz aproksimativne metode za odredjivanje efektivnosti apsorbera kao i numericka provera rezultata. Prikazane su efektivne dimenzije apsorbera kao i uticaj supljina na kriticne dimenzije reaktora.

Absorbing metasurface created by diffractionless disordered arrays of nanoantennas

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chevalier, Paul [Minao, ONERA, The French Aerospace Lab, 91761 Palaiseau (France); Minao, Laboratoire de Photonique et Nanostructures (LPN), CNRS, Université Paris-Saclay, Route de Nozay, 91460 Marcoussis (France); Bouchon, Patrick, E-mail: patrick.bouchon@onera.fr; Jaeck, Julien; Lauwick, Diane; Kattnig, Alain [Minao, ONERA, The French Aerospace Lab, 91761 Palaiseau (France); Bardou, Nathalie; Pardo, Fabrice [Minao, Laboratoire de Photonique et Nanostructures (LPN), CNRS, Université Paris-Saclay, Route de Nozay, 91460 Marcoussis (France); Haïdar, Riad [Minao, ONERA, The French Aerospace Lab, 91761 Palaiseau (France); École Polytechnique, Département de Physique, 91128 Palaiseau (France)

2015-12-21

We study disordered arrays of metal-insulator-metal nanoantenna in order to create a diffractionless metasurface able to absorb light in the 3–5 μm spectral range. This study is conducted with angle-resolved reflectivity measurements obtained with a Fourier transform infrared spectrometer. A first design is based on a perturbation of a periodic arrangement, leading to a significant reduction of the radiative losses. Then, a random assembly of nanoantennas is built following a Poisson-disk distribution of given density, in order to obtain a nearly perfect cluttered assembly with optical properties of a homogeneous material.

Absorbing metasurface created by diffractionless disordered arrays of nanoantennas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chevalier, Paul; Bouchon, Patrick; Jaeck, Julien; Lauwick, Diane; Kattnig, Alain; Bardou, Nathalie; Pardo, Fabrice; Haïdar, Riad

2015-01-01

We study disordered arrays of metal-insulator-metal nanoantenna in order to create a diffractionless metasurface able to absorb light in the 3–5 μm spectral range. This study is conducted with angle-resolved reflectivity measurements obtained with a Fourier transform infrared spectrometer. A first design is based on a perturbation of a periodic arrangement, leading to a significant reduction of the radiative losses. Then, a random assembly of nanoantennas is built following a Poisson-disk distribution of given density, in order to obtain a nearly perfect cluttered assembly with optical properties of a homogeneous material

Combinatorial development of Cu2SnS3 as an earth abundant photovoltaic absorber

Science.gov (United States)

Baranowski, Lauryn L.

The development of high efficiency, earth abundant photovoltaic absorbers is critical if photovoltaics are to be implemented on the TW scale. Although traditional thin films absorbers such as Cu(In,Ga)Se2 and CdTe have achieved over 20% device efficiencies, the ultimately scalability of these devices may be limited by elemental scarcity and toxicity issues. To date, the most successful earth abundant thin film absorber is Cu2ZnSn(S,Se) 4, which has achieved 12.6% efficiency as of 2014. However, chemical complexity and disorder issues with this material have made the path to higher efficiency CZTSSe devices unclear. As a result, many researchers are now exploring alternative earth abundant absorber materials. In this thesis, we apply our "rapid development" methodology to the exploration of alternative photovoltaic absorbers. The rapid development (RD) methodology, consisting of exploration, research, and development stages, uses complementary theory and experiment to assess candidate materials and down-select in each stage. The overall result is that, in the time span of ~2-3 years, we are able to rapidly go from tens of possible absorber materials to 1-2 working PV device prototypes. Here, we demonstrate the RD approach as applied to the Cu-Sn-S system. We begin our investigation of the Cu-Sn-S system by evaluating the thermodynamic stability, electrical transport, electronic structure, and optical and defect properties of candidate materials using complementary theory and experiment. We find that Cu2SnS3 is the most promising absorber candidate because of its strong optical absorption, tunable doping, and wide stability range. Our other candidate compounds suffer from serious flaws that preclude them from being successful photovoltaic absorbers, including too high experimental conductivity (Cu4SnS4), or poor hole transport and low absorption coefficient (Cu4Sn7S16). Next, we investigate the doping and defect physics of Cu2SnS 3. We identify the origins of the

Observation of strong leakage reduction in crystal assisted collimation of the SPS beam

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Scandale, W. [CERN, European Organization for Nuclear Research, CH-1211 Geneva 23 (Switzerland); Laboratoire de l' Accelerateur Lineaire (LAL), Universite Paris Sud Orsay, Orsay (France); INFN Sezione di Roma, Piazzale Aldo Moro 2, 00185 Rome (Italy); Arduini, G.; Butcher, M.; Cerutti, F.; Garattini, M.; Gilardoni, S.; Lechner, A.; Losito, R.; Masi, A.; Mereghetti, A.; Metral, E. [CERN, European Organization for Nuclear Research, CH-1211 Geneva 23 (Switzerland); Mirarchi, D. [CERN, European Organization for Nuclear Research, CH-1211 Geneva 23 (Switzerland); Imperial College, London (United Kingdom); Montesano, S.; Redaelli, S. [CERN, European Organization for Nuclear Research, CH-1211 Geneva 23 (Switzerland); Rossi, R. [CERN, European Organization for Nuclear Research, CH-1211 Geneva 23 (Switzerland); INFN Sezione di Roma, Piazzale Aldo Moro 2, 00185 Rome (Italy); Schoofs, P.; Smirnov, G. [CERN, European Organization for Nuclear Research, CH-1211 Geneva 23 (Switzerland); Bagli, E.; Bandiera, L.; Baricordi, S. [INFN Sezione di Ferrara, Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Ferrara, Ferrara (Italy); and others

2015-09-02

In ideal two-stage collimation systems, the secondary collimator–absorber should have its length sufficient to exclude practically the exit of halo particles with large impact parameters. In the UA9 experiments on the crystal assisted collimation of the SPS beam a 60 cm long tungsten bar is used as a secondary collimator–absorber which is insufficient for the full absorption of the halo protons. Multi-turn simulation studies of the collimation allowed to select the position for the beam loss monitor downstream the collimation area where the contribution of particles deflected by the crystal in channeling regime but emerging from the secondary collimator–absorber is considerably reduced. This allowed observation of a strong leakage reduction of halo protons from the SPS beam collimation area, thereby approaching the case with an ideal absorber.

Visible light broadband perfect absorbers

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jia, X. L.; Meng, Q. X.; Yuan, C. X.; Zhou, Z. X.; Wang, X. O., E-mail: wxo@hit.edu.cn [School of Science, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150001 (China)

2016-03-15

The visible light broadband perfect absorbers based on the silver (Ag) nano elliptical disks and holes array are studied using finite difference time domain simulations. The semiconducting indium silicon dioxide thin film is introduced as the space layer in this sandwiched structure. Utilizing the asymmetrical geometry of the structures, polarization sensitivity for transverse electric wave (TE)/transverse magnetic wave (TM) and left circular polarization wave (LCP)/right circular polarization wave (RCP) of the broadband absorption are gained. The absorbers with Ag nano disks and holes array show several peaks absorbance of 100% by numerical simulation. These simple and flexible perfect absorbers are particularly desirable for various potential applications including the solar energy absorber.

Black phosphorus saturable absorber for a diode-pumped passively Q-switched Er:CaF2 mid-infrared laser

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Chun; Liu, Jie; Guo, Zhinan; Zhang, Han; Ma, Weiwei; Wang, Jingya; Xu, Xiaodong; Su, Liangbi

2018-01-01

A multilayer black phosphorus, as a novel two dimensional saturable absorber, has superb saturable absorption properties for a Er:CaF2 solid-state pulse laser. The pulse laser is realized at mid-infrared region with the passively Q-switched technology by a diode-pumping. The high-quality black phosphorus saturable absorber is fabricated by liquid phase exfoliation method. The pulse laser generates the pulses operation with the pulse duration of 954.8 ns, the repetition rate of 41.93 kHz, the pulse energy of 4.25 μJ and the peak power of 4.45 W. Our work demonstrates that black phosphorus could be used as a kind of efficient mid-infrared region optical absorber for ultrafast photonics.

Efficient ASE management in disk laser amplifiers with variable absorbing clads

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Slezák, Ondřej; Lucianetti, Antonio; Mocek, Tomáš

2014-01-01

Roč. 50, č. 12 (2014), s. 1052-1060 ISSN 0018-9197 R&D Projects: GA MŠk ED2.1.00/01.0027; GA MŠk EE2.3.20.0143 Grant - others:HILASE(XE) CZ.1.05/2.1.00/01.0027; OP VK 6(XE) CZ.1.07/2.3.00/20.0143 Institutional support: RVO:68378271 Keywords : amplifiers * laser * absorbing * Yb:YAG * multi slab Subject RIV: BH - Optics, Masers, Lasers Impact factor: 1.887, year: 2014

Head to head comparison of optical coherence tomography, intravascular ultrasound echogenicity and virtual histology for the detection of changes in polymeric struts over time

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Brugaletta, Salvatore; Gomez-Lara, Josep; Bruining, Nico

2012-01-01

To analyse and to compare the changes in the various optical coherence tomography (OCT), echogenicity and intravascular ultrasound virtual histology (VH) of the everolimus-eluting bioresorbable scaffold (ABSORB) degradation parameters during the first 12 months after ABSORB implantation. In the A......To analyse and to compare the changes in the various optical coherence tomography (OCT), echogenicity and intravascular ultrasound virtual histology (VH) of the everolimus-eluting bioresorbable scaffold (ABSORB) degradation parameters during the first 12 months after ABSORB implantation...

Optical absorption in recycled waste plastic polyethylene

Science.gov (United States)

Aji, M. P.; Rahmawati, I.; Priyanto, A.; Karunawan, J.; Wati, A. L.; Aryani, N. P.; Susanto; Wibowo, E.; Sulhadi

2018-03-01

We investigated the optical properties of UV spectrum absorption in recycled waste plastic from polyethylene polymer type. Waste plastic polyethylene showed an optical spectrum absorption after it’s recycling process. Spectrum absorption is determined using spectrophotometer UV-Nir Ocean Optics type USB 4000. Recycling method has been processed using heating treatment around the melting point temperature of the polyethylene polymer that are 200°C, 220°C, 240°C, 260°C, and 280°C. In addition, the recycling process was carried out with time variations as well, which are 1h, 1.5h, 2h, and 2.5h. The result of this experiment shows that recycled waste plastic polyethylene has a spectrum absorption in the ∼ 340-550 nm wavelength range. The absorbance spectrum obtained from UV light which is absorbed in the orbital n → π* and the orbital π → π*. This process indicates the existence of electron transition phenomena. This mechanism is affected by the temperature and the heating time where the intensity of absorption increases and widens with the increase of temperature and heating time. Furthermore this study resulted that the higher temperature affected the enhancement of the band gap energy of waste plastic polyethylene. These results show that recycled waste plastic polyethylene has a huge potential to be absorber materials for solar cell.

A toy model to investigate the existence of excitons in the ground state of strongly-correlated semiconductor

Science.gov (United States)

Karima, H. R.; Majidi, M. A.

2018-04-01

Excitons, quasiparticles associated with bound states between an electron and a hole and are typically created when photons with a suitable energy are absorbed in a solid-state material. We propose to study a possible emergence of excitons, created not by photon absorption but the effect of strong electronic correlations. This study is motivated by a recent experimental study of a substrate material SrTiO3 (STO) that reveals strong exitonic signals in its optical conductivity. Here we conjecture that some excitons may already exist in the ground state as a result of the electronic correlations before the additional excitons being created later by photon absorption. To investigate the existence of excitons in the ground state, we propose to study a simple 4-energy-level model that mimics a situation in strongly-correlated semiconductors. The four levels are divided into two groups, lower and upper groups separated by an energy gap, Eg , mimicking the valence and the conduction bands, respectively. Further, we incorporate repulsive Coulomb interactions between the electrons. The model is then solved by exact diagonalization method. Our result shows that the toy model can demonstrate band gap widening or narrowing and the existence of exciton in the ground state depending on interaction parameter values.

Layer-by-layer assembled highly absorbing hundred-layer films containing a phthalocyanine dye: Fabrication and photosensibilization by thermal treatment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sergeeva, Alena S.; Volkova, Elena K.; Bratashov, Daniil N.; Shishkin, Mikhail I.; Atkin, Vsevolod S.; Markin, Aleksey V.; Skaptsov, Aleksandr A.; Volodkin, Dmitry V.; Gorin, Dmitry A.

2015-01-01

Highly absorbing hundred-layer films based on poly(diallyldimethylammonium chloride) (PDADMAC) of various molecular weights and on sulfonated copper phthalocyanine (CuPcTs) were prepared using layer-by-layer assembly. The multilayer films grew linearly up to 54 bilayers, indicating that the same amount of CuPcTs was adsorbed at each deposition step. This amount, however, was dependent on the molecular weight of PDADMAC in the range 100-500 kDa: the higher the molecular weight, the more CuPcTs molecules were adsorbed. This can be explained by the larger surface charge number density specific to longer polymer chains. Domains of pure PDADMAC and of the PDADMAC/CuPcTs complex were formed in the films during the assembly. Uniform distribution of CuPcTs over the films could be achieved by thermal treatment, leading to an α → β phase transition in phthalocyanine at 300 °C. Annealing caused changes in the film absorbance spectra, resulting in a 30-nm red shift of the peak maxima and in a strong (up to 62%) decrease in optical density. Thermogravimetric analysis revealed thermodegradation of PDADMAC during annealing above 270 °C, giving rise to micrometer-sized cracks within the films, as evidenced by scanning electron microscopy. - Highlights: • The films exhibit the linear dependence of the adsorption on the bilayer number varied from 2 until 54. • Polyelectrolyte of the highest MW shows the maximal adsorption of copper phthalocyanine molecules. • Annealing of the films causes a red-shift of the maxima in the absorbance spectra. • Cracks and micropores emerged in the multilayer films during the annealing

Transition-metal dichalcogenides heterostructure saturable absorbers for ultrafast photonics.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Hao; Yin, Jinde; Yang, Jingwei; Zhang, Xuejun; Liu, Mengli; Jiang, Zike; Wang, Jinzhang; Sun, Zhipei; Guo, Tuan; Liu, Wenjun; Yan, Peiguang

2017-11-01

In this Letter, high-quality WS 2 film and MoS 2 film were vertically stacked on the tip of a single-mode fiber in turns to form heterostructure (WS 2 -MoS 2 -WS 2 )-based saturable absorbers with all-fiber integrated features. Their nonlinear saturable absorption properties were remarkable, such as a large modulation depth (∼16.99%) and a small saturable intensity (6.23  MW·cm -2 ). Stable pulses at 1.55 μm with duration as short as 296 fs and average power as high as 25 mW were obtained in an erbium-doped fiber laser system. The results demonstrate that the proposed heterostructures own remarkable nonlinear optical properties and offer a platform for adjusting nonlinear optical properties by stacking different transition-metal dichalcogenides or modifying the thickness of each layer, paving the way for engineering functional ultrafast photonics devices with desirable properties.

Phosphorene quantum dot saturable absorbers for ultrafast fiber lasers

Science.gov (United States)

Du, J.; Zhang, M.; Guo, Z.; Chen, J.; Zhu, X.; Hu, G.; Peng, P.; Zheng, Z.; Zhang, H.

2017-01-01

We fabricate ultrasmall phosphorene quantum dots (PQDs) with an average size of 2.6 ± 0.9 nm using a liquid exfoliation method involving ultrasound probe sonication followed by bath sonication. By coupling the as-prepared PQDs with microfiber evanescent light field, the PQD-based saturable absorber (SA) device exhibits ultrafast nonlinear saturable absorption property, with an optical modulation depth of 8.1% at the telecommunication band. With the integration of the all-fiber PQD-based SA, a continuous-wave passively mode-locked erbium-doped (Er-doped) laser cavity delivers stable, self-starting pulses with a pulse duration of 0.88 ps and at the cavity repetition rate of 5.47 MHz. Our results contribute to the growing body of work studying the nonlinear optical properties of ultrasmall PQDs that present new opportunities of this two-dimensional (2D) nanomaterial for future ultrafast photonic technologies. PMID:28211471

Optical spacing effect in organic photovoltaic cells incorporating a dilute acceptor layer

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Menke, S. Matthew; Lindsay, Christopher D.; Holmes, Russell J. [Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455 (United States)

2014-06-16

The addition of spacing layers in organic photovoltaic cells (OPVs) can enhance light absorption by optimizing the spatial distribution of the incident optical field in the multilayer structure. We explore the optical spacing effect in OPVs achieved using a diluted electron acceptor layer of C{sub 60}. While optical spacing is often realized by optimizing buffer layer thickness, we find that optical spacing via dilution leads to cells with similar or enhanced photocurrent. This is observed despite a smaller quantity of absorbing molecules, suggesting a more efficient use of absorbed photons. In fact, dilution is found to concentrate optical absorption near the electron donor-acceptor interface, resulting in a marked increase in the exciton diffusion efficiency. Contrasting the use of changes in thickness to engineer optical absorption, the use of dilution does not significantly alter the overall thickness of the OPV. Optical spacing via dilution is shown to be a viable alternative to more traditional optical spacing techniques and may be especially useful in the continued optimization of next-generation, tandem OPVs where it is important to minimize competition for optical absorption between individual sub-cells.

Optical spacing effect in organic photovoltaic cells incorporating a dilute acceptor layer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Menke, S. Matthew; Lindsay, Christopher D.; Holmes, Russell J.

2014-01-01

The addition of spacing layers in organic photovoltaic cells (OPVs) can enhance light absorption by optimizing the spatial distribution of the incident optical field in the multilayer structure. We explore the optical spacing effect in OPVs achieved using a diluted electron acceptor layer of C 60 . While optical spacing is often realized by optimizing buffer layer thickness, we find that optical spacing via dilution leads to cells with similar or enhanced photocurrent. This is observed despite a smaller quantity of absorbing molecules, suggesting a more efficient use of absorbed photons. In fact, dilution is found to concentrate optical absorption near the electron donor-acceptor interface, resulting in a marked increase in the exciton diffusion efficiency. Contrasting the use of changes in thickness to engineer optical absorption, the use of dilution does not significantly alter the overall thickness of the OPV. Optical spacing via dilution is shown to be a viable alternative to more traditional optical spacing techniques and may be especially useful in the continued optimization of next-generation, tandem OPVs where it is important to minimize competition for optical absorption between individual sub-cells.

Optimization of sound absorbing performance for gradient multi-layer-assembled sintered fibrous absorbers

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Bo; Zhang, Weiyong; Zhu, Jian

2012-04-01

The transfer matrix method, based on plane wave theory, of multi-layer equivalent fluid is employed to evaluate the sound absorbing properties of two-layer-assembled and three-layer-assembled sintered fibrous sheets (generally regarded as a kind of compound absorber or structures). Two objective functions which are more suitable for the optimization of sound absorption properties of multi-layer absorbers within the wider frequency ranges are developed and the optimized results of using two objective functions are also compared with each other. It is found that using the two objective functions, especially the second one, may be more helpful to exert the sound absorbing properties of absorbers at lower frequencies to the best of their abilities. Then the calculation and optimization of sound absorption properties of multi-layer-assembled structures are performed by developing a simulated annealing genetic arithmetic program and using above-mentioned objective functions. Finally, based on the optimization in this work the thoughts of the gradient design over the acoustic parameters- the porosity, the tortuosity, the viscous and thermal characteristic lengths and the thickness of each samples- of porous metals are put forth and thereby some useful design criteria upon the acoustic parameters of each layer of porous fibrous metals are given while applying the multi-layer-assembled compound absorbers in noise control engineering.

L-band passively harmonic mode-locked fiber laser based on a graphene saturable absorber

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Du, J; Zhang, S M; Li, H F; Meng, Y C; Li, X L; Hao, Y P

2012-01-01

We have proposed and demonstrated an L-band passively harmonic mode-locked fiber laser based on a graphene saturable absorber (SA). By adjusting the pump power and the polarization controller, we have experimentally observed L-band fundamental and harmonic mode-locked optical pulses. The fundamental optical pulse has the duration of 1.3 ps, and the maximum average output power of 13.16 mW at the incident pump power of 98.8 mW. The order of the harmonic mode-locked optical pulses can be changed over the range from the second to the fourth. From the experimental results, we deduced that the likely origin of the harmonic mode-locked self-stabilization was the result of global and local soliton interactions induced by the unstability continuous wave (CW) components

Neutron Absorbing Ability Variation in Neutron Absorbing Material Caused by the Neutron Irradiation in Spent Fuel Storage Facility

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sohn, Hee Dong; Han, Seul Gi; Lee, Sang Dong; Kim, Ki Hong; Ryu, Eag Hyang; Park, Hwa Gyu [Doosan Heavy Industries and Construction, Changwon (Korea, Republic of)

2014-10-15

In spent fuel storage facility like high density spent fuel storage racks and dry storage casks, spent fuels are stored with neutron absorbing materials installed as a part of those facilities, and they are used for absorbing neutrons emitted from spent fuels. Usually structural material with neutron absorbing material of racks and casks are located around spent fuels, so it is irradiated by neutrons for long time. Neutron absorbing ability could be changed by the variation of nuclide composition in neutron absorbing material caused by the irradiation of neutrons. So, neutron absorbing materials are continuously faced with spent fuels with boric acid solution or inert gas environment. Major nuclides in neutron absorbing material are Al{sup 27}, C{sup 12}, B{sup 11}, B{sup 10} and they are changed to numerous other ones as radioactive decay or neutron absorption reaction. The B{sup 10} content in neutron absorbing material dominates the neutron absorbing ability, so, the variation of nuclide composition including the decrease of B{sup 10} content is the critical factor on neutron absorbing ability. In this study, neutron flux in spent fuel, the activation of neutron absorbing material and the variation of nuclide composition are calculated. And, the minimum neutron flux causing the decrease of B{sup 10} content is calculated in spent fuel storage facility. Finally, the variation of neutron multiplication factor is identified according to the one of B{sup 10} content in neutron absorbing material. The minimum neutron flux to impact the neutron absorbing ability is 10{sup 10} order, however, usual neutron flux from spent fuel is 10{sup 8} order. Therefore, even though neutron absorbing material is irradiated for over 40 years, B{sup 10} content is little decreased, so, initial neutron absorbing ability could be kept continuously.

Fabrication of a saturable absorber WS2 and its mode locking in solid-state laser

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Chun-Yu; Zhang, Ling; Tang, Xiao-Ying; Yang, Ying-Ying

2018-04-01

We report on a passively mode-locked Nd : LuVO4 laser using a type saturable absorber of tungsten disulfide (WS2) fabricated by chemical vapor deposition method. At the pump power of 3.3 W, 1.18-W average output power of continuous-wave mode-locked laser with optical conversion efficiency of 36% was achieved. To the best of our knowledge, this is the highest output power of passively mode-locked solid-state laser based on WS2. The repetition rate of passively mode-locked pulse was 80 MHz with the pulse energy of 14.8 nJ. Our experimental results show that WS2 is an excellent type of saturable absorber.

Corrosion protection of PVD and paint coatings for selective solar absorber surfaces

OpenAIRE

Nunes, A.; Carvalho, M. J.; Diamantino, Teresa C.; Fernandes, J. C. S.

2015-01-01

The selective solar absorber surface is a fundamental part of a solar thermal collector, as it is responsible for the solar radiation absorption and for reduction of radiation heat losses. The surface’s optical properties, the solar absorption (á) and the emittance (å), have great impact on the solar thermal collector efficiency. In this work, two coatings types were studied: coatings obtained by physical vapor deposition (PVDs) and coatings obtained by projection with different paints (PCs) ...

Sound Absorbers

Science.gov (United States)

Fuchs, H. V.; Möser, M.

Sound absorption indicates the transformation of sound energy into heat. It is, for instance, employed to design the acoustics in rooms. The noise emitted by machinery and plants shall be reduced before arriving at a workplace; auditoria such as lecture rooms or concert halls require a certain reverberation time. Such design goals are realised by installing absorbing components at the walls with well-defined absorption characteristics, which are adjusted for corresponding demands. Sound absorbers also play an important role in acoustic capsules, ducts and screens to avoid sound immission from noise intensive environments into the neighbourhood.

OPTICAL LINE EMISSION IN BRIGHTEST CLUSTER GALAXIES AT 0 < z < 0.6: EVIDENCE FOR A LACK OF STRONG COOL CORES 3.5 Gyr AGO?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

McDonald, Michael

2011-01-01

In recent years the number of known galaxy clusters beyond z ∼> 0.2 has increased drastically with the release of multiple catalogs containing >30,000 optically detected galaxy clusters over the range 0 0.3, hinting at an earlier epoch of strong cooling. We compare the evolution of emission-line nebulae to the X-ray-derived cool core (CC) fraction from the literature over the same redshift range and find overall agreement, with the exception that an upturn in the strong CC fraction is not observed at z > 0.3. The overall agreement between the evolution of CCs and optical line emission at low redshift suggests that emission-line surveys of galaxy clusters may provide an efficient method of indirectly probing the evolution of CCs and thus provide insights into the balance of heating and cooling processes at early cosmic times.

Photoacoustic simulation study of chirp excitation response from different size absorbers

Science.gov (United States)

Jnawali, K.; Chinni, B.; Dogra, V.; Rao, N.

2017-03-01

Photoacoustic (PA) imaging is a hybrid imaging modality that integrates the strength of optical and ultrasound imaging. Nanosecond (ns) pulsed lasers used in current PA imaging systems are expensive, bulky and they often waste energy. We propose and evaluate, through simulations, the use of a continuous wave (CW) laser whose amplitude is linear frequency modulated (chirp) for PA imaging. The chirp signal provides signal-to-side-lobe ratio (SSR) improvement potential and full control over PA signal frequencies excited in the sample. The PA signal spectrum is a function of absorber size and the time frequencies present in the chirp. A mismatch between the input chirp spectrum and the output PA signal spectrum can affect the compressed pulse that is recovered from cross-correlating the two. We have quantitatively characterized this effect. The k-wave Matlab tool box was used to simulate PA signals in three dimensions for absorbers ranging in size from 0.1 mm to 0.6 mm, in response to laser excitation amplitude that is linearly swept from 0.5 MHz to 4 MHz. This sweep frequency range was chosen based on the spectrum analysis of a PA signal generated from ex-vivo human prostate tissue samples. In comparison, the energy wastage by a ns laser pulse was also estimated. For the chirp methodology, the compressed pulse peak amplitude, pulse width and side lobe structure parameters were extracted for different size absorbers. While the SSR increased 6 fold with absorber size, the pulse width decreased by 25%.

The Electronic and Optical Properties of Au Doped Single-Layer Phosphorene

Science.gov (United States)

Zhu, Ziqing; Chen, Changpeng; Liu, Jiayi; Han, Lu

2018-01-01

The electronic properties and optical properties of single and double Au-doped phosphorene have been comparatively investigated using the first-principles plane-wave pseudopotential method based on density functional theory. The decrease from direct band gap 0.78 eV to indirect band gap 0.22 and 0.11 eV are observed in the single and double Au-doped phosphorene, respectively. The red shifts of absorbing edge occur in both doped systems, which consequently enhance the absorbing of infrared light in phosphorene. Band gap engineering can, therefore, be used to directly tune the optical absorption of phosphorene system by substitutional Au doping.

Simultaneous all-optical determination of molecular concentration and extinction coefficient.

Science.gov (United States)

Cho, Byungmoon; Tiwari, Vivek; Jonas, David M

2013-06-04

Absolute molecular number concentration and extinction coefficient are simultaneously determined from linear and nonlinear spectroscopic measurements. This method is based on measurements of absolute femtosecond pump-probe signals. Accounting for pulse propagation, we present a closed form expression for molecular number concentration in terms of absorbance, fluorescence, absolute pump-probe signal, and laser pulse parameters (pulse energy, spectrum, and spatial intensity profile); all quantities are measured optically. As in gravimetric and coulometric determinations of concentration, no standard samples are needed for calibration. The extinction coefficient can then be determined from the absorbance spectrum and the concentration. For fluorescein in basic methanol, the optically determined molar concentrations and extinction coefficients match gravimetric determinations to within 10% for concentrations from 0.032 to 0.540 mM, corresponding to absorbance from 0.06 to 1. In principle, this photonumeric method is extensible to transient chemical species for which other methods are not available.

Neutron absorbing article

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Naum, R.G.; Owens, D.P.; Dooher, G.I.

1979-01-01

A neutron absorbing article, in flat plate form and suitable for use in a storage rack for spent fuel, includes boron carbide particles, diluent particles and a solid, irreversibly cured phenolic polymer cured to a continuous matrix binding the boron carbide and diluent particles. The total conent of boron carbide and diluent particles is a major proportion of the article and the content of cured phenolic polymer present is a minor proportion. By regulation of the ratio of boron carbide particles to diluent particles, normally within the range of 1:9 and 9:1 and preferably within the range of 1:5 to 5:1, the neutron absorbing activity of the product may be controlled, which facilitates the manufacture of articles of particular absorbing activities best suitable for specific applications

Atmospheric correction of SeaWiFS ocean color imagery in the presence of absorbing aerosols off the Indian coast using a neuro-variational method

Science.gov (United States)

Brajard, J.; Moulin, C.; Thiria, S.

2008-10-01

This paper presents a comparison of the atmospheric correction accuracy between the standard sea-viewing wide field-of-view sensor (SeaWiFS) algorithm and the NeuroVaria algorithm for the ocean off the Indian coast in March 1999. NeuroVaria is a general method developed to retrieve aerosol optical properties and water-leaving reflectances for all types of aerosols, including absorbing ones. It has been applied to SeaWiFS images of March 1999, during an episode of transport of absorbing aerosols coming from pollutant sources in India. Water-leaving reflectances and aerosol optical thickness estimated by the two methods were extracted along a transect across the aerosol plume for three days. The comparison showed that NeuroVaria allows the retrieval of oceanic properties in the presence of absorbing aerosols with a better spatial and temporal stability than the standard SeaWiFS algorithm. NeuroVaria was then applied to the available SeaWiFS images over a two-week period. NeuroVaria algorithm retrieves ocean products for a larger number of pixels than the standard one and eliminates most of the discontinuities and artifacts associated with the standard algorithm in presence of absorbing aerosols.

Passivation of black phosphorus saturable absorbers for reliable pulse formation of fiber lasers.

Science.gov (United States)

Na, Dongsoo; Park, Kichul; Park, Ki-Hwan; Song, Yong-Won

2017-11-24

Black phosphorus (BP) has attracted increasing attention due to its unique electrical properties. In addition, the outstanding optical nonlinearity of BP has been demonstrated in various ways. Its functionality as a saturable absorber, in particular, has been validated in demonstrations of passive mode-locked lasers. However, normally, the performance of BP is degraded eventually by both thermal and chemical damage in ambient conditions. The passivation of BP is the critical issue to guarantee a stable performance of the optical devices. We quantitatively characterized the mode-locked lasers operated by BP saturable absorbers with diversified passivation materials such as polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) or Al 2 O 3 , considering the atomic structure of the materials, and therefore the hydro-permeability of the passivation layers. Unlike the BP layers without passivation, we demonstrated that the Al 2 O 3 -passivated BP layer was protected from the surface oxidation reaction in the long-term, and the PDMS-passivated one had a short-term blocking effect. The quantitative analysis showed that the time-dependent characteristics of the pulsed laser without passivation were changed with respect to the pulse duration, spectral width, and time-bandwidth product displaying 550 fs, 2.8 nm, and 0.406, respectively. With passivation, the changes were limited to <43 fs, <0.3 nm, and <0.012, respectively.

Passivation of black phosphorus saturable absorbers for reliable pulse formation of fiber lasers

Science.gov (United States)

Na, Dongsoo; Park, Kichul; Park, Ki-Hwan; Song, Yong-Won

2017-11-01

Black phosphorus (BP) has attracted increasing attention due to its unique electrical properties. In addition, the outstanding optical nonlinearity of BP has been demonstrated in various ways. Its functionality as a saturable absorber, in particular, has been validated in demonstrations of passive mode-locked lasers. However, normally, the performance of BP is degraded eventually by both thermal and chemical damage in ambient conditions. The passivation of BP is the critical issue to guarantee a stable performance of the optical devices. We quantitatively characterized the mode-locked lasers operated by BP saturable absorbers with diversified passivation materials such as polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) or Al2O3, considering the atomic structure of the materials, and therefore the hydro-permeability of the passivation layers. Unlike the BP layers without passivation, we demonstrated that the Al2O3-passivated BP layer was protected from the surface oxidation reaction in the long-term, and the PDMS-passivated one had a short-term blocking effect. The quantitative analysis showed that the time-dependent characteristics of the pulsed laser without passivation were changed with respect to the pulse duration, spectral width, and time-bandwidth product displaying 550 fs, 2.8 nm, and 0.406, respectively. With passivation, the changes were limited to <43 fs, <0.3 nm, and <0.012, respectively.

Are extracted materials truly representative of original samples? Impact of C18 extraction on CDOM optical and chemical properties

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andrea A Andrew

2016-02-01

Full Text Available Some properties of dissolved organic matter (DOM and chromophoric dissolved organic matter (CDOM can be easily measured directly on whole waters, while others require sample concentration and removal of natural salts. To increase CDOM content and eliminate salts, solid phase extraction is often employed. Biases following extraction and elution are inevitable, thus raising the question of how truly representative the extracted material is of the original. In this context, we investigated the wavelength dependence of extraction efficiency for C18 cartridges with respect to CDOM optical properties using samples obtained from the Middle Atlantic Bight (MAB and the Equatorial Atlantic Ocean (EAO. Further, we compared the optical changes of C18 extracts and the corresponding whole water following chemical reduction with sodium borohydride (NaBH4.C18 cartridges preferentially extracted long-wavelength absorbing/emitting material for samples impacted by riverine input. Extraction efficiency overall decreased with offshore distance away from riverine input. Spectral slopes of C18-OM samples were also almost always lower than those of their corresponding CDOM samples supporting the preferential extraction of higher molecular weight absorbing material. The wavelength dependence of the optical properties (absorption, fluorescence emission and quantum yield of the original water samples and their corresponding extracted material were very similar. C18 extracts and corresponding water samples further exhibited comparable optical changes following NaBH4 reduction, thus suggesting a similarity in nature (structure of the optically active extracted material, independent of geographical locale. Altogether, these data suggested a strong similarity between C18 extracts and corresponding whole waters, thus indicating that extracts are representative of the CDOM content of original waters.

Are Extracted Materials Truly Representative of Original Samples? Impact of C18 Extraction on CDOM Optical and Chemical Properties.

Science.gov (United States)

Andrew, Andrea A; Del Vecchio, Rossana; Zhang, Yi; Subramaniam, Ajit; Blough, Neil V

2016-01-01

Some properties of dissolved organic matter (DOM) and chromophoric dissolved organic matter (CDOM) can be easily measured directly on whole waters, while others require sample concentration and removal of natural salts. To increase CDOM content and eliminate salts, solid phase extraction (SPE) is often employed. Biases following extraction and elution are inevitable, thus raising the question of how truly representative the extracted material is of the original. In this context, we investigated the wavelength dependence of extraction efficiency for C18 cartridges with respect to CDOM optical properties using samples obtained from the Middle Atlantic Bight (MAB) and the Equatorial Atlantic Ocean (EAO). Further, we compared the optical changes of C18 extracts and the corresponding whole water following chemical reduction with sodium borohydride (NaBH4). C18 cartridges preferentially extracted long-wavelength absorbing/emitting material for samples impacted by riverine input. Extraction efficiency overall decreased with offshore distance away from riverine input. Spectral slopes of C18-OM samples were also almost always lower than those of their corresponding CDOM samples supporting the preferential extraction of higher molecular weight absorbing material. The wavelength dependence of the optical properties (absorption, fluorescence emission, and quantum yield) of the original water samples and their corresponding extracted material were very similar. C18 extracts and corresponding water samples further exhibited comparable optical changes following NaBH4 reduction, thus suggesting a similarity in nature (structure) of the optically active extracted material, independent of geographical locale. Altogether, these data suggested a strong similarity between C18 extracts and corresponding whole waters, thus indicating that extracts are representative of the CDOM content of original waters.

Are extracted materials truly representative of original samples? Impact of C18 extraction on CDOM optical and chemical properties

Science.gov (United States)

Andrew, Andrea; Del Vecchio, Rossana; Zhang, Yi; Subramaniam, Ajit; Blough, Neil

2016-02-01

Some properties of dissolved organic matter (DOM) and chromophoric dissolved organic matter (CDOM) can be easily measured directly on whole waters, while others require sample concentration and removal of natural salts. To increase CDOM content and eliminate salts, solid phase extraction is often employed. Biases following extraction and elution are inevitable, thus raising the question of how truly representative the extracted material is of the original. In this context, we investigated the wavelength dependence of extraction efficiency for C18 cartridges with respect to CDOM optical properties using samples obtained from the Middle Atlantic Bight (MAB) and the Equatorial Atlantic Ocean (EAO). Further, we compared the optical changes of C18 extracts and the corresponding whole water following chemical reduction with sodium borohydride (NaBH4). C18 cartridges preferentially extracted long-wavelength absorbing/emitting material for samples impacted by riverine input. Extraction efficiency overall decreased with offshore distance away from riverine input. Spectral slopes of C18-OM samples were also almost always lower than those of their corresponding CDOM samples supporting the preferential extraction of higher molecular weight absorbing material. The wavelength dependence of the optical properties (absorption, fluorescence emission and quantum yield) of the original water samples and their corresponding extracted material were very similar. C18 extracts and corresponding water samples further exhibited comparable optical changes following NaBH4 reduction, thus suggesting a similarity in nature (structure) of the optically active extracted material, independent of geographical locale. Altogether, these data suggested a strong similarity between C18 extracts and corresponding whole waters, thus indicating that extracts are representative of the CDOM content of original waters.

Enhanced sensitivity to dielectric function and thickness of absorbing thin films by combining total internal reflection ellipsometry with standard ellipsometry and reflectometry

Science.gov (United States)

Lizana, A.; Foldyna, M.; Stchakovsky, M.; Georges, B.; Nicolas, D.; Garcia-Caurel, E.

2013-03-01

High sensitivity of spectroscopic ellipsometry and reflectometry for the characterization of thin films can strongly decrease when layers, typically metals, absorb a significant fraction of the light. In this paper, we propose a solution to overcome this drawback using total internal reflection ellipsometry (TIRE) and exciting a surface longitudinal wave: a plasmon-polariton. As in the attenuated total reflectance technique, TIRE exploits a minimum in the intensity of reflected transversal magnetic (TM) polarized light and enhances the sensitivity of standard methods to thicknesses of absorbing films. Samples under study were stacks of three films, ZnO : Al/Ag/ZnO : Al, deposited on glass substrates. The thickness of the silver layer varied from sample to sample. We performed measurements with a UV-visible phase-modulated ellipsometer, an IR Mueller ellipsometer and a UV-NIR reflectometer. We used the variance-covariance formalism to evaluate the sensitivity of the ellipsometric data to different parameters of the optical model. Results have shown that using TIRE doubled the sensitivity to the silver layer thickness when compared with the standard ellipsometry. Moreover, the thickness of the ZnO : Al layer below the silver layer can be reliably quantified, unlike for the fit of the standard ellipsometry data, which is limited by the absorption of the silver layer.

Acousto-optic control of internal acoustic reflection in tellurium dioxide crystal in case of strong elastic energy walkoff [Invited].

Science.gov (United States)

Voloshinov, Vitaly; Polikarpova, Nataliya; Ivanova, Polina; Khorkin, Vladimir

2018-04-01

Peculiar cases of acoustic wave propagation and reflection may be observed in strongly anisotropic acousto-optical crystals. A tellurium dioxide crystal serves as a prime example of such media, since it possesses record indexes of acoustic anisotropy. We studied one of the unusual scenarios of acoustic incidence and reflection from a free crystal-vacuum boundary in paratellurite. The directions of the acoustic waves in the (001) plane of the crystal were determined, and their basic characteristics were calculated. The carried-out acousto-optic experiment at the wavelength of light 532 nm and the acoustic frequency 73 MHz confirmed the theoretical predictions. The effects examined in the paper include the acoustic wave propagation with the record walkoff angle 74°. We also observed the incidence of the wave on the boundary at the angle exceeding 90°. Finally, we registered the close-to-back reflection of acoustic energy following the incidence. One of the stunning aspects is the distribution of energy between the incident and the back-reflected wave. The unusual features of the acoustic wave reflections pointed out in the paper are valuable for their possible applications in acousto-optic devices.

Dosimetric characterization of VIPARnd gel by optical analysis to high-energy photon beam used in external radiotherapy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dias, Juliana R.; Lima, Renata S.; Lopes, Roseany de V. Vieira; Ceschin, Artemis Marti

2015-01-01

Polymer gel dosimetry has been proposed as a possibility for measurements of dose distribution in radiotherapy. This work aims to evaluate the dosimetric characteristics of a VIPARnd for 6 MV photon beam used in radiotherapy using optical investigations. The absorbance spectrum of irradiated gel dosimeter was optical evaluated with spectrophotometer techniques and with CMOS camera readout for dose range of 0 to 50 Gy. Data shows that the VIPARnd has a maximum absorbance at 300 to 320 nm depending on the absorbed dose. The CMOS camera readouts were obtained in RGB color, the absorbance measurements suggest a major response of dose for blue matrix verified with data. The dose-response curve for blue component showed interval of linearity from 1 Gy to 20 Gy. (author)

Tuning the optical properties of carbon nanotube solutions using amphiphilic self-assembly

Science.gov (United States)

Arnold, Michael S.; Stupp, Samuel I.; Hersam, Mark C.

2003-07-01

Recently it has been shown that aqueous solutions of sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) encapsulated and polymer wrapped single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) fluoresce in the near infrared (NIR) in the regime of the E11 van Hove transitions for semiconducting SWNTs. For bundled SWNTs, fluorescence is observed to be quenched along with a shift and broadening of the absorbance spectrum. Here, we study two other commercially available surfactants, BRIJ-97 and Triton-X-100, by analysis of carbon nanotube fluorescence and absorptivity in the NIR. It is found that changing the surfactant alters the corresponding optical properties of the solubilized carbon nanotubes. The NIR absorbance spectra of BRIJ-97 and Triton-X-100 carbon nanotube solutions are also compared with the absorbance spectrum of NaCl destabilized SDS-SWNT solutions. By controlling the amount of NaCl added to an aqueous solution of SDS-SWNTs, the optical absorbance spectrum can be made to match that of BRIJ-97 and Triton-X-100 solutions. Lastly, a correlation is drawn between the amount of shift in the absorbance spectrum and the fluorescence intensity, independent of surfactant used. This shift and decrease in fluorescence intensity may be due to carbon nanotube bundling.

Mg II-Absorbing Galaxies in the UltraVISTA Survey

Science.gov (United States)

Stroupe, Darren; Lundgren, Britt

2018-01-01

Light that is emitted from distant quasars can become partially absorbed by intervening gaseous structures, including galaxies, in its path toward Earth, revealing information about the chemical content, degree of ionization, organization and evolution of these structures through time. In this project, quasar spectra are used to probe the halos of foreground galaxies at a mean redshift of z=1.1 in the COSMOS Field. Mg II absorption lines in Sloan Digital Sky Survey quasar spectra are paired with galaxies in the UltraVISTA catalog at an impact parameter less than 200 kpc. A sample of 77 strong Mg II absorbers with a rest-frame equivalent width ≥ 0.3 Å and redshift from 0.34 < z < 2.21 are investigated to find equivalent width ratios of Mg II, C IV and Fe II absorption lines, and their relation to the impact parameter and the star formation rates, stellar masses, environments and redshifts of their host galaxies.

Characterization of load dependent creep behavior in medically relevant absorbable polymers.

Science.gov (United States)

Dreher, Maureen L; Nagaraja, Srinidhi; Bui, Hieu; Hong, Danny

2014-01-01

While synthetic absorbable polymers have a substantial history of use in medical devices, their use is expanding and becoming more prevalent for devices where long term loading and structural support is required. In addition, there is evidence that current absorbable medical devices may experience permanent deformations, warping (out of plane twisting), and geometric changes in vivo. For clinical indications with long term loading or structural support requirements, understanding the material's viscoelastic properties becomes increasingly important whereas these properties have not been used historically as preclinical indications of performance or design considerations. In this study we measured the static creep, creep recovery and cyclic creep responses of common medically relevant absorbable materials (i.e., poly(l-lactide, PLLA) and poly(l-co-glycolide, PLGA) over a range of physiologically relevant loading magnitudes. The results indicate that both PLLA and PLGA exhibit creep behavior and failure at loads significantly less than the yield or ultimate properties of the material and that significant material specific responses to loading exist. In addition, we identified a strong correlation between the extent of creep in the material and its crystallinity. Results of the study provide new information on the creep behavior of PLLA and PLGA and support the use of viscoelastic properties of absorbable polymers as part of the material selection process. © 2013 Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Solar selective absorber functionality of carbon nanoparticles embedded in SiO2, NiO and ZnO matrices

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Katumba, G

2008-01-01

Full Text Available It is possible to design an optical material, through control of the substrate and coatings, to absorb a large fraction of the solar spectrum and to emit very little radiation energy in the near and far infra-red wavelength range. This requires a...

Classifying Aerosols Based on Fuzzy Clustering and Their Optical and Microphysical Properties Study in Beijing, China

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wenhao Zhang

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Classification of Beijing aerosol is carried out based on clustering optical properties obtained from three Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET sites. The fuzzy c-mean (FCM clustering algorithm is used to classify fourteen-year (2001–2014 observations, totally of 6,732 records, into six aerosol types. They are identified as fine particle nonabsorbing, two kinds of fine particle moderately absorbing (fine-MA1 and fine-MA2, fine particle highly absorbing, polluted dust, and desert dust aerosol. These aerosol types exhibit obvious optical characteristics difference. While five of them show similarities with aerosol types identified elsewhere, the polluted dust aerosol has no comparable prototype. Then the membership degree, a significant parameter provided by fuzzy clustering, is used to analyze internal variation of optical properties of each aerosol type. Finally, temporal variations of aerosol types are investigated. The dominant aerosol types are polluted dust and desert dust in spring, fine particle nonabsorbing aerosol in summer, and fine particle highly absorbing aerosol in winter. The fine particle moderately absorbing aerosol occurs during the whole year. Optical properties of the six types can also be used for radiative forcing estimation and satellite aerosol retrieval. Additionally, methodology of this study can be applied to identify aerosol types on a global scale.

Accuracy of the solution of the transfer equation for a plane layer of high optical thickness with strongly anisotropic scattering

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Konovalov, N.V.

The accuracy of the calculation of the characteristics of a radiation field in a plane layer is investigated by solving the transfer equation in dependence on the error in the specification of the scattering indicatrix. It is shown that a small error in the specification of the indicatrix can lead to a large error in the solution at large optical depths. An estimate is given for the region of optical thicknesses for which the emission field can be determined with sufficient degree of accuracy from the transfer equation with a known error in the specification of the indicatrix. For an estimation of the error involved in various numerical methods, and also for a determination of the region of their applicability, the results of calculations of problems with strongly anisotropic indicatrix are given

Enhanced magneto-plasmonic effect in Au/Co/Au multilayers caused by exciton–plasmon strong coupling

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hamidi, S.M., E-mail: m_hamidi@sbu.ac.ir; Ghaebi, O.

2016-09-15

In this paper, we have investigated magneto optical Kerr rotation using the strong coupling of exciton–plasmon. For this purpose, we have demonstrated strong coupling phenomenon using reflectometry measurements. These measurements revealed the formation of two split polaritonic extrema in reflectometry as a function of wavelength. Then we have shown exciton–plasmon coupling in dispersion diagram which presented an anti-crossing between the polaritonic branches. To assure the readers of strong coupling, we have shown an enhanced magneto-optical Kerr rotation by comparing the reflectometry results of strong coupling of surface Plasmon polariton of Au/Co/Au multilayer and R6G excitons with surface Plasmon polariton magneto-optical kerr effect experimental setup. - Highlights: • The magneto optical Kerr rotation has been investigated by using the strong coupling of exciton–plasmon. • We have shown exciton–plasmon coupling in dispersion diagram which presented an anti-crossing between the polaritonic branches. • Strong coupling of surface plasmon polariton and exciton have been yielded to the enhanced magneto-optical Kerr effect. • Plasmons in Au/Co/Au multilayer and exciton in R6G have been coupled to enhance magneto-optical activity.

Fiber optic fluid detector

Science.gov (United States)

Angel, S. Michael

1989-01-01

Particular gases or liquids are detected with a fiber optic element (11, 11a to 11j) having a cladding or coating of a material (23, 23a to 23j) which absorbs the fluid or fluids and which exhibits a change of an optical property, such as index of refraction, light transmissiveness or fluoresence emission, for example, in response to absorption of the fluid. The fluid is sensed by directing light into the fiber optic element and detecting changes in the light, such as exit angle changes for example, that result from the changed optical property of the coating material. The fluid detector (24, 24a to 24j) may be used for such purposes as sensing toxic or explosive gases in the atmosphere, measuring ground water contamination or monitoring fluid flows in industrial processes, among other uses.

THE REDSHIFT DISTRIBUTION OF INTERVENING WEAK Mg II QUASAR ABSORBERS AND A CURIOUS DEPENDENCE ON QUASAR LUMINOSITY

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Evans, Jessica L.; Churchill, Christopher W.; Nielsen, Nikole M.; Klimek, Elizabeth S. [New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM 88003 (United States); Murphy, Michael T. [Centre for Astrophysics and Supercomputing, Swinburne University of Technology, Hawthorn, Melbourne, VIC 3122 (Australia)

2013-05-01

We have identified 469 Mg II {lambda}{lambda}2796, 2803 doublet systems having W{sub r} {>=} 0.02 A in 252 Keck/High Resolution Echelle Spectrometer and UVES/Very Large Telescope quasar spectra over the redshift range 0.1 < z < 2.6. Using the largest sample yet of 188 weak Mg II systems (0.02 A {<=}W{sub r} < 0.3 A), we calculate their absorber redshift path density, dN/dz. We find clear evidence of evolution, with dN/dz peaking at z {approx} 1.2, and that the product of the absorber number density and cross section decreases linearly with increasing redshift; weak Mg II absorbers seem to vanish above z {approx_equal} 2.7. If the absorbers are ionized by the UV background, we estimate number densities of 10{sup 6}-10{sup 9} Mpc{sup -3} for spherical geometries and 10{sup 2}-10{sup 5} Mpc{sup -3} for more sheetlike geometries. We also find that dN/dz toward intrinsically faint versus bright quasars differs significantly for weak and strong (W{sub r} {>=} 1.0 A) absorbers. For weak absorption, dN/dz toward bright quasars is {approx}25% higher than toward faint quasars (10{sigma} at low redshift, 0.4 {<=} z {<=} 1.4, and 4{sigma} at high redshift, 1.4 < z {<=} 2.34). For strong absorption the trend reverses, with dN/dz toward faint quasars being {approx}20% higher than toward bright quasars (also 10{sigma} at low redshift and 4{sigma} at high redshift). We explore scenarios in which beam size is proportional to quasar luminosity and varies with absorber and quasar redshifts. These do not explain dN/dz's dependence on quasar luminosity.

Free-standing nano-scale graphite saturable absorber for passively mode-locked erbium doped fiber ring laser

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lin, Y-H; Lin, G-R

2012-01-01

The free-standing graphite nano-particle located between two FC/APC fiber connectors is employed as the saturable absorber to passively mode-lock the ring-type Erbium-doped fiber laser (EDFL). The host-solvent-free graphite nano-particles with sizes of 300 – 500 nm induce a comparable modulation depth of 54%. The interlayer-spacing and lattice fluctuations of polished graphite nano-particles are observed from the weak 2D band of Raman spectrum and the azimuth angle shift of –0.32 ° of {002}-orientation dependent X-ray diffraction peak. The graphite nano-particles mode-locked EDFL generates a 1.67-ps pulsewidth at linearly dispersion-compensated regime with a repetition rate of 9.1 MHz. The time-bandwidth product of 0.325 obtained under a total intra-cavity group-delay-dispersion of –0.017 ps 2 is nearly transform-limited. The extremely high stability of the nano-scale graphite saturable absorber during mode-locking is observed at an intra-cavity optical energy density of 7.54 mJ/cm 2 . This can be attributed to its relatively high damage threshold (one order of magnitude higher than the graphene) on handling the optical energy density inside the EDFL cavity. The graphite nano-particle with reduced size and sufficient coverage ratio can compete with other fast saturable absorbers such as carbon nanotube or graphene to passively mode-lock fiber lasers with decreased insertion loss and lasing threshold

[TLC-FT-SERS study on a pair of optic isomers in ephedra].

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Yuan; Zhang, Jin-zhi; Ma, Xin-yong

2004-11-01

A new method for analyzing the ingredients of a pair of optic isomers in ephedra, nor-ephedrine and nor-pseudo-ephedrine, using hyphenated high-efficiency thin layer chromatography (TLC) and surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) techniques, is reported. The results show that the characteristic spectral bands of nor-ephedrine and nor-pseudo-ephedrine can be obtained from the TLC spot with 8 microg sample of about 2.0 mm in diameter. The difference between the SERS and solid spectra was found. Spectral bands at 1004 cm(-1) and 1605 cm(-1) were found greatly enhanced. Molecule was absorbed in surface silver sol by pi electrons in ring. Under similar experimental conditions the spectral information of Levo-nor-ephedrine ramifications TLC-SERS is rich with strong credibility, whereas dextral-nor-ephedrine ramifications show a relatively strong fluorescence backdrop with less spectral information and weak credibility. The effective combination of TLC and SERS can be used to analyse the chemical ingredients with high sensitivity.

Performance analysis of solar air heater with jet impingement on corrugated absorber plate

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alsanossi M. Aboghrara

2017-09-01

Full Text Available This paper deals with the experimental investigation outlet temperature and efficiency, of Solar Air heater (SAH. The experimental test set up designed and fabricated to study the effect of jet impingement on the corrugated absorber plate, through circular jets in a duct flow of solar air heater, and compared with conventional solar air heater on flat plat absorber. Under effect of mass flow rate (ṁ of air and solar radiation on outlet air temperature, and efficiency, are analyzed. Results show the flow jet impingement on corrugated plat absorber is a strong function of heat transfer enhancement. The present investigation concludes that the mass flow rate of air substantially influences the heat transfer on solar air heaters. And the thermal efficiency of proposed design duct is observed almost 14% more as compare to the smooth duct. At solar radiation 500–1000 (W/M2, 308 K ambient temperature and 0.01–0.03 (Kg/S mass flow rate

Radiation sterilization of absorbent cotton and of absorbent gauze

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hosobuchi, Kazunari; Oka, Mitsuru; Kaneko, Akira; Ishiwata, Hiroshi.

1986-01-01

The bioburden of absorbent cotton and of absorbent gauze and their physical and chemical characteristics after irradiation are investigated. The survey conducted on contaminants of 1890 cotton samples from 53 lots and 805 gauze samples from 56 lots showed maximum numbers of microbes per g of the cotton and gauze were 859 (an average of 21.4) and 777 (an average of 42.2), respectively. Isolation and microbiological and biochemical tests of representative microbes indicated that all of them, except one, were bacilli. The sterilization dose at 10 -6 of sterlity assurance level was found to be 2.0 Mrad when irradiated the spores loaded on paper strips and examined populations having graded D values from 0.10 to 0.28 Mrad. The sterilization dose would be about 1.5 Mrad if subjected the average numbers of contaminants observed in this study to irradiation. No significant differences were found between the irradiated samples and control up to 2 Mrad in tensile strength, change of color, absorbency, sedimentation rate, soluble substances, and pH of solutions used for immersion and other tests conventionally used. These results indicate that these products can be sterilized by irradiation. (author)

Radiation-Induced Color Centers in LiF for Dosimetry at High Absorbed Dose Rates

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

McLaughlin, W. L.; Miller, Arne; Ellis, S. C.

1980-01-01

Color centers formed by irradiation of optically clear crystals of pure LiF may be analyzed spectrophotometrically for dosimetry in the absorbed dose range from 102 to 107 Gy. Routine monitoring of intense electron beams is an important application. Both 6LiF and 7LiF forms are commercially...... available, and when used with filters as albedo dosimeters in pairs, they provide discrimination of neutron and gamma-ray doses....

Nonlinear optical response and its theoretical modelling of Sb2S3 nanorod

Science.gov (United States)

Yadav, Rajesh Kumar; Barik, A. R.; Das, Amlan; Adarsh, K. V.

2018-05-01

Light-matter interaction in nanoscale regime have unprecedented and accelerating demand in optoelectronics, valley electronics and device applications. Such interaction in 1-dimention (1D) metal chalcogenides has emerged as an important research topic because of its possibility to custom design optical properties, implying enormous application including optical computers, communications, bioimaging, and so on. However, understanding of nonlinear optical response of these nanostructures is still lacking, although it constitutes an interesting problem on the light-matter interaction. Here, we have presented the nonlinear optical response in Sb2S3 nanorod using Z-scan technique. Our experimental findings show a strong saturable absorption (SA). In this context, we have numerically simulated the experimental result using two level rate equation. The solutions of these two-level rate equation for a Gaussian shaped pulse exactly replicated the experimental data. From the best numerical fit, we found excited state decay time (τ ≈ 0.15ns) and saturation intensity (IS ≈ 0.01 GW/cm2). Additionally, we have calculated number of career density (N ≈ 5.31 × 10-17 cm-3), ground state absorption cross section (σ1 ≈ 1.63 × 10-17 cm2). Our experimental finding indicates that they can be employed as saturable absorbers.

Ultrahigh precision nonlinear reflectivity measurement system for saturable absorber mirrors with self-referenced fluence characterization.

Science.gov (United States)

Orsila, Lasse; Härkönen, Antti; Hyyti, Janne; Guina, Mircea; Steinmeyer, Günter

2014-08-01

Measurement of nonlinear optical reflectivity of saturable absorber devices is discussed. A setup is described that enables absolute accuracy of reflectivity measurements better than 0.3%. A repeatability within 0.02% is shown for saturable absorbers with few-percent modulation depth. The setup incorporates an in situ knife-edge characterization of beam diameters, making absolute reflectivity estimations and determination of saturation fluences significantly more reliable. Additionally, several measures are discussed to substantially improve the reliability of the reflectivity measurements. At its core, the scheme exploits the limits of state-of-the-art digital lock-in technology but also greatly benefits from a fiber-based master-oscillator power-amplifier source, the use of an integrating sphere, and simultaneous comparison with a linear reflectivity standard.

Colloquium: Strong-field phenomena in periodic systems

Science.gov (United States)

Kruchinin, Stanislav Yu.; Krausz, Ferenc; Yakovlev, Vladislav S.

2018-04-01

The advent of visible-infrared laser pulses carrying a substantial fraction of their energy in a single field oscillation cycle has opened a new era in the experimental investigation of ultrafast processes in semiconductors and dielectrics (bulk as well as nanostructured), motivated by the quest for the ultimate frontiers of electron-based signal metrology and processing. Exploring ways to approach those frontiers requires insight into the physics underlying the interaction of strong high-frequency (optical) fields with electrons moving in periodic potentials. This Colloquium aims at providing this insight. Introduction to the foundations of strong-field phenomena defines and compares regimes of field-matter interaction in periodic systems, including (perfect) crystals as well as optical and semiconductor superlattices, followed by a review of recent experimental advances in the study of strong-field dynamics in crystals and nanostructures. Avenues toward measuring and controlling electronic processes up to petahertz frequencies are discussed.

Strong saturable absorption of black titanium oxide nanoparticle films

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Rong-Fang; Guo, Deng-Zhu; Zhang, Geng-Min

2017-12-01

Nonlinear optical materials with strong saturable absorption (SA) properties play an essential role in passive mode-locking generation of ultrafast lasers. Here we report black TiO2-x nanoparticles are promising candidate for such an application. Black TiO2-x nanoparticles are synthesized by using cathodic plasma electrolysis, and nanoparticle films are deposited on optical glass plates via natural sedimentation and post annealing. Characterization of the samples with TEM, SEM, XRD and XPS reveal that nanoparticles have diameters of 8-70 nm, and are in polycrystalline structure and co-existence of anatase, rutile and abundant oxygen-deficient phases. Optical transmittance and reflectance measurements with a UV/VIS/NIR spectrophotometer evidence an excellent wide-spectral optical absorption property. The nonlinear optical properties of the samples were measured by using open-aperture Z-scan technique with picosecond 532-nm laser, and verified by direct transmission measurements using nanosecond 1064-nm laser. Strong SA behavior was detected, and the nonlinear absorption coefficient is as high as β = - 4.9 × 10-8 m/W, at least two orders larger than most previous reports on ordinary TiO2. The strong SA behaviors are ascribed to the existence of plenty surface states and defect states within bandgap, and the relaxation rates of electrons from upper energy levels to lower ones are much slower than excitation rates.

Calculation of the local optical density of states in absorbing and gain media

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Di Stefano, O; Fina, N; Savasta, S; Girlanda, R; Pieruccini, M

2010-01-01

The local optical density of states plays a key role in a wide range of phenomena. Near to structures displaying optical absorption or gain, the definition of the photonic local density of states needs to be revised. In this case two operative different definitions can be adopted to characterize photonic structures. The first (ρ A (r, ω)) describes the light intensity at a point r when the material system is illuminated isotropically and corresponds to what can be measured by a near-field microscope. The second (ρ B (r, ω)) gives a measure of vacuum fluctuations and coincides with ρ A (r, ω) in systems with real susceptibility. Scattering calculations in the presence of dielectric and metallic nanostructures show that these two definitions can give rather different results, the difference being proportional to the thermal emission power of the photonic structure. We present a detailed derivation of this result and numerical calculations for nanostructures displaying optical gain. In the presence of amplifying media, ρ B (r, ω) displays regions with negative photon densities, thus failing in describing a power signal. In contrast, ρ A (r, ω), positive definite, properly describes the near-field optical properties of these structures.

Dosimetry of steady-state gamma rays or pulsed X rays using liquid-core optical waveguides

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Radak, B.B.; McLaughlin, W.L.; Simic, M.G.; Warasawas, W.

1987-01-01

A liquid-core optical waveguide (OWG) sensor of ionizing radiation can be used for dosimetry over broad absorbed-dose ranges, by means of a relatively simple experimental arrangement. The analyzing visible light from one of several narrow wavelength-band sources at the proximal end of the OWG is propagated efficiently through a tightly coiled waveguide containing a radiochromic solution. This solution constitutes the sensor and attenuates the measuring light according to the simple Beer-Lambert relationship, where increases in the optical absorbance, measured photometrically at the distal end of the OWG, are proportional to the concentrations of the radiation-induced absorbing species (dye molecules), which in turn are proportional to the absorbed dose in the sensor. When the analyzing light is of broad spectral distribution, the absorbance vs dose relationship becomes sublinear. The apparatus may be adapted either to the spectrophotometric measurement of absorbed dose rate or integrated absorbed dose during gamma radiolysis or to dosimetry in the pulse radiolysis or flash photolysis of radiation-stimulated chromophores. The OWG principle works with any transparent liquid or gel sensor held as the core material of a flexible plastic tubing, whose refractive index is less than that of the light-propagating core. (author)

Absorbing Aerosols Workshop, January 20-21, 2016

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Nasiri, Shaima [Brookhaven National Lab. (BNL), Upton, NY (United States); Williamson, Ashley [Brookhaven National Lab. (BNL), Upton, NY (United States); Cappa, Christopher D. [Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States); Kotamarthi, Davis Rao [Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States); Sedlacek, Arthur J. [Brookhaven National Lab. (BNL), Upton, NY (United States); Flynn, Conner [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Lewis, Ernie [Brookhaven National Lab. (BNL), Upton, NY (United States); McComiskey, Allison [National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Boulder, CO (United States); Riemer, Nicole [Univ. of Illinois, Chicago, IL (United States)

2016-07-01

A workshop was held at DOE Headquarters on January 20-21, 2016 during which experts within and outside DOE were brought together to identify knowledge gaps in modeling and measurement of the contribution of absorbing aerosols (AA) to radiative forcing. Absorbing aerosols refer to those aerosols that absorb light, whereby they both reduce the amount of sunlight reaching the surface (direct effect) and heat their surroundings. By doing so, they modify the vertical distribution of heat in the atmosphere and affect atmospheric thermodynamics and stability, possibly hastening cloud drop evaporation, and thereby affecting cloud amount, formation, dissipation and, ultimately, precipitation. Deposition of AA on snow and ice reduces surface albedo leading to accelerated melt. The most abundant AA type is black carbon (BC), which results from combustion of fossil fuel and biofuel. The other key AA types are brown carbon (BrC), which also results from combustion of fossil fuel and biofuel, and dust (crustal material). Each of these sources may result from, and be strongly influenced by, anthropogenic activities. The properties and amounts of AA depend upon various factors, primarily fuel source and burn conditions (e.g., internal combustion engine, flaming or smoldering wildfire), vegetation type (in the case of BC and BrC), and in the case of dust, soil type and ground cover (i.e., vegetation, snow, etc.). After emission, AA undergo chemical processing in the atmosphere that affects their physical and chemical properties. Thus, attribution of sources of AA, and understanding processes AA undergo during their atmospheric lifetimes, are necessary to understand how they will behave in a changing climate.

Preparation of Active Absorbent for Flue Gas Desulfurization From Coal Bottom Ash: Effect of Absorbent Preparation Variables

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chang Chin Li, Lee Keat Teong, Subhash Bhatia and Abdul Rahman Mohamed

2012-08-01

Full Text Available An active absorbent for flue gas desulfurization was prepared from coal bottom ash, calcium oxide (CaO and calcium sulfate by hydro-thermal process. The absorbent was examined for its micro-structural properties. The experiments conducted were based on Design Of Experiments (DOE according to 23 factorial design. The effect of various absorbent preparation variables such as ratio of CaO to bottom ash (A, hydration temperature (B and hydration period (C towards the BET (Brunauer-Emmett-Teller specific surface area of the absorbent were studied. At a CaO to bottom ash ratio = 2, hydration temperature = 200 ?C and hydration period = 10 hrs, absorbent with a surface area of 90.1 m2/g was obtained. Based on the analysis of the factorial design, it was concluded that factor A and C as well as the interaction of factors ABC and BC are the significant factors that effect the BET surface area of the absorbent. A linear mathematical model that describes the relation between the independent variables and interaction between variables towards the BET specific surface area of the absorbent was also developed. Analysis of variance (ANOVA showed that the model was significant at 1% level.Key Words: Absorbent, Bottom Ash, Design Of Experiments, Desulfurization, Surface Area.

Near resonant and nonresonant third-order optical nonlinearities of colloidal InP/ZnS quantum dots

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Y.; Yang, X.; He, T. C.; Gao, Y.; Demir, H. V.; Sun, X. W.; Sun, H. D.

2013-01-01

We have investigated the third-order optical nonlinearities of high-quality colloidal InP/ZnS core-shell quantum dots (QDs) using Z-scan technique with femtosecond pulses. The two-photon absorption cross-sections as high as 6.2 × 103 GM are observed at 800 nm (non-resonant regime) in InP/ZnS QDs with diameter of 2.8 nm, which is even larger than those of CdSe, CdS, and CdTe QDs at similar sizes. Furthermore, both of the 2.2 nm and 2.8 nm-sized InP/ZnS QDs exhibit strong saturable absorption in near resonant regime, which is attributed to large exciton Bohr radius in this material. These results strongly suggest the promising potential of InP/ZnS QDs for widespread applications, especially in two-photon excited bio-imaging and saturable absorbing.

Overview of Optical and Thermal Laser-Tissue Interaction and Nomenclature

Science.gov (United States)

Welch, Ashley J.; van Gemert, Martin J. C.

The development of a unified theory for the optical and thermal response of tissue to laser radiation is no longer in its infancy, though it is still not fully developed. This book describes our current understanding of the physical events that can occur when light interacts with tissue, particularly the sequence of formulations that estimate the optical and thermal responses of tissue to laser radiation. This overview is followed by an important chapter that describes the basic interactions of light with tissue. Part I considers basic tissue optics. Tissue is treated as an absorbing and scattering medium and methods are presented for calculating and measuring light propagation, including polarized light. Also, methods for estimating tissue optical properties from measurements of reflection and transmission are discussed. Part II concerns the thermal response of tissue owing to absorbed light, and rate reactions are presented for predicting the extent of laser induced thermal damage. Methods for measuring temperature, thermal properties, rate constants, pulsed ablation and laser tissue interactions are detailed. Part III is devoted to examples that use the theory presented in Parts I and II to analyze various medical applications of lasers. Discussions of Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT), forensic optics, and light stimulation of nerves are also included.

Optical measurements of lung microvascular filtration coefficient using polysulfone fibers.

Science.gov (United States)

Klaesner, J W; Roselli, R J; Evans, S; Pou, N A; Parker, R E; Tack, G; Parham, M

1994-01-01

Lung fluid balance, which is governed by the product of net transvascular pressure difference and lung filtration coefficient, can be altered in pulmonary diseases. A simple measurement of the lung filtration coefficient (Kfc) would be clinically useful and has been examined by several researchers. Current methods of determining Kfc include gravimetric measurement in isolated lungs and lymph node cannulation, neither of which can be extended to human use. Optical measurements of protein concentration changes in venous blood can be combined with pressure measurements to calculate Kfc. Blood, though, contains red corpuscles, which tend to absorb and scatter light, obscuring these optical measurements. In this study, an optical system was developed in which a polysulfone filter cartridge was used to remove red blood cells before the filtrate was passed through a spectrophotometer. Absorbance changes caused by changes in concentration of albumin labeled with Evans Blue were monitored at 620 nm after venous pressure was elevated by about 13 cm H2O. Optical measurements of Kfc averaged 0.401 +/- 0.074 (ml/min cm H2O 100 g DLW) for an isolated canine lung. Optical measurements of Kfc (0.363 +/- 0.120 ml/min cm H2O 100 g DLW) were made for the first time in an intact, closed chest sheep in which pulmonary pressure was altered by inflating a Foley balloon in the left atrium. We conclude that absorbance and scattering artifacts introduced by red blood cells can be eliminated by first filtering the blood through polysulfone fibers. Kfc measurements using the optical method are similar to values obtained by others using gravimetric methods. Finally, we have demonstrated that the technique can be used to estimate Kfc in an intact animal.

Control of the sidewall angle of an absorber stack using the Faraday cage system for the change of pattern printability in EUVL

Science.gov (United States)

Jang, Il-Yong; Huh, Sung-Min; Moon, Seong-Yong; Woo, Sang-Gyun; Lee, Jin-Kwan; Moon, Sang Heup; Cho, HanKu

2008-10-01

A patterned TaN substrate, which is candidate for a mask absorber in extreme ultra-violet lithography (EUVL), was etched to have inclined sidewalls by using a Faraday cage system under the condition of a 2-step process that allowed the high etch selectivity of TaN over the resist. The sidewall angle (SWA) of the patterned substrate, which was in the shape of a parallelogram after etching, could be controlled by changing the slope of a substrate holder that was placed in the Faraday cage. The performance of an EUV mask, which contained the TaN absorber of an oblique pattern over the molybdenum/silicon multi-layer, was simulated for different cases of SWA. The results indicated that the optical properties, such as the critical dimension (CD), an offset in the CD bias between horizontal and vertical patterns (H-V bias), and a shift in the image position on the wafer, could be controlled by changing the SWA of the absorber stack. The simulation result showed that the effect of the SWA on the optical properties became more significant at larger thicknesses of the absorber and smaller sizes of the target CD. Nevertheless, the contrast of the aerial images was not significantly decreased because the shadow effect caused by either sidewall of the patterned substrate cancelled with each other.

CO2 laser and plasma microjet process for improving laser optics

Science.gov (United States)

Brusasco, Raymond M.; Penetrante, Bernardino M.; Butler, James A.; Grundler, Walter; Governo, George K.

2003-09-16

A optic is produced for operation at the fundamental Nd:YAG laser wavelength of 1.06 micrometers through the tripled Nd:YAG laser wavelength of 355 nanometers by the method of reducing or eliminating the growth of laser damage sites in the optics by processing the optics to stop damage in the optics from growing to a predetermined critical size. A system is provided of mitigating the growth of laser-induced damage in optics by virtue of very localized removal of glass and absorbing material.

Semiconductor-based Multilayer Selective Solar Absorber for Unconcentrated Solar Thermal Energy Conversion.

Science.gov (United States)

Thomas, Nathan H; Chen, Zhen; Fan, Shanhui; Minnich, Austin J

2017-07-13

Solar thermal energy conversion has attracted substantial renewed interest due to its applications in industrial heating, air conditioning, and electricity generation. Achieving stagnation temperatures exceeding 200 °C, pertinent to these technologies, with unconcentrated sunlight requires spectrally selective absorbers with exceptionally low emissivity in the thermal wavelength range and high visible absorptivity for the solar spectrum. In this Communication, we report a semiconductor-based multilayer selective absorber that exploits the sharp drop in optical absorption at the bandgap energy to achieve a measured absorptance of 76% at solar wavelengths and a low emittance of approximately 5% at thermal wavelengths. In field tests, we obtain a peak temperature of 225 °C, comparable to that achieved with state-of-the-art selective surfaces. With straightforward optimization to improve solar absorption, our work shows the potential for unconcentrated solar thermal systems to reach stagnation temperatures exceeding 300 °C, thereby eliminating the need for solar concentrators for mid-temperature solar applications such as supplying process heat.

Temperature and hydration effects on absorbance spectra and radiation sensitivity of a radiochromic medium

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rink, Alexandra; Lewis, David F.; Varma, Sangya; Vitkin, I. Alex; Jaffray, David A. [Princess Margaret Hospital/Ontario Cancer Institute, Department of Medical Biophysics and Radiation Oncology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario M5G 2M9 (Canada); Advanced Materials Group, International Specialty Products, Inc., Wayne, New Jersey 07470 (United States); Princess Margaret Hospital/Ontario Cancer Institute, Department of Medical Biophysics and Radiation Oncology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario M5G 2M9 (Canada)

2008-10-15

The effects of temperature on real time changes in optical density ({Delta}OD) of GAFCHROMIC EBT film were investigated. The spectral peak of maximum change in absorbance ({lambda}{sub max}) was shown to downshift linearly when the temperature of the film was increased from 22 to 38 degree sign C. The {Delta}OD values were also shown to decrease linearly with temperature, and this decrease could not be attributed to the shift in {lambda}{sub max}. A compensation scheme using {lambda}{sub max} and a temperature-dependent correction factor was investigated, but provided limited improvement. Part of the reason may be the fluctuations in hydration of the active component, which were found to affect both position of absorbance peaks and the sensitivity of the film. To test the effect of hydration, laminated and unlaminated films were desiccated. This shifted both the major and minor absorbance peaks in the opposite direction to the change observed with temperature. The desiccated film also exhibited reduced sensitivity to ionizing radiation. Rehydration of the desiccated films did not reverse the effects, but rather gave rise to another form of the polymer with absorbance maxima upshifted further 20 nm. Hence, the spectral characteristics and sensitivity of the film can be dependent on its history, potentially complicating both real-time and conventional radiation dosimetry.

Laser nanostructured Co nanocylinders-Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} cermets for enhanced & flexible solar selective absorbers applications

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Karoro, A., E-mail: angela@tlabs.ac.za [UNESCO-UNISA Africa Chair in Nanosciences-Nanotechnology, College of Graduate Studies, University of South Africa, Muckleneuk ridge, PO Box 392, Pretoria (South Africa); Nanosciences African Network (NANOAFNET), iThemba LABS-National Research Foundation, 1 Old Faure road, Somerset West 7129, PO Box 722, Western Cape (South Africa); Nuru, Z.Y.; Kotsedi, L.; Bouziane, Kh. [UNESCO-UNISA Africa Chair in Nanosciences-Nanotechnology, College of Graduate Studies, University of South Africa, Muckleneuk ridge, PO Box 392, Pretoria (South Africa); Nanosciences African Network (NANOAFNET), iThemba LABS-National Research Foundation, 1 Old Faure road, Somerset West 7129, PO Box 722, Western Cape (South Africa); Mothudi, B.M. [UNESCO-UNISA Africa Chair in Nanosciences-Nanotechnology, College of Graduate Studies, University of South Africa, Muckleneuk ridge, PO Box 392, Pretoria (South Africa); Physics Dept., University of South Africa, Muckleneuk ridge, PO Box 392, Pretoria (South Africa); Maaza, M. [UNESCO-UNISA Africa Chair in Nanosciences-Nanotechnology, College of Graduate Studies, University of South Africa, Muckleneuk ridge, PO Box 392, Pretoria (South Africa); Nanosciences African Network (NANOAFNET), iThemba LABS-National Research Foundation, 1 Old Faure road, Somerset West 7129, PO Box 722, Western Cape (South Africa)

2015-08-30

Highlights: • Co-Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} was synthesized by electrodeposition & femtosecond laser structuring. • The ultrafast laser structuring significantly increases the solar absorption. • Co-Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} exhibited 0.98 solar absorptance and 0.03 thermal emittance. - Abstract: We report on the structural and optical properties of laser surface structured Co nanocylinders-Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} cermets on flexible Aluminium substrate for enhanced solar selective absorbers applications. This new family of solar selective absorbers coating consisting of Co nanocylinders embedded into nanoporous alumina template which were produced by standard electrodeposition and thereafter submitted to femtosecond laser surface structuring. While their structural and chemical properties were investigated by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive spectrometry and atomic force microscopy, their optical characteristics were investigated by specular & diffuse reflectance. The optimized samples exhibit an elevated optical absorptance α(λ) above 98% and an emittance ε(λ) ∼0.03 in the spectral range of 200–1100 nm. This set of values was suggested to be related to several surface and volume phenomena such as light trapping, plasmon surface effect as well as angular dependence of light reflection induced by the ultrafast laser multi-scale structuring.

Burnable neutron absorbers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Radford, K.C.; Carlson, W.G.

1983-01-01

A neutron-absorber body for use in burnable poison rods in a nuclear reactor. The body is composed of a matrix of Al 2 O 3 containing B 4 C, the neutron absorber. Areas of high density polycrystalline Al 2 O 3 particles are predominantly encircled by pores in some of which there are B 4 C particles. This body is produced by initially spray drying a slurry of A1 2 O 3 powder to which a binder has been added. The powder of agglomerated spheres of the A1 2 O 3 with the binder are dry mixed with B 4 C powder. The mixed powder is formed into a green body by isostatic pressure and the green body is sintered. The sintered body is processed to form the neutron-absorber body. In this case the B 4 C particles are separate from the spheres resulting from the spray drying instead of being embedded in the sphere

Neutron absorbers and methods of forming at least a portion of a neutron absorber

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Guillen, Donna P; Porter, Douglas L; Swank, W David; Erickson, Arnold W

2014-12-02

Methods of forming at least a portion of a neutron absorber include combining a first material and a second material to form a compound, reducing the compound into a plurality of particles, mixing the plurality of particles with a third material, and pressing the mixture of the plurality of particles and the third material. One or more components of neutron absorbers may be formed by such methods. Neutron absorbers may include a composite material including an intermetallic compound comprising hafnium aluminide and a matrix material comprising pure aluminum.

Basic concepts about application of dual vibration absorbers to seismic design of nuclear piping systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hara, F.; Seto, K.

1987-01-01

The design value of damping for nuclear piping systems is a vital parameter in ensuring safety in nuclear plants during large earthquakes. Many experiments and on-site tests have been undertaken in nuclear-industry developed countries to determine rational design values. However damping value in nuclear piping systems is so strongly influenced by many piping parameters that it shows a tremendous dispersion in its experimental values. A new trend has recently appeared in designing nuclear pipings, where they attempt to use a device to absorb vibration energy induced by seismic excitation. A typical device is an energy absorbing device, made of a special material having a high capacity of plasticity, which is installed between the piping and the support. This paper deals with the basic study of application of dual vibration absorbers to nuclear piping systems to accomplish high damping value and reduce consequently seismic response at resonance frequencies of a piping system, showing their effectiveness from not only numerical calculation but also experimental evaluation of the vibration responses in a 3D model piping system equipped with dual two vibration absorbers

Laser post-processing of halide perovskites for enhanced photoluminescence and absorbance

Science.gov (United States)

Tiguntseva, E. Y.; Saraeva, I. N.; Kudryashov, S. I.; Ushakova, E. V.; Komissarenko, F. E.; Ishteev, A. R.; Tsypkin, A. N.; Haroldson, R.; Milichko, V. A.; Zuev, D. A.; Makarov, S. V.; Zakhidov, A. A.

2017-11-01

Hybrid halide perovskites have emerged as one of the most promising type of materials for thin-film photovoltaic and light-emitting devices. Further boosting their performance is critically important for commercialization. Here we use femtosecond laser for post-processing of organo-metalic perovskite (MAPbI3) films. The high throughput laser approaches include both ablative silicon nanoparticles integration and laser-induced annealing. By using these techniques, we achieve strong enhancement of photoluminescence as well as useful light absorption. As a result, we observed experimentally 10-fold enhancement of absorbance in a perovskite layer with the silicon nanoparticles. Direct laser annealing allows for increasing of photoluminescence over 130%, and increase absorbance over 300% in near-IR range. We believe that the developed approaches pave the way to novel scalable and highly effective designs of perovskite based devices.

Organometal Halide Perovskite Solar Absorbers and Ferroelectric Nanocomposites for Harvesting Solar Energy

Science.gov (United States)

Hettiarachchi, Chaminda Lakmal

Organometal halide perovskite absorbers such as methylammonium lead iodide chloride (CH3NH3PbI3-xClx), have emerged as an exciting new material family for photovoltaics due to its appealing features that include suitable direct bandgap with intense light absorbance, band gap tunability, ultra-fast charge carrier generation, slow electron-hole recombination rates, long electron and hole diffusion lengths, microsecond-long balanced carrier mobilities, and ambipolarity. The standard method of preparing CH3NH3PbI3-xClx perovskite precursors is a tedious process involving multiple synthesis steps and, the chemicals being used (hydroiodic acid and methylamine) are quite expensive. This work describes a novel, single-step, simple, and cost-effective solution approach to prepare CH3NH3PbI3-xClx thin films by the direct reaction of the commercially available CH3NH 3Cl (or MACl) and PbI2. A detailed analysis of the structural and optical properties of CH3NH3PbI3-xCl x thin films deposited by aerosol assisted chemical vapor deposition is presented. Optimum growth conditions have been identified. It is shown that the deposited thin films are highly crystalline with intense optical absorbance. Charge carrier separation of these thin films can be enhanced by establishing a local internal electric field that can reduce electron-hole recombination resulting in increased photo current. The intrinsic ferroelectricity in nanoparticles of Barium Titanate (BaTiO3 -BTO) embedded in the solar absorber can generate such an internal field. A hybrid structure of CH3NH 3PbI3-xClx perovskite and ferroelectric BTO nanocomposite FTO/TiO2/CH3NH3PbI3-xClx : BTO/P3HT/Cu as a new type of photovoltaic device is investigated. Aerosol assisted chemical vapor deposition process that is scalable to large-scale manufacturing was used for the growth of the multilayer structure. TiO 2 and P3HT with additives were used as ETL and HTL respectively. The growth process of the solar absorber layer includes the

Laser-based optical activity detection of amino acids and proteins

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Reitsma, B.H.

1987-08-01

The optical activity detector (OAD) for HPLC is a selective detector for optically active substances including amino acids and proteins. Four free amino acids were resolved using cation-exchange chromatography followed by detection with refractive index detector (RI) for proline and threonine and the OAD to an ultraviolet absorbance detector (uv) for tyrosine and phenylalanine. Amino acid detection by refractive index is not sensitive and uv absorbance detects only three amino acids. Derivatization of amino acids to make them detectable by uv absorbance enhances the applicability of OA/uv for the determination of enantiomeric ratios. The separation of 16 dansyl-L-amino acids by RP-HPLC with detection by OA/uv is illustrated. Calculation of the specific rotation of 22 dansyl-L-amino acids shows that derivatization enhances the OA detectability of some amino acids but degrades that of others. RP-HPLC of proteins is a rapidly developing technique. Several researchers have reported the detection of multiple peaks when a pure protein is subjected to HPLC under certain conditions. These multiple peaks have been determined to be different conformations of the same protein. Since proteins are optically active, OA is a suitable detector. The RP-HPLC separation of conformers of soybean trypsin inhibitor is illustrated. Detection by OA/uv provides insights from the chromatogram unavailable from uv absorbance detection alone. In addition, identification of impurities is simplified with OA/uv. Specific rotations of the separated protein fractions show no significant change accompanying change in conformation. 163 refs., 13 figs., 9 tabs.

Quantitative Fluorescence Sensing Through Highly Autofluorescent, Scattering, and Absorbing Media Using Mobile Microscopy

KAUST Repository

Gö rö cs, Zoltá n; Rivenson, Yair; Ceylan Koydemir, Hatice; Tseng, Derek; Troy, Tamara L.; Demas, Vasiliki; Ozcan, Aydogan

2016-01-01

Compact and cost-effective systems for in vivo fluorescence and near-infrared imaging in combination with activatable reporters embedded inside the skin to sample interstitial fluid or blood can enable a variety of biomedical applications. However, the strong autofluorescence of human skin creates an obstacle for fluorescence-based sensing. Here we introduce a method for quantitative fluorescence sensing through highly autofluorescent, scattering, and absorbing media. For this, we created a compact and cost-effective fluorescence microscope weighing <40 g and used it to measure various concentrations of a fluorescent dye embedded inside a tissue phantom, which was designed to mimic the optical characteristics of human skin. We used an elliptical Gaussian beam excitation to digitally separate tissue autofluorescence from target fluorescence, although they severely overlap in both space and optical spectrum. Using ∼10-fold less excitation intensity than the safety limit for skin radiation exposure, we successfully quantified the density of the embedded fluorophores by imaging the skin phantom surface and achieved a detection limit of ∼5 × 105 and ∼2.5 × 107 fluorophores within ∼0.01 μL sample volume that is positioned 0.5 and 2 mm below the phantom surface, corresponding to a concentration of 105.9 pg/mL and 5.3 ng/mL, respectively. We also confirmed that this approach can track the spatial misalignments of the mobile microscope with respect to the embedded target fluorescent volume. This wearable microscopy platform might be useful for designing implantable biochemical sensors with the capability of spatial multiplexing to continuously monitor a panel of biomarkers and chronic conditions even at patients’ home.

Quantitative Fluorescence Sensing Through Highly Autofluorescent, Scattering, and Absorbing Media Using Mobile Microscopy

KAUST Repository

Göröcs, Zoltán

2016-09-13

Compact and cost-effective systems for in vivo fluorescence and near-infrared imaging in combination with activatable reporters embedded inside the skin to sample interstitial fluid or blood can enable a variety of biomedical applications. However, the strong autofluorescence of human skin creates an obstacle for fluorescence-based sensing. Here we introduce a method for quantitative fluorescence sensing through highly autofluorescent, scattering, and absorbing media. For this, we created a compact and cost-effective fluorescence microscope weighing <40 g and used it to measure various concentrations of a fluorescent dye embedded inside a tissue phantom, which was designed to mimic the optical characteristics of human skin. We used an elliptical Gaussian beam excitation to digitally separate tissue autofluorescence from target fluorescence, although they severely overlap in both space and optical spectrum. Using ∼10-fold less excitation intensity than the safety limit for skin radiation exposure, we successfully quantified the density of the embedded fluorophores by imaging the skin phantom surface and achieved a detection limit of ∼5 × 105 and ∼2.5 × 107 fluorophores within ∼0.01 μL sample volume that is positioned 0.5 and 2 mm below the phantom surface, corresponding to a concentration of 105.9 pg/mL and 5.3 ng/mL, respectively. We also confirmed that this approach can track the spatial misalignments of the mobile microscope with respect to the embedded target fluorescent volume. This wearable microscopy platform might be useful for designing implantable biochemical sensors with the capability of spatial multiplexing to continuously monitor a panel of biomarkers and chronic conditions even at patients’ home.

Radioactive iodine absorbing properties of tetrathiafulvalene

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ito, Tomiyasu; Nakamura, Asao (Ajinomoto Co. Inc., Kawasaki, Kanagawa (Japan). Central Research Labs.); Nogawa, Norio; Oohashi, Kunio; Morikawa, Naotake

1989-05-01

For the purpose of searching some effective absorbents of gaseous radioactive iodine, 16 substances considered as having an affinity for iodine were investigated with regular iodine and /sup 125/I. In a preliminary survey, only tetrathiafulvalene (TTF) was found to have satisfactory absorbing properties comparable to activated charcoal. A further detailed comparison of the properties between TTF and activated charcoal led us to the conclusion that the former has more preferable properties as absorbent of radioactive iodine than the latter in all points studied. The results are summarized as follows: (1) The absorption of iodine on TTF in atmosphere was about twice as much as that on activated charcoal. Desorption of iodine from saturatedly absorbed iodine on TTF was practically negligible except trace amount of initial desorption, while that on activated charcoal was considerable (3%/50h) even in the air at room temperature. (2) Absorbed amount of iodine on activated charcoal decreased with increasing gaseous iodine concentration, air flow rate, on humidity of flowing-air. On the other hand, those factors scarcely affected that on TTF. Under an air flow rate of 1m/s, activated charcoal absorbs only 80% of iodine, while TTF absorbs more than 99%. (3) In flowing-air saturated with water vapor, iodine absorbed on activated charcoal was gradually liberated although by small amount (0.08%/100h), while that on TTF was much more stable for a long period (0.004%/100h). As a conclusion, TTF is considered to be useful as a quite effective radioactive iodine absorbent, especially in the case where protection from radioactive iodine should be serious, though it is expensive now. (author).

Radioactive iodine absorbing properties of tetrathiafulvalene

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ito, Tomiyasu; Nakamura, Asao; Nogawa, Norio; Oohashi, Kunio; Morikawa, Naotake.

1989-01-01

For the purpose of searching some effective absorbents of gaseous radioactive iodine, 16 substances considered as having an affinity for iodine were investigated with regular iodine and 125 I. In a preliminary survey, only tetrathiafulvalene (TTF) was found to have satisfactory absorbing properties comparable to activated charcoal. A further detailed comparison of the properties between TTF and activated charcoal led us to the conclusion that the former has more preferable properties as absorbent of radioactive iodine than the latter in all points studied. The results are summarized as follows: (1) The absorption of iodine on TTF in atmosphere was about twice as much as that on activated charcoal. Desorption of iodine from saturatedly absorbed iodine on TTF was practically negligible except trace amount of initial desorption, while that on activated charcoal was considerable (3%/50h) even in the air at room temperature. (2) Absorbed amount of iodine on activated charcoal decreased with increasing gaseous iodine concentration, air flow rate, on humidity of flowing-air. On the other hand, those factors scarcely affected that on TTF. Under an air flow rate of 1m/s, activated charcoal absorbs only 80% of iodine, while TTF absorbs more than 99%. (3) In flowing-air saturated with water vapor, iodine absorbed on activated charcoal was gradually liberated although by small amount (0.08%/100h), while that on TTF was much more stable for a long period (0.004%/100h). As a conclusion, TTF is considered to be useful as a quite effective radioactive iodine absorbent, especially in the case where protection from radioactive iodine should be serious, though it is expensive now. (author)

Neutron absorbing article

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Naum, R.G.; Owens, D.P.; Dooker, G.I.

1981-01-01

A neutron-absorbing article suitable for use in spent fuel racks is described. It comprises boron carbide particles, diluent particles, and a phenolic polymer cured to a continuous matrix. The diluent may be silicon carbide, graphite, amorphous carbon, alumina, or silica. The combined boron carbide-diluent phase contains no more than 2 percent B 2 O 3 , and the neutron-absorbing article contains from 20 to 40 percent phenol resin. The ratio of boron carbide to diluent particles is in the range 1:9 to 9:1

Mechanical shock absorber

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vrillon, Bernard.

1973-01-01

The mechanical shock absorber described is made of a constant thickness plate pierced with circular holes regularly distributed in such a manner that for all the directions along which the strain is applied during the shock, the same section of the substance forming the plate is achieved. The shock absorber is made in a metal standing up to extensive deformation before breaking, selected from a group comprising mild steels and austenitic stainless steels. This apparatus is used for handling pots of fast neutron reactor fuel elements [fr

Flexible metamaterial absorbers for stealth applications at terahertz frequencies

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Iwaszczuk, Krzysztof; Strikwerda, Andrew; Fan, K.

2012-01-01

We have wrapped metallic cylinders with strongly absorbing metamaterials. These resonant structures, which are patterned on flexible substrates, smoothly coat the cylinder and give it an electromagnetic response designed to minimize its radar cross section. We compare the normal-incidence, small......-beam reflection coefficient with the measurement of the far-field bistatic radar cross section of the sample, using a quasi-planar THz wave with a beam diameter significantly larger than the sample dimensions. In this geometry we demonstrate a near-400-fold reduction of the radar cross section at the design...

Lanthanide-Assisted Deposition of Strongly Electro-optic PZT Thin Films on Silicon: Toward Integrated Active Nanophotonic Devices.

Science.gov (United States)

George, J P; Smet, P F; Botterman, J; Bliznuk, V; Woestenborghs, W; Van Thourhout, D; Neyts, K; Beeckman, J

2015-06-24

The electro-optical properties of lead zirconate titanate (PZT) thin films depend strongly on the quality and crystallographic orientation of the thin films. We demonstrate a novel method to grow highly textured PZT thin films on silicon using the chemical solution deposition (CSD) process. We report the use of ultrathin (5-15 nm) lanthanide (La, Pr, Nd, Sm) based intermediate layers for obtaining preferentially (100) oriented PZT thin films. X-ray diffraction measurements indicate preferentially oriented intermediate Ln2O2CO3 layers providing an excellent lattice match with the PZT thin films grown on top. The XRD and scanning electron microscopy measurements reveal that the annealed layers are dense, uniform, crack-free and highly oriented (>99.8%) without apparent defects or secondary phases. The EDX and HRTEM characterization confirm that the template layers act as an efficient diffusion barrier and form a sharp interface between the substrate and the PZT. The electrical measurements indicate a dielectric constant of ∼650, low dielectric loss of ∼0.02, coercive field of 70 kV/cm, remnant polarization of 25 μC/cm(2), and large breakdown electric field of 1000 kV/cm. Finally, the effective electro-optic coefficients of the films are estimated with a spectroscopic ellipsometer measurement, considering the electric field induced variations in the phase reflectance ratio. The electro-optic measurements reveal excellent linear effective pockels coefficients of 110 to 240 pm/V, which makes the CSD deposited PZT thin film an ideal candidate for Si-based active integrated nanophotonic devices.

Large arrays of discrete ionizing radiation detectors multiplexed using fluorescent optical converters

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Koslow, E.E.; Edelman, R.R.

1985-01-01

This invention provides a radiation imaging system employing arrays of scintillators. An object of the invention is to produce a detector with high spatial resolution, high gamma-photon absorption efficiency, excellent source and detector scatter rejection, and utilizing low-cost solid state opto-electronic devices. In one embodiment, it provides a radiation detection and conversion apparatus having an array of optically isolated radiation sensitive elements that emit optical radiation upon absorption of ionizing radiation. An array of channels, comprising a material that absorbs and traps the radiation emitted and transports it or radiation that has been shifted to longer wavelengths, is placed near the radiation-sensitive elements. Electro-optical detectors that convert the transported radiation into electrical signals are coupled to the channels. The activation of one of the electro-optical devices by radiation from one of the channels indicates that at least one of the radiation-sensitive elements near that channel has absorbed a quantity of radiation

Electron optics

CERN Document Server

Grivet, Pierre; Bertein, F; Castaing, R; Gauzit, M; Septier, Albert L

1972-01-01

Electron Optics, Second English Edition, Part I: Optics is a 10-chapter book that begins by elucidating the fundamental features and basic techniques of electron optics, as well as the distribution of potential and field in electrostatic lenses. This book then explains the field distribution in magnetic lenses; the optical properties of electrostatic and magnetic lenses; and the similarities and differences between glass optics and electron optics. Subsequent chapters focus on lens defects; some electrostatic lenses and triode guns; and magnetic lens models. The strong focusing lenses and pris

A Radiation Dosimetry Method Using Pulsed Optically Stimulated Luminescence

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Akselrod, M.S.; McKeever, S.W.S.

1999-01-01

A method for the determination of absorbed radiation dose is described based on pulsed optically stimulated luminescence (POSL). The method relies upon the stimulation of an irradiated sample with a train of light pulses from a suitable light source (e.g. a laser) using a wavelength which is within the range of wavelengths corresponding to the radiation-induced optical absorption in the irradiated sample. The subsequent emitted light, due to the detrapping of trapped charges and their subsequent recombination with charge of the opposite sign, is synchronously detected in the period between each stimulation pulse. The total luminescence is summed over the desired number of stimulation pulses and this forms the measured POSL signal. By monitoring the emitted light only in the period between stimulation pulses one can reduce the optical filtering required to discriminate between the stimulation light and the emission light; in this way a high measurement efficiency, and, therefore, a high radiation sensitivity (luminescence intensity per unit absorbed dose) is achieved. Key parameters in the method are the intrinsic luminescence lifetime for the material being used as the luminescent detector, the width of the optical stimulation pulse, and the period between pulses. For optimum operation the measurement parameters should be such that both the pulse width and the time between pulses are much less than the luminescence lifetime. By appropriate choice of the power of the optical stimulation, the frequency of the stimulation pulses, and the total stimulation period, one can also re-measure the absorbed dose several times. In this way, a re-read capability is available with the procedure. The method is illustrated using light from a 2nd-harmonic Nd:YAG laser, with irradiated, anion-deficient aluminium oxide as the luminescent detector material. (author)

Modeling X-ray Absorbers in AGNs with MHD-Driven Accretion-Disk Winds

Science.gov (United States)

Fukumura, Keigo; Kazanas, D.; Shrader, C. R.; Tombesi, F.; Contopoulos, J.; Behar, E.

2013-04-01

We have proposed a systematic view of the observed X-ray absorbers, namely warm absorbers (WAs) in soft X-ray and highly-ionized ultra-fast outflows (UFOs), in the context of magnetically-driven accretion-disk wind models. While potentially complicated by variability and thermal instability in these energetic outflows, in this simplistic model we have calculated 2D kinematic field as well as density and ionization structure of the wind with density profile of 1/r corresponding to a constant column distribution per decade of ionization parameter. In particular we show semi-analytically that the inner layer of the disk-wind manifests itself as the strongly-ionized fast outflows while the outer layer is identified as the moderately-ionized absorbers. The computed characteristics of these two apparently distinct absorbers are consistent with X-ray data (i.e. a factor of ~100 difference in column and ionization parameters as well as low wind velocity vs. near-relativistic flow). With the predicted contour curves for these wind parameters one can constrain allowed regions for the presence of WAs and UFOs.The model further implies that the UFO's gas pressure is comparable to that of the observed radio jet in 3C111 suggesting that the magnetized disk-wind with density profile of 1/r is a viable agent to help sustain such a self-collimated jet at small radii.

IGR J14257-6117, a magnetic accreting white dwarf with a very strong strong X-ray orbital modulation

Science.gov (United States)

Bernardini, F.; de Martino, D.; Mukai, K.; Falanga, M.

2018-04-01

IGR J14257-6117 is an unclassified source in the hard X-ray catalogues. Optical follow-ups suggest it could be a Cataclysmic Variable of the magnetic type. We present the first high S/N X-ray observation performed by XMM-Newton at 0.3-10 keV, complemented with 10-80 keV coverage by Swift/BAT, aimed at revealing the source nature. We detected for the first time a fast periodic variability at 509.5 s and a longer periodic variability at 4.05 h, ascribed to the white dwarf (WD) spin and binary orbital periods, respectively. These unambiguously identify IGR J14257-6117 as a magnetic CV of the Intermediate Polar (IP) type. The energy resolved light curves at both periods reveal amplitudes decreasing with increasing energy, with the orbital modulation reaching ˜100% in the softest band. The energy spectrum shows optically thin thermal emission with an excess at the iron complex, absorbed by two dense media (NH ˜ 1022 - 23 cm-2), partially covering the X-ray source. These are likely localised in the magnetically confined accretion flow above the WD surface and at the disc rim, producing the energy dependent spin and orbital variabilities, respectively. IGR J14257-6117, joins the group of strongest orbitally modulated IPs now counting four systems. Drawing similarities with low-mass X-ray binaries displaying orbital dips, these IPs should be seen at large orbital inclinations allowing azimuthally extended absorbing material fixed in the binary frame to intercept the line of sight. For IGR J14257-6117, we estimate (50o ≲ i ≲ 70o). Whether also the mass accretion rate plays a role in the large orbital modulations in IPs cannot be established with the present data.

Novel method of optical image registration in wide wavelength range using matrix of piezoelectric crystals

Science.gov (United States)

Pigarev, Aleksey V.; Bazarov, Timur O.; Fedorov, Vladimir V.; Ryabushkin, Oleg A.

2018-02-01

Most modern systems of the optical image registration are based on the matrices of photosensitive semiconductor heterostructures. However, measurement of radiation intensities up to several MW/cm2 -level using such detectors is a great challenge because semiconductor elements have low optical damage threshold. Reflecting or absorbing filters that can be used for attenuation of radiation intensity, as a rule, distort beam profile. Furthermore, semiconductor based devices have relatively narrow measurement wavelength bandwidth. We introduce a novel matrix method of optical image registration. This approach doesn't require any attenuation when measuring high radiation intensities. A sensitive element is the matrix made of thin transparent piezoelectric crystals that absorb just a small part of incident optical power. Each crystal element has its own set of intrinsic (acoustic) vibration modes. These modes can be exited due to the inverse piezoelectric effect when the external electric field is applied to the crystal sample providing that the field frequency corresponds to one of the vibration mode frequencies. Such piezoelectric resonances (PR) can be observed by measuring the radiofrequency response spectrum of the crystal placed between the capacitor plates. PR frequencies strongly depend on the crystal temperature. Temperature calibration of PR frequencies is conducted in the uniform heating conditions. In the case a crystal matrix is exposed to the laser radiation the incident power can be obtained separately for each crystal element by measuring its PR frequency kinetics providing that the optical absorption coefficient is known. The operating wavelength range of such sensor is restricted by the transmission bandwidth of the applied crystals. A plane matrix constituting of LiNbO3 crystals was assembled in order to demonstrate the possibility of application of the proposed approach. The crystal elements were placed between two electrodes forming a capacitor which

Shock absorber in Ignalina NPP

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bulavas, A.; Muralis, J.

1996-09-01

Theoretical calculation and experimental analysis of models of shock absorber in Ignalina NPP is presented. The results obtained from the investigation with model of shock absorber coincide with the theoretical calculation. (author). 2 figs., 3 refs

Liquid metal reactor absorber technology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pitner, A.L.

1990-10-01

The selection of boron carbide as the reference liquid metal reactor absorber material is supported by results presented for irradiation performance, reactivity worth compatibility, and benign failure consequences. Scram response requirements are met easily with current control rod configurations. The trend in absorber design development is toward larger sized pins with fewer pins per bundle, providing economic savings and improved hydraulic characteristics. Very long-life absorber designs appear to be attainable with the application of vented pin and sodium-bonded concepts. 3 refs., 3 figs

On the definition of absorbed dose

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Grusell, Erik

2015-01-01

Purpose: The quantity absorbed dose is used extensively in all areas concerning the interaction of ionizing radiation with biological organisms, as well as with matter in general. The most recent and authoritative definition of absorbed dose is given by the International Commission on Radiation Units and Measurements (ICRU) in ICRU Report 85. However, that definition is incomplete. The purpose of the present work is to give a rigorous definition of absorbed dose. Methods: Absorbed dose is defined in terms of the random variable specific energy imparted. A random variable is a mathematical function, and it cannot be defined without specifying its domain of definition which is a probability space. This is not done in report 85 by the ICRU, mentioned above. Results: In the present work a definition of a suitable probability space is given, so that a rigorous definition of absorbed dose is possible. This necessarily includes the specification of the experiment which the probability space describes. In this case this is an irradiation, which is specified by the initial particles released and by the material objects which can interact with the radiation. Some consequences are discussed. Specific energy imparted is defined for a volume, and the definition of absorbed dose as a point function involves the specific energy imparted for a small mass contained in a volume surrounding the point. A possible more precise definition of this volume is suggested and discussed. Conclusions: The importance of absorbed dose motivates a proper definition, and one is given in the present work. No rigorous definition has been presented before. - Highlights: • A stringent definition of absorbed dose is given. • This requires the definition of an irradiation and a suitable probability space. • A stringent definition is important for an understanding of the concept absorbed dose

Propagation of hypergeometric Gaussian beams in strongly nonlocal nonlinear media

Science.gov (United States)

Tang, Bin; Bian, Lirong; Zhou, Xin; Chen, Kai

2018-01-01

Optical vortex beams have attracted lots of interest due to its potential application in image processing, optical trapping and optical communications, etc. In this work, we theoretically and numerically investigated the propagation properties of hypergeometric Gaussian (HyGG) beams in strongly nonlocal nonlinear media. Based on the Snyder-Mitchell model, analytical expressions for propagation of the HyGG beams in strongly nonlocal nonlinear media were obtained. The influence of input power and optical parameters on the evolutions of the beam width and radius of curvature is illustrated, respectively. The results show that the beam width and radius of curvature of the HyGG beams remain invariant, like a soliton when the input power is equal to the critical power. Otherwise, it varies periodically like a breather, which is the result of competition between the beam diffraction and nonlinearity of the medium.

Optical materials technology for energy efficiency and solar energy conversion 7

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Granqvist, C.G.; Lampert, C.M.

1989-01-01

This book covers the following topics: smart window coatings; Transparent infrared reflectors; Holographic concentrators and reflectors; Solar collecting devices; Solar absorber coatings; Optical properties and durability

Optimization of sample absorbance for quantitative analysis in the presence of pathlength error in the IR and NIR regions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hirschfeld, T.; Honigs, D.; Hieftje, G.

1985-01-01

Optical absorbance levels for quantiative analysis in the presence of photometric error have been described in the past. In newer instrumentation, such as FT-IR and NIRA spectrometers, the photometric error is no longer limiting. In these instruments, pathlength error due to cell or sampling irreproducibility is often a major concern. One can derive optimal absorbance by taking both pathlength and photometric errors into account. This paper analyzes the cases of pathlength error >> photometric error (trivial) and various cases in which the pathlength errors and the photometric error are of the same order: adjustable concentration (trivial until dilution errors are considered), constant relative pathlength error (trivial), and constant absolute pathlength error. The latter, in particular, is analyzed in detail to give the behavior of the error, the behavior of the optimal absorbance in its presence, and the total error levels attainable

Bifurcation structure of an optical ring cavity

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kubstrup, C.; Mosekilde, Erik

1996-01-01

One- and two-dimensional continuation techniques are applied to determine the basic bifurcation structure for an optical ring cavity with a nonlinear absorbing element (the Ikeda Map). By virtue of the periodic structure of the map, families of similar solutions develop in parameter space. Within...

Wannier–Stark electro-optical effect, quasi-guided and photonic modes in 2D macroporous silicon structures with SiO_2 coatings

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Karachevtseva, L.; Goltviansky, Yu.; Sapelnikova, O.; Lytvynenko, O.; Stronska, O.; Bo, Wang; Kartel, M.

2016-01-01

Highlights: • The IR absorption spectra of oxidized macroporous silicon were studied. • The Wannier–Stark electro-optical effect on Si-SiO_2 boundary was confirmed. • An additional electric field of quasi-guided optical modes was evaluated. • The photonic modes and band gaps were measured as peculiarities in absorption spectra. - Abstract: Opportunities to enhance the properties of structured surfaces were demonstrated on 2D macroporous silicon structures with SiO_2 coatings. We investigated the IR light absorption oscillations in macroporous silicon structures with SiO2 coatings 0–800 nm thick. The Wannier–Stark electro-optical effect due to strong electric field on Si-SiO_2boundary and an additional electric field of quasi-guided optical modes were taken into account. The photonic modes and band gaps were also considered as peculiarities in absorbance spectra of macroporous silicon structures with a thick SiO_2 coating. The photonic modes do not coincide with the quasi-guided modes in the silicon matrix and do not appear in absorption spectra of 2D macroporous silicon structures with surface nanocrystals.

Two-dimensional and 3-D images of thick tissue using time-constrained times-of-flight and absorbance spectrophotometry

Science.gov (United States)

Benaron, David A.; Lennox, M.; Stevenson, David K.

1992-05-01

Reconstructing deep-tissue images in real time using spectrophotometric data from optically diffusing thick tissues has been problematic. Continuous wave applications (e.g., pulse oximetry, regional cerebral saturation) ignore both the multiple paths traveled by the photons through the tissue and the effects of scattering, allowing scalar measurements but only under limited conditions; interferometry works poorly in thick, highly-scattering media; frequency- modulated approaches may not allow full deconvolution of scattering and absorbance; and pulsed-light techniques allow for preservation of information regarding the multiple paths taken by light through the tissue, but reconstruction is both computation intensive and limited by the relative surface area available for detection of photons. We have developed a picosecond times-of-flight and absorbance (TOFA) optical system, time-constrained to measure only photons with a narrow range of path lengths and arriving within a narrow angel of the emitter-detector axis. The delay until arrival of the earliest arriving photons is a function of both the scattering and absorbance of the tissues in a direct line between the emitter and detector, reducing the influence of surrounding tissues. Measurement using a variety of emitter and detector locations produces spatial information which can be analyzed in a standard 2-D grid, or subject to computer reconstruction to produce tomographic images representing 3-D structure. Using such a technique, we have been able to demonstrate the principles of tc-TOFA, detect and localize diffusive and/or absorptive objects suspended in highly scattering media (such as blood admixed with yeast), and perform simple 3-D reconstructions using phantom objects. We are now attempting to obtain images in vivo. Potential future applications include use as a research tool, and as a continuous, noninvasive, nondestructive monitor in diagnostic imaging, fetal monitoring, neurologic and cardiac

Dicke superradiance as nondestructive probe for the state of atoms in optical lattices

Science.gov (United States)

ten Brinke, Nicolai; Schützhold, Ralf

2016-04-01

We present a proposal for a probing scheme utilizing Dicke superradiance to obtain information about ultracold atoms in optical lattices. A probe photon is absorbed collectively by an ensemble of lattice atoms generating a Dicke state. The lattice dynamics (e.g., tunneling) affects the coherence properties of that Dicke state and thus alters the superradiant emission characteristics - which in turn provides insight into the lattice (dynamics). Comparing the Bose-Hubbard and the Fermi-Hubbard model, we find similar superradiance in the strongly interacting Mott insulator regime, but crucial differences in the weakly interacting (superfluid or metallic) phase. Furthermore, we study the possibility to detect whether a quantum phase transition between the two regimes can be considered adiabatic or a quantum quench.

Enhanced sensitivity to dielectric function and thickness of absorbing thin films by combining total internal reflection ellipsometry with standard ellipsometry and reflectometry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lizana, A; Foldyna, M; Garcia-Caurel, E; Stchakovsky, M; Georges, B; Nicolas, D

2013-01-01

High sensitivity of spectroscopic ellipsometry and reflectometry for the characterization of thin films can strongly decrease when layers, typically metals, absorb a significant fraction of the light. In this paper, we propose a solution to overcome this drawback using total internal reflection ellipsometry (TIRE) and exciting a surface longitudinal wave: a plasmon-polariton. As in the attenuated total reflectance technique, TIRE exploits a minimum in the intensity of reflected transversal magnetic (TM) polarized light and enhances the sensitivity of standard methods to thicknesses of absorbing films. Samples under study were stacks of three films, ZnO : Al/Ag/ZnO : Al, deposited on glass substrates. The thickness of the silver layer varied from sample to sample. We performed measurements with a UV–visible phase-modulated ellipsometer, an IR Mueller ellipsometer and a UV–NIR reflectometer. We used the variance–covariance formalism to evaluate the sensitivity of the ellipsometric data to different parameters of the optical model. Results have shown that using TIRE doubled the sensitivity to the silver layer thickness when compared with the standard ellipsometry. Moreover, the thickness of the ZnO : Al layer below the silver layer can be reliably quantified, unlike for the fit of the standard ellipsometry data, which is limited by the absorption of the silver layer. (paper)

Burnable neutron absorbers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Radford, K.C.; Carlson, W.G.

1985-01-01

This patent deals with the fabrication of pellets for neutron absorber rods. Such a pellet includes a matrix of a refractory material which may be aluminum or zirconium oxide, and a burnable poison distributed throughout the matrix. The neutron absorber material may consist of one or more elements or compounds of the metals boron, gadolinium, samarium, cadmium, europium, hafnium, dysprosium and indium. The method of fabricating pellets of these materials outlined in this patent is designed to produce pores or voids in the pellets that can be used to take up the expansion of the burnable poison and to absorb the helium gas generated. In the practice of this invention a slurry of Al 2 O 3 is produced. A hard binder is added and the slurry and binder are spray dried. This powder is mixed with dry B 4 C powder, forming a homogeneous mixture. This mixture is pressed into green tubes which are then sintered. During sintering the binder volatilizes leaving a ceramic with nearly spherical high-density regions of

Absorbed dose thresholds and absorbed dose rate limitations for studies of electron radiation effects on polyetherimides

Science.gov (United States)

Long, Edward R., Jr.; Long, Sheila Ann T.; Gray, Stephanie L.; Collins, William D.

1989-01-01

The threshold values of total absorbed dose for causing changes in tensile properties of a polyetherimide film and the limitations of the absorbed dose rate for accelerated-exposure evaluation of the effects of electron radiation in geosynchronous orbit were studied. Total absorbed doses from 1 kGy to 100 MGy and absorbed dose rates from 0.01 MGy/hr to 100 MGy/hr were investigated, where 1 Gy equals 100 rads. Total doses less than 2.5 MGy did not significantly change the tensile properties of the film whereas doses higher than 2.5 MGy significantly reduced elongation-to-failure. There was no measurable effect of the dose rate on the tensile properties for accelerated electron exposures.

Optical characterization of nanoporous AAO sensor substrate

Science.gov (United States)

Kassu, Aschalew; Farley, Carlton W.; Sharma, Anup

2014-05-01

Nanoporous anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) has been investigated as an ideal and cost-effective chemical and biosensing platform. In this paper, we report the optical properties of periodic 100 micron thick nanoporous anodic alumina membranes with uniform and high density cylindrical pores penetrating the entire thickness of the substrate, ranging in size from 18 nm to 150 nm in diameter and pore periods from 44 nm to 243 nm. The surface geometry of the top and bottom surface of each membrane is studied using atomic force microscopy. The optical properties including transmittance, reflectance, and absorbance spectra on both sides of each substrate are studied and found to be symmetrical. It is observed that, as the pore size increases, the peak resonance intensity in transmittance decreases and in absorbance increases. The effects of the pore sizes on the optical properties of the bare nanoporous membranes and the benefit of using arrays of nanohole arrays with varying hole size and periodicity as a chemical sensing platform is also discussed. To characterize the optical sensing technique, transmittance and reflectance measurements of various concentrations of a standard chemical adsorbed on the bare nanoporous substrates are investigated. The preliminary results presented here show variation in transmittance and reflectance spectra with the concentration of the chemical used or the amount of the material adsorbed on the surface of the substrate.

Nanosecond laser-induced back side wet etching of fused silica with a copper-based absorber liquid

Science.gov (United States)

Lorenz, Pierre; Zehnder, Sarah; Ehrhardt, Martin; Frost, Frank; Zimmer, Klaus; Schwaller, Patrick

2014-03-01

Cost-efficient machining of dielectric surfaces with high-precision and low-roughness for industrial applications is still challenging if using laser-patterning processes. Laser induced back side wet etching (LIBWE) using UV laser pulses with liquid heavy metals or aromatic hydrocarbons as absorber allows the fabrication of well-defined, nm precise, free-form surfaces with low surface roughness, e.g., needed for optical applications. The copper-sulphatebased absorber CuSO4/K-Na-Tartrate/NaOH/formaldehyde in water is used for laser-induced deposition of copper. If this absorber can also be used as precursor for laser-induced ablation, promising industrial applications combining surface structuring and deposition within the same setup could be possible. The etching results applying a KrF excimer (248 nm, 25 ns) and a Nd:YAG (1064 nm, 20 ns) laser are compared. The topography of the etched surfaces were analyzed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), white light interferometry (WLI) as well as laser scanning microscopy (LSM). The chemical composition of the irradiated surface was studied by energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR). For the discussion of the etching mechanism the laser-induced heating was simulated with finite element method (FEM). The results indicate that the UV and IR radiation allows micro structuring of fused silica with the copper-based absorber where the etching process can be explained by the laser-induced formation of a copper-based absorber layer.

Investigation of vacuum deposited hybrid coatings of protic organic UV absorbers embedded in a silica matrix used for the UV protection of Polycarbonate glazing

OpenAIRE

Weber, C.; Schulz, U.; Mühlig, C.; Kaiser, N.; Tünnermann, A.

2016-01-01

A study of vacuum-deposited organic-inorganic hybrid coatings for UV protection of polycarbonate is presented. UV-absorbing compounds, which are commonly used for polycarbonate, were embedded in a silica matrix by thermal co-evaporation under high vacuum. In addition to the optical properties of the coatings, the influence of the silica network on the organic UV absorber and the stability of the intramolecular hydrogen bond (IMHB) are discussed. A model is presented to show the interaction be...

Exploring Light’s Interactions with Bubbles and Light Absorbers in Photoelectrochemical Devices using Ray Tracing

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Stevens, John Colby [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). The Joint Center for Artificial Photosynthesis; Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States). Dept. of Mechanical Engineering

2012-12-01

Ray tracing was used to perform optical optimization of arrays of photovoltaic microrods and explore the interaction between light and bubbles of oxygen gas on the surface of the microrods. The incident angle of light was varied over a wide range. The percent of incident light absorbed by the microrods and reflected by the bubbles was computed over this range. It was found that, for the 10 μm diameter, 100 μm tall SrTiO₃ microrods simulated in the model, the optimal center-­to-­center spacing was 14 μm for a square grid. This geometry produced 75% average and 90% maximum absorbance. For a triangular grid using the same microrods, the optimal center-­to-­center spacing was 14 μm. This geometry produced 67% average and 85% maximum absorbance. For a randomly laid out grid of 5 μm diameter, 100 μm tall SrTiO₃ microrods with an average center-­to-­center spacing of 20 μm, the average absorption was 23% and the maximum absorption was 43%. For a 50% areal coverage fraction of bubbles on the absorber surface, between 2%-­20% of the incident light energy was reflected away from the rods by the bubbles, depending upon incident angle and bubble morphology.

Dynamic testing of airplane shock-absorbing struts

Science.gov (United States)

Langer, P; Thome, W

1932-01-01

Measurement of perpendicular impacts of a landing gear with different shock-absorbing struts against the drum testing stand. Tests were made with pneumatic shock absorbers having various degrees of damping, liquid shock absorbers, steel-spring shock absorbers and rigid struts. Falling tests and rolling tests. Maximum impact and gradual reduction of the impacts in number and time in the falling tests. Maximum impact and number of weaker impacts in rolling tests.

Liquid absorber experiments in ZED-2

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

McDonnell, F.N.

1975-07-01

A set of liquid absorber experiments was performed in ZED-2 to provide data with which to test the adequacy of calculational methods for zone controller and refuelling studies associated with advanced reactor concepts. The absorber consisted of a full length aluminum tube, containing either i)H 2 O, ii)H 2 O + boron (2.5 mg/ml) or iii)H 2 O + boron (8.0 mg/ml). The tube was suspended vertically at interstitial or in-channel locations. A U-tube absorber was also simulated using two absorber tubes with appropriate spacers. Experiments were carried out at two different square lattice pitches, 22.86 and 27.94 cm. Measurements were made of the reactivity effects of the absorbers and, in some cases, of the detailed flux distribution near the perturbation. The results from one calculational method, the source-sink approach, were compared with the data from selected experiments. (author)

A chiral microwave absorbing absorbent of Fe–CoNiP coated on spirulina

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Xu, Yonggang, E-mail: xuyonggang221@163.com [Science and Technology on Electromagnetic Scattering Laboratory, Shanghai, 200438 (China); Yuan, Liming [Science and Technology on Electromagnetic Scattering Laboratory, Shanghai, 200438 (China); Zhang, Deyuan [School of Mechanical Engineering and Automation, Beihang University, Beijing, 100191 (China)

2015-11-15

A chiral bio-absorbent of Fe–CoNiP coated on the spirulina was fabricated by the electroless and chemical vapor decomposition. The scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was used to evaluate the spirulina cells particle morphology. X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns were done to analyze the particle crystal grain structure. The permittivity and permeability was measured by a vector network analyzer in frequency 8–18 GHz, and the reflection loss (RL) was calculated. The results showed the carbonyl iron particles (CIPs) and CoNiP were bonded to the spirulina surface, the permittivity and permeability could be enlarged as Fe films coated on the particles compared with the CoNiP spirulina, it was attributed to the excellent electromagnetic property of CIPs. The chiral Fe–CoNiP composites had a better absorbing property at 8–18 GHz than the CoNiP spirulina composite, the RL was −16.26 dB at 10.48 GHz, the absorbing band was 9.5–11.5 GHz of RL less than −10 dB, which indicated the Fe–CoNiP spirulina could be an effective absorbent used in 8–18 GHz. - Highlights: • Absorbers filled with Fe–CoNiP coating on the spirulina were fabricated. • The permittivity and permeability increased as CIPs coated. • The Fe material enhanced the electromagnetic property. • The spirulina coated Fe–CoNiP was effective in 8–18 GHz.

A method for regulating strong nonlinear vibration energy of the flexible arm

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yushu Bian

2015-07-01

Full Text Available For an oscillating system, large amplitude indicates strong vibration energy. In this article, modal interaction is used as a useful means to regulate strong nonlinear vibration energy of the flexible arm undergoing rigid motion. A method is put forward to migrate and dissipate vibration energy based on modal interaction. By means of multiple-scale perturbation analysis, it is proven that internal resonance can be successfully established between modes of the flexible arm and the vibration absorber. Through examples and analyses, it is verified that this control method is effective in regulating strong vibration energy and can be used to suppress strong nonlinear vibration of the flexible arm undergoing rigid motion.

Bistable optical devices with laser diodes coupled to absorbers of narrow spectral bandwidth.

Science.gov (United States)

Maeda, Y

1994-06-20

An optical signal inverter was demonstrated with a combination of the following two effects: One is the decrease of the transmission of an Er-doped YAG crystal with increasing red shift of a laser diode resulting from an increase in the injection current, and the other is a negative nonlinear absorption in which the transmission decreases inversely with increasing laser intensity. Because a hysteresis characteristic exists in the relationship between the wavelength and the injection current of the laser diode, an optical bistability was observed in this system.

Absorber rod drive for nuclear reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Acher, H.

1985-01-01

The invention concerns a further addition to the invention of DE 33 42 830 A1. The free contact of the hollow piston with the nut due to hydraulic pressure is replaced by a hydraulic or spring attachment. The pressure system required to produce the hydraulic pressure is therefore omitted, and the electrical power required for driving the pump or the mass flow is also omitted. The absorber rod slotted along its longitudinal axis is replaced by an absorber rod, in the longitudinal axis of which a hollow piston is connected together with the absorber rod. This makes the absorber rod more stable, and assembly is simplified. (orig./HP) [de

Diode-Pumped Quasi-Three-Level Passively Q-Switched Nd:GGG Laser with a Codoped Nd,Cr:YAG Saturable Absorber

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kun-Na, He; Chun-Qing, Gao; Zhi-Yi, Wei; Qi-Nan, Li; Zhi-Guo, Zhang; Hai-He, Jiang; Shao-Tang, Yin; Qing-Li, Zhang

2009-01-01

We demonstrate the first quasi-three-level passively Q-switched Nd:GGG laser at 937 nm using a Nd,Cr:YAG crystal as the saturable absorber. The dependences of the average output power, the repetition rate and the pulse width on the incident pump power are obtained. A maximum average output power of 1.18 W with repetition rate of 35 kHz and pulse width of 45 ns is achieved at an incident pump power of 18.3 W. The corresponding optical-to-optical and slope efficiencies are 6% and 10%, respectively

Statistical behaviour of optical vortex fields

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Roux, FS

2009-09-01

Full Text Available ) Density limitation→ effective profile for point vortex (remove evanescent field) . – p.10/37 Scintillated optical beams Optical beam in a turbulent atmosphere: → index variations cause random phase modulations → leads to distortion of the optical beam.... Weak scintillation→ continuous phase distortions that can be corrected by an adaptive optical system: Wavefront sensor Beam splitter Scintillated beam Corrected beam Deformable mirror Control signal . – p.11/37 Strong scintillation Strong scintillation...

Measurement of strong interaction effects in antiprotonic helium atoms

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Davies, J.D.; Gorringe, T.P.; Lowe, J.; Nelson, J.M.; Playfer, S.M.; Pyle, G.J.; Squier, G.T.A.

1984-01-01

The strong interaction shift and width for the 2 p level and the width for the 3d level have been measured for antiprotonic helium atoms. The results are compared with optical model calculations. The possible existence of strongly bound antiproton states in nuclei is discussed. (orig.)

Geometrical optics, electrostatics, and nanophotonic resonances in absorbing nanowire arrays.

Science.gov (United States)

Anttu, Nicklas

2013-03-01

Semiconductor nanowire arrays have shown promise for next-generation photovoltaics and photodetection, but enhanced understanding of the light-nanowire interaction is still needed. Here, we study theoretically the absorption of light in an array of vertical InP nanowires by moving continuously, first from the electrostatic limit to the nanophotonic regime and then to the geometrical optics limit. We show how the absorption per volume of semiconductor material in the array can be varied by a factor of 200, ranging from 10 times weaker to 20 times stronger than in a bulk semiconductor sample.

Diode-pumped passively mode-locked Nd:LuVO4 laser with LT-In0.25Ga0.75As saturable absorber

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li, T; Zhao, S; Li, Y; Zhuo, Z; Yang, K; Li, G; Li, D; Yu, Z

2009-01-01

A diode pumped passively mode-locked Nd:LuVO 4 laser with a low temperature (LT) In 0.25 Ga 0.75 As absorber is realized in this paper. An In 0.25 Ga 0.75 As single-quantum-well absorber, which is grown by use of the metal-organic chemical-vapor deposition technique, acts as nonlinear absorber and output coupler simultaneously. A special cavity is designed to keep the power density on In 0.25 Ga 0.75 As under its damage threshold. Both the Q-switched and continuous-wave (cw) mode locking operation are experimentally realized. An average output power of 5.9 W with pulse width of 4.9 ps is achieved at the pump power of 22 W, corresponding to an optical conversion efficiency of 26.8%

The effect of optical substrates on micro-FTIR analysis of single mammalian cells.

Science.gov (United States)

Wehbe, Katia; Filik, Jacob; Frogley, Mark D; Cinque, Gianfelice

2013-02-01

The study of individual cells with infrared (IR) microspectroscopy often requires living cells to be cultured directly onto a suitable substrate. The surface effect of the specific substrates on the cell growth-viability and associated biochemistry-as well as on the IR analysis-spectral interference and optical artifacts-is all too often ignored. Using the IR beamline, MIRIAM (Diamond Light Source, UK), we show the importance of the substrate used for IR absorption spectroscopy by analyzing two different cell lines cultured on a range of seven optical substrates in both transmission and reflection modes. First, cell viability measurements are made to determine the preferable substrates for normal cell growth. Successively, synchrotron radiation IR microspectroscopy is performed on the two cell lines to determine any genuine biochemically induced changes or optical effect in the spectra due to the different substrates. Multivariate analysis of spectral data is applied on each cell line to visualize the spectral changes. The results confirm the advantage of transmission measurements over reflection due to the absence of a strong optical standing wave artifact which amplifies the absorbance spectrum in the high wavenumber regions with respect to low wavenumbers in the mid-IR range. The transmission spectra reveal interference from a more subtle but significant optical artifact related to the reflection losses of the different substrate materials. This means that, for comparative studies of cell biochemistry by IR microspectroscopy, it is crucial that all samples are measured on the same substrate type.

Combined Natural Convection and Radiation Heat Transfer of Various Absorbing-Emitting-Scattering Media in a Square Cavity

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xianglong Liu

2014-01-01

Full Text Available A numerical model is developed to simulate combined natural convection and radiation heat transfer of various anisotropic absorbing-emitting-scattering media in a 2D square cavity based on the discrete ordinate (DO method and Boussinesq assumption. The effects of Rayleigh number, optical thickness, scattering ratio, scattering phase function, and aspect ratio of square cavity on the behaviors of heat transfer are studied. The results show that the heat transfer of absorbing-emitting-scattering media is the combined results of radiation and natural convection, which depends on the physical properties and the aspect ratio of the cavity. When the natural convection becomes significant, the convection heat transfer is enhanced, and the distributions of NuR and Nuc along the walls are obviously distorted. As the optical thickness increases, NuR along the hot wall decreases. As the scattering ratio decreases, the NuR along the walls decreases. At the higher aspect ratio, the more intensive thermal radiation and natural convection are formed, which increase the radiation and convection heat fluxes. This paper provides the theoretical research for the optimal thermal design and practical operation of the high temperature industrial equipments.

Multiband Negative Permittivity Metamaterials and Absorbers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yiran Tian

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Design and characteristics of multiband negative permittivity metamaterial and its absorber configuration are presented in this paper. The proposed multiband metamaterial is composed of a novel multibranch resonator which can possess four electric resonance frequencies. It is shown that, by controlling the length of the main branches of such resonator, the resonant frequencies and corresponding absorbing bands of metamaterial absorber can be shifted in a large frequency band.

Absorber materials in CANDU PHWR's

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Price, E.G.; Boss, C.R.; Novak, W.Z.; Fong, R.W.L.

1995-03-01

In a CANDU reactor the fuel channels are arranged on a square lattice in a calandria filled with heavy water moderator. This arrangement allows five types of tubular neutron absorber devices to be located in a relatively benign environment of low pressure, low temperature heavy water between neighbouring rows of columns of fuel channels. This paper will describe the roles of the devices and outline the design requirements of the absorber component from a reactor physics viewpoint. Nuclear heating and activation problems associated with the different absorbers will be briefly discussed. The design and manufacture of the devices will be also discussed. The control rod absorbers and shut off materials are cadmium and stainless steel. In the tubular arrangement, the cadmium is sandwiched between stainless steel tubes. This type of device has functioned well, but there is now concern over the availability and expense of cadmium which is used in two types of CANDU control devices. There are also concerns about the toxicity of cadmium during the fabrication of the absorbers. These concerns are prompting AECL to study alternatives. To minimize design changes, pure boron-10 alloyed in stainless steel is a favoured option. Work is underway to confirm the suitability of the boron-loaded steel and identify other encapsulated absorber materials for practical application. Because the reactivity devices or their guide tubes span the calandria vessel, the long slender components must be sufficiently rigid to resist operational vibration and also be seismically stable. Some of these components are made of Zircaloy to minimize neutron absorption. Slow irradiation growth and creep can reduce the spring tension, and periodic adjustments to the springs are required. Experience with the control absorber devices has generally been good. In one instance liquid zone controllers had a problem of vibration induced fretting but a designed back-fit resolved the problem. (author). 3 refs., 1

Radiative properties of optical board embedded with optical black holes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Qiu, J.; Liu, L.H.; Hsu, P.-F.

2011-01-01

Unique radiative properties, such as wavelength-selective transmission or absorption, have been intensively studied. Historically, geometries for wavelength-selective of light absorption were developed based on metallic periodical structures, which were only applied in the case of TM wave incidence due to the excitation of surface plasmons. In this paper, we develop an alternative approach to selective wavelength of light absorption (both TE and TM waves), based on an optical board periodical embedded with optical black holes. Numerical work was carried out to study such structure's radiative properties within the wavelength range of 1-100 μm. The electromagnetic wave transmission through such a structure is predicted by solving Maxwell's equations using the finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method. Spectral absorptance varies with the period of optical black holes. When the incidence wavelength is much larger than the inner core radius, most of the light energy will be transmitted through the inner core. Otherwise, the energy will be mainly absorbed. Numerical results of the radiative properties of the optical board with different incidence wavelengths are also obtained. The effect of the oblique incidence wave is investigated. This study helps us gain a better understanding of the radiative properties of an optical board embedded with optical black holes and develop an alternative approach to selective light absorption.

A computational model for heterogeneous heating during pulsed laser irradiation of polymers doped with light-absorbing microparticles

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Marla, Deepak; Zhang, Yang; Jabbaribehnam, Mirmasoud

2016-01-01

characteristics. This work presents a study based on a computational model of laser heating of polymer doped with light-absorbing microparticles accounting for the heterogeneous nature of heating. The work aims at gaining a fundamental insight into the nature of the heating process and to understand the role......Doping of polymers with light-absorbing microparticles to increase their optical properties is a commonly used pre-treatment technique in laser processing of polymers. The presence of these particles plays an important role during laser heating of the polymer that influences its surface...... of microparticles. The results suggest that apart from the laser intensity and pulse duration, the properties of the microparticles including their size and distribution also play an important role during the laser heating of polymers....

TPX/TFTR Neutral Beam energy absorbers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dahlgren, F.; Wright, K.; Kamperschroer, J.; Grisham, L.; Lontai, L.; Peters, C.; VonHalle, A.

1993-01-01

The present beam energy absorbing surfaces on the TFTR Neutral Beams such as Ion Dumps, Calorimeters, beam defining apertures, and scrapers, are simple water cooled copper plates which wee designed to absorb (via their thermal inertia) the incident beam power for two seconds with a five minute coal down interval between pulses. These components are not capable of absorbing the anticipated beam power loading for 1000 second TPX pulses and will have to be replaced with an actively cooled design. While several actively cooled energy absorbing designs were considered,, the hypervapotron elements currently being used on the JET beamlines were chosen due to their lower cooling water demands and reliable performance on JET

Two-dimensional QR-coded metamaterial absorber

Science.gov (United States)

Sui, Sai; Ma, Hua; Wang, Jiafu; Pang, Yongqiang; Zhang, Jieqiu; Qu, Shaobo

2016-01-01

In this paper, the design of metamaterial absorbers is proposed based on QR coding and topology optimization. Such absorbers look like QR codes and can be recognized by decoding softwares as well as mobile phones. To verify the design, two lightweight wideband absorbers are designed, which can achieve wideband absorption above 90 % in 6.68-19.30 and 7.00-19.70 GHz, respectively. More importantly, polarization-independent absorption over 90 % can be maintained under incident angle within 55°. The QR code absorber not only can achieve wideband absorption, but also can carry information such as texts and Web sites. They are of important values in applications such identification and electromagnetic protection.

Nanographene-Based Saturable Absorbers for Ultrafast Fiber Lasers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hsin-Hui Kuo

2014-01-01

Full Text Available The generation of femtosecond pulse laser in the erbium-doped fiber laser system is presented by integrating of the nanographene-based saturable absorbers (SAs. A simplified method of dispersed nanographene-based SAs side-polished fiber device with controllable polished length and depth was also developed. The dependence of geometry of a graphene-deposited side-polished fiber device on optical nonlinear characteristics and on the performance of the MLFL was screened. We found that the 10 mm polished length with 1.68 dB insertion loss had the highest modulation depth (MD of 1.2%. A stable MLFL with graphene-based SAs employing the optimized side-polished fiber device showed a pulse width, a 3 dB bandwidth, a time-bandwidth product (TBP, a repetition rate, and pulse energy of 523 fs, 5.4 nm, 0.347, 16.7 MHz, and 0.18 nJ, respectively, at fundamental soliton-like operation. The femtosecond pulse laser is achieved by evanescent field coupling through graphene-deposited side-polished fiber devices in the laser cavity. This study demonstrates that the polished depth is the key fabrication geometric parameter affecting the overall optical performance and better results exist within the certain polished range.

Interfacial engineering of solution-processed Ni nanochain-SiO{sub x} (x < 2) cermets towards thermodynamically stable, anti-oxidation solar selective absorbers

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yu, Xiaobai; Wang, Xiaoxin; Liu, Jifeng, E-mail: Jifeng.Liu@dartmouth.edu [Thayer School of Engineering, Dartmouth College, 14 Engineering Drive, Hanover, New Hampshire 03755 (United States); Zhang, Qinglin [Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering, University of Kentucky, 177 F. Paul Anderson Tower, Lexington, Kentucky 40506 (United States)

2016-04-07

interfacial changes due to the localized surface plasmon resonances of the metal nanostructures. This phenomenon holds true for Ni nanoparticle diameter down to 40 nm in Ni-SiO{sub x} system, where the optical response remains stable for 53 h at 550 °C in air. The oxidation vs. time curve also shows saturation behavior deviating from the kinetic Deal-Grove oxidation model. These results strongly suggest a promising approach to thermodynamically stable, anti-oxidation Ni/SiO{sub x} cermet absorbers via interfacial engineering.

The micro-optic photovoltaic behavior of solar cell along with microlens curved glass substrate

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Xie, Jin; Wu, Keke; Cheng, Jian; Li, Ping; Zheng, Jiahua

2015-01-01

Highlights: • A microlens array may be micro-ground on curved photovoltaic glass substrate. • Its micro-optical structure absorbs and scatters the inclined light to solar cell. • It increases conversion efficiency and fill factor in weak and inclined lights. • It improves electricity generation by about 4 times in scattered cloudy daylight. • It produces stronger electricity generation in cloudy day than in sunny day. - Abstract: A hybrid of microlens structure and curved surface may produce high value-added micro-optic performance. Hence, the microlens array is proposed on macro curved glass substrate of thin film solar cell. The objective is to understand how the micro-optic behavior of microlens curved array influences indoor power conversion efficiency and outdoor electricity generation. First, the absorptivities of visible light and infrared light were analyzed in connection with the curved microlens sizes; then the microlens curved glass substrate was fabricated by a Computer Numerical Control (CNC) micro-grinding with micro diamond wheel V-tip; finally, its photovoltaic properties and electricity generation were measured, respectively. It is shown that the microlens curved surface may strongly absorb and scatter light to solar cell. It increases the absorptivity of visible light against plane surface, but it decreases the one of infrared light against microlens surface. When it is applied to solar cell, it enhances the power conversion efficiency by 3.4–10.6% under oblique illumination. When it is applied to solar device, it increases the electricity generation of daylight by 119–106% against microlens surface and by 260–419% against traditional plane surface, respectively. The surprising finding is that it produces much larger electricity generation during cloudy day than during sunny day, but traditional plane surface does not so

gamma-induced modification on optical band gap of CR-39 SSNTD

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zaki, M.F.

2010-01-01

effect of gamma irradiation on optical absorption of nuclear track detectors like CR-39 was studied at different absorbed doses using ultraviolet-visible (UV-VIS)spectroscopy. the existence of the peaks, their shifting and broadening as a result of gamma irradiation has been discussed. the width of the tail of localized states in the band gap (E u )was evaluated using the Urbach edge method. finally the indirect and direct band gap in pristine and gamma irradiated CR-39 have been determined. the values of indirect band gap have been found to be lower than the corresponding values of direct band gap. a decrease in the optical energy gap with increasing the gamma absorbed dose can be discussed on the basis of gamma-irradiation-induced defects in the CR-39. the correlation between optical band gap and the number of carbon atoms in a cluster with modified Tauc's equation has been discussed in case of CR-39.

Estimation of Absorbed Dose in Occlusal Radiography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yoo, Young Ah; Choi, Karp Shick; Lee, Sang Han

1990-01-01

The purpose of this study was to estimate absorbed dose of each important anatomic site of phantom (RT-210 Head and Neck Section R, Humanoid Systems Co., U.S.A.) head in occlusal radiography. X-radiation dosimetry at 12 anatomic sites in maxillary anterior topography, maxillary posterior topography, mandibular anterior cross-section, mandibular posterior cross-section, mandibular anterior topographic, mandibular posterior topographic occlusal projection was performed with calcium sulfate thermoluminescent dosimeters under 70 Kvp and 15 mA, 1/4 second (8 inch cone ) and 1 second (16 inch cone) exposure time. The results obtained were as follows: Skin surface produced highest absorbed dose ranged between 3264 mrad and 4073 mrad but there was little difference between projections. In maxillary anterior topographic occlusal radiography, eyeballs, maxillary sinuses, and pituitary gland sites produced higher absorbed doses than those of other sites. In maxillary posterior topographic occlusal radiography, exposed eyeball site and exposed maxillary sinus site produced high absorbed doses. In mandibular anterior cross-sectional occlusal radiography, all sites were produced relatively low absorbed dose except eyeball sites. In Mandibular posterior cross-sectional occlusal radiography, exposed eyeball site and exposed maxillary sinus site were produced relatively higher absorbed doses than other sites. In mandibular anterior topographic occlusal radiography, maxillary sinuses, submandibular glands, and thyroid gland sites produced high absorbed doses than other sites. In mandibular posterior topographic occlusal radiography, submandibular gland site of the exposed side produced high absorbed dose than other sites and eyeball site of the opposite side produced relatively high absorbed dose.

Effect of absorbing coating on ablation of diamond by IR laser pulses

Science.gov (United States)

Kononenko, T. V.; Pivovarov, P. A.; Khomich, A. A.; Khmel'nitskii, R. A.; Konov, V. I.

2018-03-01

We study the possibility of increasing the efficiency and quality of laser ablation microprocessing of diamond by preliminary forming an absorbing layer on its surface. The laser pulses having a duration of 1 ps and 10 ns at a wavelength of 1030 nm irradiate the polycrystalline diamond surface coated by a thin layer of titanium or graphite. We analyse the dynamics of the growth of the crater depth as a function of the number of pulses and the change in optical transmission of the ablated surface. It is found that under irradiation by picosecond pulses the preliminary graphitisation allows one to avoid the laser-induced damage of the internal diamond volume until the appearance of a self-maintained graphitised layer. The absorbing coating (both graphite and titanium) much stronger affects ablation by nanosecond pulses, since it reduces the ablation threshold by more than an order of magnitude and allows full elimination of a laser-induced damage of deep regions of diamond and uncontrolled explosive ablation in the nearsurface layer.

Optical and structural properties of CuSbS2 thin films grown by thermal evaporation method

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rabhi, A.; Kanzari, M.; Rezig, B.

2009-01-01

Structural, optical and electrical properties of CuSbS 2 thin films grown by thermal evaporation have been studied relating the effects of substrate heating conditions of these properties. The CuSbS 2 thin films were carried out at substrate temperatures in the temperature range 100-200 deg. C . The structure and composition were characterized by XRD, SEM and EDX. X-ray diffraction revealed that the films are (111) oriented upon substrate temperature 170 deg. C and amorphous for the substrate temperatures below 170 deg. C . No secondary phases are observed for all the films. The optical absorption coefficients and band gaps of the films were estimated by optical transmission and reflection measurements at room temperature. Strong absorption coefficients in the range 10 5 -10 6 cm -1 at 500 nm were found. The direct gaps Eg lie between 0.91-1.89 eV range. It is observed that there is a decrease in optical band gap Eg with increasing the substrate temperature. Resistivity of 0.03-0.96 Ω cm, in dependence on substrate temperature was characterized. The all unheated films exhibit p-type conductivity. The characteristics reported here also offer perspective for CuSbS 2 as an absorber material in solar cells applications

Photoelectron antibunching and absorber theory

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pegg, D.T.

1980-01-01

The recently detected photoelectron antibunching effect is considered to be evidence for the quantised electromagnetic field, i.e. for the existence of photons. Direct-action quantum absorber theory, on the other hand, has been developed on the basis that the quantised field is illusory, with quantisation being required only for atoms. In this paper it is shown that photoelectron antibunching is readily explicable in terms of absorber theory and in fact is directly attributable to the quantum nature of the emitting and detecting atoms alone. The physical nature of the reduction of the wavepacket associated with the detection process is briefly discussed in terms of absorber theory. (author)

Optical modeling of waveguide coupled TES detectors towards the SAFARI instrument for SPICA

Science.gov (United States)

Trappe, N.; Bracken, C.; Doherty, S.; Gao, J. R.; Glowacka, D.; Goldie, D.; Griffin, D.; Hijmering, R.; Jackson, B.; Khosropanah, P.; Mauskopf, P.; Morozov, D.; Murphy, A.; O'Sullivan, C.; Ridder, M.; Withington, S.

2012-09-01

The next generation of space missions targeting far-infrared wavelengths will require large-format arrays of extremely sensitive detectors. The development of Transition Edge Sensor (TES) array technology is being developed for future Far-Infrared (FIR) space applications such as the SAFARI instrument for SPICA where low-noise and high sensitivity is required to achieve ambitious science goals. In this paper we describe a modal analysis of multi-moded horn antennas feeding integrating cavities housing TES detectors with superconducting film absorbers. In high sensitivity TES detector technology the ability to control the electromagnetic and thermo-mechanical environment of the detector is critical. Simulating and understanding optical behaviour of such detectors at far IR wavelengths is difficult and requires development of existing analysis tools. The proposed modal approach offers a computationally efficient technique to describe the partial coherent response of the full pixel in terms of optical efficiency and power leakage between pixels. Initial wok carried out as part of an ESA technical research project on optical analysis is described and a prototype SAFARI pixel design is analyzed where the optical coupling between the incoming field and the pixel containing horn, cavity with an air gap, and thin absorber layer are all included in the model to allow a comprehensive optical characterization. The modal approach described is based on the mode matching technique where the horn and cavity are described in the traditional way while a technique to include the absorber was developed. Radiation leakage between pixels is also included making this a powerful analysis tool.

Microscopic theory of photon-correlation spectroscopy in strong-coupling semiconductors

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Schneebeli, Lukas

2009-11-27

While many quantum-optical phenomena are already well established in the atomic systems, like the photon antibunching, squeezing, Bose-Einstein condensation, teleportation, the quantum-optical investigations in semiconductors are still at their beginning. The fascinating results observed in the atomic systems inspire physicists to demonstrate similar quantum-optical effects also in the semiconductor systems. In contrast to quantum optics with dilute atomic gases, the semiconductors exhibit a complicated many-body problem which is dominated by the Coulomb interaction between the electrons and holes and by coupling with the semiconductor environment. This makes the experimental observation of similar quantum-optical effects in semiconductors demanding. However, there are already experiments which have verified nonclassical effects in semiconductors. In particular, experiments have demonstrated that semiconductor quantum dots (QDs) can exhibit the single-photon emission and generation of polarization-entangled photon pairs. In fact, both atom and QD systems, embedded within a microcavity, have become versatile platforms where one can perform systematic quantum-optics investigations as well as development work toward quantum-information applications. Another interesting field is the strong-coupling regime in which the light-matter coupling exceeds both the decoherence rate of the atom or QD and the cavity resulting in a reversible dynamics between light and matter excitations. In the strong-coupling regime, the Jaynes-Cummings ladder is predicted and shows a photon-number dependent splitting of the new dressed strong-coupling states which are the polariton states of the coupled light-matter system. Although the semiclassical effect of the vacuum Rabi splitting has already been observed in QDs, the verification of the quantum-mechanical Jaynes-Cummings splitting is still missing mainly due to the dephasing. Clearly, the observation of the Jaynes-Cummings ladder in QDs

Additive manufacturing of RF absorbers

Science.gov (United States)

Mills, Matthew S.

The ability of additive manufacturing techniques to fabricate integrated electromagnetic absorbers tuned for specific radio frequency bands within structural composites allows for unique combinations of mechanical and electromagnetic properties. These composites and films can be used for RF shielding of sensitive electromagnetic components through in-plane and out-of-plane RF absorption. Structural composites are a common building block of many commercial platforms. These platforms may be placed in situations in which there is a need for embedded RF absorbing properties along with structural properties. Instead of adding radar absorbing treatments to the external surface of existing structures, which adds increased size, weight and cost; it could prove to be advantageous to integrate the microwave absorbing properties directly into the composite during the fabrication process. In this thesis, a method based on additive manufacturing techniques of composites structures with prescribed electromagnetic loss, within the frequency range 1 to 26GHz, is presented. This method utilizes screen printing and nScrypt micro dispensing to pattern a carbon based ink onto low loss substrates. The materials chosen for this study will be presented, and the fabrication technique that these materials went through to create RF absorbing structures will be described. The calibration methods used, the modeling of the RF structures, and the applications in which this technology can be utilized will also be presented.

A POPULATION OF WEAK METAL-LINE ABSORBERS SURROUNDING THE MILKY WAY

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Richter, Philipp; Charlton, Jane C.; Fangano, Alessio P. M.; Bekhti, Nadya Ben; Masiero, Joseph R.

2009-01-01

We report on the detection of a population of weak metal-line absorbers in the halo or nearby intergalactic environment of the Milky Way. Using high-resolution ultraviolet absorption-line spectra of bright quasars (QSO) obtained with the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS), along six sight lines we have observed unsaturated, narrow absorption in O I and Si II, together with mildly saturated C II absorption at high radial velocities (|v LSR | = 100-320 km s -1 ). The measured O I column densities lie in the range N(O I) 14 cm -2 implying that these structures represent Lyman limit Systems and sub-Lyman limit System with H I column densities between 10 16 and 3 x 10 18 cm -2 , thus below the detection limits of current 21 cm all-sky surveys of high-velocity clouds (HVCs). The absorbers apparently are not directly associated with any of the large high column density HVC complexes, but rather represent isolated, partly neutral gas clumps embedded in a more tenuous, ionized gaseous medium situated in the halo or nearby intergalactic environment of the Galaxy. Photoionization modeling of the observed low ion ratios suggests typical hydrogen volume densities of n H > 0.02 cm -3 and characteristic thicknesses of a several parsec down to subparsec scales. For three absorbers, metallicities are constrained in the range of 0.1-1.0 solar, implying that these gaseous structures may have multiple origins inside and outside the Milky Way. Using supplementary optical absorption-line data, we find for two other absorbers Ca II/O I column-density ratios that correspond to solar Ca/O abundance ratios. This finding indicates that these clouds do not contain significant amounts of dust. This population of low column density gas clumps in the circumgalactic environment of the Milky Way is indicative of the various processes that contribute to the circulation of neutral gas in the extended halos of spiral galaxies. These processes include the accretion of gas from the

Optical properties of GaInNAsSb/GaAs/GaAs1-xNx (x ∼ 10%) saturable absorber quantum wells

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ben Bouzid, S.; Zaghdoudi, W.; Hamdouni, A.; Ben Sedrine, N.; Bousbih, F.; Harmand, J.C.; Chtourou, R.

2008-01-01

We study the effect of the GaAsN narrow QWs on the optical properties of the GaInNAsSb/GaAs QWs using photoluminescence spectroscopy. A drastic effect of the N-rich layers on the QW photoluminesecnec (PL) intensity was observed with a strong influence of the spacer thickness. In the PL spectra a broad band caused by excitonic transitions related with N-related clusters in GaAs barriers is found. Based on calculations from experimental data, we have identified the low QW peak energy to the E 1 -H 1 transition using the shear deformation potentials report Δp/p = 0.24

Applied photometry, radiometry, and measurements of optical losses

CERN Document Server

Bukshtab, Michael

2012-01-01

Applied Photometry, Radiometry, and Measurements of Optical Losses reviews and analyzes physical concepts of radiation transfer, providing quantitative foundation for the means of measurements of optical losses, which affect propagation and distribution of light waves in various media and in diverse optical systems and components. The comprehensive analysis of advanced methodologies for low-loss detection is outlined in comparison with the classic photometric and radiometric observations, having a broad range of techniques examined and summarized: from interferometric and calorimetric, resonator and polarization, phase-shift and ring-down decay, wavelength and frequency modulation to pulse separation and resonant, acousto-optic and emissive - subsequently compared to direct and balancing methods for studying free-space and polarization optics, fibers and waveguides. The material is focused on applying optical methods and procedures for evaluation of transparent, reflecting, scattering, absorbing, and aggregat...

Warm Absorber Diagnostics of AGN Dynamics

Science.gov (United States)

Kallman, Timothy

Warm absorbers and related phenomena are observable manifestations of outflows or winds from active galactic nuclei (AGN) that have great potential value. Understanding AGN outflows is important for explaining the mass budgets of the central accreting black hole, and also for understanding feedback and the apparent co-evolution of black holes and their host galaxies. In the X-ray band warm absorbers are observed as photoelectric absorption and resonance line scattering features in the 0.5-10 keV energy band; the UV band also shows resonance line absorption. Warm absorbers are common in low luminosity AGN and they have been extensively studied observationally. They may play an important role in AGN feedback, regulating the net accretion onto the black hole and providing mechanical energy to the surroundings. However, fundamental properties of the warm absorbers are not known: What is the mechanism which drives the outflow?; what is the gas density in the flow and the geometrical distribution of the outflow?; what is the explanation for the apparent relation between warm absorbers and the surprising quasi-relativistic 'ultrafast outflows' (UFOs)? We propose a focused set of model calculations that are aimed at synthesizing observable properties of warm absorber flows and associated quantities. These will be used to explore various scenarios for warm absorber dynamics in order to answer the questions in the previous paragraph. The guiding principle will be to examine as wide a range as possible of warm absorber driving mechanisms, geometry and other properties, but with as careful consideration as possible to physical consistency. We will build on our previous work, which was a systematic campaign for testing important class of scenarios for driving the outflows. We have developed a set of tools that are unique and well suited for dynamical calculations including radiation in this context. We also have state-of-the-art tools for generating synthetic spectra, which are

Preparation of super absorbent by irradiation polymerization

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hua Fengjun; Tan Chunhong; Qian Mengping

1995-01-01

A kind of absorbent is prepared by gamma-rays irradiated by reversed-phase suspension polymerization. Drying particles have 1400 (g/g) absorbency in de-ionic water. Effects of reactive conditions, e.g.: dose-rate, dose, monomer concentration, degree of monomer neutralization and crosslinking agents on absorbency in de-ionic water are discussed. The cause of absorbing de-ionic water by polymer is related to its network structure and ionic equilibrium in particle. Accordingly, a suit reactive condition is chosen for preparation of hydro gel spheres

Frequency Tuning of Vibration Absorber Using Topology Optimization

Science.gov (United States)

Harel, Swapnil Subhash

A tuned mass absorber is a system for reducing the amplitude in one oscillator by coupling it to a second oscillator. If tuned correctly, the maximum amplitude of the first oscillator in response to a periodic driver will be lowered, and much of the vibration will be 'transferred' to the second oscillator. The tuned vibration absorber (TVA) has been utilized for vibration control purposes in many sectors of Civil/Automotive/Aerospace Engineering for many decades since its inception. Time and again we come across a situation in which a vibratory system is required to run near resonance. In the past, approaches have been made to design such auxiliary spring mass tuned absorbers for the safety of the structures. This research focuses on the development and optimization of continuously tuned mass absorbers as a substitute to the discretely tuned mass absorbers (spring- mass system). After conducting the study of structural behavior, the boundary condition and frequency to which the absorber is to be tuned are determined. The Modal analysis approach is used to determine mode shapes and frequencies. The absorber is designed and optimized using the topology optimization tool, which simultaneously designs, optimizes and tunes the absorber to the desired frequency. The tuned, optimized absorber, after post processing, is attached to the target structure. The number of the absorbers are increased to amplify bandwidth and thereby upgrade the safety of structure for a wide range of frequency. The frequency response analysis is carried out using various combinations of structure and number of absorber cell.

COMPARISON OF ABSORBABLE EXTRA LONG TERM POLY HYDROXY BUTYRATE SUTURE VS NON ABSORBABLE (POLYPROPYLENE SUTURE FOR ABDOMINAL WALL CLOSURE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mallikarjun

2015-07-01

Full Text Available PURPOSE: The aim of study is to compare Continuous technique with non - absorbable sutures, Interrupted technique with non - absorbable sutures and Continuous technique with slowly absorbable sutures Focusing mainly on incidence of incisional hernias, burst abdomen, wound infections, chronic wound pain, suture sinus, stitch granuloma, time for rectus closure. METHODOLOGY : Study was conducted for a period of one year on 271 randomized patients with primary elective midline laparotomy in our hospital . patients are divided into group I includes 102 patients with continuous technique using non absorbable polypropylene, group II includes 91 patients with interrupted technique using non absorbable polypropylene and group III includes 78 patients with continuous slowly absorbable polyhydroxybutyrate. RESULTS: No significant difference observed in incidence of wound infections and burst abdomen in all the 3 groups but relatively higher incidence of wound infections in noted our hospital. Incidence of stich granuloma suture sinus and chronic wound pain is more with interrupted technique than continuous technique and are more with non - absor bable suture material. CONCLUSION: Incidence of incisional hernias, suture complications like suture sinus, stitch granuloma can be more effectively reduced with slowly absorbable continuous sutures.

The Influence of Polymerization Condition to Optical Properties of Poly-o-toludine Films for PH Sensor Application

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yanti Sabarinah

2006-04-01

Full Text Available Properties of poly-o-toludine film strongly bonded to non polar substrate was studied for application as optical pH sensor. Characterization of film in various pH value is carried out by recording absorbance curve using uv-visible spectrophotometer. All poly-o-toluidine film was then found to be applicable as optical pH sensor in the pH range of 2.0- 6.0. Further computational processing by means of curve fitting into logaritmic trend will allow expansion of measurement to the pH range of 2.0-8.0. Sensitivity of pH response was highest in poly-o-toluidine film fabricate at HCl 1.0 M and at 12 hours of dipping time. This paper also studied hysteresis effect in pH response. It was concluded that poly-o-toluidine salt exposed to basic pH will not be easily regenerated. For this reason, poly-o-toluidine film will only be suitable for single usage of pH measurement.

Shock absorber

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nemeth, J.D.

1981-01-01

A shock absorber for the support of piping and components in a nuclear power plant is described. It combines a high degree of stiffness under sudden shocks, e.g. seismic disturbances, with the ability to allow for thermal expansion without resistance when so required. (JIW)

21 CFR 880.5300 - Medical absorbent fiber.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 8 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Medical absorbent fiber. 880.5300 Section 880.5300 Food and Drugs FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES (CONTINUED... Devices § 880.5300 Medical absorbent fiber. (a) Identification. A medical absorbent fiber is a device...

Optical fibre dosemeter systems for clinical applications based on radioluminescence and optically stimulated luminescence from Al₂O₃:C

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Marckmann, C.J.; Andersen, C.E.; Aznar, M.C.

2006-01-01

Optical fibre dosemeter systems based on radioluminescence and optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) from carbon-doped aluminium oxide (Al2O3:C) crystals were developed for in vivo real-time dose rate and absorbed dose measurements in radiotherapy and mammography. A technique was also developed...... for making ultra-small dosemeter probes that can easily be placed inside patients in radiation treatment. These probes have shown excellent properties in both head and neck intensity-modulated radiation therapy treatment and in mammography. The dose-response of the OSL signal for the new optical fibre...

Ultrafast optical pump terahertz-probe spectroscopy of strongly correlated electron materials

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Averitt, R.D.; Taylor, Antoinette J.; Thorsmolle, V.K.; Jia, Quanxi; Lobad, A.I.; Trugman, S.A.

2001-01-01

We have used optical-pump far-infrared probe spectroscopy to probe the low energy electron dynamics of high temperature superconductors and colossal magnetoresistance manganites. For the superconductor YBa2Cu3O7, picosecond conductivity measurements probe the interplay between Cooper-pairs and quasiparticles. In optimally doped films, the recovery time for long-range phase-coherent pairing increases from ∼1.5 ps at 4K to ∼3.5 ps near Tc, consistent with the closing of the superconducting gap. For underdoped films, the measured recovery time is temperature independent (3.5 ps) in accordance with the presence of a pseudogap. Ultrafast picosecond measurements of optically induced changes in the absolute conductivity of La0:7M0:3MnO3 thin films (M = Ca, Sr) from 10K to ∼0.9Tc reveal a two-component relaxation. A fast, ∼2 ps, conductivity decrease arises from optically induced modification of the effective phonon temperature. The slower component, related to spin-lattice relaxation, has a lifetime that increases upon approaching Tc from below in accordance with an increasing spin specific heat. Our results indicate that for T<< Tc, the conductivity is determined by incoherent phonons while spin fluctuations dominate near Tc.

A portable optical human sweat sensor

Science.gov (United States)

Al-omari, Mahmoud; Liu, Gengchen; Mueller, Anja; Mock, Adam; Ghosh, Ruby N.; Smith, Kyle; Kaya, Tolga

2014-11-01

We describe the use of HNQ (2-hydroxy-1,4-naphthoquinone or Lawsone) as a potential sweat sensor material to detect the hydration levels of human beings. We have conducted optical measurements using both artificial and human sweat to validate our approach. We have determined that the dominant compound that affects HNQ absorbance in artificial sweat is sodium. The presence of lactate decreases the reactivity of HNQ while urea promotes more interactions of sodium and potassium ions with HNQ. The interactions between the hydroxyl group of HNQ and the artificial sweat components (salts, lactic acid, and urea) were investigated comprehensively. We have also proposed and developed a portable diode laser absorption sensor system that converts the absorbance at a particular wavelength range (at 455 ± 5 nm, where HNQ has an absorbance peak) into light intensity measurements via a photocell. The absorbance intensity values obtained from our portable sensor system agrees within 10.4% with measurements from a laboratory based ultraviolet-visible spectrometer. Findings of this research will provide significant information for researchers who are focusing on real-time, in-situ hydration level detection.

Patterning via optical-saturable transformations: A review and simple simulation model

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cantu, Precious; Menon, Rajesh, E-mail: cantu@eng.utah.edu [Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah 84112 (United States); Andrew, Trisha L. [Department of Chemistry, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin 53706 (United States)

2014-11-10

Most of the nanoscale fabrication in the semiconductor industry is based on patterning with scanning-electron beam lithography (SEBL). Although this approach is very versatile and has very high resolution, it is intrinsically a serial writing process, and therefore, relatively slow. Our group has been investigating alternative nano-fabrication techniques, adapted from ideas of saturating optical transitions such as those used in stimulated emission-depletion microscopy and related methods, and optical interference lithography. Linewidths and resolutions on the scale of a few tens of nanometers and below are highly desirable for various applications in nanotechnology. However, the spatial resolution of optical lithography is restricted by diffraction. In the past, we developed absorbance modulation to overcome this limit. This approach utilizes photochromic molecules that can be optically switched between two thermally stable states, one opaque and the other transparent. However, absorbance modulation is limited to surface (2-D) patterning. Here, we report on an alternative approach that exploits unique combinations of spectrally selective reversible and irreversible photochemical transitions to achieve deep subwavelength resolution with potential extension to 3-dimensions. This approach, which we refer to as patterning via optical-saturable transformations have the potential for massive parallelism, enabling the creation of nanostructures and devices at a speed far surpassing what is possible with SEBL. The aim of our research is to translate the success in circumventing Abbe's diffraction limit in optical microscopy to optical lithography.

Patterning via optical-saturable transformations: A review and simple simulation model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cantu, Precious; Menon, Rajesh; Andrew, Trisha L.

2014-01-01

Most of the nanoscale fabrication in the semiconductor industry is based on patterning with scanning-electron beam lithography (SEBL). Although this approach is very versatile and has very high resolution, it is intrinsically a serial writing process, and therefore, relatively slow. Our group has been investigating alternative nano-fabrication techniques, adapted from ideas of saturating optical transitions such as those used in stimulated emission-depletion microscopy and related methods, and optical interference lithography. Linewidths and resolutions on the scale of a few tens of nanometers and below are highly desirable for various applications in nanotechnology. However, the spatial resolution of optical lithography is restricted by diffraction. In the past, we developed absorbance modulation to overcome this limit. This approach utilizes photochromic molecules that can be optically switched between two thermally stable states, one opaque and the other transparent. However, absorbance modulation is limited to surface (2-D) patterning. Here, we report on an alternative approach that exploits unique combinations of spectrally selective reversible and irreversible photochemical transitions to achieve deep subwavelength resolution with potential extension to 3-dimensions. This approach, which we refer to as patterning via optical-saturable transformations have the potential for massive parallelism, enabling the creation of nanostructures and devices at a speed far surpassing what is possible with SEBL. The aim of our research is to translate the success in circumventing Abbe's diffraction limit in optical microscopy to optical lithography

Neutron physical investigations on the shutdown effect of small boronated absorbing spheres for pebble-bed high-temperature gas-cooled reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sgouridis, S.; Schurrer, F.; Muller, H.; Ninaus, W.; Oswald, K.; Neef, R.D.; Schaal, H.

1987-01-01

An emergency shutdown system for high-temperature gas-cooled pebble-bed reactors is proposed in addition to the common absorber rod shutdown system. This system is based on the strongly absorbing effect of small boronated graphite spheres (called KLAK), which trickle in case of emergency by gravity from the top reflector into the reactor core. The inner reflector of the Siemens-Argonaut reactor was substituted by an assembly of spherical Arbeitsgemeinschaft Versuchsreaktor fuel elements, and the shutdown effect was examined by installing well-defined KLAK nests inside this assembly. The purpose was to develop and prove a calculational procedure for determining criticality values for assemblies of large fuel spheres and small absorbing spheres

Polymer optical fiber with Rhodamine doped cladding for fiber light systems

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Narro-García, R., E-mail: roberto.narro@gmail.com [Centro de Física Aplicada y Tecnología Avanzada, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Boulevard Juriquilla 3001, Querétaro 76230 (Mexico); Quintero-Torres, R. [Centro de Física Aplicada y Tecnología Avanzada, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Boulevard Juriquilla 3001, Querétaro 76230 (Mexico); Domínguez-Juárez, J.L. [Centro de Física Aplicada y Tecnología Avanzada, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Boulevard Juriquilla 3001, Querétaro 76230 (Mexico); Cátedras CONACyT, Centro de Física Aplicada y Tecnología Avanzada, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Boulevard Juriquilla 3001, Querétaro 76230 (Mexico); Ocampo, M.A. [Centro de Física Aplicada y Tecnología Avanzada, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Boulevard Juriquilla 3001, Querétaro 76230 (Mexico)

2016-01-15

Both preform and polymer optical fiber with a Poly(methyl methacrylate) core and THV–Rhodamine 6G cladding were characterized. UV–vis absorbance, photoluminescence spectra and lifetime of the preform were measured. Axial and lateral photoluminescence spectra of the polymer optical fiber were studied under 404 nm excitation in order to study the illumination performance of the fiber. It was observed that the peak wavelength from the fiber photoluminescence spectra is higher than the peak wavelength from the fiber preform and that the peak wavelength from the fiber photoluminescence spectra is red shifted with the fiber length in the case of axial emission. The obtained results suggest the influence of self-absorption on the photoluminescence shape. Strong lateral emission along the fiber was observed with the naked eyes in all the cases. The lateral photoluminescence spectra show that the lateral emission is a combination between the pump laser and the Rh6G molecule photoluminescence. The results suggest that this polymer optical fiber could be a potential candidate for the development of fiber lighting systems. - Highlights: • Axial and lateral emission along the fiber was studied. • Self-absorption effect was confirmed in the case of axial photoluminescence. • The lateral emission is a combination between the laser and the RhG6 emission. • This fiber could be a potential candidate for the development of lighting systems.

Cyclotron resonance cooling by strong laser field

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tagcuhi, Toshihiro; Mima, Kunioka

1995-01-01

Reduction of energy spread of electron beam is very important to increase a total output radiation power in free electron lasers. Although several cooling systems of particle beams such as a stochastic cooling are successfully operated in the accelerator physics, these cooling mechanisms are very slow and they are only applicable to high energy charged particle beams of ring accelerators. We propose here a new concept of laser cooling system by means of cyclotron resonance. Electrons being in cyclotron motion under a strong magnetic field can resonate with circular polarized electromagnetic field, and the resonance take place selectively depending on the velocity of the electrons. If cyclotron frequency of electrons is equal to the frequency of the electromagnetic field, they absorb the electromagnetic field energy strongly, but the other electrons remain unchanged. The absorbed energy will be converted to transverse kinetic energy, and the energy will be dumped into the radiation energy through bremastrahlung. To build a cooling system, we must use two laser beams, where one of them is counter-propagating and the other is co-propagating with electron beam. When the frequency of the counter-propagating laser is tuned with the cyclotron frequency of fast electrons and the co-propagating laser is tuned with the cyclotron frequency of slow electrons, the energy of two groups will approach and the cooling will be achieved. We solve relativistic motions of electrons with relativistic radiation dumping force, and estimate the cooling rate of this mechanism. We will report optimum parameters for the electron beam cooling system for free electron lasers

Fundamentals and techniques of nonimaging optics for solar-energy concentration

Science.gov (United States)

Winston, R.; Ogallagher, J. J.

1981-10-01

The development of the theoretical formulation of nonimaging optical principles and the investigation of practical questions having to do with the implementation of newly developed designs for solar and other applications are discussed. Forms of ideal concentrators known at present as shapes which do not disturb the lines of flow of a vector field defining the so called vector lux J are discussed. A search for a differential equation (other than div J = 0) was unsuccessful in the geometrical optics framework. However, an extension to the physical optics domain based on new theories of radiometry in partially coherent light was initiated and appears more promising. Linear concentrator designs to reduce gap losses for tubular absorbers were analyzed in detail. Fresnel lenses and less conventional diffractive components (i.e. holograms) were studied. A ray trace optimization of two second stage concentrators was carried out. Experimental measurements and ray trace studies of the response of an actual concentrator shape and absorber configuration for a fabricated prototype shows that deviation from ideal behavior can be accurately modeled.

An ultra-broadband multilayered graphene absorber

KAUST Repository

Amin, Muhammad; Farhat, Mohamed; Bagci, Hakan

2013-01-01

An ultra-broadband multilayered graphene absorber operating at terahertz (THz) frequencies is proposed. The absorber design makes use of three mechanisms: (i) The graphene layers are asymmetrically patterned to support higher order surface plasmon

High-efficiency ventilated metamaterial absorber at low frequency

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Xiaoxiao; Au-Yeung, Ka Yan; Li, Xin; Roberts, Robert Christopher; Tian, Jingxuan; Hu, Chuandeng; Huang, Yingzhou; Wang, Shuxia; Yang, Zhiyu; Wen, Weijia

2018-03-01

We demonstrate a ventilated metamaterial absorber operating at low frequency (90%) has been achieved in both simulations and experiments. This high-efficiency absorption under the ventilation condition originates from the weak coupling of two identical split tube resonators constituting the absorber, which leads to the hybridization of the degenerate eigenmodes and breaks the absorption upper limit of 50% for conventional transmissive symmetric acoustic absorbers. The absorber can also be extended to an array and work in free space. The absorber should have potential applications in acoustic engineering where both noise reduction and ventilation are required.

Post Deposition Annealing Effects on Optical, Electrical and Morphological Studies of ZnTTBPc Thin Films

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

B. R. Rejitha

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Phthalocyanines (Pcs act as efficient absorbants of photons in the visible region, specifically between 600 and 700 nm. It will produce an excited triplet state. In this paper we report the annealing effects of optical, electrical and surface morphological properties of thermal evaporated Zinc-tetra-tert-butyl-29H, 31H phthalocyanine (ZnTTBPc thin films. The optical transmittance measurements were done in the visible region (400-800 nm and, films were found to be absorbing in nature. From spectral data the absorption coefficient α, dielectric constant ε and the extinction coefficient k were evaluated and, results discussed. Also the optical band gap of the material was estimated. The activation energies were measured. Scanning electron microscopic studies was carried out to determine surface uniformity of films.

Thermal Shielding Effects of a Damaged Shock Absorber and an Intact Shock Absorber

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bang, K. S.; Lee, J. C.; Kim, K. Y.; Seo, C. S.; Seo, K. S. [Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

2011-05-15

In order to safely transport the radioactive waste arising from the hot test of an ACP(Advanced Spent Fuel Conditioning Process) a shipping package is required. Therefore, KAERI is developing a shipping package to transport the radioactive waste arising from the ACPF during a hot test. The regulatory requirements for a Type B package are specified in the Korea Most Act 2009-37, IAEA Safety Standard Series No. TS-R-1, and US 10 CFR Part. These regulatory guidelines classify the hot cell cask as a Type B package, and state that the Type B package for transporting radioactive materials should be able to withstand a test sequence consisting of a 9 m drop onto an unyielding surface, a 1 m drop onto a puncture bar, and a 30 minute fully engulfing fire. Greiner et al. investigated the thermal protection provided by shock absorbers by using the CAFE computer code. To evaluate the thermal shielding effect of the shock absorber, the thermal test was performed by using a 1/2 scale model with a shock absorber which was damaged by both a 9 m drop test and a 1 m puncture test. For the purpose of comparison, the thermal test was also carried out by using a 1/2 scale model with the intact shock absorber

Unraveling the size-dependent optical properties of dissolved organic matter

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Wünsch, Urban; Stedmon, Colin; Tranvik, Lars

2018-01-01

The size-dependent optical properties of dissolved organic matter (DOM) from four Swedish lakes were investigated using High Performance Size Exclusion Chromatography (HPSEC) in conjunction with online characterization of absorbance (240–600 nm) and fluorescence (excitation: 275 nm, emission: 300....... This study demonstrates the potential for HPSEC and novel mathematical approaches to provide unprecedented insights into the relationship between optical and chemical properties of DOM in aquatic systems...

On (m, n)-absorbing ideals of commutative rings

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

with respect to various ring theoretic constructions and study (m, n)-absorbing ideals in several commutative rings. For example, in a Bézout ring or a Boolean ring, an ideal is an (m, n)-absorbing ideal if and only if it is an n-absorbing ideal, and in an almost. Dedekind domain every (m, n)-absorbing ideal is a product of at ...

Calorimetric measurement of strong γ emitting sources

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brangier, B.; Herczeg, C.; Henry, R.

1968-01-01

This publication gives the principle and a description of an adiabatic calorimeter for measuring the real activity of strong gamma-emitting sources by absorbing the emitted energy in a mass of copper. Because of the difficulty of evaluating the amount self- absorption, we have built a calorimeter for measuring the self- absorption, and a description of it is given.The results of these three measurements are fairly satisfactory. The calibration and the actual measurements obtained are given with a few corrections made necessary by the design of the apparatus. The correlation of the various results is discussed. (author) [fr

Design of a nonlinear torsional vibration absorber

Science.gov (United States)

Tahir, Ammaar Bin

Tuned mass dampers (TMD) utilizing linear spring mechanisms to mitigate destructive vibrations are commonly used in practice. A TMD is usually tuned for a specific resonant frequency or an operating frequency of a system. Recently, nonlinear vibration absorbers attracted attention of researchers due to some potential advantages they possess over the TMDs. The nonlinear vibration absorber, or the nonlinear energy sink (NES), has an advantage of being effective over a broad range of excitation frequencies, which makes it more suitable for systems with several resonant frequencies, or for a system with varying excitation frequency. Vibration dissipation mechanism in an NES is passive and ensures that there is no energy backflow to the primary system. In this study, an experimental setup of a rotational system has been designed for validation of the concept of nonlinear torsional vibration absorber with geometrically induced cubic stiffness nonlinearity. Dimensions of the primary system have been optimized so as to get the first natural frequency of the system to be fairly low. This was done in order to excite the dynamic system for torsional vibration response by the available motor. Experiments have been performed to obtain the modal parameters of the system. Based on the obtained modal parameters, the design optimization of the nonlinear torsional vibration absorber was carried out using an equivalent 2-DOF modal model. The optimality criterion was chosen to be maximization of energy dissipation in the nonlinear absorber attached to the equivalent 2-DOF system. The optimized design parameters of the nonlinear absorber were tested on the original 5-DOF system numerically. A comparison was made between the performance of linear and nonlinear absorbers using the numerical models. The comparison showed the superiority of the nonlinear absorber over its linear counterpart for the given set of primary system parameters as the vibration energy dissipation in the former is

Fabrication of an Absorber-Coupled MKID Detector and Readout for Sub-Millimeter and Far-Infrared Astronomy

Science.gov (United States)

Brown, Ari-David; Hsieh, Wen-Ting; Moseley, S. Harvey; Stevenson, Thomas R.; U-yen, Kongpop; Wollack, Edward J.

2010-01-01

We have fabricated absorber-coupled microwave kinetic inductance detector (MKID) arrays for sub-millimeter and farinfrared astronomy. Each detector array is comprised of lambda/2 stepped impedance resonators, a 1.5µm thick silicon membrane, and 380µm thick silicon walls. The resonators consist of parallel plate aluminum transmission lines coupled to low impedance Nb microstrip traces of variable length, which set the resonant frequency of each resonator. This allows for multiplexed microwave readout and, consequently, good spatial discrimination between pixels in the array. The Al transmission lines simultaneously act to absorb optical power and are designed to have a surface impedance and filling fraction so as to match the impedance of free space. Our novel fabrication techniques demonstrate high fabrication yield of MKID arrays on large single crystal membranes and sub-micron front-to-back alignment of the microstrip circuit.

Porous CNTs/Co Composite Derived from Zeolitic Imidazolate Framework: A Lightweight, Ultrathin, and Highly Efficient Electromagnetic Wave Absorber.

Science.gov (United States)

Yin, Yichao; Liu, Xiaofang; Wei, Xiaojun; Yu, Ronghai; Shui, Jianglan

2016-12-21

Porous carbon nanotubes/cobalt nanoparticles (CNTs/Co) composite with dodecahedron morphology was synthesized by in situ pyrolysis of the Co-based zeolitic imidazolate framework in a reducing atmosphere. The morphology and microstructure of the composite can be well tuned by controlling the pyrolysis conditions. At lower pyrolysis temperature, the CNTs/Co composite is composed of well-dispersed Co nanoparticles and short CNT clusters with low graphitic degree. The increase of pyrolysis temperature/time promotes the growth and graphitization of CNTs and leads to the aggregation of Co nanoparticles. The optimized CNTs/Co composite exhibits strong dielectric and magnetic losses as well as a good impedance matching property. Interestingly, the CNTs/Co composite displays extremely strong electromagnetic wave absorption with a maximum reflection loss of -60.4 dB. More importantly, the matching thickness of the absorber is as thin as 1.81 mm, and the filler loading of composite in the matrix is only 20 wt %. The highly efficient absorption is closely related to the well-designed structure and the synergistic effect between CNTs and Co nanoparticles. The excellent absorbing performance together with lightweight and ultrathin thickness endows the CNTs/Co composite with the potential for application in the electromagnetic wave absorbing field.

Performance evaluation of CFRP-rubber shock absorbers

Science.gov (United States)

Lamanna, Giuseppe; Sepe, Raffaele

2014-05-01

In the present work a numerical investigation on the energy absorbing capability of dedicated structural components made of a carbon fiber reinforced polymer and an emulsion polymerised styrene butadiene rubber is reported. The shock absorbers are devices designed to absorb large amounts of energy by sacrificing their own structural integrity. Their aim is to cushion the effects of an impact phenomenon with the intent to preserve other structures from global failure or local damaging. Another important role of shock absorbers is reducing the peak of the acceleration showed during an impact phenomenon. This effect is of considerable interest in the case of vehicles to preserve passengers' safety. Static and dynamic numerical results are compared with experimental ones in terms of mean crushing forces, energy and peak crushing. The global performance of the absorbers has been evaluated by referencing to a proposed quality index.

Performance evaluation of CFRP-rubber shock absorbers

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lamanna, Giuseppe, E-mail: giuseppe.lamanna@unina2.it; Sepe, Raffaele, E-mail: giuseppe.lamanna@unina2.it [Department of Industrial and Information Engineering, Second University of Naples, via Roma, 29 - 81031 Aversa (Italy)

2014-05-15

In the present work a numerical investigation on the energy absorbing capability of dedicated structural components made of a carbon fiber reinforced polymer and an emulsion polymerised styrene butadiene rubber is reported. The shock absorbers are devices designed to absorb large amounts of energy by sacrificing their own structural integrity. Their aim is to cushion the effects of an impact phenomenon with the intent to preserve other structures from global failure or local damaging. Another important role of shock absorbers is reducing the peak of the acceleration showed during an impact phenomenon. This effect is of considerable interest in the case of vehicles to preserve passengers’ safety. Static and dynamic numerical results are compared with experimental ones in terms of mean crushing forces, energy and peak crushing. The global performance of the absorbers has been evaluated by referencing to a proposed quality index.

Burnable absorber coated nuclear fuel

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chubb, W.; Radford, K.C.; Parks, B.H.

1984-01-01

A nuclear fuel body which is at least partially covered by a burnable neutron absorber layer is provided with a hydrophobic overcoat generally covering the burnable absorber layer and bonded directly to it. In a method for providing a UO 2 fuel pellet with a zirconium diboride burnable poison layer, the fuel body is provided with an intermediate niobium layer. (author)

Precision test method by x-ray absorbent clay

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nakadai, Toru; Matsukawa, Hideyuki; Sekita, Jun-ichiro; Murakoshi, Atsushi.

1982-01-01

In X-ray penetration photography of such as welds with reinforcing metal and castings of complex shape, the X-ray absorbent clay developed to eliminate various disadvantages of the conventional absorbents was further studied for better application. The results of the usage are as follows. Because the X-ray absorbent is clay, it is flexible in form, and gives good adhesion to test objects. In the welds and castings mentioned, it is effective for reducing the scattered ray, accordingly, it results in superior images. The following matters are described: contrast in radiographs, the required conditions for X-ray absorbents in general, the properties of the absorbent (absorption coefficient, consistency, density), improvement in radiographs by means of the X-ray absorbent clay (wall thickness compensation, masking, the application together with narrow-field irradiation photography). (Mori, K.)

Characterization of Ge-doped optical fibres for MV radiotherapy dosimetry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Noor, Noramaliza M.; Hussein, M.; Kadni, T.; Bradley, D.A.; Nisbet, A.

2014-01-01

Ge-doped optical fibres offer promising thermoluminescence (TL) properties together with small physical size and modest cost. Their use as dosimeters for postal radiotherapy dose audits of megavoltage photon beams has been investigated. Key dosimetric characteristics including reproducibility, linearity, dose rate, temperature and angular dependence have been established. A methodology of measuring absorbed dose under reference conditions was developed. The Ge-doped optical fibres offer linearity between TL yield and dose, with a reproducibility of better than 5%, following repeated measurements (n=5) for doses from 5 cGy to 1000 cGy. The fibres also offer dose rate, angular and temperature independence, while an energy-dependent response of 7% was found over the energy range 6 MV to 15 MV (TPR 20,10 of 0.660, 0.723 and 0.774 for 6, 10 and 15 MV respectively). The audit methodology has been developed with an expanded uncertainty of 4.22% at 95% confidence interval for the photon beams studied. - Highlights: • We investigate dosimetric characteristics of commercial Ge-doped optical fibres. • We develop audit methodology for measuring absorbed dose under reference conditions. • Ge-doped optical fibres offer promising thermoluminescence (TL) properties. • Audit methodology has been developed with an expanded uncertainty of 4.22%