Sample records for optically thin regime

  1. Multiscale solutions of radiative heat transfer by the discrete unified gas kinetic scheme

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Luo, Xiao-Ping; Wang, Cun-Hai; Zhang, Yong; Yi, Hong-Liang; Tan, He-Ping

    2018-06-01

    The radiative transfer equation (RTE) has two asymptotic regimes characterized by the optical thickness, namely, optically thin and optically thick regimes. In the optically thin regime, a ballistic or kinetic transport is dominant. In the optically thick regime, energy transport is totally dominated by multiple collisions between photons; that is, the photons propagate by means of diffusion. To obtain convergent solutions to the RTE, conventional numerical schemes have a strong dependence on the number of spatial grids, which leads to a serious computational inefficiency in the regime where the diffusion is predominant. In this work, a discrete unified gas kinetic scheme (DUGKS) is developed to predict radiative heat transfer in participating media. Numerical performances of the DUGKS are compared in detail with conventional methods through three cases including one-dimensional transient radiative heat transfer, two-dimensional steady radiative heat transfer, and three-dimensional multiscale radiative heat transfer. Due to the asymptotic preserving property, the present method with relatively coarse grids gives accurate and reliable numerical solutions for large, small, and in-between values of optical thickness, and, especially in the optically thick regime, the DUGKS demonstrates a pronounced computational efficiency advantage over the conventional numerical models. In addition, the DUGKS has a promising potential in the study of multiscale radiative heat transfer inside the participating medium with a transition from optically thin to optically thick regimes.

  2. An asymptotic preserving unified gas kinetic scheme for gray radiative transfer equations

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Sun, Wenjun, E-mail: sun_wenjun@iapcm.ac.cn; Jiang, Song, E-mail: jiang@iapcm.ac.cn; Xu, Kun, E-mail: makxu@ust.hk

    The solutions of radiative transport equations can cover both optical thin and optical thick regimes due to the large variation of photon's mean-free path and its interaction with the material. In the small mean free path limit, the nonlinear time-dependent radiative transfer equations can converge to an equilibrium diffusion equation due to the intensive interaction between radiation and material. In the optical thin limit, the photon free transport mechanism will emerge. In this paper, we are going to develop an accurate and robust asymptotic preserving unified gas kinetic scheme (AP-UGKS) for the gray radiative transfer equations, where the radiation transportmore » equation is coupled with the material thermal energy equation. The current work is based on the UGKS framework for the rarefied gas dynamics [14], and is an extension of a recent work [12] from a one-dimensional linear radiation transport equation to a nonlinear two-dimensional gray radiative system. The newly developed scheme has the asymptotic preserving (AP) property in the optically thick regime in the capturing of diffusive solution without using a cell size being smaller than the photon's mean free path and time step being less than the photon collision time. Besides the diffusion limit, the scheme can capture the exact solution in the optical thin regime as well. The current scheme is a finite volume method. Due to the direct modeling for the time evolution solution of the interface radiative intensity, a smooth transition of the transport physics from optical thin to optical thick can be accurately recovered. Many numerical examples are included to validate the current approach.« less

  3. Propagation in Striated Media

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1976-05-01

    random walk photon scattering, geometric optics refraction at a thin phase screen, plane wave scattering from a thin screen in the Fraunhofer limit and...significant cases. In the geometric optics regime the distribution of density of allowable multipath rays is gsslanly distributed and the power...3.1 Random Walk Approach to Scattering 10 3.2 Phase Screen Approximation to Strong Scattering 13 3.3 Ray Optics and Stationary Phase Analysis 21 3,3,1

  4. Optical filters for linearly polarized light using sculptured nematic thin flim of TiO2

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Muhammad, Zahir; Wali, Faiz; Rehman, Zia ur

    2018-05-01

    A study of optical filters using sculptured nematic thin films is presented in this article. A central 90◦ twist-defect between two sculptured nematic thin films (SNTFs) sections transmit light of same polarization state and reflect other in the spectral Bragg regime. The SNTFs reflect light of both linearly polarized states in the Bragg regime if the amplitude of modulation of vapor incident angle is increased. A twist-defect in a tilt-modulated sculptured nematic thin films as a result produces bandpass or ultra-narrow bandpass filter depending upon the thickness of the SNTFs. However, both the bandpass or/and ultra-narrow bandpass filters can make polarization-insensitive Bragg mirrors by the appropriate modulation of the tilted 2D nanostructures of a given sculptured nematic thin films. Moreover, it is also observed that the sculptured nematic thin films are very tolerant of the structural defects if the amplitude of modulating vapor incident angle of the structural nano-materials is sufficiently large. Similarly, we observed the affect of incident angles on Bragg filters.

  5. Growth of pure ZnO thin films prepared by chemical spray pyrolysis on silicon

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ayouchi, R.; Martin, F.; Leinen, D.; Ramos-Barrado, J. R.

    2003-01-01

    Structural, morphological, optical and electrical properties of ZnO thin films prepared by chemical spray pyrolysis from zinc acetate (Zn(CH 3COO) 2 2H 2O) aqueous solutions, on polished Si(1 0 0), and fused silica substrates for optical characterization, have been studied in terms of deposition time and substrate temperature. The growth of the films present three regimes depending on the substrate temperature, with increasing, constant and decreasing growth rates at lower, middle, and higher-temperature ranges, respectively. Growth rate higher than 15 nm min -1 can be achieved at Ts=543 K. ZnO film morphological and electrical properties have been related to these growth regimes. The films have been characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy.

  6. Measurements of the intrinsic quantum efficiency and absorption length of tetraphenyl butadiene thin films in the vacuum ultraviolet regime

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Benson, Christopher; Gann, Gabriel Orebi; Gehman, Victor

    2018-04-01

    A key enabling technology for many liquid noble gas (LNG) detectors is the use of the common wavelength shifting medium tetraphenyl butadiene (TPB). TPB thin films are used to shift ultraviolet scintillation light into the visible spectrum for detection and event reconstruction. Understanding the wavelength shifting efficiency and optical properties of these films are critical aspects in detector performance and modeling and hence in the ultimate physics sensitivity of such experiments. This article presents the first measurements of the room-temperature microphysical quantum efficiency for vacuum-deposited TPB thin films - a result that is independent of the optics of the TPB or substrate. Also presented are measurements of the absorption length in the vacuum ultraviolet regime, the secondary re-emission efficiency, and more precise results for the "black-box" efficiency across a broader spectrum of wavelengths than previous results. The low-wavelength sensitivity, in particular, would allow construction of LNG scintillator detectors with lighter elements (Ne, He) to target light mass WIMPs.

  7. Carrier-envelope-offset phase control of ultrafast optical rectification in resonantly excited semiconductors.

    PubMed

    Van Vlack, C; Hughes, S

    2007-04-20

    Ultrashort pulse light-matter interactions in a semiconductor are investigated within the regime of resonant optical rectification. Using pulse envelope areas of around 1.5-3.5 pi, a single-shot dependence on carrier-envelope-offset phase (CEP) is demonstrated for 5 fs pulse durations. A characteristic phase map is predicted for several different frequency regimes using parameters for thin-film GaAs. We subsequently suggest a possible technique to extract the CEP, in both sign and amplitude, using a solid state detector.

  8. An Analytical Model for the Evolution of the Protoplanetary Disks

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Khajenabi, Fazeleh; Kazrani, Kimia; Shadmehri, Mohsen, E-mail: f.khajenabi@gu.ac.ir

    We obtain a new set of analytical solutions for the evolution of a self-gravitating accretion disk by holding the Toomre parameter close to its threshold and obtaining the stress parameter from the cooling rate. In agreement with the previous numerical solutions, furthermore, the accretion rate is assumed to be independent of the disk radius. Extreme situations where the entire disk is either optically thick or optically thin are studied independently, and the obtained solutions can be used for exploring the early or the final phases of a protoplanetary disk evolution. Our solutions exhibit decay of the accretion rate as amore » power-law function of the age of the system, with exponents −0.75 and −1.04 for optically thick and thin cases, respectively. Our calculations permit us to explore the evolution of the snow line analytically. The location of the snow line in the optically thick regime evolves as a power-law function of time with the exponent −0.16; however, when the disk is optically thin, the location of the snow line as a function of time with the exponent −0.7 has a stronger dependence on time. This means that in an optically thin disk inward migration of the snow line is faster than an optically thick disk.« less

  9. Linking Precursor Alterations to Nanoscale Structure and Optical Transparency in Polymer Assisted Fast-Rate Dip-Coating of Vanadium Oxide Thin Films

    PubMed Central

    Glynn, Colm; Creedon, Donal; Geaney, Hugh; Armstrong, Eileen; Collins, Timothy; Morris, Michael A.; Dwyer, Colm O’

    2015-01-01

    Solution processed metal oxide thin films are important for modern optoelectronic devices ranging from thin film transistors to photovoltaics and for functional optical coatings. Solution processed techniques such as dip-coating, allow thin films to be rapidly deposited over a large range of surfaces including curved, flexible or plastic substrates without extensive processing of comparative vapour or physical deposition methods. To increase the effectiveness and versatility of dip-coated thin films, alterations to commonly used precursors can be made that facilitate controlled thin film deposition. The effects of polymer assisted deposition and changes in solvent-alkoxide dilution on the morphology, structure, optoelectronic properties and crystallinity of vanadium pentoxide thin films was studied using a dip-coating method using a substrate withdrawal speed within the fast-rate draining regime. The formation of sub-100 nm thin films could be achieved rapidly from dilute alkoxide based precursor solutions with high optical transmission in the visible, linked to the phase and film structure. The effects of the polymer addition was shown to change the crystallized vanadium pentoxide thin films from a granular surface structure to a polycrystalline structure composed of a high density of smaller in-plane grains, resulting in a uniform surface morphology with lower thickness and roughness. PMID:26123117

  10. Generation of metallic plasmon nanostructures in a thin transparent photosensitive copper oxide film by femtosecond thermochemical decomposition

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Danilov, P. A.; Zayarny, D. A.; Ionin, A. A.; Kudryashov, S. I.; Litovko, E. P.; Mel'nik, N. N.; Rudenko, A. A.; Saraeva, I. N.; Umanskaya, S. P.; Khmelnitskii, R. A.

    2017-09-01

    Irradiation of optically transparent copper (I) oxide film covering a glass substrate with a tightly focused femtosecond laser pulses in the pre-ablation regime leads to film reduction to a metallic colloidal state via a single-photon absorption and its subsequent thermochemical decomposition. This effect was demonstrated by the corresponding measurement of the extinction spectrum in visible spectral range. The laser-induced formation of metallic copper nanoparticles in the focal region inside the bulk oxide film allows direct recording of individual thin-film plasmon nanostructures and optical-range metasurfaces.

  11. Nonlinear optics of astaxanthin thin films

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Esser, A.; Fisch, Herbert; Haas, Karl-Heinz; Haedicke, E.; Paust, J.; Schrof, Wolfgang; Ticktin, Anton

    1993-02-01

    Carotinoids exhibit large nonlinear optical properties due to their extended (pi) -electron system. Compared to other polyenes which show a broad distribution of conjugation lengths, carotinoids exhibit a well defined molecular structure, i.e. a well defined conjugation length. Therefore the carotinoid molecules can serve as model compounds to study the relationship between structure and nonlinear optical properties. In this paper the synthesis of four astaxanthins with C-numbers ranging from 30 to 60, their preparation into thin films, wavelength dispersive Third Harmonic Generation (THG) measurements and some molecular modelling calculations will be presented. Resonant (chi) (3) values reach 1.2(DOT)10-10 esu for C60 astaxanthin. In the nonresonant regime a figure of merit (chi) (3)/(alpha) of several 10-13 esu-cm is demonstrated.

  12. Influence of electron beam irradiation on nonlinear optical properties of Al doped ZnO thin films for optoelectronic device applications in the cw laser regime

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Antony, Albin; Pramodini, S.; Poornesh, P.; Kityk, I. V.; Fedorchuk, A. O.; Sanjeev, Ganesh

    2016-12-01

    We present the studies on third-order nonlinear optical properties of Al doped ZnO thin films irradiated with electron beam at different dose rate. Al doped ZnO thin films were deposited on a glass substrate by spray pyrolysis deposition technique. The thin films were irradiated using the 8 MeV electron beam from microtron ranging from 1 kG y to 5 kG y. Nonlinear optical studies were carried out by employing the single beam Z-scan technique to determine the sign and magnitude of absorptive and refractive nonlinearities of the irradiated thin films. Continuous wave He-Ne laser operating at 633 nm was used as source of excitation. The open aperture Z-scan measurements indicated the sample displays reverse saturable absorption (RSA) process. The negative sign of the nonlinear refractive index n2 was noted from the closed aperture Z-scan measurements indicates, the films exhibit self-defocusing property due to thermal nonlinearity. The third-order nonlinear optical susceptibility χ(3) varies from 8.17 × 10-5 esu to 1.39 × 10-3 esu with increase in electron beam irradiation. The present study reveals that the irradiation of electron beam leads to significant changes in the third-order optical nonlinearity. Al doped ZnO displays good optical power handling capability with optical clamping of about ∼5 mW. The irradiation study endorses that the Al doped ZnO under investigation is a promising candidate photonic device applications such as all-optical power limiting.

  13. Ultrafast nonlinear optical properties of thin-solid DNA film and their application as a saturable absorber in femtosecond mode-locked fiber laser

    PubMed Central

    Khazaeinezhad, Reza; Hosseinzadeh Kassani, Sahar; Paulson, Bjorn; Jeong, Hwanseong; Gwak, Jiyoon; Rotermund, Fabian; Yeom, Dong-Il; Oh, Kyunghwan

    2017-01-01

    A new extraordinary application of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) thin-solid-film was experimentally explored in the field of ultrafast nonlinear photonics. Optical transmission was investigated in both linear and nonlinear regimes for two types of DNA thin-solid-films made from DNA in aqueous solution and DNA-cetyltrimethylammonium chloride (CTMA) in an organic solvent. Z-scan measurements revealed a high third-order nonlinearity with n2 exceeding 10−9 at a wavelength of 1570 nm, for a nonlinarity about five orders of magnitude larger than that of silica. We also demonstrated ultrafast saturable absorption (SA) with a modulation depth of 0.43%. DNA thin solid films were successfully deposited on a side-polished optical fiber, providing an efficient evanescent wave interaction. We built an organic-inorganic hybrid all-fiber ring laser using DNA film as an ultrafast SA and using Erbium-doped fiber as an efficient optical gain medium. Stable transform-limited femtosecond soliton pulses were generated with full width half maxima of 417 fs for DNA and 323 fs for DNA-CTMA thin-solid-film SAs. The average output power was 4.20 mW for DNA and 5.46 mW for DNA-CTMA. Detailed conditions for DNA solid film preparation, dispersion control in the laser cavity and subsequent characteristics of soliton pulses are discussed, to confirm unique nonlinear optical applications of DNA thin-solid-film. PMID:28128340

  14. Patterning of organic photovoltaic on R2R processed thin film barriers using IR laser sources

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Fledderus, H.; Akkerman, H. B.; Salem, A.; Friedrich Schilling, N.; Klotzbach, U.

    2017-02-01

    We present the development of laser processes for flexible OPV on roll-to-roll (RR2R) produced thin film barrier with indium tin oxide (ITO) as transparent conductive (TC) bottom electrode. Direct laser structuring of ITO on such barrier films (so-called P1 process) is very challenging since the layers are all transparent, a complete electrical isolation is required, and the laser process should not influence the barrier performance underneath the scribes. Based on the optical properties off the SiN and ITTO, ultra-short pulse lasers inn picosecond and femtosecond regime with standard infrared (IR) wavelength as well as lasers with new a wavelength (22 μm regime) are tested for this purpose. To determine a process window for a specific laser a fixed methodology is adopted. Single pulse ablation tests were followed by scribing experiments where the pulse overlap was tuned by varying laser pulse fluence, writing speed and frequency. To verify that the laser scribing does not result inn barrier damage underneath, a new test method was developed based on the optical Ca-test. This method shows a clear improvement in damage analysis underneath laser scribes over normal optical inspection methods (e.g. microscope, optical profiler, SEM). This way clear process windows can be obtained for IR TC patterning.

  15. Low thermal emissivity surfaces using AgNW thin films

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Pantoja, Elisa; Bhatt, Rajendra; Liu, Anping; Gupta, Mool C.

    2017-12-01

    The properties of silver nanowire (AgNW) films in the optical and infrared spectral regime offer an interesting opportunity for a broad range of applications that require low-emissivity coatings. This work reports a method to reduce the thermal emissivity of substrates by the formation of low-emissivity AgNW coating films from solution. The spectral emissivity was characterized by thermal imaging with an FLIR camera, followed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. In a combined experimental and simulation study, we provide fundamental data of the transmittance, reflectance, haze, and emissivity of AgNW thin films. Emissivity values were finely tuned by modifying the concentration of the metal nanowires in the films. The simulation models based on the transfer matrix method developed for the AgNW thin films provided optical values that show a good agreement with the measurements.

  16. Nonthermal response of YBa2Cu3O7-δ thin films to picosecond THz pulses

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Probst, P.; Semenov, A.; Ries, M.; Hoehl, A.; Rieger, P.; Scheuring, A.; Judin, V.; Wünsch, S.; Il'in, K.; Smale, N.; Mathis, Y.-L.; Müller, R.; Ulm, G.; Wüstefeld, G.; Hübers, H.-W.; Hänisch, J.; Holzapfel, B.; Siegel, M.; Müller, A.-S.

    2012-05-01

    The photoresponse of YBa2Cu3O7-δ thin film microbridges with thicknesses between 15 and 50 nm was studied in the optical and terahertz frequency range. The voltage transients in response to short radiation pulses were recorded in real time with a resolution of a few tens of picoseconds. The bridges were excited by either femtosecond pulses at a wavelength of 0.8 μm or broadband (0.1-1.5 THz) picosecond pulses of coherent synchrotron radiation. The transients in response to optical radiation are qualitatively well explained in the framework of the two-temperature model with a fast component in the picosecond range and a bolometric nanosecond component whose decay time depends on the film thickness. The transients in the THz regime showed no bolometric component and had amplitudes up to three orders of magnitude larger than the two-temperature model predicts. Additionally THz field-dependent transients in the absence of DC bias were observed. We attribute the response in the THz regime to a rearrangement of vortices caused by high-frequency currents.

  17. Dynamics of coupled plasmon polariton wave packets excited at a subwavelength slit in optically thin metal films

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wang, Lei-Ming; Zhang, Lingxiao; Seideman, Tamar; Petek, Hrvoje

    2012-10-01

    We study by numerical simulations the excitation and propagation dynamics of coupled surface plasmon polariton (SPP) wave packets (WPs) in optically thin Ag films and a bulk Ag/vacuum interface under the illumination of a subwavelength slit by 400 nm continuous wave (cw) and femtosecond pulsed light. The generated surface fields include contributions from both SPPs and quasicylindrical waves, which dominate in different regimes. We explore aspects of the coupled SPP modes in Ag thin films, including symmetry, propagation, attenuation, and the variation of coupling with incident angle and film thickness. Simulations of the electromagnetic transients initiated with femtosecond pulses reveal new features of coupled SPP WP generation and propagation in thin Ag films. Our results show that, under pulsed excitation, the SPP modes in an Ag thin film break up into two distinct bound surface wave packets characterized by marked differences in symmetries, group velocities, attenuation lengths, and dispersion properties. The nanometer spatial and femtosecond temporal scale excitation and propagation dynamics of the coupled SPP WPs are revealed in detail by movies recording the evolution of their transient field distributions.

  18. Water Sorption in Electron-Beam Evaporated SiO2 on QCM Crystals and Its Influence on Polymer Thin Film Hydration Measurements.

    PubMed

    Kushner, Douglas I; Hickner, Michael A

    2017-05-30

    Spectroscopic ellipsometry (SE) and quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) measurements are two critical characterization techniques routinely employed for hydration studies of polymer thin films. Water uptake by thin polymer films is an important area of study to investigate antifouling surfaces, to probe the swelling of thin water-containing ionomer films, and to conduct fundamental studies of polymer brush hydration and swelling. SiO 2 -coated QCM crystals, employed as substrates in many of these hydration studies, show porosity in the thin electron-beam (e-beam) evaporated SiO 2 layer. The water sorption into this porous SiO 2 layer requires correction of the optical and mass characterization of the hydrated polymer due to changes in the SiO 2 layer as it sorbs water. This correction is especially important when experiments on SiO 2 -coated QCM crystals are compared to measurements on Si wafers with dense native SiO 2 layers. Water adsorption filling void space during hydration in ∼200-260 nm thick SiO 2 layers deposited on a QCM crystal resulted in increased refractive index of the layer during water uptake experiments. The increased refractive index led to artificially higher polymer swelling in the optical modeling of the hydration experiments. The SiO 2 -coated QCM crystals showed between 6 and 8% void as measured by QCM and SE, accounting for 60%-85% of the measured polymer swelling in the low humidity regime (<20% RH) and 25%-40% of the polymer swelling in the high humidity regime (>70% RH) from optical modeling for 105 and 47 nm thick sulfonated polymer films. Correcting the refractive index of the SiO 2 layer for its water content resulted in polymer swelling that successfully resembled swelling measured on a silicon wafer with nonporous native oxide.

  19. Paramagnetic dysprosium-doped zinc oxide thin films grown by pulsed-laser deposition

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Lo, Fang-Yuh, E-mail: fangyuhlo@ntnu.edu.tw; Ting, Yi-Chieh; Chou, Kai-Chieh

    2015-06-07

    Dysprosium(Dy)-doped zinc oxide (Dy:ZnO) thin films were fabricated on c-oriented sapphire substrate by pulsed-laser deposition with doping concentration ranging from 1 to 10 at. %. X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman-scattering, optical transmission spectroscopy, and spectroscopic ellipsometry revealed incorporation of Dy into ZnO host matrix without secondary phase. Solubility limit of Dy in ZnO under our deposition condition was between 5 and 10 at. % according to XRD and Raman-scattering characteristics. Optical transmission spectroscopy and spectroscopic ellipsometry also showed increase in both transmittance in ultraviolet regime and band gap of Dy:ZnO with increasing Dy density. Zinc vacancies and zinc interstitials were identified by photoluminescencemore » spectroscopy as the defects accompanied with Dy incorporation. Magnetic investigations with a superconducting quantum interference device showed paramagnetism without long-range order for all Dy:ZnO thin films, and a hint of antiferromagnetic alignment of Dy impurities was observed at highest doping concentration—indicating the overall contribution of zinc vacancies and zinc interstitials to magnetic interaction was either neutral or toward antiferromagnetic. From our investigations, Dy:ZnO thin films could be useful for spin alignment and magneto-optical applications.« less

  20. A Practical Guide to Experimental Geometrical Optics

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Garbovskiy, Yuriy A.; Glushchenko, Anatoliy V.

    2017-12-01

    Preface; 1. Markets of optical materials, components, accessories, light sources and detectors; 2. Introduction to optical experiments: light producing, light managing, light detection and measuring; 3. Light detectors based on semiconductors: photoresistors, photodiodes in a photo-galvanic regime. Principles of operation and measurements; 4. Linear light detectors based on photodiodes; 5. Basic laws of geometrical optics: experimental verification; 6. Converging and diverging thin lenses; 7. Thick lenses; 8. Lens systems; 9. Simple optical instruments I: the eye and the magnifier, eyepieces and telescopes; 10. Simple optical instruments II: light illuminators and microscope; 11. Spherical mirrors; 12. Introduction to optical aberrations; 13. Elements of optical radiometry; 14. Cylindrical lenses and vials; 15. Methods of geometrical optics to measure refractive index; 16. Dispersion of light and prism spectroscope; 17. Elements of computer aided optical design; Index.

  1. Magneto-optic transmittance modulation observed in a hybrid graphene–split ring resonator terahertz metasurface

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Zanotto, Simone; Pitanti, Alessandro; Lange, Christoph

    2015-09-21

    By placing a material in close vicinity of a resonant optical element, its intrinsic optical response can be tuned, possibly to a wide extent. Here, we show that a graphene monolayer, spaced a few tenths of nanometers from a split ring resonator metasurface, exhibits a magneto-optical response which is strongly influenced by the presence of the metasurface itself. This hybrid system holds promises in view of thin optical modulators, polarization rotators, and nonreciprocal devices, in the technologically relevant terahertz spectral range. Moreover, it could be chosen as the playground for investigating the cavity electrodynamics of Dirac fermions in the quantummore » regime.« less

  2. All-optical measurement of interlayer exchange coupling in Fe/Pt/FePt thin films

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Berk, C.; Ganss, F.; Jaris, M.; Albrecht, M.; Schmidt, H.

    2018-01-01

    Time Resolved Magneto Optic Kerr Effect spectroscopy was used to all-optically study the dynamics in exchange coupled Fe(10 nm)/Pt(x = 0-5 nm)/FePt (10 nm) thin films. As the Pt spacer decreases, the effective magnetization of the layers is seen to evolve towards the strong coupling limit where the two films can be described by a single effective magnetization. The coupling begins at x = 1.5 nm and reaches a maximum exchange coupling constant of 2.89 erg/cm2 at x = 0 nm. The films are ferromagnetically coupled at all Pt thicknesses in the exchange coupled regime (x ≤ 1.5 nm). A procedure for extracting the interlayer exchange constant by measuring the magnetic precession frequencies at multiple applied fields and angles is outlined. The dynamics are well reproduced using micromagnetic simulations.

  3. Expressions for optical scalars and deflection angle at second order in terms of curvature scalars

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Crisnejo, Gabriel; Gallo, Emanuel

    2018-04-01

    We present formal expressions for the optical scalars in terms of the curvature scalars in the weak gravitational lensing regime at second order in perturbations of a flat background without mentioning the extension of the lens or their shape. Also, by considering the thin lens approximation for static and axially symmetric configurations we obtain an expression for the second-order deflection angle which generalizes our previous result presented by Gallo and Moreschi [Phys. Rev. D 83, 083007 (2011)., 10.1103/PhysRevD.83.083007]. As applications of these formulas we compute the optical scalars for some known family of metrics, and we recover expressions for the deflection angle. In contrast to other works in the subject, our formalism allows a straightforward identification of how the different components of the curvature tensor contribute to the optical scalars and deflection angle. We also discuss in what sense the Schwarzschild solution can be thought as a true thin lens at second order.

  4. Nonlinear absorption properties of ZnO and Al doped ZnO thin films under continuous and pulsed modes of operations

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Sandeep, K. M.; Bhat, Shreesha; Dharmaprakash, S. M.

    2018-06-01

    In the present investigation, we present the variations in nonlinear optical (NLO) properties of undoped and Al doped ZnO (AZO) films under two different off-resonant regimes using continuous and pulsed mode lasers. Z-scan open aperture experiment is performed to quantify nonlinear absorption constant and imaginary component of third order susceptibility. Reverse saturable absorption (RSA) and saturable absorption (SA) behaviors are noticed in both undoped and AZO films under pulsed mode and continuous wavelength (CW) regime respectively. The RSA and SA behavior observed in the films are attributed to two photon absorption (TPA) and thermal lensing properties respectively. The thermal lensing is assisted by the thermo-optic effects within the films due to the continuous illumination of the laser.

  5. Growth and characterization of highly conducting Al-doped ZnO (AZO) thin films for optoelectronic applications

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Sardana, Sanjay K.; Singh, Anil; Srivastava, Sanjay K.; Pandya, Dinesh K.

    2018-05-01

    A comparative study of undoped ZnO and Al-doped ZnO (AZO) thin films deposited on glass substrate by spray pyrolysis has been carried out at various aqueous molar concentration of zinc acetate. The thin films deposited on glass shows the wurtzite phase of ZnO, confirmed by X-ray diffraction. The optical study shows the high transmittance over 80% in the visible regime. The band gap of AZO thin films shows a blue shift as compared to undoped ZnO, which has been attributed to Burstein-Moss shift. Heat treatment of these samples in vacuum showed the improved conductivity in compared to as-deposited thin films. The electric study shows the minimum resistivity of 8 x 10-3 Ω-cm and carrier concentration of 6.5 × 1019 /cm3 correspond to AZO thin films.

  6. Effect of substrate temperature on implantation doping of Co in CdS nanocrystalline thin films.

    PubMed

    Chandramohan, S; Kanjilal, A; Sarangi, S N; Majumder, S; Sathyamoorthy, R; Hong, C-H; Som, T

    2010-07-01

    We demonstrate doping of nanocrystalline CdS thin films with Co ions by ion implantation at an elevated temperature of 573 K. The modifications caused in structural and optical properties of these films are investigated. Co-doping does not lead to amorphization or formation of any secondary phase precipitate for dopant concentrations in the range of 0.34-10.8 at.% used in the present study. However, we observe a systematic reduction in the d-spacing with increasing cobalt concentration. Optical band gap of CdS does not show any obvious change upon Co-doping. In addition, implantation gives rise to grain growth and increase in the surface roughness. The results are discussed in the light of ion-matter interaction in the keV regime.

  7. Infrared Dielectric Properties of Low-Stress Silicon Oxide

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Cataldo, Giuseppe; Wollack, Edward J.; Brown, Ari D.; Miller, Kevin H.

    2016-01-01

    Silicon oxide thin films play an important role in the realization of optical coatings and high-performance electrical circuits. Estimates of the dielectric function in the far- and mid-infrared regime are derived from the observed transmittance spectrum for a commonly employed low-stress silicon oxide formulation. The experimental, modeling, and numerical methods used to extract the dielectric function are presented.

  8. Hybrid accretion disks in active galactic nuclei. I - Structure and spectra

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Wandel, Amri; Liang, Edison P.

    1991-01-01

    A unified treatment is presented of the two distinct states of vertically thin AGN accretion disks: a cool (about 10 to the 6th K) optically thick solution, and a hot (about 10 to the 9th K) optically thin solution. A generalized formalism and a new radiative cooling equation valid in both regimes are introduced. A new luminosity limit is found at which the hot and cool alpha solutions merge into a single solution of intermediate optical depth. Analytic solutions for the disk structure are given, and output spectra are computed numerically. This is used to demonstrate the prospect of fitting AGN broadband spectra containing both the UV bump as well as the hard X-ray and gamma-ray tail, using a single accretion disk model. Such models are found to make definite predictions about the observed spectrum, such as the relation between the hard X-ray spectral index, the UV-to-X-ray luminosity ratio, and a feature of about 1 MeV.

  9. VUV thin films, chapter 7

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Zukic, Muamer; Torr, Douglas G.

    1993-01-01

    The application of thin film technology to the vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) wavelength region from 120 nm to 230 nm has not been fully exploited in the past because of absorption effects which complicate the accurate determination of the optical functions of dielectric materials. The problem therefore reduces to that of determining the real and imaginary parts of a complex optical function, namely the frequency dependent refractive index n and extinction coefficient k. We discuss techniques for the inverse retrieval of n and k for dielectric materials at VUV wavelengths from measurements of their reflectance and transmittance. Suitable substrate and film materials are identified for application in the VUV. Such applications include coatings for the fabrication of narrow and broadband filters and beamsplitters. The availability of such devices open the VUV regime to high resolution photometry, interferometry and polarimetry both for space based and laboratory applications. This chapter deals with the optics of absorbing multilayers, the determination of the optical functions for several useful materials, and the design of VUV multilayer stacks as applied to the design of narrow and broadband reflection and transmission filters and beamsplitters. Experimental techniques are discussed briefly, and several examples of the optical functions derived for selected materials are presented.

  10. Transition-Metal Substitution Doping in Synthetic Atomically Thin Semiconductors

    DOE PAGES

    Gao, Jian; Kim, Young Duck; Liang, Liangbo; ...

    2016-09-20

    Semiconductor impurity doping has enabled an entire generation of technology. The emergence of alternative semiconductor material systems, such as transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs), requires the development of scalable doping strategies. We report an unprecedented one-pot synthesis for transition-metal substitution in large-area, synthetic monolayer TMDCs. Electron microscopy, optical and electronic transport characterization and ab initio calculations indicate that our doping strategy preserves the attractive qualities of TMDC monolayers, including semiconducting transport and strong direct-gap luminescence. These results are expected to encourage exploration of transition-metal substitution in two-dimensional systems, potentially enabling next-generation optoelectronic technology in the atomically-thin regime.

  11. Levels-of-growing-stock cooperative study on Douglas-fir: report no. 02—The Hoskins Study, 1963-1970.

    Treesearch

    John F. Bell; Alan B. Berg

    1972-01-01

    Public and private agencies are cooperating in a study of eight thinning regimes in young Douglas-fir stands. Regimes differ in the amount of basal area allowed to accrue in growing stock at each successive thinning. All regimes start with a common level-of-growing-stock which is established by a conditioning thinning. Thinning interval is...

  12. In-situ stress measurement of single and multilayer thin-films used in x-ray astronomy optics applications

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Broadway, David M.; Ramsey, Brian D.; O'Dell, Stephen L.; Gurgew, Danielle

    2017-09-01

    We present in-situ stress measurement results for single and multilayer thin-films deposited by magnetron sputtering. In particular, we report on the influence of the material interfaces on the ensuing stress in both the transient and steady-state regimes of film growth. This behavior is used to determine the appropriate thicknesses of the constituent layers that will result in a net tensile stress in multilayers composed of various material combinations. These multilayers can then be used to compensate the compressive integrated stress in single and multilayer EUV and x-ray optical coatings. The use of multilayers to compensate the integrated stress might be advantageous because, unlike single layers of chromium, the roughness is not expected to increase with the total thickness of the multilayer. In this paper, we demonstrate the technique for W/Si and Mo/Si multilayers and discuss its application to other material combinations.

  13. Looking for Speed!! Go Optical Ultra-Fast Photonic Logic Gates for the Future Optical Communication and Computing

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Abdeldayem, Hossin; Frazier, Donald O.; Penn, Benjamin; Paley, Mark S.

    2003-01-01

    Recently, we developed two ultra-fast all-optical switches in the nanosecond and picosecond regimes. The picosecond switch is made of a polydiacetylene thin film coated on the interior wall of a hollow capillary of approximately 50 micron diameter by a photo-polymerization process. In the setup a picosecond Nd:YAG laser at 10 Hz and at 532 nm with a pulse duration of approximately 40 ps was sent collinearly along a cw He-Ne laser beam and both were waveguided through the hollow capillary. The setup functioned as an Exclusive OR gate. On the other hand, the material used in the nanosecond switch is a phthalocyanine thin film, deposited on a glass substrate by a vapor deposition technique. In the setup a nanosecond, 10 Hz, Nd:YAG laser of 8 ns pulse duration was sent collinearly along a cw He-Ne laser beam and both were wave-guided through the phthalocyanine thin film. The setup in this case functioned as an all-optical AND logic gate. The characteristic table of the ExOR gate in polydiacetylene film was attributed to an excited state absorption process, while that of the AND gate was attributed to a saturation process of the first excited state. Both mechanisms were thoroughly investigated theoretically and found to agree remarkably well with the experimental results. An all-optical inverter gate has been designed but has not yet been demonstrated. The combination of all these three gates form the foundation for building all the necessary gates needed to build a prototype of an all-optical system.

  14. Optical coatings of variable refractive index and high laser-resistance from physical-vapor-deposited perfluorinated amorphous polymer

    DOEpatents

    Chow, Robert; Loomis, Gary E.; Thomas, Ian M.

    1999-01-01

    Variable index optical single-layers, optical multilayer, and laser-resistant coatings were made from a perfluorinated amorphous polymer material by physical vapor deposition. This was accomplished by physically vapor depositing a polymer material, such as bulk Teflon AF2400, for example, to form thin layers that have a very low refractive index (.about.1.10-1.31) and are highly transparent from the ultra-violet through the near infrared regime, and maintain the low refractive index of the bulk material. The refractive index can be varied by simply varying one process parameter, either the deposition rate or the substrate temperature. The thus forming coatings may be utilized in anti-reflectors and graded anti-reflection coatings, as well as in optical layers for laser-resistant coatings at optical wavelengths of less than about 2000 nm.

  15. Thinning regimes and initial spacing for Eucalyptus plantations in Brazil.

    PubMed

    Ferraz Filho, Antonio C; Mola-Yudego, Blas; González-Olabarria, José R; Scolforo, José Roberto S

    2018-01-01

    This study focuses on the effects of different thinning regimes on clonal Eucalyptus plantations growth. Four different trials, planted in 1999 and located in Bahia and Espírito Santo States, were used. Aside from thinning, initial planting density, and post thinning fertilization application were also evaluated. Before canopy closure, and therefore before excessive competition between trees took place, it was found that stands planted under low densities (667 trees per hectare) presented a lower mortality proportion when compared to stand planted under higher densities (1111 trees per hectare). However, diameter growth prior to thinning operations was not statistically different between these two densities, presenting an overall mean of 4.9 cm/year. After canopy closure and the application of the thinning treatments, it was found that thinning regimes beginning early in the life of the stand and leaving a low number of residual trees presented the highest diameter and height growth. Unthinned treatments and thinning regimes late in the life of the stand (after 5.5 years), leaving a large number of residual trees presented the highest values of basal area production. The choice of the best thinning regime for Eucalyptus clonal material will vary according to the plantation objective.

  16. Light propagation with phase discontinuities: generalized laws of reflection and refraction.

    PubMed

    Yu, Nanfang; Genevet, Patrice; Kats, Mikhail A; Aieta, Francesco; Tetienne, Jean-Philippe; Capasso, Federico; Gaburro, Zeno

    2011-10-21

    Conventional optical components rely on gradual phase shifts accumulated during light propagation to shape light beams. New degrees of freedom are attained by introducing abrupt phase changes over the scale of the wavelength. A two-dimensional array of optical resonators with spatially varying phase response and subwavelength separation can imprint such phase discontinuities on propagating light as it traverses the interface between two media. Anomalous reflection and refraction phenomena are observed in this regime in optically thin arrays of metallic antennas on silicon with a linear phase variation along the interface, which are in excellent agreement with generalized laws derived from Fermat's principle. Phase discontinuities provide great flexibility in the design of light beams, as illustrated by the generation of optical vortices through use of planar designer metallic interfaces.

  17. Optical investigation of the interaction of an automotive spray and thin films by utilization of a high-pressure spin coater

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Seel, Kevin; Reddemann, Manuel A.; Kneer, Reinhold

    2018-03-01

    Although the interaction of automotive sprays with thin films is of high technical relevance for IC engine applications, fundamental knowledge about underlying physical mechanisms is still limited. This work presents a systematic study of the influence of the film's initial thickness—homogeneously spread over a flat wall before the initial spray impingement—on film surface structures and thickness after the interaction. For this purpose, interferometric film thickness measurements and complementary high-speed visualizations are used. By gradually increasing the initial film thickness on a micrometer scale, a shift from a regime of liquid deposition (increasing film thickness with respect to initial film thickness) to a regime of liquid removal (decreasing film thickness with respect to initial film thickness) is observed at the stagnation zone of the impinging spray. This transition is accompanied by the formation of radially propagating surface waves, transporting liquid away from the stagnation zone. Wavelengths and amplitudes of the surface waves are increased with increasing initial film thickness.

  18. Atto-Joule, high-speed, low-loss plasmonic modulator based on adiabatic coupled waveguides

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Dalir, Hamed; Mokhtari-Koushyar, Farzad; Zand, Iman; Heidari, Elham; Xu, Xiaochuan; Pan, Zeyu; Sun, Shuai; Amin, Rubab; Sorger, Volker J.; Chen, Ray T.

    2018-05-01

    In atomic multi-level systems, adiabatic elimination (AE) is a method used to minimize complicity of the system by eliminating irrelevant and strongly coupled levels by detuning them from one another. Such a three-level system, for instance, can be mapped onto physically in the form of a three-waveguide system. Actively detuning the coupling strength between the respective waveguide modes allows modulating light to propagate through the device, as proposed here. The outer waveguides act as an effective two-photonic-mode system similar to ground and excited states of a three-level atomic system, while the center waveguide is partially plasmonic. In AE regime, the amplitude of the middle waveguide oscillates much faster when compared to the outer waveguides leading to a vanishing field build up. As a result, the plasmonic intermediate waveguide becomes a "dark state," hence nearly zero decibel insertion loss is expected with modulation depth (extinction ratio) exceeding 25 dB. Here, the modulation mechanism relies on switching this waveguide system from a critical coupling regime to AE condition via electrostatically tuning the free-carrier concentration and hence the optical index of a thin indium thin oxide (ITO) layer resides in the plasmonic center waveguide. This alters the effective coupling length and the phase mismatching condition thus modulating in each of its outer waveguides. Our results also promise a power consumption as low as 49.74aJ/bit. Besides, we expected a modulation speed of 160 GHz reaching to millimeter wave range applications. Such anticipated performance is a direct result of both the unity-strong tunability of the plasmonic optical mode in conjunction with utilizing ultra-sensitive modal coupling between the critically coupled and the AE regimes. When taken together, this new class of modulators paves the way for next generation both for energy and speed conscience optical short-reach communication such as those found in interconnects.

  19. Premixed Flame Propagation in an Optically Thick Gas

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Abbud-Madrid, Angel; Ronney, Paul D.

    1993-01-01

    Flame propagation in both the optically thin and the optically thick regime of radiative transport was studied experimentally using particle-laden gas mixtures. Data on flame shapes, propagation rates, peak pressure, maximum rate of pressure rise, and thermal decay in the burned gases are consistent with the hypothesis that, at low particle loadings, the particles act to increase the radiative loss from the gases, whereas at higher loadings, reabsorption of emitted radiation becomes significant. The reabsorption acts to decrease the net radiative loss and augment conductive heat transport. It is speculated that, in sufficiently large systems, in which the absorption length is much smaller than the system size, flammability limits might not exist at microgravity conditions because emitted radiation would not constitute a loss mechanism.

  20. Levels-of-growing-stock cooperative study in Douglas-fir: report no. 07—Preliminary results, Stampede Creek, and some comparisons with Iron Creek and Hoskins.

    Treesearch

    Richard L. Williamson; Robert O. Curtis

    1984-01-01

    Public and private agencies are cooperating in a study of eight thinning regimes in young Douglas-fir stands. Regimes differ in the amount of basal area allowed to accrue in growing stock at each successive thinning. All regimes start with a common level-of-growing-stock which is established by a conditioning thinning. Thinning interval is controlled by height growth...

  1. Controlling morphology and chain aggregation in semiconducting conjugated polymers: the role of solvent on optical gain in MEH-PPV.

    PubMed

    Lampert, Zach E; Reynolds, C Lewis; Papanikolas, John M; Aboelfotoh, M Osama

    2012-10-25

    We report the results of a detailed investigation that addresses the influence of polymer morphology and chain aggregation, as controlled by the chemical nature of the solvent, on the optical gain properties of the conjugated polymer poly[2-methoxy-5-(2'-ethylhexyloxy)-p-phenylene vinylene] (MEH-PPV). Using the variable stripe length technique in the picosecond regime, we have extensively studied the optical gain performance of asymmetric planar waveguides formed with thin MEH-PPV films spin-cast from concentrated chlorobenzene (CB) and tetrahydrofuran (THF) solutions onto thermally oxidized silicon substrates. CB and THF solvents were chosen based on their known ability to promote and effectively limit aggregate formation, respectively. Very large net gain coefficients are demonstrated, reaching values of 330 and 365 cm(-1), respectively, when optically pumping the waveguides with a maximum energy density of 85 μJ/cm(2). Our results clearly demonstrate that polymer morphology, and hence, the chain conformation dependence of the degree of aggregation in the films as controlled by the solvent, has minimal impact on the net gain. Moreover, the waveguides exhibit low loss coefficients of 10-20 cm(-1) at the ASE wavelength. These results question the importance of polymer morphology and aggregate formation in polymer-based optical devices operating at high excitation densities in the stimulated emission regime as would be characteristic of lasers and optical amplifiers.

  2. Exploring warm dense matter using quantum molecular dynamics

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Clérouin, J.; Mazevet, S.

    2006-06-01

    For dense plasmas produced in shock experiments, the influence of the media on the isolated atomic properties can no longer be treated as a perturbation and conventional atomic physics approaches usually fail. Recently, quantum molecular dynamics (QMD) has been used to successfully predict static, dynamical and optical properties in this regime within the framework of a first principle method. In this short report, we illustrate the usefulness of the method for dense plasmas with a few selected examples: the equation of state of liquid deuterium, the electrical properties of expanded metals, the optical properties of shocked insulators, and the interaction of femto-second lasers with gold thin films.

  3. Optical coatings of variable refractive index and high laser-resistance from physical-vapor-deposited perfluorinated amorphous polymer

    DOEpatents

    Chow, R.; Loomis, G.E.; Thomas, I.M.

    1999-03-16

    Variable index optical single-layers, optical multilayer, and laser-resistant coatings were made from a perfluorinated amorphous polymer material by physical vapor deposition. This was accomplished by physically vapor depositing a polymer material, such as bulk Teflon AF2400, for example, to form thin layers that have a very low refractive index (ca. 1.10--1.31) and are highly transparent from the ultra-violet through the near infrared regime, and maintain the low refractive index of the bulk material. The refractive index can be varied by simply varying one process parameter, either the deposition rate or the substrate temperature. The thus forming coatings may be utilized in anti-reflectors and graded anti-reflection coatings, as well as in optical layers for laser-resistant coatings at optical wavelengths of less than about 2000 nm. 2 figs.

  4. The Role of Morphology and Electronic Chain Aggregation on the Optical Gain Properties of Semiconducting Conjugated Polymers

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lampert, Zachary Evan

    Conjugated polymers (CPs) are a novel class of materials that exhibit the optical and electrical properties of semiconductors while still retaining the durability and processability of plastics. CPs are also intrinsically 4-level systems with high luminescence quantum efficiencies making them particularly attractive as organic gain media for solid-state laser applications. However, before CPs can emerge as a commercially available laser technology, a more comprehensive understanding of the morphological dependence of the photophysics is required. In this thesis, the morphology and chain conformation dependence of amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) and optical gain in thin films of poly[2-methoxy-5-(2'-ethylhexyloxy)-p-phenylene vinylene] (MEH-PPV) was investigated. By changing the chemical nature of the solvent from which films were cast, as well as the temperature at which films were annealed, CP films with different morphologies, and hence different degrees of interchain interactions were achieved. Contrary to the common perception that polymer morphology plays a decisive role in determining the ASE behavior of thin CP films, we found that chromophore aggregation and degree of conformational order have minimal impact on optical gain. In fact, experimental results indicated that an extremely large fraction of interchain aggregate species and/or exciton dissociating defects are required to significantly alter the optical properties and suppress stimulated emission. These results are pertinent to the fabrication and optimization of an electrically pumped laser device, as improvements in charge carrier mobility through controlled increases in chain aggregation may provide a viable means of optimizing injection efficiency without significantly degrading optical gain. To offset charge-induced absorption losses under electrical pumping, and to enable the use of more compact and economical sources under optical pumping, conjugated polymers exhibiting low lasing thresholds and large net gains are highly desirable. In this thesis, we also discuss novel routes we developed for enhancement of ASE performance in MEH-PPV thin film planar waveguides. The first technique relied on improving the distribution of the TE0 guided mode in the CP gain layer through optimization of waveguide architecture. This was achieved by fabricating symmetric heterostructure waveguides formed from a core layer of MEH-PPV sandwiched between an SiO2 buffer and index matched poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) cover layer. Relative to asymmetric waveguides of Si(100)/SiO2/MEH-PPV/Air, symmetric waveguides exhibited increased optical confinement and reduced propagation loss enabling lower ASE threshold (40%) and higher net gain (50%). Independent of device architecture and degree of aggregation in the films, we discovered that optical gain is also highly dependent on the excitation conditions, specifically the temporal width of the pump laser pulses. A 400% increase in net gain was achieved under transient (25 picosecond pulses), compared to quasi-steady state (8 nanosecond pulses), excitation conditions. This large difference is attributed to low pumping efficiency and increased non-radiative recombination under ns pumping, which reduces the emission cross-section resulting in a net decrease in gain. The gain values we achieved in the ps regime are to the best of our knowledge the largest gain values reported to date for thin conjugated polymer films measured using the variable stripe length (VSL) technique. Films pumped in the transient regime also required 30 times less pump energy density to reach threshold in comparison with films pumped in the quasi-steady state regime, although the excited state densities were essentially the same. These results demonstrate that the pumping efficiency, and hence generation rate of excited states in a gain medium, can be dramatically increased by using pump laser pulses that are shorter than the exciton luminescence lifetime

  5. Barrier SiO2-like coatings for archaeological artefacts preservation

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Prochazka, M.; Blahova, L.; Krcma, F.

    2016-10-01

    Thin film chemical vapour deposition technique has been used for more than 50 years. Introducing organo-silicones as precursors, e.g. hexamethyldisiloxane (HMDSO) or tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS), brought new possibilities to this method. Barrier properties of thin films have become an important issue, especially for army and emergency services as well as for food and drink manufacturers. Our work is focused on protective HMDSO thin films for encapsulating cleaned archaeological artefacts, preventing the corrosion from destroying these historical items.Thin films are deposited via plasma enhanced chemical vapour deposition (PECVD) technique using low pressure capacitively coupled pasma in flow regime. Oxygen transmission rate (OTR) measurement was chosen as the most important one for characterization of barrier properties of deposited thin films. Lowest OTR reached for 50 nm thin film thickness was 120 cm3 m-2 atm-1 day-1. Samples were also analyzed by Fourier Transform Infrared spectrometry (FTIR) to determine their composition. Optical emission spectra and thin film thickness were measured during the deposition process. We optimized the deposition parameters for barrier layers by implementation of pulsed mode of plasma and argon plasma pre-treatment into the process.

  6. The Effects of Accretion Disk Geometry on AGN Reflection Spectra

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Taylor, Corbin James; Reynolds, Christopher S.

    2017-08-01

    Despite being the gravitational engines that power galactic-scale winds and mega parsec-scale jets in active galaxies, black holes are remarkably simple objects, typically being fully described by their angular momenta (spin) and masses. The modelling of AGN X-ray reflection spectra has proven fruitful in estimating the spin of AGN, as well as giving insight into their accretion histories and the properties of plasmas in the strong gravity regime. However, current models make simplifying assumptions about the geometry of the reflecting material in the accretion disk and the irradiating X-ray corona, approximating the disk as an optically thick, infinitely thin disk of material in the orbital plane. We present results from the new relativistic raytracing suite, Fenrir, that explore the effects that disk thickness may have on the reflection spectrum and the accompanying reverberation signatures. Approximating the accretion disk as an optically thick, geometrically thin, radiation pressure dominated disk (Shakura & Sunyaev 1973), one finds that the disk geometry is non-negligible in many cases, with significant changes in the broad Fe K line profile. Finally, we explore the systematic errors inherent in approximating the disk as being infinitely thin when modeling reflection spectrum, potentially biasing determinations of black hole and corona properties.

  7. Study of Third-Order Optical Nonlinearities of Se-Sn (Bi,Te) Quaternary Chalcogenide Thin Films Using Ti: Sapphire Laser in Femtosecond Regime

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Yadav, Preeti; Sharma, Ambika

    2017-01-01

    The objective of the present research work is to study the nonlinear optical properties of quaternary Se-Sn (Bi,Te) chalcogenide thin films. A Z-scan technique utilizing 800 nm femtosecond laser source has been used for the determination of the nonlinear refractive index ( n 2), two-photon absorption coefficient ( β 2) and third-order susceptibility ( χ (3)). In the measurement of n 2, an aperture is placed in the far field before the detector (closed aperture), while for the measurement of β 2, entire transmitted light is collected by the detector without an aperture (open aperture). Self-focusing has been observed in closed aperture transmission spectra. The appearance of the peak after the valley in this spectrum reflects the positive nonlinear refractive index. The calculated value of n 2 of the studied thin films varies from 1.06 × 10-12 cm2/W to 0.88 × 10-12 cm2/W. The compound-dependent behavior of n 2 is explained in this paper. We have also compared the experimental values of n 2 with the theoretically determined values, other compounds of chalcogenide glass and pure silica. The n 2 of the investigated thin films is found to be 3200 times higher than pure silica. The results of the open aperture Z-scan revealed that the value of β 2 of the studied compound is in the order of 10-8 cm/W. The behavior of two-photon absorption is described by means of the optical band gap ( E g) of the studied compound. The variation in the figure-of-merit from 0.32 to 1.4 with varying Sn content is also reported in this paper. The higher value of nonlinearity makes this material advantageous for optical fibers, waveguides and optical limiting devices.

  8. The structure and appearance of winds from supercritical accretion disks. II - Dynamical theory of supercritical winds

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Meier, D. L.

    1982-01-01

    A general analytic theory is presented of winds driven by super-Eddington luminosities. The relevant parameters are the mass of the central object, the radius at which the luminosity and matter are injected, the ratio of the free-fall time to the heating time at this radius, and the total luminosity injected at the radius. Several different regimes of dynamical wind structure are identified, and the analytic expressions are shown to agree with the numerical results in Meier (1979) in the appropriate case. It is noted that, in its general form, the theory is the optically thick (to electron scattering) counterpart to optically thin radiation pressure-driven stellar winds.

  9. Electrical transport and optical band gap of NiFe2Ox thin films

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Bougiatioti, Panagiota; Manos, Orestis; Klewe, Christoph; Meier, Daniel; Teichert, Niclas; Schmalhorst, Jan-Michael; Kuschel, Timo; Reiss, Günter

    2017-12-01

    We fabricated NiFe2Ox thin films on MgAl2O4(001) by reactive dc magnetron co-sputtering varying the oxygen partial pressure. The fabrication of a material with a variable oxygen deficiency leads to controllable electrical and optical properties which are beneficial for the investigations of the transport phenomena and could, therefore, promote the use of such materials in spintronic and spin caloritronic applications. We used several characterization techniques to investigate the film properties, focusing on their structural, magnetic, electrical, and optical properties. From the electrical resistivity, we obtained the conduction mechanisms that govern the systems in the high and low temperature regimes. We further extracted low thermal activation energies which unveil extrinsic transport mechanisms. The thermal activation energy decreases in the less oxidized samples revealing the pronounced contribution of a large amount of electronic states localized in the band gap to the electrical conductivity. The Hall coefficient is negative and decreases with increasing conductivity as expected for n-type conduction, while the Hall- and the drift mobilities show a large difference. The optical band gaps were determined via ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy. They follow a similar trend as the thermal activation energies, with lower band gap values in the less oxidized samples.

  10. Synthesis and electronic properties of Fe 2TiO 5 epitaxial thin films

    DOE PAGES

    Osada, Motoki; Nishio, Kazunori; Hwang, Harold Y.; ...

    2018-05-02

    Here, we investigate the growth phase diagram of pseudobrookite Fe 2TiO 5 epitaxial thin films on LaAlO 3 (001) substrates using pulsed laser deposition. Control of the oxygen partial pressure and temperature during deposition enabled selective stabilization of (100)- and (230)-oriented films. In this regime, we find an optical gap of 2.1 eV and room temperature resistivity in the range of 20–80 Ω cm, which are significantly lower than α-Fe 2O 3, making Fe 2TiO 5 potentially an ideal inexpensive visible-light harvesting semiconductor. These results provide a basis to incorporate Fe 2TiO 5 in oxide heterostructures for photocatalytic and photoelectrochemicalmore » applications.« less

  11. Synthesis and electronic properties of Fe2TiO5 epitaxial thin films

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Osada, Motoki; Nishio, Kazunori; Hwang, Harold Y.; Hikita, Yasuyuki

    2018-05-01

    We investigate the growth phase diagram of pseudobrookite Fe2TiO5 epitaxial thin films on LaAlO3 (001) substrates using pulsed laser deposition. Control of the oxygen partial pressure and temperature during deposition enabled selective stabilization of (100)- and (230)-oriented films. In this regime, we find an optical gap of 2.1 eV and room temperature resistivity in the range of 20-80 Ω cm, which are significantly lower than α-Fe2O3, making Fe2TiO5 potentially an ideal inexpensive visible-light harvesting semiconductor. These results provide a basis to incorporate Fe2TiO5 in oxide heterostructures for photocatalytic and photoelectrochemical applications.

  12. Mesoscopic Fluctuations for the Thinned Circular Unitary Ensemble

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Berggren, Tomas; Duits, Maurice

    2017-09-01

    In this paper we study the asymptotic behavior of mesoscopic fluctuations for the thinned Circular Unitary Ensemble. The effect of thinning is that the eigenvalues start to decorrelate. The decorrelation is stronger on the larger scales than on the smaller scales. We investigate this behavior by studying mesoscopic linear statistics. There are two regimes depending on the scale parameter and the thinning parameter. In one regime we obtain a CLT of a classical type and in the other regime we retrieve the CLT for CUE. The two regimes are separated by a critical line. On the critical line the limiting fluctuations are no longer Gaussian, but described by infinitely divisible laws. We argue that this transition phenomenon is universal by showing that the same transition and their laws appear for fluctuations of the thinned sine process in a growing box. The proofs are based on a Riemann-Hilbert problem for integrable operators.

  13. Electronic and Optical Properties of Two-Dimensional GaN from First-Principles.

    PubMed

    Sanders, Nocona; Bayerl, Dylan; Shi, Guangsha; Mengle, Kelsey A; Kioupakis, Emmanouil

    2017-12-13

    Gallium nitride (GaN) is an important commercial semiconductor for solid-state lighting applications. Atomically thin GaN, a recently synthesized two-dimensional material, is of particular interest because the extreme quantum confinement enables additional control of its light-emitting properties. We performed first-principles calculations based on density functional and many-body perturbation theory to investigate the electronic, optical, and excitonic properties of monolayer and bilayer two-dimensional (2D) GaN as a function of strain. Our results demonstrate that light emission from monolayer 2D GaN is blueshifted into the deep ultraviolet range, which is promising for sterilization and water-purification applications. Light emission from bilayer 2D GaN occurs at a similar wavelength to its bulk counterpart due to the cancellation of the effect of quantum confinement on the optical gap by the quantum-confined Stark shift. Polarized light emission at room temperature is possible via uniaxial in-plane strain, which is desirable for energy-efficient display applications. We compare the electronic and optical properties of freestanding two-dimensional GaN to atomically thin GaN wells embedded within AlN barriers in order to understand how the functional properties are influenced by the presence of barriers. Our results provide microscopic understanding of the electronic and optical characteristics of GaN at the few-layer regime.

  14. Optical phonons in nanostructured thin films composed by zincblende zinc selenide quantum dots in strong size-quantization regime: Competition between phonon confinement and strain-related effects

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Pejova, Biljana

    2014-05-01

    Raman scattering in combination with optical spectroscopy and structural studies by X-ray diffraction was employed to investigate the phonon confinement and strain-induced effects in 3D assemblies of variable-size zincblende ZnSe quantum dots close packed in thin film form. Nanostructured thin films were synthesized by colloidal chemical approach, while tuning of the nanocrystal size was enabled by post-deposition thermal annealing treatment. In-depth insights into the factors governing the observed trends of the position and half-width of the 1LO band as a function of the average QD size were gained. The overall shifts in the position of 1LO band were found to result from an intricate compromise between the influence of phonon confinement and lattice strain-induced effects. Both contributions were quantitatively and exactly modeled. Accurate assignments of the bands due to surface optical (SO) modes as well as of the theoretically forbidden transverse optical (TO) modes were provided, on the basis of reliable physical models (such as the dielectric continuum model of Ruppin and Englman). The size-dependence of the ratio of intensities of the TO and LO modes was studied and discussed as well. Relaxation time characterizing the phonon decay processes in as-deposited samples was found to be approximately 0.38 ps, while upon post-deposition annealing already at 200 °C it increases to about 0.50 ps. Both of these values are, however, significantly smaller than those characteristic for a macrocrystalline ZnSe sample.

  15. Modeling of coherent ultrafast magneto-optical experiments: Light-induced molecular mean-field model

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Hinschberger, Y.; Hervieux, P.-A.

    2015-12-28

    We present calculations which aim to describe coherent ultrafast magneto-optical effects observed in time-resolved pump-probe experiments. Our approach is based on a nonlinear semi-classical Drude-Voigt model and is used to interpret experiments performed on nickel ferromagnetic thin film. Within this framework, a phenomenological light-induced coherent molecular mean-field depending on the polarizations of the pump and probe pulses is proposed whose microscopic origin is related to a spin-orbit coupling involving the electron spins of the material sample and the electric field of the laser pulses. Theoretical predictions are compared to available experimental data. The model successfully reproduces the observed experimental trendsmore » and gives meaningful insight into the understanding of magneto-optical rotation behavior in the ultrafast regime. Theoretical predictions for further experimental studies are also proposed.« less

  16. Growth Mechanism of Cluster-Assembled Surfaces: From Submonolayer to Thin-Film Regime

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Borghi, Francesca; Podestà, Alessandro; Piazzoni, Claudio; Milani, Paolo

    2018-04-01

    Nanostructured films obtained by assembling preformed atomic clusters are of strategic importance for a wide variety of applications. The deposition of clusters produced in the gas phase onto a substrate offers the possibility to control and engineer the structural and functional properties of the cluster-assembled films. To date, the microscopic mechanisms underlying the growth and structuring of cluster-assembled films are poorly understood, and, in particular, the transition from the submonolayer to the thin-film regime is experimentally unexplored. Here we report the systematic characterization by atomic force microscopy of the evolution of the structural properties of cluster-assembled films deposited by supersonic cluster beam deposition. As a paradigm of nanostructured systems, we focus our attention on cluster-assembled zirconia films, investigating the influence of the building block dimensions on the growth mechanisms and roughening of the thin films, following the growth process from the early stages of the submonolayer to the thin-film regime. Our results demonstrate that the growth dynamics in the submonolayer regime determines different morphological properties of the cluster-assembled thin film. The evolution of the roughness with the number of deposited clusters reproduces the growth exponent of the ballistic deposition in the 2 +1 model from the submonolayer to the thin-film regime.

  17. Superenhancers: novel opportunities for nanowire optoelectronics.

    PubMed

    Khudiyev, Tural; Bayindir, Mehmet

    2014-12-16

    Nanowires play a crucial role in the development of new generation optoelectronic devices ranging from photovoltaics to photodetectors, as these designs capitalize on the low material usage, utilize leaky-mode optical resonances and possess high conversion efficiencies associated with nanowire geometry. However, their current schemes lack sufficient absorption capacity demanded for their practical applicability, and more efficient materials cannot find widespread usage in these designs due to their rarity and cost. Here we suggest a novel and versatile nanoconcentrator scheme utilizing unique optical features of non-resonant Mie (NRM) scattering regime associated with low-index structures. The scattering regime is highly compatible with resonant Mie absorption effect taking place in nanowire absorbers. This technique in its optimized forms can provide up to 1500% total absorption enhancement, 400-fold material save and is suitable for large-area applications with significant area preservation compared to thin-film of same materials. Proposed superenhancer concept with its exceptional features such as broadband absorption enhancement, polarization immunity and material-independent manner paves the way for development of efficient nanowire photosensors or solar thermophotovoltaic devices and presents novel design opportunities for self-powered nanosystems.

  18. The VLT-FLAMES Tarantula Survey. XVII. Physical and wind properties of massive stars at the top of the main sequence

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Bestenlehner, J. M.; Gräfener, G.; Vink, J. S.; Najarro, F.; de Koter, A.; Sana, H.; Evans, C. J.; Crowther, P. A.; Hénault-Brunet, V.; Herrero, A.; Langer, N.; Schneider, F. R. N.; Simón-Díaz, S.; Taylor, W. D.; Walborn, N. R.

    2014-10-01

    The evolution and fate of very massive stars (VMS) is tightly connected to their mass-loss properties. Their initial and final masses differ significantly as a result of mass loss. VMS have strong stellar winds and extremely high ionising fluxes, which are thought to be critical sources of both mechanical and radiative feedback in giant H ii regions. However, how VMS mass-loss properties change during stellar evolution is poorly understood. In the framework of the VLT-Flames Tarantula Survey (VFTS), we explore the mass-loss transition region from optically thin O star winds to denser WNh Wolf-Rayet star winds, thereby testing theoretical predictions. To this purpose we select 62 O, Of, Of/WN, and WNh stars, an unprecedented sample of stars with the highest masses and luminosities known. We perform a spectral analysis of optical VFTS as well as near-infrared VLT/SINFONI data using the non-LTE radiative transfer code CMFGEN to obtain both stellar and wind parameters. For the first time, we observationally resolve the transition between optically thin O star winds and optically thick hydrogen-rich WNh Wolf-Rayet winds. Our results suggest the existence of a "kink" between both mass-loss regimes, in agreement with recent Monte Carlo simulations. For the optically thick regime, we confirm the steep dependence on the classical Eddington factor Γe from previous theoretical and observational studies. The transition occurs on the main sequence near a luminosity of 106.1L⊙, or a mass of 80 ... 90 M⊙. Above this limit, we find that - even when accounting for moderate wind clumping (with fv = 0.1) - wind mass-loss rates are enhanced with respect to standard prescriptions currently adopted in stellar evolution calculations. We also show that this results in substantial helium surface enrichment. Finally, based on our spectroscopic analyses, we are able to provide the most accurate ionising fluxes for VMS known to date, confirming the pivotal role of VMS in ionising and shaping their environments. Appendices are available in electronic form at http://www.aanda.org

  19. Air gap resonant tunneling bandpass filter and polarizer.

    PubMed

    Melnyk, A; Bitarafan, M H; Allen, T W; DeCorby, R G

    2016-04-15

    We describe a bandpass filter based on resonant tunneling through an air layer in the frustrated total internal reflection regime, and show that the concept of induced transmission can be applied to the design of thin film matching stacks. Experimental results are reported for Si/SiO2-based devices exhibiting a polarization-dependent passband, with bandwidth on the order of 10 nm in the 1550 nm wavelength range, peak transmittance on the order of 80%, and optical density greater than 5 over most of the near infrared region.

  20. Spectral-optical-electrical-thermal properties of deposited thin films of nano-sized calcium(II)-8-hydroxy-5,7-dinitroquinolate complex.

    PubMed

    Farag, A A M; Haggag, Sawsan M S; Mahmoud, Mohamed E

    2011-11-01

    Spectral-optical-electrical-thermal properties of deposited thin films of nano-sized calcium(II)-8-hydroxy-5,7-dinitroquinolate complex, Ca[((NO(2))(2)-8HQ)(2)], were explored, studied and evaluated in this work. Thin films of Ca[((NO(2))(2)-8HQ)(2)] were assembled by using a direct, simple and efficient layer-by-layer (LBL) chemical deposition technique. The optical properties of thin films were investigated by using spectrophotometric measurements of transmittance and reflectance at normal incidence in the wavelength range 200-2500 nm. The refractive index, n, and the absorption index, k, of Ca[((NO(2))(2)-8HQ)(2)] films were determined from the measured transmittance and reflectance. The real and imaginary dielectric constants were also determined. The analysis of the spectral behavior of the absorption coefficient in the intrinsic absorption region reveals a direct allowed transition with band gaps of 1.1 eV and 2.4 eV for the optical and transport energy gaps, respectively. The current-voltage characteristics of Ca[((NO(2))(2)-8HQ)(2)] showed a trap-charge limited conduction in determining the current at the intermediate and high bias regimes. Graphical representation of the current-voltage characteristics yields three distinct linear parts indicating the existence of three conduction mechanisms. Structural characterization and identification were confirmed by using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR). Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was also used to image the surface morphology of the deposited nano-sized metal complex and such study revealed a high homogeneity in surface spherical particle distribution with average particles size in the range 20-40 nm. Thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA) was also studied for [(NO(2))(2)-8HQ] and Ca[((NO(2))(2)-8HQ)(2)] to evaluate and confirm the thermal stability characteristics incorporated into the synthesized nano-sized Ca[((NO(2))(2)-8HQ)(2)] complex. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  1. The Tuning of Optical Properties of Nanoscale MOFs-Based Thin Film through Post-Modification.

    PubMed

    Yin, Wenchang; Tao, Cheng-An; Zou, Xiaorong; Wang, Fang; Qu, Tianlian; Wang, Jianfang

    2017-08-29

    Optical properties, which determine the application of optical devices in different fields, are the most significant properties of optical thin films. In recent years, Metal-organic framework (MOF)-based optical thin films have attracted increasing attention because of their novel optical properties and important potential applications in optical and photoelectric devices, especially optical thin films with tunable optical properties. This study reports the first example of tuning the optical properties of a MOF-based optical thin film via post-modification. The MOF-based optical thin film was composed of NH₂-MIL-53(Al) nanorods (NRs) (MIL: Materials from Institute Lavoisier), and was constructed via a spin-coating method. Three aldehydes with different lengths of carbon chains were chosen to modify the MOF optical thin film to tune their optical properties. After post-modification, the structural color of the NH₂-MIL-53(Al) thin film showed an obvious change from purple to bluish violet and cyan. The reflection spectrum and the reflectivity also altered in different degrees. The effective refractive index ( n eff ) of MOFs thin film can also be tuned from 1.292 to 1.424 at a wavelength of 750 nm. The success of tuning of the optical properties of MOFs thin films through post-modification will make MOFs optical thin films meet different needs of optical properties in various optical and optoelectronic devices.

  2. The Tuning of Optical Properties of Nanoscale MOFs-Based Thin Film through Post-Modification

    PubMed Central

    Zou, Xiaorong; Wang, Fang; Qu, Tianlian; Wang, Jianfang

    2017-01-01

    Optical properties, which determine the application of optical devices in different fields, are the most significant properties of optical thin films. In recent years, Metal-organic framework (MOF)-based optical thin films have attracted increasing attention because of their novel optical properties and important potential applications in optical and photoelectric devices, especially optical thin films with tunable optical properties. This study reports the first example of tuning the optical properties of a MOF-based optical thin film via post-modification. The MOF-based optical thin film was composed of NH2-MIL-53(Al) nanorods (NRs) (MIL: Materials from Institute Lavoisier), and was constructed via a spin-coating method. Three aldehydes with different lengths of carbon chains were chosen to modify the MOF optical thin film to tune their optical properties. After post-modification, the structural color of the NH2-MIL-53(Al) thin film showed an obvious change from purple to bluish violet and cyan. The reflection spectrum and the reflectivity also altered in different degrees. The effective refractive index (neff) of MOFs thin film can also be tuned from 1.292 to 1.424 at a wavelength of 750 nm. The success of tuning of the optical properties of MOFs thin films through post-modification will make MOFs optical thin films meet different needs of optical properties in various optical and optoelectronic devices. PMID:28850057

  3. Plethora of transitions during breakup of liquid filaments

    DOE PAGES

    Castrejón-Pita, José Rafael; Castrejón-Pita, Alfonso Arturo; Thete, Sumeet Suresh; ...

    2015-03-30

    Thinning and breakup of liquid filaments are central to dripping of leaky faucets, inkjet drop formation, and raindrop fragmentation. As the filament radius decreases, curvature and capillary pressure, both inversely proportional to radius, increase and fluid is expelled with increasing velocity from the neck. As the neck radius vanishes, the governing equations become singular and the filament breaks. In slightly viscous liquids, thinning initially occurs in an inertial regime where inertial and capillary forces balance. By contrast, in highly viscous liquids, initial thinning occurs in a viscous regime where viscous and capillary forces balance. As the filament thins, viscous forcesmore » in the former case and inertial forces in the latter become important, and theory shows that the filament approaches breakup in the final inertial–viscous regime where all three forces balance. However, previous simulations and experiments reveal that transition from an initial to the final regime either occurs at a value of filament radius well below that predicted by theory or is not observed. In this paper, we perform new simulations and experiments, and show that a thinning filament unexpectedly passes through a number of intermediate transient regimes, thereby delaying onset of the inertial–viscous regime. Finally, the new findings have practical implications regarding formation of undesirable satellite droplets and also raise the question as to whether similar dynamical transitions arise in other free-surface flows such as coalescence that also exhibit singularities.« less

  4. Plethora of transitions during breakup of liquid filaments

    PubMed Central

    Castrejón-Pita, José Rafael; Castrejón-Pita, Alfonso Arturo; Thete, Sumeet Suresh; Sambath, Krishnaraj; Hutchings, Ian M.; Hinch, John; Lister, John R.; Basaran, Osman A.

    2015-01-01

    Thinning and breakup of liquid filaments are central to dripping of leaky faucets, inkjet drop formation, and raindrop fragmentation. As the filament radius decreases, curvature and capillary pressure, both inversely proportional to radius, increase and fluid is expelled with increasing velocity from the neck. As the neck radius vanishes, the governing equations become singular and the filament breaks. In slightly viscous liquids, thinning initially occurs in an inertial regime where inertial and capillary forces balance. By contrast, in highly viscous liquids, initial thinning occurs in a viscous regime where viscous and capillary forces balance. As the filament thins, viscous forces in the former case and inertial forces in the latter become important, and theory shows that the filament approaches breakup in the final inertial–viscous regime where all three forces balance. However, previous simulations and experiments reveal that transition from an initial to the final regime either occurs at a value of filament radius well below that predicted by theory or is not observed. Here, we perform new simulations and experiments, and show that a thinning filament unexpectedly passes through a number of intermediate transient regimes, thereby delaying onset of the inertial–viscous regime. The new findings have practical implications regarding formation of undesirable satellite droplets and also raise the question as to whether similar dynamical transitions arise in other free-surface flows such as coalescence that also exhibit singularities. PMID:25825761

  5. Supramolecular Nanocomposites Under Confinement: Chiral Optically Active Nanoparticle Assemblies and Beyond

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Bai, Peter; Yang, Sui; Bao, Wei; Salmeron, Miquel; Zhang, Xiang; Xu, Ting

    2015-03-01

    Block copolymer-based supramolecules provide a versatile platform to direct the self-assembly of nanoparticles (NPs) into precisely controlled nanostructures in bulk and thin film geometries. A supramolecule, PS-b-P4VP(PDP), composed of the small molecule 3-pentadecylphenol (PDP) hydrogen bonded to a diblock copolymer, polystyrene-block-poly(4-vinylpyridine) (PS-b-P4VP), was subjected to 2-D volume confinement in cylindrical anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) membrane pores. TEM and 3-D TEM tomography reveal that the morphologies accessible by the supramolecule and supramolecule/NP composites, such as NP clusters, arrays, stacked rings, and single and double helical ribbons, are significantly different from those in the bulk or thin film. Furthermore, single molecule dark field scattering measurements demonstrate strong chiral optical response of single helical Au NP ribbon nanostructures in the near infrared wavelength regime. These studies demonstrate 2-D confinement to be an effective means to tailor self-assembled NP structure within supramolecule nanocomposites and pave the way for this assembly approach to be applied towards next generation chiral metamaterials and optoelectronic devices.

  6. Isochronic carrier-envelope phase-shift compensator.

    PubMed

    Görbe, Mihaly; Osvay, Karoly; Grebing, Christian; Steinmeyer, Günter

    2008-11-15

    A concept for orthogonal control of phase and group delay inside a laser cavity by a specially designed compensator assembly is discussed. Similar to the construction of variable polarization retarder, this assembly consists of two thin wedge prisms made from appropriately chosen optical materials. Being shifted as a whole, the assembly allows changing the phase delay with no influence on the cavity round-trip time, whereas relative shifting of the prisms enables adjustment of the latter. This scheme is discussed theoretically and verified experimentally, indicating a factor 30 reduction of the influence on the repetition rate compared to the commonly used silica wedge pair. For a 2pi adjustment of the carrier-envelope phase shift, single-pass timing differences are reduced to the single-femtosecond regime. With negligible distortions of timing and dispersion, the described compensator device greatly simplifies carrier-envelope phase control and experiments in extreme nonlinear optics. Copyright (c) 2008 Optical Society of America.

  7. Parameterization and scaling of arctic ice conditions in the context of ice-atmospheric processes

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Barry, R. G.; Steffen, K.; Heinrichs, J. F.; Key, J. R.; Maslanik, J. A.; Serreze, M. C.; Weaver, R. L.

    1995-01-01

    The goals of this project are to observe how the open water/thin ice fraction in a high-concentration ice pack responds to different short-period atmospheric forcings, and how this response is represented in different scales of observation. The objectives can be summarized as follows: determine the feasibility and accuracy of ice concentration and ice typing by ERS-1 SAR backscatter data, and whether SAR data might be used to calibrate concentration estimates from optical and massive-microwave sensors; investigate methods to integrate SAR data with other satellite data for turbulent heat flux parameterization at the ocean/atmosphere interface; determine how the development and evolution of open water/thin ice areas within the interior ice pack vary under different atmospheric synoptic regimes; compare how open-water/thin ice fractions estimated from large-area divergence measurements differ from fractions determined by summing localized openings in the pack; relate these questions of scale and process to methods of observation, modeling, and averaging over time and space.

  8. Monte Carlo Simulations of the Photospheric Emission in Gamma-Ray Bursts

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Bégué, D.; Siutsou, I. A.; Vereshchagin, G. V.

    2013-04-01

    We studied the decoupling of photons from ultra-relativistic spherically symmetric outflows expanding with constant velocity by means of Monte Carlo simulations. For outflows with finite widths we confirm the existence of two regimes: photon-thick and photon-thin, introduced recently by Ruffini et al. (RSV). The probability density function of the last scattering of photons is shown to be very different in these two cases. We also obtained spectra as well as light curves. In the photon-thick case, the time-integrated spectrum is much broader than the Planck function and its shape is well described by the fuzzy photosphere approximation introduced by RSV. In the photon-thin case, we confirm the crucial role of photon diffusion, hence the probability density of decoupling has a maximum near the diffusion radius well below the photosphere. The time-integrated spectrum of the photon-thin case has a Band shape that is produced when the outflow is optically thick and its peak is formed at the diffusion radius.

  9. MONTE CARLO SIMULATIONS OF THE PHOTOSPHERIC EMISSION IN GAMMA-RAY BURSTS

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Begue, D.; Siutsou, I. A.; Vereshchagin, G. V.

    2013-04-20

    We studied the decoupling of photons from ultra-relativistic spherically symmetric outflows expanding with constant velocity by means of Monte Carlo simulations. For outflows with finite widths we confirm the existence of two regimes: photon-thick and photon-thin, introduced recently by Ruffini et al. (RSV). The probability density function of the last scattering of photons is shown to be very different in these two cases. We also obtained spectra as well as light curves. In the photon-thick case, the time-integrated spectrum is much broader than the Planck function and its shape is well described by the fuzzy photosphere approximation introduced by RSV.more » In the photon-thin case, we confirm the crucial role of photon diffusion, hence the probability density of decoupling has a maximum near the diffusion radius well below the photosphere. The time-integrated spectrum of the photon-thin case has a Band shape that is produced when the outflow is optically thick and its peak is formed at the diffusion radius.« less

  10. Magnetic Rayleigh-Taylor instability in radiative flows

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Yaghoobi, Asiyeh; Shadmehri, Mohsen

    2018-06-01

    We present a linear analysis of the radiative Rayleigh-Taylor (RT) instability in the presence of magnetic field for both optically thin and thick regimes. When the flow is optically thin, magnetic field not only stabilizes perturbations with short wavelengths, but also growth rate of the instability at long wavelengths is reduced compared to a non-magnetized case. Then, we extend our analysis to the optically thick flows with a conserved total specific entropy, and properties of the unstable perturbations are investigated in detail. Growth rate of the instability at short wavelengths is suppressed due to the presence of the magnetic field; however, growth rate is nearly constant at long wavelengths because of the radiation field. Since the radiative bubbles around massive protostars are subject to the RT instability, we also explore implications of our results in this context. In the non-magnetized case, the growth time-scale of the instability for a typical bubble is found to be less than 1000 yr, which is very short compared to the typical star formation time-scale. Magnetic field with a reasonable strength significantly increases the growth time-scale to more than hundreds of thousand years. The instability, furthermore, is more efficient at large wavelengths, whereas in the non-magnetized case, growth rate at short wavelengths is more significant.

  11. SIMILARITY PROPERTIES AND SCALING LAWS OF RADIATION HYDRODYNAMIC FLOWS IN LABORATORY ASTROPHYSICS

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Falize, E.; Bouquet, S.; Michaut, C., E-mail: emeric.falize@cea.fr

    The spectacular recent development of modern high-energy density laboratory facilities which concentrate more and more energy in millimetric volumes allows the astrophysical community to reproduce and to explore, in millimeter-scale targets and during very short times, astrophysical phenomena where radiation and matter are strongly coupled. The astrophysical relevance of these experiments can be checked from the similarity properties and especially scaling law establishment, which constitutes the keystone of laboratory astrophysics. From the radiating optically thin regime to the so-called optically thick radiative pressure regime, we present in this paper, for the first time, a complete analysis of the main radiatingmore » regimes that we encountered in laboratory astrophysics with the same formalism based on Lie group theory. The use of the Lie group method appears to be a systematic method which allows us to construct easily and systematically the scaling laws of a given problem. This powerful tool permits us to unify the recent major advances on scaling laws and to identify new similarity concepts that we discuss in this paper, and suggests important applications for present and future laboratory astrophysics experiments. All these results enable us to demonstrate theoretically that astrophysical phenomena in such radiating regimes can be explored experimentally thanks to powerful facilities. Consequently, the results presented here are a fundamental tool for the high-energy density laboratory astrophysics community in order to quantify the astrophysics relevance and justify laser experiments. Moreover, relying on Lie group theory, this paper constitutes the starting point of any analysis of the self-similar dynamics of radiating fluids.« less

  12. Characterization of long-range plasmonic waveguides at visible to near-infrared regime

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Huang, Sheng-Ting; Lai, Chien-Chih; Sheu, Fang-Wen; Tsai, Wan-Shao

    2017-12-01

    Long-range surface plasmon polariton waveguides composed with thin gold stripes embedded in SU-8 polymer cladding with various stripe widths were fabricated. Material properties of the polymer cladding layer, gold thin film, and the device structures were discussed. Optical properties based on modal propagation were characterized at visible to near-infrared wavelengths. The measured propagation losses of waveguide widths from 3 to 9 μm at 633, 785, and 1550 nm are 7.5-18.8, 6.8-12.5, and 1.9-3.9 dB/mm, respectively. Guiding mode properties such as overlap integrals between the simulated and the measured fields and the polarization extinction ratios of the waveguides with different stripe widths were investigated at the telecommunication wavelength. Good accordance between the measurement and simulation results was presented.

  13. Structural and optical properties of Ni-doped CdS thin films prepared by chemical bath deposition method

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Premarani, R.; Saravanakumar, S., E-mail: sarophy84@gmail.com; Chandramohan, R.

    2015-06-24

    The structural and optical behavior of undoped Cadmiun Sulphide (CdS) and Ni-doped CdS thinfilms prepared by Chemical Bath Deposition (CBD) technique is reported. The crystallite sizes of the thinfilms have been characterized by X-ray diffraction pattern (XRD). The particle sizes increase with the increase of Ni content in the CdS thinfilms. Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) results indicated that CdS thinfilms is made up of aggregate of spherical-like particles. The composition was estimated by Energy Dispersive Analysis of X-ray (EDX) and reported. Spectroscopic studies revealed considerable improvement in transmission and the band gap of the films changes with addition of Nimore » dopant that is associated with variation in crystallite sizes in the nano regime.« less

  14. Shear thinning in non-Brownian suspensions.

    PubMed

    Chatté, Guillaume; Comtet, Jean; Niguès, Antoine; Bocquet, Lydéric; Siria, Alessandro; Ducouret, Guylaine; Lequeux, François; Lenoir, Nicolas; Ovarlez, Guillaume; Colin, Annie

    2018-02-14

    We study the flow of suspensions of non-Brownian particles dispersed into a Newtonian solvent. Combining capillary rheometry and conventional rheometry, we evidence a succession of two shear thinning regimes separated by a shear thickening one. Through X-ray radiography measurements, we show that during each of those regimes, the flow remains homogeneous and does not involve particle migration. Using a quartz-tuning fork based atomic force microscope, we measure the repulsive force profile and the microscopic friction coefficient μ between two particles immersed into the solvent, as a function of normal load. Coupling measurements from those three techniques, we propose that (1) the first shear-thinning regime at low shear rates occurs for a lubricated rheology and can be interpreted as a decrease of the effective volume fraction under increasing particle pressures, due to short-ranged repulsive forces and (2) the second shear thinning regime after the shear-thickening transition occurs for a frictional rheology and can be interpreted as stemming from a decrease of the microscopic friction coefficient at large normal load.

  15. Use of gas-phase ethanol to mitigate extreme UV/water oxidation of extreme UV optics

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Klebanoff, L. E.; Malinowski, M. E.; Clift, W. M.; Steinhaus, C.; Grunow, P.

    2004-03-01

    A technique is described that uses a gas-phase species to mitigate the oxidation of a Mo/Si multilayer optic caused by either extreme UV (EUV) or electron-induced dissociation of adsorbed water vapor. It is found that introduction of ethanol (EtOH) into a water-rich gas-phase environment inhibits oxidation of the outermost Si layer of the Mo/Si EUV reflective coating. Auger electron spectroscopy, sputter Auger depth profiling, EUV reflectivity, and photocurrent measurements are presented that reveal the EUV/water- and electron/water-derived optic oxidation can be suppressed at the water partial pressures used in the tests (~2×10-7-2×10-5 Torr). The ethanol appears to function differently in two time regimes. At early times, ethanol decomposes on the optic surface, providing reactive carbon atoms that scavenge reactive oxygen atoms before they can oxidize the outermost Si layer. At later times, the reactive carbon atoms form a thin (~5 Å), possibly self-limited, graphitic layer that inhibits water adsorption on the optic surface. .

  16. Femtosecond pulse self-shortening in Kerr media: role of modulational instability in the spectrum formation

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Grudtsyn, Ya. V.; Koribut, A. V.; Mikheev, L. D.; Trofimov, V. A.

    2018-04-01

    The mechanism of femtosecond pulse self-shortening in thin optical materials with Kerr nonlinearity is investigated. The experimentally observed spectral-angular distribution of the radiation intensity on the exit surface of a 1-mm-thick fused silica sample is compared with the results of numerical simulation based on solving the nonlinear Schrödinger equation for an electromagnetic wave with a transverse perturbation on the axis. Qualitative agreement between the calculated and experimental results confirms the hypothesis about the transient regime of multiple filamentation as a mechanism of femtosecond pulse self-shortening.

  17. Microtubules soften due to cross-sectional flattening

    DOE PAGES

    Memet, Edvin; Hilitsk, Feodor; Morris, Margaret A.; ...

    2018-06-01

    We use optical trapping to continuously bend an isolated microtubule while simultaneously measuring the applied force and the resulting filament strain, thus allowing us to determine its elastic properties over a wide range of applied strains. We find that, while in the low-strain regime, microtubules may be quantitatively described in terms of the classical Euler-Bernoulli elastic filament, above a critical strain they deviate from this simple elastic model, showing a softening response with increasing deformations. A three-dimensional thin-shell model, in which the increased mechanical compliance is caused by flattening and eventual buckling of the filament cross-section, captures this softening effectmore » in the high strain regime and yields quantitative values of the effective mechanical properties of microtubules. Our results demonstrate that properties of microtubules are highly dependent on the magnitude of the applied strain and offer a new interpretation for the large variety in microtubule mechanical data measured by different methods.« less

  18. Microtubules soften due to cross-sectional flattening

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Memet, Edvin; Hilitsk, Feodor; Morris, Margaret A.

    We use optical trapping to continuously bend an isolated microtubule while simultaneously measuring the applied force and the resulting filament strain, thus allowing us to determine its elastic properties over a wide range of applied strains. We find that, while in the low-strain regime, microtubules may be quantitatively described in terms of the classical Euler-Bernoulli elastic filament, above a critical strain they deviate from this simple elastic model, showing a softening response with increasing deformations. A three-dimensional thin-shell model, in which the increased mechanical compliance is caused by flattening and eventual buckling of the filament cross-section, captures this softening effectmore » in the high strain regime and yields quantitative values of the effective mechanical properties of microtubules. Our results demonstrate that properties of microtubules are highly dependent on the magnitude of the applied strain and offer a new interpretation for the large variety in microtubule mechanical data measured by different methods.« less

  19. A short-time fading study of Al2O3:C

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Nascimento, L. F.; Vanhavere, F.; Silva, E. H.; Deene, Y. De

    2015-01-01

    This paper studies the short-time fading from Al2O3:C by measuring optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) signals (Total OSL: TOSL, and Peak OSL: POSL) from droplets and Luxel™ pellets. The influence of various bleaching regimes (blue, green and white) and light power is compared. The fading effect is the decay of the OSL signal in the dark at room temperature. Al2O3:C detectors were submitted to various bleaching regimes, irradiated with a reference dose and read out after different time spans. Investigations were carried out using 2 mm size droplet detectors, made of thin Al2O3:C powder mixed with a photocured polymer. Tests were compared to Luxel™-type detectors (Landauer Inc.). Short-time post-irradiation fading is present in OSL results (TOSL and POSL) droplets for time spans up to 200 s. The effect of short-time fading can be lowered/removed when treating the detectors with high-power and/or long time bleaching regimes; this result was observed in both TOSL and POSL from droplets and Luxel™.

  20. Opto-valleytronic imaging of atomically thin semiconductors

    DOE PAGES

    Neumann, Andre; Lindlau, Jessica; Colombier, Léo; ...

    2017-01-16

    Transition metal dichalcogenide semiconductors represent elementary components of layered heterostructures for emergent technologies beyond conventional opto-electronics. In their monolayer form they host electrons with quantized circular motion and associated valley polarization and valley coherence as key elements of opto-valleytronic functionality. Here, we introduce two-dimensional polarimetry as means of direct imaging of the valley pseudospin degree of freedom in monolayer transition metal dichalcogenides. Using MoS 2 as a representative material with valley-selective optical transitions, we establish quantitative image analysis for polarimetric maps of extended crystals, and identify valley polarization and valley coherence as sensitive probes of crystalline disorder. Moreover, we findmore » site-dependent thermal and non-thermal regimes of valley-polarized excitons in perpendicular magnetic fields. Finally, we demonstrate the potential of widefield polarimetry for rapid inspection of opto-valleytronic devices based on atomically thin semiconductors and heterostructures.« less

  1. Opto-valleytronic imaging of atomically thin semiconductors

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Neumann, Andre; Lindlau, Jessica; Colombier, Léo

    Transition metal dichalcogenide semiconductors represent elementary components of layered heterostructures for emergent technologies beyond conventional opto-electronics. In their monolayer form they host electrons with quantized circular motion and associated valley polarization and valley coherence as key elements of opto-valleytronic functionality. Here, we introduce two-dimensional polarimetry as means of direct imaging of the valley pseudospin degree of freedom in monolayer transition metal dichalcogenides. Using MoS 2 as a representative material with valley-selective optical transitions, we establish quantitative image analysis for polarimetric maps of extended crystals, and identify valley polarization and valley coherence as sensitive probes of crystalline disorder. Moreover, we findmore » site-dependent thermal and non-thermal regimes of valley-polarized excitons in perpendicular magnetic fields. Finally, we demonstrate the potential of widefield polarimetry for rapid inspection of opto-valleytronic devices based on atomically thin semiconductors and heterostructures.« less

  2. Experimental design to understand the interaction of stellar radiation with molecular clouds

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    VanDervort, Robert; Davis, Josh; Trantham, Matt; Klein, Sallee; Frank, Yechiel; Raicher, Erez; Fraenkel, Moshe; Shvarts, Dov; Keiter, Paul; Drake, R. Paul

    2017-06-01

    Enhanced star formation triggered by local O and B type stars is an astrophysical problem of interest. O and B type stars are massive, hot stars that emit an enormous amount of radiation. This radiation acts to either compress or blow apart clumps of gas in the interstellar media. For example, in the optically thick limit, when the x-ray radiation in the gas clump has a short mean free path length the x-ray radiation is absorbed near the clump edge and compresses the clump. In the optically thin limit, when the mean free path is long, the radiation is absorbed throughout acting to heat the clump. This heating explodes the gas clump. Careful selection of parameters, such as foam density or source temperature, allow the experimental platform to access different hydrodynamic regimes. The stellar radiation source is mimicked by a laser irradiated thin gold foil. This will provide a source of thermal x-rays (around ~100 eV). The gas clump is mimicked by a low-density foam around 0.150 g/cc. Simulations were done using radiation hydrodynamics codes to tune the experimental parameters. The experiment will be carried out at the Omega laser facility on OMEGA 60.

  3. The Effects of Accretion Disk Thickness on the Black Hole Reflection Spectrum

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Taylor, Corbin; Reynolds, Christopher S.

    2018-01-01

    Despite being the gravitational engines that power galactic-scale winds and mega parsec-scale jets in active galaxies, black holes are remarkably simple objects, typically being fully described by their angular momenta (spin) and masses. The modelling of AGN X-ray reflection spectra has proven fruitful in estimating the spin of AGN, as well as giving insight into their accretion histories and into the properties of plasmas in the strong gravity regime. However, current models make simplifying assumptions about the geometry of the reflecting material in the accretion disk and the irradiating X-ray corona, approximating the disk as an optically thick, infinitely thin disk of material in the orbital plane. We present results from the new relativistic raytracing suite, Fenrir, that explore the effects that disk thickness may have on the reflection spectrum and the accompanying reverberation signatures. Approximating the accretion disk as an optically thick, geometrically thin, radiation pressure dominated disk (Shakura & Sunyaev 1973), one finds that the disk geometry is non-negligible in many cases, with significant changes in the broad Fe K line profile. Finally, we explore the systematic errors inherent in other contemporary models that approximate that disk as having negligible vertical extent.

  4. Spectroscopic Ellipsometry Studies of Thin Film a-Si:H/nc-Si:H Micromorph Solar Cell Fabrication in the p-i-n Superstrate Configuration

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Huang, Zhiquan

    Spectroscopic ellipsometry (SE) is a non-invasive optical probe that is capable of accurately and precisely measuring the structure of thin films, such as their thicknesses and void volume fractions, and in addition their optical properties, typically defined by the index of refraction and extinction coefficient spectra. Because multichannel detection systems integrated into SE instrumentation have been available for some time now, the data acquisition time possible for complete SE spectra has been reduced significantly. As a result, real time spectroscopic ellipsometry (RTSE) has become feasible for monitoring thin film nucleation and growth during the deposition of thin films as well as during their removal in processes of thin film etching. Also because of the reduced acquisition time, mapping SE is possible by mounting an SE instrument with a multichannel detector onto a mechanical translation stage. Such an SE system is capable of mapping the thin film structure and its optical properties over the substrate area, and thereby evaluating the spatial uniformity of the component layers. In thin film photovoltaics, such structural and optical property measurements mapped over the substrate area can be applied to guide device optimization by correlating small area device performance with the associated local properties. In this thesis, a detailed ex-situ SE study of hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) thin films and solar cells prepared by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) has been presented. An SE analysis procedure with step-by-step error minimization has been applied to obtain accurate measures of the structural and optical properties of the component layers of the solar cells. Growth evolution diagrams were developed as functions of the deposition parameters in PECVD for both p-type and n-type layers to characterize the regimes of accumulated thickness over which a-Si:H, hydrogenated nanocrystalline silicon (nc-Si:H) and mixed phase (a+nc)-Si:H thin films are obtained. The underlying materials for these depositions were newly-deposited intrinsic a-Si:H layers on thermal oxide coated crystalline silicon wafers, designed to simulate specific device configurations. As a result, these growth evolution diagrams can be applied to both p-i-n and n-i-p solar cell optimization. In this thesis, the n-layer growth evolution diagram expressed in terms of hydrogen dilution ratio was applied in correlations with the performance of p-i-n single junction devices in order to optimize these devices. Moreover, ex-situ mapping SE was also employed over the area of multilayer structures in order to achieve better statistics for solar cell optimization by correlating structural parameters locally with small area solar cell performance parameters. In the study of (a-Si:H p-i-n)/(nc-Si:H p-i-n) tandem solar cells, RTSE was successfully applied to monitor the fabrication of the top cell, and efforts to optimize the nanocrystalline p-layer and i-layer of the bottom cell were initiated.

  5. Structuring by field enhancement of glass, Ag, Au, and Co thin films using short pulse laser ablation

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ulmeanu, M.; Zamfirescu, M.; Rusen, L.; Luculescu, C.; Moldovan, A.; Stratan, A.; Dabu, R.

    2009-12-01

    Single pulse laser ablation of glass, Ag, Au, and Co thin films was experimentally investigated with a laser pulse width of 400 ps at a wavelength of 532 nm both in the far and near fields. In the far-field regime, the electromagnetic field results from a focused laser beam, while the near-field regime is realized by a combination of the focused laser beam incident on a spherical colloidal particle. For the near-field experiments we have used polystyrene colloidal particles of 700 nm diameter self-assembled or spin coated on top of the surfaces. Laser fluences applied are in the range of 0.01-10 J/cm2. The diameter and the morphologies of the ablated holes were investigated by optical microscopy, profilometry, scanning electron microscopy, and atomic force microscopy. The dependence of the shape of the holes reflects the fluence regime and the thermophysical properties, i.e., melting temperature and thermal diffusivity of the surfaces involved in the experiments. We give quantitative data about the fluence threshold, diameter, and depth ablation dependence for the far and near fields and discuss their values with respect to the enhancement factor of the intensity of the electromagnetic field due to the use of the colloidal particles. Theoretical estimations of the intensity enhancement were done using the finite-difference time-domain method by using the RSOFT software. The application of near fields allows structuring of the surfaces with structure dimension in the order of 100 nm and even below.

  6. Growth of pentacene on α -Al2O3 (0001) studied by in situ optical spectroscopy

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zhang, Lei; Fu, X.; Hohage, M.; Zeppenfeld, P.; Sun, L. D.

    2017-09-01

    The growth of pentacene thin films on a sapphire α -Al2O3 (0001) surface was investigated in situ using differential reflectance spectroscopy (DRS). Two different film structures are observed depending on the substrate temperature. If pentacene is deposited at room temperature, a wetting layer consisting of flat-lying molecules is formed after which upright-standing molecular layers with a herringbone structure start to grow. At low substrate temperature of 100 K, the long molecular axis of the pentacene molecules remains parallel to the surface plane throughout the entire growth regime up to rather large thicknesses. Heating thin films deposited at 100 K to room temperature causes the pentacene molecules beyond the wetting layer to stand up and assemble into a herringbone structure. Another interesting observation is the dewetting of the first flat-lying monolayer upon exposure to air, leading to the condensation of islands consisting of upright-standing molecules. Our results emphasize the interplay between growth kinetics and thermodynamics and its influence on the molecular orientation in organic thin films.

  7. Invited Paper Thin Film Technology In Design And Production Of Optical Systems

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Guenther, K. H.; Menningen, R.; Burke, C. A.

    1983-10-01

    Basic optical properties of dielectric thin films for interference applications and of metallic optical coatings are reviewed. Some design considerations of how to use thin films best in optical systems are given, and some aspects of thin film production technology relevant to the optical designer and the optician are addressed. The necessity of proper specifications, inclusive of test methods, is emphasized.

  8. Thin-film optical initiator

    DOEpatents

    Erickson, Kenneth L.

    2001-01-01

    A thin-film optical initiator having an inert, transparent substrate, a reactive thin film, which can be either an explosive or a pyrotechnic, and a reflective thin film. The resultant thin-film optical initiator system also comprises a fiber-optic cable connected to a low-energy laser source, an output charge, and an initiator housing. The reactive thin film, which may contain very thin embedded layers or be a co-deposit of a light-absorbing material such as carbon, absorbs the incident laser light, is volumetrically heated, and explodes against the output charge, imparting about 5 to 20 times more energy than in the incident laser pulse.

  9. High Efficient Ultra-Thin Flat Optics Based on Dielectric Metasurfaces

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ozdemir, Aytekin

    Metasurfaces which emerged as two-dimensional counterparts of metamaterials, facilitate the realization of arbitrary phase distributions using large arrays with subwavelength and ultra-thin features. Even if metasurfaces are ultra-thin, they still effectively manipulate the phase, amplitude, and polarization of light in transmission or reflection mode. In contrast, conventional optical components are bulky, and they lose their functionality at sub-wavelength scales, which requires conceptually new types of nanoscale optical devices. On the other hand, as the optical systems shrink in size day by day, conventional bulky optical components will have tighter alignment and fabrication tolerances. Since metasurfaces can be fabricated lithographically, alignment can be done during lithographic fabrication, thus eliminating the need for post-fabrication alignments. In this work, various types of metasurface applications are thoroughly investigated for robust wavefront engineering with enhanced characteristics in terms of broad bandwidth, high efficiency and active tunability, while beneficial for application. Plasmonic metasurfaces are not compatible with the CMOS process flow, and, additionally their high absorption and ohmic loss is problematic in transmission based applications. Dielectric metasurfaces, however, offer a strong magnetic response at optical frequencies, and thus they can offer great opportunities for interacting not only with the electric component of a light field, but also with its magnetic component. They show great potential to enable practical device functionalities at optical frequencies, which motivates us to explore them one step further on wavefront engineering and imaging sensor platforms. Therefore, we proposed an efficient ultra-thin flat metalens at near-infrared regime constituted by silicon nanodisks which can support both electric and magnetic dipolar Mie-type resonances. These two dipole resonances can be overlapped at the same frequency by varying the geometric parameters of silicon nanodisks. Having two resonance mechanisms at the same frequency allows us to achieve full (0-2?) phase shift on the transmitted beam. To enable the miniaturization of pixel size for achieving high-resolution, planar, compact-size focal plane arrays (FPAs), we also present and explore the metasurface lens array-based FPAs. The investigated dielectric metasurface lens arrays achieved high focusing efficiency with superior optical crosstalk performance. We see a magnificent application prospect for metasurfaces in enhancing the fill factor and reducing the pixel size of FPAs and CCD, CMOS imaging sensors as well. Moreover, it is of paramount importance to design metasurfaces possessing tunable properties. Thus, we also propose a tunable beam steering device by combining phase manipulating metasurfaces concept and liquid crystals. Tunability feature is implemented by nematic liquid crystals infiltrated into nano holes in SiO2. Using electrically tunable nematic liquid crystals, dynamic beam steering is achieved.

  10. Economics of thinning stagnated ponderosa pine sapling stands in the pine-grass areas of central Washington.

    Treesearch

    Robert W. Sassaman; James W. Barrett; Justin G. Smith

    1972-01-01

    Present net worth values earned by investments in precommercial thinning of stagnated ponderosa pine sapling stands are reported for three stocking levels. Thirteen timber management regimes are ranked by their returns from timber only, and 22 regimes are ranked according to their returns from timber and forage, with and without the allowable cut effect.

  11. Calculation of optical band gaps of a-Si:H thin films by ellipsometry and UV-Vis spectrophotometry

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Qiu, Yijiao; Li, Wei; Wu, Maoyang; Fu, Junwei; Jiang, Yadong

    2010-10-01

    Hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) thin films doped with Phosphorus (P) and Nitrogen (N) were deposited by radio frequency plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (RF-PECVD). The optical band gaps of the thin films obtained through either changing the gas pressure (P-doped only) or adulterating nitrogen concentration (with fixed P content) were investigated by means of Ellipsometric and Ultraviolet-Visible (UV-Vis) spectroscopy, respectively. Tauc formula was used in calculating the optical band gaps of the thin films in both methods. The results show that Ellipsometry and UV-Vis spectrophotometry can be applied in the research of the optical properties of a-Si:H thin films experimentally. Both methods reflect the variation law of the optical band gaps caused by CVD process parameters, i.e., the optical band gap of the a-Si:H thin films is increased with the rise of the gas pressure or the nitrogen concentration respectively. The difference in optical band gaps of the doped a-Si:H thin films calculated by Ellipsometry or UV-Vis spectrophotometry are not so great that they both can be used to measure the optical band gaps of the thin films in practical applications.

  12. Quantum plasmonics: optical properties of a nanomatryushka.

    PubMed

    Kulkarni, Vikram; Prodan, Emil; Nordlander, Peter

    2013-01-01

    Quantum mechanical effects can significantly reduce the plasmon-induced field enhancements around nanoparticles. Here we present a quantum mechanical investigation of the plasmon resonances in a nanomatryushka, which is a concentric core-shell nanoparticle consisting of a solid metallic core encapsulated in a thin metallic shell. We compute the optical response using the time-dependent density functional theory and compare the results with predictions based on the classical electromagnetic theory. We find strong quantum mechanical effects for core-shell spacings below 5 Å, a regime where both the absorption cross section and the local field enhancements differ significantly from the classical predictions. We also show that the workfunction of the metal is a crucial parameter determining the onset and magnitude of quantum effects. For metals with lower workfunctions such as aluminum, the quantum effects are found to be significantly more pronounced than for a noble metal such as gold.

  13. Dynamically Reconfigurable Metadevice Employing Nanostructured Phase-Change Materials

    DOE PAGES

    Zhu, Zhihua; Evans, Philip G.; Haglund, Richard F.; ...

    2017-07-21

    Mastering dynamic free-space spectral control and modulation in the near-infrared (NIR) and optical regimes remains a challenging task that is hindered by the available functional materials at high frequencies. In this work, we have realized an efficient metadevice capable of spectral control by minimizing the thermal mass of a vanadium dioxide phase-change material (PCM) and placing the PCM at the feed gap of a bow-tie field antenna. The device has an experimentally measured tuning range of up to 360 nm in the NIR and a modulation depth of 33% at the resonant wavelength. The metadevice is configured for integrated andmore » local heating, leading to faster switching and more precise spatial control compared with devices based on phase-change thin films. We envisage that the combined advantages of this device will open new opportunities for signal processing, memory, security, and holography at optical frequencies.« less

  14. Dynamically Reconfigurable Metadevice Employing Nanostructured Phase-Change Materials.

    PubMed

    Zhu, Zhihua; Evans, Philip G; Haglund, Richard F; Valentine, Jason G

    2017-08-09

    Mastering dynamic free-space spectral control and modulation in the near-infrared (NIR) and optical regimes remains a challenging task that is hindered by the available functional materials at high frequencies. In this work, we have realized an efficient metadevice capable of spectral control by minimizing the thermal mass of a vanadium dioxide phase-change material (PCM) and placing the PCM at the feed gap of a bow-tie field antenna. The device has an experimentally measured tuning range of up to 360 nm in the NIR and a modulation depth of 33% at the resonant wavelength. The metadevice is configured for integrated and local heating, leading to faster switching and more precise spatial control compared with devices based on phase-change thin films. We envisage that the combined advantages of this device will open new opportunities for signal processing, memory, security, and holography at optical frequencies.

  15. A Turnover in the Radio Light Curve of GW170817

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Dobie, Dougal; Kaplan, David L.; Murphy, Tara; Lenc, Emil; Mooley, Kunal P.; Lynch, Christene; Corsi, Alessandra; Frail, Dale; Kasliwal, Mansi; Hallinan, Gregg

    2018-05-01

    We present 2–9 GHz radio observations of GW170817 covering the period 125–200 days post-merger, taken with the Australia Telescope Compact Array (ATCA) and the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA). Our observations demonstrate that the radio afterglow peaked at 149 ± 2 days post-merger and is now declining in flux density. We see no evidence for evolution in the radio-only spectral index, which remains consistent with optically thin synchrotron emission connecting the radio, optical, and X-ray regimes. The peak implies a total energy in the synchrotron-emitting component of a few × 1050 erg. The temporal decay rate is most consistent with mildly or non-relativistic material and we do not see evidence for a very energetic off-axis jet, but we cannot distinguish between a lower-energy jet and more isotropic emission.

  16. DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Zhu, Zhihua; Evans, Philip G.; Haglund, Richard F.

    Mastering dynamic free-space spectral control and modulation in the near-infrared (NIR) and optical regimes remains a challenging task that is hindered by the available functional materials at high frequencies. In this work, we have realized an efficient metadevice capable of spectral control by minimizing the thermal mass of a vanadium dioxide phase-change material (PCM) and placing the PCM at the feed gap of a bow-tie field antenna. The device has an experimentally measured tuning range of up to 360 nm in the NIR and a modulation depth of 33% at the resonant wavelength. The metadevice is configured for integrated andmore » local heating, leading to faster switching and more precise spatial control compared with devices based on phase-change thin films. We envisage that the combined advantages of this device will open new opportunities for signal processing, memory, security, and holography at optical frequencies.« less

  17. Aggregation in complex triacylglycerol oils: coarse-grained models, nanophase separation, and predicted x-ray intensities.

    PubMed

    Quinn, Bonnie; Peyronel, Fernanda; Gordon, Tyler; Marangoni, Alejandro; Hanna, Charles B; Pink, David A

    2014-11-19

    Triacylglycerols (TAGs) are biologically important molecules which form crystalline nanoplatelets (CNPs) and, ultimately, fat crystal networks in edible oils. Characterizing the self-assembled hierarchies of these networks is important to understanding their functionality and oil binding capacity. We have modelled CNPs in multicomponent oils and studied their aggregation. The oil comprises (a) a liquid component, and (b) components which phase separately on a nano-scale (nano-phase separation) to coat the surfaces of the CNPs impenetrably, either isotropically or anisotropically, with either liquid-like coatings or crystallites, forming a coating of thickness ?. We modelled three cases: (i) liquid?liquid nano-phase separation, (ii) solid?liquid nano-phase separation, with CNPs coated isotropically, and (iii) CNPs coated anisotropically. The models were applied to mixes of tristearin and triolein with fully hydrogenated canola oil, shea butter with high oleic sunflower oil, and cotton seed oil. We performed Monte Carlo simulations, computed structure functions and concluded: (1) three regimes arose: (a) thin coating regime, Δ < 0.0701 u (b) transition regime, 0.0701 u ≤ Δ ≤ 0.0916 u and (c) thick coating regime, Δ > 0.0916 u. (arbitrary units, u) (2) The thin coating regime exhibits 1D TAGwoods, which aggregate, via DLCA/RLCA, into fractal structures which are uniformly distributed in space. (3) In the thick coating regime, for an isotropic coating, TAGwoods are not formed and coated CNPs will not aggregate but will be uniformly distributed in space. For anisotropic coating, TAGwoods can be formed and might form 1D strings but will not form DLCA/RLCA clusters. (4) The regimes are, approximately: thin coating, 0 < Δ < 7.0 nm transition regime, 7.0 < Δ < 9.2 nm and thick coating, Δ > 9.2 nm (5) The minimum minority TAG concentration required to undergo nano-phase separation is, approximately, 0.29% (thin coatings) and 0.94% (thick coatings). Minority components can have substantial effects upon aggregation for concentrations less than 1%.

  18. Highly sensitive nonlinear luminescent ceramics for volumetric and multilayer data carriers

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Martynovich, E F; Dresvyanskiy, V P; Voitovich, A P

    2015-10-31

    The interaction of optical ceramics based on wide-bandgap crystals with near-IR femtosecond laser radiation is studied experimentally. The formation of luminescent centres in LiF and MgF{sub 2} ceramics under the action of single laser pulses is considered. Two interaction regimes are used. In the regime of low-aperture focusing of laser radiation (800 nm, 30 fs, 0.3 mJ), multiple selffocusing and filamentation in the samples are observed. The luminescent centres are formed in thin channels induced by light filaments. The average effective self-focusing length is ∼100 μm; the formation of luminescent centres begins at this length and ceases at a wavelengthmore » of about 380 mm. The luminescent trace (spur) induced by a single laser filament was ∼30 μm long and 1.3 μm in diameter. The second regime of light interaction with the sample was based on high-aperture focusing with a simultaneous decrease in the laser pulse energy. This led to the formation of single pits with a diameter smaller than the optical diffraction limit. The luminescent centres induced by the laser radiation were aggregated colour centres. The mechanism of their creation included the highly-nonlinear generation of electron – hole pairs in the filamentation region, their recombination with the formation of anion excitons and the decay of excitons into Fresnel defects by the Lushchik – Vitol – Hersh – Pooley mechanism, as well as their recharging, migration and aggregation. (laser applications and other topics in quantum electronics)« less

  19. Optical characterization of Mg-doped ZnO thin films deposited by RF magnetron sputtering technique

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Singh, Satyendra Kumar; Tripathi, Shweta; Hazra, Purnima

    2016-05-06

    This paper reports the in-depth analysis on optical characteristics of magnesium (Mg) doped zinc oxide (ZnO) thin films grown on p-silicon (Si) substrates by RF magnetron sputtering technique. The variable angle ellipsometer is used for the optical characterization of as-deposited thin films. The optical reflectance, transmission spectra and thickness of as-deposited thin films are measured in the spectral range of 300-800 nm with the help of the spectroscopic ellipsometer. The effect of Mg-doping on optical parameters such as optical bandgap, absorption coefficient, absorbance, extinction coefficient, refractive Index and dielectric constant for as-deposited thin films are extracted to show its application inmore » optoelectronic and photonic devices.« less

  20. Laboratory analogues simulating Titan's atmospheric aerosols: Compared chemical compositions of grains and thin films

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Carrasco, Nathalie; Jomard, François; Vigneron, Jackie; Etcheberry, Arnaud; Cernogora, Guy

    2016-09-01

    Two sorts of solid organic samples can be produced in laboratory experiments simulating Titan's atmospheric reactivity: grains in the volume and thin films on the reactor walls. We expect that grains are more representative of Titan's atmospheric aerosols, but films are used to provide optical indices for radiative models of Titan's atmosphere. The aim of the present study is to address if these two sorts of analogues are chemically equivalent or not, when produced in the same N2-CH4 plasma discharge. The chemical compositions of both these materials are measured by using elemental analysis, XPS analysis and Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry. The main parameter probed is the CH4/N2 ratio to explore various possible chemical regimes. We find that films are homogeneous but significantly less rich in nitrogen and hydrogen than grains produced in the same experimental conditions. This surprising difference in their chemical compositions could be explained by the efficient etching occurring on the films, which stay in the discharge during the whole plasma duration, whereas the grains are ejected after a few minutes. The higher nitrogen content in the grains possibly involves a higher optical absorption than the one measured on the films, with a possible impact on Titan's radiative models.

  1. AN ADVANCED LEAKAGE SCHEME FOR NEUTRINO TREATMENT IN ASTROPHYSICAL SIMULATIONS

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Perego, A.; Cabezón, R. M.; Käppeli, R., E-mail: albino.perego@physik.tu-darmstadt.de

    We present an Advanced Spectral Leakage (ASL) scheme to model neutrinos in the context of core-collapse supernovae (CCSNe) and compact binary mergers. Based on previous gray leakage schemes, the ASL scheme computes the neutrino cooling rates by interpolating local production and diffusion rates (relevant in optically thin and thick regimes, respectively) separately for discretized values of the neutrino energy. Neutrino trapped components are also modeled, based on equilibrium and timescale arguments. The better accuracy achieved by the spectral treatment allows a more reliable computation of neutrino heating rates in optically thin conditions. The scheme has been calibrated and tested against Boltzmannmore » transport in the context of Newtonian spherically symmetric models of CCSNe. ASL shows a very good qualitative and a partial quantitative agreement for key quantities from collapse to a few hundreds of milliseconds after core bounce. We have proved the adaptability and flexibility of our ASL scheme, coupling it to an axisymmetric Eulerian and to a three-dimensional smoothed particle hydrodynamics code to simulate core collapse. Therefore, the neutrino treatment presented here is ideal for large parameter-space explorations, parametric studies, high-resolution tests, code developments, and long-term modeling of asymmetric configurations, where more detailed neutrino treatments are not available or are currently computationally too expensive.« less

  2. Evaluation of space environmental effects on metals and optical thin films on EOIM-3

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Vaughn, Jason A.; Linton, Roger C.; Finckenor, Miria M.; Kamenetzky, Rachel R.

    1995-01-01

    Metals and optical thin films exposed to the space environment on the Third Flight of the Evaluation of Oxygen Interactions with Materials (EOIM-3) payload, onboard Space Shuttle mission STS-46 were evaluated. The materials effects described in this paper include the effects of space exposure on various pure metals, optical thin films, and optical thin film metals. The changes induced by exposure to the space environment in the material properties were evaluated using bidirectional reflectance distribution function (BRDF), specular reflectance (250 nm to 2500 nm), ESCA, VUV reflectance (120 nm to 200 nm), ellipsometry, FTIR and optical properties. Using these analysis techniques gold optically thin film metal mirrors with nickel undercoats were observed to darken due to nickel diffusion through the gold to the surface. Also, thin film nickel mirrors formed nickel oxide due to exposure to both the atmosphere and space.

  3. On the Nature and Extent of Optically Thin Marine low Clouds

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Leahy, L. V.; Wood, R.; Charlson, R. J.; Hostetler, C. A.; Rogers, R. R.; Vaughan, M. A.; Winker, D. M.

    2012-01-01

    Macrophysical properties of optically thin marine low clouds over the nonpolar oceans (60 deg S-60 deg N) are measured using 2 years of full-resolution nighttime data from the Cloud-Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization (CALIOP). Optically thin clouds, defined as the subset of marine low clouds that do not fully attenuate the lidar signal, comprise almost half of the low clouds over the marine domain. Regionally, the fraction of low clouds that are optically thin (f(sub thin,cld)) exhibits a strong inverse relationship with the low-cloud cover, with maxima in the tropical trades (f(sub thin,cld) greater than 0.8) and minima in regions of persistent marine stratocumulus and in midlatitudes (f(sub thin,cld) less than 0.3). Domain-wide, a power law fit describes the cloud length distribution, with exponent beta = 2.03 +/- 0.06 (+/-95% confidence interval). On average, the fraction of a cloud that is optically thin decreases from approximately 1 for clouds smaller than 2 km to less than 0.3 for clouds larger than 30 km. This relationship is found to be independent of region, so that geographical variations in the cloud length distribution explain three quarters of the variance in f(sub thin,cld). Comparing collocated trade cumulus observations from CALIOP and the airborne High Spectral Resolution Lidar reveals that clouds with lengths smaller than are resolvable with CALIOP contribute approximately half of the low clouds in the region sampled. A bounded cascade model is constructed to match the observations from the trades. The model shows that the observed optically thin cloud behavior is consistent with a power law scaling of cloud optical depth and suggests that most optically thin clouds only partially fill the CALIOP footprint.

  4. Determination of the optical absorption spectra of thin layers from their photoacoustic spectra

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Bychto, Leszek; Maliński, Mirosław; Patryn, Aleksy; Tivanov, Mikhail; Gremenok, Valery

    2018-05-01

    This paper presents a new method for computations of the optical absorption coefficient spectra from the normalized photoacoustic amplitude spectra of thin semiconductor samples deposited on the optically transparent and thermally thick substrates. This method was tested on CuIn(Te0.7Se0.3)2 thin films. From the normalized photoacoustic amplitude spectra, the optical absorption coefficient spectra were computed with the new formula as also with the numerical iterative method. From these spectra, the value of the energy gap of the thin film material and the type of the optical transitions were determined. From the experimental optical transmission spectra, the optical absorption coefficient spectra were computed too, and compared with the optical absorption coefficient spectra obtained from photoacoustic spectra.

  5. Super-resolved thickness maps of thin film phantoms and in vivo visualization of tear film lipid layer using OCT

    PubMed Central

    dos Santos, Valentin Aranha; Schmetterer, Leopold; Triggs, Graham J.; Leitgeb, Rainer A.; Gröschl, Martin; Messner, Alina; Schmidl, Doreen; Garhofer, Gerhard; Aschinger, Gerold; Werkmeister, René M.

    2016-01-01

    In optical coherence tomography (OCT), the axial resolution is directly linked to the coherence length of the employed light source. It is currently unclear if OCT allows measuring thicknesses below its axial resolution value. To investigate spectral-domain OCT imaging in the super-resolution regime, we derived a signal model and compared it with the experiment. Several island thin film samples of known refractive indices and thicknesses in the range 46 – 163 nm were fabricated and imaged. Reference thickness measurements were performed using a commercial atomic force microscope. In vivo measurements of the tear film were performed in 4 healthy subjects. Our results show that quantitative super-resolved thickness measurement can be performed using OCT. In addition, we report repeatable tear film lipid layer visualization. Our results provide a novel interpretation of the OCT axial resolution limit and open a perspective to deeper extraction of the information hidden in the coherence volume. PMID:27446696

  6. Effects of Na Doping on Structural, Optical, and Electronic Properties of ZnO Thin Films Fabricated by Sol-Gel Technique

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Fan, Heliang; Yao, Zhen; Xu, Cheng; Wang, Xinqiang; Yu, Zhichao

    2018-04-01

    Undoped and Na-doped ZnO thin films were fabricated by sol-gel technique on quartz glass substrates and annealed at 500°C for 1 h. The structural properties of the films were characterized using x-ray diffraction analysis, which revealed hexagonal wurtzite structure with no peaks corresponding to Na2O or other Na phases being found. Surface morphology observations by scanning electron microscopy revealed that the crystallite size and topographical properties of the ZnO films were influenced by the Na doping concentration. X-ray photoelectron spectra revealed presence of Na+ in ZnO regime. The transmittance spectra indicated that the average transmittance of Na-doped ZnO film was above 80% in the visible range, superior to that of the undoped film. There was a blue-shift in the ultraviolet absorption edge with increase of the Na content. Photoluminescence spectra illustrated two peaks, corresponding to ultraviolet near-band-edge and visible emission.

  7. Quenching Mo optical losses in CIGS solar cells by a point contacted dual-layer dielectric spacer: a 3-D optical study.

    PubMed

    Rezaei, Nasim; Isabella, Olindo; Vroon, Zeger; Zeman, Miro

    2018-01-22

    A 3-D optical modelling was calibrated to calculate the light absorption and the total reflection of fabricated CIGS solar cells. Absorption losses at molybdenum (Mo) / CIGS interface were explained in terms of plasmonic waves. To quench these losses, we assumed the insertion of a lossless dielectric spacer between Mo and CIGS, whose optical properties were varied. We show that such a spacer with low refractive index and proper thickness can significantly reduce absorption in Mo in the long wavelength regime and improve the device's rear reflectance, thus leading to enhanced light absorption in the CIGS layer. Therefore, we optimized a realistic two-layer MgF 2 / Al 2 O 3 dielectric spacer to exploit (i) the passivation properties of ultra-thin Al 2 O 3 on the CIGS side for potential high open-circuit voltage and (ii) the low refractive index of MgF 2 on the Mo side to reduce its optical losses. Combining our realistic spacer with optically-optimized point contacts increases the implied photocurrent density of a 750 nm-thick CIGS layer by 10% for the wavelengths between 700 and 1150 nm with respect to the reference cell. The elimination of plasmonic resonances in the new structure leads to a higher electric field magnitude at the bottom of CIGS layer and justifies the improved optical performance.

  8. Ionic Self-Assembled Monolayer (ISAM) Nonlinear Optical Thin Films and Devices

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1998-05-12

    SUBTITLE " Ionic Self-Assembled Monolayer (ISAM) Nonlinear Optical Thin Films and Devices" 6. AUTHORS Michael B. Miller 5. FUNDING NUMBERS F49620-97...ii. Lü. Ionic Self-Assembled Monolayer (ISAM) Nonlinear Optical Thin Films and Devices Final Technical Report Performance Period: 15 August 1997...Investigator F&S. Inc.N ̂ 1. INTRODUCTION .’ 2 2. PROGRAM TASK REVIEW 2 3. BACKGROUND 4 3.1 NONLINEAR OPTICAL THIN FILMS 4 3.2 IONIC SELF

  9. Application of a liquid crystal spatial light modulator to laser marking.

    PubMed

    Parry, Jonathan P; Beck, Rainer J; Shephard, Jonathan D; Hand, Duncan P

    2011-04-20

    Laser marking is demonstrated using a nanosecond (ns) pulse duration laser in combination with a liquid crystal spatial light modulator to generate two-dimensional patterns directly onto thin films and bulk metal surfaces. Previous demonstrations of laser marking with such devices have been limited to low average power lasers. Application in the ns regime enables more complex, larger scale marks to be generated with more widely available and industrially proven laser systems. The dynamic nature of the device is utilized to improve mark quality by reducing the impact of the inherently speckled intensity distribution across the generated image and reduce thermal effects in the marked surface. © 2011 Optical Society of America

  10. Continuously tunable solution-processed organic semiconductor DFB lasers pumped by laser diode.

    PubMed

    Klinkhammer, Sönke; Liu, Xin; Huska, Klaus; Shen, Yuxin; Vanderheiden, Sylvia; Valouch, Sebastian; Vannahme, Christoph; Bräse, Stefan; Mappes, Timo; Lemmer, Uli

    2012-03-12

    The fabrication and characterization of continuously tunable, solution-processed distributed feedback (DFB) lasers in the visible regime is reported. Continuous thin film thickness gradients were achieved by means of horizontal dipping of several conjugated polymer and blended small molecule solutions on cm-scale surface gratings of different periods. We report optically pumped continuously tunable laser emission of 13 nm in the blue, 16 nm in the green and 19 nm in the red spectral region on a single chip respectively. Tuning behavior can be described with the Bragg-equation and the measured thickness profile. The laser threshold is low enough that inexpensive laser diodes can be used as pump sources.

  11. DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Thakur, J. S.; Dixit, A.; Sudakar, C.

    Low energy optical modes of molecular beam epitaxy-grown In{sub 1-x}Ga{sub x}N thin films with 0<=x<=0.6 are investigated using infrared reflectance measurements. We found that the reflectance of the films for wave vectors in the range from 600 to 800 cm{sup -1} is determined by the high energy E{sub 1}(LO)-plasmon coupled modes. In the higher energy regime of the UV-visible reflectance spectrum of InN, critical points with energies 4.75, 5.36, and 6.12 eV belonging to A and B structures are observed. The energies of these critical points increase with increasing values of x, similar to the band gap energy of thesemore » films.« less

  12. DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Osada, Motoki; Nishio, Kazunori; Hwang, Harold Y.

    Here, we investigate the growth phase diagram of pseudobrookite Fe 2TiO 5 epitaxial thin films on LaAlO 3 (001) substrates using pulsed laser deposition. Control of the oxygen partial pressure and temperature during deposition enabled selective stabilization of (100)- and (230)-oriented films. In this regime, we find an optical gap of 2.1 eV and room temperature resistivity in the range of 20–80 Ω cm, which are significantly lower than α-Fe 2O 3, making Fe 2TiO 5 potentially an ideal inexpensive visible-light harvesting semiconductor. These results provide a basis to incorporate Fe 2TiO 5 in oxide heterostructures for photocatalytic and photoelectrochemicalmore » applications.« less

  13. Global Measurements of Optically Thin Cirrus Clouds Using CALIOP

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ryan, R. A.; Avery, M. A.; Vaughan, M.

    2017-12-01

    Optically thin cirrus clouds, defined here as cold clouds consisting of randomly oriented ice crystals and having optical depths (τ) less than 0.3, are difficult to measure accurately. Thin cirrus clouds have been shown to have a net warming effect on the globe but, because passive instruments are not sensitive to optically thin clouds, the occurrence frequency of thin cirrus is greatly underestimated in historical passive sensor cloud climatology. One major strength of Cloud-Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization (CALIOP) is its ability to detect these thin cirrus clouds, thus filling an important missing piece in the historical data record. This poster examines multiple years of CALIOP Level 2 data, focusing on those CALIOP retrievals identified as being optically thin (τ < 0.3), having a cold centroid temperature (TC < -40°C), and consisting solely of randomly oriented ice crystals. Using this definition, thin cirrus are identified and counted globally within each season. By examining the spatial, and seasonal distributions of these thin clouds we hope to gain a better understanding of how thin cirrus affect the atmosphere. Understanding when and where these clouds form and persist in the global atmosphere is the topic and focus of the presented poster.

  14. Optical Sensing using Fiber Bragg Gratings for Monitoring Structural Damage in Composite Over-Wrapped Vessels

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Grant, Joseph

    2005-01-01

    Composite Over-Wrap Vessels are widely used in the aerospace community. They are made of thin-walled bottles that are over wrapped with high strength fibers embedded in a matrix material. There is a strong drive to reduce the weight of space borne vehicles and thus pushes designers to adopt COPVs that are over wrapped with graphite fibers embedded in its epoxy matrix. Unfortunately, this same fiber-matrix configuration is more susceptible to impact damage than others and to make matters worse; there is a regime where impacts that damage the over wrap leave no visible scar on the COPV surface. In this paper FBG sensors are presented as a means of monitoring and detecting these types of damage. The FBG sensors are surface mounted to the COPVs and optically interrogated to explore the structural properties of these composite pressure vessels. These gratings optically inscribed into the core of a single mode fiber are used as a tool to monitor the stress strain relation in the composite matrix. The response of these fiber-optic sensors is investigated by pressurizing the cylinder up to its burst pressure of around 4500 psi. A Fiber Optic Demodulation System built by Blue Road Research, is used for interrogation of the Bragg gratings.

  15. Optical characterizations of silver nanoprisms embedded in polymer thin film layers

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Carlberg, Miriam; Pourcin, Florent; Margeat, Olivier; Le Rouzo, Judikael; Berginc, Gerard; Sauvage, Rose-Marie; Ackermann, Jorg; Escoubas, Ludovic

    2017-10-01

    The precise control of light-matter interaction has a wide range of applications and is currently driven by the use of nanoparticles (NPs) by the recent advances in nanotechnology. Taking advantage of the material, size, shape, and surrounding media dependence of the optical properties of plasmonic NPs, thin film layers with tunable optical properties are achieved. The NPs are synthesized by wet chemistry and embedded in a polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) polymer thin film layer. Spectrophotometer and spectroscopic ellipsometry measurements are coupled to finite-difference time domain numerical modeling to optically characterize the heterogeneous thin film layers. Silver nanoprisms of 10 to 50 nm edge size exhibit high absorption through the visible wavelength range. A simple optical model composed of a Cauchy law and a Lorentz law, accounting for the optical properties of the nonabsorbing polymer and the absorbing property of the nanoprisms, fits the spectroscopic ellipsometry measurements. Knowing the complex optical indices of heterogeneous thin film layers let us design layers of any optical properties.

  16. Permanent laser conditioning of thin film optical materials

    DOEpatents

    Wolfe, C. Robert; Kozlowski, Mark R.; Campbell, John H.; Staggs, Michael; Rainer, Frank

    1995-01-01

    The invention comprises a method for producing optical thin films with a high laser damage threshold and the resulting thin films. The laser damage threshold of the thin films is permanently increased by irradiating the thin films with a fluence below an unconditioned laser damage threshold.

  17. Electro-optic studies of novel organic materials and devices

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Xu, Jianjun

    1997-11-01

    Specific single crystal organic materials have high potential for use in high speed optical signal processing and various other electro-optic applications. In this project some of the most important organic crystal materials were studied regarding their detailed electro- optic properties and potential device applications. In particular, the electro-optic properties of N-(4- Nitrophenyl)-L-Prolinol (NPP) and 4'-N,N- dimethylamino-4-methylstilbazolium tosylate (DAST) both of which have extremely large second order susceptibilites were studied. The orientation of the thin film crystal with respect to the substrate surface was determined using-X-ray diffraction. The principal axes of the single crystal thin film were determined by polarization transmission microscopy. The elements of the electro-optic coefficient tensor were measured by field induced birefringence measurements. Detailed measurements for NPP thin films with different orientations of the external electric field with respect to the charge transfer axis were carried out at a wavelength of 1064nm. The wavelength dependence of the electro-optic effect for DAST single crystal thin films was measured using a Ti:Sapphire laser. Several device geometries involving organic single crystal thin film materials were studied. A new method for the fabrication of channel waveguides for organic materials was initiated. Channel waveguides for NPP and ABP were obtained using this methods. Optical modulation due to the electro-optic effect based on the organic channel waveguide for NPP single crystal was demonstrated. The electro-optic modulation using NPP single crystals thin film in a Fabry-Perot cavity was measured. A device using a optical fiber half coupler and organic electro-optic thin film material was constructed, and it has potential applications in optical signal processing.

  18. Quantitative photoacoustic microscopy of optical absorption coefficients from acoustic spectra in the optical diffusive regime

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Guo, Zijian; Favazza, Christopher; Garcia-Uribe, Alejandro; Wang, Lihong V.

    2012-06-01

    Photoacoustic (PA) microscopy (PAM) can image optical absorption contrast with ultrasonic spatial resolution in the optical diffusive regime. Conventionally, accurate quantification in PAM requires knowledge of the optical fluence attenuation, acoustic pressure attenuation, and detection bandwidth. We circumvent this requirement by quantifying the optical absorption coefficients from the acoustic spectra of PA signals acquired at multiple optical wavelengths. With the acoustic spectral method, the absorption coefficients of an oxygenated bovine blood phantom at 560, 565, 570, and 575 nm were quantified with errors of <3%. We also quantified the total hemoglobin concentration and hemoglobin oxygen saturation in a live mouse. Compared with the conventional amplitude method, the acoustic spectral method provides greater quantification accuracy in the optical diffusive regime. The limitations of the acoustic spectral method was also discussed.

  19. Quantitative photoacoustic microscopy of optical absorption coefficients from acoustic spectra in the optical diffusive regime

    PubMed Central

    Guo, Zijian; Favazza, Christopher; Garcia-Uribe, Alejandro

    2012-01-01

    Abstract. Photoacoustic (PA) microscopy (PAM) can image optical absorption contrast with ultrasonic spatial resolution in the optical diffusive regime. Conventionally, accurate quantification in PAM requires knowledge of the optical fluence attenuation, acoustic pressure attenuation, and detection bandwidth. We circumvent this requirement by quantifying the optical absorption coefficients from the acoustic spectra of PA signals acquired at multiple optical wavelengths. With the acoustic spectral method, the absorption coefficients of an oxygenated bovine blood phantom at 560, 565, 570, and 575 nm were quantified with errors of <3%. We also quantified the total hemoglobin concentration and hemoglobin oxygen saturation in a live mouse. Compared with the conventional amplitude method, the acoustic spectral method provides greater quantification accuracy in the optical diffusive regime. The limitations of the acoustic spectral method was also discussed. PMID:22734767

  20. Quantitative photoacoustic microscopy of optical absorption coefficients from acoustic spectra in the optical diffusive regime.

    PubMed

    Guo, Zijian; Favazza, Christopher; Garcia-Uribe, Alejandro; Wang, Lihong V

    2012-06-01

    Photoacoustic (PA) microscopy (PAM) can image optical absorption contrast with ultrasonic spatial resolution in the optical diffusive regime. Conventionally, accurate quantification in PAM requires knowledge of the optical fluence attenuation, acoustic pressure attenuation, and detection bandwidth. We circumvent this requirement by quantifying the optical absorption coefficients from the acoustic spectra of PA signals acquired at multiple optical wavelengths. With the acoustic spectral method, the absorption coefficients of an oxygenated bovine blood phantom at 560, 565, 570, and 575 nm were quantified with errors of <3%. We also quantified the total hemoglobin concentration and hemoglobin oxygen saturation in a live mouse. Compared with the conventional amplitude method, the acoustic spectral method provides greater quantification accuracy in the optical diffusive regime. The limitations of the acoustic spectral method was also discussed.

  1. Low-dimensional systems: quantum size effects and electronic properties of semiconductor microcrystallites (zero-dimensional systems) and some quasi-two-dimensional systems

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Yoffe, A. D.

    2002-03-01

    This review is concerned with quantum confinement effects in low-dimensional semiconductor systems. The emphasis is on the optical properties, including luminescence, of nanometre-sized microcrystallites, also referred to as zerodimensional systems. There is some discussion on certain of the two-dimensional systems, such as thin films and layer structures. The increase in energy of excitation peaks (blue shift) as the radius R of a microcrystallite is reduced is treated theoretically, and experimental data when they are available are used to assess the reliability of the different models that have been used. These experiments normally make use of microcrystallites dispersed in a large-bandgap matrix such as glass, rocksalt, polymers, zeolites or liquids. Exciton binding energies Eb are larger than for bulk semiconductors, and oscillator strengths are higher for the microcrystallites. The regimes of direct interest are as follows. Firstly there is the so-called weak-confinement regime where R is greater than the bulk exciton Bohr radius aB. Experimentally, semiconductors such as CuCl with aB , 7 Å, are suitable for study in this case. Secondly there is the moderate-confinement regime, where R , aB, and ah < R < ae, ah and ae being the hole and electron Bohr radii, respectively. Finally there is the strong-confinement regime, with R < aB, and R < ah, ae. For this case we are concerned with a ladder of discrete energy levels, as in molecular systems, rather than energy bands. The electrons and holes are treated as independent particles, and for excited states we refer to electron-hole pairs rather than excitons. Suitable materials for investigation in this regime are the II-VI semiconductors, and also GaAs and Ge, for which aB is relatively large. Although a number of different theoretical models have been used, none can be described as completely first-principles calculations, and there is room for improvement on this aspect. However, useful expressions have been developed by Brus and by Lippens and Lannoo, giving the energy of excited states as a function of R, in terms of the bulk energy gap, kinetic energy, Coulomb energy and correlation energy. Other phenomena discussed are firstly biexciton formation by the use of high intensity laser beams and secondly nonlinear optical effects. Strong nonlinearities and short decay times for excited states have been predicted, and the models developed cover both the resonant and the non-resonant cases. The possibility of using microcrystallites embedded at reasonable concentrations in a glass matrix in the field of optical communications and optical switching is also considered.

  2. Nanomechanics of biocompatible hollow thin-shell polymer microspheres.

    PubMed

    Glynos, Emmanouil; Koutsos, Vasileios; McDicken, W Norman; Moran, Carmel M; Pye, Stephen D; Ross, James A; Sboros, Vassilis

    2009-07-07

    The nanomechanical properties of biocompatible thin-shell hollow polymer microspheres with approximately constant ratio of shell thickness to microsphere diameter were measured by nanocompression tests in aqueous conditions. These microspheres encapsulate an inert gas and are used as ultrasound contrast agents by releasing free microbubbles in the presence of an ultrasound field as a result of free gas leakage from the shell. The tests were performed using an atomic force microscope (AFM) employing the force-distance curve technique. An optical microscope, on which the AFM was mounted, was used to guide the positioning of tipless cantilevers on top of individual microspheres. We performed a systematic study using several cantilevers with spring constants varying from 0.08 to 2.3 N/m on a population of microspheres with diameters from about 2 to 6 microm. The use of several cantilevers with various spring constants allowed a systematic study of the mechanical properties of the microsphere thin shell at different regimes of force and deformation. Using thin-shell mechanics theory for small deformations, the Young's modulus of the thin wall material was estimated and was shown to exhibit a strong size effect: it increased as the shell became thinner. The Young's modulus of thicker microsphere shells converged to the expected value for the macroscopic bulk material. For high applied forces, the force-deformation profiles showed a reversible and/or irreversible nonlinear behavior including "steps" and "jumps" which were attributed to mechanical instabilities such as buckling events.

  3. Revealing topological Dirac fermions at the surface of strained HgTe thin films via quantum Hall transport spectroscopy

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Thomas, C.; Crauste, O.; Haas, B.; Jouneau, P.-H.; Bäuerle, C.; Lévy, L. P.; Orignac, E.; Carpentier, D.; Ballet, P.; Meunier, T.

    2017-12-01

    We demonstrate evidences of electronic transport via topological Dirac surface states in a thin film of strained HgTe. At high perpendicular magnetic fields, we show that the electron transport reaches the quantum Hall regime with vanishing resistance. Furthermore, quantum Hall transport spectroscopy reveals energy splittings of relativistic Landau levels specific to coupled Dirac surface states. This study provides insights in the quantum Hall effect of topological insulator (TI) slabs, in the crossover regime between two- and three-dimensional TIs, and in the relevance of thin TI films to explore circuit functionalities in spintronics and quantum nanoelectronics.

  4. Permanent laser conditioning of thin film optical materials

    DOEpatents

    Wolfe, C.R.; Kozlowski, M.R.; Campbell, J.H.; Staggs, M.; Rainer, F.

    1995-12-05

    The invention comprises a method for producing optical thin films with a high laser damage threshold and the resulting thin films. The laser damage threshold of the thin films is permanently increased by irradiating the thin films with a fluence below an unconditioned laser damage threshold. 9 figs.

  5. Aggregation in complex triacylglycerol oils: coarse-grained models, nanophase separation, and predicted x-ray intensities

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Quinn, Bonnie; Peyronel, Fernanda; Gordon, Tyler; Marangoni, Alejandro; Hanna, Charles B.; Pink, David A.

    2014-11-01

    Triacylglycerols (TAGs) are biologically important molecules which form crystalline nanoplatelets (CNPs) and, ultimately, fat crystal networks in edible oils. Characterizing the self-assembled hierarchies of these networks is important to understanding their functionality and oil binding capacity. We have modelled CNPs in multicomponent oils and studied their aggregation. The oil comprises (a) a liquid componentt, and (b) components which phase separately on a nano-scale (nano-phase separation) to coat the surfaces of the CNPs impenetrably, either isotropically or anisotropically, with either liquid-like coatings or crystallites, forming a coating of thickness Δ. We modelled three cases: (i) liquid-liquid nano-phase separation, (ii) solid-liquid nano-phase separation, with CNPs coated isotropically, and (iii) CNPs coated anisotropically. The models were applied to mixes of tristearin and triolein with fully hydrogenated canola oil, shea butter with high oleic sunflower oil, and cotton seed oil. We performed Monte Carlo simulations, computed structure functions and concluded: (1) three regimes arose: (a) thin coating regime, Δ \\lt 0.0701 u (b) transition regime, 0.0701 u≤slant Δ ≤slant 0.0916 u and (c) thick coating regime, Δ \\gt 0.0916 u . (arbitrary units, u) (2) The thin coating regime exhibits 1D TAGwoods, which aggregate, via DLCA/RLCA, into fractal structures which are uniformly distributed in space. (3) In the thick coating regime, for an isotropic coating, TAGwoods are not formed and coated CNPs will not aggregate but will be uniformly distributed in space. For anisotropic coating, TAGwoods can be formed and might form 1D strings but will not form DLCA/RLCA clusters. (4) The regimes are, approximately: thin coating, 0\\lt Δ \\lt 7.0 \\text{nm} transition regime, 7.0\\ltΔ \\lt 9.2 \\text{nm} and thick coating, Δ \\gt 9.2 \\text{nm} (5) The minimum minority TAG concentration required to undergo nano-phase separation is, approximately, 0.29% (thin coatings) and 0.94% (thick coatings). Minority components can have substantial effects upon aggregation for concentrations less than 1%.

  6. Two-dimensional models for the optical response of thin films

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Li, Yilei; Heinz, Tony F.

    2018-04-01

    In this work, we present a systematic study of 2D optical models for the response of thin layers of material under excitation by normally incident light. The treatment, within the framework of classical optics, analyzes a thin film supported by a semi-infinite substrate, with both the thin layer and the substrate assumed to exhibit local, isotropic linear response. Starting from the conventional three-dimensional (3D) slab model of the system, we derive a two-dimensional (2D) sheet model for the thin film in which the optical response is described by a sheet optical conductivity. We develop criteria for the applicability of this 2D sheet model for a layer with an optical thickness far smaller than the wavelength of the light. We examine in detail atomically thin semi-metallic and semiconductor van-der-Waals layers and ultrathin metal films as representative examples. Excellent agreement of the 2D sheet model with the 3D slab model is demonstrated over a broad spectral range from the radio frequency limit to the near ultraviolet. A linearized version of system response for the 2D model is also presented for the case where the influence of the optically thin layer is sufficiently weak. Analytical expressions for the applicability and accuracy of the different optical models are derived, and the appropriateness of the linearized treatment for the materials is considered. We discuss the advantages, as well as limitations, of these models for the purpose of deducing the optical response function of the thin layer from experiment. We generalize the theory to take into account in-plane anisotropy, layered thin film structures, and more general substrates. Implications of the 2D model for the transmission of light by the thin film and for the implementation of half- and totally absorbing layers are discussed.

  7. Deer browse response to pine-hardwood thinning regimes in southeastern Arkansas

    Treesearch

    David G. Peitz; Philip A. Tappe; Michael G. Shelton; Michael G. Sams

    1999-01-01

    Understanding relationships between stand thinning and browse production allows land managers to encourage both white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) browse production and timber production. In our study, browse biomass was determined before thinning and two and four growing seasons after thinning a 35 yr. old natural loblolly pine-hardwood stand (initially 27 m...

  8. Effect of Thin Cirrus Clouds on Dust Optical Depth Retrievals From MODIS Observations

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Feng, Qian; Hsu, N. Christina; Yang, Ping; Tsay, Si-Chee

    2011-01-01

    The effect of thin cirrus clouds in retrieving the dust optical depth from MODIS observations is investigated by using a simplified aerosol retrieval algorithm based on the principles of the Deep Blue aerosol property retrieval method. Specifically, the errors of the retrieved dust optical depth due to thin cirrus contamination are quantified through the comparison of two retrievals by assuming dust-only atmospheres and the counterparts with overlapping mineral dust and thin cirrus clouds. To account for the effect of the polarization state of radiation field on radiance simulation, a vector radiative transfer model is used to generate the lookup tables. In the forward radiative transfer simulations involved in generating the lookup tables, the Rayleigh scattering by atmospheric gaseous molecules and the reflection of the surface assumed to be Lambertian are fully taken into account. Additionally, the spheroid model is utilized to account for the nonsphericity of dust particles In computing their optical properties. For simplicity, the single-scattering albedo, scattering phase matrix, and optical depth are specified a priori for thin cirrus clouds assumed to consist of droxtal ice crystals. The present results indicate that the errors in the retrieved dust optical depths due to the contamination of thin cirrus clouds depend on the scattering angle, underlying surface reflectance, and dust optical depth. Under heavy dusty conditions, the absolute errors are comparable to the predescribed optical depths of thin cirrus clouds.

  9. Broadly tunable thin-film intereference coatings: active thin films for telecom applications

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Domash, Lawrence H.; Ma, Eugene Y.; Lourie, Mark T.; Sharfin, Wayne F.; Wagner, Matthias

    2003-06-01

    Thin film interference coatings (TFIC) are the most widely used optical technology for telecom filtering, but until recently no tunable versions have been known except for mechanically rotated filters. We describe a new approach to broadly tunable TFIC components based on the thermo-optic properties of semiconductor thin films with large thermo-optic coefficients 3.6X10[-4]/K. The technology is based on amorphous silicon thin films deposited by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD), a process adapted for telecom applications from its origins in the flat-panel display and solar cell industries. Unlike MEMS devices, tunable TFIC can be designed as sophisticated multi-cavity, multi-layer optical designs. Applications include flat-top passband filters for add-drop multiplexing, tunable dispersion compensators, tunable gain equalizers and variable optical attenuators. Extremely compact tunable devices may be integrated into modules such as optical channel monitors, tunable lasers, gain-equalized amplifiers, and tunable detectors.

  10. Generalized dispersive wave emission in nonlinear fiber optics.

    PubMed

    Webb, K E; Xu, Y Q; Erkintalo, M; Murdoch, S G

    2013-01-15

    We show that the emission of dispersive waves in nonlinear fiber optics is not limited to soliton-like pulses propagating in the anomalous dispersion regime. We demonstrate, both numerically and experimentally, that pulses propagating in the normal dispersion regime can excite resonant dispersive radiation across the zero-dispersion wavelength into the anomalous regime.

  11. Optical figuring specifications for thin shells to be used in adaptive telescope mirrors

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Riccardi, A.

    2006-06-01

    The present work describes the guidelines to define the optical figuring specifications for optical manufacturing of thin shells in terms of figuring error power spectrum (and related rms vs scale distributon) to be used in adaptive optics correctors with force actuators like Deformable Secondary Mirrors (DSM). In particular the numerical example for a thin shell for a VLT DSM is considered.

  12. Novel photon management for thin-film photovoltaics

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Menon, Rajesh

    2016-11-11

    The objective of this project is to enable commercially viable thin-film photovoltaics whose efficiencies are increased by over 10% using a novel optical spectral-separation technique. A thin planar diffractive optic is proposed that efficiently separates the solar spectrum and assigns these bands to optimal thin-film sub-cells. An integrated device that is comprised of the optical element, an array of sub-cells and associated packaging is proposed.

  13. A modified abstraction of Sierpiński fractals towards enhanced sensitivity of a cross-coupled bow-tie nanostructure

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hasan, Dihan; Lee, Chengkuo

    2018-06-01

    We experimentally demonstrate a modified abstraction of a fractal geometry (up to order M = 2), namely the Sierpiński fractal, with intrinsic self-similarity for a multitude of infrared sensing applications. The modification particularly strengthens the dipolar resonance and enables optical magnetism at longer wavelengths on a relatively miniaturized footprint. In contrast to the conventional resonant sensing, we harness the broadband electric field enhancement of the modified fractal patterns originating from the lightning rod effect in the non-resonant regime. We demonstrate strong enhancement of molecular absorption at mid-IR by the fractal patterns in the non-resonant regime even under extreme thermal broadening. Finally, we extend the work towards the functional study of the molecular fingerprint of ultra-thin film (∼5 nm) on a non-complementary metamaterial platform in the non-resonant regime. With the help of the solid state chemical dewetting of the monolayer, we also successfully demonstrate a new type of cross-coupling mediated sensitivity of the multispectral and mutually coupled fractal patterns. The research clearly indicates the usefulness of broadband electric field enhancement by the second order fractal pattern for on chip, complete profiling of mid-IR fingerprints of biological elements, i.e. cell, and protein monolayer on a limited footprint and under versatile morphological states.

  14. Initial experiments to understand the interaction of stellar radiation with molecular clouds

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Vandervort, Robert; Davis, Josh; Trantham, Matt; Klein, Sallee; Shvarts, Dov; Keiter, Paul; Drake, R. Paul

    2017-10-01

    Enhanced star formation triggered by local O and B type stars is an astrophysical problem of interest. O and B type stars are massive, hot stars that emit an enormous amount of radiation. This radiation acts to either compress or blow apart gas clumps in the interstellar media. For example, in the optically thick limit, when the radiation in the gas clump has a short mean free path, radiation is absorbed near the clump edge and compresses the clump. In the optically thin limit, when the mean free path is long, the radiation is absorbed throughout, acting to heat the clump. This heating explodes the gas clump. Careful selection of parameters, such as foam density or source temperature, allow the experimental platform to access different hydrodynamic regimes. 2D CRASH simulations guide our parameter selection. A stellar radiation source is mimicked by a laser-irradiated, thin, gold foil, providing a source of thermal x-rays around 100 eV. The gas clump is mimicked by low-density CRF foam. We plan to show the preliminary experimental results of this platform in the optically thick limit, from experiments scheduled in August. This work is funded by the U.S. DOE, through the NNSA-DS and SC-OFES Joint Program in HEDPLP, Grant No. DE-NA0002956, and the NLUF Program, Grant No. DE-NA0002719, and through LLE, University of Rochester by the NNSA/OICF under Cooperative Agreement No. DE-NA0001944. This work is funded by the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory under subcontract B614207.

  15. Spectroscopic ellipsometry investigation of the optical properties of graphene oxide dip-coated on magnetron sputtered gold thin films

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Politano, Grazia Giuseppina; Vena, Carlo; Desiderio, Giovanni; Versace, Carlo

    2018-02-01

    Despite intensive investigations on graphene oxide-gold nanocomposites, the interaction of graphene oxide sheets with magnetron sputtered gold thin films has not been studied yet. The optical constants of graphene oxide thin films dip-coated on magnetron sputtered gold thin films were determined by spectroscopic ellipsometry in the [300-1000] wavelength range. Moreover, the morphologic properties of the samples were investigated by SEM analysis. Graphene oxide absorbs mainly in the ultraviolet region, but when it is dip-coated on magnetron sputtered gold thin films, its optical constants show dramatic changes, becoming absorbing in the visible region, with a peak of the extinction coefficient at 3.1 eV. Using magnetron sputtered gold thin films as a substrate for graphene oxide thin films could therefore be the key to enhance graphene oxide optical sheets' properties for several technological applications, preserving their oxygen content and avoiding the reduction process.

  16. Structural and optical properties of ITO and Cu doped ITO thin films

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Chakraborty, Deepannita; Kaleemulla, S.; Rao, N. Madhusudhana; Subbaravamma, K.; Rao, G. Venugopal

    2018-04-01

    (In0.95Sn0.05)2O3 and (In0.90Cu0.05Sn0.05)2O3 thin films were coated onto glass substrate by electron beam evaporation technique. The structural and optical properties of ITO and Cu doped ITO thin films have been studied by X-ray diffractometer (XRD) and UV-Vis-NIR spectrophotometer. The crystallite size obtained for ITO and Cu doped ITO thin films was in the range of 24 nm to 22 nm. The optical band gap of 4 eV for ITO thin film sample has been observed. The optical band gap decreases to 3.85 eV by doping Cu in ITO.

  17. Thermo-optically tunable thin film devices

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Domash, Lawrence H.

    2003-10-01

    We report advances in tunable thin film technology and demonstration of multi-cavity tunable filters. Thin film interference coatings are the most widely used optical technology for telecom filtering, but until recently no tunable versions have been known except for mechanically rotated filters. We describe a new approach to broadly tunable components based on the properties of semiconductor thin films with large thermo-optic coefficients. The technology is based on amorphous silicon deposited by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD), a process adapted for telecom applications from its origins in the flat-panel display and solar cell industries. Unlike MEMS devices, tunable thin films can be constructed in sophisticated multi-cavity, multi-layer optical designs.

  18. Low-Cost Detection of Thin Film Stress during Fabrication

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Nabors, Sammy A.

    2015-01-01

    NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center has developed a simple, cost-effective optical method for thin film stress measurements during growth and/or subsequent annealing processes. Stress arising in thin film fabrication presents production challenges for electronic devices, sensors, and optical coatings; it can lead to substrate distortion and deformation, impacting the performance of thin film products. NASA's technique measures in-situ stress using a simple, noncontact fiber optic probe in the thin film vacuum deposition chamber. This enables real-time monitoring of stress during the fabrication process and allows for efficient control of deposition process parameters. By modifying process parameters in real time during fabrication, thin film stress can be optimized or controlled, improving thin film product performance.

  19. Development and Characterization of Liquid Crystal-Gold Nanoparticle Hybrid Materials for Optical Applications

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Quint, Makiko T.

    Hybrid material, mixtures of two or more materials with new properties, represents an exciting class of new materials for a variety of potential applications such as displays, optoelectronics, and sensors due to their unique physical and optical properties. The scope of this dissertation is to produce two new plasmonic applications by combining liquid crystals with gold nanoparticles. The first application is gold nanoparticle coated liquid crystal thin film. Most liquid crystal (LC) thin films require external voltage to reorient LC molecules. Recent advances in optical controlling technology of LC molecule behavior, resulting in the reduction of energy consumption, have stimulated research and development of new LC thin films. In order to re-orient LC molecules by just using light, the common approach is to include either a photo-responsive LC host, one that require high power light and severely narrows the range of usable materials, or add photo-active dye or polymer layer, photodegradation over time. Our work designing an all-optical method for LC re-orientation that overcomes all the limitations mentioned above. We have successfully both in- and out-of-plane spatial orientation of nematic liquid crystal (LC) molecules by leveraging the highly localized electric fields produced in the near-field regime of a gold nanoparticle (AuNP) layer. This re-orientation of LC molecules in thin LC-AuNP film is all-optical, driven by a small resonance excitation power with the localized surface plasmon absorption of the AuNPs at room temperature. The second application is LC mediated nano-assembled gold microcapsules. This application has a potential in controlled-release cargo-style delivery system. Targeted delivery systems with controlled release mechanisms have been the subject of extensive research more than fifty years. One is to control the release process remotely by using optical excitation. Optical actuation of delivery capsules, which plasmonic nanoparticle such as gold, allows rapid release at specific locations and uses the photothermal effect to unload contents. Almost all gold-based delivery applications including Au coated nanocrystals or AuNPs with soft materials like gels and polymers are not suitable for control release applications in real life since these applications do not provide robust leakage-free containment lower than the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) maximum permissible light exposure limit. We have successfully managed the difficulties mentioned above and produced a new gold-based delivery application. The application is spherical capsules with a densely packed wall of AuNPs. The rigid capsule wall allows encapsulation of cargo that can be contained, virtually leakage-free, over several months. Further, by leveraging LSPR of AuNPs, we can rupture the microshells using optical excitation with ultralow power (< 2 mW), controllably and rapidly releasing the encapsulated contents in less than 5 seconds. Our results exhibiting the capture and optically regulated release of encapsulated substances are a novel platform that combines controlled-release cargo-style delivery and photothermal therapy in one versatile and multifunctional unit. Both our applications are overcoming current limitations and promising future research directions towards the next generation of LC-AuNPs hybrid material research and developments.

  20. Growth of Planted Slash Pine Under Several Thinning Regimes

    Treesearch

    W.F. Mann; Hans G. Enghardt

    1972-01-01

    Three intensities of thinning, each started at 10, 13, and 16 years, were applied to slash pine planted on a highly productive, cutover site in central Louisiana. Over a 9-year period, early and heavy thinnings increased diameter growth but reduced volume growth. The longer initial thinnings were deferred, the slower was the response in diameter growth. Growth on...

  1. Tree damage resulting from thinning in young-growth Douglas-fir and western hemlock.

    Treesearch

    Norman P. Worthington

    1961-01-01

    Thinning trials on three cooperative experimental forests in western Washington have provided an excellent opportunity to evaluate tree damage resulting from typical thinning operations in young-growth timber. The type and degree of damage can, of course, be expected to strongly affect condition and vigor of the residual stand and ultimate success of a thinning regime...

  2. Simulations of a Molecular Cloud experiment using CRASH

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Trantham, Matthew; Keiter, Paul; Vandervort, Robert; Drake, R. Paul; Shvarts, Dov

    2017-10-01

    Recent laboratory experiments explore molecular cloud radiation hydrodynamics. The experiment irradiates a gold foil with a laser producing x-rays to drive the implosion or explosion of a foam ball. The CRASH code, an Eulerian code with block-adaptive mesh refinement, multigroup diffusive radiation transport, and electron heat conduction developed at the University of Michigan to design and analyze high-energy-density experiments, is used to perform a parameter search in order to identify optically thick, optically thin and transition regimes suitable for these experiments. Specific design issues addressed by the simulations are the x-ray drive temperature, foam density, distance from the x-ray source to the ball, as well as other complicating issues such as the positioning of the stalk holding the foam ball. We present the results of this study and show ways the simulations helped improve the quality of the experiment. This work is funded by the LLNL under subcontract B614207 and NNSA-DS and SC-OFES Joint Program in High-Energy-Density Laboratory Plasmas, Grant Number DE-NA0002956.

  3. Localization noise in deep subwavelength plasmonic devices

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ghoreyshi, Ali; Victora, R. H.

    2018-05-01

    The grain shape dependence of absorption has been investigated in metal-insulator thin films. We demonstrate that randomness in the size and shape of plasmonic particles can lead to Anderson localization of polarization modes in the deep subwavelength regime. These localized modes can contribute to significant variation in the local field. In the case of plasmonic nanodevices, the effects of the localized modes have been investigated by mapping an electrostatic Hamiltonian onto the Anderson Hamiltonian in the presence of a random vector potential. We show that local behavior of the optical beam can be understood in terms of the weighted local density of the localized modes of the depolarization field. Optical nanodevices that operate on a length scale with high variation in the density of states of localized modes will experience a previously unidentified localized noise. This localization noise contributes uncertainty to the output of plasmonic nanodevices and limits their scalability. In particular, the resulting impact on heat-assisted magnetic recording is discussed.

  4. Probing the ultimate plasmon confinement limits with a van der Waals heterostructure.

    PubMed

    Alcaraz Iranzo, David; Nanot, Sébastien; Dias, Eduardo J C; Epstein, Itai; Peng, Cheng; Efetov, Dmitri K; Lundeberg, Mark B; Parret, Romain; Osmond, Johann; Hong, Jin-Yong; Kong, Jing; Englund, Dirk R; Peres, Nuno M R; Koppens, Frank H L

    2018-04-20

    The ability to confine light into tiny spatial dimensions is important for applications such as microscopy, sensing, and nanoscale lasers. Although plasmons offer an appealing avenue to confine light, Landau damping in metals imposes a trade-off between optical field confinement and losses. We show that a graphene-insulator-metal heterostructure can overcome that trade-off, and demonstrate plasmon confinement down to the ultimate limit of the length scale of one atom. This is achieved through far-field excitation of plasmon modes squeezed into an atomically thin hexagonal boron nitride dielectric spacer between graphene and metal rods. A theoretical model that takes into account the nonlocal optical response of both graphene and metal is used to describe the results. These ultraconfined plasmonic modes, addressed with far-field light excitation, enable a route to new regimes of ultrastrong light-matter interactions. Copyright © 2018 The Authors, some rights reserved; exclusive licensee American Association for the Advancement of Science. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.

  5. MEASUREMENTS OF THE MEAN DIFFUSE GALACTIC LIGHT SPECTRUM IN THE 0.95–1.65 μm BAND FROM CIBER

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Arai, T.; Matsuura, S.; Sano, K.

    2015-06-10

    We report measurements of the diffuse galactic light (DGL) spectrum in the near-infrared, spanning the wavelength range 0.95–1.65 μm by the Cosmic Infrared Background ExpeRiment. Using the low-resolution spectrometer calibrated for absolute spectro-photometry, we acquired long-slit spectral images of the total diffuse sky brightness toward six high-latitude fields spread over four sounding rocket flights. To separate the DGL spectrum from the total sky brightness, we correlated the spectral images with a 100 μm intensity map, which traces the dust column density in optically thin regions. The measured DGL spectrum shows no resolved features and is consistent with other DGL measurementsmore » in the optical and at near-infrared wavelengths longer than 1.8 μm. Our result implies that the continuum is consistently reproduced by models of scattered starlight in the Rayleigh scattering regime with a few large grains.« less

  6. Nonlinear optical parameters of nanocrystalline AZO thin film measured at different substrate temperatures

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Jilani, Asim; Abdel-wahab, M. Sh; Al-ghamdi, Attieh A.; Dahlan, Ammar sadik; Yahia, I. S.

    2016-01-01

    The 2.2 wt% of aluminum (Al)-doped zinc oxide (AZO) transparent and preferential c-axis oriented thin films were prepared by using radio frequency (DC/RF) magnetron sputtering at different substrate temperature ranging from room temperature to 200 °C. For structural analysis, X-ray Diffraction (XRD) and Atomic Force Electron Microscope (AFM) was used for morphological studies. The optical parameters such as, optical energy gap, refractive index, extinction coefficient, dielectric loss, tangent loss, first and third order nonlinear optical properties of transparent films were investigated. High transmittance above 90% and highly homogeneous surface were observed in all samples. The substrate temperature plays an important role to get the best transparent conductive oxide thin films. The substrate temperature at 150 °C showed the growth of highly transparent AZO thin film. Energy gap increased with the increased in substrate temperature of Al doped thin films. Dielectric constant and loss were found to be photon energy dependent with substrate temperature. The change in substrate temperature of Al doped thin films also affect the non-liner optical properties of thin films. The value of χ(3) was found to be changed with the grain size of the thin films that directly affected by the substrate temperature of the pure and Al doped ZnO thin films.

  7. Optical and morphological characterizations of pyronin dye-poly (vinyl alcohol) thin films formed on glass substrates

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Meral, Kadem, E-mail: kademm@atauni.edu.tr; Arik, Mustafa, E-mail: marik@tatauni.edu.tr; Onganer, Yavuz, E-mail: yonganer@atauni.edu.tr

    Thin films of pyronin dye mixed with poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) on glass substrate were prepared by using spin-coating technique. The optical and morphological properties of the thin films were studied by UV-Vis., steady-state fluorescence spectroscopies and atomic force microscopy (AFM). The thin films on glass substrate were fabricated at various [PVA]/[dye] (P/D) ratios. Hence, the monomeric and H-aggregates thin films of pyronin dye mixed with PVA were formed as a function of the dye and PVA concentration. It was determined that while the monomeric thin films showed strong fluorescence, the formation of H-aggregates in the thin film caused to decreasingmore » the fluorescence intensity. AFM studies demonstrated that the morphology of the thin film was drastically varied with changing the optical property of the thin film such as monomeric and H-aggregates thin films.« less

  8. Silicon-integrated thin-film structure for electro-optic applications

    DOEpatents

    McKee, Rodney A.; Walker, Frederick Joseph

    2000-01-01

    A crystalline thin-film structure suited for use in any of an number of electro-optic applications, such as a phase modulator or a component of an interferometer, includes a semiconductor substrate of silicon and a ferroelectric, optically-clear thin film of the perovskite BaTiO.sub.3 overlying the surface of the silicon substrate. The BaTiO.sub.3 thin film is characterized in that substantially all of the dipole moments associated with the ferroelectric film are arranged substantially parallel to the surface of the substrate to enhance the electro-optic qualities of the film.

  9. Regimes of external optical feedback in 5.6 μm distributed feedback mid-infrared quantum cascade lasers

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Jumpertz, L., E-mail: louise.jumpertz@telecom-paristech.fr; Alcatel Thales III-V Lab, Campus de Polytechnique, 1 avenue Augustin Fresnel, 91767 Palaiseau; Carras, M.

    2014-09-29

    External optical feedback is studied experimentally in mid-infrared quantum cascade lasers. These structures exhibit a dynamical response close to that observed in interband lasers, with threshold reduction and optical power enhancement when increasing the feedback ratio. The study of the optical spectrum proves that the laser undergoes five distinct regimes depending on the phase and amplitude of the reinjected field. These regimes are mapped in the plane of external cavity length and feedback strength, revealing unstable behavior only for a very narrow range of operation, making quantum cascade lasers much more stable than their interband counterparts.

  10. Dipole-Induced Electromagnetic Transparency

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Puthumpally-Joseph, Raiju; Sukharev, Maxim; Atabek, Osman; Charron, Eric

    2014-10-01

    We determine the optical response of a thin and dense layer of interacting quantum emitters. We show that, in such a dense system, the Lorentz redshift and the associated interaction broadening can be used to control the transmission and reflection spectra. In the presence of overlapping resonances, a dipole-induced electromagnetic transparency (DIET) regime, similar to electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT), may be achieved. DIET relies on destructive interference between the electromagnetic waves emitted by quantum emitters. Carefully tuning material parameters allows us to achieve narrow transmission windows in, otherwise, completely opaque media. We analyze in detail this coherent and collective effect using a generalized Lorentz model and show how it can be controlled. Several potential applications of the phenomenon, such as slow light, are proposed.

  11. Optically induced strong intermodal coupling in mechanical resonators at room temperature

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Ohta, R.; Okamoto, H.; Yamaguchi, H.

    Strong parametric mode coupling in mechanical resonators is demonstrated at room temperature by using the photothermal effect in thin membrane structures. Thanks to the large stress modulation by laser irradiation, the coupling rate of the mechanical modes, defined as half of the mode splitting, reaches 2.94 kHz, which is an order of magnitude larger than electrically induced mode coupling. This large coupling rate exceeds the damping rates of the mechanical resonators and results in the strong coupling regime, which is a signature of coherent mode interaction. Room-temperature coherent mode coupling will enable us to manipulate mechanical motion at practical operation temperaturesmore » and provides a wide variety of applications of integrated mechanical systems.« less

  12. Ultrastrong light-matter coupling in electrically doped microcavity organic light emitting diodes

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Mazzeo, M.; Genco, A.; Gambino, S.; Ballarini, D.; Mangione, F.; Di Stefano, O.; Patanè, S.; Savasta, S.; Sanvitto, D.; Gigli, G.

    2014-06-01

    The coupling of the electromagnetic field with an electronic transition gives rise, for strong enough light-matter interactions, to hybrid states called exciton-polaritons. When the energy exchanged between light and matter becomes a significant fraction of the material transition energy an extreme optical regime called ultrastrong coupling (USC) is achieved. We report a microcavity embedded p-i-n monolithic organic light emitting diode working in USC, employing a thin film of squaraine dye as active layer. A normalized coupling ratio of 30% has been achieved at room temperature. These USC devices exhibit a dispersion-less angle-resolved electroluminescence that can be exploited for the realization of innovative optoelectronic devices. Our results may open the way towards electrically pumped polariton lasers.

  13. The synchrotron-self-Compton process in spherical geometries. I - Theoretical framework

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Band, D. L.; Grindlay, J. E.

    1985-01-01

    Both spatial and spectral accuracies are stressed in the present method for the calculation of the synchrotron-self-Compton model in spherical geometries, especially in the partially opaque regime of the synchrotron spectrum of inhomogeneous sources that can span a few frequency decades and contribute a significant portion of the scattered flux. A formalism is developed that permits accurate calculation of incident photon density throughout an optically thin sphere. An approximation to the Klein-Nishina cross section is used to model the effects of variable electron and incident photon cutoffs, as well as the decrease in the cross section at high energies. General results are derived for the case of inhomogeneous sources with power law profiles in both electron density and magnetic field.

  14. An Electrochemical Experiment Using an Optically Transparent Thin Layer Electrode

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    DeAngelis, Thomas P.; Heineman, William R.

    1976-01-01

    Describes a unified experiment in which an optically transparent thin layer electrode is used to illustrate the techniques of thin layer electrochemistry, cyclic voltammetry, controlled potential coulometry, and spectroelectrochemistry. (MLH)

  15. Optical, structural and electrochromic behavior studies on nanocomposite thin film of aniline, o-toluidine and WO3

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Najafi-Ashtiani, Hamed; Bahari, Ali

    2016-08-01

    In the field of materials for electrochromic (EC) applications much attention was paid to the derivatives of aniline. We report on the optical, structural and electrochromic properties of electrochromic thin film based on composite of WO3 nanoparticles and copolymer of aniline and o-toluidine prepared by electrochemical polymerization method on fluorine doped tin oxide (FTO) coated glass. The thin film was studied by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Fourier transforms infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. The morphology of prepared thin film was characterized by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM) and the thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA) as well. The optical spectra of nanocomposite thin film were characterized in the 200-900 nm wavelength range and EC properties of nanocomposite thin film were studied by cyclic voltammetry (CV). The calculation of optical band gaps of thin film exhibited that the thin film has directly allowed transition with the values of 2.63 eV on first region and 3.80 eV on second region. Dispersion parameters were calculated based on the single oscillator model. Finally, important parameters such as dispersion energy, oscillator energy and lattice dielectric constant were determined and compared with the data from other researchers. The nonlinear optical properties such as nonlinear optical susceptibility, nonlinear absorption coefficient and nonlinear refractive index were extracted. The obtained results of nanocomposite thin film can be useful for the optoelectronic applications.

  16. Electron-Optical System of the Gyrotron Designed for Operation in the DNP-NMR Spectrometer Cryomagnet ("Gyrotrino")

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Bratman, V. L.; Fedotov, A. E.; Kalynov, Yu. K.; Manuilov, V. N.

    2017-08-01

    The formation and utilization of a helical electron beam are studied theoretically for a gyrotron with a very low operating voltage in a range 1.5-1.8 kV. Such a gyrotron ("gyrotrino") was earlier proposed for operation inside a magnetic system of an NMR spectrometer with a dynamic nuclear polarization upgrade. Despite the very low voltage, the optimization of the electrode shape can provide velocity and positional electron spreads not exceeding these values for conventional high-voltage gyrotrons. A very small cathode-anode separation makes the gyrotrino very sensitive to thermal expansion of the gun elements that should be compensated by movement of the cathode. Estimations for long-pulse and CW regimes of the gyrotrino operation show that the ion background significantly decreases the reduction of the beam potential and leads to an acceptable drift of the electron cyclotron frequency at the voltage front. A satisfactory thermal load on the waste-beam collector located in a strong uniform magnetic field can be achieved due to the omnidirectional heat flow regime occurring in the case of thin beam footprint.

  17. A Steeper than Linear Disk Mass-Stellar Mass Scaling Relation

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Pascucci, Ilaria; SLICK, EOS

    2017-01-01

    The disk mass is among the most important input parameter of planet formation models as it determines the number and masses of the planets that can form. I will present an ALMA 887 micron survey of the disk population around objects from 2 to 0.03Msun in the nearby 2 Myr-old Chamaeleon I star-forming region. Assuming isothermal and optically thin emission, we convert the 887 micron flux densities into dust disk masses (Mdust) and show that the Mdust-Mstar scaling relation is steeper than linear. By re-analyzing all millimeter data available for nearby regions in a self-consistent way, we find that the 1-3 Myr-old regions of Taurus, Lupus, and Chamaeleon I share the same Mdust-Mstar relation, while the 10 Myr-old Upper Sco association has an even steeper relation. Theoretical models of grain growth, drift, and fragmentation reproduce this trend and suggest that disks are in the fragmentation-limited regime. In this regime millimeter grains will be located closer in around lower-mass stars, a prediction that can be tested with deeper and higher spatial resolution ALMA observations.

  18. Synthesis and characterization of cobalt doped nickel oxide thin films by spray pyrolysis method

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Sathisha, D.; Naik, K. Gopalakrishna

    2018-05-01

    Cobalt (Co) doped nickel oxide (NiO) thin films were deposited on glass substrates at a temperature of about 400 °C by spray pyrolysis method. The effect of Co doping concentration on structural, optical and compositional properties of NiO thin films was investigated. X-ray diffraction result shows that the deposited thin films are polycrystalline in nature. Surface morphologies of the deposited thin films were observed by FESEM and AFM. EDS spectra showed the incorporation of Co dopants in NiO thin films. Optical properties of the grown thin films were characterized by UV-visible spectroscopy. It was found that the optical band gap energy and transmittance of the films decrease with increasing Co doping concentration.

  19. Unified rheology of vibro-fluidized dry granular media: From slow dense flows to fast gas-like regimes

    PubMed Central

    Gnoli, Andrea; Lasanta, Antonio; Sarracino, Alessandro; Puglisi, Andrea

    2016-01-01

    Granular media take on great importance in industry and geophysics, posing a severe challenge to materials science. Their response properties elude known soft rheological models, even when the yield-stress discontinuity is blurred by vibro-fluidization. Here we propose a broad rheological scenario where average stress sums up a frictional contribution, generalizing conventional μ(I)-rheology, and a kinetic collisional term dominating at fast fluidization. Our conjecture fairly describes a wide series of experiments in a vibrofluidized vane setup, whose phenomenology includes velocity weakening, shear thinning, a discontinuous thinning transition, and gaseous shear thickening. The employed setup gives access to dynamic fluctuations, which exhibit a broad range of timescales. In the slow dense regime the frequency of cage-opening increases with stress and enhances, with respect to μ(I)-rheology, the decrease of viscosity. Diffusivity is exponential in the shear stress in both thinning and thickening regimes, with a huge growth near the transition. PMID:27924928

  20. Impact of thinning on soil properties and biomass in Apalachicola National Forest, Florida

    Treesearch

    Kelechi James Nwaokorie; Odemari Stephen Mbuya; Johnny Grace

    2016-01-01

    The effect of a silvicultural operation, row thinning at two intensities (single row, SR, and double row, DR, thinning), on soil properties and biomass were investigated in selected 28 year-old slash pine (Pinus elliotti) plantations in the Apalachicola National Forest. Stands were thinned in May 2011 and burn regimes were executed during dormant...

  1. Radio Flares from Gamma-ray Bursts

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kopač, D.; Mundell, C. G.; Kobayashi, S.; Virgili, F. J.; Harrison, R.; Japelj, J.; Guidorzi, C.; Melandri, A.; Gomboc, A.

    2015-06-01

    We present predictions of centimeter and millimeter radio emission from reverse shocks (RSs) in the early afterglows of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) with the goal of determining their detectability with current and future radio facilities. Using a range of GRB properties, such as peak optical brightness and time, isotropic equivalent gamma-ray energy, and redshift, we simulate radio light curves in a framework generalized for any circumburst medium structure and including a parameterization of the shell thickness regime that is more realistic than the simple assumption of thick- or thin-shell approximations. Building on earlier work by Mundell et al. and Melandri et al. in which the typical frequency of the RS was suggested to lie at radio rather than optical wavelengths at early times, we show that the brightest and most distinct RS radio signatures are detectable up to 0.1-1 day after the burst, emphasizing the need for rapid radio follow-up. Detection is easier for bursts with later optical peaks, high isotropic energies, lower circumburst medium densities, and at observing frequencies that are less prone to synchrotron self-absorption effects—typically above a few GHz. Given recent detections of polarized prompt gamma-ray and optical RS emission, we suggest that detection of polarized radio/millimeter emission will unambiguously confirm the presence of low-frequency RSs at early time.

  2. Volume versus value maximization illustrated for Douglas-fir with thinning

    Treesearch

    Kurt H. Riitters; J. Douglas Brodie; Chiang Kao

    1982-01-01

    Economic and physical criteria for selecting even-aged rotation lengths are reviewed with examples of their optimizations. To demonstrate the trade-off between physical volume, economic return, and stand diameter, examples of thinning regimes for maximizing volume, forest rent, and soil expectation are compared with an example of maximizing volume without thinning. The...

  3. Optical coupling between atomically thin black phosphorus and a two dimensional photonic crystal nanocavity

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ota, Yasutomo; Moriya, Rai; Yabuki, Naoto; Arai, Miho; Kakuda, Masahiro; Iwamoto, Satoshi; Machida, Tomoki; Arakawa, Yasuhiko

    2017-05-01

    Atomically thin black phosphorus (BP) is an emerging two dimensional (2D) material exhibiting bright photoluminescence in the near infrared region. Coupling its radiation to photonic nanostructures will be an important step toward the realization of 2D material based nanophotonic devices that operate efficiently in the near infrared region, which includes the technologically important optical telecommunication wavelength bands. In this letter, we demonstrate the optical coupling between atomically thin BP and a 2D photonic crystal nanocavity. We employed a home-build dry transfer apparatus for placing a thin BP flake on the surface of the nanocavity. Their optical coupling was analyzed through measuring cavity mode emission under optical carrier injection at room temperature.

  4. Atmosphere-Ice-Ocean-Ecosystem Processes in a Thinner Arctic Sea Ice Regime: The Norwegian Young Sea ICE (N-ICE2015) Expedition

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Granskog, Mats A.; Fer, Ilker; Rinke, Annette; Steen, Harald

    2018-03-01

    Arctic sea ice has been in rapid decline the last decade and the Norwegian young sea ICE (N-ICE2015) expedition sought to investigate key processes in a thin Arctic sea ice regime, with emphasis on atmosphere-snow-ice-ocean dynamics and sea ice associated ecosystem. The main findings from a half-year long campaign are collected into this special section spanning the Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, and Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences and provide a basis for a better understanding of processes in a thin sea ice regime in the high Arctic. All data from the campaign are made freely available to the research community.

  5. Demonstration of optical parametric gain generation in the 1 μm regime based on a photonic crystal fiber pumped by a picosecond mode-locked ytterbium-doped fiber laser

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zhang, Lei; Yang, Si-Gang; Wang, Xiao-Jian; Gou, Dou-Dou; Chen, Hong-Wei; Chen, Ming-Hua; Xie, Shi-Zhong

    2014-01-01

    We report the experimental demonstration of the optical parametric gain generation in the 1 μm regime based on a photonic crystal fiber (PCF) with a zero group velocity dispersion (GVD) wavelength of 1062 nm pumped by a homemade tunable picosecond mode-locked ytterbium-doped fiber laser. A broad parametric gain band is obtained by pumping the PCF in the anomalous GVD regime with a relatively low power. Two separated narrow parametric gain bands are observed by pumping the PCF in the normal GVD regime. The peak of the parametric gain profile can be tuned from 927 to 1038 nm and from 1099 to 1228 nm. This widely tunable parametric gain band can be used for a broad band optical parametric amplifier, large span wavelength conversion or a tunable optical parametric oscillator.

  6. Tunable high-refractive index hybrid for solution-processed light management devices (Conference Presentation)

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Bachevillier, Stefan

    2016-10-01

    After the use of highly efficient but expensive inorganic optical materials, solution-processable polymers and hybrids have drawn more and more interest. Our group have recently developed a novel polymer-based hybrid optical material from titanium oxide hydrate exhibiting an outstanding set of optical and material properties. Firstly, their low cost, processability and cross-linked states are particularly attractive for many applications. Moreover, a high refractive index can be repeatedly achieved while optical losses stays considerably low over the entire visible and near-infrared wavelength regime. Indeed, the formation of inorganic nanoparticles, usually present in nanocomposites, is avoided by a specific formulation process. Even more remarkably, the refractive index can be tuned by either changing the inorganic content, using different titanium precursors or via a low-temperature curing process. A part of our work is focused on the reliable optical characterization of these properties, in particular a microscope-based setup allowing in-situ measurement and sample mapping has been developed. Our efforts are also concentrated on various applications of these exceptional properties. This hybrid material is tailored for photonic devices, with a specific emphasis on the production of highly efficient solution processable Distributed Bragg Reflectors (DBR) and anti-reflection coatings. Furthermore, waveguides can be fabricated from thin films along with in-coupling and out-coupling structures. These light managements structures are particularly adapted to organic photovoltaic cells (OPVs) and light emitting diodes (OLEDs).

  7. High-power CW and long-pulse lasers in the green wavelength regime for copper welding

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Pricking, Sebastian; Huber, Rudolf; Klausmann, Konrad; Kaiser, Elke; Stolzenburg, Christian; Killi, Alexander

    2016-03-01

    We report on industrial high-power lasers in the green wavelength regime. By means of a thin disk oscillator and a resonator-internal nonlinear crystal for second harmonic generation we are able to extract up to 8 kW pulse power in the few-millisecond range at a wavelength of 515 nm with a duty cycle of 10%. Careful shaping and stabilization of the polarization and spectral properties leads to a high optical-to-optical efficiency larger than 55%. The beam parameter product is designed and measured to be below 5 mm·mrad which allows the transport by a fiber with a 100 μm core diameter. The fiber and beam guidance optics are adapted to the green wavelength, enabling low transmission losses and stable operation. Application tests show that this laser is perfectly suited for copper welding due to the superior absorption of the green wavelength compared to IR, which allows us to produce weld spots with an unprecedented reproducibility in diameter and welding depth. With an optimized set of parameters we could achieve a splatter-free welding process of copper, which is crucial for welding electronic components. Furthermore, the surface condition does not influence the welding process when the green wavelength is used, which allows to skip any expensive preprocessing steps like tin-coating. With minor changes we could operate the laser in cw mode and achieved up to 1.7 kW of cw power at 515 nm with a beam parameter product of 2.5 mm·mrad. These parameters make the laser perfectly suitable for additional applications such as selective laser melting of copper.

  8. Characterization of ion-assisted induced absorption in A-Si thin-films used for multivariate optical computing

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Nayak, Aditya B.; Price, James M.; Dai, Bin; Perkins, David; Chen, Ding Ding; Jones, Christopher M.

    2015-06-01

    Multivariate optical computing (MOC), an optical sensing technique for analog calculation, allows direct and robust measurement of chemical and physical properties of complex fluid samples in high-pressure/high-temperature (HP/HT) downhole environments. The core of this MOC technology is the integrated computational element (ICE), an optical element with a wavelength-dependent transmission spectrum designed to allow the detector to respond sensitively and specifically to the analytes of interest. A key differentiator of this technology is it uses all of the information present in the broadband optical spectrum to determine the proportion of the analyte present in a complex fluid mixture. The detection methodology is photometric in nature; therefore, this technology does not require a spectrometer to measure and record a spectrum or a computer to perform calculations on the recorded optical spectrum. The integrated computational element is a thin-film optical element with a specific optical response function designed for each analyte. The optical response function is achieved by fabricating alternating layers of high-index (a-Si) and low-index (SiO2) thin films onto a transparent substrate (BK7 glass) using traditional thin-film manufacturing processes (e.g., ion-assisted e-beam vacuum deposition). A proprietary software and process are used to control the thickness and material properties, including the optical constants of the materials during deposition to achieve the desired optical response function. The ion-assisted deposition is useful for controlling the densification of the film, stoichiometry, and material optical constants as well as to achieve high deposition growth rates and moisture-stable films. However, the ion-source can induce undesirable absorption in the film; and subsequently, modify the optical constants of the material during the ramp-up and stabilization period of the e-gun and ion-source, respectively. This paper characterizes the unwanted absorption in the a-Si thin-film using advanced thin-film metrology methods, including spectroscopic ellipsometry and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. The resulting analysis identifies a fundamental mechanism contributing to this absorption and a method for minimizing and accounting for the unwanted absorption in the thin-film such that the exact optical response function can be achieved.

  9. Manufacturing of glassy thin shell for adaptive optics: results achieved

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Poutriquet, F.; Rinchet, A.; Carel, J.-L.; Leplan, H.; Ruch, E.; Geyl, R.; Marque, G.

    2012-07-01

    Glassy thin shells are key components for the development of adaptive optics and are part of future & innovative projects such as ELT. However, manufacturing thin shells is a real challenge. Even though optical requirements for the front face - or optical face - are relaxed compared to conventional passive mirrors, requirements concerning thickness uniformity are difficult to achieve. In addition, process has to be completely re-defined as thin mirror generates new manufacturing issues. In particular, scratches and digs requirement is more difficult as this could weaken the shell, handling is also an important issue due to the fragility of the mirror. Sagem, through REOSC program, has recently manufactured different types of thin shells in the frame of European projects: E-ELT M4 prototypes and VLT Deformable Secondary Mirror (VLT DSM).

  10. Influences of annealing temperature on sprayed CuFeO2 thin films

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Abdelwahab, H. M.; Ratep, A.; Abo Elsoud, A. M.; Boshta, M.; Osman, M. B. S.

    2018-06-01

    Delafossite CuFeO2 thin films were successfully prepared onto quartz substrates using simple spray pyrolysis technique. Post annealing under nitrogen atmosphere for 2 h was necessary to form delafossite CuFeO2 phase. The effect of alteration in annealing temperature (TA) 800, 850 and 900 °C was study on structural, morphology and optical properties. The XRD results for thin film annealed at TA = 850 °C show single phase CuFeO2 with rhombohedral crystal system and R 3 bar m space group with preferred orientation along (0 1 2). The prepared copper iron oxide thin films have an optical transmission ranged ∼40% in the visible region. The optical direct optical band gap of the prepared thin films was ranged ∼2.9 eV.

  11. Optical and electro-optic anisotropy of epitaxial PZT thin films

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zhu, Minmin; Du, Zehui; Jing, Lin; Yoong Tok, Alfred Iing; Tong Teo, Edwin Hang

    2015-07-01

    Strong optical and electro-optic (EO) anisotropy has been investigated in ferroelectric Pb(Zr0.48Ti0.52)O3 thin films epitaxially grown on Nb-SrTiO3 (001), (011), and (111) substrates using magnetron sputtering. The refractive index, electro-optic, and ferroelectric properties of the samples demonstrate the significant dependence on the growth orientation. The linear electro-optic coefficients of the (001), (011), and (111)-oriented PZT thin films were 270.8, 198.8, and 125.7 pm/V, respectively. Such remarkable anisotropic EO behaviors have been explained according to the structure correlation between the orientation dependent distribution, spontaneous polarization, epitaxial strain, and domain pattern.

  12. Directed-assembled multi-band moiré plasmonic metasurfaces

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Nagavalli Yogeesh, Maruthi; Wu, Zilong; Li, Wei; Akinwande, Deji; Zheng, Yuebing

    With the large number of component sets and high rotational symmetry, plasmonic metamaterials with moiré patterns can support multiple plasmonic modes for multi-functional applications. Herein, we introduce moiré plasmonic metasurfaces using both gold and graphene, by a recently developed directed-assembled method known as moiré nanosphere lithography (MNSL). The graphene moiré metasurfaces show multiple and tunable resonance modes in the mid-infrared wavelength regime. The number and wavelength of the resonance modes can be tuned by controlling the moiré patterns, which can be easily achieved by changing the relative in-plane rotation angle during MNSL. Furthermore, we have designed a metal-insulator-metal (MIM) patch structure with a thin Au moiré metasurface layer and an optically thick Au layer separated by a dielectric spacer layer. Benefiting from the combination of moiré patterns and field enhancement from the MIM configuration, the moiré metasurface patch exhibits strong broadband absorption in the NIR ( 1.3 μm) and MIR ( 5 μm) range. The dual-band optical responses make moiré metasurface patch a multi-functional platform for surface-enhanced infrared spectroscopy, optical capture and patterning of bacteria, and photothermal denaturation of proteins.

  13. The effect of confinement on the crystalline microstructure of polymer: fullerene bulk heterojunctions

    DOE PAGES

    Ashraf, A.; Dissanayake, D. M. N. M.; Eisaman, M. D.

    2015-07-01

    We investigate the effect of confinement on the coherence length and the crystalline microstructure of the polymer component of polymer: fullerene bulk heterojunction thin films using grazing incidence wide angle x-ray scattering. We find that the polymer crystallite size decreases and the alignment of the molecules along the surface normal increases, as the thin-film thickness is reduced from 920nm to < 20nm and approaches the thin-film confinement regime. Furthermore, we find that the polymer crystallite size near the surface (air interface) is lower than the crystallite size in the bulk or the bottom (substrate interface) of bulk heterojunction films thickermore » than the confinement regime. Variation in polymer crystallite size can cause changes in charge carrier mobility and recombination rates, which in turn affect the performance of bulk heterojunction thin film devices such as photovoltaics and photodetectors« less

  14. Impact of built-in fields and contact configuration on the characteristics of ultra-thin GaAs solar cells

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Aeberhard, Urs, E-mail: u.aeberhard@fz-juelich.de

    2016-07-18

    We discuss the effects of built-in fields and contact configuration on the photovoltaic characteristics of ultra-thin GaAs solar cells. The investigation is based on advanced quantum-kinetic simulations reaching beyond the standard semi-classical bulk picture concerning the consideration of charge carrier states and dynamics in complex potential profiles. The thickness dependence of dark and photocurrent in the ultra-scaled regime is related to the corresponding variation of both, the built-in electric fields and associated modification of the density of states, and the optical intensity in the films. Losses in open-circuit voltage and short-circuit current due to the leakage of electronically and opticallymore » injected carriers at minority carrier contacts are investigated for different contact configurations including electron and hole blocking barrier layers. The microscopic picture of leakage currents is connected to the effect of finite surface recombination velocities in the semi-classical description, and the impact of these non-classical contact regions on carrier generation and extraction is analyzed.« less

  15. A NUMERICAL SCHEME FOR SPECIAL RELATIVISTIC RADIATION MAGNETOHYDRODYNAMICS BASED ON SOLVING THE TIME-DEPENDENT RADIATIVE TRANSFER EQUATION

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Ohsuga, Ken; Takahashi, Hiroyuki R.

    2016-02-20

    We develop a numerical scheme for solving the equations of fully special relativistic, radiation magnetohydrodynamics (MHDs), in which the frequency-integrated, time-dependent radiation transfer equation is solved to calculate the specific intensity. The radiation energy density, the radiation flux, and the radiation stress tensor are obtained by the angular quadrature of the intensity. In the present method, conservation of total mass, momentum, and energy of the radiation magnetofluids is guaranteed. We treat not only the isotropic scattering but also the Thomson scattering. The numerical method of MHDs is the same as that of our previous work. The advection terms are explicitlymore » solved, and the source terms, which describe the gas–radiation interaction, are implicitly integrated. Our code is suitable for massive parallel computing. We present that our code shows reasonable results in some numerical tests for propagating radiation and radiation hydrodynamics. Particularly, the correct solution is given even in the optically very thin or moderately thin regimes, and the special relativistic effects are nicely reproduced.« less

  16. A concept for Z-dependent microbunching measurements with coherent X-ray transition radiation in a sase FEL

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Lumpkin, A.H.; Fawley, W.M.; Rule, D.W.

    We present an adaptation of the measurements performed in the visible-to-VUV regime of the z-dependent microbunching in a self-amplified spontaneous emission (SASE) free-electron laser (FEL). In these experiments a thin metal foil was used to block the more intense SASE radiation and to generate coherent optical transition radiation (COTR) as one source in a two-foil interferometer. However, for the proposed x-ray SASE FELs, the intense SASE emission is either too strongly transmitted at 1.5 Angstrom or the needed foil thickness for blocking scatters the electron beam too much. Since x-ray transition radiation (XTR) is emitted in an annulus with openingmore » angle 1/g = 36 mrad for 14.09-GeV electrons, we propose using a thin foil or foil stack to generate the XTR and coherent XTR (CXTR) and an annular crystal to wavelength sort the radiation. The combined selectivity in angle and wavelength will favor the CXTR over SASE by about eight orders of magnitude. Time-dependent GINGER simulations support the z-dependent gain evaluation plan.« less

  17. Optical instruments synergy in determination of optical depth of thin clouds

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Viviana Vlăduţescu, Daniela; Schwartz, Stephen E.; Huang, Dong

    2018-04-01

    Optically thin clouds have a strong radiative effect and need to be represented accurately in climate models. Cloud optical depth of thin clouds was retrieved using high resolution digital photography, lidar, and a radiative transfer model. The Doppler Lidar was operated at 1.5 μm, minimizing return from Rayleigh scattering, emphasizing return from aerosols and clouds. This approach examined cloud structure on scales 3 to 5 orders of magnitude finer than satellite products, opening new avenues for examination of cloud structure and evolution.

  18. Optical Instruments Synergy in Determination of Optical Depth of Thin Clouds

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Vladutescu, Daniela V.; Schwartz, Stephen E.

    Optically thin clouds have a strong radiative effect and need to be represented accurately in climate models. Cloud optical depth of thin clouds was retrieved using high resolution digital photography, lidar, and a radiative transfer model. The Doppler Lidar was operated at 1.5 μm, minimizing return from Rayleigh scattering, emphasizing return from aerosols and clouds. This approach examined cloud structure on scales 3 to 5 orders of magnitude finer than satellite products, opening new avenues for examination of cloud structure and evolution.

  19. Atomic force microscopy study on topography of films produced by ion-based techniques

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wang, X.; Liu, X. H.; Zou, S. C.; Martin, P. J.; Bendavid, A.

    1996-09-01

    The evolution of surface morphologies of films prepared by ion-based deposition techniques has been investigated by atomic force microscopy. Two deposition processes, filtered arc deposition (FAD) and ion-beam-assisted deposition, where low-energy (<100 eV) ion irradiation and high-energy (several tens of keV) ion-beam bombardment concurrent with film growth were involved, respectively, have been employed to prepare TiN and Al films. Comparative studies on the effect of energetic ions on the development of topography have been performed between the low-ion-energy regime and high-ion-energy regime. In addition, the relationship between topography and mechanical properties of thin films has been revealed, by involving thin films prepared by thermal evaporation deposition (TED), where almost all depositing particles are neutral. In the images of the TED TiN and Al films, a large number of porous and deep boundaries between columnar grains was observed, suggesting a very rough and loose surface. In contrast, the FAD films exhibited much denser surface morphologies, although still columnar. The root-mean-square roughness of the FAD films was less than 1 Å. Hardness test and optical parameter measurement indicated that the FAD films were much harder and, in the case of optical films, much more transparent than the TED films, which was considered to arise from the denser surface morphologies rather than crystallization of the films. The high density and super smoothness of the FAD films, and the resultant mechanical and optical properties superior to those of the TED films, were attributed to the enhancement of surface migration of the deposited adatoms in the FAD process, which could provide intensive low-energy ion irradiation during film growth. As for topography modification by high-energy ion-beam bombardment concurrent with film growth, in addition to the increase of surface diffusion due to elastic collision and thermal spikes, physical sputtering must be considered while explaining the development of the film topography. Both surface migration enhancement and sputtering played important roles in the case of high-energy heavy-ion-beam bombardment, under which condition surface morphology characterized by dense columns with larger dimension and deep clean boundaries was formed. However, under high-energy light-ion-beam bombardment, the sputtering was dominant, and the variation of sputtering coefficient with position on the surface of growing film led to the formation of cones.

  20. Design and Development of Nanostructured Surfaces for Enhanced Optical Sensing

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Santiago Cordoba, Miguel A.

    At smaller size regimes, materials' physicochemical properties change with respect to bulk analogs. In the case of metal nanoparticles like gold or silver, specific wavelengths of light can induce a coherent oscillation of their conduction electrons, generating an optical field confined to the nanoparticle surface. This phenomenon is termed surface plasmon, and has been used as an enhancing mechanism in optical sensing, allowing the detection of foreign materials at small concentrations. The goal of this dissertation is to develop nanostructured materials relying on surface plasmons that can be combined with different optical sensing platforms in order to enhance current detection limits. Initially, we focus on the development of surfactant free, stimuli responsive nanoparticle thin films, which undergo an active release when exposed to a stimulus such as a change in pH. These nanoparticle thin films provide faster analyte particle transport and direct electronic coupling with the analyte molecule, all without attenuating the evanescent wave from the optical transducer to the particle. These stimuli responsive nanostructured substrates are tested within a surface enhanced Raman platform for the detection of biomolecular probes at sub-nanomolar concentrations and microL sample sizes. Furthermore, the developed nanosubstrates can be patterned, providing a versatile nanoparticle thin film for multiplexing analysis, offering a substantial advantage over conventional surface based nanoparticle detection methods. Our results encouraged further optimization of light-matter interactions in optical detection platforms. It is for that reason that this dissertation evolves towards confined optical systems. Particularly, whispering gallery microcavities confine electromagnetic waves - at high volumes - at the boundary of a dielectric resonator. In this dissertation, we examined the sensitivity of whispering gallery modes combining optical microcavities with plasmonic nanoparticles in analogy to a "nanoantenna". First, our hybrid methodology is tested by analyzing the resonant wavelength displacement of a whispering gallery mode cavity upon perturbation with a gold nanoparticle layer containing a model protein. Next, we developed a real-time optical sensing platform relying on whispering gallery microcavities and surface plasmons, and then tested it for the detection of a model protein at fM concentration (less than 1000 protein molecules). Finally, this plasmonic-photonic coupling process involving whispering gallery modes is studied via a self-referenced methodology relying on the mode splitting of a whispering gallery resonance. Specifically, we studied the mode splitting evolution of a resonant whispering gallery microcavity as a function of gold nanoparticle adherence with varying diameters. Mode splitting increases as the localized surface plasmon wavelength of the nanoparticle approaches the spectral line of the whispering gallery mode. Plasmonic-photonic coupling observed in this study provides a novel alternative to achieve single particle detection using mode splitting, as well as understanding optimization of particle size for plasmonic-photonic coupling. The study described herein opens a new way to optimize current optical sensing technology, enabling not only the detection of an analyte, but also the execution of fundamental studies of analyte interactions at ultralow concentrations.

  1. Relationship Between Optic Nerve Appearance and Retinal Nerve Fiber Layer Thickness as Explored with Spectral Domain Optical Coherence Tomography

    PubMed Central

    Aleman, Tomas S.; Huang, Jiayan; Garrity, Sean T.; Carter, Stuart B.; Aleman, Wendy D.; Ying, Gui-shuang; Tamhankar, Madhura A.

    2014-01-01

    Purpose To study the relationship between the appearance of the optic nerve and the retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thickness determined by spectral domain optical coherence tomography (OCT). Methods Records from patients with spectral domain-OCT imaging in a neuro-ophthalmology practice were reviewed. Eyes with glaucoma/glaucoma suspicion, macular/optic nerve edema, pseudophakia, and with refractive errors > 6D were excluded. Optic nerve appearance by slit lamp biomicroscopy was related to the RNFL thickness by spectral domain-OCT and to visual field results. Results Ninety-one patients (176 eyes; mean age: 49 ± 15 years) were included. Eighty-three eyes (47%) showed optic nerve pallor; 89 eyes (50.6%) showed RNFL thinning (sectoral or average peripapillary). Average peripapillary RNFL thickness in eyes with pallor (mean ± SD = 76 ± 17 μm) was thinner compared to eyes without pallor (91 ± 14 μm, P < 0.001). Optic nerve pallor predicted RNFL thinning with a sensitivity of 69% and a specificity of 75%. Optic nerve appearance predicted RNFL thinning (with a sensitivity and specificity of 81%) when RNFL had thinned by ∼ 40%. Most patients with pallor had RNFL thinning with (66%) or without (25%) visual field loss; the remainder had normal RNFL and fields (5%) or with visual field abnormalities (4%). Conclusions Optic nerve pallor as a predictor of RNFL thinning showed fair sensitivity and specificity, although it is optimally sensitive/specific only when substantial RNFL loss has occurred. Translational Relevance Finding an acceptable relationship between the optic nerve appearance by ophthalmoscopy and spectral domain-OCT RNFL measures will help the clinician's interpretation of the information provided by this technology, which is gaining momentum in neuro-ophthalmic research. PMID:25374773

  2. Metal-Coated Optical Fibers for High Temperature Applications

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Zeakes, Jason; Murphy, Kent; Claus, Richard; Greene, Jonathan; Tran, Tuan

    1996-01-01

    This poster will highlight on-going research at the Virginia Tech Fiber & Electro-Optics Research Center (FEORC) in the area of thin films on optical fibers. Topics will include the sputter deposition of metals and metal; alloys onto optical fiber and fiber optic sensors for innovative applications. Specific information will be available on thin film fiber optic hydrogen sensors, corrosion sensors, and metal-coated optical fiber for high temperature aerospace applications.

  3. Effect of temperature on optical properties of PMMA/SiO2 composite thin film

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Soni, Gyanesh; Srivastava, Subodh; Soni, Purushottam; Kalotra, Pankaj; Vijay, Y. K.

    2018-05-01

    Effect of temperature on PMMA/SiO2 composites thin films were investigated. Nanocomposite flexible thin films of 60 µm thicknesses with different loading of SiO2 nanoparticles were prepared using solution casting method. SEM images show that SiO2 nanoparticles are distributed uniformly in PMMA matrix without any lumps on the surface, and PMMA/SiO2 nano composite thin films had a smoother and regular morphology. UV-Vis and optical band gap measurements revealed that both the concentration of SiO2 nanoparticles and temperature affect the optical properties of the composite thin film in comparison to the pure PMMA film.

  4. Thin glass based packaging and photonic single-mode waveguide integration by ion-exchange technology on board and module level

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Brusberg, Lars; Lang, Günter; Schröder, Henning

    2011-01-01

    The proposed novel packaging approach merges micro-system packaging and glass integrated optics. It provides 3D optical single-mode intra system links to bridge the gap between novel photonic integrated circuits and the glass fibers for inter system interconnects. We introduce our hybrid 3D photonic packaging approach based on thin glass substrates with planar integrated optical single-mode waveguides for fiber-to-chip and chip-to-chip links. Optical mirrors and lenses provide optical mode matching for photonic IC assemblies and optical fiber interconnects. Thin glass is commercially available in panel and wafer formats and characterizes excellent optical and high-frequency properties as reviewed in the paper. That makes it perfect for micro-system packaging. The adopted planar waveguide process based on ion-exchange technology is capable for high-volume manufacturing. This ion-exchange process and the optical propagation are described in detail for thin glass substrates. An extensive characterization of all basic circuit elements like straight and curved waveguides, couplers and crosses proves the low attenuation of the optical circuit elements.

  5. Nanostructured pyronin Y thin films as a new organic semiconductor: Linear/nonlinear optics, band gap and dielectric properties

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zahran, H. Y.; Yahia, I. S.; Alamri, F. H.

    2017-05-01

    Pyronin Y dye (PY) is a kind of xanthene derivatives. Thin films of pyronin Y were deposited onto highly cleaned glass substrates using low-cost/spin coating technique. The structure properties of pyronin Y thin films with different thicknesses were investigated by using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and atomic force microscope (AFM). PY thin films for all the studied thicknesses have an amorphous structure supporting the short range order of the grain size. AFM supports the nanostructure with spherical/clusters morphologies of the investigated thin films. The optical constants of pyronin Y thin films for various thicknesses were studied by using UV-vis-NIR spectrophotometer in the wavelength range 350-2500 nm. The transmittance T(λ), reflectance R(λ) spectral and absorbance (abs(λ)) were obtained for all film thicknesses at room temperature and the normal light incident. These films showed a high transmittance in the wide scale wavelengths. For different thicknesses of the studied thin films, the optical band gaps were determined and their values around 2 eV. Real and imaginary dielectric constants, dissipation factor and the nonlinear optical parameters were calculated in the wavelengths to the range 300-2500 nm. The pyronin Y is a new organic semiconductor with a good optical absorption in UV-vis regions and it is suitable for nonlinear optical applications.

  6. Fast Industrial Inspection of Optical Thin Film Using Optical Coherence Tomography

    PubMed Central

    Shirazi, Muhammad Faizan; Park, Kibeom; Wijesinghe, Ruchire Eranga; Jeong, Hyosang; Han, Sangyeob; Kim, Pilun; Jeon, Mansik; Kim, Jeehyun

    2016-01-01

    An application of spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) was demonstrated for a fast industrial inspection of an optical thin film panel. An optical thin film sample similar to a liquid crystal display (LCD) panel was examined. Two identical SD-OCT systems were utilized for parallel scanning of a complete sample in half time. Dual OCT inspection heads were utilized for transverse (fast) scanning, while a stable linear motorized translational stage was used for lateral (slow) scanning. The cross-sectional and volumetric images of an optical thin film sample were acquired to detect the defects in glass and other layers that are difficult to observe using visual inspection methods. The rapid inspection enabled by this setup led to the early detection of product defects on the manufacturing line, resulting in a significant improvement in the quality assurance of industrial products. PMID:27690043

  7. Thin film ferroelectric electro-optic memory

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Thakoor, Sarita (Inventor); Thakoor, Anilkumar P. (Inventor)

    1993-01-01

    An electrically programmable, optically readable data or memory cell is configured from a thin film of ferroelectric material, such as PZT, sandwiched between a transparent top electrode and a bottom electrode. The output photoresponse, which may be a photocurrent or photo-emf, is a function of the product of the remanent polarization from a previously applied polarization voltage and the incident light intensity. The cell is useful for analog and digital data storage as well as opto-electric computing. The optical read operation is non-destructive of the remanent polarization. The cell provides a method for computing the product of stored data and incident optical data by applying an electrical signal to store data by polarizing the thin film ferroelectric material, and then applying an intensity modulated optical signal incident onto the thin film material to generate a photoresponse therein related to the product of the electrical and optical signals.

  8. Fabrication and characterization of lithographically patterned and optically transparent anodic aluminum Oxide (AAO) nanostructure thin film.

    PubMed

    He, Yuan; Li, Xiang; Que, Long

    2012-10-01

    Optically transparent anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) nanostructure thin film has been successfully fabricated from lithographically patterned aluminum on indium tin oxide (ITO) glass substrates for the first time, indicating the feasibility to integrate the AAO nanostructures with microdevices or microfluidics for a variety of applications. Both one-step and two-step anodization processes using sulfuric acid and oxalic acid have been utilized for fabricating the AAO nanostructure thin film. The optical properties of the fabricated AAO nanostructure thin film have been evaluated and analyzed.

  9. Monolayer semiconductor nanocavity lasers with ultralow thresholds.

    PubMed

    Wu, Sanfeng; Buckley, Sonia; Schaibley, John R; Feng, Liefeng; Yan, Jiaqiang; Mandrus, David G; Hatami, Fariba; Yao, Wang; Vučković, Jelena; Majumdar, Arka; Xu, Xiaodong

    2015-04-02

    Engineering the electromagnetic environment of a nanometre-scale light emitter by use of a photonic cavity can significantly enhance its spontaneous emission rate, through cavity quantum electrodynamics in the Purcell regime. This effect can greatly reduce the lasing threshold of the emitter, providing a low-threshold laser system with small footprint, low power consumption and ultrafast modulation. An ultralow-threshold nanoscale laser has been successfully developed by embedding quantum dots into a photonic crystal cavity (PCC). However, several challenges impede the practical application of this architecture, including the random positions and compositional fluctuations of the dots, extreme difficulty in current injection, and lack of compatibility with electronic circuits. Here we report a new lasing strategy: an atomically thin crystalline semiconductor--that is, a tungsten diselenide monolayer--is non-destructively and deterministically introduced as a gain medium at the surface of a pre-fabricated PCC. A continuous-wave nanolaser operating in the visible regime is thereby achieved with an optical pumping threshold as low as 27 nanowatts at 130 kelvin, similar to the value achieved in quantum-dot PCC lasers. The key to the lasing action lies in the monolayer nature of the gain medium, which confines direct-gap excitons to within one nanometre of the PCC surface. The surface-gain geometry gives unprecedented accessibility and hence the ability to tailor gain properties via external controls such as electrostatic gating and current injection, enabling electrically pumped operation. Our scheme is scalable and compatible with integrated photonics for on-chip optical communication technologies.

  10. Monolayer semiconductor nanocavity lasers with ultralow thresholds

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wu, Sanfeng; Buckley, Sonia; Schaibley, John R.; Feng, Liefeng; Yan, Jiaqiang; Mandrus, David G.; Hatami, Fariba; Yao, Wang; Vučković, Jelena; Majumdar, Arka; Xu, Xiaodong

    2015-04-01

    Engineering the electromagnetic environment of a nanometre-scale light emitter by use of a photonic cavity can significantly enhance its spontaneous emission rate, through cavity quantum electrodynamics in the Purcell regime. This effect can greatly reduce the lasing threshold of the emitter, providing a low-threshold laser system with small footprint, low power consumption and ultrafast modulation. An ultralow-threshold nanoscale laser has been successfully developed by embedding quantum dots into a photonic crystal cavity (PCC). However, several challenges impede the practical application of this architecture, including the random positions and compositional fluctuations of the dots, extreme difficulty in current injection, and lack of compatibility with electronic circuits. Here we report a new lasing strategy: an atomically thin crystalline semiconductor--that is, a tungsten diselenide monolayer--is non-destructively and deterministically introduced as a gain medium at the surface of a pre-fabricated PCC. A continuous-wave nanolaser operating in the visible regime is thereby achieved with an optical pumping threshold as low as 27 nanowatts at 130 kelvin, similar to the value achieved in quantum-dot PCC lasers. The key to the lasing action lies in the monolayer nature of the gain medium, which confines direct-gap excitons to within one nanometre of the PCC surface. The surface-gain geometry gives unprecedented accessibility and hence the ability to tailor gain properties via external controls such as electrostatic gating and current injection, enabling electrically pumped operation. Our scheme is scalable and compatible with integrated photonics for on-chip optical communication technologies.

  11. The properties of RE-TM magneto-optical films

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lee, Z. Y.; Miao, X. S.; Zhu, P.; Hu, Y. S.; Wan, D. F.; Dai, D. W.; Chen, S. B.; Lin, G. Q.

    1992-09-01

    In this paper, the magnetic, magneto-optical and galvonomagnetic properties, and their temperature dependence for LRE-TM SmCo, SmCoDy and HRE-TM TbFeCo magneto-optical films as high density recording media prepared by rf magnetron sputtering or evaporation are reported. By adding Dy to SmCo thin film, the SmCoDy thin film is more suitable for magneto-optical recording, its domain size being below 0.63 μm. The Kerr enhancement and corrosion protective effects of AIN and AlSiN for optimum design of the multi-layer structure of magneto-optical disk are described. The instruments of measuring the magneto-optical Kerr effect and magneto-optical recording domain characteristics of thin films are reviewed.

  12. Techniques for Achieving Zero Stress in Thin Films of Iridium, Chromium, and Nickel

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Broadway, David M.; O'Dell, Stephen L.; Ramsey, Brian D.; Weimer, Jeffrey

    2015-01-01

    We examine techniques for achieving zero intrinsic stress in thin films of iridium, chromium, and nickel deposited by magnetron sputter deposition. The intrinsic stress is further correlated to the microstructural features and physical properties such as surface roughness and optical density at a scale appropriate to soft X-ray wavelengths. The examination of the stress in these materials is motivated by efforts to advance the optical performance of light-weight X-ray space telescopes into the regime of sub-arcsecond resolution through various deposition techniques that rely on control of the film stress to values within 10-100 MPa. A characteristic feature of the intrinsic stress behavior in chromium and nickel is their sensitivity to the magnitude and sign of the intrinsic stress with argon gas pressure and deposition rate, including the existence of a critical argon process pressure that results in zero film stress which scales linearly with the atomic mass of the sputtered species. While the effect of stress reversal with argon pressure has been previously reported by Hoffman and others for nickel and chromium, we report this effect for iridium. In addition to stress reversal, we identify zero stress in the optical functioning iridium layer shortly after island coalescence for low process pressures at a film thickness of approximately 35nm. The measurement of the low values of stress during deposition was achieved with the aid of a sensitive in-situ instrument capable of a minimum detectable level of stress, assuming a 35nm thick film, in the range of 0.40-6.0 MPa for <111> oriented crystalline silicon substrate thicknesses of 70-280 microns, respectively.

  13. A Multiwavelength Study of Cygnus X-1: The First Mid-Infrared Spectroscopic Detection of Compact Jets

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Rahoui, Farid; Lee, Julia C.; Heinz, Sebastian; Hines, Dean C.; Pottschmidt, Katja; Wilms, Joern

    2011-01-01

    We report on a Spitzer/IRS (mid-infrared), RXTE /PCA+HEXTE (X-ray), and Ryle (radio) simultaneous multi-wavelength study of the micro quasar Cygnus X-I, which aimed at an investigation of the origin of its mid-infrared emission. Compact jets were present in two out of three observations, and we show that they strongly contribute to the mid-infrared continuum. During the first observation, we detect the spectral break - where the transition from the optically thick to the optically thin regime takes place - at about 2.9 x 10(exp 13) Hz. We then show that the jet's optically thin synchrotron emission accounts for the Cygnus X-1's emission beyond 400 keY, although it cannot alone explain its 3-200 keV continuum. A compact jet was also present during the second observation, but we do not detect the break, since it has likely shifted to higher frequencies. In contrast, the compact jet was absent during the last observation, and we show that the 5-30 micron mid-infrared continuum of Cygnus X-I stems from the blue supergiant companion star HD 226868. Indeed, the emission can then be understood as the combination of the photospheric Raleigh-Jeans tail and the bremsstrahlung from the expanding stellar wind. Moreover, the stellar wind is found to be clumpy, with a filling factor f(sub infinity) approx.= 0.09-0.10. Its bremsstrahlung emission is likely anti-correlated to the soft X-ray emission, suggesting an anticorrelation between the mass-loss and mass-accretion rates. Nevertheless, we do not detect any mid-infrared spectroscopic evidence of interaction between the jets and the Cygnus X-1's environment and/or companion star's stellar wind.

  14. Optical and structural properties of cobalt-permalloy slanted columnar heterostructure thin films

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Sekora, Derek; Briley, Chad; Schubert, Mathias; Schubert, Eva

    2017-11-01

    Optical and structural properties of sequential Co-column-NiFe-column slanted columnar heterostructure thin films with an Al2O3 passivation coating are reported. Electron-beam evaporated glancing angle deposition is utilized to deposit the sequential multiple-material slanted columnar heterostructure thin films. Mueller matrix generalized spectroscopic ellipsometry data is analyzed with a best-match model approach employing the anisotropic Bruggeman effective medium approximation formalism to determine bulk-like and anisotropic optical and structural properties of the individual Co and NiFe slanted columnar material sub-layers. Scanning electron microscopy is applied to image the Co-NiFe sequential growth properties and to verify the results of the ellipsometric analysis. Comparisons to single-material slanted columnar thin films and optically bulk solid thin films are presented and discussed. We find that the optical and structural properties of each material sub-layer of the sequential slanted columnar heterostructure film are distinct from each other and resemble those of their respective single-material counterparts.

  15. A Rapid Method for Deposition of Sn-Doped GaN Thin Films on Glass and Polyethylene Terephthalate Substrates

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Pat, Suat; Özen, Soner; Korkmaz, Şadan

    2018-01-01

    We report the influence of Sn doping on microstructure, surface, and optical properties of GaN thin films deposited on glass and polyethylene terephthalate (PET) substrate. Sn-doped GaN thin films have been deposited by thermionic vacuum arc (TVA) at low temperature. TVA is a rapid deposition technology for thin film growth. Surface and optical properties of the thin films were presented. Grain size, height distribution, roughness values were determined. Grain sizes were calculated as 20 nm and 13 nm for glass and PET substrates, respectively. Nano crystalline forms were shown by field emission scanning electron microscopy. Optical band gap values were determined by optical methods and photoluminescence measurement. The optical band gap values of Sn doped GaN on glass and PET were determined to be approximately ˜3.40 eV and ˜3.47 eV, respectively. As a result, TVA is a rapid and low temperature deposition technology for the Sn doped GaN deposited on glass and PET substrate.

  16. Voltammetric Thin-Layer Ionophore-Based Films: Part 2. Semi-Empirical Treatment.

    PubMed

    Yuan, Dajing; Cuartero, Maria; Crespo, Gaston A; Bakker, Eric

    2017-01-03

    This work reports on a semiempirical treatment that allows one to rationalize and predict experimental conditions for thin-layer ionophore-based films with cation-exchange capacity read out with cyclic voltammetry. The transition between diffusional mass transport and thin-layer regime is described with a parameter (α), which depends on membrane composition, diffusion coefficient, scan rate, and electrode rotating speed. Once the thin-layer regime is fulfilled (α = 1), the membrane behaves in some analogy to a potentiometric sensor with a second discrimination variable (the applied potential) that allows one to operate such electrodes in a multianalyte detection mode owing to the variable applied ion-transfer potentials. The limit of detection of this regime is defined with a second parameter (β = 2) and is chosen in analogy to the definition of the detection limit for potentiometric sensors provided by the IUPAC. The analytical equations were validated through the simulation of the respective cyclic voltammograms under the same experimental conditions. While simulations of high complexity and better accuracy satisfactorily reproduced the experimental voltammograms during the forward and backward potential sweeps (companion paper 1), the semiempirical treatment here, while less accurate, is of low complexity and allows one to quite easily predict relevant experimental conditions for this emergent methodology.

  17. Self-similarity and scaling transitions during rupture of thin free films of Newtonian fluids

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Thete, Sumeet Suresh; Anthony, Christopher; Doshi, Pankaj; Harris, Michael T.; Basaran, Osman A.

    2016-09-01

    Rupture of thin liquid films is crucial in many industrial applications and nature such as foam stability in oil-gas separation units, coating flows, polymer processing, and tear films in the eye. In some of these situations, a liquid film may have two free surfaces (referred to here as a free film or a sheet) as opposed to a film deposited on a solid substrate that has one free surface. The rupture of such a free film or a sheet of a Newtonian fluid is analyzed under the competing influences of inertia, viscous stress, van der Waals pressure, and capillary pressure by solving a system of spatially one-dimensional evolution equations for film thickness and lateral velocity. The dynamics close to the space-time singularity where the film ruptures is asymptotically self-similar and, therefore, the problem is also analyzed by reducing the transient partial differential evolution equations to a corresponding set of ordinary differential equations in similarity space. For sheets with negligible inertia, it is shown that the dominant balance of forces involves solely viscous and van der Waals forces, with capillary force remaining negligible throughout the thinning process in a viscous regime. On the other hand, for a sheet of an inviscid fluid for which the effect of viscosity is negligible, it is shown that the dominant balance of forces is between inertial, capillary, and van der Waals forces as the film evolves towards rupture in an inertial regime. Real fluids, however, have finite viscosity. Hence, for real fluids, it is further shown that the viscous and the inertial regimes are only transitory and can only describe the initial thinning dynamics of highly viscous and slightly viscous sheets, respectively. Moreover, regardless of the fluid's viscosity, it is shown that for sheets that initially thin in either of these two regimes, their dynamics transition to a late stage or final inertial-viscous regime in which inertial, viscous, and van der Waals forces balance each other while capillary force remains negligible, in accordance with the results of Vaynblat, Lister, and Witelski.

  18. Plasma impact on structural, morphological and optical properties of copper acetylacetonate thin films

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Abdel-Khalek, H.; El-Samahi, M. I.; El-Mahalawy, Ahmed M.

    2018-06-01

    The influence of plasma exposure on structural, morphological and optical properties of copper (II) acetylacetonate thin films deposited by thermal evaporation technique was investigated. Copper (II) acetylacetonate as-grown thin films were exposed to the atmospheric plasma for different times. The exposure of as-grown cu(acac)2 thin film to atmospheric plasma for 5 min modified its structural, morphological and optical properties. The effect of plasma exposure on structure and roughness of cu(acac)2 thin films was evaluated by XRD and AFM techniques, respectively. The XRD results showed an increment in crystallinity due to exposure for 5 min, but, when the exposure time reaches 10 min, the film was transformed to an amorphous state. The AFM results revealed a strong modification of films roughness when the average roughness decreased from 63.35 nm to 1 nm as a result of interaction with plasma. The optical properties of as-grown and plasma exposured cu(acac)2 thin films were studied using spectrophotometric method. The exposure of cu(acac)2 thin films to plasma produced the indirect energy gap decrease from 3.20 eV to 2.67 eV for 10 min exposure time. The dispersion parameters were evaluated in terms of single oscillator model for as-grown and plasma exposured thin films. The influence of plasma exposure on third order optical susceptibility was studied.

  19. Nonlinear Optical Properties of Organic and Polymeric Thin Film Materials of Potential for Microgravity Processing Studies

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Abdeldayem, Hossin; Frazier, Donald O.; Paley, Mark S.; Penn, Benjamin; Witherow, William K.; Bank, Curtis; Shields, Angela; Hicks, Rosline; Ashley, Paul R.

    1996-01-01

    In this paper, we will take a closer look at the state of the art of polydiacetylene, and metal-free phthalocyanine films, in view of the microgravity impact on their optical properties, their nonlinear optical properties and their potential advantages for integrated optics. These materials have many attractive features with regard to their use in integrated optical circuits and optical switching. Thin films of these materials processed in microgravity environment show enhanced optical quality and better molecular alignment than those processed in unit gravity. Our studies of these materials indicate that microgravity can play a major role in integrated optics technology. Polydiacetylene films are produced by UV irradiation of monomer solution through an optical window. This novel technique of forming polydiacetylene thin films has been modified for constructing sophisticated micro-structure integrated optical patterns using a pre-programmed UV-Laser beam. Wave guiding through these thin films by the prism coupler technique has been demonstrated. The third order nonlinear parameters of these films have been evaluated. Metal-free phthalocyanine films of good optical quality are processed in our laboratories by vapor deposition technique. Initial studies on these films indicate that they have excellent chemical, laser, and environmental stability. They have large nonlinear optical parameters and show intrinsic optical bistability. This bistability is essential for optical logic gates and optical switching applications. Waveguiding and device making investigations of these materials are underway.

  20. Effect of 60Co γ-irradiation on structural and optical properties of thin films of Ga10Se80Hg10

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ahmad, Shabir; Asokan, K.; Shahid Khan, Mohd.; Zulfequar, M.

    2015-08-01

    Thin films of Ga10Se80Hg10 have been deposited onto a chemically cleaned Al2O3 substrates by thermal evaporation technique under vacuum. The investigated thin films are irradiated by 60Co γ-rays in the dose range of 50-150 kGy. X-ray diffraction patterns of the investigated thin films confirm the preferred crystallite growth occurs in the tetragonal phase structure. It also shows, the average crystallite size increases after γ-exposure, which indicates the crystallinity of the material increases after γ-irradiation. These results were further supported by surface morphological analysis carried out by scanning electron microscope and atomic force microscope which also shows the crystallinity of the material increases with increasing the γ-irradiation dose. The optical transmission spectra of the thin films at normal incidence were investigated in the spectral range from 190 to 1100 nm. Using the transmission spectra, the optical constants like refractive index (n) and extinction coefficient (k) were calculated based on Swanepoel's method. The optical band gap (Eg) was also estimated using Tauc's extrapolation procedure. The optical analysis shows: the value of optical band gap of investigated thin films decreases and the corresponding absorption coefficient increases continuously with increasing dose of γ-irradiation.

  1. Long-term effect of silvicultural thinnings on soil carbon and nitrogen pools

    Treesearch

    Martin Jurgensen; Rachel Tarpey; Jim Pickens; Randy Kolka; Brian Palik

    2012-01-01

    The effects of long-term silvicultural thinning on soil C and N content are not well known. We evaluated the impact of periodic thinnings on soil C and N pools in a 134-yr-old red pine (Pinus resinosa Ait.) forest in Minnesota, and a 104 yr-old northern hardwood forest in Wisconsin. The red pine stands had five thinning regimes (13.8, 18.4, 22.7, 27....

  2. Optical Coherence Tomography in Glaucoma

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Berisha, Fatmire; Hoffmann, Esther M.; Pfeiffer, Norbert

    Retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thinning and optic nerve head cupping are key diagnostic features of glaucomatous optic neuropathy. The higher resolution of the recently introduced SD-OCT offers enhanced visualization and improved segmentation of the retinal layers, providing a higher accuracy in identification of subtle changes of the optic disc and RNFL thinning associated with glaucoma.

  3. Investigation of microstructure, micro-mechanical and optical properties of HfTiO{sub 4} thin films prepared by magnetron co-sputtering

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Mazur, Michal, E-mail: michal.mazur@pwr.edu.pl; Wojcieszak, Damian; Domaradzki, Jaroslaw

    2015-12-15

    Highlights: • HfTiO{sub 4} thin films were deposited by magnetron co-sputtering. • As-prepared and annealed at 800 °C thin films were nanocrystalline. • Optical properties and hardness were investigated in relation to thin films structure. • Hardness was 3-times higher in the case of as-deposited thin films. • HfTiO{sub 4} thin films are suitable for use as optical coatings with protective properties. - Abstract: Titania (TiO{sub 2}) and hafnium oxide (HfO{sub 2}) thin films are in the focus of interest to the microelectronics community from a dozen years. Because of their outstanding properties like, among the others, high stability, highmore » refractive index, high electric permittivity, they found applications in many optical and electronics domains. In this work discussion on the hardness, microstructure and optical properties of as-deposited and annealed HfTiO{sub 4} thin films has been presented. Deposited films were prepared using magnetron co-sputtering method. Performed investigations revealed that as-deposited coatings were nanocrystalline with HfTiO{sub 4} structure. Deposited films were built from crystallites of ca. 4–12 nm in size and after additional annealing an increase in crystallites size up to 16 nm was observed. Micro-mechanical properties, i.e., hardness and elastic modulus were determined using conventional load-controlled nanoindentation testing. the annealed films had 3-times lower hardness as-compared to as-deposited ones (∼9 GPa). Based on optical investigations real and imaginary components of refractive index were calculated, both for as-deposited and annealed thin films. The real refractive index component increased after annealing from 2.03 to 2.16, while extinction coefficient increased by an order from 10{sup −4} to 10{sup −3}. Structure modification was analyzed together with optical energy band-gap, Urbach energy and using Wemple–DiDomenico model.« less

  4. Optical Vector Near-Field Imaging for the Design of Impedance Matched Optical Antennas and Devices

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Olmon, Robert L.

    Antennas control and confine electromagnetic energy, transforming free-space propagating modes to localized regions. This is not only true for the traditional classical radio antenna, but also for structures that interact resonantly at frequencies throughout the visible regime, that are on the micro- and nanometer size scales. The investigation of these optical antennas has increased dramatically in recent years. They promise to bring the transformative capabilities of radio antennas to the nanoscale in fields such as plasmonics, photonics, spectroscopy, and microscopy. However, designing optical antennas with desired properties is not straightforward due to different material properties and geometric considerations in the optical regime compared to the RF. New antenna characterization tools and techniques must be developed for the optical frequency range. Here, the optical analogue of the vector network analyzer, based on a scattering-type scanning near-field optical microscope, is described and demonstrated for the investigation of the electric and magnetic properties of optical antennas through their electromagnetic vector near-field. Specifically, bringing this microwave frequency tool to the optical regime enables the study of antenna resonant length scaling, optical frequency electromagnetic parameters including current density and impedance, optical antenna coupling to waveguides and nanoloads, local electric field enhancement, and electromagnetic duality of complementary optical antenna geometries.

  5. Organic Light Emitting Diodes with Opal Photonic Crystal Layer and Carbon Nanotube Anode

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ovalle Robles, Raquel; Del Rocio Nava, Maria; Williams, Christopher; Zhang, Mei; Fang, Shaoli; Lee, Sergey; Baughman, Ray; Zakhidov, Anvar

    2007-03-01

    We report electroluminescence intensity and spectral changes in light emission from organic light emitting diode (OLEDs) structures, which have thin transparent films of opal photonic crystal (PC). The anode in such PC-OLED is laminated on opal layer from free standing optically transparent multiwall carbon nanotubes (T-CNT) sheets made by dry spinning from CVD grown forests. Silica and polystyrene opal films were grown on glass substrates by vertical sedimentation in colloids in thermal baths and the particle size of opal spheres ranges from 300 nm to 450 nm. The use of T-CNTs, (coated by PEDOT-PSS to avoid shorting) as hole injector, allows to eliminate the use of vacuum deposition of metals and permits to achieve tunneling hole injection regime from CNT tips into Alq^3 emission layer

  6. DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Madau, Piero; Haardt, Francesco; Dotti, Massimo

    We consider super-critical accretion with angular momentum onto stellar-mass black holes as a possible mechanism for growing billion-solar-mass black holes from light seeds at early times. We use the radiatively inefficient ''slim disk'' solution—advective, optically thick flows that generalize the standard geometrically thin disk model—to show how mildly super-Eddington intermittent accretion may significantly ease the problem of assembling the first massive black holes when the universe was less than 0.8 Gyr old. Because of the low radiative efficiencies of slim disks around non-rotating as well as rapidly rotating black holes, the mass e-folding timescale in this regime is nearly independent ofmore » the spin parameter. The conditions that may lead to super-critical growth in the early universe are briefly discussed.« less

  7. Nanocrystalline silicon thin films and grating structures for solar cells

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Juneja, Sucheta; Sudhakar, Selvakumar; Khonina, Svetlana N.; Skidanov, Roman V.; Porfirevb, Alexey P.; Moissev, Oleg Y.; Kazanskiy, Nikolay L.; Kumar, Sushil

    2016-03-01

    Enhancement of optical absorption for achieving high efficiencies in thin film silicon solar cells is a challenge task. Herein, we present the use of grating structure for the enhancement of optical absorption. We have made grating structures and same can be integrated in hydrogenated micro/nanocrystalline silicon (μc/nc-Si: H) thin films based p-i-n solar cells. μc/nc-Si: H thin films were grown using plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition method. Grating structures integrated with μc/nc-Si: H thin film solar cells may enhance the optical path length and reduce the reflection losses and its characteristics can be probed by spectroscopic and microscopic technique with control design and experiment.

  8. Optical, mechanical and structural properties of PMMA/SiO2 nanocomposite thin films

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Soni, Gyanesh; Srivastava, Subodh; Soni, Purushottam; Kalotra, Pankaj; Vijay, Y. K.

    2018-01-01

    We have fabricated PMMA/SiO2 nanocomposite flexible thin films of 60 μm thicknesses by using solution casting method in the presence of transverse electric field. In this paper, we have investigated the effect of SiO2 nanoparticle (NP) loading on optical and mechanical properties of the composite thin film. The SEM images show that nanocomposite thin films have a smoother and uniform morphology. The transmittance peak near 1103 cm-1 in FT-IR spectrum confirms the presence of SiO2 NPs in the composite thin film. It is observed that optical bandgap decreases with an increase in the SiO2 NP concentration. Dynamic mechanical analysis shows that presence of SiO2 NP enhances the mechanical strength of the composite thin film.

  9. Comparative DMFT study of the eg-orbital Hubbard model in thin films

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Rüegg, Andreas; Hung, Hsiang-Hsuan; Gull, Emanuel; Fiete, Gregory A.

    2014-02-01

    Heterostructures of transition-metal oxides have emerged as a new route to engineer electronic systems with desired functionalities. Motivated by these developments, we study a two-orbital Hubbard model in a thin-film geometry confined along the cubic [001] direction using the dynamical mean-field theory. We contrast the results of two approximate impurity solvers (exact diagonalization and one-crossing approximation) to the results of the numerically exact continuous-time quantum Monte Carlo solver. Consistent with earlier studies, we find that the one-crossing approximation performs well in the insulating regime, while the advantage of the exact-diagonalization-based solver is more pronounced in the metallic regime. We then investigate various aspects of strongly correlated eg-orbital systems in thin-film geometries. In particular, we show how the interfacial orbital polarization dies off quickly a few layers from the interface and how the film thickness affects the location of the interaction-driven Mott transition. In addition, we explore the changes in the electronic structure with varying carrier concentration and identify large variations of the orbital polarization in the strongly correlated regime.

  10. Transition regime from step-flow to step-bunching in the growth of epitaxial SrRuO3 on (001) SrTiO3

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Gura, Anna; Bertino, Giulia; Bein, Benjamin; Dawber, Matthew

    2018-04-01

    We present a study of the surface morphology of SrRuO3 thin films grown on TiO2 terminated (001) SrTiO3 substrates using an off-axis RF magnetron sputtering deposition technique. We investigated the step bunching formation and the evolution of the films by varying deposition parameters. The thin films were characterized using atomic force microscopy methods, allowing us to study the various growth regimes of SrRuO3 as a function of the growth parameters. We observe a strong influence of both the miscut angle and growth temperature on the evolution of the SrRuO3 surface morphology. In addition, a thickness dependence is present. Remarkably, the formation of a smooth, regular, and uniform "fish-skin" structure at the step-bunch transition is observed. The fish-skin morphology results from the merging of 2D flat islands predicted by previous models. The direct observation of surface evolution allows us to better understand the different growth regimes of SrRuO3 thin films.

  11. Yield tables for managed stands of coast Douglas-fir.

    Treesearch

    Robert O. Curtis; Gary W. Clendenen; Donald L. Reukema; Donald J. DeMars

    1982-01-01

    Yield tables generated by the stand simulation program DFSIM (Douglas-Fir SIMulator) are presented for a number of possible management regimes. These include a “normal” yield table; tables for stands planted or precommercially thinned to 300 and 400 trees per acre; tables for commercially thinned stands with and without prior commercial thinning; and tables...

  12. Elaboration and properties of hierarchically structured optical thin films of MIL-101(Cr).

    PubMed

    Demessence, Aude; Horcajada, Patricia; Serre, Christian; Boissière, Cédric; Grosso, David; Sanchez, Clément; Férey, Gérard

    2009-12-14

    Stable nanoparticles dispersions of the porous hybrid MIL-101(Cr) allow dip-coating of high quality optical thin films with dual hierarchical porous structure. Moreover, for the first time, mechanical and sorption properties of mesoporous MOFs based thin films are evaluated.

  13. Optical stress generator and detector

    DOEpatents

    Maris, Humphrey J.; Stoner, Robert J

    2001-01-01

    Disclosed is a system for the characterization of thin films and interfaces between thin films through measurements of their mechanical and thermal properties. In the system light is absorbed in a thin film or in a structure made up of several thin films, and the change in optical transmission or reflection is measured and analyzed. The change in reflection or transmission is used to give information about the ultrasonic waves that are produced in the structure. The information that is obtained from the use of the measurement methods and apparatus of this invention can include: (a) a determination of the thickness of thin films with a speed and accuracy that is improved compared to earlier methods; (b) a determination of the thermal, elastic, and optical properties of thin films; (c) a determination of the stress in thin films; and (d) a characterization of the properties of interfaces, including the presence of roughness and defects.

  14. Optical stress generator and detector

    DOEpatents

    Maris, Humphrey J.; Stoner, Robert J.

    1998-01-01

    Disclosed is a system for the characterization of thin films and interfaces between thin films through measurements of their mechanical and thermal properties. In the system light is absorbed in a thin film or in a structure made up of several thin films, and the change in optical transmission or reflection is measured and analyzed. The change in reflection or transmission is used to give information about the ultrasonic waves that are produced in the structure. The information that is obtained from the use of the measurement methods and apparatus of this invention can include: (a) a determination of the thickness of thin films with a speed and accuracy that is improved compared to earlier methods; (b) a determination of the thermal, elastic, and optical properties of thin films; (c) a determination of the stress in thin films; and (d) a characterization of the properties of interfaces, including the presence of roughness and defects.

  15. Optical stress generator and detector

    DOEpatents

    Maris, H.J.; Stoner, R.J.

    1998-05-05

    Disclosed is a system for the characterization of thin films and interfaces between thin films through measurements of their mechanical and thermal properties. In the system light is absorbed in a thin film or in a structure made up of several thin films, and the change in optical transmission or reflection is measured and analyzed. The change in reflection or transmission is used to give information about the ultrasonic waves that are produced in the structure. The information that is obtained from the use of the measurement methods and apparatus of this invention can include: (a) a determination of the thickness of thin films with a speed and accuracy that is improved compared to earlier methods; (b) a determination of the thermal, elastic, and optical properties of thin films; (c) a determination of the stress in thin films; and (d) a characterization of the properties of interfaces, including the presence of roughness and defects. 32 figs.

  16. Optical stress generator and detector

    DOEpatents

    Maris, Humphrey J.; Stoner, Robert J

    2002-01-01

    Disclosed is a system for the characterization of thin films and interfaces between thin films through measurements of their mechanical and thermal properties. In the system light is absorbed in a thin film or in a structure made up of several thin films, and the change in optical transmission or reflection is measured and analyzed. The change in reflection or transmission is used to give information about the ultrasonic waves that are produced in the structure. The information that is obtained from the use of the measurement methods and apparatus of this invention can include: (a) a determination of the thickness of thin films with a speed and accuracy that is improved compared to earlier methods; (b) a determination of the thermal, elastic, and optical properties of thin films; (c) a determination of the stress in thin films; and (d) a characterization of the properties of interfaces, including the presence of roughness and defects.

  17. Optical stress generator and detector

    DOEpatents

    Maris, Humphrey J.; Stoner, Robert J

    1999-01-01

    Disclosed is a system for the characterization of thin films and interfaces between thin films through measurements of their mechanical and thermal properties. In the system light is absorbed in a thin film or in a structure made up of several thin films, and the change in optical transmission or reflection is measured and analyzed. The change in reflection or transmission is used to give information about the ultrasonic waves that are produced in the structure. The information that is obtained from the use of the measurement methods and apparatus of this invention can include: (a) a determination of the thickness of thin films with a speed and accuracy that is improved compared to earlier methods; (b) a determination of the thermal, elastic, and optical properties of thin films; (c) a determination of the stress in thin films; and (d) a characterization of the properties of interfaces, including the presence of roughness and defects.

  18. Characterization of Pb-Doped GaN Thin Films Grown by Thermionic Vacuum Arc

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Özen, Soner; Pat, Suat; Korkmaz, Şadan

    2018-03-01

    Undoped and lead (Pb)-doped gallium nitride (GaN) thin films have been deposited by a thermionic vacuum arc (TVA) method. Glass and polyethylene terephthalate were selected as optically transparent substrates. The structural, optical, morphological, and electrical properties of the deposited thin films were investigated. These physical properties were interpreted by comparison with related analysis methods. The crystalline structure of the deposited GaN thin films was hexagonal wurtzite. The optical bandgap energy of the GaN and Pb-doped GaN thin films was found to be 3.45 eV and 3.47 eV, respectively. The surface properties of the deposited thin films were imaged using atomic force microscopy and field-emission scanning electron microscopy, revealing a nanostructured, homogeneous, and granular surface structure. These results confirm that the TVA method is an alternative layer deposition system for Pb-doped GaN thin films.

  19. A study on micro-structural and optical parameters of InxSe1-x thin film

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Patel, P. B.; Desai, H. N.; Dhimmar, J. M.; Modi, B. P.

    2018-04-01

    Thin film of Indium Selenide (InSe) has been deposited by thermal evaporation technique onto pre cleaned glass substrate under high vacuum condition. The micro-structural and optical properties of InxSe1-x (x = 0.6, 1-x = 0.4) thin film have been characterized by X-ray diffractrometer (XRD) and UV-Visible spectrophotometer. The XRD spectra showed that InSe thin film has single phase hexagonal structure with preferred orientation along (1 1 0) direction. The micro-structural parameters (crystallite size, lattice strain, dislocation density, domain population) for InSe thin film have been calculated using XRD spectra. The optical parameters (absorption, transmittance, reflectance, energy band gap, Urbach energy) of InSe thin film have been evaluated from absorption spectra. The direct energy band gap and Urbach energy of InSe thin film is found to be 1.90 eV and 235 meV respectively.

  20. Fabrication of ATO/Graphene Multi-layered Transparent Conducting Thin Films

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Li, Na; Chen, Fei; Shen, Qiang; Wang, Chuanbin; Zhang, Lianmeng

    2013-03-01

    A novel transparent conducting oxide based on the ATO/graphene multi-layered thin films has been developed to satisfy the application of transparent conductive electrode in solar cells. The ATO thin films are prepared by pulsed laser deposition method with high quality, namely the sheet resistance of 49.5 Ω/sq and average transmittance of 81.9 %. The prepared graphene sheet is well reduced and shows atomically thin, spotty distributed appearance on the top of the ATO thin films. The XRD and optical micrographs are used to confirm the successfully preparation of the ATO/graphene multi-layered thin films. The Hall measurements and UV-Vis spectrophotometer are conducted to evaluate the sheet resistance and optical transmittance of the innovative structure. It is found that graphene can improve the electrical properties of the ATO thin films with little influence on the optical transmittance.

  1. Optical sensors and multisensor arrays containing thin film electroluminescent devices

    DOEpatents

    Aylott, Jonathan W.; Chen-Esterlit, Zoe; Friedl, Jon H.; Kopelman, Raoul; Savvateev, Vadim N.; Shinar, Joseph

    2001-12-18

    Optical sensor, probe and array devices for detecting chemical biological, and physical analytes. The devices include an analyte-sensitive layer optically coupled to a thin film electroluminescent layer which activates the analyte-sensitive layer to provide an optical response. The optical response varies depending upon the presence of an analyte and is detected by a photodetector and analyzed to determine the properties of the analyte.

  2. Miniature all-silica optical fiber pressure sensor with an ultrathin uniform diaphragm.

    PubMed

    Wang, Wenhui; Wu, Nan; Tian, Ye; Niezrecki, Christopher; Wang, Xingwei

    2010-04-26

    This paper presents an all-silica miniature optical fiber pressure/acoustic sensor based on the Fabry-Perot (FP) interferometric principle. The endface of the etched optical fiber tip and silica thin diaphragm on it form the FP structure. The uniform and thin silica diaphragm was fabricated by etching away the silicon substrate from a commercial silicon wafer that has a thermal oxide layer. The thin film was directly thermally bonded to the endface of the optical fiber thus creating the Fabry-Perot cavity. Thin films with a thickness from 1microm to 3microm have been bonded successfully. The sensor shows good linearity and hysteresis during measurement. A sensor with 0.75 microm-thick diaphragm thinned by post silica etching was demonstrated to have a sensitivity of 11 nm/kPa. The new sensor has great potential to be used as a non-intrusive pressure sensor in a variety of sensing applications.

  3. Tailoring of optical band gap by varying Zn content in Cd{sub 1-x}Zn{sub x}S thin films prepared by spray pyrolysis method

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Kumar, Vipin, E-mail: vipinkumar28@yahoo.co.in; Sharma, D. K.; Agrawal, Sonalika

    Cd{sub 1-X}Zn{sub X}S thin films (X = 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8) have been grown on glass substrate by spray pyrolysis technique using equimolar concentration aqueous solution of cadmium chloride, zinc acetate and thiourea. Prepared thin films have been characterized by UV-VIS spectrophotometer. The optical band gap of the films has been studied by transmission spectra in wavelength range 325-600nm. It has been observed that optical band gap increases with increasing zinc concentration. The optical band gap of these thin films varies from 2.59 to 3.20eV with increasing Zn content.

  4. Research on precision grinding technology of large scale and ultra thin optics

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zhou, Lian; Wei, Qiancai; Li, Jie; Chen, Xianhua; Zhang, Qinghua

    2018-03-01

    The flatness and parallelism error of large scale and ultra thin optics have an important influence on the subsequent polishing efficiency and accuracy. In order to realize the high precision grinding of those ductile elements, the low deformation vacuum chuck was designed first, which was used for clamping the optics with high supporting rigidity in the full aperture. Then the optics was planar grinded under vacuum adsorption. After machining, the vacuum system was turned off. The form error of optics was on-machine measured using displacement sensor after elastic restitution. The flatness would be convergenced with high accuracy by compensation machining, whose trajectories were integrated with the measurement result. For purpose of getting high parallelism, the optics was turned over and compensation grinded using the form error of vacuum chuck. Finally, the grinding experiment of large scale and ultra thin fused silica optics with aperture of 430mm×430mm×10mm was performed. The best P-V flatness of optics was below 3 μm, and parallelism was below 3 ″. This machining technique has applied in batch grinding of large scale and ultra thin optics.

  5. Hybridization effects on wave packet dynamics in topological insulator thin films.

    PubMed

    Yar, Abdullah; Naeem, Muhammad; Khan, Safi Ullah; Sabeeh, Kashif

    2017-11-22

    Theoretical study of electron wave packet dynamics in topological insulator (TI) thin films is presented. We have investigated real space trajectories and spin dynamics of electron wave packets in TI thin films. Our focus is on the role of hybridization between the electronic states of the two surfaces. This allows us to access the crossover regime of a thick film with no hybridization to a thin film with finite hybridization. We show that the electron wave packet undergoes side-jump motion in addition to zitterbewegung. The oscillation frequency of zitterbewegung can be tuned by the strength of hybridization, which in turn can be tuned by the thickness of the film. We find that the spin expectations also exhibit zitterbewegung tunable by hybridization. We also show that it is possible to obtain persistent zitterbewegung, oscillations which do not decay, in both the real space trajectories as well as spin dynamics. The zitterbewegung oscillation frequency in TI thin films falls in a parameter regime where it might be possible to observe these effects using present day experimental techniques.

  6. Tunable thin-film optical filters for hyperspectral microscopy

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Favreau, Peter F.; Rich, Thomas C.; Prabhat, Prashant; Leavesley, Silas J.

    2013-02-01

    Hyperspectral imaging was originally developed for use in remote sensing applications. More recently, it has been applied to biological imaging systems, such as fluorescence microscopes. The ability to distinguish molecules based on spectral differences has been especially advantageous for identifying fluorophores in highly autofluorescent tissues. A key component of hyperspectral imaging systems is wavelength filtering. Each filtering technology used for hyperspectral imaging has corresponding advantages and disadvantages. Recently, a new optical filtering technology has been developed that uses multi-layered thin-film optical filters that can be rotated, with respect to incident light, to control the center wavelength of the pass-band. Compared to the majority of tunable filter technologies, these filters have superior optical performance including greater than 90% transmission, steep spectral edges and high out-of-band blocking. Hence, tunable thin-film optical filters present optical characteristics that may make them well-suited for many biological spectral imaging applications. An array of tunable thin-film filters was implemented on an inverted fluorescence microscope (TE 2000, Nikon Instruments) to cover the full visible wavelength range. Images of a previously published model, GFP-expressing endothelial cells in the lung, were acquired using a charge-coupled device camera (Rolera EM-C2, Q-Imaging). This model sample presents fluorescently-labeled cells in a highly autofluorescent environment. Linear unmixing of hyperspectral images indicates that thin-film tunable filters provide equivalent spectral discrimination to our previous acousto-optic tunable filter-based approach, with increased signal-to-noise characteristics. Hence, tunable multi-layered thin film optical filters may provide greatly improved spectral filtering characteristics and therefore enable wider acceptance of hyperspectral widefield microscopy.

  7. Remnants of semiclassical bistability in the few-photon regime of cavity QED.

    PubMed

    Kerckhoff, Joseph; Armen, Michael A; Mabuchi, Hideo

    2011-11-21

    Broadband homodyne detection of the light transmitted by a Fabry-Perot cavity containing a strongly-coupled (133)Cs atom is used to probe the dynamic optical response in a regime where semiclassical theory predicts bistability but strong quantum corrections should apply. While quantum fluctuations destabilize true equilibrium bistability, our observations confirm the existence of metastable states with finite lifetimes and a hysteretic response is apparent when the optical drive is modulated on comparable timescales. Our experiment elucidates remnant semiclassical behavior in the attojoule (~10 photon) regime of single-atom cavity QED, of potential significance for ultra-low power photonic signal processing. © 2011 Optical Society of America

  8. Financial consequences of commercial thinning regimes in young-growth Douglas-fir

    Treesearch

    Robert M. Randall

    1977-01-01

    Commercial thinning in fully-stocked normal Douglas-fir stands of merchantable size is evaluated and compared to the alternatives of leaving stands to grow unthinned or of liquidating them. Comparisons are made in terms of volume production and financial returns.

  9. Multistate intermittency on the route to chaos of a semiconductor laser subjected to optical feedback from a long external cavity.

    PubMed

    Choi, Daeyoung; Wishon, Michael J; Chang, C Y; Citrin, D S; Locquet, A

    2018-01-01

    We observe experimentally two regimes of intermittency on the route to chaos of a semiconductor laser subjected to optical feedback from a long external cavity as the feedback level is increased. The first regime encountered corresponds to multistate intermittency involving two or three states composed of several combinations of periodic, quasiperiodic, and subharmonic dynamics. The second regime is observed for larger feedback levels and involves intermittency between period-doubled and chaotic regimes. This latter type of intermittency displays statistical properties similar to those of on-off intermittency.

  10. Bright and dark solitons in the normal dispersion regime of inhomogeneous optical fibers: Soliton interaction and soliton control

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Liu Wenjun; Tian Bo, E-mail: tian.bupt@yahoo.com.c; State Key Laboratory of Software Development Environment, Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Beijing 100191

    2010-08-15

    Symbolically investigated in this paper is a nonlinear Schroedinger equation with the varying dispersion and nonlinearity for the propagation of optical pulses in the normal dispersion regime of inhomogeneous optical fibers. With the aid of the Hirota method, analytic one- and two-soliton solutions are obtained. Relevant properties of physical and optical interest are illustrated. Different from the previous results, both the bright and dark solitons are hereby derived in the normal dispersion regime of the inhomogeneous optical fibers. Moreover, different dispersion profiles of the dispersion-decreasing fibers can be used to realize the soliton control. Finally, soliton interaction is discussed withmore » the soliton control confirmed to have no influence on the interaction. The results might be of certain value for the study of the signal generator and soliton control.« less

  11. Characterization facility for magneto-optic media and systems

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Mansuripur, M.; Fu, H.; Gadetsky, S.; Sugaya, S.; Wu, T. H.; Zambuto, J.; Gerber, R.; Goodman, T.; Erwin, J. K.

    1993-01-01

    Objectives of this research are: (1) to measure the hysteresis loop, Kerr rotation angle, anisotropy energy profile, Hall voltage, and magnetoresistance of thin-film magneto-optic media using our loop-tracer; (2) measure the wavelength-dependence of the Kerr rotation angle, Theta(sub k), and ellipticity, epsilon(sub k), for thin-film media using our magneto-optic Kerr spectrometer (MOKS); (3) measure the dielectric tensor of thin-film and multilayer samples using our variable-angle magneto-optic ellipsometer (VAMOE); (4) measure the hysteresis loop, coercivity, remanent magnetization, saturation magnetization, and anisotropy energy constant for thin film magnetic media using vibrating sample magnetometry; (5) observe small magnetic domains and investigate their interaction with defects using magnetic force microscopy; (6) perform static read/write/erase experiments on thin-film magneto-optic media using our static test station; (7) integrate the existing models of magnetization, magneto-optic effects, coercivity, and anisotropy in an interactive and user-friendly environment, and analyze the characterization data obtained in the various experiments, using this modeling package; (8) measure focusing- and tracking-error signals on a static testbed, determine the 'feedthrough' for various focusing schemes, investigate the effects of polarization and birefringence, and compare the results with diffraction-based calculations; and (9) measure the birefringence of optical disk substrates using two variable angle ellipsometers.

  12. Heavily-doped ZnO:Al thin films prepared by using magnetron Co-sputtering: Optical and electrical properties

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Moon, Eun-A.; Jun, Young-Kil; Kim, Nam-Hoon; Lee, Woo-Sun

    2016-07-01

    Photovoltaic applications require transparent conducting-oxide (TCO) thin films with high optical transmittance in the visible spectral region (380 - 780 nm), low resistivity, and high thermal/chemical stability. The ZnO thin film is one of the most common alternatives to the conventional indium-tin-oxide (ITO) thin film TCO. Highly transparent and conductive ZnO thin films can be prepared by doping with group III elements. Heavily-doped ZnO:Al (AZO) thin films were prepared by using the RF magnetron co-sputtering method with ZnO and Al targets to obtain better characteristics at a low cost. The RF sputtering power to each target was varied to control the doping concentration in fixed-thickness AZO thin films. The crystal structures of the AZO thin films were analyzed by using X-ray diffraction. The morphological microstructure was observed by using scanning electron microscopy. The optical transmittance and the band gap energy of the AZO thin films were examined with an UV-visible spectrophotometer in the range of 300 - 1800 nm. The resistivity and the carrier concentration were examined by using a Hall-effect measurement system. An excellent optical transmittance > 80% with an appropriate band gap energy (3.26 - 3.27 eV) and an improved resistivity (~10 -1 Ω·cm) with high carrier concentration (1017 - 1019 cm -3) were demonstrated in 350-nm-thick AZO thin films for thin-film photovoltaic applications.

  13. Impact of low-pressure glow-discharge-pulsed plasma polymerization on properties of polyaniline thin films

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Jatratkar, Aviraj A.; Yadav, Jyotiprakash B.; Deshmukh, R. R.; Barshilia, Harish C.; Puri, Vijaya; Puri, R. K.

    2016-12-01

    This study reports on polyaniline thin films deposited on a glass substrate using a low-pressure glow-discharge-pulsed plasma polymerization method. The polyaniline thin film obtained by pulsed plasma polymerization has been successfully demonstrated as an optical waveguide with a transmission loss of 3.93 dB cm-1, and has the potential to be employed in integrated optics. An attempt has been made to investigate the effect of plasma OFF-time on the structural, optical as well as surface properties of polyaniline thin film. The plasma ON-time has been kept constant and the plasma OFF-time has been varied throughout the work. The plasma OFF-time strongly influenced the properties of the polyaniline thin film, and a nanostructured and compact surface was revealed in the morphological studies. The plasma OFF-time was found to enhance film thickness, roughness, refractive index and optical transmission loss, whereas it reduced the optical band gap of the polyaniline thin films. Retention in the aromatic structure was confirmed by FTIR results. Optical studies revealed a π-π* electronic transition at about 317 nm as well as the formation of a branched structure. As compared with continuous wave plasma, pulsed plasma polymerization shows better properties. Pulsed plasma polymerization reduced the roughness of the film from 1.2 nm to 0.42 nm and the optical transmission loss from 6.56 dB cm-1 to 3.39 dB cm-1.

  14. Implanted Silicon Resistor Layers for Efficient Terahertz Absorption

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Chervenak, J. A.; Abrahams, J.; Allen, C. A.; Benford, D. J.; Henry, R.; Stevenson, T.; Wollack, E.; Moseley, S. H.

    2005-01-01

    Broadband absorption structures are an essential component of large format bolometer arrays for imaging GHz and THz radiation. We have measured electrical and optical properties of implanted silicon resistor layers designed to be suitable for these absorbers. Implanted resistors offer a low-film-stress, buried absorber that is robust to longterm aging, temperature, and subsequent metals processing. Such an absorber layer is readily integrated with superconducting integrated circuits and standard micromachining as demonstrated by the SCUBA II array built by ROE/NIST (1). We present a complete characterization of these layers, demonstrating frequency regimes in which different recipes will be suitable for absorbers. Single layer thin film coatings have been demonstrated as effective absorbers at certain wavelengths including semimetal (2,3), thin metal (4), and patterned metal films (5,6). Astronomical instrument examples include the SHARC II instrument is imaging the submillimeter band using passivated Bi semimetal films and the HAWC instrument for SOFIA, which employs ultrathin metal films to span 1-3 THz. Patterned metal films on spiderweb bolometers have also been proposed for broadband detection. In each case, the absorber structure matches the impedance of free space for optimal absorption in the detector configuration (typically 157 Ohms per square for high absorption with a single or 377 Ohms per square in a resonant cavity or quarter wave backshort). Resonant structures with -20% bandwidth coupled to bolometers are also under development; stacks of such structures may take advantage of instruments imaging over a wide band. Each technique may enable effective absorbers in imagers. However, thin films tend to age, degrade or change during further processing, can be difficult to reproduce, and often exhibit an intrinsic granularity that creates complicated frequency dependence at THz frequencies. Thick metal films are more robust but the requirement for patterning can limit their absorption at THz frequencies and their heat capacity can be high. patterned absorber structures that offer low heat capacity, absence of aging, and uniform, predictable behavior at THz frequencies. We have correlated DC electrical and THz optical measurements of a series of implanted layers and studied their frequency dependence of optical absorption from .3 to 10 THz at cryogenic temperatures. We have modeled the optical response to determine the suitability of the implanted silicon resistor as a function of resistance in the range 10 Ohms/sq to 300 Ohms/sq.

  15. Al-/Ga-Doped ZnO Window Layers for Highly Efficient Cu₂ZnSn(S,Se)₄ Thin Film Solar Cells.

    PubMed

    Seo, Se Won; Seo, Jung Woo; Kim, Donghwan; Cheon, Ki-Beom; Lee, Doh-Kwon; Kim, Jin Young

    2018-09-01

    The successful use of Al-/Ga-doped ZnO (AGZO) thin films as a transparent conducting oxide (TCO) layer of a Cu2ZnSn(S,Se)4 (CZTSSe) thin film solar cell is demonstrated. The AGZO thin films were prepared by radio frequency (RF) sputtering. The structural, crystallographic, electrical, and optical properties of the AGZO thin films were systematically investigated. The photovoltaic properties of CZTSSe thin film solar cells incorporating the AGZO-based TCO layer were also reported. It has been found that the RF power and substrate temperature of the AGZO thin film are important factors determining the electrical, optical, and structural properties. The optimization process involving the RF power and the substrate temperature leads to good electrical and optical transmittance of the AGZO thin films. Finally, the CZTSSe solar cell with the AGZO TCO layer demonstrated a high conversion efficiency of 9.68%, which is higher than that of the conventional AZO counterpart by 12%.

  16. Structural and optical analysis of 60Co gamma-irradiated thin films of polycrystalline Ga10Se85Sn5

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ahmad, Shabir; Asokan, K.; Shahid Khan, Mohd.; Zulfequar, M.

    2015-12-01

    The present study focuses on the effects of gamma irradiation on structural and optical properties of polycrystalline Ga10Se85Sn5 thin films with a thickness of ∼300 nm deposited by the thermal evaporation technique on cleaned glass substrates. X-ray diffraction patterns of the investigated thin films show that crystallite growth occurs in the orthorhombic phase structure. The surface study carried out by using the scanning electron microscope (SEM) confirms that the grain size increases with gamma irradiation. The optical parameters were estimated from optical transmission spectra data measured from a UV-vis-spectrophotometer in the wavelength range of 200-1100 nm. The refractive index dispersion data of the investigated thin films follow the single oscillator model. The estimated values of static refractive index n0, oscillator strength Ed, zero frequency dielectric constant ε0, optical conductivity σoptical and the dissipation factor increases after irradiation, while the single oscillator energy Eo decreases after irradiation. It was found that the value of the optical band gap of the investigated thin films decreases and the corresponding absorption coefficient increases continuously with an increase in the dose of gamma irradiation. This post irradiation changes in the values of optical band gap and absorption coefficient were interpreted in terms of the bond distribution model.

  17. Optical bandgap of single- and multi-layered amorphous germanium ultra-thin films

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Liu, Pei; Zaslavsky, Alexander; Longo, Paolo

    2016-01-07

    Accurate optical methods are required to determine the energy bandgap of amorphous semiconductors and elucidate the role of quantum confinement in nanometer-scale, ultra-thin absorbing layers. Here, we provide a critical comparison between well-established methods that are generally employed to determine the optical bandgap of thin-film amorphous semiconductors, starting from normal-incidence reflectance and transmittance measurements. First, we demonstrate that a more accurate estimate of the optical bandgap can be achieved by using a multiple-reflection interference model. We show that this model generates more reliable results compared to the widely accepted single-pass absorption method. Second, we compare two most representative methods (Taucmore » and Cody plots) that are extensively used to determine the optical bandgap of thin-film amorphous semiconductors starting from the extracted absorption coefficient. Analysis of the experimental absorption data acquired for ultra-thin amorphous germanium (a-Ge) layers demonstrates that the Cody model is able to provide a less ambiguous energy bandgap value. Finally, we apply our proposed method to experimentally determine the optical bandgap of a-Ge/SiO{sub 2} superlattices with single and multiple a-Ge layers down to 2 nm thickness.« less

  18. Effect of the Magnus force on skyrmion relaxation dynamics

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Brown, Barton L.; Täuber, Uwe C.; Pleimling, Michel

    2018-01-01

    We perform systematic Langevin molecular dynamics simulations of interacting skyrmions in thin films. The interplay between the Magnus force, the repulsive skyrmion-skyrmion interaction, and the thermal noise yields different regimes during nonequilibrium relaxation. In the noise-dominated regime, the Magnus force enhances the disordering effects of the thermal noise. In the Magnus-force-dominated regime, the Magnus force cooperates with the skyrmion-skyrmion interaction to yield a dynamic regime with slow decaying correlations. These two regimes are characterized by different values of the aging exponent. In general, the Magnus force accelerates the approach to the steady state.

  19. One-step femtosecond laser welding and internal machining of three glass substrates

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Tan, Hua; Duan, Ji'an

    2017-05-01

    In this paper, it demonstrated one-step femtosecond laser welding and internal machining of three fused silica substrates in the optical- and non-optical-contact regimes by focusing 1030-nm laser pulses at the middle of the second substrate. Focusing laser pulses within the second glass in optical-contact and non-optical-contact samples induces permanent internal structural modification, leading to the three glass substrates bonding together simultaneously. The bonding mechanism is based on the internal modification of glass, and this mechanism is different from that of ordinary glass welding at the interface. Welding-spot size is affected by not only the gap distance (ablation effect) and heat transmission, but also by gravity through examining the sizes of the welding spots on the four contact welding surfaces. The maximum bonding strength of the lower interface (56.2 MPa) in the optical-contact regime is more than double that (27.6 MPa) in the non-optical-contact regime.

  20. Effects of cultural intensity and density regime treatment on post-thinning loblolly pine individual tree DBH increment in the lower coastal plain of the southeastern United States

    Treesearch

    John T. Perren; Michael Kane; Dehai Zhao; Richard Daniels

    2016-01-01

    Thinning is a well understood concept used to manage density dependent factors at the stand level. This study evaluates the effect of planting density, cultural intensity, and thinning treatment on loblolly pine post-thinning individual tree development. The Lower Coastal Plain Culture/Density Study, has four initial densities, in combination with two cultural...

  1. Quantification of optical absorption coefficient from acoustic spectra in the optical diffusive regime using photoacoustic microscopy

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Guo, Zijian; Favazza, Christopher; Wang, Lihong V.

    2012-02-01

    Photoacoustic (PA) tomography (PAT) can image optical absorption contrast with ultrasonic spatial resolution in the optical diffusive regime. Multi-wavelength PAT can noninvasively monitor hemoglobin oxygen saturation (sO2) with high sensitivity and fine spatial resolution. However, accurate quantification in PAT requires knowledge of the optical fluence distribution, acoustic wave attenuation, and detection system bandwidth. We propose a method to circumvent this requirement using acoustic spectra of PA signals acquired at two optical wavelengths. With the acoustic spectral method, the absorption coefficients of an oxygenated bovine blood phantom at 560 and 575 nm were quantified with errors of ><5%.

  2. Plasma impact on structural, morphological and optical properties of copper acetylacetonate thin films.

    PubMed

    Abdel-Khalek, H; El-Samahi, M I; El-Mahalawy, Ahmed M

    2018-06-15

    The influence of plasma exposure on structural, morphological and optical properties of copper (II) acetylacetonate thin films deposited by thermal evaporation technique was investigated. Copper (II) acetylacetonate as-grown thin films were exposed to the atmospheric plasma for different times. The exposure of as-grown cu(acac) 2 thin film to atmospheric plasma for 5min modified its structural, morphological and optical properties. The effect of plasma exposure on structure and roughness of cu(acac) 2 thin films was evaluated by XRD and AFM techniques, respectively. The XRD results showed an increment in crystallinity due to exposure for 5min, but, when the exposure time reaches 10min, the film was transformed to an amorphous state. The AFM results revealed a strong modification of films roughness when the average roughness decreased from 63.35nm to ~1nm as a result of interaction with plasma. The optical properties of as-grown and plasma exposured cu(acac) 2 thin films were studied using spectrophotometric method. The exposure of cu(acac) 2 thin films to plasma produced the indirect energy gap decrease from 3.20eV to 2.67eV for 10min exposure time. The dispersion parameters were evaluated in terms of single oscillator model for as-grown and plasma exposured thin films. The influence of plasma exposure on third order optical susceptibility was studied. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  3. Optical Nano Antennas: State of the Art, Scope and Challenges as a Biosensor Along with Human Exposure to Nano-Toxicology

    PubMed Central

    Kausar, Abu Sulaiman Mohammad Zahid; Reza, Ahmed Wasif; Latef, Tarik Abdul; Ullah, Mohammad Habib; Karim, Mohammad Ershadul

    2015-01-01

    The concept of optical antennas in physical optics is still evolving. Like the antennas used in the radio frequency (RF) regime, the aspiration of optical antennas is to localize the free propagating radiation energy, and vice versa. For this purpose, optical antennas utilize the distinctive properties of metal nanostructures, which are strong plasmonic coupling elements at the optical regime. The concept of optical antennas is being advanced technologically and they are projected to be substitute devices for detection in the millimeter, infrared, and visible regimes. At present, their potential benefits in light detection, which include polarization dependency, tunability, and quick response times have been successfully demonstrated. Optical antennas also can be seen as directionally responsive elements for point detectors. This review provides an overview of the historical background of the topic, along with the basic concepts and parameters of optical antennas. One of the major parts of this review covers the use of optical antennas in biosensing, presenting biosensing applications with a broad description using different types of data. We have also mentioned the basic challenges in the path of the universal use of optical biosensors, where we have also discussed some legal matters. PMID:25884787

  4. Thickness and microstructure effects in the optical and electrical properties of silver thin films

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Ding, Guowen, E-mail: gding@intermolecular.com; Clavero, César; Schweigert, Daniel

    The optical and electrical response of metal thin films approaching thicknesses in the range of the electron mean free path is highly affected by electronic scattering with the interfaces and defects. Here, we present a theoretical and experimental study on how thickness and microstructure affect the properties of Ag thin films. We are able to successfully model the electrical resistivity and IR optical response using a thickness dependent electronic scattering time. Remarkably, the product of electronic scattering time and resistivity remains constant regardless of the thickness (τx ρ = C), with a value of 59 ± 2 μΩ cm ⋅more » fs for Ag films in the investigated range from 3 to 74 nm. Our findings enable us to develop a theoretically framework that allows calculating the optical response of metal thin films in the IR by using their measured thickness and resistivity. An excellent agreement is found between experimental measurements and predicted values. This study also shows the theoretical lower limit for emissivity in Ag thin films according to their microstructure and thickness. Application of the model presented here will allow rapid characterization of the IR optical response of metal thin films, with important application in a broad spectrum of fundamental and industrial applications, including optical coatings, low-emissivity windows and semiconductor industry.« less

  5. Implementing optimal thinning strategies

    Treesearch

    Kurt H. Riitters; J. Douglas Brodie

    1984-01-01

    Optimal thinning regimes for achieving several management objectives were derived from two stand-growth simulators by dynamic programming. Residual mean tree volumes were then plotted against stand density management diagrams. The results supported the use of density management diagrams for comparing, checking, and implementing the results of optimization analyses....

  6. Fiber-Optic Temperature Sensor Using a Thin-Film Fabry-Perot Interferometer

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Beheim, Glenn

    1997-01-01

    A fiber-optic temperature sensor was developed that is rugged, compact, stable, and can be inexpensively fabricated. This thin-film interferometric temperature sensor was shown to be capable of providing a +/- 2 C accuracy over the range of -55 to 275 C, throughout a 5000 hr operating life. A temperature-sensitive thin-film Fabry-Perot interferometer can be deposited directly onto the end of a multimode optical fiber. This batch-fabricatable sensor can be manufactured at a much lower cost than can a presently available sensor, which requires the mechanical attachment of a Fabry-Perot interferometer to a fiber. The principal disadvantage of the thin-film sensor is its inherent instability, due to the low processing temperatures that must be used to prevent degradation of the optical fiber's buffer coating. The design of the stable thin-film temperature sensor considered the potential sources of both short and long term drifts. The temperature- sensitive Fabry-Perot interferometer was a silicon film with a thickness of approx. 2 microns. A laser-annealing process was developed which crystallized the silicon film without damaging the optical fiber. The silicon film was encapsulated with a thin layer of Si3N4 over coated with aluminum. Crystallization of the silicon and its encapsulation with a highly stable, impermeable thin-film structure were essential steps in producing a sensor with the required long-term stability.

  7. Impact of environment on dynamics of exciton complexes in a WS2 monolayer

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Jakubczyk, Tomasz; Nogajewski, Karol; Molas, Maciej R.; Bartos, Miroslav; Langbein, Wolfgang; Potemski, Marek; Kasprzak, Jacek

    2018-07-01

    Scientific curiosity to uncover original optical properties and functionalities of atomically thin semiconductors, stemming from unusual Coulomb interactions in the two-dimensional geometry and multi-valley band structure, drives the research on monolayers of transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs). While recent works ascertained the exotic energetic schemes of exciton complexes in TMDs, we here infer their unusual coherent dynamics occurring on subpicosecond time scale. The dynamics is largely affected by the disorder landscape on the submicron scale, thus can be uncovered using four-wave mixing in the frequency domain, which enables microscopic investigations and imaging. Focusing on a WS2 monolayer, we observe that exciton coherence is lost primarily due to interaction with phonons and relaxation processes towards optically dark excitonic states. Notably, when temperature is low and disorder weak, excitons large coherence volume results in enhanced oscillator strength, allowing to reach the regime of radiatively limited dephasing. Additionally, we observe long valley coherence for the negatively charged exciton complex. We therefore elucidate the crucial role of exciton environment in the TMDs on its dynamics and show that revealed mechanisms are ubiquitous within this family.

  8. Infrared Optical Absorption in Low-spin Fe2+-doped SrTiO3

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Comes, Ryan B.; Kaspar, Tiffany C.; Heald, Steve M.

    2016-01-06

    Band gap engineering in SrTiO3 and related titanate perovskites has long been explored due to the intriguing properties of the materials for photocatalysis and photovoltaic applications. A popular approach in the materials chemistry community is to substitutionally dope aliovalent transition metal ions onto the B site in the lattice to alter the valence band. However, in such a scheme there is limited control over the dopant valence, and compensating defects often form. Here we demonstrate a novel technique to controllably synthesize Fe2+- and Fe3+-doped SrTiO3 thin films without formation of compensating defects by co-doping with La3+ ions on the Amore » site. We stabilize Fe2+-doped films by doping with two La ions for every Fe dopant, and find that the Fe ions exhibit a low-spin electronic configuration, producing optical transitions in the near infrared regime and degenerate doping. The novel electronic states observed here offer a new avenue for band gap engineering in perovskites for photocatalytic and photovoltaic applications.« less

  9. Enhanced nonlinear optical properties of L-arginine stabilized gold nanoparticles embedded in PVP polymer

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Sunatkari, A. L.; Talwatkar, S. S.; Tamgadge, Y. S.; Muley, G. G.

    2018-05-01

    Highly stable colloidal gold nanoparticles (GNPs) stabilised in l-arginine were synthesized and embedded in polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP) polymer matrix to fabricate thin films by spin coating method. Nonlinear optical response of GNP-PVP nanocomposite were investigated using single beam Z-scan technique using He-Ne laser beam in CW regime operated at 632.8 nm as an excitation source. The sign of nonlinear refractive index was found negative, which is of self-defocusing nature. The nonlinear optical parameters estimated for GNP-PVP nanocomposite and found values as large as n2≈(1.7 -3.1 ) ×10-4c m2W-1, β ≈(2.40 -4.69 ) ×10-5c m W-1 and χef f (3 )≈(2.30 -4.34 ) ×10-4e s u . The nonlinear refractive index, absorption coefficient and third order nonlinear susceptibility have found decreasing with the increase in the concentration of l-arginine. Localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) peaks show the blue shift. The average size of the GNPs is found reducing from 11 nm to 7.5 nm with the increase in the stabilizer concentration, as analysed by transmission electron microscopy. The XRD study reveals face-centred cubic (fcc) structure of GNPs. The huge nonlinearity is attributed to the thermo-optic phenomenon. The huge enhancement in third order nonlinear susceptibility and nonlinear refractive index indicates that this optical material possess a high potential for various optoelectronic devices applications.

  10. A numerical simulation of magnetic reconnection and radiative cooling in line-tied current sheets

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Forbes, T. G.; Malherbe, J. M.

    1991-01-01

    Radiative MHD equations are used for an optically thin plasma to carry out a numerical experiment related to the formation of 'postflare' loops. The numerical experiment starts with a current sheet that is in mechanical and thermal equilibrium but is unstable to both tearing-mode and thermal-condensation instabilities. The current sheet is line-tied at one end to a photospheric-like boundary and evolves asymmetrically. The effects of thermal conduction, resistivity variation, and gravity are ignored. In general, reconnection in the nonlinear stage of the tearing-mode instability can strongly affect the onset of condensations unless the radiative-cooling time scale is much smaller than the tearing-mode time scale. When the ambient plasma is less than 0.2, the reconnection enters a regime where the outflow from the reconnection region is supermagnetosonic with respect to the fast-mode wave speed. In the supermagnetosonic regime the most rapidly condensing regions occur downstream of a fast-mode shock that forms where the outflow impinges on closed loops attached to the photospheric-like boundary. A similar shock-induced condensation might occur during the formation of 'postflare' loops.

  11. Optical properties and crystallinity of silver mirrors under a 35 krad cobalt-60 radiation

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Chiu, Po-Kai, E-mail: pkchiu@itrc.narl.org.tw; Chiang, Donyau; Lee, Chao-Te

    2015-09-15

    This study addresses the effects of thin film optical design and environmental radiation on the optical properties of silver mirrors. Different experimental thin film optical designs are selected, and the film stack is built using Macleod's approach. Mirror elements are exposed to the same dose of radiation and their properties are characterized using a spectrophotometer equipped with an integration sphere and an x-ray diffractometer. Spectrophotometric analyses of mirrors exposed to about 35 krad of {sup 60}Co radiations overall show that the B270 glass substrates coated with titanium oxide (TiO{sub 2}), silicon dioxide (SiO{sub 2}), pure chrome, and pure silver effectivelymore » reduces radiation damage. The absorption spectrum of the TiO{sub 2} film in the visible region decreases after radiation and displays drifting. As thin metal films comparison, the silver thin film exhibits higher radiation resistance than the chrome thin film. The x-ray diffraction analysis on metal film layers reveals that crystallinity slightly increases when the silver thin film is irradiated.« less

  12. Evolution of structural and optical properties of rutile TiO2 thin films synthesized at room temperature by chemical bath deposition method

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Mayabadi, A. H.; Waman, V. S.; Kamble, M. M.; Ghosh, S. S.; Gabhale, B. B.; Rondiya, S. R.; Rokade, A. V.; Khadtare, S. S.; Sathe, V. G.; Pathan, H. M.; Gosavi, S. W.; Jadkar, S. R.

    2014-02-01

    Nanocrystalline thin films of TiO2 were prepared on glass substrates from an aqueous solution of TiCl3 and NH4OH at room temperature using the simple and cost-effective chemical bath deposition (CBD) method. The influence of deposition time on structural, morphological and optical properties was systematically investigated. TiO2 transition from a mixed anatase-rutile phase to a pure rutile phase was revealed by low-angle XRD and Raman spectroscopy. Rutile phase formation was confirmed by FTIR spectroscopy. Scanning electron micrographs revealed that the multigrain structure of as-deposited TiO2 thin films was completely converted into semi-spherical nanoparticles. Optical studies showed that rutile thin films had a high absorption coefficient and a direct bandgap. The optical bandgap decreased slightly (3.29-3.07 eV) with increasing deposition time. The ease of deposition of rutile thin films at low temperature is useful for the fabrication of extremely thin absorber (ETA) solar cells, dye-sensitized solar cells, and gas sensors.

  13. Third order nonlinearity in pulsed laser deposited LiNbO{sub 3} thin films

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Tumuluri, Anil; Rapolu, Mounika; Rao, S. Venugopal, E-mail: kcjrsp@uohyd.ernet.in, E-mail: svrsp@uohyd.ernet.in

    2016-05-06

    Lithium niobate (LiNbO{sub 3}) thin films were prepared using pulsed laser deposition technique. Structural properties of the same were examined from XRD and optical band gap of the thin films were measured from transmittance spectra recorded using UV-Visible spectrophotometer. Nonlinear optical properties of the thin films were recorded using Z-Scan technique. The films were exhibiting third order nonlinearity and their corresponding two photon absorption, nonlinear refractive index, real and imaginary part of nonlinear susceptibility were calculated from open aperture and closed aperture transmission curves. From these studies, it suggests that these films have potential applications in nonlinear optical devices.

  14. Optical shock waves in silica aerogel.

    PubMed

    Gentilini, S; Ghajeri, F; Ghofraniha, N; Di Falco, A; Conti, C

    2014-01-27

    Silica aerogels are materials well suited for high power nonlinear optical applications. In such regime, the non-trivial thermal properties may give rise to the generation of optical shock waves, which are also affected by the structural disorder due to the porous solid-state gel. Here we report on an experimental investigation in terms of beam waist and input power, and identify various regimes of the generation of wave-breaking phenomena in silica aerogels.

  15. DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Abayli, D., E-mail: abayli@itu.edu.tr; Baydogan, N., E-mail: dogannil@itu.edu.tr

    In this study, zirconium oxide (ZrO{sub 2}) thin film samples prepared by sol–gel method were irradiated using Co-60 radioisotope as gamma source. Then, it was investigated the ionizing effect on optical properties of ZrO{sub 2} thin film samples with the rise of the absorbed dose. The changes in the optical absorbance of ZrO{sub 2} thin films were determined by using optical transmittance and the reflectance measurements in the range between 190 – 1100 nm obtained from PG Instruments T80 UV-Vis spectrophotometer.

  16. Apparatus and method for the determination of grain size in thin films

    DOEpatents

    Maris, Humphrey J

    2000-01-01

    A method for the determination of grain size in a thin film sample comprising the steps of measuring first and second changes in the optical response of the thin film, comparing the first and second changes to find the attenuation of a propagating disturbance in the film and associating the attenuation of the disturbance to the grain size of the film. The second change in optical response is time delayed from the first change in optical response.

  17. Apparatus and method for the determination of grain size in thin films

    DOEpatents

    Maris, Humphrey J

    2001-01-01

    A method for the determination of grain size in a thin film sample comprising the steps of measuring first and second changes in the optical response of the thin film, comparing the first and second changes to find the attenuation of a propagating disturbance in the film and associating the attenuation of the disturbance to the grain size of the film. The second change in optical response is time delayed from the first change in optical response.

  18. Microstructure and ferroelectricity of BaTiO3 thin films on Si for integrated photonics

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kormondy, Kristy J.; Popoff, Youri; Sousa, Marilyne; Eltes, Felix; Caimi, Daniele; Rossell, Marta D.; Fiebig, Manfred; Hoffmann, Patrik; Marchiori, Chiara; Reinke, Michael; Trassin, Morgan; Demkov, Alexander A.; Fompeyrine, Jean; Abe, Stefan

    2017-02-01

    Significant progress has been made in integrating novel materials into silicon photonic structures in order to extend the functionality of photonic circuits. One of these promising optical materials is BaTiO3 or barium titanate (BTO) that exhibits a very large Pockels coefficient as required for high-speed light modulators. However, all previous demonstrations show a noticable reduction of the Pockels effect in BTO thin films deposited on silicon substrates compared to BTO bulk crystals. Here, we report on the strong dependence of the Pockels effect in BTO thin films on their microstructure, and provide guidelines on how to engineer thin films with strong electro-optic response. We employ several deposition methods such as molecular beam epitaxy and chemical vapor deposition to realize BTO thin films with different morphology and crystalline structure. While a linear electro-optic response is present even in porous, polycrystalline BTO thin films with an effective Pockels coefficient r eff = 6 pm V-1, it is maximized for dense, tetragonal, epitaxial BTO films (r eff = 140 pm V-1). By identifying the key structural predictors of electro-optic response in BTO/Si, we provide a roadmap to fully exploit the linear electro-optic effect in novel hybrid oxide/semiconductor nanophotonic devices.

  19. Nonadiabatic quantum path analysis of high-order harmonic generation: Role of the carrier-envelope phase on short and long paths

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Sansone, G.; Stagira, S.; Nisoli, M.

    2004-07-01

    High-order harmonic generation process in the few- and multiple-optical-cycle regime is theoretically investigated, using the saddle-point method generalized to account for nonadiabatic effects. The influence of the carrier-envelope phase of the driving pulses on the various electron quantum paths is analyzed. We demonstrate that the short and long quantum paths are influenced in different ways by the carrier-envelope phase. In particular, we show that clear phase effects are visible on the long quantum paths even in the multiple-optical-cycle regime, while the short quantum paths are significantly influenced by the carrier-envelope phase only in the few-optical-cycle regime.

  20. Challenges in Finding AGNs in the Low Luminosity Regime

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Satyapal, Shobita; Abel, Nick; Secrest, Nathan; Singh, Amrit; Ellison, Sara

    2016-08-01

    Low luminosity AGNs are an important component of the AGN population. They are often found in the lowest mass galaxies or galaxies that lack classical bulges, a demographic that places important constraints to models of supermassive black hole seed formation and merger-free models of AGN fueling. The detection of AGNs in this low luminosity regime is challenging both because star formation in the host galaxy can dominate the optical spectrum and gas and dust can obscure the central engine at both optical and X-ray wavelengths. Thus while mid-infrared color selection and X-ray observations at energies <10 keV are often powerful tools in uncovering optically unidentified AGNs at higher luminosities, this is not the case in the low luminosity regime. In this talk, I will review the effectiveness of uncovering AGNs in the low luminosity regime using multiwavength investigations, with a focus on infrared spectroscopic signatures.

  1. Magneto-Optical Thin Films for On-Chip Monolithic Integration of Non-Reciprocal Photonic Devices

    PubMed Central

    Bi, Lei; Hu, Juejun; Jiang, Peng; Kim, Hyun Suk; Kim, Dong Hun; Onbasli, Mehmet Cengiz; Dionne, Gerald F.; Ross, Caroline A.

    2013-01-01

    Achieving monolithic integration of nonreciprocal photonic devices on semiconductor substrates has been long sought by the photonics research society. One way to achieve this goal is to deposit high quality magneto-optical oxide thin films on a semiconductor substrate. In this paper, we review our recent research activity on magneto-optical oxide thin films toward the goal of monolithic integration of nonreciprocal photonic devices on silicon. We demonstrate high Faraday rotation at telecommunication wavelengths in several novel magnetooptical oxide thin films including Co substituted CeO2−δ, Co- or Fe-substituted SrTiO3−δ, as well as polycrystalline garnets on silicon. Figures of merit of 3~4 deg/dB and 21 deg/dB are achieved in epitaxial Sr(Ti0.2Ga0.4Fe0.4)O3−δ and polycrystalline (CeY2)Fe5O12 films, respectively. We also demonstrate an optical isolator on silicon, based on a racetrack resonator using polycrystalline (CeY2)Fe5O12/silicon strip-loaded waveguides. Our work demonstrates that physical vapor deposited magneto-optical oxide thin films on silicon can achieve high Faraday rotation, low optical loss and high magneto-optical figure of merit, therefore enabling novel high-performance non-reciprocal photonic devices monolithically integrated on semiconductor substrates. PMID:28788379

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

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    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 Light Modulator for THz Applications," Advanced Optical Materials, vol. 2, pp. 275-279, 2014. [7] H. Tao, N. I. Landy, C. M. Bingham, X. Zhang, R. D. Averitt, and W. J. Padilla, "A metamaterial absorber for the terahertz regime: Design, fabrication and characterization," Optics Express, vol. 16, pp. 7181-7188, May 12 2008. [8] J. Hao, J. Wang, X. Liu, W. J. Padilla, L. Zhou, and M. Qiu, "High performance optical absorber based on a plasmonic metamaterial," Applied Physics Letters, vol. 96, p. 251104, 2010. [9] X. Liu, T. Tyler, T. Starr, A. F. Starr, N. M. Jokerst, and W. J. Padilla, "Taming the Blackbody with Infrared Metamaterials as Selective Thermal Emitters," Physical Review Letters, vol. 107, p. 045901, 07/18/ 2011. [10] T. Maier and H. Brückl, "Wavelength-tunable microbolometers with metamaterial absorbers," Optics Letters, vol. 34, pp. 3012-3014, 2009/10/01 2009. [11] A. Tittl, P. Mai, R. Taubert, D. Dregely, N. Liu, and H. Giessen, "Palladium-Based Plasmonic Perfect Absorber in the Visible Wavelength Range and Its Application to Hydrogen Sensing," Nano Letters, vol. 11, pp. 4366-4369, 2011/10/12 2011. [12] N. Liu, M. Mesch, T. Weiss, M. Hentschel, and H. Giessen, "Infrared Perfect Absorber and Its Application As Plasmonic Sensor," Nano Letters, vol. 10, pp. 2342-2348, Jul 2010. [13] G. H. Li, X. S. Chen, O. P. Li, C. X. Shao, Y. Jiang, L. J. Huang, et al., "A novel plasmonic resonance sensor based on an infrared perfect absorber," Journal of Physics D-Applied Physics, vol. 45, p. 205102, May 23 2012.

  3. Absorbing TiOx thin film enabling laser welding of polyurethane membranes and polyamide fibers

    PubMed Central

    Amberg, Martin; Haag, Alexander; Storchenegger, Raphael; Rupper, Patrick; Lehmeier, Frederike; Rossi, René M; Hegemann, Dirk

    2015-01-01

    We report on the optical properties of thin titanium suboxide (TiOx) films for applications in laser transmission welding of polymers. Non-absorbing fibers were coated with TiOx coatings by reactive magnetron sputtering. Plasma process parameters influencing the chemical composition and morphology of the deposited thin films were investigated in order to optimize their absorption properties. Optical absorption spectroscopy showed that the oxygen content of the TiOx coatings is the main parameter influencing the optical absorbance. Overtreatment (high power plasma input) of the fiber surface leads to high surface roughness and loss of mechanical stability of the fiber. The study shows that thin substoichiometric TiOx films enable the welding of very thin polyurethane membranes and polyamide fibers with improved adhesion properties. PMID:27877837

  4. Comparative study of structural, optical and impedance measurements on V{sub 2}O{sub 5} and V-Ce mixed oxide thin films

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Malini, D. Rachel; Sanjeeviraja, C., E-mail: sanjeeviraja@rediffmail.com

    Vanadium pentoxide (V{sub 2}O{sub 5}) and Vanadium-Cerium mixed oxide thin films at different molar ratios of V{sub 2}O{sub 5} and CeO{sub 2} have been deposited at 200 W rf power by rf planar magnetron sputtering in pure argon atmosphere. The structural and optical properties were studied by taking X-ray diffraction and transmittance and absorption spectra respectively. The amorphous thin films show an increase in transmittance and optical bandgap with increase in CeO{sub 2} content in as-prepared thin films. The impedance measurements for as-deposited thin films show an increase in electrical conductivity with increase in CeO{sub 2} material.

  5. Absorbing TiOx thin film enabling laser welding of polyurethane membranes and polyamide fibers

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Amberg, Martin; Haag, Alexander; Storchenegger, Raphael; Rupper, Patrick; Lehmeier, Frederike; Rossi, René M.; Hegemann, Dirk

    2015-10-01

    We report on the optical properties of thin titanium suboxide (TiOx) films for applications in laser transmission welding of polymers. Non-absorbing fibers were coated with TiOx coatings by reactive magnetron sputtering. Plasma process parameters influencing the chemical composition and morphology of the deposited thin films were investigated in order to optimize their absorption properties. Optical absorption spectroscopy showed that the oxygen content of the TiOx coatings is the main parameter influencing the optical absorbance. Overtreatment (high power plasma input) of the fiber surface leads to high surface roughness and loss of mechanical stability of the fiber. The study shows that thin substoichiometric TiOx films enable the welding of very thin polyurethane membranes and polyamide fibers with improved adhesion properties.

  6. Absorbing TiO x thin film enabling laser welding of polyurethane membranes and polyamide fibers.

    PubMed

    Amberg, Martin; Haag, Alexander; Storchenegger, Raphael; Rupper, Patrick; Lehmeier, Frederike; Rossi, René M; Hegemann, Dirk

    2015-10-01

    We report on the optical properties of thin titanium suboxide (TiO x ) films for applications in laser transmission welding of polymers. Non-absorbing fibers were coated with TiO x coatings by reactive magnetron sputtering. Plasma process parameters influencing the chemical composition and morphology of the deposited thin films were investigated in order to optimize their absorption properties. Optical absorption spectroscopy showed that the oxygen content of the TiO x coatings is the main parameter influencing the optical absorbance. Overtreatment (high power plasma input) of the fiber surface leads to high surface roughness and loss of mechanical stability of the fiber. The study shows that thin substoichiometric TiO x films enable the welding of very thin polyurethane membranes and polyamide fibers with improved adhesion properties.

  7. Applications in Energy, Optics and Electronics.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Rosenberg, Robert; And Others

    1980-01-01

    Discusses the applications of thin films in energy, optics and electronics. The use of thin-film technologies for heat mirrors, anti-reflection coatings, interference filters, solar cells, and metal contacts is included. (HM)

  8. Electrochemical and physical properties of electroplated CuO thin films.

    PubMed

    Dhanasekaran, V; Mahalingam, T

    2013-01-01

    Cupric oxide thin films have been prepared on ITO glass substrates from an aqueous electrolytic bath containing CuSO4 and tartaric acid. Growth mechanism has been analyzed using cyclic voltammetry. The role of pH on the structural, morphological, compositional, electrical and optical properties of CuO films is investigated. The structural studies revealed that the deposited films are polycrystalline in nature with a cubic structure. The preferential orientation of CuO thin films is found to be along (111) plane. X-ray line profile analysis has been carried out to determine the microstructural parameters of CuO thin films. The pyramid shaped grains are observed from SEM and AFM images. The optical band gap energy and electrical activation energy is found to be 1.45 and 0.37 eV, respectively. Also, the optical constants of CuO thin films such as refractive index (n), complex dielectric constant (epsilon) extinction coefficient (k) and optical conductivity (sigma) are evaluated.

  9. Evaporation and scattering of momentum- and velocity-dependent dark matter in the Sun

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Busoni, Giorgio; Simone, Andrea De; Scott, Pat

    Dark matter with momentum- or velocity-dependent interactions with nuclei has shown significant promise for explaining the so-called Solar Abundance Problem, a longstanding discrepancy between solar spectroscopy and helioseismology. The best-fit models are all rather light, typically with masses in the range of 3–5 GeV. This is exactly the mass range where dark matter evaporation from the Sun can be important, but to date no detailed calculation of the evaporation of such models has been performed. Here we carry out this calculation, for the first time including arbitrary velocity- and momentum-dependent interactions, thermal effects, and a completely general treatment valid frommore » the optically thin limit all the way through to the optically thick regime. We find that depending on the dark matter mass, interaction strength and type, the mass below which evaporation is relevant can vary from 1 to 4 GeV. This has the effect of weakening some of the better-fitting solutions to the Solar Abundance Problem, but also improving a number of others. As a by-product, we also provide an improved derivation of the capture rate that takes into account thermal and optical depth effects, allowing the standard result to be smoothly matched to the well-known saturation limit.« less

  10. Z-scan measurement for nonlinear absorption property of rGO/ZnO:Al thin film

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Sreeja, V. G.; Anila, E. I.

    2018-04-01

    We report the fabrication of reduced graphene oxide integrated aluminium doped zinc oxide (rGO/ZnO:Al) composite thin film on a glass substrate by spin coating technique. The effect of rGO on structural and linear optical properties of rGO/ZnO:Al composite thin film was explored with the help of X-Ray powder diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and UV-Vis absorption spectroscopy. Structural studies reveals that the composite film has hexagonal wurtzite structure with a strong bonding between rGO and ZnO:Al material. The band gap energy of ZnO:Al thin film was red shifted by the addition of rGO. The Nonlinear absorption property was investigated by open aperture Z-scan technique by using Q switched Nd-YAG laser at 532nm. The Z-scan results showed that the composite film demonstrates reverse saturable absorption property with a nonlinear absorption coefficient, β, of 12.75×10-7m/w. The results showed that investigated rGO/ZnO:Al thin film is a promising material suitable for the applications in absorbing type optical devices such as optical limiters, optical switches and protection of the optical sensors in the field of nonlinear optics.

  11. Thin, nearly wireless adaptive optical device

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Knowles, Gareth (Inventor); Hughes, Eli (Inventor)

    2008-01-01

    A thin, nearly wireless adaptive optical device capable of dynamically modulating the shape of a mirror in real time to compensate for atmospheric distortions and/or variations along an optical material is provided. The device includes an optical layer, a substrate, at least one electronic circuit layer with nearly wireless architecture, an array of actuators, power electronic switches, a reactive force element, and a digital controller. Actuators are aligned so that each axis of expansion and contraction intersects both substrate and reactive force element. Electronics layer with nearly wireless architecture, power electronic switches, and digital controller are provided within a thin-film substrate. The size and weight of the adaptive optical device is solely dominated by the size of the actuator elements rather than by the power distribution system.

  12. Thin, nearly wireless adaptive optical device

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Knowles, Gareth (Inventor); Hughes, Eli (Inventor)

    2007-01-01

    A thin, nearly wireless adaptive optical device capable of dynamically modulating the shape of a mirror in real time to compensate for atmospheric distortions and/or variations along an optical material is provided. The device includes an optical layer, a substrate, at least one electronic circuit layer with nearly wireless architecture, an array of actuators, power electronic switches, a reactive force element, and a digital controller. Actuators are aligned so that each axis of expansion and contraction intersects both substrate and reactive force element. Electronics layer with nearly wireless architecture, power electronic switches, and digital controller are provided within a thin-film substrate. The size and weight of the adaptive optical device is solely dominated by the size of the actuator elements rather than by the power distribution system.

  13. Thin nearly wireless adaptive optical device

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Knowles, Gareth J. (Inventor); Hughes, Eli (Inventor)

    2009-01-01

    A thin nearly wireless adaptive optical device capable of dynamically modulating the shape of a mirror in real time to compensate for atmospheric distortions and/or variations along an optical material is provided. The device includes an optical layer, a substrate, at least one electronic circuit layer with nearly wireless architecture, an array of actuators, power electronic switches, a reactive force element, and a digital controller. Actuators are aligned so that each axis of expansion and contraction intersects both substrate and reactive force element. Electronics layer with nearly wireless architecture, power electronic switches, and digital controller are provided within a thin-film substrate. The size and weight of the adaptive optical device is solely dominated by the size of the actuator elements rather than by the power distribution system.

  14. Coupling Single-Mode Fiber to Uniform and Symmetrically Tapered Thin-Film Waveguide Structures Using Gadolinium Gallium Garnet

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Gadi, Jagannath; Yalamanchili, Raj; Shahid, Mohammad

    1995-01-01

    The need for high efficiency components has grown significantly due to the expanding role of fiber optic communications for various applications. Integrated optics is in a state of metamorphosis and there are many problems awaiting solutions. One of the main problems being the lack of a simple and efficient method of coupling single-mode fibers to thin-film devices for integrated optics. In this paper, optical coupling between a single-mode fiber and a uniform and tapered thin-film waveguide is theoretically modeled and analyzed. A novel tapered structure presented in this paper is shown to produce perfect match for power transfer.

  15. An acoustics operations study for Loblolly pine (Pinus taeda) standing saw timber with different thinning history

    Treesearch

    Charles Essien; Qingzheng Cheng; Brian K. Via; Edward F. Loewenstein; Xiping Wang

    2016-01-01

    There is currently a request from landowners in southeastern USA to provide a non-destructive tool that can differentiate the quality between stands of 25 and 30 years of age subjected to different thinning treatments. A typical site with various thinning regimes was used to vary the wood quality and to determine whether acoustics had the ability to seperate for...

  16. Efficient flat metasurface lens for terahertz imaging.

    PubMed

    Yang, Quanlong; Gu, Jianqiang; Wang, Dongyang; Zhang, Xueqian; Tian, Zhen; Ouyang, Chunmei; Singh, Ranjan; Han, Jiaguang; Zhang, Weili

    2014-10-20

    Metamaterials offer exciting opportunities that enable precise control of amplitude, polarization and phase of the light beam at a subwavelength scale. A gradient metasurface consists of a class of anisotropic subwavelength metamaterial resonators that offer abrupt amplitude and phase changes, thus enabling new applications in optical device design such as ultrathin flat lenses. We propose a highly efficient gradient metasurface lens based on a metal-dielectric-metal structure that operates in the terahertz regime. The proposed structure consists of slotted metallic resonator arrays on two sides of a thin dielectric spacer. By varying the geometrical parameters, the metasurface lens efficiently manipulates the spatial distribution of the terahertz field and focuses the beam to a spot size on the order of a wavelength. The proposed flat metasurface lens design is polarization insensitive and works efficiently even at wide angles of incidence.

  17. Stress Compensating Multilayers

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Broadway, David M.; Ramsey, Brian D.; O'dell, Stephen; Gurgew, Danielle

    2017-01-01

    We present in-situ stress measurement results for single and multilayer thin-films deposited by magnetron sputtering. In particular, we report on the influence of the material interfaces on the ensuing stress in both the transient and steady-state regimes of film growth. This behavior is used to determine the appropriate thicknesses of the constituent layers that will result in a net tensile stress in multilayers composed of various material combinations. These multilayers can then be used to compensate the compressive integrated stress in single and multilayer EUV and x-ray optical coatings. The use of multilayers to compensate the integrated stress might be advantageous because, unlike single layers of chromium, the roughness is not expected to increase with the total thickness of the multilayer. In this paper, we demonstrate the technique for W/Si and Mo/Si multilayers and discuss its application to other material combinations.

  18. Brillouin light scattering study of spin waves in NiFe/Co exchange spring bilayer films

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Haldar, Arabinda; Banerjee, Chandrima; Laha, Pinaki

    2014-04-07

    Spin waves are investigated in Permalloy(Ni{sub 80}Fe{sub 20})/Cobalt(Co) exchange spring bilayer thin films using Brillouin light scattering (BLS) experiment. The magnetic hysteresis loops measured by magneto-optical Kerr effect show a monotonic decrease in coercivity of the bilayer films with increasing Py thickness. BLS study shows two distinct modes, which are modelled as Damon-Eshbach and perpendicular standing wave modes. Linewidths of the frequency peaks are found to increase significantly with decreasing Py layer thickness. Interfacial roughness causes to fluctuate exchange coupling at the nanoscale regimes and the effect is stronger for thinner Py films. A quantitative analysis of the magnon linewidthsmore » shows the presence of strong local exchange coupling field which is much larger compared to macroscopic exchange field.« less

  19. Method of synthesizing a plurality of reactants and producing thin films of electro-optically active transition metal oxides

    DOEpatents

    Tracy, C. Edwin; Benson, David K.; Ruth, Marta R.

    1987-01-01

    A method of synthesizing electro-optically active reaction products from a plurality of reactants by inducing a reaction by plasma deposition among the reactants. The plasma reaction is effective for consolidating the reactants and producing thin films of electro-optically active transition metal oxides.

  20. Light desorption from an yttrium neutralizer for Rb and Fr magneto-optical trap loading

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Coppolaro, V.; Papi, N.; Khanbekyan, A.

    2014-10-07

    We present here the first evidence of photodesorption induced by low-intensity non-resonant light from an yttrium thin foil, which works as a neutralizer for Rb and Fr ions beam. Neutral atoms are suddenly ejected from the metal surface in a pulsed regime upon illumination with a broadband flash light and then released in the free volume of a pyrex cells. Here atoms are captured by a Magneto-Optical Trap (MOT), which is effectively loaded by the photodesorption. Loading times of the order of the flash rise time are measured. Desorption is also obtained in the continuous regime, by exploiting CW visiblemore » illumination of the metallic neutralizer surface. We demonstrate that at lower CW light intensities vacuum conditions are not perturbed by the photodesorption and hence the MOT dynamics remains unaffected, while the trap population increases thanks to the incoming desorbed atoms flux. Even with the Y foil at room temperature and hence with no trapped atoms, upon visible illumination, the number of trapped atoms reaches 10{sup 5}. The experimental data are then analyzed by means of an analytical rate equation model, which allows the analysis of this phenomenon and its dynamics and allows the determination of critical experimental parameters and the test of the procedure in the framework of radioactive Francium trapping. In this view, together with an extensive investigation of the phenomenon with {sup 85}Rb, the first demonstration of the photodesorption-aided loading of a {sup 210}Fr MOT is shown.« less

  1. Monolayer semiconductor nanocavity lasers with ultralow thresholds

    DOE PAGES

    Wu, Sanfeng; Buckley, Sonia; Schaibley, John R.; ...

    2015-03-16

    Engineering the electromagnetic environment of a nanoscale light emitter by a photonic cavity can significantly enhance its spontaneous emission rate through cavity quantum electrodynamics in the Purcell regime. This effect can greatly reduce the lasing threshold of the emitter 1–5, providing the ultimate low-threshold laser system with small footprint, low power consumption and ultrafast modulation. A state-of-the-art ultra-low threshold nanolaser has been successfully developed though embedding quantum dots into photonic crystal cavity (PhCC) 6–8. However, several core challenges impede the practical applications of this architecture, including the random positions and compositional fluctuations of the dots 7, extreme difficulty in currentmore » injection8, and lack of compatibility with electronic circuits 7,8. Here, we report a new strategy to lase, where atomically thin crystalline semiconductor, i.e., a tungsten-diselenide (WSe 2) monolayer, is nondestructively and deterministically introduced as a gain medium at the surface of a pre-fabricated PhCC. A new type of continuous-wave nanolaser operating in the visible regime is achieved with an optical pumping threshold as low as 27 nW at 130 K, similar to the value achieved in quantum dot PhCC lasers 7. The key to the lasing action lies in the monolayer nature of the gain medium, which confines direct-gap excitons to within 1 nm of the PhCC surface. The surface-gain geometry allows unprecedented accessibilities to multi-functionalize the gain, enabling electrically pumped operation. Our scheme is scalable and compatible with integrated photonics for on-chip optical communication technologies.« less

  2. Effect of thermal annealing on structural and optical properties of In{sub 2}S{sub 3} thin films

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Choudhary, Sonu, E-mail: sonuchoudhary1983@gmail.com

    2015-08-28

    There is a highly need of an alternate of toxic materials CdS for solar cell applications and indium sulfide is found the most suitable candidate to replace CdS due to its non-toxic and environmental friendly nature. In this paper, the effect of thermal annealing on the structural and optical properties of indium sulfide (In{sub 2}S{sub 3}) thin films is undertaken. The indium sulfide thin films of 121 nm were deposited on glass substrates employing thermal evaporation method. The films were subjected to the X-ray diffractometer and UV-Vis spectrophotometer respectively for structural and optical analysis. The XRD pattern show that themore » as-deposited thin film was amorphous in nature and crystallinity is found to be varied with annealing temperature. The optical analysis reveals that the optical band gap is varied with annealing. The optical parameters like absorption coefficient, extinction coefficient and refractive index were calculated. The results are in good agreement with available literature.« less

  3. Optical Properties of Hybrid Inorganic/Organic Thin Film Encapsulation Layers for Flexible Top-Emission Organic Light-Emitting Diodes.

    PubMed

    An, Jae Seok; Jang, Ha Jun; Park, Cheol Young; Youn, Hongseok; Lee, Jong Ho; Heo, Gi-Seok; Choi, Bum Ho; Lee, Choong Hun

    2015-10-01

    Inorganic/organic hybrid thin film encapsulation layers consist of a thin Al2O3 layer together with polymer material. We have investigated optical properties of thin film encapsulation layers for top-emission flexible organic light-emitting diodes. The transmittance of hybrid thin film encapsulation layers and the electroluminescent spectrum of organic light-emitting diodes that were passivated by hybrid organic/inorganic thin film encapsulation layers were also examined as a function of the thickness of inorganic Al203 and monomer layers. The number of interference peaks, their intensity, and their positions in the visible range can be controlled by varying the thickness of inorganic Al2O3 layer. On the other hand, changing the thickness of monomer layer had a negligible effect on the optical properties. We also verified that there is a trade-off between transparency in the visible range and the permeation of water vapor in hybrid thin film encapsulation layers. As the number of dyads decreased, optical transparency improved while the water vapor permeation barrier was degraded. Our study suggests that, in top-emission organic light-emitting diodes, the thickness of each thin film encapsulation layer, in particular that of the inorganic layer, and the number of dyads should be controlled for highly efficient top-emission flexible organic light-emitting diodes.

  4. Effect of substrate and post-deposition annealing on nanostructure and optical properties of CdTe thin films

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hasani, Ebrahim; Raoufi, Davood

    2018-04-01

    Thermal evaporation is one of the promising methods for depositing CdTe thin films, which can obtain the thin films with the small thickness. In this work, CdTe nanoparticles have deposited on SiO2 substrates such as quartz (crystal) and glass (amorphous) at a temperature (Ts) of 150 °C under a vacuum pressure of 2 × 10‑5 mbar. The thickness of CdTe thin films prepared under vacuum pressure is 100 nm. X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD) results showed the formation of CdTe cubic phase with a strong preferential orientation of (111) crystalline plane on both substrates. The grain size (D) in this orientation obtained about 7.41 and 5.48 nm for quartz and glass respectively. Ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy (UV–vis) measurements indicated the optical band gap about 1.5 and 1.52 eV for CdTe thin films deposited on quartz and glass respectively. Furthermore, to show the effect of annealing temperature on structure and optical properties of CdTe thin films on quartz and glass substrates, the thin films have been annealed at temperatures 50 and 70 °C for one hour. The results of this work indicate that the structure’s parameters and optical properties of CdTe thin films change due to increase in annealing temperature.

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

    PubMed

    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.

  6. Influence of spray time on the optical and electrical properties of CoNi2S4 thin films

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    El Radaf, I. M.; Fouad, S. S.; Ismail, A. M.; Sakr, G. B.

    2018-04-01

    In this paper, a facile spray pyrolysis technique was utilized to synthesize CoNi2S4 thin films. The influence of spray time on the structural, optical and electrical properties of the CoNi2S4 thin films was studied. The x-ray diffraction studies of the CoNi2S4 thin films illustrate that the films exhibit a polycrystalline nature with cubic structure. The values of the lattice strain ε, and the dislocation density δ, were decreased as the spray time increase while the grain size has reverse manner to lattice strain ε, and the dislocation density δ. The transmittance and reflectance spectra of the CoNi2S4 thin films were recorded in the wavelength range of (400–2500) nm to evaluate the optical parameters of the CoNi2S4 thin films. Optical absorption coefficient of CoNi2S4 thin films revealed a presence of a direct energy gap and the values of energy gap were decreased from 1.68 to 1.53 eV as the spray time increases from 15 min to 45 min. The nonlinear refractive index of the CoNi2S4 thin films was increased with increasing of the spray time. The CoNi2S4 thin films exhibit single activation energy and the activation energy was decreased as the spray time increased.

  7. The Effects of ph on Structural and Optical Characterization of Iron Oxide Thin Films

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Tezel, Fatma Meydaneri; Özdemir, Osman; Kariper, I. Afşin

    In this study, the iron oxide thin films have been produced by chemical bath deposition (CBD) method as a function of pH onto amorphous glass substrates. The surface images of the films were investigated with scanning electron microscope (SEM). The crystal structures, orientation of crystallization, crystallite sizes, and dislocation density i.e. structural properties of the thin films were analyzed with X-ray diffraction (XRD). The optical band gap (Eg), optical transmission (T%), reflectivity (R%), absorption coefficient (α), refraction index (n), extinction coefficient (k) and dielectric constant (ɛ) of the thin films were investigated depending on pH, deposition time, solution temperature, substrate temperature, thickness of the films by UV-VIS spectrometer.

  8. Infrared radiation of thin plastic films.

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Tien, C. L.; Chan, C. K.; Cunnington, G. R.

    1972-01-01

    A combined analytical and experimental study is presented for infrared radiation characteristics of thin plastic films with and without a metal substrate. On the basis of the thin-film analysis, a simple analytical technique is developed for determining band-averaged optical constants of thin plastic films from spectral normal transmittance data for two different film thicknesses. Specifically, the band-averaged optical constants of polyethylene terephthalate and polyimide were obtained from transmittance measurements of films with thicknesses in the range of 0.25 to 3 mil. The spectral normal reflectance and total normal emittance of the film side of singly aluminized films are calculated by use of optical constants; the results compare favorably with measured values.

  9. Global Measurements of Optically Thin Ice Clouds Using CALIOP

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Ryan, R.; Avery, M.; Tackett, J.

    2017-01-01

    Optically thin ice clouds have been shown to have a net warming effect on the globe but, because passive instruments are not sensitive to optically thin clouds, the occurrence frequency of this class of clouds is greatly underestimated in historical passive sensor cloud climatology. One major strength of CALIOP (Cloud-Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization), onboard the CALIPSO (Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observations) spacecraft, is its ability to detect these thin clouds, thus filling an important missing piece in the historical data record. This poster examines the full mission of CALIPSO Level 2 data, focusing on those CALIOP retrievals identified as thin ice clouds according to the definition shown to the right. Using this definition, thin ice clouds are identified and counted globally and vertically for each season. By examining the spatial and seasonal distributions of these thin clouds we hope to gain a better understanding these thin ice clouds and how their global distribution has changed over the mission. This poster showcases when and where CALIOP detects thin ice clouds and examines a case study of the eastern pacific and the effects seen from the El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO).

  10. Preparation of polymeric diacetylene thin films for nonlinear optical applications

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Frazier, Donald O. (Inventor); Mcmanus, Samuel P. (Inventor); Paley, Mark S. (Inventor); Donovan, David N. (Inventor)

    1995-01-01

    A method for producing polymeric diacetylene thin films having desirable nonlinear optical characteristics has been achieved by producing amorphous diacetylene polymeric films by simultaneous polymerization of diacetylene monomers in solution and deposition of polymerized diacetylenes on to the surface of a transparent substrate through which ultraviolet light has been transmitted. These amorphous polydiacetylene films produced by photo-deposition from solution possess very high optical quality and exhibit large third order nonlinear optical susceptibilities, such properties being suitable for nonlinear optical devices such as waveguides and integrated optics.

  11. Nonreciprocal plasmonics enables giant enhancement of thin-film Faraday rotation.

    PubMed

    Chin, Jessie Yao; Steinle, Tobias; Wehlus, Thomas; Dregely, Daniel; Weiss, Thomas; Belotelov, Vladimir I; Stritzker, Bernd; Giessen, Harald

    2013-01-01

    Light propagation is usually reciprocal. However, a static magnetic field along the propagation direction can break the time-reversal symmetry in the presence of magneto-optical materials. The Faraday effect in magneto-optical materials rotates the polarization plane of light, and when light travels backward the polarization is further rotated. This is applied in optical isolators, which are of crucial importance in optical systems. Faraday isolators are typically bulky due to the weak Faraday effect of available magneto-optical materials. The growing research endeavour in integrated optics demands thin-film Faraday rotators and enhancement of the Faraday effect. Here, we report significant enhancement of Faraday rotation by hybridizing plasmonics with magneto-optics. By fabricating plasmonic nanostructures on laser-deposited magneto-optical thin films, Faraday rotation is enhanced by one order of magnitude in our experiment, while high transparency is maintained. We elucidate the enhanced Faraday effect by the interplay between plasmons and different photonic waveguide modes in our system.

  12. Studies of PMMA sintering foils with and without coating by magnetron sputtering Pd

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Cutroneo, M.; Mackova, A.; Torrisi, L.; Vad, K.; Csik, A.; Ando', L.; Svecova, B.

    2017-09-01

    Polymethylmethacrylate thin foils were prepared by using physical and chemical processes aimed at changing certain properties. The density and the optical properties were changed obtaining clear and opaque foils. DC magnetron sputtering method was used to cover the foils with thin metallic palladium layers. The high optical absorbent foils were obtained producing microstructured PMMA microbeads with and without thin metallic coatings. Rutherford Backscattering Spectroscopy, optical investigation and microscopy were employed to characterize the prepared foils useful in the field study of laser-matter interaction.

  13. Nonlinear cavity optomechanics with nanomechanical thermal fluctuations

    PubMed Central

    Leijssen, Rick; La Gala, Giada R.; Freisem, Lars; Muhonen, Juha T.; Verhagen, Ewold

    2017-01-01

    Although the interaction between light and motion in cavity optomechanical systems is inherently nonlinear, experimental demonstrations to date have allowed a linearized description in all except highly driven cases. Here, we demonstrate a nanoscale optomechanical system in which the interaction between light and motion is so large (single-photon cooperativity C0≈103) that thermal motion induces optical frequency fluctuations larger than the intrinsic optical linewidth. The system thereby operates in a fully nonlinear regime, which pronouncedly impacts the optical response, displacement measurement and radiation pressure backaction. Specifically, we measure an apparent optical linewidth that is dominated by thermo-mechanically induced frequency fluctuations over a wide temperature range, and show that in this regime thermal displacement measurements cannot be described by conventional analytical models. We perform a proof-of-concept demonstration of exploiting the nonlinearity to conduct sensitive quadratic readout of nanomechanical displacement. Finally, we explore how backaction in this regime affects the mechanical fluctuation spectra. PMID:28685755

  14. Scrambled coherent superposition for enhanced optical fiber communication in the nonlinear transmission regime.

    PubMed

    Liu, Xiang; Chandrasekhar, S; Winzer, P J; Chraplyvy, A R; Tkach, R W; Zhu, B; Taunay, T F; Fishteyn, M; DiGiovanni, D J

    2012-08-13

    Coherent superposition of light waves has long been used in various fields of science, and recent advances in digital coherent detection and space-division multiplexing have enabled the coherent superposition of information-carrying optical signals to achieve better communication fidelity on amplified-spontaneous-noise limited communication links. However, fiber nonlinearity introduces highly correlated distortions on identical signals and diminishes the benefit of coherent superposition in nonlinear transmission regime. Here we experimentally demonstrate that through coordinated scrambling of signal constellations at the transmitter, together with appropriate unscrambling at the receiver, the full benefit of coherent superposition is retained in the nonlinear transmission regime of a space-diversity fiber link based on an innovatively engineered multi-core fiber. This scrambled coherent superposition may provide the flexibility of trading communication capacity for performance in future optical fiber networks, and may open new possibilities in high-performance and secure optical communications.

  15. Chemical spray pyrolyzed kesterite Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS) thin films

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Khalate, S. A.; Kate, R. S.; Deokate, R. J.

    2018-04-01

    Pure kesterite phase thin films of Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS) were synthesized at different substrate temperatures using sulphate precursors by spray pyrolysis method. The significance of synthesis temperature on the structural, morphological and optical properties has been studied. The X-ray analysis assured that synthesized CZTS thin films showing pure kesterite phase. The value of crystallite size was found maximum at the substrate temperature 400 °C. At the same temperature, microstructural properties such as dislocation density, micro-strain and stacking fault probability were found minimum. The morphological examination designates the development of porous and uniform CZTS thin films. The synthesized CZTS thin films illustrate excellent optical absorption (105 cm-1) in the visible band and the optical band gap varies in the range of 1.489 eV to 1.499 eV.

  16. Pulsed laser ablation of complex oxides: The role of congruent ablation and preferential scattering for the film stoichiometry

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Wicklein, S.; Koehl, A.; Dittmann, R.

    2012-09-24

    By combining structural and chemical thin film analysis with detailed plume diagnostics and modeling of the laser plume dynamics, we are able to elucidate the different physical mechanisms determining the stoichiometry of the complex oxides model material SrTiO{sub 3} during pulsed laser deposition. Deviations between thin film and target stoichiometry are basically a result of two effects, namely, incongruent ablation and preferential scattering of lighter ablated species during their motion towards the substrate in the O{sub 2} background gas. On the one hand, a progressive preferential ablation of the Ti species with increasing laser fluence leads to a regime ofmore » Ti-rich thin film growth at larger fluences. On the other hand, in the low laser fluence regime, a more effective scattering of the lighter Ti plume species results in Sr rich films.« less

  17. Understanding charge transport in lead iodide perovskite thin-film field-effect transistors

    PubMed Central

    Senanayak, Satyaprasad P.; Yang, Bingyan; Thomas, Tudor H.; Giesbrecht, Nadja; Huang, Wenchao; Gann, Eliot; Nair, Bhaskaran; Goedel, Karl; Guha, Suchi; Moya, Xavier; McNeill, Christopher R.; Docampo, Pablo; Sadhanala, Aditya; Friend, Richard H.; Sirringhaus, Henning

    2017-01-01

    Fundamental understanding of the charge transport physics of hybrid lead halide perovskite semiconductors is important for advancing their use in high-performance optoelectronics. We use field-effect transistors (FETs) to probe the charge transport mechanism in thin films of methylammonium lead iodide (MAPbI3). We show that through optimization of thin-film microstructure and source-drain contact modifications, it is possible to significantly minimize instability and hysteresis in FET characteristics and demonstrate an electron field-effect mobility (μFET) of 0.5 cm2/Vs at room temperature. Temperature-dependent transport studies revealed a negative coefficient of mobility with three different temperature regimes. On the basis of electrical and spectroscopic studies, we attribute the three different regimes to transport limited by ion migration due to point defects associated with grain boundaries, polarization disorder of the MA+ cations, and thermal vibrations of the lead halide inorganic cages. PMID:28138550

  18. Thin Disks Gone MAD: Magnetically Arrested Accretion in the Thin Regime

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Avara, Mark J.; McKinney, Jonathan C.; Reynolds, Christopher S.

    2015-01-01

    The collection and concentration of surrounding large scale magnetic fields by black hole accretion disks may be required for production of powerful, spin driven jets. So far, accretion disks have not been shown to grow sufficient poloidal flux via the turbulent dynamo alone to produce such persistent jets. Also, there have been conflicting answers as to how, or even if, an accretion disk can collect enough magnetic flux from the ambient environment. Extending prior numerical studies of magnetically arrested disks (MAD) in the thick (angular height, H/R~1) and intermediate (H/R~.2-.6) accretion regimes, we present our latest results from fully general relativistic MHD simulations of the thinnest BH (H/R~.1) accretion disks to date exhibiting the MAD mode of accretion. We explore the significant deviations of this accretion mode from the standard picture of thin, MRI-driven accretion, and demonstrate the accumulation of large-scale magnetic flux.

  19. Tailoring and optimization of optical properties of CdO thin films for gas sensing applications

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Rajput, Jeevitesh K.; Pathak, Trilok K.; Kumar, V.; Swart, H. C.; Purohit, L. P.

    2018-04-01

    Cadmium oxide (CdO) thin films have been deposited onto glass substrates using different molar concentrations (0.2 M, 0.5 M and 0.8 M) of cadmium acetate precursor solutions using a sol-gel spin coating technique. The structural, morphological, optical and electrical results are presented. X-ray diffraction patterns indicated that the CdO films of different molarity have a stable cubic structure with a (111) preferred orientation at low molar concentration. Scanning electron microscopy images revealed that the films adopted a rectangular to cauliflower like morphology. The optical transmittance of the thin films was observed in the range 200-800 nm and it was found that the 0.2 M CdO thin films showed about 83% transmission in the visible region. The optical band gap energy of the thin films was found to vary from 2.10 to 3.30 eV with the increase in molar concentration of the solution. The electrical resistance of the 0.5 M thin film was found to be 1.56 kΩ. The oxygen sensing response was observed between 20-33% in the low temperature range (32-200 °C).

  20. Effect of oxygen partial pressure and VO2 content on hexagonal WO3 thin films synthesized by pulsed laser deposition technique

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kaushal, Ajay; Kaur, Davinder

    2011-06-01

    We report on the effect of oxygen partial pressure and vacuum annealing on structural and optical properties of pulsed laser-deposited nanocrystalline WO3 thin films. XRD results show the hexagonal phase of deposited WO3 thin films. The crystallite size was observed to increase with increase in oxygen partial pressure. Vacuum annealing changed the transparent as-deposited WO3 thin film to deep shade of blue color which increases the optical absorption of the film. The origin of this blue color could be due to the presence of oxygen vacancies associated with tungsten ions in lower oxidation states. In addition, the effects of VO2 content on structural, electrochemical, and optical properties of (WO3)1- x (VO2) x nanocomposite thin films have also been systematically investigated. Cyclic voltammogram exhibits a modification with the appearance of an extra cathodic peak for VO2-WO3 thin film electrode with higher VO2 content ( x ≥ 0.2). Increase of VO2 content in (WO3)1- x (VO2) x films leads to red shift in optical band gap.

  1. Structure and growth of the mesoscopic surfactant/silica thin films

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zhou, Linbo

    1999-10-01

    We report the study of the structure and the growth of the mesoscopic surfactant/silica thin films. We use X-ray diffraction coupled with Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM), Atomic Force Microscope (AFM), Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM) and light scattering techniques to study the structure, lattice strain and the drying effect of the thin films as well as the growth kinetics and mechanism. The surfactant/silica materials are synthesized using the supramolecular assemblies of the surfactant molecules to template the condensation of the inorganic species. The subsequent calcination yields the mesoporous silica materials, which have many application properties such as unusual electronic, optical, magnetic and elastic characteristics. The films are grown on mica, graphite and silicon substrates in an acidic CTAC (Cetyltrimethyl Ammonium Chloride)/TEOS (Tetraethyl Orthosilicate) solution and are found to consist of the hexagonally packed tubules. The substrate plays an important role in the epitaxial arrangement of the film. We use the light scattering and cryo TEM to study the micelle morphology and aggregation in the solution and use synchrotron radiation X-ray diffraction to study the growth of the film at the solid/liquid interfaces in-situ. An induction time is found followed by the growth of the film at a nonlinear growth rate. The induction time depends on the ratio of the concentrations of CTAC to TEOS in the high CTAC concentration regime. The growth kinetics and mechanism are elucidated in a context of a growth model. For the technological application, Micromolding in Capillaries (MIMIC) technique and the field guided growth are used to process the patterned mesoscopic surfactant/silica thin films and align the nanotubules into the desired orientation. X-ray diffraction characterization has been performed to study the structure and orientation of the thin films. The combined influence of the electric field and the confinement of the mold allows the synthesis of the surfactant/silica thin films with the controlled orientation.

  2. Photo- and Thermo-Induced Changes in Optical Constants and Structure of Thin Films from GeSe2-GeTe-ZnTe System

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Petkov, Kiril; Todorov, Rossen; Vassilev, Venceslav; Aljihmani, Lilia

    We examined the condition of preparation of thin films from GeSe2-GeTe-ZnTe system by thermal evaporation and changes in their optical properties after exposure to light and thermal annealing. The results for composition analysis of thin films showed absence of Zn independently of the composition of the bulk glass. By X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis it was found that a reduction of ZnTe in ZnSe in bulk materials takes of place during the film deposition. A residual from ZnSe was observed in the boat after thin film deposition. Optical constants (refractive index, n and absorption coefficient, α) and thickness, d as well as the optical band gap, Eg, depending of the content of Te in ternary Ge-Se-Te system are determined from specrophotometric measurements in the spectral range 400-2500 nm applying the Swanepoel's envelope method and Tauc's procedure. With the increase of Te content in the layers the absorption edge is shifted to the longer wavelengths, refractive index increases while the optical band gap decreases from 2.02 eV for GeSe2 to 1.26 eV for Ge34Se42Te24. The values of the refractive index decrease after annealing of all composition and Eg increase, respectively. Thin films with composition of Ge27Se47Te9Zn17 and Ge28Se49Te10Zn13 were prepared by co-evaporation of (GeSe2)78(GeTe)22 and Zn from a boat and a crucible and their optical properties, surface morphology and structure were investigated. The existence of a correlation between the optical band gap and the copostion of thin films from the system studied was demonstrated.

  3. Synthesis of Mn-doped ZnS thin films by chemical bath deposition: Optical properties in the visible region

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Erken, Ozge; Gunes, Mustafa; Gumus, Cebrail

    2017-04-01

    Transparent ZnS:Mn thin films were produced by chemical bath deposition (CBD) technique at 80 °C for 4h, 6h and 8h durations. The optical properties such as optical transmittance (T %), reflectance (R %), extinction coefficient (k) and refractive index (n) were deeply investigated in terms of contribution ratio, wavelength and film thickness. The optical properties of ZnS:Mn thin films were determined by UV/vis spectrophotometer transmittance measurements in the range of λ=300-1100 nm. Optical transmittances of the films were found from 12% to 92% in the visible region. The refractive index (n) values for visible region were calculated as 1.34-5.09. However, film thicknesses were calculated between 50 and 901 nm by gravimetric analysis.

  4. Some Experiments with Thin Prisms.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Fernando, P. C. B.

    1980-01-01

    Described are several experiments, for a course in geometrical optics or for a college physics laboratory, which have a bearing on ophthalmic optics. Experiments include the single thin prism, crossed prisms, and the prismatic power of a lens. (Author/DS)

  5. Evaluation of the optical characteristics of c-axis oriented zinc oxide thin films grown by sol gel spin coating technique

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Baisakh, K.; Behera, S.; Pati, S.

    2018-03-01

    In this work we have systematically studied the optical characteristics of synthesized wurzite zinc oxide thin films exhibiting (002) orientation. Using sol gel spin coating technique zinc oxide thin films are grown on pre cleaned fused quartz substrates. Structural properties of the films are studied using X-ray diffraction analysis. Micro structural analysis and thickness of the grown samples are analyzed using field emission scanning electron microscopy. With an aim to investigate the optical characteristics of the grown zinc oxide thin films the transmission and reflection spectra are evaluated in the ultraviolet-visible (UV-VIS) range. Using envelope method, the refractive index, extinction coefficient, absorption coefficient, band gap energy and the thickness of the synthesized films are estimated from the recorded UV-VIS spectra. An attempt has also been made to study the influence of crystallographic orientation on the optical characteristics of the grown films.

  6. Structural and optical properties of PbS thin films grown by chemical bath deposition

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Seghaier, S.; Kamoun, N.; Guasch, C.

    2007-09-19

    Lead sulphide thin films are grown on glass substrates at various deposition times tD, in the range of 40-60 min per step of 2 min, using the chemical bath deposition technique. X-ray diffraction and atomic force microscopy are used to characterize the film structure. The surface composition is analysed by Auger electron spectroscopy. It appears that the as-prepared thin films are polycrystalline with cubic structure. Nanometric scale crystallites are uniformly distributed on the surface. They exhibit almost a stoechiometric composition with a [Pb]/[S] ratio equal to 1.10. Optical properties are studied in the range of 300-3300 nm by spectrophotometric measurements.more » Analysis of the optical absorption data of lead sulphide thin layers reveals a narrow optical direct band gap equal to 0.46 eV for the layer corresponding to a deposition time equal to 60 min.« less

  7. Fabrication of bright and thin Zn₂SiO₄ luminescent film for electron beam excitation-assisted optical microscope.

    PubMed

    Furukawa, Taichi; Kanamori, Satoshi; Fukuta, Masahiro; Nawa, Yasunori; Kominami, Hiroko; Nakanishi, Yoichiro; Sugita, Atsushi; Inami, Wataru; Kawata, Yoshimasa

    2015-07-13

    We fabricated a bright and thin Zn₂SiO₄ luminescent film to serve as a nanometric light source for high-spatial-resolution optical microscopy based on electron beam excitation. The Zn₂SiO₄ luminescent thin film was fabricated by annealing a ZnO film on a Si₃N₄ substrate at 1000 °C in N₂. The annealed film emitted bright cathodoluminescence compared with the as-deposited film. The film is promising for nano-imaging with electron beam excitation-assisted optical microscopy. We evaluated the spatial resolution of a microscope developed using this Zn₂SiO₄ luminescent thin film. This is the first report of the investigation and application of ZnO/Si₃N₄ annealed at a high temperature (1000 °C). The fabricated Zn₂SiO₄ film is expected to enable high-frame-rate dynamic observation with ultra-high resolution using our electron beam excitation-assisted optical microscopy.

  8. Heavy and frequent thinning promotes drought adaptation in Pinus sylvestris forests.

    PubMed

    Sohn, Julia A; Hartig, Florian; Kohler, Martin; Huss, Jürgen; Bauhus, Jürgen

    2016-10-01

    Droughts and their negative effects on forest ecosystems are projected to increase under climate change for many regions. It has been suggested that intensive thinning could reduce drought impacts on established forests in the short-term. Most previous studies on the effect of thinning on drought impacts, however, have been confined to single forest sites. It is therefore still unclear how general and persisting the benefits of thinning are. This study assesses the potential of thinning to increase drought tolerance of the wide spread Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) in Central Europe. We hypothesized (1) that increasing thinning intensity benefits the maintenance of radial growth of crop trees during drought (resistance) and its recovery following drought, (2) that those benefits to growth decrease with time elapsed since the last thinning and with stand age, and (3) that they may depend on drought severity as well as water limitations in pre- and post-drought periods. To test these hypotheses, we assessed the effects of thinning regime, stand age, and drought severity on radial growth of 129 Scots pine trees during and after drought events in four long-term thinning experiments in Germany. We found that thinning improved the recovery of radial growth following drought and to a lesser extent the growth resistance during a drought event. Growth recovery following drought was highest after the first thinning intervention and in recently and heavily thinned stands. With time since the last thinning, however, this effect decreased and could even become negative when compared to unthinned stands. Further, thinning helped to avoid an age-related decline in growth resistance (and recovery) following drought. The recovery following drought, but not the resistance during drought, was related to water limitations in the drought period. This is the first study that analyzed drought-related radial growth in trees of one species across several stands of different age. The interaction between thinning intensity and time since the last thinning underline the importance to distinguish between short- and long-term effects of thinning. According to our analysis, only thinning regimes, with relatively heavy and frequent thinning interventions would increase drought tolerance in pine stands. © 2016 by the Ecological Society of America.

  9. Nonlinear optical characterization of ZnS thin film synthesized by chemical spray pyrolysis method

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    G, Sreeja V.; V, Sabitha P.; Anila, E. I.; R, Reshmi; John, Manu Punnan; Radhakrishnan, P.

    2014-10-01

    ZnS thin film was prepared by Chemical Spray Pyrolysis (CSP) method. The sample was characterized by X-ray diffraction method and Z scan technique. XRD pattern showed that ZnS thin film has hexagonal structure with an average size of about 5.6nm. The nonlinear optical properties of ZnS thin film was studied by open aperture Z-Scan technique using Q-switched Nd-Yag Laser at 532nm. The Z-scan plot showed that the investigated ZnS thin film has saturable absorption behavior. The nonlinear absorption coefficient and saturation intensity were also estimated.

  10. Estimation of Al2O3 critical temperature using a Langmuir probe in laser ablation

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Yahiaoui, K.; Abdelli-Messaci, S.; Messaoud Aberkane, S.; Kellou, A.

    2016-11-01

    Pulsed laser deposition (PLD) has demonstrated its capacity in thin films growing under the moderate laser intensity. But when the laser intensity increases, the presence of droplets on the thin film limits the PLD efficiency such that the process needs an optimization study. In this way, an experimental study has been conducted in order to correlate between the appearance of those droplets and the laser fluence. The comprehension of the physical mechanism during ablation and the control of the deposition parameters allowed to get a safe process. Our experiment consists in measuring the amount of ejected matter from polycrystalline alumina target as a function of the laser fluence when irradiated by a KrF laser. According to laser fluence, several kinds of ablation regimes have been identified. Below a threshold value found as 12 J/cm2, the mechanism of ablation was assigned to normal evaporation, desorption and nonthermal processes. While above this threshold value, the mechanism of ablation was assigned to phase explosion phenomenon which is responsible of droplets formation when the surface temperature approaches the critical temperature T tc. A negative charge collector was used to collect the positive ions in the plume. Their times of flight (TOF) signal were used to estimate the appropriate T tc for alumina target. Ions yield, current as well as kinetic energy were deduced from the TOF signal. Their evolutions show the occurrence of an optical breakdown in the vapor plume which is well correlated with the onset of the phase explosion phenomenon. At 10 J/cm2, the ions velocities collected by the probe have been compared to those obtained from optical emission spectroscopy diagnostic and were discussed. To prove the occurrence of phase explosion by the appearance of droplets, several thin films were elaborated on Si (100) substrate at different laser fluence into vacuum. They have been characterized by scanning electron microscope. The results were well correlated with those obtained with mass measurements as function of laser fluence.

  11. Optical and microwave dielectric properties of pulsed laser deposited Na{sub 0.5}Bi{sub 0.5}TiO{sub 3} thin film

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Joseph, Andrews; Goud, J. Pundareekam; Raju, K. C. James

    2016-05-23

    Optical properties of pulsed laser deposited (PLD) sodium bismuth titanate thin films (NBT), are investigated at wavelengths of 190-2500 nm. Microwave dielectric properties were investigated using the Split Post Dielectric Resonator (SPDR) technique. At 10 GHz, the NBT films have a dielectric constant of 205 and loss tangent of 0.0373 at room temperature. The optical spectra analysis reveals that NBT thin films have an optical band gap E{sub g}=3.55 eV and it has a dielectric constant of 3.37 at 1000 nm with dielectric loss of 0.299. Hence, NBT is a promising candidate for photonic device applications.

  12. Preparation, linear and NLO properties of DNA-CTMA-SBE complexes

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Manea, Ana-Maria; Rau, Ileana; Kajzar, Francois; Meghea, Aurelia

    2013-10-01

    Synthesis of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) - was cetyltrimethylammonium (CTMA) - sea buckthorn extract (SBE) at different concentrations is decribed. The complexes were processed into good optical quality thin films by spin coating on different substrates such as: glass, silica and ITO covered glass substrates. SBE contains many bioactive substances that can be used in the treatment of several diseases, such as cardiovascular disease, cancer, and acute mountain sickness. The obtained thin films were characterized for their spectroscopic, fluorescent, linear and nonlinear optical properties as function of SBE concentration. The third-order nonlinear optical (NLO) properties of thin films were determined by the optical third-harmonic generation technique at 1 064.2 nm fundamental wavelength.

  13. Influence of sputtering power on the optical properties of ITO thin films

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    K, Aijo John; Kumar, Vineetha V.; M, Deepak; T, Manju

    2014-10-01

    Tin doped indium oxide films are widely used in transparent conducting coatings such as flat panel displays, crystal displays and in optical devices such as solar cells and organic light emitting diodes due to the high electrical resistivity and optical transparency in the visible region of solar spectrum. The deposition parameters have a commendable influence on the optical and electrical properties of the thin films. In this study, ITO thin films were prepared by RF magnetron sputtering. The properties of the films prepared under varying sputtering power were compared using UV- visible spectrophotometry. Effect of sputtering power on the energy band gap, absorption coefficient and refractive index are investigated.

  14. Properties of thin silver films with different thickness

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zhao, Pei; Su, Weitao; Wang, Reng; Xu, Xiaofeng; Zhang, Fengshan

    2009-01-01

    In order to investigate optical properties of silver films with different film thickness, multilayer composed of thin silver film sandwiched between ZnS films are sputtered on the float glass. The crystal structures, optical and electrical properties of films are characterized by various techniques, such as X-ray diffraction (XRD), spectrum analysis, etc. The optical constants of thin silver film are calculated by fitting the transmittance ( T) and reflectance ( R) spectrum of the multilayer. Electrical and optical properties of silver films thinner than 6.2 nm exhibit sharp change. However, variation becomes slow as film thickness is larger than 6.2 nm. The experimental results indicate that 6.2 nm is the optimum thickness for properties of silver.

  15. Advanced germanium layer transfer for ultra thin body on insulator structure

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Maeda, Tatsuro; Chang, Wen-Hsin; Irisawa, Toshifumi; Ishii, Hiroyuki; Hattori, Hiroyuki; Poborchii, Vladimir; Kurashima, Yuuichi; Takagi, Hideki; Uchida, Noriyuki

    2016-12-01

    We present the HEtero-Layer Lift-Off (HELLO) technique to obtain ultra thin body (UTB) Ge on insulator (GeOI) substrates. The transferred ultra thin Ge layers are characterized by the Raman spectroscopy measurements down to the thickness of ˜1 nm, observing a strong Raman intensity enhancement for high quality GeOI structure in ultra thin regime due to quantum size effect. This advanced Ge layer transfer technique enabled us to demonstrate UTB-GeOI nMOSFETs with the body thickness of only 4 nm.

  16. The Interplay between Radiation Pressure and the Photoelectric Instability in Optically Thin Disks of Gas and Dust

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Richert, Alexander J. W.; Lyra, Wladimir; Kuchner, Marc J.

    2018-03-01

    In optically thin disks, dust grains are photoelectrically stripped of electrons by starlight, heating nearby gas and possibly creating a dust clumping instability—the photoelectric instability (PeI)—that significantly alters global disk structure. In the current work, we use the Pencil Code to perform the first numerical models of the PeI that include stellar radiation pressure on dust grains in order to explore the parameter regime in which the instability operates. In some models with low gas and dust surface densities, we see a variety of dust structures, including sharp concentric rings. In the most gas- and dust-rich models, nonaxisymmetric clumps, arcs, and spiral arms emerge that represent dust surface density enhancements of factors of ∼5–20. In one high gas surface density model, we include a large, low-order gas viscosity and find that it observably smooths the structures that form in the gas and dust, suggesting that resolved images of a given disk may be useful for deriving constraints on the effective viscosity of its gas. Our models show that radiation pressure does not preclude the formation of complex structure from the PeI, but the qualitative manifestation of the PeI depends strongly on the parameters of the system. The PeI may provide an explanation for unusual disk morphologies, such as the moving blobs of the AU Mic disk, the asymmetric dust distribution of the 49 Ceti disk, and the rings and arcs found in the HD 141569A disk.

  17. Experimental design to understand the interaction of stellar radiation with molecular clouds

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Vandervort, Robert; Davis, Josh; Trantham, Matt; Klein, Sallee; Frank, Yechiel; Raicher, Erez; Fraenkel, Moshe; Shvarts, Dov; Keiter, Paul; Drake, R. Paul

    2016-10-01

    Enhanced star formation triggered by local O and B type stars is an astrophysical problem of interest. O and B type stars are massive, hot stars that emit an enormous amount of radiation. This radiation acts to either compress or blow apart clumps of gas in the interstellar media. For example, in the optically thick limit, when the x-ray radiation in the gas clump has a short mean free path length the x-ray radiation is absorbed near the clump edge and compresses the clump. In the optically thin limit, when the mean free path is long, the radiation is absorbed throughout acting to heat the clump. This heating explodes the gas clump. Careful selection of parameters, such as foam density or source temperature, allow the experimental platform to access different hydrodynamic regimes. The stellar radiation source is mimicked by a laser irradiated thin gold foil. This will provide a source of thermal x-rays (around 100 eV). The gas clump is mimicked by a low-density foam around 0.12 g/cc. Simulations were done using radiation hydrodynamics codes to tune the experimental parameters. The experiment will be carried out at the Omega laser facility on OMEGA 60. Funding acknowledgements: This work is funded by the U.S. DOE, through the NNSA-DS and SC-OFES Joint Program in HEDPLP, Grant No. DE-NA0001840, and the NLUF Program, Grant No. DE-NA0000850, and through LLE, University of Rochester by the NNSA/OICF under Agreement No. DE-FC52-08NA28302.

  18. Polarization-dependent optical absorption of MoS₂ for refractive index sensing.

    PubMed

    Tan, Yang; He, Ruiyun; Cheng, Chen; Wang, Dong; Chen, Yanxue; Chen, Feng

    2014-12-17

    As a noncentrosymmetric crystal with spin-polarized band structure, MoS2 nanomaterials have attracts increasing attention in many areas such as lithium ion batteries, flexible electronic devices, photoluminescence and valleytronics. The investigation of MoS2 is mainly focused on the electronics and spintronics instead of optics, which restrict its applications as key elements of photonics. In this work, we demonstrate the first observation of the polarization-dependent optical absorption of the MoS2 thin film, which is integrated onto an optical waveguide device. With this feature, a novel optical sensor combining MoS2 thin-film and a microfluidic structure has been constituted to achieve the sensitive monitoring of refractive index. Our work indicates the MoS2 thin film as a complementary material to graphene for the optical polarizer in the visible light range, and explores a new application direction of MoS2 nanomaterials for the construction of photonic circuits.

  19. Thickness dependent structural, optical and electrical properties of Se85In12Bi3 nanochalcogenide thin films

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Tripathi, Ravi P.; Zulfequar, M.; Khan, Shamshad A.

    2018-04-01

    Our aim is to study the thickness dependent effects on structure, electrical and optical properties of Se85In12Bi3 nanochalcogenide thin films. Bulk alloy of Se85In12Bi3 was synthesized by melt-quenching technique. The amorphous as well as glassy nature of Se85In12Bi3 chalcogenide was confirmed by non-isothermal Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) measurements. The nanochalcogenide thin films of thickness 30, 60 and 90 nm were prepared on glass/Si wafer substrate using Physical Vapour Condensation Technique (PVCT). From XRD studies it was found that thin films have amorphous texture. The surface morphology and particle size of films were studied by Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscope (FESEM). From optical studies, different optical parameters were estimated for Se85In12Bi3 thin films at different thickness. It was found that the absorption coefficient (α) and extinction coefficient (k) increases with photon energy and decreases with film thickness. The optical absorption process followed the rule of indirect transitions and optical band gap were found to be increase with film thickness. The value of Urbach energy (Et) and steepness parameter (σ) were also calculated for different film thickness. For electrical studies, dc-conductivity measurement was done at different temperature and activation energy (ΔEc) were determined and found to be increase with film thickness.

  20. Impact of ungulate exclusion on understorey succession in relation to forest management in the Intermountain Western United States

    Treesearch

    Burak K. Pekin; Bryan A. Endress; Michael J. Wisdom; Bridgett J. Naylor; Catherine G. Parks

    2014-01-01

    Questions: Do successional trajectories in plant diversity, heterogeneity and dominance respond differently to ungulate exclusion in unmanaged forests vs managed forests that are thinned and burned? Is vegetation in recently thinned and burned standsmore sensitive to changes in the grazing regime? Location:...

  1. Pyrolysis kinetics and combustion of thin wood using advanced cone calorimetry test method

    Treesearch

    Mark A. Dietenberger

    2011-01-01

    Mechanistic pyrolysis kinetics analysis of extractives, holocellulose, and lignin in solid wood over entire heating regime was possible using specialized cone calorimeter test and new mathematical analysis tools. Added hardware components include: modified sample holder for thin specimen with tiny thermocouples, methane ring burner with stainless steel mesh above cone...

  2. Optical Analysis of Iron-Doped Lead Sulfide Thin Films for Opto-Electronic Applications

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Chidambara Kumar, K. N.; Khadeer Pasha, S. K.; Deshmukh, Kalim; Chidambaram, K.; Shakil Muhammad, G.

    Iron-doped lead sulfide thin films were deposited on glass substrates using successive ionic layer adsorption and reaction method (SILAR) at room temperature. The X-ray diffraction pattern of the film shows a well formed crystalline thin film with face-centered cubic structure along the preferential orientation (1 1 1). The lattice constant is determined using Nelson Riley plots. Using X-ray broadening, the crystallite size is determined by Scherrer formula. Morphology of the thin film was studied using a scanning electron microscope. The optical properties of the film were investigated using a UV-vis spectrophotometer. We observed an increase in the optical band gap from 2.45 to 3.03eV after doping iron in the lead sulfide thin film. The cutoff wavelength lies in the visible region, and hence the grown thin films can be used for optoelectronic and sensor applications. The results from the photoluminescence study show the emission at 500-720nm. The vibrating sample magnetometer measurements confirmed that the lead sulfide thin film becomes weakly ferromagnetic material after doping with iron.

  3. Temperature studies of optical parameters of (Ag3AsS3)0.6(As2S3)0.4 thin films prepared by rapid thermal evaporation and pulse laser deposition

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Studenyak, I. P.; Kutsyk, M. M.; Buchuk, M. Yu.; Rati, Y. Y.; Neimet, Yu. Yu.; Izai, V. Yu.; Kökényesi, S.; Nemec, P.

    2016-02-01

    (Ag3AsS3)0.6(As2S3)0.4 thin films were deposited using rapid thermal evaporation (RTE) and pulse laser deposition (PLD) techniques. Ag-enriched micrometre-sized cones (RTE) and bubbles (PLD) were observed on the thin film surface. Optical transmission spectra of the thin films were studied in the temperature range 77-300 K. The Urbach behaviour of the optical absorption edge in the thin films due to strong electron-phonon interaction was observed, the main parameters of the Urbach absorption edge were determined. Temperature dependences of the energy position of the exponential absorption edge and the Urbach energy are well described in the Einstein model. Dispersion and temperature dependences of refractive indices were analysed; a non-linear increase of the refractive indices with temperature was revealed. Disordering processes in the thin films were studied and compared with bulk composites, the differences between the thin films prepared by RTE and PLD were analysed.

  4. Vacancy defects and optoelectrical properties for fluorine tin oxide thin films with various SnF2 contents

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zhou, Yawei; Xu, Wenwu; Li, Jingjing; Yin, Chongshan; Liu, Yong; Zhao, Bin; Chen, Zhiquan; He, Chunqing; Mao, Wenfeng; Ito, Kenji

    2018-01-01

    Fluorine doped tin oxide (FTO) thin films were deposited on glass substrates by e-beam evaporation. Much higher carrier concentration, broader optical band gap, and average transmittance over 80% were obtained with SnF2 doped SnO2 thin films. Positron annihilation results showed that there are two kinds of vacancy clusters with different sizes existing in the annealed FTO thin films, and the concentration of the larger vacancy clusters of VSnO in the thin films increases with increasing SnF2 contents. Meanwhile, photoluminescence spectra results indicated that the better electrical and optical properties of the FTO thin films are attributed to FO substitutions and oxygen vacancies with higher concentration, which are supported by positron annihilation Doppler broadening results and confirmed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The results showed that widening of the optical band gap of the FTO thin films strongly depends on the carrier concentration, which is interpreted for the Burstein-Moss effect and is associated with the formation of FO and oxygen vacancies with increasing SnF2 content.

  5. Modeling, Fabrication and Characterization of Scalable Electroless Gold Plated Nanostructures for Enhanced Surface Plasmon Resonance

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Jang, Gyoung Gug

    The scientific and industrial demand for controllable thin gold (Au) film and Au nanostructures is increasing in many fields including opto-electronics, photovoltaics, MEMS devices, diagnostics, bio-molecular sensors, spectro-/microscopic surfaces and probes. In this study, a novel continuous flow electroless (CF-EL) Au plating method is developed to fabricate uniform Au thin films in ambient condition. The enhanced local mass transfer rate and continuous deposition resulting from CF-EL plating improved physical uniformity of deposited Au films and thermally transformed nanoparticles (NPs). Au films and NPs exhibited improved optical photoluminescence (PL) and surface plasmon resonance (SPR), respectively, relative to batch immersion EL (BI-EL) plating. Suggested mass transfer models of Au mole deposition are consistent with optical feature of CF-EL and BI-EL films. The prototype CF-EL plating system is upgraded an automated scalable CF-EL plating system with real-time transmission UV-vis (T-UV) spectroscopy which provides the advantage of CF-EL plating, such as more uniform surface morphology, and overcomes the disadvantages of conventional EL plating, such as no continuous process and low deposition rate, using continuous process and controllable deposition rate. Throughout this work, dynamic morphological and chemical transitions during redox-driven self-assembly of Ag and Au film on silica surfaces under kinetic and equilibrium conditions are distinguished by correlating real-time T-UV spectroscopy with X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) measurements. The characterization suggests that four previously unrecognized time-dependent physicochemical regimes occur during consecutive EL deposition of silver (Ag) and Au onto tin-sensitized silica surfaces: self-limiting Ag activation; transitory Ag NP formation; transitional Au-Ag alloy formation during galvanic replacement of Ag by Au; and uniform morphology formation under controlled hydraulic conditions. A method to achieve the time-resolved optical profile of EL Au plating was devised and provided a new transitional EL Au film growth model which validated mass transfer model prediction of the deposited thickness of ≤100 nm thin films. As a part of the project, validation of mass transfer model, a spectrophotometric method for quantitative analysis of metal ion is developed that improves the limit of detection comparable to conventional instrumental analysis. The present work suggests that modeling, fabrication and characterization of this novel CF-EL plating method is performed to achieve an ultimate purpose: developing a reliable, inexpensive wet chemical process for controlled metal thin film and nanostructure fabrication.

  6. Effect of visible light on the optical properties of a-(Ge2Sb2Te5)90Ag10 thin film

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Singh, Palwinder; Thakur, Anup

    2018-05-01

    (Ge2Sb2Te5)90Ag10 (GST-Ag) bulk alloy was prepared using melt quenching technique. GST-Ag thin film was deposited on glass substrate using thermal evaporation method. The prepared thin films were exposed to visible light (intensity of 105 Lux for 2, 8, 20 and 30 hours) using 25W LED lamp. Transmission spectra were taken using UV-vis-NIR spectrophotometer in the wavelength range 800-3200 nm. Optical band gap of as-deposited and light exposed thin films was determined using Tauc's plot. Optical band gap was found to be decreasing on light exposure upto 8 hours and after that no significant change was observed.

  7. Extended linear regime of cavity-QED enhanced optical circular birefringence induced by a charged quantum dot

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hu, C. Y.; Rarity, J. G.

    2015-02-01

    Giant optical Faraday rotation (GFR) and giant optical circular birefringence (GCB) induced by a single quantum-dot spin in an optical microcavity can be regarded as linear effects in the weak-excitation approximation if the input field lies in the low-power limit [Hu et al., Phys. Rev. B 78, 085307 (2008), 10.1103/PhysRevB.78.085307; Hu et al., Phys. Rev. B 80, 205326 (2009), 10.1103/PhysRevB.80.205326]. In this work, we investigate the transition from the weak-excitation approximation moving into the saturation regime comparing a semiclassical approximation with the numerical results from a quantum optics toolbox [Tan, J. Opt. B 1, 424 (1999), 10.1088/1464-4266/1/4/312]. We find that the GFR and GCB around the cavity resonance in the strong-coupling regime are input field independent at intermediate powers and can be well described by the semiclassical approximation. Those associated with the dressed state resonances in the strong-coupling regime or merging with the cavity resonance in the Purcell regime are sensitive to input field at intermediate powers, and cannot be well described by the semiclassical approximation due to the quantum-dot saturation. As the GFR and GCB around the cavity resonance are relatively immune to the saturation effects, the rapid readout of single-electron spins can be carried out with coherent state and other statistically fluctuating light fields. This also shows that high-speed quantum entangling gates, robust against input power variations, can be built exploiting these linear effects.

  8. Determination of dispersive optical constants of nanocrystalline CdSe (nc-CdSe) thin films

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Sharma, Kriti; Al-Kabbi, Alaa S.; Saini, G.S.S.

    2012-06-15

    Highlights: ► nc-CdSe thin films are prepared by thermal vacuum evaporation technique. ► TEM analysis shows NCs are spherical in shape. ► XRD reveals the hexagonal (wurtzite) crystal structure of nc-CdSe thin films. ► The direct optical bandgap of nc-CdSe is 2.25 eV in contrast to bulk (1.7 eV). ► Dispersion of refractive index is discussed in terms of Wemple–DiDomenico single oscillator model. -- Abstract: The nanocrystalline thin films of CdSe are prepared by thermal evaporation technique at room temperature. These thin films are characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX), X-raymore » diffraction (XRD) and photoluminescence spectroscopy (PL). The transmission spectra are recorded in the transmission range 400–3300 nm for nc-CdSe thin films. Transmittance measurements are used to calculate the refractive index (n) and absorption coefficient (α) using Swanepoel's method. The optical band gap (E{sub g}{sup opt}) has been determined from the absorption coefficient values using Tauc's procedure. The optical constants such as extinction coefficient (k), real (ε{sub 1}) and imaginary (ε{sub 2}) dielectric constants, dielectric loss (tan δ), optical conductivity (σ{sub opt}), Urbach energy (E{sub u}) and steepness parameter (σ) are also calculated for nc-CdSe thin films. The normal dispersion of refractive index is described using Wemple–DiDomenico single-oscillator model. Refractive index dispersion is further analysed to calculate lattice dielectric constant (ε{sub L}).« less

  9. Method of Bonding Optical Elements with Near-Zero Displacement

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Robinson, David; McClelland, Ryan; Byron, Glenn; Evans, Tyler

    2012-01-01

    The International X-ray Project seeks to build an x-ray telescope using thousands of pieces of thin and flexible glass mirror segments. Each mirror segment must be bonded into a housing in nearly perfect optical alignment without distortion. Forces greater than 0.001 Newton, or displacements greater than 0.5 m of the glass, cause unacceptable optical distortion. All known epoxies shrink as they cure. Even the epoxies with the least amount of shrinkage (<0.01%) cause unacceptable optical distortion and misalignment by pulling the mirror segments towards the housing as it cures. A related problem is that the shrinkage is not consistent or predictable so that it cannot be accounted for in the setup (i.e., if all of the bonds shrunk an equal amount, there would be no problem). A method has been developed that allows two components to be joined with epoxy in such a way that reduces the displacement caused by epoxy shrinking as it cures to less than 200 nm. The method involves using ultraviolet-cured epoxy with a displacement sensor and a nanoactuator in a control loop. The epoxy is cured by short-duration exposures to UV light. In between each exposure, the nano-actuator zeroes out the displacement caused by epoxy shrinkage and thermal expansion. After a few exposures, the epoxy has cured sufficiently to prevent further displacement of the two components. Bonding of optical elements has been done for many years, but most optics are thick and rigid elements that resist micro-Newton-level forces without causing distortion. When bonding thin glass optics such as the 0.40-mm thick IXO X-ray mirrors, forces in the micro- and milli-Newton levels cause unacceptable optical figure error. This innovation can now repeatedly and reliably bond a thin glass mirror to a metal housing with less than 0.2 m of displacement (<200 nm). This is an enabling technology that allows the installation of virtually stress-free, undistorted thin optics onto structures. This innovation is applicable to the bonding of thin optical elements, or any thin/flexible structures, that must be attached in an undistorted, consistent, and aligned way.

  10. Characterization of the electro-optic effect in styrylpyridinium cyanine dye thin-film crystals by an ac modulation method

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Yoshimura, Tetsuzo

    1987-09-01

    The electro-optic effect in styrylpyridinium cyanine dye (SPCD) thin-film crystals is characterized by a newly developed ac modulation method that is effective in characterizing thin-film materials of small area. SPCD thin-film crystals 3-10 μm thick were grown from a methanol solution of SPCD. The crystal shows strong dichroism and anisotropy of refractive index, indicating that molecular dipole moments align along a definite direction (z axis). When an electric field is applied along the z axis, SPCD thin-film crystals show a large figure of merit of electro-optic phase retardation of 6.5×10-10 m/V, which is 5 times as large as in LiNbO3 crystal, 2 times that in 2-methyl-4-nitroaniline (MNA) crystal, and is the largest ever reported in organic solids. The electro-optic coefficient r33 of SPCD crystals is estimated to be approximately 4.3×10-10 m/V, which is 6 times larger than that of an MNA crystal. This value is consistent with that expected from second-harmonic generation measurements.

  11. Effect of thermal annealing on the structural and optical properties of Cu2FeSnS4 thin films grown by vacuum evaporation method

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Oueslati, H.; Rabeh, M. Ben; Kanzari, M.

    2018-02-01

    In this work, the effect of different types of thermal annealing on the properties of Cu2FeSnS4 (CFTS) thin films deposited by thermal evaporation at room temperature on glass substrate were investigated. CFTS powder was synthesized by direct melting of the constituent elements taken in stoichiometry compositions. The X-ray diffraction experimental data indicating that the Cu2FeSnS4 powder illustrating a stannite structure in space group I\\bar {4}2m. From the XRD analysis we have found that the polycrystalline CFTS thin film was only obtained by thermal annealed in sulfur atmosphere under a high vacuum of 400 °C temperature during 2 h. Optical study reveals that the thin films have relatively high absorption coefficients (≈ 105cm-1) and the values of optical band gap energy ranged between 1.38 and 1.48 eV. Other optical parameters were evaluated according to the models of Wemple Di-Domenico and Spitzer-Fan. Finally, hot probe measurements of CFTS thin films reveal p-type conductivity.

  12. Effect of lead ion concentration on the structural and optical properties of nano-crystalline PbS thin films

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zaman, S.; Mehmood, S. K.; Mansoor, M.; Asim, M. M.

    2014-06-01

    PbS thin films have received considerable attention because of their potential applications in opto-electronics applications. Spontaneous reaction of lead acetate and thiourea in aqueous hydrazine hydrate has been used for depositing PbS thin films on glass substrates. Structural and optical properties of PbS thin films are greatly influenced by the morality of the reactants and crystal defects in the lattice. Our work focuses on the variation in lead ion concentration and its effect on the structural and optical properties of PbS thin films. The deposited films were analyzed using XRD, SEM, spectrophotometer and dark resistance measurement. XRD patterns indicated the formation of major phase of nano crystalline PbS with minor presence of lead oxide phase. We also noticed that peak intensity ratio of I111/I200 varied by changing the Pb ion concentration. The film thickness and dark resistance increased whereas optical band gap decreased with the decreasing Pb ion concentration. SEM scans showed that the grain size is less than 100 nm and is not affected by varying Pb ion concentration.

  13. Structural and optical properties of cobalt doped multiferroics BiFeO3 nanostructure thin films

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Prasannakumara, R.; Naik, K. Gopalakrishna

    2018-05-01

    Bismuth ferrite (BiFeO3) and Cobalt doped BiFeO3 (BiFe1-XCoXO3) nanostructure thin films were deposited on glass substrates by the sol-gel spin coating method. The X-ray diffraction patterns (XRD) of the grown BiFeO3 and BiFe1-XCoXO3 nanostructure thin films showed distorted rhombohedral structure. The shifting of peaks to higher angles was observed in cobalt doped BiFeO3. The surface morphology of the BiFeO3 and BiFe1-XCoXO3 nanostructure thin films were studied using FESEM, an increase in grain size was observed as Co concentration increases. The thickness of the nanostructure thin films was examined using FESEM cross-section. The EDX studies confirmed the elemental composition of the grown BiFeO3 and BiFe1-XCoXO3 nanostructure thin films. The optical characterizations of the grown nanostructure thin films were carried out using FTIR, it confirms the existence of Fe-O and Bi-O bands and UV-Visible spectroscopy shows the increase in optical band gap of the BiFeO3 nanostructure thin films with Co doping by ploting Tauc plot.

  14. Effect of substrate baking temperature on zinc sulfide and germanium thin films optical parameters

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Liu, Fang; Gao, Jiaobo; Yang, Chongmin; Zhang, Jianfu; Liu, Yongqiang; Liu, Qinglong; Wang, Songlin; Mi, Gaoyuan; Wang, Huina

    2016-10-01

    ZnS and Ge are very normal optical thin film materials in Infrared wave. Studying the influence of different substrate baking temperature to refractive index and actual deposition rates is very important to promote optical thin film quality. In the same vacuum level, monitoring thickness and evaporation rate, we use hot evaporation to deposit ZnS thin film materials and use ion-assisted electron beam to deposit Ge thin film materials with different baking temperature. We measure the spectral transmittance with the spectrophotometer and calculate the actual deposition rates and the refractive index in different temperature. With the higher and higher temperature in a particular range, ZnS and Ge refractive index become higher and actual deposition rates become smaller. The refractive index of Ge film material change with baking temperature is more sensitive than ZnS. However, ZnS film actual deposition rates change with baking temperature is more sensitive than Ge.

  15. Tunable liquid microlens arrays in electrode-less configuration and their accurate characterization by interference microscopy.

    PubMed

    Miccio, L; Finizio, A; Grilli, S; Vespini, V; Paturzo, M; De Nicola, S; Ferraro, Pietro

    2009-02-16

    A special class of tunable liquid microlenses is presented here. The microlenses are generated by an electrowetting effect under an electrode-less configuration and they exhibit two different regimes that are named here as separated lens regime (SLR) and wave-like lens regime (WLR). The lens effect is induced by the pyroelectricity of polar dielectric crystals, as was proved in principle in a previous work by the same authors (S. Grilli et al., Opt. Express 16, 8084, 2008). Compared to that work, the improvements to the experimental set-up and procedure allow to reveal the two lens regimes which exhibit different optical properties. A digital holography technique is used to reconstruct the transmitted wavefront during focusing and a focal length variation in the millimetre range is observed. The tunability of such microlenses could be of great interest to the field of micro-optics thanks to the possibility to achieve focus tuning without moving parts and thus favouring the miniaturization of the optical systems.

  16. Auxiliary-cavity-assisted ground-state cooling of an optically levitated nanosphere in the unresolved-sideband regime

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Feng, Jin-Shan; Tan, Lei; Gu, Huai-Qiang; Liu, Wu-Ming

    2017-12-01

    We theoretically analyze the ground-state cooling of an optically levitated nanosphere in the unresolved-sideband regime by introducing a coupled high-quality-factor cavity. On account of the quantum interference stemming from the presence of the coupled cavity, the spectral density of the optical force exerting on the nanosphere gets changed and then the symmetry between the heating and the cooling processes is broken. Through adjusting the detuning of a strong-dissipative cavity mode, one obtains an enhanced net cooling rate for the nanosphere. It is illustrated that the ground-state cooling can be realized in the unresolved sideband regime even if the effective optomechanical coupling is weaker than the frequency of the nanosphere, which can be understood by the picture that the effective interplay of the nanosphere and the auxiliary cavity mode brings the system back to an effective resolved regime. Besides, the coupled cavity refines the dynamical stability of the system.

  17. Effect of cell thickness on the electrical and optical properties of thin film silicon solar cell

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zaki, A. A.; El-Amin, A. A.

    2017-12-01

    In this work Electrical and optical properties of silicon thin films with different thickness were measured. The thickness of the Si films varied from 100 to 800 μm. The optical properties of the cell were studied at different thickness. A maximum achievable current density (MACD) generated by a planar solar cell, was measured for different values of the cell thickness which was performed by using photovoltaic (PV) optics method. It was found that reducing the values of the cell thickness improves the open-circuit voltage (VOC) and the fill factor (FF) of the solar cell. The optical properties were measured for thin film Si (TF-Si) at different thickness by using the double beam UV-vis-NIR spectrophotometer in the wavelength range of 300-2000 nm. Some of optical parameters such as refractive index with dispersion relation, the dispersion energy, the oscillator energy, optical band gap energy were calculated by using the spectra for the TF-Si with different thickness.

  18. Thin film lithium niobate electro-optic modulator with terahertz operating bandwidth.

    PubMed

    Mercante, Andrew J; Shi, Shouyuan; Yao, Peng; Xie, Linli; Weikle, Robert M; Prather, Dennis W

    2018-05-28

    We present a thin film crystal ion sliced (CIS) LiNbO 3 phase modulator that demonstrates an unprecedented measured electro-optic (EO) response up to 500 GHz. Shallow rib waveguides are utilized for guiding a single transverse electric (TE) optical mode, and Au coplanar waveguides (CPWs) support the modulating radio frequency (RF) mode. Precise index matching between the co-propagating RF and optical modes is responsible for the device's broadband response, which is estimated to extend even beyond 500 GHz. Matching the velocities of these co-propagating RF and optical modes is realized by cladding the modulator's interaction region in a thin UV15 polymer layer, which increases the RF modal index. The fabricated modulator possesses a tightly confined optical mode, which lends itself to a strong interaction between the modulating RF field and the guided optical carrier; resulting in a measured DC half-wave voltage of 3.8 V·cm -1 . The design, fabrication, and characterization of our broadband modulator is presented in this work.

  19. Optical Properties of Nanocellulose Dispersions in Water, Dimethylformamide and Poly(Methyl Methacrylate)

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2013-10-01

    measurements for cellulose and PMMA thin- films . ..13  v List of Tables Table 1. Recorded optical data for nanocellulose in water...applications beyond thin films . In particular, the effects of nanocellulose fibers in higher concentrations, processed in different solvents, and...Optical Properties of Nanocellulose Dispersions in Water, Dimethylformamide and Poly(Methyl Methacrylate) by James F. Snyder, Joshua Steele

  20. Enhanced sensitivity for optical loss measurement in planar thin-films (Conference Presentation)

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Yuan, Hua-Kang

    2016-09-01

    An organic-inorganic hybrid material benefits from processing advantages of organics and high refractive indices of inorganics. We focus on a titanium oxide hydrate system combined with common bulk polymers. In particular, we target thin-film structures of a few microns in thickness. Traditional Beer-Lambert approaches for measuring optical losses can only provide an upper limit estimate. This sensitivity is highly limited when considering the low-losses required for mid-range optical applications, on the order of 0.1 cm-1. For intensity based measurements, improving the sensitivity requires an increase in the optical path length. Instead, a new sensitive technique suitable for simple planar thin films is required. A number of systems were modelled to measure optical losses in films of 1 micron thick. The presented techniques utilise evanescent waves and total internal reflection to increase optical path length through the material. It was found that a new way of using prism coupling provides the greatest improvement in sensitivity. In keeping the requirements on the material simple, this method for measuring loss is well suited to any future developments of new materials in thin-film structures.

  1. Terahertz transmission properties of an individual slit in a thin metallic plate.

    PubMed

    Lee, J W; Park, T H; Nordlander, Peter; Mittleman, Daniel M

    2009-07-20

    We report on the terahertz transmission properties through a single slit in a thin metallic film. The properties are studied by comparing the transmissions of TE- and TM-polarized electromagnetic waves over a broad spectral range from the geometrical regime to the subwavelength limit. In the geometrical regime, the remarkable terahertz transmission due to guided modes is observed even without the contribution of surface waves. Whereas in the subwavelength limit, the surface charge oscillations associated with the TM-polarized guided mode give rise to strong transmission enhancement. The nature of the mechanisms for the terahertz transmission is elucidated using theoretical simulations of the near-field distributions and electromagnetic energy flow.

  2. Asymptotic behaviour of Stokes flow in a thin domain with a moving rough boundary

    PubMed Central

    Fabricius, J.; Koroleva, Y. O.; Tsandzana, A.; Wall, P.

    2014-01-01

    We consider a problem that models fluid flow in a thin domain bounded by two surfaces. One of the surfaces is rough and moving, whereas the other is flat and stationary. The problem involves two small parameters ϵ and μ that describe film thickness and roughness wavelength, respectively. Depending on the ratio λ=ϵ/μ, three different flow regimes are obtained in the limit as both of them tend to zero. Time-dependent equations of Reynolds type are obtained in all three cases (Stokes roughness, Reynolds roughness and high-frequency roughness regime). The derivations of the limiting equations are based on formal expansions in the parameters ϵ and μ. PMID:25002820

  3. DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Aytug, Tolga

    Maintaining clarity and avoiding the accumulation of water and dirt on optically transparent surfaces such as US military vehicle windshields, viewports, periscope optical head windows, and electronic equipment cover glasses are critical to providing a high level of visibility, improved survivability, and much-needed safety for warfighters in the field. Through a combination of physical vapor deposition techniques and the exploitation of metastable phase separation in low-alkali borosilicate, a novel technology was developed for the fabrication of optically transparent, porous nanostructured silica thin film coatings that are strongly bonded to glass platforms. The nanotextured films, initially structurally superhydrophilic, exhibit superior superhydrophobicity,more » hence antisoiling ability, following a simple but robust modification in surface chemistry. The surfaces yield water droplet contact angles as high as 172°. Moreover, the nanostructured nature of these coatings provides increased light scattering in the UV regime and reduced reflectivity (i.e., enhanced transmission) over a broad range of the visible spectrum. In addition to these functionalities, the coatings exhibit superior mechanical resistance to abrasion and are thermally stable to temperatures approaching 500°C. The overall process technology relies on industry standard equipment and inherently scalable manufacturing processes and demands only nontoxic, naturally abundant, and inexpensive base materials. Such coatings, applied to the optical components of current and future combat equipment and military vehicles will provide a significant strategic advantage for warfighters. The inherent self-cleaning properties of such superhydrophobic coatings will also mitigate biofouling of optical windows exposed to high-humidity conditions and can help decrease repair/replacement costs, reduce maintenance, and increase readiness by limiting equipment downtime.« less

  4. Mechanical design of thin-film diamond crystal mounting apparatus with optimized thermal contact and crystal strain for coherence preservation x-ray optics

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Shu, Deming; Shvydko, Yury; Stoupin, Stanislav

    A method and mechanical design for a thin-film diamond crystal mounting apparatus for coherence preservation x-ray optics with optimized thermal contact and minimized crystal strain are provided. The novel thin-film diamond crystal mounting apparatus mounts a thin-film diamond crystal supported by a thick chemical vapor deposition (CVD) diamond film spacer with a thickness slightly thicker than the thin-film diamond crystal, and two groups of thin film thermal conductors, such as thin CVD diamond film thermal conductor groups separated by the thick CVD diamond spacer. The two groups of thin CVD film thermal conductors provide thermal conducting interface media with themore » thin-film diamond crystal. A piezoelectric actuator is integrated into a flexural clamping mechanism generating clamping force from zero to an optimal level.« less

  5. Magneto-optical Kerr rotation and color in ultrathin lossy dielectric

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zhang, Jing; Wang, Hai; Qu, Xin; Zhou, Yun song; Li, Li na

    2017-05-01

    Ultra-thin optical coating comprising nanometer-thick silicon absorbing films on iron substrates can display strong optical interference effects. A resonance peak of ∼1.6^\\circ longitudinal Kerr rotation with the silicon thickness of ∼47 \\text{nm} was found at the wavelength of 660 nm. The optical properties of silicon thin films were well controlled by the sputtering power. Non-iridescence color exhibition and Kerr rotation enhancement can be manipulated and encoded individually.

  6. Structural and optical properties of Sb65Se35-xGex thin films

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Saleh, S. A.; Al-Hajry, A.; Ali, H. M.

    2011-07-01

    Sb65Se35-xGex (x=0-20 at.%) thin films, prepared by the electron beam evaporation technique on ultrasonically cleaned glass substrates at 300 K, were investigated. The amorphous structure of the thin films was confirmed by x-ray diffraction analysis. The structure was deduced from the Raman spectra measured for all germanium contents in the Sb-Se-Ge matrix. The absorption coefficient (α) of the films was determined by optical transmission measurements. The compositional dependence of the optical band gap is discussed in light of topological and chemical ordered network models.

  7. Influence of annealing temperature on optical properties of Al doped ZnO nanoparticles via sol-gel methods

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Rashid, Affa Rozana Abd; Hazwani, Tuan Nur; Mukhtar, Wan Maisarah; Taib, Nur Athirah Mohd

    2018-06-01

    Zinc oxide (ZnO) thin films have become technologically important materials due to their wide range of electrical and optical properties. The characteristics can be further adjusted by adequate doping processes. The effect of dopant concentration of Al, heating treatment and annealing in reducing atmosphere on the optical properties of the thin films is discussed. Undoped and aluminum-doped zinc oxide (AZO) thin films are prepared by the sol-gel method. Zinc acetate dihydrate, 2-methoxyethanol and monoethanolamine are used as precursor, solvent and stabilizer. In the case of AZO, aluminum nitrate nanohydrate is added to the precursor solution with an atomic percentage equal to 0 %, 1 %, 2 % and 3 % of Al. The multi thin layers are transformed into ZnO upon annealing at 450 °C and 500 °C. The optical properties such as transmittance, absorbance, band gap and refractive index of the thin films have been investigated by using UV-Visible Spectroscopy (UV-Vis). The results show that the effect of aluminium dopant concentration on the optical properties is depend on the post-heat treatment of the films. By doping with Al, the transmittance spectra in visible range increased and widen the band gap of ZnO which might due to Burstein-moss effects.

  8. Optical and Nonlinear Optical Response of Light Sensor Thin Films

    PubMed Central

    Liu, Huimin; Rua, Armando; Vasquez, Omar; Vikhnin, Valentin S.; Fernandez, Felix E.; Fonseca, Luis F.; Resto, Oscar; Weisz, Svi Z.

    2005-01-01

    For potential ultrafast optical sensor application, both VO2 thin films and nanocomposite crystal-Si enriched SiO2 thin films grown on fused quartz substrates were successfully prepared using pulsed laser deposition (PLD) and RF co-sputtering techniques. In photoluminescence (PL) measurement c-Si/SiO2 film contains nanoparticles of crystal Si exhibits strong red emission with the band maximum ranging from 580 to 750 nm. With ultrashort pulsed laser excitation all films show extremely intense and ultrafast nonlinear optical (NLO) response. The recorded holography from all these thin films in a degenerate-four-wave-mixing configuration shows extremely large third-order response. For VO2 thin films, an optically induced semiconductor-to-metal phase transition (PT) immediately occurred upon laser excitation. it accompanied. It turns out that the fast excited state dynamics was responsible to the induced PT. For c-Si/SiO2 film, its NLO response comes from the contribution of charge carriers created by laser excitation in conduction band of the c-Si nanoparticles. It was verified by introducing Eu3+ which is often used as a probe sensing the environment variations. It turns out that the entire excited state dynamical process associated with the creation, movement and trapping of the charge carriers has a characteristic 500 ps duration.

  9. Optically transparent super-hydrophobic thin film fabricated by reusable polyurethane-acrylate (PUA) mold

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Park, J.-S.; Park, J.-H.; Lee, D.-W.

    2018-02-01

    In this paper, we describe a simple manufacturing method for producing an optically transparent super-hydrophobic polymer thin film using a reusable photo-curable polymer mold. Soluble photoresist (PR) molds were prepared with under-exposed and under-baked processes, which created unique hierarchical micro/nano structures. The reverse phase of the PR mold was replicated on the surface of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) substrates. The unique patterns on the replicated PDMS molds were successfully transferred back to the UV curable polyurethane-acrylate (PUA) using a laboratory-made UV exposure system. Continuous production of the super-hydrophobic PDMS thin film was demonstrated using the reusable PUA mold. In addition, hydrophobic nano-silica powder was sprayed onto the micro/nano structured PDMS surfaces to further improve hydrophobicity. The fabricated PDMS thin films with hierarchical surface texturing showed a water contact angle  ⩾150°. Excellent optical transmittance within the range of visible light of wavelengths between 400-800 nm was experimentally confirmed using a spectrophotometer. High efficiency of the super-hydrophobic PDMS film in optical transparency was also confirmed using solar panels. The fabricated PUA molds are very suitable for use in roll-to-roll or roll-to-plate systems which allow continuous production of super-hydrophobic thin films with an excellent optical transparency.

  10. Optical switching and photoluminescence in erbium-implanted vanadium dioxide thin films

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lim, Herianto; Stavrias, Nikolas; Johnson, Brett C.; Marvel, Robert E.; Haglund, Richard F.; McCallum, Jeffrey C.

    2014-03-01

    Vanadium dioxide (VO2) is under intensive consideration for optical switching due to its reversible phase transition, which features a drastic and rapid shift in infrared reflectivity. Classified as an insulator-to-metal transition, the phase transition in VO2 can be induced thermally, electrically, and optically. When induced optically, the transition can occur on sub-picosecond time scales. It is interesting to dope VO2 with erbium ions (Er3+) and observe their combined properties. The first excited-state luminescence of Er3+ lies within the wavelength window of minimal transmission-loss in silicon and has been widely utilized for signal amplification and generation in silicon photonics. The incorporation of Er3+ into VO2 could therefore result in a novel photonic material capable of simultaneous optical switching and amplification. In this work, we investigate the optical switching and photoluminescence in Er-implanted VO2 thin films. Thermally driven optical switching is demonstrated in the Er-implanted VO2 by infrared reflectometry. Photoluminescence is observed in the thin films annealed at ˜800 °C or above. In addition, Raman spectroscopy and a statistical analysis of switching hysteresis are carried out to assess the effects of the ion implantation on the VO2 thin films. We conclude that Er-implanted VO2 can function as an optical switch and amplifier, but with reduced switching quality compared to pure VO2.

  11. On the dielectric and optical properties of surface-anchored metal-organic frameworks: A study on epitaxially grown thin films

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Redel, Engelbert; Wang, Zhengbang; Walheim, Stefan; Liu, Jinxuan; Gliemann, Hartmut; Wöll, Christof

    2013-08-01

    We determine the optical constants of two highly porous, crystalline metal-organic frameworks (MOFs). Since it is problematic to determine the optical constants for the standard powder modification of these porous solids, we instead use surface-anchored metal-organic frameworks (SURMOFs). These MOF thin films are grown using liquid phase epitaxy (LPE) on modified silicon substrates. The produced SURMOF thin films exhibit good optical properties; these porous coatings are smooth as well as crack-free, they do not scatter visible light, and they have a homogenous interference color over the entire sample. Therefore, spectroscopic ellipsometry (SE) can be used in a straightforward fashion to determine the corresponding SURMOF optical properties. After careful removal of the solvent molecules used in the fabrication process as well as the residual water adsorbed in the voids of this highly porous solid, we determine an optical constant of n = 1.39 at a wavelength of 750 nm for HKUST-1 (stands for Hong Kong University of Science and Technology-1; and was first discovered there) or [Cu3(BTC)2]. After exposing these SURMOF thin films to moisture/EtOH atmosphere, the refractive index (n) increases to n = 1.55-1.6. This dependence of the optical properties on water/EtOH adsorption demonstrates the potential of such SURMOF materials for optical sensing.

  12. Growth and nonlinear optical characterization of organic single crystal films

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zhou, Ligui

    1997-12-01

    Organic single crystal films are important for various future applications in photonics and integrated optics. The conventional method for inorganic crystal growth is not suitable for organic materials, and the high temperature melting method is not good for most organic materials due to decomposition problems. We developed a new method-modified shear method-to grow large area organic single crystal thin films which have exceptional nonlinear optical properties and high quality surfaces. Several organic materials (NPP, PNP and DAST) were synthesized and purified before the thin film crystal growth. Organic single crystal thin films were grown from saturated organic solutions using modified shear method. The area of single crystal films were about 1.5 cm2 for PNP, 1 cm2 for NPP and 5 mm2 for DAST. The thickness of the thin films which could be controlled by the applied pressure ranged from 1μm to 10 μm. The single crystal thin films of organic materials were characterized by polarized microscopy, x-ray diffraction, polarized UV-Visible and polarized micro-FTIR spectroscopy. Polarized microscopy showed uniform birefringence and complete extinction with the rotation of the single crystal thin films under crossed- polarization, which indicated high quality single crystals with no scattering. The surface orientation of single crystal thin films was characterized by x-ray diffraction. The molecular orientation within the crystal was further studied by the polarized UV-Visible and Polarized micro-FTIR techniques combined with the x-ray and polarized microscopy results. A Nd:YAG laser with 35 picosecond pulses at 1064nm wavelength was employed to perform the nonlinear optical characterization of the organic single crystal thin films. Two measurement techniques were used to study the crystal films: second harmonic generation (SHG) and electro-optic (EO) effect. SHG results showed that the nonlinear optical coefficient of NPP was 18 times that of LiNbO3, a standard inorganic crystal material, and the nonlinear optical coefficient of PNP was 11 times that of LiNbO3. Electro-optic measurements showed that r11 = 65 pm/V for NPP and r12 = 350 pm/V for DAST. EO modulation effect was also observed using Fabry-Perot interferometry. Waveguide devices are very important for integrated optics. But the fabrication of waveguide devices on the organic single crystal thin films was difficult due to the solubility of the film in common organic solvents. A modified photolithographic technique was employed to make channel waveguides and poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) was used as a protective layer in the fabrication of the waveguides. Waveguides with dimensions about 7/mum x 1μm x 1mm were obtained.

  13. About the feasibilities of controlling the properties of thermoelectric energy converters using optical radiation

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kshevetsky, Oleg S.

    2018-01-01

    We represent evaluating analysis of the feasibilities for controlling the properties of thermoelectric energy converters using EM radiation in the regimes of cooling, heating, electromotive force generation, or electric current generation. Thus we investigate the influence of optical radiation both on electric conductivity and thermo-electromotive force coefficient of thermoelectric materials. We also discuss promising applications for controlling the properties of thermoelectric energy converters using EM radiation. We represent the results of experimental study of positionsensitive energy converters in the regimes of electromotive force generation and the electric current generation (in part, photo-thermoelectric position-sensitive temperature detectors), position-sensitive photo-thermoelectric energy converters in the regimes of cooling, heating, parallel photoelectric and thermoelectric conversion of sun-light optical radiation into electric power.

  14. Controlling the scattering properties of thin, particle-doped coatings

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Rogers, William; Corbett, Madeleine; Manoharan, Vinothan

    2013-03-01

    Coatings and thin films of small particles suspended in a matrix possess optical properties that are important in several industries from cosmetics and paints to polymer composites. Many of the most interesting applications require coatings that produce several bulk effects simultaneously, but it is often difficult to rationally formulate materials with these desired optical properties. Here, we focus on the specific challenge of designing a thin colloidal film that maximizes both diffuse and total hemispherical transmission. We demonstrate that these bulk optical properties follow a simple scaling with two microscopic length scales: the scattering and transport mean free paths. Using these length scales and Mie scattering calculations, we generate basic design rules that relate scattering at the single particle level to the film's bulk optical properties. These ideas will be useful in the rational design of future optically active coatings.

  15. Application of complex geometrical optics to determination of thermal, transport, and optical parameters of thin films by the photothermal beam deflection technique.

    PubMed

    Korte, Dorota; Franko, Mladen

    2015-01-01

    In this work, complex geometrical optics is, for what we believe is the first time, applied instead of geometrical or wave optics to describe the probe beam interaction with the field of the thermal wave in photothermal beam deflection (photothermal deflection spectroscopy) experiments on thin films. On the basis of this approach the thermal (thermal diffusivity and conductivity), optical (energy band gap), and transport (carrier lifetime) parameters of the semiconductor thin films (pure TiO2, N- and C-doped TiO2, or TiO2/SiO2 composites deposited on a glass or aluminum support) were determined with better accuracy and simultaneously during one measurement. The results are in good agreement with results obtained by the use of other methods and reported in the literature.

  16. The role of cerebral spinal fluid in light propagation through the mouse head: improving fluorescence tomography with Monte Carlo modeling

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ancora, Daniele; Zacharopoulos, Athanasios; Ripoll, Jorge; Zacharakis, Giannis

    2016-03-01

    Optical Neuroimaging is a highly dynamical field of research owing to the combination of many advanced imaging techniques and computational tools that uncovered unexplored paths through the functioning of the brain. Light propagation modelling through such complicated structures has always played a crucial role as the basis for a high resolution and quantitative imaging where even the slightest improvement could lead to significant results. Fluorescence Diffuse Optical Tomography (fDOT), a widely used technique for three dimensional imaging of small animals and tissues, has been proved to be inaccurate for neuroimaging the mouse head without the knowledge of a-priori anatomical information of the subject. Commonly a normalized Born approximation model is used in fDOT reconstruction based on forward photon propagation using Diffusive Equation (DE) which has strong limitations in the optically clear regime. The presence of the Cerebral Spinal Fluid (CSF) instead, a thin optically clear layer surrounding the brain, can be more accurately taken into account using Monte Carlo approaches which nowadays is becoming more usable thanks to parallelized GPU algorithms. In this work we discuss the results of a synthetic experimental comparison, resulting to the increase of the accuracy for the Born approximation by introducing the CSF layer in a realistic mouse head structure with respect to the current model. We point out the importance of such clear layer for complex geometrical models, while for simple slab phantoms neglecting it does not introduce a significant error.

  17. Short pulse generation from a passively mode-locked fiber optical parametric oscillator with optical time-stretch.

    PubMed

    Qiu, Yi; Wei, Xiaoming; Du, Shuxin; Wong, Kenneth K Y; Tsia, Kevin K; Xu, Yiqing

    2018-04-16

    We propose a passively mode-locked fiber optical parametric oscillator assisted with optical time-stretch. Thanks to the lately developed optical time-stretch technique, the onset oscillating spectral components can be temporally dispersed across the pump envelope and further compete for the parametric gain with the other parts of onset oscillating sidebands within the pump envelope. By matching the amount of dispersion in optical time-stretch with the pulse width of the quasi-CW pump and oscillating one of the parametric sidebands inside the fiber cavity, we numerically show that the fiber parametric oscillator can be operated in a single pulse regime. By varying the amount of the intracavity dispersion, we further verify that the origin of this single pulse mode-locking regime is due to the optical pulse stretching and compression.

  18. Far-field optical imaging with subdiffraction resolution enabled by nonlinear saturation absorption

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ding, Chenliang; Wei, Jingsong

    2016-01-01

    The resolution of far-field optical imaging is required to improve beyond the Abbe limit to the subdiffraction or even the nanoscale. In this work, inspired by scanning electronic microscopy (SEM) imaging, in which carbon (or Au) thin films are usually required to be coated on the sample surface before imaging to remove the charging effect while imaging by electrons. We propose a saturation-absorption-induced far-field super-resolution optical imaging method (SAI-SRIM). In the SAI-SRIM, the carbon (or Au) layers in SEM imaging are replaced by nonlinear-saturation-absorption (NSA) thin films, which are directly coated onto the sample surfaces using advanced thin film deposition techniques. The surface fluctuant morphologies are replicated to the NSA thin films, accordingly. The coated sample surfaces are then imaged using conventional laser scanning microscopy. Consequently, the imaging resolution is greatly improved, and subdiffraction-resolved optical images are obtained theoretically and experimentally. The SAI-SRIM provides an effective and easy way to achieve far-field super-resolution optical imaging for sample surfaces with geometric fluctuant morphology characteristics.

  19. Conformal self-assembled thin films for optical pH sensors

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Topasna, Daniela M.; Topasna, Gregory A.; Liu, Minghanbo; Tseng, Ching-Hung

    2016-04-01

    Simple, reliable, lightweight, and inexpensive thin films based sensors are still in intense development and high demand in many applications such as biomedical, industrial, environmental, military, and consumer products. One important class of sensors is the optical pH sensor. In addition, conformal thin film based sensors extend the range of application for pH optical sensors. We present the results on the fabrication and characterization of optical pH sensing coatings made through ionic self-assembled technique. These thin films are based on the combination of a polyelectrolyte and water-soluble organic dye molecule Direct Yellow 4. A series of films was fabricated and characterized in order to determine the optimized parameters of the polymer and of the organic dye solutions. The optical pH responses of these films were also studied. The transparent films were immersed in solutions at various temperature and pH values. The films are stable when immersed in solutions with pH below 9.0 and temperatures below 90 °C and they maintain their performance after longer immersion times. We also demonstrate the functionality of these coatings as conformal films.

  20. Threshold thickness for applying diffusion equation in thin tissue optical imaging

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zhang, Yunyao; Zhu, Jingping; Cui, Weiwen; Nie, Wei; Li, Jie; Xu, Zhenghong

    2014-08-01

    We investigated the suitability of the semi-infinite model of the diffusion equation when using diffuse optical imaging (DOI) to image thin tissues with double boundaries. Both diffuse approximation and Monte Carlo methods were applied to simulate light propagation in the thin tissue model with variable optical parameters and tissue thicknesses. A threshold value of the tissue thickness was defined as the minimum thickness in which the semi-infinite model exhibits the same reflected intensity as that from the double-boundary model and was generated as the final result. In contrast to our initial hypothesis that all optical properties would affect the threshold thickness, our results show that only absorption coefficient is the dominant parameter and the others are negligible. The threshold thickness decreases from 1 cm to 4 mm as the absorption coefficient grows from 0.01 mm-1 to 0.2 mm-1. A look-up curve was derived to guide the selection of the appropriate model during the optical diagnosis of thin tissue cancers. These results are useful in guiding the development of the endoscopic DOI for esophageal, cervical and colorectal cancers, among others.

  1. The influence of voltage applied between the electrodes on optical and morphological properties of the InGaN thin films grown by thermionic vacuum arc.

    PubMed

    Özen, Soner; Şenay, Volkan; Pat, Suat; Korkmaz, Şadan

    2016-01-01

    The aim of this research is to investigate the optical and morphological properties of the InGaN thin films deposited onto amorphous glass substrates in two separate experiments with two different voltages applied between the electrodes, i.e. 500 and 600 V by means of the thermionic vacuum arc technique. This technique is original for thin film deposition and it enables thin film production in a very short period of time. The optical and morphological properties of the films were investigated by using field emission scanning electron microscope, atomic force microscope, spectroscopic ellipsometer, reflectometer, spectrophotometer, and optical tensiometer. Optical properties were also supported by empirical relations. The deposition rates were calculated as 3 and 3.3 nm/sec for 500 and 600 V, respectively. The increase in the voltage also increased the refractive index, grain size, root mean square roughness and surface free energy. According to the results of the wetting experiments, InGaN samples were low-wettable, also known as hydrophobic. © Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  2. Study of optical properties of vacuum evaporated carbon nanotube containing Se80Te16Cu4 thin films

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Upadhyay, A. N.; Tiwari, R. S.; Singh, Kedar

    2016-08-01

    Thin films of Se80Te16Cu4 glassy alloy and 3 wt.% of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) containing Se80Te16Cu4 glassy composite were deposited on clean glass substrate by thermal evaporation technique. The scanning electron microscope and energy dispersive x-ray analysis were performed to investigate the surface morphology and elemental composition of as synthesised samples. The reflectance and transmittance spectra of as-deposited thin films were recorded (200-1100 nm) by using UV/VIS/NIR spectrophotometer. The optical band gap and optical constants such as absorption coefficient (α), refractive index (n) and extinction coefficient (k) of Se80Te16Cu4 and 3 wt.% CNTs-Se80Te16Cu4 glassy composite thin films were calculated. It is observed that optical properties alter due to CNTs incorporation in Se80Te16Cu4 glassy alloy. Effect on optical properties due to CNTs incorporation can be explained in terms of concentration of unsaturated bonds/defects in the localised states.

  3. Excitation of epsilon-near-zero resonance in ultra-thin indium tin oxide shell embedded nanostructured optical fiber.

    PubMed

    Minn, Khant; Anopchenko, Aleksei; Yang, Jingyi; Lee, Ho Wai Howard

    2018-02-05

    We report a novel optical waveguide design of a hollow step index fiber modified with a thin layer of indium tin oxide (ITO). We show an excitation of highly confined waveguide mode in the proposed fiber near the wavelength where permittivity of ITO approaches zero. Due to the high field confinement within thin ITO shell inside the fiber, the epsilon-near-zero (ENZ) mode can be characterized by a peak in modal loss of the hybrid waveguide. Our results show that such in-fiber excitation of ENZ mode is due to the coupling of the guided core mode to the thin-film ENZ mode. We also show that the phase matching wavelength, where the coupling takes place, varies depending on the refractive index of the constituents inside the central bore of the fiber. These ENZ nanostructured optical fibers have many potential applications, for example, in ENZ nonlinear and magneto-optics, as in-fiber wavelength-dependent filters, and as subwavelength fluid channel for optical and bio-photonic sensing.

  4. Transmission properties of a single metallic slit: from the subwavelength regime to the geometrical-optics limit.

    PubMed

    Bravo-Abad, J; Martín-Moreno, L; García-Vidal, F J

    2004-02-01

    In this work we explore the transmission properties of a single slit in a metallic screen. We analyze the dependence of these properties on both slit width and angle of incident radiation. We study in detail the crossover between the subwavelength regime and the geometrical-optics limit. In the subwavelength regime, resonant transmission linked to the excitation of waveguide resonances is analyzed. Linewidth of these resonances and their associated electric-field intensities are controlled by just the width of the slit. More complex transmission spectra appear when the wavelength of light is comparable to the slit width. Rapid oscillations associated with the emergence of different propagating modes inside the slit are the main features appearing in this regime.

  5. Stability and dewetting of metal nanoparticle filled thin polymer films: control of instability length scale and dynamics.

    PubMed

    Mukherjee, Rabibrata; Das, Soma; Das, Anindya; Sharma, Satinder K; Raychaudhuri, Arup K; Sharma, Ashutosh

    2010-07-27

    We investigate the influence of gold nanoparticle addition on the stability, dewetting, and pattern formation in ultrathin polymer-nanoparticle (NP) composite films by examining the length and time scales of instability, morphology, and dynamics of dewetting. For these 10-50 nm thick (h) polystyrene (PS) thin films containing uncapped gold nanoparticles (diameter approximately 3-4 nm), transitions from complete dewetting to arrested dewetting to absolute stability were observed depending on the concentration of the particles. Experiments show the existence of three distinct stability regimes: regime 1, complete dewetting leading to droplet formation for nanoparticle concentration of 2% (w/w) or below; regime 2, partial dewetting leading to formation of arrested holes for NP concentrations in the range of 3-6%; and regime 3, complete inhibition of dewetting for NP concentrations of 7% and above. Major results are (a) length scale of instability, where lambdaH approximately hn remains unchanged with NP concentration in regime 1 (n approximately 2) but increases in regime 2 with a change in the scaling relation (n approximately 3-3.5); (b) dynamics of instability and dewetting becomes progressively sluggish with an increase in the NP concentration; (c) there are distinct regimes of dewetting velocity at low NP concentrations; (d) force modulation AFM, as well as micro-Raman analysis, shows phase separation and aggregation of the gold nanoparticles within each dewetted polymer droplet leading to the formation of a metal core-polymer shell morphology. The polymer shell could be removed by washing in a selective solvent, thus exposing an array of bare gold nanoparticle aggregates.

  6. Power losses in diffuse ultraviolet optical communications channels.

    PubMed

    Raptis, Nikos; Pikasis, Evangelos; Syvridis, Dimitris

    2016-09-15

    One of the most critical parameters in free-space optical communications systems operating in a non-line-of-sight regime are the optical losses. In this Letter, we numerically calculate these losses taking into account the scattering effects using the Monte Carlo simulation technique. The obtained results are compared with experimentally obtained data at 265 nm (solar-blind UV regime). A large set of measurements at distances up to 20 m, for different elevation angles of the transmitter (UV-LEDs) and receiver (photomultiplier tube) and for different atmospheric conditions has been taken for the characterization of the optical communications channel in terms of its loss properties.

  7. Characterization of devices, circuits, and high-temperature superconductor transmission lines by electro-optic testing

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Whitaker, John F.

    1991-01-01

    The development of a capability for testing transmission lines, devices, and circuits using the optically-based technique of electro-optics sampling was the goal of this project. Electro-optic network analysis of a high-speed device was demonstrated. The project involved research on all of the facets necessary in order to realize this result, including the discovery of the optimum electronic pulse source, development of an adequate test fixture, improvement of the electro-optic probe tip, and identification of a device which responded at high frequency but did not oscillate in the test fixture. In addition, during the process of investigating patterned high-critical-temperature superconductors, several non-contacting techniques for the determination of the transport properties of high T(sub c) films were developed and implemented. These are a transient, optical pump-probe, time-resolved reflectivity experiment, an impulsive-stimulated Raman scattering experiment, and a terahertz-beam coherent-spectroscopy experiment. The latter technique has enabled us to measure both the complex refractive index of an MgO substrate used for high-T(sub c) films and the complex conductivity of a YBa2Cu3O(7-x) sample. This information was acquired across an extremely wide frequency range: from the microwave to the submillimeter-wave regime. The experiments on the YBCO were conducted without patterning of, or contact to, the thin film. Thus, the need for the more difficult transmission-line experiments was eliminated. Progress in all of these areas was made and is documented in a number of papers. These papers may be found in the section listing the abstracts of the publications that were issued during the course of the research.

  8. Temperature dependent optical properties of (002) oriented ZnO thin film using surface plasmon resonance

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Saha, Shibu; Mehan, Navina; Sreenivas, K.; Gupta, Vinay

    2009-08-01

    Temperature dependent optical properties of c-axis oriented ZnO thin film were investigated using surface plasmon resonance (SPR) technique. SPR data for double layer (prism-Au-ZnO-air) and single layer (prism-Au-air) systems were taken over a temperature range (300-525 K). Dielectric constant at optical frequency and real part of refractive index of the ZnO film shows an increase with temperature. The bandgap of the oriented ZnO film was found to decrease with rise in temperature. The work indicates a promising application of the system as a temperature sensor and highlights an efficient scientific tool to study optical properties of thin film under varying ambient conditions.

  9. Mathematical modelling of thin films growth and calculation of coefficients reflection, transmission and absorption waves

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Istratov, A. V.; Gerke, M. N.

    2018-01-01

    Progress in nano- and microsystem technology is directly related to the development of thin-film technologies. At the present time, thin metal films can serve as the basis for the creation of new instruments for nanoelectronics. One of the important parameters of thin films affecting the characteristics of devices is their optical properties. That is why the island structures, whose optical properties, can change in a wide range depending on their morphology, are of increasing interest. However, despite the large amount of research conducted by scientists from different countries, many questions about the optimal production and use of thin films remain unresolved.

  10. Simulation of the optical coating deposition

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Grigoriev, Fedor; Sulimov, Vladimir; Tikhonravov, Alexander

    2018-04-01

    A brief review of the mathematical methods of thin-film growth simulation and results of their applications is presented. Both full-atomistic and multi-scale approaches that were used in the studies of thin-film deposition are considered. The results of the structural parameter simulation including density profiles, roughness, porosity, point defect concentration, and others are discussed. The application of the quantum level methods to the simulation of the thin-film electronic and optical properties is considered. Special attention is paid to the simulation of the silicon dioxide thin films.

  11. Light focusing in the Anderson regime.

    PubMed

    Leonetti, Marco; Karbasi, Salman; Mafi, Arash; Conti, Claudio

    2014-07-29

    Anderson localization is a regime in which diffusion is inhibited and waves (also electromagnetic waves) get localized. Here we exploit adaptive optics to achieve focusing in disordered optical fibres in the Anderson regime. By wavefront shaping and optimization, we observe the generation of a propagation-invariant beam, where light is trapped transversally by disorder, and show that Anderson localizations can be also excited by extended speckled beams. We demonstrate that disordered fibres allow a more efficient focusing action with respect to standard fibres in a way independent of their length, because of the propagation-invariant features and cooperative action of transverse localizations.

  12. Pyrolysis kinetics and combustion of thin wood by an advanced cone caorimetry test method

    Treesearch

    Mark Dietenberger

    2012-01-01

    Pyrolysis kinetics analysis of extractives, holocellulose, and lignin in the solid redwood over the entire heating regime was possible by specialized cone calorimeter test and new mathematical analysis tools. Added hardware components include: modified sample holder for the thin specimen with tiny thermocouples, the methane ring burner with stainless-steel mesh above...

  13. Additive patterning of ion-beam-sputtered non-conformal Ni80Fe20 and Co70Fe30 magnetic films

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Redondo, C.; Moralejo, S.; Castaño, F.; Lee, W.; Nielsch, K.; Ross, C. A.; Castaño, F. J.

    2006-04-01

    Additive patterning processes of magnetic films grown using an ion-beam sputter (IBS) system designed to produce non-conformal films are described. The effects of the ion-gun beam current and Ar pressure on the sputtering rates and roughness of Ni80Fe20 and Co70Fe30 magnetic thin films are investigated using atomic-force microscopy (AFM) and the films' magnetic properties are measured using spatially resolved magneto-optical magnetometry. By tailoring the plasma solid angle, non-conformal film growth allows for simple additive patterning down to lateral dimensions ranging from a few microns to the deep-submicron regime, using templates defined by photolithography or electron-beam lithography, and shadow masks created using templated self-assembly. The magnetization reversal exhibited by patterned sub-200 nm nanodisc arrays with different lateral edge-roughness will be discussed.

  14. Excess velocity of magnetic domain walls close to the depinning field

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Caballero, Nirvana B.; Fernández Aguirre, Iván; Albornoz, Lucas J.; Kolton, Alejandro B.; Rojas-Sánchez, Juan Carlos; Collin, Sophie; George, Jean Marie; Diaz Pardo, Rebeca; Jeudy, Vincent; Bustingorry, Sebastian; Curiale, Javier

    2017-12-01

    Magnetic field driven domain wall velocities in [Co/Ni] based multilayers thin films have been measured using polar magneto-optic Kerr effect microscopy. The low field results are shown to be consistent with the universal creep regime of domain wall motion, characterized by a stretched exponential growth of the velocity with the inverse of the applied field. Approaching the depinning field from below results in an unexpected excess velocity with respect to the creep law. We analyze these results using scaling theory to show that this speeding up of domain wall motion can be interpreted as due to the increase of the size of the deterministic relaxation close to the depinning transition. We propose a phenomenological model to accurately fit the observed excess velocity and to obtain characteristic values for the depinning field Hd, the depinning temperature Td, and the characteristic velocity scale v0 for each sample.

  15. Plasmon-exciton polaritons in two-dimensional semiconductor/metal interfaces

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Gonçalves, P. A. D.; Bertelsen, L. P.; Xiao, Sanshui; Mortensen, N. Asger

    2018-01-01

    The realization and control of polaritons is of paramount importance in the prospect of novel photonic devices. Here, we investigate the emergence of plasmon-exciton polaritons in hybrid structures consisting of a two-dimensional transition-metal dichalcogenide (TMDC) deposited onto a metal substrate or coating a metallic thin film. We determine the polaritonic spectrum and show that, in the former case, the addition of a top dielectric layer and, in the latter case, the thickness of the metal film can be used to tune and promote plasmon-exciton interactions well within the strong-coupling regime. Our results demonstrate that Rabi splittings exceeding 100 meV can readily be achieved in planar dielectric/TMDC/metal structures under ambient conditions. We thus believe that this Rapid Communication provides a simple and intuitive picture to tailor strong coupling in plexcitonics with potential applications for engineering compact photonic devices with tunable optical properties.

  16. Fluidized Bed Sputtering for Particle and Powder Metallization

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2013-04-01

    Introduction Small particles are often added to material systems to modify mechanical, dielectric, optical, or other properties . However, the particle...the poor mechanical properties of the wax degrade the bulk mechanical properties of the composite material . Thin metal coatings on the catalyst...to create precisely tailored optical properties . Alternating layers of ceramic and metal thin films can be designed to create optical filters that

  17. Optical and microwave detection using Bi-Sr-Ca-Cu-O thin films

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Grabow, B. E.; Sova, R. M.; Boone, B. G.; Moorjani, K.; Kim, B. F.; Bohandy, J.; Adrian, F.; Green, W. J.

    1990-01-01

    Recent progress at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (JHU/APL) in the development of optical and microwave detectors using high temperature superconducting thin films is described. Several objectives of this work have been accomplished, including: deposition of Bi-Sr-Ca-Cu-O thin films by laser abation processing (LAP); development of thin film patterning techniques, including in situ masking, wet chemical etching and laser patterning; measurements of bolometric and non-bolometric signatures in patterned Bi-Sr-Ca-Cu-O films using optical and microwave sources, respectively; analysis and design of an optimized bolometer through computer simulation, and investigation of its use in a Fourier transform spectrometer. The focus here is primarily on results from the measurement of the bolometric and non-bolometric response.

  18. Optical and microwave detection using Bi-Sr-Ca-Cu-O thin films

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Grabow, B. E.; Sova, R. M.; Boone, B. G.; Moorjani, K.; Kim, B. F.; Bohandy, J.; Adrian, F.; Green, W. J.

    1991-01-01

    Recent progress at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (JHU/APL) in the development of optical and microwave detectors using high temperature superconducting thin films is described. Several objectives of this work have been accomplished, including: deposition of Bi-Sr-Ca-Cu-O thin films by laser abation processing (LAP); development of thin film patterning techniques, including in situ masking, wet chemical etching, and laser patterning; measurements of bolometric and non-bolometric signatures in patterned Bi-Sr-Ca-Cu-O films using optical and microwave sources, respectively; analysis and design of an optimized bolometer through computer simulation; and investigation of its use in a Fourier transform spectrometer. The focus here is primarily on results from the measurement of the bolometric and non-bolometric response.

  19. Mechanism analysis and numerical investigation of optical bistability in 2μm Tm,Ho:YLF solid laser

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zhang, Xin-Lu; Jiang, Bo; Dong, Guang-Zong; Li, Li; Peng, Yu-Feng

    2010-11-01

    A self-saturated absorption regime is proposed to theoretically investigate the optical bistability of Tm,Ho:YLF laser. Based on this bistability regime, the rate equation model of the optical bistability is established. The optical bistability behaviors of Tm,Ho:YLF laser are obtained by numerical simulating. The relation between laser gain and loss are also analyzed to confirm the rationality of the bistability mechanism. Furthermore, the time characters of the optical bistability are investigated. It is found that the high pulse power and the duration of the pre-pump are two major factors that affect the laser turn-on delay time and their influences on the turn-on delay are analyzed.

  20. Optical properties of amorphous Ba0.7Sr0.3TiO3 thin films obtained by metal organic decomposition technique

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Qiu, Fei; Xu, Zhimou

    2009-08-01

    In this study, the amorphous Ba0.7Sr0.3TiO3 (BST0.7) thin films were grown onto fused quartz and silicon substrates at low temperature by using a metal organic decomposition (MOD)-spin-coating procedure. The optical transmittance spectrum of amorphous BST0.7 thin films on fused quartz substrates has been recorded in the wavelength range 190~900 nm. The films were highly transparent for wavelengths longer than 330 nm; the transmission drops rapidly at 330 nm, and the cutoff wavelength occurs at about 260 nm. In addition, we also report the amorphous BST0.7 thin film groove-buried type waveguides with 90° bent structure fabricated on Si substrates with 1.65 μm thick SiO2 thermal oxide layer. The design, fabrication and optical losses of amorphous BST0.7 optical waveguides were presented. The amorphous BST0.7 thin films were grown onto the SiO2/Si substrates by using a metal organic decomposition (MOD)-spin-coating procedure. The optical propagation losses were about 12.8 and 9.4 dB/cm respectively for the 5 and 10 μm wide waveguides at the wavelength of 632.8 nm. The 90° bent structures with a small curvature of micrometers were designed on the basis of a double corner mirror structure. The bend losses were about 1.2 and 0.9 dB respectively for 5 and 10 μm wide waveguides at the wavelength of 632.8 nm. It is expected for amorphous BST0.7 thin films to be used not only in the passive optical interconnection in monolithic OEICs but also in active waveguide devices on the Si chip.

  1. Effect of copper doping on the photocatalytic activity of ZnO thin films prepared by sol-gel method

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Saidani, T.; Zaabat, M.; Aida, M. S.; Boudine, B.

    2015-12-01

    In the present work, we prepared undoped and copper doped ZnO thin films by the sol-gel dip coating method on glass substrates from zinc acetate dissolved in a solution of ethanol. The objective of our work is to study the effect of Cu doping with different concentrations on structural, morphological, optical properties and photocatalytic activity of ZnO thin films. For this purpose, we have used XRD to study the structural properties, and AFM to determine the morphology of the surface of the ZnO thin films. The optical properties and the photocatalytic degradation of the films were examined by UV-visibles spectrophotometer. The Tauc method was used to estimate the optical band gap. The XRD spectra indicated that the films have an hexagonal wurtzite structure, which gradually deteriorated with increasing Cu concentration. The results showed that the incorporation of Cu decreases the crystallite size. The AFM study showed that an increase of the concentration of Cu causes the decrease of the surface roughness, which passes from 20.2 for Un-doped ZnO to 12.16 nm for doped ZnO 5 wt% Cu. Optical measurements have shown that all the deposited films show good optical transmittance (77%-92%) in the visible region and increases the optical gap with increasing Cu concentration. The presence of copper from 1% to 5 wt% in the ZnO thin films is found to decelerate the photocatalytic process.

  2. Optical coherence tomography study of retinal changes in normal aging and after ischemia.

    PubMed

    Shariati, Mohammad Ali; Park, Joyce Ho; Liao, Yaping Joyce

    2015-05-01

    Age-related thinning of the retinal ganglion cell axons in the nerve fiber layer has been measured in humans using optical coherence tomography (OCT). In this study, we used OCT to measure inner retinal changes in 3-month-, 1-year-, and 2-year-old mice and after experimental anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (AION). We used OCT to quantify retinal thickness in over 200 eyes at different ages before and after a photochemical thrombosis model of AION. The scans were manually or automatically segmented. In normal aging, there was 1.3-μm thinning of the ganglion cell complex (GCC) between 3 months and 1 year (P < 0.0001) and no further thinning at 2 years. In studying age-related inner retinal changes, measurement of the GCC (circular scan) was superior to that of the total retinal thickness (posterior pole scan) despite the need for manual segmentation because it was not contaminated by outer retinal changes. Three weeks after AION, there was 8.9-μm thinning of the GCC (circular scan; P < 0.0001), 50-μm thinning of the optic disc (posterior pole scan; P < 0.0001), and 17-μm thinning of the retina (posterior pole scan; P < 0.0001) in the 3-month-old group. Changes in the older eyes after AION were similar to those of the 3-month-old group. Optical coherence tomography imaging of a large number of eyes showed that, like humans, mice exhibited small, age-related inner retinal thinning. Measurement of the GCC was superior to total retinal thickness in quantifying age-related changes, and both circular and posterior pole scans were useful to track short-term changes after AION.

  3. Optically thin cirrus clouds over oceans and possible impact on sea surface temperature of warm pool in western Pacific

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Prabhakara, C.; Yoo, J.-M.; Dalu, G.; Kratz, P.

    1991-01-01

    Over the convectively active tropical ocean regions, the measurement made from space in the IR and visible spectrum have revealed the presence of optically thin cirrus clouds, which are quite transparent in the visible and nearly opaque in the IR. The Nimbus-4 IR Interferometer Spectrometer (IRIS), which has a field of view (FOV) of approximately 100 km, was utilized to examine the IR optical characteristics of these cirrus clouds. From the IRIS data, it was observed that these optically thin cirrus clouds prevail extensively over the warm pool region of the equatorial western Pacific, surrounding Indonesia. It is found that the seasonal cloud cover caused by these thin cirrus clouds exceeds 50 percent near the central regions of the warm pool. For most of these clouds, the optical thickness in the IR is less than or = 2. It is deduced that the dense cold anvil clouds associated with deep convection spread extensively and are responsible for the formation of the thin cirrus clouds. This is supported by the observation that the coverage of the dense anvil clouds is an order of magnitude less than that of the thin cirrus clouds. From these observations, together with a simple radiative-convective model, it is inferred that the optically thin cirrus can provide a greenhouse effect, which can be a significant factor in maintaining the warm pool. In the absence of fluid transports, it is found that these cirrus clouds could lead to a runaway greenhouse effect. The presence of fluid transport processes, however, act to moderate this effect. Thus, if a modest 20 W/sq m energy input is considered to be available to warm the ocean, then it is found that the ocean mixed-layer of a 50-m depth will be heated by approximately 1 C in 100 days.

  4. Break-up dynamics of fluctuating liquid threads

    PubMed Central

    Petit, Julien; Rivière, David; Kellay, Hamid; Delville, Jean-Pierre

    2012-01-01

    The thinning dynamics of a liquid neck before break-up, as may happen when a drop detaches from a faucet or a capillary, follows different rules and dynamic scaling laws depending on the importance of inertia, viscous stresses, or capillary forces. If now the thinning neck reaches dimensions comparable to the thermally excited interfacial fluctuations, as for nanojet break-up or the fragmentation of thermally annealed nanowires, these fluctuations should play a dominant role according to recent theory and observations. Using near-critical interfaces, we here fully characterize the universal dynamics of this thermal fluctuation-dominated regime and demonstrate that the cross-over from the classical two-fluid pinch-off scenario of a liquid thread to the fluctuation-dominated regime occurs at a well-defined neck radius proportional to the thermal length scale. Investigating satellite drop formation, we also show that at the level of the cross-over between these two regimes it is more probable to produce monodisperse droplets because fluctuation-dominated pinch-off may allow the unique situation where satellite drop formation can be inhibited. Nonetheless, the interplay between the evolution of the neck profiles from the classical to the fluctuation-dominated regime and the satellites’ production remains to be clarified. PMID:23090994

  5. Tuned alexandrite laser for dentistry

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Sulc, Jan; Jelinkova, Helena; Dostalova, Tatjana; Miyagi, Mitsunobu

    2000-04-01

    For medical applications tunable solid state laser system emitting a visible light in a region from 710 to 775 nm was developed. Laser head of this system was composed of alexandrite crystal rod (4 mm in diameter, 90 mm of length), two dielectric mirrors and tuning element (dispersing prism or thin-film polarizer). For Q-switching, three different optics shutters were proved: a saturable NC-dye or LiF crystal, LiNbO3 Pockels cell, and rotating prism. Maximum output energy in free-running and Q-switching regime was 400 mJ and 70 mJ, respectively. The pulse duration was 70 microsecond(s) in the free-running and 45 - 250 ns in Q-switching regime. The output free running laser radiation was guided via a multimode quartz fiber (1 m of length, core diameter 600 micrometers ) or via a special fluorocarbon polymer-coated silver hollow glass waveguide (0.62 m of length, inner diameter 1 mm). At first, this radiation with a laser fluence of 2.5 J/cm2 was used for an ablation of a dental calculus. Next, the laser radiation propagation in a root canal and its effect on bacteria was proved. The dissipated energy measurement was made inside and outside of the tooth. From the results follow that the alexandrite laser could be useful for medical applications.

  6. Different growth regimes in InP nanowire growth mediated by Ag nanoparticles.

    PubMed

    Oliveira, D S; Zavarize, M; Tizei, L H G; Walls, M; Ospina, C A; Iikawa, F; Ugarte, D; Cotta, M A

    2017-12-15

    We report on the existence of two different regimes in one-step Ag-seeded InP nanowire growth. The vapor-liquid-solid-mechanism is present at larger In precursor flows and temperatures, ∼500 °C, yielding high aspect ratio and pure wurtzite InP nanowires with a semi-spherical metal particle at the thin apex. Periodic diameter oscillations can be achieved under extreme In supersaturations at this temperature range, showing the presence of a liquid catalyst. However, under lower temperatures and In precursor flows, large diameter InP nanowires with mixed wurtzite/zincblende segments are obtained, similarly to In-assisted growth. Chemical composition analysis suggest that In-rich droplet formation is catalyzed at the substrate surface via Ag nanoparticles; this process might be facilitated by the sulfur contamination detected in these nanoparticles. Furthermore, part of the original Ag nanoparticle remains solid and is embedded inside the actual catalyst, providing an in situ method to switch growth mechanisms upon changing In precursor flow. Nevertheless, our Ag-seeded InP nanowires exhibit overall optical emission spectra consistent with the observed structural properties and similar to Au-catalyzed InP nanowires. We thus show that Ag nanoparticles may be a suitable replacement for Au in InP nanowire growth.

  7. Dielectric Metasurface Optics: A New Platform for Compact Optical Sensing

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Colburn, Shane

    Metasurfaces, the 2D analogue of bulk metamaterials, show incredible promise for achieving nanoscale optical components that could support the growing infrastructure for the Internet of Things (IoT) and future sensing technologies. Consisting of quasiperiodic arrays of subwavelength scattering elements, metasurfaces apply spatial transfer functions to incident wavefronts, abruptly altering properties of light over a wavelength-scale thickness. By appropriately patterning scatterers on the structure, arbitrary functions can be implemented up to the limitations on the scattering properties of the particular elements. This thesis details theoretical work and simulations on the design of scattering elements with advanced capabilities for dielectric metasurfaces, showing polarization-multiplexed operation in the visible regime, multiwavelength capability in the visible regime along with a general methodology for eliminating chromatic aberrations at discrete wavelengths, and compact and tunable elements for 1550 nm operation inspired by an asymmetric Fabry-Perot cavity. These advancements enhance the capabilities of metasurfaces in the visible regime and help move toward the goal of achieving reconfigurable metasurfaces for compact and efficient optical sensors.

  8. Enhanced absorption in two-dimensional materials via Fano-resonant photonic crystals

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Wang, Wenyi; Klots, Andrey; Bolotin, Kirill I.

    2015-05-04

    The use of two-dimensional (2D) materials in optoelectronics has attracted much attention due to their fascinating optical and electrical properties. However, the low optical absorption of 2D materials arising from their atomic thickness limits the maximum attainable external quantum efficiency. For example, in the visible and near-infrared regimes monolayer MoS{sub 2} and graphene absorb only ∼10% and 2.3% of incoming light, respectively. Here, we experimentally demonstrate the use of Fano-resonant photonic crystals to significantly boost absorption in atomically thin materials. Using graphene as a test bed, we demonstrate that absorption in the monolayer thick material can be enhanced to 77%more » within the telecommunications band, the highest value reported to date. We also show that the absorption in the Fano-resonant structure is non-local, with light propagating up to 16 μm within the structure. This property is particularly beneficial in harvesting light from large areas in field-effect-transistor based graphene photodetectors in which separation of photo-generated carriers only occurs ∼0.2 μm adjacent to the graphene/electrode interface.« less

  9. Ultrafast electron diffraction optimized for studying structural dynamics in thin films and monolayers

    PubMed Central

    Badali, D. S.; Gengler, R. Y. N.; Miller, R. J. D.

    2016-01-01

    A compact electron source specifically designed for time-resolved diffraction studies of free-standing thin films and monolayers is presented here. The sensitivity to thin samples is achieved by extending the established technique of ultrafast electron diffraction to the “medium” energy regime (1–10 kV). An extremely compact design, in combination with low bunch charges, allows for high quality diffraction in a lensless geometry. The measured and simulated characteristics of the experimental system reveal sub-picosecond temporal resolution, while demonstrating the ability to produce high quality diffraction patterns from atomically thin samples. PMID:27226978

  10. Optical characterization of sputtered YBaCo 4O 7+ δ thin films

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Montoya, J. F.; Izquierdo, J. L.; Causado, J. D.; Bastidas, A.; Nisperuza, D.; Gómez, A.; Arnache, O.; Osorio, J.; Marín, J.; Paucar, C.; Morán, O.

    2011-02-01

    Thin films of YBaCo 4O 7+ δ were deposited on r (1012)-oriented Al 2O 3 substrates by dc magnetron sputtering. The as-grown films were characterized after their structural, morphological and optical properties. Special attention is devoted to the analysis of the optical response of these films as reports on optical properties of YBaCo 4O 7+ δ, especially in thin film form, are not frequently reported in the literature. Transmittance/absorbance measurements allow for determining two well defined energy gaps at 3.7 and 2.2 eV. In turn, infrared (IR) measurements show infrared transparency in the wave length range 4000-2500 nm with a sharp absorption edge at wave lengths less than 2500 nm. Complementary Raman spectra measurements on the thin films allowed for identifying bands associated with vibrating modes of CoO 4 and YO 6 in tetrahedral and octahedral oxygen coordination, respectively. Additional bands which seemed to stem from Co ions in octahedral oxygen coordination were also clearly identified.

  11. Chemical bath deposited (CBD) CuO thin films on n-silicon substrate for electronic and optical applications: Impact of growth time

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Sultana, Jenifar; Paul, Somdatta; Karmakar, Anupam; Yi, Ren; Dalapati, Goutam Kumar; Chattopadhyay, Sanatan

    2017-10-01

    Thin film of p-type cupric oxide (p-CuO) is grown on silicon (n-Si) substrate by using chemical bath deposition (CBD) technique and a precise control of thickness from 60 nm to 178 nm has been achieved. The structural properties and stoichiometric composition of the grown films are observed to depend significantly on the growth time. The chemical composition, optical properties, and structural quality are investigated in detail by employing XRD, ellipsometric measurements and SEM images. Also, the elemental composition and the oxidation states of Cu and O in the grown samples have been studied in detail by XPS measurements. Thin film of 110 nm thicknesses exhibited the best performance in terms of crystal quality, refractive index, dielectric constant, band-gap, and optical properties. The study suggests synthesis route for developing high quality CuO thin film using CBD method for electronic and optical applications.

  12. Structural and optical properties of Na-doped ZnO films

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Akcan, D.; Gungor, A.; Arda, L.

    2018-06-01

    Zn1-xNaxO (x = 0.0-0.05) solutions have been synthesized by the sol-gel technique using Zinc acetate dihydrate and Sodium acetate which were dissolved into solvent and chelating agent. Na-doped ZnO nanoparticles were obtained from solutions to find phase and crystal structure. Na-doped ZnO films have been deposited onto glass substrate by using sol-gel dip coating system. The effects of dopant concentration on the structure, morphology, and optical properties of Na-doped ZnO thin films deposited on glass substrate are investigated. Characterization of Zn1-xNaxO nanoparticles and thin films are examined using differential thermal analysis (DTA)/thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), Scanning electron microscope (SEM) and X-Ray diffractometer (XRD). Optical properties of Zn1-xNaxO thin films were obtained by using PG Instruments UV-Vis-NIR spectrophotometer in 190-1100 nm range. The structure, morphology, and optical properties of thin films are presented.

  13. Reduced Dimensionality Lithium Niobate Microsystems

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Eichenfield, Matt

    2017-01-01

    The following report describes work performed under the LDRD program at Sandia National Laboratories October 2014 and September 2016. The work presented demonstrates the ability of Sandia Labs to develop state-of-the-art photonic devices based on thin film lithium niobate (LiNbO 3 ). Section 1 provides an introduction to integrated LiNbO 3 devices and motivation for developing thin film nonlinear optical systems. Section 2 describes the design, fabrication, and photonic performance of thin film optical microdisks fabricated from bulk LiNbO 3 using a bulk implantation method developed at Sandia. Sections 3 and 4 describe the development of similar thin film LiNbOmore » 3 structures fabricated from LiNbO 3 on insulator (LNOI) substrates and our demonstration of optical frequency conversion with state-of-the-art efficiency. Finally, Section 5 describes similar microdisk resonators fabricated from LNOI wafers with a buried metal layer, in which we demonstrate electro-optic modulation.« less

  14. CW laser damage testing of RAR nano-textured fused silica and YAG

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    MacLeod, Bruce D.; Hobbs, Douglas S.; Manni, Anthony D.; Sabatino, Ernest; Bernot, David M.; DeFrances, Sage; Randi, Joseph A.; Thomas, Jeffrey

    2017-11-01

    A study of the continuous wave (CW) laser induced damage threshold (LiDT) of fused silica and yttrium aluminum garnet (YAG) optics was conducted to further illustrate the enhanced survivability within high power laser systems of an anti-reflection (AR) treatment consisting of randomly distributed surface relief nanostructures (RAR). A series of three CW LiDT tests using the 1070nm wavelength, 16 KW fiber laser test bed at Penn State Electro-Optic Center (PSEOC) were designed and completed, with improvements in the testing protocol, areal coverage, and maximum exposure intensities implemented between test cycles. Initial results for accumulated power, stationary site exposures of RAR nano-textured optics showed no damage and low surface temperatures similar to the control optics with no AR treatment. In contrast, optics with thin-film AR coatings showed high surface temperatures consistent with absorption by the film layers. Surface discriminating absorption measurements made using the Photothermal Common-path Interferometry (PCI) method, showed zero added surface absorption for the RAR nanotextured optics, and absorption levels in the 2-5 part per million range for thin-film AR coated optics. In addition, the surface absorption of thin-film AR coatings was also found to have localized absorption spikes that are likely pre-cursors for damage. Subsequent CW LiDT testing protocol included raster scanning an increased intensity focused beam over the test optic surface where it was found that thin-film AR coated optics damaged at intensities in the 2 to 5 MW/cm2 range with surface temperatures over 250C during the long-duration exposures. Significantly, none of the 10 RAR nano-textured fused silica optics tested could be damaged up to the maximum system intensity of 15.5 MW/cm2, and surface temperatures remained low. YAG optics tested during the final cycle exhibited a similar result with RAR nano-textured surfaces surviving intensities over 3 times higher than thin-film AR coated surfaces. This result was correlated with PCI measurements that also show zero-added surface absorption for the RAR nano-textured YAG optics.

  15. Influences of the residual argon gas and thermal annealing on Ta2O5 and SiO2 thin film filters

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Liu, Wen-Jen; Chen, Chih-Min; Lai, Yin-Chieh

    2005-04-01

    Ion beam assisted deposition (IBAD) technique had widely used for improving stacking density and atomic mobility of thin films in many applications, especially adopted in optical film industries. Tantalum pentaoxide (Ta2O5) and silicon oxides (SiO2) optical thin films were deposited on the quartz glass substrate by using argon ion beam assisted deposition, and the influences of the residual argon gas and thermal annealing processes on the optical property, stress, compositional and microstructure evolution of the thin films were investigated in this study. Ta2O5 thin films were analyzed by XPS indicated that the ratio value of oxygen to tantalum was insufficient, at the same time, the residual argon gas in the thin films might result in film and device instabilities. Adopting oxygen-thermal annealing treatment at the temperature of 425°C, the thin films not only decreased the residual argon gas and the surface roughness, but also provided the sufficient stoichiometric ratio. Simultaneously, microstructure examination indicated few nano-crystallized structures and voids existed in Ta2O5 thin films, and possessed reasonable refractive index and lower extinction coefficient. By the way, we also suggested the IBAD system using the film compositional gas ion beam to replace the argon ion beam for assisting deposited optical films. The designed (HL)6H6LH(LH)6 multi-layers indicated higher insertion loss than the designed (HL)68H(LH)6 multi-layers. Therefore, using the high refractive index as spacer material represented lower insertion loss.

  16. Direct Immersion Annealing of Thin Block Copolymer Films.

    PubMed

    Modi, Arvind; Bhaway, Sarang M; Vogt, Bryan D; Douglas, Jack F; Al-Enizi, Abdullah; Elzatahry, Ahmed; Sharma, Ashutosh; Karim, Alamgir

    2015-10-07

    We demonstrate ordering of thin block copolymer (BCP) films via direct immersion annealing (DIA) at enhanced rate leading to stable morphologies. The BCP films are immersed in carefully selected mixtures of good and marginal solvents that can impart enhanced polymer mobility, while inhibiting film dissolution. DIA is compatible with roll-to-roll assembly manufacturing and has distinct advantages over conventional thermal annealing and batch processing solvent-vapor annealing methods. We identify three solvent composition-dependent BCP film ordering regimes in DIA for the weakly interacting polystyrene-poly(methyl methacrylate) (PS-PMMA) system: rapid short-range order, optimal long-range order, and a film instability regime. Kinetic studies in the "optimal long-range order" processing regime as a function of temperature indicate a significant reduction of activation energy for BCP grain growth compared to oven annealing at conventional temperatures. An attractive feature of DIA is its robustness to ordering other BCP (e.g. PS-P2VP) and PS-PMMA systems exhibiting spherical, lamellar and cylindrical ordering.

  17. Direct Immersion Annealing of Thin Block Copolymer Films

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Modi, Arvind; Bhaway, Sarang M.; Vogt, Bryan D.

    2015-09-09

    We demonstrate ordering of thin block copolymer (BCP) films via direct immersion annealing (DIA) at enhanced rate leading to stable morphologies. The BCP films are immersed in carefully selected mixtures of good and marginal solvents that can impart enhanced polymer mobility, while inhibiting film dissolution. DIA is compatible with roll-to-roll assembly manufacturing and has distinct advantages over conventional thermal annealing and batch processing solvent-vapor annealing methods. We identify three solvent composition-dependent BCP film ordering regimes in DIA for the weakly interacting polystyrene–poly(methyl methacrylate) (PS–PMMA) system: rapid short-range order, optimal long-range order, and a film instability regime. Kinetic studies in themore » “optimal long-range order” processing regime as a function of temperature indicate a significant reduction of activation energy for BCP grain growth compared to oven annealing at conventional temperatures. An attractive feature of DIA is its robustness to ordering other BCP (e.g. PS-P2VP) and PS-PMMA systems exhibiting spherical, lamellar and cylindrical ordering.« less

  18. Synergistic effect of indium and gallium co-doping on the properties of RF sputtered ZnO thin films

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Shaheera, M.; Girija, K. G.; Kaur, Manmeet; Geetha, V.; Debnath, A. K.; Karri, Malvika; Thota, Manoj Kumar; Vatsa, R. K.; Muthe, K. P.; Gadkari, S. C.

    2018-04-01

    ZnO thin films were synthesized using RF magnetron sputtering, with simultaneous incorporation of Indium (In) and Gallium (Ga). The structural, optical, chemical composition and surface morphology of the pure and co-doped (IGZO) thin films were characterized by X-Ray diffraction (XRD), UV-visible spectroscopy, Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FESEM), and Raman spectroscopy. XRD revealed that these films were oriented along c-axis with hexagonal wurtzite structure. The (002) diffraction peak in the co-doped sample was observed at 33.76° with a slight shift towards lower 2θ values as compared to pure ZnO. The surface morphology of the two thin films was observed to differ. For pure ZnO films, round grains were observed and for IGZO thin films round as well as rod type grains were observed. All thin films synthesized show excellent optical properties with more than 90% transmission in the visible region and band gap of the films is observed to decrease with co-doping. The co doping of In and Ga is therefore expected to provide a broad range optical and physical properties of ZnO thin films for a variety of optoelectronic applications.

  19. Characterization of AlF3 thin films at 193 nm by thermal evaporation

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lee, Cheng-Chung; Liu, Ming-Chung; Kaneko, Masaaki; Nakahira, Kazuhide; Takano, Yuuichi

    2005-12-01

    Aluminum fluoride (AlF3) was deposited by a resistive heating boat. To obtain a low optical loss and high laser-induced damage threshold (LIDT) at 193 nm, the films were investigated under different substrate temperatures, deposition rates, and annealing after coating. The optical property (the transmittance, refractive index, extinction coefficient, and optical loss) at 193 nm, microstructure (the cross-sectional morphology, surface roughness, and crystalline structure), mechanical property (stress), and LIDT of AlF3 thin films have been studied. AlF3 thin films deposited at a high substrate temperature and low deposition rate showed a lower optical loss. The highest LIDT occurred at the substrate temperature of 150 °C. The LIDT of the films prepared at a deposition rate of 2 Å/s was higher than that at other deposition rates. The annealing process did not influence the optical properties too much, but it did increase the LIDT and stress.

  20. Characterization of AlF3 thin films at 193 nm by thermal evaporation.

    PubMed

    Lee, Cheng-Chung; Liu, Ming-Chung; Kaneko, Masaaki; Nakahira, Kazuhide; Takano, Yuuichi

    2005-12-01

    Aluminum fluoride (AlF3) was deposited by a resistive heating boat. To obtain a low optical loss and high laser-induced damage threshold (LIDT) at 193 nm, the films were investigated under different substrate temperatures, deposition rates, and annealing after coating. The optical property (the transmittance, refractive index, extinction coefficient, and optical loss) at 193 nm, microstructure (the cross-sectional morphology, surface roughness, and crystalline structure), mechanical property (stress), and LIDT of AlF3 thin films have been studied. AlF3 thin films deposited at a high substrate temperature and low deposition rate showed a lower optical loss. The highest LIDT occurred at the substrate temperature of 150 degrees C. The LIDT of the films prepared at a deposition rate of 2 A/s was higher than that at other deposition rates. The annealing process did not influence the optical properties too much, but it did increase the LIDT and stress.

  1. Ultra-thin optical vortex phase plate based on the metasurface and the angular momentum transformation

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wang, Wei; Li, Yan; Guo, Zhongyi; Li, Rongzhen; Zhang, Jingran; Zhang, Anjun; Qu, Shiliang

    2015-04-01

    The ultra-thin optical vortex phase plate (VPP) has been designed and investigated based on the metasurface of the metal rectangular split-ring resonators (MRSRRs) array. The circularly polarized incident light can convert into corresponding cross-polarization transmission light, and the phase and the amplitude of cross-polarization transmission light can be simultaneously governed by modulating two arms of the MRSRR. The MRSRR has been arranged in a special order for forming an ultra-thin optical VPP that can covert a plane wave into a vortex beam with a variety of the topological charges, and the transformation between spin angular momentum (SAM) and orbital angular momentum (OAM) has been discussed in detail. The multi-spectral characteristics of the VPP have also been investigated, and the operating bandwidth of the designed VPP is 190 nm (in the range of 710-900 nm), which enable a potential implication for integrated optics and vortex optics.

  2. Metallurgical coatings and thin films; Proceedings of the International Conference, 18th, San Diego, CA, Apr. 22-26, 1991. Vols. 1 & 2

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Mcguire, Gary E. (Editor); Mcintyre, Dale C. (Editor); Hofmann, Siegfried (Editor)

    1991-01-01

    A conference on metallurgical coatings and thin films produced papers in the areas of coatings for use at high temperatures; hard coatings and deposition technologies; diamonds and related materials; tribological coatings/surface modifications; thin films for microelectronics and high temperature superconductors; optical coatings, film characterization, magneto-optics, and guided waves; and methods for characterizing films and modified surfaces.

  3. Polarization-dependent optical absorption of MoS2 for refractive index sensing

    PubMed Central

    Tan, Yang; He, Ruiyun; Cheng, Chen; Wang, Dong; Chen, Yanxue; Chen, Feng

    2014-01-01

    As a noncentrosymmetric crystal with spin-polarized band structure, MoS2 nanomaterials have attracts increasing attention in many areas such as lithium ion batteries, flexible electronic devices, photoluminescence and valleytronics. The investigation of MoS2 is mainly focused on the electronics and spintronics instead of optics, which restrict its applications as key elements of photonics. In this work, we demonstrate the first observation of the polarization-dependent optical absorption of the MoS2 thin film, which is integrated onto an optical waveguide device. With this feature, a novel optical sensor combining MoS2 thin-film and a microfluidic structure has been constituted to achieve the sensitive monitoring of refractive index. Our work indicates the MoS2 thin film as a complementary material to graphene for the optical polarizer in the visible light range, and explores a new application direction of MoS2 nanomaterials for the construction of photonic circuits. PMID:25516116

  4. Growth and optical property characterization of textured barium titanate thin films for photonic applications

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Dicken, Matthew J.; Diest, Kenneth; Park, Young-Bae; Atwater, Harry A.

    2007-03-01

    We have investigated the growth of barium titanate thin films on bulk crystalline and amorphous substrates utilizing biaxially oriented template layers. Ion beam-assisted deposition was used to grow thin, biaxially textured, magnesium oxide template layers on amorphous and silicon substrates. Growth of highly oriented barium titanate films on these template layers was achieved by molecular beam epitaxy using a layer-by-layer growth process. Barium titanate thin films were grown in molecular oxygen and in the presence of oxygen radicals produced by a 300 W radio frequency plasma. We used X-ray and in situ reflection high-energy electron diffraction (RHEED) to analyze the structural properties and show the predominantly c-oriented grains in the films. Variable angle spectroscopic ellipsometry was used to analyze and compare the optical properties of the thin films grown with and without oxygen plasma. We have shown that optical quality barium titanate thin films, which show bulk crystal-like properties, can be grown on any substrate through the use of biaxially oriented magnesium oxide template layers.

  5. A blue optical filter for narrow-band imaging in endoscopic capsules

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Silva, M. F.; Ghaderi, M.; Goncalves, L. M.; de Graaf, G.; Wolffenbuttel, R. F.; Correia, J. H.

    2014-05-01

    This paper presents the design, simulation, fabrication, and characterization of a thin-film Fabry-Perot resonator composed of titanium dioxide (TiO2) and silicon dioxide (SiO2) thin-films. The optical filter is developed to be integrated with a light emitting diode (LED) for enabling narrow-band imaging (NBI) in endoscopy. The NBI is a high resolution imaging technique that uses spectrally centered blue light (415 nm) and green light (540 nm) to illuminate the target tissue. The light at 415 nm enhances the imaging of superficial veins due to their hemoglobin absorption, while the light at 540 nm penetrates deeper into the mucosa, thus enhances the sub-epithelial vessels imaging. Typically the endoscopes and endoscopic capsules use white light for acquiring images of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. However, implementing the NBI technique in endoscopic capsules enhances their capabilities for the clinical applications. A commercially available blue LED with a maximum peak intensity at 404 nm and Full Width Half Maximum (FWHM) of 20 nm is integrated with a narrow band blue filter as the NBI light source. The thin film simulations show a maximum spectral transmittance of 36 %, that is centered at 415 nm with FWHM of 13 nm for combined the blue LED and a Fabry Perot resonator system. A custom made deposition scheme was developed for the fabrication of the blue optical filter by RF sputtering. RF powered reactive sputtering at 200 W with the gas flows of argon and oxygen that are controlled for a 5:1 ratio gives the optimum optical conditions for TiO2 thin films. For SiO2 thin films, a non-reactive RF sputtering at 150 W with argon gas flow at 15 sccm results in the best optical performance. The TiO2 and SiO2 thin films were fully characterized by an ellipsometer in the wavelength range between 250 nm to 1600 nm. Finally, the optical performance of the blue optical filter is measured and presented.

  6. Post-Annealing Effects on Surface Morphological, Electrical and Optical Properties of Nanostructured Cr-Doped CdO Thin Films

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hymavathi, B.; Rajesh Kumar, B.; Subba Rao, T.

    2018-01-01

    Nanostructured Cr-doped CdO thin films were deposited on glass substrates by reactive direct current magnetron sputtering and post-annealed in vacuum from 200°C to 500°C. X-ray diffraction studies confirmed that the films exhibit cubic nature with preferential orientation along the (111) plane. The crystallite size, lattice parameters, unit cell volume and strain in the films were determined from x-ray diffraction analysis. The surface morphology of the films has been characterized by field emission scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy. The electrical properties of the Cr-doped CdO thin films were measured by using a four-probe method and Hall effect system. The lowest electrical resistivity of 2.20 × 10-4 Ω cm and a maximum optical transmittance of 88% have been obtained for the thin films annealed at 500°C. The optical band gap of the films decreased from 2.77 eV to 2.65 eV with the increase of annealing temperature. The optical constants, packing density and porosity of Cr-doped CdO thin films were also evaluated from the transmittance spectra.

  7. Effect of Co doping concentration on structural properties and optical parameters of Co-doped ZnO thin films by sol-gel dip-coating method.

    PubMed

    Nam, Giwoong; Yoon, Hyunsik; Kim, Byunggu; Lee, Dong-Yul; Kim, Jong Su; Leem, Jae-Young

    2014-11-01

    The structural and optical properties of Co-doped ZnO thin films prepared by a sol-gel dip-coating method were investigated. X-ray diffraction analysis showed that the thin films were grown with a c-axis preferred orientation. The position of the (002) peak was almost the same in all samples, irrespective of the Co concentration. It is thus clear that Co doping had little effect on the position of the (002) peak. To confirm that Co2+ was substituted for Zn2+ in the wurtzite structure, optical measurements were conducted at room temperature by a UV-visible spectrometer. Three absorption peaks are apparent in the Co-doped ZnO thin films that do not appear for the undoped ZnO thin film. As the Co concentration was increased, absorption related to characteristic Co2+ transitions increased because three absorption band intensities and the area underneath the absorption wells between 500 and 700 nm increased with increasing Co concentration. The optical band gap and static dielectric constant decreased and the Urbach energy and extinction coefficient increased with increasing Co concentration.

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

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    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.

  9. Effect of thermal annealing on structure and optical band gap of Se{sub 66}Te{sub 25}In{sub 9} thin films

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Dwivedi, D. K.; Pathak, H. P.; Shukla, Nitesh

    2015-05-15

    Thin films of a-Se{sub 66}Te{sub 25}In{sub 9} have been deposited onto a chemically cleaned glass substrate by thermal evaporation technique under vacuum. Glassy nature of the films has been ascertained by X-ray diffraction pattern. The analysis of absorption spectra, measured at normal incidence, in the spectral range 400-1100 nm has been used for the optical characterization of thin films under investigation. The effect of thermal annealing on structure and optical band gap (E{sub g}) of a-Se{sub 66}Te{sub 25}In{sub 9} have been studied.

  10. Reflective Coating for Lightweight X-Ray Optics

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Chan, Kai-Wing; Zhang, William W.; Windt, David; Hong, Mao-Ling; Saha, Timo; McClelland, Ryan; Sharpe, Marton; Dwivedi, Vivek H.

    2012-01-01

    X-ray reflective coating for next generation's lightweight, high resolution, optics for astronomy requires thin-film deposition that is precisely fine-tuned so that it will not distort the thin sub-mm substrates. Film of very low stress is required. Alternatively, mirror distortion can be cancelled by precisely balancing the deformation from multiple films. We will present results on metallic film deposition for the lightweight optics under development. These efforts include: low-stress deposition by magnetron sputtering and atomic layer deposition of the metals, balancing of gross deformation with two-layer depositions of opposite stresses and with depositions on both sides of the thin mirrors.

  11. The Integration Process of Very Thin Mirror Shells with a Particular Regard to Simbol-X

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Basso, S.; Pareschi, G.; Tagliaferri, G.; Mazzoleni, F.; Valtolina, R.; Citterio, O.; Conconi, P.

    2009-05-01

    The optics of Simbol-X are very thin compared to previous X-ray missions (like XMM). Therefore their shells floppy and are unable to maintain the correct shape. To avoid the deformations of their very thin X-ray optics during the integration process we adopt two stiffening rings with a good roundness. In this article the procedure used for the first three prototypes of the Simbol-X optics is presented with a description of the problems involved and with an analysis of the degradation of the performances during the integration. This analysis has been performed with the UV vertical bench measurements at INAF-OAB.

  12. Large optical nonlinearity of ITO nanorods for sub-picosecond all-optical modulation of the full-visible spectrum

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Guo, Peijun; Schaller, Richard D.; Ocola, Leonidas E.; Diroll, Benjamin T.; Ketterson, John B.; Chang, Robert P. H.

    2016-09-01

    Nonlinear optical responses of materials play a vital role for the development of active nanophotonic and plasmonic devices. Optical nonlinearity induced by intense optical excitation of mobile electrons in metallic nanostructures can provide large-amplitude, dynamic tuning of their electromagnetic response, which is potentially useful for all-optical processing of information and dynamic beam control. Here we report on the sub-picosecond optical nonlinearity of indium tin oxide nanorod arrays (ITO-NRAs) following intraband, on-plasmon-resonance optical pumping, which enables modulation of the full-visible spectrum with large absolute change of transmission, favourable spectral tunability and beam-steering capability. Furthermore, we observe a transient response in the microsecond regime associated with slow lattice cooling, which arises from the large aspect-ratio and low thermal conductivity of ITO-NRAs. Our results demonstrate that all-optical control of light can be achieved by using heavily doped wide-bandgap semiconductors in their transparent regime with speed faster than that of noble metals.

  13. Real-time optical fiber dosimeter probe

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Croteau, André; Caron, Serge; Rink, Alexandra; Jaffray, David; Mermut, Ozzy

    2011-03-01

    There is a pressing need for a passive optical fiber dosimeter probe for use in real-time monitoring of radiation dose delivered to clinical radiation therapy patients. An optical fiber probe using radiochromic material has been designed and fabricated based on a thin film of the radiochromic material on a dielectric mirror. Measurements of the net optical density vs. time before, during, and after irradiation at a rate of 500cGy/minute to a total dose of 5 Gy were performed. Net optical densities increased from 0.2 to 2.0 for radiochromic thin film thicknesses of 2 to 20 μm, respectively.

  14. Evolution of diffraction and self-diffraction phenomena in thin films of Gelite Bloom/Hibiscus Sabdariffa

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Cano-Lara, Miroslava; Severiano-Carrillo, Israel; Trejo-Durán, Mónica; Alvarado-Méndez, Edgar

    2017-09-01

    In this work, we present a study of non-linear optical response in thin films elaborated with Gelite Bloom and extract of Hibiscus Sabdariffa. Non-linear refraction and absorption effects were studied experimentally (Z-scan technique) and numerically, by considering the transmittance as non-linear absorption and refraction contribution. We observe large phase shifts to far field, and diffraction due to self-phase modulation of the sample. Diffraction and self-diffraction effects were observed as time function. The aim of studying non-linear optical properties in thin films is to eliminate thermal vortex effects that occur in liquids. This is desirable in applications such as non-linear phase contrast, optical limiting, optics switches, etc. Finally, we find good agreement between experimental and theoretical results.

  15. Optical filters for wavelength selection in fluorescence instrumentation.

    PubMed

    Erdogan, Turan

    2011-04-01

    Fluorescence imaging and analysis techniques have become ubiquitous in life science research, and they are poised to play an equally vital role in in vitro diagnostics (IVD) in the future. Optical filters are crucial for nearly all fluorescence microscopes and instruments, not only to provide the obvious function of spectral control, but also to ensure the highest possible detection sensitivity and imaging resolution. Filters make it possible for the sample to "see" light within only the absorption band, and the detector to "see" light within only the emission band. Without filters, the detector would not be able to distinguish the desired fluorescence from scattered excitation light and autofluorescence from the sample, substrate, and other optics in the system. Today the vast majority of fluorescence instruments, including the widely popular fluorescence microscope, use thin-film interference filters to control the spectra of the excitation and emission light. Hence, this unit emphasizes thin-film filters. After briefly introducing different types of thin-film filters and how they are made, the unit describes in detail different optical filter configurations in fluorescence instruments, including both single-color and multicolor imaging systems. Several key properties of thin-film filters, which can significantly affect optical system performance, are then described. In the final section, tunable optical filters are also addressed in a relative comparison.

  16. Self-Mixing Thin-Slice Solid-State Laser Metrology

    PubMed Central

    Otsuka, Kenju

    2011-01-01

    This paper reviews the dynamic effect of thin-slice solid-state lasers subjected to frequency-shifted optical feedback, which led to the discovery of the self-mixing modulation effect, and its applications to quantum-noise-limited versatile laser metrology systems with extreme optical sensitivity. PMID:22319406

  17. Monitoring the layer-by-layer self-assembly of graphene and graphene oxide by spectroscopic ellipsometry.

    PubMed

    Zhou, Kai-Ge; Chang, Meng-Jie; Wang, Hang-Xing; Xie, Yu-Long; Zhang, Hao-Li

    2012-01-01

    Thin films of graphene oxide, graphene and copper (II) phthalocyanine dye have been successfully fabricated by electrostatic layer-by-layer (LbL) assembly approach. We present the first variable angle spectroscopic ellipsometry (VASE) investigation on these graphene-dye hybrid thin films. The thickness evaluation suggested that our LbL assembly process produces highly uniform and reproducible thin films. We demonstrate that the refractive indices of the graphene-dye thin films undergo dramatic variation in the range close to the absorption of the dyes. This investigation provides new insight to the optical properties of graphene containing thin films and shall help to establish an appropriate optical model for graphene-based hybrid materials.

  18. Epitaxial Ba2IrO4 thin-films grown on SrTiO3 substrates by pulsed laser deposition

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Nichols, J.; Korneta, O. B.; Terzic, J.; Cao, G.; Brill, J. W.; Seo, S. S. A.

    2014-03-01

    We have synthesized epitaxial Ba2IrO4 (BIO) thin-films on SrTiO3 (001) substrates by pulsed laser deposition and studied their electronic structure by dc-transport and optical spectroscopic experiments. We have observed that BIO thin-films are insulating but close to the metal-insulator transition boundary with significantly smaller transport and optical gap energies than its sister compound, Sr2IrO4. Moreover, BIO thin-films have both an enhanced electronic bandwidth and electronic-correlation energy. Our results suggest that BIO thin-films have great potential for realizing the interesting physical properties predicted in layered iridates.

  19. DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Lü, B.; Münger, E. P.; Sarakinos, K.

    The morphology and physical properties of thin films deposited by vapor condensation on solid surfaces are predominantly set by the processes of island nucleation, growth, and coalescence. When deposition is performed using pulsed vapor fluxes, three distinct nucleation regimes are known to exist depending on the temporal profile of the flux. These regimes can be accessed by tuning deposition conditions; however, their effect on film microstructure becomes marginal when coalescence sets in and erases morphological features obtained during nucleation. By preventing coalescence from being completed, these nucleation regimes can be used to control microstructure evolution and thus access a largermore » palette of film morphological features. Recently, we derived the quantitative criterion to stop coalescence during continuous metal vapor flux deposition on insulating surfaces—which typically yields 3-dimensional growth—by describing analytically the competition between island growth by atomic incorporation and the coalescence rate of islands [Lü et al., Appl. Phys. Lett. 105, 163107 (2014)]. Here, we develop the analytical framework for entering a coalescence-free growth regime for metal vapor deposition on insulating substrates using pulsed vapor fluxes, showing that there exist three distinct criteria for suppressing coalescence that correspond to the three nucleation regimes of pulsed vapor flux deposition. The theoretical framework developed herein is substantiated by kinetic Monte Carlo growth simulations. Our findings highlight the possibility of using atomistic nucleation theory for pulsed vapor deposition to control morphology of thin films beyond the point of island density saturation.« less

  20. Single particles accelerate final stages of capillary break-up

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lindner, Anke; Fiscina, Jorge Eduardo; Wagner, Christian

    2015-06-01

    Droplet formation of suspensions is present in many industrial and technological processes such as coating and food engineering. Whilst the finite-time singularity of the minimum neck diameter in capillary break-up of simple liquids can be described by well-known self-similarity solutions, the pinching of non-Brownian suspension depends in a complex way on the particle dynamics in the thinning thread. Here we focus on the very dilute regime where the filament contains only isolated beads to identify the physical mechanisms leading to the pronounced acceleration of the filament thinning observed. This accelerated regime is characterized by an asymmetric shape of the filament with an enhanced curvature that depends on the size and the spatial distribution of the particles within the capillary thread.

  1. Effect of Annealing Temperature on Structural, Optical, and Electrical Properties of Sol-Gel Spin-Coating-Derived Cu2ZnSnS4 Thin Films

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hosseinpour, Rabie; Izadifard, Morteza; Ghazi, Mohammad Ebrahim; Bahramian, Bahram

    2018-02-01

    The effect of annealing temperature on structural, optical, and electrical properties of Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS) thin films grown on a glass substrate by spin coating sol-gel technique has been studied. Structural study showed that all samples had kesterite crystalline structure. Scanning electron microscopy images showed that the crystalline quality of the samples was improved by heat treatment. Optical study showed that the energy gap values for the samples ranged from 1.55 eV to 1.78 eV. Moreover, good optical conductivity values (1012 S-1 to 1014 S-1) were obtained for the samples. Investigation of the electrical properties of the CZTS thin films showed that the carrier concentration increased significantly with the annealing temperature. The photoelectrical behavior of the samples revealed that the photocurrent under light illumination increased significantly. Overall, the results show that the CZTS thin films annealed at 500°C had better structural, optical, and electrical properties and that such CZTS thin films are desirable for use as absorber layers in solar cells. The photovoltaic properties of the CZTS layer annealed at 500°C were also investigated and the associated figure of merit calculated. The results showed that the fabricated ZnS-CZTS heterojunction exhibited good rectifying behavior but rather low fill factor.

  2. Numerical Simulation of Ultra-Fast Pulse Propagation in Two-Photon Absorbing Medium

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2011-08-01

    physical problems including coherent- and incoherent regimes of optical power limiting, saturation, CEP effects, soliton formation etc. It can be also...coherent- and incoherent regimes of optical power limiting, saturation, CEP effects, electromagnetically induced transparency, soliton formation etc...experimental data ( dark blue); Upper panel - 1PA spectrum; Lower panel - 2PA cross section spectrum. The parameter values used are shown in Table 1. 10

  3. Ultra-thin narrow-band, complementary narrow-band, and dual-band metamaterial absorbers for applications in the THz regime

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Astorino, Maria Denise; Frezza, Fabrizio; Tedeschi, Nicola

    2017-02-01

    In this paper, ultra-thin narrow-band, complementary narrow-band, and dual-band metamaterial absorbers (MMAs), exploiting the same electric ring resonator configuration, are investigated at normal and oblique incidence for both transverse electric (TE) and transverse magnetic (TM) polarizations, and with different physical properties in the THz regime. In the analysis of the ultra-thin narrow-band MMA, the limit of applicability of the transmission line model has been overcome with the introduction of a capacitance which considers the z component of the electric field. These absorbing structures have shown a wide angular response and a polarization-insensitive behavior due to the introduction of a conducting ground plane and to the four-fold rotational symmetry of the resonant elements around the propagation axis. We have adopted a retrieval procedure to extract the effective electromagnetic parameters of the proposed MMAs and we have compared the simulated and analytical results through the interference theory.

  4. Thermal annealing induced the tunable optical properties of silver thin films with linear variable thickness

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hong, Ruijin; Shao, Wen; Ji, Jialin; Tao, Chunxian; Zhang, Dawei

    2018-06-01

    Silver thin films with linear variable thickness were deposited at room temperature. The corresponding tunability of optical properties and Raman scattering intensity were realized by thermal annealing process. With the thickness increasing, the topography of as-annealed silver thin films was observed to develop from discontinued nanospheres into continuous structure with a redshift of the surface plasmon resonance wavelength in visible region. Both the various nanosphere sizes and states of aggregation of as-annealed silver thin films contributed to significantly increasing the sensitivity of surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS).

  5. Triggering Collapse of the Presolar Dense Cloud Core and Injecting Short-lived Radioisotopes with a Shock Wave. V. Nonisothermal Collapse Regime

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Boss, Alan P., E-mail: aboss@carnegiescience.edu

    Recent meteoritical analyses support an initial abundance of the short-lived radioisotope (SLRI) {sup 60}Fe that may be high enough to require nucleosynthesis in a core-collapse supernova, followed by rapid incorporation into primitive meteoritical components, rather than a scenario where such isotopes were inherited from a well-mixed region of a giant molecular cloud polluted by a variety of supernovae remnants and massive star winds. This paper continues to explore the former scenario, by calculating three-dimensional, adaptive mesh refinement, hydrodynamical code (FLASH 2.5) models of the self-gravitational, dynamical collapse of a molecular cloud core that has been struck by a thin shockmore » front with a speed of 40 km s{sup −1}, leading to the injection of shock front matter into the collapsing cloud through the formation of Rayleigh–Taylor fingers at the shock–cloud intersection. These models extend the previous work into the nonisothermal collapse regime using a polytropic approximation to represent compressional heating in the optically thick protostar. The models show that the injection efficiencies of shock front materials are enhanced compared to previous models, which were not carried into the nonisothermal regime, and so did not reach such high densities. The new models, combined with the recent estimates of initial {sup 60}Fe abundances, imply that the supernova triggering and injection scenario remains a plausible explanation for the origin of the SLRIs involved in the formation of our solar system.« less

  6. Optical and structural properties of amorphous Se x Te100- x aligned nanorods

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Al-Agel, Faisal A.

    2013-12-01

    In the present work, we report studies on optical and structural phenomenon in as-deposited thin films composed of aligned nanorods of amorphous Se x Te100- x ( x = 3, 6, 9, and 12). In structural studies, field emission scanning electron microscopic (FESEM) images suggest that these thin films contain high yield of aligned nanorods. These nanorods show a completely amorphous nature, which is verified by X-ray diffraction patterns of these thin films. Optical studies include the measurement of spectral dependence of absorption, reflection, and transmission of these thin films, respectively. On the basis of optical absorption data, a direct optical band gap is observed. This observation of a direct optical band gap in these nanorods is interesting as chalcogenides normally show an indirect band gap, and due to this reason, these materials could not become very popular for semiconducting devices. Therefore, this is an important report and will open up new directions for the application of these materials in semiconducting devices. The value of this optical band gap is found to decrease with the increase in selenium (Se) concentration. The reflection and absorption data are employed to estimate the values of optical constants (extinction coefficient ( k) and refractive index ( n)). From the spectral dependence of these optical constants, it is found that the values of refractive index ( n) increase, whereas the values of extinction coefficient ( k) decrease with the increase in photon energy. The real and imaginary parts of dielectric constants calculated with the values of extinction coefficient ( k) and refractive index ( n), are found to vary with photon energy and dopant concentration.

  7. Thermo-Optical Properties of Thin-Film TiO2–Al2O3 Bilayers Fabricated by Atomic Layer Deposition

    PubMed Central

    Ali, Rizwan; Saleem, Muhammad Rizwan; Pääkkönen, Pertti; Honkanen, Seppo

    2015-01-01

    We investigate the optical and thermo-optical properties of amorphous TiO2–Al2O3 thin-film bilayers fabricated by atomic layer deposition (ALD). Seven samples of TiO2–Al2O3 bilayers are fabricated by growing Al2O3 films of different thicknesses on the surface of TiO2 films of constant thickness (100 nm). Temperature-induced changes in the optical refractive indices of these thin-film bilayers are measured by a variable angle spectroscopic ellipsometer VASE®. The optical data and the thermo-optic coefficients of the films are retrieved and calculated by applying the Cauchy model and the linear fitting regression algorithm, in order to evaluate the surface porosity model of TiO2 films. The effects of TiO2 surface defects on the films’ thermo-optic properties are reduced and modified by depositing ultra-thin ALD-Al2O3 diffusion barrier layers. Increasing the ALD-Al2O3 thickness from 20 nm to 30 nm results in a sign change of the thermo-optic coefficient of the ALD-TiO2. The thermo-optic coefficients of the 100 nm-thick ALD-TiO2 film and 30 nm-thick ALD-Al2O3 film in a bilayer are (0.048 ± 0.134) × 10−4 °C−1 and (0.680 ± 0.313) × 10−4 °C−1, respectively, at a temperature T = 62 °C.

  8. Sputter deposition of PZT piezoelectric films on thin glass substrates for adjustable x-ray optics.

    PubMed

    Wilke, Rudeger H T; Johnson-Wilke, Raegan L; Cotroneo, Vincenzo; Davis, William N; Reid, Paul B; Schwartz, Daniel A; Trolier-McKinstry, Susan

    2013-05-10

    Piezoelectric PbZr(0.52)Ti(0.48)O(3) (PZT) thin films deposited on thin glass substrates have been proposed for adjustable optics in future x-ray telescopes. The light weight of these x-ray optics enables large collecting areas, while the capability to correct mirror figure errors with the PZT thin film will allow much higher imaging resolution than possible with conventional lightweight optics. However, the low strain temperature and flexible nature of the thin glass complicate the use of chemical-solution deposition due to warping of the substrate at typical crystallization temperatures for the PZT. RF magnetron sputtering enabled preparation of PZT films with thicknesses up to 3 μm on Schott D263 glass substrates with much less deformation. X-ray diffraction analysis indicated that the films crystallized with the perovskite phase and showed no indication of secondary phases. Films with 1 cm(2) electrodes exhibited relative permittivity values near 1100 and loss tangents below 0.05. In addition, the remanent polarization was 26 μC/cm(2) with coercive fields of 33 kV/cm. The transverse piezoelectric coefficient was as high as -6.1±0.6 C/m(2). To assess influence functions for the x-ray optics application, the piezoelectrically induced deflection of individual cells was measured and compared with finite-element-analysis calculations. The good agreement between the results suggests that actuation of PZT thin films can control mirror figure errors to a precision of about 5 nm, allowing sub-arcsecond imaging.

  9. Temperature behaviour of optical parameters in (Ag3AsS3)0.3(As2S3)0.7 thin films

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kutsyk, Mykhailo M.; Ráti, Yosyp Y.; Izai, Vitalii Y.; Makauz, Ivan I.; Studenyak, Ihor P.; Kökényesi, Sandor; Komada, Paweł; Zhailaubayev, Yerkin; Smailov, Nurzhigit

    2015-12-01

    (Ag3AsS3)0.3(As2S3)0.7 thin films were deposited onto a quartz substrate by rapid thermal evaporation. The optical transmission spectra of thin films were measured in the temperature range 77-300 K. It is shown that the absorption edge spectra are described by the Urbach rule. The temperature behaviour of absorption spectra was studied, the temperature dependences of energy position of absorption edge and Urbach energy were investigated. The influence of transition from three-dimensional glass to the two-dimensional thin film as well as influence of Ag3AsS3 introduction into As2S3 on the optical parameters of (Ag3AsS3)0.3(As2S3)0.7 were analysed. The spectral and temperature behaviour or refractive index for (Ag3AsS3)0.3(As2S3)0.7 thin film were studied.

  10. Cu2SixSn1-xS3 Thin Films Prepared by Reactive Magnetron Sputtering For Low-Cost Thin Film Solar Cells

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Yan, Chang; Liu, Fang-Yang; Lai, Yan-Qing; Li, Jie; Liu, Ye-Xiang

    2011-10-01

    We report the preparation of Cu2SixSn1-xS3 thin films for thin film solar cell absorbers using the reactive magnetron co-sputtering technique. Energy dispersive spectrometer and x-ray diffraction analyses indicate that Cu2Si1-xSnxS3 thin films can be synthesized successfully by partly substituting Si atoms for Sn atoms in the Cu2SnS3 lattice, leading to a shrinkage of the lattice, and, accordingly, by 2θ shifting to larger values. The blue shift of the Raman peak further confirms the formation of Cu2SixSn1-xS3. Environmental scanning electron microscope analyses reveal a polycrystalline and homogeneous morphology with a grain size of about 200-300 nm. Optical measurements indicate an optical absorption coefficient of higher than 104 cm-1 and an optical bandgap of 1.17±0.01 eV.

  11. Optical and structural properties of indium doped bismuth selenide thin films

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Pavagadhi, Himanshu; Vyas, S. M.; Patel, Piyush; Patel, Vimal; Patel, Jaydev; Jani, M. P.

    2015-08-01

    In: Bi2Se3 crystals were grown by Bridgman method at a growth velocity of 0.5cm/h with temperature gradient of 650 C/cm in our laboratory. The thin films of In:Bi2se3 were grown on amorphous substrate (glass) at a room temperature under a pressure of 10-4Pa by thermal evaporation technique. Thin film were deposited at various thicknesses and optical absorption spectrum of such thin films, obtain in wave no. range 300 to 2600 cm-1. The optical energy gap calculated from this data were found to be inverse function of square of thickness, particularly for thickness about 1800 Å or less. This dependence is explained in terms of quantum size effect. For thicker films, the bandgap is found to be independent of film thickness. For the surface stud of the as grown thin film by using AFM, which shows continuous film with some step height and surface roughness found in terms of few nm and particle size varies with respect to thickness.

  12. Electronic and optical properties of La-doped S r3I r2O7 epitaxial thin films

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Souri, M.; Terzic, J.; Johnson, J. M.; Connell, J. G.; Gruenewald, J. H.; Thompson, J.; Brill, J. W.; Hwang, J.; Cao, G.; Seo, A.

    2018-02-01

    We have investigated structural, transport, and optical properties of tensile strained (Sr1-xL ax ) 3I r2O7 (x =0 , 0.025, 0.05) epitaxial thin films. While high-Tc superconductivity is predicted theoretically in the system, we have observed that all of the samples remain insulating with finite optical gap energies and Mott variable-range hopping characteristics in transport. Cross-sectional scanning transmission electron microscopy indicates that structural defects such as stacking faults appear in this system. The insulating behavior of the La-doped S r3I r2O7 thin films is presumably due to disorder-induced localization and ineffective electron doping of La, which brings to light the intriguing difference between epitaxial thin films and bulk single crystals of the iridates.

  13. Structural, electrical, optical and magnetic properties of NiO/ZnO thin films

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Sushmitha, V.; Maragatham, V.; Raj, P. Deepak; Sridharan, M.

    2018-02-01

    Nickel oxide/Zinc oxide (NiO/ZnO) thin films have been deposited onto thoroughly cleaned glass substrates by reactive direct current (DC) magnetron sputtering technique and subsequently annealed at 300 °C for 3 h in vacuum. The NiO/ZnO thin films were then studied for their structural, optical and electrical properties. X-ray diffraction (XRD) pattern of ZnO and NiO showed the diffraction planes corresponding to hexagonal and cubic phase respectively. The optical properties showed that with the increase in the deposition time of NiO the energy band gap varied between 3.1 to 3.24 eV. Hence, by changing the deposition time of NiO the tuning of band gap and conductivity were achieved. The magnetic studies revealed the diamagnetic nature of the NiO/ZnO thin films.

  14. Thin Shell Manufacturing for large Wavefront correctors

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ruch, Eric; Poutriquet, Florence

    2011-09-01

    One of the major key elements in large adaptive optical systems is the thin shell, used as a deformable mirror. Although the optical prescriptions are relaxed with respect to a passive mirror, especially in the low spatial frequency domain, other requirements, such as the cosmetic defects (scratch & dig), the tight control of the thickness uniformity and of course the fragility of the piece having an aspect ratio up to 1000:1, generate new problems during the manufacturing, testing and handling of such optics. Moreover, the optical surface has to be tested in two different ways: a classical optical test bench allows us to create a surface map of the mirror. This map is then computed to determine the force required by the actuators to flatten the mirror and this becomes also a specification for polishing and implies a good interaction with the voice coil manufacturer. More than twenty years ago Sagem - Reosc developed the first meter class thin shell for early adaptive optics experiments. Since then, large thin shell have been used as the optical part in composite mirrors and more recently the aspheric shell for the VLT Deformable Secondary Mirror has been polished and prototypes, up to scale 1, of the E-ELT M4 Adaptive Mirror have been delivered to ESO in 2010. This paper will present some recent results in the manufacturing and testing technologies of large this shell, especially focusing on the development of the 1,1 meter convex aspherical shell for the VLT M2 mirror and on the results obtained on the largest thin shell produced so far (2,5 meter in diameter) developed as a demonstrator for the future E-ELT M4.

  15. A comparison study of Co and Cu doped MgO diluted magnetic thin films

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Sarıtaş, S.; ćakıcı, T.; Muǧlu, G. Merhan; Kundakcı, M.; Yıldırım, M.

    2017-02-01

    Transition metal-doped MgO diluted magnetic thin films are appropriate candidates for spintronic applications and designing magnetic devices and sensors. Therefore, MgO:Co and MgO:Cu films were deposited on glass substrates by Chemical Spray Pyrolysis (CSP) method different thin film deposition parameters. Deposited different transition metal doped MgO thin films were compared in terms of optic and structural properties. Comparison optic analysis of the films was investigated spectral absorption and transmittance measurements by UV-Vis double beam spectrophotometer technique. Comparison structural analysis of the thin films was examined by using XRD, Raman Analysis, SEM, EDX and AFM techniques. The transition metal-doped; MgO:Co and MgO:Cu thin films maybe have potential applications in spintronics and magnetic data storage.

  16. Optical Characterization of Molecular Contaminant Films

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Visentine, James T.

    2007-01-01

    A semi-empirical method of optical characterization of thin contaminant films on surfaces of optical components has been conceived. The method was originally intended for application to films that become photochemically deposited on such optical components as science windows, lenses, prisms, thinfilm radiators, and glass solar-cell covers aboard spacecraft and satellites in orbit. The method should also be applicable, with suitable modifications, to thin optical films (whether deposited deliberately or formed as contaminants) on optical components used on Earth in the computer microchip laser communications and thin-film industries. The method is expected to satisfy the need for a means of understanding and predicting the reductions in spectral transmittance caused by contaminant films and the consequent deterioration of performances of sensitive optical systems. After further development, this method could become part of the basis of a method of designing optical systems to minimize or compensate for the deleterious effects of contaminant films. In the original outer-space application, these deleterious effects are especially pronounced because after photochemical deposition, the films become darkened by further exposure to solar vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) radiation. In this method, thin contaminant films are theoretically modeled as thin optical films, characterized by known or assumed values of thickness, index of refraction, and absorption coefficient, that form on the outer surfaces of the original antireflection coating on affected optical components. The assumed values are adjusted as needed to make actual spectral transmittance values approximate observed ones as closely as possible and to correlate these values with amounts of VUV radiation to which the optical components have been exposed. In an initial study, the method was applied in correlating measured changes in transmittance of high-purity fused silica photochemically coated with silicone films of various measured thicknesses and exposed to various measured amounts of VUV radiation. In each case, it was found to be possible to select an index of refraction and absorption coefficient that made the ultraviolet, visible, and infrared transmittance changes predicted by the model match the corresponding measured transmittance changes almost exactly.

  17. Growth expectations from alternative thinning regimes and prescribed burning in naturally regenerated loblolly-shortleaf pine stands through age 20

    Treesearch

    Michael D. Cain

    1996-01-01

    Pine growth was monitored for 14 years after mechanically strip-thinning a dense, naturally regenerated, even-aged stand of 6-year-old loblolly pines (Pinus taeda L.) and shortleaf pines (Pinus echinata Mill.) that averaged 41 000 trees per hectare in southeastern Arkansas, USA. Prescribed winter bums were conducted...

  18. Accelerating development of late-successional conditions in young managed Douglas-fir stands: a simulation study.

    Treesearch

    Steven L. Garman; John H. Cissel; James H. Mayo

    2003-01-01

    The goal of this simulation study was to provide information for defining thinning regimes for young Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) Franco) stands in the Central Cascades Adaptive Management Area, located in west-central Oregon. Specifically, this study used the ZELIG.PNW (3.0) gap model to evaluate effects of experimental thinning treatments on the...

  19. FTM-West Model Results for Selected Fuel Treatment Scenarios

    Treesearch

    Andrew D. Kramp; Peter J. Ince

    2006-01-01

    This paper evaluated potential forest product market impacts in the U.S. West of increases in the supply of wood from thinnings to reduce fire hazard. Evaluations are done using the Fuel Treatment Market-West model for a set of hypothetical fuel treatment scenarios, which include stand-density-index (SDI) and thin-from-below (TFB) treatment regimes at alternative...

  20. Numerical simulation of drop impact on a thin film: the origin of the droplets in the splashing regime

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Xie, Zhihua; Che, Zhizhao; Ismail, Renad; Pain, Chris; Matar, Omar

    2015-11-01

    Drop impact on a liquid layer is a feature of numerous multiphase flow problems, and has been the subject of numerous theoretical, experimental and numerical investigations. In the splashing regime, however, little attention has been focused on the origin of the droplets that are formed during the splashing process. The objective of this study is to investigate this issue numerically in order to improve our understanding of the mechanisms underlying splashing as a function of the relevant system parameters. In contrast to the conventional two-phase flow approach, commonly used to simulate splashing, here, a three-dimensional, three-phase flow model, with adaptive, unstructured meshing, is employed to study the liquid (droplet) - gas (surrounding air) - liquid (thin film) system. In the cases to be presented, both liquid phases have the same fluid property, although, clearly, our method can be used in the more general case of two different liquids. Numerical results of droplet impact on a thin film are analysed to determine whether the origin of the droplets following impact corresponds to the mother drop, or the thin film, or both. EPSRC Programme Grant, MEMPHIS, EP/K0039761/1.

  1. Intermediate surface structure between step bunching and step flow in SrRuO3 thin film growth

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Bertino, Giulia; Gura, Anna; Dawber, Matthew

    We performed a systematic study of SrRuO3 thin films grown on TiO2 terminated SrTiO3 substrates using off-axis magnetron sputtering. We investigated the step bunching formation and the evolution of the SRO film morphology by varying the step size of the substrate, the growth temperature and the film thickness. The thin films were characterized using Atomic Force Microscopy and X-Ray Diffraction. We identified single and multiple step bunching and step flow growth regimes as a function of the growth parameters. Also, we clearly observe a stronger influence of the step size of the substrate on the evolution of the SRO film surface with respect to the other growth parameters. Remarkably, we observe the formation of a smooth, regular and uniform ``fish skin'' structure at the transition between one regime and another. We believe that the fish skin structure results from the merging of 2D flat islands predicted by previous models. The direct observation of this transition structure allows us to better understand how and when step bunching develops in the growth of SrRuO3 thin films.

  2. Effects of different wetting layers on the growth of smooth ultra-thin silver thin films

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ni, Chuan; Shah, Piyush; Sarangan, Andrew M.

    2014-09-01

    Ultrathin silver films (thickness below 10 nm) are of great interest as optical coatings on windows and plasmonic devices. However, producing these films has been a continuing challenge because of their tendency to form clusters or islands rather than smooth contiguous thin films. In this work we have studied the effect of Cu, Ge and ZnS as wetting layers (1.0 nm) to achieve ultrasmooth thin silver films. The silver films (5 nm) were grown by RF sputter deposition on silicon and glass substrates using a few monolayers of the different wetting materials. SEM imaging was used to characterize the surface properties such as island formation and roughness. Also the optical properties were measured to identify the optical impact of the different wetting layers. Finally, a multi-layer silver based structure is designed and fabricated, and its performance is evaluated. The comparison between the samples with different wetting layers show that the designs with wetting layers which have similar optical properties to silver produce the best overall performance. In the absence of a wetting layer, the measured optical spectra show a significant departure from the model predictions, which we attribute primarily to the formation of clusters.

  3. Generation of five phase-locked harmonics in the continuous wave regime and its potential application to arbitrary optical waveform synthesis

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Suhaimi, N. Sheeda; Ohae, C.; Gavara, T.; Nakagawa, K.; Hong, F.-L.; Katsuragawa, M.

    2017-08-01

    We have successfully generated a new broadband coherent light source in the continuous wave (CW) regime which is an ensemble of multi-harmonic radiations (2403, 1201, 801, 600 and 480 nm) by implementing a frequency dividing technology. The system is uniquely designed that all the harmonics are generated and propagate coaxially which gives the advantage of robustly maintaining the phase coherence among the harmonics. The highlight is its huge potential for the arbitrary optical waveform synthesis in the CW regime which has not been performed yet due to the limitation of the existing light source.

  4. Thermo-optical dynamics in an optically pumped Photonic Crystal nano-cavity.

    PubMed

    Brunstein, M; Braive, R; Hostein, R; Beveratos, A; Rober-Philip, I; Sagnes, I; Karle, T J; Yacomotti, A M; Levenson, J A; Moreau, V; Tessier, G; De Wilde, Y

    2009-09-14

    Linear and non-linear thermo-optical dynamical regimes were investigated in a photonic crystal cavity. First, we have measured the thermal relaxation time in an InP-based nano-cavity with quantum dots in the presence of optical pumping. The experimental method presented here allows one to obtain the dynamics of temperature in a nanocavity based on reflectivity measurements of a cw probe beam coupled through an adiabatically tapered fiber. Characteristic times of 1.0+/-0.2 micros and 0.9+/-0.2 micros for the heating and the cooling processes were obtained. Finally, thermal dynamics were also investigated in a thermo-optical bistable regime. Switch-on/off times of 2 micros and 4 micros respectively were measured, which could be explained in terms of a simple non-linear dynamical representation.

  5. Sinusoidal nanotextures for light management in silicon thin-film solar cells.

    PubMed

    Köppel, G; Rech, B; Becker, C

    2016-04-28

    Recent progresses in liquid phase crystallization enabled the fabrication of thin wafer quality crystalline silicon layers on low-cost glass substrates enabling conversion efficiencies up to 12.1%. Because of its indirect band gap, a thin silicon absorber layer demands for efficient measures for light management. However, the combination of high quality crystalline silicon and light trapping structures is still a critical issue. Here, we implement hexagonal 750 nm pitched sinusoidal and pillar shaped nanostructures at the sun-facing glass-silicon interface into 10 μm thin liquid phase crystallized silicon thin-film solar cell devices on glass. Both structures are experimentally studied regarding their optical and optoelectronic properties. Reflection losses are reduced over the entire wavelength range outperforming state of the art anti-reflective planar layer systems. In case of the smooth sinusoidal nanostructures these optical achievements are accompanied by an excellent electronic material quality of the silicon absorber layer enabling open circuit voltages above 600 mV and solar cell device performances comparable to the planar reference device. For wavelengths smaller than 400 nm and higher than 700 nm optical achievements are translated into an enhanced quantum efficiency of the solar cell devices. Therefore, sinusoidal nanotextures are a well-balanced compromise between optical enhancement and maintained high electronic silicon material quality which opens a promising route for future optimizations in solar cell designs for silicon thin-film solar cells on glass.

  6. Method of synthesizing a plurality of reactants and producing thin films of electro-optically active transition metal oxides

    DOEpatents

    Tracy, C.E.; Benson, D.K.; Ruth, M.R.

    1985-08-16

    A method of synthesizing a plurality of reactants by inducing a reaction by plasma deposition among the reactants. The plasma reaction is effective for consolidating the reactants and producing thin films of electro-optically active transition metal oxides.

  7. Welding with the thin disc laser: new processing and application potentials

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hügel, H.; Ruβ, A.; Weberpals, J.; Dausinger, F.

    2005-09-01

    Thin disc lasers represent a new class of welding lasers in that they combine the beneficial characteristics of CO2- and Nd:YAG-lasers. Their good focusability--values of M2 around 20 are typical for devices in the multi kW power range--can be utilized in several ways to improve the welding performance: compared to lamp-pumped Nd:YAG-lasers, the laser power required at the threshold to the deep penetration regime can be reduced, the welding depth can be increased and far higher values of traverse speed are applicable at prescribed welding depths. Alternatively, the high beam quality allows the use of focusing optics with large focal lengths, hence enabling the realization of "remote welding" concepts. At the same time, a wavelength of 1.03 μm (Yb:YAG) provides, in comparison to CO2-lasers, a high absorptivity at metallic workpieces and a low sensitivity against plasma production; both effects contribute to the efficiency, stability and achievable quality of the welding process. Further, beam delivery via flexible glass fibers with core diameters of 100 μm to 150 μm is possible. With these features and an overall (plug) efficiency of more than 20 %, this laser offers a large potential for many applications.

  8. Achieving Zero Stress in Iridium, Chromium, and Nickel Thin Films

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Broadway, David M.; Weimer, Jeffrey; Gurgew, Danielle; Lis, Tomasz; Ramsey, Brian D.; O'Dell, Stephen L.; Ames, A.; Bruni, R.

    2015-01-01

    We examine a method for achieving zero intrinsic stress in thin films of iridium, chromium, and nickel deposited by magnetron sputter deposition. The examination of the stress in these materials is motivated by efforts to advance the optical performance of light-weight x-ray space telescopes into the regime of sub-arc second resolution that rely on control of the film stress to values within 10-100 MPa. A characteristic feature of the intrinsic stress behavior in chromium and nickel is their sensitivity to the magnitude and sign of the intrinsic stress with argon gas pressure, including the existence of a critical pressure that results in zero film stress. This critical pressure scales linearly with the film's density. While the effect of stress reversal with argon pressure has been previously reported by Hoffman and others for nickel and chromium, we have discovered a similar behavior for iridium. Additionally, we have identified zero stress in iridium shortly after island coalescence. This feature of film growth is used for achieving a total internal stress of -2.89 MPa for a 15.8 nm thick iridium film. The surface roughness of this low-stress film was examined using scanning probe microscopy (SPM) and x-ray reflectivity (XRR) at CuKa and these results presented and discussed.

  9. Transient phases during crystallization of solution-processed organic thin films

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wan, Jing; Li, Yang; Ulbrandt, Jeffery; Smilgies, Detlef-M.; Hollin, Jonathan; Whalley, Adam; Headrick, Randall

    We report an in-situ study of 2,7-dioctyl[1]benzothieno[3,2-b][1]benzothiophene (C8-BTBT) organic semiconductor thin film deposition from solution via hollow pen writing, which exhibits multiple transient phases during crystallization. Under high writing speed (25 mm/s) the films have an isotropic morphology, although the mobilities range up to 3.0 cm2/V.s. To understand the crystallization in this highly non-equilibrium regime, we employ in-situ microbeam grazing incidence wide-angle X-ray scattering combined with optical video microscopy at different deposition temperatures. A sequence of crystallization was observed in which a layered liquid-crystalline (LC) phase of C8-BTBT precedes inter-layer ordering. For films deposited above 80ºC, a transition from LC phase to a transient crystalline state that we denote as Cr1 occurs after a temperature-dependent incubation time, which is consistent with classical nucleation theory. After an additional ~ 0.5s, Cr1 transforms to the final stable structure Cr2. Based on these results, we demonstrate a method to produce large crystalline grain size and high carrier mobility during high-speed processing by controlling the nucleation rate during the transformation from the LC phase. Nsf DMR-1307017, NSF DMR-1332208.

  10. Femtosecond nonlinear fiber optics in the ionization regime.

    PubMed

    Hölzer, P; Chang, W; Travers, J C; Nazarkin, A; Nold, J; Joly, N Y; Saleh, M F; Biancalana, F; Russell, P St J

    2011-11-11

    By using a gas-filled kagome-style photonic crystal fiber, nonlinear fiber optics is studied in the regime of optically induced ionization. The fiber offers low anomalous dispersion over a broad bandwidth and low loss. Sequences of blueshifted pulses are emitted when 65 fs, few-microjoule pulses, corresponding to high-order solitons, are launched into the fiber and undergo self-compression. The experimental results are confirmed by numerical simulations which suggest that free-electron densities of ∼10(17) cm(-3) are achieved at peak intensities of 10(14) W/cm(2) over length scales of several centimeters.

  11. Scintillation analysis of pseudo-Bessel-Gaussian Schell-mode beams propagating through atmospheric turbulence with wave optics simulation

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zheng, Guo; Wang, Jue; Wang, Lin; Zhou, Muchun; Chen, Yanru; Song, Minmin

    2018-03-01

    The scintillation index of pseudo-Bessel-Gaussian Schell-mode (PBGSM) beams propagating through atmospheric turbulence is analyzed with the help of wave optics simulation due to the analytic difficulties. It is found that in the strong fluctuation regime, the PBGSM beams are more resistant to the turbulence with the appropriate parameters β and δ . However, the case is contrary in the weak fluctuation regime. Our simulation results indicate that the PBGSM beams may be applied to free-space optical (FSO) communication systems only when the turbulence is strong or the propagation distance is long.

  12. Magneto-optical rotation in cavity QED with Zeeman coherence

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Sun, Hui; Jia, Xiaohua; Fan, Shuangli; Zhang, Hongjun; Guo, Hong

    2018-06-01

    We investigate theoretically the magneto-optical rotation in cavity QED system with atomic Zeeman coherence, which is established via coherent population trapping. Owing to Zeeman coherence, the ultranarrow transmission spectrum less than 1 MHz with gain can be achieved with a flat-top Faraday rotation angle. By controlling the parameters appropriately, the input probe components within the flat-top regime rotate with almost the same angle, and transmit through the cavity perpendicularly to the other components outside the flat-top regime. The concepts discussed here provide an important tool for perfect ultranarrow Faraday optical filter and quantum information processing.

  13. PAH 8μm Emission as a Diagnostic of HII Region Optical Depth

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Oey, M. S.; Lopez-Hernandez, J.; Kellar, J. A.; Pellegrini, E. W.; Gordon, Karl D.; Jameson, Katherine; Li, Aigen; Madden, Suzanne C.; Meixner, Margaret; Roman-Duval, Julia; Bot, Caroline; Rubio, Monica; Tielens, A. G. G. M.

    2017-01-01

    PAHs are easily destroyed by Lyman continuum radiation and so in optically thick Stromgren spheres, they tend to be found only on the periphery of HII regions, rather than in the central volume. We therefore expect that in HII regions that are optically thin to ionizing radiation, PAHs would be destroyed beyond the primary nebular structure. Using data from the Spitzer SAGE survey of the Magellanic Clouds, we test whether 8 μm emission can serve as a diagnostic of optical depth in HII regions. We find that 8 μm emission does provide valuable constraints in the Large Magellanic Cloud, where objects identified as optically thick by their atomic ionization structure have 6 times higher median 8 μm surface brightness than optically thin objects. However, in the Small Magellanic Cloud, this differentiation is not observed. This appears to be caused by extremely low PAH production in this low-metallicity environment, such that any differentiation between optically thick and thin objects is washed out by stochastic variations, likely driven by the interplay between dust production and UV destruction. Thus, PAH emission is sensitive to nebular optical depth only at higher metallicities.

  14. Basic optics of effect materials.

    PubMed

    Jones, Steven A

    2010-01-01

    Effect materials derive their color and effect primarily from thin-film interference. Effect materials have evolved over the decades from simple guanine crystals to the complex multilayer optical structures of today. The development of new complex effect materials requires an understanding of the optics of effect materials. Such an understanding would also benefit the cosmetic formulator as these new effect materials are introduced. The root of this understanding begins with basic optics. This paper covers the nature of light, interference of waves, thin-film interference, color from interference, and color travel.

  15. Oriented niobate ferroelectric thin films for electrical and optical devices

    DOEpatents

    Wessels, Bruce W.; Nystrom, Michael J.

    2001-01-01

    Sr.sub.x Ba.sub.1-x Nb.sub.2 O.sub.6, where x is greater than 0.25 and less than 0.75, and KNbO.sub.3 ferroelectric thin films metalorganic chemical vapor deposited on amorphous or cyrstalline substrate surfaces to provide a crystal axis of the film exhibiting a high dielectric susceptibility, electro-optic coefficient, and/or nonlinear optic coefficient oriented preferentially in a direction relative to a crystalline or amorphous substrate surface. Such films can be used in electronic, electro-optic, and frequency doubling components.

  16. Graphene and silver-nanoprism dispersion for printing optically-transparent electrodes

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Sinar, Dogan; Knopf, George K.; Nikumb, Suwas

    2017-02-01

    Optically transparent electrodes (OTEs) are used for bioelectronics, touch screens, visual displays, and photovoltaic cells. Although the conductive coating for these electrodes is often composed of indium tin oxide (ITO), indium is a very expensive material and thin ITO films are relatively brittle compared to conductive polymer or graphene thin films. An alternative highly conductive optically transparent thin film based on a graphene (G) and silver-nanoprism (AgNP) dispersion is introduced in this paper. The aqueous G ink is first synthesized using carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) as a stabilizing agent. Silver (Ag) nanoprisms are then prepared separately by a simple thermal process which involves the reduction of silver nitrate by sodium borohydride. These Ag nanoprisms are only a few nanometers thick but have relatively large surface areas (>1000 nm2). As a consequence, the nanoprisms provide more efficient injection of free carriers to the G layer. The concentrated G-AgNP dispersions are then deposited on optically transparent glass and polyimide substrates using an inkjet printer with a HP6602A print head. After printing, these optically thin films can be thermally treated to further increase electrical conductivity. Thermal treatment decomposes CMC which frees elemental carbon from polymer chain and, simultaneously, causes the film to become hydrophobic. Preliminary experiments demonstrate that the G-AgNP films on glass substrates exhibit high conductivity at 70% transparency (550 nm). Additional tests on the Gr-AgNP thin films printed on polymide substrates show mechanical stability under bending with minimal reduction in electrical conductivity or optical transparency.

  17. An In-situ Real-Time Optical Fiber Sensor Based on Surface Plasmon Resonance for Monitoring the Growth of TiO2 Thin Films

    PubMed Central

    Tsao, Yu-Chia; Tsai, Woo-Hu; Shih, Wen-Ching; Wu, Mu-Shiang

    2013-01-01

    An optical fiber sensor based on surface plasmon resonance (SPR) is proposed for monitoring the thickness of deposited nano-thin films. A side-polished multimode SPR optical fiber sensor with an 850 nm-LD is used as the transducing element for real-time monitoring of the deposited TiO2 thin films. The SPR optical fiber sensor was installed in the TiO2 sputtering system in order to measure the thickness of the deposited sample during TiO2 deposition. The SPR response declined in real-time in relation to the growth of the thickness of the TiO2 thin film. Our results show the same trend of the SPR response in real-time and in spectra taken before and after deposition. The SPR transmitted intensity changes by approximately 18.76% corresponding to 50 nm of deposited TiO2 thin film. We have shown that optical fiber sensors utilizing SPR have the potential for real-time monitoring of the SPR technology of nanometer film thickness. The compact size of the SPR fiber sensor enables it to be positioned inside the deposition chamber, and it could thus measure the film thickness directly in real-time. This technology also has potential application for monitoring the deposition of other materials. Moreover, in-situ real-time SPR optical fiber sensor technology is in inexpensive, disposable technique that has anti-interference properties, and the potential to enable on-line monitoring and monitoring of organic coatings. PMID:23881144

  18. An in-situ real-time optical fiber sensor based on surface plasmon resonance for monitoring the growth of TiO2 thin films.

    PubMed

    Tsao, Yu-Chia; Tsai, Woo-Hu; Shih, Wen-Ching; Wu, Mu-Shiang

    2013-07-23

    An optical fiber sensor based on surface plasmon resonance (SPR) is proposed for monitoring the thickness of deposited nano-thin films. A side-polished multimode SPR optical fiber sensor with an 850 nm-LD is used as the transducing element for real-time monitoring of the deposited TiO2 thin films. The SPR optical fiber sensor was installed in the TiO2 sputtering system in order to measure the thickness of the deposited sample during TiO2 deposition. The SPR response declined in real-time in relation to the growth of the thickness of the TiO2 thin film. Our results show the same trend of the SPR response in real-time and in spectra taken before and after deposition. The SPR transmitted intensity changes by approximately 18.76% corresponding to 50 nm of deposited TiO2 thin film. We have shown that optical fiber sensors utilizing SPR have the potential for real-time monitoring of the SPR technology of nanometer film thickness. The compact size of the SPR fiber sensor enables it to be positioned inside the deposition chamber, and it could thus measure the film thickness directly in real-time. This technology also has potential application for monitoring the deposition of other materials. Moreover, in-situ real-time SPR optical fiber sensor technology is in inexpensive, disposable technique that has anti-interference properties, and the potential to enable on-line monitoring and monitoring of organic coatings.

  19. Fabrication of amplitude-phase type diffractive optical elements in aluminium films

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Fomchenkov, S. A.; Butt, M. A.

    2017-11-01

    In the course of studies have been conducted a method of forming the phase diffractive optical elements (DOEs) by direct laser writing in thin films of aluminum. The quality of the aluminum films were investigated depending on the parameters of magnetron sputtering process. Moreover, the parameters of the laser writing process in thin films of aluminum were optimized. The structure of phase diffractive optical elements was obtained by the proposed method.

  20. Refraction limit of miniaturized optical systems: a ball-lens example.

    PubMed

    Kim, Myun-Sik; Scharf, Toralf; Mühlig, Stefan; Fruhnert, Martin; Rockstuhl, Carsten; Bitterli, Roland; Noell, Wilfried; Voelkel, Reinhard; Herzig, Hans Peter

    2016-04-04

    We study experimentally and theoretically the electromagnetic field in amplitude and phase behind ball-lenses across a wide range of diameters, ranging from a millimeter scale down to a micrometer. Based on the observation, we study the transition between the refraction and diffraction regime. The former regime is dominated by observables for which it is sufficient to use a ray-optical picture for an explanation, e.g., a cusp catastrophe and caustics. A wave-optical picture, i.e. Mie theory, is required to explain the features, e.g., photonic nanojets, in the latter regime. The vanishing of the cusp catastrophe and the emergence of the photonic nanojet is here understood as the refraction limit. Three different criteria are used to identify the limit: focal length, spot size, and amount of cross-polarization generated in the scattering process. We identify at a wavelength of 642 nm and while considering ordinary glass as the ball-lens material, a diameter of approximately 10 µm as the refraction limit. With our study, we shed new light on the means necessary to describe micro-optical system. This is useful when designing optical devices for imaging or illumination.

  1. Range detection using entangled optical photons

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Brandsema, Matthew J.; Narayanan, Ram M.; Lanzagorta, Marco

    2015-05-01

    Quantum radar is an emerging field that shows a lot of promise in providing significantly improved resolution compared to its classical radar counterpart. The key to this kind of resolution lies in the correlations created from the entanglement of the photons being used. Currently, the technology available only supports quantum radar implementation and validation in the optical regime, as opposed to the microwave regime, because microwave photons have very low energy compared to optical photons. Furthermore, there currently do not exist practical single photon detectors and generators in the microwave spectrum. Viable applications in the optical regime include deep sea target detection and high resolution detection in space. In this paper, we propose a conceptual architecture of a quantum radar which uses entangled optical photons based on Spontaneous Parametric Down Conversion (SPDC) methods. After the entangled photons are created and emerge from the crystal, the idler photon is detected very shortly thereafter. At the same time, the signal photon is sent out towards the target and upon its reflection will impinge on the detector of the radar. From these two measurements, correlation data processing is done to obtain the distance of the target away from the radar. Various simulations are then shown to display the resolution that is possible.

  2. Single photon sources with single semiconductor quantum dots

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Shan, Guang-Cun; Yin, Zhang-Qi; Shek, Chan Hung; Huang, Wei

    2014-04-01

    In this contribution, we briefly recall the basic concepts of quantum optics and properties of semiconductor quantum dot (QD) which are necessary to the understanding of the physics of single-photon generation with single QDs. Firstly, we address the theory of quantum emitter-cavity system, the fluorescence and optical properties of semiconductor QDs, and the photon statistics as well as optical properties of the QDs. We then review the localization of single semiconductor QDs in quantum confined optical microcavity systems to achieve their overall optical properties and performances in terms of strong coupling regime, efficiency, directionality, and polarization control. Furthermore, we will discuss the recent progress on the fabrication of single photon sources, and various approaches for embedding single QDs into microcavities or photonic crystal nanocavities and show how to extend the wavelength range. We focus in particular on new generations of electrically driven QD single photon source leading to high repetition rates, strong coupling regime, and high collection efficiencies at elevated temperature operation. Besides, new developments of room temperature single photon emission in the strong coupling regime are reviewed. The generation of indistinguishable photons and remaining challenges for practical single-photon sources are also discussed.

  3. Enhanced magneto-optical Kerr effect in rare earth substituted nanostructured cobalt ferrite thin film prepared by sol-gel method

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Avazpour, L.; Toroghinejad, M. R.; Shokrollahi, H.

    2016-11-01

    A series of rare-earth (RE)-doped nanocrystalline Cox RE(1-x) Fe2O4 (x = 0, 0.1, 0.2 and RE: Nd, Eu) thin films were prepared on silicon substrates by a sol-gel process, and the influences of different RE3+ ions on the microstructure, magnetism and polar magneto-optical Kerr effect of the deposited films were investigated. Also this research presents the optimization process of cobalt ferrite thin films deposited via spin coating, by studying their structural and morphological properties at different thicknesses (200, 350 nm) and various heat treatment temperatures 300-850 °C. Nanoparticulate polycrystalline thin film were formed with heat treatment above 400 °C but proper magnetic properties due to well crystallization of the film were achieved at about 650 °C. AFM results indicated that the deposited thin films were crack-free exhibiting a dense nanogranular structure. The root-mean square (RMS) roughness of the thin films was in the range of 0.2-3.2 nm. The results revealed that both of the magnetism and magneto optical Kerr (MOKE) spectra of Cox RE(1-x) Fe2O4 films could be mediated by doping with various RE ions. The Curie temperature of substituted samples was lower than pristine cobalt ferrite thin films. In MOKE spectra both dominant peaks were blue shifted with addition of RE ions. For low concentration dopant the inter-valence charge transfer related rotation was enhanced and for higher concentration dopant the crystal field rotation peak was enhanced. The MOKE enhancement for Eu3+ substituted samples was more than Nd3+ doped cobalt ferrite films. The enhanced MOKEs in nanocrystalline thin films might promise their applications for magneto-optical sensors in adopted wavelengths.

  4. Optical limiting in gelatin stabilized Cu-PVP nanocomposite colloidal suspension

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Tamgadge, Y. S.; Gedam, P. P.; Thakare, N. B.; Talwatkar, S. S.; Sunatkari, A. L.; Muley, G. G.

    2018-05-01

    This article illustrates investigations on optical limiting properties of Cu-PVP nanocomposite colloidal suspension. Gelatin stabilized Cu nanoparticles have been synthesized using chemical reduction method and thin films in PVP matrix have been obtained using spin coating technique. Thin films have been characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Ultraviolet-visible (UV-vis) spectroscopy, etc. for structural and linear optical studies. Optical limiting properties of Colloidal Cu-PVP nanocomposites have been investigated at 808 nm diode CW laser. Minimum optical limiting threshold was found for GCu3-PVP nanocomposites sample. The strong optical limiting is thermal in origin as CW laser is used and effects are attributed to thermal lensing effect.

  5. Fabrication and characterization of a real-time optical fiber dosimeter probe

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Croteau, André; Caron, Serge; Rink, Alexandra; Jaffray, David; Mermut, Ozzy

    2011-07-01

    There is a pressing need for a low cost, passive optical fiber dosimeter probe for use in real-time monitoring of radiation dose delivered to clinical radiation therapy patients. An optical fiber probe using radiochromic material has been designed and fabricated based on the deposition of a radiochromic thin film on a dielectric mirror. Measurements of the net optical density vs. time before, during, and after irradiation at a rate of 500 cGy/minute to a total dose of 5 Gy were performed. Net optical densities increased from 0.2 to 2.0 for radiochromic thin film thicknesses of 2 to 20 μm, respectively. An improved optical fiber probe fabrication method is presented.

  6. Power- or frequency-driven hysteresis for continuous-wave optically injected distributed-feedback semiconductor lasers.

    PubMed

    Blin, Stéphane; Vaudel, Olivier; Besnard, Pascal; Gabet, Renaud

    2009-05-25

    Bistabilities between a steady (or pulsating, chaotic) and different pulsating regimes are investigated for an optically injected semi-conductor laser. Both numerical and experimental studies are reported for continuous-wave single-mode semiconductor distributed-feedback lasers emitting at 1.55 microm. Hysteresis are driven by either changing the optically injected power or the frequency difference between both lasers. The effect of the injected laser pumping rate is also examined. Systematic mappings of the possible laser outputs (injection locking, bimodal, wave mixing, chaos or relaxation oscillations) are carried out. At small pumping rates (1.2 times threshold), only locking and bimodal regimes are observed. The extent of the bistable area is either 11 dB or 35 GHz, depending on the varying parameters. At high pumping rates (4 times threshold), numerous injection regimes are observed. Injection locking and its bistabilities are also reported for secondary longitudinal modes.

  7. Superradiance in a Large and Dilute Cloud of Cold Atoms in the Linear-Optics Regime.

    PubMed

    Araújo, Michelle O; Krešić, Ivor; Kaiser, Robin; Guerin, William

    2016-08-12

    Superradiance has been extensively studied in the 1970s and 1980s in the regime of superfluorescence, where a large number of atoms are initially excited. Cooperative scattering in the linear-optics regime, or "single-photon superradiance," has been investigated much more recently, and superradiant decay has also been predicted, even for a spherical sample of large extent and low density, where the distance between atoms is much larger than the wavelength. Here, we demonstrate this effect experimentally by directly measuring the decay rate of the off-axis fluorescence of a large and dilute cloud of cold rubidium atoms after the sudden switch off of a low-intensity laser driving the atomic transition. We show that, at large detuning, the decay rate increases with the on-resonance optical depth. In contrast to forward scattering, the superradiant decay of off-axis fluorescence is suppressed near resonance due to attenuation and multiple-scattering effects.

  8. Structural and optical properties of nano-structured CdS thin films prepared by chemical bath deposition

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Bai, Rekha, E-mail: rekha.mittal07@gmail.com; Kumar, Dinesh; Chaudhary, Sujeet

    2016-05-06

    Cadmium sulfide (CdS) thin films have been deposited on conducting glass substrates by chemical bath deposition (CBD) technique. The effect of precursor concentration on the structural, morphological, compositional, and optical properties of the CdS films has been studied. Crystal structure of these CdS films is characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and it reveals polycrystalline structure with mixture of cubic and wurtzite phases with grain size decreasing as precursor concentration is increased. Optical studies reveal that the CdS thin films have high transmittance in visible spectral region reaching 90% and the films possess direct optical band gap that decreases from 2.46more » to 2.39 eV with decreasing bath concentration. Our study suggests that growth is nucleation controlled.« less

  9. Effect of solution concentration on MEH-PPV thin films

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Affendi, I. H. H.; Sarah, M. S. P.; Alrokayan, Salman A. H.; Khan, Haseeb A.; Rusop, M.

    2018-05-01

    MEH-PPV thin films were prepared with a mixture of THF (tetrahydrofuran) solution deposited by spin coating method. The surface topology of MEH-PPV thin film were characterize by atomic force microscopy (AFM) and optical properties of absorption spectra were characterized by using Ultraviolet-visible-near-infrared (UV-Vis-NIR). The MEH-PPV concentration variation affects the surface and optical properties of the thin film where 0.5 mg/ml MEH-PPV concentration have a good surface topology provided the same film also gives the highest absorption coefficient were then deposited to a TiO2 thin film forming composite layer. The composite layer then shows low current flow of short circuit current of Isc = -5.313E-7 A.

  10. Electrically driven hybrid photonic metamaterials for multifunctional control

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kang, Lei; Liu, Liu; Campbell, Sawyer D.; Yue, Taiwei; Ren, Qiang; Mayer, Theresa S.; Werner, Douglas H.

    2017-08-01

    The unique light-matter interaction in metamaterials, a type of artificial medium in which the geometrical features of subunits dominate their optical responses, have been utilized to achieve exotic material properties that are rare or nonexistent in natural materials. Furthermore, to extend their behaviors, active materials have been introduced into metamaterial systems to advance tunability, switchability and nonlinearity. Nevertheless, practical examples of versatile photonic metamaterials remain exceedingly rare for two main reasons. On the one hand, in sharp contrast to the broad material options available at lower frequencies, it is less common to find active media in the optical regime that can provide pronounced dielectric property changes under external stimuli, such as electric and magnetic fields. Vanadium dioxide (VO2), offering a large refractive index variation over a broad frequency range due to its near room temperature insulator-to-metal transition (IMT), has been favored in recent studies on tunable metamaterials. On the other hand, it turns out that regulating responses of hybrid metamaterials to external forces in an integrated manner is not a straightforward task. Recently, metamaterial-enabled devices (i.e., metadevices) with `self-sufficient' or `self-contained' electrical and optical properties have enabled complex functionalities. Here, we present a design methodology along with the associated experimental validation of a VO2 thin film integrated optical metamaterial absorber as a hybrid photonic platform for electrically driven multifunctional control, including reflectance switching, a rewritable memory process and manageable localized camouflage. The nanoengineered topologically continuous metal structure simultaneously supports the optical resonance and electrical functionality that actuates the phase transition in VO2 through the process of Joule heating. This work provides a universal approach to creating self-sufficient and highly-versatile nanophotonic systems.

  11. Temperature of Heating and Cooling of Massive, Thin, and Wedge-Shaped Plates from Hard-to-Machine Steels During Their Grinding

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Dement‧ev, V. B.; Ivanova, T. N.; Dolginov, A. M.

    2017-01-01

    Grinding of flat parts occurs by solid abrasive particles due to the physicomechanical process of deformation and to the action of a process liquid at high temperatures in a zone small in volume and difficult for observation. The rate of heating and cooling depends on the change in the intensity of the heat flux and in the velocity and time of action of the heat source. A study has been made of the regularities of the influence of each of these parameters on the depth and character of structural transformations during the grinding of flat parts from hard-to-machine steels. A procedure to calculate temperature in grinding massive, thin, and wedge-shaped parts has been developed with account taken of the geometric and thermophysical parameters of the tool and the treated part, and also of cutting regimes. The procedure can be used as a constituent part in developing a system for automatic design of the technological process of grinding of flat surfaces. A relationship between the temperature in the grinding zone and the regimes of treatment has been established which makes it possible to control the quality of the surface layer of massive, thin, and wedge-shaped plates from hard-to-machine steels. The rational boundaries of shift of cutting regimes have been determined.

  12. Structural and optical properties of gold-incorporated diamond-like carbon thin films deposited by RF magnetron sputtering

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Majeed, Shahbaz; Siraj, K.; Naseem, S.; Khan, Muhammad F.; Irshad, M.; Faiz, H.; Mahmood, A.

    2017-07-01

    Pure and gold-doped diamond-like carbon (Au-DLC) thin films are deposited at room temperature by using RF magnetron sputtering in an argon gas-filled chamber with a constant flow rate of 100 sccm and sputtering time of 30 min for all DLC thin films. Single-crystal silicon (1 0 0) substrates are used for the deposition of pristine and Au-DLC thin films. Graphite (99.99%) and gold (99.99%) are used as co-sputtering targets in the sputtering chamber. The optical properties and structure of Au-DLC thin films are studied with the variation of gold concentration from 1%-5%. Raman spectroscopy, atomic force microscopy (AFM), Vickers hardness measurement (VHM), and spectroscopic ellipsometry are used to analyze these thin films. Raman spectroscopy indicates increased graphitic behavior and reduction in the internal stresses of Au-DLC thin films as the function of increasing gold doping. AFM is used for surface topography, which shows that spherical-like particles are formed on the surface, which agglomerate and form larger clusters on the surface by increasing the gold content. Spectroscopy ellipsometry analysis elucidates that the refractive index and extinction coefficient are inversely related and the optical bandgap energy is decreased with increasing gold content. VHM shows that gold doping reduces the hardness of thin films, which is attributed to the increase in sp2-hybridization.

  13. Effect of thickness on surface morphology, optical and humidity sensing properties of RF magnetron sputtered CCTO thin films

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ahmadipour, Mohsen; Ain, Mohd Fadzil; Ahmad, Zainal Arifin

    2016-11-01

    In this study, calcium copper titanate (CCTO) thin films were deposited on ITO substrates successfully by radio frequency (RF) magnetron sputtering method in argon atmosphere. The CCTO thin films present a polycrystalline, uniform and porous structure. The surface morphology, optical and humidity sensing properties of the synthesized CCTO thin films have been studied by X-ray diffraction (XRD), atomic force microscopy (AFM), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), UV-vis spectrophotometer and current-voltage (I-V) analysis. XRD and AFM confirmed that the intensity of peaks and pore size of CCTO thin films were enhanced by increasing the thin films. Tauc plot method was adopted to estimate the optical band gaps. The surface structure and energy band gaps of the deposited films were affected by film thickness. Energy band gap of the layers were 3.76 eV, 3.68 eV and 3.5 eV for 200 nm, 400 nm, and 600 nm CCTO thin films layer, respectively. The humidity sensing properties were measured by using direct current (DC) analysis method. The response times were 12 s, 22 s, and 35 s while the recovery times were 500 s, 600 s, and 650 s for 200 nm, 400 nm, and 600 nm CCTO thin films, respectively at humidity range of 30-90% relative humidity (RH).

  14. Using Polarized Spectroscopy to Investigate Order in Thin-Films of Ionic Self-Assembled Materials Based on Azo-Dyes

    PubMed Central

    Ahmad, Mariam; Andersen, Frederik; Brend Bech, Ári; Bendixen, H. Krestian L.; Nawrocki, Patrick R.; Bloch, Anders J.; Bora, Ilkay; Bukhari, Tahreem A.; Bærentsen, Nicolai V.; Carstensen, Jens; Chima, Smeeah; Colberg, Helene; Dahm, Rasmus T.; Daniels, Joshua A.; Dinckan, Nermin; El Idrissi, Mohamed; Erlandsen, Ricci; Førster, Marc; Ghauri, Yasmin; Gold, Mikkel; Hansen, Andreas; Hansen, Kenn; Helmsøe-Zinck, Mathias; Henriksen, Mathias; Hoffmann, Sophus V.; Hyllested, Louise O. H.; Jensen, Casper; Kallenbach, Amalie S.; Kaur, Kirandip; Khan, Suheb R.; Kjær, Emil T. S.; Kristiansen, Bjørn; Langvad, Sylvester; Lund, Philip M.; Munk, Chastine F.; Møller, Theis; Nehme, Ola M. Z.; Nejrup, Mathilde Rove; Nexø, Louise; Nielsen, Simon Skødt Holm; Niemeier, Nicolai; Nikolajsen, Lasse V.; Nøhr, Peter C. T.; Skaarup Ovesen, Jacob; Paustian, Lucas; Pedersen, Adam S.; Petersen, Mathias K.; Poulsen, Camilla M.; Praeger-Jahnsen, Louis; Qureshi, L. Sonia; Schiermacher, Louise S.; Simris, Martin B.; Smith, Gorm; Smith, Heidi N.; Sonne, Alexander K.; Zenulovic, Marko R.; Winther Sørensen, Alma; Vogt, Emil; Væring, Andreas; Westermann, Jonas; Özcan, Sevin B.

    2018-01-01

    Three series of ionic self-assembled materials based on anionic azo-dyes and cationic benzalkonium surfactants were synthesized and thin films were prepared by spin-casting. These thin films appear isotropic when investigated with polarized optical microscopy, although they are highly anisotropic. Here, three series of homologous materials were studied to rationalize this observation. Investigating thin films of ordered molecular materials relies to a large extent on advanced experimental methods and large research infrastructure. A statement that in particular is true for thin films with nanoscopic order, where X-ray reflectometry, X-ray and neutron scattering, electron microscopy and atom force microscopy (AFM) has to be used to elucidate film morphology and the underlying molecular structure. Here, the thin films were investigated using AFM, optical microscopy and polarized absorption spectroscopy. It was shown that by using numerical method for treating the polarized absorption spectroscopy data, the molecular structure can be elucidated. Further, it was shown that polarized optical spectroscopy is a general tool that allows determination of the molecular order in thin films. Finally, it was found that full control of thermal history and rigorous control of the ionic self-assembly conditions are required to reproducibly make these materials of high nanoscopic order. Similarly, the conditions for spin-casting are shown to be determining for the overall thin film morphology, while molecular order is maintained. PMID:29462883

  15. Using Polarized Spectroscopy to Investigate Order in Thin-Films of Ionic Self-Assembled Materials Based on Azo-Dyes.

    PubMed

    Kühnel, Miguel R Carro-Temboury Martin; Ahmad, Mariam; Andersen, Frederik; Bech, Ári Brend; Bendixen, H Krestian L; Nawrocki, Patrick R; Bloch, Anders J; Bora, Ilkay; Bukhari, Tahreem A; Bærentsen, Nicolai V; Carstensen, Jens; Chima, Smeeah; Colberg, Helene; Dahm, Rasmus T; Daniels, Joshua A; Dinckan, Nermin; Idrissi, Mohamed El; Erlandsen, Ricci; Førster, Marc; Ghauri, Yasmin; Gold, Mikkel; Hansen, Andreas; Hansen, Kenn; Helmsøe-Zinck, Mathias; Henriksen, Mathias; Hoffmann, Sophus V; Hyllested, Louise O H; Jensen, Casper; Kallenbach, Amalie S; Kaur, Kirandip; Khan, Suheb R; Kjær, Emil T S; Kristiansen, Bjørn; Langvad, Sylvester; Lund, Philip M; Munk, Chastine F; Møller, Theis; Nehme, Ola M Z; Nejrup, Mathilde Rove; Nexø, Louise; Nielsen, Simon Skødt Holm; Niemeier, Nicolai; Nikolajsen, Lasse V; Nøhr, Peter C T; Orlowski, Dominik B; Overgaard, Marc; Ovesen, Jacob Skaarup; Paustian, Lucas; Pedersen, Adam S; Petersen, Mathias K; Poulsen, Camilla M; Praeger-Jahnsen, Louis; Qureshi, L Sonia; Ree, Nicolai; Schiermacher, Louise S; Simris, Martin B; Smith, Gorm; Smith, Heidi N; Sonne, Alexander K; Zenulovic, Marko R; Sørensen, Alma Winther; Sørensen, Karina; Vogt, Emil; Væring, Andreas; Westermann, Jonas; Özcan, Sevin B; Sørensen, Thomas Just

    2018-02-15

    Three series of ionic self-assembled materials based on anionic azo-dyes and cationic benzalkonium surfactants were synthesized and thin films were prepared by spin-casting. These thin films appear isotropic when investigated with polarized optical microscopy, although they are highly anisotropic. Here, three series of homologous materials were studied to rationalize this observation. Investigating thin films of ordered molecular materials relies to a large extent on advanced experimental methods and large research infrastructure. A statement that in particular is true for thin films with nanoscopic order, where X-ray reflectometry, X-ray and neutron scattering, electron microscopy and atom force microscopy (AFM) has to be used to elucidate film morphology and the underlying molecular structure. Here, the thin films were investigated using AFM, optical microscopy and polarized absorption spectroscopy. It was shown that by using numerical method for treating the polarized absorption spectroscopy data, the molecular structure can be elucidated. Further, it was shown that polarized optical spectroscopy is a general tool that allows determination of the molecular order in thin films. Finally, it was found that full control of thermal history and rigorous control of the ionic self-assembly conditions are required to reproducibly make these materials of high nanoscopic order. Similarly, the conditions for spin-casting are shown to be determining for the overall thin film morphology, while molecular order is maintained.

  16. High index glass thin film processing for photonics and photovoltaic (PV) applications

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ogbuu, Okechukwu Anthony

    To favorably compete with fossil-fuel technology, the greatest challenge for thin film solar-cells is to improve efficiency and reduce material cost. Thickness scaling to thin film reduces material cost but affects the light absorption in the cells; therefore a concept that traps incident photons and increases its optical path length is needed to boost absorption in thin film solar cells. One approach is the integration of low symmetric gratings (LSG), using high index material, on either the front-side or backside of 30 um thin c-Si cells. In this study, Multicomponent TeO2--Bi2O 3--ZnO (TBZ) glass thin films were prepared using RF magnetron sputtering under different oxygen flow rates. The influences of oxygen flow rate on the structural and optical properties of the resulting thin films were investigated. The structural origin of the optical property variation was studied using X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, Raman Spectroscopy, and transmission electron microscopy. The results indicate that TBZ glass thin film is a suitable material for front side LSG material photovoltaic and photonics applications due to their amorphous nature, high refractive index (n > 2), broad band optical transparency window, low processing temperature. We developed a simple maskless method to pattern sputtered tellurite based glass thin films using unconventional agarose hydrogel mediated wet etching. Conventional wet etching process, while claiming low cost and high throughput, suffers from reproducibility and pattern fidelity issues due to the isotropic nature of wet chemical etching when applied to glasses and polymers. This method overcomes these challenges by using an agarose hydrogel stamp to mediate a conformal etching process. In our maskless method, agarose hydrogel stamps are patterned following a standard soft lithography and replica molding process from micropatterned masters and soaked in a chemical etchant. The micro-scale features on the stamp are subsequently transferred into glass and polymer thin films via conformal wet etching. High refractive index chalcogenide glass (n = 2.6) thin films with composition As20Se80 was selected for backside LSG material due to their attractive properties. We developed an optimized integration protocol for LSG integration and successfully integrated these LSG structures at the back side of both 30 microm c-Si solar cells and standalone 30 microm c-Si wafers. Optical and electrical characterization of LSG on thin c-Si cells shows that LSG structures create higher absorption enhancement and external quantum efficiency at long wavelengths.

  17. Improved photoelectrochemical performance of BiVO4/MoO3 heterostructure thin films

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kodan, Nisha; Mehta, B. R.

    2018-05-01

    Bismuth vanadate (BiVO4) and Molybdenum trioxide (MoO3) thin films have been prepared by RF sputtering technique. BiVO4 thin films were deposited on indium doped tin oxide (In: SnO2; ITO) substrates at room temperature and 80W applied rf power. The prepared BiVO4 thin films were further annealed at 450°C for 2 hours in air to obtain crystalline monoclinic phase and successively coated with MoO3 thin films deposited at 150W rf power and 400°C for 30 minutes. The effect of coupling BiVO4 and MoO3 on the structural, optical and photoelectrochemical (PEC) properties have been studied. Optical studies reveal that coupling of BiVO4 and MoO3 results in improvement of optical absorption in visible region of solar spectrum. PEC study shows approximate 3-fold and 38-fold increment in photocurrent values of BiVO4/MoO3 (0.38 mA/cm2) heterostructure thin film as compared to MoO3 (0.15 mA/cm2) and BiVO4 (10 µA/cm2) thin films at applied bias of 1 V vs Ag/AgCl in 0.5 M Na2SO4 (pH=7) electrolyte.

  18. Chalcogenide phase-change thin films used as grayscale photolithography materials.

    PubMed

    Wang, Rui; Wei, Jingsong; Fan, Yongtao

    2014-03-10

    Chalcogenide phase-change thin films are used in many fields, such as optical information storage and solid-state memory. In this work, we present another application of chalcogenide phase-change thin films, i.e., as grayscale photolithgraphy materials. The grayscale patterns can be directly inscribed on the chalcogenide phase-change thin films by a single process through direct laser writing method. In grayscale photolithography, the laser pulse can induce the formation of bump structure, and the bump height and size can be precisely controlled by changing laser energy. Bumps with different height and size present different optical reflection and transmission spectra, leading to the different gray levels. For example, the continuous-tone grayscale images of lifelike bird and cat are successfully inscribed onto Sb(2)Te(3) chalcogenide phase-change thin films using a home-built laser direct writer, where the expression and appearance of the lifelike bird and cat are fully presented. This work provides a way to fabricate complicated grayscale patterns using laser-induced bump structures onto chalcogenide phase-change thin films, different from current techniques such as photolithography, electron beam lithography, and focused ion beam lithography. The ability to form grayscale patterns of chalcogenide phase-change thin films reveals many potential applications in high-resolution optical images for micro/nano image storage, microartworks, and grayscale photomasks.

  19. Low-temperature growth and electronic structures of ambipolar Yb-doped zinc tin oxide transparent thin films

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Oh, Seol Hee; Ferblantier, Gerald; Park, Young Sang; Schmerber, Guy; Dinia, Aziz; Slaoui, Abdelilah; Jo, William

    2018-05-01

    The compositional dependence of the crystal structure, optical transmittance, and surface electric properties of the zinc tin oxide (Zn-Sn-O, shortened ZTO) thin films were investigated. ZTO thin films with different compositional ratios were fabricated on glass and p-silicon wafers using radio frequency magnetron sputtering. The binding energy of amorphous ZTO thin films was examined by a X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The optical transmittance over 70% in the visible region for all the ZTO films was observed. The optical band gap of the ZTO films was changed as a result of the competition between the Burstein-Moss effect and renormalization. An electron concentration in the films and surface work function distribution were measured by a Hall measurement and Kelvin probe force microscopy, respectively. The mobility of the n- and p-type ZTO thin films have more than 130 cm2/V s and 15 cm2/V s, respectively. We finally constructed the band structure which contains band gap, work function, and band edges such as valence band maximum and conduction band minimum of ZTO thin films. The present study results suggest that the ZTO thin film is competitive compared with the indium tin oxide, which is a representative material of the transparent conducting oxides, regarding optoelectronic devices applications.

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

    PubMed

    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.

  1. Effect of K-doping on structural and optical properties of ZnO thin films

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Xu, Linhua; Li, Xiangyin; Yuan, Jun

    2008-09-01

    In this work, K-doped ZnO thin films were prepared by a sol-gel method on Si(111) and glass substrates. The effect of different K-doping concentrations on structural and optical properties of the ZnO thin films was studied. The results showed that the 1 at.% K-doped ZnO thin film had the best crystallization quality and the strongest ultraviolet emission ability. When the concentration of K was above 1 at.%, the crystallization quality and ultraviolet emission ability dropped. For the K-doped ZnO thin films, there was not only ultraviolet emission, but also a blue emission signal in their photoluminescent spectra. The blue emission might be connected with K impurity or/and the intrinsic defects (Zn interstitial and Zn vacancy) of the ZnO thin films.

  2. Application of Thinned-Skull Cranial Window to Mouse Cerebral Blood Flow Imaging Using Optical Microangiography

    PubMed Central

    Wang, Ruikang K.

    2014-01-01

    In vivo imaging of mouse brain vasculature typically requires applying skull window opening techniques: open-skull cranial window or thinned-skull cranial window. We report non-invasive 3D in vivo cerebral blood flow imaging of C57/BL mouse by the use of ultra-high sensitive optical microangiography (UHS-OMAG) and Doppler optical microangiography (DOMAG) techniques to evaluate two cranial window types based on their procedures and ability to visualize surface pial vessel dynamics. Application of the thinned-skull technique is found to be effective in achieving high quality images for pial vessels for short-term imaging, and has advantages over the open-skull technique in available imaging area, surgical efficiency, and cerebral environment preservation. In summary, thinned-skull cranial window serves as a promising tool in studying hemodynamics in pial microvasculature using OMAG or other OCT blood flow imaging modalities. PMID:25426632

  3. Mechanical comparison of a polymer nanocomposite to a ceramic thin-film anti-reflective filter.

    PubMed

    Druffel, Thad; Geng, Kebin; Grulke, Eric

    2006-07-28

    Thin-film filters on optical components have been in use for decades and, for those industries utilizing a polymer substrate, the mismatch in mechanical behaviour has caused problems. Surface damage including scratches and cracks induces haze on the optical filter, reducing the transmission of the optical article. An in-mold anti-reflective (AR) filter incorporating 1/4-wavelength thin films based on a polymer nanocomposite is outlined here and compared with a traditional vacuum deposition AR coating. Nanoindentation and nanoscratch techniques are used to evaluate the mechanical properties of the thin films. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images of the resulting indentations and scratches are then compared to the force deflection curves to further explain the phenomena. The traditional coatings fractured by brittle mechanisms during testing, increasing the area of failure, whereas the polymer nanocomposite gave ductile failure with less surface damage.

  4. Theoretical simulations of protective thin film Fabry-Pérot filters for integrated optical elements of diode pumped alkali lasers (DPAL)

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Quarrie, L., E-mail: Lindsay.Quarrie@l-3com.com, E-mail: lindsay.o.quarrie@gmail.com; Air Force Research Laboratory, AFRL/RDLC Laser CoE, 3550 Aberdeen Avenue SE, Kirtland AFB, NM 87117-5776

    The lifetime of Diode-Pumped Alkali Lasers (DPALs) is limited by damage initiated by reaction of the glass envelope of its gain medium with rubidium vapor. Rubidium is absorbed into the glass and the rubidium cations diffuse through the glass structure, breaking bridging Si-O bonds. A damage-resistant thin film was developed enhancing high-optical transmission at natural rubidium resonance input and output laser beam wavelengths of 780 nm and 795 nm, while protecting the optical windows of the gain cell in a DPAL. The methodology developed here can be readily modified for simulation of expected transmission performance at input pump and outputmore » laser wavelengths using different combination of thin film materials in a DPAL. High coupling efficiency of the light through the gas cell was accomplished by matching the air-glass and glass-gas interfaces at the appropriate wavelengths using a dielectric stack of high and low index of refraction materials selected to work at the laser energies and protected from the alkali metal vapor in the gain cell. Thin films as oxides of aluminum, zirconium, tantalum, and silicon were selected allowing the creation of Fabry-Perot optical filters on the optical windows achieving close to 100% laser transmission in a solid optic combination of window and highly reflective mirror. This approach allows for the development of a new whole solid optic laser.« less

  5. Enhancing light-atom interactions via atomic bunching

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Schmittberger, Bonnie L.; Gauthier, Daniel J.

    2014-07-01

    There is a broad interest in enhancing the strength of light-atom interactions to the point where injecting a single photon induces a nonlinear material response. Here we show theoretically that sub-Doppler-cooled two-level atoms that are spatially organized by weak optical fields give rise to a nonlinear material response that is greatly enhanced beyond that attainable in a homogeneous gas. Specifically, in the regime where the intensity of the applied optical fields is much less than the off-resonance saturation intensity, we show that the third-order nonlinear susceptibility scales inversely with atomic temperature and, due to this scaling, can be two orders of magnitude larger than that of a homogeneous gas for typical experimental parameters. As a result, we predict that spatially bunched two-level atoms can exhibit single-photon nonlinearities. Our model is valid for all regimes of atomic bunching and simultaneously accounts for the backaction of the atoms on the optical fields. Our results agree with previous theoretical and experimental results for light-atom interactions that have considered only limited regimes of atomic bunching. For lattice beams tuned to the low-frequency side of the atomic transition, we find that the nonlinearity transitions from a self-focusing type to a self-defocusing type at a critical intensity. We also show that higher than third-order nonlinear optical susceptibilities are significant in the regime where the dipole potential energy is on the order of the atomic thermal energy. We therefore find that it is crucial to retain high-order nonlinearities to accurately predict interactions of laser fields with spatially organized ultracold atoms. The model presented here is a foundation for modeling low-light-level nonlinear optical processes for ultracold atoms in optical lattices.

  6. Modifying ultrafast optical response of sputtered VOX nanostructures in a broad spectral range by altering post annealing atmosphere

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kürüm, U.; Yaglioglu, H. G.; Küçüköz, B.; Oksuzoglu, R. M.; Yıldırım, M.; Yağcı, A. M.; Yavru, C.; Özgün, S.; Tıraş, T.; Elmali, A.

    2015-01-01

    Nanostructured VOX thin films were grown in a dc magnetron sputter system under two different Ar:O2 gas flow ratios. The films were annealed under vacuum and various ratios of O2/N2 atmospheres. The insulator-to-metal transition properties of the thin films were investigated by temperature dependent resistance measurement. Photo induced insulator-to-metal transition properties were investigated by Z-scan and ultrafast white light continuum pump probe spectroscopy measurements. Experiments showed that not only insulator-to-metal transition, but also wavelength dependence (from NIR to VIS) and time scale (from ns to ultrafast) of nonlinear optical response of the VOX thin films could be fine tuned by carefully adjusting post annealing atmosphere despite different initial oxygen content in the production. Fabricated VO2 thin films showed reflection change in the visible region due to photo induced phase transition. The results have general implications for easy and more effective fabrication of the nanostructured oxide systems with controllable electrical, optical, and ultrafast optical responses.

  7. Structural, electrical and optical properties of nanostructured ZrO2 thin film deposited by SILAR method

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Salodkar, R. V.; Belkhedkar, M. R.; Nemade, S. D.

    2018-05-01

    Successive Ionic Layer Adsorption and Reaction (SILAR) method has been employed to deposit nanocrystalline ZrO2 thin film of thickness 91 nm onto glass substrates using ZrOCl2.8H2O and NaOH as cationic and anionic precursors respectively. The structural and surface morphological characterizations have been carried out by means of X-ray diffraction and field emission scanning electron microscopy confirms the nanocrystalline nature of ZrO2 thin film. The direct optical band gap and activation energy of the ZrO2 thin film are found to be 4.74 and 0.80eV respectively.

  8. Effect of Target Density on Microstructural, Electrical, and Optical Properties of Indium Tin Oxide Thin Films

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zhu, Guisheng; Zhi, Li; Yang, Huijuan; Xu, Huarui; Yu, Aibing

    2012-09-01

    In this paper, indium tin oxide (ITO) targets with different densities were used to deposit ITO thin films. The thin films were deposited from these targets at room temperature and annealed at 750°C. Microstructural, electrical, and optical properties of the as-prepared films were studied. It was found that the target density had no effect on the properties or deposition rate of radiofrequency (RF)-sputtered ITO thin films, different from the findings for direct current (DC)-sputtered films. Therefore, when using RF sputtering, the target does not require a high density and may be reused.

  9. X-ray optics made from thin plastic foils

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Schnopper, Herbert W.; Silver, Eric H.; Ingram, Russell H.; Christensen, Finn E.; Hussain, Ahsen M.; Barbera, Marco; Romaine, Suzanne E.; Collura, Alfonso; Kenter, Almus T.; Bandler, Simon; Murray, Stephen S.

    1999-09-01

    New design concepts and materials can be used to produce very lightweight, thin foil approximations, to Wolter I and other x-ray optics. Structures are designed around a central hub and spacers that connect one spoked wheels. Figure defining, thin pins span the distance between the wheels. Thin, metal coated or multilayered, plastic foils can be formed into cones, cylinders or spirals for x-ray telescopes or lenses. Imaging and spectroscopic data obtained with x- ray lenses are presented and they indicate that a 60 cm diameter, 4.65 m focal length x-ray telescope can have a half power diameter of < 2 arcmin.

  10. Rietveld-refinement and optical study of the Fe doped ZnO thin film by RF magnetron sputtering

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kumar, Arun; Dhiman, Pooja; Singh, M.

    2017-05-01

    Fe Doped ZnO Dilute Magnetic Semiconductor thin film prepared by RF magnetron sputtering on glass substrate and Influence of 3% Fe-doping on structural and Optical properties has been studied. The Rietveld-refinement analysis shows that Fe doping has a significant effect on crystalline structure, grain size and strain in the thin film. Two dimensional and three-dimensional atom probe tomography of the thin film shows that Fe ions are randomly distributed which is supported by Xray Diffraction (XRD). Fe-doping is found to effectively modify the band gap energy up to 3.5 eV.

  11. Micropropulsion devices based on molecular acceleration by pulsed optical lattices

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Shneider, Mikhail N.; Gimelshein, Sergey F.; Barker, Peter F.

    2006-03-01

    The ability of a traveling periodic optical potential to increase the thrust and specific impulse of microthrusters is investigated. Two flow regimes, high density and low density, are considered. The thrust from a micronozzle, with a stagnation pressure of 1 atm and temperature of 300 K, can be increased by more than an order of magnitude. These conditions can be achieved for a constant velocity lattice, produced by two near counterpropagating optical fields that are focused into the nozzle throat. A propulsion system that operates in low-density regime and is driven by molecules trapped by an accelerating optical lattice is proposed. It is shown that such a system has a potential to achieve a specific impulse of thousands of seconds.

  12. Effects of Alternative Thinning Regimes and Prescribed Burning in Natural, Even-Aged Loblolly-Shortleaf Pine Stands: 25 Year Results

    Treesearch

    Michael D. Cain; Michael G. Shelton

    2003-01-01

    In southeastern Arkansas, pine growth was monitored for 19 yr after mechanically strip thinning a dense, naturally regenerated, even-aged stand of 6-yr-old loblolly pines (Pinus taeda L.) and shortleaf pines (P. echinata Mill.) that averaged 16,600 stems/UC. Prescribed winter burns were conducted biennially between ages 9 and 20...

  13. Thin-film optical shutter. Final report

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Matlow, S.L.

    1981-02-01

    A specific embodiment of macroconjugated macromolecules, the poly (p-phenylene)'s, has been chosen as the one most likely to meet all of the requirements of the Thin Film Optical Shutter project (TFOS). The reason for this choice is included. In order to be able to make meaningful calculations of the thermodynamic and optical properties of the poly (p-phenylene)'s a new quantum mechanical method was developed - Equilibrium Bond Length (EBL) Theory. Some results of EBL Theory are included.

  14. The role of low light intensity: A step towards understanding the connection between light, optic/lens and photovoltaic behavior for Sb2S3 thin-film solar cells

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lojpur, Vesna; Mitrić, Miodrag; Validžić, Ivana Lj

    2018-05-01

    We report here an optic/lens system that we used so far, for cooling the surface of solar cells, the reduction of light intensity and the change of light distribution that reaches the surface of the solar cell. The objective was to improve photovoltaic characteristics under very low light illumination, as well as to understand the connection between light, optic/lens and photovoltaic behavior for Sb2S3 thin-film solar cells. It was found that for all so far designed thin-film solar cells made and based on the synthesized Sb2S3, optics/lens system causes an increase in open circuit voltage (VOC) and short circuit current (ISC) and thus the efficiencies of made solar devices. Values of energy gaps for the thin-films made devices were in the range from 1.4 to 2 eV. Improvements of the photovoltaic response of the designed devices are found to be better at the lower light intensity (5% sun), than at higher intensities of light. For the same intensity of light used optic/lens improves the efficiency of the devices, by changing the light distribution. Other processes that are related to the optics/lens system, leading to an increase in ISC and VOC and consequently to an increase in efficiencies of the designed devices, are investigated.

  15. Tuning the third-order nonlinear optical properties of In:ZnO thin films by 8 MeV electron beam irradiation

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Shettigar, Nayana; Pramodini, S.; Kityk, I. V.; Abd-Lefdil, M.; Eljald, E. M.; Regragui, M.; Antony, Albin; Rao, Ashok; Sanjeev, Ganesh; Ajeyakashi, K. C.; Poornesh, P.

    2017-11-01

    We report the third-order nonlinear optical properties of electron beam treated Indium doped ZnO (Zn1-xInxO (x = 0.03) thin films at different dose rate. Zn1-xInxO (x = 0.03) thin films prepared by spray pyrolysis deposition technique were irradiated using 8 MeV electron beam at dose rates ranging from 1 kGy to 4 kGy. X-ray diffraction patterns were obtained to examine the structural changes, The transformation from sphalerite to wurtzite structure of ZnO was observed which indicates occurrence of structural changes due to irradiation. Morphology of irradiated thin films examined using atomic force microscopy (AFM) technique indicates the surface roughness varying with irradiation dose rate. The switching over from Saturable Absorption (SA) to Reverse Saturable Absorption (RSA) behaviour was noted when the irradiation dose rate was increased from 1 kGy to 4 kGy. The significant changes observed in the third-order nonlinear optical susceptibility χ(3) of the Zn1-xInxO (x = 0.03) thin films is attributed mainly due to electron beam irradiation. The study indicates that nonlinear optical parameters can be controlled by electron beam irradiation by choosing appropriate dose rate which is very much essential for device applications. Hence Zn1-xInxO (x = 0.03) materialize as a promising material for use in nonlinear optical device applications.

  16. Effect of deposition temperature on the structural and optical properties of CdSe QDs thin films deposited by CBD method

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Laatar, F., E-mail: fakher8laatar@gmail.com; Harizi, A.; Smida, A.

    2016-06-15

    Highlights: • Synthesis of CdSe QDs with L-Cysteine capping agent for applications in nanodevices. • The films of CdSe QDs present uniform and good dispersive particles at the surface. • Effect of bath temperature on the structural and optical properties of CdSe QDs thin films. • Investigation of the optical constants and dispersion parameters of CdSe QDs thin films. - Abstract: Cadmium selenide quantum dots (CdSe QDs) thin films were deposited onto glass substrates by a chemical bath deposition (CBD) method at different temperatures from an aqueous solution containing L-Cysteine (L-Cys) as capping agent. The evolution of the surface morphologymore » and elemental composition of the CdSe films were studied by AFM, SEM, and EDX analyses. Structural and optical properties of CdSe thin films were investigated by XRD, UV–vis and PL spectroscopy. The dispersion behavior of the refractive index is described using the single oscillator Wemple-DiDomenico (W-D) model, and the physical dispersion parameters are calculated as a function of deposition temperature. The dispersive optical parameters such as average oscillator energy (E{sub o}), dispersion energy (E{sub d}), and static refractive index (n{sub o}) were found to vary with the deposition temperature. Besides, the electrical free carrier susceptibility (χ{sub e}) and the carrier concentration of the effective mass ratio (N/m*) were evaluated according to the Spitzer-Fan model.« less

  17. Influence of post-deposition annealing on structural, morphological and optical properties of copper (II) acetylacetonate thin films.

    PubMed

    Abdel-Khalek, H; El-Samahi, M I; El-Mahalawy, Ahmed M

    2018-05-21

    In this study, the effect of thermal annealing under vacuum conditions on structural, morphological and optical properties of thermally evaporated copper (II) acetylacetonate, cu(acac) 2 , thin films were investigated. The copper (II) acetylacetonate thin films were deposited using thermal evaporation technique at vacuum pressure ~1 × 10 -5  mbar. The deposited films were thermally annealed at 323, 373, 423, and 473 K for 2 h in vacuum. The thermogravimetric analysis of cu(acac) 2 powder indicated a thermal stability of cu(acac) 2 up to 423 K. The effects of thermal annealing on the structural properties of cu(acac) 2 were evaluated employing X-ray diffraction method and the analysis showed a polycrystalline nature of the as-deposited and annealed films with a preferred orientation in [1¯01] direction. Fourier transformation infrared (FTIR) technique was used to negate the decomposition of copper (II) acetylacetonate during preparation or/and annealing up to 423 K. The surface morphology of the prepared films was characterized by means of field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM). A significant enhancement of the morphological properties of cu(acac) 2 thin films was obtained till the annealing temperature reaches 423 K. The variation of optical constants that estimated from spectrophotometric measurements of the prepared thin films was investigated as a function of annealing temperature. The annealing process presented significantly impacted the nonlinear optical properties such as third-order optical susceptibility χ (3) and nonlinear refractive index n 2 of cu(acac) 2 thin films. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  18. Near-Infrared and Optical Beam Steering and Frequency Splitting in Air-Holes-in-Silicon Inverse Photonic Crystals.

    PubMed

    Tasolamprou, Anna C; Koschny, Thomas; Kafesaki, Maria; Soukoulis, Costas M

    2017-11-15

    We present the design of a dielectric inverse photonic crystal structure that couples line-defect waveguide propagating modes into highly directional beams of controllable directionality. The structure utilizes a triangular lattice made of air holes drilled in an infinitely thick Si slab, and it is designed for operation in the near-infrared and optical regime. The structure operation is based on the excitation and manipulation of dark dielectric surface states, in particular on the tailoring of the dark states' coupling to outgoing radiation. This coupling is achieved with the use of properly designed external corrugations. The structure adapts and matches modes that travel through the photonic crystal and the free space. Moreover it facilitates the steering of the outgoing waves, is found to generate well-defined, spatially and spectrally isolated beams, and may serve as a frequency splitting component designed for operation in the near-infrared regime and in particular the telecom optical wavelength band. The design complies with the state-of-the-art Si nanofabrication technology and can be directly scaled for operation in the optical regime.

  19. Near-Infrared and Optical Beam Steering and Frequency Splitting in Air-Holes-in-Silicon Inverse Photonic Crystals

    PubMed Central

    2017-01-01

    We present the design of a dielectric inverse photonic crystal structure that couples line-defect waveguide propagating modes into highly directional beams of controllable directionality. The structure utilizes a triangular lattice made of air holes drilled in an infinitely thick Si slab, and it is designed for operation in the near-infrared and optical regime. The structure operation is based on the excitation and manipulation of dark dielectric surface states, in particular on the tailoring of the dark states’ coupling to outgoing radiation. This coupling is achieved with the use of properly designed external corrugations. The structure adapts and matches modes that travel through the photonic crystal and the free space. Moreover it facilitates the steering of the outgoing waves, is found to generate well-defined, spatially and spectrally isolated beams, and may serve as a frequency splitting component designed for operation in the near-infrared regime and in particular the telecom optical wavelength band. The design complies with the state-of-the-art Si nanofabrication technology and can be directly scaled for operation in the optical regime. PMID:29541653

  20. Synthesis, Optical and Photoluminescence Properties of Cu-Doped Zno Nano-Fibers Thin Films: Nonlinear Optics

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ganesh, V.; Salem, G. F.; Yahia, I. S.; Yakuphanoglu, F.

    2018-03-01

    Different concentrations of copper-doped zinc oxide thin films were coated on a glass substrate by sol-gel/spin-coating technique. The structural properties of pure and Cu-doped ZnO films were characterized by different techniques, i.e., atomic force microscopy (AFM), photoluminescence and UV-Vis-NIR spectroscopy. The AFM study revealed that pure and doped ZnO films are formed as nano-fibers with a granular structure. The photoluminescence spectra of these films showed a strong ultraviolet emission peak centered at 392 nm and a strong blue emission peak cantered at 450 nm. The optical band gap of the pure and copper-doped ZnO thin films calculated from optical transmission spectra (3.29-3.23 eV) were found to be increasing with increasing copper doping concentration. The refractive index dispersion curve of pure and Cu-doped ZnO film obeyed the single-oscillator model. The optical dispersion parameters such as E o , E d , and n_{∞}2 were calculated. Further, the nonlinear refractive index and nonlinear optical susceptibility were also calculated and interpreted.

Top