Temperature measurements by H2-CARS in the reactive zone of a plasma test reactor for hydrocarbon synthesis

The application of coherent anti-Stokes Raman spectroscopy (CARS) to an electric are test reactor is described in which acetylene synthesis in analogy to the large-scale industrial process is .studied. We report on spatially resolved measurements of H₂-CARS spectra, the comparison with calculated spectra, and the determination of temperatures in the reaction zone.Dedicated to Prof. Rudolf Wienecke on the occasion of his 65 birthday.     

Picosecond time-resolved multiplex CARS spectroscopy using optical Kerr gating

We have developed a new spectroscopic system for picosecond time-resolved coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering (CARS) measurements. Using the optical Kerr gating method in conjunction with a nanosecond laser-based CARS system, a time resolution of 1 ps has been achieved. All-trans retinal in 1-butanol has been measured. The observed time-resolved CARS spectra show changes in the 0–10 ps time range, which are ascribed to the photoisomerization dynamics of all-trans retinal in solution.     

Entrainment of cold gas into thermal plasma jets

There is increasing evidence that the entrainment of cold gas surrounding a turbulent plasma jet is more of an engulfment type process rather than simple diffusion. A variety of diagnostic techniques have been employed to determine the development of turbulence in a plasma jet and to measure concentration and temperatures of the cold gas entrained into atmospheric-pressure argon plasma jets in ambient argon or air. The results indicate that the transition to turbulence causes a rapid drop of the axial jet velocity due to entrainment of the cold gas surrounding the plasma jet. Dissipation of the cold engulfed gas bubbles by molecular diffusion is relatively slow if molecular gases (for example air) are entrained, as indicated by conditional sampling and CARS measurements. Temperature measurements using emission spectroscopy and enthalpy probes show strong discrepancies in the jet fringes.     

Determination of reactor neutron spectra with multicomponent activation detectors

A procedure is described for the functional fitting of reactor neutron spectra with C/Eⁿ and fission spectra. The method is applied to multicomponent activation detector measurements in a Triga research reactor. In multicomponent detectors a mixture of several detector materials is irradiated as a single unit and measured simultaneously for all reaction products with a Ge(Li) gamma ray spectrometer.     

利用时间分辨相干反斯托克斯拉曼散射技术研究光催化产氢反应动力学

基于飞秒再生放大器及飞秒光学参量放大器输出的激光脉冲, 搭建了宽带时间分辨相干反斯托克斯拉曼散射(CARS)测试装置, 并利用该装置研究了氢气与空气混合气体中氢气的相对含量, 探测相对延时与CARS光谱之间的关系. 通过调整延时, 获得了无非共振背景干扰的氢气CARS信号. 实验中测得的CARS信号强度与氢气浓度(分压)的平方呈良好的线性关系, 符合CARS理论预测. 同时测得的实验数据的信噪比表明: 在当前的实验条件下, 在氢气与空气混合气的总压为0.1 MPa时, 该装置可以对氢气的浓度进行测量, 且其检测极限可低至0.2%. 本文还利用该装置对三联吡啶苯乙炔Pt 配合物-Co 配合物-三乙醇胺(TEOA)的三元化学催化体系的产氢动力学行为进行了研究, 通过改变pH值讨论了该催化体系的产氢动力学机制. 结果表明过高的质子浓度会降低体系的产氢效率, 这可能是因为在酸性条件下, 作为质子和电子供体的三乙醇胺分解被抑制, 电子供应中断, 导致产氢反应的停止.     

Chemical imaging by single pulse interferometric coherent anti-stokes Raman scattering microscopy

A single pulse interferometric coherent anti-Stokes Raman (CARS) spectroscopy method is used to obtain broadband CARS spectra and microscopy images of liquid and polymer samples. The pump, Stokes, and probe pulses are all selected inside a single broadband ultrafast pulse by a phase- and polarization-controlled pulse shaping technique and used to generate two spectral interference CARS signals simultaneously. The normalized difference of these two signals provides an amplified background-free broadband resonant CARS spectrum over the 400-1500 cm(-1) range with 35 cm(-1) spectral resolution. Chemically selective microscopy images of multicomponent polymer and liquid samples are investigated with this new CARS method. Multiplex CARS spectra at 10,000 spatial points are measured within a few minutes, and used to construct chemically selective microscopy images with a spatial resolution of 400 nm. The spectral bandwidth limits, sensitivity, homodyne amplification advantages, spatial resolution, depolarization, chromatic aberration, and chemical imaging aspects of this new technique are discussed in detail.     

Quantitative multiplex CARS spectroscopy in congested spectral regions

A novel procedure is developed to describe and reproduce experimental coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering (CARS) data, with particular emphasis on highly congested spectral regions. The approach, exemplified here with high-quality multiplex CARS data, makes use of spontaneous Raman scattering results. It is shown that the underlying vibrational Raman response can be retrieved from the multiplex CARS spectra, so that the Raman spectrum can be reconstituted, provided an adequate signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) is present in the experimental data and sufficient a priori knowledge of the vibrational resonances involved exists. The conversion of CARS to Raman data permits a quantitative interpretation of CARS spectra. This novel approach is demonstrated for highly congested multiplex CARS spectra of adenosine mono-, di-, and triphosphate (AMP, ADP, and ATP), nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+), and small unilamellar vesicles (SUVs) of 1-palmitoyl-2-oleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (POPC). Quantitative determination of nucleotide concentrations and composition analysis in mixtures is demonstrated.     

Resonance-Enhanced CARS Spectroscopy of Biliproteins: a Comparison Between Phycoerythrocyanin and Phycocyanin of Mastigocladus laminosus

Abstract— Resonance-enhanced coherent anti-Stokes Raman (CARS) spectra are reported for trimers of phycoerthrocyanin (PEC) dissolved in H₂O and D₂O. The CARS spectra are significantly different when recorded with pump wavelength either at 585 nm or 630 nm. By comparison of the 630 nm spectra with those of phycocyanin one can conclude that there is a change in the relative location of the lowest excited states of the β84 and β155 chromophores. Upon additional illumination with 514.5 nm laser light, only the spectra recorded with 585 nm pump wavelength change. This is in accordance with earlier observations that the phycoviolobilin chromophore of the a-subunit exhibits photochromic behavior. The changes in the CARS spectra provide evidence that it is the methine bridge between rings C and D that undergoes the geometrical changes. Furthermore, it is suggested that there are different types of photoinduced rearrangements operative and that the isomeric distribution is different in H₂O and D₂O.     

Effect of Showerhead Configuration on Coherent Raman Spectroscopically Monitored Pulsed Radio Frequency Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposited Silicon Nitride Thin Films

The effect of showerhead design, number of holes and geometry, in a parallel plate reactor was studied by measuring the concentration of silane reactant by coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering (CARS) spectroscopy as a function of radio frequency (rf) pulse width and peak power during pulsed power plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) of silicon nitride thin films. Film deposition rate, stress, SiH/NH ratio, and thickness and index of refraction homogeneity were correlated with the change in silane concentration for each of the three head geometries: radial, square, and asymmetrical. The asymmetrical head caused plasma quality problems which affected the films' qualities. The square pattern showed good mixing qualities, but produced a film with high compressive stress. The radial head provided the most homogenous film, with respect to index of refraction and film thickness. With a 10 ms pulse width, however, the radial head plasma acted as a continuous plasma for depletion and stress data. The showerhead geometry affects plasma qualities, like stability and intensity, and reactant gas velocities, which in turn affect the nitride film thickness, nitride composition, and stress.     

Hydroxyl radical measurements in a photochemical reactor by laser-induced fluorescence

Measurements of hydroxyl radical (HO) concentrations in ambient air by the technique of laser-induced fluorescence have been recently reported. The present study was undertaken to provide an independent test of the validity of those measurements. A photochemical reactor was used to provide a source of HO, and the concentration of HO in the reactor was determined by the laser-induced fluorescence technique. The HO concentration was also deduced from measured hydrocarbon decay rates in the reactor. There was agreement between the HO concentrations obtained by these two different methods, thus providing further validation of the fluorescence method. Some studies of HO fluorescence efficiency as well as of possible interferences with the fluorescence measurements are reported.     

Coherent amplification in fluorescent dye solutions. II. The inverse pre-resonance Raman spectrum of rhodamine 6G

Inverse pre-resonance Raman spectra of rhodamine 6G in solution in methanol have been recorded over the concentration range 10^?1 to 10^?4 mol ?^?1. The solute and solvent transitions are found to display perfectly normal lorentzian profiles over the whole of this concentration range. Intensities and depolarization ratios of the pre-resonance Raman features are recorded. It is shown that the spectra arise from monomeric rhodamine 6G molecules in the singlet electronic ground state and the relative merits of the CARS and inverse Raman methods for recording resonance Raman spectra are discussed.     

Fast quantitative detection of sesame oil adulteration by near-infrared spectroscopy and chemometric models

Adulteration of foods has been known to exist for a long time and various analytical tests have been reported to address this problem. Among them, authenticity of sesame oil has attracted much attention. Near-infrared (NIR) spectral quantitative detection models of sesame oil adulterated with other oils are constructed by chemometric methods, i.e., competitive adaptive reweighted sampling (CARS), elastic component regression (ECR) and partial least squares (PLS). Sixty samples adulterated with different proportions of five kinds of other oils of lower price were scanned by a Fourier-transform-NIR spectrometer and the NIR spectra were collected in 4500–10000 cm⁻¹ region by transmission mode. All samples were divided into the training set and an independent test set. Model population analysis has also been carried out and confirms the importance of selecting representative samples. The experimental results indicate that the PLS model using only 10 variables from CARS and the ECR model show similar performance and both are superior to the full-spectrum PLS model. CARS focuses on selecting variables and ECR focuses on optimizing the parameters, implying that both roads lead to the same destination. It seems that NIR technique combined with CARS or ECR is feasible for rapidly detecting sesame oil adulterated with other vegetable oils.     

Sum frequency generation and coherent anti-Stokes Raman spectroscopic studies on plasma-treated plasticized polyvinyl chloride films

Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) is a widely used polymer to which various phthalates are extensively applied as plasticizers. PVC materials are often treated with plasma to vary the hydrophobicity or for cleaning purposes, but little is known of the nature of the surface molecular structures after treatment. This research characterizes molecular surface structures of PVC and bis-2-ethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP)-plasticized PVC films in air before annealing, after annealing, and after exposure to air-generated glow discharge plasma using sum frequency generation (SFG) vibrational spectroscopy. In addition, we compare the vibrational molecular signatures on the surfaces of PVC with DEHP (at a variety of percent loadings) to those of the bulk detected using coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering (CARS). X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and contact angle measurements have been used to analyze PVC surfaces to supplement SFG data. Our results indicate that DEHP was found on the surfaces of PVC films even at low weight percentages (5 wt %) and that DEHP segregates on surfaces after annealing. The treatment of these films with glow discharge plasma resulted in surface-sensitive reactions involving the removal of chlorine atoms, the addition of oxygen atoms, and C-H bond rearrangement. CARS data demonstrate that the bulk of our films remained undisturbed during the plasma treatment. For the first time, we probed the molecular structure of the surface and the bulk of a PVC material using combined SFG and CARS studies on the same sample in exactly the same environment. In addition, the methodology used in this research can be applied to characterize various plasticizers in a wide variety of polymer systems to understand their surface and bulk structures before and after systematic applications of heat, plasma, or other treatments.     

RESONANCE-ENHANCED CARS SPECTROSCOPY OF BILIPROTEINS. INFLUENCE OF AGGREGATION and LINKER PROTEINS ON CHROMOPHORE STRUCTURE IN ALLOPHYCOCYANIN (Mastigocladus laminosus)

Abstract— Resonance-enhanced coherent anti-Stokes Raman spectra (CARS) are reported for monomers and for trimers with and without linker proteins of allophycocyanin isolated from Mastigocladus laminosus. The CARS spectrum of the monomer is independent of the presence of linker proteins and is very similar to that of phycocyanin monomers indicating that the equivalent chromophores exhibit like structures in both biliproteins. Large differences are, however, observed between the spectra of phycocyanin trimers and those of allophycocyanin trimers with or without linker proteins (L_c^8,9). The observed differences between monomer and trimer spectra are consistent with a change of the α-chromophore-protein arrangement upon aggregation without linker. If linker proteins are present in the trimer, then additional geometry changes of the β-chromophores are induced; these could relate to a transition from the 15Z- anti to 15Z- syn conformation.     

Resonance cars spectroscopy of bacteriorhodopsin

Resonance-enhanced coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering (CARS) spectra are reported for light and dark adapted bacteriorhodopsin in aqueous solution in the nanosecond time range. Spectra have been obtained in the scanning as well as in the multiplex mode. Minor differences between the spectra obtained recently by the conventional resonance Raman and the present resonance CARS method are discussed.     

Femtosecond coherent anti-Stokes Raman-scattering polarization beat spectroscopy of I2-Xe complex in solid krypton

Time-resolved coherent anti-Stokes Raman-scattering (CARS) measurements are carried out to study the interaction between xenon atom and iodine molecule in a solid krypton matrix. Interference between the CARS polarizations of the "free" and complexed iodine molecules is observed, while the quantum beats of the complex are not detected due to low concentration. Vibrational analysis based on the polarization beats yields accurate molecular constants for the I2-Xe complex. The harmonic frequency of the I2-Xe complex is found to be redshifted by 0.90 cm-1 when compared to the free I2, whereas the anharmonicity is approximately the same. The dephasing rate of the complex is found to be somewhat higher than that of the free iodine molecule in solid Kr, showing that the complexation affects dephasing, although not dramatically. Molecular dynamics simulations are carried out to find the conformation of the complex, and wave packet simulations are used to reproduce the CARS signal to confirm the assignments of the observed beatings as quantum and polarization beats. The results show that the polarization beats are a useful tool for investigating weak interactions in condensed phase.     

Plasma torch with meltable electrodes: From research to novel technologies

A plasma reactor based on a plasma generator with meltable electrodes is described. The specific features of the plasma generator, which are the absence of electrode erosion and the possibility of using steam as a plasma gas, extend the range of potential practical application of thermal plasma. The results of study of the arc properties are presented, and examples of industrial implementation of processes run in the plasma reactor based on the meltable-electrode plasma torch are given.     

Atomemissionsspektroskopie mit laseranregung an graphit unter erhöhtem druck—II. Merkmale und besonderheiten der emissionsspektren

The special plasma properties—essentially described in part I—characterize its emission spectra and above all the line profiles. Important features are: temperature gradient, optical density, velocity distribution and pressure distribution of the plasma as well as effects of the ambient pressure and the type of gas on the plasma.Characteristics of the spectra and the line profiles are self-reversal, self-absorption and a high proportion of ion lines partly with line broadening and shifting.The present part deals in a phenomenological way with the spatial variation of the emission and the line properties and with possible parameters that affect them. An estimate of the plasma temperature (~8000 K) and measurements of line and continuum emission and time resolved emission properties are reported.     

Double plasma treatment-induced graft polymerization of carbohydrated monomers on poly(ethylene terephthalate) fibers

This study deals with the grafting of carbohydrate monomers on poly(ethylene terephthalate) fibers by double argon plasma treatment. Two monomers were used: allyl alpha-D-galactopyranoside and 2-methacryloxyethyl glucoside. The quantity of grafted carbohydrates was determined by phenol/sulfuric acid colorimetric titration. The graft density was observed to vary according to the monomer used. Allyl alpha-D-galactopyranoside yields to smaller graft densities compared to 2-methacryloxyethyl glucoside, suggesting transfer reactions occurring at the surface with allyl alpha-D-galactopyranoside. Fibers with the highest graft levels were obtained with the higher monomer concentration and the lower quantity of fiber treated in a plasma reactor. The grafting density can be modulated by the monomer concentration and mass of fiber exposed in the plasma reactor. For 0.5 mg of fibers, the graft densities for 23 and 68 mM allyl alpha-D-galactopyranoside are, respectively, 18 and 35 nmol/cm2. For 0.5 mg of fibers, the graft densities for 19 and 38 mM 2-methacryloxyethyl glucoside are, respectively, 150 and 250 nmol/cm2. Comparative study without the preactivation treatment shows the efficiency of the preactivation: for a mass of fiber of 0.5 mg and a 2-methacryloxyethyl glucoside concentration of 38 mM, the grafting density without plasma pretreatment is 38 nmol/cm2. Attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared spectra confirmed the anchoring of the glycopolymer onto the poly(ethylene terephthalate) surfaces. Atomic force microscopy and scanning electronic microscopy pictures indicated their morphological changes.