Refractive indices, order parameter and principal polarizability of cholesteric liquid crystals and their homogeneous mixtures

Measurements of refractive indices (n_e,n_o) and birefringence (Δn) have been made in solid, cholesteric and isotropic phases of cholesteryl carbonate, cholesteryl stearate and their three homogeneous mixtures of concentration 0.25, 0.50 and 0.77 at varying temperature in the range of 18-35 °C. The results clearly indicates that various transitions are of the first order. For accurate measurement of Δn, a modified wedge method was used. Using n_e and n_o, principal polarizability (α_e,α_o), internal field factor (γ_e,γ_o) and order parameter (S) have been evaluated, and their temperature dependence discussed. The order parameter has been determined by using the isotropic internal field model (Vuks approach) and the anisotropic internal field model (Neugebauer's approach), and both values agree up to average deviation of 0.7%.     

Excitation of ultrasonic Lamb waves using a phased array system with two array probes: Phantom and in vitro bone studies

Long bones are good waveguides to support the propagation of ultrasonic guided waves. The low-order guided waves have been consistently observed in quantitative ultrasound bone studies. Selective excitation of these low-order guided modes requires oblique incidence of the ultrasound beam using a transducer-wedge system. It is generally assumed that an angle of incidence, θ_i, generates a specific phase velocity of interest, c_o, via Snell’s law, θ_i = sin⁻¹(v_w/c_o) where v_w is the velocity of the coupling medium. In this study, we investigated the excitation of guided waves within a 6.3-mm thick brass plate and a 6.5-mm thick bovine bone plate using an ultrasound phased array system with two 0.75-mm-pitch array probes. Arranging five elements as a group, the first group of a 16-element probe was used as a transmitter and a 64-element probe was a receiver array. The beam was steered for six angles (0°, 20°, 30°, 40°, 50°, and 60°) with a 1.6-MHz source signal. An adjoint Radon transform algorithm mapped the time-offset matrix into the frequency-phase velocity dispersion panels. The imaged Lamb plate modes were identified by the theoretical dispersion curves. The results show that the 0° excitation generated many modes with no modal discrimination and the oblique beam excited a spectrum of phase velocities spread asymmetrically about c_o. The width of the excitation region decreased as the steering angle increased, rendering modal selectivity at large angles. The phenomena were well predicted by the excitation function of the source influence theory. The low-order modes were better imaged at steering angle ?30° for both plates. The study has also demonstrated the feasibility of using the two-probe phased array system for future in vivo study.     

Birefringence of CuGa2S4 crystals

The interference of optical transmission spectra of thin CuGaS₂ single crystals is measured in E||c and E⊥c polarizations. The spectral dependencies of the refractive indexes n_o, n_e and Δn = n_o − n_e near the absorption edge have been determined from interference spectra. The intersection of refractive indexes at two wavelengths has been revealed at 300 K and 10 K. The characteristics of Band-Pass-Mode Filter and Band-Elimination-Mode Filter have been measured, which possess 7 narrow absorption (transmission) bands and represent a comb filter. The characteristics of these filters have been studied.     

Special-angle-of-incidence ellipsometry for uniaxial crystals: Part 1. Negative crystals

We introduce a new method to determine, by ellipsometry, the ordinary N_o and extraordinary N_e refractive indices of a uniaxial crystal, with its optic axis parallel to the surface. First, the type of the crystal; negative or positive, is determined. Second, N_o and N_e are determined using very simple expressions. The only measurement required is a special angle of incidence $\text{ø}$, which we define in this paper as the largest angle of incidence at which linearly polarized light as reflected linearly polarized, at two orientation angles ω. A detailed error analysis is presented considering errors of $\text{ø}$, ω, and the effect of the ambient refractive index n. The results prove the high accuracy of the method.     

Explicit solution for the optical properties of a uniaxial crystal in generalized ellipsometry

The complex ordinary (N_o) and extraordinary (N_e) refractive indices of an absorbing uniaxial crystal can be explicitly derived from the normalized diagonal (α) and off-diago-nal (β) elements of one oblique-incidence (at angle φ) reflection matrix measured by generalized ellipsometry on a crystal face that contains the optic axis at an oblique orientation (ω ≠ O or $\text{π}\text{2}$) with respect to the plane of incidence. At most four solution sets (N_o, N_e) are mathematically and physically consistent with one measurement set (α,β,φ,ω). In many cases, identification of the correct solution is feasible without additional measurements. If necessary repeated measurements at a different value of φ or ω will resolve the ambiguity; only one solution set remains invariant upon a change of φ or ω, the correct set. A single measurement of reflectance (e.g., for p-polarized light) may also be adequate. The analytic inversion method is used in an error analysis to determine optimum choices of angle of incidence (φ ? 50–70°) and crystal orientation (ω ? 45°) that lead to minimum percentage errors of N_o and N_e for several uniaxial crystals.     

Absorption coefficients of an undoped YVO4 crystal

In this paper, the absorption coefficients α_o (for ordinary ray) and α_e (for extraordinary ray) of an undoped YVO₄ crystal were calculated by measuring the transmissivities and refractive indices. The mean values 0.00549 cm⁻¹ of α_o measured by unpolarized light, and 0.00432 cm⁻¹ of α_o and 0.00420 cm⁻¹ of α_e measured by linear polarized light were reported, respectively. The corresponding absorption curves were given. The discussions about the errors were made. This work is available to evaluate quantificationally the quality of undoped YVO₄ crystal and provides the significant data of absorption coefficient for its applications.     

Special-angle-of-incidence ellipsometry for uniaxial crystals: Part 2. positive crystals

In this part of the communication we present a novel method to characterize a positive uniaxial crystal by ellipsometry. We detect the angle of incidence at which a linearly polarized laser beam is reflected linearly polarized, at a certain orientation angle. Also, at this angle of incidence we measure the s-reflectance, the component perpendicular to the plane of incidence. We develop simple expressions to obtain the ordinary N_o and extraordinary N_e refractive indices. A detailed error analysis is presented showing the high accuracy of the method.     

Self-assembled monolayers on magnesium alloy surfaces from carboxylate ions

Self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) of carboxylate salts (C_n−1H_2n−1COONa, n = 12, 16, 18) were successfully formed on Mg alloy substrate in ethanol solution and characterized by the contact angle measurement, ATR-FTIR, ellipsometry and XPS. The SAMs were regularly and densely anchored to the Mg alloy substrate via monodentate bonding with the tilting angles of about 40°, 33° and 27° for C12, C16 and C18 monolayers, respectively. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) proved the corrosion protection of SAMs for Mg alloy substrate with protective efficiency (PE) of even up to 98.5%.     

Differences between surface and bulk refractive indices of a-InxSe1−x

Thin films of amorphous indium selenide compounds (a-In_xSe_1−x) are important, e.g. for photovoltaics. The feature of merit in such applications is also the real part of refractive index n of this material. The data on n in literature are divergent. In this paper, the results of investigations on n in the bulk as well as in the interface layers of thin films of a-In_xSe_1−x are presented. The measurements had been performed using optical transmittance and reflectance in spectral range from 1.24 to 1.96 eV of linear polarized radiation that hit the samples with angles of incidence from 0° to 80°. Investigations had been done for sample temperatures from 80 to 340 K. It was found that the refractive index for areas at the free surface n_f is bigger than the refractive index n_b at the interface of thin film-substrate. The averaged over thin film thickness value of real part refractive index have the biggest value in all spectral range. Values of these coefficients increase with increasing the temperature.     

Piezo-optic behavior of forsterite,Mg2SiO4

The piezo-optic behavior of forsterite, crystallizing in the orthorhombic system, has been investigated up to a maximum pressure of 7 kbars. It is found that the variation of the refractive indices with pressure, dn/dP, are 0·03₅×10⁻³/kbar, 0·04₆×10⁻³/kbar, and 0·06₃×10⁻³/kbar for the n_α, n_β, and n_γ respectively. These values are the lowest on record. The corresponding values for the variation of the refractive indices with volume strain are 0·04₄, 0·05₉ and 0·08₀ respectively. These results are interpreted in terms of the bonding and coordination number of the oxygen ions.     

Equalization of reflectance of parallel-polarized electromagnetic plane waves at normal and oblique incidence of interfaces between transparent media and its use for measurement of the dielectric constant

A new angle of incidence of significance, when considering the reflection of electromagnetic waves at interfaces between transparent media, is defined. At this angle, denoted by φ_e, the reflection coefficient of parallel-polarized radiation is equal in magnitude and opposite in sign to the reflection coefficient at normal incidence. No similar angle exists for the perpendicular polarization. If ε is the relative dielectric constant, i.e., the ratio of the dielectric constant of the medium of refraction to that of the medium of incidence, we find that tan φ_e=(ε²+ε)^1/2. Measurement of φ_e, by equalization of the absolute (intensity) reflectances at normal and oblique incidence, allows ε to be determined using the inverse relation ε=(tan²φ_e+1/4)^1/2−1/2.     

Dust aerosol forward scattering effects on ground-based aerosol optical depth retrievals

Monte Carlo radiative transfer calculations are performed to examine the forward scattering effects on retrievals of dust aerosol optical depth (AOD) from ground-based instruments. We consider dust aerosols with different AOD, effective radius and imaginary refractive index at 0.5 μm wavelength. The shape of dust aerosols is assumed to be spheroids and the equivalent spheres that preserve both volume and projected area (V/P) are also considered. The single-scattering albedos and asymmetry factors of spheroids and V/P-equivalent spheres have small differences, but the scattering phase functions are very different for the scattering angle range ∼90-180°. The relative errors of retrieved AOD caused by forward scattering effects due to the differences between the single-scattering properties of spheroids and spheres are similar. It is shown that at solar zenith angle (SZA) smaller than ∼70° the effect of the forward scattering is generally small although the relative errors in retrieved AOD can be as large as −10% when r_e=2. However, the largest relative errors, which can reach −40%, appear at high SZA (>∼70°) with AOD larger than 1. This is not caused by the increase of forward scattering intensity, but is due to the strong attenuation of solar direct beam.     

Fluorophosphate glasses containing manganese

New fluorophosphate glasses based on MnF₂, NaPO₃ and MF_n (M=Zn²⁺, Sr²⁺, Mg²⁺, Ba²⁺, Li⁺, Na⁺ and K⁺) have been synthesised and characterized. Large vitreous areas were observed. Samples of 4 mm in thickness have been obtained. These glasses are easy to prepare and stable in ambient air. Depending on the composition and the nature of the M cation, glass transition temperature, T_g, lies between 230 and 314 °C, crystallisation temperature, T_x is between 320 and 475 °C. These glasses are pink coloured, and infrared transmission extends up to 4.5 μm with extrinsic OH⁻ absorption band at 3200 cm⁻¹ and other bands around 2200 and 1600 cm⁻¹ that relate to PO₄ tetrahedron vibration. Other physical properties including density, microhardness, Young modulus, thermal expansion and refractive index were investigated and correlated to composition.     

Effective refractive index of a quasi-two-dimensional polydomain film of a conjugated polymer

The relation between the effective ordinary refractive index n* = (n _o n _e )^1/2 of a quasi-two-dimensional polydomain uniaxial film of a conjugated polymer F8BT in the visible transparency region and the refractive indices (n _o,e ) of uniaxial domains with the optical axes randomly oriented in the plane of the film has been confirmed experimentally. The permissible interval of variations in n* has been established and a strong spectral dispersion of this interval near the long-wavelength electronic absorption band of the film has been demonstrated.     

The effect of Cu substitution on the A1g mode of La0.7Sr0.3MnO3 manganites

We report on the first Raman data of Cu substituted La_1−ySr_yMn_1−xCu_xO₃ (0≤x≤0.10 and 0.17≤y≤0.3, accordingly in order to have the same Mn⁴⁺/[Mn⁴⁺+Mn³⁺] ratio), collected in the frequency range 100-900 cm⁻¹ and at room temperature, with parallel (e_i∥e_s) and crossed (e_i⊥e_s) polarizations of the incident (e_i) and scattered (e_s) light. Spectra were fitted with a Drude-Lorentz model, and peaks at 190-220 and 430 cm⁻¹, together with two broad structures centered at near 500 and 670 cm⁻¹, have been found. We also have observed that the A_1g mode is substantially shifted with increasing Cu substitution. The A_1g phonon shift is a linear function of the tolerance factor t and the rhombohedral angle α_r, thus following the structural changes of the MnO₆ octahedra in the system.     

Super-hydrophobicity and oleophobicity of silicone rubber modified by CF4 radio frequency plasma

Owing to excellent electric properties, silicone rubber (SIR) has been widely employed in outdoor insulator. For further improving its hydrophobicity and service life, the SIR samples are treated by CF₄ radio frequency (RF) capacitively coupled plasma. The hydrophobic and oleophobic properties are characterized by static contact angle method. The surface morphology of modified SIR is observed by atom force microscope (AFM). X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) is used to test the variation of the functional groups on the SIR surface due to the treatment by CF₄ plasma. The results indicate that the static contact angle of SIR surface is improved from 100.7° to 150.2° via the CF₄ plasma modification, and the super-hydrophobic surface of modified SIR, which the corresponding static contact angle is 150.2°, appears at RF power of 200 W for a 5 min treatment time. It is found that the super-hydrophobic surface ascribes to the coaction of the increase of roughness created by the ablation action and the formation of [-SiF_x(CH₃)_2−x-O-]_n (x = 1, 2) structure produced by F atoms replacement methyl groups reaction, more importantly, the formation of [-SiF₂-O-]_n structure is the major factor for super-hydrophobic surface, and it is different from the previous studies, which proposed the fluorocarbon species such as C-F, C-F₂, C-F₃, CF-CF_n, and C-CF_n, were largely introduced to the polymer surface and responsible for the formation of low surface energy.     

Bilayer period effect on corrosion-erosion resistance for [TiN/AlTiN]n multilayered growth on AISI 1045 steel

The aim of this work is to study the electrochemical behavior, under a corrosion-erosion condition, of [TiN/AlTiN]_n multilayer coatings with bilayers periods of 1, 6, 12 and 24, deposited by a magnetron sputtering technique on Si (1 0 0) and AISI 1045 steel substrates.The TiN and AlTiN structure for multilayer coatings were evaluated via X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis. Silica particles were used as an abrasive in the corrosion-erosion test within a 0.5 M H₂SO₄ solution at an impact angle of 30° over the surface. The electrochemical characterization was carried out using a polarization resistance technique (Tafel), in order to observe changes in the corrosion rate as a function of the bilayers number (n) or bilayer period (Λ). Corrosion rate values of 359 mpy in uncoated steel substrate and 1.016×10⁻⁶ mpy for substrate coated with [TiN/AlTiN]₂₄ under impact angle of 30° were found. This behavior was related with the mass loss curve for all coatings and the surface damage was analyzed using SEM images. These results indicate that TiN/AlTiN multilayer coatings deposited on AISI 1045 steel provide a practical solution for applications in erosive-corrosive environments.     

Transition wavelengths for helium atom in weakly coupled hot plasmas

We have investigated the effect of surrounding plasmas on several singly excited and doubly excited meta-stable bound states of helium atom using highly correlated basis functions for singly excited S, P, D states and CI-type basis functions for doubly excited meta-stable D states. Plasma effect is taken care of by using a screened Coulomb (Yukawa) potential obtained from the Debye model that admits a variety of plasma conditions, and such a model plays an important role in plasma spectroscopy. The wavelengths for transitions from the 1snp ¹P° (n=2,3)→1s²¹S^e, 1snp ³P° (n=2,3)→1s2s ³S^e, 2pnp ¹P^e (n=3,4)→1s2p ¹P°, 2pnp ³P^e (n=2,3)→1s2p ³P°, 2pnd ¹D° (n=3,4)→1s3d ¹D^e, 2pnd ³D° (n=3,4)→1s3d ³D^e, 2p3p ¹P^e→2pnd ¹D° (n=3,4), 2pnd ¹D°(n=3, 4)→2p4p ¹P^e, 2pnp ³P^e (n=2,3)→2p3d ³D°, and 2pnp ³P^e (n=2,3)→2p4d ³D° of helium atom in plasmas for various Debye lengths are reported.     

Propagation properties of anomalous hollow beam in uniaxial crystals orthogonal to the optical axis

The analytical formulae for anomalous hollow beam propagating in uniaxial crystals orthogonal to the optical axis are derived. The numerical results show that the anomalous hollow beam spreads at different rates in the directions along and orthogonal to the optical axis. The beam spreads more rapidly in the direction along the optical axis than orthogonal to the optical axis in positive crystal (n_e/n_o>1), and the beam spreads more rapidly in the direction orthogonal to the optical axis than along the optical axis in negative crystal (n_e/n_o<1).