Effect of Superficial Tissue on Spatial Sensitivity Profile of Optical Brain Activity Measurement Evaluated by Direct Hybrid Monte Carlo-Diffusion Method

The light propagation in the brain is highly affected by the superficial tissues such as skin, skull and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). The development of an adequate model to calculate light propagation in the head is very important for optical brain activity measurement. We developed a novel approach, the direct hybrid Monte Carlo-diffusion method (DHMDM), which can calculate light propagation in the three-dimensional head models including low scattering regions in which the light propagation does not obey either the diffusion approximation or the radiosity theory. The effect of thickness of the superficial tissue upon the spatial sensitivity profiles for optical brain activity measurement is evaluated by the DHMDM. The sensitivity to the brain activity decreases with increasing thickness of the superficial layer whilst the spatial decay of sensitivity on the brain surface depends little upon the thickness of the superficial layer.     

Minimizing optical losses in bulk heterojunction polymer solar cells

The efficiency that a solar cell can reach is ultimately limited by the number of photons absorbed in its active layer. Bulk heterojunction polymer solar cells are fabricated from a stack of thin film layers, each of which is thinner than a single wavelength from an incident photon within its absorption band. One consequence of this thin film layer stack is a strong optical interference between the various layers that can change the quantity of light dissipated in the active layer by 50%. Here we use optical modeling to quantitatively calculate the dissipation in each of the various layers as functions of wavelength and layer thickness. Using this information the loss free short circuit current density can be calculated (J_scmax). Optimization of J_scmax leads to direct improvements in the efficiency of the solar cell through improved light dissipation in the active layer. The optical properties for a P3HT:PCBM active layer and a model Lorentzian low band gap spectrum are optimized and ideal fabrication conditions are reported for these materials. PACS 72.40.+w; 72.80.Le     

Multiple-discriminant analysis for light-scattering spectroscopy and imaging of two-layered tissue phantoms

We propose a new method for enhancing the sensitivity of the reflectance spectrum to the scattering feature of the superficial tissue layer. This method is based on multiple-discriminant analysis in the eigensubspace of the spectrum. Considering the application of scattering imaging, we evaluated this method by performing multispectral imaging of two-layered tissue phantoms. A color map converted from the spectral reflectance corresponds well to variations in the size of the scattering in the first layer.     

Étude des interactions chimiques gaz-solide par la technique du faisceau moléculaire: V. réactions de l'oxygène et de l'oxyde de carbone avec des rubans polycristallins de tantale

We use the reflection of a noble gas (helium) molecular beam to study the superficial reactions of oxygen and carbon monoxide with polycrystalline tantalum. The fraction of the incident beam which is specularly reflected gives direct information on the formation of an oxygen chemisorbed layer and we observed only a single apparent binding state for oxygen chemisorbed on tantalum. The initial value of the sticking coefficient of oxygen on clean polycrystalline tantalum is 0.86, decreasing rapidly during the formation of a chemisorbed layer. The specularly reflected fraction of the incident beam is also modified by the chemisorption of carbon monoxide and this modification would confirm the dissociative character of the CO chemisorption on tantalum. The influence of the partial pressure of CO on the temperature at which the surface is completely covered by the products of the dissociative chemisorption of CO shows that the coverage becomes equal to unity at temperatures at which the solubility limit of CO is attained and tantalum carbide is formed.     

Surface plasmon dispersion for surfaces covered by thin layers supporting longitudinal plasma waves

We analyse the effect of a superficial plasma layer on the substrate surface plasmon dispersion taking into account non local effects related to plasma oscillations in the surface layer. Surface plasmon dispersion and ATR reflectivity curves for an Aluminium surface covered by a potassium film 20 Å thick are computed. We show that new branches exist when longitudinal polarization waves are considered in the surface layer.     

Influence of water cavitation peening with aeration on fatigue behaviour of SAE1045 steel

Water cavitation peening (WCP) with aeration is a recent potential method in the surface enhancement techniques. In this method, a ventilation nozzle is adopted to improve the process capability of WCP by increasing the impact pressure, which is induced by the bubble collapse on the surface of components in the similar way as conventional shot peening. In this paper, fatigue tests were conducted on the both-edge-notched flat tensile specimens to assess the influences of WCP on fatigue behaviour of SAE1045 steel. The notched specimens were treated by WCP, and the compressive residual stress distributions in the superficial layer were measured by X-ray diffraction method. The tension-tension (R = S_min/S_max = 0.1, f = 10 Hz) fatigue tests and the fracture surfaces observation by scan electron microscopy (SEM) were conducted. The experimental results show that WCP can improve the fatigue life by inducing the residual compressive stress in the superficial layer of mechanical components.     

Effects of the amorphous layer on laser-induced subwavelength structures on carbon allotropes

By micro-Raman spectroscopy, we show that the structured surfaces of highly oriented pyrolytic graphite and diamond induced by 800 nm, 125 fs or 532 nm, 30 ps laser pulses are capped by thin amorphous carbon layers. Based on the results, we propose that for multiphoton ablation the thin amorphous layer with a reduced bandgap can facilitate surface ionization, raise free electron density, bring on plasmonic effects, and thus promote the growth of subwavelength structures. Therefore, concerning multipulse laser ablation of wide bandgap materials, we should take into account the effects of the superficial amorphous layer produced by preceding pulses instead of the intrinsic surface.     

Surface-sensitive polarized Raman spectroscopy of biological tissue

In a two-layer diffusing medium, polarized light directly backscattering off the superficial layer will partially retain its sense of polarization, whereas deeper-probing light will be increasingly depolarized by diffusion. This effect has been studied in both elastic scattering and fluorescence contexts. We apply this method to Raman scattering in two two-layer models with a highly diffusing lower layer of glucose powder and an upper layer of either clear plastic or chicken skin. We employ detection of orthogonal polarization states to generate a Raman spectrum of only the superficial layer by combining the orthogonal signals.     

Novel approaches for low cost fabrication of SOI

Two trials for low cost manufacture of silicon-on-insulator (SOI) wafers were implemented. Low dose separation by implantation of oxygen (SIMOX) procedure has been conducted on a beam-line ion implanter with mass analyzer. The energy dependence of the formed SOI structure was studied at varied implant dosages. The integrity of the buried oxide (BOX) layer was examined by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and the threading dislocation in the top silicon layer was evaluated by Secco technique. The results indicated that not only the implanted oxygen dose but also the oxygen ion energy plays an important role in the formation of SOI structure with good crystallinity of top silicon, sharp Si/SiO₂ interfaces and highly integrated BOX layer free of silicon inclusion. For separation by plasma implantation of oxygen (SPIMOX) approach, water plasma, rather than oxygen plasma, was employed to avoid oxygen spread in the implant depth profile. The SPIMOX process using water plasma was carried out on a beam-line ion implanter without mass selector to simulate the plasma implantation procedure. Cross-sectional TEM study revealed that uniform BOX layer was formed under single crystal silicon superficial layer with the present approach. The interfaces between silicon superficial layer, BOX layer and bulk silicon were smooth and sharp. An implant dose window has been identified for fabricating the desirable SOI structure.     

Anomalously high surface temperature induced by condensation of atoms

The effect of extremely high temperatures developing on the surface during the condensation of sputtered atoms has been discovered for the first time by direct surface temperature measurements. This temperature is considerably higher than the temperature of the solid film beneath and proportional to the flux of atoms impinging on the surface. The surface temperature steeply grows as the condensation starts, exists during the period of condensation, and rapidly decays after its termination. The effect is related to the anomalously low thermal conductivity of the superficial layer that is formed by highly mobile atoms arriving on the condensation surface. This superficial layer can be viewed as a new state of matter characterized by its anomalously low thermal conductivity. This text was submitted by the authors in English.     

Low temperature hysteresis of light reflection from bismuth germanate single crystals

We measured the temperature dependences of light reflection and transmission of bismuth germanate single crystals upon cyclic variation of their temperature in the range of 94–340 K. We revealed an asymmetric temperature hysteresis of reflection, which is accompanied by a change in the Rayleigh scattering. Heating of crystals, in contrast to their cooling, is accompanied by a decrease in the reflection in the range of 100–287 K and near 310 K. We found that reflection minima in the first and second temperature ranges arise as a result of the action of different mechanisms. We assume that temperature changes in the reflection are related to structural phase transitions in the superficial layer.     

Luminescence of porous silicon derived nanocrystals dispersed in water: dependence on initial porous silicon oxidation

Aqueous solutions of silicon nanocrystals have been obtained, by sonication, from porous Si (p-Si) aged in air for various times. The photoluminescence of these solutions changes with the aging time of p-Si. These changes correlate with nanocrystal core dimensions, i.e. with the oxidation of the nanocrystals. Infrared spectra show that the reaction with water depends on the age of the starting p-Si sample, since the native superficial oxide layer on p-Si inhibits these reactions.     

Quantitative spectroscopy of superficial turbid media

We report a novel diffuse optical spectroscopy probe design for determining optical properties of superficial volumes of turbid samples. The fiber-based probe employs a highly scattering layer placed in contact with the sample of interest. This layer diffuses photons from a collimated light source before they enter the sample and provides a basis for describing light transported in superficial media by the diffusion approximation. We compare the performance of this modified two-layer diffusion model with Monte Carlo simulations. A set of experiments that demonstrate the feasibility of this method in turbid tissue phantoms is also presented. Optical properties deduced by this approach are in good agreement with those derived by use of a benchmark method for determining optical properties. The average interrogation depth of the probe design investigated here is estimated to be less than 1 mm.     

Temperature hysteresis of the reflection coefficient of leucosapphire in vacuum

We have measured the temperature dependences of light reflection of leucosapphire single crystals upon cyclic variation of temperature in the range of 295–155 K. We have revealed an asymmetric temperature hysteresis of specular reflection, which is accompanied by a change in diffuse reflection. It has been found that the behavior of specular reflection is determined by the temperature dependences of the refractive index and topography of the surface. We assume that temperature changes in the reflection are related to structural phase transitions in the superficial layer.     

Investigation of magnetization reversal process in pinned CoFeB thin film by in-situ Lorentz TEM

Exchange bias effect has been widely employed for various magnetic devices.The experimentally reported magnitude of exchange bias field is often smaller than that predicted theoretically,which is considered to be due to the partly pinned spins of ferromagnetic layer by antiferromagnetic layer.However,mapping the distribution of pinned spins is challenging.In this work,we directly image the reverse domain nucleation and domain wall movement process in the exchange biased Co Fe B/Ir Mn bilayers by Lorentz transmission electron microscopy.From the in-situ experiments,we obtain the distribution mapping of the pinning strength,showing that only 1/6 of the ferromagnetic layer at the interface is strongly pinned by the antiferromagnetic layer.Our results prove the existence of an inhomogeneous pinning effect in exchange bias systems.     

Development of a mirror backed volume phase grating with potential for large aperture and high damage threshold

The present paper proposes a new grating concept by which a volume phase grating is placed on top of a dielectric mirror stack. Instead of using a multilayer dielectric grating, wherein the uppermost layer of a thin film mirror is etched to create the desired binary phase grating we suggest to have an upper grating layer of a lower density gelatin-based volume phase grating in either sol–gel or dichromated gelatin. The key benefit is the elimination of the etching step which is the limiting factor in the production of large aperture gratings. We have investigated designs for s- and p-polarization as well as the necessary chemistry that is needed to achieve the required index modulations. Damage testing on dichromated gelatin and aerogel was performed and diffraction efficiencies for various prototypes were measured.     

Microstructural and electromagnetic properties of MnO2 coated nickel particles with submicron size

Nickel particles with submicron size are prepared by using the solvothermal method. These spheres are then coated with a layer of MnO2 using the soft chemical method. The microstructure is characterized by x-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, and scanning electron microscopy. Energy x-ray dispersive spectrometry and high-resolution images show that the granular composites have a classical core/shell structure with an MnO2 superficial layer,no more than 10 nm in thickness. The hysteresis measurements indicate that these submicron-size Ni composite powders have small remanence and moderate coercivity. The electromagnetic properties of the powders measured by a vector network analyzer in a frequency range of 2-18 GHz are also reported in detail.     

Fabrication of high quality two-dimensional photonic crystal mask layer patterns

This work discusses the fabrication of two-dimensional photonic crystal mask layer patterns. Photonic crystal patterns having holes with smooth and straight sidewalls are achieved by optimizing electron beam exposure doses during electron beam lithography process. Thereafter, to precisely transfer the patterns from the beam resist to the SiO₂ mask layer, we developed a pulse-time etching method and optimize various reaction ion etching conditions. Results show that we can obtain high quality two-dimensional photonic crystal mask layer patterns.     

Surface termination of BaTiO3 (001) single crystals: A combined electron spectroscopic and theoretical study

The surface termination of oxide surfaces is of crucial importance for the growth of a second material like metals or other oxides. In this study we have investigated the surface of a BaTiO₃ (001) single crystal during sample preparation by various electron spectroscopic methods. It is shown by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy (UPS) and metastable induced electron spectroscopy (MIES) that during sputtering a Ba rich overlayer is formed, in which the Ba²⁺ ions are under coordinated. Below this layer, an oxygen deficient BaTiO₃ layer is found. During annealing, we observe the reformation of the crystalline structure. UP and MIE spectra provide clear evidence of a BaO terminated surface. X-ray photoelectron diffraction studies support this result, comparing recorded polar angle scans with calculated intensity modulations using multiple scattering cluster models.     

Thermal Effects of Microwave Energy in Agricultural Soil Radiation

The thermal treatment by millimeter waves for the soil disinfection can be one possible alternative to chemical treatments. This physical method is based on incrementing the soil temperature and its pathogens irradiating with high frequency electromagnetic waves. So the previous knowledge of the temperature distribution in the irradiated soil is essential for achieving an effective bad microorganism and weed seeds elimination. This report analyse the heating kinetic and spatial distribution of the maximum temperatures reached by the soil. It is presented a mathematic model about how are distributed the reached temperatures in the depth of the irradiated soil. This model concludes that when an orchard soil is irradiated superficially by microwaves, the microwaves have a big attenuation due to the soil dielectric properties and the water located in the pores of the most superficial layer. This fact causes a shield effect blocking the waves penetration in few centimetres. The heating by radiation is reduced to the superficial layer. The heating propagation in the depth is occurred by conduction following the Fourier equations.