High-precision frequency-domain measurements of the optical properties of turbid media

We report high-precision measurements of the absorption and the reduced scattering coefficients for turbid media. Using a frequency-domain measurement technique for a point-source infinite-medium geometry, we find that the standard deviations of multiple measurements of the absorption coefficient mu(a) and the reduced scattering coefficient mu(s)(?) are less than 0.6%, and three independently derived values for mu(a) and mu(s)(?) agree to better than 1%. Measurements of mu(a) agree with measurements of a nonscattering medium to within 1.2%. To obtain high precision requires attention to proper conditions for the spherical photon-density wave model, the detection linearity, and the ratio of the absorption rate to the source modulation rate. Frequency-domain amplitude and phase measurements deviate from fitted curves by 0.1% and 0.06 degrees rms, respectively.     

光子重吸收对硅片的光载流子辐射特性影响的理论研究

光载流子辐射技术已广泛应用于半导体材料性能的表征,本文基于一种包含光子重吸收效应的光载流子辐射理论模型,对单晶硅中光子重吸收效应对光载流子辐射信号的影响进行了详细的理论分析.分析结果表明,光子重吸收效应对光载流子辐射信号的影响主要取决于样品掺杂浓度、过剩载流子浓度和过剩载流子的分布.由于过剩载流子浓度及其分布与材料电子输运特性密切相关,电子输运参数的变化将导致光子重吸收效应的影响随之变化.进一步分析了光子重吸收效应对具有不同电子输运特性的样品的电子输运参数的影响,并提出了减小光子重吸收效应影响的方法.     

The diffusion coefficient depends on absorption

The diffusion approximation is widely invoked to model the propagation of light in turbid media. When absorption is not weak in comparison with scattering, there is currently a controversy as to if, and how, the diffusion coefficient depends on absorption. Here it is shown that better agreement with random walk simulation is obtained if the photon-diffusion coefficient is taken as D=c/(3micro(s)(')+micro(a)) . One can reconcile this result with recent work advocating D=c/3micro(s)(') by noting that the diffusion equation must be correspondingly changed to a telegrapher's equation.     

Measurement of dye diffusion in agar gel by use of low-coherence interferometry

We demonstrate low-coherence interferometry for diffusion measurements. We have measured the diffusion coefficient of a phthalocyanine dye in 1.5% agar gel with a two-wavelength interferometer; one wavelength was matched to the absorption peak of the dye at 675 nm, while the other, 805 nm, was not affected by the dye. The diffusion coefficient of the dye was found by fitting a mathematical model for the interferometer signal to the measured low-coherence interferometry amplitude. A 95% confidence interval for the diffusion coefficient was found to be D = (2.5 +/- 0.2) x 10(-10) m2/s. The influence of speckle averaging and experiment time on the determination of the diffusion coefficient has been studied. The presented technique allows in situ characterization of diffusion in semitransparent media.     

Effects of the approximations of light propagation on quantitative photoacoustic tomography using two-dimensional photon diffusion equation and linearization

Quantitative photoacoustic tomography (QPAT) employing a light propagation model will play an important role in medical diagnoses by quantifying the concentration of hemoglobin or a contrast agent. However, QPAT by the light propagation model with the three-dimensional (3D) radiative transfer equation (RTE) requires a huge computational load in the iterative forward calculations involved in the updating process to reconstruct the absorption coefficient. The approximations of the light propagation improve the efficiency of the image reconstruction for the QPAT. In this study, we compared the 3D/two-dimensional (2D) photon diffusion equation (PDE) approximating 3D RTE with the Monte Carlo simulation based on 3D RTE. Then, the errors in a 2D PDE-based linearized image reconstruction caused by the approximations were quantitatively demonstrated and discussed in the numerical simulations. It was clearly observed that the approximations affected the reconstructed absorption coefficient. The 2D PDE-based linearized algorithm succeeded in the image reconstruction of the region with a large absorption coefficient in the 3D phantom. The value reconstructed in the phantom experiment agreed with that in the numerical simulation, so that it was validated that the numerical simulation of the image reconstruction predicted the relationship between the true absorption coefficient of the target in the 3D medium and the reconstructed value with the 2D PDE-based linearized algorithm. Moreover, the the true absorption coefficient in 3D medium was estimated from the 2D reconstructed image on the basis of the prediction by the numerical simulation. The estimation was successful in the phantom experiment, although some limitations were revealed.

     

Separation of changes in light scattering and chromophore concentrations during cortical spreading depression in rats

We used near-infrared spectroscopy to separate tissue scattering changes from changes in cerebral oxyhemoglobin and deoxyhemoglobin and the redox state of cytochrome- c -oxidase. A separate term of the transport scattering coefficient (micro(s)(?)) was included in a modified Lambert-Beer equation. It is shown by diffusion equation analysis that there is a simple relationship between the differential path-length factor (D(a)) and its scattering equivalent (D(s)) . The method was applied to cortical spreading depression (CSD) data recorded through the skulls of rats. Biphasic changes in micro(s)(?)of +/-0.1mm(-1)were observed during CSD's that spread with a velocity of ~5mm/min . The method proposed has the promise to permit monitoring of scattering changes noninvasively in humans during cortical activation or pathophysiological conditions.     

Frequency-domain immersion technique for accurate optical property measurements of turbid media

We demonstrate that absorption coefficient micro(a) and reduced scattering coefficient micro(s)(?) of a small turbid object can be measured to high accuracy with a frequency-domain immersion technique. For this technique the sample is immersed in a calibrated scattering medium and the optical properties are obtained from a differential measurement. Compared with conventional approaches, the immersion technique improves accuracy, minimizes variations owing to probe coupling and motion, reduces the effects of boundary conditions, and offers simple and rapid measurement once the immersion medium is calibrated. Accuracy tests of immersion-based measurements of micro(a) and micro(s)(?) agree with reference values to within 3.6% and 2.6%, respectively. These tests are limited by the accuracy of the reference samples rather than by the accuracy of the immersion medium or the precision of the immersion approach. We demonstrate the in vivo capabilities of the technique through time-resolved measurements of micro(a) and micro(s)(?) for a human hand during cuff occlusion on the upper arm.     

NMR Imaging of Thermally Polarized Helium-3 Gas

It is shown that thermally polarized 3He gas can be used to measure important physical parameters and to design, test, and tune imaging sequences. The bulk values of T1, T2, and the diffusion coefficient were measured in a glass cell containing a mixture of helium-3 (0.8 bar) and oxygen (0.2 bar). They were found to be T1 = 7 s, T2 = 2.4 s, and D = 1.6 cm2 s(-1). The relaxation times T2* and T1 and the apparent diffusion coefficient of thermally polarized helium-3 gas were measured in the rat lung, and these parameters were used to design a helium-3 optimized multi-spin-echo sequence which was shown to increase the signal-to-noise ratio sufficiently to obtain the first NMR-images of thermally polarized helium-3 in the rat lung.     

Diffusion of proton in alumina-rich nonstoichiometric magnesium aluminate spinel

The phenomenon of the diffusion of proton and deuteron in a single crystal of magnesium aluminate spinel was studied by infrared absorption. The chemical diffusion coefficient of proton was determined by the relaxation time of the absorption intensity upon the substitution of deuteron with proton. The temperature dependence of the chemical diffusion coefficient of proton for was expressed as . The chemical diffusion coefficient of proton was found to be independent of the composition of spinel and of the atmosphere. Paper presented at the 11th Euro Conference on the Science and Technology of Ionics, Batz-sur-Mer, Sept. 9–15 2007.     

Fundamental Studies of Photon Migration in Biological Tissues and Their Application to Optical Tomography

This paper reviews the studies of photon migration in biological tissues and its application to optical tomography which were conducted in the Mechanical Engineering Laboratory of Japan’s Ministry of International Trade and Industry. The research subjects range from theoretical and experimental studies of photon migration in random media to the development of image reconstruction algorithms and experiments for optical tomography. The most fundamental theoretical study of the photon diffusion equation has proved that the photon diffusion coefficient is independent of the absorption coefficient while the conventional one is dependent on the absorption coefficient. Experimental studies included the time-resolved spectroscopy and the fabrication of realistic human head phantoms which have five tissue types with different optical properties. Several types of reconstruction algorithms have been developed and verified experimentally. These investigations are pioneering work in the field of biomedical optics in Japan.     

超二代像增强器多碱阴极光电发射特性研究

通过测量超二代像增强器多碱阴极的光谱反射率和透射率,根据能量守恒定律计算得到了多碱阴极的光谱吸收率.结果表明,只有当光子的能量大于1.333 eV以后,多碱阴极的吸收率才开始快速增大.这说明多碱阴极的光谱吸收存在一个1.333 eV的长波吸收限,入射光的光子能量如果小于该吸收限,多碱阴极将不吸收.在多碱阴极的表面电子亲合势进一步降低的情况下,多碱阴极光电发射的长波理论阈值由长波吸收限所决定.多碱阴极在吸收光子之后的电子跃迁过程中,跃迁电子的能量增加小于所吸收入射光子的能量,即存在一个"能量损失".光子的能量越高,所激发的跃迁电子所处的能级越高,能量损失越大.同时光子的能量越高,跃迁电子所处的能级越高,电子跃迁的几率越低.多碱阴极的量子效率由吸收率、跃迁几率和跃迁能级、扩散过程中的能量损失等因素共同决定,因此多碱阴极的量子效率存在长波阈的同时也存在短波阈.多碱阴极的量子效率在2.11 eV达到最大值之后,随着光子能量的增加而单调减小,在3.6 eV时,量子效率减小到零.多碱阴极在3.6 eV时的吸收系数仍然很高,但由于电子跃迁的几率低,同时电子扩散过程中的能量损失大,导致尽管多碱阴极对短波具有较高的吸收系数,但量子效率仍然较低.因此对多碱阴极所吸收的光子能量中,转换成为光电导、晶格热振动等其他非光电发射形式能量的比例而言,短波较长波高,对光电发射的贡献率而言,短波较长波低.     

Limit on the cosmological variation of mp/me from the inversion spectrum of ammonia

We obtain the limit on the space-time variation of the ratio of the proton mass to the electron mass, mu=m(p)/m(e), based on comparison of quasar absorption spectra of NH3 with CO, HCO+ and HCN rotational spectra. For the inversion transition in NH3 (lambda approximately 1.25 cm(-1)) the relative frequency shift is significantly enhanced: deltaomega/omega=-4.46deltamu/mu. This enhancement allows one to increase sensitivity to the variation of mu using NH3 spectra for high redshift objects. We use published data on microwave spectra of the object B0218+357 to place the limit deltamu/mu=(0.6+/-1.9) x 10(-6) at redshift z=0.6847; this limit is several times better than the limits obtained by different methods and may be significantly improved. Assuming linear time dependence we obtain mu/mu=(-1+/-3) x 10(-16) yr(-1).     

Nonuniqueness in optical tomography: relevance of the P1 approximation

The question of whether a unique distribution of the absorption coefficient, the scattering coefficient, and the refractive index of a turbid medium can be reconstructed by optical tomography is considered. A recent publication [Opt. Lett. 23, 882 (1998)] established that such reconstruction is not possible when photon transport is well modeled by the diffusion equation. A simple proof is offered that, when measurements at high modulation frequencies are included, the more exact P1 model of light transport suggests that this reconstruction may be possible.     

Large prolongation of free-exciton photoluminescence decay in diamond by two-photon excitation

We report on time-resolved photoluminescence of a free-exciton in IIa chemical vapor deposition diamond crystal. Large difference between decay times for one- and two-photon excitation processes was observed. The longest room-temperature exciton photoluminescence lifetime τ(FE)=220 ns was obtained under two-photon excitation with a photon energy of 4.7 eV. The role of diffusion and surface recombination velocity in exciton photoluminescence dynamics was studied using a new optical method based on two-photon excited time-resolved photoluminescence. The measured room-temperature value of diffusion coefficient in diamond was D=40 cm(2)/s.     

Diffusion and thermal diffusion of semidilute to concentrated solutions of polystyrene in toluene in the vicinity of the glass transition

The approaching glass transition in polystyrene/toluene solutions leads to a sharp decay of both the collective diffusion coefficient D and the thermal diffusion coefficient D(T) at concentrations above 0.2 g/cm(3). The Soret coefficient S(T) = D(T)/D follows power-law scaling from semidilute to concentrated and is not influenced by the slowing down of the dynamics associated with the glass transition. Both D and D(T) are governed by the same friction coefficient. The scaling behavior of S(T) with concentration on approach of the glass transition is compared to the divergence of S(T) near a consolute critical point.     

Water vapor sorption in starch granules

A mathematical model proposed for diffusion in spherical particles can be solved on a digital computer. The model includes particle size distribution and variable diffusion coefficient of the form D = Doe^αC, where D is the diffusion coefficient, D₀ and α are constants, and C is the moisture content. Isothermal experimental measurements were made gravimetrically on a Cahn electrobalance by vacuum sorption techniques. The model adequately predicts the absorption characteristics of water vapor in starch granules. Although swelling is neglected in the model, it does contribute to sorption characteristics.     

ALIS: An efficient method to compute high spectral resolution polarized solar radiances using the Monte Carlo approach

An efficient method to compute accurate polarized solar radiance spectra using the (3D) Monte Carlo model MYSTIC has been developed. Such high resolution spectra are measured by various satellite instruments for remote sensing of atmospheric trace gases. ALIS (Absorption Lines Importance Sampling) allows the calculation of spectra by tracing photons at only one wavelength. In order to take into account the spectral dependence of the absorption coefficient a spectral absorption weight is calculated for each photon path. At each scattering event the local estimate method is combined with an importance sampling method to take into account the spectral dependence of the scattering coefficient. Since each wavelength grid point is computed based on the same set of random photon paths, the statistical error is almost same for all wavelengths and hence the simulated spectrum is not noisy. The statistical error mainly results in a small relative deviation which is independent of wavelength and can be neglected for those remote sensing applications, where differential absorption features are of interest.Two example applications are presented: The simulation of shortwave-infrared polarized spectra as measured by GOSAT from which CO₂ is retrieved, and the simulation of the differential optical thickness in the visible spectral range which is derived from SCIAMACHY measurements to retrieve NO₂. The computational speed of ALIS (for 1D or 3D atmospheres) is of the order of or even faster than that of one-dimensional discrete ordinate methods, in particular when polarization is considered.     

Optimal strategy for trapping single fluorescent molecules in solution using the ABEL trap

Trapping of 10-nm-sized single fluorescent bio-molecules in solution has been achieved using high-speed position sensing and electrokinetic feedback forces in the Anti-Brownian ELectrokinetic (ABEL) trap. The high diffusion coefficient of small objects in solution requires very fast, real-time sensing of position, and this has been previously achieved using a simple rotating beam, but improved strategies are needed for the smallest objects, such as single nanometer-sized fluorescent molecules. At the same time, single molecules are limited in photon emission rate and total number of photons, so each emitted photon must be used as efficiently as possible. We describe a new controller design for the ABEL trap which features fast, knight’s tour scanning of an excitation beam on a 2D square lattice and a Kalman filter-based estimator for optimal position sensing. This strategy leads directly to a maximum-likelihood-based method to extract the diffusion coefficient of the object held in the trap. The effectiveness of the algorithms are demonstrated and compared to the simple rotating beam design through Monte Carlo simulations. Our new approach yields tighter trapping and a much improved ability to extract diffusion coefficients.