Improvement of the spectral response characteristics of high-resistance thermal radiation detectors

A method of applying a low-resistance black to the high-resistance sensitive element of thermal radiation detectors is suggested; a separating interlayer is applied which provides the necessary dielectric and thermal properties simultaneously. The thermal balance was calculated, and the optimum conditions for improving the spectral response of detectors, without increasing their inertia, was established.     

Use of an open photoacoustic cell for the thermal characterisation of liquid crystals

In this paper, we describe the use of an open cell photoacoustic configuration for the evaluation of the thermal effusivity of liquid crystals. The feasibility, precision and reliability of the method are initially established by measuring the thermal effusivities of water and glycerol, for which the effusivity values are known accurately. In order to demonstrate the use of the present method in the thermal characterization of liquid crystals, we have measured the thermal effusivity values in various mesophases of 4-cyano-4^′-octyloxybiphenyl (8OCB) and 4-cyano-4^′-heptyloxybiphenyl (7OCB) liquid crystals using a variable temperature open photoacoustic cell. A comparison of the measured values for the two liquid crystals shows that the thermal effusivities of 7OCB in the nematic and isotropic phases are slightly less than those of 8OCB in the corresponding phases. Received: 28 March 2001 / Revised version: 8 June 2001 / Published online: 18 July 2001     

Compensation for thermal effects in mirrors of gravitational wave interferometers

In this paper we study several means of compensating for thermal lensing which, otherwise, should be a source of concern for future upgrades of interferometric detectors of gravitational waves. The methods we develop are based on the principle of heating the cold parts of the mirrors. We find that thermal compensation can help a lot but can not do miracles. It seems finally that the best strategy for future upgrades (“advanced configurations”) is may be to use thermal compensation together with another substrate materials than silica, for example sapphire. Received 26 April 2001     

Investigation of poling field effects on PVDF pyroelectric detectors: Photoacoustic thermal diffusivity measurements

The influence of poling fields on the electrical and thermal properties of polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) pyroelectric detectors is discussed. It is shown that both the dielectric constant and the thermal diffusivity exhibit a monotonically increasing behavior with the poling field. The detectors were fabricated by solution casting of the PVDF films followed by thermal poling. It is concluded that the predominant crystal phase present in our films is the -form. Except for the dielectric breakdown field, all the electrical and thermal properties of these films were found to be in good agreement with the commercially available ones. The thermal diffusivity was measured using the so-called open photoacoustic cell method.     

Determination of thermal conductivity of CVD diamond films via photoacoustic measurements

A novel method of determination of polycrystalline diamond films’ thermoconductive properties using the photoacoustic effect is proposed. By this method, we studied the diamond films grown on silicon substrates using chemical vapor deposition technique. A value of thermal conductivity obtained for the films was less than half that for diamond single crystal. The decrease of thermal conductivity, as well as characteristic features of optical properties of the films, is explained by the presence of a large amount of intercrystallite boundaries and other structure defects and admixures detected using Raman and photoluminescent spectroscopies. Received: 22 October 1998 / Accepted: 27 January 1999 / Published online: 28 April 1999     

Study on the thermal isolation properties of porous silicon photonic crystal

The thermal isolation properties of porous silicon photonic crystal structures have been designed and discussed theoretically. Excellent thermal isolation properties can be obtained on such a porous silicon photonic crystal, even better than that of porous silicon with high porosity. Due to the excellent thermal isolation properties of the porous silicon photonic crystal structures, they can be used as the thermal isolation substrates in infrared detectors     

Photoacoustic measurements of the thermal properties of AlyGa1-yAs alloys in the region 0<y<0.5

y Ga_1-yAs alloys grown by liquid phase epitaxy on GaAs substrates, by means of the open photoacoustic cell detection technique and the temperature-rise method under continuous light illumination. The values of the thermal conductivity, diffusivity and specific heat were obtained in the 0<y<0.5 region, where the Al_yGa_1-yAs band gap is mainly direct. The technique presented here is based upon an effective sample model which is shown to be suitable for the determination of the thermal properties of two layer semiconductor specimens. Received: 15 November 1996/Accepted: 5 March 1997     

The density and thermal expansion of liquid Na-Pb alloys with a low content of lead

The density and thermal expansion coefficients of liquid sodium and sodium-lead alloys (2.50, 5.00, 7.50, 9.99, and 21.03 at. % Pb) were investigated using gamma-ray attenuation technique in the temperature range from the liquidus line up to 950 K. Accuracy of density measurement is estimated to be ± 0.22–0.4 %. Temperature and concentration dependences of thermal properties of liquid system Na-Pb have been built.     

Laser resonator with balanced thermal lenses

An adaptive negative thermal lens that compensates for the power-dependent positive thermal lens in a transversally diode-pumped Nd:YAG laser rod is presented. We demonstrate that the proposed technique leads to a reduction of the total thermal lens by more than an order of magnitude.     

Isotopic thermal diffusion factors of the noble gases

A new set of isotopic thermal diffusion factors for Ar, Kr and Xe is reported. The data have been obtained from thermal diffusion column measurements in a column previously calibrated with Ne gas, and complete the α_T data for the binary mixtures of noble gases given previously. The results lead to the conclusion that the thermal diffusion properties of the noble gases and their mixtures are well described by the law of corresponding states first proposed by Kestin, Ro and Wakeham. It is also concluded that the calibration technique used makes the thermal diffusion column a valuable instrument for the determination of the thermal diffusion factors of isotopic and non-isotopic dilute gas mixtures.     

Application of interferometric enhancement to self-absorbing thin film thermal IR detectors

Uncooled thermal IR detectors require a suitable absorbing mechanism in order to achieve efficient radiation capture. For bulk detector materials such as ferroelectric ceramics this mechanism may be a broad-band absorber in the form of a metallic black layer, or a thin-film optical interference filter tuned for maximum absorption at the desired wavelength, deposited onto the surface of the detector.A thin metal film having a sheet resistance of 189 Ω per square can absorb 50% of incident radiation, and is employed in the metal film resistance bolometer detector and Golay cell. In this paper an interferometric technique for thin film thermal detectors is described, whereby a thermally sensitive material in the form of a semiconductor or dielectric layer becomes an integral component of a 3-layer absorber stack. The theory of this absorber structure is reviewed and compared with experimental data. It is shown that an effective absorption of 90% can be achieved over the waveband 8–13μm for a blackbody radiation source at 300 K temperature.     

Challenges in thermal noise for 3rd generation of gravitational wave detectors

Various noise sources limit the sensitivity of current interferometric gravitational wave detectors, including seismic noise, thermal noise of the optical components and suspension elements and photon shot noise. Plans are in place for a suite of hardware upgrades which should increase the sensitivity of these detectors by reducing the various noise sources. With these designs for 2nd generation detectors mature, techniques for further improvement of detector sensitivity by a factor of approximately 10 are under study. A particular challenge is the reduction of the thermal noise associated with the interferometer mirrors and their suspensions. We review the current status of research on thermal noise in interferometric gravitational wave detectors. Aspects of possible techniques for use in future ‘3rd generation detectors’ such as cryogenics and diffractive optics are discussed.     

The time recovery of the spectroscopic properties of heavily irradiated CdZnTe and CdTe detectors

The time recovery of the spectroscopic capabilities of CdZnTe and CdTe detectors, irradiated with increasing doses of high- and low-energy neutrons, as well as electrons, has been investigated by studying their spectroscopic behavior at different photon energies using leakage current measurements and PICTS (photo-induced current transient spectroscopy) analysis. The detectors were stored at room temperature for up to one year to study the time evolution of their spectroscopic performance and to correlate it with the presence of defective states in the material. We have observed a clear improvement in the material’s detection properties with time, though only in those detectors which have not been severely degraded by the irradiation. The recovery can be associated with a decrease in the concentration of some defective states, thus allowing the assessment of the crucial role these play in determining the charge collection processes in the material and its spectroscopic capabilities. Received: 1 August 2001 / Accepted: 3 August 2001 / Published online: 20 December 2001     

The reliability of optical fiber-TWRC technique in liquids thermal diffusivity measurement

The conventional thermal-wave resonator cavity (TWRC) technique was modified by using an optical fiber as both to transmit light beam and to produce thermal wave. This technique also known shortly as OF-TWRC was used to measure liquid thermal diffusivity in a thermally thick condition. The stability of the pyroelectric signal amplitude was good over long time duration. The thermal diffusivity values of various liquids obtained by this technique are in agreement with those of literature indicating this technique is reliable as compared to the conventional TWRC technique.     

Diffraction patterns of laser beams with thermal self-phase modulation by optically thin films

Summary A mathematical model of the far-field diffraction pattern of a laser beam with laser heating self-phase modulation through an optically thin film is presented. We deal with the steady-state temperature field generated by the weak absorption of a laser beam in an optically and thermally thin film bounded by two transparent plates, the cell walls, whose thermal exchange to the surrounding ambient has been assumed to be linear in the temperature difference to the ambient. These hypotheses describe the application of the steady-state ?thermal lens? spectroscopy to the detection of the optical or thermal properties of liquid samples. We give a very simple expression for the diffracted intensity that appears suitable for fast computer calculations. The good accuracy of the technique is shown by comparison with the results given by more intricate approaches. To speed up publication, the authors of this paper have agreed to not receive the proofs for correction.     

Fourier transforms method for measuring thermal lens induced in diluted liquid samples

Drawing on interferometry and Fourier analysis, this paper describes the use of a two-beam thermal lens technique for measuring thermo-optical properties in optical materials. The procedure consists of yield interference patterns deformed by a localized photothermal effect. The photothermal phase shift is locally induced by the pump beam focused on a tested sample located on an on-axis probe beam, which is the first arm of a Mach-Zehnder interferometer. The plane where the effect is localized is imaged onto a CCD camera. Then two interferograms are recorded: one without effect and the other one with the induced photothermal phase. Fourier analysis performed on these interferograms allow us to plot the thermal lens map and, therefore, to estimate thermo-optic constant of Malachite Green in water solution. The method is applied to measure low linear absorptions of a diluted sample of Rhodamine B in water solution at 633 nm, showing that the proposed technique allows to measure photothermal phase shift as low as 3.1 mrad at 8 mW of input power in diluted materials.     

Sulphur-doped silicon background-limited infrared photodetectors near 77 K

The photoconductive properties of sulphur-doped extrinsic silicon infrared detectors prepared by closed-tube diffusion techniques have been investigated. Spectral response data show that this material would be suitable for thermal imaging of 3–5 μm radiation, whilst detectivity measurements as a function of temperature indicate that background-limited operation is achievable near liquid nitrogen temperature (77 K).     

Depth profile reconstruction of the thermal conductivity of inhomogeneous solids: application to laser-hardened Al alloys

Photoacoustic measurement techniques can be used to determine thermal properties on and below the sample’s surface, thus subsurface thermal inhomogeneities, such as continuous profiles of thermal parameters, become measurable by photoacoustic methods. In this paper, the study is focused on the quantitative characterization of material modifications in subsurface layers of laser-hardened Al alloy samples. The variation of surface temperature is measured by PA technique. Then a new numerical algorithm, carried out by employing the pulsed spectrum technique and the regularization method, is used to reconstruct thermal conductivity depth profiles. The experiment results demonstrate that the experiment and the algorithm are very effective for microstructure depth profile reconstruction by nondestructive method. Received: 18 February 2000 / Accepted: 28 February 2000 / Published online: 30 June 2000     

Holographic imaging of atoms using thermal neutrons

In a recent paper [L. Cser, G. Krexner, and Gy. T?r?k, Europhys. Lett. 54, 747 (2001)]] the use of thermal neutrons with wavelengths close to interatomic distances in condensed matter was proposed to obtain holographic images on an atomic scale. Two experimental methods were considered which either put the radiation source inside and the detector outside the object or vice versa. The second approach, called the inside-detector concept, requires strongly neutron-absorbing isotopes acting as pointlike detectors in the sample. In the present work, we demonstrate the feasibility of this technique by recording a holographic image of a lead nuclei in a Pb(Cd) single crystal.     

Elastic wave thermal fluctuations,ultrasonic waveforms by correlation of thermal phonons

It is widely recognized that acoustic degrees of freedom coupled to a thermal bath have amplitudes which fluctuate with a mean square proportional to temperature; this is the basis for the Debye theory of the heat capacity of insulating solids. It is shown here that these elastic wave thermal phonons have correlation functions identical to the system's ultrasonic Green's function, and furthermore that thermal noise in ultrasonic detectors should have correlation functions equivalent to conventional waveforms obtained by active transmission and reception. This suggests the possibility of doing ultrasonics without a source. Theory for the identity is presented, and several room temperature laboratory confirmations are conducted in the frequency range 0.1-1.0 MHz. The thermal nature of the origin of these correlations is established by comparing their strength with theoretical expectations. Applications are discussed.