Energy Parameters and Spectral Characteristics of Lasing of a Liquid Dye Drop Incorporating Nanoparticles

The spectral characteristics and the energy parameters of the fluorescence of a liquid rhodamine-6G dye drop incorporating suspended TiO₂ nanoparticles are presented. It is demonstrated that the lasing threshold for modes of the whispering gallery of liquid dye drops is halved in the presence of nanoparticles.     

Spectral and temporal characteristics of fluorescence of drops comprising dissolved dye excited by the IR laser radiation

Fluorescence of solutions of rhodamine 6G in the form of single drops of millimeter sizes excited by the intense IR and visible laser radiation (with duration of laser pulses of ∼10 ns and wavelengths of 1064 and 532 nm) is experimentally investigated. It was found that the power thresholds of fluorescence excitation for drops comprising the dissolved dye are, by an order of magnitude, less than for a cell with dissolved dye. The dichromatic drop fluorescence has been revealed, which is manifested through the occurrence of two maxima in the fluorescence spectrum of drops comprising dissolved rhodamine 6G. The first maximum coincides with that of the dye fluorescence spectrum, while the second maximum is shifted by ∼1000 cm⁻¹ and is on the slope of the fluorescence line profile. It is shown that the duration of drop fluorescence does not exceed the duration of the exciting pulse.     

Measurement of the internal lasing intensity distribution of a dye-doped pendant drop

The lasing intensity distribution made inside a circular resonator formed by a dye-doped pendant drop was measured by addition of polymer particles to the dye solution to enhance the elastic-scattered light of the lasing inside the pendant drop. A theory that connects wave and ray pictures in dealing with the cavity resonance is used to calculate the internal intensity distribution. The experimental and theoretical results are in good agreement for sufficiently large densities of scattering particles, such that the cavity mode efficiency phi is approximately 1 for all resonant modes.     

Drop‐cast and dye‐sensitized ZnO nanorod‐based visible‐light photodetectors

We report the facile fabrication of metal–semiconductor–metal (MSM) photodetectors with dye‐sensitized ZnO nanorods (NRs) operating at wavelengths of ～405–638 nm by a simple drop casting method. The ZnO NRs were synthesized by the hydrothermal synthesis method at 75 °C. The droplet of ethanol solution containing ZnO NRs was dropped between two metal electrodes and dried at 65 °C, which allows the ZnO NRs to be adhered and contacted to both metal electrodes. When a violet light of 405 nm was illuminated into the MSM ZnO NRs‐based photodetector, the photocurrent gain was obtained as ～3.9 × 10³ at the applied bias voltage of 5 V. By increasing the bias voltage from 10 V to 15 V, the device exhibited good recovery performance with a largely reduced reset time from 85.68 s to 2.47 s and an increased on–off ratio from 17.9 to 77.4. To extend the photodetection range towards the long visible spectral region, the ZnO NRs were sensitized by the N719 dye and then drop‐cast. The dye‐sensitized ZnO NRs‐based photodetector also exhibited good photocurrent switching under 638 nm of light illumination. (© 2013 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Early Detection of Breast Cancer: Synthesis and Characterization of Novel Target Specific NIR-Fluorescent Estrogen Conjugate for Molecular Optical Imaging

Estrogen induced proliferation of existing mutant cells is widely understood to be the major risk determining factor in the development of breast cancer. Hence determination of the Estrogen Receptor[ER] status is of paramount importance. We have carried out the synthesis and characterization of a novel NIR fluorescent dye conjugate aimed at measuring ER+ve status in-vivo. The conjugate was synthesized by ester formation between 17-β estradiol and a cyanine dye namely: bis-1, 1-(4-sulfobutyl) indotricarbocyanine-5-carboxylic acid, sodium salt. The replacement of the sodium ion in the ester by a larger glucosammonium ion was found to enhance the hydrophilicity and reduce the toxic effect on cell lines. The excitation and emission peaks for the dye were recorded as 750 and 788 nm respectively; ideal for non-invasive optical imaging owing to minimal tissue attenuation and auto-fluorescence at these wavelengths. The dye (NIRDC1) has a significant drop in plasma-protein binding therefore leading to marked improvement in pharmacokinetic profile such as dye evacuation in comparison to ICG. In addition the dye showed enhanced fluorescence quantum yield, molar extinction coefficient and linearity in fluorescence relative to ICG. This dye can be potentially used as a target specific exogenous contrast agent in molecular optical imaging for early detection of breast cancer.     

A simple,efficient plastic dye laser

A simple efficient plastic dye laser is described. A conversion efficiency of 47% was obtained from Rhodamine 6G doped PMMA, when pumped by the second harmonic of a Q-switched Nd: YAG laser in a near longitudinal pumping configuration. Lifetime tests performed on 0.3 cm² surface area of plastic, indicates a drop in efficiency from an initial 47% to 25% after 3.2 × 10⁴ shots. By defocusing the pump beam and doubling the sample thickness, the lifetime increases to 1 million shots before the dye laser efficiency drops from an initial 35% to 25%, for a scanned area of 2 cm², similar results have been obtained with rhodamine B.     

Ultrasonically induced ZnO–biosilica nanocomposite for degradation of a textile dye in aqueous phase

In the present study, a porous clay-like support with unique characteristics was used for the synthesis and immobilization of ZnO nanostructures to be used as sonocatalyst for the sonocatalytic decolorization of methylene blue (MB) dye in the aqueous phase. As a result, the sonocatalytic activity of ZnO–biosilica nanocomposite (77.8%) was higher than that of pure ZnO nanostructures (53.6%). Increasing the initial pH from 3 to 10 led to increasing the color removal from 41.8% to 88.2%, respectively. Increasing the sonocatalyst dosage from 0.5 to 2.5 g/L resulted in increasing the color removal, while further increase up to 3 g/L caused an obvious drop in the color removal. The sonocatalysis of MB dye over ZnO–biosilica nanocomposite was temperature-dependent. The presence of methanol produced the most adverse effect on the sonocatalysis of MB dye. The addition of chloride and carbonate ions had a negligible effect on the sonocatalysis, while the addition of persulfate ion led to increasing the color removal from 77.8% to 99.4% during 90 min. The reusability test exhibited a 15% drop in the color removal (%) within three consecutive experimental runs. A mineralization efficiency of 63.2% was obtained within 4 h.     

Time-resolved optical transmission during pulsed-laser annealing of ion-implanted amorphous silicon-on-sapphire

Time-resolved optical transmission of annealing dye laser pulse (wavelength : 590 nm and pulse width : 250 nsec) itself has been measured in thin layers of Si⁺-implanted amorphized silicon-on-sapphire (SOS) with several energy densities in the range of 0.02 to 2.64 J/cm². At the energy densities where the amorphized SOS is recrystallized, the transmission exhibits a sudden drop and subsequently remains at a detectable level. This laser-induced absorption is inconsistent with the presence of ordinary molten silicon but suggests an electronic structural-change from amorphous to crystalline state.     

Two-photon resonant Raman and luminescence of excitonic molecules in CuCl

Two-photon resonant Raman scattering via excitonic molecule in CuCl is studied with using dye laser excitation of different band widths. The yield of the Raman scattering is found to drop remarkably at resonant excitation and luminescence line of 0.3 meV half-width comes out. The predominance of the Raman or luminescence or their coexistence depends on the intensity and energy band width of excitation light.     

Interaction of molecular and polymolecular forms of a dye

A luminescence method is proposed, which makes it possible to control interactions between molecular and polymolecular forms of a dye in AgHal emulsions, responsible for the self-desensitization of the first and second kinds. This allows one to determine an optimal concentration of a dye upon its application. An anomalously delayed anti-Stokes fluorescence of a molecular dye, which is responsible for self-desensitization of the second kind, is observed for the first time upon excitation of J aggregates of the dye. A mechanism for the self-desensitization of the first kind is proposed, which is connected with interactions between the J aggregate of a dye and dye molecules adsorbed on its surface.     

Instability of a charged spherical drop moving relative to a medium

It is shown that the critical self-charge for the onset of instability of a charged drop in a flow of an ideal fluid decreases as the flow velocity of the fluid past the drop increases, i.e., a complex instability arises which is a superposition of the instabilities of the free surface of the drop with respect to the tangential discontinuity of the velocity field at the free surface of the drop and with respect to the self-charge. Zh. Tekh. Fiz. 69, 7–14 (May 1999)     

Highly efficient synchronous amplification of a picosecond dye laser at a kHz repetition rate

A short pulse, high energy, high repetition rate dye amplifier with superior conversion efficiency is reported. The dye amplifier is composed of three single-pass dye cells, longitudinally pumped by a frequency doubled 1 kHz Nd: YLF regenerative amplifier. The dye amplifier yields 3.5 ps, 150 J pulses at 595 nm, corresponding to a 12% conversion efficiency. The ASE is 1% or less, and the transverse mode quality is near-Gaussian.In absentia from the Department of Chemistry, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA     

Environment effects on the lasing photostability of Rhodamine 6G incorporated into organic-inorganic hybrid materials

The effect on the lasing photostability of Rhodamine 6G (Rh6G), and the rigidity of a hybrid inorganic-organic matrix by controlled addition of di-, tri- and tetrafunctionalized alkoxides has been evaluated. The dye was incorporated into hybrid matrices of (2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate) (HEMA) or vol/vol copolymers of methyl methacrylate (MMA) and HEMA with different weight proportions of polycondensated dimethyldiethoxysilane (DEOS), methyltriethoxysilane (TRIEOS), and tetraethoxysilane (TEOS). The laser samples were transversaly pumped at 534 nm at 5.5 mJ/pulse and up to a 10 Hz repetition rate. The dependence of the laser photostability on organic-inorganic composition, pH of the medium, and thermal treatment of the samples was studied. Good stability, with a drop of the initial laser output of only 13% after 10000 pump pulses at 10 Hz in a thermally postcured (HEMA-15 wt%TRIEOS) matrix was obtained. Careful control of the synthesis process is required to reach the necessary photostability for a solid-state dye laser based on hybrid matrices to become competitive with liquid dye lasers. PACS 81.05.Lg; 81.05.Zx; 81.20.Fw; 42.55.Mv; 42.55.Rz; 42.60.Lh; 42.62.b; 42.70a; 42.70-Hj; 42.70.Jk     

水平管内二氟乙烷两相流动摩擦压降实验研究

对制冷剂二氟乙烷(HFC-152a)在内径为8mm的水平管内进行了两相流动沸腾摩擦压降的实验测量.实验测量的压力范围为0.19—0.41MPa,热流密度范围为14—62kW/m2,流量范围为128—200kg/m2s.实验测量表明:HFC-152a的两相摩擦压降随质量流量、质量含气率的增大而增大;热流密度则对摩擦压降的直接影响很小,但通过影响两相流流型间接影响了摩擦压降;当流型由分层流动转变为半环状流或环状流时,总压降中加速压降所占比例有所减小,而摩擦压降所占比例则有所增大;摩擦压降随饱和压力的增大而减小.使用两个应用广泛的压降计算式进行了计算.实验测试结果与计算结果对比后发现,Friedel模型与实验结果偏差较大,而Müller-Steinhagen-Heck模型则与实验结果符合较好.     

Functionalized Ultrabright Fluorescent Mesoporous Silica Nanoparticles

The problem of functionalization of recently reported ultrabright fluorescent mesoporous silica nanoparticles while preserving their fluorescent brightness is solved. This is a serious issue because of the open geometry of mesoporous channels and physical encapsulation of fluorescent dye inside those channels. Amine modification of mesoporous nanoparticles is described to preserve the brightness comparable to that of earlier reported ultrabright silica nanoparticles. Scaling to 40 nm sized particles, amine‐functionalized nanoparticle have fluorescent brightness equivalent to the one of 630 free rhodamine 6G (R6G) dye molecules in water. To demonstrate further most challenging functionalization, which relies on using organic‐solvent‐based chemistry, folic acid conjugation is developed. Two different methods are used to conjugate folites to the amine functionalities. Both methods result in a decrease of fluorescence intensity, which can nonetheless still be called ultrabright. The brightness can drop to either 310 or 80 R6G dye molecules per particle of nominal diameter of 40 nm.     

Fast photoprocesses in a symmetric indotricarbocyanine dye (HITC) in solutions

Spectral-kinetic and photochemical properties of HITC dye with iodide and perchlorate counterions have been studied in environments where the dye molecules exist in different ionic forms. In ethanol, the dye molecules exist as free ions; in dichlorobenzene, as contact ion pairs. Superfast transformation of non-stationary spectra in an HITC dye bleaching band is found. The observed effects are interpreted within the framework of concepts on “burning out” a notch in the contour of a non-uniformly widened vibronic band of S ₀ → S ₁-absorption. Qualitative differences in recorded absorption spectra from the dye excited electronic states for weakly and highly polar solvents are found. It is shown that the observed differences are caused by superfast charge transfer in the contact ion pairs that results in the formation of free radicals.     

Synthesis and spectroscopic investigation of a novel solvatochromic dye

Optical response of a novel dye has been studied in various media like neat and mixed binary solvents, aqueous SDS micelles and β-cyclodextrin (β-CD) nanocavities. Fluorescence parameters in pure and mixed binary solvents have been found to be sensitive to the nature of the microenvironment. The emitting state of the dye in protic solvent is different from that in aprotic solvents. In presence of cations (H⁺, Mg²⁺), the dye exists in two tautomeric forms at equilibrium in solution. The values of the equilibrium constant (K) and ΔH⁰ have been measured. Values of local dielectric constant (ε) and microviscosity (η) at the region of solubilisation of the dye in aqueous SDS micellar media have been found out. The dye has also been found to form complex with β-CD. The equilibrium constant and the energy of maximum fluorescence of the dye encapsulated by β-CD have been determined.     

Reversible light-induced capacitance switching of azobenzene ether/PMMA blends

Fully reversible light-induced switching of the capacitance with changes larger than 50% has been achieved by using photo-active thin polymer films. The films consist of PMMA polymer blended with high concentrations of branched azobenzene ether dye molecules. Polymer thin sheet capacitors can be easily produced by spin coating and drop casting in various thicknesses ranging from 100 nm to 8 μm, respectively. Reversible capacitance switching is induced by illumination with UV and visible light, respectively. The capacitance change is correlated to the trans to cis isomerization of the azobenzene ether molecules and the alignment of the molecular dipoles in the film. Switching times depend on chromophore concentration, film thickness and light intensity used. The influence of wavelength of the light, of the temperature as well as of an electrical field applied during illumination on the capacitance change is addressed.     

Spectroscopic analysis of a dye–mineral composite–a Raman and FT‐IR study

In this investigation, we address the question of how organic thioindigo binds to inorganic palygorskite to form a pigment similar to Maya Blue. We also address how such binding, if it occurs, might be affected by varying the proportion of dye relative to that of the mineral, and by varying the length of heating time used in preparation of the pigment. In addition to samples of palygorskite and thioindigo both alone, four synthetic pigment samples were prepared; two samples of 8 wt.% dye, one heated at 170 °C for 3 h and one at 170 °C for 9 h, and two samples of 16 wt.% dye, one heated at 170 °C for 3 h and one at 170 °C for 9 h. All samples were examined using Fourier transform‐infrared (FT‐IR) and FT‐Raman spectroscopy. For the pigment samples, FT‐IR peaks at 1627 cm⁻¹ are attributed to a downshifted CO stretching mode of thioindigo due to dye–clay interaction. This interpretation is corroborated by FT‐Raman CO peaks with 14 cm⁻¹ shifts to lower wavenumber for the pigment relative to thioindigo alone. Additional Raman scattering between 550 cm⁻¹ and 650 cm⁻¹ also suggests dye–clay interaction through metal–oxygen bonding. We are thus led to the possibility of mostly hydrogen bonding between silanol and carbonyl at lower dye concentration, with a predominance of metal–oxygen bonding at higher dye concentration. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.