Properties of a gold-deposited surface plasmon resonance-based glass rod sensor with various light-emitting diodes and its application to a refractometer

The performance of a simple sensor system prepared using gold (Au)-deposited glass rods of 1 to 4 mm in diameter with a deposition length of 100 mm based on surface plasmon resonance (SPR) is presented. The sensor properties of the Au-deposited glass rods of 2 mm in diameter with deposition lengths of 10 to 100 mm are also presented. The sensor system consists of a light-emitting diode (LED) as the light source and a photodiode (PD) as the detector. The response curves and sensor properties of the Au-deposited glass rod with a Au film thickness of 45 nm obtained by using three LEDs with yellowish green (563 nm), red (660 nm), and infrared (940 nm) emissions were investigated. The results were compared with those of a corresponding Au-deposited optical fiber sensor with a core diameter of 0.2 mm. Though the sensitivity, response, and detection limit of the Au-deposited glass rod sensor are lower than those of the optical fiber sensor, the fabrication and handling of the Au-deposited glass rod sensor are easier because of the robustness. Since the dielectric constant of Au changes with the light wavelength, the sensor properties of both the Au-deposited glass rod sensor and the optical fiber sensor depend strongly on the wavelength of the incident light and can be controlled by changing the LED emission wavelength. This sensor system is a new SPR-based refractometer with easy construction and operation. Ethanol concentrations in various spirits were measured with this SPR-based refractometer and the results agreed well with those measured with an Abbe refractometer.     

CMOS monolithic optoelectronic integrated circuit for on-chip optical interconnection

A monolithic silicon CMOS optoelectronic integrated circuit (OEIC) is designed and fabricated using standard 0.35-μm CMOS technology. This OEIC monolithically integrates light emitting diode (LED), silicon dioxide waveguide, photodetector and receiver circuit on a single silicon chip. The silicon LED operates in reverse breakdown mode and can emit light at 8.5 V. The output optical power is 31.2 nW under 9.8 V reverse bias. The measured spectrum of LED showed two peaks at 760 nm and 810 nm, respectively. The waveguide is composed of silicon dioxide/metal multiple layers. The responsivity of the n-well/p-substrate diode photodetector is 0.42 A/W and the dark current is 7.8 pA. The LED-emitted light transmits through the waveguide and can be detected by the photodetector. Experimental results show that on-chip optical interconnects are achieved by standard CMOS technology successfully.     

Multichannel fiber laser Doppler vibrometer studies of low momentum and hypervelocity impacts

A multichannel optical fiber laser Doppler vibrometer was demonstrated with the capability of making simultaneous non-contact measurements of impacts at 3 different locations. Two sets of measurements were performed, firstly using small ball bearings (1 mm–5.5 mm) falling under gravity and secondly using small projectiles (1 mm) fired from an extremely high velocity light gas gun (LGG) with speeds in the range 1 km/s–8 km/s. Determination of impact damage is important for industries such as aerospace, military and rail, where the effect of an impact on the structure can result in a major structural damage. To our knowledge the research reported here demonstrates the first trials of a multichannel fiber laser Doppler vibrometer being used to detect hypervelocity impacts.     

Real-space observation of photonic nanojet in dielectric microspheres

The three-dimensional real-space observation of photonic nanojet in different microspheres illuminated by a laser is reported. The finite-difference time-domain technique is used to perform the three-dimensional numerical simulation for the dielectric microspheres. The key parameters of photonic nanojet are measured by using a scanning optical microscope system. We reconstruct the three-dimensional real-space photonic nanojets from the collected stack of scanning images for polystyrene microspheres of 3 μm, 5 μm, and 8 μm diameters deposited on a glass substrate. Experimental results are compared to calculations and are found in good agreement with simulation results. The full width at half-maximum of the nanojet is 331 nm for a 3 μm microsphere at an incident wavelength of 633 nm. Our investigations show that photonic nanojets can be efficiently imaged by a microsphere and straightforwardly extended to rapidly distinguish the nano-objects in the far-field optical system.     

Optical gas sensing selectivity property of ruthenium (II)-metalloporphyrins Langmuir–Blodgett films

This paper reports the study of the selectivity property of a metalloporphyrins derivative Langmuir–Blodgett thin film, n-octaethyl porphine ruthenium (II) carbonyl (RuOEPCO), to several organic gas samples, namely the saturated vapor of acetone, 2-propanol, ethanol and cyclohexane. The sensing sensitivity was based on the change in the optical property of the film upon exposure to the gas samples that was measured at a particular wavelength, λ = 514 nm, of the light source. It was observed that the thin film exhibited excellent selectivity property to the gas samples by presenting clear differences amongst its responses. The selectivity property of the thin film was found to depend on the structure of the gaseous molecules of which the highest sensitivity was shown for the gaseous molecules with planar structure, such as cyclohexane. The mechanism for the thin films-gas interaction that promotes the selectivity characteristic is proposed.     

Near-white emitting QD-LED based on hydrophilic CdS nanocrystals

In this work we report fabrication of a nanocrystal (NC)-based hybrid organic–inorganic LED with structure of ITO/PEDOT:PSS/PVK/CdS-NCs/(Al or Mg:Ag). The hydrophilic CdS NCs were synthesized using a novel aqueous thermochemical method at 80 °C and sizes (around 2 nm) were controlled by thioglycolic acid (TGA) as the capping agent. The favorite feature of these NCs is their relatively high emission intensity and broad, near-white emission. The hydrophilic CdS NCs were successfully spin coated using Triton X-100 as the wetting agent. The fabricated LEDs demonstrated a turn on voltage about 7 V for Al metallic contact. The electroluminescence was a broad spectrum at 540 and 170 nm width, which was about 50 nm red shifted compared to photoluminescence spectra. The CIE color coordinates of the LED at (0.33, 0.43) demonstrated a near white light LED with an emission on green–yellow boundary of white. Annealing of the device up to 190 °C had a positive effect on the performance, possibly due to better contacts between layers. Replacing Al contacts with Mg:Ag reduced the turn-on voltage to 6 V and changed CIE color coordinate to (0.32, 0.41). The EL peak was also shifted to 525 nm, with a brightness of 15 Cd/m² at working voltage of 15 V. The current efficiency and external quantum efficiency of device were 0.08 Cd/A and 0.03% at current densities higher than 10 mA/cm².     

Spontaneous and stimulated emission in InAsSb-based LED heterostructures

Electroluminescence of LED heterostructures with active layer made of InAsSb films grown on InAs substrates was studied in the temperature range T = 4.2–300 K. At low temperatures (T = 4.2–100 K), stimulated emission was observed with an optical cavity formed normal to the growth plane. The emission became spontaneous at higher temperatures due to the resonant “switch-on” of the CHHS Auger recombination process in which the energy of a recombining electron-hole pair is transferred to a hole transitioning to the spin-orbit-splitted band. The spontaneous character of emission continued up to room temperature because of the influence of other Auger processes. The results obtained suggest that InAsSb-based LED heterostructures are promising for the fabrication of vertically-emitting mid-infrared lasers.     

Wavelength conversion based on high nonlinear microstructured fiber

A wavelength conversion based on high nonlinear microstructured fiber is demonstrated. Core diameter and pitch of the microstructured fiber used in this wavelength conversion method are 2.05 μm and 5.0 μm, respectively. Diameter of the air-holes in the fiber cladding is 4.50 μm, the nonlinear coefficient of the microstructured fiber is 112.2 W^?1 km^?1 and it is 60 times higher than that of a conventional dispersion-shift fiber, the length of the fiber is 100 m. Four-wave-mixing effect is improved in the high nonlinear microstructure fiber and then the efficiency of the wavelength conversion is improved also. 10 Gbps Not-Return-to-Zero (NRZ) modulation format and 10 Gbps Return-to-Zero (RZ) modulation format are converted effectively by our method. This study can provide a new alternative solution for high effective all-light wavelength conversion in high speed optical communication systems with multi-wavelengths and all-light optical networks.     

Microhardness of a dental restorative composite resin containing nanoparticles polymerized with argon ion laser

The objective of this study was to compare the microhardness of two resin composites (microhybrid and nanoparticles). Light activation was performed with argon ion laser 1.56 J (L) and halogen light 2.6 J (H) was used as control. Measurements were taken on the irradiated surfaces and those opposite them, at thicknesses of 1, 2 and 3 mm. To evaluate the quality of polymerization, the percentages of maximum hardness were calculated (PMH). For statistical analysis the ANOVA and Tukey tests were used (p ≤ 0.05). To microhybrid was shown that the hardness with laser was inferior to the hardness achieved with halogen light, for both the 1 mm and 2 mm. The nanoparticles polymerized with laser, presented lower hardness even on the irradiated surface, than the same surface light activated with halogen light. The microhybrid attained a minimum PMH of 80% up to the thickness of 2 mm with halogen light, and with laser, only up to 1 mm. The nanoparticles attained a minimum PMH of 80% up to 3 mm thickness with halogen light and with laser this minimum was not obtained at any thickness. Based on these results, it could be concluded that light activation with argon ion laser is contra-indicated for the studied nanoparticles.     

Design and experiment of spectrometer based on scanning micro-grating integrating with angle sensor

A compact, low cost, high speed, non-destructive testing NIR (near infrared) spectrometer optical system based on MOEMS grating device is developed. The MOEMS grating works as the prismatic element and wavelength scanning element in our optical system. The MOEMS grating enables the design of compact grating spectrometers capable of acquiring full spectra using a single detector element. This MOEMS grating is driven by electromagnetic force and integrated with angle sensor which used to monitored deflection angle while the grating working. Comparing with the traditional spectral system, there is a new structure with a single detector and worked at high frequency. With the characteristics of MOEMS grating, the structure of the spectrometer system is proposed. After calculating the parameters of the optical path, ZEMAX optical software is used to simulate the system. According the ZEMAX output file of the 3D model, the prototype is designed by SolidWorks rapidly, fabricated. Designed for a wavelength range between 800 nm and 1500 nm, the spectrometer optical system features a spectral resolution of 16 nm with the volume of 97 mm × 81.7 mm × 81 mm. For the purpose of reduce modulated effect of sinusoidal rotation, spectral intensity of the different wavelength should be compensated by software method in the further. The system satisfies the demand of NIR micro-spectrometer with a single detector.     

First-principles study of electronic and optical properties of the optical non linear LiMoO3(IO3)

The electro-optical properties, including: energy density of states function, dielectric function, refraction coefficient, extinction coefficient, band structure, energy gap and optical conductance of LiMoO₃(IO₃) structure with single-crystal data are computed and discussed in this paper. The LDA + U and generalized gradient approximations (GGA) with the full-potential linearized augmented plane wave method (FP-LAPW) in the framework of density functional theory (DFT) are used to compute the energy gap and other properties of this structure by considering the orbital dependent potential for coupled d orbital brought from experimental results and the U is applied to the Mo d-manifold. The results of energy gap are 2.1 eV and 1.5 eV for LDA + U and for GGA methods, respectively, which LDA + U method result is very close to experimental results.     

Optical properties of Cr/Fe(t)/MgO (0 0 1) thin films

In this work we report on the optical properties of single-crystalline iron thin films. For this, Cr-capped Fe films with thickness, t, in the range 30–300 Å were prepared on MgO (0 0 1) by DC magnetron sputtering, and then studied by optical absorption technique within the range from 1.0 to 3.6 eV. All measurements were carried out at room temperature using a fiber optics spectrophotometer. The intensity of the transmitted light decreases with increasing film thickness. The optical constants of the films are deduced from a model that considers the transmission of light by two absorbing films on an absorbing substrate. The absorption coefficient of the Fe films is also calculated from the transmission data. The absorption spectra show the following characteristics: (i) two large absorption peaks centered at about 1.20 and 2.65 eV; and (ii) a sharp step near 1.40 eV. These structures are associated with conventional interband transitions of the iron film.     

Effect of grating on IR LED device performance

The electroluminescence in the range of 3–4.5 μm and 6–10 μm from a Sb-based type II interband quantum cascade structure is reported. We measured the light emission from the top surface of the LED device with different grating structures. We used different etch depths for the grating formation. The light–current–voltage (LIV) characteristics measured at both room and cryogenic temperatures show that the device with 45° angle grating and 1.0 μm deep etch onto the GaSb surface has the highest emission power.     

Nonlinear optical study of palladium Schiff base complex using femtosecond differential optical Kerr gate and Z-scan techniques

A femtosecond differential optical Kerr gate (DOKG) and Z-scan techniques, have been applied to investigate the third-order optical nonlinearity of composite film of the coordination complex [PdLPPh₃] (L=N-(2-pyridyl)-N′-(salicylidene)hydrazine, PPh₃=triphenylphosphine). Film exhibits superior nonlinear optical properties in the near-infrared spectral region. The nonlinear response time and third-order nonlinear optical susceptibility of complex were found to be≤90 fs and 3.9×10^?10 esu, respectively. The Z-scan result shows that saturable absorption property of the film and its nonlinear absorption coefficient of the sample was found to be ?23 cm/GW.     

Single-mode fiber design proposal using evolutionary technique with ultra low bending-loss appropriate in FTTH application

A proposal for the new single mode optical fiber containing four cladding layer with ultra low bending loss is presented. The suggested design method is based on the Genetic Algorithm optimization technique. Compared to the work reported in [1], our designed structure exhibits very small bending loss over the wide communication band (1.3–1.65 μm). Simulation results show bending loss of 6.78e?14 dB/turn at 1.55 μm for single turn of 5 mm radius. The best value reported in [1] was 2e?3 dB/turn for the same wavelength and radius of curvature.     

Hydrothermal preparation and luminescence property of MWO4:Sm3+ (M = Ca,Sr, Ba) red phosphors

MWO₄:Sm³⁺ (M = Ca, Sr and Ba) red phosphors with spherical microparticles were successfully prepared via a mild and facile hydrothermal route. The crystal structure and particle morphology were investigated by the X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscope (SEM), respectively. Photoluminescence excitation and emission spectra and decay curve were used to characterize the luminescence properties of the MWO₄:Sm³⁺ phosphors. The excitation spectra indicate that MWO₄:Sm³⁺ phosphors can be excited effectively by the UV InGaN light-emitting diode (LED), and the emission spectra show that the phosphors can emit strong red light from 600 to 650 nm. Therefore, it is considered to be a new promising red phosphor for white LED application.     

Theoretical ultraslow bright and dark optical solitons in cascade-type GaAs/AlGaAs multiple quantum wells

We show the formation of ultraslow bright and dark optical solitons in a cascade-type three-level system of GaAs/AlGaAs multiple quantum wells (MQWs) structure based on the biexciton coherence in the transient optical response, and study analytically and numerically with Maxwell–Schrödinger equations. The calculated velocity of bright and dark optical solitons are V_g = 2.7 × 10⁴ ms^? 1 and V_g = 8.91 × 10⁴ ms^? 1, respectively. Such investigation of ultraslow optical solitons in MQWs may provide practical applications such as high-fidelity optical delay lines and optical buffers in semiconductor quantum wells structure, because of its flexible design.     

Improved light extraction efficiency of GaN-based LEDs with patterned sapphire substrate and patterned ITO

To improve the light extraction efficiency of GaN-based light-emitting diodes (LEDs), periodic semisphere patterns with 3.5 μm width, 1.2 μm height, and 0.8 μm spacing were formed on sapphire substrate by dry etching using BCl₃/Cl₂ gas chemistry. The indium tin oxide (ITO) transparent conductive layer was patterned by wet etching to reduce the total internal reflection existing along between p-GaN, ITO, and air. At 350 mA injection current, the high power LED by integrating patterned sapphire substrate with patterned ITO technology exhibited a 36.9% higher light output power than the conventional LEDs.     

A study on wavelength dependence and dynamic range of the quadratic response of commercial grade light emitting diodes

Experimental results of a study on the wavelength dependence and the dynamic range of the quadratic response of commercial grade light emitting diodes (LEDs) are reported over a broad spectral range of 680 nm to 1080 nm using ~ 100 fs duration laser pulses from cw mode locked laser oscillator. A large dynamic range of the quadratic response has been demonstrated in a reverse biased LED. The observed dynamic range compares well with that obtained using a biased photomultiplier tube with large internal gain.     

Nonlinear optical properties of CdxZn1 − xO films deposited with PLD technique

In this paper, the structural and optical properties of Cd_xZn_1 ? xO films were studied. The films were deposited with pulse laser deposition (PLD) technique. The Cd concentration changed in the range from x = 0 to 0.2. The structure of the films was characterized by atom force microscope (AFM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The nonlinear optical properties were investigated by Z-scan methods. The two-photon absorption (TPA) coefficient β_eff was measured. The β_eff value changes from 49.2 cm/GW to 116.5 cm/GW with the Cd concentration from 0 to 15%.