A Confined <Emphasis Type="Italic">N</Emphasis>-Dimensional Harmonic Oscillator

We compute the energy eigenvalues for the N-dimensional harmonic oscillator confined in an impenetrable spherical cavity. The results show their dependence on the size of the cavity and the space dimension N. The obtained results are compared with those for the free N-dimensional harmonic oscillator, and as a result, the notion of fractional dimensions is pointed out. Finally, we examine the correlation between eigenenergies for confined oscillators in different dimensions.     

Effect of microstructure on the coercivity of HDDR Nd-Fe-B permanent magnetic alloy

The effect of the grain boundary microstructure on the anisotropy and coercivity was investigated in an HDDR Nd-Fe-B permanent magnetic alloy. Considering the special microstructure of its magnetic powder grain, an anisotropic theoretical model influenced simultaneously by the structure defect at the grain boundary and the exchange coupling interaction was put forward. The variations of the structure defect factors based on the nucleation and pinning mechanism with 2r ₀/lex (where r ₀ and lex are the defect thickness and the length of exchange coupling, respectively) were calculated. The results show that the coercivity mechanism of an HDDR Nd-Fe-B permanent magnetic alloy is greatly related to its microstructure defect at the grain boundary. For a fixed lex, when 2r ₀/lex < 1.67, the coercivity is controlled by the pinning mechanism; when 2r ₀/lex > 1.67, it is determined by the nucleation mechanism. The coercivity reaches the maximum when 2r ₀/lex = 1.67. The calculation result is consistent well with the experimental result given by Morimoto et al. Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 50671055)     

Properties of proton-rich nuclei in a three-body model

Using a three-body model and realistic two-body potentials, we investigate the properties of the nuclei ¹⁸Ne and ²⁸S near the proton dripline. We figure out the two-proton separation energies, occupation of the valence protons, root-mean-square radii of matter and the valence protons. Besides, the spatial correlation densities are displayed to reflect the correlation between the two valence protons. The first excited 0⁺ state of ¹⁸Ne is most likely to be a halo state according to our calculation. Turning off the Coulomb interactions among the three-body systems, we get the two-neutron separation energies and configuration of the valence neutrons of their corresponding mirror nuclei. The results indicate that the three-body model is proper to describe some proton-rich nuclei and can be used to deduce reliable information.     

A version of Stöber synthesis enabling the facile prediction of silica nanospheres size for the fabrication of opal photonic crystals

A sol-gel synthesis procedure based on the method proposed by Stöber et al. (J Colloid Interface Sci 26:302–315, 1968) has been adopted for the one-step preparation of mono-dispersed silica nanospheres. An excellent control of the particle diameter over a wide range is obtained by varying the amount of silicon alkoxide only, while the concentration of all other components is kept fixed: this allows the fabrication of artificial opals with a finely tuned and precisely predictable lattice parameter.     

Determination of the scattering coefficient of biological tissue considering the wavelength and absorption dependence of the anisotropy factor

The anisotropy factor g, one of the optical properties of biological tissues, has a strong influence on the calculation of the scattering coefficient μ _s in inverse Monte Carlo (iMC) simulations. It has been reported that g has the wavelength and absorption dependence; however, few attempts have been made to calculate μ _s using g values by taking the wavelength and absorption dependence into account. In this study, the angular distributions of scattered light for biological tissue phantoms containing hemoglobin as a light absorber were measured by a goniometric optical setup at strongly (405 nm) and weakly (664 nm) absorbing wavelengths to obtain g. Subsequently, the optical properties were calculated with the measured values of g by integrating sphere measurements and an iMC simulation, and compared with the results obtained with a conventional g value of 0.9. The μ _s values with measured g were overestimated at the strongly absorbing wavelength, but underestimated at the weakly absorbing wavelength if 0.9 was used in the iMC simulation.     

Genetic optical design for a compressive sensing task

We present a sophisticated optical design method for reducing the number of photodetectors for a specific sensing task. The chosen design parameter is the point spread function, and the selected task is object recognition. The point spread function is optimized iteratively with a genetic algorithm for object recognition based on a neural network. In the experimental demonstration, binary classification of face and non-face datasets was performed with a single measurement using two photodetectors. A spatial light modulator operating in the amplitude modulation mode was provided in the imaging optics and was used to modulate the point spread function. In each generation of the genetic algorithm, the classification accuracy with a pattern displayed on the spatial light modulator was fed-back to the next generation to find better patterns. The proposed method increased the accuracy by about 30 % compared with a conventional imaging system in which the point spread function was the delta function. This approach is practically useful for compressing the cost, size, and observation time of optical sensors in specific applications, and robust for imperfections in optical elements.     

Holographic window for solar power generation

A new photovoltaic generation unit based on the application of holographic technologies called a Holo-Window is proposed in this work. The basic principle and the optical configuration used for the basic experimental unit are described. Suitable fabrication technology for a hologram with the broadband spectrum required to provide the appropriate sunlight capture capability is then discussed. Finally, a laboratory-prototype Holo-Window unit was developed and its performance was evaluated.     

Optimization of detection device geometry for NIR spectroscopy using a three-layered model of stone fruit

The influences of detection device geometry and fiber optic parameters on near infrared spectroscopy measurements were assessed using stone fruit models based on Monte Carlo simulation. The stone fruit was modeled as concentric spherical layered tissues including the skin, the flesh and the core. The choices of the detection angle, the diameter of the detection fiber, the numerical aperture, and the height of the probe were discussed. Receiving diffuse reflectance signals at detection angles in the range of 35°–50° and normalizing the detection signals by the collection area and the solid acceptance angle prior to use are suggested. Fiber probes with diameters D = 0.06 cm or 0.1 cm, NA = 0.20 or 0.30, and height h ≤ 0.8 cm are preferred. The probe deflection angle should be limited to within ±5° to guarantee measurement accuracy.     

Light reflection from finite conductors with a Gaussian random roughness using Kirchhoff and geometric optics approximations

A comparison between exact solutions and two approximate models, Kirchhoff approximation (KA) and geometric optics approximation (GOA), for reflection from random Gaussian rough conductive metallic surfaces for three regimes of correlation length in both cases of polarization TM and TE has been reported. The phenomenon of excitation of surface plasmons (SPs) has been shown only at TM polarization for KA. The domains of validity of both approximate models have been quantified. It is shown that accuracy and efficiency of any approximate method depended of various parameters: surface roughness, polarization, SPs effects, wavelength, and surface materials. KA is efficient for weakly rough surfaces with correlation length greater than wavelength, but when rms height increases GOA is more suitable than KA. Excitation of SPs is observed only at TM-polarized light, only for weakly rough surfaces with correlation length less than wavelength using KA and not GOA.