Nanoparticles in Emissions and Atmospheric Environment: Now and Future

Journal of Nanoparticle Research -     

Raman probe using a single hollow waveguide

A simple Raman probe was realized using a single flexible hollow waveguide (HW). A HW coated with a silver film, which had reasonable transmission and little optical background noise, was used as a bidirectional transmission fiber for both the excitation and collection of Raman scattered light. The HW itself generated no Raman scattering or fluorescence noise during transmission. A complex filtering system at the end of the waveguide was thus unnecessary. In addition, the measured Raman spectra showed better signal-to-noise ratios than a conventional Raman fiber probe. The HW's suitability as a Raman fiber probe was also demonstrated.     

A new dual-type DMA for measuring nanoparticles emitted from combustion engines

A new dual-type differential mobility analyzer (dual-type DMA) was developed in order to detect transient number concentrations of airborne nanoparticles with diameters centralized at around 10 nm (for nuclei mode particles) and 100 nm (for accumulation mode particles) in automobile exhaust gas. The apparatus divides the gas sample into two parts, and each part is sent through one of two coaxially nested sections for analysis. For the scanning mode measurement, the nanoparticles are charged by ²⁴¹Am and their size distributions are determined by varying the applied voltage over 2 min. The transient mode measurement, on the other hand, fixes the voltages for the two sections at peaks near 10 and 100 nm in order to monitor the transient behavior of the exhaust nanoparticles. The measurement principles and design of the dual-type DMA are detailed and the results for time response experiments are presented using model nanoparticles charged by a corona charger. The transient concentrations of the nuclei mode and the accumulation mode particles from a diesel engine were shown to be detected by this method, when ²⁴¹Am was used for charging the particles.     

Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy in Asia

Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) is an analytical detection technique based on atomic emission spectroscopy to measure the elemental composition. LIBS has been extensively studied and developed due to the non-contact, fast response, high sensitivity, real-time and multi-elemental detection features. The development and applications of LIBS technique in Asia are summarized and discussed in this review paper. The researchers in Asia work on different aspects of the LIBS study in fundamentals, data processing and modeling, applications and instrumentations. According to the current research status, the challenges, opportunities and further development of LIBS technique in Asia are also evaluated to promote LIBS research and its applications.     

A Flat Spectral Response AWG Demultiplexer Composed of Slabs with Islands and Peninsulas

Phase adjustment elements called islands and peninsulas are introduced to obtain an AWG demultiplexer with a flat spectral response. Use of the peninsulas enables us to achieve a 1dB bandwidth of 0.5 nm.     

Stereoscopic story visualization in literary works demonstrated by Shakespeare’s plays

Abstract  

A stereoscopic method of identifying story patterns in literary works is newly developed. The pattern is extracted from textual information by the detection of thematically assigned keywords, and depicted as visual imageries. The applicability of the method is demonstrated in several of Shakespeare’s plays. The complex scenario patterns in Shakespeare’s tragedies are successfully captured with applying the method for two different themes in each play. As the result, the organization of story accompanying multiple themes in a single play has been obtained as a pair of visual imageries, i.e. stereoscopic story visualization. This approach, in combination with a quadrant analysis of the plots, allows us in interpretation further complexity of human psychology in the characters and scene-by-scene transitions in each play.     

The p–T phase diagram of KNbO3 by a dielectric constant measurement

A dielectric constant measurement was carried out on perovskite-type ferroelectrics KNbO₃ over a wide range of temperature under high pressure. The temperature- and pressure-dependence of the dielectric constant clarified that all temperatures of the transitions from the ferroelectric rhombohedral to orthorhombic, to tetragonal and then to the paraelectric cubic phase, decrease with increasing pressure. These results indicate that the orthorhombic–tetragonal transition takes place at 8.5 GPa and the tetragonal–cubic transition at 11 GPa, at room temperature.     

Investigation of the relationship between the ionic conductivity and the local structures of singly and doubly doped ceria compounds using EXAFS measurement

The oxide ionic conductivity measurements of singly and doubly doped ceria compounds were carried out. Singly and doubly doped ceria used in this study were Ce_0.8Ln_0.2O_1.9 (Ln=Y, Sm, Nd, or La) and Ce_0.8La_0.1Y_0.1O_1.9, respectively. Lattice constants of these compounds were in proportion to the ionic radius of the dopant(s). The doubly doped ceria compound showed oxide ionic conductivity comparative to the average of that of each corresponding singly doped sample. This finding indicates that the conductivity is influenced by both dopants in the doubly doped compounds. The extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) study showed that the coordination number of oxide ions at the nearest neighbor of cation was related to the ionic conductivity. It was found that the conductivity gave the highest value when oxygen vacancies were randomly distributed in the lattice. This indicates that the local structure seriously affects oxide ionic conduction in singly and doubly doped ceria compounds.     

Precise measurement of positronium hyperfine splitting using the Zeeman effect

Positronium is an ideal system for the research of the quantum electrodynamics (QED) in bound state. The hyperfine splitting (HFS) of positronium, Δ_HFS, gives a good test of the bound state calculations and probes new physics beyond the Standard Model. A new method of QED calculations has revealed the discrepancy by 15 ppm (3.9σ) of Δ_HFS between the QED prediction and the experimental average. There would be possibility of new physics or common systematic uncertainties in the previous all experiments. We describe a new experiment to reduce possible systematic uncertainties and will provide an independent check of the discrepancy. We are now taking data and the current result of Δ_HFS?=?203.395 1 ±0.002 4 (stat., 12 ppm) ±0.001 9 (sys., 9.5 ppm) GHz has been obtained so far. A measurement with a precision of O(ppm) is expected within a year.     

Signal measurement system for intra-body communication using optical isolation method

In this paper, we describe an induced signal measurement on the human body for developing a high-performance transceiver of an intra-body communication system. It is important to isolate awearable transceiver from an electrical instrument for precise measurement. We have developed a probe system using an optical isolation method including a laser diode, photo-diode, and optical fiber. The probe system can be successfully applied to the precise measurement of a receiving signal power at a wearable transceiver. We verify that the experimental results agree with the simulation results based on our previous channel model of intra-body communication.