On spherically symmetric Finsler metrics of scalar curvature

Spherically symmetric Finsler metrics form a rich class of Finsler metrics. In this paper we find equations that characterize spherically symmetric Finsler metrics of scalar flag curvature. By using these equations, we construct infinitely many non-projectively flat spherically symmetric Finsler metrics of scalar curvature.     

Micro‐Raman study of orbiton–phonon coupling in YbVO3

First‐order and multiphonon Raman active excitations are studied in YbVO₃ as a function of temperature in the orthorhombic and monoclinic phases. Below T ≃ 170 K, a G‐type orbital ordering with a concomitant monoclinic transition occurs. They enhance the phonon polarizabilities, allowing the resolution of room‐temperature bands, and activate new excitations around 700 cm⁻¹. Below T ∼ 65 K, the 700 cm⁻¹ excitations disappear, indicating a C‐type orbital ordering and a return to the orthorhombic structure. The observed phonon combinations around 1400 cm⁻¹ with a dominant Jahn‐Teller vibration at ∼690 cm⁻¹ reflect a possible orbiton‐phonon coupling. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Precise determination of Mg/Fe ratios applicable to terrestrial olivine samples using Raman spectroscopy

The relationship between Mg# [ = 100 Mg/(Mg + Fe) in mol] and the Raman shift was analyzed precisely for olivine [(Mg, Fe)₂SiO₄] samples with Mg# between 100 and 62.8. Two prominent peaks at 826–820 cm⁻¹ (peak 1) and 858–849 cm⁻¹ (peak 2) and three subordinate peaks at 883–881 cm⁻¹ (peak 3), 920–914 cm⁻¹ (peak 4), and 967–951 cm⁻¹ (peak 5) were observed to shift monotonously to lower wavenumbers with decreasing Mg#. The ΔMg#( = Mg#_ref − Mg#) versus Δν(= ν_ref − ν) can be linearly regressed for each peak as ΔMg# = A Δν, where ν is a peak wavenumber of olivine with Mg# ranging from 100 to 62.8, and ν_ref is that of olivine with a reference value of Mg#, namely, Mg#_ref. We set Mg#_ref as 100 (i.e.pure forsterite Mg₂SiO₄) whereas A is a regression parameter (5.789, 4.294, 12.34, 6.348, and 2.09, respectively,for peaks 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5). This equation enables us to avoid small inter‐laboratory differences of wavenumber calibration. The equation for peak 2 yields estimations of Mg# in geologically satisfactory precision, ± 1 Mg# (1σ) in the Mg# range of 100–62.8. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Complex concentration dependence of SERS and UV–Vis absorption of glycine/Ag‐substrates because of glycine‐mediated Ag‐nanostructure modifications

Complex concentration‐dependence of surface‐enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) and UV–Vis absorption of Ag‐nanoparticles (AgNPs) mixed with Gly has been observed. Surprisingly, with decreasing Gly concentration, a new band in UV–Vis absorption of AgNPs/Gly mixtures is found to red‐shift with increasing intensity, until a turning point at a critical concentration. Further diluting Gly, the new band blue‐shifts with decreasing intensity. Similarly, the SERS intensities of Gly bands at 615 and 905 cm^–1 consistently increase with decreasing Gly concentrations, reaching maxima at the critical concentration. This agrees consistently with the variation in position and intensity of the new developing plasmon absorption band. Interestingly, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) revealed Gly‐induced modifications of AgNPs, including a reassembling and increasing aspect ratio with deceasing Gly concentration. The concentration‐dependent behavior of UV–Vis absorption, SERS, and TEM of AgNPs/Gly mixtures could be due to the complex nature of Gly‐AgNPs interaction depending on the molecular density, as supported by TEM images. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Range‐independent background subtraction algorithm for recovery of Raman spectra of biological tissue

An important requirement for the use of Raman spectroscopy for tissue diagnostic applications is an appropriate algorithm that can faithfully retrieve weak tissue Raman signals from the measured raw Raman spectra. Although iterative modified polynomial‐fitting‐based automated algorithms are widely used, these are sensitive to the choice of the fitting range, thereby leading to significantly different Raman spectra for different start and stop wavenumber selection. We report here an algorithm for automated recovery of the weak Raman signal, which is range independent. Given a raw Raman spectrum and the choice of the start and the stop wavenumbers, the algorithm first truncates the spectrum to include the raw data within this wavenumber range, linearly extrapolates the truncated raw spectrum beyond the points of truncation on the two sides by using coefficients of linear least‐square fit, adds two Gaussian peaks of appropriate height and width on the extrapolated linear wings on either side and then iteratively smoothens the data with all these add‐ons such that the smaller of the ordinate values of the smoothed and the starting raw data serve as the input to each successive round of iterative smoothing until the added Gaussian peaks are fully recovered. The algorithm was compared with the modified polynomial‐based algorithms using mathematically simulated Raman spectrum as well as experimentally measured Raman spectra from various biological samples and was found to yield consistently range‐independent and artifact‐free Raman signal with zero baseline. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Optical waveguide in Nd:Bi_(12)SiO_(20) crystal produced by multi-energy C ion implantation

We report the fabrication of a planar waveguide in the Nd:Bi_(12)SiO_(20) crystal by multi-energy C ions at room temperature. The waveguide is annealed at 200℃, 260℃, and 300℃ in succession each for 30 min in an open oven. The effective refractive index profiles at transverse electric(TE) polarization are stable after the annealing treatments. Damage distribution for multi-energy C ion implanted in Nd:Bi_(12)SiO_(20) crystal is calculated by SRIM 2010. The Raman and fluorescence spectra of the Nd:Bi_(12)SiO_(20) crystal are collected by an excitation beam at 633 nm and 473 nm, respectively. The results indicate the stabilization of the optical waveguide in Nd:Bi_(12)SiO_(20) crystal.     

Raman spectroscopic probing of plant material using SERS

We report surface‐enhanced Raman studies on intact plant material using onion layers as a biological target, and silver nanoaggregates and silver island films as enhancing plasmonic structures. Surface‐enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) enhancement allows the detection of strong Raman signatures of chemical constituents of the surface of the onion layer such as cellulose, proteins, and flavonols. Because of long‐time incubation, SERS sensors can access the extracellular space in the inner of the layer. The location of silver nanoparticles inside the onion layer has been monitored by the SERS images collected from chemicals present in the onion and/or reporter molecules attached to the nanoparticles. Our studies show a competitive adsorption of intrinsic bio molecules of the onion layer and reporter molecules. Different spectra from different places of the layer indicate the complex heterogeneous chemical structure of the plant material. The pH‐sensitive reporter molecule para mercapto benzoic acid attached to the nanoparticles allows us to infer pH values inside the extracellular matrix of the onion layer. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Solvent‐dependent structural dynamics of 2(1H)‐pyridinone in light absorbing S4(ππ*) state

The B‐band resonance Raman spectra of 2(1H)‐pyridinone (NHP) in water and acetonitrile were obtained, and their intensity patterns were found to be significantly different. To explore the underlying excited state tautomeric reaction mechanisms of NHP in water and acetonitrile, the vibrational analysis was carried out for NHP, 2(1D)‐pyridinone (NDP), NHP–(H₂O)_n (n = 1, 2) clusters, and NDP–(D₂O)_n (n = 1, 2) clusters on the basis of the FT‐Raman experiments, the B3LYP/6‐311++G(d,p) computations using PCM solvent model, and the normal mode analysis. Good agreements between experimental and theoretically predicted frequencies and intensities in different surrounding environments enabled reliable assignments of Raman bands in both the FT‐Raman and the resonance Raman spectra. The results indicated that most of the B‐band resonance Raman spectra in H₂O was assignable to the fundamental, overtones, and combination bands of about ten vibration modes of ring‐type NHP–(H₂O)₂ cluster, while most of the B‐band resonance Raman spectra in CH₃CN was assigned to the fundamental, overtones, and combination bands of about eight vibration modes of linear‐type NHP–CH₃CN. The solvent effect of the excited state enol‐keto tautomeric reaction mechanisms was explored on the basis of the significant difference in the short‐time structural dynamics of NHP in H₂O and CH₃CN. The inter‐molecular and intra‐molecular ESPT reaction mechanisms were proposed respectively to explain the Franck–Condon region structural dynamics of NHP in H₂O and CH₃CN.Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Near‐forward/high‐pressure‐backward Raman study of Zn1 − xBexSe (x ~ 0.5) – evidence for percolation behavior of the long (Zn―Se) bond

The apparently universal 1‐bond → 2‐mode percolation behavior in the Raman spectra of zincblende semiconductor alloys is generally observed for the short bond only, and not for the long one. In this work we perform a combined high‐pressure‐backward/near‐forward Raman study of the leading percolation‐type (Zn,Be)Se alloy (~50 at.% Be), which exhibits a distinct percolation doublet in the spectral range of its short Be―Se bond, in search of a Zn―Se analogue. The high‐pressure‐backward insight is not conclusive per se, but clarifies the perspective behind the near‐forward Raman study. The latter reveals an unique Zn―Se phonon–polariton. Its fair contour modeling depending on the scattering angle is achieved within the linear dielectric approach, based on ellipsometry measurement of the ZnBeSe refractive index. Somewhat surprisingly this reveals that the phonon–polariton in question is a ‘fractional’ one in that it carries only half of the available Zn―Se oscillator strength, as ideally expected in case of a BeSe‐like bimodal Raman behavior of the long Zn―Se bond. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Out of the blue: semiconductor laser pumped visible rare‐earth doped lasers

The rise of semiconductor‐based pump sources such as In_xGa_1‐xN‐laser diodes or frequency‐doubled optically pumped semiconductor lasers with emission wavelengths in the blue encourages a revisitation of the rare‐earth ions Pr³⁺, Sm³⁺, Tb³⁺, Dy³⁺, Ho³⁺ and Er³⁺ with respect to their properties as active ions in crystalline solid‐state laser materials with direct emission in the visible spectral range. Nowadays, some of these blue‐pumped visible lasers compete with Nd³⁺‐lasers in terms of efficiency and direct lasing at various colors from the cyan‐blue to the deep red can be addressed in very simple and compact laser setups. This paper highlights the spectroscopic properties of suitable rare‐earth ions for visible lasing and reviews the latest progress in the field of blue‐pumped visible rare‐earth doped solid‐state lasers.