激光扫描实时共聚焦显微成像系统设计

共聚焦扫描显微镜已成为生物医学和材料科学领域研究中非常有价值的一种工具.本文给出了一种反射型激光扫描共聚焦显微成像系统的系统结构和具体设计.采用多面体转镜进行水平扫描,摆镜进行垂直扫描.利用商品透镜设计了光学扫描中继系统,采用光电倍增管作为激发出的荧光探测器,同时给出了数据采集和扫描同步控制系统的组成与设计.利用CODE V优化光学扫描系统以获得尽可能小的扫描光斑尺寸和较大的视场,并综合考虑了采样频率、扫描速度和探测器对整个系统性能的影响,从而给出了该型共聚焦显微成像系统的相互匹配的设计参量.分析结果表明:共聚焦扫描系统设计合理可行|从光学扫描系统到PMT探测单元的各项技术指标得到优化,满足实时探测的要求|该系统具有适应性强,易升级,低成本的技术特点,同时可达到同类商品的技术性能.     

Effect of post-treatment (gel aging) on the properties of methyltrimethoxysilane based silica aerogels prepared by two-step sol–gel process

The properties of silica aerogels are highly dependent on the post-treatment steps like gel washing, gel aging and gel drying. The experimental results of the studies on one of the post-treatment steps i.e. gel aging effect on the physical and microstructural properties of methyltrimethoxysilane (MTMS) based silica aerogels, are reported. These hybrid aerogels were prepared by two step sol–gel process followed by supercritical drying. The molar ratio of MeOH/MTMS (M) was varied from 7 to 35 by keeping the H₂O/MTMS (W) molar ratio constant at 4. The as prepared alcogels of different molar ratios were aged from 0 to 5 days. It was observed that 2 days of gel aging period is the optimum gel aging period for good quality aerogels in terms of low density, less volume shrinkage and high porosity. The well tailored network matrix with low density (0.04 g/cm³), less volume shrinkage (4.5%), low thermal conductivity (0.05 W/mK) and high porosity (98.84 %) was obtained for 2 days of gel aging period of M = 35. Further, the gelation time varied from 8 to 1 h depending on the M values. The gelation time was being more for lesser M values. The aerogels were characterized by bulk density, porosity, volume shrinkage, thermal conductivity, Scanning Electron Microscopy and the Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy.     

Study of thermal conductivity and effect of humidity on HMDZ modified TEOS based aerogel dried at ambient pressure

The experimental results on the study of thermal conductivity and effect of humidity on HMDZ modified TEOS based aerogels dried at ambient pressure, are reported. Silica sol was prepared by keeping the MeOH/TEOS molar ratio, Acidic water (Oxalic acid) and basic water (NH₄OH) concentrations constant at 16.5, 0.001 and 1 M, respectively throughout the experiments and the HMDZ/TEOS molar ratio (h) was varied from 0.34 to 2.1. Finally, the surface modified wet gels were dried at an ambient pressure. The thermal conductivity of the aerogel samples was measured. Further, the humidity study was carried out in 80% humid surrounding at 30 °C temperature over 80 days. The best quality aerogels in terms of low bulk density, thermal conductivity and durability (no moisture absorption) with an only 2% of weight gain were obtained for TEOS: MeOH: Acidic H₂O: Basic H₂O: HMDZ molar ratio at 1:16.5:0.81:0.50:0.681, respectively. The thermal stability and hydrophobicity of the aerogel have been confirmed with Thermo gravimetric and Differential Thermal (TG–DT) analyses and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), respectively. Microstructural studies were carried out by Scanning Electron microscopy (SEM).     

Cu-doped ZnO nanoparticles: Synthesis, structural and electrical properties

Pure and Cu doped ZnO nanopowders (5, 10, 15, 20, 25 and 30 at% Cu) have been synthesized using co-precipitation method. Transmission Electron Microscopic analysis has shown the morphology of ZnO nanopowders to be quasi-spherical. Powder X-ray Diffraction studies have revealed the systematic doping of Cu into the ZnO lattice up to 10% Cu, though the peaks corresponding to CuO in 10% Cu are negligibly very small. Beyond this level, there was segregation of a secondary phase corresponding to the formation of CuO. Fourier Transform Infrared spectra have shown a broad absorption band at ∼490 cm⁻¹ for all the samples, which corresponds to the stretching vibration of Zn-O bond. DC electrical resistivity has been found to decrease with increasing Cu content. The activation energy has also been observed to decrease with copper doping i.e. from ∼0.67 eV for pure ZnO to ∼0.41 eV for 30 at% Cu doped ZnO.     

Structural and local electrical properties of AlInN/AlN/GaN heterostructures

GaN layers and Al_1−xIn_xN/AlN/GaN heterostructures have been studied by scanning probe microscopy methods. Threading dislocations (TDs), originating from the GaN (0 0 0 1) layer grown on sapphire, have been investigated. Using Current-Atomic Force Microscopy (C-AFM) TDs have been found to be highly conductive in both GaN and AlInN, while using semi-contact AFM (phase-imaging mode) indium segregation has been traced at TDs in AlInN/AlN/GaN heterostructures. It has been assessed that In segregation is responsible for high conductivity at dislocations in the examined heterostructures.     

Atom-probe investigations of fine-scale features in intermetallics

Intermetallics have been studied by means of Atom Probe Field Ion Microscopy. Atom-Probe techniques have been used to determine the phase composition and to study the role and the influence of additional elements. The use of the Tomographic Atom Probe makes it possible to map out the distribution of chemical species in a small volume of the material at a near atomic scale. This has been particularly used in order to study segregation of additional elements at interfaces or planar and linear defects in TiAl base and FeAl base alloys.     

Near-field probing of photonic crystals

Photonic crystals form an exciting new class of optical materials that can greatly affect optical propagation and light emission. As the relevant length scale is smaller than the wavelength of light, sub-wavelength detection forms an important ingredient to obtain full insight in the physical properties of photonic crystal structures. Spatially resolved near-field measurements allow the observation of phenomena that remain hidden to diffraction-limited far-field investigations. Here, we present near-field investigations in both collection and illumination modes that highlight the power of local studies. We show how propagation losses are unambiguously determined and that light detected in far-field transmission can actually contain contributions from different, sometimes unexpected, local scattering phenomena. Simulations are used to support our findings. Furthermore, it is shown that local coupling of light to a thick three-dimensional photonic crystal is position-dependent and that the spatial distribution of the coupling efficiency itself is frequency-dependent.     

Characterization of photonic nanojets in dielectric microdisks

The direct imaging of photonic nanojets in different dielectric microdisks illuminated by a laser source is reported. The SiO₂ and Si₃N₄ microdisks are of height 650 nm with diameters ranging from 3 μm to 8 μm. The finite-difference time-domain calculation is used to execute the numerical simulation for the photonic nanojets in the dielectric microdisks. The photonic nanojet measurements are performed with a scanning optical microscope system. The photonic nanojets with high intensity spots and low divergence are observed in the dielectric microdisks illuminated from the side with laser source of wavelengths 405 nm, 532 nm and 671 nm. The experimental results of key parameters are compared to the simulations and in agreement with theoretical results. Our studies show that photonic nanojets can be efficiently created by a dielectric microdisk and straightforwardly applied to nano-photonics circuit.     

Fabrication of polymeric nanocapsules from curcumin-loaded nanoemulsion templates by self-assembly

In this study, biodegradable polymeric nanocapsules were prepared by sequential deposition of food-grade polyelectrolytes through the self-assembling process onto the oil (medium chain triglycerides) droplets enriched with curcumin (lipophilic bioactive compound). Optimum conditions were used to prepare ultrasound-assisted nanoemulsions stabilized by octenyl-succinic-anhydride (OSA)-modified starch. Negatively charged droplets (−39.4 ± 1.84 mV) of these nanoemulsions, having a diameter of 142.7 ± 0.85 nm were used as templates for the fabrication of nanocapsules. Concentrations of layer-forming cationic (chitosan) and anionic (carboxymethylcellulose) biopolymers were optimized based on the mean droplet/particle diameter (MDD/MPD), polydispersity index (PDI) and net charge on the droplets/capsules. Prepared core–shell structures or nanocapsules, having MPD of 159.85 ± 0.92 nm, were characterized by laser diffraction (DLS), ζ-potential (ZP), atomic force microscopy (AFM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM). Furthermore, physical stability of curcumin-loaded nanocapsules in suspension was determined and compared at different storage temperatures. This study may provide information regarding the formation of ultrasound-assisted polymeric nanocapsules from the nanoemulsion templates which could be helpful in the development of delivery systems for lipophilic food bioactives.     

Thermal Decomposition of Polyisoprene,Poly(p-isopropyl α-Methylstyrene), and Poly(isoprene/p-isopropyl α-Methylstyrene)

Thermal decompositions of polyisoprene, poly(p-isopropyl α-methylstyrene) (PPIPαMS), and poly(isoprene/p-isopropyl α-methylstyrene) (sample M-32) were carried out at various temperatures in the range 200–340° C in a differential thermo-gravimetric apparatus. The undecomposed polymers as well as their decomposed residues were analyzed by gel-permeation chromatography (GPC), infrared spectroscopy (IR), and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). Based on the changes observed in the distribution of molecular weights, depolymerization is the predominant step in the decomposition of PPIPAMS and polymer M-32, whereas random scissions predominate in the case of polyisoprene. The combined data of GPC, IR, and NMR indicate that only interchain reactions leading to the formation of cyclized products are present in the decomposition of polyisoprene while interchain as well as intrachain reactions are operative in the case of polymer M-32.