Super-Resolution Recording by an Organic Photochromic Mask Layer

By using the super-resolution near-field structure （super-RENS） method, the super-resolution recording marks are obtained practically by an organic photochromic diarylethene mask layer, under much lower recording laser power of 0.45roW. The size of recording marks is decreased by 60% （from 1.6μm to 0.7μm） for a diarylethene （photo-mode） recording layer by the optical detection method （limited by optical diffraction）, or decreased by 97% （from 160Onto to 5Onto） for a heptaoxyl copper phthalocyanine （thermo-optical） recording layer, the latter is much smaller than the limitation of optical diffraction. In order to obtain a desirable result, a proper extent of photochemistry reaction in the mask layer is needed. Thus, the super-resolution recording marks can be obtained by adjusting the concentration of diarylethene in the mask layer, the recording laser power, and the moving speed of the sample disc.     

Discrimination of photoblinking and photobleaching on the single molecule level

Wide field observation of individual dye molecules have been performed to study fluorescence intermittency. We demonstrate a data analysis scheme, which enables us to quantify the decay of the ensemble intensity which is due to on/off-blinking of the molecules (photophysical bleaching) by getting rid of the effects of photochemical degradation of the dye (photochemical bleaching). Under the conditions of our experiments, photophysical and thus reversible bleaching is the dominant of the two bleaching mechanisms.     

Electroluminescence from ZnO nanowire-based p-GaN/n-ZnO heterojunction light-emitting diodes

Vertically aligned ZnO nanowires were successfully grown on the sapphire substrate by nanoparticle-assisted pulsed laser deposition (NAPLD), which were employed in fabricating the ZnO nanowire-based heterojunction structures. p-GaN/n-ZnO heterojunction light-emitting diodes (LEDs) with embedded ZnO nanowires were obtained by fabricating p-GaN:Mg film/ZnO nanowire/n-ZnO film structures. The current–voltage measurements showed a typical diode characteristic with a threshold voltage of about 2.5 V. Electroluminescence (EL) emission having the wavelength of about 380 nm was observed under forward bias in the heterojunction diodes and was intensified by increasing the applied voltage up to 30 V.     

Suitability of laser Doppler velocimetry for the calibration of pressure microphones

The details of a new approach for absolute calibration of microphones, based on the direct measurement of acoustic particle velocity using laser Doppler velocimetry (LDV), are presented and discussed. The calibration technique is carried out inside a tube in which plane waves propagate and closed by a rigid termination. The method developed proposes to estimate the acoustic pressure with two velocity measurements and a physical model. Minimum theoretical uncertainties on the estimated pressure and minimum measurable pressure are calculated from the Cramer Rao bounds on the estimated acoustic velocity amplitude and phase. These uncertainties and the minimum measurable pressure help to optimize the experimental set up. Acoustic pressure estimations performed with LDV are compared with acoustic pressures obtained with a reference microphone. Measurements lead to a minimum bias of 0.006 dB and a minimum uncertainty of 0.013 dB on the acoustic pressure estimation for frequencies 1360 Hz and 680 Hz.     

STM tunneling through a quantum wire with a side-attached impurity

The STM tunneling through a quantum wire (QW) with a side-attached impurity (atom, island) is investigated using a tight-binding model and the non-equilibrium Keldysh Green function method. The impurity can be coupled to one or more QW atoms. The presence of the impurity strongly modifies the local density of states of the wire atoms, thus influences the STM tunneling through all the wire atoms. The transport properties of the impurity itself are also investigated mainly as a function of the wire length and the way it is coupled to the wire. It is shown that the properties of the impurity itself and the way it is coupled to the wire strongly influence the STM tunneling, the density of states and differential conductance.     

High-density all-optical magnetic recording using a high-NA lens illuminated by circularly polarized pulse lights

We propose a method for high-density all-optical magnetic recording. Our analyses, based on the vector diffraction theory, show that owing to the inverse Faraday effect, circularly polarized laser pulses focused by a high numerical aperture (NA) lens can induce a small magnetization domain. For an example, the FWHM of the effective magnetization domain is 0.4646λ when NA=0.85. The magnetization direction is basically perpendicular to the surface of the optic-magneto film within the effective magnetization domain and the switching direction of magnetization can be controlled by the helicity of the incident circularly polarized light. These characteristics are useful to next-generation high-density all-optical magnetic storage.     

Synthesis of [100] Wurtzite InN Nanowires and [011] Zinc-Blende InN Nanorods

One-dimensional wurtzite InN nanowires and zincblende InN nanorods are prepared by chemical vapour deposition （CVD） method on natural cleavage plane （110） of GaAs. The growth direction of InN nanowires is [100], with wurtzite structure. The stable crystal structure of InN is wurtzite （w-InN）, zincblende structure （z-InN） is only reported for 2D InN crystals before. However, in this work, the zincblende InN nanorods [011] are synthesized and characterized. The SEM and TEM images show that every nanorod shapes a conical tip, which can be explained by the anisotropy of growth process and the theory of Ehrlich Schwoebel barrier.     

The plasmon and distribution effects between incident light and active layer in PtOx-type super-resolution near-field structure

The plasmon and distribution effects of collective localized surface plasmons between incident light and active layer of PtO_x-type super resolution near-field structure (super-RENS) have been studied using finite-difference time-domain method. Four types of distribution of Pt nanoparticles, i.e., type A, B, C, and D in active layer are investigated. We find that type C and D in active layer can provide higher field intensity in a wider range of particle size when the particle sizes are varied, and the out-going filed emerging from the active layer exhibit smaller spot size than those of type A and B. Type B, C and D also provide the additional path longer than that of type A, and excite more evanescent field which located in the far edge of the bubble from the optical axis of the incident beam. Results show that the type C structure is the best choice in the view point of designing the PtO_x-type super-RENS. This study provides new information to design a super-RENS with superior resolution as well as other applications in nano photonic devices.     

Improving the description of sunglint for accurate prediction of remotely sensed radiances

The bidirectional reflection distribution function (BRDF) of the ocean is a critical boundary condition for radiative transfer calculations in the coupled atmosphere-ocean system. Existing models express the extent of the glint-contaminated region and its contribution to the radiance essentially as a function of the wind speed. An accurate treatment of the glint contribution and its propagation in the atmosphere would improve current correction schemes and hence rescue a significant portion of data presently discarded as “glint contaminated”. In current satellite imagery, a correction to the sensor-measured radiances is limited to the region at the edge of the glint, where the contribution is below a certain threshold. This correction assumes the sunglint radiance to be directly transmitted through the atmosphere. To quantify the error introduced by this approximation we employ a radiative transfer code that allows for a user-specified BRDF at the atmosphere-ocean interface and rigorously accounts for multiple scattering. We show that the errors incurred by ignoring multiple scattering are very significant and typically lie in the range 10-90%. Multiple reflections and shadowing at the surface can also be accounted for, and we illustrate the importance of such processes at grazing geometries.     

Pit Depth and Width Modulation Multilevel Run-Length Limited Read-Only Optical Storage

When the techniques of integrating the variation of the conventional DVD,the high-density multilevel run-length pit depth and width simultaneously are adopted to limited read-only optical storage method is achieved. The dynamic range of readout signal is greatly enlarged in comparison with keeping one parameter varied, and the recording levels number can be obviously increased. The discs can be manufactured using standard photoresist mastering and replication techniques with great compatibility to conventional binary read-only discs. Experimental results show that eight-level read-only optical disc can be realized and the capacity can be increased to 20 GB.