Low-threshold interband cascade lasers operating above room temperature

Mid-IR type-II interband cascade lasers were demonstrated in pulsed mode at temperatures up to 325 K and in continuous mode up to 200 K. At 80 K, the threshold current density was 8.9 A/cm² and a continuous wave output power of 140 mW/facet was obtained.     

Screening the origin and weathering of oil slicks by attenuated total reflectance mid-IR spectrometry

The combination of attenuated total reflectance-fourier transform mid-infrared spectrometry (ATR-FTMIR) and multivariate pattern recognition is presented as a fast and convenient methodology to ascertain the source product an oil slick comes from and to evaluate the extent of its weathering. Different types of hydrocarbons (including crude oils, several heavy distillates and the Prestige's heavy fuel oil) were spilled on metallic containers designed ad hoc and their fate monitored by ATR-FTMIR. Not only environmental conditions were considered for weathering but artificial IR- and UV-irradiation. Pattern-recognition studies revealed that the different hydrocarbons clustered at different locations on the score plots and that the samples corresponding to each oil became ordered according to the extent of their weathering. Among them, fuel oil samples coming from the recent disaster of the Prestige tanker off the Galician shoreline showed a distinctive behaviour. Comparison of natural-, IR- and UV-weathering of a crude oil showed that IR solar radiation can be important in oil-weathering, in addition to broadly-reported UV degradation.     

中红外波段大气碳同位素激光吸收光谱研究

大气碳同位素在环境污染源汇示踪和地球化学发展等方面的应用越来越广泛,在其探测技术方面,激光吸收光谱技术具有体积小、可在线、灵敏度高等优点,在气体同位素探测中越来越受到重视。工作中研究了2.7 μm波段的分布式反馈激光器(distributed feedback laser, DFB)可调谐半导体激光器的性能,在遵循12CO₂和13CO₂同位素分子吸收谱线特征和同位素分子谱线选择原则的基础上,确定了合适的激光器输出波长。结合光程390.3 m的新型多次反射池,实现了大气中CO₂分子的δ13C同位素丰度探测。     

肿瘤临床诊断的红外光谱新方法

报道了作者近年来利用红外光谱法检测肿瘤组织的阶段性研究进展。在比较研究了不同红外光谱方法的基础上,发现衰减全反射红外光谱法的检测结果与病理检验结果符合很好。该方法可直接测量冰冻和手术切除的新鲜离体肿瘤组织,测试简便,符合快速诊断的要求。另外,作者将中红外光纤和衰减全反射光谱测量方法相结合,实现了手术过程中原位、在体和实时检测肿瘤组织。累计研究了包括腮腺、颌下腺、食道、胃、肠、肝、胆囊、肾、乳腺、肺、甲状腺等十几种肿瘤和相应的正常组织。与病理诊断结果进行对照,红外光谱法诊断符合率在90％以上,表明该方法的普适性和准确性。     

傅里叶变换红外光谱法用于体表无创性检测乳腺肿瘤的研究

乳腺肿瘤是女性常见的疾病之一,其中乳腺癌的发病率在女性恶性肿瘤中占首位,并且发病率呈不断增加的趋势,严重危害妇女的身体健康．乳腺癌的早期诊断和治疗是提高乳腺癌患者整体生存率的关键．目前大多采用传统的X线、超声、CT和核磁共振等技术进行影像诊断,这些诊断方法需要等到肿块形成具有占位效应时才能检测出来．而振动光谱法是分子结构变化的灵敏探针,它在癌症形成的初级阶段即可观察到分子结构的改变,因此傅里叶变换中红外光谱技术有可能发展成为一种无损伤、快速和方便的肿瘤早期诊断方法．     

中红外光纤技术用于口腔肿瘤在体原位检测的研究

肿瘤是严重威胁人类健康和生命的疾病,早期诊断和及时治疗是提高肿瘤病人存活率的重要因素,肿瘤的发生和发展一般可分为3个阶段：(1)基因突变;(2)生物分子组成和结构发生改变;(3)细胞和组织形态发生变化,目前常用的影像学方法只能检测较大的肿块,组织标本的病理诊断法需在     

中红外光纤技术用于肿瘤在体原位诊断的研究

本文采用傅里叶变换红外光谱法与中红外光纤及ATR探头联用,首次实现了肿瘤组织的在体原位检测,即在有血液循环的活体组织中获得了具有很好信噪比的中红外光谱。实验结果表明在体原位的正常和肿瘤组织的光谱特征同我们先前液氮冰冻样品以及新鲜离体检测的结果是相似的,即符合液氮和新鲜离体样品研究中所得到的鉴别癌症与正常组织光谱变化规律,例如图1所列出的肠癌的原位在体光谱,与离体癌变组织光谱相似,这一创新结果表明中红外光纤-红外光谱仪联用可能发展成一种外科手术中无损、快速、准确的在体检测的方法。     

Generation and mid-IR measurement of a gas-phase to predict security parameters of aviation jet fuel

The worldwide use of kerosene as aviation jet fuel makes its safety considerations of most importance not only for aircraft security but for the workers’ health (chronic and/or acute exposure). As most kerosene risks come from its vapours, this work focuses on predicting seven characteristics (flash point, freezing point, % of aromatics and four distillation points) which assess its potential hazards. Two experimental devices were implemented in order to, first, generate a kerosene vapour phase and, then, to measure its mid-IR spectrum. All the working conditions required to generate the gas phase were optimised either in a univariate or a multivariate (SIMPLEX) approach. Next, multivariate prediction models were deployed using partial least squares regression and it was found that both the average prediction errors and precision parameters were satisfactory, almost always well below the reference figures.     

Flattened infrared fiber-optic sensors for the analysis of micrograms of insoluble solid particles in solution or in a dry state

Highly sensitive absorption measurements on various samples may be carried out by Fiber-optic Evanescent Wave Spectroscopy (FEWS) in the mid-IR. Such measurements have already been done on solids, liquids and gases, using chalcogenide glass fibers or crystalline fibers. Segments of crystalline AgClBr fibers may be used as sensors of much higher sensitivity if their middle sections are pressed to form flat waveguides. We carried out measurements on micrograms of insoluble or slightly soluble particles in water, when they sedimented on the flattened parts of such sensors. Measurements were also carried out on few micrograms of dry particles that had been pressed onto the flattened parts. Flattened fiber sensors may therefore be used for measurements on micrograms of particles and they can be used for identifying the chemical nature of particles of organic, inorganic or biological materials and for studying their properties. The FEWS method, based on flattened mid-IR fiber sensors, is simple, inexpensive and does not require sample processing. It would be useful for measurements on very small quantities of particles for biomedical applications, for environmental protection, for drug enforcement agencies and for homeland security.     

Specific architectures for optical parametric oscillators

Optical parametric oscillators are coherent light sources showing properties that are not encountered with usual laser sources. This article deals with optical architectures that take advantage of the specific properties of the three-wave mixing parametric interaction. We show that optical cavities can be specifically designed to increase either the optical conversion of the parametric process or to reduce dramatically the emitted line width. To cite this article: A. Berrou et al., C. R. Physique 8 (2007).