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Results for “quantum image processing”

Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 361 records · Page 20
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2023

Mapping the intrinsic photocurrent streamlines through micromagnetic heterostructure devices

Photocurrent in quantum materials is often collected at global contacts far away from the initial photoexcitation. This collection process is highly nonlocal. It involves an intricate spatial pattern of photocurrent flow (streamlines) away from its primary photoexcitation that depends sensitively on the configuration of current collecting contacts as well as the spatial nonuniformity and tensor structure of conductivity. Direct imaging to track photocurrent streamlines is challenging. Here, we demonstrate a microscopy method to image photocurrent streamlines through ultrathin heterostructure devices comprising platinum on yttrium iron garnet (YIG). We accomplish this by combining scanning photovoltage microscopy with a uniform rotating magnetic field. Here, local photocurrent is generated through a photo-Nernst type effect with its direction controlled by the external magnetic field. This enables the mapping of photocurrent streamlines in a variety of geometries that include conventional Hall bar-type devices, but also unconventional wing-shaped devices called electrofoils. In these, we find that photocurrent streamlines display contortion, compression, and expansion behavior depending on the shape and angle of attack of the electrofoil devices, much in the same way as tracers in a wind tunnel map the flow of air around an aerodynamic airfoil. This affords a powerful tool to visualize and characterize charge flow in optoelectronic devices.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2012

2012 MULTIPHOTON PROCESSES GRC, JUNE 3-8, 2012

The sessions will focus on:  Attosecond science;  Strong-field processes in molecules and solids;  Generation of harmonics and attosecond pulses;  Free-electron laser experiments and theory;  Ultrafast imaging;  Applications of very high intensity lasers;  Propagation of intense laser fields.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2018

A Brightness Amplifier on Manganese Atom Transitions with a Pulse Repetition Frequency of up to 100 kHz

Results of the development and study of an image brightness amplifier on manganese atom transitions for problems of object visualization in active optical systems are presented. The possibility in principle of using the developed active element for visualization of objects and processes in two spectral ranges—visible and near-IR—is shown. Profiles of the active element radiation beam at pulse repetition frequencies of up to 100 kHz have been obtained.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2019

A Comprehensive Methodology to Evaluate Losses and Process Variations in Silicon Solar Cell Manufacturing

Novel, high-throughput metrology methods are used in this paper for detailed performance loss analysis of approximately 400 industrial crystalline silicon solar cells, all coming from the same production line. The characterization sequence combines traditional global cell measurements (e.g., current-voltage, Suns-VOC) with camera-based cell imaging of voltage distribution and power dissipation from photoluminescence and lock-in thermography, respectively. Spatial variations in current collection are visualized using a high-speed external quantum efficiency and reflectance measurement technique. A nondestructive transfer length method (TLM) measurement technique is also implemented, featuring circular TLM structures hidden within the busbars of the cells. The variance of individual loss parameters and their impact on cell performance are quantified for this large group of cells. Based on correlations performed across parameters, recombination losses in the bulk and rear surface of the cell are shown to be the primary limiting factor for the cell efficiency. The nature of these distributions and correlations provide important insights about loss mechanisms in industrial solar cells, helping to prioritize efforts for optimizing the performance of the production line. Additionally, many of the parameters extracted from these techniques can be tied back to incoming material quality issues (e.g., poor bulk carrier lifetime, nonuniform wafer doping) and to individual unit processes (e.g., texturing, phosphorus diffusion, silicon nitride deposition, metallization), allowing the data to be used directly for process control in manufacturing. All of the datasets are made available for download.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2013

A robust ligand exchange approach for preparing hydrophilic, biocompatible photoluminescent quantum dots

Graphical abstract: - Highlights: • Aqueous CdSe/ZnS QDs were prepared using polymaleic anhydrides as capping ligand. • Effect of reaction temperature and time were systematically studied in the synthesis process. • Water-soluble QDs exhibited a good stability in physiological relevant environment. • The aqueous QDs were applied as biological probe to detect human embryonic stem cell. - Abstract: This paper describes a robust ligand exchange approach for preparing biocompatible CdSe/ZnS quantum dots (QDs) to make bioprobe for effective cell imaging. In this method, polymaleic anhydride (PMA) ligand are first used to replace original hydrophobic ligand (oleic acid) and form a protection shell with multiple hydrophilic groups to coat and protect CdSe/ZnS QDs. The as-prepared aqueous QDs exhibit small particle size, good colloidal stability in aqueous solutions with a wide range of pH, salt concentrations and under thermal treatment, which are necessary for biological applications. The use of this new class of aqueous QDs for effective cell imaging shows strong fluorescence signal to human embryonic stem cell, which demonstrate that PMA coated QDs are fully satisfied with the requirements of preparing high quality biological probe.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2011

Evolutionary determination of experimental parameters for ptychographical imaging

The Ptychographical Iterative Engine (PIE) algorithm is a recently developed novel method of Coherent Diffractive Imaging (CDI) that uses multiple overlapping diffraction patterns to reconstruct an image. This method has successfully produced high quality reconstructions at both optical and X-ray wavelengths but the need for accurate knowledge of the probe positions is currently a limiting factor in the production of high resolution reconstructions at electron wavelengths. This paper examines the shape of the search landscape for producing optimal image reconstructions in the specific case of electron microscopy and then shows how evolutionary search methods can be used to reliably determine experimental parameters in the electron microscopy case (such as the spherical aberration in the probe and the probe positions).

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2016

Superiority of terahertz over infrared transmission through bandages and burn wound ointments

Terahertz electromagnetic waves have long been proposed to be ideal for spectroscopy and imaging through non-polar dielectric materials that contain no water. Terahertz radiation may thus be useful for monitoring burn and wound injury recovery, as common care treatments involve application of both a clinical dressing and topical ointment. Here, we investigate the optical properties of typical care treatments in the millimeter wave (150–300 GHz), terahertz (0.3–3 THz), and infrared (14.5–0.67 μm) ranges of the electromagnetic spectrum. We find that THz radiation realizes low absorption coefficients and high levels of transmission compared to infrared wavelengths, which were strongly attenuated. Terahertz imaging can enable safe, non-ionizing, noninvasive monitoring of the healing process directly through clinical dressings and recovery ointments, minimizing the frequency of dressing changes and thus increasing the rate of the healing process.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2018

Distinct Optoelectronic Signatures for Charge Transfer and Energy Transfer in Quantum Dot-MoS 2 Hybrid Photodetectors Revealed by Photocurrent Imaging Microscopy

Atomically thin transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs) have intriguing nanoscale properties like high charge mobility, photosensitivity, layer-thickness-dependent bandgap, and mechanical flexibility, which are all appealing for the development of next generation optoelectronic, catalytic, and sensory devices. Their atomically thin thickness, however, renders TMDCs poor absorptivity. For this study, bilayer MoS 2 is combined with core-only CdSe QDs and core/shell CdSe/ZnS QDs to obtain hybrids with increased light harvesting and exhibiting interfacial charge transfer (CT) and nonradiative energy transfer (NET), respectively. Field-effect transistors based on these hybrids and their responses to varying laser power and applied gate voltage are investigated with scanning photocurrent microscopy (SPCM) in view of their potential utilization in light harvesting and photodetector applications. CdSe–MoS 2 hybrids are found to exhibit encouraging properties for photodetectors, like high responsivity and fast on/off response under low light exposure while CdSe/ZnS–MoS 2 hybrids show enhanced charge carrier generation with increased light exposure, thus suitable for photovoltaics. While distinguishing optically between CT and NET in QD–TMDCs is nontrivial, it is found that they can be differentiated by SPCM as these two processes exhibit distinctive light-intensity dependencies: CT causes a photogating effect, decreasing the photocurrent response with increasing light power while NET increases the photocurrent response with increasing light power, opposite to CT case.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2015

An ultrafast nanotip electron gun triggered by grating-coupled surface plasmons

We demonstrate multiphoton photoelectron emission from gold nanotips induced by nanofocusing surface plasmons, resonantly excited on the tip shaft by a grating coupler. The tip is integrated into an electron gun assembly, which facilitates control over the spatial emission sites and allows us to disentangle direct grating emission from plasmon-triggered apex emission. The nanoscale source size of this electron gun concept enables highly coherent electron pulses with applications in ultrafast electron imaging and diffraction.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2014

Doppler mapping of an alternating-sign flow with complex geometry using optical coherence tomography

The method of sign-sensitive mapping of the given range of velocities in a flow with complex geometry based on the principles of optical coherence tomography is described. To produce an alternating-sign flow, the 1% aqueous intralipid solution and the tilted capillary entry with the contraction coefficient 4:1 are used. The mapping is controlled using two parameters, the value of one specific velocity (OSV) for mapping and the accuracy of its determination. The structure image and two OSV images (for positive and negative direction of motion) are obtained as a result of selecting and processing the relevant parts of the signal spectrum. The final image is a result of summing these three images and can be used as a Doppler equivelocity contour map. (radiation scattering)

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2014

Controlled activation of ZnTe:Cu contacted CdTe solar cells using rapid thermal processing

Back contacts can significantly limit CdTe solar cell performance, reducing both open circuit voltage (Voc) and fill factor (FF). Copper is an essential component of effective back contacts, but its presence in the CdTe absorber creates detrimental recombination centers. Rapid thermal processing (RTP) is demonstrated as a highly effective approach for reducing back contact barriers in CdTe solar cells contacted with ZnTe:Cu buffer layers, substantially improving both FF (473%) and V oc (4850 mV). Current density and quantum efficiency remain essentially unchanged, but a five-fold increase in minority carrier lifetime is observed which is attributed to passivation of recombination sites in the back contact region. Quantitative analysis of secondary ion mass spectrometry shows that the majority of Cu segregates to the Au metallization layer and that the ZnTe buffer appears to inhibit the Cu diffusion into CdTe. 3D imaging of the back contact region using atom probe tomography shows that optimized devices are characterized by preferential segregation of copper to both the Au|ZnTe and CdTe|ZnTe interfaces, perhaps in the form of Cu x Te. Finally, with its low thermal budget the RTP process has been successfully applied to multiple device architectures.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2011

Digital Method of Analyzing the Bending Stiffness of Non-Crimp Fabrics

A digital-analytical method for characterizing the bending behavior of NCFs (Non-Crimp Fabrics) is developed. The study is based on a hanging fabric loaded to a known displacement. The image of the deformed fabric is captured digitally, and then analyzed to describe the deformed shape of the beam using x-y coordinates. The bending stiffness of the fabric is then determined through an iterative method using a finite element method (ABAQUS). This effective bending stiffness is of importance in the formation of wave defects in NCFs during manufacturing processes such as thermoforming, vacuum assisted resin transfer molding, and compression molding.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2023

Visualization of bulk and edge photocurrent flow in anisotropic Weyl semimetals

Materials that rectify light into current in their bulk are desired for optoelectronic applications. In Weyl semimetals that break inversion symmetry, bulk photocurrents may arise due to nonlinear optical processes that are enhanced near the Weyl nodes. However, the photoresponse of these materials is commonly studied by scanning photocurrent microscopy, which convolves the effects of photocurrent generation and collection. Here we directly image the photocurrent flow inside the type-II Weyl semimetals WTe 2 and TaIrTe 4 using high-sensitivity quantum magnetometry with nitrogen-vacancy centre spins. We elucidate a mechanism for bulk photocurrent generation, which we call the anisotropic photothermoelectric effect, where unequal thermopowers along different crystal axes drive intricate circulations of photocurrent around the photoexcitation. Using overlapping scanning photocurrent microscopy and magnetic imaging at the interior and edges of the sample, we visualize how the anisotropic photothermoelectric effect stimulates the long-range photocurrent collected in our WTe 2 and TaIrTe 4 devices through the Shockley–Ramo mechanism. Furthermore, our results highlight a widely relevant source of current flow and will inspire photodetectors that utilize bulk materials with thermoelectric anisotropy.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2011

Enhancement of measurement sensitivity in the formation of shear interferograms of transparent plates with small residual wedging

We have proposed a method for increasing the sensitivity of measurements of the wedge angle in transparent plates. The method is based on formation of the holographic shear interferograms using a combination of 180 Degree-Sign rotation of the plate with byturn adjustment of interferograms in its images to an infinitely wide fringe. The sensitivity enhancement is due to the increased number of interference fringes in the observed images of the wedged plate, which favours the reduction of the measurement error during optical processing of the obtained interferograms. Data on the experimental validation of the proposed method are presented.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2010

Spectral shifts and switches in random fields upon interaction with negative-phase materials

Spectral shifts in stochastic beam-like fields on interaction with layers of positive- and negative-phase materials are examined on the basis of the ABCD-matrix approach and generalized Huygens-Fresnel principle. It is found that boundaries between such materials may cause spectral switches. Effect of absorption of negative-phase materials on the beam spectrum is discussed. Our results may find applications in connection with spectrum-selection optical interconnects, spectrally encoded information transfer, image formation in systems involving negative-phase materials, and geometrically tunable metamaterials.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2019

Nano-Engineering of Detector Surfaces to Offer Unprecedented Imager Sensitivity to Soft X-rays and Low Energy Electrons

The focus of this document is to record the learning and process development achieved by the completion of the Nano-Engineering of Detector Surfaces to Offer Unprecedented Imager Sensitivity to Soft X-rays and Low Energy Electrons LDRD. The goal of this effort was to study different silicon detector surface preparation methods such as ion implant parameters, and the addition of a quantum 2-layer superlattice. Enabling the preparation of the surface of silicon detectors (front side illuminated or bonded backside illuminated) increases the responsivity of the diode to shallowly absorbed photons. This increased sensitivity in turn allows for greater fidelity in imaging events that emit low soft X-rays or low energy electrons. Prior work has focused on passivating the surface of a silicon detectors with thin layers (tens of nm thick) of materials to reduce surface recombination sites. Measurements of visible light quantum efficiency, electron responsivity, and pulsed x-ray response indicate that detectors with a 2- layer superlattice enjoy a significant benefit over equivalent detectors using an ion implant at the illuminated surface.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2016

Optical droplet vaporization of nanoparticle-loaded stimuli-responsive microbubbles

A capillary co-flow focusing process is developed to generate stimuli-responsive microbubbles (SRMs) that comprise perfluorocarbon (PFC) suspension of silver nanoparticles (SNPs) in a lipid shell. Upon continuous laser irradiation at around their surface plasmon resonance band, the SNPs effectively absorb electromagnetic energy, induce heat accumulation in SRMs, trigger PFC vaporization, and eventually lead to thermal expansion and fragmentation of the SRMs. This optical droplet vaporization (ODV) process is further simulated by a theoretical model that combines heat generation of SNPs, phase change of PFC, and thermal expansion of SRMs. The model is validated by benchtop experiments, where the ODV process is monitored by microscopic imaging. The effects of primary process parameters on behaviors of ODV are predicted by the theoretical model, indicating the technical feasibility for process control and optimization in future drug delivery applications.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗