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At least 919 records · Page 51
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2014

Radioastron studies of the nearby, turbulent interstellar plasma with the longest space-ground interferometer baseline

RadioAstron space-ground very long baseline interferometry observations of the pulsar B0950+08, conducted with the 10 m Space Radio Telescope in conjunction with the Arecibo 300 m telescope and the Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope at a frequency of 324 MHz were analyzed in order to investigate plasma inhomogeneities in the direction of this nearby pulsar. The observations were conducted at a spacecraft distance of 330,000 km, resulting in a projected baseline of 220,000 km, providing the greatest angular resolution ever achieved at meter wavelengths. Our analysis is based on fundamental behavior of structure and coherence functions. We find that the pulsar shows scintillation on two frequency scales, both much less than the observing frequency, but modulation is less than 100%. We infer that the scattering is weak, but a refracting wedge disperses the scintillation pattern. The refraction angle of this 'cosmic prism' is measured as θ{sub 0} = 1.1-4.4 mas, with the refraction direction being approximately perpendicular to the observer velocity. We show that the observed parameters of scintillation effects indicate that two plasma layers lie along the line of sight to the pulsar, at distances of 4.4-16.4 pc and 26-170 pc, and traveling in different directions relative to the line of sight. Spectra of turbulence for the two layers are found to follow a power law with the indices γ{sub 1} = γ{sub 2} = 3.00 ± 0.08, significantly different from the index expected for a Kolmogorov spectrum of turbulence, γ = 11/3.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2021

Ionizing photon interactions modulate the optical properties of crystals with femtosecond scale temporal resolution

In this work, we continue our study of a new method for the detection of ionizing radiation with the potential for a dramatic improvement in coincidence time resolution (CTR) for time-of-flight positron emission tomography (ToF-PET) using the modulation of a material's optical properties instead of the scintillation mechanism. Our previous work has shown that for non-scintillation materials such as bismuth silicon oxide (BSO) and cadmium telluride (CdTe), their refractive index can be modulated by annihilation photon interactions. Additionally, the ultrafast nature of this process however remains unexplored. The ionizing radiation-induced charge carriers alter the local band structure in these materials, thus changing the complex refractive index. This mechanism is routinely used at the linac coherent light source (LCLS) facility of the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory to measure x-ray pulse arrival times with femtosecond scale resolution for photon energies between 0.5 and 10 keV. The method described here follows that example by using a frequency chirped visible continuum pulse to provide a monotonic wavelength-to-time mapping by which one can measure the time-dependent refractive index modulation. In addition, we describe an interference-based measurement setup that allows for significantly improved sensitivity while preserving a timing precision of approximately 10 fs (σ) when measuring the arrival time of below 10 keV x-ray pulses with yttrium aluminum garnet (YAG) crystal. The method is presented in the context of ToF-PET application with further discussions on the potential CTR achievable if a similar detection concept is adopted for detecting 511 keV photons. Semi-empirical analysis indicates that the predicted CTR achievable is on the order of 1 ps (FWHM).

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2013

TRANSMISSION SPECTRUM OF EARTH AS A TRANSITING EXOPLANET FROM THE ULTRAVIOLET TO THE NEAR-INFRARED

Transmission spectroscopy of exoplanets is a tool to characterize rocky planets and explore their habitability. Using the Earth itself as a proxy, we model the atmospheric cross section as a function of wavelength, and show the effect of each atmospheric species, Rayleigh scattering, and refraction from 115 to 1000 nm. Clouds do not significantly affect this picture because refraction prevents the lowest 12.75 km of the atmosphere, in a transiting geometry for an Earth-Sun analog, to be sampled by a distant observer. We calculate the effective planetary radius for the primary eclipse spectrum of an Earth-like exoplanet around a Sun-like star. Below 200 nm, ultraviolet (UV) O{sub 2} absorption increases the effective planetary radius by about 180 km, versus 27 km at 760.3 nm, and 14 km in the near-infrared (NIR) due predominantly to refraction. This translates into a 2.6% change in effective planetary radius over the UV-NIR wavelength range, showing that the UV is an interesting wavelength range for future space missions.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2018

Modeling liquid organic thin films on substrates

We present the rationale, methods, and results of modeling of thin film organic liquids on various substrates. These liquids may coat surfaces (substrates) either as a result of their production, dispersal via aerosols or spills. Identification of unknown coated surfaces using either reflectance or emittance spectroscopy cannot be accomplished simply through reference to reflectance signature libraries since neither the thickness of the liquid layer nor the substrate type is known beforehand and both contribute to the signature. Liquid spectral libraries offer the complex index of refraction (n,k) as a function of wavelength which by itself is useful only for thick (bulk) liquid layers via computation of reflectance and transmittance coefficients using the Fresnel equations. Thin liquid layers both reflect and refract incident light in combination with reflectance from the substrate. We show modeling of various organic liquids on substrates using commercial thin film design and modeling software, as well as Monte Carlo ray tracing software to demonstrate the variety of potential signatures encountered that depend on the thickness of the liquid layer as well as the characteristics of the substrate (metal or dielectric). These substrates give rise to transflectance behavior, while many dielectric substrates have rich absorption features that provide complex signatures that combine attributes of both the liquid and the substrate. Knowledge of the complex index of refraction of both target liquids and substrates is essential in order to synthesize spectra necessary in the application of target identification algorithms.

complex index of refraction↗
DOE OSTI2013

X-ray phase contrast imaging of the breast: Analysis of tissue simulating materials

Purpose: Phase contrast imaging, particularly of the breast, is being actively investigated. The purpose of this work is to investigate the x-ray phase contrast properties of breast tissues and commonly used breast tissue substitutes or phantom materials with an aim of determining the phantom materials best representative of breast tissues. Methods: Elemental compositions of breast tissues including adipose, fibroglandular, and skin were used to determine the refractive index, n= 1 -{delta}+i {beta}. The real part of the refractive index, specifically the refractive index decrement ({delta}), over the energy range of 5-50 keV were determined using XOP software (version 2.3, European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, France). Calcium oxalate and calcium hydroxyapatite were considered to represent the material compositions of microcalcifications in vivo. Nineteen tissue substitutes were considered as possible candidates to represent adipose tissue, fibroglandular tissue and skin, and four phantom materials were considered as possible candidates to represent microcalcifications. For each material, either the molecular formula, if available, or the elemental composition based on weight fraction, was used to determine {delta}. At each x-ray photon energy, the absolute percent difference in {delta} between the breast tissue and the substitute material was determined, from which three candidates were selected. From these candidate tissue substitutes, the material that minimized the absolute percent difference in linear attenuation coefficient {mu}, and hence {beta}, was considered to be best representative of that breast tissue. Results: Over the energy range of 5-50 keV, while the {delta} of CB3 and fibroglandular tissue-equivalent material were within 1% of that of fibroglandular tissue, the {mu} of fibroglandular tissue-equivalent material better approximated the fibroglandular tissue. While the {delta} of BR10 and adipose tissue-equivalent material were within 1% of that of adipose tissue, the tissue-equivalent material better approximated the adipose tissue in terms of {mu}. Polymethyl methacrylate, a commonly used tissue substitute, exhibited {delta} greater than fibroglandular tissue by {approx}12%. The A-150 plastic closely approximated the skin. Several materials exhibited {delta} between that of adipose and fibroglandular tissue. However, there was an energy-dependent mismatch in terms of equivalent fibroglandular weight fraction between {delta} and {mu} for these materials. For microcalcifications, aluminum and calcium carbonate were observed to straddle the {delta} and {mu} of calcium oxalate and calcium hydroxyapatite. Aluminum oxide, commonly used to represent microcalcifications in the American College of Radiology recommended phantoms for accreditation exhibited {delta} greater than calcium hydroxyapatite by {approx}23%. Conclusions: A breast phantom comprising A-150 plastic to represent the skin, commercially available adipose and fibroglandular tissue-equivalent formulations to represent adipose and fibroglandular tissue, respectively, was found to be best suited for x-ray phase-sensitive imaging of the breast. Calcium carbonate or aluminum can be used to represent microcalcifications.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2018

Optical Properties of InGaAs/InAlAs Metamorphic Nanoheterostructures for Photovoltaic Converters of Laser and Solar Radiation

Reflectance spectroscopy has been used to determine the refractive indices of nanoscale In{sub x}Al{sub y}Ga{sub 1–x–y}As and In{sub x}Al{sub 1–x}As layers with indium and aluminum concentrations x = 0.21–0.24 and y = 0, 0.1, and 0.2 on specially created Bragg-reflector heterostructures at wavelengths in the range 700–2000 nm. It was demonstrated that the method based on an analysis of the auto- and cross-correlation coefficients of the wavelength derivatives of the dependence of the reflectance of structures of this kind in order to determine the dispersion curves of the materials forming a reflector. It was found that raising the concentration of indium in InGaAs and AlInAs leads to a substantial rise in the refractive index, with a preserved spectral run of the refractive indices, which is characteristic of gallium arsenide and aluminum arsenide.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2017

Controlling the sign of chromatic dispersion in diffractive optics with dielectric metasurfaces

Diffraction gratings disperse light in a rainbow of colors with the opposite order than refractive prisms, a phenomenon known as negative dispersion. While refractive dispersion can be controlled via material refractive index, diffractive dispersion is fundamentally an interference effect dictated by geometry. Here we show that this fundamental property can be altered using dielectric metasurfaces, and we experimentally demonstrate diffractive gratings and focusing mirrors with positive, zero, and hyper-negative dispersion. These optical elements are implemented using a reflective metasurface composed of dielectric nano-posts that provide simultaneous control over phase and its wavelength derivative. In addition, as a first practical application, we demonstrate a focusing mirror that exhibits a five-fold reduction in chromatic dispersion, and thus an almost three-times increase in operation bandwidth compared with a regular diffractive element. This concept challenges the generally accepted dispersive properties of diffractive optical devices and extends their applications and functionalities.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
NASA NTRS2015

Systematic Relationships Between Lidar Observables and Sizes And Mineral Composition Of Dust Aerosols

The physical and chemical properties of soil dust aerosol particles fundamentally affect their interaction with climate, including shortwave absorption and radiative forcing, nucleation of cloud droplets and ice crystals, heterogeneous formation of sulfates and nitrates on the surface of dust particles, and atmospheric processing of iron into bioavailable forms that increase the productivity of marine phytoplankton. Lidar measurements, such as extinction-to-backscatter, color and depolarization ratios, are frequently used to distinguish between aerosol types with different physical and chemical properties. The chemical composition of aerosol particles determines their complex refractive index, hence affecting their backscattering properties. Here we present a study on how dust aerosol backscattering and depolarization properties at wavelengths of 355, 532 and 1064 nm are related to size and complex refractive index, which varies with the mineral composition of the dust. Dust aerosols are represented by collections of spheroids with a range of prolate and oblate aspect ratios and their optical properties are obtained using T-matrix calculations. We find simple, systematic relationships between lidar observables and the dust size and complex refractive index that may aid the use of space-based or airborne lidars for direct retrieval of dust properties or for the evaluation of chemical transport models using forward simulated lidar variables. In addition, we present first results on the spatial variation of forward-simulated lidar variables based on a dust model that accounts for the atmospheric cycle of eight different mineral types plus internal mixtures of seven mineral types with iron oxides, which was recently implemented in the NASA GISS Earth System ModelE2.

Dust↗
DOE OSTI2017

Very Oblique Whistler Mode Propagation in the Radiation Belts: Effects of Hot Plasma and Landau Damping

We present that satellite observations of a significant population of very oblique chorus waves in the outer radiation belt have fueled considerable interest in the effects of these waves on energetic electron scattering and acceleration. However, corresponding diffusion rates are extremely sensitive to the refractive index N, controlled by hot plasma effects including Landau damping and wave dispersion modifications by suprathermal (15–100 eV) electrons. A combined investigation of wave and electron distribution characteristics obtained from the Van Allen Probes shows that peculiarities of the measured electron distribution significantly reduce Landau damping, allowing wave propagation with high N ~ 100–200. Further comparing measured refractive indexes with theoretical estimates incorporating hot plasma corrections to the wave dispersion, we provide the first experimental demonstration that suprathermal electrons indeed control the upper limit of the refractive index of highly oblique whistler mode waves. In conclusion, such results further support the importance of incorporating very oblique waves into radiation belt models.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2023

Colossal Optical Anisotropy from Atomic-Scale Modulations

Materials with large birefringence (Δn, where n is the refractive index) are sought after for polarization control (e.g., in wave plates, polarizing beam splitters, etc.), nonlinear optics, micromanipulation, and as a platform for unconventional light–matter coupling, such as hyperbolic phonon polaritons. Layered 2D materials can feature some of the largest optical anisotropy; however, their use in most optical systems is limited because their optical axis is out of the plane of the layers and the layers are weakly attached. This work demonstrates that a bulk crystal with subtle periodic modulations in its structure—Sr 9/8 TiS 3 —is transparent and positive-uniaxial, with extraordinary index n e = 4.5 and ordinary index n o = 2.4 in the mid- to far-infrared. The excess Sr, compared to stoichiometric SrTiS 3 , results in the formation of TiS 6 trigonal-prismatic units that break the chains of face-sharing TiS 6 octahedra in SrTiS 3 into periodic blocks of five TiS 6 octahedral units. The additional electrons introduced by the excess Sr form highly oriented electron clouds, which selectively boost the extraordinary index n e and result in record birefringence (Δn > 2.1 with low loss). The connection between subtle structural modulations and large changes in refractive index suggests new categories of anisotropic materials and also tunable optical materials with large refractive-index modulation.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2021

3D Printing of Transparent Silicone Elastomers

Here in this paper, inks for transparent elastomers that are formulated by matching the refractive index of silica and polysiloxanes are described. The transparent inks transmit up to ≈90% of 700 nm light through 1 cm and remain transparent when solidified. The inks and solidified materials exhibit a thermochromic effect. This thermochromic effect can be controlled by the refractive index mismatch. Transparency may increase or decrease as temperature increases, depending on the refractive index mismatch of the base polysiloxane and silica. It is found that the rheological properties of the ink depend on the distribution of silica particles, which is dictated by silica functionality, weight content, and processing. Siloxane precursors that vary in chemical functionality are introduced to tailor the mechanical properties of the printed elastomers, which obtain stretchability >65% along with a tensile modulus of 1.9 MPa. After optimizing siloxane chemistry and ink processing, the authors are able to print transparent elastomers. Potential applications are demonstrated for printed structures by printing encapsulation structures for light-emitting diodes, semitransparent dye-filled structures, a microfluidic mixing device, and a multimaterial structure that exhibits temperature-dependent camouflage.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2020

Optical Response of Soda-Lime Glass Shocked to 14 GPa

To investigate the potential use of soda-lime glass (SLG) as an optical window in shock wave experiments, laser interferometry (VISAR) was used to determine the window correction and the refractive index in SLG samples subjected to plane shock wave compression. Symmetric plate impact experiments were conducted at peak stresses varying between 4 and 14 GPa and laser interferometry ($λ_0$ = 532$\textit {nm}$ wavelength) measurements were used to monitor the particle velocity histories at the impact surface. The higher stress experiments displayed a constant state prior to stress unloading. In contrast, the lower stress experiments (4.3 and 7.8 GPa) displayed an initial constant state followed by weakly time-dependent response prior to stress unloading. Because the actual particle velocities were independently known from the projectile velocity measurements, the window correction factor and the refractive index changes were determined over the stress range examined. Above 7.5 GPa, our window correction and refractive index results show significant differences with previously published data for the same material. Potential reasons for these differences are indicated.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2016

The Aerogel Cerenkov detector for the SHMS magnetic spectrometer in Hall C at Jefferson Lab

Hadronic reactions producing strange quarks such as exclusive or semi-inclusive kaon production, play an important role in studies of hadron structure and the dynamics that bind the most basic elements of nuclear physics. The small-angle capability of the new Super High Momentum Spectrometer (SHMS) in Hall C, coupled with its high momentum reach - up to the anticipated 11-GeV beam energy in Hall C - and coincidence capability with the well-understood High Momentum Spectrometer, will allow for probes of such hadron structure involving strangeness down to the smallest distance scales to date. To cleanly select the kaons, a threshold aerogel Cerenkov detector has been constructed for the SHMS. The detector consists of an aerogel tray followed by a diffusion box. Four trays for aerogel of nominal refractive indices of n =1.030, 1.020, 1.015 and 1.011 were constructed. The tray combination will allow for identification of kaons from 1 GeV/c up to 7.2 GeV/c, reaching 10 -2 proton and 10 -3 pion rejection, with kaon detection efficiency better than 95%. The diffusion box of the detector is equipped with 14 five-inch diameter photomultiplier tubes. Its interior walls are covered with Gore diffusive reflector, which is superior to the commonly used Millipore paper and improved the detector performance by 35%. The inner surface of the two aerogel trays with higher refractive index is covered with Millipore paper, however, those two trays with lower aerogel refractive index are again covered with Gore diffusive reflector for higher performance. The measured mean number of photoelectrons in saturation is ~12 for n =1.030, ~8 for n =1.020, ~10 for n =1.015, and ~5.5 for n =1.011. Here the design details, the results of component characterization, and initial performance tests and optimization of the detector are presented.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2023

Effects of the Grazing Incidence Geometry on X-ray Photon Correlation Spectroscopy Measurements

X-ray photon correlation spectroscopy (XPCS) is a versatile tool to measure dynamics on the nanometer to micrometer scale in bulk samples. XPCS has also been applied in grazing incidence (GI) geometry to examine the dynamics of surface layers. However, considering GI scattering experiments more universally, the GI geometry leads to a superposition of signals due to reflection and refraction effects, also known from the distorted-wave Born approximation (DWBA). In this paper, the impact of these reflection and refraction effects on the correlation analysis is determined experimentally by measuring grazing incidence transmission XPCS (GT-XPCS) and grazing incidence XPCS (GI-XPCS) simultaneously for a thin film sample, showing non-equilibrium dynamics. Here the results of the GI and GT geometry comparisons are combined within the framework of the standardly applied, simplified DWBA. These calculations allow identifying the main contributions of the detected signal from the leading scattering terms along the out-of-plane direction q z , which dominate the measured intensity pattern on the detector. In combination with the calculation of the non-linear effect of refraction in GTSAXS and GISAXS, it is possible to identify experimental conditions that can be chosen to run experiments and data analysis as close as possible to transmission XPCS and to explain which limitations for data interpretations are observed. Consequently, the beam exposure can be significantly reduced by using GI geometry only. Calculations of experimental settings prior to experiments are detailed to determine suitable q z regions for a variety of material systems measured in bulk-sensitive GI-XPCS experiments, allowing us to determine the scaling behavior of typical decay times as a function of q that is comparable to the scaling behavior obtained in distortion-free GT-XPCS or transmission XPCS experiments.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2017

Tunable Visibly Transparent Optics Derived from Porous Silicon

Visibly transparent porous silicon dioxide (PSiO 2 ) and PSiO 2 /titanium dioxide (TiO 2 ) optical elements were fabricated by thermal oxidation, or a combination of thermal oxidation and atomic layer deposition infilling, of an electrochemically etched porous silicon (PSi) structure containing an electrochemically defined porosity profile. The thermally oxidized PSiO 2 structures are transparent at visible wavelengths and can be designed to have refractive indices ranging from 1.1 to 1.4. The refractive index can be increased above 2.0 through TiO 2 infilling of the pores. Applying this oxidation and TiO 2 infilling methodology enabled tuning of a distributed Bragg reflector (DBR) formed from PSi across the visible spectrum. At the maximum filling, the DBR exhibited a transmission of 2% at 620 nm. Simulations match well with measured spectra. In addition to forming DBR filters, phase-shaping gradient refractive index (GRIN) elements were formed. As a demonstration, a 4 mm diameter radial GRIN PSiO 2 element with a parabolic, lens-like phase profile with a calculated focal length of 1.48 m was formed. The calculated focal length was reduced to 0.80 m upon the addition of TiO 2 . All the structures showed broad transparency in the visible and were stable to the materials conversion process.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2018

Metal–Organic Framework Thin Film Coated Optical Fiber Sensors: A Novel Waveguide-Based Chemical Sensing Platform

Integration of optical fiber with sensitive thin films offers great potential for the realization of novel chemical sensing platforms. In this study, we present a simple design strategy and high performance of nanoporous metal–organic framework (MOF) based optical gas sensors, which enables detection of a wide range of concentrations of small molecules based upon extremely small differences in refractive indices as a function of analyte adsorption within the MOF framework. Thin and compact MOF films can be uniformly formed and tightly bound on the surface of etched optical fiber through a simple solution method which is critical for manufacturability of MOF-based sensor devices. The resulting sensors show high sensitivity/selectivity to CO 2 gas relative to other small gases (H 2 , N 2 , O 2 , and CO) with rapid (< tens of seconds) response time and excellent reversibility, which can be well correlated to the physisorption of gases into a nanoporous MOF. We propose a refractive index based sensing mechanism for the MOF-integrated optical fiber platform which results in an amplification of inherent optical absorption present within the MOF-based sensing layer with increasing values of effective refractive index associated with adsorption of gases.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2025

Spatio-spectral optical fission in time-varying subwavelength layers

Transparent conducting oxides are highly doped semiconductors that exhibit favourable optical features compared with metals, including reduced material losses, tuneable electronic and optical properties, and enhanced damage thresholds. Recently, the photonic community has renewed its attention towards these materials, recognizing their remarkable nonlinear optical properties in the near-infrared spectrum. The exceptionally large and ultrafast change in the refractive index, which can be optically induced in these compounds, extends beyond the boundaries of conventional perturbative analysis and makes this class of materials the closest approximation to a time-varying system. Here we report the spatio-spectral fission of an ultrafast pulse trespassing a thin film of aluminium zinc oxide with a non-stationary refractive index. By applying phase conservation to this time-varying layer, our model can account for both space and time refraction and explain, in quantitative terms, the spatial separation of both spectrum and energy. Our findings represent an example of extreme nonlinear phenomena on subwavelength propagation distances, which provides new insights into transparent conducting oxides’ transient optical properties. This can be critical for the ongoing research on photonic time crystals, on-chip generation of non-classical states of light, integrated optical neural networks, ultrafast beam steering and frequency-division multiplexing.

integrated optics↗
DOE OSTI2016

Geometrical tuning art for entirely subwavelength grating waveguide based integrated photonics circuits

Here, subwavelength grating (SWG) waveguide is an intriguing alternative to conventional optical waveguides due to the extra degree of freedom it offers in tuning a few important waveguide properties, such as dispersion and refractive index. Devices based on SWG waveguides have demonstrated impressive performances compared to conventional waveguides. However, the high loss of SWG waveguide bends jeopardizes their applications in integrated photonic circuits. In this work, we propose a geometrical tuning art, which realizes a pre-distorted refractive index profile in SWG waveguide bends. The pre-distorted refractive index profile can effectively reduce the mode mismatch and radiation loss simultaneously, thus significantly reduce the bend loss. This geometry tuning art has been numerically optimized and experimentally demonstrated in present study. Through such tuning, the average insertion loss of a 5 μm SWG waveguide bend is reduced drastically from 5.43 dB to 1.10 dB per 90° bend for quasi-TE polarization. In the future, the proposed scheme will be utilized to enhance performance of a wide range of SWG waveguide based photonics devices.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗