Instrument for monitoring concentration and size of microparticles suspended in high-purity transparent liquids

Translated from Izmeritel'naya Tekhnika, No. 4, pp. 62–63, April, 1992.     

Spatial distribution of fluorescence intensity within large droplets and its dependence on dye concentration

The dependence of fluorescence intensity distributions within droplets on added dye concentration has been calculated by extension of the geometrical-optics approximation and verified by experimental observations. With rising dye concentration, surface plots of the equatorial fluorescence pattern show decreasing relevance of intensity enhancement at focusing points of internal light rays and increasing effects of linear absorption on the characteristic features of the distribution. For comparison with experimentally obtained images of the fluorescence intensity distribution within droplets, a method for calculating volume-integrated intensity distributions was developed in which image distortion at the fluid-air interface is included. A comparison of the calculated and the experimentally determined fluorescence intensity distributions within a droplet confirmed the accuracy of the geometrical-optics approach at high dye concentrations. However, discrepancies from experimental results are visible at low dye concentrations owing to nonlinear optical effects.     

Calculation of stress intensity factor from stress concentration factor

Using the general formulas of stress concentration factor, methods for calculating stress intensity factor are mentioned.These methods make use of the several known values of stress concentration and radius of curvature at the point of stress concentration to form expression of stress concentration factor. Values of stress concentration from handbooks or experiments and others can be used.This paper deals with plane elastic, longitudinal shearing and thin plate bending problem.     

Dependence of fluorescence intensity on the spectral overlap between fluorophores and plasmon resonant single silver nanoparticles

We investigate the fluorescence from dyes coupled to individual DNA-functionalized metal nanoparticles. We use single-particle darkfield scattering and fluorescence microscopy to correlate the fluorescence intensity of the dyes with the localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) spectra of the individual metal nanoparticles to which they are attached. For each of three different dyes, we observe a strong correlation between the fluorescence intensity of the dye and the degree of spectral overlap with the plasmon resonance of the nanoparticle. On average, we observe the brightest fluorescence from dyes attached to metal nanoparticles that have a LSPR scattering peak approximately 40-120 meV higher in energy than the emission peak of the fluorophore. These results should prove useful for understanding and optimizing metal-enhanced fluorescence.     

Electroporation dependence on cell size: optical tweezers study

Electropermeabilization or electroporation is the electrical disruption of a cell's membrane to introduce drugs, DNA/RNA, proteins, or other therapies into the cell. Despite four decades of study, the fundamental science of the process remains poorly understood and controversial. We measured the minimum applied electric field required for permeabilization of suspended spherical cells as a function of the cell radius for three cell lines. Key to this work is our use of optical tweezers to precisely position individual cells and enable well-defined, repeatable measurements on cells in suspension. Our findings call into question fundamental assumptions common to all theoretical treatments that we know of. It is generally expected that, for individual cells from a particular cell line, large cells should be easier to electroporate than small ones: the minimum electric field to cause electropermeabilization should scale inversely with the cell diameter. We found instead that each cell line has its own characteristic field that will, on average, cause permeabilization in cells of that line. Electropermeabilization is a stochastic process: two cells which appear identical may have different permeabilization thresholds. However, for all three cell lines, we found that the minimum permeabilization field for any given cell does not depend on its size.     

Electro-refraction in quantum dots: dependence on lateral size and shape

Photonic switches require low-loss polarization-independent phase-shifting elements. In a composite quantum well, a 0.46-mm phase shifter provides a /spl pi//4 phase shift by combining the quantum confined Stark effect (QCSE) and the carrier depletion effect. We investigate whether the discrete energy levels and the high peak absorption in quantum dots (QDs) provide an opportunity for increasing the electro-refraction. The electro-refraction in strained cylindrical InAs-GaAs QDs is explored using a numerical model based on the 4 /spl times/ 4 Luttinger-Kohn Hamiltonian. The excitonic states are calculated by matrix diagonalization with plane-wave basis states. We observe that the QCSE sharply increases with the height of the QD and is also optimized for small-radius QDs. The QCSE in pyramidal QDs is considerably larger than in a box or cylinders. We find a peak electro-refraction of /spl Delta/n=0.35 in cone-shaped pyramidal QDs, which is a factor of 35 larger than in the quantum-well case. Finally, in the waveguide geometry, we find an electro-refraction of 1.3/spl times/10/sup -2/ at a residual QD absorption of 0.15 dB/cm.     

Strong dependence of rain-induced lidar depolarization on the illumination angle: experimental evidence and geometrical-optics interpretation

Backscatter and depolarization lidar measurements from clouds and precipitation are reported as functions of the elevation angle of the pointing lidar direction. We recorded the data by scanning the lidar beam (Nd:YAG) at a constant angular speed of ~3.5 degrees /s while operating at a repetition rate of 10 Hz. We show that in rain there is an evident and at times spectacular dependence on the elevation angle. That dependence appears to be sensitive to raindrop size. We have developed a three-dimensional polarization-dependent ray-tracing algorithm to calculate the backscatter and the depolarization ratio by large nonspherical droplets. We have applied it to raindrop shapes derived from existing static and dynamic (oscillating) models. We show that many of the observed complex backscatter and depolarization features can be interpreted to a good extent by geometrical optics. These results suggest that there is a definite need for more extensive calculations of the scattering phase matrix elements for large deformed raindrops as functions of the direction of illumination. Obvious applications are retrieval of information on the liquid-solid phase of precipitation and on the size and the vibration state of raindrops.     

Magnetic field and concentration dependence of light scattering from a ferrofluid

Measurements of light scattering from a ferrofluid were undertaken as functions of both magnetic field and particle concentration. The results show that the distribution pattern of light intensity in space is a continuous banding perpendicular to the field direction. The light intensity weakens with increasing scattering angle. The experiments also indicate that the scattering coefficient increases both with the magnetic field and with the particle concentration and tends to saturate at higher field strengths. Finally, the experimental results are discussed in terms of an expanded theory of light scattering established by considering the widths of the chains formed in the ferrofluid as functions of both the magnetic field and the particle concentration.     

Determination of size and concentration of gold nanoparticles from extinction spectra

Extinction spectra of colloidal gold can be used for a simple and fast determination of the size and concentration of nanoparticles. It is generally accepted that experimental correlations of the particle size and concentration with the plasmon resonance properties are in agreement with Mie theory simulations. Here, we discuss this point in the context of a long-term collection of published experimental data and our T-matrix simulations, which account for deviations of the particle size from ideal monodisperse spheres. These deviations result in small but quite evident disagreements between the Mie calculations and the experimental calibration curves "particle size vs resonance wavelength". We present a long-term-averaged analytical particle-size calibration and also discuss the effects of the particle dielectric functions, shape and size polydispersity on simulated correlations between the extinction spectra and the average particle size, and concentration.     

Determination of size and concentration of gold nanoparticles from UV-vis spectra

The dependence of the optical properties of spherical gold nanoparticles on particle size and wavelength were analyzed theoretically using multipole scattering theory, where the complex refractive index of gold was corrected for the effect of a reduced mean free path of the conduction electrons in small particles. To compare these theoretical results to experimental data, gold nanoparticles in the size range of 5 to 100 nm were synthesized and characterized with TEM and UV-vis. Excellent agreement was found between theory and experiment. It is shown that the data produced here can be used to determine both size and concentration of gold nanoparticles directly from UV-vis spectra. Equations for this purpose are derived, and the precision of various methods is discussed. The major aim of this work is to provide a simple and fast method to determine size and concentration of nanoparticles.     

Description of the dependence of intensity of x-ray fluorescence on the particle size of powder samples and pulp during x-ray fluorescent analysis

The dependence of intensity of x-ray fluorescence on particle size for powdered and pulplike media is described using a general analytical expression. The expression is obtained for a model of a powder medium consisting of particles of various sizes distributed randomly in the sample bulk. This expression involves expressions for the fluorescence intensity for homogeneous and pulplike media as limiting cases. The results of calculations by these expressions agree satisfactorily with the literature and experimental data for binary powder mixtures. The model allows one to evaluate the effect of the particle size of the powder on the fluorescence intensity for a multicomponent polydispersed powder medium.     

Effect of image resolution on intensity based scene illumination classification using neural network

In this paper, a framework for testing scene illumination classification with different image resolutions is proposed. The testing aims to provide the researchers with valuable information about the effect of image resolution on scene illumination classification using a neural network. The experiment is done by extracting three types of features from the images. These three types consist of statistical features, physic based features and histogram based features. It has been demonstrated that scene illumination classification can be affected by changing the image resolution. Despite the popular belief that high resolution images lead to better results, scene illumination classification by the proposed method performed best using low resolution images. At the second part of discussion, the reason behind this phenomenon is mathematically analysed and explained.     

Surface charge sensitivity of silicon nanowires: size dependence

Silicon nanowires of different widths were fabricated in silicon on insulator (SOI) material using conventional process technology combined with electron-beam lithography. The aim was to analyze the size dependence of the sensitivity of such nanowires for biomolecule detection and for other sensor applications. Results from electrical characterization of the nanowires show a threshold voltage increasing with decreasing width. When immersed in an acidic buffer solution, smaller nanowires exhibit large conductance changes while larger wires remain unaffected. This behavior is also reflected in detected threshold shifts between buffer solutions of different pH, and we find that nanowires of width >150 nm are virtually insensitive to the buffer pH. The increased sensitivity for smaller sizes is ascribed to the larger surface/volume ratio for smaller wires exposing the channel to a more effective control by the local environment, similar to a surrounded gate transistor structure. Computer simulations confirm this behavior and show that sensing can be extended even down to the single charge level.     

The dependence of stress intensity factors and weight functions on elastic constants

We investigate the dependence of stress intensity factors (SIFs) on elastic constants in two-dimensional elastic isotropic bodies. Bueckners weight function theory is used for the derivation of the dependence of SIFs on elastic constants. The dependence of SIFs on Poissons ratio shows up when the resultant tractions on each of the contours L _k separately is not zero in multiply connected bodies. As an example we calculate K ₁ for Griffith crack under concentrated loading applied on the upper crack face.     

Surface-roughness measurement based on the intensity correlation function of scattered light under speckle-pattern illumination

The statistical properties of speckle patterns generated from a rough surface under a fully developed static speckle-pattern illumination are examined. The roughness dependence of the intensity autocorrelation function is studied and utilized to characterize typical engineering surfaces with anisotropic roughness. The speckle patterns under investigation are recorded by use of a CCD technique and are then analyzed by digital image processing algorithms to obtain a parameter that describes the surface roughness. It is shown that an in-process surface inspection can be achieved by this method.     

Spot size, depth-of-focus, and diffraction ring intensity formulas for truncated Gaussian beams

Simple polynomial formulas to calculate the FWHM and full width at 1/e2 intensity diffraction spot size and the depth of focus at a Strehl ratio of 0.8 and 0.5 as a function of a Gaussian beam truncation ratio and a system f-number are presented. Formulas are obtained by use of the numerical integration of a Huygens-Fresnel diffraction integral and can be used to calculate the number of resolvable spots, the modulation transfer function, and the defocus tolerance of optical systems that employ laser beams. I also derived analytical formulas for the diffraction ring intensity as a function of the Gaussian beam truncation ratio and the system f-number. Such formulas can be used to estimate the diffraction-limited contrast of display and imaging systems.     

Angular dependence of the reflectance from an isotropic polydomain medium: effect of large domain size on total reflection

We investigate the angular dependence of the reflectance from an isotropic medium consisting of optically large and anisotropic, randomly oriented domains, assuming a highly refractive, isotropic, and homogeneous incidence medium, which is presumed to have a higher refractive index than any of the domains' principal indices of refraction. By employing average reflectance and transmittance theory, we are able to show that the onset of total reflection is considerably shifted to higher angles of incidence compared with an isotropic medium with domains that are small compared with the wavelength. The onset of total reflection for a random medium with large domains is found to be dependent only on the largest principal index of refraction of the domains, assuming that all domains have the same optical properties. Therefore the shift of the onset depends on the magnitude of the optical anisotropy of the domains. Even in the case of a small optical anisotropy, large cross-polarization terms are predicted in the vicinity of the onset of total reflection. These terms show a pronounced maximum near that onset and extend beyond it.     

Impact of spatiotemporal fluctuations in airborne chemical concentration on toxic hazard assessment

Models widely used to assess atmospheric chemical-dispersion hazards for emergency response rely on acute exposure guideline level (AEGL) or similar concentration guidelines to map geographic areas potentially affected by corresponding levels of toxic severity. By ignoring substantial, random variability in concentration over time and space, such standard methods routinely underestimate the size of potentially affected areas. Underestimation due to temporal fluctuation - applicable to chemicals like hydrogen cyanide (HCN) for which peak concentrations best predict acute toxicity - becomes magnified by spatial fluctuation, defined as heterogeneity in average concentration at each location relative to standard-method predictions. The combined impact of spatiotemporal fluctuation on size of assessed threat areas was studied using a statistical-simulation assessment method calibrated to Joint Urban 2003 Oklahoma City field-tracer data. For a hypothetical 60-min urban release scenario involving HCN gas, the stochastic method predicted that lethal/severe effects could occur in an area 18 or 25 times larger than was predicted by standard methods targeted to a 60-min AEGL, assuming wind speeds > or =2.0 or < or =1.5m/s, respectively. The underestimation doubled when the standard method was targeted to a 10-min AEGL. Further research and field data are needed for improved stochastic methods to assess spatiotemporal fluctuation effects.     

Sintering of aluminium nitride: Particle size dependence of sintering kinetics

The effect of particle size (0.78 4.4 m) on the sintering kinetics of AIN powder was investigated in the temperature range from 1600 to 2000° C and the results were analysed on the basis of vacancy diffusion models. The mechanisms of sintering are discussed.Fractional shrinkage is proportional to the nth power of soaking time with n = 0.20 for 4.4 m and 1.5 m powders and 0.33 for 0.78 m powder. For the 0.78 m powder at 1900° C, however, n decreases gradually as grain growth proceeds. The experimental activation energy for sintering is between 92 kcal/mole for 4.4 m and 129 kcal/mole for 0.78 m powder. Unlike this activated energy, the rate of sintering and the diffusion constant calculated from it increase drastically with decrease of particle size; the derived diffusion constant for 1.5 m powder is 10¹ to 10² times larger than that of 4.4 m powder, and for 0.78 m powder the diffusion constant is estimated to be still higher.The particle-size dependence of parameter n and the diffusion constant seems to be caused by a variation in predominant diffusion mechanisms; namely, bulk diffusion in coarse powder and surface or grain-boundary diffusion in fine powder.