Electro-optic high-resolution Fabry-Perot spectrometer

A single-crystal lithium niobate dtalon suitable for high-spectral-resolution studies has been operated successfully. This étalon with a 5-cm clear diameter and a gap equivalent to 2 cm in air has been found to have very linear response in wave number as a function of voltage. The combined advantages of adjustment-free operation, linearity in operation, and high luminosity in a small size (as a result of the μ(2) gain in the instrumental throughput caused by the large index of refraction of the lithium niobate substrate) make for a rugged instrument that is ideal for long-term unattended field operation.     

Multiple-fluorophore-specie detection with a tapered Fabry-Perot fluorescence spectrometer

A novel fluorescence spectrometer and method for the simultaneous detection of multiple-fluorophore species in a no-moving-parts, instantaneous manner is described. In the reported embodiment of the instrument, a tapered Fabry-Perot filter is used to spatially encode the fluorescence spectrum from a multiple-dye-containing test sample. Using a pseudoinverse reconstruction algorithm, we spectrally decode the particle concentration for each dye specie in the test sample. Experimental results are reported along with a theoretical treatment of the method.     

Control of resonant wavelength from organic light-emitting materials by use of a Fabry-Perot microcavity structure

We report the fabrication of Fabry-Perot microcavity structures with the organic light-emitting material tris-(8-hydroxyquinoline) aluminum (Alq3) and derive their optical properties by measuring their photoluminescence (PL) and absorption. Silver and a TiO2-SiO2 multilayer were used as metal and dielectric reflectors, respectively, in a Fabry-Perot microcavity structure. Three types of microcavity were prepared: type A consisted of [air[Ag[Alq3]Ag]glass]; type B, of [air[dielectric[Alq3]dielectric]glass]; and type C, of [air[Ag[Alq2]dielectric]glass]. A bare Alq3 film of [air[Alq3]glass] had its PL peak near 514 nm, and its full width at half-maximum (FWHM) was 80 nm. The broad FWHM of a bare Alq3 film was reduced to 15-27.5, 7-10.5, and 16-16.6 nm for microcavity types A, B, and C, respectively. Also, we could control the PL peak of the microcavity structure by changing the spacer thickness, the amount of phase change on reflection, and the angle of incidence.     

Temporal sensitivity of the wavelength calibration of a photodiode array spectrometer

Subtle differences in the relationship between wavelength and pixel on photodiode array spectrometers contribute to difficulties in transferring calibrations from one instrument to another and may even introduce errors on a single instrument over time. To quantify the level of drift that might be expected in photodiode instruments, we calibrated the wavelength scale of two Zeiss MMS-1 photodiode spectrometers weekly over a 12-month period. We found no evidence of drift in the wavelength calibration. The wavelength calibration was consistent within 0.03 nm over at least 150 days and better than 0.1 nm over the year. To provide context for the wavelength accuracy, we applied small perturbations to wavelength in two partial least squares (PLS) models. We found that wavelength perturbations introduced a linear increase in bias of about 7%/nm (for example, a 1-nm perturbation shifted fruit dry matter prediction from 14% to 21%) in a kiwifruit dry-matter model and about 3.6 °C/nm in an Intralipid temperature model. By including small wavelength perturbations in the training sets, we were able to reduce this error to less than 1.7%/nm and 0.2 °C/nm in the dry-matter and temperature models, respectively. These results suggest that the wavelength scale of photodiode instruments can be very stable. However, in light of the high sensitivity of the PLS models we examined, we recommend testing and, where possible, mitigating the sensitivity of PLS models to small wavelength shifts.     

Phase compensation of a separation scanned, all-sky imaging Fabry-Perot spectrometer for auroral studies

We describe a new all-sky imaging spectrometer using a separation scanned Fabry-Perot étalon. It is intended for ground-based mapping of upper atmospheric wind and temperature fields in the auroral zone. Its major advantage is that recorded spectra are not distorted by spatial and temporal brightness fluctuations in the aurora. We present a discussion of previous approaches to field widening a Fabry-Perot spectrometer, then describe the principles underlying our method. This enables comparisons with the throughput and the response to brightness fluctuations provided by previous instruments. We also describe our instrument's optical layout, its calibration, and data analysis.     

Analytical description of a Fabry-Perot spectrometer. 8: Optimum operation with equidistant equal-noise sampling

The optimum parameters of operation for a Fabry-Perot spectrometer used in the equidistant equal-noise sampling method have been calculated. The results, expressed in terms of normalized halfwidths at half-height, are: etalon (a*) = 0.078 (0.095), linewidth (dg*) = 0.13 (0.19), and aperture (f*) = 0.10 (0.19) for temperature (wind) determinations. The etalon widths correspond to rather low reflectivities, namely, 0.62 and 0.56. The critical number of samples, required for unambiguous determinations of a measured profile, are found to be equal to 8 and 12. The usefulness of the equal-noise method in absorption measurements is discussed.     

Index of refraction determination in the near-mm wavelength range using a mesh Fabry-Perot resonant cavity

A plane-parallel mesh Fabry-Perot resonant cavity has been used to determine the indices of refraction of a number of low-loss materials at 245.351 GHz using a C13H3F far-IR laser. The necessary apparatus is readily available in many far-IR laser laboratories and is readily extendable to other laser and millimeter-wave source frequencies. The values were compared to the measurements of other researchers at neighboring frequencies as available.     

Accurate determination of solid and liquid dispersions from spectra channeled with the Fabry-Perot interferometer

The band spacing of the fringes of equal chromatic order of a thin Fabry-Perot interferometer is compared when this interferometer contains air, a solid, or a liquid. This comparison enables the dispersion of the group velocity of light in these media to be known accurately to 2.4 parts in one thousand. The Sellmeier dispersion function is used to deduce the refractive indices with the same degree of accuracy. The order-transformation method is used to find the exact order values from the roughly known optical thickness. The exact order values for air and the sample are used to find the refractive index accurately to approximately 3 x 10(-5). A least-squares fitting of the accurate experimental data to the Sellmeier dispersion function enables the coefficients of the latter to be more precisely defined for solids such as glass and mica and for liquids such as glycerin and distilled water. The atomic parameters such as the density of states and the absorption wavelengths in the ultraviolet region of the spectrum for the given samples are deduced from the more precisely found Sellmeier coefficients.     

Gain measurements of Fabry-Perot InP/InGaAsP lasers using an ultrahigh-resolution spectrometer

Measurements of the optical gain in a semiconductor laser using a 20 MHz resolution optical spectrum analyzer are presented for what is believed to be the first time. The high resolution allows for accurate gain measurements close to the lasing threshold. This is demonstrated by gain measurements on a bulk InGaAsP 1.5 microm Fabry-Perot laser. Combined with direct measurement of transparency carrier density values, parameters were determined for characterizing the gain at a range of wavelengths and temperatures. The necessity of the use of a logarithmic gain model is shown.     

Design of a fast compton spectrometer for measuring megavoltage bremsstrahlung spectra

Measurements of bremsstrahlung X-ray spectra produced by high energy electron linacs (such as those found in many cancer therapy centers) pose special problems. These machines typically operate at very low duty factors, have very high photon fluences, and produce X-rays of energy too high to be measured accurately with a single detector. A compton pair spectrometer utilizing fast plastic scintillators and nanosecond timing techniques suitable for these measurements is described.     

Use of a Fabry-Perot interferometer to isolate pure rotational Raman spectra of diatomic molecules

We propose to use a Fabry-Perot interferometer (FPI) as a comb frequency filter to isolate pure rotational Raman spectra (PRRS) of nitrogen molecules. In making the FPI's free spectral range equal to the spectral spacing between the lines of nitrogen PRRS, which are practically equidistant, one obtains a device with a comb transmission function with the same period. However, to match the FPI transmission comb completely with the comb of nitrogen PRRS lines one should tune the wavelength of the radiation used to excite the PRRS of nitrogen exactly to the position of any minimum in the FPI transmission comb. Thus to achieve this task for the case of nitrogen PRRS one must take the FPI's free spectral range Dnu(f)= 4B(N(2)) and the wavelength of the exciting radiation such that (1/lambda(exc)) = 4B(N(2))(k + 1/2), where B(N(2)) is the rotational constant of the nitrogen molecule and k is an arbitrary integer number. In this case all (odd and even) pure rotational Raman lines of nitrogen will pass through the FPI while the line of exciting radiation is being suppressed. Additionally, a FPI cuts out the spectrally continuous sky background light from the spectral gaps between the PRRS lines.     

Deriving a context

A framework for focussig discussion is built upon past events and present concerns. What happened about design thinking in the past is partly mythical and partly obtained from writings of the time and recent accounts by participants. Present concerns are largely about ‘wholeness’, the nature of design, and how best to teach it. Models form a principal part of design problem-solving. The application of computers and better use of human response offer directions for improvement of design activity. Each can be facilitated through richer models of designing. Are such available and are there any problems which arise? Can computers and human response be fruitfully coupled?     

Determination of ocean wave spectra from images of backscattered incoherent light

The application of imaging of sea surfaces has been investigated with respect to determination of sea wave spectra. Incoherent light is projected toward the sea surface, and the backscattered light is imaged with a camera. The primary scattering mechanism is assumed to be from particles suspended in the sea, so the backscattered intensity is determined primarily by the Fresnel coefficients. The ratio of the images detected at two orthogonal polarizations contains the desired information on the local slope of the sea surface, pixel by pixel, in one dimension. By integration, one can obtain the surface-height profile.