Radar cross section measurements using near-field radar imaging

In this paper a technique to obtain the far-field scattering signature of bodies, using near-field measurements, is proposed. The method is based on near-field radar imaging techniques. The backscattered field data are collected in a controlled environment over a large frequency band and aspect angle using a near-field antenna. A focused radar image of the body is generated. Probe correction to compensate for the radiation pattern of the interrogating antenna is conducted during the two-dimensional imaging of the object. The contribution from each scattering center to the total backscattered far-field is obtained from the radar image. The proposed technique is applied to obtain the far-field radar cross section (RCS) for an object from near-field measurements conducted in an anechoic chamber at the University of Pretoria, South Africa     

Incorporating higher-order modal measurements in tilt estimation: natural and laser guide star applications

Tilt compensation performance is generally suboptimal when phase measurements from natural or laser guide stars are used as the conjugate phase in an adaptive optics system. Optimal compensation is obtained when the conjugate-phase coefficients are estimated from beacon measurements, given knowledge of the correlation between the on-axis object phase and the beacon measurements. We apply optimal compensation theory to tilt correction for the case of an off-axis beacon. Because off-axis higher-order modes are correlated with the on-axis tilt components, a performance gain can be realized when the tilt estimator includes higher-order modal measurements. For natural guide star compensation, it is shown that equivalent tilt compensation can be achieved at beacon offsets that are three times larger when higher-order modes through Zernike 15 are used in the tilt estimator. For a laser guide star, although tilt information cannot be measured directly because of beam reciprocity, off-axis higher-order modal measurements can be used to estimate tilt components, leading to a maximum Strehl ratio of approximately 0.3 for the relative aperture diameter D/r(0) = 4 and the relative turbulence outer scale L(0)/D = 10.     

Multispectral method for skin imaging: development and validation

A visible wide field multispectral system for comprehensive imaging of skin chromophores and blood vessels has been implemented, and an inhomogeneous Monte Carlo model of photon migration with randomly distributed blood vessels embedded in dermis has been developed. Predetermined nonlinear transforms have been obtained to address the nonlinear interdependent relationship among diffusive reflectance spectra, skin physiology properties, and geometry. For validation, in addition to real skin experiments and phantoms experiments, two alternative methods for blood vessel imaging have been used on the same set of subjects to compensate for the lack of ground truth for skin subsurface imaging.     

Computer simulations of effects of disk tilt and lens tilt on push-pull tracking error signal in an optical disk drive

We quantify the effects of disk tilt and objective lens tilt on the push-pull tracking error signal of an optical disk data storage system. For a grooved disk, such as a recordable compact disk that operates at a laser wavelength of lambda, it is found that disk tilt produces a tracking offset of 0.05lambda per degree of tilt, whereas objective lens tilt produces an offset of 0.012lambda per degree of tilt. The amplitude of the tracking error signal decreases by 2.5% at the disk tilt angle of 0.3 degrees and by 5% at the objective lens tilt of 0.3 degrees . We achieved these simulations with the computer program Diffract, which performs a combination of diffraction and ray-tracing calculations through the entire optical path, from the light source to the detectors.     

Hard X-ray imaging by a spherical compound refractive lens

Hard X-ray imaging by a spherical compound refractive lens is presented. The lens is composed of 123 biconcave microlenses with a size of 200 μm in diameter. Each microlens was formed by the epoxy between two bubbles, which were injected into an epoxy-filled glass capillary. The focal length of the lens is 114 mm at 8.05 keV. The light source was obtained by using a copper anode X-ray tube without a filter. The lens can be achieved a spatial resolution of 5 μm with field of view of about 700 μm, and 1–3 μm resolution may be obtainable by using monochromator and diaphragm.     

Experimental investigation of new concentration measurements using nonlinear dynamics through laser-induced thermal lens oscillation

The laser-induced thermal lens oscillation that is generated in an organic solution by Ar-ion laser irradiation was studied as a nonlinear dynamic system. The different dynamic states depend on three control parameters: laser beam power (P), depth (d) from a surface to a laser beam position, and solvent concentration. The transitions of dynamic states including several complicated states, for example, periodic, double periodic, were investigated by varying the parameters (P, d) for 27%, 30%, and 33% of tri-n-butyl phosphate solution diluted with n-dodecane. It was found that these transitions were strongly dependent on the concentration of the TBP solution. Based on this result, we also propose an application to solvent concentration measurement with a difference of 3%.     

Experimental validation of the MODTRAN 5.3 sea surface radiance model using MIRAMER campaign measurements

Radiometric images taken in mid-wave and long-wave infrared bands are used as a basis for validating a sea surface bidirectional reflectance distribution function (BRDF) being implemented into MODTRAN 5 (Berk et al. [Proc. SPIE5806, 662 (2005)]). The images were obtained during the MIRAMER campaign that took place in May 2008 in the Mediterranean Sea near Toulon, France. When atmosphere radiances are matched at the horizon to remove possible calibration offsets, the implementation of the BRDF in MODTRAN produces good sea surface radiance agreement, usually within 2% and at worst 4% from off-glint azimuthally averaged measurements. Simulations also compare quite favorably to glint measurements. The observed sea radiance deviations between model and measurements are not systematic, and are well within expected experimental uncertainties. This is largely attributed to proper radiative coupling between the surface and the atmosphere implemented using the DISORT multiple scattering algorithm.     

Beam profile measurements with a phosphor imaging plate

Phosphor imaging plates, which are broadly used in biological research, may have applications in nuclear physics as imaging devices. We describe here a method for beam profile measurements of light-particle beams using these imaging plates.     

Wide-viewing-angle integral three-dimensional imaging system by curving a screen and a lens array

A wide-viewing-angle integral three-dimensional imaging system made by curving a screen and a lens array is described. A flexible screen and a curved lens array are incorporated into an integral imaging system in place of a conventional flat display panel and a flat lens array. One can effectively eliminate flipped images by adopting barriers. As a result, the implemented system permits the limitation of viewing angle to be overcome and the viewing angle to be expanded remarkably. Using the proposed method, we were able to achieve a viewing angle of 33 degrees (one side) for real integral imaging and 40 degrees (one side) for virtual integral imaging, which is four times wider than that of the currently used conventional techniques. The principle of the implemented system is explained, and some experimental results are presented.     

Linking mass spectrometric imaging and traditional peptidomics: a validation in the obese mouse model

MALDI mass spectrometry imaging (MSI) is a promising technique in the field of molecular (immuno)histology but is confronted with the problematic large-scale identification of peptides from thin tissue sections. In this study we present a workflow that significantly increased the number of identified peptides in a given MALDI-MSI data set and we evaluated its power concerning relative peptide quantifications. Fourier transform mass spectrometry (FTMS) profiling on matrix-coated thin tissue sections allowed us to align spectra of different MS sources, matching identical peaks in the process, thus linking MSI data to tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) on one hand and semiquantitative liquid chromatography (LC)/MS data on the other. Bonanza clustering was applied in order to group MS/MS spectra of structurally related peptides, making it possible to infer the identity of MSI-detected compounds based on identified members within the same cluster, effectively increasing the number of identifications in a single MSI data set. Out of 136 detected peptides with MALDI-MSI, we were able to identify 46 peptides. For 31 of these, a LC/quadrupole time-of-flight (QTOF) counterpart was detected, and we observed similar obese (ob/ob) to wild-type (wt) peak intensity ratios for 18 peptides. This workflow significantly increased the number of identifications of peptide masses detected with MALDI-MSI and evaluated the power of this imaging method for relative quantification of peptide levels between experimental conditions.     

Calculation and correction of subaperture tilt aberration modes in synthesis imaging

We extend the redundant spacings calibration method for finding piston coefficients affecting the elements of a dilute aperture array so that tilt phase coefficients can also be calculated and corrected without the need for assumptions about the object. The tilt coefficient retrieval method is successfully demonstrated in simulation, and the specifics of correction by image sharpness are discussed, showing that in dilute aperture systems this method does not necessarily produce a unique image.     

Temperature measurements using a birefringent sensor

An optical method for temperature measurements is proposed based on the use of an autocollimation polarimeter and a sensitive birefringent plate. The basic expressions that describe the operation of the system are presented. It is shown that with the use of a quartz plate 1.5 mm thick the device makes it possible to determine values of temperature in the region of –80 to +150°C.Academic Scientific Complex A. V. Luikov Institute of Heat and Mass Transfer of the Academy of Sciences of Belarus, Minsk, Belarus. Translated from Inzhenerno-Fizicheskii Zhurnal, Vol. 67, Nos. 5–6, pp. 475–482, November–December, 1994.     

Incoherent pattern detection using a liquid-crystal active lens

Incoherent pattern detection by a simple imaging system using a liquid-crystal active lens is proposed. The imaging system works as a spatial filtering system with a rewritable phase-only filter. We found that, in the incoherent matched filtering system, a conventional phase-only filter has a higher optical efficiency but a lower pattern discrimination than a complex filter. To improve the pattern discrimination ability, we optimized the phase-only filter by using simulated annealing and a genetic algorithm. We designed phase-only filters that have discrimination ability comparable with that in a complex filter. The performance of optimized phase-only filters is experimentally demonstrated.     

High-density optical recording using a solid immersion lens

A solid immersion lens attached to a conventional objective increases the effective numerical aperture (NA(eff)) of an optical pickup and yields an areal recording density proportional to (NA(eff))(2). One version of this device, with an effective (NA(eff)) of 1.7, should be capable of very high density storage but would probably need a sealed system. Another simple configuration enables the use of this method for optical data storage in an unsealed environment and extends the spatial cutoff frequency 1.5 times. Experiments with these devices are compared with the full vector field theory of this type of imaging system.     

X-ray imaging: a generalized approach using phase-space tomography

We discuss the role of coherence in x-ray imaging and consider how phase-space tomography can be used to extract information about partial coherence. We describe the application of phase-space tomography to x-ray imaging and recover the spatial coherence properties of a one-dimensional soft (1.5 keV) x-ray beam from a synchrotron undulator source. We present phase-space information from a Young's experiment and observe negative regions in the quasi-probability distribution. We show that, given knowledge of the coherence of the beam, we can use partially coherent diffraction data to recover fully coherent information, and we present some simple experimental demonstrations of this capability.