Optical scanning system for quality control of GEM-foils

An optical scanning system was commissioned and further developed in the Detector Laboratory of Helsinki Institute of Physics and University of Helsinki. It was designed to automatically scan, perform on-line analysis and to classify the overall quality of GEM-foils especially of the GEM-TPC detectors for Super-FRS at FAIR. The optical scanning system consists of precision positioning table, lighting, optics and operating system with analysis software. It has active scanning area of 95×95 cm² and it can study this area with the minimum resolution of 128 lp/mm. Performance of the system and first results from the GEM-foil uniformity and quality analysis are presented.     

Optical scanning extrinsic Fabry-Perot interferometer for absolute microdisplacement measurement

We report an optical-scanning, dual-fiber, extrinsic Fabry-Perot interferometer system for absolute measurement of microdisplacement. The system involves two air-gapped Fabry-Perot cavities, formed by fiber end faces, functioning as sensing and reference elements. Taking the scanning wavelength as an interconverter to compare the gap length of the sensing head with the reference-cavity length yields the absolute measurement of the sensing-cavity length. The measurement is independent of the wavelength-scanning accuracy, and the reference-cavity length can be self-calibrated simply by one's changing the sensing-head length by an accurate value.     

Self-powered system with wireless data transmission

We demonstrate the first self-powered system driven by a nanogenerator (NG) that works wirelessly and independently for long-distance data transmission. The NG was made of a free cantilever beam that consisted of a five-layer structure: a flexible polymer substrate, ZnO nanowire textured films on its top and bottom surfaces, and electrodes on the surfaces. When it was strained to 0.12% at a strain rate of 3.56% S(-1), the measured output voltage reached 10 V, and the output current exceeded 0.6 μA (corresponding power density 10 mW/cm(3)). A system was built up by integrating a NG, rectification circuit, capacitor for energy storage, sensor, and RF data transmitter. Wireless signals sent out by the system were detected by a commercial radio at a distance of 5-10 m. This study proves the feasibility of using ZnO nanowire NGs for building self-powered systems, and its potential application in wireless biosensing, environmental/infrastructure monitoring, sensor networks, personal electronics, and even national security.     

Optical slip ring for off-axis high-bit-rate data transmission

A 0.9-m diam off-axis optical slip ring for a 140-Mbit/s data transmission between the fixed and rotating parts of a continuously rotating device has been made. A grazing incidence multiple reflection technique has been used in this data link for guiding the light around the circumference of the slip ring. The optical properties are discussed as well as a special arrangement for the compensation of pulse delay time effects.     

Review: transmission scanning electron microscopy

The availability of scanning attachments for transmission microscopes and the advent of very high resolution scanning microscopes now enables materials to be studied in both the back scattered and transmission scanning modes. It is the purpose of this review to present in outline the subject of transmission scanning microscopy, the advocated advantages in comparison with conventional transmission microscopy and some of the achieved and potential applications.     

Recent developments in indoor optical wireless [Optical wireless communications]

An overview of the developments in optical wireless systems viewed from the traditional communications viewpoint of transmitter, channel and receiver is presented. The trends in modulation formats that match information to the optical wireless channel are considered. This is followed by the discussion of recent transmitter and receiver innovations, particularly the utilisation of diversity transceivers. As a preliminary to the following treatment, the nature and modelling of the optical wireless channel are introduced, with particular emphasis on its unique features in terms of transmitted power constraints and non-negativity. From the examination of modulation formats, on-off-keying remains the format of choice for basic binary transmission, whereas pulse-position modulation and its derivatives are preferred for more sophisticated requirements. The recent introduction of techniques from radio systems employing subcarriers is seen to be the most promising development in modulation techniques at present. In receiver technology, quasi-diffuse systems employing multispot diffusion and angular diversity are significant developments. They offer lower path loss and less multipath dispersion, at a lower transmission power compared to 'conventional' wide-angle diffuse systems, while providing a high level of user mobility compared to line-of-sight transmission. These developments are helping optical wireless systems to fulfil their promise by adopting a philosophy inspired by the radio domain to accommodate operation within a hostile channel.     

An adaptive transmission mechanism for parallel applications in wireless environments

Abstract

Parallel computing is a common technique for reducing execution time in distributed systems. An application is divided into several subtasks that can be executed simultaneously on a set of computers. Numerous parallel computing protocols and experiments have been measured on wired network environments, but little attention has been devoted to wireless networks. Wireless environments own characteristics that are unusual in wired networks, such as limited bandwidth, frequent disconnection, low power, and mobility. Due to the unique characteristics, the performance of parallel computing in wireless networks is degraded. This paper implements an adaptive transmission mechanism to cope with network contention and frequent disconnection. Experimental results show that the mechanism reduced total execution time effectively.     

一种基于协同MIMO的无线传感器网络传输方案

针对无线传感器网络中能量有限和能耗不均衡问题,提出了一种基于协同多输入多输出(MIMO)的无线传感器网络传输方案,此方案利用有限比特的反馈信息实时调整簇头节点(CH)和协同簇头节点(CCHs)的发射功率并动态地更新协同簇头节点,减少协同簇头节点的能耗.在给定误比特率条件下,为使网络总能耗最小,对传输速率和协同簇头节点数进行联合优化,给出了均衡簇内节点能耗的算法.理论分析和仿真结果表明,此方案既能有效降低网络的总能耗,又能均衡网络中节点的能耗.     

Optical double-image cryptography based on diffractive imaging with a laterally-translated phase grating

In this paper, we propose a method using structured-illumination-based diffractive imaging with a laterally-translated phase grating for optical double-image cryptography. An optical cryptosystem is designed, and multiple random phase-only masks are placed in the optical path. When a phase grating is laterally translated just before the plaintexts, several diffraction intensity patterns (i.e., ciphertexts) can be correspondingly obtained. During image decryption, an iterative retrieval algorithm is developed to extract plaintexts from the ciphertexts. In addition, security and advantages of the proposed method are analyzed. Feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed method are demonstrated by numerical simulation results.     

Design of a robust and secure digital signature scheme for image authentication over wireless channels

The introduction of 3G wireless communication systems, together with the invasive distribution of digital images and the growing concern on their originality triggers an emergent need of authenticating images received by unreliable channels, such as public Internet and wireless networks. To meet this need, a content-based image authentication scheme that is suitable for an insecure network and robust to transmission errors is proposed. The proposed scheme exploits the scalability of a structural digital signature in order to achieve a good trade off between security and image transfer for networked image applications. In this scheme, multi-scale features are used to make digital signatures robust to image degradations and keydependent parametric wavelet filters are employed to improve the security against forgery attacks. This scheme is also able to distinguish tampering areas in the attacked image. Experimental results show the robustness and validity of the proposed scheme.     

Traffic scheduling for multimedia transmission over IEEE 802.11e wireless LAN

As the demand for broadband multimedia wireless is increasing, improving the quality of service (QoS) of the widely deployed IEEE 802.11 wireless LAN has become crucial. In order to attain the QoS required by a wide range of applications, the IEEE 802.11 working group has denned a new standard - the IEEE 802.lie. However, very limited work has been performed to address the QoS transmission problem of real-time video over IEEE 802.11e. A novel measurement-based dynamic transmission opportunity (MBDTXOP) scheme is proposed, which adaptively allocates resources to a variable bit rate (VBR) video on the basis of the estimation of future traffic demand to support efficient QoS transmission of VBR video. The novelty of the proposed scheme, when compared with existing methods, lies in estimating the required network resources by exploiting the characteristics of digital video; this capability enables the MBDTXOP scheme to substantially increase network utilisation while preserving the required QoS for the transmission of VBR video. Simulations comparing the proposed scheme with other mechanisms clearly demonstrate the outstanding performance of the former.     

Metallurgical applications of scanning transmission electron microscopy

It is shown that scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) has followed two main lines of development, the pure STEM based upon a field emission electron source in which the emphasis is given to high resolution, and a combined system in which STEM is an attachment to a conventional transmission microscope (TEM + STEM). When used in combination with an energy dispersive X-ray spectrometer, the combined TEM + STEM system is shown to be extremely versatile and possibly the more useful for the applied metallurgist. The high vacuum requirements of pure STEM, however, make this system suitable to be used in conjunction with an Auger spectrometer. Examples of the various microanalysis facilities of STEM are given in the article, including micro-diffraction, rocking-beam channelling patterns, qualitative and quantitative X-ray spectroscopy analysis, particle analysis and in situ experimentation. The controversial subject of whether thicker specimens can be studied in STEM compared with conventional TEM is also discussed.     

Comparison of transmission and scanning electron fractography

The transmission electron microscope, with suitable replication techniques, was used extensively during the 1950s and 1960s to study the surfaces of metal fractures, both to understand the mechanism of fracture and for practical failure analysis. When the scanning electron microscope was introduced in the 1960s, these studies were greatly simplified by the lack of necessity for replication. The appearance of the fracture surfaces, however, was different in some cases from the appearance the fractographer was accustomed to seeing from his or her negative replica. This work was done to help translate from one technique to another.     

Plasmonic nearfield scanning probe with high transmission

Nearfield scanning optical microscopy (NSOM) offers a practical means of optical imaging, optical sensing, and nanolithography at a resolution below the diffraction limit of the light. However, its applications are limited due to the strong attenuation of the light transmitted through the subwavelength aperture. To solve this problem, we report the development of plasmonic nearfield scanning optical microscope with an efficient nearfield focusing. By exciting surface plasmons, plasmonic NSOM probes are capable of confining light into a 100 nm spot. We show by nearfield lithography experiments that the intensity at the near field is at least one order stronger than the intensity obtained from the conventional NSOM probes under the same illumination condition. Such a high efficiency can enable plasmonic NSOM as a practical tool for nearfield lithography, data storage, cellular visualization, and many other applications requiring efficient transmission with high resolution.     

Standardless atom counting in scanning transmission electron microscopy

We demonstrate that high-angle annular dark-field imaging in scanning transmission electron microscopy allows for quantification of the number and location of all atoms in a three-dimensional, crystalline, arbitrarily shaped specimen without the need for a calibration standard. We show that the method also provides for an approach to directly measure the finite effective source size of a scanning transmission electron microscope.     

Optical transmission of hollow glass photonic-crystal fibers

A photonic-crystal fiber (PCF) with a forbidden photon band (FPB) in the visible spectral range has been created for the first time. The PCF shell comprises concentric layers of hollow circular air-filled channels with variable diameters. The optical transmission of the proposed PCF and the influence of the geometric parameters on the FPB width and position in the visible spectral range have been studied. By varying the PCF structure and geometry, it is possible to change the FPB characteristics, which offers broad possibilities of output light control.     

Hybridized triboelectric-electromagnetic nanogenerators and solar cell for energy harvesting and wireless power transmission

Energy harvesting and power transmission is a significant challenge for the self-powered technologies towards mobile electronic devices.Here,we propose a hybrid...     

基于混合拓扑的机械无线传感器网络多信道数据传输方法

针对机械振动无线传感器网络节点因信道带宽窄导致网络传输速率过低,在大量原始数据传输需求下实时性较差的问题,提出一种基于簇树星型混合拓扑的多信道数据传输方法。对各传感器网络节点进行树间通信干扰最小化信道分配,避免邻频干扰影响树间并行通信,在数据同步采集结束后,各节点以分配信道组建簇树星型混合拓扑网络进行数据传输;采用树间通信握手机制和树间通信优先级抢占机制解决簇树星型混合拓扑带来的树间互盲问题;将各采集节点短地址作为调度信息载入信标进行广播,各采集节点根据调度信息决定进行数据传输或者休眠,实现树内通信能耗最小化时序调度。将提出的多信道数据传输方法与载波侦听多路访问/冲突避免机制进行对比,实验结果表明该方法能有效提高机械振动无线传感器网络数据传输速率。