Measurement of the optical absorption coefficient of a liquid by use of a time-resolved photoacoustic technique

A time-resolved photoacoustic technique has been applied to the study of dissolved and dispersed absorbers in aqueous systems. The temporal pressure profiles generated from colloidal graphite and glucose solutions were measured, and it was found that the amplitude of the photoacoustic signal of both the glucose and the colloidal graphite solutions increase linearly with concentration and that acoustic signal time delay yields the acoustic velocity. The logarithm of the photoacoustic signal amplitude changes linearly with the time delay, with a slope that is proportional to the product of the acoustic velocity and the optical absorption that can thus be determined.     

脂肪乳液中物质浓度的光学低相干干涉测量

为了实现对散射介质的非接触测量,有效地提高灵敏度,提出了光学低相干干涉测量方法.采用光纤型迈克尔逊干涉结构,增加了扫描延迟线和光学外差探测电路,实现了具有光程分辨能力的干涉测量.以脂肪乳剂Intralipid为样本,通过稀释和加入染色剂的方法改变其散射和吸收特性.通过对溶液内反射信号的干涉测量和曲线拟合,研究了光程相关的干涉光信号与物质浓度的依赖关系.实验对象为散射和吸收特性相对稳定的脂肪乳剂和印度墨水混合物,其中Intralipid乳剂浓度在4%~16%之间,印度墨水浓度在0~1%之间.拟合方法引用了广义惠更斯菲涅耳(EHF)模型的解析表达式,拟合相关系数在0.98以上.实验结果与积分球测量结果进行了比较,初步验证了理论方法的可行性.     

An electro-optic modulated heterodyne interferometer for measuring low glucose concentration

An electro-optic modulated heterodyne interferometer using the phase-lock technique for measuring the optical rotation angle corresponding to glucose concentration is presented. By inserting a half-wave plate behind the test sample and using the heterodyne interferometric phase-lock technique, it demonstrates a high sensitivity and is capable of measuring low glucose concentration. The validity of the proposed design is demonstrated by the measurements of rotation angles in a half-wave plate sample and the glucose sample, respectively. A correlation coefficient value of 0.999993 indicates a high linear response between the reference rotation angle and the measured rotation angle in a half-wave plate. Moreover, a standard deviation in rotation angle level of 5.9^○ × 10^?4 has been obtained for glucose solutions with concentrations ranging from 0 to 1.2 g dl^?1, with a correlation coefficient value of 0.99989 between the measured rotation angle and the glucose concentration. A standard deviation of rotation angle around 1.5^○ × 10^?4 is achieved according to the repeatability experiments, and the relative error of rotation angle corresponding to the lowest measurable concentration of 0.01 g dl^?1 has been determined to be 5.88%.     

空间相干光通信外差效率及天线像差的影响

空间相干光通信中接收天线像差会使光外差效率下降.对本振光为高斯分布,信号光为爱里斑分布的光外差效率进行了研究,给出了无像差时外差效率的解析表达式.当焦平面上爱里斑半径与本振高斯光束光腰半径之比为1.71时,有最大外差效率81.45%.然后以本振光为理想的高斯光束,信号光受像差的影响,研究了倾斜、离焦、球差、彗差、像散等像差引起的光外差效率损失,给出了存在像差时外差效率的一维积分表达式.研究表明即使在采用离焦校正后,一个波长的球差引起的附加外差效率损失仍可达0.9 dB.因此对于爱里斑位于光轴上的接收天线,在设计时需仔细处理球差的影响.     

Fluid velocity measurements in a microchannel performed with two new optical heterodyne microscopes

Two laser Doppler microscopes (LDMs) based on an optical heterodyne interferometer have been developed for measuring fluid velocity in a microchannel. One of LDMs receives light from a Zeeman laser, and one easily obtains the standard heterodyne signal because a polarizer is set in front of a photomultiplier tube. The other LDM, with light from a He-Ne laser, employs a diffractive grating as a frequency shifter that is modulated in a sinusoidal movement by a piezoelectric transducer stack. By this modulation the nonstandard heterodyne signal is further processed by a new synthetic heterodyne algorithm. Finally, the phase shift related to the fluid velocity in both LDMs is demodulated by digital postprocessing in fast-Fourier-transform, bandpass filtering, inverse-fast-Fourier-transform, and arctangent algorithms.     

Phase-sensitive optical low-coherence reflectometry for the detection of analyte concentrations

Optical techniques may potentially be used for noninvasive glucose sensing. We investigated the application of phase-sensitive optical low-coherence reflectometry (PS-OLCR) to the measurement of analyte concentrations. The dependence of the PS-OLCR signal on the concentration of various analytes, including aqueous solutions of glucose, calcium chloride, magnesium chloride, sodium chloride, potassium chloride, potassium bicarbonate, urea, bovine serum albumin, and bovine globulin, were determined in clear and turbid media. Obtained results demonstrated (1) a high degree of sensitivity and accuracy of the phase measurements of analyte concentrations with PS-OLCR; (2) a concentration-dependent change in the phase-shift for glucose that is significantly greater than that of other analytes sampled over the same physiological range; and (3) a high submillimolar sensitivity of PS-OLCR for the measurement of glucose concentration. Further exploration of the application of PS-OLCR to the noninvasive, sensitive, and specific monitoring of glucose concentration seems warranted.     

Electro-optic heterodyne interferometer

We propose a new configuration for using a triangle-wave signal to drive the electro-optic modulator in an electro-optic heterodyne interferometer system. The new configuration is adapted to measure the phase retardation of a wave plate and the optical rotation angle of a chiral medium. By adding optic elements, the second-harmonic component amplitude of the interferometer photodetector output signal became proportional to the phase retardation or optical rotation angle of the samples being tested.     

Optical scanning cryptography for secure wireless transmission

We propose a method for secure wireless transmission of encrypted information. By use of an encryption key, an image or document is optically encrypted by optical heterodyne scanning and hence encryption is performed on the fly. We call this technique optical scanning cryptography. The output of the heterodyne encrypted signal is at radio frequency and can be directly sent through an antenna to a secure site for digital storage to be prepared for decryption. In the secure site, an identical optical scanning system to that used for encryption is used, together with a decryption key, to generate an electrical signal. The electrical signal is then processed and sent to a computer to be used for decryption. Utilizing the stored information received from the encryption stage and the electrical information from the secure site, a digital decryption unit performs a decryption algorithm. If the encryption key and the decryption key are matched, the decryption unit will decrypt the image or document faithfully. The overall cryptosystem can perform the incoherent optical processing counterpart of the well-known coherent double-random phase-encoding technique. We present computer simulations of the idea.     

Heterodyne quasi-elastic light-scattering instrument for biomedical diagnostics

The heterodyne technique has a number of advantages over the homodyne technique when an accurate characterization of particle-size distribution (PSD) of heterogeneous systems is required. However, there are problems related to acoustic vibrations that make it difficult to take advantage of the heterodyne technique. An instrument developed for quasi-elastic light scattering (QELS) that uses the optical heterodyning principle is described. Vibration-related problems are considerably reduced because of the incorporation of all optical elements into one solid optical block. A real-time correlation analysis of the photocurrent fluctuations is performed by a PC-embedded analog-to-digital converter card with a digital signal processor. Investigation of the PSD in biological fluids for medical diagnostics is presented as a typical application. A diagnostic analysis of the PSD requires a simultaneous processing of a huge number of QELS data. An original statistical algorithm to accomplish this analysis has been developed. Technical specifications of instrumentation for heterodyne QELS measurement are discussed.     

人体血糖无创测量中净信号的提取方法

提出了基于背景光谱构建噪声子空间提取葡萄糖净信号的方法,该方法不受参考浓度误差以及偶然相关因素的影响．对葡萄糖水溶液,以纯水为背景提取的葡萄糖净信号与传统方法的结果非常接近,相关系数达到0．9,且反映了葡萄糖的特征吸收信息．最后,在严格控制的实验条件下,对正常志愿者进行了活体口服葡萄糖耐量实验,并从生理状态不变的光谱构建的噪声子空间提取了血糖浓度变化导致的净信号．结果表明,口服葡萄糖耐量实验的漫反射光谱中的葡萄糖净信号,反映了葡萄糖分子在其一级倍频区域的特征吸收．这证实了左手掌部位采集的近红外光谱中确实携带了血糖浓度变化的信息．     

Heterodyne monitor broadband Brillouin slow light system

It is demonstrated that a heterodyne method can improve the measurement accuracy of the stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS) gain spectrum. A method of adjusting signal light into the SBS gain region is also presented to take the SBS effect into account in comparatively low-standard equipment. The resolution to measure the optical spectrum is increased from about 1 GHz to 10 kHz. The 300 MHz width of light carrier of Gaussian function also results in a spectrum of modulated light of Gaussian function. If the heterodyne monitor is used to adjust signal light into the SBS gain region in our system, a maximum 32 ns delay is achieved in commercial-standard equipment with a Brillouin broadband of 600 MHz.     

High-sensitivity mid-infrared heterodyne spectrometer with a tunable diode laser as a local oscillator

A new mid-IR heterodyne spectrometer, which is intended to be applied for atmospheric and astrophysical studies, is presented. The spectrometer uses a frequency-stabilized tunable diode laser as a local oscillator. Owing to the low output power of available single-mode diode lasers, a newly developed confocal-ring resonator, the diplexer, is used to superimpose the source signal efficiently with that of the local oscillator. Additionally, the diplexer serves as an optical filter that establishes controlled optical feedback between the laser diode and the detector, which allows stable laser operation with linewidths of the order of 1 MHz. The heterodyne signal from the HgCdTe detector is analyzed by means of a 1.4-GHz acousto-optical spectrometer. With this setup we find system temperatures as low as 4400 K (double sideband), that is, approximately a factor of 6 of the quantum limit.     

Photon-limited synthetic-aperture imaging for planet surface studies

The carrier-to-noise ratio that results from phase-sensitive heterodyne detection in a photon-limited synthetic-aperture ladar (SAL) is developed, propagated through synthetic-aperture signal processing, and combined with speckle to give the signal-to-noise ratio of the resultant image. Carrier- and signal-to-noise ratios are defined in such a way as to be familiar to the optical imaging community. Design equations are presented to show that a 10-microm SAL in orbit around Mars can give centimeter-class resolution with reasonable laser power. SAL is harder to implement in the short-wave infrared and is probably not practical at visible wavelengths unless many separate images can be averaged. Some tutorial information on phase-sensitive heterodyne detection and on synthetic-aperture signal processing and image formation is provided.     

Ophthalmic delivery of ciprofloxacin hydrochloride from different polymer formulations: in vitro and in vivo studies

Reservoir-type ocular inserts were fabricated using sodium alginate containing ciprofloxacin hydrochloride as the core (drug reservoir) that was sandwiched between the Eudragit and/or polyvinylacetate films. Ocular inserts were packaged in aluminium foil and sterilized by gamma radiation. These were tested for sterility as per British Pharmacopoeia (BP). Ocular inserts were evaluated for in vitro release rate studies, microbial efficacy, in vivo release studies, efficacy against induced bacterial conjunctivitis in rabbit's eyes, concentration in the aqueous humor, and stability studies as per the International Conference on Harmonization (ICH) guidelines. Ocular inserts passed the test for sterility. They showed zero-order release of the drug in the in vitro and in vivo release studies over a period of 120 hr. The drug was found to be active against selected microorganisms as was proved by microbial efficacy studies. A high correlation coefficient was found between in vitro and in vivo release rate studies. Better improvement was observed in artificially induced bacterial conjunctivitis in rabbit's eyes, compared with marketed eye drops and placebo. Drug concentration in the aqueous humor was found above Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC-90) against selected microorganisms. Shelf-life of the product was found to be more than 2 years.     

Measurement of in-plane displacement by wavelength-modulated heterodyne speckle interferometry

The use of wavelength-modulated light incorporated into an optical-path-difference speckle interferometer is demonstrated as a heterodyne technique for measuring the in-plane displacement of a rough object. The in-plane displacement can be determined from the measured phase variation of the heterodyne speckle signal. We also improved the optical configuration to create a high-contrast interference pattern. Experimental results reveal that the proposed method can detect displacement up to a long range of 220 μm and displacement variation down to the nanometer range. Moreover, the sensitivity can reach up to 0.8°/nm. The performance of the system is discussed.     

Experimental comparison of autodyne and heterodyne laser interferometry using an Nd:YVO₄ microchip laser

Using an Nd:YVO? microchip laser with a relaxation frequency in the megahertz range, we have experimentally compared a heterodyne interferometer based on a Michelson configuration with an autodyne interferometer based on the laser optical feedback imaging (LOFI) method regarding their signal-to-noise ratios. In the heterodyne configuration, the beating between the reference beam and the signal beam is realized outside the laser cavity, while in the autodyne configuration, the wave beating takes place inside the laser cavity, and the relaxation oscillations of the laser intensity then play an important part. For a given laser output power, object under investigation, and detection noise level, we have determined the amplification gain of the LOFI interferometer compared to the heterodyne interferometer. LOFI interferometry is demonstrated to show higher performance than heterodyne interferometry for a wide range of laser powers and detection levels of noise. The experimental results are in good agreement with the theoretical predictions.     

光学法复现水声声压中的过零点解调系统设计

激光外差干涉是新一代水声声压基准的主要技术,光学干涉系统中的信号解调算法直接影响质点振速和声压量值。为准确得到测量结果,详细介绍了如何从多普勒信号中得到水质点振速的过零点解调算法,并建立了一套在线解调系统。该系统利用信号源产生两路相互正交的多普勒信号模拟光电二极管的输出,再经差分放大电路后进入示波器进行数据采集,最后由主机软件在线读取数据并完成质点振速解调。实验结果有效验证了过零点算法和解调系统的正确性和稳定性,所设计的过零点解调系统可直接应用于激光外差干涉法复现水声声压。     

Interferometric optical sensor for measuring glucose concentration

With a specially designed probe, the phase difference between s andp polarization of light reflected under surface-plasmon resonance is measured by use of a common-path heterodyne interferometer. For specific ratios of phase difference to glucose concentration, the glucose concentration can be estimated as a function of the measured phase data. A prototype was set up to demonstrate the feasibility of this sensor, which was experimentally tested in the range 40-500 mg/dl with a small quantity of solution and had a measurement resolution of 1.41 mg/dl at 25 degrees C.     

100-megabit-per-second resonant-cavity phase modulator for coherent optical communications

A resonant-cavity electro-optic phase modulator is designed, implemented, and experimentally verified to operate at a data rate of 100 Mbits/s. The cavity is made up of a highly reflective backmirror and the partially reflective end of an electro-optic crystal. A voltage signal applied to the electro-optic crystal erturbs the effective optical path length inside the cavity and hence its resonance frequency. Because the phase of the reflected optical signal from the cavity is highly dispersive when the cavity is tuned near resonance, a cw incident signal will experience a large phase shift as the cavity is electro-optically tuned on and off resonance. This phase-dispersion effect can be used in the construction of an optical phase modulator capable of modulating the signal at data rate in excess of 100 Mbits/s. The performance of the modulator was measured by first heterodyne detecting the signal to an intermediate frequency andthen measuring the spectral characteristics with a radio frequency spectrum analyzer. The measured phase shift is shown to be in good agreement with theoretical predictions.