Dynamic thermal response of single-mode optical fiber for interferometric sensors

The dynamic temperature phase sensitivity of a three-layer optical fiber is calculated for unjacketed as well as Al- and Hytrel-coated fibers. The calculations include both the variation of the refractive index with temperature and the thermally induced axial and radial strains. The calculated phase sensitivity indicates that it is currently possible to measure a 1-microdegree C temperature change at frequencies exceeding 50 kHz with 1 cm of a metal coated optical fiber.     

Direct observation of stepwise movement of a synthetic molecular transporter

Controlled motion at the nanoscale can be achieved by using Watson-Crick base-pairing to direct the assembly and operation of a molecular transport system consisting of a track, a motor and fuel, all made from DNA. Here, we assemble a 100-nm-long DNA track on a two-dimensional scaffold, and show that a DNA motor loaded at one end of the track moves autonomously and at a constant average speed along the full length of the track, a journey comprising 16 consecutive steps for the motor. Real-time atomic force microscopy allows direct observation of individual steps of a single motor, revealing mechanistic details of its operation. This precisely controlled, long-range transport could lead to the development of systems that could be programmed and routed by instructions encoded in the nucleotide sequences of the track and motor. Such systems might be used to create molecular assembly lines modelled on the ribosome.     

Imaging interferometric microscopy

Imaging interferometric microscopy (IIM) is a synthetic aperture imaging approach providing resolution to the transmission medium (refractive index n) linear systems limit extending to greater, similarlambda/4n using only low-numerical-aperture (low-NA) optics. IIM uses off-axis illumination to access high spatial frequencies along with interferometric reintroduction of a zero-order reference beam on the low-NA side of the optical system. For a thin object normal to the optical axis, the frequency space limit is [(1+NA)n/lambda], while tilting the object plane allows collection of diffraction information up to the material transmission bandpass-limited spatial frequency of 2n/lambda. Tilting transforms the spatial frequencies; the algorithm to reset to the correct image frequencies is described. IIM involves combining multiple subimages; the image reconstruction procedures are discussed. A mean-square-error metric is introduced. For binary objects, sigmoidal filtering of the image provides significant resolution improvement.     

Evanescent interferometric lithography

Simulation results are presented to illustrate the main features of what we believe is a new photolithographic technique, evanescent interferometric lithography (EIL). The technique exploits interference between resonantly enhanced, evanescently decaying diffracted orders to create a frequency-doubled intensity pattern in the near field of a metallic diffraction grating. It is shown that the intensity in a grating's near field can be enhanced significantly compared with conventional interferometric lithography. Contrast in the interference pattern is also increased, owing to a reduction in the zeroth-order transmission near resonance. The pattern's depth of field reduces as the wavelength is increased beyond cutoff of the first-order diffracted components, and results are presented showing the trade-offs that can be made between depth of field and intensity enhancement. Examples are given for a 270-nm-period grating embedded in material with refractive index n = 1.6 and illuminated with wavelengths near 450 nm. Under these conditions it is predicted that high-intensity, high-contrast patterns with 135-nm period can be formed in photoresists more than 50 nm thick.     

Dynamic strain measurement using an extrinsic Fabry-Perot interferometric sensor and an arrayed waveguide grating device

In this paper, we demonstrate an interrogation system, based on an arrayed waveguide grating, capable of monitoring dynamic strain in a cantilever beam at frequencies up to 5 kHz (limited by the actuator) with a similar precision to resistive strain gauges.     

Dynamic liquid-liquid-liquid microextraction with automated movement of the acceptor phase

A new dynamic liquid-liquid-liquid microextraction procedure, with the automated movement of acceptor phase (LLLME/AMAP) to facilitate mass transfer, was developed in this study. Four compounds, 3-nitrophenol, 4-nitrophenol, 3,4-dinitrophenol, and 2,4-dichlorophenol, were used as model compounds to be preconcentrated from water samples. The extraction involved filling a 2-cm length of hollow fiber with 4 muL of acceptor solution using a conventional microsyringe, followed by impregnation of the pores of the fiber wall with 1-octanol. The fiber was then immersed in 4 mL of aqueous sample solution. The analytes in the sample solution were extracted into the organic solvent and then back-extracted into the acceptor solution. During extraction, the acceptor phase was repeatedly moved in and out of the hollow fiber channel and the syringe controlled by a syringe pump. Separation and quantitative analyses were then performed by using high-performance liquid chromatography. The results indicated that up to 400-fold enrichment of the analytes could be obtained under the optimized conditions. The enrichment factors were two times those of static liquid-liquid-liquid microextraction. Good repeatabilities (RSD values below 9.30%) were obtained. The calibration linear range was from 10 to 1000 ng/mL with the square of the correlation coefficient (r2) >0.9916. Detection limits were in the range of 0.45-0.98 ng/mL. In addition, as compared with the previously reported dynamic three-phase microextraction in which there was no relative movement between the acceptor and the organic phase (which is not conducive to effective mass transfer), this new method shows much higher extraction efficiency. All these results suggest that this new dynamic LLLME/AMAP technique could be a better alternative to the previous LLLME for the extraction of analytes from aqueous samples.     

Quasidistributed fiber-optic interferometric pickups

The operating principle of a quasidistributed fiber-optic pickup based on internodal interference in weakly guiding fiber waveguides is considered. The pickup can be used as both an independent measuring instrument and a base element in the fabrication of fiber-optic distributed measuring networks.Translated from Izmeritel'naya Tekhnika, No. 1, pp. 16–17, January, 1994.     

Balanced detector interferometric ellipsometer

A novel balanced detector interferometric ellipsometer (BDIE), composed of a polarized common-path optical heterodyne interferometer incorporating a novel balanced detector, provides an amplitude-sensitive method for measurement of the elliptical parameters of a thin film. The requirement for equal amplitude of the polarized heterodyne signals for balanced detection results in the simultaneous measurement of the elliptical parameters in terms of the azimuth angle of a half-wave plate and the output intensity from the differential amplifier, respectively. The common-path feature of BDIE shows a common phase noise rejection mode and this enhances the sensitivity of the phase measurement. At the same time, the balanced detector configuration of BDIE reduces excess noise of laser intensity fluctuation to give better sensitivity during measurement. The error of measurement of BDIE is derived and analyzed. Finally, the elliptical polarization effect of the laser beam is found to be independent of the measurement of the elliptical parameters.     

Cascaded interferometric imaging spectrometer

We present what we believe to be a novel method for order sorting a Fabry-Perot interferometer using a Fourier transform spectrometer (FTS) in tandem. We demonstrate how the order sorting is achieved using a model instrument response as an example of an instrument working in the 5-25 microm band, although the method is generally applicable at all wavelengths. We show that an instrument of this type can be realized with a large bandwidth, a large field of view, and good transmission efficiency. These attributes make this instrument concept a useful technique in applications where true imaging spectroscopy is required, such as mapping large astronomical sources. We compare the performance of the new instrument to grating and standard FTS instruments in circumstances where the measurement is background and detector noise limited. We use a figure of merit based on the field of view and speed of detection and find that the new system has a speed advantage over a FTS with the same field of view in all circumstances. The instrument will be faster than a grating instrument with the same spectral resolution once the field of view is >13 times larger under high background conditions and >50 times larger with detector performances that match the photon noise from Zodiacal light.     

Accurate interferometric retardance measurements

A two-polarization Michelson interferometer with a low-retardance beam splitter and digital signal processing is used to measure the retardance of optical devices. Error analysis of the improved optical system and data processing shows that the measurement has an uncertainty of 0.039 degrees for measurements of nominally 90 degrees retarders. Retardance variations arising from coherent reflections in the retarder used for intercomparison add an uncertainty of from 0.005 degrees to 0.03 degrees , increasing the combined measurement uncertainty to as much as 0.049 degrees .     

Polarization-based tunable interferometric filter

A polarization-based tunable interferometric filter essentially consisting of a two-beam interferometer with birefringence elements is described. The analysis of the filter is done through the concept of a geometric phase in optics-namely, the Pancharatnam phase. The transmission characteristics of the filter can be controlled through three parameters: the thickness of the birefringent elements, the optical path difference, and the orientation angle of an analyzer placed at the interferometer output. It is demonstrated theoretically that, with a particular choice of these parameters, the chromatic dispersion of the filter is compensated in a given spectral range. Some properties of the device are confirmed by an experimental demonstration.     

Sinusoidal wavelength-scanning interferometric reflectometry

We propose interferometric reflectometry in which a sinusoidal wavelength-scanning tunable laser diode is used to detect positions and profiles of multiple reflecting surfaces. An objective signal extracted from an interference signal contains modulation amplitude Z and phase alpha, which are related to the positions and profiles, respectively, of multiple reflecting surfaces. By using values of the objective signal at special times, we can produce an image intensity that shows where the reflecting surfaces exist. To obtain exact values of Z or values of alpha, we estimated the objective signal by using a conjugate gradient method. Experimental results show that a resolution of two-optical-path difference (OPD) in the image intensity is ~60 mum, and the final OPD precisions are 2 and 8 mum for two and three reflecting surfaces, respectively, for a wavelength-scanning width of 7 nm. Profiles of the front and rear surfaces of a silica glass plate with a thickness of 20 mum have been measured with a precision of ~10 nm.     

Fiber-optic interferometric displacement sensor

Translated from Izmeritel'naya Tekhnika, No. 6, pp. 28–29, June, 1988.     

Dynamic observation of dislocation-free plastic deformation in gold thin foils

Ductile fracture of metals produces a thin foil portion, which is observable by transmission electron microscopy, at the fractured edge. The thin foil portion shows unusual deformation microstructure, which contains no dislocations, but contains vacancy-type point defect clusters at extraordinarily high density. Dynamic observation of the deformation process revealed that these defect clusters are produced in the portion of local heavy deformation; however, no dislocation motion was observed during the course of the heavy plastic deformation, constituting direct evidence that the unusual deformation microstructure is produced by plastic deformation without dislocations. Also, the deformation was found to involve 14% elastic deformation, indicating that the dislocation-free plastic deformation occurs under an extraordinarily high internal stress level of more than 10 GPa, which is comparable to the ideal strength of metals. Furthermore, during the dislocation-free plastic deformation, equal-thickness fringes were found to disappear temporarily, suggesting that instability of crystalline state under extraordinarily high internal stress level is a key factor for the mechanism of dislocation-free plastic deformation.     

Development and evaluation of the interferometric monitor for greenhouse gases: a high-throughput fourier-transform infrared radiometer for nadir earth observation

The interferometric monitor for greenhouse gases (IMG) was the precursor of the high-resolution Fourier-transform infrared radiometer (FTIR) onboard a satellite for observation of the Earth. The IMG endured the stress of a rocket launch, demonstrating that the high-resolution, high-throughput spectrometer is indeed feasible for use onboard a satellite. The IMG adopted a newly developed lubricant-free magnetic suspension mechanism and a dynamic alignment system for the moving mirror with a maximum traveling distance of 10 cm. We present the instrumentation of the IMG, characteristics of the movable mirror drive system, and the evaluation results of sensor specifications during space operation.     

White-light interferometric fiber-optic pressure sensor

A novel configuration for a fiber-optic white-light interferometric sensor is presented which allows for absolute measurements of hydrostatic pressure with an improved operation range. The performance of two fibers (York bow-tie 800 and especially designed elliptical-core side-hole fiber) used as sensing elements was experimentally studied. The sensor itself was composed of two equal lengths of the fiber spliced at 90°. This structure assures temperature compensation and enables application of a Wollaston prism as a receiving interferometer. A step delay line made of crystalline quartz was used to increase the operation range of the sensor     

Investigation of a laser interferometric goniometer

The optico-mechanical circuit of an interference goniometer is presented. It is shown that the error of the goniometer in the range ±10° does not exceed 0.08″. Translated from Izmeritel'naya Tekhnika, No. 6, pp. 33–35, June, 1996.     

Measurement of interferometric autocorrelations: comment

Conventional Michelson interferometers that are widely used for autocorrelation of ultrashort optical pulses are incapable of producing two identical replicas of an optical pulse, hence yielding a correct autocorrelation signal. The problem is acute when one records the interferometric autocorrelation of pulses consisting of just a few optical cycles. With the use of sub-10-fs pulses we demonstrate asymmetric autocorrelation traces recorded with a conventional Michelson interferometer, refer to previously reported results that exhibit the same deficiency, and elucidate the origin of the problem. A simple modification of the conventional interferometer configuration yields the correct fringe-resolved autocorrelation trace.