Applied Physics B最新文献

This paper compares the performance of axicon phase modulation and Bessel phase modulation in generating perfect optical vortices (POVs). Theoretical analysis and experimental verification show that the POVs generated by axicon phase modulation have energy concentrated on the ring, but the ring radius varies with changes in topological charge. The POVs generated by Bessel phase modulation have side lobes in addition to the main ring, but most of the energy is still focused on the main ring, and the ring radius is relatively stable. Suggestions for generating POVs in different scenarios are provided in the paper.

We present an experimental and theoretical study of anisotropy-induced changes in probe transmission at two-photon resonance for the D₂ line of ⁸⁷Rb in presence of a longitudinal magnetic field, exploring the effects of varying ellipticity of pump and probe fields. We theoretically investigate how a change in polarization leads to a population redistribution, thereby creating anisotropy that results in a conversion between transmission and absorption. Our theoretical investigation involves solving the density matrix equations comprising of 13 and 16 levels respectively. The 13-level model, which excludes the (F'=1) excited state, exhibits symmetric conversion between transmission and absorption for both positive and negative ellipticity. In contrast, the 16-level model, which includes the (F'=1) manifold, displays a loss of symmetry, with absorption observed only for positive ellipticity. These theoretical predictions are supported by experimental measurements. Our findings provide insight into how optical anisotropy at two-photon resonance can be engineered through atomic structure and light polarization.

Phase sensitive optical parametric amplification (PS-OPA) can realize noiseless amplification in theory. However, Raman effect affects the four-wave mixing (FWM) process and induces excess noise in FWM-based PS-OPA systems. To achieve a more precise description of the gain evolution within the PS-OPA and its associated noise characteristics, we modified a more comprehensive theoretical model to analyze the joint impact of the Raman effect and the FWM effect. It is found that the Raman effect competes with FWM effect, which can change the evolution trend of power and relative phase in a FWM process and affect gain and noise figure (NF) features of the PS-OPA. With different frequency shift, obvious asymmetry for both gain and NF spectra is induced by Raman scattering. This model can be applied to investigate single-pump frequency non-degenerate PS-OPA with third-order nonlinear media such as highly nonlinear optical fibers (HNLF) and silicon waveguides.

Volumetric multi-kHz laser irradiation can affect the measurements on soot particles. The severity of the influence causing local alteration of the particle and flame properties are investigated on a laminar diffusion flame. The aim is to identify a practical fluence threshold for which no or only minor influence on soot particles due to volumetric multiple laser irradiation occurs. To this end, the three quantities of interest (QoI) of particle temperature, soot volume fraction and primary particle size are measured and evaluated via 3D-two-color-pyrometry (3D-2CP) and 3D time-resolved laser-induced incandescence (3D-TiRe-LII). As laser source, a high repetition-rate burst-mode Nd:YAG pulse laser is employed. The progression of the three QoI is investigated for different fluences (up to ~ 160 mJ/cm²) and repetition rates (up to 5 kHz) for selected individual pulses within a pulse train. For the determination of practical fluence limits, a maximum change of 25% in soot volume fraction is applied as a threshold. The fluence limit is highly dependent on laser repetition rate and flow velocity of the object of interest. For irradiation with eight laser pulses with 5 kHz, a fluence limit of ~ 60 mJ/cm² is identified.

Einstein Telescope (ET) is expected to achieve sensitivity improvements exceeding an order of magnitude compared to current gravitational-wave detectors. The rigorous characterization in optical birefringence of materials and coatings has become a critical task for next-generation detectors, especially since this birefringence is generally spatially non-uniform. A highly sensitive optical polarimeter has been developed at the Department of Physics and Earth Sciences of the University of Ferrara and INFN - Ferrara Section, Italy, aimed at performing two-dimensional birefringence mapping of substrates. In this paper we describe the design and working principle of the system and present results for crystalline silicon, a candidate material for substrates in the low-frequency interferometers of ET. We find that the birefringence is (lesssim 10^{-7}) for commercially available samples and is position dependent in the silicon (100)-oriented samples, with variations in both magnitude and axis orientation. We also measure the intrinsic birefringence of the (110) surface: (Delta n^{(110)}=-(1.50pm 0.15)times 10^{-6}) @ (lambda =1550) nm. Implications for the performance of gravitational-wave interferometers are discussed.

This study employs Calibration-Free Laser Ablation Molecular Isotopic Spectrometry (CF-LAMIS), enhanced by the Molecular spectrA simulator under Born–OppenHeimer Approximation anD Boltzmann Equilibrium enVironment (MAHADEV) algorithm and its AWGN (Additive White Gaussian Noise) incorporated variant to directly analyse boron isotopes in natural boric acid samples and nuclear-grade boron carbide (B₄C) samples. The boric acid samples yielded accuracy and precision consistent with previous studies. Initial analyses of B₄C samples were challenged by the atomic and ionic interference lines. However, the BO:B-X (0–1) ro-vibrational band (RVB) was found to have fewer interferences, providing a clearer analytical window at longer acquisition delay times (t_d = 22 μs). This approach achieved reasonable accuracy and precision levels comparable to those obtained from pure boric acid samples, demonstrating the effectiveness of the CF-LAMIS method in handling complex matrices. The application of the AWGN–MAHADEV algorithm provided isotopic composition with significant (~ 50%) improvement in precision while maintaining comparable accuracy. Boric acid samples achieved an accuracy and precision of 0.3% and 0.8% respectively, while natural and ¹⁰B-enriched B₄C samples achieved an accuracy of 0.7% and 0.2% and a precision of 0.9% and 0.6% respectively. This study highlights the potential of noise integration in calibration-free methods to achieve more precise and accurate results.

A deep understanding of soot production in flames is mandatory to control this pollutant emission and design zero emission combustors. In this context, we propose to combine Auto-Compensated Laser-Induced Incandescence (AC-LII) and Separated-Pulse LII (SP-LII) approaches to measure three relevant soot quantities using a single experimental setup: soot volume fraction (f_v), absorption function (E(m_lambda )), and gas temperature (T_0). In theory, this combination is quite simple as it requires measuring the LII signal at two wavelengths for a reduced number of laser fluences. However, in practice, this combination is not trivial since each LII approach has its own limitations. Specifically, the SP-LII approach requires low laser fluences to guarantee a linear relation between the peak laser-induced soot temperature (T_M) and laser fluence F, namely the linear regime. At the same time, (f_v) values estimated using the AC-LII technique strongly depend on the laser fluence, a well-know behaviour referred to as the ‘(f_v) anomaly’, especially at low fluences. Thus, in this work, we establish a procedure to reduce the ‘(f_v) anomaly’ when performing in-flame measurements at low laser fluences so to allow a combination of AC-LII and SP-LII methods. For this, this work mainly focuses on the contribution of the background subtraction on the ‘(f_v) anomaly’ when considering measurements in the linear regime observed at low fluences. First, we theoretically quantify the error on the estimation of (T_M) and (f_v) due to background subtraction. Then, a two-loop iterative procedure is proposed to correctly estimate (T_M), (T_0) and (E(m_lambda )). This is necessary to reduce the ‘(f_v) anomaly’ and to correctly predict (f_v) in the linear LII regime. Finally, the accuracy of the combined AC-LII/SP-LII approach is evaluated by comparing the obtained results with reference state-of-the-art data for (f_v), (T_0), and (E(m_lambda )). This comparison demonstrates, for the first time, the feasibility of a combined AC-LII/SP-LII strategy to obtain (f_v), (T_0), and (E(m_lambda )) fields from a single LII setup, once the proposed procedure for background subtraction is implemented to partially correct the ‘(f_v) anomaly’.

Ytterbium (Yb) is used in cold-atom systems, including magneto-optical traps and optical lattice clocks. However, the long-term operation of such systems may be associated with substantial degradation of optical transmittance through vacuum chamber viewports due to Yb adsorption. Here, we show that coating the surface with tetracontane effectively suppresses such adsorption.

This study presents a comprehensive theoretical investigation into the linear optical properties of CdS@Ag core–shell quantum dots (CSQDs) embedded in various dielectric matrices. Using a quasi-static approximation and a Lorentz–Drude model for the silver shell, we examine how structural parameters core radius, shell thickness and host matrix permittivity modulate the optical response, including plasmonic field enhancement, refractive index behavior, absorption/scattering cross-sections and extinction cross-sections. Key findings reveal that increasing shell thickness significantly boosts both the local field enhancement factor and the absorption cross-section ((sigma _{text {abs}})), particularly in low-index hosts like PMMA. In contrast, increasing the core size results in a red-shift of the plasmon resonance while reducing field localization, highlighting a geometric trade-off between spectral tunability and optical intensity. Host permittivity also plays a crucial role: PMMA yields sharper and more intense plasmonic resonances, whereas (text {SiO}_2) and (text {Al}_{2} text {O}_3) broaden and blue-shift the spectral response due to enhanced dielectric screening. These results offer valuable design guidelines for optimizing CSQDs in applications such as nanophotonic circuits, nonlinear optical switching, and plasmon-enhanced sensors.

The gold (Au) mining industry requires rapid and cost-effective quantitative analysis techniques to enhance detection efficiency and reduce operational costs. Compared to conventional Au detection methods, laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) offers distinct advantages, including rapid analysis capabilities, minimal sample preparation requirements, and simultaneous multi-element detection, which makes it a widely adopted technique in material analysis. Additionally, it meets the demand for more efficient detection methods in Au mining. This study employed LIBS to detect and analyze trace Au in gold ore samples. The characteristic spectral lines used in the subsequent calculation of the experiment were determined in the experimental preparation stage. The systematic optimization of experimental parameters was used to calculate the relative standard deviation (RSD) of the sample and determine the optimal ratio of laser energy to binder for effective sample breakdown. Based on this condition, the transverse magnetic field intensity and spectral collection delay time were adjusted, and the influence of transverse magnetic field strength on the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of Au spectral lines under varying delay conditions was investigated. Compared with the condition of no constraint and no delay, the limit of detection (LOD) of Au decreased from 52.52 to 23.29 mg/kg under a 0.4 T constant magnetic field and 2.4 μs. Through hardware enhancements, including the replacement of conventional focusing lenses with microscopic objectives, the spectral data of Au samples with different gradient concentrations were obtained. The LOD was reduced to 5 mg/kg by calculation and data fitting. Finally, plasma temperatures and electron densities across different magnetic field intensities were calculated to determine local thermodynamic equilibrium (LTE) conditions, while the effect of magnetic confinement on the enhancement of plasma spectral lines was theoretically explained.