ABSTRACT
Measuring with a high accuracy the size distribution of small metallic nanoparticles loaded in a mesoporous metal oxide matrix is of particular interest for many studies related to new generations of interesting metamaterials. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) is a powerful tool to determine the nature and morphology of very small particles, but their reliable and automatic identification in an inhomogeneous environment where the nanoparticle/background contrast locally varies is not straightforward. Here, we present how a quantitative analysis of high-angle annular dark field scanning TEM (HAADF STEM) images, accounting for the chemical sensitivity of the technique, can improve the accuracy of semiautomatic segmentation methods based on morphological processing to calculate size histograms. The paper also provides an estimate of the reliability of this method through the analysis of numerically synthesized images. The latter are based on the simulation of HAADF STEM projections of a volume filled with titania, pores and silver particles, whose morphological features, such as dimensions, shapes and densities are evaluated from experimental measurements of real samples. The results obtained with synthesized images prove the performances of the quantitative analysis to suppress nonsilver nanoparticles from the statistics and allow to infer empirical rules to determine imaging parameters that ensure a good reliability of histograms.
ABSTRACT
Use of leaky modes allows us to demonstrate very simply that ?erenkov second-harmonic generation is not free of phase matching. The ?erenkov phase-matching condition is derived for what is to our knowledge the first time. The way to overcome the difficulty linked with the divergence at infinity of the leaky modes is discussed.
ABSTRACT
We demonstrate experimentally a new degenerate four-wave mixing (DFWM) geometry in waveguides that permits the simultaneous determination of the nonlinear refractive index, the absorption, and the response time of the thin-film materials. The geometry consists of two guided pumps in a planar waveguide with an unguided probe. We achieve nonlinear characterization by measuring only the DFWM signal and the guided pump power at the waveguide output. The technique has been tested on a polymeric film (di-alkylaminonitro- stilbene).
ABSTRACT
The excitation process of short optical pulses in waveguides by use of prism couplers is studied with a fully dynamic model. A good coupling efficiency is obtained even for short pulses. Fast nonlinear behavior such as power limiting and optical switching is predicted with a response time much shorter than the buildup time of the waveguide coupler. This new result is due to the group-velocity matching between the guided and the pump fields.
ABSTRACT
The characteristics of prism coupling of finite-width beams into nonlinear waveguides composed of media with diffusive nonlinearities (thermal, etc.) are calculated by including a one-dimensional diffusion equation for the nonlocal nonlinearity. The resulting longitudinal feedback leads to bistability, and the threshold value for the minimum diffusion length varies inversely with the angular detuning.
