A Comprehensive Study on Measurement Accuracy of Distributed Fiber Optic Sensors Embedded within Capillaries of Solid Structures.

Embedding fiber optic sensors (FOSs) within parts for strain measurement is attracting widespread interest due to its great potential in the field of structural health monitoring (SHM). This work proposes a novel method of embedding FOSs using capillaries within solid structures and investigates fiber positions and orientation uncertainties within capillaries of different sizes and their influences on strain measurement accuracies. To investigate how the fiber positions and orientation variations influence strain measurement accuracy, both analytical and numerical models are utilized to predict strain distributions along embedded fibers at different positions and with different orientations within the specimen. To verify the predictions, a group of specimens made of Aluminum 6082 was prepared, and the specimens in each group had capillaries of 2 mm, 4 mm, and 6 mm diameters, respectively. Fibers were embedded within each specimen using the capillaries. Four-point bending static tests were conducted for each specimen with embedded FOSs, performing in situ strain measurement. Subsequently, the specimens were partitioned into several pieces, and the cross sections were observed to know the real positions of the embedded fiber. Finally, the strain predictions at the real locations of the fiber were compared with the measured strain from the embedded FOSs. The predicted strain distributions as a function of the fiber positions alone and as a function of both the fiber positions and orientations were compared to assess the influence of fiber orientation change. The results from a combination of analytical, numerical, and experimental techniques suggest that the fiber position from the capillary center is the main factor that can influence strain measurement accuracies of embedded FOSs, and potential fiber misalignments within the capillary had a negligible influence. The fiber position-induced measured error increases from 10.5% to 18.5% as the capillary diameter increases from 2 mm to 6 mm. A 2 mm capillary diameter is able to lead to the lowest measurement error in this study and maintains ease of embedding. In addition, it is found that the measured strain always lies within a strain window defined by the strain distribution along capillary boundaries when there are no cracks. This can be further studied for crack detection.

Bioinspired Switchable Passive Daytime Radiative Cooling Coatings.

Passive daytime radiative cooling (PDRC) relies on simultaneous reflection of sunlight and radiation toward cold outer space. Current designs of PDRC coatings have demonstrated potential as eco-friendly alternatives to traditional electrical air conditioning (AC). While many features of PDRC have been individually optimized in different studies, for practical impact, it is essential for a system to demonstrate excellence in all essential aspects, like the materials that nature has created. We propose a bioinspired PDRC structure templated by bicontinuous interfacially jammed emulsion gels (bijels) that possesses excellent cooling, thinness, tunability, scalability, and mechanical robustness. The unique bicontinuous disordered structure captures key features of Cyphochilus beetle scales, enabling a thin (130 µm) bijel PDRC coating to achieve high solar reflectance (≳0.97) and high longwave-infrared (LWIR) emissivity (≳0.93), resulting in a subambient temperature drop of ∼5.6 °C under direct sunlight. We further demonstrate switchable cooling inspired by the exoskeleton of the Hercules beetle and mechanical robustness in analogy to spongy bone structures.

Correcting thermal-emission-induced detector saturation in infrared spectroscopy.

We found that temperature-dependent infrared spectroscopy measurements (i.e., reflectance or transmittance) using a Fourier-transform spectrometer can have substantial errors, especially for elevated sample temperatures and collection using an objective lens. These errors can arise as a result of partial detector saturation due to thermal emission from the measured sample reaching the detector, resulting in nonphysical apparent reduction of reflectance or transmittance with increasing sample temperature. Here, we demonstrate that these temperature-dependent errors can be corrected by implementing several levels of optical attenuation that enable convergence testing of the measured reflectance or transmittance as the thermal-emission signal is reduced, or by applying correction factors that can be inferred by looking at the spectral regions where the sample is not expected to have a substantial temperature dependence.

Switchable Induced-Transmission Filters Enabled by Vanadium Dioxide.

An induced-transmission filter (ITF) uses an ultrathin metallic layer positioned at an electric-field node within a dielectric thin-film bandpass filter to select one transmission band while suppressing other bands that would have been present without the metal layer. We introduce a switchable mid-infrared ITF where the metal can be "switched on and off", enabling the modulation of the filter response from a single band to multiband. The switching is enabled by the reversible insulator-to-metal phase transition of a subwavelength film of vanadium dioxide (VO2). Our work generalizes the ITF─a niche type of bandpass filter─into a new class of tunable devices. Furthermore, our fabrication process─which begins with thin-film VO2 on a suspended membrane─enables the integration of VO2 into any thin-film assembly that is compatible with physical vapor deposition processes and is thus a new platform for realizing tunable thin-film filters.

Hyperspectral interference tomography of nacre.

Structural characterization of biologically formed materials is essential for understanding biological phenomena and their enviro-nment, and for generating new bio-inspired engineering concepts. For example, nacre-the inner lining of some mollusk shells-encodes local environmental conditions throughout its formation and has exceptional strength due to its nanoscale brick-and-mortar structure. This layered structure, comprising alternating transparent aragonite (CaCO3) tablets and thinner organic polymer layers, also results in stunning interference colors. Existing methods of structural characterization of nacre rely on some form of cross-sectional analysis, such as scanning or transmission electron microscopy or polarization-dependent imaging contrast (PIC) mapping. However, these techniques are destructive and too time- and resource-intensive to analyze large sample areas. Here, we present an all-optical, rapid, and nondestructive imaging technique-hyperspectral interference tomography (HIT)-to spatially map the structural parameters of nacre and other disordered layered materials. We combined hyperspectral imaging with optical-interference modeling to infer the mean tablet thickness and its disorder in nacre across entire mollusk shells from red and rainbow abalone (Haliotis rufescens and Haliotis iris) at various stages of development. We observed that in red abalone, unexpectedly, nacre tablet thickness decreases with age of the mollusk, despite roughly similar appearance of nacre at all ages and positions in the shell. Our rapid, inexpensive, and nondestructive method can be readily applied to in-field studies.

Infrared Polarizer Based on Direct Coupling to Surface Plasmon Polaritons.

We propose a new type of reflective polarizer based on polarization-dependent coupling to surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) from free space. This inexpensive polarizer is relatively narrowband but features an extinction ratio of up to 1000 with efficiency of up to 95% for the desired polarization (numbers from a calculation) and thus can be stacked to achieve extinction ratios of 106 or more. As a proof of concept, we experimentally realized a polarizer based on nanoporous aluminum oxide that operates around a wavelength of 10.6 µm, corresponding to the output of a CO2 laser, using aluminum anodization, a low-cost electrochemical process.

Two-photon background-free fluorescence assay for glutathione over cysteine and homocysteine in vitro and vivo.

A novel background-free fluorescent sensory receptor, with the potential to enable an in situ sensing strategy with new chromophores generated upon the detection event, was designed for the detection of glutathione by forming a fancy 16-ring fluorescent product with one/two-photon excited fluorescence.

Accurately Shaping Supercontinuum Spectrum via Cascaded PCF.

Shaping is very necessary in order to obtain a wide and flat supercontinuum (SC). Via numerical simulations, we accurately demonstrated shaping the SC using the fiber cascading method to significantly increase the width as well as the flatness of the spectrum in silica photonic crystal fiber (PCF). The cascaded PCF contains two segments, each of which has dual zero-dispersion frequencies (ZDFs). The spectral range of the SC can be expanded tremendously by tuning the spacing between the two ZDFs of the first segmented cascaded PCF. Increasing the pump power generates more solitons at the red edge, which accelerates solitons trapping and improves the spectral flatness of the blue edge. Furthermore, cascading the second segmented PCF by choosing appropriate fiber parameters ensures the flatness of the red end of SC. Therefore, a cost-effective alternative method for broad and flat supercontinuum generation in the near-infrared range is proposed here, which can be implemented easily in any photonics laboratory, where dual ZDFs PCFs are commonly found.

Copper(II) complex as a turn on fluorescent sensing platform for acetylcholinesterase activity with high sensitivity.

Acetylcholinesterase (AChE) is an important enzyme associated with many nervous diseases, demonstrating the great need for smarter sensing platform with improved sensitivity, selectivity and simplified operation. A "turn on" fluorometric assay is described herein for AChE activity detection, according to the specific enzyme catalyzed reaction of acetylcholine (ATCh) by AChE, which generates thiocholine (TCh) as the product. The well-designed fluorescent probe HBTP possesses ESIPT (Excited State Intramolecular Proton Transfer) nature, leading to a larger Stokes shift, which could be quenched upon coordination with Cu2+. The fluorescence-silent HBTP-Cu2+ complex could be broken by TCh generated from reaction of ATCh with AChE, giving rise to HBTP release which originates from competitive coordination of TCh with Cu2+. This complex probe HBTP-Cu2+ offers a limit detection as low as 0.02 mU mL-1, which is lower than most reported literatures. Furthermore, both HBTP-Cu2+ and HBTP show little toxicity to live cells and is available in visualizing cellular AChE activity.

Temperature-independent thermal radiation.

Thermal emission is the process by which all objects at nonzero temperatures emit light and is well described by the Planck, Kirchhoff, and Stefan-Boltzmann laws. For most solids, the thermally emitted power increases monotonically with temperature in a one-to-one relationship that enables applications such as infrared imaging and noncontact thermometry. Here, we demonstrated ultrathin thermal emitters that violate this one-to-one relationship via the use of samarium nickel oxide (SmNiO3), a strongly correlated quantum material that undergoes a fully reversible, temperature-driven solid-state phase transition. The smooth and hysteresis-free nature of this unique insulator-to-metal phase transition enabled us to engineer the temperature dependence of emissivity to precisely cancel out the intrinsic blackbody profile described by the Stefan-Boltzmann law, for both heating and cooling. Our design results in temperature-independent thermally emitted power within the long-wave atmospheric transparency window (wavelengths of 8 to 14 µm), across a broad temperature range of ∼30 °C, centered around ∼120 °C. The ability to decouple temperature and thermal emission opens a gateway for controlling the visibility of objects to infrared cameras and, more broadly, opportunities for quantum materials in controlling heat transfer.

Highly efficient second-harmonic generation in a tellurite optical fiber.

A step-index tellurite optical fiber with loss ∼0.02 dB/m at ∼1545 nm was fabricated based on TeO2-Bi2O3-ZnO-Na2O glass. With a nanosecond laser operated at ∼1545 nmas the pump source, second-harmonic generation (SHG) was observed in the 2.5 m tellurite fiber with conversion efficiency up to ∼1.15% at 20 mW, which, to the best of our knowledge, is the highest for non-silica optical fibers. The experimental phenomenon can be explained by the χ(2)-induced model of nonlinear polarization at the core-cladding interface. Furthermore, it can also be explained by a χ(3)-induced model via the four-wave-mixing effect, where a quasi-SH signal and a millimeter wave were generated simultaneously. This new model may help shed light on the physical mechanism of SHG in optical fibers.

Generation of tunable ultra-short pulse sequences in a quasi-discrete spectral supercontinuum by dark solitons.

We explore how to acquire the tunable ultra-short pulse sequences in a quasi-discrete spectral supercontinuum (SC) via the formation of dark solitons in a fiber with two zero dispersion wavelengths (ZDWs). These dark solitons are produced by pumping two pulses in the normal dispersion that are identical but delayed one with respect to the other. Few-cycle pulses with high power as dual pumps experience temporal breakdown, resulting in a nearly-complete conversion of pump energy into two normal dispersion regions to form the ultra-short pulse sequences separated by dark solitons. The spectral interference of these generated ultra-short pulses gives rise to the isolated narrow-band sources, shaping a quasi-discrete spectral SC. Based on the combined effect of group-velocity dispersion and the initial time delay between dual pumps, the spectral width of narrow-band sources behaves in such a similar manner to the temporal width of ultra-short pulses that they are different in two normal dispersion regions. Moreover, they can be regulated considerably by tuning the time delay and pump power. Furthermore, the control of time delay and pump power can bolster the manipulation on the number of ultra-short pulses and narrow-band sources.

A colorimetric and near -infrared ratiometric fluorescent probe for the determination of endogenous tyrosinase activity based on cyanine aggregation.

Melanoma is an aggressive malignant tumor that undergoes rapid growth and metastasis in a short time; tyrosinase (TYR) is an important biomarker for melanoma diagnosis as it is over-expressed in melanoma cells. Therefore, the detection of TYR activity is of great significance. Although several fluorescent probes have been reported for the determination of tyrosinase activity in vitro and in vivo, only few of them possess a ratiometric pattern to provide built-in self-calibration for signal correction. Herein, a novel cyanine-based fluorescent probe (Cy-tyr) for the ratiometric fluorescent detection of TYR activity was developed by virtue of the aggregation protocol as a new advancement in this field of melanoma detection. When TYR was applied to the probe Cy-tyr, the phenolic hydroxyl group was oxidized to achieve o-benzoquinone in the presence of oxygen, and the resulting cyanine products exhibited a strong tendency to undergo H-aggregation. Accordingly, the maximum absorption of this probe shifted from 630 nm to 516 nm, and a red fluorescence appeared at 560 nm accompanied by the diminishing of the near infrared (NIR) emission at 760 nm. The proposed ratiometric fluorescent probe showed a good signal-to-noise ratio, leading to high sensitivity for TYR activity with the LOD of 0.02 U mL-1. Moreover, the probe was successfully applied to image endogenous TYR activity in the B16 cells and showed a complete lack of noise in other cells with lower TYR expressions.

Twisted intramolecular charge transfer (TICT) based fluorescent probe for lighting up serum albumin with high sensitivity in physiological conditions.

Accurate detection of human serum albumin (HSA) in biological samples is quite meaningful for early disease diagnosis and treatment. Herein, a novel fluorescent probe 1-ethyl-4-[2-[4-(diethylamino)-2-hydroxyphenyl]ethenyl]]-pyridinium salt (DEHP) was developed for HSA determination. The inherent fluorescence of DEHP is essentially negligible at physiological conditions assigned to the well-developed twisted intramolecular charge transfer (TICT) protocol. An intriguing fluorescence light up is triggered as the addition of HSA, on account of the inhibited TICT procedure when DEHP enters the hydrophobic cavity of protein HSA. This combination leads to a turn on fluorescent response for HSA with a detection limit of 4.8 nM. After an overall investigation, it has been proved that the strong binding between DEHP and HSA is specific-site-related. In additional, the probe implies a great potential to assist clinical diagnosis due to the usage in actual serum detection. Cell imaging also shows that the probe is expected to monitor HSA production process at cell level.

Nanosecond mid-infrared pulse generation via modulated thermal emissivity.

We demonstrate the generation of nanosecond mid-infrared pulses via fast modulation of thermal emissivity enabled by the absorption of visible pump pulses in unpatterned silicon and gallium arsenide. The free-carrier dynamics in these materials result in nanosecond-scale modulation of thermal emissivity, which leads to nanosecond pulsed thermal emission. To our knowledge, the nanosecond thermal-emissivity modulation in this work is three orders of magnitude faster than what has been previously demonstrated. We also indirectly observed subnanosecond thermal pulses from hot carriers in semiconductors. The experiments are well described by our multiphysics model. Our method of converting visible pulses into the mid infrared using modulated emissivity obeys different scaling laws and can have significant wavelength tunability compared to approaches based on conventional nonlinearities.

Nanophotonic engineering of far-field thermal emitters.

Thermal emission is a ubiquitous and fundamental process by which all objects at non-zero temperatures radiate electromagnetic energy. This process is often assumed to be incoherent in both space and time, resulting in broadband, omnidirectional light emission toward the far field, with a spectral density related to the emitter temperature by Planck's law. Over the past two decades, there has been considerable progress in engineering the spectrum, directionality, polarization and temporal response of thermally emitted light using nanostructured materials. This Review summarizes the basic physics of thermal emission, lays out various nanophotonic approaches to engineer thermal emission in the far field, and highlights several applications, including energy harvesting, lighting and radiative cooling.

Near-infrared mito-specific fluorescent probe for ratiometric detection and imaging of alkaline phosphatase activity with high sensitivity.

Fluorescent probe-based analytical methods for biological species have gained increasing attention for their powerful detection and imaging capabilities. However, it is still occasionally problematic for accurate analyses due to the influence of the probe concentration, intrinsic fluorescence, instrumental factors or environmental conditions, and intense laser irradiation is usually harmful to biological systems. An NIR ratiometric fluorescent probe can eliminate the influence of these factors and lead to a higher sensing performance. We propose the introduction of a reasonable masking group onto the meso oxygen atom of a cyanine framework (Cy-O) to achieve a NIR ratiometric probe by modulating the conjugated polymethine π-electron system of the cyanine dye. Herein, we report a proof-of-the-concept attempt for a highly sensitive and selective mito-specific NIR ratiometric fluorescent sensing strategy for ALP, and the phosphate group was chosen as the functional group for ALP catalyzed hydrolysis. Upon treatment with ALP, the probe Cy-OP exhibits excellent recognition properties such as high selectivity, high sensitivity (with a low detection limit of 0.16 mU mL-1), short response time (within 30 min) and a large spectral shift (from 736 to 516 nm in the absorption spectra and 766 to 616 nm in the emission spectra) with a low fluorescence background. Moreover, the ratio of emission (I616nm/I766nm) of the enzymatic residue was favorable for its application in a complex bio-system. Consequently, the well-designed probe was successfully applied for the detection of ALP in the living cells with satisfactory results.

Harnessing rogue wave for supercontinuum generation in cascaded photonic crystal fiber.

Based on induced modulation instability, we present a numerical study on harnessing rogue wave for supercontinuum generation in cascaded photonic crystal fibers. By selecting optimum modulation frequency, we achieve supercontinuum with a great improvement on spectrum stability when long-pulse is used as the pump. In this case, rogue wave can be obtained in the first segmented photonic crystal fiber with one zero dispersion wavelength in a controllable manner. Numerical simulations show that spectral range and flatness can be regulated in an extensive range by cascading a photonic crystal fiber with two zero dispersion wavelengths. Some novel phenomena are observed in the second segmented photonic crystal fiber. When the second zero dispersion wavelength is close to the first one, rogue wave is directly translated into dispersion waves, which is conducive to the generation of smoother supercontinuum. When the second zero dispersion wavelength is far away from the first one, rogue wave is translated into the form of fundamental soliton steadily propagating in the vicinity of the second zero dispersion wavelength. Meanwhile, the corresponding red-shifted dispersion wave is generated when the phase matching condition is met, which is beneficial to the generation of wider supercontinuum. The results presented in this work provide a better application of optical rogue wave to generate flat and broadband supercontinuum in cascaded photonic crystal fibers.

Giant Kerr response of ultrathin gold films from quantum size effect.

With the size of plasmonic devices entering into the nanoscale region, the impact of quantum physics needs to be considered. In the past, the quantum size effect on linear material properties has been studied extensively. However, the nonlinear aspects have not been explored much so far. On the other hand, much effort has been put into the field of integrated nonlinear optics and a medium with large nonlinearity is desirable. Here we study the optical nonlinear properties of a nanometre scale gold quantum well by using the z-scan method and nonlinear spectrum broadening technique. The quantum size effect results in a giant optical Kerr susceptibility, which is four orders of magnitude higher than the intrinsic value of bulk gold and several orders larger than traditional nonlinear media. Such high nonlinearity enables efficient nonlinear interaction within a microscopic footprint, making quantum metallic films a promising candidate for integrated nonlinear optical applications.

Reflection and transmission of electromagnetic waves at a temporal boundary.

We consider propagation of an electromagnetic (EM) wave through a dynamic optical medium whose refractive index varies with time. Specifically, we focus on the reflection and transmission of EM waves from a temporal boundary and clarify the two different physical processes that contribute to them. One process is related to impedance mismatch, while the other results from temporal scaling related to a sudden change in the speed of light at the temporal boundary. Our results show that temporal scaling of the electric field must be considered for light propagation in dynamic media. Numerical solutions of Maxwell's equations are in full agreement with our theory.