Reflectometers for Absolute and Relative Reflectance Measurements in the Mid-IR Region at Vacuum.

We demonstrated spectral reflectometers for two types of reflectances, absolute and relative, of diffusely reflecting surfaces in directional-hemispherical geometry. Both are built based on the integrating sphere method with a Fourier-transform infrared spectrometer operating in a vacuum. The third Taylor method is dedicated to the reflectometer for absolute reflectance, by which absolute spectral diffuse reflectance scales of homemade reference plates are realized. With the reflectometer for relative reflectance, we achieved spectral diffuse reflectance scales of various samples including concrete, polystyrene, and salt plates by comparing against the reference standards. We conducted ray-tracing simulations to quantify systematic uncertainties and evaluated the overall standard uncertainty to be 2.18% (k = 1) and 2.99% (k = 1) for the absolute and relative reflectance measurements, respectively.

A small-size transfer blackbody cavity for calibration of infrared ear thermometers.

A small-size transfer blackbody cavity for calibration of infrared ear thermometers (IRETs) was developed and characterized at the Korea Research Institute of Standards and Science. This blackbody cavity consists of a reflector exposed to the air and a radiator with three-step curves immersed in a water-bath, and has an angularly uniform emissivity of higher than 0.9993. The radiance temperature of the blackbody cavity was measured with an IRET. We also calculated the effective emissivity by using the software STEEP322, considering the influence of the shape and temperature of the probe-tip of the IRET on the effective emissivity of the blackbody cavity. The measured and calculated radiance temperatures of the blackbody cavity were compared to those of the ASTM-type blackbody cavity and are in good agreement. Uncertainties (k = 1) of the blackbody cavity are estimated to be less than 44 mK in the temperature range 35-42 °C.

In situ gas sensing using a remotely detectable probe with replaceable insert.

We demonstrate a spectroscopic gas sensor using an optical fiber probe with a replaceable insert. The probe consists of a hollow-core photonic bandgap fiber (HC-PBGF) with a core diameter of 10.9 µm and a glass tube where a 2-µm hollow core fiber (HCF) with a gold coated end facet can be inserted. The HCF is designed to function as both a gate where gases can enter the HC-PBGF and a mirror reflecting the guided light back to the HC-PBGF. The opposite distal end of the probe is also designed to be able to regulate the gas pressure within the HC-PBGF for a high gas flow rate, while still transmitting the reflected light to the analysis instrument. The remote sensing probe, we believe, has much potential for detecting gases in hazardous environments.

Ultrawidely tunable single-mode fiber acousto-optic filter.

A single-mode fiber (SMF) acousto-optic tunable filter (AOTF) with a tuning range of more than 300 nm is demonstrated. The SMF used in the experiment has a ring of symmetric holes within the cladding, which causes a larger mode-index difference between the first and the second higher-order antisymmetric modes than those of a conventional SMF. As a result, the difference in beatlengths between the core mode and the higher-order modes is highly increased, which makes it possible for the SMF AOTF to exhibit a single resonance peak in the transmission spectrum over the wavelength range of 1.3-1.6 µm for given acoustic frequencies of 3.1-3.8 MHz.

High-accuracy measurement of cladding noncircularity based on phase velocity difference between acoustic polarization modes.

A high-accuracy measurement method for the noncircularity (ellipticity) of silica glass fibers is demonstrated. This method makes use of the phase velocity difference between two eigen polarization modes of the lowest-order acoustic flexural wave in an optical fiber. The relationship between the acoustic phase velocity difference and the fiber ellipticity is formulated. Three types of optical fibers were examined; photonic crystal fiber, elliptical core fiber, and standard single-mode fiber. Fiber ellipticity of less than 0.001 was successfully measured.

Twist effect on spectral properties of two-mode fiber acousto-optic filters.

The splitting and the shift of resonance peaks in the output spectrum of two-mode fiber acousto-optic devices caused by twist perturbation are described. An elliptical-core two-mode fiber and a two-mode photonic-crystal fiber are used for the analysis. The splitting of the resonance peaks are found to be almost linearly proportional to the twist angle of the fiber with the slopes of about 0.58 nm/(rad/m) for the elliptical-core fiber and about 0.29 nm/(rad/m) for the photonic crystal fiber. The experimental results compare well with the theoretical predictions.

Combined effects of optical and acoustic birefringence on acousto-optic mode coupling in photonic crystal fiber.

We investigate in detail the origin of multiple resonance peaks experimentally observed in an all-fiber acousto-optic tunable filter built with a photonic crystal fiber having slightly deformed air-hole structure and non-circular outer cladding. A model for the acousto-optic mode coupling in the PCF is formulated taking into account both the acoustic and the optical birefringence. All experimental results are in good agreement with numerical calculations.

Tunable acoustic gratings in solid-core photonic bandgap fiber.

We investigate acousto-optic long period grating resonances in a fluid-filled solid-core photonic bandgap fiber (PBGF). The acoustic grating design enables electrically tunable notches in each of the PBGF transmission bands, where both the center frequency and depth of the resonances can be varied. The measured intermodal beat length and resonance bandwidth are in good agreement with numerical simulations based on multipole method. We show that the highly dispersive nature of PBGF modes results in very narrow-band rejection for a given grating pitch.