Optical and mechanical design of a telescope for lunar spectral irradiance measurements from a high-altitude aircraft.

We have designed a non-imaging telescope for measurement of the spectral irradiance of the moon. The telescope was designed to be integrated into a wing pod of a National Aeronautics and Space Administration ER-2 research aircraft to measure lunar spectral irradiance during flight. The telescope and support system were successfully flown in August 2018 at altitudes near 21 km and at speeds of ∼760 km/h. The wing pod in which the telescope is mounted has an opening through which the moon can be observed. The mount exposes the telescope to high winds, low pressures, temperatures near -60 °C, and vibrations both due to flight and due to the motion of the aircraft on the ground. This required a telescope design with high thermal stability and high resistance to shock. The optical design of the telescope is optimized to have high throughput and spatially uniform transmission from 380 nm to 1000 nm over a field of view about three times the angular size of the moon as viewed from the Earth. The final design resulted in a telescope with singlet design incorporating a 139.7 mm lens with an effective focal length of 377 mm and a field of view of 1.6°. The light from the telescope is introduced into an integrating sphere, which destroys the image and the polarization for measurement by a fiber-coupled spectroradiometer. Herein, we present an overview of the instrument and support system with emphasis on the telescope design.

Towards high-accuracy primary spectral radiometry from 400 K to 1300 K.

We describe the design, construction, calibration and use of a near-infrared thermodynamic radiation thermometer to measure blackbodies from 400 K to 1300 K. The motivation for this work is the pending redefinition of the kelvin and the need for direct, thermodynamic temperature measurements of the fixed-point blackbodies presently used in the realization of the temperature scale. The challenges of accurately measuring Planck radiances which vary greatly in radiance level and spectral shape are discussed. Methods to characterize the components used in the radiation thermometer design are described. The use of this radiation thermometer as a relative primary thermometer and the resulting residuals are shown. We describe radiometric calibration procedures for using the radiation thermometer as an absolute primary thermometer. Preliminary data showing the initial radiometric calibration steps are discussed.

Thermodynamic temperature assignment to the point of inflection of the melting curve of high-temperature fixed points.

The thermodynamic temperature of the point of inflection of the melting transition of Re-C, Pt-C and Co-C eutectics has been determined to be 2747.84 ± 0.35 K, 2011.43 ± 0.18 K and 1597.39 ± 0.13 K, respectively, and the thermodynamic temperature of the freezing transition of Cu has been determined to be 1357.80 ± 0.08 K, where the ± symbol represents 95% coverage. These results are the best consensus estimates obtained from measurements made using various spectroradiometric primary thermometry techniques by nine different national metrology institutes. The good agreement between the institutes suggests that spectroradiometric thermometry techniques are sufficiently mature (at least in those institutes) to allow the direct realization of thermodynamic temperature above 1234 K (rather than the use of a temperature scale) and that metal-carbon eutectics can be used as high-temperature fixed points for thermodynamic temperature dissemination. The results directly support the developing mise en pratique for the definition of the kelvin to include direct measurement of thermodynamic temperature.

Precise Measurement of Lunar Spectral Irradiance at Visible Wavelengths.

We report a measurement of lunar spectral irradiance with an uncertainty below 1 % from 420 nm to 1000 nm. This measurement uncertainty meets the stability requirement for many climate data records derived from satellite images, including those for vegetation, aerosols, and snow and ice albedo. It therefore opens the possibility of using the Moon as a calibration standard to bridge gaps in satellite coverage and validate atmospheric retrieval algorithms. Our measurement technique also yields detailed information about the atmosphere at the measurement site, suggesting that lunar observations are a possible solution for aerosol monitoring during the polar winter and can provide nighttime measurements to complement aerosol data collected with sun photometers. Our measurement, made with a novel apparatus, is an order of magnitude more accurate than the previous state-of-the-art and has continuous spectral coverage, removing the need to interpolate between filter passbands.

Internal quantum efficiency modeling of silicon photodiodes.

Results are presented for modeling of the shape of the internal quantum efficiency (IQE) versus wavelength for silicon photodiodes in the 400 nm to 900 nm wavelength range. The IQE data are based on measurements of the external quantum efficiencies of three transmission optical trap detectors using an extensive set of laser wavelengths, along with the transmittance of the traps. We find that a simplified version of a previously reported IQE model fits the data with an accuracy of better than 0.01%. These results provide an important validation of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) spectral radiant power responsivity scale disseminated through the NIST Spectral Comparator Facility, as well as those scales disseminated by other National Metrology Institutes who have employed the same model.

Osteoblast cell membrane hybrid bilayers for studying cell-cell interactions.

Osteoblast-like cells were grown on a surface that presents cell membrane components to the cells in culture. The culture surface was a bimolecular layer formed by the interaction of osteoblast plasma membrane vesicles with an alkanethiol monolayer. The potential of these osteoblast-membrane hybrid bilayers for promoting osteoblast adhesion, growth and differentiation was examined. UMR-106 osteoblast-like cells cultured on these surfaces are normal in appearance, and in the presence of serum, proliferate as well or better than on control surfaces. The level of alkaline phosphatase production in the presence and absence of serum suggests that the osteoblast-like cells retain their differentiated phenotype, and appear to respond to the cell surface ligands presented by the osteoblast-membrane biomimetic surface. These observations suggest that biomimetic membrane films prepared from osteoblast cell membranes support osteoblast cell growth, allow the cells to maintain their differentiation state and may be suitable as a model system to probe cell-cell interactions.

High-resolution scanning tunneling microscopy of fully hydrated ripple-phase bilayers.

A modified freeze-fracture replication technique for use with the scanning tunneling microscope (STM) has provided a quantitative, high-resolution description of the waveform and amplitude of rippled bilayers in the P beta' phase of dimyristoylphosphatidylcholine (DMPC) in excess water. The ripples are uniaxial and asymmetrical, with a temperature-dependent amplitude of 2.4 nm near the chain melting temperature that decreases to zero at the chain crystallization temperature. The wavelength of 11 nm does not change with temperature. The observed ripple shape and the temperature-induced structural changes are not predicted by any current theory. Calibration and reproducibility of the STM/replica technique were tested with replicas of well-characterized bilayers of cadmium arachidate on mica that provide regular 5.5-nm steps. STM images were analyzed using a cross-correlation averaging program to eliminate the effects of noise and the finite size and shapes of the metal grains that make up the replica. The correlation averaging allowed us to develop a composite ripple profile averaged over hundreds of individual ripples measured on different samples with different STM tips. The STM/replica technique avoids many of the previous artifacts of biological STM imaging and can be used to examine a variety of periodic hydrated lipid and protein samples at a lateral resolution of about 1 nm and a vertical resolution of about 0.3 nm. This resolution is superior to conventional and tapping mode AFM to soft biological materials; the technique is substrate-free, and the conductive and chemically uniform replicas make image interpretation simple and direct.

Thermodynamic limitations on the resolution obtainable with metal replicas.

The major factor limiting resolution of metal-shadowed surfaces for electron and scanning tunnelling microscopy is the granularity of the metal film. This granularity had been believed to result from a recrystallization of the evaporated film, and hence could be limited by use of higher melting point materials for replication, or inhibited by adding carbon or other impurities to the film. However, evaporated and sputtered films of amorphous metal alloys that do not crystallize also show a granularity that decreases with increasing alloy melting point. A simple thermodynamic analysis shows that the granularity results from a dewetting of the typically low surface energy sample by the high surface energy metal film, similar to the beading up of drops of spilled mercury. The metal granularity and the resulting resolution of the metal-coated surface is proportional to the mobility of the metal on the surface after evaporation, which is related to the difference in temperature between the melting point of the metal and the sample surface temperature.

Imaging soft materials with scanning tunneling microscopy.

By modifying freeze-fracture replication, a standard electron microscopy fixation technique, for use with the scanning tunneling microscope (STM), a variety of soft, non-conductive biomaterials can be imaged at high resolution in three dimensions. Metal replicas make near ideal samples for STM in comparison to the original biological materials. Modifications include a 0.1 micron backing layer of silver and mounting the replicas on a fine-mesh silver filters to enhance the rigidity of the metal replica. This is required unless STM imaging is carried out in vacuum; otherwise, a liquid film of contamination physically connects the STM tip with the sample. This mechanical coupling leads to exaggerated height measurements; the enhanced rigidity of the thicker replica eliminates much of the height amplification. Further improvement was obtained by imaging in a dry nitrogen atmosphere. Calibration and reproducibility were tested with replicas of well characterized bilayers of cadmium arachidate on mica that provide regular 5.5 nm steps. We have used the STM/replica technique to examine the ripple shape and amplitude in the P beta phase of dimyristoylphosphatidyl-choline (DMPC) in water. STM images were analyzed using a cross-correlation averaging program to eliminate the effects of noise and the finite size and shapes of the metal grains that make up the replica. The correlation averaging allowed us to develop a composite ripple profile averaged over hundreds of individual ripples and different samples. The STM/replica technique is sufficiently general that it can be used to examine a variety of hydrated lipid and protein samples at a lateral resolution of about 1 nm and a vertical resolution of about 0.3 nm.

Inherent bias in correlation averaged images.

The correlation averaging algorithm frequently used to enhance micrographs of repeating structures contains an inherent bias that favours images with larger pixel values or positive noise levels. This bias not only skews the composite image toward higher pixel values, but also distorts the image by increasing the value of high-valued pixels more than that of low-valued pixels. These errors are especially important in scanning probe microscopy images where the pixel value reflects a distinct height. A similar algorithm that uses a structure function in place of the correlation function eliminates this bias.