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This study proposes a method that complements Vortex-In-Cell plus (VIC+) (Schneiders and Scarano, Exp Fluids 57:139, 2016), a data assimilation technique that reconstructs a dense flow field from sparse particle tracks. Here, the focus is on the treatment of boundary conditions. In the VIC+ method, the choice of boundary conditions significantly affects a large part of the inner domain through their role as Dirichlet boundary conditions of the Poisson equations. By nature, there are particle tracks on one side of the boundaries, and often, due to experimental limitations, the track density is low, just close to the boundaries. This lack of data near the boundaries leads to a poor iterative update of the boundary condition for VIC+. Overall, the VIC+ method tends to be sensitive about the specific choice of the initial conditions, including the inner domain and the boundaries. Without prior flow information, a large padded volume has been proposed to achieve stable and reliable convergence, at the cost of a large number of additional unknowns that need to be optimized. The present method pursues the following concepts to resolve the above issues: use of the smallest possible padding size, reconstruction starting with “all zero” initial conditions, and progressive correction of the boundary conditions by considering the continuity law and the Navier–Stokes equation. These physical laws are incorporated as additional terms in the cost function, which so far only contained the disparity between PTV measurements and the VIC+ reconstruction. Here, the Navier–Stokes equation allows an instantaneous pressure field to be optimized simultaneously with the velocity and acceleration fields. Moreover, the scale parameters in VIC+ are redefined to be directly computed from PTV measurement instead of using the initial condition, and new scaling factors for the additional cost function terms are introduced. A coarse-grid approximation is employed in order to both improve reconstruction stability and save computation time. It provides a subsequent finer-grid with its low-resolution result as an initial condition while the interrogation volume slightly shrinks. A numerical assessment is conducted using synthetic PTV data generated from the direct numerical simulation data of forced isotropic turbulence from the Johns Hopkins Turbulence Database. Improved reconstructions, especially near the volume boundary, are achieved while the virtues of VIC+ are preserved. As an experimental assessment, the existing data from a time-resolved water jet is processed. Two reconstruction domains with different sizes are considered to compare the boundary of the smaller domain with the inside of the larger one. Visible enhancements near the boundary of the smaller domain are observed for this new approach in time-varying flow fields despite the limited input from PTV data. Graphical abstract

Modern grating imaging spectrographs typically show aberrations due to the nonlinear dependence of angular dispersion on wavelength. This error can be reduced by a combination of diffracting and refracting components (grating and prism). Here, we present a dispersive optical component, namely, total internal reflection (TIR) grating + prism, with a grating attached to one facet of a prism. The elements work within the limit of TIR and exhibit three advantages compared to standard diffraction gratings: first, high diffraction efficiency up to 98%; second, enormous angular dispersion up to 0.75 ∘ n m − 1 ; and third, a nearly constant angular dispersion profile. As an example, the fabrication of such a disperser designed for the short-wave infrared2 spectral range is demonstrated. We report on details of the manufacturing process, which relies on a dedicated combination of technologies, i.e., electron beam lithography, atomic layer deposition, and hydrophilic direct bonding.

The simulation of large-area diffractive optical elements (DOEs) is challenging when non-paraxial propagation and coupling effects between neighboring structures shall be considered. We developed a novel method for the farfield simulation of DOEs, especially computer-generated holograms (CGHs) with lateral feature sizes in the wavelength range. It uses a machine learning approach to predict the optical function based on geometry parameters. Therefore, training data are calculated by physical simulation methods to create a linear regression model. With the trained model a very fast computation of the farfield is possible with high conformity to results of rigorous methods.

Particle Tracking Velocimetry (PTV) or Lagrangian Particle Tracking (LPT) picked up a lot of interest over the last years due to their ability to acquire global flow fields at high spatial and temporal resolution. The most recent research focused mainly on algorithmic advancements in order to increase the obtainable data density and on its application to new flow cases. Only a small amount of studies tried to quantify the measurement uncertainties linked to these volumetric measurement approaches. Within this contribution we want to present how to acquire measurement uncertainties for the position, velocity and acceleration for each data point along a trajectory by means of linear regression analysis tools. Based on these uncertainties, an adaptive filtering approach is introduced, which eliminates the user’s choice of the filter kernel length and which automatically determines its optimal value.

In this study, a new image calibration approach is presented that corrects arbitrary optical distortions by utilizing non-parametric, 3D disparity fields. A calibration plate with a high spatial resolution (i.e., high density of calibration marks) was used to identify optical distortions that remain after the initial calibration, which were then used to create a correction field for the pinhole or polynomial mapping functions. Results from a pipe flow experiment with four cameras using volume self-calibration (VSC) and Shake-the-Box Lagrangian particle tracking (STB LPT) are presented and the impact of the improved calibration is discussed. Using the calibration marks with the correction field, distortions of initially more than 20 pixels are reduced below 1 pixel. Using VSC with the correction field allows further reduction of average calibration disparities below 0.02 pixels (maximum 0.5 pixels), whereas without a correction field the remaining average disparity is much higher at 1 pixel (maximum 5 pixels). STB analysis of the data shows a considerable higher spatial resolution at the pipe wall and a consistent spatial distribution of the number of detected particles in the measurement volume.

We propose a novel method for the wave-optical simulation of diffractive optical elements (DOEs) like metasurfaces or computer-generated holograms (CGHs). Existing techniques mostly rely on the assumption of local periodicity to predict the performance of elements. The utilization of a specially adapted finite-difference beam propagation method (BPM) allows the semi-rigorous simulation of entire DOEs within a reasonable runtime due to linear scaling with the number of grid points. Its applicability is demonstrated by the simulation of a metalens and a polarization-dependent beamsplitter, both based on effective-medium metasurfaces. A comparison shows high conformity to rigorous simulations.

Purposely tailored thin film stacks sustaining surface waves have been utilized to create a unique link between emission angle and wavelength of fluorescent dye molecules. The knowledge of the thin film stack’s properties allows us to derive the intrinsically emitted luminescence spectrum as well as to gain information about the orientation of fluorophores from angularly resolved experiments. This corresponds to replacing all the equipment necessary for polarized spectroscopy with a single smart thin film stack, potentially enabling single shot analyses in the future. The experimental results agree well with those from other established techniques, when analyzing the Rubrene derivative in a 2,4,6-tris(biphenyl-3-yl)-1,3,5-triazine (T2T) host used for the fabrication of optimized organic light-emitting diodes. The findings illustrate how resonant layered stacks can be applied to integrated spectroscopic analyses.

An Echelle-grating specifically developed for the space borne measurement of earth’s atmospheric CO2-concentration is presented. It has a line density of ~170L/mm and is manufactured on a thick crystalline silicon substrate using electron beam lithography. The echelle profile is realized using a highly anisotropic chemical etching process, which stops on the crystallographic planes of the crystal. The established manufacturing process allows perfect linear grating facets with negligible corner rounding of the profile. The important property of showing a low polarization sensitivity of the diffraction efficiency is achieved by a special design and technology for applying the gold coating of the grating which intentionally leaves one grating facet uncoated.

A compact lightweight AR headset architecture is presented employing a semi-transparent Fresnel mirror combiner. As compared to a grating combiner this design approach minimizes diffractive color aberrations by working in a high order blazed grating regime. Two different technologies, gray scale lithography as well as anisotropic wet-chemical etching of silicon wafers were evaluated for manufacturing of the Fresnel element. A first monocular demonstrator was assembled and analyzed analytically, numerically as well as experimentally. A crucial point in the manufacturing of the Fresnel combiner element was the high degree of surface shape accuracy of the working Fresnel edges as well as the embedding polymer layer to ensure optical imaging quality. Currently, only the wet-chemical etching technology could provide sufficiently good results. Two main reasons for aberrations could be traced down: grating effects of the Fresnel structure and asymmetric refraction at the embedding layer. As a result, different kinds of color aberration will be generated. Additionally, the asymmetric refraction causes different types of distortion. Two approaches for compensating color aberrations could be derived: optical pre-compensation of the lateral color caused by the embedding layer as well as optimizing the Fresnel structure to minimize grating effects.

The impinging turbulent slot jet was investigated experimentally using tomographic particle image velocimetry technique. The jet Reynolds number was considered equal to 9000 and the nozzle to plate distance was 10 times the width of the nozzle. The mean flow and turbulent statistics were evaluated at different cross-sections. Then, the dominant three-dimensional structures of the turbulent flow were identified using the Proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) method, and the contribution of different energy modes to the total energy was determined. It is observed that the first 40 POD modes can be considered as the dominant flow modes which contain about 89 % of total kinetic energy of the flow. Also, horseshoe form structures were observed in some POD modes on both sides of the jet central plane. Finally, three-dimensional vortex structures were specified using vorticity, Q and λ2 criteria, and compared with each other.

Waterpipe smoking may increasingly account for unintentional carbon monoxide poisoning, a serious health hazard with high morbidity and mortality. We aimed at identifying waterpipe smoking as a cause for carbon monoxide poisoning in a large critical care database of a specialty care referral center.This retrospective cohort study included patients with a history of exposure to waterpipe smoking and carbon monoxide blood gas levels10% or presence of clinical symptoms compatible with CO poisoning admitted between January 2013 and December 2016. Patients' initial symptoms and carbon monoxide blood levels were retrieved from records and neurologic status was assessed before and after hyperbaric oxygen treatment.Sixty-one subjects with carbon monoxide poisoning were included [41 males, 20 females; mean age 23 (SD ± 6) years; range 13-45] with an initial mean carboxyhemoglobin of 26.93% (SD ± 9.72). Most common symptoms included syncope, dizziness, headache, and nausea; 75% had temporary syncope. Symptoms were not closely associated with blood COHb levels.CO poisoning after waterpipe smoking may present in young adults with a wide variability of symptoms from none to unconsciousness. Therefore diagnosis should be suspected even in the absence of symptoms.

Der Tauchsport ist zunehmend beliebt. Dementsprechend haben immer mehr Patienten tauchmedizinische Fragen an ihren Hausarzt. In diesem Beitrag erfahren Sie, welches die haufigsten Tauchunfalle sind und wie man sie erkennt.

The emission zone profile in an organic light-emitting diode was extracted by fitting the experimentally measured far-field angular electroluminescence spectrum of a purposely designed device. It is based on a thin 10 nm emission layer doped with the red emitting phosphor Ir(MDQ) 2 acac. We find strong indications for light emission originating from outside of the emission layer, even though the device has electron and hole blocking layers. These are commonly assumed to completely confine the charge carrier recombination and hence the light emission to the emission layer. Since the calculated internal spectrum of the emission matches the emitter photoluminescence spectrum well, diffusion of the emitter molecules outside of the emission layer is hypothesized.

Diffuse scattering of optical one-dimensional gratings becomes increasingly critical as it constrains the performance, e.g., of grating spectrometers. In particular, stochastic disturbances of the ideal grating structure provoke straylight. In this paper, the straylight spectrum of stochastically disturbed gratings is examined. First, a 1D-method is presented that allows to calculate 2D-diffuse scattering of arbitrarily polarized light originating from stochastic disturbances of the grating geometry on the basis of standard optical simulation tools. Within the scope of this method an enormous reduction of computational effort is achieved compared to the full 2D-simulation approach, i.e., the computation time can be reduced by several orders of magnitude. Hence, the method also allows to address even large period gratings that are not possible to calculate within a full 2D-approach. In analogy to scattering theories for surface roughness the method relies on typical characteristics of straylight originating from small disturbances, that the angle resolved scattering (ARS) can be separated into a product of the power spectral density describing the 2D stochastic process and additional factors depending on the undisturbed 1D grating structure. In a second part, an analytical model within Fourier optics utilizing thin element approximation (TEA) describing the wide angle scattering of lamellar gratings disturbed by line edge roughness (LER) for TE-polarized light is derived and verified by applying the 1D-simulation method. For shallow gratings, we find an excellent agreement between simulation and TEA over the whole transmission half space. In addition, this model allows a descriptive understanding of the underlying physical effects and, accordingly, the influence of relevant parameters (grating geometry, refractive indices, illumination) onto the scattering spectra is discussed. Further, it is shown that LER-scattering can be described within a modified Rayleigh-Rice-ARS usually found within the frame of surface roughness.

Die modernen Tauchausrustungen und Atemgase ermoglichen es, sicherer und tiefer zu tauchen. Eine Voraussetzung dafur ist aber, sich gut mit seinen Geraten und den Gasgemischen auszukennen, ansonsten drohen schwerwiegende Unfalle.

Surface relief gratings are well-established elements for high power laser applications, e.g. ultra-short pulse compression. A binary submicron period profile, realized by e-beam lithography and reactive ion beam etching in a dielectric material, is utilized for nearly one-hundred percent diffraction efficiency. Because these gratings are manufactured without any replication techniques, a high wave front accuracy and a low stray light background can be achieved. Spectroscopic applications require additional properties, i.e. a larger spectral bandwidth and Off-Littrow operation. We present new approaches for surface relief gratings realized either via multi-level staircase profiles or exploiting sub-wavelength features. The RVS spectrometer grating in ESA's GAIA mission is a prominent example where these techniques are already in use. The current contribution focuses on the results achieved during a pre-development performed for the MOONS instrument intended to operate at VLT.

We focus on the determination of the internal luminescence quantum efficiency of a green-emitting organic light-emitting diode (OLED). By considering different geometrical configurations of OLED thin-film stacks, we elucidate the role of the internal luminescence quantum efficiency of the emitter in the thin-film microcavity. Combining optical simulations with experimental results, a comprehensive efficiency analysis is performed. Here the electroluminescence of a set of OLEDs is characterized. Additionally, the devices are characterized using time-resolved photoluminescence measurements. The experimental data are analyzed using optical simulations. This analysis leads to a quantification of internal luminescence quantum efficiency and allows conclusions about competing mechanisms resulting in nonradiative recombination of charge carriers.

In recent years, the scattering properties of optical gratings became of high interest. In particular, the effect of line edge roughness (LER) in lamellar diffraction gratings was identified to be a potential source of stray light. In this contribution the LER-induced scattering spectrum of such gratings is investigated. The straight-forward method to calculate the angle resolved scattering (ARS) is offered by two-dimensional simulation tools, e.g. the rigorous coupled wave analysis (RCWA). Unfortunately, this approach suffers from computation times that typically lie in the range of several days. As a simplification, we apply a novel one-dimensional rigorous approach1 that permits the prediction of ARS along the dispersion direction of the grating within a feasible computation time. As the 1D-model only accounts for the LER-parameter σ and neglects the correlation length ξ and the roughness exponent α, analytical considerations must be employed in order to adapt the 1D-simulation results to the 2D-reality.1 The model is verified by comparison to the 2D-model and ARS-measurements of E-beam exposed gratings with artificially induced (and strongly determined) LER. Based on the derived 1D-model, the effects of different parameters on the straylight performance of a high performance spectrometer grating is investigated. As a result we find that not only the roughness parameters but also the grating geometry has a significant effect especially on the spatial distribution of the scattered light. In other words, the strength of the scattered light next to the (spectrometric) useful diffraction order can be controlled by the grating geometry, too. Hence, the presented algorithm might be a useful tool for designing gratings with strong straylight specifications.

Light shaping optics often generate continuously varying or homogeneous far-field distributions: Diffusers or free-form beam shapers are well-suited for transforming a given incident angular distribution into a continuous far-field distribution, while etendue conserving fly´s eye condensers excel in producing homogeneous top-hat far-fields, independent of the incident spatial and angular light distribution. The proposed optics combines the advantages of these light shaping optics in generating continuously varying far-field distributions independently from the incoming light distribution while conserving etendue. The light shaping systems consists of a high fill factor tandem microlens array featuring irregular lenslets with individual aperture size and individual decentration of lens vertex and and lens aperture w.r.t. array channel axis. We present design examples to be realized as monolithic polymer-on-glass tandem arrays, mastered by grayscale lithography. Applications of this light shaping approach are LED-spotlights with particular farfield specifications and small design envelope e.g. for automotive or general lighting.

International audience; A test case for pressure field reconstruction from particle image velocimetry (PIV) and Lagrangian particle tracking (LPT) has been developed by constructing a simulated experiment from a zonal detached eddy simulation for an axisymmetric base flow at Mach 0.7. The test case comprises sequences of four subsequent particle images (representing multi-pulse data) as well as continuous time-resolved data which can realistically only be obtained for low-speed flows. Particle images were processed using tomographic PIV processing as well as the LPT algorithm ‘Shake-The-Box’ (STB). Multiple pressure field reconstruction techniques have subsequently been applied to the PIV results (Eulerian approach, iterative least-square pseudo-tracking, Taylor’s hypothesis approach, and instantaneous Vortex-in-Cell) and LPT results (FlowFit, Vortex-in-Cell-plus, Voronoi-based pressure evaluation, and iterative least-square pseudo-tracking). All methods were able to reconstruct the main features of the instantaneous pressure fields, including methods that reconstruct pressure from a single PIV velocity snapshot. Highly accurate reconstructed pressure fields could be obtained using LPT approaches in combination with more advanced techniques. In general, the use of longer series of time-resolved input data, when available, allows more accurate pressure field reconstruction. Noise in the input data typically reduces the accuracy of the reconstructed pressure fields, but none of the techniques proved to be critically sensitive to the amount of noise added in the present test case.

Low pressure turbines of small and medium sized engines may operate at very low Reynolds numbers. In consequence transition is delayed to an extend where laminar separation, detached transition and reattachment occur. The wakes from upstream blade rows lead to overall high turbulence levels which play a key role in the transition process. Freestream eddies buffeting the laminar boundary layer induce streamwise vortices known as Klebanoff Modes. To investigate this type of flow a flat plate was exposed to a pressure distribution. It is based on the PAK-B suction side and was created by a contoured wall facing the plate. The PAK-B is a Pratt & Whitney design and a Mach number scaled version of a highly aft loaded low pressure turbine airfoil. Due to the latter it suffers from a large separation bubble at low Reynolds numbers. The flow has been intensively investigated by hot-wire anemometry with a very high spatial resolution. This allows obtaining very precise information about the location of characteristic flow areas; for instance the separation and reattachment positions. Based on this information, Tomographic PIV was employed to expose detailed features in specific areas of the flow field. This technique provides the velocity vector information inside a flow volume. It complements hot-wire results, which give a time resolved information but only planar velocity magnitudes. Combining these techniques and comparing their results is therefore an excellent way to raise the physical understanding of the flow behaviour. This has been done using velocity profiles, skin friction coefficients and integral boundary layer parameters. As the 3D-PIV information allows calculation of derived quantities, like the vector field rotation, a picture of the coherent structures can be drawn.

As a follow-up to a previous proof-of-principle study, a novel Lagrangian pressure-extraction technique is analytically evaluated, and experimentally validated using dense 4D-PTV data. The technique is analytically evaluated using the semi-three-dimensional Taylor–Green vortex, and it is found that the Lagrangian technique out-performs the standard Eulerian technique when Dirichlet boundary conditions are enforced. However, the Lagrangian technique produces worse estimates of the pressure field when Neumann boundary conditions are enforced on boundaries with strong pressure gradients. The technique is experimentally validated using flow data obtained for the case of a free-falling, index-matched sphere at \(Re=2100\). The experimental data were collected using a four-camera particle tracking velocimetry measurement system, and processed using 4D-PTV. The pressure field is then extracted using both the Eulerian and Lagrangian techniques, and the resulting pressure fields are compared. Qualitatively, the pressure fields agree; however, quantitative differences are found with respect to the magnitude of the pressure minima on the side of the sphere. Finally, the pressure-drag coefficient is estimated using each technique, and the two techniques are found to be in very close agreement. A comparison to a reference value from literature confirms that the drag coefficient estimates are reasonable, demonstrating the validity of the technique.

Single-shot, tomographic imaging of the three-dimensional concentration field is demonstrated in a turbulent gaseous free jet in co-flow using volumetrically illuminated laser-induced fluorescence. The fourth-harmonic output of an Nd:YAG laser at 266 nm is formed into a collimated 15 × 20 mmsup2/supbeam to excite the ground singlet state of acetone seeded into the central jet. Subsequent fluorescence is collected along eight lines of sight for tomographic reconstruction using a combination of stereoscopes optically coupled to four two-stage intensified CMOS cameras. The performance of the imaging system is evaluated and shown to be sufficient for recording instantaneous three-dimensional features with high signal-to-noise (130:1) and nominal spatial resolution of 0.6-1.5 mm at x/D = 7-15.5.

Mask-aligner (MA) lithography is a well-known method for the fabrication of micrometer sized structures on a substrate with a diameter up to 300 mm. In spite of a theoretical resolution below 200 nm, the minimum printable feature sized remained above 1μm due to diffraction effects and limit its utilization to advanced packaging, or MEMS fabrication. Recently, developments in the illumination system and mechanical parts (known as AMALTIH for Advanced MA LITHography) as well as mask design, have permitted to used diffractive based photo-mask, and then reach the resolution limit mentioned above. This opens the possibility to fabricate smaller structures, usually accessible only by ebeam lithography. We propose here to demonstrate a fast and robust fabrication method of large area plasmonic absorber structures based on 2D sub-micrometric (350 nm period) nano-needles in a transparent polymer on a glass substrate and coated with a 50 nm thick gold layer. The interaction of the incoming light with metallic structured surface leads to the small total reflections of the 0th order below 5 %, over a large spectral band (460-660 nm) and a large set of incidence angles with TE and TM polarizations. Those results demonstrate that our fabrication process is a step toward the implementation of plasmonic based effect structures for a wide range of application.

Aligned emitters increase OLED outcoupling but their orientation averaging has not yet been studied. This averaging is measured after the introduction of plasmonic losses in the emitter’s near field causing orientation dependent lifetime changes.

Gratings are essential components in different high performance optical set-ups such as spectrometers in space missions or ultrashort-pulse laser compression arrangements. Often such kinds of applications require gratings operating close to the technological accessible limits of today’s fabrication technology. Typical critical parameters are the diffraction efficiency and its polarization dependency, the wave-front error introduced by the grating, and the stray-light performance. Additionally, space applications have specific environmental requirements and laser application typically demand a high damage threshold. All these properties need to be controlled precisely on rather large grating areas. Grating sizes of 200 mm or even above are not unusual anymore. The paper provides a review on how such high performance gratings can be realized by electron-beam lithography and accompanying technologies. The approaches are demonstrated by different examples. The first example is the design and fabrication of the grating for the Radial-Velocity-Spectrometer of the GAIA-mission of the ESA. The second grating is a reflective pulse compression element with no wavelength resonances due to an optimized design. The last example shows a three level blazed grating in resonance domain with a diffraction efficiency of approximately 86 %.

The optical features of the internal dipole radiation have major impact on the emission pattern and overall device efficiency of organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs). We provide some general directives on how the OLED layered stack should be designed in order to enable precise measurements of the active optical properties of the emissive material (namely internal electroluminescence spectrum, profile of the emission zone and dipole moment orientation) by radiation pattern analyses. We discuss a model layered system and deduce universal emitter positions most suitable for the determination of the particular OLED internal features of interest. Furthermore, we evaluate the real benefit of conducting radiation pattern analyses utilizing a substrate index-matched glass-hemisphere.

The orientation of the emissive dipole moments in organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) has a major impact on the optical outcoupling efficiency and, consequently, on the device performance as well as on possible optimization strategies. In this study we propose and demonstrate a general method to quantify the amounts of parallel and perpendicular emissive sites in OLEDs. The presented in situ -method is based on measurements of the far-field emission of an electrically operating device and corresponding optical reverse simulations. A well adapted OLED stack is utilized, where the contribution of perpendicularly oriented dipoles to the radiation pattern in air is optically enhanced. Additionally, for the reverse simulation we take advantage of the fact that perpendicular dipoles do contribute to transverse-magnetic polarized light emission only. We apply the method to a polymeric OLED and show that the radiation pattern is generated by 93.5% parallel and 6.5 % perpendicular dipoles. Assuming a Gaussian distribution of dipole orientations, the dipoles stagger around the preferred parallel direction with an 1/e-angle of ±22°.

Tomographic and time resolved PIV measurements were performed to examine the 3D flow topology and the flow dynamic above the upper surface of a low-aspect ratio cylinder at Re ≈ 1 × 105. This generic experiment is of fundamental interest because it represents flow features which are relevant to many applications such as laminar separation bubbles and turbulent reattachment. At Re ≈ 1 × 105, laminar separation bubbles arise on the side of the cylinder. Furthermore, on the top of the cylinder a separation with reattachment is of major interest. The tomographic PIV measurement, which allows to determine all three velocity components in a volume instantaneously, was applied to examine the flow topology and interaction between the boundary layer and wake structures on the top of the finite cylinder. In the instantaneous flow fields the tip vortices and the recirculation region becomes visible. However, it is also observed that the flow is quite unsteady due to the large separation occurring on the top of the cylinder. In order to study the temporal behaviour of the separation, time resolved PIV was applied. This technique allows capturing the dynamic processes in detail. The development of vortices in the separated shear layer is observed and in addition regions with different dominant frequencies are identified.

The concept of multichannel array projection is generalized in order to realize an ultraslim, highly efficient optical system for structured illumination with high lumen output, where additionally the Kohler illumination principle is utilized and source light homogenization occurs. The optical system consists of a multitude of neighboring optical channels. In each channel two optical freeforms generate a real or a virtual spatial light pattern and furthermore, the ray directions are modified to enable Kohler illumination of a subsequent projection lens. The internal light pattern may be additionally influenced by absorbing apertures or slides. The projection lens transfers the resulting light pattern to a target, where the total target distribution is produced by superposition of all individual channel output pattern. The optical system without absorbing apertures can be regarded as a generalization of a fly’s eye condenser for structured illumination. In this case light pattern is exclusively generated by freeform light redistribution. The commonly occurring blurring effect for freeform beamshaping is reduced due to the creation of a virtual object light structure by means of the two freeform surfaces and its imaging towards the target. But, the remaining blurring inhibits very high spatial frequencies at the target. In order to create target features with very high spatial resolution the absorbing apertures can be utilized. In this case the freeform beamshaping can be used for an enhanced light transmission through the absorbing apertures. The freeform surfaces are designed by a generalized approach of Cartesian oval representation.

Particle image velocimetry has been the preferred experimental technique with which to study the aerodynamics of animal flight for over a decade. In that time, hardware has become more accessible and the software has progressed from the acquisition of planes through the flow field to the reconstruction of small volumetric measurements. Until now, it has not been possible to capture large volumes that incorporate the full wavelength of the aerodynamic track left behind during a complete wingbeat cycle. Here, we use a unique apparatus to acquire the first instantaneous wake volume of a flying animal's entire wingbeat. We confirm the presence of wake deformation behind desert locusts and quantify the effect of that deformation on estimates of aerodynamic force and the efficiency of lift generation. We present previously undescribed vortex wake phenomena, including entrainment around the wing-tip vortices of a set of secondary vortices borne of Kelvin–Helmholtz instability in the shear layer behind the flapping wings.

In order to increase the prediction capabilities of advanced numerical methods for turbulent wall bounded flows at relatively high Reynolds numbers accurate experimental validation data-sets including the full Reynolds stress tensor at high spatial resolution are strongly required. In particular the influence of pressure gradients and wall curvatures up to flow separation and the development of related shear layers need to be investigated experimentally in order to provide reliable data for the validation process but also to prove scaling laws, sub-grid- and turbulence-models. Furthermore, for advanced unsteady flow simulation methods (LES, DES, DNS etc.) the integration times and domains which are necessary for resolving flow features with very low spatial or temporal frequencies are often not sufficient for a fully converged solution. Consequently, the used experimental methods have to be able to resolve a large range of spatial and temporal scales for serving the code validation process. In a joint experiment within the European FP7 project AFDAR several advanced particle image velocimetry (PIV) and particle tracking velocimetry (PTV) methods have been successively applied to measure the flow within the ERCOFTAC test case Nr. 81 ”periodic hill” (PH) water tunnel at TU Munich delivering field data with high spatial and temporal resolution.

We present numerical simulations of the propagation of intense spatio-temporal fields propagating in air. Characteristic parameters of the propagation like peak intensities, plasma densities and diameters of the plasma channels are obtained. The evolution of the spectral content of the pulses is investigated and, in agreement with recent experiments, white-light supercontinuum generation is observed. We show in which areas of the pulse the supercontinuum is generated and conclude that self-phase modulation is responsible for the spectral broadening. Furthermore we investigate azimuthal instabilities of intense rotationally symmetric pulsed beams propagating in air. Although the spatial-temporal evolution of the field is strongly influenced by the onset of plasma generation, the instabilities are basically caused by the Kerr effect. We conclude that calculations assuming rotational symmetry become unrealistic due to the fast growth of azimuthal instabilities in the focal reg ion.

10 Gbit/s RZ signal transmission at 1.3 μm in a fiber transmission system with in-line semiconductor optical amplifiers is investigated using a recirculating fiber loop setup. We found that under certain conditions the system operates without in-line filtering and with strongly saturated amplifiers, provided the signal is extracted from the amplified spontaneous emission by means of a narrow optical filter in front of the receiver. These results are compared with a transmission scheme with in-line filtering.

This paper reports an experimental investigation of the high-Reynolds number turbulent flow past a thin flat plate with sharp untapered edges, by means of tomographic PIV. The experiments, carried out in the S4 wind tunnel of IMFT, have quantified the three-dimensional coherent vortex structures, by means of 3-D Proper Orthogonal Decomposition and reconstruction. The interaction of the most energetic coherent structures with the random turbulence is discussed. Furthermore, Proper Orthogonal Decomposition (POD), analysis allowed evaluation of three-dimensional phase-averaged dynamics that quantified the vortex shedding mechanism as well as the influence of higher modes associated with the finer-scale turbulence.

An investigation of the three-dimensional flow field of a turbulent swirling jet at Re = 50 × 103 generated by a non-reactive model aero engine lean burn injector is carried out in a water facility with tomographic Particle Image Velocimetry. This work is focused on the organization of the coherent structures arising within the near field of the swirling jet both in free and confined configurations. The confinement causes an increase of the Swirl number: the measured values are equal to 0.90 and 1.27, respectively for free and confined swirling jets. The effects of the confinement induce a larger spreading of the swirling jet promoting the enhancement of turbulence at the nozzle exit, but the expected upstream displacement of the reverse flow region is not observed. The instantaneous flow field is characterized by the presence of the precessing vortex core (PVC), of the outer helical vortex and of smaller turbulent structures perturbing the structure of the PVC. A three dimensional modal analysis of the velocity field using the Proper Orthogonal Decomposition (POD) highlights that the flow is dominated by the precessing vortex core. Using the first two POD modes a low order reconstruction of the velocity field is calculated. It is found that the small-scale structures shown in the instantaneous velocity field are not captured in the low order reconstruction due to smoothing effects, but the precessing vortex core and the outer helical vortex are properly represented.

The hoarseness diagram (Michaelis, Fröhlich, & Strube, 1998a) has been proposed as a new approach to describe different acoustic properties of voices. To test its performance in the analysis of pathologically disturbed and normal voices five requirements are suggested that should be met by any acoustic voice-analysis protocol to be used in voice research and clinical practice. The hoarseness diagram is then tested with regard to these requirements. Individual voices are found to show a satisfactory localization in the diagram. Aspects of stationarity are discussed in the context of four case studies. The different cases illustrate that changes in the acoustic analysis results are observed if the voice-generation conditions change, whereas results are stationary if phonation conditions do not change. Different pathological voice groups defined on grounds of the specific phonation mechanism are found to map to specific regions of the hoarseness diagram, with differences between group locations being significant. All results can be interpreted without exceptions if the two hoarseness diagram coordinates are taken to reflect the vibrational irregularity of the voice-generation mechanisms on the one side and the degree of closure of the vibrating structures on the other side. The hoarseness diagram and its underlying algorithms are thus shown to constitute a useful approach to acoustic voice analysis in research and clinical practice. The tests themselves demonstrate several application possibilities, including the quantitative monitoring of individual voices.

The glottal to noise excitation ratio (GNE) is an acoustic measure designed to assess the amount of noise in a pulse train generated by the oscillation of the vocal folds. So far its properties have only been studied for synthesized signals, where it was found to be independent of variations of fundamental frequency (jitter) and amplitude (shimmer). On the other hand, other features designed for the same purpose like NNE (normalized noise energy) or CHNR (cepstrum based harmonics-to-noise ratio) did not show this independence. This advantage of the GNE over NNE and CHNR, as well as its general applicability in voice quality assessment, is now tested for real speech using a large group of pathologic voices (n = 447). A set of four acoustic features is extracted from a total of 22 mostly well-known acoustic voice quality measures by correlation analysis, mutual information analysis, and principal components analysis. Three of these measures are chosen to assess primarily different aspects of signal aperiodicity, while the fourth one indicates the noise content of the signal. All analysis methods lead to the same feature set that consists of a measure of period correlation, jitter, shimmer, and GNE. The two-dimensional projection of this set named "hoarseness diagram" allows a graphical illustration of voice quality that can be easily interpreted.

Micro- and nanostructures enable specific optical functionalities, which rely on diffractive effects or effective medium features, depending on pattern dimension and wavelength. Performance predictions of optical systems which make use of nanostructured materials require having an accurate description of these materials ready to hand within the optical design. At the one hand, nanostructure characteristics which result from rigorous electromagnetic modeling can be used for the optical design. At the other hand, manufactured nanostructures may deviate from their idealized geometry, which will affect the performance of the optical system, wherein these artificial structures will be used. Thus, detailed optical characterization of the micro- or nanostructure functionality is prerequisite for accurate optical design and performance prediction. To this end, several characterization techniques can be applied depending on the scope of the optical design, finally. We report on a general route to include all accessible and required optical information about the nanostructured material within a corresponding model of the nanostructure as a specific optical component which can be used within a ray-trace engine, finally. This is illustrated by a meta-material with asymmetric transmission properties in some more detail.

Highly efficient state of the art organic light-emitting diodes (OLED) comprise thin emitting layers with thicknesses in the order of 10 nm. The spatial distribution of the photon generation rate, i.e. the profile of the emission zone, inside these layers is of interest for both device efficiency analysis and characterization of charge recombination processes. It can be accessed experimentally by reverse simulation of far-field emission pattern measurements. Such a far-field pattern is the sum of individual emission patterns associated with the corresponding positions inside the active layer. Based on rigorous electromagnetic theory the relation between far-field pattern and emission zone is modeled as a linear problem. This enables a mathematical analysis to be applied to the cases of single and double emitting layers in the OLED stack as well as to pattern measurements in air or inside the substrate. From the results, guidelines for optimum emitter – cathode separation and for selecting the best experimental approach are obtained. Limits for the maximum spatial resolution can be derived.

A parametric study of the factors contributing to peak-locking, a known bias error source in particle image velocimetry (PIV), is conducted using synthetic data that are processed with a state-of-the-art PIV algorithm. The investigated parameters include: particle image diameter, image interpolation techniques, the effect of asymmetric versus symmetric window deformation, number of passes and the interrogation window size. Some of these parameters are found to have a profound effect on the magnitude of the peak-locking error. The effects for specific PIV cameras are also studied experimentally using a precision turntable to generate a known rotating velocity field. Image time series recorded using this experiment show a linear range of pixel and sub-pixel shifts ranging from 0 to ±4 pixels. Deviations in the constant vorticity field (ω z ) reveal how peak-locking can be affected systematically both by varying parameters of the detection system such as the focal distance and f-number, and also by varying the settings of the PIV analysis. A new a priori technique for reducing the bias errors associated with peak-locking in PIV is introduced using an optical diffuser to avoid undersampled particle images during the recording of the raw images. This technique is evaluated against other a priori approaches using experimental data and is shown to perform favorably. Finally, a new a posteriori anti peak-locking filter (APLF) is developed and investigated, which shows promising results for both synthetic data and real measurements for very small particle image sizes.

Aerodynamic structures generated by animals in flight are unstable and complex. Recent progress in quantitative flow visualization has advanced our understanding of animal aerodynamics, but measurements have hitherto been limited to flow velocities at a plane through the wake. We applied an emergent, high-speed, volumetric fluid imaging technique (tomographic particle image velocimetry) to examine segments of the wake of desert locusts, capturing fully three-dimensional instantaneous flow fields. We used those flow fields to characterize the aerodynamic footprint in unprecedented detail and revealed previously unseen wake elements that would have gone undetected by two-dimensional or stereo-imaging technology. Vortex iso-surface topographies show the spatio-temporal signature of aerodynamic force generation manifest in the wake of locusts, and expose the extent to which animal wakes can deform, potentially leading to unreliable calculations of lift and thrust when using conventional diagnostic methods. We discuss implications for experimental design and analysis as volumetric flow imaging becomes more widespread.

A novel technique for the fabrication of high resolution sub-micrometer patterns by diffractive proximity lithography in a mask-aligner is presented. The technique is based on the use of specially designed diffractive photo-masks. It requires some small modifications of the mask-aligner, especially for the mask illumination and the settings of the proximity gap between mask and substrate. The huge potential of this novel technique is demonstrated at the example of structures having lateral feature sizes in the sub-500nm range printed with mask-to-substrate distances of several ten micrometers.

The efficiency of organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) is limited since only a small fraction of the consumed electrical power is converted into visible light that is finally extracted to air. Most of the efficiency loss is caused by suboptimal radiative quantum efficiency (RQE) of the emitting guest-host system and by dissipating a huge part of the radiated energy to optical modes such as surface plasmons or waveguided modes, which cannot easily be extracted by common outcoupling structures. In order to increase the external quantum efficiency (EQE) of OLEDs new approaches are needed. Recent studies show that the EQE can be enhanced considerably by horizontally oriented emitters, a feature that is well known for fluorescent emitters and has lately been demonstrated in phosphorescent state-of-the-art OLEDs. By means of optical simulations we investigated the influence of non-isotropic emitter orientation on the effective RQE and the outcoupling factor. We show that in order to achieve a consistent efficiency analysis it is indispensable to account for possible deviations from isotropy. Ignoring these orientation effects leads to significant misinterpretation of the RQE and other factors, which determine the external quantum efficiency of a device. Furthermore, we demonstrate the huge potential for efficiency enhancement of mainly parallel dipole emitter orientation in both fluorescent and phosphorescent OLEDs.

The emission pattern of large area organic LED sources needs to be adapted to intended applications. Different approaches using thin micro optical arrays are discussed to obtain significant deviations from the well-established Lambertian shape.

The application of large area OLEDs for lighting and signage purposes potentially requires essential changes of the common Lambert-like emission pattern. We demonstrate an array based micro optical approach for pattern shaping of area light sources based on distorted Fourier imaging of an aperture array with a micro lens array. Narrow angular emission patterns of ± 35° and ± 18° FWHM obtained experimentally demonstrate the pattern shaping with low stray light levels. The internal recycling of initially rejected photons yields intensity enhancements exceeding a factor two in forward direction that is still well below the theoretical limits due to limited reflectivity.

The position of light-emitting molecules can be identified using interferometric approaches. Standard schemes utilize constructive interference to obtain a sectioned area of interest with high detection efficiency. The examination of organic light-emitting diodes (OLED) removes the common constraint of low light levels and enables a more generalized analysis. The OLED emitters are located in the front of a metal mirror, giving rise to an approximate two-wave fringe pattern in the far field. It is demonstrated theoretically and experimentally that positions around the field nodes enable the extraction of emitter distribution details within an electroluminescent layer of only 10 nm thickness.

The efficiency decrease during electrical operation of organic light-emitting diodes is a crucial issue for both applied and fundamental research. In order to investigate degradation processes, we have performed an efficiency analysis for phosphorescent state-of-the-art devices in the pristine state and after an accelerated aging process at high current density resulting in a luminance drop to less than 60% of the initial value. This loss in efficiency can be explained by a decrease of the radiative quantum efficiency of the light-emitting guest/host system from 70% to 40%, while other factors determining the efficiency are not affected.