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The tone value increase in halftone printing commonly referred to as dot gain actually encompasses two fundamentally different phenomena. Physical dot gain refers to the fact that the size of the printed halftone dots differs from their nominal size, and is related to the printing process. Optical dot gain originates from light scattering inside the substrate, causing light exchanges between different chromatic areas. Due to their different intrinsic nature, physical and optical dot gains need to be treated separately. In this study, we characterize and compare the dot gain properties for offset prints on coated and uncoated paper, using AM and first and second generation FM halftoning. Spectral measurements are used to compute the total dot gain. Microscopic images are used to separate the physical and optical dot gain, to study ink spreading and ink penetration, and to compute the Modulation Transfer Function (MTF) for the different substrates. The experimental results show that the physical dot gain depends on ink penetration and ink spreading properties. Microscopic images of the prints reveal that the ink penetrates into the pores and cavities of the uncoated paper, resulting in inhomogeneous dot shapes. For the coated paper, the ink spread on top of the surface, giving a more homogenous dot shape, but also covering a larger area, and hence larger physical dot gain. The experimental results further show that the total dot gain is larger for the uncoated paper, because of larger optical dot gain. The effect of optical dot gain depends on the lateral light scattering within the substrate, the size of the halftone dots, and on the halftone dot shape, especially the dot perimeter.

Special fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensor embedding and interrogation schemes have been designed to capture the momentary peak pressure forces in the nip of adjacent paper machine rolls, and the spatial distribution of these nip forces along circumference and length of the roll, for production speeds of up to 2000 m/min. Additionally, this FBG sensor system measures the temperature distribution in the roll cover. FBG sensor embedment has been investigated and optimized for the implementation of pressure force measurements in various roll cover materials. These measurements enable immediate quality control during various stages of the production process. Draw Tower Grating sensor arrays, simultaneously performing spectrometric interrogation, and autonomous power supply technologies result in an extremely robust fiberoptic sensor system operating at rotation speeds of 700 rpm, equivalent to centrifugal accelerations of 300 G.

Roughness of a paper surface is particularly important in paper and board destined to be printed. Surfaces are often coated and the amount of coating and method of application used depends on the roughness of the base paper. We present a method of measure of the roughness of the paper based in the analysis of speckle pattern on the surface. Images are captured by means of a simple configuration using a laser and a camera CCD. Then, we apply digital image processing using the co-occurrence matrix, so this method can be considered as a non-contact surface profiling method, that can be used online.

There are several paradigms for color generation in reflective displays (e-Paper) including RGBW color filtering or stacked RGB or CMY. Theoretically, the highest white state reflectance and best color gamut are achieved by stacking three layers of pixels. However, stacking 3 layers induces significant optical losses especially at high resolution and typically does not allow for video operation. Therefore RGBW color filtering is currently preferred for higher resolution and single-layer e-Paper, but only provides color at 25% of the area and a maximum theoretical white reflectance of 50%. Presented herein is a new bi-primary color-system that cooperatively displays two complimentary colors inside a single sub-pixel, and therefore doubles the white state reflectance and color gamut for single-layer e-Paper. Also discussed are candidate e-Paper technologies that may be able to adopt the bi-primary color system, including possible advantages and challenges for each technology.

Non-invasive measurement of paper porosity is an important problem for papermaking industry. Presently used techniques are invasive and require long time for processing the sample. In recent years optical coherence tomography (OCT) has been proved to be an effective tool for non-invasive study of optically non-uniform scattering media including paper. The aim of present work is to study the potential ability of OCT for sensing the porosity of a paper sample by means of numerical simulations. The paper sample is characterized by variation of porosity along the sample while numerical simulations allow one to consider the samples with constant porosity which is useful for evaluation of the technique abilities. The calculations were performed implementing Monte Carlo-based technique developed earlier for simulation of OCT signals from multilayer paper models. A 9-layer model of paper consisting of five fiber layers and four air layers with non-planar boundaries was considered. The porosity of the samples was varied from 30 to 80% by varying the thicknesses of the layers. The simulations were performed for model paper samples without and with optical clearing agents (benzyl alcohol, 1-pentanol, isopropanol) applied. It was shown that the simulated OCT images of model paper with various porosities significantly differ revealing the potentiality of the OCT technique for sensing the porosity. When obtaining the images of paper samples with optical clearing agents applied, the inner structure of the samples is also revealed providing additional information about the samples under study.

In present work the capabilities of an optical coherence tomography (OCT) setup to visualize paper structure are analyzed by means of Monte Carlo-simulation of the OCT images. The OCT setup at 910 nm was considered. Efficiency of several different optical clearing agents (OCA) for increasing the quality of the obtained images was studied. A multilayer non-planar edged paper model was developed for the characterization of a paper sample and simple recovery of its parameters. The effect of the setup parameters on the obtained OCT-images was studied. It was shown by comparison with the experimental data that the developed model provides satisfactory resemblance of simulated and experimental images of papers sample structure.

The refractive index of paper was determined by measuring the propagation delay of photons in optically cleared paper boards. The determination was based on the assumption that photon propagation delay achieves minimum value as the paper is optimally cleared. The measured paper sheets was made from elemental chlorine-free market pulp, i.e. fully bleached, unbeaten, softwood kraft pulp. Nine different clearing agents with a refraction index between 1.329 and 1.741 were eLuperimented with. According to the streakmem measurements, the refractive index of the test paper was 1.557.

Phenylketonuria is a genetic disease, which causes the metabolization disorder of phenylalanine, this disorder would damage the neural system of infants as a result of the accumulation of phenylalanine in blood. Therefore, it is of great importance to diagnose and treat phenylketonuria as early as possible for newborns. The aim of this paper is to develop a fluorescence detection system to measure blood phenylalanine concentration of new-born infants. In this design, a high luminance ultraviolet LED is used for excitation source, and a kind of bifurcated optical fiber assembly is applied for conduction of light. The excitation source is filtered and coupled into quartz fibers of the bifurcated fiber assembly for conduction of light to excite the fluorescence of phenylalanine in blood sample. The collected fluorescence is transmitted along the glass fibers of the assemblies and coupled to a photomultiplier tube. The fluorescence is filtered with 470~500 nm band-pass filter to subdue scattered excitation light and to limit the spectral width of the detected fluorescence. By the comparison with a standard instrument, the new system with low power consumption, low cost and small size is also proven sensitive and accurate, which meets the demand of clinical phenylketonuria screening.

This paper studies the correlation between the time-of-flight (TOF) of laser pulses and paper density, basis weight, thickness and the beating of pulp. Paper samples made from unbeaten and beaten pulp were compressed from 500kg/m3 to 1100kg/m3 and laser pulses were shot through them during pressing. Changes were observed in the thickness of the samples and in the TOF of the laser pulses. The results show that TOF decreases during comrpession. This indicates that distances between the various scattering surfaces decrease. This phenomenon becomes more pronounced as the basis weight increases. The beating of the pulp before papermaking increases the number of scattering surfaces, thus broadening the laser pulse and causing delay. These two effects cannot be separated with the equipment used. Papers made from different pulp types each have unique delay constants.© (2003) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.

Plastic passive matrix (PM) and active matrix (AM) electronic paper displays (EPDs) have been prepared by SiPix's Microcup® roll-to-roll manufacturing processes using ITO/PET films. The Microcup® displays have shown outstanding environmental stability and excellent physico-mechanical properties such as scratch, impact and flexure resistances even in high temperature and humidity conditions. A PMEPD recently prepared on inexpensive row-and-column patterned ITO/PET films has shown a contrast ratio of >10, ta n 15 V. More than 8 levels of grayscale with outstanding bistability have been demonstrated by either pulse width or pulse count modulation. No noticeable degradation of the mid-tone images has been observed even after the power was turned off for more than 5 days. Moreover, the electro-optical responses, particularly the threshold voltage and gamma of the PMEPDs remain essentially the same within a wide range (20-60°C) of operation temperature.

Many paper mills use ultrasonic techniques to measure the Tensile Stiffness Index, TSI, of the paper sheet. They then assume that the TSI value is the same as the fibre orientation anisotropy. This is true if the paper is allowed to dry without any internal tension or elongation, but does not apply to paper manufactured in a paper machine. The paper machine introduces tension and elongation as soon as the fibre is placed on the forming fabric. These factors increase through the press section and are accentuated in the drying section. In order to uniquely measure the fibre orientation anisotropy on the surfaces, the proposed method uses replicas of both paper surfaces to produce a laser diffraction pattern. The obtained pattern reveals an elliptical shape, which is related to the fibre orientation anisotropy of the paper surface. By measuring the ellipticity of the diffraction pattern and the deviation with respect to the machine direction, one can quantify the fibre orientation distribution. Different papers from the bench market have been successfully tested with the developed system. This article describes the new developed optical system and its innovative capabilities in the field to produce maps of the fibre orientation of a complete paper sheet surface. A selection of the obtained results to prove its feasibility is also presented.

We built a hyperspectral imaging apparatus using middle-infrared light of 8–14 μm, which has a strong ability to identify organic materials, and attempted visualization of the distribution of organic materials that could not be identified by a naked eye. For this purpose, we utilized a low-cost bolometer camera (Nippon Avionics co., ltd. C100V, Japan) for its easy availability rather than an expensive mercury cadmium telluride (MCT) array sensor. To compensate for the low sensitivity of this bolometer, we adopted a Fourier-type spectroscopic system (Aoi Electronics co. ltd., Japan) using an imaging interferometer devised by the Kagawa University, Japan; this interferometer has higher light-utilization efficiency than Michelson interferometers, which are used in popular interferometry techniques. In this study, 4 types of adhesives, 9 types of varnishes and more than 50 types of inks were put on Al plates of size 10 cm × 10 cm and were used as samples. Glossy paper for printing photos with an inkjet printer was also used as a sample. A 300 °C black body of size 15 cm × 15 cm was used as a light source. Spectra of 320 × 240 points were measured at a wavelength resolution of approximately 9 cm−1. The mirror was scanned only once. The measurement time was approximately 30 s. Hyperspectral images of adhesives, varnishes and inks on Al plate and paper were successfully measured. Spectra over a 5 × 5-pixel neighborhoods were averaged, and the averaged spectra were compared with those measured by a commercially available Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. The averaged and measured spectra had absorption peaks at the same wavelengths. Furthermore, by analyzing the measured spectra, the distribution of substances invisible to the naked eye was visualized. Our results show that if low-absorbance organic materials are put on a high-reflectance surface such as an Al plate, the middle-infrared hyperspectral imaging could be measured using a bolometer. Additionally, hyperspectral imaging of high-reflectance paper, such as glossy paper, could also be measured. Because a bolometer camera is much cheaper than an MCT array, hyperspectral imaging with such a camera has many potential applications. Moreover, an imaging interferometer, with its high efficiency of light utilization, is very suitable for the purpose.

Given monochromatic infrared LED (light emitting diode) device best modulation current, frequency, distance to reach its maximum output power and improve the measuring accuracy of quantifier. Design a wavelength of 2.12 μm, 1.89 μm monochromatic infrared emissions and detection optical path, two monochromatic infrared lights which the photo source sends out after transmits the analyte across the same point to achieve the same point detection and improve the accuracy of the measurement. After the paper samples basis weight have carried out nondestructive testing, which was improved from the aspects of structure. By using the light source, halogen tungsten lamp, filter wheel, electrical equipment can be saved, and it can simplify the measuring system. The experimental results show that when measuring the thickness of the paper in the range, the relative error is within 1%.

A methodology has been developed to digitize images from photographic color paper (reflection prints) and store the spectral information as a function of the three dye density basis functions inherent to the paper film type. The result is a highly accurate digitization of the spectral information at each spatial pixel that can be digitally stored with very little additional storage space over conventional RGB-type methodologies.© (1996) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.

IR monitoring is a basic tool for quality control and predictive maintenance in the paper industry. There are also other possible interests, e.g. measurements of temperature profiles of high speed production lines. The first possibility to use IR for the above mentioned use appears to be applications of glass heat treatment in on line production. At this time there is a lot of interest to be able to measure temperature profiles from a fast moving surface (e.g. in paper machines) with velocities like 10 - 20 m/s. Normal low speed line scanners typically give scanning speed of 50 Hz which in this case means 20 m/s/50 Hz equals 40 cm resolution. The obtained resolution is not normally high enough. To have more accurate vision from the studied surface IR camera line scanning was proposed to be a solution with line scanning frequencies of 8000 Hz which would provide resolution of 20 m/s/8000 Hz equals 0.25 cm between surface points. It is a well-known fact that all undesired frequencies in paper transfer systems disturb the uniform paper drying process which in some cases is the basic reason for low quality coating or even broken paper line. The possibility to detect these drying problems with IR frequency analysis will give a new way to control the paper drying process. With IR analysis it is possible to get information about temperature distributions along the paper track. Using a well established frequency analysis as a tool, the error estimations are obtained. In most cases an open-roll image from paper track is very desirable because there are no existing wide area measurement systems for this purpose. The careful analysis of this new method is given in the manuscript.© (1996) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.

Laser ablation offers cleaning method for historical and art works effectively. Difference between ablation threshold of contamination layer and the surface yields to remove contaminants from surface without detriment to historical material. In particular, lasers with ultrashort pulse duration are very convenient for brittle historical papers, fibers of which should be intact after cleaning treatment. Since duration of laser irradiation and material interaction is very short, the possibility of damage to the paper is very low. One of the other crucial issues after paper cleaning treatment is color variation on the surface. Authentic color of the historical paper has to be preserved after the procedure. In this paper, we present results of paper cleaning via femtosecond (fs) laser running at a wavelength of 1030 nm. In the first stage of this experimental study, we determined optimum laser parameters on artificially soiled and aged paper samples, then cleaned a handwritten manuscript with ‘sizing’. In calligraphy, ornamentation and miniature arts, sizing is applied on paper as a protective layer which increases strength of paper and renders it more useful. Papers with sizing have been prevalently used in Islamic or Ottoman culture. We observed that after laser irradiation, artificial soling layer is effectively removed, while original color of the subs-layers did not alter. We used scanning electron microscopy (SEM) to examine fiber integrity, and determined that the sizing layer was not removed when optimized parameters were used, thus the fibers were not damaged.

This work addresses the study of repeatability of an optical laser system, previously implemented by our research team, for characterization of the fiber distribution and mass density of two paper samples with different characteristics. In the experiment that has been carried out in the current work, both paper samples were laser scanned by the system on a total of 16 times (4 times per day in 4 different days). The data acquired and registered during the experimental work, associated to both tested samples, were then processed and the obtained results showed that the optical system is precise.

There are several parameters, which influence the characteristics of the final printed colors in digital printing. One of the most important one is the substrate (paper). In the present study, the effect of uncoated papers on the laser printed colors was investigated. For this purpose, three kinds of paper with the same grammage value of 80 and different whiteness and texture were selected. The effect of paper on the printer's reproducibility, light-fastness, color gamut and colorimetric characteristics of the final printed samples were studied for a Canon Laser Printer LBP-5050. It was found out that, the reproducibility of the printer is statistically dependent on the paper's type. The average of color change via exposing light is between 1.3 and 1.8 for different papers. The color difference caused by paper variation illustrates the effect of paper on the final printed colors. The texture properties of the papers were quantified with Edge Frequency technique as an appropriate texture analysis tool. A defined correlation between texture changes and color differences was obtained. Furthermore, the whiteness of the papers clearly affected the final printed colors.

The appearance of translucent materials is strongly affected by bulk (or sub surface) scattering. For paper and carton board, lateral light propagation and angle-resolved reflection have been studied extensively but treated separately. The present work aims at modelling the BSSRDF of turbid media in order to study the angular variation of the reflectance as function of the lateral propagation within the medium. Monte Carlo simulations of the spatial- and angle resolved reflectance of turbid media are performed for different scattering and absorption coefficients, phase functions and surface topographies representative for uncoated paper grades. The angle-resolved radiance factor of turbid media is found to be function of the lateral light propagation within the substrate and both the reflected radiance factor and the fluorescence emission are found to be clearly non- Lambertian, although the latter clearly depends on the light absorption at the excitation wavelength. It is also suggested that the modelling of uncoated paper should not include surface scattering. The findings impact on the appearance of turbid media at different angles and make measurements of the lateral light propagation dependent on the instrument geometry.

Lasers can provide a precious tool to conservation process due to their accuracy and the controlled energy they deliver, especially to fragile organic material such as paper. The current study concerns laser modification such as paper cleaning, initially of test papers artificially soiled and then of an original book of the early 20 th Century. The test objects were A4 copier paper, newspaper, and paper Whatman No.1056. During the experiments, ink of a pen, pencil and ink from a stamp was mechanically employed on each paper surface. Laser cleaning was applied using a Q-switched Nd:YAG operating at 532 nm and CO 2 laser at 10.6 μm for various fluences. The experimental results were presented by using optical microscopy. Eventually, laser cleaning of ink was performed to a book of 1934, by choosing the best conditions and parameters from cleaning the test samples, like Nd:YAG laser operating at 532 nm.

Roughness of paper surface is an important parameter in paper manufacturing. Surface roughness measurement is one of the central measurement problems in paper industry. Surfaces are often coated and the amount of coating and method of application used depends on the roughness of the base paper [1], [2]. At the moment, air leak methods are standardized and employed in paper industry as roughness rating methods. Air leak rate between measured paper surface and a specified flat land is recorded by using specialized pneumatic devices under laboratory conditions. Such a measurement closely corresponds to the roughness of a surface, the greater the air leak the rougher the surface. Air leak methods are rather easy to apply to paper and give stable results, although they measure roughness indirectly, need laboratory conditions, and thus unsuitable for on-line use. To measure real topography of paper surface, it is scanned with mechanical or optical profilometers. These methods provide accurate information on surface topography, but also demand laboratory conditions. In our work, present a method of measure based in the analysis of the texture of speckle pattern on the surface. The image formed by speckle in the paper surface is considered as a texture, and therefore texture analysis methods are suitable for the characterization of paper surface. The results are contrasted to air leak methods, optical profilometers (confocal microscopy), and fringe projection.

In order to maintain the normal running of economy in China, anti-counterfeiting detection of paper currency has been an important technology in the coinage company and the bank, but the detection using spectrum for Chinese paper currency anti-counterfeiting has not been applied in China. A real-time detection method, with broad spectrum including ultraviolet and infrared wavelengths, is proposed in this paper, which achieves the purpose of anti-counterfeiting by using anti-fake properties of paper currency's coating surface, through different lights stimulation the full spectrum light irradiation on currency surface, with its reflection spectrum detected by spectrometer. The proposed method has such advantages as high technology, high detection precision and easy to identify, and has been applied to a practical system, which satisfies the real-time requirement.

Online measurement of paper thickness profile is essential in paper production. For decades paper thickness has been measured online with sensors that are contacting the web on both sides. In 2005 a new optical online paper thickness gauge was introduced which only contacts the web on the other side. The sensor is based on a laser triangulation sensor and a magnetic sensor, and it determines the paper thickness from the difference of the two measurements. For calibration of the two sensors, a robust concept has been developed which utilizes the measured object and takes place in the measuring environment so that the calibration is automatically adjusted to the current measuring circumstances. More importantly, with the presented method the non-linearity of the laser sensor is cancelled enabling the measurement of the thickness profile shape with an accuracy much better than that of the laser sensor. Profile accuracy of 0.5 μm (2σ) has become normal while the measuring range is often several hundreds of microns and the measuring distance to the paper web 1.0-1.5 mm with a laser sensor having linearity of ±2 μm.

Quantitative analysis of pH indicator paper color is needed in the various fields. An indigenously developed Tristimulus colorimeter is used in this work for pH Indicator paper color measurement. The colorimeter uses Trichromatic RGB LEDs and a programmable color light to frequency converter (TCS230), combining configurable silicon photodiodes and a current to frequency converter on a single monolithic CMOS integrated circuit. The output is a square wave (50% duty cycle) with frequency directly proportional to light intensity. Digital input and digital output allow directly to a microcontroller. The light to frequency converter reads an 8*8 array of photodiodes. Sixteen photodiodes have red filters, 16 photodiodes have green filters, 16 photodiodes have blue filters, and 16 photodiodes are clear with no filters. All 16 photodiodes of the same colors are connected in parallel and type of photodiode the device uses during operation is pin selectable. Solutions having different standard pH were prepared and indicator paper was dipped in solution, it shows change in color. Using the developed RGB colorimeter chromaticity coordinates were measured and compared with the chromaticity coordinates measured using Ocean Optics HR-4000 high resolution spectrophotometer.

Two different paper grades were tested with a clearing agent to measure how much mechanical smoothening can improve transparency inside paper. The paper grades were newsprint and supercalendered paper. The paper furnishes of both papers were alike, but the supercalendered paper was mechanically smoothened. Anise oil was used as the clearing agent, but similar measurements were also done with air and water. Black lines 8.5 μm to 281.1 μm wide were placed behind layers of cleared paper and transparency was measured with a microscope. When anise oil was the clearing agent, supercalendering improved transparent paper grammage from 139 g/m 2 to 164 g/m 2 . With water the improvement was from 40 g/m 2 to 51 g/m 2 . With air the improvement was not determinable. As a conclusion, it is recommended that paper is smoothened if it needs to be studied optically. Optical coherence tomography, for example, would benefit from this treatment.

The whiteness level of a printing paper is considered as an important quality measure. High paper whiteness improves the contrast to printed areas providing a more distinct appearance of printed text and colors and increases the number of reproducible colors. Its influence on perceived color rendering quality is however not completely explained. The intuitive interpretation of paper whiteness is a material with high light reflection for all wavelengths in the visual part of the color spectrum. However, a slightly bluish shade is perceived as being whiter than a neutral white. Accordingly, papers with high whiteness values incline toward bluish-white. In paper production, a high whiteness level is achieved by the use of highly bleached pulp together with high light scattering filler pigment. To further increase whiteness levels expensive additives such as Fluorescent Whitening Agents (FWA) and shading dyes are needed. During the last years, the CIE whiteness level of some commercial available office paper has exceeded 170 CIE units, a level that can only be reached by the addition of significant amounts of FWA. Although paper whiteness is considered as an important paper quality criterion, its influence on printed color images is complicated. The dynamic mechanisms of the human visual system strive to optimize the visual response to each particular viewing condition. One of these mechanisms is chromatic adaptation, where colored objects get the same appearance under different light sources, i.e. a white paper appears white under tungsten, fluorescent and day light. In the process of judging printed color images, paper whiteness will be part of the chromatic adaptation. This implies that variations in paper whiteness would be discounted by the human visual system. On the other hand, high paper whiteness improves the contrast as well as the color gamut, both important parameters for the perceived color reproduction quality. In order to quantify the influence of paper whiteness pilot papers with different amount of FWA but in all other respects similar were produced on a small scale experimental paper machine. The fact that only the FWA content changes reduces the influences of other properties separated from the paper whiteness in the evaluation process. A set of images, all having characteristics with the potential to reveal the influence of the varied whiteness level on color reproduction quality, were printed on the pilot papers in two different printers. Prior to printing the test images in the experiment, ICC-profiles were calculated for all the used printer-substrate combinations. A visual assessment study of the printed samples was carried out in order to relate the influence of the paper whiteness level to perceived color reproduction quality. The results show an improved color rendering quality with increased CIE whiteness value up to a certain level. Any further increase in paper whiteness does not contribute to an improved color reproduction quality. Furthermore, the fact that some printing inks are UV blocking while others are not will introduce a non uniform color shift in the printed image when the FWA activation changes. This non uniform color shift has been quantified both for variations in illuminant as well as variations of FWA content in the paper.

Common experience indicates the quality of a printed image depends on the choice of the paper used in the printing process. In the current report, we have used a recently developed device called a micro-goniophotometer to examine toner on a variety of substrates fused to varying degrees. The results indicate that the relationship between the printed color gamut and the topography of the substrate paper is a simple one for a color electrophotographic process. If the toner is fused completely to an equilibrium state with the substrate paper, then the toner conforms to the overall topographic features of the substrate. For rougher papers, the steeper topographic features are smoothed out by the toner. The maximum achievable color gamut is limited by the topographic smoothness of the resulting fused surface. Of course, achieving a fully fused surface at a competitive printing rate with a minimum of power consumption is not always feasible. However, the only significant factor found to limit the maximum state of fusing and the ultimate achievable color gamut is the smoothness of the paper.

This paper introduces a novel optical method to measure liquid penetration into porous, highly scattering media. Testing was conducted by measuring the sorption of glycerol into a paper sample consisting of cellulose fibre tissue with a grammage of 115 g m -2 . During wetting, optical coherence tomography (OCT) was used to detect dynamical changes in the sample's scattering properties. Distinguishing the border between the dry and the wetted area on the basis of separate A-scans was a challenging task. However, wetting behaviour could be investigated in the depth direction simply by constructing a composite image of the separate scans. In addition, the method also allowed the imaging of swelling behaviour in paper.

The propagation of broadband ultrasonic pulses in combined media that consist of printing paper of different porosity saturated with different liquids is studied. The experiments are performed with three types of paper, namely, Zoom Ultra (Stora Enso, Finland) with surface densities of 80 and 100 g/m2 and Data Copy (Mo Do, Sweden) with a surface density of 160 g/cm2, and with two types of saturating liquids: ethanol and transformer oil. To excite ultrasonic pulses and to detect them with a high time resolution, the laser optoacoustic spectroscopy method is used. For each type of liquid-saturated paper, the phase velocity of ultrasound is measured in the frequency range of 5–35 MHz. The absence of any noticeable frequency dispersion of the phase velocity is revealed. The possibility of measuring the porosity of printing paper on the basis of the theoretical model of a two-phase medium with the use of the corresponding experimental data is demonstrated.

The size distribution and total amount of the particles in paper pulp is vital information for the paper manufacturer in optimising process control and maintaining a high product quality. There is a further need for improving the on-line measurement methods to measure these parameters. It is known that fibre and fines fractions in the pulp have different optical and acoustic properties. In this study, we simultaneously use laser radar and laser generation of acoustic waves to further study optical and acoustic parameters, such as optical time delay, acoustic speed and attenuation. A near infrared pulse laser is used to illuminate the pulp suspensions and the time-of-flight of scattering photons is recorded; and at the same time, a high energy pulsed laser is applied to produce an acoustic wave. The acoustic wave propagates through the pulp suspensions and an acoustic transducer is used to detect the signals from which the attenuation and acoustic speed are determined. The results show that these combined optical techniques can potentially determine the content of fibres and fine particles simultaneously.

In 1905 Karl Schwarzschild published three papers on optics, two of which revolutionized the field of reflecting telescope optics. In his first paper he developed a full theory of the aberrations of reflecting telescopes, generalizing the Eikonal of Bruns to take into account systems with an infinite long conjugate. In the second paper Schwarzschild applied his formulation to a masterful analysis of 2 mirror anastigmatic systems, along the way discovering the so called Ritchey-Chretien aplanat, 18 years Ritchey and Chretien's announcement. Numerous other innovations are given in what must be seen as being among the most important papers on the aberrations of optical systems ever written.

This paper reviews state of the art mask modeling for optical lithography. Rigorous electromagnetic field (EMF) simulation of light diffraction from optical masks is compared to the traditional assumption of an infinitely thin mask, the so called Kirchhoff approach. Rigorous EMF simulation will be employed to analyze mask polarization phenomena which become important in the ultrahigh NA regime. Several important lithographic phenomena, which can be explained only with rigorous EMF simulation, are discussed. This includes the printability of small assist features, intensity imbalancing for alternating PSM, and process window deformations. The paper concludes with a discussion on material issues and algorithmic extensions which will be necessary for an accurate modeling of future mask technology.

We developed a 25GB ROM disc whose substrate is made of paper. Structure of the disc is based on the Blu-ray Disc format. We improved mechanical characteristics of a paper core by introducing a symmetrical multi-layer structure. The signals in the paper disc were reproduced successfully and the jitter values were less than 6%.

In this study, we propose to apply the method optical coherence tomography (OCT) for paper characterization. A PC-controlled experimental measurement system for OCT-imaging of paper is described in detail. A superluminescent diode is used as a light source in a Michelson interferometer. A rapid scanning optical delay line is using a piezo-transducer to modulate the measurement signal for optical heterodyne detection. Amplification, filtering and demodulation are performed by the unit specially designed for this purpose. Experimental measurements include the OCT slice imaging of a paper sample and comparison with a SEM-image. Also some results in surface profilometry are presented briefly. Discussion part gives some ideas of further research that will be carried out in the future.© (2004) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.

High-resolving full-field OCT method is considered that provides increased resolution and interferometric data acquisition speed due to high optical magnification and electronic lateral scan provided by video camera. OCT data processing algorithm based on signal squaring with subsequent low-pass filtering is considered. Experimental results obtained when evaluating samples of paper material are presented and discussed.

Results of paper cleaning by means of the 532 nm Nd:YAG laser (pulse length 6 ns, fluency 0.3-0.6 J/cm2) are reported and discussed. Results of the surface cleaning of the paper samples originating among others from the two oldest Polish Bibles (XVI c.) are examined by the SEM technique after laser processing. For the process diagnostic the LIF spectra of paper samples recorded under excitation at 266 nm and 532 nm before and after processing are analysed and spectra of the non-contaminated samples are taken for reference. The presence of contamination and also cleaning history is evidenced in the recorded spectra. Comparison of SEM images and also the spectral characteristics of the originally contaminated samples before and after laser treatment confirm results of the laser cleaning.

In this paper the use of laser speckle correlation as a mean to measure the micro-structural changes in paper exposed to a changing environment will be presented. Of particular interest will be changes in humidity and crack propagation. Speckle correlation is a technique that calculates the local structural change in a speckle pattern as the object deforms in real time. The response of the technique is the local rate of micro-structural change in the material. Speckle correlation is hence a complement to other speckle metrology techniques. The paper starts with a short introduction to speckle correlation but will focus on applications of the technique on paper. Results from studies of wetting of printing paper at the flock scale, dynamic response in copy paper when exposed to a sudden change in humidity and crack propagation in a notched sheet of Kraftliner are included.© (2003) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.

This study deals with the measurement of the deformation of sheets of recycled paper subjected to tensile loads using an electronic speckle pattern interferometry (ESPI) technique. Specimens with fibers, which constitute a sheet of paper, parallel and perpendicular to the direction of paper making are used to investigate the effect of the arrangement of fibers on the tensile property. The deformation of recycled paper is compared with that of virgin pulp paper. Results reveal that a large two-dimensional deformation of recycled paper can be measured using the ESPI technique, and that the directions of fibers, which constitute a sheet of paper, have a significant effect on the two-dimensional deformation of recycled paper.

We design the emission and detection optical paths of three monochromatic infrared light sources with different wavelength. The three light sources are placed according to the different angles, so that the three kinds of monochromatic lights are converged on the same point of the sample. Using the method, we can detect the same point and improve the measurement accuracy. We choose the standard near-infrared monochromatic light source, so that we can save some equipments, such as tungsten- halogen lamp, filtered wheel, collimation focalizer, electric machine, and so on. In particular, we save the cumbersome cooling system, reduce the volume of the instrument greatly and reduce the cost. The three monochromatic light sources are supplied by the same pulse power source, to ensure their synchronous working.

This paper gives a comprehensive and up-to-date review of our research activity on MEMS (micro electro mechanical systems) for all- optical fiber optic communications. Micromechanical approach for handling optical signal has advantages over solid-state devices in terms of high contrast intensity modulation by relatively large change of refractive index, large spatial scan angle by optomechanical reflection or refraction, and optical transparency in wide range of wavelength. MEMS also has industrial impact in a sense that it could potentially eliminate or cut down the cost of optical assembly thanks to the optical pre-aligning or self-aligning capability. In particular, we take an example of MEMS variable optical attenuator (VOA) that we have commercially released in cooperation with an industrial partner. Besides fiber optic MEMS, we also mention other applications such as projection displays using a high-speed MEMS optical scanner for scanning modulated laser beam to create images. Furthermore, we also introduce a MEMS color pixel based upon the mechanically tunable Fabry-Perot interferometer made of two plastic films; the color pixel can be assembled in an array format to create a transparent-type over-sized electronic poster which is mechanically flexible and electrically rewritable.

In this letter, we proposed a simple and cost-effective variable optical attenuator (VOA) through controlling a mechanical misalignment between 2 single mode fibers. A piezoelectric ceramic tube having 4 electrodes on the surface is the key component in our proposed structure. We can change the deflection of the tube by controlling the applied voltage on the electrodes of the tube, which causes the optical loss to be dependent on the applied voltage. The fact that the piezoelectric ceramic tube can be easily fabricated by using the electro-phoretic deposition processing makes our structure more attractive for mass production. The tube-fabrication processing is out of the range in this paper. So, the detail technical approach of the tube fabrication is excluded intentionally. The numerical analysis about the optical loss related to the various mechanical offsets is also investigated. From our experimental results, the dynamic range of the proposed structure is about from 0 to 25 dB when the applied voltage range is from 0 to 600 V DC. Our proposed structure can be a good candidate for a simple and cost-effective variable optical attenuator in optical communication system field.

In phase-shifting digital holographic interferometry for measuring a displacement distribution of an object, holograms and reconstructed images have speckle noise and they provide large error in the calculation of displacement analysis. In order to decrease the effect of speckle noise, we previously proposed a new method using windowed holograms. In this paper, we propose a new averaging method of the obtained phase-difference values. Many phase-difference values at a point obtained by different windows for a hologram are averaged by considering the weight for each phase value. The weight is changed as the m-th power of the absolute amplitude of the complex amplitude of the reconstructed object. As the result, when the number n of the windowed holograms becomes larger, the standard deviation of the error becomes smaller. When the power m is 2, the error becomes the minimum. The standard deviation of the errors in the case of a flat plate with 316 nano-meter out-of-plane displacement is 88 pico-meter when n=1024 and m=2.

The reliable generation of true single-photon wavepackets with well-defined modal structure is a crucial ingredient for the realization of linear optical quantum computing. In this paper we present experimental results indicating the efficient generation of conditionally prepared single photons from parametric downconversion in a KTP nonlinear waveguide. In addition we present, theoretically and experimentally, a novel criterion for the assessment of conditional single photon sources which takes into account the contributions of heralded vacuum due to optical losses, of higher photon numbers and of the binary response of typical single photon detectors. Utilizing this criterion, we show that our KTP nonlinear waveguide represents a high fidelity source of conditionally prepared single photons.

In this paper we review the fabrication and characterisation techniques of m icrostructured optical fibre (M OF) tapers, their fundam ental waveguiding properties and potential applications. W e fabricate photonic crystal fibre tapers without collapsing the air-holes, and confirm this along the taper with a non-invasive probing technique. We then describe the fundam ental property of such tapers associated with the leakage of the core m ode that leads to long wavelength loss. We also revisit the waveguiding properties in another form of tapered MOF photonic wires, which transition through waveguiding regimes associated with how strongly the mode is isolated from the external environment. We explore these regimes as a potential basis for evanescent field sensing applications, in which we can take advantage of controlled airhole collapse as an extra dimension to these photonic wires.

Optical methods continue to play significant roles in medical and biological research. In recent times cell and tissue engineering have emerged rapidly and are now well recognised as important multi-disciplinary endeavours within the medical and biological spheres. This paper describes applications of optical science and technology in cell and tissue engineering, ranging from the basic visualization of organeeles, cells and tissues through to probing the structure and function of cells and tissues being cultured in bioreactors. The development of tissue engineering for the fabrication of cell-based systems, for example for the repair or replacement of damaged or diseased tissues and organs, is first described. Then, interactions of light propagating through cells and tissues are considered, both theoretically and practically, as a prelude to the description of means for optical interrogation. Scattering and absorption of light by cells and tissues is shown to provide useful opportunities for measurement, for example via spectrophotometric analysis or small angle light scattering. Optical sensors for chemical analysis based on immobilised fluorophores and chromophores are also presented, these being particularly useful in bioreactors. In this application the continuous monitoring of a variety of chemical and physical variables may lead to optimised cell and tissue culture.

Polarized light imaging offers potential for characterizing superficial tissue such as the skin. Its simplicity means that if the technique can be demonstrated to provide effective results, it should find widespread use in clinical practice. This paper briefly describes the Monte Carlo simulations and the instrument developed by our group. Details are also provided of a look-up table approach to extract the optical coefficients of a layered medium.

In this paper an attempt ofNIR analysis to measure the milk constituents is introduced. In milk, light is absorbed and scattered simultaneously. The concentrations of each component no longer have linear relationship to the absorbency, but proportional to the absorption coefficient and scattering coefficient. It is necessary to separate the effect of absorption and scattering. Compare with the widely used NIR method, we do not calibrate the prediction model by diffuse reflectance. The calibration is composed by two steps. Firstly, the optical parameters are measured by double integrating sphere; secondly, calibration is made by optical parameters. Concentration of protein and fat are within reasonable range. Fifty samples are acquired for calibration. The experimental result shows a higher prediction accuracy of protein than the intensity calibration method, and a comparable accuracy of fat.© (2005) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.

The measurement accuracy of an interferometric optical test is generally limited by the environment. This paper discusses two single-shot interferometric techniques for reducing the sensitivity of an optical test to vibration; simultaneous phase-shifting interferometry and a special form of spatial carrier interferometry utilizing a micropolarizer phase-shifting array. In both techniques averaging can be used to reduce the effects of turbulence and the normal double frequency errors generally associated with phase-shifting interferometry.

This paper discusses the optics content of the UK A level Advancing Physics course. Some of the novel teaching approaches are presented as well as a teaching sequence. Computer animations and lab work will be demonstrated in the main talk.

The 3rd generation of infrared (IR) detection modules is expected to provide advanced features like higher resolution 1024x1024 or 1280x720 pixels and/or new functions like multicolor or multi band capability, higher frame rates and better thermal resolution. This paper is intended to present the current status at AIM on quantum well (QWIP) and antimonide superlattices (SL) detection modules for ground and airborne applications in the high performance range. For spectral selective detection, a QWIP detector combining 3-5μm (MWIR) and 8-10μm (LWIR) detection in each pixel with coincident integration has been developed in a 384x288x2 format with 40 μm pitch. Excellent thermal resolution with NETD < 30mK @ F/2, 6.8 ms for both peak wavelengths (4.8 μm and 8.0 μm) has been achieved. Thanks to the well established QWIP technology, the pixel outage rates even in these complex structures are below 0.5% in both bands. QWIP dual band or dual color detectors provide good resolution as long as integration times in the order of 5-10ms can be tolerated. This is acceptable for all applications where no fast motions of the platform or the targets are to be expected. For rapidly changing scenes-like e.g. in case of missile warning applications for airborne platforms-a material system with higher quantum efficiency is required to limit integration times to typically 1ms. AIM and IAF selected antimonide based type II superlattices (SL) for such kind of applications. The SL technology provides-similar to QWIP's-an accurate engineering of sensitive layers by MBE with very good homogeneity and yield. While promising results on single SL pixels have been reported since many years, so far no SL based detection module could be realized. IAF and AIM last year managed to realize first most promising SL based detectors. Fully integrated IDCA's with a MWIR SL device with 256x256 pixels in 40´m pitch have been integrated and tested. The modules exhibit excellent thermal resolution of NETD