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A new technique for finishing the surfaces of friction pairs has been proposed, which, in combination with the original test method, has shown a significant influence of the initial roughness configuration (surface texture) on friction and wear. Two types of finishing processing of the shaft friction surfaces were compared, and it was found that the friction and wear coefficients differ by more than 2–5 and 2–4 times, respectively. Based on a new methodology for analyzing standard roughness parameters, the tribological efficiency criteria (in the sense of reducing friction and wear) are proposed for the initial state of the friction surface of a radial plane sliding bearing shaft relative to the friction direction, which is consistent with its frictional characteristics. Comparison of the laboratory test results with the surface tribological efficiency criteria showed that these criteria are very promising for controlling existing technologies and optimizing new technologies for friction surface finishing in various friction systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For the most popular method of scan formation in Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) based on plane-parallel scanning of the illuminating beam, we present a compact but rigorous K-space description in which the spectral representation is used to describe both the axial and lateral structure of the illuminating/received OCT signals. Along with the majority of descriptions of OCT-image formation, the discussed approach relies on the basic principle of OCT operation, in which ballistic backscattering of the illuminating light is assumed. This single-scattering assumption is the main limitation, whereas in other aspects, the presented approach is rather general. In particular, it is applicable to arbitrary beam shapes without the need for paraxial approximation or the assumption of Gaussian beams. The main result of this study is the use of the proposed K-space description to analytically derive a filtering function that allows one to digitally transform the initial 3D set of complex-valued OCT data into a desired (target) dataset of a rather general form. An essential feature of the proposed filtering procedures is the utilization of both phase and amplitude transformations, unlike conventionally discussed phase-only transformations. To illustrate the efficiency and generality of the proposed filtering function, the latter is applied to the mutual transformation of non-Gaussian beams and to the digital elimination of arbitrary aberrations at the illuminating/receiving aperture. As another example, in addition to the conventionally discussed digital refocusing enabling depth-independent lateral resolution the same as in the physical focus, we use the derived filtering function to perform digital "super-refocusing." The latter does not yet overcome the diffraction limit but readily enables lateral resolution several times better than in the initial physical focus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new technique for finishing the surfaces of friction pairs has been proposed, which, in combination with the original test method, has shown a significant influence of the initial roughness configuration (surface texture) on friction and wear. Two types of finishing processing of the shaft friction surfaces were compared, and it was found that the friction and wear coefficients differ by more than 2–5 and 2–4 times, respectively. Based on a new methodology for analyzing standard roughness parameters, the tribological efficiency criteria (in the sense of reducing friction and wear) are proposed for the initial state of the friction surface of a radial plane sliding bearing shaft relative to the friction direction, which is consistent with its frictional characteristics. Comparison of the laboratory test results with the surface tribological efficiency criteria showed that these criteria are very promising for controlling existing technologies and optimizing new technologies for friction surface finishing in various friction systems.

For the most popular method of scan formation in Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) based on plane-parallel scanning of the illuminating beam, we present a compact but rigorous K-space description in which the spectral representation is used to describe both the axial and lateral structure of the illuminating/received OCT signals. Along with the majority of descriptions of OCT-image formation, the discussed approach relies on the basic principle of OCT operation, in which ballistic backscattering of the illuminating light is assumed. This single-scattering assumption is the main limitation, whereas in other aspects, the presented approach is rather general. In particular, it is applicable to arbitrary beam shapes without the need for paraxial approximation or the assumption of Gaussian beams. The main result of this study is the use of the proposed K-space description to analytically derive a filtering function that allows one to digitally transform the initial 3D set of complex-valued OCT data into a desired (target) dataset of a rather general form. An essential feature of the proposed filtering procedures is the utilization of both phase and amplitude transformations, unlike conventionally discussed phase-only transformations. To illustrate the efficiency and generality of the proposed filtering function, the latter is applied to the mutual transformation of non-Gaussian beams and to the digital elimination of arbitrary aberrations at the illuminating/receiving aperture. As another example, in addition to the conventionally discussed digital refocusing enabling depth-independent lateral resolution the same as in the physical focus, we use the derived filtering function to perform digital “super-refocusing.” The latter does not yet overcome the diffraction limit but readily enables lateral resolution several times better than in the initial physical focus.

Spacecraft are exposed to acoustic loads during flights to space by launch vehicles. The endurance of spacecraft structure is verified by a ground acoustic test specified in test standard documents of the aerospace community. These standard documents require the execution of ground acoustic tests in a reverberant chamber on the assumption that it can generate a diffuse sound field which is normally defined as “completely isotropic and equal probability of energy flow in all directions”. However, in the space development industry and related studies, the directions of incident sounds which cause non-diffuseness has not been identified by the experimental comparison with the theoretical values of an ideal diffuse sound field (e.g. reverberation times, homogeneity of sound pressures and spatial correlation functions). Therefore, the conventional standard documents do not clearly specify the quantitative requirements regarding the directional properties of sound fields inside reverberant chambers. To specify the quantitative requirement on the directional properties of sounds, this paper focused on calculating the degree of isotropy of a sound field by the direct measurement of directional properties of sound waves as angular spectra. In this paper, the method to obtain the angular spectrum based on the theory of the expansion of the plane wave into spherical harmonics by using a spherical microphone array was firstly combined with the existing formula of the isotropy indicator, which allowed us to determine the frequency range when we apply the combined method to sound fields. The method to determine the applicable frequency range was demonstrated and the process of obtaining the angular spectrum and isotropy indicator was verified by numerical simulation. Finally, the combined method was applied to the sound field in the reverberant chamber of JAXA 1600m3 acoustic test facility.

The effect of the width of the angular spectrum (numerical aperture) of a broadband-frequency wave-field probing a layered object on the signal of an autocorrelation low-coherence interferometer (ALCI) under spatially coherent and incoherent illumination of the entrance pupil is considered. It is found that under incoherent illumination an increase in the width of the angular spectrum of the field leads to a decrease in the amplitude, a change in the shape and position of the measuring signals of the interferometer due to decorrelation of the object field partial components which have reflected from various interlayer boundaries inside the object. In the case of coherent illumination, the ALCI signal is formed in a confocal mode, which leads to the amplitude extraction of the measurement signals are determined by the mutual correlations between a partial component reflected from the boundary on which the probing field was focused, and partial components of this field which have reflected from other boundaries within the object. This effect makes it possible to determine parameters of the internal layered structure of an object doing without apriori structure-related information. In this case, an increase in the numerical aperture of the probing light beam leads to an increase in the systematic error in determining the optical thicknesses of the layers, which can be estimated on the basis of the obtained expressions.

In this study the role of vergence in relation to age-dependent scaling of eye and photoreceptor parameters is studied. The underlying hypothesis is that the size and packing of outer segments is matched to the pupil size outdoors in photopic conditions. Vergence is analysed in relation to the angular spectrum of waves being incident using age-dependent data from the literature for the actual geometry and density of photoreceptor cones and rods. This approach is used to derive simple relations for the angular confinement of light along outer segments. Only with a small photopic pupil can leakage and crosstalk for both central and peripheral photoreceptors be entirely ruled out due to the finite length of the outer segments. A limiting 3 mm pupil size is found for children in the school age. Larger pupils will increase the likelihood of leakage and crosstalk that may therefore impact on emmetropization. This study has introduced a new paradigm in myopia research by considering vergence across the 3-D retina as being matched to the angular spectrum of waves being incident from the eye pupil. Emmetropization suggests a delicate balance between photoreceptor outer segment length and density in relation to pupil size. Only when balanced will leakage and crosstalk between adjacent outer segments be effectively suppressed thereby ensuring the highest possible light capture efficiency by visual pigments in the outer segments whether an image is formed on the retina or not. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the impact of devices under test (DUTs) with directional antennas on the recreated channel in the over-the-air (OTA) testing for massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) devices using prefaded signal synthesis (PFS) technique. Assuming the uplink in real radio environments, the directional receiver (Rx) antenna patterns would affect the gains in different incoming directions, thereby affecting the spatial characteristics of the target channel. A typical multi-probe anechoic chamber (MPAC) setup for massive MIMO base stations (BSs) is studied, where a limited number of probe antennas are distributed over the probe wall to emulate the target channel by proper probe weighting. The directional antenna patterns would have nonnegligible effects on the emulated spatial characteristics which may become inaccurate for DUTs with directional antennas and thus need to be re-examined. Therefore, the reconstructed channel with the PFS technique will be investigated under the MPAC setup in this paper, with particular focus on the DUTs with directional antennas. The deviations between the covariance matrix of the Rx antennas under the target channel and the covariance matrix under the reconstructed channel are used as the metric to evaluate the performance of the reconstructed channel, and the optimal probe weights are also re-determined. Furthermore, given beamforming capability of massive MIMO BSs, the impact of the BS antenna patterns on angular spectrum is investigated as well. In addition, since the reconstructed channel needs to not only reflect the spatial characteristics of Rx antennas but also reflect the spatial characteristics of transmitter antennas and propagation environment, the end-to-end channel capacities are evaluated. Simulation results under various scenarios show that the accuracies of the reconstructed channel in terms of spatial correlation, angular spectrum and channel capacity can be improved by using the re-optimized probe weights when directional antenna patterns of the DUTs are taken into account.

In this paper we will analyze the propagation of the angular spectrum of the electromagnetic field through a finite length uniaxial crystal. We solve the boundary conditions of the fields at an interface of an isotropic medium and an uniaxial anisotropic medium with the optical axis in an arbitrary direction and soon after we choose the optical axis in a plane formed by the direction of propagation (z-axis) and the x-axis . We show how the couplings occur between the components of the field and in what situations we can give a vector or scalar treatment for the propagation. There is a considerable number of researchers working with the phenomenon of Spontaneous Parametric Down Conversion (SPDC). In most SPDC systems, the propagation of fields is neither orthogonal nor parallel to the optical axis. The calculations in this work are useful for this community. The results shown in the manuscript allow a precise evaluation of astigmatism as well as the walk-off for any phase match angle. So, I believe the results presented can be valuable for the SPDC community.

The interactions between body tissues and a focused ultrasound beam can be evaluated using various numerical models. Among these, the Rayleigh–Sommerfeld and angular spectrum methods are considered to be the most effective in terms of accuracy. However, they are computationally expensive, which is one of the underlying issues of most computational models. Typically, evaluations using these models require a significant amount of time (hours to days) if realistic scenarios such as tissue inhomogeneity or non-linearity are considered. This study aims to address this issue by developing a rapid estimation model for ultrasound therapy using a machine learning algorithm. Several machine learning models were trained on a very-large dataset (19,227 simulations), and the performance of these models were evaluated with metrics such as Root Mean Squared Error (RMSE), R-squared (R²), Akaike Information Criterion (AIC), and Bayesian Information Criterion (BIC). The resulted random forest provides superior accuracy with an R2 value of 0.997, an RMSE of 0.0123, an AIC of -82.56, and a BIC of -81.65 on an external test dataset. The results indicate the efficacy of the random forest-based model for the focused ultrasound response, and practical adoption of this approach will improve the therapeutic planning process by minimizing simulation time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An effect of the angular spectrum width of a polychromatic illuminating field on the interference pattern color in optical microscopy of stratified objects is considered. Equations describing the intensity of interference patterns of thin stratified objects are obtained with due account for the influence of both frequency and angular spectra of the illuminating field. The angular spectrum width of the illuminating field is shown to affect the mutual coherence and phase difference of the interfering fields. Computer-simulated interference patterns for a thin layer under monochromatic and polychromatic illumination with different widths of the angular spectrum are presented. Quantitative analysis of the effect of angular aperture of white light on the colors of the resulting interference pattern is carried out. Changes in the colors of the layer interference patterns are experimentally studied when changing the width of the angular spectrum of the illuminating field. Color variations of the interference patterns obtained experimentally and theoretically are compared.

In this paper, carbon quantum dot-labelled β-lactoglobulin antibodies were used for refractive index magnification, and β-lactoglobulin was detected by angle spectroscopy. In this method, the detection light is provided by a He-Ne laser whose central wavelength is the same as that of the porous silicon microcavity device, and the light source was changed to a parallel beam to illuminate the porous silicon microcavity’ surface by collimating beam expansion, and the reflected light was received on the porous silicon microcavity’ surface by a detector. The angle corresponding to the smallest luminous intensity before and after the onset of immune response was measured by a detector for different concentrations of β-lactoglobulin antigen and carbon quantum dot-labelled β-lactoglobulin antibodies, and the relationship between the variation in angle before and after the immune response was obtained for different concentrations of the β-lactoglobulin antigen. The results of the experiment present that the angle variations changed linearly with increasing β-lactoglobulin antigen concentration before and after the immune response. The limit of detection of β-lactoglobulin by this method was 0.73 μg/L, indicating that the method can be used to detect β-lactoglobulin quickly and conveniently at low cost.

Herein, we present a novel approach to the spec-radiation method (a method of acoustical holography) for determining the sound distribution on a tilted particleboard by calculating a single plane and rotation in the frequency domain. The tilted particleboard allows testing without standing waves between the transmitter and the particleboard. This eliminates the need to evaluate several parallel planes and to search for values belonging to the tilted particleboard. The numerical requirements can be optimally exploited through a combination with a flaw detectability enhancement method. The results are supported by experiments on a wooden particleboard with flaw imitations. Finally, we showed, through a comparison with the usual procedure of identifying a flaw (calculating many parallel planes and then selecting the data belonging to the tilted plane), that the calculation of the tilted plane is up to 98.5% faster and improves the detectability of flaws in a tilted particleboard. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Surface reconstruction for micro-samples with large discontinuities using digital holography is a challenge. To overcome this problem, multi-incidence digital holographic profilometry (MIDHP) has been proposed. MIDHP relies on the numerical generation of the longitudinal scanning function (LSF) for reconstructing the topography of the sample with large depth and high axial resolution. Nevertheless, the method is unable to reconstruct surfaces with large gradients due to the need of: (i) high precision focusing that manual adjustment cannot fulfill and (ii) preserving the functionality of the LSF that requires capturing and processing many digital holograms. In this work, we propose a novel MIDHP method to solve these limitations. First, an autofocusing algorithm based on the comparison of shapes obtained by the LSF and the thin tilted element approximation is proposed. It is proven that this autofocusing algorithm is capable to deliver in-focus plane localization with submicron resolution. Second, we propose that wavefield summation for the generation of the LSF is carried out in Fourier space. It is shown that this scheme enables a significant reduction of arithmetic operations and can minimize the number of Fourier transforms needed. Hence, a fast generation of the LSF is possible without compromising its accuracy. The functionality of MIDHP for measuring surfaces with large gradients is supported by numerical and experimental results.

For real-time evaluation of non-destructive air-coupled ultrasonic testing of wood-based materials, efficient and reliable calculation methods from ultrasonic holography are essential. Presented here is the spec-radiation method as a fast alternative to the re-radiation method. The spec-radiation method offers a more accurate and up to 88% faster evaluation than the re-radiation method for the determination of flaws in particleboards. Flaws of sub-wavelength sizes can be identified and their shape and location can be determined with this method. The spec-radiation method produces a better reproduction of the sound field than the re-radiation method, especially in the area of the measuring plane. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The interactions between body tissues and a focused ultrasound beam can be evaluated using various numerical models. Among these, the Rayleigh–Sommerfeld and angular spectrum methods are considered to be the most effective in terms of accuracy. However, they are computationally expensive, which is one of the underlying issues of most computational models. Typically, evaluations using these models require a significant amount of time (hours to days) if realistic scenarios such as tissue inhomogeneity or non-linearity are considered. This study aims to address this issue by developing a rapid estimation model for ultrasound therapy using a machine learning algorithm. Several machine learning models were trained on a very-large dataset (19,227 simulations), and the performance of these models were evaluated with metrics such as Root Mean Squared Error (RMSE), R-squared (R2), Akaike Information Criterion (AIC), and Bayesian Information Criterion (BIC). The resulted random forest provides superior accuracy with an R2 value of 0.997, an RMSE of 0.0123, an AIC of −82.56, and a BIC of −81.65 on an external test dataset. The results indicate the efficacy of the random forest-based model for the focused ultrasound response, and practical adoption of this approach will improve the therapeutic planning process by minimizing simulation time.

While rotational dynamics of anisotropic nanoobjects has often been limited in plasmonic and fluorescent nanomaterials, here we demonstrate the capability of a surface plasmon resonance microscopy (SPRM) to determine the orientation of all kinds of anisotropic nanomaterials. By taking CdS nanorods as an example, it was found that two-dimensional Fourier transform of the asymmetrical wave-like SPRM image resulted in a peak in its angular spectrum in k space. Consistency between the peak angle and the geometrical orientation of the nanorod was validated by both in situ scanning electron microscope characterizations and theoretical calculations. Real-time monitoring of the rotational dynamics of single CdS nanorods further revealed the accelerated rotation under appropriate reaction conditions for photocatalyzed hydrogen generation. The driving force was attributed to the asymmetric production of hydrogen molecules as a result of inhomogeneous distribution of reactive sites within the nanorod. The present work not only builds the experimental and theoretical connections between the orientation of anisotropic nanomaterials and its SPRM images; the general suitability of SPRM also sheds light on broad types of nonfluorescent and nonplasmonic anisotropic nanoobjects from semiconductors to bacteria and viruses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Herein, we present a novel approach to the spec-radiation method (a method of acoustical holography) for determining the sound distribution on a tilted particleboard by calculating a single plane and rotation in the frequency domain. The tilted particleboard allows testing without standing waves between the transmitter and the particleboard. This eliminates the need to evaluate several parallel planes and to search for values belonging to the tilted particleboard. The numerical requirements can be optimally exploited through a combination with a flaw detectability enhancement method. The results are supported by experiments on a wooden particleboard with flaw imitations. Finally, we showed, through a comparison with the usual procedure of identifying a flaw (calculating many parallel planes and then selecting the data belonging to the tilted plane), that the calculation of the tilted plane is up to 98.5% faster and improves the detectability of flaws in a tilted particleboard.

For real-time evaluation of non-destructive air-coupled ultrasonic testing of wood-based materials, efficient and reliable calculation methods from ultrasonic holography are essential. Presented here is the spec-radiation method as a fast alternative to the re-radiation method. The spec-radiation method offers a more accurate and up to 88% faster evaluation than the re-radiation method for the determination of flaws in particleboards. Flaws of sub-wavelength sizes can be identified and their shape and location can be determined with this method. The spec-radiation method produces a better reproduction of the sound field than the re-radiation method, especially in the area of the measuring plane.

Ultrasonic testing using arrays is becoming widely used to test composite structures in the Aerospace industry. In recent years, the Full Matrix Capture (FMC) technique has been implemented to extract the signals for post-processing to form an image. The inherent anisotropy and the layering of the structure pose challenges for the interpretation of this FMC data. To overcome this challenge, modeling techniques are required that take into account the diffraction caused by finite-size transducers and the response of the structure to these bounded beams. Existing models either homogenize the entire structure, use computationally expensive finite difference time domain (FDTD) methods, or do not consider the shape of the bounded beam, which is used to test such structures. This paper proposes a modeling technique based on combining the Multi-Gaussian beam model with the recursive stiffness matrix method to simulate the FMC signals for layered anisotropic media. The paper provides the steps required for the modeling technique, the extraction of the system efficiency factor, and validation of the model with experimentally determined signals for aluminum as an isotropic material such as aluminum and Carbon Fiber Reinforced Plastic (CFRP) laminate as a layered material. The proposed method is computationally inexpensive, shows good agreement with the experimentally determined FMC data, and enables us to understand the effects of various transducer and material parameters on the extracted FMC signals.

To improve the detection sensitivity of porous silicon microcavity biosensors, CdSe/ZnS quantum dots are used to label complementary DNA molecules for the refractive index amplification and angular spectrum method for detection. In this method, the TE mode laser is used as the detection light and the light source is changed into a parallel beam by collimating and expanding the beam, which illuminates the PSM surface and receives the reflected light from the PSM surface through the detector. The angle corresponding to the weakest reflected light intensity before and after the biological reaction between probe DNA and complementary DNA of different concentrations labeled by quantum dots was measured by the detector, and the relationship between the angle change before and after the biological reaction and the complementary DNA concentration labeled by quantum dots was obtained. The experimental results show that the angle change increases linearly with increasing complementary DNA concentration. The detection limit of the experiment, as determined by fitting, is approximately 36 pM. The detection limit of this method is approximately 1/300 of that without quantum dot labeling. Our method has a low cost because it does not require the use of a reflectance spectrometer, and it also demonstrates high sensitivity.

Introduction CR-39 detectors are widely used for Radon and progeny measurement in the air. In this paper, using the Monte Carlo simulation, the possibility of using the CR-39 for direct measurement of Radon and progeny in water is investigated. Materials and Methods Assuming the random position and angle of alpha particle emitted by Radon and progeny, alpha energy and angular spectrum that arrive at CR-39, the calibration factor, and the suitable depth of chemical etching of CR-39 in air and water was calculated. In this simulation, a range of data were obtained from SRIM2008 software. Results Calibration factor of CR-39 in water is calculated as 6.6 (kBq.d/m3)/(track/cm2) that is corresponding with EPA standard level of Radon concentration in water (10-11 kBq/m3). With replacing the skin instead of CR-39, the volume affected by Radon and progeny was determined to be 2.51 mm3 for one m2 of skin area. The annual dose conversion factor for Radon and progeny was calculated to be between 8.8-58.8 nSv/(Bq.h/m3). Conclusion Using the CR-39 for Radon measurement in water can be beneficial. The annual dose conversion factor for Radon and progeny was calculated to be between 8.8-58.8 nSv/ (Bq.h/m3).

In this paper, the authors address the tasks of audio source counting and separation for two‐channel instantaneous mixtures. This goal is achieved in two steps. First, a novel scheme is proposed for estimating the number of sources and the corresponding channel intensity difference (CID) values. For this purpose, an angular spectrum is evaluated as a function of the ratio of the magnitude spectrogram of the two channels and the peak locations of that spectrum are obtained. In the second stage, a new approach is developed for extracting the individual source signals exploiting a Bayesian non‐parametric modelling. The mean field variational Bayesian approach is applied for inferring the unknown parameters. Classification is then performed on the inferred active CID values to obtain the individual source magnitude spectrograms. This way, the number of spectral components used for modelling each source is found automatically from the data. The Bayesian approach is compared with the standard Kullback–Leibler non‐negative tensor factorisation method to illustrate the effectiveness of Bayesian modelling. The performance of the source separation is measured by obtaining the existing metrics for multichannel blind source separation evaluation. The experiments are performed on instantaneous mixtures from the dev2 database. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, carbon quantum dot-labelled β-lactoglobulin antibodies were used for refractive index magnification, and β-lactoglobulin was detected by angle spectroscopy. In this method, the detection light is provided by a He-Ne laser whose central wavelength is the same as that of the porous silicon microcavity device, and the light source was changed to a parallel beam to illuminate the porous silicon microcavity' surface by collimating beam expansion, and the reflected light was received on the porous silicon microcavity' surface by a detector. The angle corresponding to the smallest luminous intensity before and after the onset of immune response was measured by a detector for different concentrations of β-lactoglobulin antigen and carbon quantum dot-labelled β-lactoglobulin antibodies, and the relationship between the variation in angle before and after the immune response was obtained for different concentrations of the β-lactoglobulin antigen. The results of the experiment present that the angle variations changed linearly with increasing β-lactoglobulin antigen concentration before and after the immune response. The limit of detection of β-lactoglobulin by this method was 0.73 μg/L, indicating that the method can be used to detect β-lactoglobulin quickly and conveniently at low cost. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Surface reconstruction for micro-samples with large discontinuities using digital holography is a challenge. To overcome this problem, multi-incidence digital holographic profilometry (MIDHP) has been proposed. MIDHP relies on the numerical generation of the longitudinal scanning function (LSF) for reconstructing the topography of the sample with large depth and high axial resolution. Nevertheless, the method is unable to reconstruct surfaces with large gradients due to the need of: (i) high precision focusing that manual adjustment cannot fulfill and (ii) preserving the functionality of the LSF that requires capturing and processing many digital holograms. In this work, we propose a novel MIDHP method to solve these limitations. First, an autofocusing algorithm based on the comparison of shapes obtained by the LSF and the thin tilted element approximation is proposed. It is proven that this autofocusing algorithm is capable to deliver in-focus plane localization with submicron resolution. Second, we propose that wavefield summation for the generation of the LSF is carried out in Fourier space. It is shown that this scheme enables a significant reduction of arithmetic operations and can minimize the number of Fourier transforms needed. Hence, a fast generation of the LSF is possible without compromising its accuracy. The functionality of MIDHP for measuring surfaces with large gradients is supported by numerical and experimental results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The notion of a spherical angular spectrum leads to the representation of an electromagnetic wave as a superposition of spherical waves. It provides a direct way of interpreting the role of the pupil in the theory of image formation. The spherical angular spectrum propagation takes the same form as the field amplitude transfer from a spherical emitter to a spherical receiver. To cite this article: P. Pellat-Finet, P.-E. Durand, C. R. Physique 7 (2006). [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Surface reconstruction for micro-samples with large discontinuities using digital holography is a challenge. To overcome this problem, multi-incidence digital holographic profilometry (MIDHP) has been proposed. MIDHP relies on the numerical generation of the longitudinal scanning function (LSF) for reconstructing the topography of the sample with large depth and high axial resolution. Nevertheless, the method is unable to reconstruct surfaces with large gradients due to the need of: (i) high precision focusing that manual adjustment cannot fulfill and (ii) preserving the functionality of the LSF that requires capturing and processing many digital holograms. In this work, we propose a novel MIDHP method to solve these limitations. First, an autofocusing algorithm based on the comparison of shapes obtained by the LSF and the thin tilted element approximation is proposed. It is proven that this autofocusing algorithm is capable to deliver in-focus plane localization with submicron resolution. Second, we propose that wavefield summation for the generation of the LSF is carried out in Fourier space. It is shown that this scheme enables a significant reduction of arithmetic operations and can minimize the number of Fourier transforms needed. Hence, a fast generation of the LSF is possible without compromising its accuracy. The functionality of MIDHP for measuring surfaces with large gradients is supported by numerical and experimental results.

We have developed an analytic treatment of light emission properties of electric and magnetic multipoles near a planar dielectric surface, using angular spectrum representation of vector spherical waves. The results are described in terms of spatial rotation matrix elements, so that the angular distribution of light emission for higher order multipoles is easily obtained, which enables us to evaluate basic optical near-field problems such as electric dipole radiation with arbitrary orientation with respect both to surface and observation direction. The numerical results are in good agreement with our previous experimental results and the numerical results reported by Lukosz. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report the novel mathematical description of the vector mode functions which provide a useful basis for theoretical treatment of near-field optical microscope and related phenomena. The vector planar, spherical, and cylindrical mode functions and transforms are formulated on the bases of spatial rotational functions and angular spectrum representations. It is demonstrated that the formulation provides the bases to evaluate the range and locality of optical near-field interaction of sub-wavelength sized matter with an example of electric dipole interaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ultrasonic testing using arrays is becoming widely used to test composite structures in the Aerospace industry. In recent years, the Full Matrix Capture (FMC) technique has been implemented to extract the signals for post-processing to form an image. The inherent anisotropy and the layering of the structure pose challenges for the interpretation of this FMC data. To overcome this challenge, modeling techniques are required that take into account the diffraction caused by finite-size transducers and the response of the structure to these bounded beams. Existing models either homogenize the entire structure, use computationally expensive finite difference time domain (FDTD) methods, or do not consider the shape of the bounded beam, which is used to test such structures. This paper proposes a modeling technique based on combining the Multi-Gaussian beam model with the recursive stiffness matrix method to simulate the FMC signals for layered anisotropic media. The paper provides the steps required for the modeling technique, the extraction of the system efficiency factor, and validation of the model with experimentally determined signals for aluminum as an isotropic material such as aluminum and Carbon Fiber Reinforced Plastic (CFRP) laminate as a layered material. The proposed method is computationally inexpensive, shows good agreement with the experimentally determined FMC data, and enables us to understand the effects of various transducer and material parameters on the extracted FMC signals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To improve the detection sensitivity of porous silicon microcavity biosensors, CdSe/ZnS quantum dots are used to label complementary DNA molecules for the refractive index amplification and angular spectrum method for detection. In this method, the TE mode laser is used as the detection light and the light source is changed into a parallel beam by collimating and expanding the beam, which illuminates the PSM surface and receives the reflected light from the PSM surface through the detector. The angle corresponding to the weakest reflected light intensity before and after the biological reaction between probe DNA and complementary DNA of different concentrations labeled by quantum dots was measured by the detector, and the relationship between the angle change before and after the biological reaction and the complementary DNA concentration labeled by quantum dots was obtained. The experimental results show that the angle change increases linearly with increasing complementary DNA concentration. The detection limit of the experiment, as determined by fitting, is approximately 36 pM. The detection limit of this method is approximately 1/300 of that without quantum dot labeling. Our method has a low cost because it does not require the use of a reflectance spectrometer, and it also demonstrates high sensitivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While rotational dynamics of anisotropic nanoobjects has often been limited in plasmonic and fluorescent nanomaterials, here we demonstrate the capability of a surface plasmon resonance microscopy (SPRM) to determine the orientation of all kinds of anisotropic nanomaterials. By taking CdS nanorods as an example, it was found that two-dimensional Fourier transform of the asymmetrical wave-like SPRM image resulted in a peak in its angular spectrum in k space. Consistency between the peak angle and the geometrical orientation of the nanorod was validated by both in situ scanning electron microscope characterizations and theoretical calculations. Real-time monitoring of the rotational dynamics of single CdS nanorods further revealed the accelerated rotation under appropriate reaction conditions for photocatalyzed hydrogen generation. The driving force was attributed to the asymmetric production of hydrogen molecules as a result of inhomogeneous distribution of reactive sites within the nanorod. The present work not only builds the experimental and theoretical connections between the orientation of anisotropic nanomaterials and its SPRM images; the general suitability of SPRM also sheds light on broad types of nonfluorescent and nonplasmonic anisotropic nanoobjects from semiconductors to bacteria and viruses., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2019 the Author(s). Published by PNAS.)