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In recent years, the development of lasers using photonic crystals as resonant cavities has emerged and continued to grow. These photonic crystal lasers offer the advantages of reduced threshold levels and compact dimensions. Chiral liquid crystals (CLCs) are self-assembled one-dimensional photonic crystals that enable a wide range of photonic crystal lasers to exhibit broad wavelength tuning capabilities. Our research exploits the uniform standing helix (USH) and uniform lying helix (ULH) states of CLCs as resonant cavities; therefore, the direction of laser emission of CLC lasers can be changed by switching between USH and ULH states. Both USH and ULH lasers in CLCs also exhibit wavelength tuning. The USH laser induces a blue shift in the laser wavelength by dielectric heating, while the ULH laser achieves a redshift of the laser wavelength by applying a vertical electric field to lengthen the helical pitch. Such a reconfigurable chiral photonic crystal laser based on the CLCs provides bidirectional switching of the laser direction while maintaining the ability to tune the wavelength, so it has the potential for use in photonic applications.

In this paper, we propose a modified gravity method by introducing centrifugal force to promote the stacking of silica particles and the order of formed colloidal crystals. In this method, a monodispersed silica colloidal solution is filled into empty cells and placed onto rotation arms that are designed to apply an external centrifugal force to the filled silica solution. When sample fabrication is in progress, silica particles are forced toward the edges of the cells. The number of defects in the colloidal crystal decreases and the structural order increases during this process. The highest reflectivity and structural order of a sample was obtained when the external centrifugal force was 18 G. Compared to the samples prepared using the conventional stacking method, samples fabricated with centrifugal force possess higher reflectivity and structural order. The reflectivity increases from 68% to 90%, with an increase in centrifugal force from 0 to 18 G.

This paper presents a focusing efficiency and focal length tunable planar Fresnel lens in reflection type based on azo-dye-doped cholesterol liquid crystal film. The Fresnel-like pattern of a pumping beam can be formed by a Sagnac interferometer. When the azo-dye molecules are irradiated by the pumping beam, the photoalignment effect will be induced in the bright (odd) zones due to the trans&ndash, cis photoisomerization of azo-dye molecules. Thus, the structures of cholesteric liquid crystals in the odd zones will reorient from the imperfectly planar textures to the perfectly planar textures. The different structures of cholesteric liquid crystals in two adjacent zones will give rise to phase difference for the reflected light and thus function as a Fresnel lens. The focusing efficiency of the proposed Fresnel lens can be controlled by the applied voltages and affected by the polarization state of incident light. Moreover, various focal lengths of the Fresnel lens can be achieved by rewriting a different center radius of the Fresnel-like pattern.

A quantitative analytical method to discriminate among the various types of cancerous esophagus tissue is essential for accurate cancer staging. This paper reports on the use of ratiometric nonlinear optical microscopy to reveal the ratio of two-photon excited fluorescence (TPEF) to second harmonic generation (SHG) and forward to backward (F/B) SHG from single collagen fibers only in submucosa of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma. This makes it possible to accurately differentiate among the four stages of esophageal cancer, providing results that are in good agreement with histopathology. Furthermore, it is confirmed by polarization-dependent SHG that the varied SHG response in esophageal cancer tissues is mainly from the shrinkage in diameter of collagen fibers instead of the collagen triple helixes altered by cancer cells. Based on the results of TPEF/SHG and F/B SHG ratio, they can cooperatively improve the precision of diagnostics on esophageal cancer and could be transferred to other types of cancer diseases with changed collagen fibers. Impact statement The issue of classifying esophageal cancer at various developmental stages is crucial for determining the optimized treatment protocol for the patients, as well as the prognosis. Precision improvement in staging esophageal cancer keeps seeking quantitative and analytical imaging methods that could augment histopathological techniques. In this work, we used nonlinear optical microscopy for ratiometric analysis on the intrinsic signal of two-photon excited fluorescence (TPEF) and second harmonic generation (SHG) from single collagen fibers only in submucosa of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). The blind tests of TPEF/SHG and forward (F)/backward (B) SHG were demonstrated to compare with the histology conclusion. The discussion of sensitivity and specificity was provided via statistical comparison between the four stages of esophageal cancer. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study of using these two ratios in combination for staging ESCC.

A methodology that applies hyperspectral imaging (HSI) on ophthalmoscope images to identify diabetic retinopathy (DR) stage is demonstrated. First, an algorithm for HSI image analysis is applied to the average reflectance spectra of simulated arteries and veins in ophthalmoscope images. Second, the average simulated spectra are categorized by using a principal component analysis (PCA) score plot. Third, Beer&ndash, Lambert law is applied to calculate vessel oxygen saturation in the ophthalmoscope images, and oxygenation maps are obtained. The average reflectance spectra and PCA results indicate that average reflectance changes with the deterioration of DR. The G-channel gradually decreases because of vascular disease, whereas the R-channel gradually increases with oxygen saturation in the vessels. As DR deteriorates, the oxygen utilization of retinal tissues gradually decreases, and thus oxygen saturation in the veins gradually increases. The sensitivity of diagnosis is based on the severity of retinopathy due to diabetes. Normal, background DR (BDR), pre-proliferative DR (PPDR), and proliferative DR (PDR) are arranged in order of 90.00%, 81.13%, 87.75%, and 93.75%, respectively, the accuracy is 90%, 86%, 86%, 90%, respectively. The F1-scores are 90% (Normal), 83.49% (BDR), 86.86% (PPDR), and 91.83% (PDR), and the accuracy rates are 95%, 91.5%, 93.5%, and 96%, respectively.

In this paper, a wavelength tunable colloidal-crystal laser with monodispersed silica particles was demonstrated. Silica particles were synthesized through the modified St&ouml, ber process and self-assembled into the colloidal photonic-crystal structure, which was then used to form the optic cavity of a wavelength tunable laser device. Due to Bragg&rsquo, s diffraction of the colloidal photonic-crystal and the coffee ring effect, the forbidden energy gap of light varied with different lattice sizes at different positions of the colloidal photonic-crystal. When the pumping pulsed laser irradiated on the gain medium of the sample, the fluorescence was restricted and enhanced by the colloidal photonic-crystal. Lasing emission with a single peak occurred when the energy of the pumping laser exceeded the threshold energy. The threshold energy and the full-width at half-maximum (FWHM) of the proposed laser were 7.63 &micro, J/pulse and 2.88 nm, respectively. Moreover, the lasing wavelength of the colloidal photonic-crystal laser could be tuned from 604 nm to 594 nm, corresponding to the various positions in the sample due to the coffee ring effect.

Cigarette smoking is a well-known risk factor of upper digestive diseases. Findings on alcohol's effect on these diseases are inconsistent and with the exception of its association with esophageal cancer, little is known about betel quid chewing. This study investigated the association between use of these three substances and upper digestive diseases. We collected data from 9,275 patients receiving upper endoscopies between April 2008 and December 2013. Polynomial regressions were used to analyze the association between risk factors and diseases of the esophagus, stomach and duodenum. Meta-analysis for use of these substances and esophageal diseases was also performed. Participants who simultaneously consumed cigarettes, alcohol and betel quid had a 17.28-fold risk of esophageal cancer (95% CI = 7.59–39.33), 2.99-fold risk of Barrette's esophagus (95% CI = 2.40–4.39), 1.60-fold risk of grade A-B erosive esophagitis (95% CI = 1.29–2.00), 2.00-fold risk of gastric ulcer (95% CI = 1.52–2.63), 2.12-fold risk of duodenitis (95% CI = 1.55–2.89) and 1.29-fold risk of duodenal ulcer (95% CI = 1.01–1.65). Concurrent consumption of more substances was associated with significantly higher risk of developing these diseases. Meta-analysis also revealed use of the three substances came with a high risk of esophageal diseases. In conclusions, cigarette smoking, alcohol drinking and betel quid chewing were associated with upper digestive tract diseases.

Esophageal squamous-cell neoplasia (ESCN) is a common second primary neoplasia found in patients with head-and-neck squamous-cell carcinoma (HNSCC). This study sought to identify the risk factors for synchronous ESCN and how they influence survival in HNSCC patient. 815 incident HNSCC patients were prospectively recruited for endoscopy screening for ESCN using white-light imaging, narrow-band imaging, Lugol chromoendoscopy, and pathological confirmation. Associated lifestyle and clinicopathological data were collected. The interquartile follow-up period cutoffs were 11.3, 20.5 and 34.9 months. 124 patients (15.2%) were diagnosed as having synchronous ESCN (66 low-grade dysplasia, 29 high-grade dysplasia and 29 esophageal squamous-cell carcinoma). Consumption of alcohol, but not betel nut or cigarette, was significantly associated with the presence of synchronous ESCN (adjusted odds ratio [aOR]= 7.1 and 10.9 for former and current drinkers respectively). There was an interaction between cumulative dose of alcohol consumption and alcohol flushing response on the development of ESCN. High-dose drinkers with flush response were 16.9 times more likely to have esophageal high-grade dysplasia/SCC than non-drinkers. Compared with oral cavity cancer patients, those with hypopharyngeal, laryngeal and oropharyngeal cancer were 6.8, 4.6 and 2.8 times more likely to have esophageal high-grade dysplasia/SCC. HNSCC patients with synchronous ESCN had lower overall survival than those without (p

This research applies the non-linear effect of azo dye-doped liquid crystal materials to develop a small, simple, and adjustable beam-splitting component with grating-like electrodes. Due to the dielectric anisotropy and optical birefringence of nematic liquid crystals, the director of the liquid crystal molecules can be reoriented by applying external electric fields, causing a periodic distribution of refractive indices and resulting in a diffraction phenomenon when a linearly polarized light is introduced. The study also discusses the difference in the refractive index (&Delta, n), the concentration of azo dye, and the rising constant depending on the diffraction signals. The experimental results show that first-order diffraction efficiency can reach ~18% with 0.5 wt % azo dye (DR-1) doped in the nematic liquid crystals.

This work demonstrates an electrically-tunable nematic liquid crystal (NLC) diffraction grating with a periodic electrode structure, and discusses the polarization properties of its diffraction. The efficiency of the first-order diffraction can be gradually controlled by applying external electric fields cross the NLC, and the maximum diffraction efficiency of the first-order diffraction that can be obtained is around 12.5% under the applied voltage of 5.0 V. In addition to the applied electric field, the efficiency of the first-order diffraction can also vary by changing the polarized state of the incident beam. Antisymmetric polarization states with symmetrical intensities in the diffractions corresponding to the +1 and &minus, 1 order diffraction signals are also demonstrated.

This paper proposes an effective approach to fabricate a blue phase liquid crystal (BPLC) microlens array based on a photoconductive film. Owing to the characteristics of photo-induced conducting polymer polyvinylcarbazole (PVK), in which conductivity depends on the irradiation of UV light, a progressive mask resulting in the variation of conductivity is adopted to produce the gradient distribution of the electric field. The reorientations of liquid crystals according to the gradient distribution of the electric field induce the variation of the refractive index. Thus, the incident light experiences the gradient distribution of the refractive index and results in the focusing phenomenon. The study investigates the dependence of lens performance on UV exposure time, the focal length of the lens, and focusing intensities with various incident polarizations. The BPLC microlens array exhibits advantages such as electrically tunability, polarization independence, and fast response time.

Esophageal squamous neoplasm presents a spectrum of different diatheses. A precise assessment for individualized treatment depends on the accuracy of the initial diagnosis. Detection relies on comprehensive and accurate white-light, iodine staining, and narrow-band imaging endoscopy. These methods have limitations in addition to its invasive nature and the potential risks related to the method. These limitations include difficulties in precise tumor delineation to enable complete resection, inflammation and malignancy differentiation, and stage determination. The resolution of these problems depends on the surgeon’s ability and experience with available technology for visualization and resection. We proposed a method for identifying early esophageal cancerous lesion by endoscopy and hyperspectral endoscopic imaging. Experimental result shows the characteristic spectrum of a normal esophagus, precancerous lesion, canceration, and intraepithelial papillary capillary loop can be identified through principal component score chart. The narrow-band imaging (NBI) image shows remarkable spectral characteristic distribution, and the sensitivity and specificity of the proposed method are higher than those of other methods by ~0.8 and ~0.88, respectively. The proposed method enables the accurate visualization of target organs, it may be useful to capsule endoscope and telemedicine, which requires highly precise images for diagnosis.

Luminosity and correlated color temperature (CCT) have gradually become two of the most important factors in the evaluation of the performance of light sources. However, although most color performance evaluation metrics are highly correlated with CCT, these metrics often do not account for light sources with different CCTs. This paper proposes the existence of a relationship between luminosity and CCT to remove the effects of CCT and to allow for a fairer judgment of light sources under the current color performance evaluation metrics. This paper utilizes the Hyper-Spectral Imaging (HSI) technique to recreate images of a standard color checker under different luminosities, CCT, and light sources. The images are then analyzed and transformed into interpolation figures and equal color difference curves. This paper utilizes statistic tools and symmetry properties to determine an exponential relationship between luminosity and CCT in red-green-blue (RGB) LED and OLED light sources. Such a relationship presents an option to remove the effects of CCT in color evaluation standards, as well as provide a guide line for adjusting visual experience solely by adjusting luminosity when creating a lighting system.

The p-n heterojunction photoelectrochemical biosensor, which comprises a p-type Cu

Organic light-emitting diode (OLED) will possibly become the mainstream in lighting technology given that its features, such as self-luminosity, deflectivity, and penetrability, are different from those of common light sources. Studies on OLEDs have generally focused on the luminous efficiency of its components; however, selecting an optimum color mixing spectrum for OLEDs to apply on illumination has seldom been discussed. In this study, color mixing is conducted by combining two and three colors based on color mixing theory. Through screenings that employ related evaluation techniques such as chroma standard and color rendering, we identify a set of optimum color mixing spectra at different correlated color temperatures that will be evaluated via the color rendering index (CRI), the color quality scale (CQS), and the feeling of contrast index (FCI). The CRI and CQS of simulative OLED light sources exhibit better performance at correlated color temperatures of 3000, 3500, 4000, and 4500 K than those of standard light sources of the Commission Internationale de l′Eclairage, whereas the FCI is increased to a range of 3–30%. The illumination images of standard and simulative light sources can be reproduced by using multi-spectral imaging. In this study, we attempt to explain the research direction of colors, which should be discussed in future studies on OLEDs, by applying several methods to evaluate light sources as well as color-image rendition technology.

This work proposes a simple method of fabricating microlens arrays with the unique characteristics of polarization independence and fast response time. This microlens arrays were composed of a concave polymer microlens arrays and blue phase liquid crystals (BPLCs). The experimental results showed that the microlens arrays were fast switched between positive and negative focal lengths via controlling the electric fields, and the response time was a few hundred microseconds. Additionally, the focusing efficiency was not dependent on the polarization of incident light.

Bladder cancer presents a spectrum of different diatheses. A precise assessment for individualized treatment depends on the accuracy of the initial diagnosis. Detection relies on comprehensive and accurate white light cystoscopy. White light cystoscopy has limitations in addition to its invasive nature and the potential risks related to the method. These limitations include difficulties in flat lesion detection, precise tumor delineation to enable complete resection, inflammation and malignancy differentiation, and grade and stage determination. The resolution of these problems depends on the surgeon's ability and experience with available technology for visualization and resection. In this study, we used multispectral imaging technology combined with phase contrast microscopy to analyze bladder cancer cells (BCCs) at various stages using a single-cell array chip. We found from the spectral characteristics of single cell that the cell spectra at the different cancer stages demonstrate a change in the cell's composition. We cultured 419 normal and diseased bladder cells. We used principal component analysis and a principal component score map to distinguish the different cancer stages. Diagnosis sensitivity and specificity of this method were 85.7% and 90.2% in 119 stage 0 (normal) cells, 84.3% and 90.8% in 79 stage 2 cancer cells, 87.6% and 92.4% in 151 stage 3 BCCs, and 85.3% and 91.2% in 70 stage 4 BCCs, respectively.

In this paper, we demonstrate the potential of liquid crystals (LCs) on the applications of small, simple, and tunable optical guided channels. Experimental results show that three operation modes of beam coupling can be achieved, depending on the feature of the electrically controllable refractive index, the incident position, and the specific design of electrodes. The dependence of the beam polarization on self-focusing and coupling effect are also discussed. The electrically controllable self-focusing and beam coupling are highly potential on integrated photonic circuits.

Alcohol is an important risk factor for the development of second esophageal squamous-cell carcinoma (ESCC) in head and neck squamous-cell carcinoma (HNSCC) patients. However, the influence of tea consumption is uncertain. We prospectively performed endoscopic screening in incident HNSCC patients to identify synchronous esophageal neoplasm. In total, 987 patients enrolled between October 2008 and December 2017 and were analyzed. In vitro studies were conducted to investigate the effect of epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) on the betel alkaloid, arecoline-stimulated carcinogenesis in two ESCC cell lines. There were 151 patients (15.3%) diagnosed to have synchronous esophageal neoplasm, including 88 low-grade dysplasia, 30 high-grade dysplasia and 33 squamous-cell carcinoma (SCC). Tea consumption was associated with a significantly lower risk of having esophageal high-grade dysplasia or SCC in HNSCC patients, especially those who were betel nut chewers, alcohol drinkers or cigarette smokers (all adjusted odds ratio were 0.5, p-values: 0.045, 0.045 and 0.049 respectively). In vitro studies indicated that EGCG suppressed arecoline-induced ESCC cell proliferation and colony formation through the inhibition of the Akt and ERK1/2 pathway in a reactive oxygen species-independent manner. In conclusion, tea consumption may protect against the development of second esophageal neoplasms among HNSCC patients, especially those who regularly consume betel nuts, alcohol and cigarettes.

We have demonstrated a Cu2O/ZnO nanorods (NRs) array p-n heterostructures photoelectrochemical biosensor. The electrodeposition of Cu2O at pH 12 acquired the preferably (111) lattice planes, resulting in the largest interfacial electric field between Cu2O and ZnO, which finally led to the highest separation efficiency of photogenerated charge carriers. High verticality ZnO nanorods by seed layer and thermal annealing assist the hydrothermal growth. The optimized Cu2O/ZnO NRs array p-n heterostructures exhibited enhanced PEC performance, such as elevated photocurrent and photoconversion efficiency, as well as excellent sensing performance for the sensitive detection of four strains of different races and different degree of cancer cell which made the device self-powered. We got spectral response characteristics and operating wavelength range of biosensor, and to verify the biological characteristics of cancer cells wafer react with different stages of cancer characterized by a cancer measured reaction experiment.

This study presents a method to identify early esophageal cancer within endoscope using hyperspectral imaging technology. The research samples are three kinds of endoscopic images including white light endoscopic, chromoendoscopic, and narrow-band endoscopic images with different stages of pathological changes (normal, dysplasia, dysplasia - esophageal cancer, and esophageal cancer). Research is divided into two parts: first, we analysis the reflectance spectra of endoscopic images with different stages to know the spectral responses by pathological changes. Second, we identified early cancerous lesion of esophagus by principal component analysis (PCA) of the reflectance spectra of endoscopic images. The results of this study show that the identification of early cancerous lesion is possible achieve from three kinds of images. In which the spectral characteristics of NBI endoscopy images of a gray area than those without the existence of the problem the first two, and the trend is very clear. Therefore, if simply to reflect differences in the degree of spectral identification, chromoendoscopic images are suitable samples. The best identification of early esophageal cancer is using the NBI endoscopic images. Based on the results, the use of hyperspectral imaging technology in the early endoscopic esophageal cancer lesion image recognition helps clinicians quickly diagnose. We hope for the future to have a relatively large amount of endoscopic image by establishing a hyperspectral imaging database system developed in this study, so the clinician can take this repository more efficiently preliminary diagnosis.

The present study develops and investigates for the first time a unique spatial continuously tunable cone laser based on a dye-doped cholesteric liquid crystal (DDCLC) film with an LC-birefringence (Δn) gradient. A continuous Δn variation can be generated in a cell by diffusion and self-organization of CLC after four DDCLC mixtures with a discrete variation of Δn are successively injected into an empty cell. Not only the CLC photonic structure but also the lasing wavelength and the cone angle of the obtained conically symmetric emitted lasing ring can be tuned continuously by continuously changing the pumped position of the cell with an Δn gradient. The continuous tunabilities in the lasing wavelength and the corresponding emitted cone angle of the lasing ring are 605.8 → 568.1 nm and 29° → 50°, respectively, within a spatial interval of about 33 mm in the cell.

In this Letter we demonstrate the experimental observation of chaotic phase synchronization (CPS) in a periodically pump-modulated multimode microchip Nd:YVO 4 laser. PS transition is displayed via the stroboscopic technique. We apply the recurrence probability and correlation probability of recurrence to estimate the degree of PS. The degree of PS is studied taking into account the modulation amplitude and modulation frequency. We also propose an experimental compatible numerical simulation to reflect the fact that the Arnold tongues are experimentally and numerically exhibited in the periodically pump-modulated multimode microchip Nd:YVO 4 laser.

The formation of surface relief grating on dye-doped polymer film with the interface of nematic liquid crystals has been investigated by means of the holographic technique. The first-order diffraction efficiency of surface relief grating depends on the temperature and the orientation of molecular director in the interface of nematic liquid crystals. The diffraction efficiency is roughly independent of thermal fluctuations of molecular director in the most part of nematic temperature range and apparently drops near the transition temperature. The morphology of surface relief grating demonstrates that the surface modulation is larger for molecular director parallel to the groove direction. The experimental result also shows that the first-order diffraction efficiency is dependent on the surface modulation of surface relief grating.

When a nonlinear oscillator is driven by an external force which is calculated on the basis of the zero-dispersion nonlinear resonance (ZDNR) theory, it can be transparent, i.e., the output of the response system is the same as the magnitude of driving force without any dispersion or distortion. In fact, this is a unique phenomenon, called zero-dispersion nonlinear resonance (ZDNR). Herein, we used the generic input–output analysis to realize the ZDNR circuit experiment of two unidirectional coupling self-excited oscillators. The experimental observations also show good agreement with numerical simulations.

Nematic liquid crystals (NLCs) can be easily reoriented by the laser beam at the temperature closed to the nematic–isotropic phase transition (TNI). At the temperature closed to TNI, the propagating mode of laser beam and the optically induced phase transition were explored by using a microscopic conoscope technique. This investigation demonstrates the formation of soliton at particular beam propagation modes. The interaction between nematic liquid crystals and the laser beam with different polarizations showed the nonlinearity in optical alignment.

The photoluminescence of nematic liquid crystals doped with silver nanoparticles has been investigated. The peak intensity of photoluminescence varies with the concentration of doped silver nanoparticles. The peak intensity of photoluminescence shows the enhancement effect in the range of concentration from 0% ∼ 1% and the quenching effect in the range of concentration from 1% ∼ 4%. The photoluminescence can be enhanced around 55% for silver nanoparticles with 88 nm in diameter.

The diffusion of azo-dye (DR-1) in a planar liquid crystals host (5CB) at various temperatures has been investigated by laser-induced holographic grating relaxation technique. The decay of the diffraction intensity provides information about the diffusion of photoexcited azo-dye molecules. The relaxation time constants can be derived from the time dependence of the diffraction intensity fitted by a single exponential function. Thus, the diffusion coefficients parallel and perpendicular to the director of liquid crystals at various temperatures can be obtained from the plots of the reciprocal of the relaxation time versus the square of the grating vector. From the analysis of the holographic grating relaxation, the diffusion is faster along the molecular director than for the perpendicular case, and the diffusion increases with rising temperature either parallel or perpendicular to the nematic director of liquid crystals.

This work demonstrates a thermally tunable dye-doped liquid crystal (DDLC) distributed feedback (DFB) laser based on a polymer grating. The surface emitting DDLC DFB laser is supported by the second-order Bragg grating which is pre-fabricated using the UV nanoimprint lithography (UV-NIL) method.

We demonstrate a switchable two-dimensional phase grating in blue phase liquid crystal (BPLC), which is fabricated by sawtooth in-plane-switch (IPS) electrodes. They are used to generate the horizontal electric field on a single indium-tin-oxide (ITO) glass substrate and, as a result, the 1-D and 2-D phase gratings can be mutual switched via different polarizations of incident light with an applied voltage. The first-order diffraction efficiency is up to 20% and 10% for the 1-D and 2-D phase grating at V = 150 V, respectively. Moreover, the rise and decay time is 0.9 and 1.1 ms, respectively, which is suitable for wide applications of high-speed optical manipulations.

The p-n heterojunction photoelectrochemical biosensor, which comprises a p-type Cu2O film formed by electrochemical deposition and n-type ZnO nanorods formed by the hydrothermal method, is prone to photoelectrochemical reactions and self-powered. Four types of human esophageal cancer cells (ECCs) were detected by this biosensor without requiring an extra bias voltage. The measured photocurrent values of high invasion capacity cancer cells was consistently 2 times higher than those measured by a slight invasion capacity cancer cells. The response time, which was about 0.5 s, allowed repeated measurement.

We demonstrate a series of InGaN/GaN double quantum well nanostructure elements. We grow a layer of 2 {\mu}m undoped GaN template on top of a (0001)-direction sapphire substrate. A 100 nm SiO2 thin film is deposited on top as a masking pattern layer. This layer is then covered with a 300 nm aluminum layer as the anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) hole pattern layer. After oxalic acid etching, we transfer the hole pattern from the AAO layer to the SiO2 layer by reactive ion etching. Lastly, we utilize metal-organic chemical vapor deposition to grow GaN nanorods approximately 1.5 {\mu}m in size. We then grow two layers of InGaN/GaN double quantum wells on the semi-polar face of the GaN nanorod substrate under different temperatures. We then study the characteristics of the InGaN/GaN quantum wells formed on the semi-polar faces of GaN nanorods. We report the following findings from our study: first, using SiO2 with repeating hole pattern, we are able to grow high-quality GaN nanorods with diameters of approximately 80-120 nm; second, photoluminescence (PL) measurements enable us to identify Fabry-Perot effect from InGaN/GaN quantum wells on the semi-polar face. We calculate the quantum wells' cavity thickness with obtained PL measurements. Lastly, high resolution TEM images allow us to study the lattice structure characteristics of InGaN/GaN quantum wells on GaN nanorod and identify the existence of threading dislocations in the lattice structure that affects the GaN nanorod's growth mechanism., Comment: 8 pages, 6 figures

This work proposes a liquid-crystal lens based on a dual-frequency liquid crystal (DFLC) and a surface-relief (SR) dielectric structure on an electrode. The proposed LC lens can be controlled between a positive lens (lens power m) and a negative lens (lens power m ) by using the frequency modulation. Additionally, a dielectric effect occurs between the DFLC and the SR dielectric under the frequency modulation, enabling the LC lens to exhibit a much more uniform response-time distribution than a conventional LC lens.

Indium gallium nitride (InGaN) samples with single heterojunction (SH) and double heterojunction (DH) were prepared using metal-organic chemical vapor deposition. SH has a layer of InGaN thin film (thicknesses, 25, 50, 100, and 200 nm) grown on an uGaN film (thickness, 2 μm). The DH samples are distinguished by DH uGaN film (thickness, 120 nm) grown on the InGaN layer. Reciprocal space mapping measurements reveal that the DH samples are fully strained with different thicknesses, whereas the strain in the SH samples are significantly relaxed with the increasing thickness of the InGaN film. Scanning electron microscopy results show that the surface roughness of the sample increases when the sample is relaxed. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy images of the structure of indium droplets in the DH sample indicate that the thickness of the InGaN layer decreases with the density of indium droplets. The formation of these droplets is attributed to the insufficient kinetic energy of indium atom to react with the elements of group V, resulting to aggregation. The gallium atoms in the GaN thin film will not be uniformly replaced by indium atoms; the InGaN thin film has an uneven distribution of indium atoms and the quality of the epitaxial layer is degraded.

This study reports for the first time an all-optically controllable nanoparticle random laser (NPRL) in a well-aligned laser-dye-doped liquid crystal (LDDLC) cell added with NPs and azo-dyes. Experimental results display that the NPRL can be obtained when the pumped energy exceeds the energy threshold (~3.5 μJ/pulse). The occurrence of the NPRL is attributable to the enhancement of the fluorescence by the multi-scattering events of the fluorescence photons from the randomly distributed NPs in the diffusion rout of the well-aligned LDDLC cell. In addition, the lasing intensity of the NPRL can decrease with increasing irradiation time of one UV beam. Continuing irradiation of one green beam following the UV illumination can increasingly recover the lasing intensity of the NPRL. The all-optically reversible controllability of the NPRL is basically attributed to the successive UV-beam-induced increase and green-beam-induced decrease in the randomness of the LDDLC via their interactions with the curved cis and rod-like trans isomers after the accumulation of the trans→cis and cis→trans back isomerizations of the azo-dyes, respectively. The former and latter mechanisms can decrease and increase the laser-dye's absorption and thus the induced spontaneous emission, respectively. These consequences can decrease and increase the lasing intensity, or equivalently, increase and decrease the energy threshold for the occurrence of the NPRL, respectively.

The ultrafast inter- and intramolecular dynamics of liquid CBrCl3 are studied with a femtosecond laser in a pump/probe optical Kerr experiment. The prompt part of the observed Kerr signal is found to comprise not just electronic response but also coherent coupling. As reported in the literature, the weak and delayed part of the signal is attributed to three kinds of intermolecular dynamics: diffusive reorientation, polarizability distortion, and molecular libration with decay times, respectively, of 2 ps, 500 fs, and 190 fs. Included in the delayed Kerr signal are long lasting oscillations which are ascribed to quantum interference involving four normal vibrations of the molecule. By a careful fitting of both the time domain (Kerr) and frequency domain (Raman) data with existing theories the four vibrations are identified as ν2 = 422 cm−1, ν3 = 246 cm−1, ν5 = 295 cm−1, and ν6 = 191 cm−1, with dephasing times, 1.1 ps, 1.7 ps, 1 ps, and 1 ps, respectively.

The technique of hyper‐Rayleigh scattering is used to determine and compare the first hyperpolarizabilities (β) of five structurally similar m‐substituent phenyl‐amine based chromophores using both internal and external standards. Contribution from the two photon absorption induced fluorescence to the observed signal is carefully removed. The chromophores with the m‐substituted phenyl ring, that stabilizes the maximal charge‐transfer state through resonance effect, are found to have larger static β values and redshifted electronic absorption peaks (λmax) compared with the para‐nitroaniline (pNA) chromophore. The electron‐withdrawing m‐substituent of the chromophore is found to have the effect of reducing both the β and λmax values. Its effect on β is less pronounced when the π‐electron reservoir is large. The enhancement of β value and the redshift λmax are observed to be consistent with the extent of the π electron delocalization.

The coherent transient responses of two simple molecular liquids, CS/sub 2/ and CHBr/sub 3/, are studied at room temperature with the technique of time-resolved pump/probe optical Kerr effect. Use is made of an ultrashort laser with pulsewidth varying from /spl ges/100 to 28 femtoseconds (fs). For both liquids the instantaneous electronic response is found to increase markedly relative to the delayed nuclear response as input pulse is shortened. The contribution of the coherent coupling effect to the Kerr signal near delay zero is found to be significant, and is attributed to a retarded nuclear response. The latter, along with the nonvanishing response of nuclear motion to the shortest (28 fs) input pulse, strongly suggests that nuclei are intrinsically coupled to the valence electrons. The intrinsic electron-nucleus coupling in combination with molecular symmetry satisfactorily accounts for the observation that the ultrafast nuclear Kerr response of liquid CS/sub 2/ is much stronger than the electronic one, whereas the opposite is true with liquid CHBr/sub 3/. The ultrafast response of liquid CHBr/sub 3/ also features the occurrence of vibrational quantum beats, involving as many as three normal vibrations of the CHBr/sub 3/ molecule. The normal vibrations identified from the beats are the CBr/sub 3/ symmetric deformation (/spl nu//spl tilde//sub 3/=222 cm/sup -1/) and the CBr/sub 3/ symmetric stretch (/spl nu//spl tilde//sub 6/=540 cm/sup -1/), in addition to the CBr/sub 3/ degenerate deformation (/spl nu//spl tilde//sub 6/=154 cm/sup -1/) observed in temporal domain heretofore. Both liquids also exhibit identical ultrafast intermolecular dynamics.

A voltage-controllable multiguide directional coupler is designed with a nematic liquid crystal cell, comprising a grating-like indium-tin-oxide electrode. An incident polarized laser beam can couple into adjacent channels by periodic distribution of the refractive index. This capability is attributed to the reorientation of the periodic liquid crystal caused by the application of a voltage. The coupling variation of the optical power in the transverse direction parallel to the waveguide surface is investigated. This work presents a promising coupling function for potential applications of optical communication devices.

This work investigates an electrically and optically tunable Fresnel lens in a liquid crystal (LC) cell with an erasable and rewritable photoconductive layer. By using a Sagnac interferometer, a Fresnel-like pattern can be induced on the photoconductive polymer layer which results in conductive and nonconductive structures in bright and dark zones. This effect causes the mismatch of the LC refractive index between adjacent zones with external voltage, generating a LC Fresnel lens. The focal length of the proposed Fresnel lens can be easily tuned by varying the Fresnel pattern size, and the focusing efficiency can be optically and electrically controlled.