Síntese e caracterização de monômeros azo-carbonatos para a preparação de poli(azo-carbonato)s e poli)azo-uretana)s

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Nanopartículas de CeO2 modificadas com Er obtidas pelo método hidrotermal microondas: estudo fotoluminescente

The development of nanostructured materials have aroused great interest of the industries all over the country, since they enable the development of devices that can be used as gate insulators on silicon transistors, electrochromic devices, solid electrolyte oxygen sensors and as a photoluminescent materials . In this project, it is proposed to investigate the optical properties of CeO2 modified with rare earth Er processed in hydrothermal-microwave. The synthesis of one-dimensional nanostructures (1D) was measured from dilute aqueous solutions of acids and salts of starting reagents in the presence of chemical basis, after these aqueous solutions were processed on hydrothermal-microwave to particle growth. The particles obtained after processing were characterized by X-ray Diffraction, Rietveld Analysis and Raman Spectroscopy. The particle morphology was observed by scanning electron microscopy with field emission gun. The synthesis of 1D nanostructures are evaluated for different surfactants and starting precursors (ceria different salts), pH, temperature and pressure which can modify the morphology of the nanostructures. Combining laboratory experiments and theoretical calculations it was desired to understand the organization of the nanoparticles and their resulting structure. Strict control of chemical homogeneity, crystal structure, microstructure and interaction of the CeO2 cluster with different surfactants using the Hartree-Fock method, was intended to obtain properties compatible with their use in catalysts and optical devices. The use of mineralizer agent KOH and 8 minutes of processing time synthesis conditions were chosen to evaluate the effect of Er dopant. It has been proved that this doping with rare earth increases the photoluminescent properties of the compound obtained without change the structural and morphological propreties of ceria

Nanopartículas de CeO2 modificadas com Er obtidas pelo método hidrotermal microondas: estudo fotoluminescente

The development of nanostructured materials have aroused great interest of the industries all over the country, since they enable the development of devices that can be used as gate insulators on silicon transistors, electrochromic devices, solid electrolyte oxygen sensors and as a photoluminescent materials . In this project, it is proposed to investigate the optical properties of CeO2 modified with rare earth Er processed in hydrothermal-microwave. The synthesis of one-dimensional nanostructures (1D) was measured from dilute aqueous solutions of acids and salts of starting reagents in the presence of chemical basis, after these aqueous solutions were processed on hydrothermal-microwave to particle growth. The particles obtained after processing were characterized by X-ray Diffraction, Rietveld Analysis and Raman Spectroscopy. The particle morphology was observed by scanning electron microscopy with field emission gun. The synthesis of 1D nanostructures are evaluated for different surfactants and starting precursors (ceria different salts), pH, temperature and pressure which can modify the morphology of the nanostructures. Combining laboratory experiments and theoretical calculations it was desired to understand the organization of the nanoparticles and their resulting structure. Strict control of chemical homogeneity, crystal structure, microstructure and interaction of the CeO2 cluster with different surfactants using the Hartree-Fock method, was intended to obtain properties compatible with their use in catalysts and optical devices. The use of mineralizer agent KOH and 8 minutes of processing time synthesis conditions were chosen to evaluate the effect of Er dopant. It has been proved that this doping with rare earth increases the photoluminescent properties of the compound obtained without change the structural and morphological propreties of ceria

Langmuir and Langmuir-Blodgett films of a quinoline-fluorene based copolymer

The fabrication of Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) films of synthetic polymers allows the control of molecular architecture in order to optimize physical properties. In this paper, the surface chemistry of a quinoline-fluorene based copolymer spread on the air-water interface is investigated. Surface pressure-area isotherms as well as Polarization-Modulation Infrared Reflection-Absorption Spectroscopy (PM-IRRAS) were employed to characterize the films, which could be transferred to solid supports by the LB technique. Atomic force microscopy as well as UV-Vis and fluorescence spectroscopies have shown a regular deposition of the polymers, and the luminescence properties could be controlled with the number of layers deposited on the solid support. As a result, the photoluminescence of the LB films was considerably higher than that observed for the spin coated film, and the maximum emission peak was shifted to higher energies, which is attributed to the molecular-level interactions within the layer-ordered structure of the LB film. The luminescence response would possibly be tuned to approach the highest level, which allows the films to be employed in future applications in efficient optical devices such as organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs). (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Nanoporous alumina based hypersonic phononic hybrid structures studied by brillouin spectroscopy

Phononische Kristalle sind strukturierte Materialien mit sich periodisch ändernden elastischen Moduln auf der Wellenlängenskala. Die Interaktion zwischen Schallwellen und periodischer Struktur erzeugt interessante Interferenzphänomene, und phononische Kristalle erschließen neue Funktionalitäten, die in unstrukturierter Materie unzugänglich sind. Hypersonische phononische Kristalle im Speziellen, die bei GHz Frequenzen arbeiten, haben Periodizitäten in der Größenordnung der Wellenlänge sichtbaren Lichts und zeigen daher die Wege auf, gleichzeitig Licht- und Schallausbreitung und -lokalisation zu kontrollieren, und dadurch die Realisierung neuartiger akusto-optischer Anordnungen. Bisher bekannte hypersonische phononische Kristalle basieren auf thermoplastischen Polymeren oder Epoxiden und haben nur eingeschränkte thermische und mechanische Stabilität und mechanischen Kontrast. Phononische Kristalle, die aus mit Flüssigkeit gefüllten zylindrischen Kanälen in harter Matrix bestehen, zeigen einen sehr hohen elastischen Kontrast und sind bislang noch unerforscht. In dieser Dissertation wird die experimentelle Untersuchung zweidimensionaler hypersonischer phononischer Kristalle mit hexagonaler Anordnung zylindrischer Nanoporen basierend auf der Selbstorganisation anodischen Aluminiumoxids (AAO) beschrieben. Dazu wird die Technik der hochauflösenden inelastischen Brillouin Lichtstreuung (BLS) verwendet. AAO ist ein vielsetiges Modellsystem für die Untersuchung reicher phononischer Phänomene im GHz-Bereich, die eng mit den sich in den Nanoporen befindlichen Flüssigkeiten und deren Interaktion mit der Porenwand verknüpft sind. Gerichteter Fluss elastischer Energie parallel und orthogonal zu der Kanalachse, Lokalisierung von Phononen und Beeinflussung der phononischen Bandstruktur bei gleichzeitig präziser Kontrolle des Volumenbruchs der Kanäle (Porosität) werden erörtert. Außerdem ermöglicht die thermische Stabilität von AAO ein temperaturabhängiges Schalten phononischer Eigenschaften infolge temperaturinduzierter Phasenübergänge in den Nanoporen. In monokristallinen zweidimensionalen phononischen AAO Kristallen unterscheiden sich die Dispersionsrelationen empfindlich entlang zweier hoch symmetrischer Richtungen in der Brillouinzone, abhängig davon, ob die Poren leer oder gefüllt sind. Alle experimentellen Dispersionsrelationen werden unter Zuhilfenahme theoretische Ergebnisse durch finite Elemente Analyse (FDTD) gedeutet. Die Zuordnung der Verschiebungsfelder der elastischen Wellen erklärt die Natur aller phononischen Moden.

Estimation of the degree of polarization through computational sensing

The degree of polarization of a refected field from active laser illumination can be used for object identifcation and classifcation. The goal of this study is to investigate methods for estimating the degree of polarization for refected fields with active laser illumination, which involves the measurement and processing of two orthogonal field components (complex amplitudes), two orthogonal intensity components, and the total field intensity. We propose to replace interferometric optical apparatuses with a computational approach for estimating the degree of polarization from two orthogonal intensity data and total intensity data. Cramer-Rao bounds for each of the three sensing modalities with various noise models are computed. Algebraic estimators and maximum-likelihood (ML) estimators are proposed. Active-set algorithm and expectation-maximization (EM) algorithm are used to compute ML estimates. The performances of the estimators are compared with each other and with their corresponding Cramer-Rao bounds. Estimators for four-channel polarimeter (intensity interferometer) sensing have a better performance than orthogonal intensities estimators and total intensity estimators. Processing the four intensities data from polarimeter, however, requires complicated optical devices, alignment, and four CCD detectors. It only requires one or two detectors and a computer to process orthogonal intensities data and total intensity data, and the bounds and estimator performances demonstrate that reasonable estimates may still be obtained from orthogonal intensities or total intensity data. Computational sensing is a promising way to estimate the degree of polarization.

Surface tension and microgravity

The behaviour of confined liquids on board an orbiting spacecraft is mainly driven by surface tension phenomena, which cause an apparently anomalous response of the liquid when compared with the behaviour that can be observed on an Earth laboratory provided that the amount of liquid is high enough. The reason is that in an orbiting spacecraft the different inertial forces acting on the bulk of the liquid are almost zero, causing thus capillary forces to be the dominant ones. Of course, since gravity forces are proportional to the liquid volume, whereas surface tension forces are proportional to the liquid surface, there are situations on Earth where capillarity can be the dominant effect, as it happens when very small volume liquid samples are considered. However, work with small size samples may require the use of sophisticated optical devices. Leaving aside the neutral buoyancy technique, a way of handling large liquid interfaces is by using drop towers, where the sample falls subjected to the action of Earth's gravity. This approach is suitable when the characteristic time of the problem under consideration is much smaller than the drop time. In this work the transformation of an out-of-use chimney into a drop tower is presented. Because of the miniaturization, hardiness and low cost of current electronic devices, a drop tower can be used as an inexpensive tool for undergraduate students to experimentally analyse a large variety of surface tension driven phenomena.

Caracterización de la polarización de haces de luz a la salida de prismas despolarizadores anisótropos

Los pseudo-despolarizadores espaciales, entre los que se encuentran los denominados prismas despolarizadores, son dispositivos ópticos capaces de modificar el estado de polarización en cada punto del plano transversal de los haces de luz, obteniendo un continuo de estados de polarización y por tanto un grado de polarización estándar próximo a cero. En la literatura, en reiteradas ocasiones se utilizan estos prismas asumiendo la aproximación de que en su cara oblicua no existe doble reflexión. En el presente trabajo se investigan en detalle las características de polarización locales y globales de haces monocromáticos planos a la salida de un prisma despolarizador teniendo en cuenta la doble reflexión y se comparan los resultados con el caso de despreciar esta doble reflexión. Como consecuencia se obtienen las condiciones bajo las cuales el efecto de la doble reflexión puede ser despreciable. ABSTRACT: Spatial pseudo-depolarizers are optical devices that modify the polarization state along the transverse plane of a light beam in such a way that a continuum of polarization states are obtained. Consequently, a standard degree of polarization near to zero is reached when average over the whole beam section is taken. Depolarizing prism is an example of spatial pseudo-depolarizer. Double reflection effects are usually not considered in literature for such devices. In the present work, the polarization properties at the exit of a depolarizing prism are studied taking into account the effect of double reflection and the results are compared to those obtained when double reflection is neglected. Conditions under which the double reflection effect may be negligible on depolarizing action of this class of prisms are obtained.

Thermal control of SUNRISE, a balloon-borne solar telescope

SUNRISE is a balloon-borne solar telescope flown with a long-duration balloon by NASA's Columbia Scientific Balloon Facility team from Esrange (Swedish Space Corporation), on 8 June 2009. SUNRISE has been a challenging mission from the thermal point of view because of its size and power dissipation. Thus, a dedicated thermal analysis has been carried out to find a solution that allows all the devices to be kept within their appropriate temperature ranges, without exceeding the allowable temperature gradients, critical for optical devices. In this article, the thermal design of SUNRISE is described. A geometrical mathematical model and a thermal mathematical model of the whole system have been set up for the different load cases in order to obtain the temperature distribution and gradients in the system. Some trade-offs have been necessary to fulfil all the thermal requirements. The thermal hardware used to achieve it is described. Finally, the temperatures obtained with the models have been compared with flight data.

Thermal control of SUNRISE, a balloon-borne solar telescope

SUNRISE is a balloon-borne solar telescope flown with a long-duration balloon by NASA's Columbia Scientific Balloon Facility team from Esrange (Swedish Space Corporation), on 8 June 2009. SUNRISE has been a challenging mission from the thermal point of view because of its size and power dissipation. Thus, a dedicated thermal analysis has been carried out to find a solution that allows all the devices to be kept within their appropriate temperature ranges, without exceeding the allowable temperature gradients, critical for optical devices. In this article, the thermal design of SUNRISE is described. A geometrical mathematical model and a thermal mathematical model of the whole system have been set up for the different load cases in order to obtain the temperature distribution and gradients in the system. Some trade-offs have been necessary to fulfil all the thermal requirements. The thermal hardware used to achieve it is described. Finally, the temperatures obtained with the models have been compared with flight data.

Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease and vision

This review describes a group of diseases known as the transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs), which affect animals and humans. Examination of affected brain tissue suggests that these diseases are caused by the acquisition and deposition of prion protein (PrP). Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) is the most important form of TSE in humans with at least four different varieties of the disease. Variant CJD (vCJD), a new form of the disease found in the UK, has several features that differ from the classical forms including early age of onset, longer duration of disease, psychiatric presentation (for example, depression) and extensive florid plaque development in the brain. About 10 per cent of patients with CJD exhibit visual symptoms at disease presentation and approximately 50 per cent during the course of the disease. The most commonly reported visual symptoms include diplopia, supranuclear palsies, complex visual disturbances, homonymous visual field defects, hallucinations and cortical blindness. Saccadic and smooth pursuit movements appear to be more rarely affected. The agent causing vCJD accumulates in lymphoid tissue such as the spleen and tonsils. The cornea has lymphoid tissue in the form of corneal dendritic cells that are important in the regulation of the immune response in the anterior segment of the eye. The presence of these cells in the cornea has raised the possibility of transmission between patients via optical devices that contact the eye. Although such transmission is theoretically possible it remains highly improbable.

The laminar-turbulent transition in a fibre laser

Studying the transition from a linearly stable coherent laminar state to a highly disordered state of turbulence is conceptually and technically challenging, and of great interest because all pipe and channel flows are of that type. In optics, understanding how a system loses coherence, as spatial size or the strength of excitation increases, is a fundamental problem of practical importance. Here, we report our studies of a fibre laser that operates in both laminar and turbulent regimes. We show that the laminar phase is analogous to a one-dimensional coherent condensate and the onset of turbulence is due to the loss of spatial coherence. Our investigations suggest that the laminar-turbulent transition in the laser is due to condensate destruction by clustering dark and grey solitons. This finding could prove valuable for the design of coherent optical devices as well as systems operating far from thermodynamic equilibrium. © 2013 Macmillan Publishers Limited.

Determination of excitation profile and dielectric function spatial nonuniformity in porous silicon by using WKB approach

We develop an analytical model based on the WKB approach to evaluate the experimental results of the femtosecond pump-probe measurements of the transmittance and reflectance obtained on thin membranes of porous silicon. The model allows us to retrieve a pump-induced nonuniform complex dielectric function change along the membrane depth. We show that the model fitting to the experimental data requires a minimal number of fitting parameters while still complying with the restriction imposed by the Kramers-Kronig relation. The developed model has a broad range of applications for experimental data analysis and practical implementation in the design of devices involving a spatially nonuniform dielectric function, such as in biosensing, wave-guiding, solar energy harvesting, photonics and electro-optical devices.

Localized surface plasmon fiber device coated with carbon nanotubes for the specific detection of CO2

We explored the potential of a carbon nanotube (CNT) coating working in conjunction with a recently developed localized surface plasmon (LSP) device (based upon a nanostructured thin film consisting of of nano-wires of platinum) with ultra-high sensitivity to changes in the surrounding index. The uncoated LSP sensor’s transmission resonances exhibited a refractive index sensitivity of Δλ/Δn ~ -6200nm/RIU and ΔΙ/Δn ~5900dB/RIU, which is the highest reported spectral sensitivity of a fiber optic sensor to bulk index changes within the gas regime. The complete device provides the first demonstration of the chemically specific gas sensing capabilities of CNTs utilizing their optical characteristics. This is proven by investigating the spectral response of the sensor before and after the adhesion of CNTs to alkane gases along with carbon dioxide. The device shows a distinctive spectral response in the presence of gaseous CO2 over and above what is expected from general changes in the bulk refractive index. This fiber device yielded a limit of detection of 150ppm for CO2 at a pressure of one atmosphere. Additionally the adhered CNTs actually reduce sensitivity of the device to changes in bulk refractive index of the surrounding medium. The polarization properties of the LSP sensor resonances are also investigated and it is shown that there is a reduction in the overall azimuthal polarization after the CNTs are applied. These optical devices offer a way of exploiting optically the chemical selectivity of carbon nanotubes, thus providing the potential for real-world applications in gas sensing in many inflammable and explosive environments. © (2015) COPYRIGHT Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE). Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.

Growth and characterization of anodic Films on InP in KOH and (NH4)2S

The current-voltage characteristics of InP were investigated in (NH4)2S and KOH electrolytes. In both solutions, the observation of current peaks in the cyclic voltammetric curves was attributed to the growth of passivating films. The relationship between the peak currents and the scan rates suggests that the film formation process is diffusion controlled in both cases. The film thickness required to inhibit current flow was found to be much lower on samples anodized in the sulphide solution. Focused ion beam (FIB) secondary electron images of the surface films show that film cracking of the type reported previously for films grown in (NH4)2S is also observed for films grown in KOH. X-ray and electron diffraction measurements indicate the presence of In2O3 and InPO4 in films grown in KOH and In2S3 in films grown in (NH4)2S.