Enhanced photocatalytic activity of TiO2 nano-structured thin film with a silver hierarchical configuration

TiO2 sol-gels with various Ag/TiO2 molar ratios from 0 to 0.9% were used to fabricate silver-modified nano-structured TiO2 thin films using a layer-by-layer dip-coating (LLDC) technique. This technique allows obtaining TiO2 nano-structured thin films with a silver hierarchical configuration. The coating of pure TiO2 sol-gel and Ag-modified sol-gel was marked as T and A, respectively. According to the coating order and the nature of the TiO2 sol-gel, four types of the TiO2 thin films were constructed, and marked as AT (bottom layer was Ag modified, surface layer was pure TiO,), TA (bottom layer was pure TiO,, surface layer was Ag modified), TT (pure TiO, thin film) and AA (TiO, thin film was uniformly Ag modified). These thin films were characterized by means of linear sweep voltammetry (LSV), X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and transient photocurrent (I-ph). LSV confirmed the existence of Ago state in the TiO, thin film. SEM and XRD experiments indicated that the sizes of the TiO,, nanoparticles of the resulting films were in the order of TT > AT > TA > AA, suggesting the gradient Ag distribution in the films. The SEM and XRD results also confirmed that Ag had an inhibition effect on the size growth of anatase nanoparticles. Photocatalytic activities of the resulting thin films were also evaluated in the photocatalytic degradation process of methyl orange. The preliminary results demonstrated the sequence of the photocatalytic activity of the resulting films was AT > TA > AA > TT. This suggested that the silver hierarchical configuration can be used to improve the photocatalytic activity of TiO2 thin film.

Effect of dopant concentration on photocatalytic activity of TiO2 film doped by Mn non-uniformly

The thin films of TiO2 doped by Mn non-uniformly were prepared by sol-gel method under process control. In our preceding study, we investigated in detail, the effect of doping mode on the photocatalytic activity of TiO2 films showing that Mn non-uniform doping can greatly enhance the activity. In this study we looked at the effect of doping concentration on the photocatalytic activity of the TiO2 films. In this paper, the thin films were characterized by UV-vis spectrophotometer and electrochemical workstation. The activity of the photocatalyst was also evaluated by photocatalytic degradation rate of aqueous methyl orange under UV radiation. The results illustrate that the TiO2 thin film doped by Mn non-uniformly at the optimal dopant concentration (0.7 at %) is of the highest activity, and on the contrary, the activity of those doped uniformly is decreased. As a comparison, in 80 min, the degradation rate of methyl orange is 62 %, 12 % and 34 % for Mn non-uniform doping film (0.7 at %), the uniform doping film (0.7 at %) and pure titanium dioxide film, respectively. We have seen that, for the doping and the pure TiO2 films, the stronger signals of open circuit potential and transient photocurrent, the better photocatalytic activity. We also discusse the effect of dopant concentration on the photocatalytic activity of the TiO2 films in terms of effective separation of the photon-generated carriers in the semiconductor. (C) Versita Warsaw and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg. All rights reserved.

Polarization holographic high-density optical data storage in bacteriorhodopsin film

Optical films containing the genetic variant bacteriorhodopsin BR-D96N were experimentally studied in view of their properties as media for holographic storage. Different polarization recording schemes were tested and compared. The influence of the polarization states of the recording and readout waves on the retrieved diffractive image's intensity and its signal-to-noise ratio were analyzed. The experimental results showed that, compared with the other tested polarization relations during holographic recording, the discrimination between the polarization states of diffracted and scattered light is optimized with orthogonal circular polarization of the recording beams, and thus a high signal-to-noise ratio and a high diffraction efficiency are obtained. Using a He-Ne laser (633 nm, 3 mW) for recording and readout, a spatial light modulator as a data input element, and a 2D-CCD sensor for data capture in a Fourier-transform holographic setup, a storage density of 2 x 10(8) bits/cm(2) was obtained on a 60 x 42 mu m(2) area in the BR-D96N film. The readout of encoded binary data was possible with a zero-error rate at the tested storage density. (c) 2005 Optical Society of America.

Giant Goos-Hanchen displacement enhanced by dielectric film in frustrated total internal reflection configuration

It is predicted that the Goos-Hanchen displacement in the usual frustrated total internal reflection configuration can be resonantly enhanced greatly by coating a dielectric thin film onto the surface of the first prism when the angle of incidence is larger than the critical angle for total reflection at the prism-vacuum interface and is smaller than but close to the critical angle for total reflection at the prism-film interface. Theoretical analysis shows that the displacement of transmitted beam is about half the displacement of reflected beam in the thick limit of the vacuum gap between the two prisms. This is to be compared with the relation in the usual symmetric double-prism configuration that the displacement of transmitted beam is equal to the displacement of reflected beam. Numerical simulations for a Gaussian incident beam of waist width of 100 wavelengths reveal that when the dielectric thin film is of the order of wavelength in thickness, both the reflected and transmitted beams maintain well the shape of the incident beam in the thick limit of the vacuum gap. So largely enhanced displacements would lead to applications in optical devices and integrated optics. (c) 2007 American Institute of Physics.

ZnO thin film photoconductive ultraviolet detector with fast photoresponse

C-axis preferred oriented ZnO thin films were prepared on quartz substrates by RF sputtering. Photoconductive ultraviolet detector with planar interdigital electrodes was fabricated on ZnO thin film by the lift off technique. Linear I-V characteristic was observed under dark or 365 nm UV light illumination and has obvious difference. The photoresponsivity of 365 nm at 5 V bias is 18 A/W. The response time measure set mainly contains KrF excimer laser with the pulse width of 30 ns and the oscillograph with the bandwidth of 200 MHz. The result shows fast photoresponse with a rise time of 100 ns and fall time of 1.5 mu s. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Large positive and negative lateral displacements from total internal reflection configuration with a weakly absorbing dielectric film

It is theoretically shown that the simultaneously large positive and negative lateral displacements will appear when the resonant condition is satisfied for a TE-polarized light beam reflected from the total internal reflection configuration with a weakly absorbing dielectric film. Appearance of the enhanced negative lateral displacement is relative to the incidence angle, absorption of the thin Elm and its thickness. If we select an appropriate weakly absorbing dielectric film and its thickness, the simultaneously enhanced positive and negative lateral displacements will appear at different resonant angles. These phenomena may lead to convenient measurements and interesting applications in optical devices.

Experimental study on polarization holographic storage in genetic mutant BR-D96N film

Recording with both parallel and orthogonal linearly polarized lights, polarization holographic storage in genetic mutant BR-D96N film is reported with both transmission type geometry and reflection type geometry. Polarization properties of diffraction light and scattering light are discussed for two different cases, parallel polarization recording and orthogonal polarization recording. It shows that, compared with recording with parallel polarization lights, orthogonal polarization holography can separate the diffraction light from the scattering noise, therefore improving the signal-to-noise ratio. It also shows that, compared with reconstruction with reference light, reconstruction with phase conjugated wave of the reference light can improve the signal-to-noise ratio of the reconstructed diffraction image, and also the wave-front aberration of the object light introduced by irregular phase object in the optical pass-way can also be corrected effectively, which ensures that the reconstructed diffraction image has a better fidelity. The preliminary angle-multiplexed volume holographic storage multiplexed by transmission type geometry and reflection type geometry is demonstrated in the BR-D96N film. Experiment shows that there is no cross-talk between the two pages of images except for some scattering noises.

Kinetic characterization of photoinduced anisotropy in diarylethene film

Based on the theoretical model we have proposed, a complete study on the kinetics of photoincluced anisotropy in diarylethene films is performed. The kinetic curves of molecular concentration, photoincluced dichroism and birefringence are calculated, respectively. It is found that the colored molecular concentration decreases with the increase of the excitation exposure until saturation, and the photoincluced anisotropy increases to a maximum and then decreases gradually. The optimal exposure is 260 J/cm(2). In addition, the transmittance of probe beam reflecting the anisotropy is measured by experiment. The theoretical results are compared with experimental data, and basic concordance is found between both sets of data. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Kinetics of photoinduced anisotropy in bacteriorhodopsin film under two pumping beams

Photoinduced anisotropy in bacteriorhodopsin (BR) film arises from the selective bleaching of BR molecules to linearly polarized light. The kinetics of photoinduced anisotropy excited by single and two pumping beams are investigated theoretically and experimentally. Compared with a single pumping beam (650 nm), which produces comparatively small photoinduced anisotropy, dual-wavelength linearly polarized pumping beams (650 and 405 nm) can obviously change the photoinduced anisotropy. When the polarization orientation of the 405 ran pumping beam is perpendicular to that of the 650 nm pumping beam, the peak and steady values of the photoinduced anisotropy kinetic curves are remarkably enhanced. But when the two pumping beams have parallel polarization orientation, the peak and steady values are restrained. At a fixed intensity of the 650 nm pumping beam, there exists an optimal intensity for the 405 nm pumping beam to maximize the value of the photoinduced anisotropy. The photoinduced transmittance of the polarizer-BR-analyzer system is modulated by the polarization angle of the 405 nm pumping beam in an approximate-cosine form. (C) 2008 Optical Society of America.

Application of bacteriorhodopsin film for polarization phase-shifting interferometry

Photoinduced anisotropy in bacteriorhodopsin (BR) film is based on photoanisotropic selective bleaching of BR molecules under linearly polarized excitation light. It is modulated by the polarization orientation of the linearly polarized light. The anisotropic information recorded in the BR film is read by a circularly polarized light, which is in turn converted into an elliptical polarized light by the BR film. The rotation angle and the ellipticity of the elliptical polarized light are dependent on the polarization orientation of the linearly polarized excitation light. A phase-shifting interferometer based on the photoinduced anisotropy of BR film is presented theoretically and experimentally. Phase shift is controlled by the polarization orientation of the external excitation light, thus, the phase shift can be controlled without moving parts inside the interferometer, which contributes to the mechanical stability of the system.