Table of Contents

Surface plasmon resonance (SPR) sensors present a challenge when high sensitivity and small FWHM (full width at half maximum) are required to be achieved simultaneously. FWHM is defined by the difference between the two extreme values of the independent variable at which the value of the dependent variable is equal to half of its maximum. A smaller value of FWHM indicates better accuracy of SPR measurements. Theoretically, many authors have claimed the possibility of simultaneously achieving high sensitivity and small FWHM, which in most of the cases has been limited by experimental validation. In this report, an experimental study on the improved surface plasmon resonance (SPR) characteristics of gold over silver bimetallic sensor chips of different film thicknesses is presented. A comparative study of antigen–antibody interaction of the bimetallic chip using a custom-made, low-cost, and portable SPR device based on an angular interrogation scheme of Kretschmann configuration is performed. Pulsed direct current (DC) magnetron-sputtered bimetallic films of gold over silver were used in the construction of the SPR chip. The FWHM and sensitivity of the bimetallic sensors were firstly characterized using standard solutions of known refractive index which were later immobilized with monoclonal anti-immunoglobulin G (IgG) in the construction of the SPR biochip. Spectroscopic measurements such as ultraviolet–visible light spectroscopy (UV–Vis) and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) were used for the confirmation of the immobilization of the antibody. The performance of the bimetallic SPR biochip was investigated by exposing the sensor to various concentrations of the target protein. The results indicated that the bimetallic sensors of silver/gold had a 3.5-fold reduced FWHM compared to pure gold-based sensors, indicating a higher detection accuracy. In addition, they exhibited a significant shift in resonance angle as high as 8.5 ± 0.2 due to antigen–antibody interaction, which was ~1.42-fold higher than observed for pure silver-based sensors. Full article

Synthesis of nanoparticles doped with various ions can significantly expand their functionality. The conditions of synthesis exert significant influence on the distribution nature of doped ions and therefore the physicochemical properties of nanoparticles. In this paper, a correlation between the conditions of synthesis of manganese-containing cadmium sulfide or zinc sulfide nanoparticles and their optical and magnetic properties is analyzed. Electron paramagnetic resonance was used to study the distribution of manganese ions in nanoparticles and the intensity of interaction between them depending on the conditions of synthesis of nanoparticles, the concentration of manganese, and the type of initial semiconductor. The increase of manganese concentration is shown to result in the formation of smaller CdS-based nanoparticles. Luminescent properties of nanoparticles were studied. The 580 nm peak, which is typical for manganese ions, becomes more distinguished with the increase of their concentration and the time of synthesis. Full article

Volumetric display shows promising implications for healthcare related applications as an innovative technology that creates real three-dimensional (3D) image by illuminating points in three-dimensional space to generate volumetric images without image separation. We used eccentric photorefractometry to objectively study ocular performance in a practical environment by evaluating near work-induced refraction shift, accommodative microfluctuations, and pupil size for 38 young adults after viewing anaglyph, and volumetric 3D content for prolonged time. The results of our study demonstrate that participants who performed relative depth estimation task on volumetric 3D content were less likely to experience task-induced myopic refraction shift. For both 3D content types, we observed pupil constriction, that is possibly related to visual fatigue. For anaglyph 3D pupil constriction, onset was observed significantly sooner, compared to volumetric 3D. Overall, sustained work with 3D content, and small disparities or the fully eliminated possibility of accommodation-vergence conflict, not only minimizes near work-induced myopic shift, but also provide beneficial accommodation relaxation that was demonstrated in this study as hypermetropic shift for nearly half of participants. Full article

A thermal radiation light source, such as an incandescent light bulb, is considered a legacy light source with low luminous efficacy. However, it is an ideal energy source converting light with high efficiency from electric power to radiative power. In this work, we evaluate a thermal radiation light source and propose a new type of filament using a refractory metasurface to fabricate an efficient light bulb. We demonstrate visible-light spectral control using a refractory metasurface made of tantalum with an optical microcavity inserted into an incandescent light bulb. We use a nanoimprint method to fabricate the filament that is suitable for mass production. A 1.8 times enhancement of thermal radiation intensity is observed from the microcavity filament compared to the flat filament. Then, we demonstrate the thermal radiation control of the metasurface using a refractory plasmonic cavity made of hafnium nitride. A single narrow resonant peak is observed at the designed wavelength as well as the suppression of thermal radiation in wide mid-IR range under the condition of constant surface temperature. Full article

The main problem with the radio-over-fiber (RoF) link is the decrease in the recovered radio frequency (RF) power due to the chromatic dispersion of the fiber known as dispersion power fading. One of the methods for dealing with dispersion power fading is to use the optical single sideband (OSSB) modulation scheme. The OSSB modulation scheme can be generated by biasing the dual-drive Mach–Zehnder modulator (DD-MZM) to the quadrature bias point (QBP) and shifting the RF drive signal phase (θ) by 90°, which is called the regular θ. However, the OSSB modulation scheme only overcomes dispersion power fading well at the modulation index (m) < 0.2. This paper proposes an irregular θ method to overcome dispersion power fading at all m. There are two irregular θ for every m used. The irregular θ managed to handle dispersion power fading better than OSSB modulation scheme did at every m. Specifically, the irregular θ could handle the dispersion power fading well at m ≤ 1. In sum, the irregular θ could overcome the dispersion power fading at any RF frequency and optical wavelength without having to re-adjust the transmitter. Full article

The mutual and injection locking characteristics of two integrated lasers are compared, both on and off-chip. In this study, two integrated single facet slotted Fabry–Pérot lasers are utilised to develop the measurement technique used to examine the different operational regimes arising from optically locking a semiconductor diode laser. The technique employed used an optical spectrum analyser (OSA), an electrical spectrum analyser (ESA) and a high speed oscilloscope (HSO). The wavelengths of the lasers are measured on the OSA and the selected optical mode for locking is identified. The region of injection locking and various other regions of dynamical behaviour between the lasers are observed on the ESA. The time trace information of the system is obtained from the HSO and performing the FFT (Fast Fourier Transform) of the time traces returns the power spectra. Using these tools, the similarities and differences between off-chip injection locking with an isolator, and on-chip mutual locking are examined. Full article

An Indium-phosphide-based monolithically integrated photonic chip comprising of an amplified feedback laser (AFL) and a photodetector was designed and fabricated for on-chip photonic and microwave generation. Various waveforms including single tone, multi-tone, and chaotic signal generation were demonstrated by simply adjusting the injection currents applied to the controlling electrodes. The evolution dynamics of the photonic chip was characterized. Photonic microwave with frequency separation tunable from 26.3 GHz to 34 GHz, chaotic signal with standard bandwidth of 12 GHz were obtained. An optoelectronic oscillator (OEO) based on the integrated photonic chip was demonstrated without using any external electrical filter and photodetector. Tunable microwave outputs ranging from 25.5 to 26.4 GHz with single sideband (SSB) phase noise less than −90 dBc/Hz at a 10-kHz offset from the carrier frequency were realized. Full article

Nonimaging optics is focused on the study of techniques to design optical systems for the purpose of energy transfer instead of image forming. The flowline optical design method, based on the definition of the geometrical flux vector J, is one of these techniques. The main advantage of the flowline method is its capability to visualize and estimate how radiant energy is transferred by the optical systems using the concepts of vector field theory, such as field line or flux tube, which overcomes traditional raytrace methods. The main objective this paper is to extend the flowline method to analyze and design real 3D concentration and illumination systems by the development of new simulation techniques. In this paper, analyzed real 3D refractive and reflective systems using the flowline vector potential method. A new constant term of optical path length is introduced, similar and comparable to the gauge invariant, which produces a correction to enable the agreement between raytrace- and flowline-based computations. This new optical simulation methodology provides traditional raytrace results, such as irradiance maps, but opens new perspectives to obtaining higher precision with lower computation time. It can also provide new information for the vector field maps of 3D refractive/reflective systems. Full article