Secondary organic aerosols (SOA) comprise a substantial fraction of the total global aerosol budget. While laboratory studies involving smog chambers have advanced our understanding of the formation mechanisms responsible for SOA, our knowledge of the processes leading to SOA production under ambient gaseous and particulate concentrations as well as the impact these aerosol types have on climate is poorly understood. Although the majority of atmospheric aerosols scatter radiation either directly or indirectly by serving as cloud condensation nuclei, soot is thought to have a significant warming effect through absorption. Like inorganic salts, soot may undergo atmospheric transformation through the vapor condensation of non-volatile gaseous species which will alter both its chemical and physical properties. Typical smog chamber studies investigating the formation and growth of SOA as well as the soot aging process are temporally limited by the initial gaseous concentrations injected into the chamber environment. Furthermore, data interpretation from such experiments is generally restricted to the singular gaseous species under investigation. This dissertation discusses the use of a new aerosol chamber designed to study the formation and growth of SOA and soot aging under atmospherically relevant conditions. The Ambient Aerosol Chamber for Evolution Studies (AACES) was deployed at three field sites where size and hygroscopic growth factor (HGF) of ammonium sulfate seed particles was monitored over time to examine the formation and growth of SOA. Similar studies investigating the soot aging process were also conducted in Houston, TX. It is shown that during the ambient growth of ammonium sulfate seed particles, as particle size increases, hygroscopic growth factors decrease considerably resulting in a significant organic mass fraction in the particle phase concluding an experiment. Observations of soot aging show an increase in measured size, HGF, mass and single scattering albedo. Ambient growth rate comparisons with chamber growth yielded similar trends verifying the use of AACES to study aerosol aging. Based on the results from this study, it is recommended that AACES be employed in future studies involving the production and growth of SOA and soot aging under ambient conditions in order to bridge the gaps in our current scientific knowledge.

The Fermilab Tevatron is currently the world’s highest energy colliding beam facility. Its counter-rotating proton and antiproton beams collide at 2 TeV center-of-mass. Delivery of such intense beam fluxes to experiments has required improved knowledge of the Tevatron’s beam optical lattice. An oscillating dipole magnet, referred to as an AC dipole, is one of such a tool to non-destructively assess the optical properties of the synchrotron. We discusses development of an AC dipole system for the Tevatron, a fast-oscillating (f∼20 kHz) dipole magnet which can be adiabatically turned on and off to establish sustained coherent oscillations of the beam particles without affecting the transverse emittance. By utilizing an existing magnet and a higher power audio amplifier, the cost of the Tevatron AC dipole system became relatively inexpensive. We discuss corrections which must be applied to the driven oscillation measurements to obtain the proper interpretation of beam optical parameters from AC dipole studies. After successful operations of the Tevatron AC dipole system, AC dipole systems, similar to that in the Tevatron, will be build for the CERN LHC. We present several measurements of linear optical parameters (beta function and phase advance) for the Tevatron, as well as studies of non-linear perturbations from sextupole and octupole elements. / text

No description available.

Optical testing often requires a measurement of the phase difference between light from two different optical systems. One system is a master or reference system, and the other is a sample or test system. In the optical shop, the reference may be a precision optical surface and the test system may be a newly fabricated surface. A computer generated hologram is a geometric pattern that can be used as a precise reference in an optical test. Computer-generated holograms can be used to make reference systems that would be very difficult to make by other methods. Various encoding methods for making computer-generated holograms are discussed, and a new method is presented that can easily be used on image recorders intended for image processing applications. This general encoding method has many characteristics in common with earlier computer-generated holograms. Examples are given to demonstrate the properties of synthetic holograms and the differences among different encoding techniques. Geometric ray tracing is an essential part of the process of developing holograms for optical systems. A computer ray-trace code was developed to model the optical performance of equipment used in optical testing. This program was used to obtain numeric coefficients that describe the optical properties (optical path) needed to define a reference wavefront. A review of interferometer design leads to a discussion of how the hologram functions as a part of the interferometer and of the limitations to the computer-generated hologram. The diffraction pattern from the hologram, observed in the focal plane of a lens, is the key to understanding the use and limitations of the hologram in an interferometer. A detailed prescription is given for making a computer-generated hologram for a commercial interferometer designed for use with holograms. Problems of finding the proper focal point, the correct hologram size, and preparation of the final hologram image are discussed. An example of an actual test is included. Finally, an analysis of various errors encountered and the limitations of the methods used is presented. Within these limitations, computer-generated holograms can easily and routinely be used to test aspheric optical components.

No description available.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2008. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

La tomographie optique diffuse (TOD) est une modalité d’imagerie biomédicale 3D peu dispendieuse et non-invasive qui permet de reconstruire les propriétés optiques d’un tissu biologique. Le processus de reconstruction d’images en TOD est difficile à réaliser puisqu’il nécessite de résoudre un problème non-linéaire et mal posé. Les propriétés optiques sont calculées à partir des mesures de surface du milieu à l’étude. Dans ce projet, deux méthodes de reconstruction non-linéaire pour la TOD ont été développées. La première méthode utilise un modèle itératif, une approche encore en développement qu’on retrouve dans la littérature. L’approximation de la diffusion est le modèle utilisé pour résoudre le problème direct. Par ailleurs, la reconstruction d’image à été réalisée dans différents régimes, continu et temporel, avec des mesures intrinsèques et de fluorescence. Dans un premier temps, un algorithme de reconstruction en régime continu et utilisant des mesures multispectrales est développé pour reconstruire la concentration des chromophores qui se trouve dans différents types de tissus. Dans un second temps, un algorithme de reconstruction est développé pour calculer le temps de vie de différents marqueurs fluorescents à partir de mesures optiques dans le domaine temporel. Une approche innovatrice a été d’utiliser la totalité de l’information du signal temporel dans le but d’améliorer la reconstruction d’image. Par ailleurs, cet algorithme permettrait de distinguer plus de trois temps de vie, ce qui n’a pas encore été démontré en imagerie de fluorescence. La deuxième méthode qui a été développée utilise l’apprentissage machine et plus spécifiquement l’apprentissage profond. Un modèle d’apprentissage profond génératif est mis en place pour reconstruire la distribution de sources d’émissions de fluorescence à partir de mesures en régime continu. Il s’agit de la première utilisation d’un algorithme d’apprentissage profond appliqué à la reconstruction d’images en TOD de fluorescence. La validation de la méthode est réalisée avec une mire aux propriétés optiques connues dans laquelle sont inséres des marqueurs fluorescents. La robustesse de cette méthode est démontrée même dans les situations où le nombre de mesures est limité et en présence de bruit. / Abstract : Diffuse optical tomography (DOT) is a low cost and noninvasive 3D biomedical imaging technique to reconstruct the optical properties of biological tissues. Image reconstruction in DOT is inherently a difficult problem, because the inversion process is nonlinear and ill-posed. During DOT image reconstruction, the optical properties of the medium are recovered from the boundary measurements at the surface of the medium. In this work, two approaches are proposed for non-linear DOT image reconstruction. The first approach relies on the use of iterative model-based image reconstruction, which is still under development for DOT and that can be found in the literature. A 3D forward model is developed based on the diffusion equation, which is an approximation of the radiative transfer equation. The forward model developed can simulate light propagation in complex geometries. Additionally, the forward model is developed to deal with different types of optical data such as continuous-wave (CW) and time-domain (TD) data for both intrinsic and fluorescence signals. First, a multispectral image reconstruction algorithm is developed to reconstruct the concentration of different tissue chromophores simultaneously from a set of CW measurements at different wavelengths. A second image reconstruction algorithm is developed to reconstruct the fluorescence lifetime (FLT) of different fluorescent markers from time-domain fluorescence measurements. In this algorithm, all the information contained in full temporal curves is used along with an acceleration technique to render the algorithm of practical use. Moreover, the proposed algorithm has the potential of being able to distinguish more than 3 FLTs, which is a first in fluorescence imaging. The second approach is based on machine learning techniques, in particular deep learning models. A deep generative model is proposed to reconstruct the fluorescence distribution map from CW fluorescence measurements. It is the first time that such a model is applied for fluorescence DOT image reconstruction. The performance of the proposed algorithm is validated with an optical phantom and a fluorescent marker. The proposed algorithm recovers the fluorescence distribution even from very noisy and sparse measurements, which is a big limitation in fluorescence DOT imaging.

Thesis (MScEng (Mechanical and Mechatronic Engineering))--University of Stellenbosch, 2008. / A rapid measurement system is implemented using two digital video cameras, presenting a faster and less expensive solution to certain metrology problems. The cameras are calibrated from one stereo image-pair of a 3D calibration grid that allows an immediate assessment of the achievable metric accuracy of the system. Three different methods, using either laser tracking or structured light patterns, were developed and employed to solve the coordinate extraction and correspondence matching problems. Different image processing techniques were used to speed up the entire measurement process. All software development was accomplished using only freely distributed software packages. The system achieves calibration in less than a minute and accumulates point correspondences at 12 frames per second. Accuracies of greater than 0.4 mm are achieved for a 235 x 190 x 95 mm measurement volume using a single pair of images with 640 x 480 pixel resolution each.

The work reported in this thesis has been carried out in the following two areas of Optical metrology: 1. Measurement and correction of prism angles 2. Measurement of refractive indices using a spectrograph. The prism angles are conventionally tested by mechanical bevel protractors, autocol-limators (angle dekkors), simple interference techniques and interferometers. All these methods have their own limitations either in accuracy or in terms of cost. Mechanical methods are usually employed to measure the angles of prisms. Interference techniques and interferometers are also used but they need optically polished components. For both mechanical and simple interference methods of testing, it is essential to fabricate more than a single component in number. The process of building interferometers or purchasing interferometers, angle dekkors and standard angle gauges is not cost effective for many research laboratories, and medium scale industries. To overcome these difficulties simple and inexpensive methods without sacrificing the accuracy in the bargain are suggested for the measurement of prism angles, based on the principles of reflection of light. The refractive indices of prism materials for invisible and weaker spectral lines are usually determined from spectrograms using dispersion formulae and numerical interpolation techniques. In these methods, the accuracy of the results depends on the accuracy of determining the constants of the dispersion formulae. A simple experimental technique, using a spectrograph, is devised for the measurement of refractive indices of solids and liquids both for visible and invisible spectral lines (wavelengths). The thesis has been divided into six chapters. The first chapter starts with the general introduction. The second chapter presents the literature review of the existing methods for angle and refractive index measurements. The third chapter describes the proposed new techniques for prism angle measurements. The fourth chapter presents the experimental results of angle measurements, and the discussion of the accuracy of the results. This chapter also gives the scope for further research. The fifth chapter describes a newly proposed technique for measuring refractive indices and the experimental results. This chapter also gives the scope for further research. The summary of the results, conclusions, and suggestions for further work are presented in chapter six.

The optical touch pointer (OTP), a fluorescence spectroscopy based system, assists brain surgeons during guided brain tumor resection in patients with glioblastoma multiforme (GBM). After recording and analyzing the autofluorescence spectrum of the tissue, it is possible to distinguish malignant from healthy brain tissue. A challenge during the intraoperative measurements is the interference of blood. If it gets in contact with the laser pointer, the blood blocks the light transmission to and from the tissue. The purposes of the project were to study and categorize patterns of blood interference and to present possible solutions to avoid signal blocking by blood. To measure fluorescence and reflection two devices were used respectively, the OTP which has a spectrometer and a blue laser, and the diffused reflection spectroscopy system (DRS) which has a spectrometer and a white light source. Both operate independently from each other and are connected to a fiber optical probe. A similar scenario to the one in the operation theater was simulated in the lab. Fluorescence and diffuse reflection measurements with and without blood were realized on skin and on two different plastic fluorescent standards. The results were analyzed with the aid of MatLAB, and compared with data collected in the hospital during brain tumor resection. The highest autofluorescence of brain tissue and skin is reached at approximately 506 nm. Although skin and both plastic standards have different optical properties regarding color or rather fluorescence, all of them presented very similar curves when blood on them blocked partially or completely the light transmission. A blood layer of more than 0.1 mm thickness blocks the blue laser light. Blood absorption happens at 541 and 577 nm due to oxy-hemoglobin (HbO2) in both liquid and dried blood. When the fluorescence spectrum is available but weak, the reflection spectrum contains two dips (traces of HbO2 at 541 and 577 nm). In brain there were cases in which light absorption occurred additionally at other wavelengths than the absorption peaks of deoxyhemoglobin (Hb) and HbO2. Blood interference during the OP can be prevented if the probe rests in a saline solution after every measurement. In this way the fresh blood sticking on the probe dissolves in the solution. For dried or coagulated blood, additional manual cleansing is needed.