Laser-based Setup Research Articles

Utility of a skin marker-less setup procedure using surface-guided imaging: a comparison with the traditional laser-based setup in extremity irradiation.

This study aimed to assess the feasibility of a skin marker-less patient setup using a surface-guided radiotherapy (SGRT) system for extremity radiotherapy. Twenty-five patients who underwent radiotherapy to the extremities were included in this retrospective study. The first group consisted of 10 patients and underwent a traditional setup procedure using skin marks and lasers. The second group comprised 15 patients and had a skin marker-less setup procedure that used an SGRT system only. To compare the two setup procedures for setup accuracy, the mean 3D vector shift magnitude was 0.9mm for the traditional setup procedure and 0.5mm for the skin marker-less setup procedure (p < 0.01). In addition, SGRT systems have been suggested to improve the accuracy and reproducibility of patient setups and consistently reduce interfractional setup errors. These results indicate that a skin marker-less patient setup procedure using an SGRT system is useful for extremity irradiation.

All-fiber high-resolution incoherent broadband spectrometer.

Portable optical spectrometers are crucial devices for bio-chemical sensing and spectroscopic applications whereby robust, compact and cost-effective set-ups are desirable. However, existing miniaturized instruments typically struggle to achieve broad wavelength operation and high spectral resolution at the same time. Here, an all-fiber optical spectrometer based on two cascaded Bragg gratings is devised and demonstrated, showing a record resolution and a wavelength span-to-resolution ratio larger than that of most miniature broadband spectrometers reported to date. Thanks to a synchronous control of the grating lengths and to a unique combination of their reflection features, spectral analysis of incoherent light within 1 pm is achieved. On the other hand, fast and reproducible wavelength tuning over several nanometers on a millisecond-timescale is ensured by mechanical stretching of the internal fiber, limited only by the actuator's dynamic range. A striking evidence of the spectrometer capabilities is provided with Doppler-limited spectroscopy of gas absorption bands performed with a near-infrared LED source. The observed spectra exhibit lineshapes comparable with those obtained by laser-based set-ups and the retrieved gas-line parameters are in agreement with existing spectroscopic databases. The spectrometer lends itself to applications in high-resolution interrogation of multiple fiber-optic sensors as well as broadband imaging with supercontinuum light.

Comparative Drug Solubility Studies Using Shake-Flask Versus a Laser-Based Robotic Method.

Drug solubility is of central importance to the pharmaceutical sciences, but reported values often show discrepancies. Various factors have been discussed in the literature to account for such differences, but the influence of manual testing in comparison to a robotic system has not been studied adequately before. In this study, four expert researchers were asked to measure the solubility of four drugs with various solubility behaviors (i.e., paracetamol, mesalazine, lamotrigine, and ketoconazole) in the same laboratory with the same instruments, method, and material sources and repeated their measurements after a time interval. In addition, the same solubility data were determined using an automated laser-based setup. The results suggest that manual testing leads to a handling influence on measured solubility values, and the results were discussed in more detail as compared to the automated laser-based system. Within the framework of unavoidable uncertainties of solubility testing, it is a possibility to combine minimal experimental testing that is preferably automated with mathematical modeling. That is a practical suggestion to support future pharmaceutical development in a more efficient way.

Clinical Implementation of Optical Surface Imaging Systems in Vulvar Cancer to Reduce Setup Error

Optical surface monitoring system (OSMS) could achieve continuous monitoring of patient position through a nonradiographic and noninvasive technology, which has been widely applied to many sites of radiation therapy including breast, intracranial, head and neck, abdomen, and the extremities. However, no study has investigated the application of OSMS in radiation therapy of vulvar cancer. In this study, we hypothesized using OSMS would reduce setup error in the vulvar cancer compared to standard laser-based setup (SLS). A single-center prospective trial included 10 patients with vulvar cancer treated with intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) for a total of 250 fractions. Every patient was immobilized with Styrofoam in a frog-leg position and used marks on the patient's skin to align to the room lasers for pre-setup. The treatment couch values of lateral (Lat), longitudinal (Lng), vertical (Vrt) in three translation directions and Rtn (the rotation along the z axis), Pitch (the rotation along the x axis), Roll (the rotation along the y axis) in three rotations directions were recorded. Then completed the setup of patient with information from a surface imaging system and obtained deviation values. Setup is followed by pretreatment cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) to further verify patient and target position by registering to the planning CT with respect to bony anatomy. With CBCT as a gold standard for patient setup, the absolute values of setup error and error distribution of SLS method and OSMS method from the same patient in above six directions were compared. The mean of absolute values of setup errors in the SLS method were significantly higher than those of OSMS method in Lat (0.34cm vs 0.20cm), Lng (0.42cm vs 0.29cm), Vrt (0.43cm vs 0.28cm) and Rtn (0.90° vs 0.67°) directions (P<0.05). The mean errors in SLS and OSMS methods in Pitch and Roll directions were 0.93° and 1.02° (P = 0.16), 0.42° and 0.45° (P = 0.48), respectively, with no significant difference. In the OSMS method, the distribution rates of the setup errors within 0.5cm in three translation directions and within 1.5° in three rotations directions were significantly higher in Lat (90.8% vs 80.4%), Lng (82.0% vs 68.8%), Vrt (83.2% vs 65.6%), and Rtn (91.2% vs 80.4%) directions than those of SLS method (P<0.05). In the Pitch (79.2% vs 80.4%) and Roll (97.2% vs 98.0%) directions, the distribution rates of the OSMS method were slightly lower than those of the SLS method, with no significant difference (P = 0.738 and P = 0.559). The implementation of OSMS in IMRT for vulvar cancer could reduce setup error and increase precision of setup, especially for the directions of Lat, Lng, Vrt and Rtn.

Novel developments of refractive power measurement techniques in the automotive world

Refractive power measurements serve as the primary quality standard in the automotive glazing industry. In the light of autonomous driving new optical metrics are becoming more and more popular for specifying optical quality requirements for the windshield. Nevertheless, the link between those quantities and the refractive power needs to be established in order to ensure a holistic requirement profile for the windshield. As a consequence, traceable high-resolution refractive power measurements are still required for the glass quality assessment. Standard measurement systems using Moiré patterns for refractive power monitoring in the automotive industry are highly resolution limited, wherefore they are insufficient for evaluating the camera window area. Consequently, there is a need for more sophisticated refractive power measurement systems that provide a higher spatial resolution. In addition, a calibration procedure has to be developed in order to guarantee for the comparability of the measurement results. For increasing the resolution, a measurement setup based on an auto-correlation algorithm is tested in this paper. In order to benchmark the proposed high-resolution refractive power measurement technique, a novel laser-based setup has been realized in the Volkswagen Laser Laboratory as a reference method tuned for high-accuracy measurements. Furthermore, a calibration procedure is established by using a single reference lens with a nominal refractive power of . For the calibration of the entire measurement range of the system, the lens is tilted by an inclination angle orthogonal to the optical axis. The effective refractive power is then given by the Kerkhof model. By adopting the measurement and calibration procedure presented in this paper, glass suppliers in the automotive industry will be able to detect relevant manufacturing defects within the camera window area more accurately paving the way for a holistic quality assurance of the windshield for future advanced driver-assistance system (ADAS) functionalities. Concurrently, the traceability of the measurement results is ensured by establishing a calibration chain based on a single reference lens, which is traced back to international standards.

Atomic Layer Thermopiles: Comprehensive static calibration, comparison and application in subsonic and supersonic flows

This paper compares the calibration of different heat flux sensors in radiation- and convection-based sub- and supersonic operation. First, four heat flux sensors based on different principles: ALTP (Transverse Seebeck Effect), HFM-8E (differential-layer device), coaxial Thermocouple and a TG-2000 (circular-foil gage) are calibrated in a laser-based radiation setup. In a second step, all heat flux sensors are compared with a slug-calorimeter within a subsonic convection-dominated facility based on stagnation-point measurements of an impinging hot air jet. The obtained results indicate that a sensitivity transfer between a radiative calibrated sensor used in a mainly convective environment is not always possible and can lead to significant, systematic errors. Calibration in a subsonic shear flow with thermocouple readings demonstrate small divergence from the manufacturer provided sensitivity. Finally, supersonic testing with high frequency shock-boundary layer interactions highlight the need for ALTP rather than the conventional use of thermocouple arrays to resolve the high frequency phenomena associated with shock boundary layer interactions.

Manipulation of Lipid Membranes with Thermal Stimuli.

We describe a protocol for the assembly and application of infrared (IR-B) laser-based set-ups tobe used for localized heating of solid-supported planar and vesicular lipid membrane assemblies.

Expanding the momentum field of view in angle-resolved photoemission systems with hemispherical analyzers.

In photoelectron spectroscopy, the measured electron momentum range is intrinsically related to the excitation photon energy. Low photon energies <10 eV are commonly encountered in laser-based photoemission and lead to a momentum range that is smaller than the Brillouin zones of most materials. This can become a limiting factor when studying condensed matter with laser-based photoemission. An additional restriction is introduced by widely used hemispherical analyzers that record only electrons photoemitted in a solid angle set by the aperture size at the analyzer entrance. Here, we present an upgrade to increase the effective solid angle that is measured with a hemispherical analyzer. We achieve this by accelerating the photoelectrons toward the analyzer with an electric field that is generated by a bias voltage on the sample. Our experimental geometry is comparable to a parallel plate capacitor, and therefore, we approximate the electric field to be uniform along the photoelectron trajectory. With this assumption, we developed an analytic, parameter-free model that relates the measured angles to the electron momenta in the solid and verify its validity by comparing with experimental results on the charge density wave material TbTe3. By providing a larger field of view in momentum space, our approach using a bias potential considerably expands the flexibility of laser-based photoemission setups.

Determination of the temperature-dependent optical properties of amorphous silicon films at elevated temperatures

The temperature-dependent optical properties of PECVD deposited amorphous silicon films are determined for radiation wavelengths of 1000 nm up to 2000 nm in a temperature range of up to 1110 K. The measurements are performed at heating rates of over 2300 K/s in order to shift the onset of solid-phase crystallization of the amorphous material to temperatures above 1110 K and to make the optical properties of amorphous silicon accessible for examination. In this work, the laser-based measurement setup, the experimental procedure, the simulation methods, and the resulting material-specific data are shown.

Broadband laser-based mid-infrared spectroscopy employing a quantum cascade detector for milk protein analysis

Mid-infrared chemical sensors based on quantum cascade technology offer a number of properties surpassing conventional spectrometric techniques. In this work, we combine a tunable quantum cascade laser with a spectrally tailored in-house fabricated quantum cascade detector (QCD) to realize broadband detection of aqueous samples for selective sensing of bovine milk proteins. The developed setup enables broadband spectroscopy covering more than 260 cm−1 and was employed to record absorbance spectra of the amide I and amide II bands of β-lactoglobulin, α-lactalbumin and casein. A detailed comparison indicates similar performance of the laser-based setup with its uncooled QCD as a high-end FTIR spectrometer equipped with a liquid nitrogen cooled mercury-cadmium-telluride (MCT) detector. Furthermore, we discuss the characteristics and benefits of the quantum cascade detector for application in laser-based mid-infrared sensor systems and compare its performance to other common mid-infrared detector types. In conclusion, the combination of QCDs with EC-QCLs opens up new possibilities for next-generation MIR liquid-phase chemical sensors featuring low noise and high dynamic range.

OC-0535 Comparison of a surface-based (SGRT) vs. a laser-based setup in breast cancer radiation therapy.

OC-0535 Comparison of a surface-based (SGRT) vs. a laser-based setup in breast cancer radiation therapy.

Local distortions of surface domain walls in cylindrical microwires observed by magneto-optics

Domain wall dynamics in highly magnetostrictive microwires is remarkably sensitive to thermal treatment. One of the reasons is a partial release of the internal stresses that originate during the production process. Another reason is an interaction of the domain wall with local pinning sites, such as surface inhomogeneities, free volumes, or clusters of ferromagnetic atoms, present in as-cast microwires. However, the observation of domain wall shape variations after thermal treatment or following an interaction with a pinning site is challenging. In this paper, we utilize the magneto-optical Kerr effect (MOKE) to locally map the domain wall shape and velocity in cylindrical microwires. The domain wall is trapped in a magnetic potential well, moving back and forth with limited speed. Two complementary techniques are employed in the study: a laser-based setup and time-resolved MOKE microscopy. Different kinds of domain wall propagation are observed. While a planar domain wall propagates synchronously with the potential well, surface pinning gives rise to local jumps and distortions of the domain wall. We relate the first kind of motion to the pinning-free propagation of the domain wall and the second to the propagation of a distorted wall. Finally, local speed and the shapes of the domain wall before and after the introduction of an artificial pinning site are compared.

Effect of metal ions on the thermo-optic properties of Rhodamine 6G-gold nanoparticle hybrids

The dye-plasmonic nanoparticle (NP) mixtures were reported to be an efficient probe for heavy metal detection in aqueous solution, particularly metals like Hg2+ ions. However, little is known about the variation in such dye-NP mixtures' thermal properties upon the addition of heavy metals. In this work, using the laser-based dual-beam thermal lens technique, the variation in thermal diffusivity value of Rhodamine6G (Rh6G)-gold nanoparticle (AuNP) mixture upon the addition of various concentrations of Hg2+ ions are investigated. The thermal property measurements are corroborated with optical absorption studies. The analysis reveals that the absorption peak wavelength and the shape of the spectrum are very sensitive to the addition of the Hg2+ ions. The measured thermal diffusivity values found to increase with the Hg2+ ion concentrations range from 0.1 nM to 10 µM and beyond which, the Hg2+ ions cause little variation in the thermal diffusivity value. The variation in the thermal diffusivity value originates from amalgam formation due to heavy metal-NP interaction. The investigation of dye molecules' emission spectral studies using a laser-based fluorescence setup reveal that the fluorescence behavior concurs with the data obtained from thermal lens studies. Additionally, the studies using the monovalent and divalent metal ions to dye-NP mixture elucidate that divalent metals are more efficient in tailoring the thermal and optical properties. The present study elucidates that optical sensor development based on the emission or absorption properties of the dye-plasmonic NP mixture for heavy metals have a concomitant variation in thermal properties.

An open-source, end-to-end workflow for multidimensional photoemission spectroscopy

Characterization of the electronic band structure of solid state materials is routinely performed using photoemission spectroscopy. Recent advancements in short-wavelength light sources and electron detectors give rise to multidimensional photoemission spectroscopy, allowing parallel measurements of the electron spectral function simultaneously in energy, two momentum components and additional physical parameters with single-event detection capability. Efficient processing of the photoelectron event streams at a rate of up to tens of megabytes per second will enable rapid band mapping for materials characterization. We describe an open-source workflow that allows user interaction with billion-count single-electron events in photoemission band mapping experiments, compatible with beamlines at 3rd and 4rd generation light sources and table-top laser-based setups. The workflow offers an end-to-end recipe from distributed operations on single-event data to structured formats for downstream scientific tasks and storage to materials science database integration. Both the workflow and processed data can be archived for reuse, providing the infrastructure for documenting the provenance and lineage of photoemission data for future high-throughput experiments.

A laser monitoring technique for solubility study of ketoconazole in propylene glycol and 2-propanol mixtures at various temperatures

In the current study, ketoconazole solubility profile is determined in the mixtures of propylene glycol and 2-propanol at temperature range of 293.2–313.2 K by employing a laser-based monitoring setup followed by a gravimetric measurement. The generated solubility data for ketoconazole are correlated with various reported mathematical solubility models and the mean relative deviations of the back-calculated solubility data obtained from the mentioned models are calculated and used for the investigation of models' accuracies. Furthermore, the apparent thermodynamic properties of ketoconazole dissolution process are computed by using the van't Hoff and Gibbs equations. The automated monitoring of ketoconazole solubility in the mixed solvent can be a helpful method for the pharmaceutical industry and obtained solubility data extend the solubility database of ketoconazole.

Brilliant mid-infrared ellipsometry and polarimetry of thin films: Toward laboratory applications with laser based techniques

Tunable quantum cascade lasers (QCLs) have recently been introduced as mid-infrared (mid-IR) sources for spectroscopic ellipsometric and polarimetric setups. QCLs, with their unique properties with respect to coherence and brilliance in either pulsed or continuous-wave operation, are opening up numerous new possibilities for laboratory and industrial applications. In this review, the authors will focus on thin-film characterization techniques like ellipsometric and nanopolarimetric methods and summarize related state-of-the-art techniques in this rapidly developing field. These methods are highly relevant for optical, electronical, and biomedical applications and allow detailed structural analyses regarding band properties, spectra–structure correlations, and material anisotropy. Compared to classical Fourier-transform-IR spectroscopy, thin-film sensitivity can be achieved at high spectral and spatial resolution (&amp;lt;0.5 cm−1, &amp;lt;150 μm). Measurement times are reducible by several orders of magnitude into the millisecond and microsecond range with laser-based polarimetric setups involving modulation or single-shot concepts. Thus, mid-IR ellipsometric and polarimetric hyperspectral imaging can be performed on the time scale of minutes. For mid-IR ellipsometric imaging, thickness and structure information become simultaneously accessible at spatial resolutions of a few 100 μm and possibly even at the micrometer scale by the integration of microscopic concepts. With the atomic force microscopy-infrared spectroscopy based nanopolarimetric approach, anisotropy in the absorption properties can be investigated with lateral resolutions beyond the diffraction limit, reaching a few 10 nm.

Surface guided radiotherapy (SGRT) improves breast cancer patient setup accuracy.

PurposeThe purpose of the study was to investigate if surface guided radiotherapy (SGRT) can decrease setup deviations for tangential and locoregional breast cancer patients compared to conventional laser‐based setup (LBS).Materials and MethodsBoth tangential (63 patients) and locoregional (76 patients) breast cancer patients were enrolled in this study. For LBS, the patients were positioned by aligning skin markers to the room lasers. For the surface based setup (SBS), an optical surface scanning system was used for daily setup using both single and three camera systems. To compare the two setup methods, the patient position was evaluated using verification imaging (field images or orthogonal images).ResultsFor both tangential and locoregional treatments, SBS decreased the setup deviation significantly compared to LBS (P < 0.01). For patients receiving tangential treatment, 95% of the treatment sessions were within the clinical tolerance of ≤ 4 mm in any direction (lateral, longitudinal or vertical) using SBS, compared to 84% for LBS. Corresponding values for patients receiving locoregional treatment were 70% and 54% for SBS and LBS, respectively. No significant difference was observed comparing the setup result using a single camera system or a three camera system.ConclusionsConventional laser‐based setup can with advantage be replaced by surface based setup. Daily SGRT improves patient setup without additional imaging dose to breast cancer patients regardless if a single or three camera system was used.

Fabrication of SiO2 microcantilever arrays for mechanical loss measurements

The sensitivity of high-precision measurements is crucially affected by the mechanical losses of the involved materials. In systems incorporating highly reflective elements based on amorphous Bragg reflectors, the mechanical losses of the coating materials have to be minimized. In this contribution, we report on the detailed fabrication of SiO2 microcantilever arrays to study such mechanical losses. The fabrication steps, consisting of pattern transfer, anisotropic and isotropic dry etching, have been optimized to be employed on both thermally grown and sputtered SiO2 samples. The cantilevers released from the Si substrate show a deviation of only 2% from the design, confirming a high selectivity of the etching processes. The mechanical loss measurements of the cantilevers are carried out using a laser-based optical setup, revealing a mechanical loss of 1.2 × 10−3.

Laser-based setup for simultaneous measurement of the Seebeck coefficient and electrical conductivity for bulk and thin film thermoelectrics.

In this paper, an original homemade system is presented in detail for the electrical and thermoelectrical characterizations of several types of materials from bulk to thin films. This setup was built using a modulated CO2 laser beam to probe the thermoelectric properties at different depths below the surface. It allows a simultaneous measurement of the electrical conductivity (σ) and the Seebeck coefficient (S), from room temperature up to 250 °C. A commercial sample of Bi2Te3 was first used to validate the Seebeck coefficient measurement. Single crystalline silicon (sc-Si) was used for the uncertainty quantification during the simultaneous measurement of the Seebeck coefficient and the electrical conductivity. At the micrometer scale, thermoelectric characterization of the mesoporous Si (50 μm thickness) was achieved and results gave very promising values (S ≈ 700 μV K-1) for micro-thermo-generator fabrication. In the case of thin film materials, metals (copper and constantan) and oxide thin films (titanium oxide) were also characterized in the in-plane configuration in order to determine the metrology limits of our thermoelectric setup. In this case, a typical sensitivity of about 2μV K-1 was achieved.

Advanced magneto-optical Kerr effect measurements of superconductors at low temperatures

Magneto-optical Kerr-effect (MOKE) measurements of superconducting films with soft-magnetic coatings are performed at low temperatures using a laser-based MOKE set-up. An elaborate measurement scheme with internal reference allows the quantitative comparison of the temperature dependent Kerr-amplitude with the magnetic field generated by supercurrents. For this purpose, an amorphous CoFeB thin film exhibiting a large Kerr-signal is deposited directly on top of the YBCO superconductor acting as field sensing layer. It is shown that the resulting magnetic hysteresis loops of the soft-magnetic film can be used to reconstruct the electric properties of the superconductor.