Near-field Visualization Research Articles

Characterization of interaction phenomena of electromagnetic waves with metamaterials via microwave near-field visualization technique

A new practical imaging technique was presented for metamaterial characterization and investigation by visualizations of the magnetic microwave near-field (H-MWNF) distributions on a metamaterial's surface using the method of thermo-elastic optical indicator microscopy (TEOIM). ITO-based transparent and ceramic-based opaque metamaterial structures were designed for magnetic near-field visualization. Depending on the incident microwave field polarization, the TEOIM system allows the characterization of the metamaterial properties and microwave interaction behavior. The working principle of the periodic structures was investigated through numerical simulations, and the obtained results exhibited strong agreement when compared with experimental observations. Moreover, the visualization of the H-MWNF revealed the potential to characterize and evaluate the absorption and transmission properties effectively.

Effects of step hole geometry and spray-wall interactions on spray atomization in LPDI injector

The study aims to analyze the spray atomization of liquefied petroleum gas direct injection (LPDI) injector based on the macroscopic and microscopic experiments. Two experimental injectors were used in the presence and absence of step hole, and the experimental fuels used n-heptane and n-butane.The macroscopic and microscopic spray characteristics as function of the application of step hole were analyzed using two experimental injectors and n-heptane fuel. The macroscopic spray experiments analyzed the initial spray, after the end of injection and nozzle tip wetting using near-field visualization, and microscopic spray experiment analyzed fuel–air atomization phenomenon as function of the application of step hole using PDPA equipment.In addition, macroscopic and microscopic spray characteristics were analyzed for two experimental fuels and spray-wall impingement using the presence of step hole injector. The macroscopic spray experiment analyzed the spray evaporation characteristics for the two experimental fuels and spray-wall impingement using the schlieren visualization, and microscopic spray experiment analyzed the fuel–air atomization phenomenon as function of the two experimental fuels and spray-wall impingement using PDPA equipment.It was found that the presence of step hole injector showed better atomization results than those of the absence of step hole injector. But, the tip wetting of the presence of step hole injector was poor than that of the absence of step hole injector. Furthermore, based on the schlieren experiment, a comparison of free and flat sprays with the two fuels found that the spray width and area of n-heptane in free spray exceeded those of n-butane owing to the vapor pressure of n-butane. However, in the flat spray, the spray width and area of n-butane were exceeded those of n-heptane. It was found that the atomization was promoted after the spray-wall impingement.

Ultrasound-guided injection and aspiration of small joints: techniques, pearls, and pitfalls.

Ultrasound (US)-guided musculoskeletal intervention of small joints or joints other than the shoulder, elbow, hip, knee, and ankle can be technically challenging. Small joints produce a narrower landing zone for the needle and a smaller target that may be made even more inaccessible by bulky osteophytes. Sonographic (US) guidance offers important advantages including near-field visualization of the joint and soft tissues, ease of access, portability, ability to compare with the contralateral side, and lack of ionization radiation. This review article focuses on the performance of US-guided injections and aspirations involving small joints (joint capacity < 2 mL and/or typically evaluated or injected with a compact linear transducer). For each joint (temporomandibular, acromioclavicular, sternoclavicular, distal radioulnar, symphysis pubis, and joints of the digits of the hands and feet), a brief overview of the relevant anatomy, indications, procedural description, pearls and pitfalls will be highlighted. This article demonstrates the various approaches to diagnostic or therapeutic injection and aspiration of small joints with the aid of US images, cines and graphic illustrations, emphasizing joint positioning, anatomic landmarks, and needle trajectory for a safe and efficacious procedure. A brief review of available literature for each joint will also be provided.

Effect on flash boiling spray characteristics in the far-field and near-field and nozzle tip wetting with multi-hole LPDI injector

Flash boiling spray, which has a wider spray width and enhanced interactions plume to plume is likely to favor nozzle tip wetting. To understand the effect of flash boiling spray, this study was aimed that the spray characteristics and nozzle tip wetting of n-heptane and Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) fuel on LPG direct injection (LPDI) system under various fuel temperature. In addition, the novelty of this study is providing a more detailed understand of spray characteristics affected the fuel properties in the far-field and near-field and nozzle tip wetting by comparing n-heptane and summer LPG under flash boiling conditions. The sprays were divided to three conditions (sub-cooled, transitional, flare flash boiling) based on the degree of superheat. Macroscopic spray characteristics such as spray penetration, spray angle, spray area, and spray length to width ratio were studied in the far-field. Near-field visualization was used to analyze the spray width and spray area. In addition, the wet area and wet boundary on the nozzle tip were visualized using a high-speed camera equipped with a Long-distance microscope (LDM). The experimental results showed that the spray plumes expand and developed in the central axis as fuel temperature increased for both fuels, and the spray plumes were significantly widened in the axial and radial direction for both fuels. The wet area and boundary increased under sub-cooling and transitional conditions as a result of nozzle tip wetting with n-heptane, but the wet area and boundary decreased under transitional and flare conditions. Like n-heptane fuel, the wet area of summer LPG decreased under transitional and flare conditions.

Terahertz-range plasmon and whispering gallery mode resonances in the plane wave scattering from thin microsize dielectric disk with graphene covers

We analyse the scattering and absorption of a terahertz-range plane wave by a thin circular dielectric disk with two graphene covers. Assuming that the thickness of the whole composite disk is much smaller than the free-space wavelength, we reduce the complexity of the problem with the aid of the generalized boundary conditions. This yields a set of singular integral equations for the effective electric and magnetic currents, induced on an equivalent zero-thickness disk. The adopted advanced numerical solution technique is a version of the method of analytical preconditioning, which uses weighted polynomials as expansion functions in the discretization of the integral equations. Then, the resulting matrix equation has Fredholm second-kind property that enables us to control the computational error by the matrix size and reduce it to the desired level. This accurate analysis reveals resonances on several types of natural modes, best understood via visualization of in-resonance near-fields. They are the plasmon-mode resonances of the graphene disk, perturbed by the presence of the dielectric filler, and the dielectric disk modes, perturbed by the graphene covers. Additionally, quasi-full disk transparency is observed if the transverse resonance condition is fulfilled. Special attention is paid to the tunability of the found effects with the aid of graphene's chemical potential.

Terahertz-field-induced optical luminescence from graphene for imaging and near-field visualization of a terahertz field.

Graphene-based terahertz (THz)-field-induced optical luminescence (GB-TFIOL) is proposed in this Letter as a novel, to the best of our knowledge, THz imaging technique. We experimentally show that two-dimensional distribution of the optical luminescence from a monolayer graphene traces the beam profile of the pump THz radiation. The atomic thickness of a graphene detector, as well as a strong nonlinear dependence of optical luminescence on THz field, make the GB-TFIOL technique a useful tool for near-field mapping. A proof-of-principle experiment of the visualization of local THz-field enhancement near a metal tip with a 2 µm radius curvature was performed.

Terahertz range resonances of metasurface formed by double-layer grating of microsize graphene strips inside dielectric slab

We analyse, using integral equations and a previously developed in-house numerical algorithm, the scattering and absorption of the H -polarized plane wave by a metasurface consisting of a double-layer grating of flat graphene strips placed into a lossless dielectric slab. The algorithm is meshless and its convergence is guaranteed mathematically. It is a version of the method of analytical preconditioning; namely, it uses the set of weighted Chebyshev polynomials as expansion functions in the discretization of a hypersingular electric field integral equation for the on-strip current. Then the computational error is controlled by the matrix size and can be reduced to machine precision. Using this advanced tool, we plot the frequency dependences, in a huge range from 1 GHz to 10 THz, of the transmittance, reflectance and absorbance of such a metasurface. This accurate analysis reveals resonances on several types of natural modes, best understood via visualization of in-resonance near-fields. In addition to plasmon-mode resonances, special attention is paid to the ultra-high- Q resonances on the lattice modes, which are absent on the free-standing graphene strip gratings.

Mapping the near-field distribution of magnetic fields using a silicon nanoparticle at optical frequencies

Mapping the near-field distribution of vector-field components, including those of the electric and magnetic fields, is crucial for understanding the intricate physical processes in the near field. However, imaging the near field of magnetic fields is challenging. We propose a flexible technique for mapping the longitudinal magnetic field using a nano-antenna probe. Unlike traditional techniques for mapping the near field of the magnetic field with a symmetry breaking probe, the magnetic resonances of silicon nanoparticles are analyzed and the directionally scattered light is extracted to reconstruct the longitudinal magnetic field distribution. An artificial mapping system is set up to verify whether the longitudinal magnetic component can be mapped. Using this technique, the conversion of spin angular momentum to orbital angular momentum is also demonstrated. The potential application of this technique is the full vector-field mapping of the electromagnetic fields and the near-field visualization of physical processes.

Fabrication and near-field visualization of a wafer-scale dense plasmonic nanostructured array.

Developing a sensor that identifies and quantifies trace amounts of analyte molecules is crucially important for widespread applications, especially in the areas of chemical and biological detection. By non-invasively identifying the vibrational signatures of the target molecules, surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) has been widely employed as a tool for molecular detection. Here, we report on the reproducible fabrication of wafer-scale dense SERS arrays and single-nanogap level near-field imaging of these dense arrays under ambient conditions. Plasmonic nanogaps densely populated the spaces among globular Ag nanoparticles with an areal density of 120 particles per μm2 upon application of a nanolithography-free simple process consisting of the Ar plasma treatment of a polyethylene terephthalate substrate and subsequent Ag sputter deposition. The compact nanogaps produced a high SERS enhancement factor of 3.3 × 107 and homogeneous (coefficient of variation of 8.1%) SERS response. The local near fields at these nanogaps were visualized using photo-induced force microscopy that simultaneously enabled near-field excitation and near-field force detection under ambient conditions. A high spatial resolution of 3.1 nm was achieved. Taken together, the generation of a large-area SERS array with dense plasmonic nanogaps and the subsequent single-nanogap level characterization of the local near field have profound implications in the nanoplasmonic imaging and sensing applications.

Near-field visualization of plasmonic lenses: an overall analysis of characterization errors.

Many factors influence the near-field visualization of plasmonic structures that are based on perforated elliptical slits. Here, characterization errors are experimentally analyzed in detail from both fabrication and measurement points of view. Some issues such as geometrical parameter, probe–sample surface interaction, misalignment, stigmation, and internal stress, have influence on the final near-field probing results. In comparison to the theoretical ideal case of near-field probing of the structures, numerical calculation is carried out on the basis of a finite-difference and time-domain (FDTD) algorithm so as to support the error analyses. The analyses performed on the basis of both theoretical calculation and experimental probing can provide a helpful reference for the researchers probing their plasmonic structures and nanophotonic devices.

Visualization of the spatial–temporal evolution of continuous electromagnetic waves in the terahertz range based on photonics technology

Visualization of the field evolution of the continuous waves in the terahertz (THz) range with high phase and spatial resolution is a new approach to the study of the physical dynamics of unique beams, such as nondiffractive, self-reconstructing, and vortex beams. As near-field visualization can reveal device dynamics, it is also useful for diagnosing the THz devices. Here, we demonstrate the visualization of the spatial–temporal evolution of freely propagating continuous THz waves by adapting the nonpolarimetric electro-optic (EO) detection technique to the self-heterodyne system. The amplitude and phase of a THz wave (125 GHz, λ=2.4 mm, 650 μW) radiated from a horn antenna were simultaneously and precisely measured in the self-heterodyne system, in which two frequency-detuned free-running lasers were used both for the generation (photomixing) and EO detection of THz waves. The nonpolarimetric EO detection technique has solved an intrinsic problem of the conventional polarimetric EO detection technique, in which the sensitivity of the measurements can be changed drastically by the fluctuation of the polarization state of the optical local oscillator signal for the EO detection. As a result, field evolution could be visualized with a maximum signal-to-noise ratio of 27 dB and a phase resolution of 2π/78 rad (80 mrad), by scanning an optical fiber-mounted EO crystal (ZnTe) in a free space repeatedly.

On Different Approaches to Combine Cable Information Into Near-Field Data for Radiated-Field Estimation

Near-field scanning is often used to solve electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) problems. Aside from the purpose of visualization of near fields, measured near-field data can be used to estimate radiated fields. One of many challenges associated with using near-field to far-field transform technique for EMC application is the handling of attached cables. The objective of this investigation is to evaluate different methods to add cable information to the near-field data for radiated-field estimation. The investigation is carried out using numerical experiments in EMCoS EMC Studio, which is a commercial software tool for EM simulation providing method-of-moments solver. Measurement results from a specially designed test structure are presented to validate the simulation results.

Direct Visualization of Near-Fields in Nanoplasmonics and Nanophotonics

Electric fields of nanoscale particles are fundamental to our understanding of nanoplasmonics and nanophotonics. Success has been made in developing methods to probe the effect of their presence, but it remains difficult to directly image optically induced electric fields at the nanoscale and especially when ensembles of particles are involved. Here, using ultrafast electron microscopy, we report the space-time visualization of photon-induced electric fields for ensembles of silver nanoparticles having different sizes, shapes, and separations. The high-field-of-view measurements enable parallel processing of many particles in the ensemble with high throughput of information. Directly in the image, the evanescent fields are observed and visualized when the particles are polarized with the optical excitation. Because the particle size is smaller than the wavelength of light, the near-fields are those of nanoplasmonics and are precursors of far-field nanophotonics. The reported results pave the way for quantitative studies of fields in ensembles of complex morphologies with the nanoparticles being embedded or interfacial.

Near-field visualization of focal depth modulation by step corrugated plasmonic slits

Nanometric plasmonic slits with stepped corrugations have been designed and fabricated to achieve plasmonic focusing and focal depth modulation. A scanning near-field optical microscope is employed to directly visualize the transmitted light from the slits. The near-field and far-field two-dimensional images taken at different planes parallel to the slit surface unambiguously demonstrated the focusing effect of the nanoslits. Furthermore, by forming stepped corrugations with either a concave or a convex profile on both sides of the slits, the phase of the transmitted beam can be effectively manipulated, thus allowing an accurate tuning of the focal depth.

Near-field visualization of dynamical processes of semiconductor surface

The near-field images calculation method for semiconductor surface with inhomogeneous electron distribution, formed by strong focused laser pulse, was proposed. Calculation is performed using Green function method. The main characteristic of the proposed approach is maximal usage analytical computations. The near-field images for the surface of GaAs were obtained at different points of time. Developed approach is universal and could be able to find with experimental data on time-resolved near-field microscopy some parameters of semiconductor surface such as diffusion constant and relaxation time.

Real-time visualization of animated trees

Realistic visualization of plants and trees has recently received increased interest in various fields of applications. Limited computational power and the extreme complexity of botanical structures have called for tradeoffs between interactivity and realism. In this paper we present methods for the creation and real-time visualization of animated trees. In contrast to other previous research, our work is geared toward near-field visualization of highly detailed areas of forestry scenes with animation. We describe methods for rendering and shading of trees by utilizing the programmable hardware of consumer-grade graphics cards. We then describe a straightforward technique for animation of swaying stems and fluttering foliage that can be executed locally on a graphics processor. Our results show that highly detailed tree structures can be visualized at real-time frame rates and that animation of plant structures can be accomplished without sacrificing performance.

Near-field visualization of light confinement in a photonic crystal microresonator.

By using scanning near-field optical microscopy, we directly map the subwavelength confinement of light around a point defect in a two-dimensional photonic crystal microresonator. Comparison of our results with the outcome of three-dimensional finite-difference time domain calculations allows us to identify small imperfections in the structure that result in the spatial modification of the intensity distribution.

Method of Adjustments versus Method of Constant Stimuli in the Quantification of Accuracy and Precision of Rendered Depth in Head-Mounted Displays

The utilization of head-mounted displays (HMDs) in high-end applications such as medical, engineering, and scientific visualization necessitates that the position of objects be rendered accurately and precisely. Accuracy and precision of rendered depth for near-field visualization were measured in a custom-designed bench prototype HMD. Experimental results were compared to theoretical predictions established from a computational model for rendering and presenting virtual images by Robinett and Rolland (1992). Such a theoretical model provided the necessary graphics transformations required so that rendered virtual objects be perceived at the rendered depth in binocular HMDs. Three object shapes of various sizes were investigated under two methodologies: the method of constant stimuli modified for random size presentation and the method of adjustments. Results showa2mm and an 8 mm performance for the accuracy and the precision of rendered depth in HMDs, respectively. Results of the assessment of rendered depth in HMDs for near-field visualization support employing the method of adjustments over the method of constant stimuli whether or not the method of constant stimuli is modified for random size presentation.