Optical Identification Research Articles

Protein and RNA dynamical fingerprinting

Protein structural vibrations impact biology by steering the structure to functional intermediate states; enhancing tunneling events; and optimizing energy transfer. Strong water absorption and a broad continuous vibrational density of states have prevented optical identification of these vibrations. Recently spectroscopic signatures that change with functional state were measured using anisotropic terahertz microscopy. The technique however has complex sample positioning requirements and long measurement times, limiting access for the biomolecular community. Here we demonstrate that a simplified system increases spectroscopic structure to dynamically fingerprint biomacromolecules with a factor of 6 reduction in data acquisition time. Using this technique, polarization varying anisotropy terahertz microscopy, we show sensitivity to inhibitor binding and unique vibrational spectra for several proteins and an RNA G-quadruplex. The technique’s sensitivity to anisotropic absorbance and birefringence provides rapid assessment of macromolecular dynamics that impact biology.

A semi-empirical integrated microring cavity approach for 2D material optical index identification at 1.55 μm

Abstract Atomically thin 2D materials such as transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) provide a wide range of basic building blocks with unique properties, making them ideal for heterogeneous integration with a mature chip platform for advances in optical communication technology. The control and understanding of the precise value of the optical index of these materials, however, is challenging, as the standard metrology techniques such as the millimeter-large ellipsometry is often not usable due the small lateral 2D material flake dimension. Here, we demonstrate an approach of passive tunable coupling by integrating few layers of MoTe2 onto a microring resonator connected to a waveguide bus. We find the TMD-to-ring circumference coverage length ratio required to precisely place the ring into a critical coupling condition to be about 10% as determined from the variation of spectral resonance visibility and loss as a function of TMD coverage. Using this TMD-ring heterostructure, we further demonstrate a semiempirical method to determine the index of a 2D material (n MoTe2 of 4.36+0.011i) near telecommunication-relevant wavelength. The placement, control, and optical property understanding of 2D materials with integrated photonics pave the way for further studies of active 2D material-based optoelectronics and circuits.

Recent Advances on Carrier and Exciton Self-Trapping in Strontium Titanate: Understanding the Luminescence Emissions

An up-to-date review on recent results for self-trapping of free electrons and holes, as well as excitons, in strontium titanate (STO), which gives rise to small polarons and self-trapped excitons (STEs) is presented. Special attention is paid to the role of carrier and exciton self-trapping on the luminescence emissions under a variety of excitation sources with special emphasis on experiments with laser pulses and energetic ion-beams. In spite of the extensive research effort, a definitive identification of such localized states, as well as a suitable understanding of their operative light emission mechanisms, has remained lacking or controversial. However, promising advances have been recently achieved and are the objective of the present review. In particular, significant theoretical advances in the understanding of electron and hole self-trapping are discussed. Also, relevant experimental advances in the kinetics of light emission associated with electron-hole recombination have been obtained through time-resolved experiments using picosecond (ps) laser pulses. The luminescence emission mechanisms and the light decay processes from the self-trapped excitons are also reviewed. Recent results suggest that the blue emission at 2.8 eV, often associated with oxygen vacancies, is related to a transition from unbound conduction levels to the ground singlet state of the STE. The stabilization of small electron polarons by oxygen vacancies and its connection with luminescence emission are discussed in detail. Through ion-beam irradiation experiments, it has recently been established that the electrons associated with the vacancy constitute electron polaron states (Ti3+) trapped in the close vicinity of the empty oxygen sites. These experimental results have allowed for the optical identification of the oxygen vacancy center through a red luminescence emission centered at 2.0 eV. Ab-initio calculations have provided strong support for those experimental findings. Finally, the use of Cr-doped STO has offered a way to monitor the interplay between the chromium centers and oxygen vacancies as trapping sites for the electron and hole partners resulting from the electronic excitation.

Optical Identifications of Galaxy Clusters Among Objects from the Second Planck Catalogue of Sunyaev–Zeldovich Sources

We present the results of optical identifications and spectroscopic redshift measurements for galaxy clusters from the second Planck catalogue of Sunyaev-Zeldovich sources. We used the data of observations with the 1.5-m Russian-Turkish telescope (RTT150), the 1.6-m Sayan Observatory AZT-33IK telescope, the 3.5-m Calar Alto telescope, and the 6-m SAO RAS telescope (Bolshoi Teleskop Azimutalnyi, BTA). For the observations we selected Sunyaev-Zeldovich sources unidentified with galaxy clusters with known redshifts. The observations have been carried out for three years, as a result of which we obtained direct images in various filters for a set of galaxy clusters and spectra for the brightest red-sequence galaxies of these clusters. For 38 galaxy clusters we obtained spectroscopic redshift measurements.

The LOFAR Two-metre Sky Survey

The LOFAR Two-metre Sky Survey (LoTSS) is an ongoing sensitive, high-resolution 120–168 MHz survey of the northern sky with diverse and ambitious science goals. Many of the scientific objectives of LoTSS rely upon, or are enhanced by, the association or separation of the sometimes incorrectly catalogued radio components into distinct radio sources and the identification and characterisation of the optical counterparts to these sources. We present the source associations and optical and/or IR identifications for sources in the first data release, which are made using a combination of statistical techniques and visual association and identification. We document in detail the colour- and magnitude-dependent likelihood ratio method used for statistical identification as well as the Zooniverse project, called LOFAR Galaxy Zoo, used for visual classification. We describe the process used to select which of these two different methods is most appropriate for each LoTSS source. The final LoTSS-DR1-IDs value-added catalogue presented contains 318 520 radio sources, of which 231 716 (73%) have optical and/or IR identifications in Pan-STARRS and WISE.

The LOFAR Two-metre Sky Survey

The LOFAR Two-metre Sky Survey (LoTSS) is an ongoing sensitive, high-resolution 120–168 MHz survey of the entire northern sky for which observations are now 20% complete. We present our first full-quality public data release. For this data release 424 square degrees, or 2% of the eventual coverage, in the region of the HETDEX Spring Field (right ascension 10h45m00s to 15h30m00s and declination 45°00′00″ to 57°00′00″) were mapped using a fully automated direction-dependent calibration and imaging pipeline that we developed. A total of 325 694 sources are detected with a signal of at least five times the noise, and the source density is a factor of ∼10 higher than the most sensitive existing very wide-area radio-continuum surveys. The median sensitivity is S144 MHz = 71 μJy beam−1 and the point-source completeness is 90% at an integrated flux density of 0.45 mJy. The resolution of the images is 6″ and the positional accuracy is within 0.2″. This data release consists of a catalogue containing location, flux, and shape estimates together with 58 mosaic images that cover the catalogued area. In this paper we provide an overview of the data release with a focus on the processing of the LOFAR data and the characteristics of the resulting images. In two accompanying papers we provide the radio source associations and deblending and, where possible, the optical identifications of the radio sources together with the photometric redshifts and properties of the host galaxies. These data release papers are published together with a further ∼20 articles that highlight the scientific potential of LoTSS.

Optical thickness identification of few-layer MoS2 deposited by chemical vapor deposition

The physical and optoelectronic properties of MoS2 are closely related to their thickness. Few-layer molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) has been intensively studied for its potential applications. In this work, monolayer and few-layer MoS2 nanosheets with large size and high crystallization quality were successfully prepared by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) .Then, the layer number of CVD-grown MoS2 nanosheets were identified for the first time by extracting the R channel contrast of the optical image of the sample with ImageJ software. Compared with Raman spectra and PL spectra, this method can identify the layer number of CVD-grown MoS2 nanosheets efficiently and accurately, which provides a simple and feasible method for the study of the layer number of CVD-grown MoS2 nanosheets and can help us exploiting their applications in the future.

Convolutional Neural Network-Assisted Optical Orbital Angular Momentum Recognition and Communication

The identification of orbital angular momentum (OAM) modes with high-accuracy and -speed is always a difficult issue in practically applying optical vortex beams (OVs). In this work, we propose and experimentally investigate a convolutional neural network (CNN) method for optical OAM mode identification and shift-keying (SK) communications. The CNN model, including convolution and pooling layers, was designed to extract mode information from the diffraction patterns produced by diffracting the OVs with a cylindrical lens. After trained with loads of studying samples, the CNN model has a good generation ability in recognizing the OAM modes of OVs ranging from −15 to 15. The recognition accuracy reaches 99% with the turbulence intensity of $C_{n}^{2} =1 \times 10^{-13}\,\,\text{m}^{-{2/3}}$ , $\Delta z=50$ m. Even under the turbulence of $C_{n}^{2} =1 \times 10^{-12}\,\,\text{m}^{-{2/3}}$ , $\Delta z=50$ m, the accuracy still exceeds 89%. By mapping and encoding a Lena gray image with the size of $100\times100$ pixels to two OAM channels, the OAM-SK signals with 900 modulation orders were successfully demodulated by the CNN model, and the image was well recovered after transmission. With an I5-8500 Central Processing Unit, this recognition process only takes $1\times 10^{-3}$ s per mode. It is anticipated that the CNN methods might provide an effective way for identifying OAM modes with high-accuracy and -speed, which may have great potentials in OAM communication, quantum information processing, and astronomical application, etc.

Optical properties and source identification of black carbon and brown carbon: comparison of winter and summer haze episodes in Xi'an, Northwest China.

Summer and winter fine particulate matter (PM2.5) samples were collected to provide insight into the seasonal variations of the optical properties and source profiles of PM2.5 black carbon (BC) and brown carbon (BrC) in Xi'an, China. The average PM2.5 mass concentration during the winter haze (WH) period was 292.5 μg m-3, which was 2.6, 5.0 and 9.2 times higher than that during winter non-haze (WNH), summer haze (SH), and summer non-haze (SNH) periods, respectively. Regarding optical properties, the PM2.5 chemical-derived light extinction coefficient was the highest during the WH period (1019.2 Mm-1) and decreased by approximately one-fourth in the SH period (237.6 Mm-1). During the WH period, the light absorption coefficient of BC (babs-BC) was considerably higher than that during the SH period; this is attributable to the thick coatings of inorganic ions on BC and intensive fossil fuel and biomass burning emissions in winter. Source apportionment also proved that fossil fuels were the major emission source of BC in SH and WH periods with high light absorption coefficient babs_FF (fossil fuel) fractions (>70%). Biomass burning contributed to 25.8% of BC in the winter haze period, but to only 5.4% of BC in the summer haze period. The mass absorption coefficient of BC (MAC-BC) was higher in summer, as it was considerably influenced by vehicle emissions, whereas it was lower in winter due to the strong influences of biomass burning. Moreover, the high light absorption coefficient of BrC (babs-BrC) in both WH and WNH indicated substantial light absorption during winter; however, this coefficient was considerably lower in summer. A remarkable difference in the diurnal pattern of haze between babs-BrC and babs-BC indicated that BC leads to a severe visibility reduction during traffic rush hours. In addition, the BrC abundance observed in Xi'an revealed different diurnal patterns in WH and SH periods, which can be attributed to different secondary formation processes. SH BrC was generally contributed by photochemical-derived secondary organic carbon (SOC) whereas the abundant WH BrC was mainly transformed from aqueous-SOC.

Biology microscopy using well-distributed sphere digital in-line holography

Traditional pinhole spherical wave digital in-line holography has proved to be powerful imaging tools. Image quality is affected by uncertain round of pinhole. Here, we propose a well-distributed sphere wave generation method and it demonstrates wide field of view and high resolution microscopy. The laser focuses into an infinitesimal spot through laser beam expander and microscope objective. Pinhole permutation with different sizes is utilized to match the focal point, and emerges an ideal spherical wave. Interference fringes pattern, formed by reference sphere wave and scattered sphere wave of object, is collected by large area image sensor. The influence of dirty in image sensor and parasitic light is eliminated through subtraction with and without object. Fresnel inverse transformation reconstruction algorithm presents the object information. Biology microscopy experiments demonstrate that the proposed techniques increase the flexibility in producing well-distributed point light source and improve the image quality. Field of view is 3.22 mm×3.22 mm and resolution is 5.09 μm. Furthermore, adjustable field of view with magnification, fast, no-contact make it to be a promising tool in optical element measurement, material identification, biology and medicine.

Surface plasmon resonance “hot spots” and near-field enhanced spectroscopy at interfaces

Optical excitations and mutual couplings of surface plasmons with specific modes in metal nanostructures are the physical basis for developing the high spatial resolution, high sensitivity, and high precision spectroscopy. Here, we systematically review latest advances in optical excitations, classifications and identifications of surface plasmon resonance modes and their typical applications in several typical interfaces. We discuss several aspects below. First, the intrinsic mechanism of creating " hot spots” in metal particle-film systems is elucidated by the finite-difference time-domain numerical method. Spatial transfers and influence factors of the " hot spots” under plasmon-induced electric- resonance and plasmon-induced magnetic-resonance conditions are discussed. Second, the plasmon-induced magnetic-resonance in the visible-light region is successfully realized in a gold nanoparticle-film system. Meanwhile, experimental results of surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy show that the " hot spots” in the magnetic-resonance mode can output Raman scattering with a much higher enhancement factor than that in the conventional electric-resonance mode. Third, we design nonlinear nanorulers that can reach approximately 1-nm resolution by utilizing the mechanism of plasmon-enhanced second-harmonic generation (PESHG). Through introducing Au@SiO<sub>2</sub> (core@shell) shell isolated nanoparticles, we strive to maneuver electric-field-related gap modes such that a reliable relationship between PESHG responses and gap sizes, represented by " PESHG nanoruler equation”, can be obtained. Fourth, a critical and general solution is proposed to quantitatively describe the spatial resolution and directional emission in tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy and tip-enhanced fluorescence. These results may help enhance our understanding of the intrinsic physical mechanism of the surface plasmon resonance, and offer opportunities for potential applications in surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy, tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy, second harmonic generation, and other plasmon-enhanced spectroscopy.

Studies of Active Galaxies in Byurakan: Recent Results

We present the recent results of studies on active galaxies (both AGN and Starbursts) by the Extragalactic group of Byurakan Astrophysical Observatory (BAO) Research Department “Astronomical Surveys”. The research has been carried out in 2017-2019 and the results are published in 2018-2019. These studies are characterized by multiwavelength approach to statistical analysis of large amount of data obtained in different wavelengths; from X-ray to radio. Results on HRC/BHRC sample objects (optical identifications of ROSAT X-ray sources), studies of Markarian galaxies in UV and multiwavelength SEDs, abundance and star formation determinations in Mrk galaxies from SDSS spectra, revised optical classification of “LINERs”, study and classification of SDSS spectra for Byurakan-IRAS Galaxies, summary of observations and study of Byurakan-IRAS Galaxies (BIG objects), discovery of new bright ULIRGs from the IRAS PSC/FSC Combined Catalogue and their spectral classification, radio variable sources at 1400 MHz and their optical variability, classification of BZCAT objects having uncertain types (BZU objects), and optical variability of blazars are presented.

Deep learning for part identification based on inherent features

The identification of parts is essential for the efficient automation of logistic processes such as part supply in assembly and disassembly. This paper describes a new method for the optical identification of parts without explicit codes but based on inherent geometrical features with Deep Learning. The paper focusses on the improvement of training of Deep Learning systems taking into account conflicting factors such as limited training data and high variety of parts. Based on a case study in turbine industry the effects of steadily growing training data on the robustness of part classification are evaluated.

Chandra Observations of NuSTAR Serendipitous Sources near the Galactic Plane

Abstract The Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR) serendipitous survey has already uncovered a large number of active galactic nuclei (AGNs), providing new information about the composition of the cosmic X-ray background. For AGNs off the Galactic plane, it has been possible to use existing X-ray archival data to improve source localizations, identify optical counterparts, and classify the AGNs with optical spectroscopy. However, near the Galactic plane, better X-ray positions are necessary to achieve optical or near-IR identifications due to the higher levels of source crowding. Thus, we have used observations with the Chandra X-ray Observatory to obtain the best possible X-ray positions. With eight observations, we have obtained coverage for 19 NuSTAR serendips within 12° of the plane. One or two Chandra sources are detected within the error circle of 15 of the serendips, and we report on these sources and search for optical counterparts. For one source (NuSTAR J202421+3350.9), we obtained a new optical spectrum and detected the presence of hydrogen emission lines. The source is Galactic, and we argue that it is likely a cataclysmic variable. For the other sources, the Chandra positions will enable future classifications in order to place limits on faint Galactic populations, including high-mass X-ray binaries and magnetars.

The XXL Survey

Context. To investigate the nature of the extragalactic radio sources, it is necessary to couple radio surveys with multiwavelength observations over large areas of the sky. The XMM-Newton Extragalactic (XXL) survey is the largest survey ever undertaken with the XMM-Newton X-ray telescope over two separate fields of 25 deg2 each (XXL-N and XXL-S). At the same time the XXL survey benefits from a wealth of ancillary data spanning from the far-ultraviolet to the mid-infrared. Aims. In this paper we present the optical, near-infrared (NIR), and X-ray identifications of the 6287 radio sources detected in the 2.1 GHz deep radio survey down to a median rms of σ ≈ 41 μJy beam−1 obtained with the Australia Telescope Compact Array (ATCA) in the XXL-S field. The goal of this paper is to provide a multiwavelength catalogue of the counterparts of the radio sources to be used in further studies. Methods. For the optical and NIR identification of the radio sources, we used the likelihood ratio (LR) technique, slightly modified in order to take into account the presence of a large number of relatively bright counterparts close to the radio sources. The LR technique was applied to seven optical bands (gBCS, gDec, rBCS, rDec, iBCS, iDec, zDec) and to three NIR bands (J, H, K). Results. The ten different photometric catalogues have been combined into a single master catalogue where all the photometric information in the optical, NIR, and X-ray bands have been collected for the counterparts of the radio sources. This procedure led to the identification of optical/NIR counterparts for 4770 different radio sources (~77% of the whole radio sample), 414 of which also have an X-ray counterpart. This fraction of identification is in agreement with previous radio-optical association studies at a similar optical magnitude depth, but is relatively low in comparison to recent work conducted in other radio fields using deeper optical and NIR data. Conclusions. The analysis of optical and NIR properties of radio sources shows that, regardless of the radio flux limit of a radio survey, the nature of the identified sources is strongly dependent on the depth of the optical/NIR used in the identification process. Only with deep enough optical/NIR data will we be able to identify a significant fraction of radio sources with red (zDec-K) counterparts whose radio emission is dominated by nuclear activity rather than starburst activity.

A Wide and Deep Exploration of Radio Galaxies with Subaru HSC (WERGS). I. The Optical Counterparts of FIRST Radio Sources

Abstract We report the result of optical identifications of FIRST radio sources with the Hyper Suprime-Cam Subaru Strategic Program survey (HSC-SSP). The positional cross-match within 1″ between the FIRST and HSC-SSP catalogs (i ≲ 26) produced more than 3600 optical counterparts in the 156 deg2 of the HSC-SSP field. The matched counterparts account for more than 50% of the FIRST sources in the search field, which substantially exceed previously reported fractions of SDSS counterparts (i ≲ 22) of ∼30%. Among the matched sample, 9% are optically unresolved sources such as radio-loud quasars. The optically faint (i > 21) radio galaxies (RGs) show that the fitting linear function of the 1.4 GHz source counts has a slope that is flatter than that of the bright RGs, while optically faint radio quasars show a slope steeper than that of bright radio quasars. The optically faint RGs show a flat slope in the i-band number counts down to 24 mag, implying either less massive or distant radio-active galactic nuclei (AGNs) beyond 24 mag. The photometric redshift and the comparison of colors with the galaxy models show that most of the matched RGs are distributed at redshifts from 0 to 1.5. The optically faint sample includes the high radio-loudness sources that are not seen in the optically bright sample. Such sources are located at redshift z > 1. This study gives ∼1500 radio AGNs lying at the optically faint end and high-redshift regime not probed by previous searches.

Synthesis and characterization of Fe(NO3)2-NiO composite as a photocatalyst for degradation of methylene blue dye under UV-irradiation

Hydrothermal synthesis route has been employed to synthesize Fe(NO3)2-NiO composite. The studies related to the bonding in the composite were unveiled by using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The investigations on structure, morphology and composition of elements in the composite were carried out using scanning electron microscope (SEM) and energy dispersive analysis of X-rays (EDAX) respectively. SEM images of the nanoparticles display spherical morphology for both Fe(NO3)2 and NiO present in the composite. The optical and molecular identification studies were taken using ultraviolet–visible (UV–vis), photoluminescence (PL) and Raman spectroscopy respectively. The thermal stability and characteristics of the composite were revealed by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and differential scanning calorimeter (DSC). The composite manifests prodigious optical properties in addition to the proficient thermal stability. The band gap depicted from the UV–vis spectroscopy was 3.87 eV for NiO while 2.71 eV for Fe(NO3)2. Furthermore, the composite was investigated for photocatalytic characteristics using methylene blue (MB) dye by varying the time to study photodegradation. The results reveal the advantage of the composite to be used as a photocatalyst to cave in various organic impurities.

Application of Multiband Acoustooptical Filtering of Radiation to Solution of the Object Remote Identification Problems by the Method of Programmed Linear Separation of Multispectral Optical Signals in the Case of Reflection of a Wideband Light from Objects with A Priori Known Reflection Coefficients

A new approach to solution of the problem of remote determination of spectrally complex optical signals and identification on this base of two objects out of a set of possible spatially inseparable objects located in one small ground pixel is considered. Computer simulation is performed; it is shown that the results of measurements of the mean powers of filtered signals at the outputs of two (or more) selected reference multiband acoustooptical filters (MAOFs) can ensure subsequent programmed (digital) separation of spectrally complex optical signals and identification of the objects corresponding to these signals. By the example of an arbitrarily chosen group of ten types of objects and three types of the background, computer verification of the new method is carried out with the use of realizable parameters of modern MAOFs. It has been found that, in conditions of the actual accuracy of setting and/or measuring of the energy of the main components of the problem (~1%), this method can provide unambiguous correct decision about the type of the object located on part of a pixel with a probability of ~99.9%.

Optical identification and quantification of single neutron detection in 6LiF/ZnS scintillators using a CMOS camera

The possibility of observing the light from single neutron detection in scintillation materials by highly pixelated silicon sensors coupled with a demagnification optical lens could lead to a new generation of position-sensitive neutron detectors with relatively large area coverage and competitive spatial resolution. Several ZnS/6LiF-based scintillators were tested at the SINQ Beamline for Neutron Optics (BOA) using a neutron radiography setup mounting a sCMOS camera with an f/0.95 commercial objective. Single neutrons were identified and distinguished from the camera noise and particles detected directly in the silicon sensor in all the tested scintillators, with exposures starting from 1 ms. Linearity between neutron counting and exposure times was obtained from 10 ms up to 200 ms.

A two per cent Hubble constant measurement from standard sirens within five years.

Gravitational-wave detections provide a novel way to determine the Hubble constant1-3, which is the current rate of expansion of the Universe. This 'standard siren' method, with the absolute distance calibration provided by the general theory of relativity, was used to measure the Hubble constant using the gravitational-wave detection of the binary neutron-star merger, GW170817, by theLaser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) and Virgo4, combined withoptical identification of the host galaxy5,6 NGC 4993. This independent measurement is of particular interest given the discrepancy between the value of the Hubble constant determined using type Ia supernovae via the local distance ladder (73.24 ± 1.74 kilometres per second per megaparsec) and the value determined from cosmic microwave background observations (67.4 ± 0.5 kilometres per second per megaparsec): these values differ7,8 by about 3σ. Local distance ladder observations may achieve a precision of one per cent within five years, but at present there are no indications that further observations will substantially reduce the existing discrepancies9. Here we show that additional gravitational-wave detections by LIGO and Virgo can be expected to constrain the Hubble constant to a precision of approximately two per cent within five years and approximately one per cent within a decade. This is because observing gravitational waves from the merger of two neutron stars, together with the identification of a host galaxy, enables a direct measurement of the Hubble constant independent of the systematics associated with other available methods. In addition to clarifying the discrepancy between existing low-redshift (local ladder) and high-redshift (cosmic microwave background) measurements, a precision measurement of the Hubble constant is of crucial value in elucidating the nature of dark energy10,11.