Retrieval Of Refractive Index Research Articles

Retrieval of refractive index and water content for the coating materials of aged black carbon aerosol based on optical properties: a theoretical analysis

Abstract. Water content in the coatings of aged black carbon (BC) aerosol can be reflected through the complex refractive index. In this study, the retrieval of the refractive index and water content for non-absorbing coatings of BC aerosol during hygroscopic growth (RH = 0 %–95 %) based on scattering and absorption properties is theoretically investigated. Optical properties of morphologically realistic fractal BC aerosols are simulated using the multiple-sphere T-matrix method (MSTM), the optical equivalent refractive index of coating material is retrieved based on the Mie theory, and the water content in coatings is further retrieved using effective medium theory. Results show that the scattering property performs best in retrieving the refractive index and water content. The retrieval errors of the refractive index of heavily aged BC aerosols are less than 10 % at high relative humidities (RHs), while partially coated BC and thinly coated BC have larger errors. The regularity of retrieved water content is similar to that of the refractive index retrieved, and the retrieved water content errors range from 2 % to 63 % for heavily coated BC. This study provides a helpful optical method to obtain the water content of BC coatings.

Inversion of Near-Surface Aerosol Equivalent Complex Refractive Index Based on Aethalometer, Micro-Pulse Lidar and Portable Optical Particle Profiler

In order to investigate the equivalent complex refractive index of atmospheric aerosols near the Earth’s surface, we conducted measurements in the Hefei region from March to April 2022. These measurements utilized a micro-pulse lidar, an Aethalometer, and a Portable Optical Particle Profiler. These measurements encompassed aerosol particle size distribution as well as standard meteorological parameters including temperature, humidity, atmospheric pressure, and wind speed. Subsequently, this dataset was employed to develop an optimization algorithm for retrieving the equivalent complex refractive indices of near-surface aerosols. The methodology relies on lookup tables containing data for extinction efficiency and absorption efficiency factors. It operates on the premise of aerosol property stability within a defined time frame, utilizing measured extinction and absorption coefficients as simultaneous constraints during this period to inversely derive both the real and imaginary parts of the aerosol complex refractive index. Results from the simulation analysis reveal that the newly optimized retrieval algorithm, which relies on lookup tables, exhibits reduced sensitivity to instrument errors when compared to single-point constraint algorithms. This enhancement results in a more efficient and dependable approach for retrieving the aerosol complex refractive index. Empirical inversion and simulation studies were carried out to determine the aerosol equivalent complex refractive index in the Hefei region, utilizing measured data. This inversion process yielded an average complex refractive index of 1.48-i0.017 for aerosols in the Hefei region throughout the experimental period. Correlation analysis unveiled a positive association between the real part of the aerosol complex refractive index and the single-scattering albedo (SSA), whereas the imaginary part displayed a linear negative correlation with the SSA. The mathematical relationship between the real part and the SSA is y=0.19x+0.62, and the corresponding relationship between the imaginary part and the SSA is y=−5.3x+0.99. This research offers a novel method for the retrieval of the aerosol equivalent complex refractive index.

Atmospheric Aerosol Outbreak over Nicosia, Cyprus, in April 2019: Case Study

This paper aims to analyze the significant changes in atmospheric aerosol characteristics during the extreme aerosol outbreak event in April 2019 in the atmosphere over Cyprus in the Eastern Mediterranean. We study the aerosol optical depth (AOD), Ångström exponent (AE), single-scattering albedo, refractive index, size, and vertical distribution of aerosol particles during the event of intense aerosol advection in detail. For this purpose, we used the ground-based observations of the sun-photometer AERONET Nicosia station, lidar measurements, and back trajectories of air movements calculated using the Hybrid Single-Particle Lagrangian Integrated Trajectory Model (HYSPLIT). To compare with background aerosol load conditions during the year, the available data of AOD and AE were used from the observations at the Nicosia AERONET site in the 2015–2022 period. On 23–25 April 2019, strong aerosol advection over Nicosia was detected according to lidar and sun-photometer observations. On 25 April 2019, the day with the largest aerosol contamination, the AOD value exceeded 0.9 at λ = 500 nm. Analysis of the optical and microphysical characteristics during the extreme event supported that the aerosol advection consists of mainly Saharan dust particles. This assumption was confirmed by the AOD versus AE variations, single-scattering albedo, refractive index, and size distribution retrievals, as well as lidar data and HYSPLIT backward trajectories, where air masses containing dust particles came mostly from North Africa. The analysis shows that the April 2019 event was one of the strongest aerosol surges that regularly take place in springtime in the atmosphere over Cyprus. The noticeable reduction in the effective radiative forcing caused by increasing aerosol amount during the aerosol dust outbreak was revealed.

Retrieval of refractive indices of ten volcanic ash samples in the infrared, visible and ultraviolet spectral region

Volcanic eruptions can emit large amounts of ash into the atmosphere, which can have significant impacts on infrastructure, human health, agriculture and air traffic. Remote sensing instruments can efficiently detect airborne ash plumes, and the measured spectra can be exploited to obtain information on the physical characteristics of ash (grain size distribution, concentration, optical depth). The key parameter on which all such satellite retrievals depend is the complex refractive index (CRI) which remains one of the largest sources of uncertainty in the retrieval process. Here we present a complementary dataset of refractive indices of volcanic ash to that published by Deguine et al. (2020), to cover a part of the major explosive eruptions occurred during the past 50 years. These CRIs were obtained using an innovative experimental methodology which consists in measuring simultaneously the extinction spectra in the IR and UV/visible domain and the size distribution of ash in suspension in a nitrogen flow. These experimental data are the main input to the retrieval process of CRI. The numerical routine uses Mie theory coupled with Kramers–Kronig relationship to retrieve the imaginary and the real part of the complex refractive index. This methodology has been successfully applied on samples collected from various eruptions and deposits in Indonesia (Kelud), Chile (Chaitén), Italy (Stromboli), Russia (Karymsky), Tanzania (Rungwe, Mount Meru), Ethiopia (Corbetti), Philippines (Taal, Pinatubo) and USA (Mount St. Helens). Significant variations of the real and imaginary part of the CRI are observed according to the chemical composition of the samples. Moreover, the sensitivity of the CRI to chemical composition and mineralogical structure (amorphous/crystalline fraction) has been investigated and shows a strong dependence of the CRI on these parameters.

Employing relaxed smoothness constraints on imaginary part of refractive index in AERONET aerosol retrieval algorithm

Abstract. In the Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET) retrieval algorithm, smoothness constraints on the imaginary part of the refractive index provide control of retrieved spectral dependence of aerosol absorption by preventing the inversion code from fitting the noise in optical measurements and thus avoiding unrealistic oscillations of retrievals with wavelength. The history of implementation of the smoothness constraints in the AERONET retrieval algorithm is discussed. It is shown that the latest version of the smoothness constraints on the imaginary part of refractive index, termed standard and employed by Version 3 of the retrieval algorithm, should be modified to account for strong variability of light absorption by brown-carbon-containing aerosols in UV through mid-visible parts of the solar spectrum. In Version 3 strong spectral constraints were imposed at high values of the Ångström exponent (440–870 nm) since black carbon was assumed to be the primary absorber, while the constraints became increasingly relaxed as aerosol exponent deceased to allow for wavelength dependence of absorption for dust aerosols. The new version of the smoothness constraints on the imaginary part of the refractive index assigns different weights to different pairs of wavelengths, which are the same for all values of the Ångström exponent. For example, in the case of four-wavelength input, the weights assigned to short-wavelength pairs (440–675, 675–870 nm) are small so that smoothness constraints do not suppress natural spectral variability of the imaginary part of the refractive index. At longer wavelengths (870–1020 nm), however, the weight is 10 times higher to provide additional constraints on the imaginary part of refractive index retrievals of aerosols with a high Ångström exponent due to low sensitivity to aerosol absorption for longer channels at relatively low aerosol optical depths. The effect of applying the new version of smoothness constraints, termed relaxed, on retrievals of single-scattering albedo is analyzed for case studies of different aerosol types: black- and brown-carbon-containing fine mode aerosols, mineral dust coarse mode aerosols, and urban industrial fine mode aerosol. It is shown that for brown-carbon-containing aerosols employing the relaxed smoothness constraints resulted in significant reduction in retrieved single-scattering albedo and spectral residual errors (compared to standard) at the short wavelengths. For example, biomass burning smoke cases showed a reduction in single-scattering albedo and spectral residual error at 380 nm of ∼ 0.033 and ∼ 17 %, respectively, for the Rexburg site and ∼ 0.04 and ∼ 12.7 % for the Rimrock site, both AERONET sites in Idaho, USA. For a site with very high levels of black-carbon-containing aerosols (Mongu, Zambia), the effect of modification in the smoothness constraints was minor. For mineral dust aerosols at small Ångström exponent values (Mezaira site, UAE), the spectral constraint on the imaginary part of the refractive index was already relaxed in Version 3; therefore the new relaxed constraint results in minimal change. In the case of weakly absorbing urban industrial aerosols at the GSFC site, there are significant changes in retrieved single-scattering albedo using relaxed assumption, especially reductions at longer wavelengths: ∼ 0.016 and ∼ 0.02 at 875 and 1020 nm, respectively, for 440 nm aerosol optical depth (AOD) ∼ 0.3. The modification of smoothness constraints on the imaginary part of the refractive index has a minor effect on retrievals of other aerosol parameters such as the real part of the refractive index and parameters of the aerosol size distribution. The implementation of the relaxed smoothness constraints on the imaginary part of the refractive index in the next version of the AERONET inversion algorithm will produce significant impacts at some sites in short wavelength channels (380 and 440 nm) for some biomass burning smoke cases with significant brown carbon content and possibly in mid-visible channels (500 and 675 nm) to near-infrared channels (870 to 1020 nm) for some urban industrial aerosol types. However, most differences in single-scattering albedo retrievals between those applying the new relaxed constraint and the standard constraint will be within the uncertainty of the single-scattering albedo retrievals, depending on the level of aerosol optical depth, Ångström exponent, brown carbon content and wavelength.

Retrieval of refractive index of ultrafine single particle using hygroscopic growth factor obtained by high sensitive surface plasmon resonance microscopy

When exposed to different relative humidities (RHs), the optical properties of atmospheric aerosols will change because of changes in the aerosol particle size and complex refractive index (RI), which will affect haze formation and global climate change. The potential contributions of ultrafine particles to the atmospheric optical characteristics and to haze spreading cannot be ignored because of their high particle number concentrations and strong diffusibility; measurement of the optical properties of wet ultrafine particles is thus highly important for environmental assessment. Therefore, a surface plasmon resonance microscopy with azimuthal rotation illumination (SPRM-ARI) system is designed to determine the RIs of single particle aerosols with diameters of less than 100 nm in the hygroscopic growth process. Measurements are taken using mixed single particles with different mass ratios. The RIs of mixed single aerosols at different RHs are retrieved by measuring the scattering light intensity using the SPRM-ARI system and almost all the RIs of the bicomponent particles with different mass ratios decrease with increasing water content under high RH conditions. Finally, for each of the bicomponent particles, the maximum standard deviations for the retrieved RI values are only 2.06×10−3, 3.08×10−3 and 3.83×10−3, corresponding to the NaCl and NaNO3 bicomponent particles with a 3:1 mass ratio at 76.0% RH, the NaCl and glucose particles with a 1:3 mass ratio at 89.0% RH, and the NaCl and OA particles with a 1:1 mass ratio at 78.0% RH, respectively; these results indicate that the high-sensitivity SPRM-ARI system can measure the RI effectively and accurately.

Mechanism of emitters coupled with a polymer-based hyperbolic metamaterial.

We study a polymer-based hyperbolic metamaterial (HMM) structure composed of three Au-polymer bilayers with a hyperbolic dispersion relation. Using an effective refractive index retrieval algorithm, we obtain the effective permittivity of the experimentally fabricated polymer-based structure. In particular, the unique polymer-based HMM shows the existence of high-k modes that propagate in the metal-dielectric multilayered structure due to the excitation of bulk plasmon-polaritonic modes. Moreover, we compare the experimental luminescence and fluorescence lifetime results of the multilayered Au and a dye-doped polymer (PMMA) to investigate the dynamics of three different emitters, each incorporated within the unique polymer-based HMM structure. With emitters closer to the epsilon-near-zero region of the HMM, we observed a relatively high shortening of the average lifetime as compared to other emitters either close or far from the epsilon-near-zero region. This served as evidence of coupling between the emitters and the HMM as well as confirmed the increase in the non-radiative recombination rate of the different emitters. We also show that the metallic losses of a passive polymer-based HMM can be greatly compensated by a gain material with an emission wavelength close to the epsilon-near-zero region of the HMM. These results demonstrate the unique potential of an active polymer-based hyperbolic metamaterial in loss compensation, quantum applications, and sub-wavelength imaging techniques.

Optical Characterization of Fresh and Photochemically Aged Aerosols Emitted from Laboratory Siberian Peat Burning

Carbonaceous aerosols emitted from biomass burning influence radiative forcing and climate change. Of particular interest are emissions from high-latitude peat burning because amplified climate change makes the large carbon mass stored in these peatlands more susceptible to wildfires and their emission can affect cryosphere albedo and air quality after undergoing transport. We combusted Siberian peat in a laboratory biomass-burning facility and characterized the optical properties of freshly emitted combustion aerosols and those photochemically aged in an oxidation flow reactor (OFR) with a three-wavelength photoacoustic instrument. Total particle count increased with aging by a factor of 6 to 11 while the total particle volume either changed little (<8%) for 19 and 44 days of equivalent aging and increased by 88% for 61 days of equivalent aging. The aerosol single-scattering albedo (SSA) of both fresh and aged aerosol increased with the increasing wavelength. The largest changes in SSA due to OFR aging were observed at the shortest of the three wavelengths (i.e., at 405 nm) where SSA increased by less than ~2.4% for 19 and 44 days of aging. These changes were due to a decrease in the absorption coefficients by ~45%, with the effect on SSA somewhat reduced by a concurrent decrease in the scattering coefficients by 20 to 25%. For 61 days of aging, we observed very little change in SSA, namely an increase of 0.31% that was caused a ~56% increase in the absorption coefficients that was more than balanced by a somewhat larger (~71%) increase in the scattering coefficients. These large increases in the absorption and scattering coefficients for aging at 7 V are at least qualitatively consistent with the large increase in the particle volume (~88%). Overall, aging shifted the absorption toward longer wavelengths and decreased the absorption Ångström exponents, which ranged from ~5 to 9. Complex refractive index retrieval yielded real and imaginary parts that increased and decreased, respectively, with the increasing wavelength. The 405 nm real parts first increased and then decreased and imaginary parts decreased during aging, with little change at other wavelengths.

Retrieval of Refractive Indices of Ten Volcanic Ash Samples in the Infrared, Visible and Ultraviolet Spectral Region

Retrieval of Refractive Indices of Ten Volcanic Ash Samples in the Infrared, Visible and Ultraviolet Spectral Region

The Degree of Linear Polarization for Suspended Particle Fields from Diverse Natural Waters

The Degree of Linear Polarization (DoLP) for unperturbed particle fields in waters from six diverse regions around the globe was measured with the custom Multi-Angle Scattering Optical Tool (MASCOT). DoLP here is defined as the ratio of two elements of Mueller scattering matrix, i.e., -M12/M11. Field sites covered inland waters, coastal oceans and open oceans, including both ocean color Case I and II water types. The angular shape of the measured particulate DoLP was analyzed in detail for each field site and for the ensemble average. Three parameters used to quantitatively characterize DoLP shape were the symmetry with respect to 90°, peak magnitude, and peak angle of measured DoLP angular curve. Vertical profiles of particulate DoLP were analyzed with maximum recorded depth of 111 m. Converse to Rayleigh scatterers, we found measured particulate DoLPs were not symmetric with respect to 90°. On average, DoLP peaks were shifted slightly toward larger angles, with most falling between estimated values of 90° and 95°. All particulate DoLP peak magnitudes generally varied within [0.6, 0.9]. Lorenz-Mie (homogeneous sphere) light scattering theory was used to construct a new inversion for bulk particulate refractive index from a lookup table based on DoLP and spectral attenuation measurements. We compared the Mie-DoLP-based particulate refractive index retrieval with the backscattering-based model from (Twardowski et al., J. Geophys. Res., 2001, 106(C7), 14,129–14,142). Particulate refractive index retrieved with the two models were in some cases comparable. At two of the six field sites we saw good agreement between the two models, whereas at another two field sites we observed large discrepancies between the two models. Further investigation on the choice of the modeled particle shapes and compositions may improve this retrieval approach. Results are compatible with previous studies on DoLPs in natural waters and comprehensive observations are provided on the particulate DoLP angular shape, vertical profile and global distributions that are important for future vector radiative transfer simulations. This study is relevant to future PACE polarimeters and associated remote retrieval of oceanic particle composition using polarimetry.

Complex refractive indices in the ultraviolet and visible spectral region for highly absorbing non-spherical biomass burning aerosol

Abstract. Biomass burning aerosol is a major source of PM2.5, and significantly affects Earth's radiative budget. The magnitude of its radiative effect is poorly quantified due to uncertainty in the optical properties of aerosol formed from biomass burning. Using a broadband cavity-enhanced spectrometer with a recently increased spectral range (360–720 nm) coupled to a size-selecting aerosol inlet, we retrieve complex refractive indices of aerosol throughout the near-ultraviolet and visible spectral region. We demonstrate refractive index retrievals for two standard aerosol samples: polystyrene latex spheres and ammonium sulfate. We then retrieve refractive indices for biomass burning aerosol from 13 controlled fires during the 2016 Missoula Fire Science Laboratory Study. We demonstrate that the technique is highly sensitive to the accuracy of the aerosol size distribution method and find that while we can constrain the optical properties of brown carbon aerosol for many fires, fresh smoke dominated by fractal-like black carbon aerosol presents unique challenges and is not well-represented by Mie theory. For the 13 fires, we show that the accuracy of Mie theory retrievals decreases as the fraction of black carbon mass increases. At 475 nm, the average refractive index is 1.635 (±0.056) +0.06 (±0.12)i, and at 365 nm, the average refractive index is 1.605 (±0.041) +0.038 (±0.074)i.

Optical Constants of a Solar System Organic Analog and the Allende Meteorite in the Near- and Mid-infrared (1.5–13 μm)

Abstract Measurements of visible and near-infrared reflection (0.38–5 μm) and mid-to-far-infrared emission (5–200 μm) from telescope and satellite remote-sensing instruments make it possible to investigate the composition of planetary surfaces via electronic transitions and vibrational modes of chemical bonds. Red spectral slopes at visible and near-infrared wavelengths and absorption features at 3.3 and 3.4 μm observed in circumstellar disks, in the interstellar medium (ISM), and on the surfaces of solar system bodies are interpreted to be due to the presence of organic material and other carbon compounds. Identifying the origin of these features requires measurements of the optical properties of a variety of relevant analog and planetary materials. Spectroscopic models of dust within circumstellar disks and the ISM, as well as planetary regoliths, often incorporate just one such laboratory measurement despite the wide variation in absorption and extinction properties of organic and other carbon-bearing materials. Here we present laboratory measurements of transmission spectra in the 1.5–13 μm region and use these to derive real and imaginary indices of refraction for two samples: (1) an analog to meteoritic insoluble organic matter and (2) a powdered Allende meteorite sample. We also test our refractive index retrieval method on a previously published transmission spectrum of an Mg-rich olivine. We compare optical measurements of the insoluble organic matter analog to those of other solar system and extrasolar organic analogs, such as amorphous carbon and tholins, and find that the indices of refraction of the newly characterized material differ significantly from other carbonaceous samples.

Refractive index confidence explorer (RICE): A tool for propagating uncertainties through complex refractive index retrievals from aerosol particles

Accurate and precise retrievals of aerosol complex refractive indices (m) are essential to constraining the direct radiative effect of atmospheric aerosols. Despite this, there is no generally acce...

Volumetric imaging of flame refractive index, density, and temperature using background-oriented Schlieren tomography

Volumetric imaging represents one of the major development trends of flow diagnostics due to both the advancement in hardware and the requirement for more information to further understand complicated turbulent and/or reactive flows. Background-oriented Schlieren tomography (BOST) has become increasingly popular due to its experimental simplicity. It has been demonstrated to be capable of simultaneously recovering the distributions of refractive index, density, and temperature of flows. However, its capability in thermometry has only been demonstrated under the axisymmetric assumption, which greatly limits its applicability. In this work, we dedicated to developing a cost-effective BOST system for the simultaneous retrieval of refractive index, density, and temperature distributions for the asymmetric flame. A few representative tomographic inversion algorithms were assessed as well. Both numerical and experimental demonstrations were conducted and the results show that our implemented BOST can successfully reconstruct the three-dimensional temperature distribution with a satisfactory accuracy.

Photophoretic spectroscopy in atmospheric chemistry – high-sensitivity measurements of light absorption by a single particle

Abstract. Light-absorbing organic atmospheric particles, termed brown carbon, undergo chemical and photochemical aging processes during their lifetime in the atmosphere. The role these particles play in the global radiative balance and in the climate system is still uncertain. To better quantify their radiative forcing due to aerosol–radiation interactions, we need to improve process-level understanding of aging processes, which lead to either “browning” or “bleaching” of organic aerosols. Currently available laboratory techniques aim to simulate atmospheric aerosol aging and measure the evolving light absorption, but they suffer from low sensitivity and precision. This study describes the use of electrodynamic balance photophoretic spectroscopy (EDB-PPS) for high-sensitivity and high-precision measurements of light absorption by a single particle. We demonstrate the retrieval of the time-evolving imaginary part of the refractive index for a single levitated particle in the range of 10−4 to 10−5 with uncertainties of less than 25 % and 60 %, respectively. The experimental system is housed within an environmental chamber, in which aging processes can be simulated in realistic atmospheric conditions and lifetimes of days to weeks. This high level of sensitivity enables future studies to explore the major processes responsible for formation and degradation of brown carbon aerosols.

Sensitivity and accuracy of refractive index retrievals from measured extinction and absorption cross sections for mobility-selected internally mixed light absorbing aerosols

Aerosol refractive index (RI) is related to particle composition and density, is used in optical spectroscopy studies to probe aerosol physiochemical properties during chemical reactions and gas-pa...

The SMART‐s Trace Gas and Aerosol Inversions: I. Algorithm Theoretical Basis for Column Property Retrievals

AbstractThe SMART‐s (Spectral Measurements for Atmospheric Radiative Transfer—spectroradiometer) acquires Sun/sky observations for retrieving optimal information on trace gases and aerosols with minimal assumptions. Overall, the algorithm of SMART‐s incorporates a series of retrievals, from fundamental quantities (i.e., column abundance of trace gases and aerosol loading) to higher‐order geophysical parameters (e.g., aerosol physicochemical properties and vertical profiles), utilizing Sun/sky spectral radiance measurements. This paper describes the theoretical basis for column retrievals of trace gases and aerosols. Associated profile retrievals will be presented in follow‐up papers. The current algorithm retrieves the fine/coarse mode of the particle size distribution and spectral complex index of refraction and, thereby, the spectral aerosol single‐scattering albedo ω0. SMART‐s retrieval is unique particularly in its high spectral resolution of the complex index of refraction and ω0 from near‐ultraviolet to near‐infrared wavelengths, which is pivotal information for atmospheric chemistry, climate and other inversions. We theoretically assessed information content and retrieval accuracy of the algorithm and compared different type of measurements including the Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET) and standard Pandora. For the same levels of radiometric accuracy, SMART‐s measurements provide the most informative aerosol retrievals based on theoretical error analyses. Higher spectral resolution measurements are particularly beneficial for particle size distribution and fine‐mode refractive index retrievals. We applied this algorithm to the AERONET Sun/sky measurements at Kanpur, India, in 2016 to assess algorithm consistency. Even with different assumptions and numerical methods for the inversion, SMART‐s retrieved aerosol parameters agreed well with the AERONET operational products (e.g., absolute mean bias errors less than 0.01 for ω0).

Direct refractive index retrieval from interferometry measurements.

We present an alternative numerical method to the Abel inversion technique, which can be applied to complex non-symmetrical systems. A comparison with the Abel inversion algorithm was conducted. For benchmarking, the method was applied to a synthetic trace representing a plasma waveguide characterized by a constant parabolic density profile. Furthermore, the temperature and refractive index of a plume of hot air surrounding a non-cylindrical soldering iron were retrieved. Temperatures between 50 °C and 200 °C were successfully retrieved within the instrument precision. The proposed method allows robust and fast data retrieval while maintaining the accuracy and resolution of well-known methods, as Abel inversion.

Simultaneous retrieval of particle size and refractive index by extended interferometric particle imaging technique.

A method is presented for simultaneously inferring both the refractive index and the size of a particle with extended interferometric particle imaging technique. The optical system of extended IPI with opposite two-sheet illumination at dual scattering angles is laid out for the experiment. The size of a particle is evaluated by the interference fringe recorded at the scattering angle of 90°, which is from the two reflected lights with two counter-propagating sheet illuminations. And then the refractive index is calculated by the fringe pattern recorded in the side scattering angle region with one of two-sheet illumination when combined with droplet size determined. Experiments on the polystyrene microsphere and water droplet suggest that the method presented herein is promising for many relevant applications, such as fuel combustion and environmental monitoring, in accurately measuring both the particle size and its refractive index.

Quasi-optics-inspired low-profile endfire antenna element

In this paper, the design, operational principle and experimental validation of an endfire antenna element that is inspired by the energy-focusing characteristics of graded-index optical fibre are presented. The antenna operates with a bandwidth of 1.5 GHz centred around 14 GHz. It has a gain of around 5.5 dBi along the band of interest and a good pattern stability over the band. The antenna derives its unique nature from the arrangement of the arc-shaped parasitics, that couple onto the antenna´s driver dipole. An electromagnetic refractive index retrieval mechanism is used to guide the placement of the parasitics to enhance the gain. In addition to the design principle, a parametric study of the main parameters and their influence on the antenna behaviour is presented. The antenna is a potential candidate for use in multi-user massive MIMO antenna arrays for 5G communications where space is premium and in antenna array applications where a low-profile antenna element with a high gain is a necessity.