Ring-down Time Research Articles

Sensing Earth rotation with a helium-neon laser operating on three transitions in the visible region.

We demonstrate an active Sagnac ring interferometer that operates on the previously unexploited 3s2→2p6 (611.8nm), 3s2→2p7 (604.6nm), and 3s2→2p8 (593.9nm) neon transitions, in a helium-neon gain medium. The cavity was constructed using state-of-the-art ion-beam sputtered, ultralow-loss supermirrors designed to yield greater transmission loss at lower optical frequency, which partially compensates for the gain differential across the three transitions. For an optimized cavity fill of 0.3mbar partial pressure of neon (50% Ne20 and 50% Ne22) and a total gas pressure of 2mbar, for laser operation at 611.8nm, the cavity Q is 1.2×1011, having a cold cavity ringdown time of 38μs. The laser yielded a stable Sagnac frequency of 117.4Hz due to the Earth's rotation. The usable gyroscopic sensitivity is determined to be 8.8×10-9 rad/s for a measurement time of 128s.

Sensitive detection of HO radicals produced in an atmospheric pressure plasma using Faraday rotation cavity ring-down spectroscopy.

Cavity ring-down spectroscopy (CRDS) is a well-established, highly sensitive absorption technique whose sensitivity and selectivity for trace radical sensing can be further enhanced by measuring the polarization rotation of the intracavity light by the paramagnetic samples in the presence of a magnetic field. In this paper, we highlight the use of this Faraday rotation cavity ring-down spectroscopy (FR-CRDS) for the detection of HO2 radicals. In particular, we use a cold atmospheric pressure plasma jet as a highly efficient source of HO2 radicals and show that FR-CRDS in the near-infrared spectral region (1506 nm) has the potential to be a useful tool for studying radical chemistry. By simultaneously measuring ring-down times of orthogonal linearly polarized light, measurements of Faraday effect-induced rotation angles (θ) and absorption coefficients (α) are retrieved from the same data set. The Faraday rotation measurement exhibits better long-term stability and enhanced sensitivity due to its differential nature, whereby highly correlated noise between the two channels and slow drifts cancel out. The bandwidth-normalized sensitivities are αmin=2.2×10-11 cm-1 Hz-1/2 and θmin=0.62 nrad Hz-1/2. The latter corresponds to a minimum detectable (circular) birefringence of Δnmin=5×10-16 Hz-1/2. Using the overlapping qQ3(N = 4-9) transitions of HO2, we estimate limits of detection of 3.1 × 108 cm-3 based on traditional (absorption) CRDS methods and 6.7 × 107 cm-3 using FR-CRDS detection, where each point of the spectrum was acquired during 2 s. In addition, Verdet constants for pertinent carrier (He, Ar) and bulk (N2, O2) gases were recorded in this spectral region for the first time. These show good agreement with recent measurements of air and values extrapolated from reported Verdet constants at shorter wavelengths, demonstrating the potential of FR-CRDS for measurements of very weak Faraday effects and providing a quantitative validation to the computed rotation angles.

Curvature sensor based on SMF taper in fiber loop ring down system

Abstract In this paper, a fiber curvature sensor based on single-mode fiber (SMF) taper structure in combination with fiber loop ring down (FLRD) technique is proposed. The curvature is sensed by the ring-down time altered by the bending loss of the SMF taper with different curvature. In the experiment, five SMF tapers with waist diameters from 44.1 to 65.4 μm were tested, with the curvatures in the range of 0–8.33 m−1. The sensitivity of the SMF taper with 44.1 μm and 65.4 μm waist diameters were 0.725 μs/m−1 and 0.328 μs/m−1 respectively. Then the way of comparing the sensitivities with different units was supposed. Compared with other curvature sensors, the system has the advantages of simple structure, high sensitivity and low cost.

Longitudinal mode seeding in modulated InGaN laser diodes

The modulation of InGaN laser diodes is important for applications such as laser projection in cinemas as well as in virtual and augmented reality applications. Here, a modulation frequency in the 100 MHz to 1 GHz range is necessary. On this timescale, pixel crosstalk is a major issue that affects the intensity and spectral properties. We investigate the spectral and temporal dynamics of InGaN laser diodes driven with different pulse patterns. We identify longitudinal mode seeding as a mechanism between interacting pulses which are spaced by several nanoseconds: photons, remaining in the cavity after the trailing edge of the electric pulse, “seed” consequent pulses and promoting their own longitudinal mode. This leads to a changed spectral–temporal mode pattern of the consequent pulse. The long cavity ring-down time of these photons is a consequence of relatively low losses. Further investigations were performed by streak camera measurements of differently biased laser diodes. For a bias below, but close to, the threshold, the optical gain nearly compensates internal and mirror losses. Additional simulations are performed to confirm the experimental results.

Sense trace gases based surface plasmon polarization waveguide of graphene

To improve the selectivity of carbon nanotubes for gas sensors, we design a surface plasmon polarization waveguide based on graphene that can sense trace gases. In addition, a gas concentration measurement system was designed for a sensor based on optical cavity ring-down spectroscopy. The gas concentration measurement system was composed of two loops, which were combined with the minimum mean square error algorithm to achieve an amplified spontaneous emission noise filter. The experimental results show that the gas concentration measurement error was significantly improved after CO filtering. The slope of the logarithmic ring-down curve and the ring-down time decreased with the increasing gas concentration. The gas concentration and ring-down time showed an improved linear relationship. The design system can detect trace gases as a single gas or a variety of toxic gases in special environments. The device provided a wide range of sensors and measurements. Moreover, the proposed device is relatively simple and easy to implement, with high detection sensitivity.

S Fiber Taper-Based Fiber Loop Ring-Down Refractometer

A fiber-optic refractive index (RI) sensor based on fiber loop ring-down (FLRD) technique with an S fiber taper (SFT) structure is proposed and experimentally investigated. The SFT is served as an in-line Mach-Zehnder interferometer and inserted into a compensated fiber loop for RI measurement. By optimizing the parameters of the fiber loop, the quality of the ring-down signals is improved effectively. The surrounding refractive index can be conveniently measured by interrogating the ring-down time of the fiber loop. The experimental results demonstrate that the proposed sensor has a high sensitivity of -3128.954 μs/RIU in the measurement range of 1.3330-1.3682. The proposed RI sensor combines the specialties of SFT interferometer and FLRD technology, which could be a good candidate in applications.

Wavelength-scanned cavity ring down spectroscopy based on Fourier transform

Continuous wave cavity ring down spectroscopy (CW-CRDS) method with using cavity length scanning is ideal for accurately characterizing the low pressure spectra and measuring the small spectral parameters (such as the Dicke narrowing coefficient and the speed dependent collision broadening coefficient). However, the laser of any wavelength can be coupled to the cavity due to the cavity scan, so the spectral noise caused by the laser wavelength fluctuations cannot be ignored. This noise is non-uniformly distributed in the spectrum (especially on both wings on the spectral line) and is difficult to eliminate even with long-term averaging. Unlike the complex laser frequency locking techniques or the optical frequency combs or the better lasers, in this paper, a simple, easy to operate, fast wavelength-scanned CRDS method is proposed based on Fourier transform. The laser wavelength is continuously tuned across the absorption line to measure the periodic ring-down time. A reconstruction algorithm is developed to precisely recover the absorbance by extracting the characteristic frequencies of the periodic ring-down time after the Fourier transform. An etalon, instead of the wavelength meter, is used to calibrate the relative laser wavelength. This method effectively eliminates the non-uniform spectral noise caused by laser wavelength fluctuation in traditional CW-CRDS and significantly improves the measurement accuracy of spectral line parameters (especially line parameters in complex line shapes, such as speed dependent Voigt line shape) at low pressure. In addition, the measuring system, in which no wavelength meter is used, is simpler, more economical than CW-CRDS. The smaller residuals of the Galatry profile fit to the measured CO transitions at R(5) 6371.299 cm<sup>–1</sup> and R(6) 6374.406 cm<sup>–1</sup> show that the noise on both wings of the spectra, caused by laser wavelength fluctuation, is effectively reduced and the spectral SNR is then improved. The measured N<sub>2</sub> perturbed collision broadening coefficient of the Voigt profile fit for CO is consistent with that from the classical CW-CRDS method and is in good agreement with the HITRAN2016 database. The measured N<sub>2</sub> perturbed Dicke narrowing coefficient of the Rautian and Galatry profile and speed dependent collision broadening coefficient of the speed dependent Voigt profile have very good linear relationship with pressure, and have smaller uncertainties than the results from the CW-CRDS method.

Dual-laser cavity ring-down spectroscopy for real-time, long-term measurement of trace moisture in gas

Cavity ring-down spectroscopy (CRDS) is a highly sensitive technique that enables the measurement of trace species in gases at or lower than the nmol · mol−1 (ppb) level in amount-of-substance fraction (mole fraction). In particular, CRDS is a very powerful tool for trace-moisture measurement. In real-time, long-term measurement of trace moisture using CRDS, the accuracy is limited by undesired changes in ring-down time over a period of time (background drift). In this study, we introduced a dual-diode laser system in CRDS for trace-moisture measurements to compensate for the background drift. The frequency of the first laser was tuned to the on-peak position of a water absorption line to measure trace moisture, while that of the second laser was tuned to an off-peak position to track the background drift. The two laser diodes were alternately used to measure the ring-down times at on- and off-peak positions by rapidly switching the two laser beams. The effectiveness of dual-laser CRDS for real-time, long-term measurements of trace moisture was demonstrated by experiments based on a primary trace-moisture standard in the range of 8 nmol · mol−1–630 nmol · mol−1. The use of the primary trace-moisture standard in the experiments guaranteed the metrological traceability of the measurement results to the international system of units (SI), making the measurement results reported in this study highly reliable. The expanded uncertainty obtained using dual-laser CRDS at 8 nmol · mol−1 was more than four times better than that of the primary trace-moisture standard, implying the potential of a trace-moisture standard based on dual-laser CRDS whose uncertainty in a low range is better than that of other generator-based trace-moisture standards.

Frequency-locked cavity ring-down Faraday rotation spectroscopy.

Cavity ring-down Faraday rotation spectroscopy (CRD-FRS) is a technique for trace gas measurements of paramagnetic species that retrieves the molecular concentration from the polarization rotation measured as the difference between simultaneously recorded ring-down times of two orthogonal polarization states. The differential measurement is inherently insensitive to nonabsorber related losses, which makes off-resonance measurements redundant. We exploit this unique property by actively line-locking to a molecular transition for calibration-free trace gas concentration retrieval. In addition, we enhance the effective duty-cycle of the system by implementing a Pound-Drever-Hall laser lock to the cavity resonance, which allows for ring-down rates of up to 9kHz. The system performance is demonstrated by measurements of trace oxygen with a minimum detection limit at the ppmv/√Hz-level.

Sensitivity improvement by optimized optical switching and curve fitting in a cavity ring-down spectrometer.

We presented methods for the improvement of the sensitivity of a cavity ring-down spectrometer other than modifying the cavity length and the mirrors. As for the light switching, a fast driving scheme was proposed to address the slow switching speed of the boost optical amplifier, which makes it have only half of the switching time of that for the common acoustic-optical modulators and electro-optical modulators, as well as have higher extinction ratios. This effectively suppressed the distortions of the ring-down signals. We further adopted a realistic non-exponential curve-fitting method, taking into account the switching speed and the delayed triggering of the optical switch. These methods help accurately determine the ring-down time constants, which in turn reduced the Allan variance of the measurement results and increased the sensitivity. We performed tests at different repetition rates and all of them revealed more than 30% sensitivity improvement. At a rate of 16kHz, we increased the minimal detectable absorption of 9.1×10-11 cm-1 to 5.7×10-11 cm-1. The effectiveness of these upgrades could benefit many spectroscopic applications of the cavity ring-down spectroscopy, especially for frontier research that requires sensitive measurement and high-quality spectral data.

Time-frequency analysis of delta and theta oscillatory activity in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder*

Relative performance and detection limit of conventional, amplified, and gain-clamped cavity ring-down techniques (CRDT) in all-fiber configurations are compared experimentally for the first time. Refractive index measurement using evanescent field in tapered fibers is used as a benchmark for the comparison. The systematic optimization of a nested-loop configuration in gain-clamped CRDT is also discussed, which is crucial for achieving a constant gain in a CRDT experiment. It is found that even though conventional CRDT has the lowest standard error in ring-down time (Δτ), the value of ring-down time (τ) is very small, thus leading to poor detection limit. Amplified CRDT provides an improvement in τ, albeit with two orders of magnitude higher Δτ due to amplifier noise. The nested-loop configuration in gain-clamped CRDT helps in reducing Δτ by an order of magnitude as compared to amplified CRDT whilst retaining the improvement in τ. A detection limit of 1.03×10−4 RIU at refractive index of 1.322 with a 3 mm long and 4.5 μm diameter tapered fiber is demonstrated with the gain-clamped CRDT.

Reducing ring-down time of pMUTs with phase shift of driving waveform

This paper proposes a method to reduce ring-down time for piezoelectric micromachined ultrasonic transducers (pMUTs) through phase shift. The proposed driving form can effectively improve the effective emission time to transmitting time (Tx time) ratio and decrease the ring-down time, which contributes to shorten the blind area in pulse-echo ultrasonic distance measurement. The phase shift method effectively restrains the pMUT’s ring-down vibration within 20 nm in air and 15 nm in water swiftly. Consequently, the ring-down time can be saved from 45.9∼206 μs in air and 78.9∼130.1 μs in water respectively. The suppressed ring-down can sharpen the echo envelop for better location applications. Detection of the precise vibration stop time based on time constant of pMUTs is useful for measurement with high accuracy.

Reflectivity measurement of fiber Bragg grating by cavity ring-down spectroscopy technique

A novel method to measure the reflectivity of fiber Bragg grating (FBG) is proposed and demonstrated experimentally. A kind of fiber Bragg grating FP(FBG-FP) cavity is constructed, which includes a couple of identical uniform FBG as the cavity mirrors linked by a piece of Er-doped fiber. The response of FBG-FP cavity to pulsed laser injection is demonstrated theoretically and experimentally, and the effect of the reflectivity of FBG to the output of FBG-FP cavity is discussed. The reflectivity of FBG is achieved by measuring the transmission loss of FBG-FP cavity with cavity ring-down spectroscopy technique. A general relationship between the reflectivity of FBG and ring-down time of FBG-FP cavity is derived. It’s demonstrated that the output loss of FBG-FP cavity increases as the reflectivity of FBG decreases, the stable light intensity in the cavity decreases fastly, and the ring-down time of the FBG-FP cavity decreases, the operating wavelength of FBG is a function of its temperature. The results demonstrate a new concept of the measurement of reflectivity of FBG and the technical feasibility.

The challenges of producing effective small coils for transcranial magnetic stimulation of mice

Introduction. Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) is used for treating neurological disorders. Rapid pulses of magnetic field are delivered via a high-current coil situated over the scalp and induce an electric field in the brain. There has been limited fundamental scientific research on TMS and to progress it would be ideal to mimic the electric field of human TMS with mice. Animal models provide good mechanistic insight, but their use is hindered by lack of stimulating coils comparable in focus and intensity with human stimulation. Methods. We outline the engineering challenges in producing appropriate coils. It is unclear what should be optimized in the design of a mouse coil. We model the electric field, heat generation and ring-down time for cylindrical coils and use results to select a coil design consisting of 70 turns of 0.4 mm diameter copper wire wrapped around a 5 mm diameter soft ferrite core. Results and Discussion. While the magnetic flux density scales as the reciprocal of length-scale, the electric field does not scale with length, meaning that a large current is required to mimic the electric field of humans. To maximize electric field, one must minimize the coil’s inductance resulting in reduced ring-down time for the coil and significant heating. A ferrite core allows ring-down time to remain high and reduces heating. Our coil gave 180 mT at 30 V supply, with a temperature increase of 5°C after 1200 pulses at 5 Hz. The B-field below the core has a full-width-at-half-maximum of 6 mm, similar in size to a mouse brain. Conclusions. We have produced a mouse coil that offers increased B-field and reduced heating. There is considerable scope for improving electric field, but further physical analysis may lead to field strength more similar to that obtained in human TMS.

Microsacle PolySilicon Hemispherical Shell Resonating Gyroscopes with Integrated Three-dimensional Curved Electrodes

A novel approach for fabrication of polysilicon hemispherical resonator gyroscopes with integrated 3-D curved electrodes is developed and experimentally demonstrated. The 3-D polysilicon electrodes are integrated as a part of the hemispherical shell resonator’s fabrication process, and no extra assembly process are needed, ensuring the symmetry of the shell resonator. The fabrication process and materials used are compatible with the traditional semiconductor process, indicating the gyroscope has a high potential for mass production and commercial development. Without any trimming or tuning of the n=2 wineglass frequencies, a 28 kHz shell resonator demonstrates a 0.009% frequency mismatch between two degenerate wineglass modes, and a 13.6 kHz resonator shows a frequency split of 0.03%. The ring-down time of a fabricated resonator is 0.51 s, corresponding to a Q of 22000, at 0.01 Pa vacuum and room temperature. The prototype of the gyroscope is experimentally analyzed, and the scale factor of the gyro is 1.15 mV/°/s, the bias instability is 80 °/h.

Response of an optical cavity to phase-controlled incomplete power switching of nearly resonant incident light.

The response of an optical cavity to incomplete extinction of nearly resonant incident light was experimentally examined. Measurements were performed using a Pound-Drever-Hall-locked frequency-stabilized cavity ring-down spectrometer (CRDS) that allowed the laser frequency detuning from the cavity resonance center to be controlled at Hz-level resolution. It is shown that an insufficient laser light extinction ratio combined with a phase shift and frequency detuning may lead to non-exponential cavity pumping and decay signals. The experimental results can be explained with a simple analytical model. The non-exponential decay can lead to a systematic shift as high as 0.5% in the ring-down time constants, dependent on the laser frequency detuning from the cavity mode center and on the extinction ratio. This can lead to appreciable systematic errors in the absorption coefficients determined with the CRDS technique.

Analysis of molecular interaction using a pulse-induced ring-down compression ATR-DIRLD step-scan time resolved spectroscopy/2D-IR

A rheo-optical method, based on pulsed compression ATR dynamic infrared linear dichroism (DIRLD) step scan time-resolved-FT-IR/2D-IR spectroscopy, is further improved. By inserting a tungsten carbide block with massive weight between a film sample and a piezo electric actuator, a ring-down response was successfully generated according to the inertial effect. The improved method is used to analyze molecular interactions in cellulose acetate propionate (CAP) films including tricresyl-phosphate (TCP), as compared with cellulose triacetate (CTA) films with the TCP case. The result suggests that the existence of molecular interaction among propionyl groups in the CAP, the TCP's Methyl, and phenyl rings, which is not observed in the CTA-TCP system.

A resistive Q-switch for low-field NMR systems

An NMR Q-switch was designed and constructed specifically for use with low-field NMR apparatus. This featured a comparatively simple resistive damping design. It served to reduce the r.f. probe ring-down time, and hence reduced the signal acquisition delay from 25 ms to 9 ms, on an Earth’s magnetic field NMR system. The advantage of this earlier acquisition was demonstrated for both an aqueous suspension of iron oxide particles and using an NMR flow meter.

Measurement of concentration and temperature using a fiber loop ring-down technique with core-offset structure

Fiber-loop ring-down spectroscopy (FLRDS) technique can be used for measurement by indirectly measuring the ring-down time. This is advantageous because it is free from fluctuations of the light source and has a high sensitivity. A novel sensing system for measuring the concentration and temperature based on the FLRDS technique and Mach–Zehnder interferometer (MZI) is proposed in this work. The intra-cavity losses were compensated, which depended on the erbium-doped fiber amplifier. The sensor head was a section of 4 cm single-mode fiber that was spliced into the fiber loop ring cavity in a core-offset way, and its characteristics were tested by experimenting with different solution concentrations and temperatures. The experimental results showed that the detection limit of this system is 0.0014 g/ml, in the range of 0.010–0.400 g/ml. In the temperature sensing experiment, when the temperature varied from 30–200 °C, a sensitivity of 1.83 μs/°C was achieved. This research demonstrated that the MZI-based FLRDS sensing system has a clear response to the solution and temperature; therefore, it provides a reference for the measurement of stress, pressure, curvature, and other physical quantities.

Comparison of detection limit in fiber-based conventional, amplified, and gain-clamped cavity ring-down techniques

Relative performance and detection limit of conventional, amplified, and gain-clamped cavity ring-down techniques (CRDT) in all-fiber configurations are compared experimentally for the first time. Refractive index measurement using evanescent field in tapered fibers is used as a benchmark for the comparison. The systematic optimization of a nested-loop configuration in gain-clamped CRDT is also discussed, which is crucial for achieving a constant gain in a CRDT experiment. It is found that even though conventional CRDT has the lowest standard error in ring-down time (Δτ), the value of ring-down time (τ) is very small, thus leading to poor detection limit. Amplified CRDT provides an improvement in τ, albeit with two orders of magnitude higher Δτ due to amplifier noise. The nested-loop configuration in gain-clamped CRDT helps in reducing Δτ by an order of magnitude as compared to amplified CRDT whilst retaining the improvement in τ. A detection limit of 1.03×10−4 RIU at refractive index of 1.322 with a 3 mm long and 4.5 μm diameter tapered fiber is demonstrated with the gain-clamped CRDT.