Kerker Conditions Upon Lossless, Absorption, and Optical Gain Regimes

The directionality and polarization of light show peculiar properties when the scattering by a dielectric sphere can be described exclusively by electric and magnetic dipolar modes. Particularly, when these modes oscillate in-phase with equal amplitude, at the so-called first Kerker condition, the zero optical backscattering condition emerges for non-dissipating spheres. However, the role of absorption and optical gain in the first Kerker condition remains unexplored. In this work, we demonstrate that either absorption or optical gain precludes the first Kerker condition and, hence, the absence of backscattered radiation light, regardless of the size of the particle, incident wavelength, and incoming polarization. Finally, we derive the necessary prerequisites of the second Kerker condition of the zero forward light scattering, finding that optical gain is a compulsory requirement

Analysis of Open Resources from INSHT for Application to University Teaching of Industrial Safety Technology

This work is developed in the teaching context of the subject “Technological Aspects of Safety” (ATS) as part of the University Master's Degree in Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) of the National University of Distance Education (UNED). A classification of Industrial Safety Technologies, grouped in ATS, has been developed that links basic rules applicable to the technical guides (TG) and Technical Notes Prevention (NTP) of the National Institute of Safety and Health at Work (INSHT). The TG are essential tools for the technical interpretation of associated regulations, as their updates are generally adequate, not so for the NTP, especially considering that 54% of those analyzed predate 1997 (beginning of basic regulatory development). However, the characteristics of the classification aids the design of teaching activities, focused on the analysis and knowledge of the industrial safety technologies

Sensing with magnetic dipolar resonances in semiconductor nanospheres

In this work we propose two novel sensing principles of detection that exploit the magnetic dipolar Mie resonance in high-refractiveindex dielectric nanospheres. In particular, we theoretically investigate the spectral evolution of the extinction and scattering cross sections of these nanospheres as a function of the refractive index of the external medium (next). Unlike resonances in plasmonic nanospheres, the spectral position of magnetic resonances in high-refractive-index nanospheres barely shifts as next changes. Nevertheless, there is a drastic reduction in the extinction cross section of the nanospheres when next increases, especially in the magnetic dipolar spectral region, which is accompanied with remarkable variations in the radiation patterns. Thanks to these changes, we propose two new sensing parameters, which are based on the detection of: i) the intensity variations in the transmitted or backscattered radiation by the dielectric nanospheres at the magnetic dipole resonant frequency, and ii) the changes in the radiation pattern at the frequency that satisfies Kerker's condition of near-zero forward radiation. To optimize the sensitivity, we consider several semiconductor materials and particles sizes. © 2013 Optical Society of America.B.G.-C. acknowledges support from the JAE-Doc program of the Spanish Council of Research (CSIC). This research has been funded by Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación, through grants: Consolider NanoLight (CSD2007-00046), FIS2009-13430-C02, as well as by the Comunidad de Madrid (Microseres-CM, S2009/TIC-1476).Peer Reviewe