6,489 research outputs found
Geomagnetic field and altitude effects on the performance of future IACT arrays
The performance of IACT's arrays is sensitive to the altitude and geomagnetic
field (GF) of the observatory site. Both effects play important role in the
region of the sub-TeV gamma-ray measurements. We investigate the influence of
GF on detection rates and the energy thresholds for five possible locations of
the future CTA observatory using the Monte Carlo simulations. We conclude that
the detection rates of gamma rays and the energy thresholds of the arrays can
be fitted with linear functions of the altitude and the component of the GF
perpendicular to the shower axis core. These results can be directly
extrapolated for any possible localization of the CTA. In this paper we also
show the influence of both geophysical effects on the images of shower and
gamma/hadron separation.Comment: 4 pages, 6 figures, two-column. Contribution to ICRC 2013 proceeding
LIINUS/SERPIL: a design study for interferometric imaging spectroscopy at the LBT
LIINUS/SERPIL is a design study to augment LBTs interferometric beam combiner
camera LINC-NIRVANA with imaging spectroscopy. The FWHM of the interferometric
main beam at 1.5 micron will be about 10 mas, offering unique imaging and
spectroscopic capabilities well beyond the angular resolution of current 8-10m
telescopes. At 10 mas angular scale, e.g., one resolution element at the
distance of the Galactic Center corresponds to the average diameter of the
Pluto orbit (79 AU), hence the size of the solar system. Taking advantage of
the LBT interferometric beam with an equivalent maximum diameter of 23 m,
LIINUS/SERPIL is an ideal precursor instrument for (imaging) spectrographs at
extremely large full aperture telescopes. LIINUS/SERPIL will be built upon the
LINC-NIRVANA hardware and LIINUS/SERPIL could potentially be developed on a
rather short timescale. The study investigates several concepts for the optical
as well as for the mechanical design. We present the scientific promises of
such an instrument together with the current status of the design study.Comment: 12 pages, SPIE conference proceeding, Orlando, 200
Raman enhancement of rhodamine adsorbed on Ag nanoparticles self-assembled into nanowire-like arrays
This work reports on Raman scattering of rhodamine (R6G) molecules absorbed on either randomly distributed or grating-like arrays of approximately 8-nm Ag nanoparticles developed by inert gas aggregation. Optimal growth and surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) parameters have been obtained for the randomly distributed nanoparticles, while effects related to the aging of the silver nanoparticles were studied. Grating-like arrays of nanoparticles have been fabricated using line arrays templates formed either by fracture-induced structuring or by standard lithographic techniques. Grating structures fabricated by both methods exhibit an enhancement of the SERS signal, in comparison to the corresponding signal from randomly distributed Ag nanoparticles, as well as a preferential enhancement in the areas of the sharp features, and a dependence on the polarization direction of the incident exciting laser beam, with respect to the orientation of the gratings structuring. The observed spectroscopic features are consistent with a line-arrangement of hot-spots due to the self- alignment of metallic nanoparticles, induced by the grating-like templates
Modern optical astronomy: technology and impact of interferometry
The present `state of the art' and the path to future progress in high
spatial resolution imaging interferometry is reviewed. The review begins with a
treatment of the fundamentals of stellar optical interferometry, the origin,
properties, optical effects of turbulence in the Earth's atmosphere, the
passive methods that are applied on a single telescope to overcome atmospheric
image degradation such as speckle interferometry, and various other techniques.
These topics include differential speckle interferometry, speckle spectroscopy
and polarimetry, phase diversity, wavefront shearing interferometry,
phase-closure methods, dark speckle imaging, as well as the limitations imposed
by the detectors on the performance of speckle imaging. A brief account is
given of the technological innovation of adaptive-optics (AO) to compensate
such atmospheric effects on the image in real time. A major advancement
involves the transition from single-aperture to the dilute-aperture
interferometry using multiple telescopes. Therefore, the review deals with
recent developments involving ground-based, and space-based optical arrays.
Emphasis is placed on the problems specific to delay-lines, beam recombination,
polarization, dispersion, fringe-tracking, bootstrapping, coherencing and
cophasing, and recovery of the visibility functions. The role of AO in
enhancing visibilities is also discussed. The applications of interferometry,
such as imaging, astrometry, and nulling are described. The mathematical
intricacies of the various `post-detection' image-processing techniques are
examined critically. The review concludes with a discussion of the
astrophysical importance and the perspectives of interferometry.Comment: 65 pages LaTeX file including 23 figures. Reviews of Modern Physics,
2002, to appear in April issu
Micromagnetic simulations of spinel ferrite particles
This paper presents the results of simulations of the magnetization field
{\it ac} response (at to GHz) of various submicron ferrite particles
(cylindrical dots). The ferrites in the present simulations have the spinel
structure, expressed here by MZnFeO (where M stands for a
divalent metal), and the parameters chosen were the following: (a) for : M
= \{ Fe, Mn, Co, Ni, Mg, Cu \}; (b) for : M = \{ Fe, Mg \} (mixed
ferrites). These runs represent full 3D micromagnetic (one-particle) ferrite
simulations. We find evidences of confined spin waves in all simulations, as
well as a complex behavior nearby the main resonance peak in the case of the M
= \{ Mg, Cu \} ferrites. A comparison of the and cases for fixed
M reveals a significant change in the spectra in M = Mg ferrites, but only a
minor change in the M = Fe case. An additional larger scale simulation of a
by particle array was performed using similar conditions of the FeO
(magnetite; , M = Fe) one-particle simulation. We find that the main
resonance peak of the FeO one-particle simulation is disfigured in the
corresponding 3 by 3 particle simulation, indicating the extent to which
dipolar interactions are able to affect the main resonance peak in that
magnetic compound.Comment: 35 pages, 11 figures, Journal of Magnetism and Magnetic Materials, in
press
Mid- and far-infrared localized surface plasmon resonances in chalcogen-hyperdoped silicon
Plasmonic sensing in the infrared region employs the direct interaction of
the vibrational fingerprints of molecules with the plasmonic resonances,
creating surface-enhanced sensing platforms that are superior than the
traditional spectroscopy. However, the standard noble metals used for plasmonic
resonances suffer from high radiative losses as well as fabrication challenges,
such as tuning the spectral resonance positions into mid- to far-infrared
regions, and the compatibility issue with the existing complementary
metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) manufacturing platform. Here, we demonstrate
the occurrence of mid-infrared localized surface plasmon resonances (LSPR) in
thin Si films hyperdoped with the known deep-level impurity tellurium. We show
that the mid-infrared LSPR can be further enhanced and spectrally extended to
the far-infrared range by fabricating two-dimensional arrays of
micrometer-sized antennas in a Te-hyperdoped Si chip. Since Te-hyperdoped Si
can also work as an infrared photodetector, we believe that our results will
unlock the route toward the direct integration of plasmonic sensors with the
one-chip CMOS platform, greatly advancing the possibility of mass manufacturing
of high-performance plasmonic sensing systems.Comment: 20 pages, 5 figure
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