624 research outputs found
Experimental determination of distance and orientation of metallic nanodimers by polarization dependent plasmon coupling
Live cell imaging using metallic nanoparticles as tags is an emerging
technique to visualize long and highly dynamic processes due to the lack of
photobleaching and high photon rate. However, the lack of excited states as
compared to fluorescent dyes prevents the use of resonance energy transfer and
recently developed super resolution methods to measure distances between
objects closer that the resolution limit. In this work, we experimentally
demonstrate a technique to determine subdiffraction distances based on the near
field coupling of metallic nanoparticles. Due to the symmetry breaking in the
scattering cross section, not only distances but also relative orientations can
be measured. Gold nanoparticles were prepared on glass in such way that a small
fraction of dimers was present. The sample was sequentially illuminated with
two wavelengths to separate background from nanoparticle scattering based on
their spectral properties. A novel total internal reflection illumination
scheme in which the polarization can be rotated was used to further minimize
background contributions. In this way, radii, distance and orientation were
measured for each individual dimer and their statistical distributions were
found to be in agreement with the expected ones. We envision that this
technique will allow fast and long term tracking of relative distance and
orientation in biological processes.Comment: 9 pages, 5 figures, Commentary from the reviewer available in Papers
in Physic
Interactions between sub-10 nm iron and cerium oxide nanoparticles and 3T3 fibroblasts : the role of the coating and aggregation state
Recent nanotoxicity studies revealed that the physico-chemical
characteristics of engineered nanomaterials play an important role in the
interactions with living cells. Here, we report on the toxicity and uptake of
the cerium and iron oxide sub-10 nm nanoparticles by NIH/3T3 mouse fibroblasts.
Coating strategies include low-molecular weight ligands (citric acid) and
polymers (poly(acrylic acid), MW = 2000 g mol-1). Electrostatically adsorbed on
the surfaces, the organic moieties provide a negatively charged coating in
physiological conditions. We find that most particles were biocompatible, as
exposed cells remained 100% viable relative to controls. Only the bare and the
citrate-coated nanoceria exhibit a slight decrease of the mitochondrial
activity for cerium concentrations above 5 mM (equivalent to 0.8 g L-1). We
also observe that the citrate-coated particles are internalized by the cells in
large amounts, typically 250 pg per cell after a 24 h incubation for iron
oxide. In contrast, the polymer-coated particles are taken up at much lower
rates (< 30 pg per cell). The strong uptake shown by the citrate-coated
particles is related to the destabilization of the dispersions in the cell
culture medium and their sedimentation down to the cell membranes. In
conclusion, we show that the uptake of nanomaterials by living cells depends on
the coating of the particles and on its ability to preserve the colloidal
nature of the dispersions.Comment: 9 figures, 2 table
Numerical modelling of radiant energy extinction by water medium containing bubbles and particles of various natures
In the framework of the Mie theory, we developed a numerical model of weakly absorbing medium, containing particles having an arbitrary chemical composition. This model can be applied to the study of the extinction characteristics of the optical radiation by a water layer with gas bubbles or volume-shape particles. The results of the numerical experiment illustrate changes in optical properties of the water due to the presence of bubbles or solid particles. The work displays some calculations of the extinction efficiency factor, the extinction coefficient, and transmission function at visible wavelengths. The influences of concentration and sizes of gas bubbles on the extinction characteristics of optical radiation are illustrated. Features of the extinction of radiant energy are discussed as dependent on a size parameter and a complex index of refraction of scatterers
Analysis of surface waves generated on subwavelength-structured silver films
Using transmission electron microscopy (TEM) to analyse the physical-chemical
surface properties of subwavlength structured silver films and
finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) numerical simulations of the optical
response of these structures to plane-wave excitation, we report on the origin
and nature of the persistent surface waves generated by a single slit-groove
motif and recently measured by far-field optical interferometry. The surface
analysis shows that the silver films are free of detectable oxide or sulfide
contaminants, and the numerical simulations show very good agreement with the
results previously reported.Comment: 9 Figure
Unique Thermal Properties of Clothing Materials.
Cloth wearing seems so natural that everyone is self-deemed knowledgeable and has some expert opinions about it. However, to clearly explain the physics involved, and hence to make predictions for clothing design or selection, it turns out to be quite challenging even for experts. Cloth is a multiphased, porous, and anisotropic material system and usually in multilayers. The human body acts as an internal heat source in a clothing situation, thus forming a temperature gradient between body and ambient. But unlike ordinary engineering heat transfer problems, the sign of this gradient often changes as the ambient temperature varies. The human body also perspires and the sweat evaporates, an effective body cooling process via phase change. To bring all the variables into analysis quickly escalates into a formidable task. This work attempts to unravel the problem from a physics perspective, focusing on a few rarely noticed yet critically important mechanisms involved so as to offer a clearer and more accurate depiction of the principles in clothing thermal comfort
Scattering of inhomogeneous circularly polarized optical field and mechanical manifestation of the internal energy flows
Based on the Mie theory and on the incident beam model via superposition of
two plane waves, we analyze numerically the momentum flux of the field
scattered by a spherical microparticle placed within the spatially
inhomogeneous circularly polarized paraxial light beam. The asymmetry between
the forward- and backward-scattered momentum fluxes in the Rayleigh scattering
regime appears due to the spin part of the internal energy flow in the incident
beam. The transverse ponderomotive forces exerted on dielectric and conducting
particles of different sizes are calculated and special features of the
mechanical actions produced by the spin and orbital parts of the internal
energy flow are recognized. In particular, the transverse orbital flow exerts
the transverse force that grows as a^3 for conducting and as a^6 for dielectric
subwavelength particle with radius a, in compliance with the dipole mechanism
of the field-particle interaction; the force associated with the spin flow
behaves as a^8 in both cases, which testifies for the non-dipole mechanism. The
results can be used for experimental identification and separate investigation
of the spin and orbital parts of the internal energy flow in light fields.Comment: 17 pages, 5 figures. For resubmission, the language is improved,
numerical mistakes in Fig. 4 are corrected and discussion is modified
accordingl
Photonic Clusters
We show through rigorous calculations that dielectric microspheres can be
organized by an incident electromagnetic plane wave into stable cluster
configurations, which we call photonic molecules. The long-range optical
binding force arises from multiple scattering between the spheres. A photonic
molecule can exhibit a multiplicity of distinct geometries, including
quasicrystal-like configurations, with exotic dynamics. Linear stability
analysis and dynamical simulations show that the equilibrium configurations can
correspond with either stable or a type of quasi-stable states exhibiting
periodic particle motion in the presence of frictional dissipation.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure
Photonic crystals of coated metallic spheres
It is shown that simple face-centered-cubic (fcc) structures of both metallic
and coated metallic spheres are ideal candidates to achieve a tunable complete
photonic bandgap (CPBG) for optical wavelengths using currently available
experimental techniques. For coated microspheres with the coating width to
plasma wavelength ratio and the coating and host
refractive indices and , respectively, between 1 and 1.47, one can
always find a sphere radius such that the relative gap width (gap
width to the midgap frequency ratio) is larger than 5% and, in some cases,
can exceed 9%. Using different coatings and supporting liquids, the width
and midgap frequency of a CPBG can be tuned considerably.Comment: 14 pages, plain latex, 3 ps figures, to appear in Europhys. Lett. For
more info on this subject see
http://www.amolf.nl/research/photonic_materials_theory/moroz/moroz.htm
Force and energy dissipation variations in non-contact atomic force spectroscopy on composite carbon nanotube systems
UHV dynamic force and energy dissipation spectroscopy in non-contact atomic
force microscopy were used to probe specific interactions with composite
systems formed by encapsulating inorganic compounds inside single-walled carbon
nanotubes. It is found that forces due to nano-scale van der Waals interaction
can be made to decrease by combining an Ag core and a carbon nanotube shell in
the Ag@SWNT system. This specific behaviour was attributed to a significantly
different effective dielectric function compared to the individual
constituents, evaluated using a simple core-shell optical model. Energy
dissipation measurements showed that by filling dissipation increases,
explained here by softening of C-C bonds resulting in a more deformable
nanotube cage. Thus, filled and unfilled nanotubes can be discriminated based
on force and dissipation measurements. These findings have two different
implications for potential applications: tuning the effective optical
properties and tuning the interaction force for molecular absorption by
appropriately choosing the filling with respect to the nanotube.Comment: 22 pages, 6 figure
Optically Levitating Dielectrics in the Quantum Regime: Theory and Protocols
We provide a general quantum theory to describe the coupling of light with
the motion of a dielectric object inside a high finesse optical cavity. In
particular, we derive the total Hamiltonian of the system as well as a master
equation describing the state of the center of mass mode of the dielectric and
the cavity field mode. In addition, a quantum theory of elasticity is used in
order to study the coupling of the center of mass motion with internal
vibrational excitations of the dielectric. This general theory is applied to
the recent proposal of using an optically levitating nanodielectric as a cavity
optomechanical system [Romero-Isart et al. NJP 12, 033015 (2010), Chang et al.
PNAS 107, 1005 (2010)]. On this basis, we also design a light-mechanics
interface to prepare non-Gaussian states of the mechanical motion, such as
quantum superpositions of Fock states. Finally, we introduce a direct
mechanical tomography scheme to probe these genuine quantum states by time of
flight experiments.Comment: 27 pages, revtex 2 columns, 8 figure
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