11,850 research outputs found
Reflection mode photoacoustic measurement of speed of sound
We present a method to determine the speed of sound in tissue using a double-ring photoacoustic sensor working in reflection mode. This method uses the cross-correlation between the laser-induced ultrasound waves detected by two concentric ring shaped sensors, while a priori information about the depth-position of the photoacoustic source is not required. We demonstrate the concept by estimating the speed of sound in water as a function of temperature. Comparison of the estimated speed with values reported in literature shows an average systematic error of 0.1% and a standard deviation of 0.1%. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the method can be applied to layered media. The method has application in the correction of photoacoustic and ultrasound images afflicted by local speed variations in tissue. Additionally, the concept shows promise in monitoring temperature changes which are reflected in speed of sound changes in tissue.\ud
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Gold nanorods as molecular contrast agents in photoacoustic imaging: the promises and the caveats\ud
Rod-shaped gold nanoparticles exhibit intense and narrow absorption peaks for light in the far-red and near-infrared wavelength regions, owing to the excitation of longitudinal plasmons. Light absorption is followed predominantly by non radiative de-excitation, and the released heat and subsequent temperature rise cause strong photoacoustic (optoacoustic) signals to be produced. This feature combined with the relative inertness of gold, and its favorable surface chemistry, which permits affinity biomolecule coupling, has seen gold nanorods (AuNR) attracting much attention as contrast agents and molecular probes for photoacoustic imaging. In this article we provide an short overview of the current status of the use of AuNR in molecular imaging using photoacoustics. We further examine the state of the art in various chemical, physical and biochemical phenomena that have implications for the future photoacoustic applications of these particles. We cover the route through fine-tuning of AuNR synthetic procedures, toxicity reduction by appropriate coatings, in vitro cellular interactions of AuNRs, attachment of targeting antibodies, in vivo fate of the particles and the effects of certain light interactions with the AuN
First-principles nonequilibrium Green's function approach to transient photoabsorption: Application to atoms
We put forward a first-principle NonEquilibrium Green's Function (NEGF)
approach to calculate the transient photoabsorption spectrum of optically thin
samples. The method can deal with pump fields of arbitrary strength, frequency
and duration as well as for overlapping and nonoverlapping pump and probe
pulses. The electron-electron repulsion is accounted for by the correlation
self-energy, and the resulting numerical scheme deals with matrices that scale
quadratically with the system size. Two recent experiments, the first on helium
and the second on krypton, are addressed. For the first experiment we explain
the bending of the Autler-Townes absorption peaks with increasing the
pump-probe delay \t, and relate the bending to the thickness and density of
the gas. For the second experiment we find that sizable spectral structures of
the pump-generated admixture of Kr ions are fingerprints of {\em dynamical
correlation} effects, and hence they cannot be reproduced by time-local
self-energy approximations. Remarkably, the NEGF approach also captures the
retardation of the absorption onset of Kr with respect to Kr as a
function of \t.Comment: 13 pages, 8 captioned figure
Diagrammatic expansion for positive density-response spectra: Application to the electron gas
In a recent paper [Phys. Rev. B 90, 115134 (2014)] we put forward a
diagrammatic expansion for the self-energy which guarantees the positivity of
the spectral function. In this work we extend the theory to the density
response function. We write the generic diagram for the density-response
spectrum as the sum of partitions. In a partition the original diagram is
evaluated using time-ordered Green's functions (GF) on the left-half of the
diagram, antitime-ordered GF on the right-half of the diagram and lesser or
greater GF gluing the two halves. As there exist more than one way to cut a
diagram in two halves, to every diagram corresponds more than one partition. We
recognize that the most convenient diagrammatic objects for constructing a
theory of positive spectra are the half-diagrams. Diagrammatic approximations
obtained by summing the squares of half-diagrams do indeed correspond to a
combination of partitions which, by construction, yield a positive spectrum. We
develop the theory using bare GF and subsequently extend it to dressed GF. We
further prove a connection between the positivity of the spectral function and
the analytic properties of the polarizability. The general theory is
illustrated with several examples and then applied to solve the long-standing
problem of including vertex corrections without altering the positivity of the
spectrum. In fact already the first-order vertex diagram, relevant to the study
of gradient expansion, Friedel oscillations, etc., leads to spectra which are
negative in certain frequency domain. We find that the simplest approximation
to cure this deficiency is given by the sum of the zero-th order bubble
diagram, the first-order vertex diagram and a partition of the second-order
ladder diagram. We evaluate this approximation in the 3D homogeneous electron
gas and show the positivity of the spectrum for all frequencies and densities.Comment: 19 pages, 19 figure
Diagrammatic expansion for positive spectral functions beyond GW: Application to vertex corrections in the electron gas
We present a diagrammatic approach to construct self-energy approximations
within many-body perturbation theory with positive spectral properties. The
method cures the problem of negative spectral functions which arises from a
straightforward inclusion of vertex diagrams beyond the GW approximation. Our
approach consists of a two-steps procedure: we first express the approximate
many-body self-energy as a product of half-diagrams and then identify the
minimal number of half-diagrams to add in order to form a perfect square. The
resulting self-energy is an unconventional sum of self-energy diagrams in which
the internal lines of half a diagram are time-ordered Green's functions whereas
those of the other half are anti-time-ordered Green's functions, and the lines
joining the two halves are either lesser or greater Green's functions. The
theory is developed using noninteracting Green's functions and subsequently
extended to self-consistent Green's functions. Issues related to the conserving
properties of diagrammatic approximations with positive spectral functions are
also addressed. As a major application of the formalism we derive the minimal
set of additional diagrams to make positive the spectral function of the GW
approximation with lowest-order vertex corrections and screened interactions.
The method is then applied to vertex corrections in the three-dimensional
homogeneous electron gas by using a combination of analytical frequency
integrations and numerical Monte-Carlo momentum integrations to evaluate the
diagrams.Comment: 19 pages, 19 figure
Vertex corrections for positive-definite spectral functions of simple metals
We present a systematic study of vertex corrections in the homogeneous
electron gas at metallic densities. The vertex diagrams are built using a
recently proposed positive-definite diagrammatic expansion for the spectral
function. The vertex function not only provides corrections to the well known
plasmon and particle-hole scatterings, but also gives rise to new physical
processes such as generation of two plasmon excitations or the decay of the
one-particle state into a two-particles-one-hole state. By an efficient Monte
Carlo momentum integration we are able to show that the additional scattering
channels are responsible for the bandwidth reduction observed in photoemission
experiments on bulk sodium, appearance of the secondary plasmon satellite below
the Fermi level, and a substantial redistribution of spectral weights. The
feasibility of the approach for first-principles band-structure calculations is
also discussed
Quantification of spatial intensity correlations and photodetector intensity fluctuations of coherent light reflected from turbid particle suspensions
We present a model for predicting the spatial intensity correlation function of dynamic speckle patterns formed by light backscattered from turbid suspensions, and an experimental validation of these predictions. The spatial correlation varies remarkably with multiple scattering. The provided computational scheme is a step towards correctly interpreting signals obtained from instruments based on the measurement of dynamic speckle patterns in the far field
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