A complete study of differential wax-wane focus servo technique

A thorough study of differential wax-wane focus servo technique including effects of aberration and cancellation of crosstalk is presented

Effects of higher order aberrations on beam shape in an optical recording system

An unexpected irradiance pattern in the detector plane of an optical data storage system was observed. Through wavefront measurement and scalar diffraction modeling, it was discovered that the energy redistribution is due to residual third-order and fifth-order spherical aberration of the objective lens and cover-plate assembly. The amount of residual aberration is small, and the beam focused on the disk would be considered diffraction limited by several criteria. Since the detector is not in the focal plane, even this small amount of aberration has a significant effect on the energy distribution. We show that the energy redistribution can adversely affect focus error signals, which are responsible for maintaining sub-micron spot diameters on the spinning disk

Micro-optic lens for data storage

A new type of microlens for data storage applications that has improved off-axis performance is described. The lens consists of a micro Fresnel pattern on a curved substrate. The radius of the substrate is equal to the focal length of the lens. If the pattern and substrate are thin, the combination satisfies the Abbe sine condition. Therefore, the lens is free of coma. We analyze a 0.5 numerical aperture, 0.50 mm focal length lens in detail. A 0.16 numerical aperture lens was fabricated holographically, and results are presented

Effects of a shading band in the data path of an optical drive

A shading band can alter the system transfer function. In our theory and experiment, both contrast improvement and enhanced carrier-to-noise ratio are investigated

Differential spot-size focus servo

We describe performance of a differential spot-size (wax-wane) focus servo. Crosstalk from the tracks are analyzed in the single detector and differential focus circuits. Magnitude of the crosstalk is reduced by a factor of three in the differential circuit. A false focus-error signal (FES) is present when the spot crosses sector marks at an angle

Tuning the permeability of regular polymeric networks by the cross link ratio

The amount of cross linking in the design of polymer materials is a key parameter for the modification of numerous physical properties, importantly, the permeability to molecular solutes. We consider networks with a diamond like architecture and different cross link ratios, concurring with a wide range of the polymer volume fraction. We particularly focus on the effect and the competition of two independent component specific solute polymer interactions, i.e., we distinguish between chain monomers and cross linkers, which individually act on the solutes and are altered to cover attractive and repulsive regimes. For this purpose, we employ coarse grained, Langevin computer simulations to study how the cross link ratio of polymer networks controls the solute partitioning, diffusion, and permeability. We observe different qualitative behaviors as a function of the cross link ratio and interaction strengths. The permeability can be tuned ranging over two orders of magnitude relative to the reference bulk permeability. Finally, we provide scaling theories for the partitioning and diffusion that explicitly account for the component specific interactions as well as the cross link ratio and the polymer volume fraction. These are in overall good agreement with the simulation results and grant insight into the underlying physics, rationalizing how the cross link ratio can be exploited to tune the solute permeability of polymeric network

Cross linker effect on solute adsorption in swollen thermoresponsive polymer networks

The selective solute partitioning within a polymeric network is of key importance to applications in which controlled release or uptake of solutes in a responsive hydrogel is required. In this work we investigate the impact of cross-links on solute adsorption in a swollen polymer network by means of all-atom, explicit-water molecular dynamics simulations. We focus on a representative network subunit consisting of poly($N$-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAM) and $N$,$N'$-methylenebisacrylamide (BIS/MBA) cross-linker types. Our studied system consists of one BIS-linker with four atactic PNIPAM chains attached in a tetrahedral geometry. The adsorption of several representative solutes of different polarity in the low concentration limit at the linker region is examined. We subdivide the solute adsorption regions and distinguish between contributions stemming from polymer chains and cross-link parts. In comparison to a single polymer chain, we observe that the adsorption of the solutes to the cross-link region can significantly differ, with details depending on the specific compounds' size and polarity. In particular, for solutes that have already a relatively large affinity to PNIPAM chains the dense cross-link region (where many-body attractions are at play) amplifies the local adsorption by an order of magnitude. We also find that the cross-link region can serve as a seed for the aggregation of mutually attractive solutes at higher solute concentrations. Utilizing the microscopic adsorption coefficients in a mean-field model of an idealized macroscopic polymer network, we extrapolate these results to the global solute partitioning in a swollen hydrogel and predict that these adsorption features may lead to non-monotonic partition ratios as a function of the cross-link density.Comment: 13 pages, 7 figure

Tuning the selective permeability of polydisperse polymer networks

We study the permeability and selectivity ('permselectivity') of model membranes made of polydisperse polymer networks for molecular penetrant transport, using coarse-grained, implicit-solvent computer simulations. In our work, permeability P is determined on the linear-response level using the solution-diffusion model, P = KDin, i.e., by calculating the equilibrium penetrant partition ratio K and penetrant diffusivity Din inside the membrane. We vary two key parameters, namely the network-network interaction, which controls the degree of swelling and collapse of the network, and the network-penetrant interaction, which tunes the selective penetrant uptake and microscopic energy landscape for diffusive transport. We find that the partitioning K covers four orders of magnitude and is a non-monotonic function of the parameters, well interpreted by a second-order virial expansion of the free energy of transferring one penetrant from a reservoir into the membrane. Moreover, we find that the penetrant diffusivity Din in the polydisperse networks, in contrast to highly ordered membrane structures, exhibits relatively simple exponential decays. We propose a semi-empirical scaling law for the penetrant diffusion that describes the simulation data for a wide range of densities and interaction parameters. The resulting permeability P turns out to follow the qualitative behavior (including maximization and minimization) of partitioning. However, partitioning and diffusion are typically anti-correlated, yielding large quantitative cancellations, controlled and fine-tuned by the network density and interactions, as rationalized by our scaling laws. We finally demonstrate that even small changes of network-penetrant interactions, e.g., by half a kBT, modify the permselectivity by almost one order of magnitude

Feedback controlled solute transport through chemo responsive polymer membranes

Polymer membranes are typically assumed to be inert and nonresponsive to the flux and density of the permeating particles in transport processes. Here, we theoretically study the consequences of membrane responsiveness and feedback on the steady state force flux relations and membrane permeability using a nonlinear feedback solution diffusion model of transport through a slab like membrane. Therein, the solute concentration inside the membrane depends on the bulk concentration, c0, the driving force, f, and the polymer volume fraction, amp; 981; . In our model, the solute accumulation in the membrane causes a sigmoidal volume phase transition of the polymer, changing its permeability, which, in return, affects the membrane s solute uptake. This feedback leads to nonlinear force flux relations, j f , which we quantify in terms of the system s differential permeability, P delta sys proportional to dj d f . We find that the membrane feedback can increase or decrease the solute flux by orders of magnitude, triggered by a small change in the driving force and largely tunable by attractive vs repulsive solute membrane interactions. Moreover, controlling the inputs, c0 and f, can lead to the steady state bistability of amp; 981; and hysteresis in the force flux relations. This work advocates that the fine tuning of the membrane s chemo responsiveness will enhance the nonlinear transport control features, providing great potential for future self regulating membrane device