Etalon Array Reconstructive Spectrometry.

Compact spectrometers are crucial in areas where size and weight may need to be minimized. These types of spectrometers often contain no moving parts, which makes for an instrument that can be highly durable. With the recent proliferation in low-cost and high-resolution cameras, camera-based spectrometry methods have the potential to make portable spectrometers small, ubiquitous, and cheap. Here, we demonstrate a novel method for compact spectrometry that uses an array of etalons to perform spectral encoding, and uses a reconstruction algorithm to recover the incident spectrum. This spectrometer has the unique capability for both high resolution and a large working bandwidth without sacrificing sensitivity, and we anticipate that its simplicity makes it an excellent candidate whenever a compact, robust, and flexible spectrometry solution is needed

Incentives

We model organization as the command-and-communication network of managers erected on top of technology (which is modeled as a collection of plants). In our framework, the role of a manager is to deal with shocks that affect the plants that he oversees directly or indirectly. Organizational form is then an instrument for (a) economizing on managerial costs, and (b) providing managerial incentives. We show that two particular organizational forms, the M-form (multi-divisional form) and the U-form (unitary form), are the optimal structures when shocks are sufficiently "big". We argue however that, under certain empirical assumptions, the M-form is likely to be strictly preferable once incentives are taken into account. We conclude by showing that the empirical hypotheses on which this comparison rests are satisfied for Chinese data.

A new phase space method for recovering index of refraction from travel times

We develop a new phase space method for reconstructing the index of refraction of a medium from travel time measurements. The method is based on the so-called Stefanov–Uhlmann identity which links two Riemannian metrics with their travel time information. We design a numerical algorithm to solve the resulting inverse problem. The new algorithm is a hybrid approach that combines both Lagrangian and Eulerian formulations. In particular the Lagrangian formulation in phase space can take into account multiple arrival times naturally, while the Eulerian formulation for the index of refraction allows us to compute the solution in physical space. Numerical examples including isotropic metrics and the Marmousi synthetic model are shown to validate the new method

Three-dimensional fluorescent microscopy via simultaneous illumination and detection at multiple planes.

The conventional optical microscope is an inherently two-dimensional (2D) imaging tool. The objective lens, eyepiece and image sensor are all designed to capture light emitted from a 2D 'object plane'. Existing technologies, such as confocal or light sheet fluorescence microscopy have to utilize mechanical scanning, a time-multiplexing process, to capture a 3D image. In this paper, we present a 3D optical microscopy method based upon simultaneously illuminating and detecting multiple focal planes. This is implemented by adding two diffractive optical elements to modify the illumination and detection optics. We demonstrate that the image quality of this technique is comparable to conventional light sheet fluorescent microscopy with the advantage of the simultaneous imaging of multiple axial planes and reduced number of scans required to image the whole sample volume

Thermal Conductance of an Individual Single-Wall Carbon Nanotube above Room Temperature

The thermal properties of a suspended metallic single-wall carbon nanotube (SWNT) are extracted from its high-bias (I-V) electrical characteristics over the 300-800 K temperature range, achieved by Joule self-heating. The thermal conductance is approximately 2.4 nW/K and the thermal conductivity is nearly 3500 W/m/K at room temperature for a SWNT of length 2.6 um and diameter 1.7 nm. A subtle decrease in thermal conductivity steeper than 1/T is observed at the upper end of the temperature range, which is attributed to second order three-phonon scattering between two acoustic modes and one optical mode. We discuss sources of uncertainty and propose a simple analytical model for the SWNT thermal conductivity including length and temperature dependence.Comment: Nano Letters, vol. 6, no. 1, 200