530 research outputs found
Effective medium theories for irregular fluffy structures: aggregation of small particles
We study the extinction efficiencies as well as scattering properties of
particles of different porosity. Calculations are performed for porous
pseudospheres with small size (Rayleigh) inclusions using the discrete dipole
approximation. Five refractive indices of materials covering the range from
to were selected. They correspond to biological
particles, dirty ice, silicate, amorphous carbon and soot in the visual part of
spectrum. We attempt to describe the optical properties of such particles using
Lorenz-Mie theory and a refractive index found from some effective medium
theory (EMT) assuming the particle is homogeneous. We refer to this as the
effective model.
It is found that the deviations are minimal when utilizing the EMT based on
the Bruggeman mixing rule. Usually the deviations in extinction factor do not
exceed for particle porosity and size parameters
x_{\rm porous} = 2 \pi r_{\rm s, porous}/\lambda \la 25. The deviations are
larger for scattering and absorption efficiencies and smaller for particle
albedo and asymmetry parameter. Our calculations made for spheroids confirm
these conclusions. Preliminary consideration shows that the effective model
represents the intensity and polarization of radiation scattered by fluffy
aggregates quite well. Thus, the effective models of spherical and
non-spherical particles can be used to significantly simplify computations of
the optical properties of aggregates containing only Rayleigh inclusions.Comment: 24 pages, 9 figures, accepted for publication in Applied Optic
Non-spherical particles in optical tweezers : A numerical solution
We present numerical methods for modeling the dynamics of arbitrarily shaped particles trapped within optical tweezers, which improve the predictive power of numerical simulations for practical use. We study the dependence of trapping on the shape and size of particles in a single continuous wave beam setup. We also consider the implications of different particle compositions, beam types and media. The major result of the study is that for different irregular particle shapes, a range of beam powers generally leads to trapping. The trapping power range depends on whether the particle can be characterized as elongated or flattened, and the range is also limited by Brownian forces.Peer reviewe
Detecting Clouds Using Polarized Sunlight
A novel methodology for detecting cloud particles is disclosed herein. This methodology exploits the optical glory phenomenon. According to one embodiment, a method for detecting clouds includes receiving data from a sensor which is configured to measure polarization of scattered light in a direction substantially opposite to the direction of incident light, and identifying, from the received sensor data, a cloud based on the polarization of the scattered light
Detecting Super-Thin Clouds with Polarized Sunlight
We report a novel method for detecting cloud particles in the atmosphere. Solar radiation backscattered from clouds is studied with both satellite data and a radiative transfer model. A distinct feature is found in the angle of linear polarization of solar radiation that is backscattered from clouds. The dominant backscattered electric field from the clear-sky Earth-atmosphere system is nearly parallel to the Earth surface. However, when clouds are present, this electric field can rotate significantly away from the parallel direction. Model results demonstrate that this polarization feature can be used to detect super-thin cirrus clouds having an optical depth of only ~0.06 and super-thin liquid water clouds having an optical depth of only ~0.01. Such clouds are too thin to be sensed using any current passive satellite instruments
Comprehensive T-matrix Reference Database: A 2009-2011 Update
The T-matrix method is one of the most versatile and efficient theoretical techniques widely used for the computation of electromagnetic scattering by single and composite particles, discrete random media, and particles in the vicinity of an interface separating two half-spaces with different refractive indices. This paper presents an update to the comprehensive database of peer-reviewed T-matrix publications compiled by us previously and includes the publications that appeared since 2009. It also lists several earlier publications not included in the original database
Methods for 3-D vector microcavity problems involving a planar dielectric mirror
We develop and demonstrate two numerical methods for solving the class of
open cavity problems which involve a curved, cylindrically symmetric conducting
mirror facing a planar dielectric stack. Such dome-shaped cavities are useful
due to their tight focusing of light onto the flat surface. The first method
uses the Bessel wave basis. From this method evolves a two-basis method, which
ultimately uses a multipole basis. Each method is developed for both the scalar
field and the electromagnetic vector field and explicit ``end user'' formulas
are given. All of these methods characterize the arbitrary dielectric stack
mirror entirely by its 2\times2 transfer matrices for s- and p-polarization. We
explain both theoretical and practical limitations to our method. Non-trivial
demonstrations are given, including one of a stack-induced effect (the mixing
of near-degenerate Laguerre-Gaussian modes) that may persist arbitrarily far
into the paraxial limit. Cavities as large as 50 \lambda are treated, far
exceeding any vectorial solutions previously reported.Comment: For high-quality figures, visit
http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~noeckel/papers.ph
Absolute spectral modelling of asteroid (4) Vesta
We present a new physics-based approach to model the absolute reflectance spectra of asteroid (4) Vesta. The spectral models are derived by utilizing a ray-optics code that simulates light scattering by particles large compared to the wavelength of the incident light. In the light of the spectral data obtained by the Dawn spacecraft, we use howardite powder to model Vesta's surface regolith and its particle size distribution for 10-200 mu m sized particles. Our results show that the modelled spectrum mimics well the observations. The best match was found using a power-law particle size distribution with an index 3.2. This suggests that Vesta's regolith is dominated by howardite particlesPeer reviewe
Detection and Characterization of Nano-Defects Located on Micro-Structured Substrates by Means of Light Scattering
The authors wish to acknowledge the funds provided by the Ministry of Education of Spain under project #FIS2007-60158. We also thank the computer resources provided by the Spanish Supercomputing Network (RES) node at Universidad de Cantabria
Calculating Cross Sections of Composite Interstellar Grains
Interstellar grains may be composite collections of particles of distinct
materials, including voids, agglomerated together. We determine the various
optical cross sections of such composite grains, given the optical properties
of each constituent, using an approximate model of the composite grain. We
assume it consists of many concentric spherical layers of the various
materials, each with a specified volume fraction. In such a case the usual Mie
theory can be generalized and the extinction, scattering, and other cross
sections determined exactly.
We find that the ordering of the materials in the layering makes some
difference to the derived cross sections, but averaging over the various
permutations of the order of the materials provides rapid convergence as the
number of shells (each of which is filled by all of the materials
proportionately to their volume fractions) is increased. Three shells, each
with one layer of a particular constituent material, give a very satisfactory
estimate of the average cross section produced by larger numbers of shells.
We give the formulae for the Rayleigh limit (small size parameter) for
multi-layered spheres and use it to propose an ``Effective Medium Theory''
(EMT), in which an average optical constant is taken to represent the ensemble
of materials.
Multi-layered models are used to compare the accuracies of several EMTs
already in the literature.Comment: 29 pages, 6 figures, accepted for publication in the Astrophysical
Journal (part 1, scheduled in Vol. 526, #1, Nov. 20
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