621 Angewandte Physik
Refine
Document Type
- Article (47)
- Conference Proceeding (40)
- Article in a Periodical of the TH Wildau (15)
- Book (3)
- Preprint (2)
- Part of a Book (1)
- Doctoral Thesis (1)
Year of publication
Institute
Has Fulltext
- yes (109)
Keywords
- nanoindentation (5)
- carbon (3)
- hardness (3)
- photonic integrated circuit (3)
- renewable energy (3)
- water adsorption (3)
- Fabry-Perot sensor (2)
- Simulation (2)
- renewable energy source (2)
- surface plasmon resonance (2)
The two main features of the memristive devices which makes them the promising candidates for neuromorphic applications are low power consumption and CMOS compatibility. The monolithic integration of memristive devices with CMOS circuitry paves the way for in-memory computing. This chapter focuses on the factors governing the CMOS integration process. Firstly, the influence of CMOS baseline technology selection on the memristor module is briefly discussed. Secondly, the selection of metal level interconnects and their effect on the memristive device performance is explained. Further, the widely used deposition technique for the CMOS compatible memristive switching layers is presented. Finally, the implementation of the optimized process for the fabrication of the memristive module and its influence on the device performance is presented in terms of electrical characterization results.
Fabry-Pèrot (FP) interferometer sensors enable highly sensitive backward mode acoustic detection in Photoacoustic (PA) imaging. They are transparent to the excitation wavelength, can be placed directly next to the PA source, and offer a broadband frequency response and high acoustic sensitivity. PA tomography using parallelized detection requires high spatial uniformity of the optical and acoustic properties, which can be hampered by contaminations during fabrication that lead to the formation of inhomogeneities and artefacts. The quality and homogeneity of the dielectric and polymer layers have a direct effect on the maximum optical phase sensitivity, and hence acoustic sensitivity. In this study, cross-sectional images of FP sensors were obtained using focused ion beam milling and ultramicrotomy followed by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) to evaluate different fabrication methods.
Fabry-Perot (FP) sensors are typically read out using a raster scan to acquire tomographic Photoacoustic (PA) images. To speed up the recording time, wide-field illumination of the sensor in combination with a camera as detector can be used. In this study, an sCMOS camera and wavelengths around 517 nm are used to interrogate a FP sensor with a homogeneous optical thickness over a 4 cm2 aperture. The recorded time series show PA signals are acquired over the entire area of the interrogation beam. The performance of the system, such as the noise equivalent pressure, is evaluated.
Biomedical photoacoustics is usually used to image absorption-based contrast in soft tissues up to depths of several centimeters and with sub-millimeter resolution. By contrast, measuring Photoacoustic (PA) signals through hard bone tissue shows severe signal degradation due to aberration and high attenuation of high frequency acoustic signal components. This is particularly noticeable when measuring through thicker, human, skull bone. Which is the main reason why transcranial PA imaging in humans has so far proved challenging to implement. To tackle this challenge, we developed an optical resonator sensor based on a previous planar-concave design. This sensor was found to be highly suitable for measuring the low-pressure amplitude and low acoustic frequency signals that are transmitted through human cranial bone. A plano-concave optical resonator sensor was fabricated to provide high sensitivity in the acoustic frequency range of DC to around 2 MHz, a low noise equivalent pressure and a small active element size enabling it to significantly outperform conventional piezoelectric transducers when measuring PA waves transmitted through ex vivo human cranial bones.
We study the dynamics of avalanche ionization of pure helium nanodroplets activated by a weak extreme-ultraviolet (XUV) pulse and driven by an intense near-infrared (NIR) pulse. In addition to a transient enhancement of ignition of a nanoplasma at short delay times ${\sim}200$ fs, long-term activation of the nanodroplets lasting up to a few nanoseconds is observed. Molecular dynamics simulations suggest that the short-term activation is caused by the injection of seed electrons into the droplets by XUV photoemission. Long-term activation appears due to electrons remaining loosely bound to photoions which form stable 'snowball' structures in the droplets. Thus, we show that XUV irradiation can induce long-lasting changes of the strong-field optical properties of nanoparticles, potentially opening new routes to controlling avalanche-ionization phenomena in nanostructures and condensed-phase systems.
Thin polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) films are produced by deposition from a gas phase by two methods: electron-enhanced vacuum deposition (EVD) and EVD + low-temperature plasma (LTP). Structure, morphology, and composition of the films are studied by IR spectroscopy, atomic force microscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. They are close to the structure of bulk PTFE. The roughness of the films’ surface is changed with gas pressure and LTP power variations. Films are transparent from UV to near-infrared regions. Refractive and extinction indices and their anisotropy are measured by spectral ellipsometry. They are tuned by variations of deposition conditions. Hardness and Young modulus of the films are increased if EVD + low power LTP is used for film deposition. Use of EVD + LTP also increases thermal stability of the films. Contact angle of the films corresponds to the bulk PTFE. The PTFE molecules oriented are preferentially in perpendicular direction to the substrate surface.
We have investigated the possibility to track and control correlation dynamics of valence electrons in krypton (Kr) initiated by the absorption of one extreme ultraviolet (XUV) photon. In this investigation, pump-probe experiments have been performed where monochromatized single high-harmonics at photon energies 29.6, 32.8, and 35.9 eV have been used as pump to populate different intermediate excited states. A temporally delayed near-infrared (NIR) pulse probes the population of various decay channels via the detection of Kr²⁺ ion yields and its transient profiles. We observe that by varying the NIR pulse intensity within a range from 0.3 x 10¹³ to 2.6 x 10¹³ W cm⁻², the shape of the Kr²+ transient profile changes significantly. We show that by varying the intensity of the NIR pulse, it is possible—(i) to control the ratio between sequential and non-sequential double ionization of Kr; (ii) to selectively probe quantum beating oscillations between Kr+* satellite states that are coherently excited within the bandwidth of the XUV pulse; and (iii) to specifically probe the relaxation dynamics of doubly excited (Kr**) decay channels. Our studies show that the contribution of different ionization and decay channels (i)–(iii) can be altered by the NIR pulse intensity, thus demonstrating an efficient way to control the ionization dynamics in rare gas atoms.
Silicon photonic micro-ring resonators (MRR) developed on the silicon-on-insulator (SOI) platform, owing to their high sensitivity and small footprint, show great potential for many chemical and biological sensing applications such as label-free detection in environmental monitoring, biomedical engineering, and food analysis. In this tutorial, we provide the theoretical background and give design guidelines for SOI-based MRR as well as examples of surface functionalization procedures for label-free detection of molecules.
After introducing the advantages and perspectives of MRR, fundamentals of MRR are described in detail, followed by an introduction to the fabrication methods, which are based on a complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) technology. Optimization of MRR for chemical and biological sensing is provided, with special emphasis on the optimization of waveguide geometry. At this point, the difference between chemical bulk sensing and label-free surface sensing is explained, and definitions like waveguide sensitivity, ring sensitivity, overall sensitivity as well as the limit of detection (LoD) of MRR are introduced. Further, we show and explain chemical bulk sensing of sodium chloride (NaCl) in water and provide a recipe for label-free surface sensing.
From Lab-on-chip to Lab-in-App: Challenges towards silicon photonic biosensors product developments
(2022)
This work presents and evaluates different approaches of integrated optical sensors based on photonic integrated circuit (PIC) technologies for refractive index sensing. Bottlenecks in the fabrication flow towards an applicable system are discussed that hinder a cost-effective mass-production for disposable sensor chips. As sensor device, a waveguide coupled micro-ring based approach is chosen which is manufactured in an 8” wafer level process. We will show that the co-integration with a reproducible, scalable and low-cost microfluidic interface is the main challenge which needs to be overcome for future application of silicon technology based PIC sensor chips.
3D printed rotor blades for a research wind turbine: Aerodynamic and structural design and testing
(2022)
This study combines the design, the 3D printing and the testing of a small 3-bladed wind turbine rotor for research and teaching purposes. The objective is the additive manufacturing of a rotor with a radius of one meter, as an alternative to subtractive methods, such as computerized milling. The blade design is developed using freely available software packages. The aerodynamic considerations include the airfoil selection, the calculation of the blade geometry and the simulation of the ultimate load cases. The structural considerations are focussed on the printable materials, the infill structures and the retrofit of a load-carrying spar. The rotor blades are 3D printed with the BigRep One at the maker space of the TH Wildau. The structural integrity of the prototype blade is tested in terms of the ultimate root bending moments and the centrifugal forces at the HTW Berlin. The aerodynamic run-up tests are performed at the large wind tunnel of the TU Berlin measuring the power curves. The successful prototype paves the way for follow-up projects, such as open field tests and the 3D printing of larger rotor blades.
Laboratory plasmas inherently exhibit temperature and density gradients leading to complex investigations. We show that plasmas generated by laser ablation can constitute a robust exception to this. Supported by emission features not observed with other sources, we achieve plasmas of various compositions which are both uniform and in local thermodynamic equilibrium. These properties characterize an ideal radiation source opening multiple perspectives in plasma spectroscopy. The finding also constitutes a breakthrough in the analytical field as fast analyses of complex materials become possible.
Label-free direct-optical biosensors such as surface-plasmon resonance (SPR) spectroscopy has become a gold standard in biochemical analytics in centralized laboratories. Biosensors based on photonic integrated circuits (PIC) are based on the same physical sensing mechanism: evanescent field sensing. PIC-based biosensors can play an important role in healthcare, especially for point-of-care diagnostics, if challenges for a transfer from research laboratory to industrial applications can be overcome. Research is at this threshold, which presents a great opportunity for innovative on-site analyses in the health and environmental sectors. A deeper understanding of the innovative PIC technology is possible by comparing it with the well-established SPR spectroscopy. In this work, we shortly introduce both technologies and reveal similarities and differences. Further, we review some latest advances and compare both technologies in terms of surface functionalization and sensor performance.
Direct optical detection methods such as surface plasmon resonance imaging (SPRi) and photonic-integrated-circuits (PIC)-based biosensors provide a fast label-free detection of COVID-19 antibodies in real-time. Each technology, i.e., SPRi and PIC, has advantages and disadvantages in terms of throughput, miniaturization, multiplexing, system integration, and cost-effective mass production. However, both technologies share similarities in terms of sensing mechanism and both can be used as high-content diagnostics at or near to point of care, where the analyte is not just quantified but comprehensively characterized. This is significant because recent results suggest that not only the antibody concentration of the three isotypes IgM, IgG, and IgA but also the strength of binding (affinity) gives an indication of potential COVID-19 severity. COVID-19 patients with high titers of low affinity antibodies are associated with disease severity. In this perspective, we provide some insights into how SPR and PIC technologies can be effectively combined and complementarily used for a comprehensive COVID-19 severity monitoring. This opens a route toward an immediate therapy decision to provide patients a treatment in an early stage of the infection, which could drastically lowers the risk of a severe disease course.
Summary In the course of classical optics manufacturing glass components are in permanent direct contact with aqueous operating materials. Such contact leads to a certain absorption of water and hydrogenous compounds that may induce severe glass defects. In this contribution, absorption of hydrogen and other contaminants during grinding of glass was observed and qualitatively detected via laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy. It is shown that hydrogen, calcium, magnesium, and carbon are implanted into the glass surface where the contaminant concentration increases over grinding time or contact time of the glass surface with water and the grinding tool, respectively. The contaminants hydrogen, calcium, and magnesium can be attributed to the water used as lubricant. In contrast, carbon most likely originates from wear debris of the used silicon carbide grinding pads. Several possible mechanisms that lead to such surface contamination of glasses during grinding – diffusion, accumulation in micro cracks as well as the formation of hydrated silica – are finally introduced.
Electro-optical properties of doped polymers with high transparency in the visible wavelength range
(2021)
The electro-optical (EO) properties of poly(methyl methacrylate) and the photopolymer poly(vinyl cinnamate) doped with varying concentrations of the EO chromophore 2-Methyl-4-nitroaniline were measured. The EO polymers were embedded in Fabry-Pérot etalons for the simultaneous determination of the Pockels and Kerr coefficients from measurements of the fringe shift induced by an external electric field. It was found that the host polymer has a significant impact on the EO performance and that the undoped host polymers exhibit a significant Pockels effect. Moreover, the Kerr effect provides a substantial contribution of 27% to the total change of the refractive index at relatively high electric field strengths of E = 91.2 MV m−1.
Polycrystalline infrared (PIR) fibers are used for numerous applications, one of those being power delivery for CO2 lasers. However, the fiber tip surface's transmittance cannot be increased with conventional antireflection coatings due to the surface unevenness. Antireflection microstructures (ARMs) offer an alternative way of increasing transmittance. In this work, ARMs were fabricated on the fiber tip surface of an AgClBr fiber by single-pulse femtosecond laser ablation. A single-surface transmittance of 92.8% at 10.6 μm, a CO2 laser operation wavelength, was achieved. The proposed method can help significantly improve the systems' efficiency, where power delivery for CO2 lasers or sources operating in the wide wavelength range is required.
Small and medium-sized companies increasingly turning their attention towards the fourth industrial revolution. In order to increase their own long-term competitiveness, there is a growing desire to make production smarter, more efficient, safer and more sustainable through new technologies. Often, however, existing plants cannot be easily replaced by modern equipment. The reasons for this can be high investment costs, excessive downtimes or the unavailability of an equivalent machine. An alternative solution to the purchase of new equipment is the modernisation or expansion of existing systems, also called retrofitting. Thus, this paper deals with the retrofit process of a machine tool, whereby the software architecture of the control unit is the primary concern of this work.
During the last decade production innovation was mainly focused on connectivity aspects. The vision of smart factories running on software, that uses collected machine data, has become true but foremost for leading industrial companies in highly developed countries. Apart from these, production can also be found in non-industrialized craft professions as well as in less developed countries. As digitalization does not necessarily require an industrial or developed setting the latter could possibly benefit from it as well. Socio-cyber-physical production systems have been used to describe the interdependencies of linked production systems but usually focus on highly developed regions as well as for industrial applications. This paper lines out similarities and differences for each case, introduces the concept of cyber-physical production systems (CPPS) and its extension to socio-CPPS (SCPPS), which emphasizes the role of human workers in the production environment. The relation between industrial, non-industrial production and innovations is examined. Furthermore, the widening of SCCPS concepts for non-industrial production is discussed.
Dermatological in vivo measurements are used for various purposes, e.g. health care, development and testing of skin care products or claim support in marketing. Especially for the last two purposes, in vivo measurements are extensive due to the quantity and repeatability of the measurement series. Furthermore, they are performed manually and therefore represent a nonnegligible time and cost factor. A solution to this is the implementation of collaborative robotics for the measurement execution. Due to various body shapes and surface conditions, common static control procedures are not applicable. To solve this problem, spatial information obtained from a stereoscopic camera can be integrated into the robot control process. However, the designated measurement area has to be detected and the spatial information processed. Therefore the authors propose a concept towards segmenting arm areas through a CNN-based object detector and their further processing to perform robot-based in vivo measurements. The paper gives an overview of the utilization of RGB-D images in 2D object detectors and describes the selection of a suitable model for the application. Furthermore the creation, annotation and augmentation of a custom dataset is presented.
Faults in industrial chiller systems can lead to higher energy consumption, increasing wear of system components and shorten equipment life. While they gradually cause anomalous system operating conditions, modern automatic fault detection models aim to detect them at low severity by using real-time sensor data. Many scientific contributions addressed this topic in the past and presented data-driven approaches to detect faulty system states. Although many promising results were presented to date, there is lack of suitable comparison studies that show the effectiveness of the proposed models by use of data stemming from different chiller systems. Therefore this study aims at detecting a suitable data-driven approach to detect faults reliable in different domains of industrial chillers. Thus, a unified procedure is developed, to train all algorithms in an identical way with same data-basis. Since most of the reviewed papers used only one dataset for training and testing, the selected approaches are trained and validated on two different datasets from real refrigeration systems. The data-driven approaches are evaluated based on their accuracy and true negative rate, from which the most suitable approach is derived as a conclusion.
Chiller systems are used in many different applications in both the industrial and the commercial sector. They are considered major energy consumers and thus contribute a non-negligible factor to environmental pollution as well as to the overall operating cost. In addition, chillers, especially in industrial applications, are often associated with high reliability requirements, as unplanned system downtimes are usually costly. As many studies over the past decades have shown, the presence of faults can lead to significant performance degradation and thus higher energy consumption of these systems. Thus, data-driven fault detection plays an ever-increasing role in terms of energy efficient control strategies. However, labelled data to train associated algorithms are often only available to a limited extent, which consequently inhibits the broad application of such technologies. Therefore, this paper presents an approach that exploits only a small amount of labelled and large amounts of unlabelled data in the training phase in order to detect fault related anomalies. For this, the model utilizes the residual space of the data transformed through principal component analyses in conjunction with a biased support vector machine, which can be ascribed to the concept of semi-supervised learning, or more specifically, positive-unlabelled learning.
To achieve climate goals and contain further global warming, it is inevitable to reduce CO2 emissions especially in energy consumption. A way to do so is by integrating renewable energy sources (RES) into an energy system’s power generation. However, there is no standard procedure to decarbonise a locally restricted system. Therefore, the various local conditions have to be analysed and taken into consideration.
The authors propose a model-based approach to decarbonise the energy system of the island Föhr, Germany. This includes various collected data sets on local conditions such as climate data and heat and power demand. The data is used to represent the island’s energy system and design a model-based solution in a simulation software.
The authors identify potentials by comparing costs and revenues by addressing the deployment of different RES technologies. One finding is that heat generation causes 91 % of CO2 emissions making it the major producer. However, with the designed solution, emissions could be reduced to a third.
The fossil fuels used to provide energy, such as coal, crude oil and natural gas, are largely responsible for carbon dioxide emissions and other so-called greenhouse gases. Hydrogen gas (H2) can make a key contribution to decarbonization. It can be produced using various processes. Several processes are available to produce hydrogen, such as (i) steam reforming, (ii) cracking process or (iii) electrolysis. Depending on the source of origin, there is a distinction made between different “colours”. Gray, blue, turquoise, yellow and green hydrogen is available, the latter made using Renewable Energies. However, items such as (i) possible variants of hydrogen, (ii) leading export countries or (iii) provision paths to be preferred in the future will be discussed in this paper.
Science, technology and politics agree: hydrogen will be the energy carrier of the future. It will replace fossil fuels based on a sufficient supply from sustainable energy. Since the possibilities of storing and transporting hydrogen play a decisive role here, the so-called LOHC (Liquid Organic Hydrogen Carriers) can be used as carrier materials. LOHC carrier materials can reversibly absorb hydrogen, store it without loss and release it again when needed. Since little or no pressure is required, normal containers or tanks can be used. The volume or mass-related energy densities can reach around a quarter of liquid fossil fuels.
This paper is to give an introduction to the field of hydrogen storage and usage of those LOHC, in particular. The developments of the last ten years have been related to the storage and transport of hydrogen with LOHC. These are crucial to meet the future demand for energy carriers e.g. for mobile applications. For this purpose, all transport systems are under consideration as well as the decentralized supply of rural areas with low technological penetration, e.g. regions of Western Africa which are often characterized by a lack of energy supply. Hydrogen bound in LOHC can provide a hazard-free alternative for distribution. The paper provides an overview of the conversion forms as well as the chemical carrier materials. Dibenzyltoluene as well as N-ethylcarbazole - as examples for LOHC - are discussed as well as chemical hydrogen storage materials like ammonia boranes as alternatives to LOHC.
Bi-facial Open-Space Photovoltaic Systems versus Conventional Systems using Mono-facial Modules
(2021)
As part of a scientific work within the solar company Sunfarming GmbH, the aim was to find out whether bi-facial modules on open spaces deliver better results economically than conventional mono-facial solar modules. In this context, an already installed 750 kWp PV system with mono-facial solar modules was compared directly with a structurally identical PV system with bi-facial modules, which, however, does not exist in practice but was only simulated with PV software. The second part of the investigation includes the comparison of four different assembly systems or elevation variants in order to determine the system with the best relationship between system yield and costs.
The final result of the first investigation showed that the use of bi-facial modules reduced the specific costs per kWh by approximately 5 %. In order to improve this effect, the use of compact assembly systems is recommended, e.g. five rows of modules per table with horizontal alignment.
Complementary large scale molecular-dynamics simulations and experiments have been carried out to determine the atomistic mechanisms of the nanoindentation process in single crystal Fe {110}, {100}, and {111}. The defect formation and motion causes the complex mechanisms of plastic and elastic deformation which is reflected in the pileup patterns. The experimental results show distinct patterns of pileup material which are dependent on the individual crystal faces and the superposition of the stress field of the indenter. The highest pileup around the indenter hole occurs on the {100} surface and the shallowest on {111}. The least symmetric surface is {110} which produces an experimental pileup pattern displaying only twofold symmetry with the axially symmetric indenter. The pyramidal indenter produces an asymmetric pattern which changes as the crystal is rotated with respect to the tip but repeats with threefold rotational symmetry. Material displacement occurs primarily in planes of the {110} family. Pileup is formed by cross slip between planes of the same family which intersect in ⟨111⟩ directions. For the {110} surface, dislocation loops propagate in the four in-plane ⟨111⟩ directions and the two inclined
⟨111⟩ directions. The loops that propagate in the in-plane directions are terminated by edge dislocations at the surface. These transport material away from the tip but cannot produce pileup. The loops that propagate in the inclined direction cross slip and cause the observed pileup. The {100} surface has fourfold rotational symmetry and all the ⟨111⟩ directions are inclined. The dislocation loops propagate in these directions and cross slip readily occurs, leading to a large pileup. The {111} face shows the least pileup which is more spread out over the surface. In this case the dislocation loops propagate in shallow slip planes and do not readily cross slip. Experimentally determined force-depth curves show distinct “pop-ins” which correspond to the formation of dislocations. The contact pressure (nanohardness) is not a constant and increases with decreasing indentation depth. It also changes with crystal face. Calculated force-depth curves match the experimental trend but give estimates of the nanohardness and Young’s modulus higher than those values experimentally determined.
C60 and amorphous diamond-like carbon (DLC) films have been grown by thermal evaporation and laser ablation techniques at different substrate temperatures and on various substrates. The elastic modulus and the hardness of the films have been investigated by surface acoustic waves and nanoindentation. Both methods are completely new and designed for investigations of very thin films. For homogeneous C60 films the Young's modulus was found to be 14 GPa and the Poisson's ratio of 0.2. The measured nanohardness of 167 MPa corresponds with the microhardness value of 130 MPa. There is a correlation between deposition techniques and hardness as well as Young's modulus for DLC films.
This work presents a comparison of numerical simulation and experimental data for nanoindentation studies of nanostructural Me-carbonaceous films (where Me = Pd or Ni). Films containing palladium or nickel nanograins embedded in a carbonaceous matrix were synthesized by a PVD process. The topography of films was characterized by AFM and the mechanical properties were analyzed by nanoindentation. Nanoindentation experiments were performed with a tip made of diamond with a shape of a 90° cube corner three-sided pyramid in a Hysitron Triboscope. The finite element method (FEM) was used to simulate the indentation experiment in such heterogeneous material on nanoscale.
Photodynamic therapy (PDT) employs light activation of tissue-localized photosensitizer in an oxygen-dependent process which initiates oxidative stress, inflammation, and cell death. Laser systems, which are mostly used in PDT as light sources can be costly and oversized. light-emitting diodes (LEDs) equipment has a high potential to simplify technical part of phototriggered therapies and to reduce its costs. We develop the LED-based system that includes the control and irradiation units. The system provides the same power density at any irradiation point. Among the advantages of the device is a possibility to change the irradiation area and tune the irradiation dose. PDT experiments with cancer cells in vitro treated with two different photosensitizers demonstrated a possibility to use the developed LED-based system as a low-cost light source in PDT.
Optical-resolution photoacoustic microscopy (OR-PAM) combines high spatial resolution and strong absorption-based contrast in tissue, which has enabled structural and spectroscopic imaging of endogenous chromophores, primarily hemoglobin. Conventional piezoelectric ultrasound transducers are typically placed far away from the photoacoustic source due to their opacity, which reduces acoustic sensitivity. Optical ultrasound sensors are an alternative as their transparency allows them to be positioned close to the sample with minimal source-detector distances. In this work, a backward-mode OR-PAM system based on a planar Fabry-Pérot ultrasound sensor and coaxially aligned excitation and interrogation beams was developed. Two 3D imaging modes, using raster-scanning for enhanced image quality and continuous-scanning for fast imaging, were implemented and tested on a leaf skeleton phantom. In fast imaging mode, a scan-rate of 100,000 A-lines/s was achieved. 3D images of a zebrafish embryo were acquired in vivo in raster-scanning mode. The transparency of the FP sensor in the visible and near-infrared wavelength region makes it suitable for combined functional and molecular imaging applications using OR-PAM and multi-photon fluorescence microscopy.
The investigation of the crack propagation in as-extruded and heat-treated Mg-Dy-Nd-Zn-Zr alloy with a focus on the interaction of long-period stacking-ordered (LPSO) structures is the aim of this study. Solution heat treatment on a hot extruded Mg-Dy-Nd-Zn-Zr (RESOLOY®) was done to change the initial fine-grained microstructure, consisting of grain boundary blocky LPSO and lamellar LPSO structures within the matrix, into coarser grains of less lamellar and blocky LPSO phases. C-ring compression tests in Ringer solution were used to cause a fracture. Crack initiation and propagation is influenced by twin boundaries and LPSO lamellae. The blocky LPSO phases also clearly hinder crack growth, by increasing the energy to pass either through the phase or along its interface. The microstructural features were characterized by micro- and nanohardness as well as the amount and location of LPSO phases in dependence on the heat treatment condition. By applying nanoindentation, blocky LPSO phases show a higher hardness than the grains with or without lamellar LPSO phases and their hardness decreases with heat treatment time. On the other hand, the matrix increases in hardness by solid solution strengthening. The microstructure consisting of a good balance of grain size, matrix and blocky LPSO phases and twins shows the highest fracture energy.
One of the limiting factors of graphene integration into electronic, photonic, or sensing devices is the unavailability of large-scale graphene directly grown on the isolators. Therefore, it is necessary to transfer graphene from the donor growth wafers onto the isolating target wafers. In the present research, graphene was transferred from the chemical vapor deposited 200 mm Germanium/Silicon (Ge/Si) wafers onto isolating (SiO2/Si and Si3N4/Si) wafers by electrochemical delamination procedure, employing poly(methylmethacrylate) as an intermediate support layer. In order to influence the adhesion properties of graphene, the wettability properties of the target substrates were investigated in this study. To increase the adhesion of the graphene on the isolating surfaces, they were pre-treated with oxygen plasma prior the transfer process of graphene. The wetting contact angle measurements revealed the increase of the hydrophilicity after surface interaction with oxygen plasma, leading to improved adhesion of the graphene on 200 mm target wafers and possible proof-of-concept development of graphene-based devices in standard Si technologies.
Renewable energy sources are more important today than ever before, as they represent a key factor in reducing greenhouse emissions and fossil fuel consumption. Avoiding excessive burdens on future generations has now become the declared challenge of this century and justifies the efforts we must undertake to reduce global warming. This can only be achieved by conceiving new technical approaches, exploiting alternative resources and by raising people's awareness of the sustainable use of their own livelihoods. However, this change in awareness is a process that needs to be driven forward, especially in the field of research and education, and is therefore the declared aim of the Joint German-West African Conference on Sustainable, Renewable Energy Systems – SusRES. This annual conference provides a platform for exchange between scientists, students and many other interested parties, with technological progress at the forefront of the event. The SusRES conference is known as an accelerator for an ever-growing international network, not limited to the circumstances of a single country or even continent, which strives to take on and meet the global challenges of the present and future.
This year's guiding theme of the event -Decentralized systems as a key factor in clean energy production for locations with limited infrastructure- of the event is primarily based on the consideration of how the energy supply of the future is to be designed. For some years now, a paradigm shift towards decentralised energy supply has been observed, which opens up new possibilities especially in areas with weak infrastructural supply. This is not just about providing energy from renewable resources, but also about exploiting this energy we have today efficiently and sustainably, whereby intelligent and interconnected systems play an ever-increasing role.
The reader is provided with exciting insights into these topics within this conference proceedings elaborated by stakeholders from twelve time zones and four continents. In their contributions, the authors address important findings, especially from research but also from teaching, which represent an important milestone in their activities and thus make a significant contribution to our declared goals.
In this work, we analyze a horizontal slot waveguide configuration, which evaluates the potential for an integration of barium titanate (BTO) based modulators into a photonic integrated circuit (PIC) technology based on siliconon- insulator (SOI) wafer. The waveguide configuration consists of a doped crystal silicon layer, a Ba0:7Sr0:3TiO3 (BST) template layer, a barium titanate (BTO) layer and a doped poly-silicon layer on top. In contrast to current approaches, we analyze the performance of this waveguide-structure by using a vertical electrode configuration that is formed by the doped silicon layer. In this way, the electric field strength is dramatically increased compared to current horizontal electrode configuration.
In this work, a cost-effective optofluidic system is propossed and preliminary experimental results are presented. A microfluidic channel monolithically integrated into a photonic integrated circuit technology is used in conjunc- tion with a cyclo-olefin copolymer (COC) substrate to provide fluidic in- and output ports. We report on initial experimental results as well as on the simple and cost-effective fabrication of this optofluidic system by means of micro-milling.
Carbon-based functional Materials for Application in Photonics, Optoelectronics and Sensorics
(2015)
In this work, two different processes to deposit Graphene-based transparent conductive films on arbitrary insulting substrates have been developed and examined. The first process is a PE-CVD, based on a gas mixture containing hydrocarbons (e.g. methane) inside a vacuum chamber where the insulating substrates are placed on a temperature controlled heating plate.
The second process uses a pulsed filtered vacuum arc system (Phi-HCA) to homogeneously deposit a small, well defined amount of carbon on heated substrates. The substrates are tilted with respect to the particle beam and placed on a heating plate. A gas atmosphere consisting of Argon or Argon/Hydrogen decreases the particle energy and influences the morphology of the growing film.
For both processes, Scanning Tunneling Microscopy (STM), Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) and Raman spectra have been used for a thorough characterization of the samples in order to optimize the growth parameters. Subsequently, the results (sheet resistance, Hall mobility, transmittance) have been compared with respect to the state of the art, reported in literature. The best carbon layers have a surface resistance of 5E3 Ohm_sqr while the optical transparency of the coatings is 88% with an excellent homogeneity over areas of several cm^2. Both for the PE-CVD and the Phi-HCA, the area of deposition is only limited by the respective area of the heated surface. The obtained results and the fact, that the process can be compatible with most semiconductor fabrication processes, makes them promising for various industrial applications.
In this work, we present for the first time a partially slotted silicon ring resonator (PSRR) covered with an electro-optical polymer (Poly[(methyl methacrylate)-co-(Disperse Red 1 acrylate)]). The PSRR takes advantage of both a highly efficient vertical slot waveguide based phase shifter and a low loss strip waveguide in a single ring. The device is realized on 200 mm silicon-on-insulator wafers using 248 nm DUV lithography and covered with the electro-optic polymer in a post process. This silicon-organic hybrid ring resonator has a small footprint, high optical quality factor, and high DC device tunability. A quality factor of up to 105 and a DC device tunability of about 700 pm/V is experimentally demonstrated in the wavelength range of 1540 nm to 1590 nm. Further, we compare our results with state-of-the-art silicon-organic hybrid devices by determining the poling efficiency. It is demonstrated that the active PSRR is a promising candidate for efficient optical switches and tunable filters.
Development of tuneable Fabry-Pérot sensors for parallelised photoacoustic signal acquisition
(2019)
Fabry-Pérot (FP) sensors have enabled high resolution 3D photoacoustic (PA) imaging in backward mode. However, raster-scanning of the interrogation laser beam across the sensor can result in slow 3D image acquisition. To overcome this limitation, parallelized PA signal acquisition can be used for which FP sensors with uniform optical thickness are required. In this work, the optical thickness is tuned a) irreversibly through the use of a photopolymer host matrix and b) actively using embedded electro-optic (EO) chromophores. Polymer spacers (5 μm) were deposited using spin coating and sandwiched between two dielectric mirrors and transparent ITO electrodes. The employed polymer guest-host system consists of an EO chromophore (2-methyl-4-nitroaniline) and poly(vinyl cinnamate). EO tuneability was induced using contact poling and a tuneability of 68 pm was demonstrated. The optical thickness was homogenised by raster scanning a UV beam whilst varying the exposure time across a 4 mm2 detection aperture.
Through Silicon Via (TSV) technology is a key feature of new 3D integration of circuits by creation of interconnections using vias, which go through the silicon wafer. Typically, the highly-selective Bosch Si etch process, characterized by a high etch rate and high aspect ratio and forming of scallops on the sidewalls is used. As presented in this paper, we have developed an experimental setup and a respective evaluation algorithm for the control and monitoring of very high aspect ratio TSV profiles by spectroscopic reflectometry. For this purpose square via arrays with lateral dimension from 3 to 10 μm were fabricated by a Bosch etch process and analyzed by our setup. By exploiting interference and diffraction effects of waves reflected from the top and bottom surfaces as well as from the side walls of the TSV patterns, the measurements provided etch depths, CD values and scallop periods. The results were compared with data obtained by a commercial wafer metrology tool. Aspect ratios of up to 35:1 were safely evaluable by our setup.
Fiber-to-chip light coupling using a graded-index (GRIN) fiber collimator is investigated. Our experiments with grating couplers and strip waveguides fabricated in a photonic integrated circuit technology reveal that the peak coupling efficiency of a GRIN fiber collimator is 7.8 dB lower than that of a single-mode fiber. However, the 3-dB alignment tolerance is improved by a factor of about 5.7 giving rise to pluggable sensor solutions. This work opens a path toward a cost-effective and portable sensor platform based on pluggable photonic biosensors using GRIN fiber collimators.
CMOS-Compatible Silicon Photonic Sensor for Refractive Index Sensing Using Local Back-Side Release
(2020)
Silicon photonic sensors are promising candidates for lab-on-a-chip solutions with versatile applications and scalable production prospects using complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) fabrication methods. However, the widespread use has been hindered because the sensing area adjoins optical and electrical components making packaging and sensor handling challenging. In this work, a local back-side release of the photonic sensor is employed, enabling a separation of the sensing area from the rest of the chip. This approach allows preserving the compatibility of photonic integrated circuits in the front-end of line and metal interconnects in the back-end of line. The sensor is based on a micro-ring resonator and is fabricated on wafer-level using a CMOS technology. We revealed a ring resonator sensitivity for homogeneous sensing of 106 nm/RIU.
Impact of inorganic nanoparticles on optical properties of low refractive index waveguiding polymers
(2020)
The objective of this work is to improve the optical properties of low refractive index polymers used for waveguide by introduction of inorganic nanoparticles. Copolymers of fluorinated monomers and glycidyl methacrylate are used. Introduction of SiO2 nanoparticles into polymer matrix is performed by direct mixing; copolymerization with SiO2 nanoparticles modified by monomer, and in situ sol-gel formation of SiO2 during photochemical cross-linking and annealing catalyzed by photoacid generator. It is demonstrated that nanoparticles are able to decrease thermo-optic coefficient. It is also possible to fabricate waveguiding layers by direct introduction of nanoparticles without compromising of optical propagation losses.
In this work we present a novel optical polymer system based on polyurethane elastomer components, which combines excellent UV transparency with high thermal stability, good hardness, high surface tension and long pot life. The material looks very promising for encapsulation and microlensing applications for chip-on-board (CoB) light-emitting diodes (LED). The extinction coefficient k, refractive index n, and bandgap parameters were derived from transmission and reflection measurements in a wavelength range of 200-890 nm. Thermogravimetry and differential scanning calorimetry were used to provide glass transition and degradation temperatures. The surface tension was determined by means of contact angle measurements. As proof of concept, a commercial InGaN-CoB-LED is used to demonstrate the suitability of the new material for the production of microlenses.
Concentrating solar power (CSP) is considered as one of the promising ways for future sustainable electricity generation, especially in the Sahel region, which is characterized by high direct solar irradiation, but also severe and acute energy poverty. In this paper, we focus on the linear Fresnel system, which it is probably the simplest CSP technology and presents the lowest investment costs. However, it is the less investigated CSP technology and several authors expect significant cost reduction of this technology. Therefore, deeper knowledge on the technology is required. We aim at investigating the coupling of a linear Fresnel system with various energy processes in order to bring out its interests for the Sahel region and, hence, provide sustainable energy services such as electricity generation for rural areas, cooling and refrigeration via sorption cold production, hot water or steam supply for semi-industrial or industrial processes. We have built a linear Fresnel collector of 7.5 m2. The receiver has been designed as a trapezoidal receiver with multi-tubular absorber; it has been experimentally investigated in order to determine its thermal performance, especially the heat loss coefficients. Jatropha curcas oil, a locally produced non-edible vegetable oil is used as heat transfer fluid. The concentrator has been characterised in order to find its optical, thermal and global efficiencies. Paths for the prototype performance improvement have been identified and examined.
The neighborhood population pressure one Djamdè reserve is investigated in this paper. After noting and observing changes in the microclimate of Djamdè, a survey was conducted. At the end of this survey, market gardening was proposed not only to remove the increased pressure on the reserve, but also to provide an income generating activity for this very vulnerable population.
The collection of data on existing wells in the vicinity of the site shows that the availability of water for market gardening can be ensured by drilling. A comparative study between a pumping system with a petrol-powered pump and a photovoltaic system in the town of Kara has been carried out.
The solar pumping system is by far the most interesting for Djamdè site. Considering the very high initial investment cost of the components of the solar pumping system, its size can be reduced by organizing and planning the watering of the crops.
Vapor compression refrigeration systems are subject to performance degradation over time due to the presence of faults. However, latest work in the field of condition-based maintenance shows promising results in the automatic early detection of anomalous behaviour as well as in accurate machine diagnostics and can, therefore, increase the overall system reliability by simultaneously preventing machine downtimes. In this paper, the latest research works carried out within the last decade are reviewed and the approaches are classified regarding their working principles. Furthermore, the work at hand depicts the current research trend in this field and outlines current obstacles.
Amongst the Renewable Energy Sources (RES) contributing to the worldwide electricity production, wind energy became very important. Germany and several other countries own significant wind potentials. 2% of a country’s area can be used for wind farms, thus Germany could produce easily up to 200 TWhel yearly just onshore. However, often legal and especially financial aspects decide about the speed of development. Careful project preparation guaranteed by professional management is obligatory. Beside factors such as (i) rights to the property and (ii) electric grid connection, (iii) the sufficiency of the wind and peripheral conditions need to be known. A proper wind forecast and yield prognoses are important items. To solve these tasks, professional programs are sold on the markets. To offer a convenient alternative, authors will present software based on Excel named as WindCalc 1.5, which is still under development.
The design of solar energy systems requires knowledge of the global solar radiation received by solar panels on the ground. However, for many developing countries such as the Benin Republic, there is a serious lack of radiometric stations everywhere in the country. The unavailability of these data, therefore, limits knowledge regarding the optimal functioning of solar installations. To cope with these difficulties, a method for estimating the global irradiation is developed at Nalohou AMMA CATCH station and Natintingou synoptic station, two sites in North-West Benin. This model depends on meteorological and astronomical parameters. Meteorological data such as sunshine duration, relative humidity, and air temperature have been collected on the synoptic station of Natitingou, and observed data of irradiation are collected from Nalohou. They are used to validate the model. The results show that the estimation of the mean square deviation value is around 10 -2 . Overall solar radiation is significant in this region and its annual average value varies between 9.80 kWh/m2 and 10.50 kWh/m2. This model can, therefore, be used by solar system operators to optimize energy production in the region.
This work presents a 3D ray tracing approach for the optical simulation of a parabolic solar concentrator for a thermo-magnetic (Curie motor) experiment. An approach based on Snell's law of reflection (geometrical optics) in vector form is used in this study. We consider the solid angle of the sun through a rotation of the concentrator around an axis. This paper aims to set up a digital technical tool as flexible as possible for applications in the field of renewable energy.Mathematical modelling as well as numerical simulation in Python environment are presented. The aim of the proposed algorithm is to be used for the concentration of light rays on any optical system, symmetrical or not. Better yet, offers a solar tracking model.