Agar phantoms of biological tissue for fluorescence monitoring of photodynamic therapy

An approach to fabricating agar phantoms mimicking spectral optical properties of biological tissues with fluorescent inclusions is proposed, which allows one to imitate the problem of optical visualisation of superficial biological tissues after the administration of a chlorin-based photosensitiser. The different arrangement of a fluorescent layer within a phantom makes it possible to simulate biological tissue in the cases of both topical application and intravenous injection of a photosensitiser. It is shown that absorption and scattering spectra of phantoms are in good agreement with the spectra of real biological tissues in the wavelength range of 500-800 nm. Changes in spectra of absorption and scattering coefficients of phantoms, as well as in their fluorescent properties induced by the addition of a fluorescent marker (chlorinbased photosensitiser) are demonstrated.

Широкополосная ЭПР-спектроскопия кристалла SrY-=SUB=-2-=/SUB=-O-=SUB=-4-=/SUB=-:Ho-=SUP=-3+-=/SUP=-

EPR spectra of impurity Ho3+ ions in oriented SrY2O4 single-crystals are registered at the temperature 4.2 K in the frequency range from 70 to 180 GHz. The results of measurements evidence for the substitution of Ho3+ ions for the Y3+ ions at the structurally nonequivalent sites R1 and R2 with the local Cs point symmetry. The values of g-factors, hyperfine structure constants and the energy gaps berween the ground and the first excited non-degenherate crystal-field sublevels of the ground 5I8 multiplet are determined. The observed specific features of the ground states of Но3+ ions (non-Kramers doublets with the zero-field splittings of 4.30 and 1.67 cm-1) open a possibility to identify transitions in optical spectra of SrY2O4:Ho and inelastic neutron scattering spectra of SrHo2O4 crystals.

Низкотемпературная фотолюминесценция монослоя WSe-=SUB=-2-=/SUB=-, полученного механическим слоением с использованием золота

We studied the optical properties of an atomically thin WSe$_2$ film obtained by gold-assisted mechanical exfoliation. Raman scattering spectra, low-temperature photoluminescence, and micro-reflection from large-scale monolayer are investigated. At room temperature, the optical properties of such a film reproduce the properties of WSe$_2$ monolayers obtained by regular mechanical exfoliation. It is shown that at low temperatures, the radiation spectra of the resulting film are determined by standard mechanisms of radiative recombination involving free excitons, bound excitons, and trions. However, in contrast to room temperatures, there is a significant difference in the spectral width and intensity of the lines compared to monolayers WSe$_2$, obtained regular way from the same source material. The differences found, demonstrating a significant increase in background doping and structural disorder when using gold-assisted exfoliation, may be meaningful for a number of optoelectronic applications of atomically thin WSe$_2$ films.

Fabrication of BaSi2 homojunction diodes on Nb-doped TiO2 coated glass substrates by aluminum-induced crystallization and two-step evaporation method

BaSi2 homojunction diodes on Nb-doped TiO2 (TiO2:Nb) coated glass substrates were fabricated using aluminum-induced crystallization (AIC) and two-step evaporation method. From Raman scattering spectra, the growth of BaSi2 on TiO2:Nb was confirmed when the thickness of poly-Si grown by AIC (AIC-Si) was more than 150 nm. The partial formation of BaSi2 diodes was confirmed from the samples prepared at temperature during AIC TAIC=475-525 oC. The long-wavelength edge of photoresponsivity of the diodes was located around 950 nm, which corresponds to the bandgap of BaSi2 of 1.3 eV, suggesting that this photocurrent is derived from BaSi2 thin films. At TAIC =500 oC, the maximum value of photoresponsivity was obtained. Since the largest grains in AIC-Si were also obtained at TAIC=500 oC, these results suggest that larger grain of AIC-Si leads to the improvement of the quality of BaSi2 thin films themselves and the performance of BaSi2 diodes.

On the limits of quasi-static theory in plasmonic nanostructures

The approximated analytical approach of Quasi-Static Theory (QST) is widely used in modelling the optical response of plasmonic nanoparticles. It is well known that its accuracy is remarkable provided that the particle is much smaller than the wavelength of the interacting radiation and that the field induced inside the structure is approximately uniform. Here, we investigate the limits of QST range of validity for gold nanostructures freestanding in air. First, we compare QST predictions of scattering spectra of nanospheres and cylindrical nanowires of various sizes with the exact results provided by Mie scattering theory. We observe a non-monotonic behaviour of the error of QST as a function of the characteristic length of the nanostructures, revealing a non-trivial scaling of its accuracy with the scatterer size. Second, we study nanowires with elliptical section upon different excitation conditions by performing finite element numerical analysis. Comparing simulation results with QST estimates of the extinction cross-section, we find that QST accuracy is strongly dependent on the excitation conditions, yielding good results even if the field is highly inhomogeneous inside the structure.

Raman scattering and luminescence in single crystals of the amino acid glycine C2H5NO2 with an admixture of croconic acid C5H2O5

Single crystals of the amino acid glycine (Gly) C2H5NO2 doped with croconic acid (CA) C5H2O5 were synthesized by evaporation from an aqueous solution. The crystals grow in the form of hexagonal pyramids or thin plates. Analysis of polarized Raman scattering spectra (excitation wavelength of 532 nm) measured at room temperatures showed that crystals in the form of pyramids corresponded to γ-polymorph (γ-Gly), and crystals in the form of plates to α-polymorph of glycine (α - Gly). The presence of croconic acid molecules in the crystals is confirmed by the change in their color from white in pure Gly crystals to light or dark yellow, characteristic of CA crystals, as well as the presence of weak lines corresponding to CA in the Raman spectra. In single crystals of both Gly:CA polymorphs, strong green luminescence significantly exceeding the intensity of Raman scattering is observed in the range 400 - 700 nm with a maximum at 510 nm (2.44 eV) upon excitation at λ= 325 nm.

Scattering spectra of dielectric ring: microwave experiments

In recent years, dielectric ring resonators (RRs) have become an essential part of integrated optical circuits. This determines the growing interest in the study of the fundamental electromagnetic properties of these objects, which is far from complete. In particular, in the literature it is difficult to find information about light scattering spectrum, which should demonstrate a strong resonance character when the probe wavelength is comparable to the geometric dimensions of the RR, taking into account its dielectric constant. In this work, we present the results of an experimental study of the electromagnetic properties of a dielectric RR in the microwave range of the spectrum. The results of numerical calculations of the scattering spectrum are also presented, which demonstrate excellent agreement with the experimental data. In addition to the expected resonance character of the spectrum, we report the effects of strong light confinement, which are associated with Fano resonances between the eigenmodes and the component of the electromagnetic field scattered by the ring.