Measurements of the effective lifetime of O atoms in atmospheric premixed flames

Quantitative femtosecond, two-photon laser-induced fluorescence of atomic oxygen in high-pressure flames

Quantitative femtosecond two-photon laser-induced fluorescence of atomic oxygen was demonstrated in an H₂/air flame at pressures up to 10 atm. Femtosecond excitation at 226.1 nm was used to pump the 3pP3_J^'=0,1,2←←2pP3_J^''=0,1,2 electronic transition of atomic oxygen. Contributions from multiphoton de-excitation, production of atomic oxygen, and photolytic interferences were investigated and minimized by limiting the laser irradiance to ∼10¹¹  W/cm². Quantitative agreement was achieved with the theoretical equilibrium mole fraction of atomic oxygen over a wide range of fuel-air ratios and pressures in an H₂/air laminar calibration burner.

Comparison of nanosecond and picosecond excitation for two-photon laser-induced fluorescence imaging of atomic oxygen in flames

Two-photon laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) imaging of atomic oxygen is investigated in premixed hydrogen and methane flames with nanosecond and picosecond pulsed lasers at 226 nm. In the hydrogen flame, the interference from photolysis is negligible compared with the LIF signal from native atomic oxygen, and the major limitations on quantitative measurements are stimulated emission and photoionization. Excitation with a nanosecond laser is advantageous in the hydrogen flames, because it reduces the effects of stimulated emission and photoionization. In the methane flames, however, photolytic interference is the major complication for quantitative O-atom measurements. A comparison of methane and hydrogen flames indicates that vibrationally excited CO2 is the dominant precursor for laser-generated atomic oxygen. In the methane flames, picosecond excitation offers a significant advantage by dramatically reducing the photolytic interference. The prospects for improved O-atom imaging in hydrogen and hydrocarbon flames are presented.

Two-Dimensional Visualization of Fluorescence Lifetimes by use of a Picosecond Laser and a Streak Camera

Two-dimensional distributions of the effective lifetime of the fluorescence emission induced by short-pulsed laser radiation are obtained from two-dimensional images recorded with a streak camera and a charge-coupled device by means of a separation algorithm method (SAM). In theory, the best response with respect to noise is obtained for lifetimes corresponding to a range of pixels of 5-50 in the CCD, that is, 5-50 ps at the fastest streak speed. In experiments the SAM is compared with pure time-resolved measurements, and it is used for two-dimensional lifetime evaluation. The laser-pulse duration is 25 ps, and the lower limit of the lifetime resolution as used in the experiments is estimated to be 200-250 ps. The results demonstrate the possibility of performing pattern recognition independently of the relative distribution of emission intensity between regions of different fluorescence lifetimes. The technique is demonstrated for static objects but can in principle be extended to nonstationary objects if two detectors are used.