Ultra-fast and calibration-free temperature sensing in the intrapulse mode

A Review on 1-D Nanomaterials: Scaling-Up with Gas-Phase Synthesis

Nanowire-like materials exhibit distinctive properties comprising optical polarisation, waveguiding, and hydrophobic channelling, amongst many other useful phenomena. Such 1-D derived anisotropy can be further enhanced by arranging many similar nanowires into a coherent matrix, known as an array superstructure. Manufacture of nanowire arrays can be scaled-up considerably through judicious use of gas-phase methods. Historically, the gas-phase approach however has been extensively used for the bulk and rapid synthesis of isotropic 0-D nanomaterials such as carbon black and silica. The primary goal of this review is to document recent developments, applications, and capabilities in gas-phase synthesis methods of nanowire arrays. Secondly, we elucidate the design and use of the gas-phase synthesis approach; and finally, remaining challenges and needs are addressed to advance this field.

Realization of an ultra-high pressure dynamic calibrate system by drop hammer based on fiber Bragg grating strain sensor

In this letter, we propose a novel technique for dynamic ultra-high pressure calibration that measured pressure by FBG based strain sensor. Generally, the traditional method of dynamic ultra-high pressure calibration by standard sensor is costly and it is difficult to improve the accuracy. Therefore, we prefer FBG strain sensor to replace the standard sensor to calibrate the ultra-high pressure. In this proposal, the calibration process is that the central wavelength of the FBG attached to the elastic element changes rapidly with the strain of the elastic element during the drop hammer impact, synchronously. This allows the calibration accuracy to be easily increased to 0.02% and the cost to be reduced by 1/100 compared to traditional calibration techniques. The experiment results show that coefficient of linear correlation between the strain waveform and the pressure signal reaches 0.999. The strain calibration based on FBG is of great significance to the measurement and calibration of dynamic ultra-high pressure sensors.

CO2 Gas Temperature Sensing Near Room Temperature by a Quantum Cascade Laser in Inter Pulse Mode

A non-invasive CO2 gas temperature sensing technique at or close to the room temperature range based on quantum cascade laser absorption spectroscopy is presented. The method probes thermally populated ground state and hot-band rotational-vibrational transitions of CO2 in the frequency range from 2349 to 2351 cm−1 from which the gas temperature is obtained from Boltzmann statistics. Transmission spectra are recorded by injection-current driven frequency-scans, the so-called inter pulse mode, of a pulsed distributed feedback quantum cascade laser. The statistical uncertainty (1σ) in temperature for single frequency scans with time resolution of 10 ms is 4 K and can be further reduced down to ∼50 mK by long-time averaging of about 1 min. The technique is evaluated with particular emphasis on implementation, data acquisition, data analysis and potential improvements.

Fast Simultaneous CO2 Gas Temperature and Concentration Measurements by Quantum Cascade Laser Absorption Spectroscopy

A quantum cascade laser-based sensing technique is presented which allows for in situ high-precision temperature and/or CO2 concentration measurements of gases in the room temperature regime with sampling rates up to about 40 kHz. The method is based on Boltzmann-like thermally populated fundamental and hot-band rovibrational transitions of CO2 with opposite temperature dependence. Single absorption spectra at about 2350 to 2352 cm−1 are recorded by a nanosecond frequency down chirped IR pulse of a pulsed distributed feedback quantum cascade laser (intrapulse mode). The statistical uncertainty (1σ) in the temperature measurement within one laser pulse is about 1 K and can be further reduced down to about 0.1 K by time averaging over 100 ms. Online temperature and CO2 concentration measurements on a breath simulator controlled gas flow were performed to demonstrate response-time and sensitivity for an application-driven test system.

Rapid spectroscopic gas sensing using optical linear chirp chain

Spectroscopic gas analysis for monitoring transient events in fast processes requires high spectrum acquisition rate with low uncertainty; however, so far high-speed spectroscopic gas detection with sufficient spectral resolution and spectral span is still challenging. Here, we propose an innovative method based on optical linear chirp chain (OLCC) for rapid acquisition of high-resolution gas spectra with a rate up to the order of MHz with 100% duty cycle, spectral resolution at 10-MHz level and spectral span > 20 GHz. The OLCC is generated by high-speed optical modulation driven by a digital arbitrary waveform generator in combination with a four-wave-mixing process, exhibiting a highly linear frequency chirp (linearity error of ~10^-4) and low level of residual amplitude modulation (<1%). An image denoising method based on nonlocal means algorithm is exploited to reduce the high-frequency noise while guaranteeing the response time and spectral resolution. We demonstrate this method by monitoring a fast charging process of acetylene gas into a vacuumized gas cell, clearly unfolding gas pressure oscillations at μs time scale. Our proposed OLCC-based spectroscopic method opens up prospects for the development of high-speed spectrometers and optical sensors.

Intra-pulse laser absorption sensor with cavity enhancement for oxidation experiments in a rapid compression machine

A sensor based on a mid-IR pulsed quantum cascade laser (QCL) and off-axis cavity enhanced absorption spectroscopy (OA-CEAS) has been developed for highly sensitive concentration measurements of carbon monoxide (CO) in a rapid compression machine. The duty cycle and the pulse repetition rate of the laser were optimized for increased tuning range, high chirp rate, and small line width to achieve effective laser-cavity coupling. This enabled spectrally resolved CO line-shape measurements at high pressures (P ~10 bar). A gain factor of 133 and a time resolution of 10 μs were demonstrated. CO concentration-time profiles during the oxidation of highly dilute n-octane/air mixtures were recorded, illustrating new opportunities in RCM experiments for chemical kinetics.

Calibration-free scanned wavelength modulation spectroscopy--application to H(2)O and temperature sensing in flames

A calibration-free scanned wavelength modulation spectroscopy scheme requiring minimal laser characterization is presented. Species concentration and temperature are retrieved simultaneously from a single fit to a group of 2f/1f-WMS lineshapes acquired in one laser scan. The fitting algorithm includes a novel method to obtain the phase shift between laser intensity and wavelength modulation, and allows for a wavelength-dependent modulation amplitude. The scheme is demonstrated by detection of H(2)O concentration and temperature in atmospheric, premixed CH(4)/air flat flames using a sensor operating near 1.4 µm. The detection sensitivity for H(2)O at 2000 K was 4 × 10(-5) cm(-1) Hz(-1/2), and temperature was determined with a precision of 10 K and absolute accuracy of ~50 K. A parametric study of the dependence of H(2)O and temperature on distance to the burner and total fuel mass flow rate shows good agreement with 1D simulations.