FABRICATION OF TRANSPARENT PU/ZrO_2 NANOCOMPOSITE COATINGS WITH HIGH REFRACTIVE INDEX

Transparent ZrO2-polyurethane nanocomposites with high refractive index were prepared by dispersing ZrO2 nanoparticles in a polyurethane matrix via ligand molecule engineering. TEM showed that the inorganic particles were well dispersed within the polymeric network with no significant macroscopic agglomeration. By controlling the phase separation it was possible to obtain transparent zirconia nanostructured coatings, characterized by improved mechanical and thermal properties. UV-Vis spectra indicated that the coatings still maintained transparency in the visible light. The refractive index of the UV-cured films depends linearly on the ZrO2 content and varies from 1.475 to 1.625 （20 wt%） at 633 nm. These coatings could find advanced applications in coatings of optical and electronic devices.

A hybrid algorithm for reengineering the refractive index profile of inhomogeneous coatings from optical in-situ broadband monitoring data

Reengineering the refractive index profile of inhomogeneous coatings is a troublesome task. Multiplicity of solutions may significantly reduced by providing additional information. For this reason an in-situ broadband monitoring system was developed to measure the transmittance of the growing film directly at the rotating substrate. For characterization of these coatings, a new model was developed, which significantly reduces the number of parameters. The refractive index profile may be described by a proper number of equally spaced volume fraction values using the Bruggeman effective media approach. A good initial approximation of the refractive index profile can be generated based on deposition rates for both materials recorded with quartz crystal monitor during manufacturing. During the optimization process, a second order minimization algorithm was used to vary the refractive index profile of the whole coating and film thickness of the intermediate stages. Finally, a significantly improved accuracy of the modelled transmittance was achieved.

A Transparent Photoresist Made of Titanium Dioxide Nanoparticle-Embedded Acrylic Resin with a Tunable Refractive Index for UV-Imprint Lithography

Transparent photoresists with a high refractive index(RI)and high transmittance in visible wavelengths have promising functionalities in optical fields.This work reports a kind of tunable optical material composed of titanium dioxide nanoparticles embedded in acrylic resin with a high RI for ultraviolet(UV)-imprint lithography.The hybrid film exhibits a tunable RI of up to 1.67(589 nm)after being cured by UV light,while maintaining both a high transparency of over 98%in the visible light range and a low haze of less than 0.05%.The precision machining of optical microstructures can be imprinted easily and efficiently using the hybrid resin,which acts as a light guide plate(LGP)to guide the light from the side to the top in order to conserve the energy of the display device.These preliminary studies based on both laboratory and commercial experiments pave the way for exploiting the unparalleled optical properties of nanocomposite resins and promoting their industrial application.

Surface phonon resonance:A new mechanism for enhancing photonic spin Hall effect and refractive index sensor

Metal-based surface plasmon resonance(SPR)plays an important role in enhancing the photonic spin Hall effect(SHE)and developing sensitive optical sensors.However,the very large negative permittivities of metals limit their applications beyond the near-infrared regime.In this work,we theoretically present a new mechanism to enhance the photonic SHE by taking advantage of SiC-supported surface phonon resonance(SPhR)in the mid-infrared regime.The transverse displacement of photonic SHE is very sensitive to the wavelength of incident light and the thickness of SiC layer.Under the optimal parameter setup,the calculated largest transverse displacement of SiC-based SPhR structure reaches up to 163.8 ym,which is much larger than the condition of SPR.Moreover,an NO_(2) gas sensor based on the SPhR-enhanced photonic SHE is theoretically proposed with the superior sensing performance.Both the intensity and angle sensitivity of this sensor can be effectively manipulated by varying the damping rate of SiC.The results may provide a promising paradigm to enhance the photonic SHE in the mid-infrared region and open up new opportunity of highly sensitive refractive index sensors.

Fabrication of UV-Curing Linalool-Polysiloxane Hybrid Films with High Refractive Index and Transparency

In this article,a series of high refractive indices(1.50-1.53)thiol phenyl polysiloxane(TPS)were synthesized via hydrolytic sol-gel reaction.The Fourier transform infrared spectra(FT-IR)and nuclear magnetic resonance spectra(NMR)results showed that TPS conformed to the predicted structures.Natural terpene linalool was exploited as photocrosslinker to fabricate UV-curing linalool-polysiloxane hybrid films(LPH)with TPS via photoinitiated thiol-ene reaction.LPH rapidly cured under UV irradiation at the intensity of 80 mW/cm^(2) in 30 s,exhibiting good UV-curing properties.The optical transmittance of LPH in the wavelength of 300-800 nm was over 90%,exhibiting good optical transparency.The water contact angle and water vapor permeability results showed that the introduction of phenyl groups enhance the hydrophobicity and water vapor barrier properties of LPH.The results indicated the potential of LPHs in the applications of optical functional coatings.

Predictive methods for density and refractive index of naphthenic lubricating oils during solvent extraction process

Lubricating oils are usually produced by solvent extraction to separate aromatics in order to achieve the desired specifications and better quality products.Among the different properties of lubricating oils,density and refractive index are some of the most important properties which can both be used for petroleum fluid characterization.Predictions of density and refractive index for naphthenic oils during solvent extraction by DMSO obtained by the pseudo-component approach and the quadratic correlation were both examined.The pseudo-component approach is a method to predict density and refractive index from composition while the latter merely relates density to refractive index.Results indicated that the predictions yielded by the pseudo-component method were in good agreement with experimental data for naphthenic oils.And the use of a function of refractive index(FRI_(20))as a pseudo-component property remarkably improved n_(20)predictions for the naphthenic mixtures.However,the density and refractive index predictions obtained by the quadratic correlation exhibited significantly higher de-viations for naphthenic oils than those for paraffinic oils.Thus a new modified correlation of the same functional form was proposed for naphthenic oils.The modification significantly improved predictions for naphthenic oils,which presented similar accuracy as the pseudo-component approach.And the previous correlation was still used for paraffinic oils.Additionally,effect of temperature on density and refractive index of naphthenic oils was examined.Results showed that the modified quadratic correlation was accurate for describing the relationship between density and refractive index of naphthenic oils at 20-90℃.The temperature dependence of density and refractive index for the raffinates and the extracts could be accurately described by the thermal coefficients for saturates and aromatics,respectively.Regarding the refractive index variation of the extracts with temperature,the empirical equation was proved to be a better option compared with the method using the thermal coefficient for aromatics.

Design of a coated thinly clad chalcogenide long-period fiber grating refractive index sensor based on dual-peak resonance near the phase matching turning point

A novel method for designing chalcogenide long-period fiber grating(LPFG) sensors based on the dual-peak resonance effect of the LPFG near the phase matching turning point(PMTP) is presented. Refractive index sensing in a high-refractive-index chalcogenide fiber is achieved with a coated thinly clad film. The dual-peak resonant characteristics near the PMTP and the refractive index sensing properties of the LPFG are analyzed first by the phase-matching condition of the LPFG. The effects of film parameters and cladding radius on the sensitivity of refractive index sensing are further discussed. The sensor is optimized by selecting the appropriate film parameters and cladding radius. Simulation results show that the ambient refractive index sensitivity of a dual-peak coated thinly clad chalcogenide LPFG at the PMTP can be 2400 nm/RIU, which is significantly higher than that of non-optimized gratings. It has great application potential in the field of chemical sensing and biosensors.

Wide-angle and broadband graded-refractive-index antireflection coatings

The design and fabrication of graded-refractive-index （GRIN） antireflection （AR） coatings with wide-angle and broadband characteristics are demonstrated. The optimization of the graded-index profiles with a genetic algorithm is used in the design of the GRIN AR coatings. The average reflectance over a wavelength range from 400 nm to 800 nm and angles of incidence from 0° to 80° could be reduced to only 0.1% by applying an optimized AR coating onto BK7 glass. The optimization of step-graded GRIN AR coating is then further investigated in detail. A two-layer AR coating was deposited by electron beam evaporation with glancing angle deposition technology, and the positional homogeneity was improved by depositing the film from two opposite directions. The microstructure of the AR coating was investigated by scanning electron microscopy, and the residual reflectances of the coating sample are in agreement with theoretical calculations. The optimized GRIN AR coatings are beneficial to increasing the efficiency of light utilization.

Near-stoichiometric Ti:LiNbO3 strip waveguide with varied substrate refractive index in waveguide layer

We report the near-stoichiometric Ti：LiNbO3 strip waveguides fabricated by vapour transport equilibration （VTE） at 1060~^{／circ}C for 12 h and co-diffusion of 4--8~／mu m wide, 115-nm thick Ti-strips. Optical studies show that these waveguides are monomode at 1.5~／mu m and have losses of 1.3 and 1.1~dB/cm for the TM and TE modes, respectively. In the waveguide width/depth direction, the mode field follows a Gauss/Hermite--Gauss profile. A secondary ion mass spectrometry study reveals that the Ti profile follows a sum of two error functions along the width direction and a complementary error function in the depth direction. Micro-Raman analysis shows that the Li-composition in the depth direction also follows a complementary error function. The mean Li/Nb ratio in the waveguide layer is about 0.98. The inhomogeneous Li-composition profile results in a varied substrate index in the guiding layer, and the refractive index profile in the guiding layer is given.

Highly sensitive fiber refractive index sensor based on side-core holey structure

We propose a side-core holey fiber （SCHF）-based surface plasmon resonance （SPR） sensor to achieve high refractive index （RI） sensitivity. The SCHF structure can facilitate analyte filling and enhance the overlapping area of the core mode and surface plasmon polariton （SPP） mode. The coupling properties of the sensor are analyzed by numerical simulation. The maximum sensitivity of 5000 nm/RIU in an RI range of 1.33-1.44, and the average sensitivity of 9295 nm/RIU in an RI range from 1.44 to 1.54 can be obtained.

How to realize a negative refractive index material at the atomic level in an optical frequency range?

The theoretical mechanism for realizing a negative refractive index material in an optical frequency range with an atomic gas system of electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) is studied. It is shown that under certain conditions such a dense gas can exhibit simultaneously negative permittivity and negative permeability, and negligibly small loss.

Prediction of Density and Refractive Index of Lubricating Oils during Secondary Solvent Extraction Process by Furfural

To meet the requirements for high aromatic content and low polycyclic aromatic(PCA)concentration,eco-friendly aromatic-rich rubber extender oils are usually produced by two-stage solvent extraction processes with furfural.Among the different properties of rubber processing oils,density and refractive index are some of the most important properties related to their final quality.Two types of methods,including a pseudo-component approach by using mixing rules and several correlations,were used for calculation of density and refractive index at 20℃ of paraffinic furfural-extract oils and their secondary raffinates.Results indicated that similar accuracy was obtained for predicting the density and the refractive index of furfural+furfural-extract paraffinic oil systems.However,the quadratic correlation presents its advantage over the pseudo-component approach when the composition of oils is not available.Moreover,the quadratic correlation was also used for naphthenic lubricating oils during two-stage solvent extraction processes.The predictions showed much larger discrepancies with respect to experimental values than those of paraffinic lubricating oils,which indicated that the quadratic correlation was more suitable for paraffinic oils with a CN value of below 37%.

Determination of Specific Refractive Index Increment (dn/dc)_μ at a Constant Chemical Potential,for Solutions of Polymer in Mixed Solvents by the GPC Method

A new chromatographic method is described for the determination of specific refractive index increment（dn/dc）μ at a constant chemical potential,for polymer/mixed solvent systems.In this method the（dn/dc）is obtained by measuring the areas of solvated-polymer peaks when the mixed solvent is used as an eluent.Values of（dn/dc）μ for the poly（dimethylsiloxane）（PDMS）-benzene-methanol system,determined by the proposed method are in good agreement with those determined by the conventional dialysis method.The new approach has the advantages of simplicity,fast speed,and high reproducibility.The experimental results for stearic acid-chloroform-methanol system show that this method can also be applied to nonpolymer/mixed solvent systems for the determination of（dn/dc）μ.

Influence of Refractive Index Distribution on Brillouin Gain Spectrum in GeO_(2)-Doped Optical Fibers

GeO_(2) is commonly used as dopant to adjust the refractive index profile(RIP)and the acoustic velocity profile(AVP)in the fiber,thereby forming different Brillouin gain spectrum(BGS)characteristics such as Brillouin gain,acoustic mode number and peak intensity difference.When an optical fiber is used in optical fiber sensing or communication system,its BGS characteristics may play an important role in determining the performance of the system.In this paper,finite element analysis(FEA)method is used to study the influence of refractive index distribution and its corresponding AVP on the BGS in step-index,graded-index,and complex-index optical fibers.A new method has also been proposed to efficiently discriminate acoustic mode solution and obtain the new and full images of total Brillouin gain and acoustic modes number of the fiber as a function of the refractive index distribution,considering the influence of changing the refractive index difference and the geometric size simultaneously.For each type of optical fiber,the recommended parameter range is provided for optical fiber sensing and optical fiber communication.Moreover,the suitable optical fiber with close peak intensity in its multi-peak BGS is explored and achieved,which can be used in Brillouin beat spectrum detection systems to improve sensing accuracy.

Band rules for the frequency spectra of three kinds of aperiodic photonic crystals with negative refractive index materials

By means of the theory of electromagnetic wave propagation and transfer matrix method, this paper investigates the band rules for the frequency spectra of three kinds of one-dimensional （1D） aperiodic photonic crystals （PCs）, generalized Fibonacci GF（p, 1）, GF（1,2）, and Thue Morse （TM） PCs, with negative refractive index （NRI） materials. It is found that all of these PCs can open a broad zero-n gap, TM PC possesses the largest zero-n gap, and with the increase of p, the width of the zero-n gap for GF（p, 1） PC becomes smaller. This characteristic is caused by the symmetry of the system and the open position of the zero-n gap. It is found that for GF（p, 1） PCs, the possible limit zero-n gaps open at lower frequencies with the increase of p, but for GF（1,2） and TM PCs, their limit zero-n gaps open at the same frequency. Additionally, for the tbree bottom-bands, we find the interesting perfect self-similarities of the evolution structures with the increase of generation, and obtain the corresponding subband-number formulae. Based on 11 types of evolving manners Qi （i = 1, 2,... , 11） one can plot out the detailed evolution structures of the three kinds of aperiodic PCs for any generation.

Structure and Nonlinear Refractive Index of Bismuth Borate Glass

The method of conventional glass melting is used to study the glass formation region of Bi2O3-B2O3-TiO2-La2O3 system. The instrument of Differential Scanning Calorimeter （DSC） is used to research the glass stability. Raman spectra and IR spectra are used to speculate on the structure of glasses. The refractive index of glass is measured by prism coupler. With increase of Bi2O3, the glass stability, the amount of [BiO3] group and boron-oxygen loops decrease, while the content of B-O- bond, refractive index and nonlinear refractive index increase.

Refractive Index and Electronic Polarizability of Ternary Chalcopyrite Semiconductors

Simple models are proposed for the calculation of refractive index n and electronic polarizability α of AⅠBⅢC2Ⅵ and AⅡBⅣC2Ⅴ compounds of groups of chalcopyrite semiconductors from their energy gap data. The values family and 12 compounds of AⅡBⅣC2Ⅴ family are calculated for the work. The proposed models are applicable for the whole range of energy gap materials. The calculated values are compared with the available experimental and reported values. A fairly good agreement between them is obtained.

Effects of Phenyl Content and Molecular Structure on the Refractive Index of Organic Silicon Polymer

The effects of phenyl content and group distribution on the refractive index of phenyl silicone oil were investigated by synthesis and characterization of silicone oils of different molecular structures.A group contribution function model was established to predict the refractive index. The results showed that refractive index of phenyl silicone oil increased as its phenyl content increased. A linear equation had been established to describe the quantitative relationship between the refractive index and phenyl content.Refractive index values from the group contribution function model showed good consistency with experimental results.

Cascaded tilted fiber Bragg grating for enhanced refractive index sensing

We proposed and experimentally demonstrated a cascaded tilted fiber Bragg grating(TFBG)for enhanced refractive index sensing.The TFBG is UV-inscribed in series in ordinary single-mode fiber(SMF)and reduced-diameter SMF with the same tilt angle,and then excites two sets of superposed spectral combs of cladding modes.The cascaded TFBG with total length of 18 mm has a much wider wavelength range over 100 nm and narrower wavelength separation than that of a TFBG only in the SMF,enabling an enlarged range and a higher accuracy of refractive index measurement.The fabricated TFBG with the merits of enhanced sensing capability and temperature self-calibration presents great potentials in the biochemical sensing applications.

Determination of Fructose and Glucose Contents in Honey by Liquid Chromatography-refractive Index Detection Method and Direct Titration Method

In this study, fructose and glucose contents in honey were determined by liquid chromatography-refractive index detection method and alkaline copper tartrate solution-direct titration method. According to the results, there were great differences between determination results of reducing sugar contents by liquid chromatography-refractive index detection method and alkaline copper tartrate solution-direct titration method. Specifically, average determination results of reducing sugar contents by liquid chromatography-refractive index detection method were reduced by about 9.5% compared with alkaline copper tartrate solution-direct titra- tion method. Subsequently, determination results of reducing sugar contents by two methods were compared and analyzed. Liquid chromatography-refractive index detection method was used to determine fructose and glucose monomers in honey, but alkaline copper tartrate solution-direct titration method was used to determine reducing sugar composition in honey, which might lead to significantly different results. Due to small sample size and limited conditions, the determination results were not necessarily representative. Bee product acquisition and processing enterprises and relevant departments should pay much attention on these issues and fully consider the current situation of grass-roots units to develop scientific, rigorous, simple, universal, convenient, low-cost and practicable standards, thus ensuring the safety and reliability of food quality.