Experimental development of levitation control for a high-accuracy magnetic levitation transport system.

In this paper, we present the experimental levitation control development in a high-accuracy magnetic levitation transport system. With this levitation control implementation, the input and output of sub-systems can be verified through a real-time system. The levitation control loop has a fast response, and the control algorithms are easily implemented. In addition, a notch filter and a low-pass filter are designed to minimize mechanical resonance and sensor noise, respectively. Moreover, a section control algorithm is developed to reduce sudden changes in the levitation forces. From the results, the total current required to levitate the carrier is approximately 3.1 A, and it is decreased to approximately 2.45 A at the desired airgap. The maximum peak-to-peak variation of the airgap measurement at a standstill is approximately 50µm, and at low and high movement speeds, it is approximately 300µm and 700µm, respectively. Moreover, the good levitation control performance in the deadzone, where one pair of the levitation electromagnets is disabled, is also verified.

Scalar diffraction modeling of multispectral forward scatter patterns from bacterial colonies.

A theoretical model for spectral forward scatter patterns from a bacterial colony based on elastic light scatter is presented. The spectral forward scatter patterns are computed by scalar diffraction theory, and compared with experimental results of three discrete wavelengths (405 nm, 635 nm, and 904 nm). To provide quantitative analysis, spectral dependence of diffraction ring width, gap, maxima, minima, and the first deflection point are monitored. Both model and experiment results show an excellent agreement; a longer wavelength induces a wider ring width, a wider ring gap, a smaller pattern size, and smaller numbers of rings. Further analysis using spatial fast Fourier transform (SFFT) shows a good agreement; the spatial frequencies are increasing towards the inward direction, and the slope is inversely proportional to the incoming wavelength.

Development of an integrated optical analyzer for characterization of growth dynamics of bacterial colonies.

In order to understand the biophysics behind collective behavior of a bacterial colony, a confocal displacement meter was used to measure the profiles of the bacterial colonies, together with a custom built optical density circuits. The system delivered essential information related to the quantitative growth dynamics (height, diameter, aspect ratio, optical density) of the bacterial colony. For example, the aspect ratio of S. aureus was approximately two times higher than that of E. coli O157 : H7, while the OD of S. aureus was approximately 1/3 higher than that of E. coli O157 : H7.

Investigation of early plasma evolution induced by ultrashort laser pulses.

Early plasma is generated owing to high intensity laser irradiation of target and the subsequent target material ionization. Its dynamics plays a significant role in laser-material interaction, especially in the air environment(1-11). Early plasma evolution has been captured through pump-probe shadowgraphy(1-3) and interferometry(1,4-7). However, the studied time frames and applied laser parameter ranges are limited. For example, direct examinations of plasma front locations and electron number densities within a delay time of 100 picosecond (ps) with respect to the laser pulse peak are still very few, especially for the ultrashort pulse of a duration around 100 femtosecond (fs) and a low power density around 10(14) W/cm(2). Early plasma generated under these conditions has only been captured recently with high temporal and spatial resolutions(12). The detailed setup strategy and procedures of this high precision measurement will be illustrated in this paper. The rationale of the measurement is optical pump-probe shadowgraphy: one ultrashort laser pulse is split to a pump pulse and a probe pulse, while the delay time between them can be adjusted by changing their beam path lengths. The pump pulse ablates the target and generates the early plasma, and the probe pulse propagates through the plasma region and detects the non-uniformity of electron number density. In addition, animations are generated using the calculated results from the simulation model of Ref. (12) to illustrate the plasma formation and evolution with a very high resolution (0.04 ~ 1 ps). Both the experimental method and the simulation method can be applied to a broad range of time frames and laser parameters. These methods can be used to examine the early plasma generated not only from metals, but also from semiconductors and insulators.

Simultaneous high-speed measurement of temperature and lifetime-corrected OH laser-induced fluorescence in unsteady flames.

A means of performing simultaneous, high-speed measurements of temperature and OH lifetime-corrected laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) for tracking unsteady flames has been developed and demonstrated. The system uses the frequency-doubled and frequency-tripled output beams of an 80 MHz mode-locked Ti:sapphire laser to achieve ultrashort laser pulses (order 2 ps) for Rayleigh-scattering thermometry at 460 nm and lifetime-corrected OH LIF at 306.5 nm, respectively. Simultaneous, high-speed measurements of temperature and OH number density enable studies of flame chemistry, heat release, and flame extinction in unsteady, strained flames where the local fluorescence-quenching environment is unknown.

Two-point time-series measurementsof hydroxyl concentration in a turbulent nonpremixed flame.

Quantitative two-point hydroxyl time-series measurements have been performed in a turbulent nonpremixed flame by using two-point picosecond time-resolved laser-induced fluorescence. The current diagnostic system has been improved from its preliminary version to address optical aberrations and fluorescence lifetime fluctuations. In particular, with a newly designed collection system, the aberration-limited blur spot is reduced from 6 mm to 180 microm. Additional photon-counting channels enable the recovery of absolute OH concentrations through a triple-bin integration method. The present research represents what we believe to be the first application of this two-point technique to turbulent flames. Two independent schemes have been applied to remove uncorrelated noise in the derived two-point statistics. We show that optical aberrations can have a significant effect on space-time correlations. However, the sampling rate and fluctuations in the fluorescence lifetime barely affect the spatial autocorrelation function and thus the integral length scale. Such length scales for hydroxyl are found to rise linearly with increasing axial distance at peak [OH] locations. Along the jet centerline, the integral length scale varies slightly below the flame tip but increases rapidly above the flame tip. In addition, the OH length scale demonstrates the same trend as the OH time scale along the jet centerline, but the opposite trend at peak [OH] locations.

Two-point time-series measurements of minor-species concentrations in a turbulent nonpremixed flame.

We report a technique that is capable of making simultaneous two-point time-series measurements of minor-species concentrations in turbulent flames. The experimental setup, which incorporates picosecond time-resolved laser-induced fluorescence, has a spatial resolution of less than 250 microm and a temporal resolution of less than 100 micros, which spatially and temporally resolve microscales in many turbulent flows. Two-point time-series data are given for a standard turbulent nonpremixed flame at Re= 10,000, including a discussion of potential implications.