Fiber-Based Triboelectric Nanogenerator for Mechanical Energy Harvesting and Its Application to a Human-Machine Interface.

Mechanical energy harvesters including piezoelectric nanogenerators, electromagnetic generators and triboelectric nanogenerators (TENG) used to convert the mechanical motion into electricity are more and more important in the recent decades. Specifically, the fiber-based TENG (FTENG) has gained considerable favors due to its flexibility, light weight, and high environmental tolerance for the wearable devices. The traditional FTENGs made of Teflon result in better performance but are not suitable for long-term wear in person. Here, we propose a novel FTENG using a flexible micro-needle-structured polydimethylsiloxane (MN-PDMS) together with the comfortable commercially available 2D-polyester fibers, and electroless nickel-plated cotton cloth of which two are widely used in human daily life. The MN-PDMS is formed by a laser engraved mold for improving its output performance of FTENG compared to the flat-PDMS. The open-circuit voltage (Voc) and the short-circuit current (Isc) of MN-FTENG increased to 73.6 V and 36 µA, respectively, which are 34% and 37% higher than the flat-FTENG. In terms of power, the performance of MN-FTENG reaches 1.296 mW which is 89% higher than that of flat-TENG and it can also light up 90 LEDs. For application, human motion at the joints can be detected and collected with various signals that are used for the human-machine interface (HMI) through the cooperation of components for the Internet of Things (IoT). It can light up the LED bulb through MN-FTENG to potentially develop IoT HMI systems for human motion control of robot in the future.

An Approach to Measure Tilt Motion, Straightness and Position of Precision Linear Stage with a 3D Sinusoidal-Groove Linear Reflective Grating and Triangular Wave-Based Subdivision Method.

This work presents a novel and compact method for simultaneously measuring errors in linear displacement and vertical straightness of a moving linear air-bearing stage using 3D sinusoidal-groove linear reflective grating and a novel triangular wave-based sequence signal analysis method. The new scheme is distinct from the previous studies as it considers two signals to analyze linear displacement and vertical straightness. In addition, the tilt motion of the precision linear stage could also be measured using the 3D sinusoidal-groove linear reflective grating. The proposed system is similar to a linear encoder and can make online measurements of stage errors to analyze automatic processes and also be used for real-time monitoring. The performance of the proposed method and its reliability have been verified by experiments. The experiments show that the maximum error of measured tilt angle, linear displacement, and vertical straightness error is less than 0.058°, 0.239 µm, and 0.188 µm, respectively. The maximum repeatability error on measurement of tilt angle, linear displacement, and vertical straightness error is less than ±0.189o, ±0.093 µm, and ±0.016 µm, respectively. The proposed system is suitable for error compensation in the multi-axis system and finds application in most industries.

Optical characterization of porcine articular cartilage using a polarimetry technique with differential Mueller matrix formulism.

A method is proposed for characterizing the optical properties of articular cartilage sliced from a pig's thighbone using a Stokes-Mueller polarimetry technique. The principal axis angle, phase retardance, optical rotation angle, circular diattenuation, diattenuation axis angle, linear diattenuation, and depolarization index properties of the cartilage sample are all decoupled in the proposed analytical model. Consequently, the accuracy and robustness of the extracted results are improved. The glucose concentration, collagen distribution, and scattering properties of samples from various depths of the articular cartilage are systematically explored via an inspection of the related parameters. The results show that the glucose concentration and scattering effect are both enhanced in the superficial region of the cartilage. By contrast, the collagen density increases with an increasing sample depth.

Differential Mueller matrix polarimetry technique for non-invasive measurement of glucose concentration on human fingertip.

A differential Mueller matrix polarimetry technique is proposed for obtaining non-invasive (NI) measurements of the glucose concentration on the human fingertip. The feasibility of the proposed method is demonstrated by detecting the optical rotation angle and depolarization index of tissue phantom samples containing de-ionized water (DI), glucose solutions with concentrations ranging from 0~500 mg/dL and 2% lipofundin. The results show that the extracted optical rotation angle increases linearly with an increasing glucose concentration, while the depolarization index decreases. The practical applicability of the proposed method is demonstrated by measuring the optical rotation angle and depolarization index properties of the human fingertips of healthy volunteers.

Surface plasmon resonance prism coupler for enhanced circular dichroism sensing.

A novel method for enhanced circular dichroism (CD) detection is proposed based on a surface plasmon resonance (SPR) prism coupler and a polarization scanning ellipsometry technique. An analytical model is derived to extract the CD and degree of polarization (DOP) properties of optical samples with and without scattering effects, respectively. The validity of the analytical model is confirmed by means of numerical simulations. The simulation results show that the proposed detection method has a sensitivity of 10-5~10-6 RIU (refractive index unit) for refractive indices in the range of 1.32~1.36 and 1.3100~1.3118. The practical feasibility of the proposed method is demonstrated by the experimental results for the sensitivity of the CD with the chlorophyllin samples with/without scattering effect. It is shown that for both types of sample, the extracted CD value increases linearly with the chlorophyll concentration over the considered range. In general, the results obtained in this study show that the measured CD response is highly sensitive to the polarization scanning angle. Consequently, the potential of polarization scanning ellipsometry for high-resolution CD detection is confirmed.

Laser galvanometric scanning system for improved average power uniformity and larger scanning area.

A new laser galvanometric scanning optical system incorporating a dynamic-tilt focusing lens is proposed to improve the laser spot performance in adaptive manufacturing applications. The simulations focus specifically on the laser spot size, the spot profile, the spot position, the spot energy distribution, and the size of the scanning working field. It is shown that for a designed spot size of 50 µm, the proposed system achieves an average spot size of 50.5 µm. Moreover, the maximum position deviation of the laser beam is reduced from (x=-3.02%, y=1.30%) in a traditional scanning system to (x=-0.055%, y=0.162%) in the proposed system. Finally, the maximum working field area is increased by around 240% compared to that of a traditional system. Overall, the results show that the proposed laser galvanometric scanning system achieves a small spot size, a symmetrical and round spot profile, a uniform spot energy distribution, and a large working area. As a result, it is ideally suited to rapid prototyping applications.

Extraction of linear anisotropic parameters using optical coherence tomography and hybrid Mueller matrix formalism.

A method is proposed for extracting the linear birefringence (LB) and linear dichroism (LD) properties of an anisotropic optical sample using reflection-mode optical coherence tomography (OCT) and a hybrid Mueller matrix formalism. To ensure the accuracy of the extracted parameter values, a method is proposed for calibrating and compensating the polarization distortion effect induced by the beam splitters in the OCT system using a composite quarter-waveplate / half-waveplate / quarter-waveplate structure. The validity of the proposed method is confirmed by extracting the LB and LD properties of a quarter-wave plate and a defective polarizer. To the best of the authors' knowledge, the method proposed in this study represents the first reported attempt to utilize an inverse Mueller matrix formalism and a reflection-mode OCT structure to extract the LB and LD parameters of optically anisotropic samples.

Characterization of voltage-driven twisted nematic liquid crystal cell by dynamic polarization scanning ellipsometry.

A dynamic polarization scanning ellipsometry technique based on Stokes polarimetry is proposed for dynamically characterizing a voltage-driven twisted nematic liquid crystal (TNLC) cell. In the proposed method, the six effective ellipsometric parameters are extracted under modulation voltages ranging from 0 V ~ + 10 V using four linearly polarized input lights. The profiles of the tilt angle and twist angle are calculated as a function of the modulation voltage. The validity of the proposed method is confirmed by comparing the experimental results for the effective ellipsometric parameters of a TNLC cell with the analytical results. Furthermore, a genetic algorithm (GA) based on a curve-fitting technique is used to inversely extract the pretilt angle, twist angle and rubbing direction of the TNLC cell. These extracted values are then compared to the known valued of the TNLC cell. In general, the results presented in this paper show that the proposed method provides a reliable means of obtaining the dynamic optical properties of a TNLC cell.

Optical detection of glucose concentration in samples with scattering particles.

An optical-based method is proposed for measuring the glucose concentration of samples containing scattering particles. In the proposed approach, a Stokes-Mueller reflection-based polarimetry technique is used to solve the Mueller matrices of a turbid glucose sample with circular birefringence and depolarization properties given six incident lights with different polarization states. Using an error function defined as the difference between the simulated output Stokes vectors and the experimental ones, a genetic algorithm is used to inversely derive the optical rotation and depolarization parameters of the experimental sample corresponding to the glucose concentration and scattering depolarization effect, respectively. The validity of the proposed method is demonstrated using glucose samples containing 0.02 ml and 0.04 ml lipofundin, respectively.

Mueller matrix polarimetry approach for noninvasive glucose sensing with absorbance and anisotropic parameters on fingertips.

A Mueller matrix polarimetry system at 532 nm wavelength is developed for noninvasive glucose sensing in turbid media such as human's fingertip. The system extracts mean absorbance and anisotropic properties, demonstrated numerically and experimentally with phantom glucose samples. It is found that mean absorbance ( A e $$ {A}_e $$ ), depolarization index (Δ), and linear dichroism (LD) show linear variation with glucose concentration 100-500 mg/dL. In addition, LightTools simulations indicate proportional scaling of scattering effects with A e $$ {A}_e $$ , Δ, and LD. Real-world tests on fingertip show a strong correlation between these properties and blood glucose levels with a mean absolute relative deviation (MARD) of 12.56% and a correlation coefficient (R2) of 0.875 in prediction by a neural network (NN) model, highlighting the advantages of Mueller matrix in extracting more parameters related to blood glucose.

Biocompatibility and radiosensitivity of a fiber optical-based dosimeter: biological applications.

This study introduces a cutting-edge fiber-optic dosimetry (FOD) sensor designed for measuring radiation in biological settings. The accuracy and precision of dosimeters for small animals, particularly prolonged exposure to nonuniform radiation fields, are always challenging. A state-of-the-art in-vivo dosimeter utilizing glass-encapsulated Thermoluminescence cylindrical detector (TLD) was introduced. The FODs are implanted into the rat during a prolonged irradiation scenario involving 137Cs where the rat has the freedom to move within a heterogeneous radiation domain. The implantation surgery was verified with X-ray computed tomography (CT) in addition to biochemical and pathological tests to assess the biocompatibility of FOD in vivo. A versatile FOD is designed for industrial and medical fields, which demand accurate and resilient radiation dosimeters. The dose measurements are associated with precise two-dimensional (2D) radiation distribution imaging. Three cylindrical FODs and three standards TLD_100 for each rat were tested. The measurements of peak irradiation before and after exposure reveal greater stability and superior sensitivity when compared to standard thermo-luminescence detectors in an in-vivo animal test. To the best of our knowledge, FOD testing on live animals is presented for the first time in this paper. Regarding the safety and biocompatibility of FOD, no morphological signs with any kind of inflammation or sensitivity toward the FOD material have been remarked. Moreover, with the current FOD, there is no oedema between the epidermal, dermal, and subdermal sections at the site of implantation. The results also show the stable levels of white blood cells (lymphocytes, granulocytes, MID) as blood inflammatory markers before surgery and at the time of extraction of the implanted dosimeters, thus confirming the biocompatibility for each optical fiber cylinder dosimeter. As a result, the new dosimeters have excellent biocompatibility in living tissues and have 100% accurate reusability intensity of the delivered radiation doses compared to TLD_100 which demonstrated a 45% reduction in its intensity accuracy.

Extraction of anisotropic parameters of turbid media using hybrid model comprising differential- and decomposition-based Mueller matrices.

A hybrid model comprising the differential Mueller matrix formalism and the Mueller matrix decomposition method is proposed for extracting the linear birefringence (LB), linear dichroism (LD), circular birefringence (CB), circular dichroism (CD), and depolarization properties (Dep) of turbid optical samples. In contrast to the differential-based Mueller matrix method, the proposed hybrid model provides full-range measurements of all the anisotropic properties of the optical sample. Furthermore, compared to the decomposition-based Mueller matrix method, the proposed model is insensitive to the multiplication order of the constituent basis matrices. The validity of the proposed method is confirmed by extracting the anisotropic properties of a compound chitosan-glucose-microsphere sample with LB/CB/Dep properties and two ferrofluidic samples with CB/CD/Dep and LB/LD/Dep properties, respectively. It is shown that the proposed hybrid model not only yields full-range measurements of all the anisotropic parameters, but is also more accurate and more stable than the decomposition method. Moreover, compared to the decomposition method, the proposed model more accurately reflects the dependency of the phase retardation angle and linear dichroism angle on the direction of the external magnetic field for ferrofluidic samples. Overall, the results presented in this study confirm that the proposed model has significant potential for extracting the optical parameters of real-world samples characterized by either single or multiple anisotropic properties.

Modified detection scheme for locating phase jumps and reducing detection errors.

Most phase unwrapping algorithms shift the 2π phase jump pixels to obtain the unwrapped phases, while most filtering algorithms remove the noisy pixels to avoid the fault of unwrapped phases. Thus, finding the positions of phase jump pixels and noisy pixels is important. This study proposed a modified detection scheme developed from the originally published noise and phase jump detection scheme [Opt. Express 19, 3086 (2011)]. The original detection scheme finds the noise positions and phase jump positions, and then marks these pixels in two maps, namely, the noise map and the phase jump map. One 2π phase jump contains a 2π-high position and a 0-low position. However, the original detection scheme usually finds a 2π-high position and misses a corresponding 0-low position, or usually finds a 0-low position and misses a corresponding 2π-high position. Moreover, the original detection scheme produces detection errors, containing the repeated pixels of phase jump or the wrong pixels generated by noise. Fortunately, the proposed modified detection scheme can find both the 2π-high position and the corresponding 0-low position. Moreover, the detection errors are also reduced by the proposed modified detection scheme. The robustness of the modified detection scheme is demonstrated both numerically and experimentally.

Optimization of Surface Roughness and Density of Overhang Structures Fabricated by Laser Powder Bed Fusion.

Laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) provides a rapid and versatile approach for producing parts with complex geometries. However, many parts with intricate geometries have overhang structures, which are not easily fabricated by using LPBF and are often downgraded by staircase effects, warpage, cracks, and dross formation. Thus, the present study proposes a combined numerical and experimental approach for determining the optimal settings of the laser power and scanning speed that minimize the surface roughness and maximize the density of Inconel 718 LPBF overhang structures. In the proposed approach, the heat transfer simulations are employed to determine the melt pool depth, the melt pool length, and the solid cooling rate within the feasible input space of laser power and scanning speed combinations. Notably, the simulations take account of both the difference in the material properties of the solid and powder materials, respectively, and the variation of the laser absorptivity in the depth direction of the powder layer. The simulation results are then used to train artificial neural networks for predicting the melt pool depth for 3600 combinations of the laser power and scanning speed within the input space. The resulting processing maps are screened in accordance with three quality criteria (namely the melt pool depth, the melt pool length, and the solid cooling rate) to determine the optimal processing region, which improves the surface roughness. The feasibility of the proposed approach is demonstrated by fabricating 10 × 10 and 20 × 20 mm2 horizontal overhang structures using parameter settings chosen from the optimal processing map. It shows that the optimal processing conditions result in a low surface roughness and a maximum density of 99.78%.

Development of a polarization-insensitive thermophotovoltaic emitter with a binary grating.

A wavelength-selective but polarization-insensitive thermophotovoltaic emitter was numerically developed with a binary tungsten grating and its appealing emittance spectra were demonstrated with analysis. Ranges of emitter dimensions were preliminarily confined with the excitation of the surface plasmon polariton, cavity resonance, and Wood's anomaly at specified wavelengths. Then, a hybrid scheme (the rigorous coupled wave analysis together with a genetic algorithm) was able to finely tailor the grating profile such that emittance could be significantly enhanced in the near infrared region. The peak emittance at the transverse electric and transverse magnetic polarizations was 0.997 and 0.935, respectively. The emittance was actually almost twice that from a plain tungsten plate at short wavelengths but significantly reduced at long wavelengths. Moreover, such spectral emittance is insensitive to the polarization and 5% dimension modification, making the emitter ideal for thermophotovoltaic applications. Patterns of electromagnetic fields and Poynting vectors were able to confirm the excitation of physical mechanisms.

Integration of robust filters and phase unwrapping algorithms for image reconstruction of objects containing height discontinuities.

For 3D objects with height discontinuities, the image reconstruction performance of interferometric systems is adversely affected by the presence of noise in the wrapped phase map. Various schemes have been proposed for detecting residual noise, speckle noise and noise at the lateral surfaces of the discontinuities. However, in most schemes, some noisy pixels are missed and noise detection errors occur. Accordingly, this paper proposes two robust filters (designated as Filters A and B, respectively) for improving the performance of the phase unwrapping process for objects with height discontinuities. Filter A comprises a noise and phase jump detection scheme and an adaptive median filter, while Filter B replaces the detected noise with the median phase value of an N × N mask centered on the noisy pixel. Filter A enables most of the noise and detection errors in the wrapped phase map to be removed. Filter B then detects and corrects any remaining noise or detection errors during the phase unwrapping process. Three reconstruction paths are proposed, Path I, Path II and Path III. Path I combines the path-dependent MACY algorithm with Filters A and B, while Paths II and III combine the path-independent cellular automata (CA) algorithm with Filters A and B. In Path II, the CA algorithm operates on the whole wrapped phase map, while in Path III, the CA algorithm operates on multiple sub-maps of the wrapped phase map. The simulation and experimental results confirm that the three reconstruction paths provide a robust and precise reconstruction performance given appropriate values of the parameters used in the detection scheme and filters, respectively. However, the CA algorithm used in Paths II and III is relatively inefficient in identifying the most suitable unwrapping paths. Thus, of the three paths, Path I yields the lowest runtime.

Robust detection scheme on noise and phase jump for phase maps of objects with height discontinuities--theory and experiment.

This paper proposes a robust noise and phase jump detection scheme for noisy phase maps containing height discontinuities. The detection scheme has two primary functions, namely to detect the positions of noise and to locate the positions of the phase jumps. Generally speaking, the removal of noise from a wrapped phase map causes a smearing of the phase jumps and therefore leads to a loss of definition in the unwrapped phase map. However, in the proposed scheme, the boundaries of the phase jump regions are preserved during the noise detection process. The validity of the proposed approach is demonstrated using the simulated and experimental wrapped phase maps of a 3D object containing height discontinuities, respectively. It is shown that the noise and phase jump detection scheme enables the precise and efficient detection of three different types of noise, namely speckle noise, residual noise, and noise at the lateral surfaces of the height discontinuities. Therefore, the proposed scheme represents an ideal solution for the pre-processing of noisy wrapped phase maps prior to their treatment using a filtering algorithm and phase unwrapping algorithm.

Cryptographic scheme using genetic algorithm and optical responses of periodic structures.

This study employed the optical responses of periodic structures, multiple-variable functions with sufficient complexity, to develop a cryptographic scheme. The characteristics of structures could be delivered easily with the ciphertext, a series of numbers containing plaintext messages. Two optimization methods utilizing a genetic algorithm were adopted to generate the periodic structure profile as a critical encryption/decryption key. The robustness of methods was further confirmed under various limits. The ciphertext could only be decrypted by referring to the codebook after acquiring the pre-determined optical response. The confidentiality and large capacity of the scheme revealed the enhanced coding strategies here while the success of the scheme was demonstrated with the delivery of an example message.

Ultrahigh sensitivity polarimetric strain sensor based upon D-shaped optical fiber and surface plasmon resonance technology.

An ultrahigh sensitivity polarimetric strain sensor is proposed based upon a four-layer D-shaped optical fiber and surface plasmon resonance (SPR) technology. In contrast to existing SPR-based sensors, which are based on changes in the refractive index of the overlayer, the sensor proposed in this study is based on the change in the refractive index of the fiber core in response to the application of an axial load. Specifically, the phase difference between the P and S waves after passing through the sensor under SPR conditions is measured using a common-path heterodyne interferometer and is used to determine the corresponding change in the refractive index of the core, from which the strain is then inversely derived. The experimental results show that the sensitivity of the proposed sensor is around 2.19×104 deg/ε, i.e., degree/strain. By contrast, that of a conventional (non-SPR) polarimetric fiber sensor is just 5.2×10² deg/ε. To the best of the authors' knowledge, the sensor proposed in this study represents the first reported attempt to exploit the refractive index change of the core of an SPR-based fiber sensor for strain measurement purposes.

Realization of integrated polarizer and color filters based on subwavelength metallic gratings using a hybrid numerical scheme.

This study realizes integrated polarizer and RGB (red, green, and blue) color filters using single- and multiple-layered subwavelength metallic grating structures. A hybrid numerical scheme based on the rigorous coupled-wave analysis method and a genetic algorithm is used to determine the optimal values of the grating period, filling factor, and grating thickness of three different grating structures, namely, a single-layer grating, a double-layer grating, and a double-layer grating with a lateral shift. The optical performance of the various structures is evaluated and compared in terms of the transmission efficiency at the center wavelengths 700.0 nm, 546.1 nm, and 435.8 nm of red, green, and blue light, respectively, and the extinction ratio over the visible wavelength spectrum (380-780 nm). It is shown that the double-layer grating achieves a transmission efficiency of about 50% and an extinction ratio of around 60 dB. Thus, this grating structure provides a convenient and effective means of achieving the polarizing and filtering functions in LCD panels using a single device.