Improved Acoustic Thermometry for Long-Distance Temperature Measurements.

Accurate measurements of long distances (in the order of tens of meters or more) are necessary in manufacturing processes of large structures, as, for example, in the aerospace industry. In the most demanding applications, the goal is to achieve a relative accuracy of 10-7 in the measurement of distances (e.g., 1 µm over 10 m). This goal can be obtained with laser interferometers whose accuracy is based on knowledge of the speed of light, which, in turn, depends on the temperature of air. A thermometer based on the measurement of the speed of sound in air has been realized at INRIM. Its purpose is the measurement of the air temperature along the measurement path of the interferometer with an accuracy of 0.1 °C at distances up to 11 m. The paper describes the principle and the experimental setup of the acoustic thermometer and demonstrates its performance by comparison with calibrated reference platinum resistance thermometers. Furthermore, we demonstrate the potentiality of the method to measure the vertical temperature gradient, which is the main error source in triangulation measurements when using laser trackers.

Absolute frequencies of H13C14N hydrogen cyanide transitions in the 1.5-µm region with the saturated spectroscopy and a sub-kHz scanning laser.

The wide span and high density of lines in its rovibrational spectrum render hydrogen cyanide a useful spectroscopic media for referencing absolute frequencies of lasers in optical communication and dimensional metrology. We determined, for the first time to the best of our knowledge, the molecular transitions' center frequencies of the H13C14N isotope in the range from 1526 nm to 1566 nm with 1.3 × 10-10 fractional uncertainty. We investigated the molecular transitions with a highly coherent and widely tunable scanning laser that was precisely referenced to a hydrogen maser through an optical frequency comb. We demonstrated an approach to stabilize the operational conditions needed to maintain the constantly low pressure of the hydrogen cyanide to carry out the saturated spectroscopy with the third-harmonic synchronous demodulation. We demonstrated approximately a forty-fold improvement in the line centers' resolution compared to the previous result.

Iodine Absorption Cells Purity Testing.

This article deals with the evaluation of the chemical purity of iodine-filled absorption cells and the optical frequency references used for the frequency locking of laser standards. We summarize the recent trends and progress in absorption cell technology and we focus on methods for iodine cell purity testing. We compare two independent experimental systems based on the laser-induced fluorescence method, showing an improvement of measurement uncertainty by introducing a compensation system reducing unwanted influences. We show the advantages of this technique, which is relatively simple and does not require extensive hardware equipment. As an alternative to the traditionally used methods we propose an approach of hyperfine transitions' spectral linewidth measurement. The key characteristic of this method is demonstrated on a set of testing iodine cells. The relationship between laser-induced fluorescence and transition linewidth methods will be presented as well as a summary of the advantages and disadvantages of the proposed technique (in comparison with traditional measurement approaches).

A hyperspectral imager based on a Fabry-Perot interferometer with dielectric mirrors.

In this paper we present a new hyperspectral imager based on a Fabry-Perot interferometer with low reflectivity dielectric mirrors. This set-up has been validated by measuring hypercubes of scenes containing emitting bodies and reflective surfaces in the visible region and compared with success with reference spectra. The system is based on dielectric mirrors which, with respect to similar systems based on metallic mirrors, have lower losses at lower cost and are available off-the-shelf. The spectra calculation is carried out with a Fourier transform based algorithm which takes into account the not negligible dispersion of the mirrors.

Fabry-Perot-based Fourier-transform hyperspectral imaging allows multi-labeled fluorescence analysis.

We demonstrate the ability of our hyperspectral imaging device, based on a scanning Fabry-Perot interferometer, to obtain a single hyper-image of a sample marked with different fluorescent molecules, and to unambiguously discriminate them by observing their spectral fingerprints. An experiment carried out with cyanines, fluorescein, and quantum dots emitting in the yellow-orange region, demonstrates the feasibility of multi-labeled fluorescence microscopy without the use of multiple filter sets or dispersive means.

Compact imaging spectrometer combining Fourier transform spectroscopy with a Fabry-Perot interferometer.

An imaging spectrometer based on a Fabry-Perot interferometer is presented. The Fabry-Perot interferometer scans the mirror distance up to contact and the intensity modulated light signal is transformed using a Fourier Transform based algorithm, as the Michelson based Fourier Transform Spectrometers does. The resulting instrument has the advantage of a compact, high numerical aperture, high luminosity hyperspectral imaging device. Theory of operation is described along with one experimental realization and preliminary results.

Cellular Metrology: Scoping for a Value Proposition in Extra- and Intracellular Measurements.

The symptomatic irreproducibility of data in biomedicine and biotechnology prompts the need for higher order measurements of cells in their native and near-native environments. Such measurements may support the adoption of new technologies as well as the development of research programs across different sectors including healthcare and clinic, environmental control and national security. With an increasing demand for reliable cell-based products and services, cellular metrology is poised to help address current and emerging measurement challenges faced by end-users. However, metrological foundations in cell analysis remain sparse and significant advances are necessary to keep pace with the needs of modern medicine and industry. Herein we discuss a role of metrology in cell and cell-related R&D activities to underpin growing international measurement capabilities. Relevant measurands are outlined and the lack of reference methods and materials, particularly those based on functional cell responses in native environments, is highlighted. The status quo and current challenges in cellular measurements are discussed in the light of metrological traceability in cell analysis and applications (e.g., a functional cell count). An emphasis is made on the consistency of measurement results independent of the analytical platform used, high confidence in data quality vs. quantity, scale of measurements and issues of building infrastructure for end-users.

A VLBI experiment using a remote atomic clock via a coherent fibre link.

We describe a VLBI experiment in which, for the first time, the clock reference is delivered from a National Metrology Institute to a radio telescope using a coherent fibre link 550 km long. The experiment consisted of a 24-hours long geodetic campaign, performed by a network of European telescopes; in one of those (Medicina, Italy) the local clock was alternated with a signal generated from an optical comb slaved to a fibre-disseminated optical signal. The quality of the results obtained with this facility and with the local clock is similar: interferometric fringes were detected throughout the whole 24-hours period and it was possible to obtain a solution whose residuals are comparable to those obtained with the local clock. These results encourage further investigation of the ultimate VLBI performances achievable using fibre dissemination at the highest precision of state-of-the-art atomic clocks.

A coherent fiber link for very long baseline interferometry.

We realize a coherent fiber link for application in very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) for radio astronomy and geodesy. A 550-km optical fiber connects the Italian National Metrological Institute (INRIM) to a radio telescope in Italy and is used for the primary Cs fountain clock stability and accuracy dissemination. We use an ultrastable laser frequency- referenced to the primary standard as a transfer oscillator; at the radio telescope, an RF signal is generated from the laser by using an optical frequency comb. This scheme now provides the traceability of the local maser to the SI second, realized by the Cs fountain at the 1.7 × 10(-16) accuracy. The fiber link never limits the experiment and is robust enough to sustain radio astronomical campaigns. This experiment opens the possibility of replacing the local hydrogen masers at the VLBI sites with optically-synthesized RF signals. This could improve VLBI resolution by providing more accurate and stable frequency references and, in perspective, by enabling common- clock VLBI based on a network of telescopes connected by fiber links.

First international comparison of femtosecond laser combs at the International Bureau of Weights and Measures.

The first international comparison of femtosecond laser combs has been carried out at the International Bureau of Weights and Measures (BIPM). Three comb systems were involved: BIPM-C1 and BIPM-C2 from the BIPM and ECNU-C1 from the East China Normal University (ECNU). The agreement among the three combs was found to be on the subhertz level in the vicinity of 563 THz. A frequency difference measurement scheme was demonstrated that is suitable for general comb comparisons.

Optical frequency synthesis and comparison with uncertainty at the 10(-19) level.

A femtosecond laser-based optical frequency synthesizer is referenced to an optical standard, and we use it to demonstrate the generation and control of the frequency of electromagnetic fields over 100 terahertz of bandwidth with fractional uncertainties approaching 1 part in 10(19). The reproducibility of this performance is verified by comparison of different types of femtosecond laser-based frequency synthesizers from three laboratories.