Demonstration of a Human Color Vision Mimic in the Infrared.

Color vision results from the interaction of retinal photopigments with reflected or transmitted visible light. The International Commission on Illumination (CIE) developed the CIE color-matching chart, which separates colors on the basis of the interaction of their spectral profiles with three retinal photopigments in the human eye. We report the development of an infrared chromaticity (CIE-IR) chart, which mimics the CIE chart, in order to discriminate between different chemicals on the basis of the interactions of their IR signatures with three different IR optical filters, instead of the retinal photopigments in the human eye. Our results demonstrate that the CIE-IR chart enables separation of different classes of chemicals, as the visible CIE chart does with color, except for those in the IR spectral region. Such results clearly show that the biomimetic sensing method based on human color vision is in fact a true analogue to color vision and that the proposed CIE-IR chart can be used as a classification method unique to this biomimetic sensing modality.

Analytical procedure to assess the performance characteristics of a non-spectroscopic infrared optical sensor for discrimination of chemical vapors.

An optical-filter-based sensor that was designed to mimic human color vision was recently developed. This sensor uses three mid-infrared optical filters to discriminate between chemicals with similar, strongly overlapping mid-infrared absorption bands. This non-spectroscopic technique requires no spectral scanning. This paper defines the selectivity and specificity of this biomimetic sensor. Receiver operating characteristic curves are presented for each target chemical. These results demonstrate that the sensor is highly selective and can provide discrimination with no false positives for three similar target chemicals-acetone, hexane, and fuel oil-while rejecting potential interferents.

Biomimetic Optical-Filter Detection System for Discrimination of Infrared Chemical Signatures.

Optical-filter-based chemical sensors have the potential to dramatically alter the field of hazardous materials sensing. Such devices could be constructed using inexpensive components, in a small and lightweight package, for sensing hazardous chemicals in defense, industrial, and environmental applications. Filter-based sensors can be designed to mimic human color vision. Recent developments in this field have used this approach to discriminate between strongly overlapping chemical signatures in the mid-infrared. Reported work relied on using numerically filtered FTIR spectra to model the infrared biomimetic detection methodology. While these findings are encouraging, further advancement of this technique requires the collection and evaluation of directly filtered data, using an optical system without extensive numerical spectral analysis. The present work describes the design and testing of an infrared optical breadboard system that uses the biomimetic mammalian color-detection approach to chemical sensing. The set of chemicals tested includes one target chemical, fuel oil, along with two strongly overlapping interferents, acetone and hexane. The collected experimental results are compared with numerically filtered FTIR spectral data. The results show good agreement between the numerically filtered data model and the data collected using the optical breadboard system. It is shown that the optical breadboard system is operating as expected based on modeling and can be used for sensing and discriminating between chemicals with strongly overlapping absorption bands in the mid-infrared.

Optical filter selection for high confidence discrimination of strongly overlapping infrared chemical spectra.

Optical filter-based chemical sensing techniques provide a new avenue to develop low-cost infrared sensors. These methods utilize multiple infrared optical filters to selectively measure different response functions for various chemicals, dependent on each chemical's infrared absorption. Rather than identifying distinct spectral features, which can then be used to determine the identity of a target chemical, optical filter-based approaches rely on measuring differences in the ensemble response between a given filter set and specific chemicals of interest. Therefore, the results of such methods are highly dependent on the original optical filter choice, which will dictate the selectivity, sensitivity, and stability of any filter-based sensing method. Recently, a method has been developed that utilizes unique detection vector operations defined by optical multifilter responses, to discriminate between volatile chemical vapors. This method, comparative-discrimination spectral detection (CDSD), is a technique which employs broadband optical filters to selectively discriminate between chemicals with highly overlapping infrared absorption spectra. CDSD has been shown to correctly distinguish between similar chemicals in the carbon-hydrogen stretch region of the infrared absorption spectra from 2800-3100 cm(-1). A key challenge to this approach is how to determine which optical filter sets should be utilized to achieve the greatest discrimination between target chemicals. Previous studies used empirical approaches to select the optical filter set; however this is insufficient to determine the optimum selectivity between strongly overlapping chemical spectra. Here we present a numerical approach to systematically study the effects of filter positioning and bandwidth on a number of three-chemical systems. We describe how both the filter properties, as well as the chemicals in each set, affect the CDSD results and subsequent discrimination. These results demonstrate the importance of choosing the proper filter set and chemicals for comparative discrimination, in order to identify the target chemical of interest in the presence of closely matched chemical interferents. These findings are an integral step in the development of experimental prototype sensors, which will utilize CDSD.

Highly efficient cascaded amplification using Pr(3+)-doped mid-infrared chalcogenide fiber amplifiers.

We computationally investigate cascaded amplification in a three-level mid-infrared (IR) Pr(3+)-doped chalcogenide fiber amplifier. The overlap of the cross-sections in the transitions (3)H(6)→(3)H(5) and (3)H(5)→(3)H(4) enable both transitions to simultaneously amplify a single wavelength in the range between 4.25 µm and 4.55 µm. High gain and low noise are achieved simultaneously if the signal is at 4.5 µm. We show that 45% of pump power that is injected at 2 µm can be shifted to 4.5 µm. The efficiency of using a mid-IR fiber amplifier is higher than what can be achieved by using mid-IR supercontinuum generation, which has been estimated at 25%. This mid-IR fiber amplifier can be used in conjunction with quantum cascade lasers to obtain a tunable, high-power mid-IR source.

Irradiance enhancement and increased laser damage threshold in As2S3 moth-eye antireflective structures.

It has been experimentally observed that moth-eye antireflective microstructures at the end of As2S3 fibers have an increased laser damage threshold relative to thin-film antireflective coatings. In this work, we computationally study the irradiance enhancement in As2S3 moth-eye antireflective microstructures in order to explain the increased damage threshold. We show that the irradiance enhancement occurs mostly on the air side of the interfaces and is minimal in the As2S3 material. We give a physical explanation for this behavior.

Review of antireflective surface structures on laser optics and windows.

We present recent advancements in structured, antireflective surfaces on optics, including crystals for high-energy lasers as well as windows for the infrared wavelength region. These structured surfaces have been characterized and show high transmission and laser damage thresholds, making them attractive for these applications. We also present successful tests of windows with antireflective surfaces that were exposed to simulated harsh environments for the application of these laser systems.

Dynamics of photoinduced refractive index changes in As2S3 fibers.

We investigate the dynamics of photoinduced index changes in chalcogenide As(2)S(3) fibers. Using a novel phase sensitive technique for measuring the photoinduced index change, we find that the index evolution is a two-stage process: it consists of a fast reduction and a subsequent slow increase in the refractive index. We show that the index change depends strongly on the beam intensity with both positive and negative changes possible. These findings can have application in design and fabrication of photoinduced devices such as Bragg gratings and photonic cavities.

Maximizing the bandwidth of supercontinuum generation in As2Se3 chalcogenide fibers.

We describe in detail a procedure for maximizing the bandwidth of supercontinuum generation in As(2)Se(3) chalcogenide fibers and the physics behind this procedure. First, we determine the key parameters that govern the design. Second, we find the conditions for the fiber to be endlessly single-mode; the fiber should be endlessly single-mode to maintain high nonlinearity and low coupling loss. We find that supercontinuum generation in As(2)Se(3) fibers proceeds in two stages--an initial stage that is dominated by four-wave mixing and a later stage that is dominated by the Raman-induced soliton self-frequency shift. Third, we determine the conditions to maximize the Stokes wavelength that is generated by four-wave mixing in the initial stage. Finally, we put all these pieces together to maximize the bandwidth. We show that it is possible to generate an optical bandwidth of more than 4 microm with an input pump wavelength of 2.5 microm using an As(2)Se(3) fiber with an air-hole-diameter-to-pitch ratio of 0.4 and a pitch of 3 microm. Obtaining this bandwidth requires a careful choice of the fiber's waveguide parameters and the pulse's peak power and duration, which determine respectively the fiber's dispersion and nonlinearity.

Computational study of 3-5 microm source created by using supercontinuum generation in As2S3 chalcogenide fibers with a pump at 2 microm.

We present simulation results for supercontinuum generation using As(2)S(3) chalcogenide photonic crystal fibers. We found that more than 25% of input power can be shifted into the region between 3 microm and 5 microm using a pump wavelength of 2 microm with a peak power of 1 kW and an FWHM of 500 fs. The broad dispersion profile and high nonlinearity in As(2)S(3) chalcogenide glass are essential for this application.

Discrimination Between Explosive Materials and Isomers Using a Human Color Vision-Inspired Sensing Method.

This paper describes the application of a human color vision approach to infrared (IR) chemical sensing for the discrimination between multiple explosive materials deposited on aluminum substrates. This methodology classifies chemicals using the unique response of the chemical vibrational absorption bands to three broadband overlapping IR optical filters. For this effort, Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy is first used to computationally examine the ability of the human color vision sensing approach to discriminate between three similar explosive materials, 1,3,5,-Trinitro-1,3,5-triazinane (RDX), 2,2-Bis[(nitrooxy)methyl]propane-1,3,-diyldinitrate (PETN), and 1,3,5,7-Tetranitro-1,3,5,7-tetrazocane (HMX). A description of a laboratory breadboard optical sensor designed for this approach is then provided, along with the discrimination results collected for these samples using this sensor. The results of these studies demonstrate that the human color vision approach is capable of high-confidence discrimination of the examined explosive materials.

Germanate glass as a window for high energy laser systems.

A modified Barium Gallo-Germanate glass has been developed as an exit window for high energy lasers operating in the mid-infrared wavelength region. All the physical properties, for application as a window for high energy laser systems have been measured. Absorption loss and thermo-optic coefficient were identified as key in developing the Barium Gallo-Germanate glass for high energy laser applications. A purification method was developed to reduce the absorption loss of the glass from 6x10(-2) cm(-1) to 2x10(-3) cm(-1) at 3.8 mum. Manufacturability in large size windows has been demonstrated with the fabrication of an 18" diameter prototype window. Modified Barium Gallo-Germanate glasses have also been developed with lower thermo-optic coefficient resulting in lower optical path distortion.

Thermo-optic coefficient of barium gallogermanate glass.

Barium gallogermanate (BGG) glasses are currently being explored as a viable low cost material for numerous U.S. defense and commercial visible-infrared window applications. These glasses are transparent from 0.4 mum to beyond 5.0 mum and can be easily made in large optics and complex shapes with high index homogeneity. For high-energy laser (HEL) applications, knowledge of the thermo-optic coefficient (dn/dT) of the window material is important in determining the optical path distortion. The dn/dT measurements were made on BGG glass at 633 and 3390 nm and compared with the values for multispectral ZnS. The dn/dT for BGG glass was approximately 1/5 the value for multispectral ZnS, giving BGG glass a clear advantage for HEL applications.

Dispersion of barium gallogermanate glass.

Gallogermanate glasses are the subject of intense study as a result of their unique combination of physical and optical properties, including transmission from 0.4 to beyond 5.0 microm. These glasses can be easily made into large optics with high-index homogeneity for numerous U.S. Department of Defense and commercial visible-IR window applications such as reconnaissance, missile domes, IR countermeasures, avionics, and collision avoidance on automobiles. These applications require a knowledge of the refractive index of glass throughout the region of transmission. Consequently, we have measured the refractive index of BaO-Ga2O3-GeO2 glass from 0.4 to 5.0 microm and calculated the Sellmeier coefficients required for optical device design.

Chemically resolved imaging of biological cells and thin films by infrared scanning near-field optical microscopy.

The infrared (IR) absorption of a biological system can potentially report on fundamentally important microchemical properties. For example, molecular IR profiles are known to change during increases in metabolic flux, protein phosphorylation, or proteolytic cleavage. However, practical implementation of intracellular IR imaging has been problematic because the diffraction limit of conventional infrared microscopy results in low spatial resolution. We have overcome this limitation by using an IR spectroscopic version of scanning near-field optical microscopy (SNOM), in conjunction with a tunable free-electron laser source. The results presented here clearly reveal different chemical constituents in thin films and biological cells. The space distribution of specific chemical species was obtained by taking SNOM images at IR wavelengths (lambda) corresponding to stretch absorption bands of common biochemical bonds, such as the amide bond. In our SNOM implementation, this chemical sensitivity is combined with a lateral resolution of 0.1 micro m ( approximately lambda/70), well below the diffraction limit of standard infrared microscopy. The potential applications of this approach touch virtually every aspect of the life sciences and medical research, as well as problems in materials science, chemistry, physics, and environmental research.