Ultrafast supercontinua are marvellous when generated in χ3 bulk, where they retain the coherence properties of their seed pulses. Such true “white laser light” is alluring to biology, chemistry and physics. However, effects such as self-focussing and filamentation fundamentally constrain its pulse energy to less than few micro-joules. Having stronger supercontinua can enhance our limit of detection in spectroscopy and accelerate micromachining. Thus, we present a novel method for supercontinuum generation in theory and experiment, liberating the fundamental energy constraints. Our preliminary world-first results indicate a doubled conversion efficiency and 104 stronger, few femtosecond pulses, compared to conventional methods.
Underwater spectroscopy is always a challenge, especially when fighting organic pollutants, which cause fluorescence when looking at plankton in sea water. Using a free space coherent Raman spectroscopy we have obtained key parameters helping us to build our fibre laser spectroscopy system, which we deploy on a boat to measure in-situ, in real time seawater nutrients. We have developed a near background free 2-color coherent anti-Stokes Raman spectroscopy system (CARS), which is based on specially treated photonic crystal fibre supercontinuum in the near femtosecond regime. We will present a full system characterization including the choice of the appropriate wavelengths of the Stokes and pump pulse, optimization of the Stokes supercontinuum in the temporal and spectral domain, as temporal adjustment of our optimized home built fibre laser. Finally, for the first time, we present vessel based spectra of living plankton underwater around New Zealand’s coastal region via a specially designed Raman probe head.
The health and growth rates of shellfish depends critically on the precise chemical and biological makeup of the surrounding seawater. Rapid and continuous sensing of the marine environment enables improved harvests and better profits. However, underwater spectroscopy is still in its infancy. Our research aim is to develop a new sensor that is well-suited for marine environments and one that is capable of working at depths of up to 20 metres. We discuss a modified high intensity femtosecond coherent anti-Stokes Raman Scattering (CARS) system, which removes the usual limitations such as a limited wavenumber range and a low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) due to non-resonant background. A particular set of Probe and Stokes pulses aim to investigate the spectra of various living plankton in seawater. It also determines critical parameters for the underwater CARS system such as signal dependent on the pulse energies, vibrational dephasing times and numerical aperture dependencies in forward CARS. This links to theory and greatly expands the understanding of CARS parameters for future underwater CARS experiments.
A study of the link between the infra-red (IR) absorbance and the relative static permittivity Ɛr of liquid hydrocarbons is of special interest for developing in-situ oxidation monitoring tools. In particular, where IR measurements are difficult to implement but cost efficient and durable capacitive probes can be used. This paper will explore this link by exposing a paraffinic hydrocarbon to oxidation in an accelerated degradation process, while measuring the IR absorption and Ɛr values during this process. It is shown to what extent the IR response of the hydrocarbon liquid changes in the 500 to 4000 cm-1 window, and how this can be translated into a measured increase in Ɛr during oxidation time. The correlation coefficient between IR absorbance at around 1720 cm-1 and Ɛr increase with oxidation time was 99.7%. This remarkably good agreement shows that capacitive probes have the potential to be used as a substitutional in-field tool for in-situ degradation monitoring of hydrocarbon liquids.
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