Vol 120, No 3 (2016)

The optical properties of a composite material consisting of a thin polymer film, which is activated by semiconductor CdSe/ZnS quantum dots (QDs) and silver nanoparticles, on a transparent dielectric substrate have been investigated. It is revealed that the presence of silver nanoparticles leads to an increase in the QD absorption (by a factor of 4) and in the fluorescence intensity (by a factor of 10), whereas the fluorescence time drops by a factor of about 10. Excitation of the composite medium by a pulsed laser is found to result in narrowing of the fluorescence band and a sublinear dependence of its intensity on the pulse energy. In the absence of silver nanoparticles, the fluorescence spectrum of QDs is independent of the excitation-pulse energy density, and the fluorescence intensity depends linearly on the pulse energy in the entire range of energy densities, up to 75 mJ/cm².

A method for the measurement of the recording/erasing time of dynamic phase gratings that are recorded by phase-modulated beams in photorefractive medium with local response is presented. The method is based on the detection of the intensity modulation of output beams in the course of rerecording of the grating after a shift of the interference pattern by one-half of spatial period. It is demonstrated that a relatively high sensitivity of the method is due to the selective detection of signals at a high frequency and a high efficiency of energy exchange of the recording beams in comparison with the diffraction of the probe beam. The application of the method in dynamic holographic seismographs is discussed.

Specific features have been revealed of nonlinear optical processes occurring when the total energy of two photons of a mode-locked Nd³⁺:YAG laser coincides with the energy of the main electron—hole (exciton) transition in colloidal CdSe/ZnS QDs and the effective self-diffraction of two laser beams arises on the induced diffraction grating.

Features of electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) in potassium vapors at the D₁ line of the ³⁹K isotope are studied. EIT resonances with a subnatural width of 3.5 MHz have been recorded upon excitation by two independent narrow-band diode lasers in a 1-cm-long cell filled with a natural mixture of potassium isotopes and buffer gas. The splitting of EIT resonances in potassium vapors in longitudinal and transverse magnetic fields has been studied for the first time. The splitted components also have a subnatural width. The smallness of the coupling factor of the hyperfine structure in ³⁹K atoms leads to a transition to the Paschen—Back regime at relatively weaker magnetic fields than in the case of Cs, Rb, and Na atoms. Practical applications of the phenomena under study are noted. The theoretical model well explains the experiment.

The vibrational—rotational spectrum of the HD¹⁶O molecule is studied within the range of 11200⁻¹2400 cm⁻¹. The spectrum is recorded by an IFS-125M Fourier spectrometer with a resolution of 0.05 cm⁻¹. The measurements are performed using a multipass White cell. A light-emitting diode is used as a radiation source. The signal-to-noise ratio was about 10⁴. The centers, intensities, and half-widths of the spectral lines are determined by fitting to the experimental data by the least-squares method. A linelist containing more than 1500 lines is created. The results obtained are compared with the experimental data of other authors.

Double-pulse laser induced breakdown spectroscopy (DP-LIBS) of aluminum sample is studied experimentally in orthogonal configuration in air. In this configuration, two schemes of reheating and pre-ablation are examined and the results are compared with single pulse one. The effect of delay time between two laser pulses on emission line intensities of plasma is investigated. Some of the parameters that have been involved in different mechanism of signal enhancement such as plasma temperature, sample heating effects, atmospheric effects, and modification of the ablation dynamics are more discussed. Investigation of the effect of laser pulse energy on emission line intensities in single pulse LIBS experiment demonstrate that because of saturation effects the intensities will not increase necessarily by increasing the laser pulse energy. Moreover, the results show that the electron temperature and rate of mass removal in orthogonal configuration of DP-LIBS is higher than that of single pulse with the same total energy. It is suggested that for correct comparison between single and double pulse results, the optimum pulse energy in single pulse should be considered. Overall, our results demonstrate that under optimized conditions the signal enhancement is much more in pre-ablation configuration than re-heating configuration.

Using spectrophotometry and stationary and kinetic fluorimetry, we have shown that xanthene dye fluorescein forms complexes with polycationic derivative of fullerene in aqueous solutions mainly due to electrostatic interactions. It is found that efficient quenching of singlet excited states of dye occurs in the structure of these complexes due to the transfer of excitation or electron from dye to fullerene. As a result, the photodynamic activity of the newly formed complex is much higher than that of fluorescein and fullerene derivative. This effect makes it possible to predict the formation of new-generation hybrid photodynamic preparations using dyes excited only into a singlet state; as a result, directed searches for these dyes are significantly facilitated.

The [Ir(bt)₂(S^S)], [Ir(bt)₂(S^N)], and [Ir(bt)₂(CH₃CN)₂]PF₆ complexes, where (bt)⁻ is a deprotonated form of 2-phenylbenzothiazole and (S^S)⁻ and (S^N)⁻ are diethyldithiocarbamate, O-ethyldithiocarbonate, 2-mercaptobenzothiazolate, 2-mercaptobenzoxazolate, and 2-mercaptopyridinate ions, and the effect of Hg(II), Cu(II), Cd(II), and Zn(II) cations on the optical characteristics of these complexes are studied by electron absorption spectroscopy and emission spectroscopy. A hypsochromic shift of the absorption and phosphorescence bands of complexes in substituting the (S^S)⁻ and (S^N)⁻ chelating ligands with acetonitrile ligands is attributed to a lower energy of d_Ir orbitals compared with the mixed d_Ir/p(S) orbitals. It is shown that the presence of Hg(II) cations results in a hypsochromic shift of the absorption and phosphorescence bands of complexes [Ir(bt)₂(S^S)] and [Ir(bt)₂(S^N)] because of an effective reaction of substitution of chelating ligands to acetonitrile ligands.

The photoluminescence (PL) and PL excitation spectra of CaGa₂S₄ polycrystals doped with praseodymium are studied in the regions of the activator absorption and the fundamental absorption of the host. It is found that the PL excitation spectrum consists of two regions: broadband absorption in the range of 200-380 nm corresponding to the fundamental absorption of the host and the narrow-band absorption of the dopant in the range of 430–515 nm. The luminescence spectra are different for different excitation wave-lengths, which occurs because Pr³⁺ ions substitute divalent cations occupying different crystallographic positions in the host crystal lattice.

Spectral and luminescence properties of sols and composition coatings containing cadmium and zinc sulfides and high-molecular polyvinylpyrrolidone have been studied. It is shown that the absorption spectra of colloidal solutions in the UV spectral range are determined by the quantum-confinement effect and exhibit a dependence of the absorption edge on the size of cadmium sulfide nanocrystals. The size of forming particles of metal sulfides has been found to decrease with an increase in the relative content of polyvinylpyrrolidone. It is shown that the order of mixing of the initial components when synthesizing sols also determines the difference in the size of forming particles and their spectral properties.

We investigate the possibility of controlling the radiation parameters of a spatially periodic one-dimensional medium consisting of classical harmonic oscillators by means of a sequence of ultrashort pulses that propagate through the medium with a superluminal velocity. We show that, in the spectrum of the transient process, in addition to the radiation at a resonant frequency of oscillators, new frequencies arise that depend on the period of the spatial distribution of the oscillator density, the excitation velocity, and the angle of observation. We have examined in detail the case of excitation of the medium by a periodic sequence of ultrashort pulses that travel with a superluminal velocity. We show that it is possible to excite oscillations of complex shapes and to control the radiation parameters of the resonant medium by changing the relationship between the pulse repetition rate, the medium resonant frequency, and the new frequency.

Superradiance of three-level optical systems with a doublet in the ground state (Λ-scheme) placed in a high-Q cavity is studied theoretically. The conservation laws are obtained, which allow to considerably reduce the dimension of the phase space of the examined model (R¹¹→R⁵). In the particular case of a degenerate doublet, a mapping that makes it possible to reduce the problem of the three-level superradiance to a Duffing oscillator model (R⁵→R²) is found. It is shown the possibility to initiate the superradiance generation even in the case when the population of the upper level is smaller than the total population of the lower doublet, i.e., without population inversion on the whole.

A laboratory laser spectrometric measurement system for investigation of spatial distributions of local temperatures in a flame at combustion of vapors of various liquid hydrocarbon fuels in oxygen or air at atmospheric pressure is presented. The system incorporates a coherent anti-Stokes Raman spectrometer with high spatial resolution for local thermometry of nitrogen-containing gas mixtures in a single laser shot and a continuous operation burner with a laminar diffusion flame. The system test results are presented for measurements of spatial distributions of local temperatures in various flame zones at combustion of vapor—gas n-decane/nitrogen mixtures in air. Its applicability for accomplishing practical tasks in comparative laboratory investigation of characteristics of various fuels and for research on combustion in turbulent flames is discussed.

The freshwater-cultured pearl (Chamberlainia hainesiana species) is an organic gemstone mainly composed of calcium carbonate mineral including calcite, aragonite and vaterite phases. Generally, the quality of freshwater-cultured pearl is based on its luster. The high luster pearl is full of the aragonite phase without vaterite phase. On the other hand, the low luster pearl consists of aragonite and vaterite phases. These data could be proved by the Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy combined with the scanning electron microscopy (SEM). As the results, the high luster pearl similarly shows the FTIR spectrum of aragonite phase, and also, it shows the hexagonal shape of aragonite for the SEM image. On the other hand, the FTIR spectrum of low luster pearl has been pointed to the mixture component among aragonite and vaterite phases, and based on the SEM image; the irregular form is also interpreted to the mixture of aragonite and vaterite phases. This research concludes that the quality of freshwater-cultured pearls can be identified by the combination data of FTIR spectra and SEM images. These techniques are suitable for applied gemology.