Reliable personal authentication is a critical and vital obligation to the security in all the real-world applications. Nevertheless, biometric features are effectively used for the personal authentication, in some cases the criminal impersonation is an easy task. The reproducible attack in fingerprint system and cost prohibitive nature of iris and facial based system limit the vast implementation of the same for personal authentication. Hence, considering the cases of increasing identity theft, there is more reason than ever to ensure the reliable and cost-effective personal authentication. The vein biometric identification system has been gaining increased attention in recent years. Anatomically, the shape of the vein pattern at the dorsal hand is unique for each even for identical twins and remains stable for a period. The objective of this work is to conduct a feasibility analysis of unique ID generation using dorsal hand vein pattern as the biometric authentication system for preventing identity theft of the valuable documents. Images of the vein pattern from the dorsal side of the hand are tried to capture using a regular type Smartphone camera. Vein pattern thus captured is used to extract the unique features. Numerical values generated from such unique feature are encrypted and used to create a unique ID. This paper discusses about the method for the dorsal hand vein pattern capturing, its feature extraction, conversion to the unique ID and its feasibility to integrate to the valuable documents.
The counterfeit banknote is a growing threat to the society since the advancements in the field of computers, scanners and photocopiers, as they have made the duplication process for banknote much simpler. The fake note detection systems developed so far have many drawbacks such as high cost, poor accuracy, unavailability, lack of user-friendliness and lower effectiveness. One possible solution to this problem could be the use of a system uniquely linked to the banknote itself. In this paper, we present a unique identification and authentication process for the banknote using chaotic elements embedded in it. A chaotic element means that the physical elements are formed from a random process independent from human intervention. The chaotic elements used in this paper are the random distribution patterns of such security fibres set into the paper pulp. A unique ID is generated from the fibre pattern obtained from UV image of the note, which can be verified by any person who receives the banknote to decide whether the banknote is authentic or not. Performance analysis of the system is also studied in this paper.
KEYWORDS: Holographic interferometry, Forensic science, Holograms, 3D image processing, 3D printing, Modulation, Holography, 3D modeling, Security technologies, 3D displays
Security holograms having unique 3D images are one of the tools for enhancing the security for product and personnel authentication and anti-counterfeiting. Apart from the high technology that is required, the uniqueness of a 3D object presents a significant additional threshold for the counterfeiting of such security holograms. But, due to the development of 3D printing technology, the hurdles are disabled and allow the chances of counterfeiting. In order to overcome this, holographic interferometry is effectively utilized and the object is recorded twice before and after the state of random object change. At the time of reconstruction, two signal waves generated simultaneously interfere each other, resulting in a fringe modulation. This fringe modulation in 3D image hologram with respect to the random object change is exploited to generate a rigid and unique anticounterfeit feature. Though holographic interferometry techniques are being widely used for the non-destructive evaluation, the applicability of this technology for the security and forensic activity is less exploited. This paper describes our efforts to introduce holographic interferometry in 3D image holograms for security and forensic applications.
Cirrus clouds play an important role in the Earth’s radiation budget due to their high frequency of occurrence, nonspherical ice crystal formations, and variability in scattering/absorption characteristics. Mostly, tropical cirrus clouds are considered greenhouse modulators. Thus, the parameterization of tropical cirrus clouds in terms of their microphysical properties and the corresponding radiative effects are highly important for climate studies. For characterizing the radiative properties of cirrus clouds, which depend on the size, shape, and number of ice crystals, knowledge of the extinction coefficient (σ) and optical depth (τ) is necessary. σ provides information needed for understanding the influence of the scatterers on the radiative budget, whereas τ gives an indication of the composition and thickness of the cloud. Extensive research on tropical cirrus clouds has been carried out by using ground-based lidar (GBL) and satellite-based lidar systems. The characteristics of tropical cirrus clouds derived by using the data from the GBL system over the tropical site Gadanki (13.5° N, 79.2° E), India, during 2010 are presented. Some of the results are compared with those obtained by us from satellite-based cloud–aerosol lidar with orthogonal polarization observations of the cloud–aerosol lidar and infrared pathfinder satellite observation mission. It is observed that there is a strong dependence on some of the physical properties, such as occurrence height, cloud temperature, and geometrical thickness, and on the microphysical parameters in terms of extinction coefficient and optical depth. The correlation of both σ and τ with temperature is also observed.
Cirrus clouds are mainly composed of ice crystals and are known to be the major natural contributors to radiative forcing in the Earth’s atmosphere system. Describing the formation and microphysical properties of cirrus clouds and their role in climate models remain a challenging study. Lidar is a unique instrument, which provides the information on the optical and microphysical properties of cirrus clouds with good spatial and temporal resolutions. In this study we present the microphysical properties of cirrus clouds and their temporal variability, obtained using the ground based dual polarisation lidar at the tropical station Gadanki (13.5° N and 79.2° E), India, during the period January2009 to March 2011. Using the method developed in house for deriving range dependent lidar ratio (LR), the lidar measurements are used for deriving the extinction coefficient and to obtain the nature of the scatterers present in the cloud. It is noted that lidar ratio plays an important role and its measurements indicate directly the type of the ice nucleating aerosol particles present in the cloud. The long term data obtained on the structure of the cirrus in this regard are useful in the climate modelling studies.
The cirrus clouds play an important role in the Earth’s radiation budget due to their high frequency of occurrence, non-spherical ice crystal formations, and variability in the scattering/absorption characteristics. Mostly, the tropical cirrus clouds are considered as greenhouse modulators. Thus the parameterization of tropical cirrus clouds in terms of the micro- physical properties and the corresponding radiative effects are highly important for the climate studies. For characterizing the radiative properties of cirrus clouds, which depend on the size, shape and number of the ice crystals, the knowledge of extinction coefficient (σ) and optical depth (τ) are necessary. The σ provides information needed for understanding the influence of the scatterers on the radiative budget whereas the τ gives an indication on the composition and thickness of the cloud. Extensive research on the tropical cirrus clouds has been carried out by using a ground based and satellite based lidar systems. In this work, the characteristics of tropical cirrus cloud derived by using the data from the ground based lidar system over the tropical site Gadanki [13.5°N, 79.2°E], India during 2010 are presented. Some of the results are compared with those obtained by us from satellite based CALIOP lidar observations of the CALIPSO mission. It is observed that there is a strong dependence of the some of the physical properties such as occurrence height, cloud temperature and the geometrical thickness on the microphysical parameters in terms of extinction coefficient and optical depth. The correlation of both the σ and τ with temperature is also observed.
Cirrus clouds play a significant role in the Earths radiation budget. Therefore, knowledge of geometrical and optical properties of cirrus cloud is essential for the climate modeling. In this paper, the cirrus clouds microphysical and optical properties are made by using a ground based lidar measurements over an inland tropical station Gadanki (13.5°N, 79.2°E), Andhra Pradesh, India. The variation of cirrus microphysical and optical properties with mid cloud temperature is also studied. The cirrus clouds mean height is generally observed in the range of 9-17km with a peak occurrence at 13- 14km. The cirrus mid cloud temperature ranges from -81°C to -46°C. The cirrus geometrical thickness ranges from 0.9- 4.5km. During the cirrus occurrence days sub-visual, thin and dense cirrus were at 37.5%, 50% and 12.5% respectively. The monthly cirrus optical depth ranges from 0.01-0.47, but most (<80%) of the cirrus have values less than 0.1. Optical depth shows a strong dependence with cirrus geometrical thickness and mid-cloud height. The monthly mean cirrus extinction ranges from 2.8E-06 to 8E-05 and depolarization ratio and lidar ratio varies from 0.13 to 0.77 and 2 to 52 sr respectively. A positive correlation exists for both optical depth and extinction with the mid-cloud temperature. The lidar ratio shows a scattered behavior with mid-cloud temperature.
Cirrus clouds have been identified as one of the atmospheric component which influence the radiative processes in the atmosphere and plays a key role in the Earth Radiation Budget. CALIPSO (Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observation) is a joint NASA-CNES satellite mission designed to provide insight in understanding of the role of aerosols and clouds in the climate system. This paper reports the study on the variation of cirrus cloud optical properties of over the Indian sub - continent for a period of two years from January 2009 to December 2010, using cloud-aerosol lidar and infrared pathfinder satellite observations (Calipso). Indian Ocean and Indian continent is one of the regions where cirrus occurrence is maximum particularly during the monsoon periods. It is found that during the south-west monsoon periods there is a large cirrus cloud distribution over the southern Indian land masses. Also it is observed that the north-east monsoon periods had optical thick clouds hugging the coast line. The summer had large cloud formation in the Arabian Sea. It is also found that the land masses near to the sea had large cirrus presence. These cirrus clouds were of high altitude and optical depth. The dependence of cirrus cloud properties on cirrus cloud mid-cloud temperature and geometrical thickness are generally similar to the results derived from the ground-based lidar. However, the difference in macrophysical parameter variability shows the limits of space-borne-lidar and dissimilarities in regional climate variability and the nature and source of cloud nuclei in different geographical regions.
Today, document counterfeiting is a global menace because of the advanced technologies available at ever decreasing prices. Instead of eschew the paper documents; applying efficient cost effective security methodologies are the feasible solutions. This paper reports a novel cost effective and simple optical technique using micro text encrypted optical variable device (OVD) threads, ultra-violet (UV) based optical invariable device (OID) patterns and artistic fonts for secure preparation of the documents and its forensic application. Applying any one of the above technique or together can effectively enhance the level of security of the most valuable document. The genuineness of the documents can be verified using simple decryption techniques.
High altitude cirrus clouds are composed mainly of ice crystals with a variety of sizes and shapes. They have a large influence on Earth’s energy balance and global climate. Recent studies indicate that the formation, dissipation, life time, optical, and micro-physical properties are influenced by the dynamical conditions of the surrounding atmosphere like background aerosol, turbulence, etc. In this work, an attempt has been made to quantify some of these characteristics by using lidar and mesosphere–stratosphere–troposphere (MST) radar. Mie lidar and 53 MHz MST radar measurements made over 41 nights during the period 2009 to 2010 from the tropical station, Gadanki, India (13.5°N, 79.2°E). The optical and microphysical properties along with the structure and dynamics of the cirrus are presented as observed under different atmospheric conditions. The study reveals the manifestation of different forms of cirrus with a preferred altitude of formation in the 13 to 14 km altitude. There are considerable differences in the properties obtained among 2009 and 2010 showing significant anomalous behavior in 2010. The clouds observed during 2010 show relatively high asymmetry and large multiple scattering effects. The anomalies found during 2010 may be attributed to the turbulence noticed in the surrounding atmosphere. The results show a clear correlation between the crystal morphology in the clouds and the dynamical conditions of the prevailing atmosphere during the observational period.
Cirrus cloud measurements over the tropics are receiving much attention recently due to their role in the Earth's radiation budget. The interaction of water vapor and aerosols plays a major role in phase formation of cirrus clouds. Many factors control the ice supersaturation and microphysical properties in cirrus clouds and, as such, investigations on these properties of cirrus clouds are critical for proper understanding and simulating the climate. In this paper we report on the evolution, microphysical, and optical properties of cirrus clouds using the Mie LIDAR operation at the National Atmospheric Research Laboratory, Gadanki, India (13.5°N, 79.2°E), an inland tropical station. The occurrence statistics, height, optical depth, depolarization ratio of the cirrus clouds, and their relationship with ice nuclei concentration were investigated over 29 days of observation during the year 2002. Cirrus clouds with a base altitude as low as 8.4 km are observed during the month of January and clouds with a maximum top height of 17.1 km are observed during the month of May. The cirrus has a mean thickness of 2 km during the period of study. The LIDAR ratio varies from 30 to 36 sr during the summer days of observation and 25 to 31 sr during the winter days of observation. Depolarization values range from 0.1 to 0.58 during the period of observation. The ice nuclei concentration has been calculated using the De Motts equation. It is observed that during the monsoon months of June, July, and August, there appears to be an increase in the ice nuclei number concentration. From the depolarization data an attempt is made to derive the ice crystal orientation and their structure of the cirrus. Crystal structures such as thin plates, thick plates, regular hexagons, and hexagonal columns are observed in the study. From the observed crystal structure and ice nuclei concentration, the possible nucleation mechanism is suggested.
The optical properties of the cirrus clouds over a tropical inland station Gadanki, Tirupati were studied using a dual polarization lidar. The extinction coefficient, backscatter coefficient, optical depth and linear depolarization of the cirrus clouds are derived using the range dependent lidar ratio. This work reports the results obtained during the period of December 2006 to July 2007 which covers the three prominent seasons of the year in the Indian subcontinent. A variety of ice crystals like hexagonal thin plate, thick plate, columns, dendrites and aggregates were observed within the cloud. The geometrical and optical thicknesses of the clouds show strong seasonal variations. The occurrence frequency of thin cirrus clouds was found to be relatively high as compared to sub-visible and dense clouds. In almost all the cases, the cloud contains smaller ice crystals in the top part, larger crystals in the middle portion and mixed phase in the bottom portion. Compared to the winter and summer seasons the horizontally oriented ice crystals were observed more in monsoon period. The lidar ratio and linear depolarization ratio of the cirrus clouds were in the range of 3-40 sr and 0.1-1.5 respectively. The maximum linear depolarization ratio was observed for the clouds containing randomly oriented ice crystal with temperature below -80°C. The lidar ratio was found to be maximum for the thin plate crystals and minimum for thick clouds with horizontally oriented ice crystals. The extinction and backscattering coefficients of the clouds were in the range of 0.3x10-4 to 6 x10-4 m-1 and 0.12x10-4 to 3x10-4 m-1 sr-1 respectively during the observation period.
Laser radar (lidar) provides an excellent tool for characterizing the physical properties of atmospheric aerosols which play a very important role in modifying the radiative budget of the Earth's atmosphere. One of the important issues in lidar research is to derive accurate backscattering or extinction coefficient profiles required for understanding the basic mechanisms in the formation of aerosols and identifying their sources and sinks. Most of the inversion methods used for deriving the aerosol coefficients assume a range independent value for the extinction-to- backscattering ratio [lidar ratio, (LR)]. However, it is known that in a realistic atmosphere the value of LR is range dependent and varies with the physical and chemical properties of the aerosols. In this paper, we use a variant of widely applied Klett's method to obtain the range dependent LR values and derive the aerosol extinction profiles with good accuracy. We present the lidar derived aerosol extinction profiles in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere corresponding to different seasons of the year of two distinctly different stations in the Indian subcontinent namely Trivandrum (8.33° N, 77° E), Kerala, India, a coastal station and Gadanki (13.5° N, 79.2° E), Tirupati, India an inland station. The range dependent LR is derived corresponding to different seasons of the year at the two stations. The lidar ratio, aerosol extinction coefficient (AEC), aerosol scattering ratio and aerosol optical depth show strong to medium seasonal variation at both the stations. The lidar ratio values at Trivandum vary in the range of 11-38 sr whereas the values range from 20-34 sr at Gadanki. AEC values at the Trivandum station vary from 7.9x10-6 to 6.9x10-5 m-1 and at Gadanki station the variation is from 1.27x10-5 to 6.9x10-5 m-1. It is proposed to use back-trajectory analysis to understand the sources of aerosol at the two stations.
The monsoon water cycle is the lifeline to over 60% of the world's population. The study on the behavioral change of Indian monsoon due to aerosol loading will help for the better understanding of Indian Monsoon. Aerosol system influences the atmosphere in two ways; it affects directly the radiation budget and indirectly provides condensation nuclei required for the clouds. The precipitation of the clouds in the monsoon season depends on the microphysical properties of the clouds. The effect of aerosol on cirrus clouds is being looked into through this work as an effort to study the role of aerosol on Indian Monsoon. The microphysical properties of high altitude clouds were obtained from the ground based lidar experiments at a low latitude station in the Indian subcontinent. Measurements during the Indian monsoon period from the inland station National Atmospheric Research Laboratory (NARL) Gadanki (13.5_ N, 79.2_ E), Tirupati, India were used for the investigation. The depolarization characteristics of the cirrus clouds were measured and the correlation between the depolarization and the precipitation characteristics were studied. The results obtained over a period of one year from January 1998 to December 1998 were presented.
Cirrus clouds have been identified as one of the most uncertain component in the atmospheric research. It is known that cirrus clouds modulate the earth's climate through direct and indirect modification of radiation. The role of cirrus clouds depends mainly
on their microphysical properties. To understand cirrus clouds better, we must observe and characterize their properties. In-situ observation of such clouds is a challenging experiment,
as the clouds are located at high altitudes. Active remote sensing method based on lidar can detect high and thin cirrus clouds with good spatial and temporal resolution. We present the result obtained on the microphysical properties of the cirrus clouds at two Tropical stations namely Gadhanki, Tirupati (13.50 N, 79.20 E), India and Trivandrum (13.50 N, 770 E) Kerala, India from the ground based pulsed Nd: YAG lidar systems installed at the stations. A variant
of the widely used Klett's lidar inversion method with range dependent scattering ratio is used for the present study for the retrieval of aerosol extinction and microphysical parameters of cirrus cloud.
Lidar has proven to be an effective instrument for obtaining high resolution profiles of atmospheric
aerosols. Deriving the optical properties of aerosols from the experimentally obtained lidar data is one of the most
interesting and challenging task for the atmospheric scientists. A few methods had been developed so far, to obtain the
quantitative profiles of extinction and backscattering coefficient of aerosols from the pulsed backscattering lidar
measurements. Most of the existing inversion methods assume a range independent value for the scattering ratio for
inverting the lidar signal even though it is known that the scattering ratio depends on the nature of aerosols and as such
range dependent. We used a modified Klett's method for the inversion of lidar signal that uses range dependent
scattering ratio (s) for the characterization of atmospheric aerosols. This method provides the constants k and s for all the altitude regions of the atmosphere and leads to derive the aerosol extinction profile for the lidar data. In this paper we
made a study on the errors involved in the extinction profiles derived using the range dependent scattering ratio and
discuss the approach in this regard to obtain the accurate extinction profiles.
Using the amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) from an erbium-doped fiber amplifier (EDFA) at zero signal condition, the shifting of resonant wavelengths in a mechanically induced long-period fiber grating (MLPFG), resulting from the intensity induced effects is demonstrated. The theoretical and experimental investigations on the ASE-induced effects in an MLPFG are presented. The developed theory is concise and is useful for differentiating the index changes due to Kerr and other intensity-dependent effects in a long-period fiber grating (LPFG). It is demonstrated that the induced index will be high for the LP11 resonance near the third telecommunication window and is negligible for the LP12 resonance. Because of the increase in microbend loss at each groove of the MLPFG, the thermally induced nonlinear effects lessen at higher values of applied pressures
Optically pumped solid-state lasers with Nd:YAG may have to operate over a wide range of temperatures. We designed and fabricated a diode double end-pumped Nd:YAG laser for free space laser communication. Various laser beam parameters have been characterized for the same application. The temperature dependence of the effective stimulated emission cross section for 4F3/24I11/2 transition and fractional thermal loading of Nd:YAG are determined using a planar resonator with two collimated and focused pump beams from fiber-array package laser diodes at 808 nm. The pump power-induced thermal lensing is used to stabilize the cavity. The diode double end-pumped Nd:YAG laser possesses an extremely good beam profile that exactly matches the theoretical Gaussian intensity distribution up to a diode current of 30 A. After that the ellipticity slightly increases, indicating deviation from the circular symmetry of beam, which may be due to the thermally induced birefringence of the Nd:YAG crystal offered to the polarized laser beam. The thermal lens focal length decreases with an increase in the absorbed pump power, similar to the case of a lamp pumped Nd:YAG laser and a diode pumped Nd:YVO4 laser. All the results indicate that the laser beam characteristics are useful for high data rate free space laser communication links.
Lasers are able to saw complex diamond crystals with improved yields and provide better
accuracy, greater speed, and lower breakage rates even for sensitive diamonds and lower weight
loss for difficult stones. In the present investigation, four different types of nanosecond Q-switched
Nd:YAG lasers namely an arc lamp pumped Nd:YAG laser operating at 1064 nm, arc
lamp pumped Nd:YAG laser operating at second harmonically generated 532 nm, diode pumped
Nd:YVO4 laser operating at 1064 nm, a diode pumped Nd:YAG laser operating at 1064 nm,
532nm picosecond Diode pumped Nd:YAG laser and 510 nm Cu vapor laser have been
employed for the processing of single crystal gem quality natural diamond to study the effects of
pulse width and wavelength on various aspects of processing and the relative merits and
demerits. The overall weight loss of the diamond and formation of micro cracking during
processing have been studied for the above four cases. The characteristics of graphite formed
during processing, elemental analysis, surface morphology of cut face and process dynamics
have been studied using Micro Raman spectroscopic technique and Scanning Electron
Microscopy (SEM). The Micro Raman and SEM analysis show that the surface quality is
obtained superior by using diode pumped Nd:YVO4 laser due to its extremely high peak power.
The maximum graphite content is observed while processing using lamp pumped Nd:YAG laser
at 532 nm. Shorter laser pulses result in higher cutting rate of natural diamonds due to better
localization of absorbed laser energy.
Interorbit links, intersatellite links, and deep space missions are certain key applications of free-space optical communication links. For efficient and better signal propagation ensuring minimum possible bit error rate (BER) and maximize signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), the laser source used for carrying information should be one in which the laser power and beam quality do not degrade due to vibrations, shock, and thermal cycling. As part of our attempt to design an efficient and suitable laser source for optical free-space communication, a diode double-end pumped and Q-switched Nd:YVO4 laser is designed and fabricated. The thermally induced lens in the laser crystal brings the flat-convex cavity into geometric stability. A slope efficiency of 58.38% is observed in continuous wave (CW) multimode and 40.49% is observed in CW TEM00 mode operation, which is sufficiently high for free-space optical communication. A minimum pulse width of 7.3 ns is observed corresponding to a peak power of 63.01 kW at 20 kHz. It can be seen that at lower Q-switch frequencies, the pulse width is short and the energy per pulse is high, whereas at higher Q-switch frequencies, the energy per pulse is low and the pulse width is long but the average power is high. The peak power increases with the absorbed pump power, similar to a lamp-pumped Nd:YAG laser. The maximum pulse energy observed is 430 µJ at 10 kHz. Below 20 kHz, no further increase in pulse energy is observed due to the lower lifetime of the upper laser level (~90 to 100 µs) of Nd:YVO4 crystal. Changes in the laser beam profile with pump power have been studied. The major advantage of the Nd:YVO4 crystal is the ability to retain short pulse width even at higher Q-switch frequencies like 100 kHz, which makes this laser suitable for ultrahard material processing at higher Q-switch frequencies.At full pump power, the pulse width varies from 7.3 ns at 20 kHz to 19.5 ns at 100 kHz.(partial abstract)
Advances in laser technology and nonlinear optical techniques can be effectively utilized for light detection and ranging (LIDAR) applications in space and atmospheric sciences to achieve better flexibility and control of the available optical power. Using such devices, one can achieve highly accurate and resolved measurement of the distribution for atmospheric scattering layers. In the present investigation, a diode-double-end-pumped high-repetition-rate, multiwavelength Nd:YAG laser is designed, fabricated, and various laser beam parameters are characterized for LIDAR applications. Nonlinear optical techniques are employed to generate higher harmonics like 532, 355, and 266 nm for various spectral studies. The studies of laser crystal parameters of Nd:YVO4 and Nd:YAG are performed using a diode-double-end-pumped configuration to extract maximum output power in the fundamental mode. The fractional thermal loading and effective stimulated emission cross section for 4F3/24I11/2 transition of 1.1 at. % doped Nd:YVO4 slab and 0.7% doped Nd:YAG rod is determined and compared using a convex-plane resonator configuration stabilized by pump-power-induced thermal lensing effect. Lower fractional thermal loading, larger effective stimulated emission cross section, and naturally polarized output enable these lasers to be more suitable for highly accurate and resolved measurement of the distribution for atmospheric scattering layers.
Advances in Laser Technology and nonlinear Optical techniques can be effectively utilized for LIDAR
applications in space and atmospheric sciences to achieve better flexibility and control of the available optical power.
Using such devices, one can achieve highly accurate and resolved, measurement of the distribution for atmospheric
scattering layers. In the present investigation a diode double end pumped high repetition rate, multi wavelength Nd:YAG
laser is designed, fabricated and various laser beam parameters have been characterized for LIDAR applications.
Nonlinear optical techniques have been employed to generate higher harmonics like 532nm, 355nm and 266nm for
various spectral studies. The experimental setup mainly consists of two Fiber coupled pump laser diodes (Model FAP-
81-30C-800B, Coherent Inc, USA) with a maximum output power of 30Watt at a wavelength of 807-810nm at 30°C set
temperature. A second harmonic LBO crystal cut for critical phase matching placed within the laser resonator is provided
for converting a fraction of the fundamental beam to a second harmonic beam. A type II frequency tripling LBO nonlinear
crystal (cut for critical phase matching) is also located inside the laser resonator. The third harmonic beam and the
unconverted fundamental beam are then directed across a type I fourth harmonic LBO crystal cut for critical phase
matching where a portion of the fundamental beam and a portion of the third harmonic beam are converted to a fourth
harmonic frequency when both fundamental and third harmonic beams propagate through the frequency quadrupling
crystal. The resulting beams which are the fundamental (1064nm), second harmonic (532nm), third harmonic (355nm)
and fourth harmonic (266nm) are then directed to a fourth harmonic separator in which the fourth harmonic beam is
separated from the fundamental beam. A maximum average power of 12W at 1064nm, 8W at 532nm, 5W at 355nm and
3W at 266nm have been measured at a repetition rate of 10KHz. A minimum pulse width of 25ns have been observed.
The LIDAR equation contains four unknown variables in a two-component atmosphere where the effects
caused by both molecules and aerosols have to be considered. The inversion of LIDAR returns to retrieve aerosol
extinction profiles, thus, calls for some functional relationship to be assumed between these two. The Klett's method,
assumes a functional relationship between the extinction and backscatter. In this paper, we apply a different technique,
called the optical depth solution, where we made use of the total optical depth or transmittance of the atmosphere along
the LIDAR-measurement range. This method provides a stable solution to the LIDAR equation. In this study, we apply
this technique to the data obtained using a micro pulse LIDAR (MPL, model 1000, Science and Engineering Services
Inc) to retrieve the vertical distribution of aerosol extinction coefficient. The LIDAR is equipped with Nd-YLF laser at
an operating wavelength of 523.5 nm and the data were collected over Bangalore. The LIDAR data are analyzed to get to
weighted extinction coefficient profiles or the weighted sum of aerosol and molecular extinction coefficient profiles.
Simultaneous measurements of aerosol column optical depth (at 500 nm) using a Microtops sun photometer were used in
the retrievals. The molecular extinction coefficient is determined assuming standard atmospheric conditions. The aerosol
extinction coefficient profiles are determined by subtracting the molecular part from the weighted extinction coefficient
profiles. The details of the method and the results obtained are presented.
Studies on a diode double-end-pumped Nd:YVO4 laser operating in the fundamental mode with a maximum cw output power of 14.8 W are reported. Measurements were taken with an a-axis-cut crystal in the form of a rectangular bar of size 4×4×10 mm with doping concentration 1.1 at.%, using a diode double-end-pumped resonator configuration operating in the cw TEM00 mode. The pumping arrangement mainly consists of two fiber-coupled diode-laser arrays with a maximum output power of 30 W and output wavelength range of 807 to 810 nm at 25°C set temperature. Since the quality of the pump beam and the actual focused spot size are important parameters for overlap optimization of the pump and cavity modes, these two parameters are calculated for this set up. The fractional thermal loading and effective stimulated emission cross section for 4F3/24I11/2 transition of 1.1-at.% doped Nd:YVO4 crystal are calculated using the planar resonator configuration stabilized by pump-power-induced thermal lensing. The focal length of the effective lens and its variation with the absorbed pump power are determined from the far-field divergence angle of the output beam.
Optoelectronic techniques can be used in laser applications in biomedical instrumentation to achieve better flexibility and control of the available optical power. These techniques enable the processing and manufacturing of biomedical implants like cardiovascular stents and micrometallic components with reduced heat-affected zone (HAZ) and extremely precise edge cutting. The present investigations deal with the study of laser piercing routines and further profile cutting of thin stainless steel sheet tubes for biomedical implant manufacturing. The process is performed using an acousto-optic (AO) modulator-based pulsed Nd:YAG laser. The AO modulator used in the experiments is a Bragg diffraction device. During the piercing of holes, the focused laser power is gradually increased from a low value and finally reaches the maximum as the beam goes deeper into the material. The most suitable value of dwell time is found to be 50 ms. A nine step staircase modulating voltage with a maximum ac component of 800 mV is used, and the laser power is 4 W in TEM00 operation. The acousto-optic modulator-based pulsed Nd:YAG laser is capable of cutting extremely complex geometries of stents on 316LVM tubing. Laser cutting results in a kerf width of 20.5±0.5 µm. Precise strut dimensions of 115±15 µm for subsidiary strut, 150±15 µm for main strut, and 150±15 µm for the link are also obtained. With the piercing routine, extremely fine holes with reduced heat-affected zones are produced, and this quality is reflected during consequent machining of required profiles for implants.
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