The aim of the study was to assess the profile of EC (elemental carbon) and OC (organic carbon) temperature fractions in PM1 and PM2.5 samples and in wet deposition samples (material collected on a filter). The research was conducted at the urban background station in Zabrze (southern Poland) in the period of Oct 2020–Oct 2021. PM samples were collected with high-volume samplers; the automatic precipitation collector NSA 181 by Eigenbrodt was used to collect the deposition samples. Concentrations of EC and OC were determined using thermal-optical method (carbon analyzer from Sunset Laboratory Inc., “eusaar_2” protocol). Regardless of the type of research material, organic carbon constituted the dominant part of the carbonaceous matter, and this dominance was more visible in the non-heating season. The profile of temperature fractions of OC and EC was clearly different for dust washed out by precipitation. Noteworthy is a much lower content of pyrolytic carbon (PC) in OC, which can be explained by the fact that PC is most often combined with the water soluble organic carbon. In addition, a high proportion of the OC3 fraction was observed, followed by OC4, which may indicate that these fractions are of a more regional origin. With regard to the EC fractions, the differences are less visible and concern, in particular, the higher share of EC4 and the lower EC2. The obtained results may be a valuable source of information about the actual status of the carbonaceous matter and its transformation in the atmosphere.

The explosive rise of wireless services necessitates a network connection with high bandwidth, high performance, low mistakes, and adequate channel capacity. Individual mobile users, as well as residential and business clusters are increasingly using the internet and multimedia services, resulting in massive increases in the internet traffic demand. Over the past decade, internet traffic has grown significantly faster than Moore’s law predicted. The current system is facing significant radio frequency spectrum congestion and is unable to successfully transmit growing amounts of (available) data to end users while keeping acceptable delay values in mind. Free space optics is a viable alternative to the current radio frequency technology. This technology has a few advantages, including fast data speeds, unrestricted bandwidth, and excellent security. Since free space optics is invisible to traffic type and data protocol, it may be quickly reliably and profitably integrated into an existing access network. Despite the undeniable benefits of free space optics technology under excellent channel conditions and its wide range of applications, its broad use is hampered by its low link dependability, especially over long distances, caused by atmospheric turbulence-induced decay and weather sensitivity. The best plausible solution is to establish a secondary channel link in the GHz frequency range that works in tandem with the primary free space optics link. A hybrid system that combines free space optics and millimeter wave technologies in this research is presented. The combined system offers a definitive backhaul maintenance, by drastically improving the link range and service availability.

Abstract A conductive boron-doped diamond (BDD) grown on a fused silica/quartz has been investigated. Diamond thin films were deposited by the microwave plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (MW PECVD). The main parameters of the BDD synthesis, i.e. the methane admixture and the substrate temperature were investigated in detail. Preliminary studies of optical properties were performed to qualify an optimal CVD synthesis and film parameters for optical sensing applications. The SEM micro-images showed the homogenous, continuous and polycrystalline surface morphology; the mean grain size was within the range of 100-250 nm. The fabricated conductive boron-doped diamond thin films displayed the resistivity below 500 mOhm cm-1 and the transmittance over 50% in the VIS-NIR wavelength range. The studies of optical constants were performed using the spectroscopic ellipsometry for the wavelength range between 260 and 820 nm. A detailed error analysis of the ellipsometric system and optical modelling estimation has been provided. The refractive index values at the 550 nm wavelength were high and varied between 2.24 and 2.35 depending on the percentage content of methane and the temperature of deposition.

This study offers a new method to synthesize facilely willemite (Zn2SiO4) based phosphor at the temperature of 800 °C. The ZnO-SiO2 nanocomposite was calcined at different temperatures between 500 and 1000 °C. The structural, morphological and optical properties of the nanocomposite obtained at various calcination temperatures were studied using different techniques. The FT-IR, XRD and the UV-vis result confirmed the formation of willemite phase. The precursor was confirmed to be amorphous by XRD at room temperature, but upon calcination temperature at 500 °C, it was transformed into a crystalline structure. The crystallinity and the particle size of the nanocomposite increase as the calcination temperature were increased as revealed by XRD and TEM measurement. The sample exhibits a spherical morphology from 500 to 800 °C and dumbbell-like morphology above 800 °C as shown by the FESEM images. The absorption spectrum suffers intense in lower temperature and tends to shift to lower wavelength in the UV region as the calcination temperature increases. The band gap values were found to be increasing from 3.228-5.550 eV obtained between 500 to 1000 °C, and all the results confirm the formation of willemite phase at 800 °C.

This article presents the results of experimental studies of simultaneous transmission of ultrasonic waves and laser signals in optical fibers by the use of both the optical single mode and multimode fiber couplers. This work was aimed, among other things, at the study of the way the acoustic energy affects a laser beam. The light wave was guided into one of the coupler's arms. The optical power applied to one input of the coupler is separated into two coupler outputs according to the rate determined by the coupling coefficient. Only an ultrasonic wave generated by a sandwich type transducer is applied to the other arm of the coupler. In this experiment, as in case of the light wave, the acoustic power is separated into both the outputs. One can observe the interaction of both the waves on the two outputs - a modulation of the light wave by means of the ultrasonic wave is possible. The output signal was detected using a PIN diode and an optical power meter (OPM). Temporary courses were observed on an oscilloscope screen. The simultaneous transmission of ultrasounds and optical radiation in optical fibers can be used in the construction of medical equipment.

The paper presents a modification of capillary optical fibers fabrication method from an assembled glass preform. A change of dimensional proportions in the capillary optical fiber drawn from a single preform is allowed on-line via the control of overpressure and thermal conditions in the outflow meniscus which essentially lowers the manufacturing costs. These conditions are among the solutions (velocity fields) of the Navier-Stokes equations adapted to the capillary optical fiber pulling geometry and temperature distribution in the oven. The velocity fields give solutions to other quantities of interest such as flow rate, pulling force and fiber geometry. The calculation and experimental results for capillary optical fibers were shown in the following dimensional range: internal diameters 2-200 µm, external diameters 30-350 µm, within the assumed dimensional stability (including ellipticity) better than 1%. The parameters of fabricated capillary optical fibers of high-quality low-loss optical multicomponent glasses were: losses 100 dB/km, mechanical strength above 1GPa with Weibull coeffcient in the range 3-7, internal numerical aperture 0.1-0.3, external numerical aperture 0.1-0.3, core index 1.5-1.8, transparency 0.4-2 µm, thermally and/or chemically conditioned internal surface, double polyimide protection layer, soft or hard jacketed, connectorized. The capillary optical fibers were applied in our own and several external laboratories in spectroscopy, refractometry, micro-fluidics and functional microoptic components. The paper summarizes a design, technological and application work on capillary optical fibers performed during a recent national research program devoted to optoelectronic components and modules.

The above-threshold operation of a Fabry-Perot laser with a nonlinear PT (parity time) mirror is investigated. For the first time, the analysis accounts for gain saturation of an active medium as well as gain and loss saturation effects in the PT mirror. The obtained laser output intensity characteristics have been demonstrated as a function of various PT mirror parameters such as: the ratio of the PT structure period to laser operating wavelength, number of PT mirror primitive cells, and gain and loss saturation intensities of the PT mirror gain and loss layers. Two functional configurations of the laser have been considered: laser operating as a discrete device, and as a component of an integrated circuit. It has been shown that, in general, the laser operation depends on the PT mirror orientation with respect to the active medium of the laser. Moreover, when the laser radiation is outcoupled through the PT mirror to the free space, bistable operation is possible, when losses of the mirror’s loss layer saturate faster than gain of the gain layer. Furthermore, for a given saturation intensity of the mirror loss layers, the increase of the saturation intensity of the mirror gain layers causes increasing output intensity, i.e., the PT mirror additionally amplifies the laser output signal.

The Paper presents the optical method of fixing the off-shore objects positions from the land. The method is based on application of two reference points, having the geographical coordinates de fined. The first point was situated high on the sea shore, where also the camera was installed. The second point was intended for use to determine the topocentric horizon plane and it was situated at the water-level. The first section of the Paper contains the definition of space and disposed therein reference systems: connected with the Earth, water-level and the camera system. The second section of the Paper provides a description of the survey system model and the principles of the Charge Coupled Device – CCD array pixel’s coordinates (plate coordinates) transformation into the geographic coordinates located on the water-level. In the final section there are presented the general rules of using the worked out method in the optical system.

Designers of all types of equipment applied in oxygenation and aeration need to get to know the mechanism behind the gas bubble formation. This paper presents a measurement method used for determination of parameters of bubbles forming at jet attachment from which the bubles are displaced upward. The measuring system is based on an optical tomograph containing five projections. An image from the tomograph contains shapes of the forming bubbles and determine their volumes and formation rate. Additionally, this paper presents selected theoretical models known from literature. The measurement results have been compared with simple theoretical models predictions. The paper also contains a study of the potential to apply the presented method for determination of bubble structures and observation of intermediate states.

Progress in UV treatment applications requires new compact and sensor constructions. In the paper a hybrid (organic-inorganic) rare-earth-based polymeric UV sensor construction is proposed. The efficient luminescence of poly(methyl) methacrylate (PMMA) matrix doped by europium was used for testing the optical sensor (optrode) construction. The europium complex assures effective luminescence in the visible range with well determined multi-peak spectrum emission enabling construction of the optrode. The fabricated UV optical fibre sensor was used for determination of Nd:YAG laser intensity measurements at the third harmonic (355 nm) in the radiation power range 5.0-34.0 mW. The multi-peak luminescence spectrum was used for optimization of the measurement formula. The composition of luminescent peak intensity enables to increase the slope of sensitivity up to −2.8 mW-1. The obtained results and advantages of the optical fibre construction enable to apply it in numerous UV detection systems.

Biometric identification systems, i.e. the systems that are able to recognize humans by analyzing their physiological or behavioral characteristics, have gained a lot of interest in recent years. They can be used to raise the security level in certain institutions or can be treated as a convenient replacement for PINs and passwords for regular users. Automatic face recognition is one of the most popular biometric technologies, widely used even by many low-end consumer devices such as netbooks. However, even the most accurate face identification algorithm would be useless if it could be cheated by presenting a photograph of a person instead of the real face. Therefore, the proper liveness measurement is extremely important. In this paper we present a method that differentiates between video sequences showing real persons and their photographs. First we calculate the optical flow of the face region using the Farnebäck algorithm. Then we convert the motion information into images and perform the initial data selection. Finally, we apply the Support Vector Machine to distinguish between real faces and photographs. The experimental results confirm that the proposed approach could be successfully applied in practice.

The tendencies of modern industry are to increase the quality of manufactured products, simultaneously decreasing production time and cost. The hybrid system combines advantages of the high accuracy of contact CMM and the high measurement speed of non-contact structured light optical techniques. The article describes elements of a developed system together with the steps of the measurement process of the hybrid system, with emphasis on segmentation algorithms. Additionally, accuracy determination of such a system realized with the help of a specially designed ball-plate measurement standard is presented.

Two constructions of microfluidic structures are described in this paper. A fibre optic microcell for spectrophometric measurements and a microcell for fluorescence experiments were designed and tested. The structures were made of polymer optical fibres which were incorporated into polymeric material i.e. poly(dimethylsiloxane). The structures were tested as detectors in absorbance measurement (solutions of bromothymol blue with diffierent pH were used) and in fluorescence tests (solution of fluoresceine was used).

The S-7 borehole log from the Sumina area (USCB Poland) revealed the presence of three basaltic veins

originating from a basalt dyke. Coal interlayers in the rocks surrounding the basaltic veins have been coked to

form natural coke. Photometric measurements revealed that the optical properties of the studied natural coke

samples are characteristic of semi-graphite (Rmax > 9%). The natural coke matrix of all of the analyzed samples

has a biaxial negative optical character. Vitrinite in the examined natural coke samples is characterized by a

lower optical anisotropy than that of the natural matrix and it has a biaxial positive optical character. Vitrinite

in almost all samples taken at locations more distant from the intrusion has a biaxial positive optical character.

A reversal of the changes of the true maximum vitrinite reflectance and bireflectance with changing distance

from the second basaltic vein has been observed. The temperature regime that acted upon the dispersed organic

matter located in the immediate vicinity of the intrusion, estimated on the basis of the selected experimental

data, is suggested to be higher than 750 °C.

There exist some possibilities for simultaneous delivery of laser radiation and ultrasounds of low frequency and high intensity: introducing ultrasound oscillations in the optical fiber by the rigid connection of the fiber to the vibrating element and non-contact influence of the ultrasonic wave on the laser beam. The article presents the results of Matlab simulations and experimental studies of influence of the ultrasonic wave on the laser beam. A role of the air gap, and its influence on laser-ultrasonic transmission in optical fiber was examined. Advantages and disadvantages of both solutions of interaction of ultrasonic and optical waves in, e.g., surgical applications are discussed.

Digital photoelasticity is an important optical metrology follow-up for stress and strain analysis using full-field digital photographic images. Advances in digital image processing, data acquisition, procedures for pattern recognition and storage capacity enable the use of the computer-aided technique in automation and facilitate improvement of the digital photoelastic technique. The objective of this research is to find new equations for a novel phase-shifting method in digital photoelasticity. Some innovations are proposed. In terms of phaseshifting, only the analyzer is rotated, and the other equations are deduced by applying a new numerical technique instead of the usual algebraic techniques. This approach can be used to calculate a larger sequence of images. Each image represents a pattern and a measurement of the stresses present in the object. A decrease in the mean errors was obtained by increasing the number of observations. A reduction in the difference between the theoretical and experimental values of stresses was obtained by increasing the number of images in the equations for calculating phase. Every photographic image has errors and random noise, but the uncertainties due to these effects can be reduced with a larger number of observations. The proposed method with many images and high accuracy is a good alternative to the photoelastic techniques.

Network on chip (NoC) is presented as a promising solution to face off the growing up of the data exchange in the multiprocessor system-on-chip (MPSoC). However, the traditional NoC faces two main problems: the bandwidth and the energy consumption. To face off these problems, a new technology in MPSoC, namely, optical network-on-chip (ONoC) has been introduced which it uses the optical communication to guaranty a high performance in communication between cores. In addition, wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) is exploited in ONoC to reach a high rate of bandwidth. Nevertheless, the transparency nature of the ONoC components induce crosstalk noise to the optical signals, which it has a direct effect to the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) then decrease the performance of the ONoC. In this paper, we proposed a new system to control these impairments in the network in order to detect and monitor crosstalk noise in WDM-based ONoC. Furthermore, the crosstalk monitoring system is a distributed hardware system designed and test with the different optical components according the various network topology used in ONoC. The register-transfer level (RTL) hardware design and implementation of this system can result in high reliability, scalability and efficiency with running time less than 20 ms.

Properties of excitons confined to potential fluctuations due to indium distribution in the wetting layer which accompany self-assembled InAs/GaAs quantum dots are reviewed. Spectroscopic studies are summarized including time-resolved photoluminescence and corresponding single-photon emission correlation measurements. The identification of charge states of excitons is presented which is based on results of a theoretical analysis of interactions between the involved carriers. The effect of the dots’ environment on their optical spectra is also shown.

Optical studies were carried out in waters of the Drake Passage and the South Shetland Islands region from February 14 to March 12, 1981. The total energy of solar radiation reaching the sea surface was continuously recorded over daytime hours. Spectral and energetic characteristics of natural light field in the sea were determined basing on underwater measurements of downwelling irradiance attenuation. The thickness of the euphotic zone and other characteristic optical depths were also evaluated. The investigated waters were conventionally classified into three groups of different optical water types as follows: a) Clear oceanic water, b) Oceanic water of intermediate type and water affected by coastal water, c) Coastal water and water with high biological productivity. The clearest waters were found in the Drake Passage where the average thickness of the euphotic zone was about 100 m. The turbid waters of coastal types were encountered in some areas around the South Shetland Islands. The relatively thin euphotic zone of about 30 m was observed in waters with high biological productivity west of Elephant Island and southwest of Anvers Island.

The possibility of acoustic wave propagation in optical waveguides creates new prospects for simultaneous transmission of laser beams and ultrasonic waves. Combined laser-ultrasonic technology could be useful in e.g. surgical treatment. The article presents the results of experimental studies of transmission of ultrasonic wave in optical fibres, the core of which is doped by 7.5% of TiO2, using a sandwich-type transducer. It also presents amplitude characteristics of an ultrasonic signal propagated in the optical fibre. Authors studied the effect which the length of the fibre has on the achieved output signal amplitudes. They presented the relation of the output signal amplitude from a capacitive sensor to the power applied to the sandwich-type transducer. The obtained results were compared with the results produced when using an optical fibre with a core doped by 3% of GeO2, in order to select optical fibre suitable for simultaneous transmission of ultrasonic waves and laser rays.

An optical tomograph in which a tested object is illuminated from five directions has been presented in the paper. The measurements of luminous intensity after changing into discrete signals (0 or 1) in the detectors equipped with 64 optical sensors were subjected to reconstruction by means of the matrix algorithm. Detailed description of the measuring sensor, as well as the principles of operation of the electronic system, has been given in the paper. Optical phenomena occurring at the phase boundary while transmitted through the sensor wall and phenomena inside the measuring space have also been taken into account. The method of the sensor calibration has been analysed and a way of technical solution of the problem under consideration has been discussed. The elaborated method has been tested using objects of the known shape and dimensions. It was found that reconstruction of the shapes of moving bubbles and determination of their main parameters is also possible with a reasonable accuracy.

Of late, the science of Remote Sensing has been gaining a lot of interest and attention due to its wide variety of applications. Remotely sensed data can be used in various fields such as medicine, agriculture, engineering, weather forecasting, military tactics, disaster management etc. only to name a few. This article presents a study of the two categories of sensors namely optical and microwave which are used for remotely sensing the occurrence of disasters such as earthquakes, floods, landslides, avalanches, tropical cyclones and suspicious movements. The remotely sensed data acquired either through satellites or through ground based- synthetic aperture radar systems could be used to avert or mitigate a disaster or to perform a post-disaster analysis.

Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) is one of the most rapidly advancing techniques. This method is capable of non-contact and non-destructive investigation of the inner structure of a broad range of materials. Compared with other methods which belong to the NDE/NDT group (Non-Destructive Evaluation/Non-Destructive Testing methods), OCT is capable of a broad range of scattering material structure visualization. Such a non-invasive and versatile method is very demanded by the industry. The authors applied the OCT method to examine the corrosion process in metal samples coated by polymer films. The main aim of the research was the evaluation of the anti-corrosion protective coatings using the OCT method. The tested samples were exposed to a harsh environment. The OCT measurements have been taken at different stages of the samples degradation. The research and tests results have been presented, as well as a brief discussion has been carried out.

Basic gesture sensors can play a significant role as input units in mobile smart devices. However, they have to handle a wide variety of gestures while preserving the advantages of basic sensors. In this paper a user-determined approach to the design of a sparse optical gesture sensor is proposed. The statistical research on a study group of individuals includes the measurement of user-related parameters like the speed of a performed swipe (dynamic gesture) and the morphology of fingers. The obtained results, as well as other a priori requirements for an optical gesture sensor were further used in the design process. Several properties were examined using simulations or experimental verification. It was shown that the designed optical gesture sensor provides accurate localization of fingers, and recognizes a set of static and dynamic hand gestures using a relatively low level of power consumption.