Search

Copper sulphide nanoparticles are synthesized by laser ablation of a copper target in DMSO by a 527 nm nanosecond pulsed laser. These nanoparticles have double stoichiometry (CuS and Cu1.8S) and crystalline structures, sizes under 30 nm, and they present substantial absorbance in the second near‐infrared window and photoluminescence in the visible region. The nanoparticles are used as photothermal and photoacoustic agents at 1080 nm and 1064 nm, respectively. Utilizing as a photothermal agent, these nanoparticles rapidly exhibit local heating, photothermal stability, and a temperature change of 52.2 °C within 300 s at 1 mg mL−1 concentration and 3.23 W cm−2 laser intensity. On the other hand, while employed as a photoacoustic agent, they enhanced the contrast significantly and increased the brightness proportional to their concentrations when compared to ultrasound imaging. Additionally, the biocompatibility properties of these nanoparticles were tested with cancer cells, and they were subjected to laser ablation to assess their photothermal effects. In this article, we demonstrate that copper sulphide nanoparticles synthesized by pulsed laser ablation hold great promise for photothermal and photoacoustic applications, especially in biomedical applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, SNR maximization in coded diverging waves is studied, and experimental verification of the results is presented. Complementary Golay sequences and binary phase shift keying modulation are used to code the transmitted signal. The SNR in speckle and pin targets is maximized with respect to chip signal length. The maximum SNR is obtained in diverging wave transmission when the chip signal is as short a duration as the array permits. We determined the optimum diverging wave profile to confine the transmitted ultrasound energy in the imaging sector. The optimized profile also contributes to the SNR maximization. The SNR performances of the optimized coded diverging wave and conventional single-focused phased array imaging are compared on a single frame basis. The SNR of the optimized coded diverging wave is higher than that of the conventional single-focused phased array imaging at all depths and regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mechanically coupled resonators usually require a mechanical coupling element; this introduces additional complexity to the picture. We propose a novel modeling and design approach, followed by experimental verification, for mechanically coupled clamped circular plate resonators in which no additional coupling element is present. In our study, the flexural mode clamped circular plate resonators overlap to an extent, and their clamps at the overlap region are removed to generate a freely moving coupling boundary between the resonators. The practical measure of the overlapping is small enough to preserve the characteristics of each resonator. This result enables modeling the coupled resonators based on the clamped circular plate resonator model. A physics-based lumped element equivalent circuit model is developed where dimensions, bias voltage, and material properties are controllable variables. Each of the model parameters is expressed as the corresponding single resonator model parameter multiplied by a function of the amount of overlap. Analytical derivations and finite element method simulations are used to extract the dependency of the model parameters on the amount of overlap. Closed-form expressions for center frequency, bandwidth, and termination impedance of the coupled resonator are derived using the developed model. A design procedure is introduced to determine dimensional parameters and bias voltage. The proposed coupled-resonator offers up to 5% fractional bandwidth. For a typical design using a polysilicon plate with 100 nm gap height, the ratio of the termination impedance to the center frequency is calculated to be 158 Ω MHz−1. This result indicates that on-chip intermediate frequency filters can be implemented at center frequencies up to several 100 MHz using this type of coupled resonators. A coupled resonator is designed and realized for a proof of concept demonstration. The measurement results of the coupled resonator show good agreement with the equivalent circuit model simulations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The radiation impedance of a capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducer (cMUT) with a circular membrane is calculated analytically using its velocity profile for the frequencies up to its parallel resonance frequency for both the immersion and the airborne applications. The results are verified by finite element simulations. The work is extended to calculate the radiation impedance of an array of cMUT cells positioned in a hexagonal pattern. A higher radiation resistance improves the bandwidth as well as the efficiency of the cMUT. The radiation resistance is determined to be a strong function of the cell spacing. It is shown that a center-to-center cell spacing of 1.25 wavelengths maximizes the radiation resistance, if the membranes are not too thin. It is also found that excitation of nonsymmetric modes may reduce the radiation resistance in immersion applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Finite element method (FEM) is used for transient dynamic analysis of capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducers (CMUT) and is particularly useful when the membranes are driven in the nonlinear regime. One major disadvantage of FEM is the excessive time required for simulation. Harmonic balance (HB) analysis, on the other hand, provides an accurate estimate of the steady-state response of nonlinear circuits very quickly. It is common to nse Mason's equivalent circuit to model the mechanical section of CMUT. However, it is not appropriate to terminate Mason's mechanical LC section by a rigid piston's radiation impedance, especially for an immersed CMUT. We studied the membrane behavior nsing a transient FEM analysis and found out that for a wide range of harmonics around the series resonance, the membrane displacement can be modeled as a clamped radiator. We considered the root mean square of the velocity distribution on the membrane surface as the circuit variable rather than the average velocity. With this definition, the kinetic energy of the membrane mass is the same as that in the model. We derived the force and current equations for a clamped radiator and implemented them using a commercial HB simulator. We observed much better agreement between FEM and the proposed equivalent model, compared with the conventional model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a lumped element parametric model for the clamped circular membrane of a capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducer (cMUT). The model incorporates an electrical port and two sets of acoustic ports, through which the cMUT couples to the medium. The modeling approach is based on matching a lumped element model and the mechanical impedance of the cMUT membrane at the resonance frequencies in vacuum. Very good agreement between finite element simulation results and model impedance is obtained. Equivalent circuit model parameters can be found from material properties and membrane dimensions without a need for finite element simulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Different trunked Private Mobile Radio (PMR) systems have been designed over the last several decades, all of which have symmetric downlink and uplink channel capacities. Due to this symmetry, these systems may not be spectrally efficient in case of different types of services, which are specific to PMR systems, such as group and broadcast calls. In this study, a new asymmetric trunked PMR system comprising a broadband, wide-area downlink and a narrowband cellular uplink, is proposed to achieve a higher spectral efficiency than current digital trunked PMR systems. This system is spectrally more efficient because in group and broadcast calls only a single downlink channel has to be allocated in the downlink part. However, as the number of clusters in the system increases, this advantage relative to PMR systems is lost, since the latter can employ frequency reuse. Spectral efficiency of the proposed asymmetric system (a-PMR) system and a standard TETRA system are compared using numerical case studies against different traffic loads and number of clusters. The optimum point, with respect to number of clusters, up to which the proposed a-PMR system is more efficient, is determined. It is shown that a very large PMR user population can be efficiently served using the proposed a-PMR system. The issues related to implementing such a system are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Axicons are generators of waves which focus on a line. They are used in various imaging and nondestructive testing applications as bulk wave focusing devices with a very tong depth of focus. In this letter, a new type of conical axicon is introduced and it is shown that this axicon, immersed in a liquid, insonifying a plane solid surface can be used to excite surface waves on the solid surface provided that the cone angle of the axicon coincides with the Rayleigh critical angle of the liquidsolid interface. The generated surface waves focus into a diffraction-limited spot. This new surface wave focusing scheme is easy to use, has a conversion efficiency and sensitivity far better than other existing techniques. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]