The effects of scatterer size and scattering coefficient on backscattered linearly and circularly polarized light are investigated through Stokes polarimetry. High-SNR polarization modulation/synchronous detection measurements are corroborated by polarization-sensitive Monte Carlo simulations. Circular degree of polarization (DOP) is found to be sensitive to scatterer size, but is equivocal at times due to helicity flipping effects; linear DOP appears to be mostly dependent on the medium scattering coefficient. We exploit these trends to generate a DOPC - DOPL response surface which clusters turbid samples based on these medium properties. This work may prove useful in biomedicine, for example in noninvasive assessment of epithelial precancer progression.
Backscattered circularly polarized light from turbid media consists of helicity-flipped and helicity-preserved photon sub-populations (i.e., photons of perpendicular and parallel circular handedness). Their intensities and spatial distributions are found to be acutely sensitive to average scatterer size and modestly sensitive to the scattering coefficient (medium turbidity) through an interplay of single and multiple scattering effects. Using a highly sensitive intensified-CCD camera, helicity-based images of backscattered light are captured, which, with the aid of corroborating Monte Carlo simulation images and statistics, enable (1) investigation of subsurface photonic pathways and (2) development of the novel ‘spatial helicity response’ metric to quantify average scatterer size and turbidity of tissue-like samples. An exciting potential application of this work is noninvasive early cancer detection since malignant tissues exhibit alterations in scatterer size (larger nuclei) and turbidity (increased cell density).
transparency thus connected networks of 1D nanomaterials [5] have been studied as a viable alternative to thin films of indium tin oxide, which suffer from drawbacks such as brittleness and indium scarcity. [6] Materials such as graphene and transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) exhibit excellent electrical properties due to their "flat" 2D chemical structure. Sheets or flakes of these materials can allow for large area coverage with high conductivity but typically at the expense of transparency. [7,8] An approach to improving transparency is utilizing these materials in 1D nanorod-like structures. Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are the most popular 1D variant of graphene and have been utilized to form large area conducting films, although challenges remain with respect to their purification [9,10] and aggregation. [5] As an alternative to CNTs, the synthesis of carbon-based nanorods has been reported by utilizing arc discharge [11] and microwave plasma chemical vapor deposition (CVD) [12] methods. However, the arc discharge method requires an extensive filtering (Soxhlet extraction) and drying process, while the CVD method requires a high power and temperature (e.g., 850 °C). The growth of graphene nanoribbons has also been reported by ultrahigh vacuum thermal evaporation [13] and hydrothermal techniques, [14] yielding lengths of 20-450 nm and widths of 2-40 nm.In regards to TMDs, molybdenum disulfide (MoS 2 ) nanorods have been synthesized via a redox reaction in an aqueous solution (yielding a nanorod mixture of binary oxides (Mo x O y ) and binary sulfides (Mo x S y )), [15] hydrothermal synthesis, [16] and hydrothermal synthesis of MoO 3 nanorods combined with sulfurization. [17] Similar to MoS 2 , the synthesis of tungsten disulfide (WS 2 ) nanorods has been accomplished by lengthy hydrothermal [18,19] and sulfidation [20] methods. Zhang et al. used high energy ball milling of WS 2 powder for 122 h, after which the powder was used as a precursor in a hydrothermal reaction for nanorod growth. [21] Ball milling methods have also been used to produce boron nitride (BN) nanorods. Boron carbide powders were milled for 100 h and subsequently treated with nitrogen at high temperature to produce BN nanorods. [22][23][24] In another approach, Museur et al. synthesized BN nanorods embedded in amorphous boron suboxides (B x O y ) through UV laser irradiation of a compacted BN powder pellet in a high-pressure nitrogen environment. [25] Table 1 summarizes these previous efforts to fabricate nanorods of 2D materials. Many of these methods require Herein, the previously unrealized ability to grow nanorods and nanotubes of 2D materials using femtosecond laser irradiation is demonstrated. In as short as 20 min, nanorods of tungsten disulfide, molybdenum disulfide, graphene, and boron nitride are grown in solutions. The technique fragments nanoparticles of the 2D materials from bulk flakes and leverages molecular scale alignment by nonresonant intense laser pulses to direct their assembly into nanorods up to several micrometers i...
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