No abstract

No abstract

An investigation of single pulse coherent anti-Stokes Raman spectroscopy (CARS) noise, determined by the analysis of broadband nonresonant spectra, is described. It is shown that the use of a single-mode rather than a multimode pump laser leads to a significant reduction of CARS noise (40%), down to the level exhibited by the Stokes spectral profile itself. This reduction in noise is attributed to the minimization of the effects due to random variations in the laser temporal profiles by using temporally smooth single-mode laser pumps. A measurement of detector shot noise is presented and its effect on CARS noise is described. The advantages of using a single-mode pump laser in CARS spectroscopy are discussed.

In this work time-resolved laser-induced incandescence (TiRe LII) has been employed to measure primary particle diameters of soot in an atmospheric laminar ethylene diffusion flame. The generated data set complements existing data determined in one single location and takes advantage of the good spatial resolution of the ICCD detection. Time resolution is achieved by shifting the camera gate along the LII decay. One key input parameter for the analysis of time-resolved LII is the local flame temperature. This was determined on a grid throughout the flame by coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering. The accurate temperature data, in combination with other published data from this flame, are well suited for soot model validation purposes while we showed feasibility of a shifted gate approach to deduce 2D particle sizes in the chosen standard flame.

Diesel engines face tightening particulate matter emissions regulations due to the environmental and health effects attributed to these emissions. There is increasing demand for measuring not only the concentration, but also the size distribution of the particulates. Laser-induced incandescence has emerged as a promising technique for measuring spatially and temporally resolved particulate volume fraction and size. Laser-induced incandescence has orders of magnitude more sensitivity than the gravimetric technique, and thus offers the promise of real-time measurements and adds the increasingly desirable size and morphology information. The usefulness of LII as a diagnostic instrument for the precise measurement of particulate concentration and primary particle size has been demonstrated. Measurements have been performed in the exhaust of a single cylinder DI research diesel engine. Simultaneous gravimetric filter measurements were made for direct comparison with the LII technique. Quantitative LII is shown to provide a sensitive, precise, and repeatable measure of the particulate concentration over a wide dynamic range. LII and gravimetric measurements are shown to correlate well over a wide range of operating conditions. A novel method for determining the primary particle size is shown to be precise enough to distinguish particle sizes for different engine operating conditions, and subsequently the number density of primary particles was determined. LII has also been shown to be sensitive in differentiating the PM performance between four different fuels. The LII technique is capable of real-time particulate matter measurements over any engine transient operation. The wide dynamic range and lower detection limit of LII make it a potentially preferred standard instrument for particulate matter measurements.

The noise in single-shot coherent anti-Stokes Raman (CARS) spectroscopy that employs a broadband modeless dye laser (MDL) is examined and the results are compared with those of a conventional dye laser. The noise of the dye-laser, the nonresonant CARS, and the resonant N(2) CARS signals are determined. The use of a MDL is shown to result in substantially reduced CARS noise when the CARS signal is generated with a single-mode pump laser, but only a marginal reduction of noise is observed with a multimode pump source The noise measurements are compared with theoretical predictions that are based on models that assume modes of random amplitudes and phases in the multimode laser sources. The combination of a MDL and a single-mode pump laser is shown to increase the precision of single-shot N(2) CARS temperature measurements.

No abstract

The noise level in single-pulse resonant nitrogen CARS spectra is shown to decrease with increasing pump laser bandwidth. This is the reverse of the trend observed for nonresonant CARS spectra. The precision of single-pulse CARS temperature measurements is shown to be dramatically increased by performing a weighted fit of theoretical and experimental CARS spectra using the measured detector noise coefficients as weighting parameters.The inclusion of collisional narrowing and cross-coherence in the CARS theory calculations and their effect on best fit temperatures are discussed. These temperatures, measured in a flatflame burner, are compared with those obtained by Na line-reversal.