Electro-optic probe for real-time assessments of RF electric field produced in an MRI scanner: Feasibility tests at 3 and 4.7 T.

During magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) examinations, the average specific absorption rate (SAR) of the whole body is calculated as an index of global energy deposition in biological tissue without taking into account the presence of metallic implants or conductive materials. However, this global SAR calculation is not sufficient to ensure patient safety and a local SAR measurement should be carried out. Several measurement techniques have already been used to evaluate the local SAR, in particular electric field (E-field) probes, but the accuracy of the measurements and the resolutions (spatial and temporal) depend strongly on the measurement method/probe.

Orientation correlation of sulfosuccinate-based room-temperature ionic liquids studied by polarization-resolved hyper-Rayleigh scattering.

Hyper-Rayleigh scattering (HRS) of sulfosuccinate-based room-temperature ionic liquids (RTILs), tetraalkylammonium salts of bis(2-ethylhexyl)sulfosuccinate (BEHSS(-)) and di(isobutyl)sulfosuccinate (DIBSS(-)), shows strong orientation correlation between sulfosuccinate ions for both BEHSS(-)-based and DIBSS(-)-based RTILs. The hyperpolarizability and polarization resolved HRS, giving information at the dipolar electric order and at the quadrupolar electric order, respectively, have been measured as a function of the distance between sulfosuccinates by changing the size of the tetraalkylammonium ions constituting the ionic liquids. The variations obtained for the dipolar electric and quadrupolar electric components of the HRS intensity show the orientation correlation between sulfosuccinate ions.

Investigating the interaction of crystal violet probe molecules on sodium dodecyl sulfate micelles with hyper-Rayleigh scattering.

We report the use of the nonlinear optical technique of hyper-Rayleigh scattering to investigate the interaction of the cationic probe molecule crystal violet with micelles of sodium dodecyl sulfate. An absolute value of (847 +/- 80) x 10(-30) esu is measured at the fundamental wavelength of 870 nm for the molecular hyperpolarizability of crystal violet free in pure aqueous solutions. In aqueous solutions of sodium dodecyl sulfate, above and below the critical micelle concentration, the measured hyperpolarizability of crystal violet is weaker than in the solution free of sodium dodecyl sulfate.

Hyper-Rayleigh scattering of gold nanorods and their relationship with linear assemblies of gold nanospheres.

The surface plasmon enhanced hyper-Rayleigh scattering light collected from an aqueous solution of gold nanorods is reported. A non negligible part of the signal is attributed to a photoluminescence background attributed to the electron hole recombination following multiphoton excitation of d-valence band electrons into the sp-conduction band. This radiative relaxation process is likely favored by the presence of the organic species adsorbed at the surface of the nanorods.