Highly efficient all-optical beam modulation utilizing thermo-optic effects.

Suspensions of plasmonic nanoparticles can diffract optical beams due to the combination of thermal lensing and self-phase modulation. Here, we demonstrate extremely efficient optical continuous wave (CW) beam switching across the visible range in optimized suspensions of 5-nm Au and Ag nanoparticles in non-polar solvents, such as hexane and decane. On-axis modulation of greater than 30 dB is achieved at incident beam intensities as low as 100 W/cm with response times under 200 μs, at initial solution transparency above 70%.

Measurement of aerosol-particle trajectories using a structured laser beam.

What is believed to be a new concept for the measurement of micrometer-sized particle trajectories in an inlet air stream is introduced. The technique uses a light source and a mask to generate a spatial pattern of light within a volume in space. Particles traverse the illumination volume and elastically scatter light to a photodetector where the signal is recorded in time.

Laser-induced fluorescence-cued, laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy biological-agent detection.

Methods for accurately characterizing aerosols are required for detecting biological warfare agents. Currently, fluorescence-based biological agent sensors provide adequate detection sensitivity but suffer from high false-alarm rates. Combining single-particle fluorescence analysis with laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) provides additional discrimination and potentially reduces false-alarm rates.