Peak-to-average power ratio reduction techniques for visible light communication broadcasting systems are designed, simulated, and evaluated in this work. The proposed techniques are based on merging non-linear companding techniques with precoding techniques. This work aims to nominate an optimum novel scheme combining the low peak-to-average power ratio with the acceptable bit error rate performance. Asymmetrically clipped optical orthogonal frequency division multiplexing with the low peak-to-average power ratio performance becomes more attractive to real-life visible light communication applications due to non-linearity elimination. The proposed schemes are compared and an optimum choice is nominated. Comparing the presented work and related literature reviews for peak-to-average power ratio reduction techniques are held to ensure the proposed schemes validity and effectiveness.

This paper investigates the noise levels present at various points in the FOSREM type fiber optic seismograph. The main aim of this research was to discover magnitudes of noise, introduced by various components of the analog and optical circuits of the device. First, the noise present in the electronic circuit without any optics connected is measured. Further experiments show noise levels including the detector diode not illuminated and illuminated. Additional tests were carried out to prove the necessity of analog circuitry shielding. All measurements were repeated using three powering scenarios which investigated the influence of power supply selection on noise. The results show that the electronic components provide a sufficient margin for the use of an even more precise detector diode. The total noise density of the whole device is lower than 4⋅10−7 rad/(s√Hz). The use of a dedicated Insulating Power Converter as a power supply shows possible advantages, but further experiments should be conducted to provide explicit thermic confirmation of these gains.

Solar blind UV cameras are not theoretically supposed to be sensitive to solar light. However, there is practically always some sensitivity to solar light. This limited solar sensitivity can sometimes make it impossible to detect the weak emission of a corona target located on the solar background. Therefore, solar sensitivity is one of the crucial performance parameters of solar blind UV cameras. However, despite its importance, the problem of determining solar sensitivity of solar blind UV cameras has not been analysed and solved in the specialized literature, so far. This paper presents the concept (definition, measurement method, test equipment, interpretation of results) of measuring solar sensitivity of solar blind UV cameras.

The compositional graded quaternary barriers (GQBs) instead of ternary/conventional quantum barriers (QBs) have been used to numerically enhance the efficiency of AlGaN-based ultraviolet light-emitting diode (LED). The performance of LED with GQBs is examined through carrier concentrations, energy band diagrams, radiative recombination, electron and hole flux, internal quantum efficiency (IQE), and emission spectrum. As a function of the operating current density, a considerable reduction in efficiency droop is observed in the device with composition-graded quaternary barriers as compared to the conventional structure. The efficiency droop in case of a conventional LED is ~77% which decreased to ~33% in case of the proposed structure. Moreover, the concentration of electrons and holes across the active region in case of the proposed structure is increased to ~156% and ~44%, respectively.

Hybrid pixel radiation detectors with a direct photon-to-charge conversion working in a single photon counting mode have gained increasing attention due to their high dynamic range and noiseless imaging. Since sensors of different materials can be attached to readout electronics, they enable work with a wide range of photon energies. The charge-sharing effect observed in segmented devices, such as hybrid pixel detectors, is a phenomenon that deteriorates both spatial resolution and detection efficiency. Algorithms that allow the detection of a photon irrespective of the charge-sharing effect are proposed to overcome these limitations. However, the spatial resolution of the detector can be further improved beyond the resolution determined by the pixel size if information about the charge proportions collected by neighbouring pixels is used to approximate the interaction position. In the article, an approach to achieve a subpixel resolution in a hybrid pixel detector working in the single photon counting mode is described. Requirements and limitations of digital inter-pixel algorithms which can be implemented on-chip are studied. In the simulations, the factors influencing the detector resolution are evaluated, including size of a charge cloud, number of virtual pixel subdivisions, and detector parameters.

Fano resonance is an optical effect that emerges from the coherent coupling and interference (constructive and destructive) between the continuous state (background process) and the Lorentzian state (resonant process) in the plasmonic waveguide-resonator system. This effect has been used in the applications like optical sensors. These sensors are extensively used in sensing biochemicals and gases by the measurement of refractive index changes as they offer high sensitivity and ultra-high figure of merit. Herein, we surveyed several plasmonic Fano sensors with different geometries composed of metal-insulator-metal waveguide(s). First, the resonators are categorized based on different architectures. The materials and methods adopted for these designs are precisely surveyed and presented. The performances are compared depending upon the characterization parameters like sensitivity and figure of merit. Finally, based on the survey of very recent models, the advances and challenges of refractive index sensing deployed on Fano resonances are discussed.

This research paper discusses an analytical approach to designing the active region of light emitting diodes to enhance its performance. The layers in the active region were modified and the effects of changing the width of quantum well and barrier layers in a multi-quantum light emitting diode on the output power and efficiency have been investigated. Also, the ratio of the quantum well width to the B layer width was calculated and proposed in this research paper. The study is carried out on two different LED structures. In the first case, the width of the quantum well layers is kept constant while the width of the B layers is varied. In the second case, both the quantum well and B layer widths are varied. Based on the simulation results, it has been observed that the LED power efficiency increases considerably for a given quantum well to B layers width ratio without increasing the production complexity. It is also seen that for a desired power efficiency the width of quantum well should be between 0.003 µm and 0.006 µm, and the range of B width (height) should be 2.2 to 6 times the quantum well width. The proposed study is carried out on the GaN-AlGaN-based multi-quantum well LED structure, but this study can be extended to multiple combinations of the semiconductor structures.

In this paper, the effect of an indoor visible light communication channel is studied. Moreover, the analysis of the received power distribution of the photodiode in the line of sight and the first reflection of the channel without line of sight with several parameters is simulated. Two different waveforms are explained in detail. Orthogonal frequency division multiplexing has been widely adopted in radio frequency and optical communication systems. One of the most important disadvantages of the orthogonal frequency division multiplexing signal is the high peak-to-average power ratio. Therefore, it is important to minimize the peak-to-average power ratio in the visible light communication systems more than in radio-frequency wireless applications. In the visible light communication systems, the high peak-to-average power ratio produces a high DC bias which reduces power efficiency of the system. A discrete Fourier transform spread orthogonal frequency division multiplexing is proposed to be used in wireless communication systems; its ability to minimize peak-to-average power ratio has been tested. The analysis of two different subcarrier allocation methods for the discrete Fourier transform-spread subcarriers, as well as the examination of two distinct subcarrier allocation strategies, distributed and localized mapping, are investigated and studied. The effects of an accurate new sub-band mapping for the localized discrete Fourier transform spread orthogonal frequency division multiplexing scheme are presented in this paper. The light-fidelity system performance of the orthogonal frequency division multiplexing and discrete Fourier transform spread orthogonal frequency division multiplexing with different sub-mapping techniques are simulated with Matlab™. A system performance size of bit error rate and peak-to-average power ratio are obtained, as well.

In perovskite solar cells, series of symmetrical and asymmetrical imino-naphthalimides were tested as hole-transporting materials. The compounds exhibited high thermal stability at the temperature of the beginning of thermal decomposition above 300 °C. Obtained imino-naphthalimides were electrochemically active and their adequate energy levels confirm the application possibility in the perovskite solar cells. Imino-naphthalimides were absorbed with the maximum wavelength in the range from 331 nm to 411 nm and emitted light from the blue spectral region in a chloroform solution. The presented materials were tested in the perovskite solar cells devices with a construction of FTO/b-TiO2/m-TiO2/perovskite/ HTM/Au. For comparison, the reference perovskite cells were also performed (without hole-transporting materials layer). Of all the proposed materials tested as hole-transporting materials, the bis-(imino-naphthalimide) containing in core the triphenylamine structure showed a power conversion efficiency at 1.10% with a short-circuit current at 1.86 mA and an open-circuit voltage at 581 mV.

The technology of manufacturing silicon solar cells is complex and consists of several stages. The final steps in succession are the deposition of antireflection layer and discharge contacts. Metallic contacts are usually deposited by the screen printing method and then, fired at high temperature. Therefore, this article presents the results of a research on the effect of heat treatment on the properties of the Al2O3 thin film previously deposited by the atomic layer deposition method. It works well as both passivating and antireflection coating. Moreover, heat treatment affects the value of the cell short-circuit current and, thus, its efficiency. The surface morphology, optical and electrical properties were investigated, describing the influence of heat treatment on the properties of the deposited layers and the manufactured solar cells.

The research and analysis of the bactericidal properties of the spacer knitted fabric with the UV-C system are presented in this paper. The disintegration factor affecting the bacteria in the knitted fabric is the UV-C radiation in the range of 265–270 nm distributed via woven optical fibres. The way of integrating elements of the system generating the UV-C radiation in the structure of the spacer knitted fabric was designed, as well as various configurations of optical fibres arrangement, fibre density, number of radiation sources, and diode types were tested. The material was contaminated with selected microorganisms indicative of sanitary contamination and important in terms of nosocomial infections. The scope of the research included microbiological (quantitative and qualitative) analyses of selected taxonomic groups of microorganisms (mesophilic bacteria, fungi, actinomycetes) before and after the irradiation process. The analysis of the research results and the applied modification of the knitted fabric turned out to be effective in reducing the amount of potentially pathogenic microorganisms.

Universal filtered multi-carrier (UFMC) is being studied as the favourable waveforms supporting the visible light communication broadcasting systems. However, the UFMC system faces a serious performance degradation on the transmitter side due to its high peak-to-average power ratio (PAPR). High PAPR of the signal is an analytical intention parameter for mobile networks, and it is necessary to minimize it as much as possible. This paper focuses on the PAPR reduction of the UFMC scheme. An efficient hybrid method of the PAPR reduction has been proposed and analysed through the Matlab™ simulation. The proposed hybrid scheme consists of a mixture of the selected-mapping method and the discrete Hartley transform precoding for a UFMC system (SLM-DHT-P-UFMC). The simulation results show that the proposed hybrid system has a better PAPR reduction performance compared to traditional SLM-UFMC and DHT-P-UFMC systems. Hence, SLM-DHT-P-UFMC is considered to be the suggested scheme in visible light communication broadcasting systems.

Advances in photonic technologies, with new processes and scopes of photonic integrated circuits, have generated a lot of interest as the field allows to obtain sensors with reduced size and cost and build systems with high interconnectivity and information density. In this work, answering the needs of photonic sensors that must be portable, more energy-efficient, and more accurate than their electrical counterparts, also with a view to the emerging field of neuromorphic photonics, a versatile device is presented. The proposed device makes use of the well-known advantages provided by optical bistability. By combining two distributed feedback-multi quantum well semiconductor laser structures, this new optical multiple inputs - digital output device offers various essential purposes (such as logic gates, wavelength detector and monitoring) with no need for specific manufacturing for each of them. Through a commercial computer-aided design tool, VPIphotonics™, the necessary characterization of proposed device is also described.

Adopting mode division multiplex (MDM) technology as the next frontier for optical fiber communication and on-chip optical interconnection systems is becoming very promising because of those remarkable experimental results based on MDM technology to enhance capacity of optical transmission and, hence, making MDM technology an attractive research field. Consequently, in recent years the large number of new optical devices used to control modes, for example, mode converters, mode filters, mode (de)multiplexers, and mode-selective switches, have been developed for MDM applications. This paper presents a review on the recent advances on mode converters, a key component usually used to convert a fundamental mode into a selected high-order mode, and vice versa, at the transmitting and receiving ends in the MDM transmission system. This review focuses on the mode converters based on planar lightwave circuit (PLC) technology and various PLC-based mode converters applied to the above two systems and realized with different materials, structures, and technologies. The basic principles and performances of these mode converters are summarized.

In this paper, a theoretical design of a novel passive optical line protection device for fiber to the home networks is presented and discussed. Such a device has been designed to overcome several issues of the conventional optical line protection which is based on a switching mechanism controlled electronically. The proposed design is suitable for multiplexed passive optical networks, especially, the dense wavelength division multiplexing technology. This unit is installed at both ends of the network and is composed of a 1×2 splitter to deliver the transmitted multiplexed signal to 2 optical paths and a 2×1 (99.9/0.1) coupler allowing an automatic control when a problem appears. Two optical line protection units exchange optical data through 2 dual fibers. In the case where the primary link suffers from a transmission problem, it automatically switches without any electronic control whatsoever to the backup link through a passive (99.9/0.1) coupler with an average total loss estimated to be of 3.2 dB.

Numerical analysis of the dark current (Jd) in the type-II superlattice (T2SL) barrier (nBn) detector operated at high temperatures was presented. Theoretical calculations were compared with the experimental results for the nBn detector with the absorber and contact layers in an InAs/InAsSb superlattice separated AlAsSb barrier. Detector structure was grown using MBE technique on a GaAs substrate. The k p model was used to determine the first electron band and the first heavy and light hole bands in T2SL, as well as to calculate the absorption coefficient. The paper presents the effect of the additional hole barrier on electrical and optical parameters of the nBn structure. According to the principle of the nBn detector operation, the electrons barrier is to prevent the current flow from the contact layer to the absorber, while the holes barrier should be low enough to ensure the flow of optically generated carriers. The barrier height in the valence band (VB) was adjusted by changing the electron affinity of a ternary AlAsSb material. Results of numerical calculations similar to the experimental data were obtained, assuming the presence of a high barrier in VB which, at the same time, lowered the detector current responsivity.

Thermal-imaging systems respond to infrared radiation that is naturally emitted by objects. Various multispectral and hyperspectral devices are available for measuring radiation in discrete sub-bands and thus enable a detection of differences in a spectral emissivity or transmission. For example, such devices can be used to detect hazardous gases. However, their operation principle is based on the fact that radiation is considered a scalar property. Consequently, all the radiation vector properties, such as polarization, are neglected. Analysing radiation in terms of the polarization state and the spatial distribution of thereof across a scene can provide additional information regarding the imaged objects. Various methods can be used to extract polarimetric information from an observed scene. We briefly review architectures of polarimetric imagers used in different wavebands. First, the state-of-the-art polarimeters are presented, and, then, a classification of polarimetric-measurement devices is described in detail. Additionally, the data processing in Stokes polarimeters is given. Emphasis is laid on the methods for obtaining the Stokes parameters. Some predictions in terms of LWIR polarimeters are presented in the conclusion.

The present review is mainly focused on the extended analysis of the results obtained from coupled measurement techniques of a thermal imaging camera and chronoamperometry for imines in undoped and doped states. This coupled technique allows to identify the current-voltage characteristics of thin films based on imine, as well as to assess layer defects in thermal images. Additional analysis of results provides further information regarding sample parameters, such as resistance, conductivity, thermal resistance, and Joule power heat correlated with increasing temperature. As can be concluded from this review, it is possible not only to study material properties at the supramolecular level, but also to tune macroscopic properties of -conjugated systems. A detailed study of the structure-thermoelectrical properties in a series of eight unsymmetrical and symmetrical imines for the field of optoelectronics and photovoltaics has been undertaken. Apart from this molecular engineering, the imines properties were also tuned by supramolecular engineering via protonation with camphorsulfonic acid and by creation of bulk-heterojunction compositions based on poly(4,8-bis[(2-ethylhexyl)oxy]benzo[1,2-b:4,5-b′]dithiophene-2,6-diyl-alt-3-fluoro-2-[(2-ethylhexyl)carbonyl]thieno[3,4-b]thiophene-4,6-diyl) and/or [6,6]-phenyl-C71-butyric acid methyl ester, poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) towards the analysed donor or acceptor ability of imines in the active layer. The use of coupled measurement techniques of a thermal imaging camera and chronoamperometry allows obtaining comprehensive data on thermoelectric properties and defects indicating possible molecule rearrangement within the layer.

Accurate determination of material parameters, such as carrier lifetimes and defect activation energy, is a significant problem in the technology of infrared detectors. Among many different techniques, using the time resolved photoluminescence spectroscopy allows to determine the narrow energy gap materials, as well as their time dynamics. In this technique, it is possible to observe time dynamics of all processes in the measured sample as in a streak camera. In this article, the signal processing for the above technique for Hg(1-x)CdxTe with a composition x of about 0.3 which plays an extremely important role in the mid-infrared is presented. Machine learning algorithms based on the independent components analysis were used to determine components of the analyzed data series. Two different filtering techniques were investigated. In the article, it is shown how to reduce noise using the independent components analysis and what are the advantages, as well as disadvantages, of selected methods of the independent components analysis filtering. The proposed method might allow to distinguish, based on the analysis of photoluminescence spectra, the location of typical defect levels in HgCdTe described in the literature.

A compact temperature measuring device using a weakly coupled multi-core fibre in the Michelson interferometer structure is proposed and experimentally demonstrated. The device is manufactured by an easy and simple splicing approach which consists of a multi-core fibre segment and an in-fibre coupler. In-fibre coupler is made of a cascaded single-mode fibre and multi-core fibre balls. It enhances the interference phenomenon of light energy between the central core and the outer cores of a multi-core fibre. The sensor shows a high quality fringe visibility of about 14–18 dB in the wavelength spectrum. Multi-core structure presents multi-path interferences and exhibits a maximum temperature sensitivity of 70.6 pm/°C in the range of 20–90°C with an insensitive response to the refractive index in the range of 1.334 to 1.354. The device has the advantages of compact size, easy manufacturing, and it solves cross-sensitivity between temperature and refractive index making it an authentic real-time temperature monitoring solution.

High power fibre lasers need to be cooled efficiently to avoid their thermal damage. Temperature distribution in fibre should be estimated during the fibre laser design process. The steady-state heat equation in a cylindrical geometry is solved to derive a practical formula for temperature radial distribution in multi-layered optical fibres with arbitrary number of the layers. The heat source is located in one or more cylindrical domains. The validity of the analytical formula is tested by comparison with static heat transfer simulations of typical application examples including octagonal double clad fibre, air-clad fibre, fibre with nonuniform, microstructured core. The accuracy sufficient for practical use is reported even for cases with not exactly cylindrical domains.

The paper analyses the operation of different types of electronic colour sensors based on the light spectrum analysis. The application goal was to detect the type of the airport lamp based on differences in colour components of the light emitted by luminaires with specific spectral characteristics. Recognition of airport lamps is based on the analysis of the light spectrum. Proposed solution allows for an automatic software selection of appropriate conversion factors and comparison with specific standards necessary for this type of measurements. Various types of sensors were discussed and the AS7262 sensor was examined in detail. The colour sensor and the light intensity sensor were used in the mobile control device for examining elevated airport lamps and in the measurement platform for quality testing of embedded airport lamps. Two additional aspects were investigated: 1) influence of an additional acrylic glass cover; 2) distance between airport lamps and the spectrum sensor.

In this study, solar cells based on copper oxide and titanium dioxide were successfully manufactured using the reactive direct-current magnetron sputtering (DC-MS) technique with similar process parameters. TiO2/CuO, TiO2/Cu2O/CuO/Cu2O, and TiO2/Cu2O solar cells were manufactured via this process. Values of efficiencies, short-circuit current, short-circuit current density, open-circuit voltage, and maximum power of PV devices were investigated in the range of 0.02÷0.9%, 75÷350 µA, 75÷350 µA/cm2, 16÷550 mV, and 0.6÷27 µW, respectively. The authors compare solar cells reaching the best and the worst conversion efficiency results. Thus, only the two selected solar cells were fully characterized using I-V characteristics, scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, ellipsometry, Hall effect measurements, and quantum efficiency. The best conversion efficiency of a solar cell presented in this work is about three times higher in comparison with the authors’ previous PV devices.

Rotational seismology is one of the fastest developing fields of science nowadays with strongly recognized significance. Capability of monitoring rotational ground motions represents a crucial aspect of improving civil safety and efficiency of seismological data gathering. The correct sensing network selection is very important for reliable data acquisition. This paper presents initial data obtained during the international research study which has involved more than 40 various rotational sensors collected in one place. The key novelty of this experiment was the possibility to compare data gathered by completely different rotational sensors during artificially generated ground vibrations. Authors collected data by four interferometric optical fiber sensors, Fiber-Optic System for Rotational Events & Phenomena Monitoring (FOSREM), which are mobile rotational seismographs with a wide measuring range from 10-7 rad/s up to even few rad/s, sensitive only to the rotational component of the ground movement. Presented experimental results show that FOSREMs are competitive in rotational events recording compared with the state-of-the-art rotational sensors but their operation still should be improved.