Department of Physics, Technical University of Denmark, DTU Risø Campus, 4000, Roskilde, Denmark.
Department of Geography & Earth Sciences, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Charlotte, NC, USA.
Sci Rep. 2023 Mar 31;13(1):5309. doi: 10.1038/s41598-023-32010-y.
Understanding light propagation and attenuation in cavities is limited by lack of applicable light sensing technologies. Here we demonstrate the use of light-sensitive metastable states in wide bandgap aluminosilicates (feldspar) as passive optical sensors for high-resolution mapping of light flux. We develop non-destructive, infrared photoluminescence (IRPL) imaging of trapped electrons in cracks as thin as 50 µm width to determine the spatio-temporal evolution of light sensitive metastable states in response to light exposure. Modelling of these data yields estimates of relative light flux at different depths along the crack surfaces. Contrary to expectation, the measured light flux does not scale with the crack width, and it is independent of crack orientation suggesting the dominance of diffused light propagation within the cracks. This work paves way for understanding of how light attenuates in the minutest of cavities for applications in areas as diverse as geomorphology, biology/ecology and civil engineering.
腔内光传播和衰减的理解受到适用光传感技术缺乏的限制。在这里，我们展示了在宽带隙铝硅酸盐（长石）中利用光敏感亚稳态作为被动光学传感器，用于高分辨率通量映射的用途。我们开发了非破坏性的、红外光致发光（IRPL）成像技术，用于探测裂缝中最窄至 50μm 的捕获电子，以确定光敏感亚稳态在光暴露下的时空演化。对这些数据的建模可估算出沿裂缝表面不同深度的相对光通量。与预期相反，测量的光通量与裂缝宽度不成比例，并且与裂缝方向无关，这表明在裂缝内扩散光传播占主导地位。这项工作为理解光在最小的腔体内如何衰减铺平了道路，可应用于地貌学、生物学/生态学和土木工程等各个领域。
