Scintillation

About: Scintillation is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 14022 publications have been published within this topic receiving 187694 citations.

Aperture averaging of scintillation for space-to-ground optical communication applications.

Abstract: : We derive as useful engineering formula for the aperture averaging factor of optical scintillation that exhibits the explicit parametric dependence on wavelength, collector diameter, and path weighted integrals of the index structure constant profile. Numerical results presented here indicate that care should be exercised in the application of available index structure constant profile models to optical communication system performance studies. (Author)

Design and simulation of a novel method for determining depth-of-interaction in a PET scintillation crystal array using a single-ended readout by a multi-anode PMT

Abstract: PET detectors with depth-of-interaction (DOI) encoding capability allow high spatial resolution and high sensitivity to be achieved simultaneously. To obtain DOI information from a mono-layer array of scintillation crystals using a single-ended readout, the authors devised a method based on light spreading within a crystal array and performed Monte Carlo simulations with individual scintillation photon tracking to prove the concept. A scintillation crystal array model was constructed using a grid method. Conventional grids are constructed using comb-shaped reflector strips with rectangular teeth to isolate scintillation crystals optically. However, the authors propose the use of triangularly shaped teeth, such that scintillation photons spread only in the x-direction in the upper halves of crystals and in the y-direction in lower halves. DOI positions can be estimated by considering the extent of two-dimensional light dispersion, which can be determined from the multiple anode outputs of a position-sensitive PMT placed under the crystal array. In the main simulation, a crystal block consisting of a 29x29 array of 1.5 mmx1.5 mmx20 mm crystals and a multi-anode PMT with 16x16 pixels were used. The effects of crystal size and non-uniform PMT output gain were also explored by simulation. The DOI resolution estimated for 1.5x1.5x20 mm3 crystals was 2.16 mm on average. Although the flood map was depth dependent, each crystal was well identified at all depths when a corner of the crystal array was irradiated with 511 keV gamma rays (peak-to-valley ratio approximately 9:1). DOI resolution was better than 3 mm up to a crystal length of 28 mm with a 1.5x1.5 mm2 or 2.0x2.0 mm2 crystal surface area. The devised light-sharing method allowed excellent DOI resolutions to be obtained without the use of dual-ended readout or multiple crystal arrays.

Experimental verification of optical backhaul links for high-altitude platform networks: Atmospheric turbulence and downlink availability

Abstract: Optical backhaul downlinks from high-altitude platforms (HAPs) are investigated. An experiment demonstrated the advantages of optical links: a small and lightweight terminal with low power consumption was launched to the stratosphere and data transmitted down to a ground station at a rate of 1.25 Gbit/s: Owing to the chosen system parameters and the high budget margin, disturbing turbulence effects did not decrease the link performance. The scientific aspect of the experiment was to study turbulence effects in order to design future systems with higher transmission performance. On the day of the experiment, measured scintillation and wavefront distortions were minimal in the morning. The best atmospheric conditions were observed about 3 h after sunrise with a peak of the atmospheric coherence length r0 at 16 cm. An r0 of 4 cm was measured as the worst case before sunrise and later during the day. This trend could also be observed for power- and intensity scintillation index. The latter changed from 0.28 (best case) to 1.12. For small scintillation index a lognormal intensity probability density function was measured. Apart from the robust intensity modulation scheme with direct detection which was used for the trial, future improved systems could benefit from a coherent transmission scheme. According to the r0 measurements and further simulations on heterodyne efficiency it turned out that the aperture size can be decreased from 40 to 10 cm without any significant change in the link margin. Future stratospheric optical links between HAPs or links from platforms to satellites will not suffer from cloud blockage but it remains an issue for up/downlinks to a ground station. This can be mitigated by ground-station diversity. Four optical ground stations in the southern part of Europe can lead to an availability of over 98%. The separation distance of the ground stations is about 900 km with a negligible correlation of cloud cover. A change of wavelength from the employed 1.55 to a wavelength around 11 microns with minimum cloud attenuation would increase the link availability for thin clouds.

Degradation of navigational accuracy with Global Positioning System during periods of scintillation at equatorial latitudes

Abstract: The effect of ionospheric scintillation on navigational accuracy with the GPS (global positioning system) in the equatorial region is presented. The accuracy of position fixing with the GPS as indicated by the PDOP (position dilution of precision) factor is degraded when the raypath from the satellite shows deep fading. It is understood that navigation, particularly using a moderately sophisticated GPS receiver, in the equatorial zone will be severely affected during maximum sunspot number years.