Noninvasive probing of the ocean surface using laser-based nonlinear optical methods
Conference
·
OSTI ID:7275742
- Rensselaer Polytechnic Inst., Troy, NY (United States). Dept. of Chemistry
The laser-based nonlinear optical methods of second-harmonic generation and sum-frequency generation have been developed to study the chemical composition and concentration of natural surfactant materials present as slicks on the ocean surface. These noninvasive second-harmonic and sum-frequency generation methods produce signals which originate from only the top few molecular layers of the ocean surface, thereby producing an accurate picture of the ocean surface condition without interference from the bulk ocean chemistry. Chemical specificity of the methods is achieved by tuning the incident laser frequency to coincide with optical absorptions in the surface absorbed materials. We show that laser-based second-order nonlinear optical processes of SHG and SFG provide highly surface selective, noninvasive, in situ probes of the ocean surface. Although only preliminary experiments are reported in this paper, the probes provide important information about the nature of surfactants at the ocean surface and their behavior in response to dynamic forces at the sea/air interface. The future of the probes lies in their further development and use as in situ interfacial spectroscopic techniques.
- Research Organization:
- Pacific Northwest Lab., Richland, WA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- DOE; DOD; USDOE, Washington, DC (United States); Department of Defense, Washington, DC (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC06-76RL01830
- OSTI ID:
- 7275742
- Report Number(s):
- PNL-SA-21206; CONF-9206260--2; ON: DE92019431; CNN: N0001487K0239; N0001490J1537
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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