Optical measurements in a controlled environment

The optical set-up for gas loading experiments (OSFOLD) is designed for measurements of optical transmission while exposing the sample to different gases or temperatures.

Experimental set-up for optical measurements. A light source is switched on and shines through an aperture onto a sample. Two stainless steel chambers packed in aluminium foil as well as several pipes and cables can be seen behind the optical line.

These design choices make the set-up an ideal tool for studying photochromic materials—materials that change their optical properties as response to electromagnetic radiation. A recent study for example looked at the kinetics of the photochromic effect on oxygen-containing rare-earth metal hydrides, candidates for smart window applications. Another field of study is the absorption of hydrogen in vanadium thin films with relevance for hydrogen-storage applications.

A light source irradiating white light with 360-2600 nm wavelength, an additional high-intensity LED, and a CCD spectrometer are the main optical elements of this set-up allowing even for pump-probe experiments.

The measurement chamber can be filled with different gases and heated completely up till 150°C ensuring measurement conditions at thermal equilibrium even at higher temperatures.

  • Set-up consisting of two vacuum chambers separated by a gate valve.
  • First chamber: ultra-high vacuum chamber equipped with a residual gas analyser with a nominal sensitivity of 10-11 mbar for mass 28.
  • Second chamber: dedicated to optical measurements and featuring two glass viewports to this aim.
  • Gas feeding line allowing for inlet of for example H2, Ar eller O2.
  • By heating the entire second chamber via heating bands, measurements can be performed at thermal equilibrium.
  • Stabilized tungsten-halogen source providing light in a wavelength range from 360 to 2600 nm.
  • High-intensity LEDs ranging from UV (365 nm) to red light (617 nm) for pump-probe experiments mounted perpendicular to the optical line.
  • Dichroic mirror for creating two coaxial beams from the reflected pump light and the transmitted probing light.
  • CCD spectrometer working in a range of 200-1000 nm.

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