LuNbO4:0.2Yb3+,xTm3+ powders were prepared using a solid-state reaction process. The effects of the amount of Tm on up-conversion(UC) and down-conversion(DC) luminescence properties are investigated. X-ray diffraction patterns confirm that Yb3+ and Tm3+ ions are successfully incorporated into Lu sites. Under 980 nm excitation, the UC spectra of the powders predominantly exhibit strong near-infrared emission bands that peak at 805 nm, whereas weak 480 nm emission bands are observed as well. The emission bands are assigned to the 1G4→ 3H6 (480 nm) and 3H4→ 3H6 (805 nm) transitions of the Tm3+ ions via an energy transfer from Yb3+ to Tm3+; two- and three-photon UC processes are responsible for the 805 and 480 nm emissions, respectively. The DC emission spectra exhibit blue emission (1D2→ 3F4) of Tm3+ at 458 nm. The amount of Tm affects the emission intensity with the strongest emissions at x = 0.007 and 0.02 for the UC and DC luminescence, respectively. The results demonstrate that LuNbO4:Yb3+,Tm3+ phosphors are suitable for bio-applications.

Near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) is a rapid and accurate method for analyzing the quality of cereals, and dried animal forage. However, one limitation of this method is its inability to measure fermentation parameters in dried and ground samples because they are volatile, and therefore, respectively lost during the drying process. In order to overcome this limitation, in this study, fresh coarse haylage was used to test the potential of NIRS to accurately determine chemical composition and fermentation parameters. Fresh coarse Italian ryegrass haylage samples were scanned at 1 nm intervals over a wavelength range of 680 to 2500 nm, and optical data were recorded as log 1/reflectance. Spectral data, together with first- and second-order derivatives, were analyzed using partial least squares (PLS) multivariate regressions; scatter correction procedures (standard normal variate and detrend) were used in order to reduce the effect of extraneous noise. Optimum calibrations were selected based on their low standard error of cross validation (SECV) values. Further, ratio of performance deviation, obtained by dividing the standard deviation of reference values by SECV values, was used to evaluate the reliability of predictive models. Our results showed that the NIRS method can predict chemical constituents accurately (correlation coefficient of cross validation, R2 cv, ranged from 0.76 to 0.97); the exception to this result was crude ash (R2 cv = 0.49 and RPD = 2.09). Comparison of mathematical treatments for raw spectra showed that second-order derivatives yielded better predictions than first-order derivatives. The best mathematical treatment for DM, ADF, and NDF, respectively was 2, 16, 16, whereas the best mathematical treatment for CP and crude ash, respectively was 2, 8, 8. The calibration models for fermentation parameters had low predictive accuracy for acetic, propionic, and butyric acids (RPD < 2.5). However, pH, and lactic and total acids were predicted with considerable accuracy (R2 cv 0.73 to 0.78; RPD values exceeded 2.5), and the best mathematical treatment for them was 1, 8, 8. Our findings show that, when fresh haylage is used, NIRS-based calibrations are reliable for the prediction of haylage characteristics, and therefore useful for the assessment of the forage quality.

적외선 유도 미사일은 미사일에서 자체적으로 방사하는 신호가 없어 항공기에서 접근을 인지하고 대응하기가 어렵다. 또 한 적외선 유도 미사일을 탐지하는 MAW(missile approach warning)는 고가의 장비로 현재는 항공기에의 사용이 제한되고 있으며 그 효용성이 공개된바가 없다. 따라서 본 연구에서는 MAW가 탑재되어 항공기가 접근하는 유도 미사일에 대해 회피 기동을 수행할 때 항공기의 생존성이 얼마나 증가하는지를 해석하여 MAW의 효용성을 평가하고자 하였다. 생존성의 평가 지표로 위험 거리를 사용하였으며 고도 5km를 마하 0.9로 비행하는 항공기에 대해 AIM-9 적외선 유도 미사일이 접근하는 상황에 대한 위험 거리를 방위각 별로 도출하였다. 항공기의 회피기동에 대한 변수로는 5～7km의 MAW 인지거리와 3～7G 의 항공기 기동성능을 고려하였다. 해석 결과 MAW를 통한 미사일 접근 인지와 회피기동 만으로도 위험 거리가 상당히 감소하는 것을 확인했다. 회피기동에 따른 위험 거리의 감소는 최대 29.4%로 나타났다. 또한 상대적으로 향상시키기 어려운 항공기 기동성능보다는 MAW 인지거리를 증가시키는 것이 위험 거리의 감소에 더 효과적인 것으로 나타났다.

In previous experiment, drying efficiency of infrared and hot air dryers was investigated. On this study, drying rate of sweet potato according to different infrared interval was performed to find the optimal interval range. Steamed sweet potato was cut to a thickness of 0.5cm, the width and length were 1.5*3cm. The condition of infrared drying was 60 to 40°C, which range of interval was adjusted 5 to 20°C. Moisture content, brix, color, and texture were estimated as quality parameters. Drying rate was increased with decreasing temperature range and soluble solid contents were increased as drying time was increased, but there was no difference after 4 hours. Hardness was resulted in highest value at small temperature range and hard texture was affected by drying time. However, there were no significant differences in L, a, b value. In conclusion, small interval range of infrared was indicated highest drying efficiency and the optimal condition of drying time was 4 to 6.

We present a new catalog of AGB stars based on infrared two-color diagrams (2CDs) and known properties of the pulsations and spectra. We exclude some misclassified objects from previous catalogs. We identify color areas in two IR 2CDs where most O-rich and C-rich objects listed in previous catalogs of AGB stars are found. By collecting new objects in these color selection areas in the two IR 2CDs, we find candidate objects for AGB stars. By using the color selection method, we identify 3996 new objects in the O-rich areas, 1487 new objects in the C-rich areas, and 295 new objects in the overlap areas of the two 2CDs simultaneously. We have found that 470 O-rich and 9 C-rich objects are Mira variables with positive spectral identification and they are newly identified AGB stars. We present a new catalog of 3828 O-rich AGB stars and 1168 C-rich AGB stars excluding misclassified objects and adding newly identified objects.

This study was conducted to find out an alternative way of rapid and accurate analysis of chemical composition of permanent pastures in hilly grazing area. Near reflectance infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) was used to evaluate the potential for predicting proximate analysis of permanent pastures in a vegetative stage. 386 pasture samples obtained from hilly grazing area in 2015 and 2016 were scanned for their visible–NIR spectra from 400~2,400nm. 163 samples with different spectral characteristics were selected and analysed for moisture, crude protein (CP), crude ash (CA), acid detergent fiber (ADF) and neutral detergent fiber (NDF). Multiple linear regression was used with wet analysis data and spectra for developing the calibration and validation mode1. Wavelength of 400 to 2500nm and near infrared range with different critical T outlier value 2.5 and 1.5 were used for developing the most suitable equation. The important index in this experiment was SEC and SEP. The R2 value for moisture, CP, CA, CF, Ash, ADF, NDF in calibration set was 0.86, 0.94, 0.91, 0.88, 0.48 and 0.93, respectively. The value in validation set was 0.66, 0.86, 0.83, 0.71, 0.35 and 0.88, respectively. The results of this experiment indicate that NIRS is a reliable analytical method to assess forage quality for CP, CF, NDF except ADF and moisture in permanent pastures when proper samples incorporated into the equation development.

Due to rapid development of infrared guided weapon, survivability of armored vehicle is severely threatened. Hence, reduction of susceptibility by lowering infrared signature level is essential to enhance survivability of the vehicle. For this purpose, numerical analysis is conducted to analyze time and spatial characteristics of infrared signature of the vehicle when surface emissivity changes in this study. The analysis shows that the emissivity which produces minimum contrast radiant intensity is significantly altered by time and detecting position. Based on the result, it is concluded that the controlled structures which have different emissivity should be adopted at different region of the vehicle to effectively decrease infrared signature level.

We report our research on aluminum mirror optics for future infrared astronomical satellites. For space infrared missions, cooling the whole instrument is crucial to suppress the infrared background and detector noise. In this aspect, aluminum is appropriate for cryogenic optics, because the same material can be used for the whole structure of the instrument including optical components thanks to its excellent machinability, which helps to mitigate optical misalignment at low temperatures. We have fabricated alu- minum mirrors with ultra-precision machining and measured the wave front errors (WFEs) of the mirrors with a Fizeau interferometer. Based on the power spectral densities of the WFEs, we conrmed that the surface accuracy of all the mirrors satised the requirements for the SPICA Coronagraph Instrument. We then integrated the mirrors into an optical system, and examined the image quality of the system with an optical laser. As a result, the total WFE is estimated to be 33 nm (rms) from the Strehl ratio. This is consistent with the WFEs estimated from the measurement of the individual mirrors.

For future space IR missions, such as SPICA, it is crucial to establish an experimental method for eval- uating the performance of mid-IR detectors. In particular, the wavelength dependence of the sensitivity is important but difficult to be measured properly. We are now preparing a testing system for mid-IR Si:As/Si:Sb detectors on SPICA. We have designed a cryogenic optical system in which IR signal light from a pinhole is collimated, passed through an optical filter, and focused onto a detector. With this system, we can measure the photoresponse of the detector for various IR light using optical lters with different wavelength properties. We have fabricated aluminum mirrors which are adopted to minimize thermal distortion effects and evaluated the surface figure errors. The total wavefront error of the optical system is 1.3 μm RMS, which is small enough for the target wavelengths (20-37 μm) of SPICA. The point spread function measured at a room temperature is consistent with that predicted by the simulation. We report the optical performance of the system at cryogenic temperatures.

To realize large-format compact array detectors covering a wide far-infrared wavelength range up to 200 μm, we have been developing Blocked-Impurity-Band (BIB) type Ge detectors with the room- temperature surface-activated wafer bonding technology provided by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. We fabricated various types of p+-i junction devices which possessed a BIB-type structure, and evaluated their spectral response curves using a Fourier transform spectrometer. From the Hall effect measurement, we also obtained the physical characteristics of the p+ layers which constituted the p+-i junction devices. The overall result of our measurement shows that the p+-i junction devices have a promising applicability as a new far-infrared detector to cover a wavelength range of 100-200 μm.

This paper reviews the legacy of the SPCIA Coronagraph Instrument (SCI) of which the primary scientic objective is the characterization of Jovian exoplanets by coronagraphic spectroscopy in the infrared. Studies on binary shaped pupil mask coronagraphs are described. Cryogenic active optics is discussed as another key technology. Then approaches to observing habitable zones in exoplanetary systems with a passively-cooled space infrared telescope are discussed. The SCI was dropped in a drastic change of the SPICA mission. However, its legacy is useful for space-borne infrared telescopes dedicated for use in exoplanetary science in the future, especially for studies of biomarkers.

This paper reviews the requirements for far-infrared astronomy in the period following the SPICA satellite in the late 2020's. We take a very long view of the state of FIR astronomy and what facilities will be required in a twenty year timeframe. We show that spatial resolution to match that of observatories operating in the optical and mid-infrared and the radio will be a necessity. Moreover this high spatial resolution must be combined with high spectral and photometric sensitivity to provide the data required to further our understanding of planetary formation mechanisms, the history of star formation through cosmic time and the feedback between active galactic nuclei and their host galaxies in controlling star formation. We review three possible conceptual mission scenarios and comment on the possibility of realising them in the coming deades.

We present project updates of the next-generation infrared space mission SPICA (Space Infrared Tele- scope for Cosmology and Astrophysics) as of November 2015. SPICA is optimized for mid- and far-infrared astronomy with unprecedented sensitivity, which will be achieved with a cryogenically cooled (below 8 K), large (2.5 m) telescope. SPICA is expected to address a number of key questions in various fields of astrophysics, ranging from studies of the star-formation history in the universe to the formation and evolution of planetary systems. The international collaboration framework of SPICA has been revisited. SPICA under the new framework passed the Mission Definition Review by JAXA in 2015. A proposal under the new framework to ESA is being prepared. The target launch year in the new framework is 2027/28.

We report a spatial uctuation analysis of the sky brightness in the near-infrared from observations towards the north ecliptic pole (NEP) by AKARI at 2.4 and 3.2 μm. As a follow up study of our previous work on the Monitor eld of AKARI, we used NEP deep survey data, which covered a circular area of about 0.4 square degrees, in order to extend uctuation analysis at angular scales up to 1000". After pre-processing, additional correction procedures were done to correct time varying components and instrumental effects such as MUXbleed. To remove resolved objects, we applied 2α clipping and point spread function (PSF) subtraction. We finally obtained mosaicked images which can be used for the study of various diffuse emissions in the near-infrared sky and found that there are spatial structures in the mosaicked images using a power spectrum analysis.