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My students and I published three papers in top-quality refereed journals this year. In addition, three further experiments have been completed, which are being written up for publication.

Funding by Petroleum Research Fund is gratefully acknowledged in all these works.

Work published - THREE PAPERS TOTAL

In our first work, published in the April 15, 2010 issue of Optics Letters, we demonstrate a first simultaneous measurement of the real and imaginary parts of the refractive index of a highly turbid medium by observing the real-time reflectance profile of a divergent laser beam made incident on the surface of the turbid medium. Thus we have achieved the first of two goals mentioned in our original proposal. The term “turbid media” refers to disordered media such as colloidal suspensions that generate extensive multiple scattering of incident light. Examples of highly turbid media are biotissue and crude petroleum.

In our second work, published in the August 2010 issue of Journal of Dairy Science, we develop a methodology for accurate determination of the refractive index and the attenuation coefficient of milk and milk-cream mixtures.

Refractive index sensing is a new research direction for me. I am indebted to the Petroleum Research Fund for enabling me to experimentally demonstrate a proof-of-concept, and to apply the concept toward a problem of relevance to the dairy industry. Our publications in top-quality journals will positively impact the scientific community, and my career.

• According to the Journal of Citation Reports, Optics Letters is the 2^nd most cited out of 70 refereed journals in the field of “Optics”, and is the 4^th highest in its 5-year impact factor (3.3); the Journal of Dairy Science is the top most journal out of 49 refereed journals in the field of “Agriculture, Dairy and Animal Science” in total number of citations as well as 5-year impact factor (2.94).
• I presented these works in a poster session at the premier annual meeting of the Division of Atomic Molecular and Optical Physics (DAMOP) 2010, hosted by the American Physical Society.
• Recognition of our published work: Our paper in Optics Letters was selected by the Editor-in-chief, Dr. Gregory Faris, for publication in the July 2010 issue of the Virtual Journal for Biomedical Optics (VJBO).

The students who participated in the above two works are:

• William R. Calhoun (BS Microbiology) is the 1^st author on both papers. After his success in research with me, Will switched from microbiology to biomedical engineering and got into the PhD program in Biomedical Engineering at Virginia Commonwealth University.
• Hiromi Maeta (MS Physics) is the 2^nd author on both papers. She is now working in Dr. Hiramoto’s lab in the Institute of Industrial Science in the University of Tokyo.
• Adam Combs (BS Engineering Physics) is the 3^rd author on the Optics Letters. He is now in the Armed Forces as a project manager with the Corps of Engineers in Iraq or Afghanistan. 

In addition to the two works described above, we completed a third experiment, which appeared in the April 2010 issue of Laser Physics Letters, that gratefully acknowledges PRF support. In this work we measured light-induced atomic energy-level shifts in laser-cooled Rubidium atoms. I am indebted to the Petroleum Research Fund for enabling us to purchase optics and laser-related equipment for the refractive index sensing lab that is freely shared with our laser-cooling lab. According to Journal of Citation Reports, Laser Physics Letters is the topmost of 56 refereed journals in the category “Instruments and Instrumentation” by impact factor (5.5).

The students who participated in this work are:

• Nathan Souther (MS Physics) is the 1^st author on this paper. He is now employed at Laservision, a company that deals with laser safety. 
• Peter Harnish (BS Physics), the 2^nd author, presented this work in a poster session at the premier annual meeting DAMOP 2010 hosted by the APS. Pete is now applying to physics PhD programs.
• Richard Wagner and Matthew Briel (BS Physics), the 3^rd and 4^th authors, are both now in the physics PhD program at the University of Oregon, Eugene. Because of his involvement in this research, Richard was awarded a highly prestigious national-level Astronaut scholarship while at Miami.

ADDITIONAL MANUSCRIPTS IN PREPARATION – THREE, AS OF NOW

First, in order to test in detail the theoretical model developed in our Optics Letters paper for total internal reflection from a turbid medium, we have systematically studied the dependence on particle size and concentration of the refractive index of aqueous suspensions of mono-sized polystyrene microspheres. We will submit our results to Optics Express. This work forms the basis for an impending grant proposal to NSF.

Second, we have measured refractive index changes in auto-engine oil of slightly varying states of degradation. We will submit our results to Sensors and Actuators B. This is an important step toward achieving the second and final goal in our original proposal, and will enable us to submit a proposal to Petroleum Research Fund in 2012.

Third, we have measured refractive index changes in Liposyn – also known as “optical tissue” because its optical scattering properties closely resemble that of human tissue. We will send our results to the Journal of Biomedical Optics Letters, and will submit an R21 grant proposal to NIH. 

The students who are participating in these works with Prof. L. M. Bali and myself are:

• Bradley Worth (BS Engineering Physics 2011) is the 1^st author on the polystyrene microsphere work. Brad is currently putting in 15-20 hours/week with me this semester, and may pursue an MS in physics at Miami University after graduation.
• Miao Dong (BS Chemical Engineering 2013) is the 1^st author on the auto-engine oil work. She started as a freshman.
• Sorab Makkar (BS Zoology 2013) is the 1^st author on the Liposyn work. Like Miao, he started as a freshman.

The upcoming three manuscript submissions should positively impact the likelihood for my proposals to NSF, NIH, and PRF to get funded.