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Nanosensors: Physical, Chemical, and Biological by Vinod Kumar Khanna

Article  in  Contemporary Physics · July 2012

DOI: 10.1080/00107514.2012.689351

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Nanosensors: Physical, Chemical, and Biological, by

Vinod Kumar Khanna
a
Peter J. Dobson
a
University of Oxford
Published online: 30 Jul 2012.

To cite this article: Peter J. Dobson (2012) Nanosensors: Physical, Chemical, and Biological, by Vinod Kumar Khanna,
Contemporary Physics, 53:4, 391-392, DOI: 10.1080/00107514.2012.689351

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 Contemporary Physics
Applications of holography which are discussed in
both books include holographic displays and other
imaging applications, holographic interferometry, ho-
lographic data storage, holographic optical elements
and computer-generated holography, all of which were
first reported in the late 1960s. The main new topics
discussed in this book are digital holography, polar-
isation holography and holographic sensors.
One of commonest applications of holographic
optical elements, which was already implemented in
the 1990s, was in supermarket bar scanners. Develop-
ments since then include optical interconnects and
holographic projection screens.
There have been many publications about holo-
graphic data storage since the 1960s and Toal comments
that ‘holography promises to deliver much greater
storage capacity’ – in other words, it has not yet
Downloaded by [Radcliffe Infirmary] at 09:01 28 August 2015
delivered!
There have been significant advances in computer
generated holography (CGH) as a result of increased
processing power. Computer-generated holograms are
being used to test optical components. An interesting
application of CGHs is their use in trapping and
manipulating micrometer and sub-micrometer sized
objects – known as an optical tweezer. The technique
works by using the electromagnetic forces in a tightly
focused laser beam to trap on object and manipulate it
by moving the laser beam. A CGH is formed on a
computer-controlled spatial light modulator. This is
illuminated by a laser beam which is then focused as an
optical tweezer in the area of interest. The properties of
the CGH can be varied dynamically, thus manipulat-
ing the ‘trapped’ object.
The chapter on digital holography provides a very
useful introduction to the topic. The earliest publica-
tions on this topic date from the late 1990s but there
has been a flowering of the technique in the late 2000s.
The idea is simple – the hologram is recorded on the
sensor of a digital camera, and the reconstruction is
performed numerically, i.e. the values of the intensities
in the numerical hologram are multiplied by the
amplitude of the reference wave, and the Fresnel
diffraction pattern calculated, giving the amplitude of
the reconstructed beam. The relatively low spatial
resolution of digital camera sensors might appear to
limit the usefulness of the technique but a range of
developments in processing have led to significant
advances. Applications include holographic interfer-
ence patterns which measure static loading, vibration
and surface topography, microscopic imaging of
cancer cells and mouse neurons which allow quantita-
tive measurements to be made. Another application is
in far-infrared imaging.
Holographic sensors work by detecting a change in
either the diffraction efficiency or the fringe spacing of
391
a hologram which is caused by a change in an external
parameter, such as temperature or humidity. Sensors
have been developed for measuring humidity, pH,
water, alcohol, glucose and spore germination.
Polarisation holography is a technique in which the
recording material becomes anisotropic when illumi-
nated with polarised light, enabling a polarisation
hologram to be recorded. Applications of polarisation
holograms include polarisation analysers, bifocal
lenses and electrically switched optical devices.
This book provides an up-to-date account of
holography, covering both theory and applications.
Numerical problems are given at the end of each
chapter to allow the readers to test their understanding
of the material presented and in some case, to
supplement the material in the main text. It will
undoubtedly be of use to the researcher in holography,
and to advanced students of the topic.
It is definitely not, however, aimed at the starter
holographer who wants to know how to make a
hologram without having to understand the detailed
theory underlying the process. For example, the
‘Requirements for Holography’ section discusses the
theory of the operation of the Michelson interferom-
eter and describes the operating principles of a range of
different lasers, neither of which is necessary to know
how to make a hologram. The mechanical stability
requirements specified in Chapter 8 for making
holograms are grossly over-prescriptive – very simple
systems (some commercial, some home-made) enable
holograms to be made without resource to vibration
isolated tables or the use of a Michleson interferometer
to test stability. A comparison table of lasers and
materials would also have been helpful to the unin-
itiated who is thinking starting work in making
holograms.
Catherine M. Wykes
University of Nottingham
catherine.wykes@nottingham.ac.uk
Ó 2012, Catherine M. Wykes
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00107514.2012.689350
Nanosensors: Physical, Chemical, and Biological, by
Vinod Kumar Khanna, Boca Raton, FL, CRC Press,
2012, 638 pp., £82.00 (hardback), ISBN 978-1-4398-
2712-3. Scope: reference, review, text book. Level:
general readership, undergraduate, postgraduate,
advanced undergraduate, early career researcher,
researcher.
This book is written at a very introductory level. It has
the intention of introducing the reader to a very broad
spectrum of topics without attempting to be the
 392
authoritative text on any particular sensor. There are
many parts of this book that miss opportunities to
explain how some of the commonly used biosensors
work and the background physics and chemistry are
not rigorous enough to give lasting value. The scope of
the subject is probably too broad and the author
should have restricted the scope of the book. The
diagrams and illustrations are generally good and there
are several worked examples that some readers will
find useful. With the burgeoning interest in sensor
technology, students new to the field will find some
part of this book as a readable and enjoyable
introduction.
Peter J. Dobson
University of Oxford
peter.dobson@begbroke.ox.ac.uk
Downloaded by [Radcliffe Infirmary] at 09:01 28 August 2015
Ó 2012, Peter J. Dobson
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00107514.2012.689351
Quantum Mechanics: Its Early Development and the
Road to Entanglement and Beyond, by E.G. Steward,
London, UK, Imperial College Press, 2012, xxiii þ 315
pp., £45 (paperback), ISBN 978-1-84816-770-4. Scope:
general science. Level: undergraduate.
Just over 120 years ago, back in 1890s, physics seemed
to be in a very strong position, both scientifically and
technologically, with robust grounds in Newtonian
mechanics. Furthermore, the understanding of the
forces exerted on a magnet by an electric current had
opened up the possibility of power stations and
telegraph wires, and Maxwell’s realisation that light
waves were in fact electric and magnetic fields.
Nonetheless, the seemingly solid foundations were
about to be shaken by a series of very important
discoveries and experiments. The first blow was given
by Planck’s explanation of the black body radiation by
using energy as a discrete, rather than a continuous,
variable. This same idea was then taken further by
Einstein and applied to the explanation of the photo-
electric effect. Both Planck and Einstein were to be
awarded the Nobel Prize in physics in 1918 and 1921,
respectively, for these contributions. With these new
tools, other scientists such as Bohr, de Broglie,
Heisenberg and Schrödinger, carried on to build
what we now know as Quantum Mechanics. This is
the story that Edward G. Steward sets up to tell us
about in his book ‘Quantum Mechanics: Its Early
Development and the Road to Entanglement and
Beyond’.
It is important to mention that this book is not
a textbook. In other words, although the author
presents and indeed follows what seems to be a typical
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syllabus for an introductory course on quantum
mechanics, the treatment is such that the ideas are
presented following closely the original formalism
used in the development of these ideas. Having said
that, a great deal of effort has been made such that a
modern student is able to follow the arguments by
using more uniform notation as well as making
important simplifications that clarify the concepts.
In that respect, the book is rare and well-needed
combination of historical chronicling and sound
mathematical development of the ideas that make
up quantum theory. If anything, at times, the
historical accounts lack that grandiloquence used in
other treatments, but it is fair to say that the aims of
author do not lie there.
The book is organised more or less chronologically
and there is plenty of discussion about the assumptions
and background knowledge that the original authors
had at their disposal, and for me this is one its most
interesting features. After setting the scene in an
introductory chapter, Steward takes a bit of a detour
by presenting the special theory of relativity, whose
arguments would later be used in other developments.
Chapter 3 concentrates on thermal radiation and
Planck’s ‘energy elements’, whereas chapter 4 deals
with the photoelectric effect. In chapters 5 and 6, we are
presented with Bohr’s atom model and the use of
quanta to explain optical spectra. Wave mechanics is
then presented following de Broglie’s arguments and
Schrödinger’s wave equation is obtained in chapter 7.
An alternative formulation of quantum theory is that of
Heisenberg’s matrix mechanics and its development is
presented in chapter 8.
The book is then followed by some chapters about
the interpretation of quantum mechanics. In that
respect, chapter 9 discusses the so-called Copenhagen
interpretation and indeed the objections that people
like Einstein had against it. For the latter chapters, the
author is assisted by Sara M. McMurry who discusses
the importance of indeterminacy and entanglement in
a modern setting, analysing the EPR experiment with
photons and the implications of Bell’s inequalities.
Finally, McMurry embarks in a rather brief and
concise presentation of various other interpretations
of quantum mechanics.
The book is intended to provide an approachable
explanation to the origins of quantum mechanics, and
this aim is better achieved if the reader has had some
contact with the subject matter.
J. Rogel-Salazar
University of Hertfordshire
j.rogel@physics.org
Ó 2012, J. Rogel-Salazar
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00107514.2012.689352