Excitation of Tm<Superscript>+3</Superscript> at a wavelength of 1064 nm

We report on the experimental study of the excitation mechanism of fluorescence in a 10000-ppm wt. Tm⁺³-doped ZBLAN fiber. Visible (at 453 nm and 480 nm) and near-infrared (∼800 nm) radiations were studied under excitation at 1.064 μm. The up-conversion mechanisms responsible are investigated, based on experimental data. The results show that the³ H ₄ and the ¹ D ₂ levels are predominantly excited by ion-ion cross-relaxation processes. Received: 19 August 2002 / Published online: 8 January 2003 RID="*" ID="*"Corresponding author. Fax: +41/31-631-3765, E-mail: Reda.El-Agmy@iap.unibe.ch     

Tests of analytical hadronisation models using event shape moments in e<Superscript>+</Superscript>e<Superscript>−</Superscript> annihilation

Predictions of analytical models for hadronisation, namely the dispersive model, the shape function and the single dressed gluon approximation, are compared with moments of hadronic event shape distributions measured in e⁺e⁻ annihilation at centre-of-mass energies between 14 and 209 GeV. In contrast to Monte Carlo models for hadronisation, analytical models require to adjust only two universal parameters, the strong coupling and a second quantity parametrising non-perturbative corrections. The extracted values of α _S are consistent with the world average and competitive with previous measurements. The variance of event shape distributions is compared with predictions given by some of these models. Limitations of the models, probably due to unknown higher order corrections, are demonstrated and discussed.     

Spin physics at e<Superscript>+</Superscript>e<Superscript>−</Superscript> colliders

A large number of measurement related to spin was performed during the last decade at the e ⁺ e ^? colliders LEP and SLC providing important information on the dynamics of high energy interactions. In this paper three main topics will be covered: the measurements of the electroweak couplings, the study of fragmentation dynamics and the search for physics beyond the Standard Model.     

<Emphasis Type="Italic">Z</Emphasis><Superscript>′</Superscript> boson signal at Fermilab-Tevatron and CERN-LHC in a 331 model

We analyse the possibilities to detect a new Z ^′ boson in di-electron events at Tevatron and LHC in the framework of the 331 model with right-handed neutrinos. We also study other fermions and Higgs events as final state at LHC. Using collision data collected by the CDF II detector at Fermilab Tevatron, we find that the 331 Z ^′ boson is excluded with masses below 920 GeV. For an integrated luminosity of 100 fb⁻¹ at LHC, and considering a central value GeV, we obtain the invariant-mass distribution in the process pp→Z ^′→e ⁺ e ⁻, where a huge peak, corresponding to 800 signal events/(20 GeV), is found above the SM background. The number of di-electron events vary from 50000 to 2400 in the mass range of –2000 GeV. We also obtain branching ratios and cross sections in other fermion and Higgs channels at LHC, where a heavy top quark T exhibits the biggest ratio with m _T =300 GeV.     

A broadband ytterbium-doped tunable fiber laser for <Superscript>3</Superscript>He optical pumping at 1083 nm

Large amounts of hyperpolarized ³He gas with high nuclear polarization rates are required for use in neutron spin filters or nuclear magnetic resonance imaging of human lung. Very high efficiency can be obtained by metastability exchange optical pumping using multimode lasers to excite the ^[ 2 _]3S-^[ 2 _]3P transition at 1083 nm. Broadband ytterbium-doped tunable fiber lasers have been designed for that particular application. Different options for the architecture of the fiber oscillator are presented and compared. Emphasis is given to a linear cavity configuration that includes a high reflectivity fiber mirror and a low reflectivity tunable fiber Bragg grating. Optical measurements are performed to finely characterize the spectral behavior of the lasers. Atomic response is also quantitatively probed to assess the optimal design of the oscillator for optical pumping. Multimode operation matching the 2 GHz Doppler-broadened helium resonance line and tunability over more than 200 GHz are demonstrated. Boosting the output of this fiber laser with a Yb-doped fiber power amplifier, all-fiber devices are built to provide robust, high-power turnkey sources at 1083 nm for improved production of laser polarized ³He. PACS 42.60.-v; 42.55.Wd; 32.80.Bx     

Bose-Einstein Correlations in W<Superscript>+</Superscript> W<Superscript>–</Superscript> events at LEP2

Bose-Einstein correlations (BEC) between final state particles in the reaction have been studied. Data corresponding to a total integrated luminosity of 550 pb^-1, recorded by the DELPHI detector at centre-of-mass energies ranging from 189 to 209 GeV, were analysed. An indication for inter-W BEC between like-sign particles has been found at the level of 2.4 standard deviations of the combined statistical and systematic uncertainties. Received: 11 January 2005, Revised: 13 July 2005, Published online: 13 September 2005 This paper is dedicated to the late Frans Verbeure. Frans was a very active member of the DELPHI collaboration and its QCD and WW working groups. The loss of Frans touched us all deeply.     

Measurement of the η mass at KLOE<Superscript>⋆</Superscript>

In this report the measurement of the η mass is presented. The analysis has been performed on 450pb^-1 of data collected in the years 2001 and 2002. The measured value is m _η = (547.874±0.07_stat±0.029_syst) MeV. Original article based on material presented at HADRON 2007.     

Gain characteristics of 980 nm-pumped Er<Superscript>3+</Superscript>–Tm<Superscript>3+</Superscript>–Pr<Superscript>3+</Superscript>-co-doped fiber

We present a numerical model of Er³⁺–Tm³⁺–Pr³⁺-co-doped fiber amplifier pumped with 980 nm laser for the first time, to the best of our knowledge. The rate and power propagation equations are solved numerically to analyze the effects of the pump power and active ion concentrations on the gains at 1310, 1470, 1530, 1600, 1650 nm windows. The results show that with pump power of 200 mW and when Pr³⁺, Tm³⁺, Er³⁺ concentrations are around 2.0×10²⁴, 3.0×10²⁴, 1.5×10²⁴ (ions/m³), respectively, the signals at 1470, 1530, 1600 nm may be nearly equally amplified with gain of 11–12.0 dB in the active fiber with length of 11.0 m, and the signals at 1310, 1470 and 1600 nm windows may be nearly equally amplified with gain of 12.0 dB in the active gain medium with length of 15.0 m. With pump power of 300 mW, the signals at 1470, 1530, 1600 nm may be nearly equally amplified with a gain of 16.0 dB in the active medium with a length of 15.0 m.     

Narrow α + <Superscript>28</Superscript>Si elastic-scattering states at high excitation in <Superscript>32</Superscript>S

The excitation function and angular distributions of elastic α-particle scattering on ²⁸Si have been measured in the laboratory energy range 6-28 MeV using a backscattering technique on a thick target, yielding a continuous energy distribution. More than 200 narrow states are observed, with widths in the range ∼ 30-100 keV at excitation energies E ^* = 13-32 MeV. Angular distributions at backward angles were measured, and angular momentum values of more than 83 states have been deduced. The analysis gives spin-parities J ^π, α-partial widths Γ_α and reduced widths of the narrow high-lying resonant states in ³²S. The experimentally observed states display both the negative- and the positive-parity rotational-like sequences with seemingly no parity splitting, a finding which is at variance with most potential-model predictions. The deduced effective moment of inertia indicates a more extended structure than the ground-state configuration. The observed strength of each ℓ-value is analyzed in terms of an underlying split doorway state of Lorentzian form, which yields an interpretation as fragmented rotational α + ²⁸Si states. Received: 26 June 2000 / Accepted: 16 September 2002 / Published online: 4 February 2003 RID="a" ID="a"e-mail: kkallman@abo.fi RID="b" ID="b"Present address: Swedish Polytechnic, FIN-65200 Vasa, Finland. Communicated by D. Guerreau     

Search for resonant absorption of solar axions emitted in M1 transition in <Superscript>57</Superscript>Fe nuclei

A search for resonant absorption of 14.4 keV solar axions by a ⁵⁷Fe target was performed. The Si(Li) detector placed inside the low-background setup was used to detect the γ-quanta appearing in the deexcitation of the 14.4 keV nuclear level: A+⁵⁷Fe→⁵⁷Fe^*→⁵⁷Fe+γ. The new upper limit for the hadronic axion mass has been obtained of m _A ≤159 eV (95% c.l.) (S=0.5, z=0.56).     

Cooperative downconversion and near-infrared luminescence of Tb<Superscript>3+</Superscript>–Yb<Superscript>3+</Superscript> codoped lanthanum borogermanate glasses

In the present paper, we investigate the near-infrared (NIR) luminescence of Tb³⁺–Yb³⁺ codoped lanthanum borogermanate (LBG) glasses under visible and ultraviolet light excitation. The results indicate that NIR quantum cutting occurs through cooperative energy transfer from Tb³⁺ to Yb³⁺ ions when only 4f ⁸ levels of Tb³⁺ ions are excited in the wavelength region of 300–490 nm. The highest quantum efficiency under the excitation ⁵ D ₄ level of Tb³⁺ at 484 nm is 146%. Ultraviolet excitation that populates the charge transfer band (CTB) of Yb³⁺ near 270 nm does not result in quantum cutting as the fast nonradiative decay from CTB to ² F _5/2 level dominates. These materials are expected to be used as a converting layer for silicon solar cells to enhance their efficiency by splitting each high-energy photon into two NIR photons.     

Investigation of the reaction D(<Superscript>4</Superscript>He, γ)<Superscript>6</Superscript>Li at ultralow energies

The cross section of the reaction D(⁴He, γ)⁶Li with titanium and zirconium deuterides as targets is measured for incident ⁴He⁺ ion energies of 30 and 36 keV, respectively. The ion beam is generated by a Hall pulsed plasma accelerator. For the first time, upper limits on the cross section of the reaction D(⁴He, γ)⁶Li at ultralow energies are imposed (at 90% confidence level): σ ≤ 1.2 × 10^?35 cm² for the TiD₂ target and E(⁴He⁺) = 30 keV, and σ ≤ 7 × 10^?36 cm² for the ZrD₂ target and E(⁴He⁺) = 36 keV     

Absolute frequency measurement of the iodine-stabilized Ar<Superscript>+</Superscript> laser at 514.6 nm using a femtosecond optical frequency comb

The frequency of ¹²⁷I₂ hyperfine component a₃ of the P(13) 43-0 transition at 514.6 nm has been measured with an optical clockwork based on a femtosecond laser frequency comb generator. The measured frequency at an iodine pressure of 0.12 Pa is 67.3(0.75) kHz higher than the value of 582490603.38(15) MHz, adopted by the CIPM in 2003 [9] but is in a good agreement with the value measured by [29]. In our experiment we used H-maser reference frequency located at BNM-SYRTE Observatoire de Paris and transported to our laboratory by a 43 km optical fibre link. PACS 06.20.-f; 06.20.Fn; 06.30.Bp; 06.30.Ft     

Blue upconversion emission from Tm<Superscript>3+</Superscript> sensitized by Nd<Superscript>3+</Superscript> in aluminum oxide crystalline ceramic powders

Upconversion (UC) emission in thulium (Tm³⁺) and neodymium (Nd³⁺) co-doped aluminum oxide ceramic powders prepared by combustion synthesis was investigated at room temperature using a continuous wave laser operating at 800 nm. Our sample containing Tm³⁺ (1 wt.%) did not show any UC emission but our sample co-doped with Tm³⁺ and Nd³⁺ in 1:2 wt.% proportion presented blue (∼480 nm) UC intensity more than one order of magnitude larger than our sample co-doped with Tm³⁺ and Nd³⁺ in 1:1 wt.% proportion. X-ray diffraction data showed the presence of α-Al₂O₃ and REAlO₃ (RE=Tm or Nd) crystalline phases in co-doped powders, while the singly doped powder has only α-Al₂O₃ phase. Our results show that the UC emission efficiency of Tm³⁺ and the host crystalline structure can be tailored by manipulating the Nd³⁺ doping concentration.     

Quenching of molecular ions by He buffer loading at ultralow energies: rotational cooling of OH<Superscript>+</Superscript>(<Superscript>3</Superscript>Σ<Superscript>-</Superscript>) from quantum calculations

An ab initio computed potential energy surface is employed to evaluate the interaction of the OH⁺(³Σ ^-) molecule with ⁴He(¹S) atom and an analytic fitting of the raw points is directly employed in quantum scattering calculations at ultralow collision energies. The Hund's case (b) chosen to handle the spin-rotation coupling allows to extract from the numerous inelastic cross sections the relative importance of pure “spin flip" vis-à- vis rotational cooling cross sections. The final rates of all the above processes as a function of the initial |N〉 state are analysed in detail and possible propensity rules are discussed.     

Energy spectrum and mass composition of primary cosmic rays at energies 10<Superscript>15</Superscript>–10<Superscript>18</Superscript> eV

Data on muon and electron components of extensive air showers (EAS) (obtained with the EAS MSU array) were used to derive the primary cosmic ray (PCR) mass composition. It is shown that for energies beyond the knee at energy 3 × 10¹⁵ eV the abundance of heavy nuclei increases with energy. But at energies above 10¹⁷ eV the abundance of light nuclei starts to grow. The primary cosmic ray spectrum in the range 10¹⁵–10¹⁸ eV is analyzed. It is shown that at energies above 10¹⁷ eV the additional component appears and it differs from the bulk of Galactic cosmic rays generated by shocks in SN remnants.     

A narrow linewidth and frequency-stable probe laser source for the <Superscript>88</Superscript>Sr<Superscript>+</Superscript> single ion optical frequency standard

In this paper, we describe in detail a narrow linewidth and frequency-stable laser source used to probe the 5s ² S _1/2–4d ² D _5/2 clock transition of the ⁸⁸Sr⁺ optical frequency standard. The performance of the laser system is investigated with studies of its frequency drift rates and with high resolution spectra of the ⁸⁸Sr⁺ clock transition. The observed short-term drift rates are typically in the range of 10 to 23 mHz/s, and the current long-term drift rate is 13.9(3) mHz/s. The laser stability, after subtraction of linear drifts, reaches 5×10⁻¹⁶ at an averaging time of 3000 s. This high level of stability is attributed for the most part to stabilization of the reference cavity at the temperature where the coefficient of linear thermal expansion crosses zero. An upper bound for the laser linewidth is given by the observation of a Fourier-transform limited resonance of 4.3 Hz (Δν/ν=1×10⁻¹⁴) on the ⁸⁸Sr⁺ clock transition. The effective averaging time during the linewidth measurements was about 100 s.     

Exclusive ωπ<Superscript>0</Superscript> production with muons<Superscript>⋆</Superscript>

Using 160GeV muon scattering data collected with the COMPASS experiment at CERN, the exclusive production of ωπ⁰ via virtual photons was studied. Selective population of a peak around 1250MeV is observed. Possible contributions from spin-parity 1^- are searched for, inspecting decay angular correlations. In particular, the orientation of the ω decay plane may allow a distinction from the 1⁺ b ₁(1235) state. Our observation is compared with indications of a (1250) in annihilation and in γp . Original article based on material presented at HADRON 2007.