Quasi-optical assessment of the ALMA band 9 front-end

The ALMA band 9 (600–720 GHz) receiver is a dual channel heterodyne system which is capable of detecting orthogonally polarised signals utilising a wire grid beam splitter. Two Superconductor–Insulator–Superconductor (SIS) mixers mounted behind hybrid mode corrugated horns are coupled to the 12 m Cassegrain antenna via a wavelength independent configuration of two off-axis elliptical mirrors.We outline an approach involving accurate physical optics simulations in conjunction with precise experimental measurements of the complete optical front-end which guarantees the highest performances. This practical verification approach can be generalised to all quasi-optical receivers to validate system performance. In this paper, we verify the optical design and estimate antenna system efficiency. Comparison between measurement and simulation indicates precise information is achievable in estimating system performance allowing potential improvements in ALMA instrument calibration accuracy.     

Analysis of epidemic models with demographics in metapopulation networks

In this paper, two susceptible–infected–susceptible (SIS) epidemic models are presented and analyzed by reaction–diffusion processes with demographics in metapopulation networks. Firstly, an SIS model with constant-inputting is discussed. The model has a disease-free equilibrium, which is locally asymptotically stable when the basic reproduction number is less than unity, otherwise it is unstable. It has an endemic equilibrium, which is globally asymptotically stable. Secondly, in another SIS model, the birth rate is the form of Logistic. Similarly, the stability of disease-free equilibrium and endemic equilibrium is also proved. Finally, numerical simulations are performed to illustrate the analytical results.     

Impact of interferometer delay time on the performance of ODSB-SC RoF system with wavelength interleaving

In this paper, we investigate the impact of interferometer delay time in a 5 Gb/s optical double sideband-suppressed carrier (ODSB-SC) RoF system transmitting two wavelength interleaved radio frequency (RF) signals at 10 and 15 GHz over an optical fiber. Here, an optical Mach–Zehnder modulator is used for both optical carrier suppression and signal modulation. At the receiver, delay interferometer is used for the separation of RF frequency signals. We analyze the performance of the RoF system by varying the value of delay time of interferometer from 0.02 to 0.14 ns. The result shows that the RoF system performance is optimum for the time delay of 0.1 ns. Further, the optical spectrums, RF spectrums and eye diagrams of two interleaved RF signals have been compared.     

High-performance optical modulators bias control system without dither

A software-based bias control system of push–pull Mach–Zehnder modulators (MZMs) without dither tone is described in this paper. The slope of the average optical output power respect to the bias voltage is used to control the operating bias points in the automatic control system. The paper analyses the theory of automatic bias control intensively and verifies the effectiveness of the proposed technique which is a modulation-format-free method under the RF signal through testing and contrasting the BER (bit error rate) between the new technique and manual measure on the experimental platform. Based on this, an automatic bias control system set up by an optical QPSK composed by double MZMS on the LabVIEW platform is described.     

100 GHz mixer vertically integrated (stacked) SIS junction array

A Vertically Integrated Array (stacked array) of single windowSIS junctions (VIA SIS), based on a stacked five layer structure of Nb-AlO_x-Nb-AlO_x-Nb, has been fabricated and tested in a quasi optical mixer configuration at 106 GHz. This particular VIA SIS design has two stacked junctions fabricated by standard tri-layer process employing photolithography, reactive ion and wet etching processes. A simple expression for calculating the specific capacitance of single and arrayed SIS junctions is suggested. Due to the absence of interconnection leads between the individual junctions and reduced overall capacitance, compared to a single SIS junction, has the VIA SIS good future prospects for use in submillimeter wave SIS mixers The VIA SIS may be regarded as a lumped rather than a distributed structure at least up to the gap frequency at 730 GHz for Nb. DC-IV measurements show high quality of the Individual SIS junctions and good reproducibility of the array parameters over the substrate area. The first VIA SIS mixer experiments yielded a receiver noise temperature of 95 K (DSB) at a LO frequency of 106 GHz.     

Landsat 8 TIRS热红外光谱数据定标准确性的分析

Landsat系列卫星的热红外数据一直是获取地球表面温度的重要数据源,而新一代Landsat 8卫星的TIRS热红外传感器数据进一步延续了这一重要使命。但该卫星发射以来,其热红外传感器的定标参数不断发生变化,致使美国地质调查局(USGS)不得不在2014年2月对所有已获取的Landsat 8卫星数据进行重新处理。为了考察新处理数据的定标准确性,利用定标精度很高的Landsat 7 ETM+的3幅热红外影像来对同日过空的Landsat 8 TIRS热红外影像进行对比, 以查明TIRS热红外数据的定标准确性。结果表明,尽管Landsat 8 TIRS与Landsat 7 ETM+的热红外光谱数据很接近,但是,二者之间也存在着差别。与ETM+6波段反演的大气顶部温度相比,TIRS 10波段表现为高估,幅度最大为1.37 K,而TIRS 11波段则表现为低估,幅度可达-3 K。可见,Landsat 8 TIRS热红外光谱数据的定标参数精度仍不稳定,且以TIRS 11波段表现得更明显。进一步分析发现,TIRS数据的误差会随着地表植被和裸土覆盖比例的不同而发生变化。表现在TIRS 10波段的高估会随着植被比例的下降而加大,而TIRS 11波段的低估则会随着植被比例的下降而减少。因此,虽然USGS提倡用TIRS 10单波段来反演温度,但TIRS 10波段在低植被高裸土区的反演精度却远不及TIRS 11波段,所以在低植被高裸土区可能不宜一味地采用TIRS10波段,在没有把握的情况下,在低植被覆盖区也可尝试采用TIRS 10和11波段温度的均值,它可将误差缩小在<0.5 K范围以内。     

Optimal design of 32 channels spectrum slicing WDM for optical fiber access network system

In this article, the spectrum sliced dense wavelength division multiplexed passive optical network (SS-DWDM–PON) has been investigated as a power efficient and cost effective solution for optical access networks. In this work an AWG demultiplexer is used to operate as slicing system. The high speed SS-DWDM system has been realized and investigated for 32 channels with data rate up to 3 Gb/s using broadband ASE source (LED). The 3 Gb/s signals both non-return-to-zero (NRZ) and return-to-zero (RZ) were demonstrated in 40 km optical fiber link with BER < 10⁻¹². The results obtained here demonstrate that SS-DWDM is well suited for Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH) network.     

Performance analysis and improvement of spectrally amplitude encoded/decoded OCDMA system

This paper describes a performance analysis of an incoherent optical code-division multiple-access scheme based on wavelength/time (W/T) codes. The system supports 16 users operating at 2.5Gb/s/user while maintaining bit-error rate (BER) < 10⁻¹¹ for the correctly decoded signal. It has been observed that there are two major problems giving rise to performance degradation of the system in terms of number of users and type of code.In this paper we have studied the optical simulator Encoding/Decoding for different lengths & gain in terms of Quality factor (Q) and Bit Error Rate (BER) performance. The system supports 16 users while maintaining bit-error rate (BER) < 10⁻¹¹ for the correctly decoded signal. Our aim is to design and simulate a Tree Network Topology Optical Code Division Multiple Access System for large number of users using wavelength–time code and to analyze the performance of the system based on BER and Eye Diagram under the influence of number of simultaneous users with different received powers.     

A Low Noise NbTiN-Based 850 GHz SIS Receiver for the Caltech Submillimeter Observatory

We have developed a niobium titanium nitride (NbTiN) based superconductor-insulator-superconductor (SIS) receiver to cover the 350 micron atmospheric window. This frequency band lies entirely above the energy gap of niobium (700 GHz), a commonly used SIS superconductor. The instrument uses an open structure twin-slot SIS mixer that consists of two Nb/AlN/NbTiN tunnel junctions, NbTiN thin-film microstrip tuning elements, and a NbTiN ground plane. The optical configuration is very similar to the 850 GHz waveguide receiver that was installed at the Caltech Submillimeter Observatory (CSO) in 1997. To minimize front-end loss, we employed reflecting optics and a cooled beamsplitter at 4 K. The instrument has an uncorrected receiver noise temperature of 205K DSB at 800 GHz and 410K DSB at 900 GHz. The degradation in receiver sensitivity with frequency is primarily due to an increase in the mixer conversion loss, which is attributed to the mismatch between the SIS junction and the twin-slot antenna impedance. The overall system performance has been confirmed through its use at the telescope to detect a wealth of new spectroscopic lines.     

Modeling and design of 2D photonic crystal based Y type dual band wavelength demultiplexer

In this paper, photonic bandgap (PBG) induced wave guiding application of photonic crystals is exploited to design Dual Band Wavelength Demultiplexer (DBWD) for separating two telecommunication wavelengths, 1.31 and 1.55 μm. Two designs that use silicon rods in air and embedded air holes in silicon are realized for this purpose. Plane wave expansion (PWE) method and two dimension Finite Difference Time Domain (FDTD) methods are used to design and analyze the DBWD in Y type photonic crystal structure. Numerical analysis indicates that these designs enable the separation of two wavelengths with very high optical power extinction ratios. Other filter parameters like transmittance and quality factor are also calculated to confirm superior performance of the proposed design of photonic crystal based DBWD.     

Low noise completely quasioptical SIS receiver for radioastronomy at 115 GHZ

Completely quasioptical heterodyne SIS receiver for radioastronomical applications at 115 GHz was designed and tested. Gaussian beam two lens input guide system and open structure SIS mixer with immersion lens were used. Integrated quasioptical structure consists of planar equiangular spiral antenna and superconductor—insulator—superconductor (SIS) tunnel junction as a mixing element connected to the antenna via microstrip impedance transformer. The best SIS mixer noise temperature at hot input and for heterodyne frequency 109.8 GHz with IF central frequency 1.4 GHz (DSB) was 28±7 K at the first quasiparticle step and 8±6 K at the second step.     

Low noise 80–115 GHz quasiparticle mixer with small Nb/Al-Oxide/Nb tunnel junctions

Millimeter-wave characterization of a heterodyne receiver using (2 m²) Nb/Al-Ox/Nb Superconducting-Insulator-Superconducting (SIS) junctions arrays is reported. The fabrication of the Nb/Al-Ox/Nb SIS junction arrays as a heterodyne mixer is described. The leakage current of these junctions is below 2A at 4.2K and unmeasurable at 2.5K. The receiver gave a noise temperature Double Side Band (DSB) between 63K and 187K over the frequency range 80 to 115 GHz at the first conversion peak. The results are comparable to those obtained with SIS receivers using well researched lead junctions. Contrary to the lead junctions, our mixer using all Nb junctions have proven remarkably stable with respect to thermal cycling, characteristics which are required for space applications. To our knowledge, this is the most reliable low noise receiver operating in this frequency range.     

Simulation of nonlinear optical absorption in ZnSe:Co crystals

The paper presents theoretical approach to simulation of nonlinear optical absorption in zinc selenide crystals doped with cobalt (II) ions (ZnSe:Co²⁺), which was reported by us earlier (Opt. Laser Technology, V. 35, (2003), 169). We used ZnSe:Co²⁺ crystals as saturable absorbers for generation of giant-pulse eye-safe laser radiation. It was found that minimal optical losses (maximal final transmission) occurred for ZnSe samples containing 1.6×10¹⁹ cm⁻³ of Co²⁺ ions. Band structure and photoinduced molecular dynamics simulations were performed to explain the parabolic dependence of optical losses versus Co²⁺ concentration. The minimum was shown to be the result of photoinduced anharmonic electron–phonon interaction.     

Growth,thermal, spectral optical and dielectric characterization of semiorganic material: Dihydroxylammonium tetrachlorostrontium(II) dihydrate

Single crystals of dihydroxylammonium tetrachlorostrontium(II) dihydrate were grown by slow evaporation solution growth method at ambient temperature. The suitability of this material for optical application was studied by UV–visible absorption and optical transmittance spectroscopic techniques. The powder X-ray diffraction (XRD) method was used to confirm the crystalline nature of the compound and it is observed that the compound crystallized in orthorhombic system. The thermal stability of the title compound was studied by thermogravimetry and differential thermal (TG–DTA) analyses. The thermal anomalies observed in the low temperature differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) study indicate the occurrence of the first order structural phase transitions in the compound. The FTIR spectrum characterizes the various chemical bonding and water molecules in the compound. The nonlinear optical property of the material was analyzed by modified Kurtz–Perry powder technique. The dielectric constant and dielectric loss of the compound decreases with increase in frequency.     

Investigation on wavelength re-modulated bi-directional passive optical network for different modulation formats

In this paper, the cost effective bi-directional passive optical network architecture with wavelength remodulated scheme is investigated. To realize the cost-effective PON, remodulation scheme is used, in which the downstream optical signal is reused as a carrier for the upstream transmission as it eliminates the need for an extra laser source at optical network units. The performance of proposed passive optical network is analyzed and compared for various modulation formats such as Non Return to Zero (NRZ), Return to Zero (RZ) and On–Off Keying (OOK) with 64 optical networks units (ONUs) at different traffic speed for downlink and uplink, respectively. It has been observed that the most suitable data format for proposed PON network is NRZ. Further the proposed system performance is compared with the current state-of-the-art PON architectures.     

A Novel LO Power Injection Method for SIS Mixers

We propose a novel LO power injection method developed for SIS mixers in this paper. Based on the feature of extremely small LO power requirements of SIS quantum mixing, the new method fulfills SIS pumping through a DC/IF route based built-in LO path, which is composed of an additional LO waveguide and the existing microstrip choke filter on the junction substrate. With the new method, traditional external LO diplexers(e.g., crossguide-couplers or beamsplitters) become unnecessary, resulting in a lower loss, compact, and stable receiver system. Experiments at 110- and 230 GHz bands have shown that the present method is efficient in coupling sufficient pumping power to SIS junctions from general LO sources, and the receiver sensitivities have a further improvement of about 10 K. We expect this method is also able to be applied into submillimeter wave band for SIS mixers.     

超导SIS结偏置源电路的设计

针对超导SIS隧道结器件的传输特性,设计和制备了为超导SIS器件提供直流偏置的电路,该偏置源电路采用恒压源与恒流源合二为一的技术,恒压源采用了电压深度负反馈设计,恒流源采用了电流反馈法。并用MULTISIM10对电路进行仿真和参数验证。利用该偏置源对SIS结进行供电实测,取得了良好效果。实现了高稳定度、高精度、低噪声的电路设计。     

Nonlinear tunneling of optical soliton in 3 coupled NLS equation with symbolic computation

We investigated the soliton solution for N$N$ coupled nonlinear Schrödinger (CNLS) equations. These equations are coupled due to the cross-phase-modulation (CPM). Lax pair of this system is obtained via the Ablowitz–Kaup–Newell–Segur (AKNS) scheme and the corresponding Darboux transformation is constructed to derive the soliton solution. One and two soliton solutions are generated. Using two soliton solutions of 3 CNLS equation, nonlinear tunneling of soliton for both with and without exponential background has been discussed. Finally cascade compression of optical soliton through multi-nonlinear barrier has been discussed. The obtained results may have promising applications in all-optical devices based on optical solitons, study of soliton propagation in birefringence fiber systems and optical soliton with distributed dispersion and nonlinearity management.     

Vacuum ultra-violet spectroscopic ellipsometry study of sputtered BeZnO thin films

This paper reports on a systematic investigation of the optical properties of BeZnO thin films fabricated by radio frequency reactive magnetron sputtering technique using vacuum ultraviolet spectroscopic ellipsometry (VUV-SE). The thicknesses and optical constants of the thin films were determined in the wavelength range 138–1650 nm, using VUV-SE through the Tauc–Lorentz and Gaussian models. Refractive indices and extinction coefficients of the thin films were determined to be in the range n = 1.58–1.99 and κ = 1.0 × 10⁻²⁷–0.37, respectively. The absorption coefficient and the optical bandgap energy were then calculated. Measurement of the polarized optical properties reveals a high transmissivity (>90%) and very low absorptivity (<4%) for BeZnO films in the visible and near infrared regions at different angles of incidence. From the angle dependence of the p-polarized reflectivity we deduced a Brewster angle of about 58.5°.     

Some topological states in one-dimensional cold atomic systems

Ultracold atoms trapped in optical lattices nowadays have been widely used to mimic various models from condensed-matter physics. Recently, many great experimental progresses have been achieved for producing artificial magnetic field and spin–orbit coupling in cold atomic systems, which turn these systems into a new platform for simulating topological states. In this paper, we give a review focusing on quantum simulation of topologically protected soliton modes and topological insulators in one-dimensional cold atomic system. Firstly, the recent achievements towards quantum simulation of one-dimensional models with topological non-trivial states are reviewed, including the celebrated Jackiw–Rebbi model and Su–Schrieffer–Heeger model. Then, we will introduce a dimensional reduction method for systematically constructing high dimensional topological states in lower dimensional models and review its applications on simulating two-dimensional topological insulators in one-dimensional optical superlattices.