Auditory steady-state responses to chirp stimuli based on cochlear traveling wave delay

This study investigates the use of chirp stimuli to compensate for the cochlear traveling wave delay. The temporal dispersion in the cochlea is given by the traveling time, which in this study is estimated from latency-frequency functions obtained from (1) a cochlear model, (2) tone-burst auditory brain stem response (ABR) latencies, (3) and narrow-band ABR latencies. These latency-frequency functions are assumed to reflect the group delay of a linear system that modifies the phase spectrum of the applied stimulus. On the basis of this assumption, three chirps are constructed and evaluated in 49 normal-hearing subjects. The auditory steady-state responses to these chirps and to a click stimulus are compared at two levels of stimulation (30 and 50 dB nHL) and a rate of 90s. The chirps give shorter detection time and higher signal-to-noise ratio than the click. The shorter detection time obtained by the chirps is equivalent to an increase in stimulus level of 20 dB or more. The results indicate that a chirp is a more efficient stimulus than a click for the recording of early auditory evoked responses in normal-hearing adults using transient sounds at a high rate of stimulation.     

光子晶体光纤中高阶非线性效应所致啁啾的研究

利用广义非线性薛定谔方程，分别数值计算了光子晶体光纤(Photonic Crystal Fiber, PCF)中的受激拉曼散射(Stimulated Raman Scattering，SRS)所致啁啾、自陡(Self-steepening，SS)所致啁啾及综合各种效应所得的总啁啾.计算结果表明：SRS啁啾的中心漂移而且正、负啁啾不对称；SS啁啾主要集中在脉冲的后沿；各种非线性总啁啾增大.由此得出，SRS引起频谱的红移与不对称，而SS则对频谱的不对称展宽贡献最大，各种非线性总的作用结果将产生不对称的红移的超 关键词： 啁啾 超连续谱 受激拉曼散射 自陡     

Propagation characteristics of parallel dark solitons in silicon-on-insulator waveguide

The propagation characteristic of two identical and parallel dark solitons in a silicon-on-insulator(SOI) waveguide is simulated numerically using the split-step Fourier method. The parallel dark solitons imposed by the initial chirp are investigated mainly by changing their power, their relative time delay. The simulation shows that the time delay deforms the parallel dark soliton pulse, forming a bright-like soliton in the transmission process and making the transmission quality down. By increasing the power of one dark soliton, the energy of the other dark soliton can be increased, and larger increase in a soliton's power leads to larger increase in the energy of the other. When the initial chirp is introduced into one of the dark solitons, higher energy consumption is observed. In particular, positive chirps resulting in pulse broadening width while negative chirps narrowing, with an obvious compression effect on the other dark soliton. Finally, large negative chirps are found to have a profound impact on parallel and nonparallel dark solitons.     

Auditory brainstem responses with optimized chirp signals compensating basilar-membrane dispersion

This study examines auditory brainstem responses (ABR) elicited by rising frequency chirps. The time course of frequency change for the chirp theoretically produces simultaneous displacement maxima by compensating for travel-time differences along the cochlear partition. This broadband chirp was derived on the basis of a linear cochlea model [de Boer, "Auditory physics. Physical principles in hearing theory I," Phys. Rep. 62, 87-174 (1980)]. Responses elicited by the broadband chirp show a larger wave-V amplitude than do click-evoked responses for most stimulation levels tested. This result is in contrast to the general hypothesis that the ABR is an electrophysiological event most effectively evoked by the onset or offset of an acoustic stimulus, and unaffected by further stimulation. The use of this rising frequency chirp enables the inclusion of activity from lower frequency regions, whereas with a click, synchrony is decreased in accordance with decreasing traveling velocity in the apical region. The use of a temporally reversed (falling) chirp leads to a further decrease in synchrony as reflected in ABR responses that are smaller than those from a click. These results are compatible with earlier experimental results from recordings of compound action potentials (CAP) [Shore and Nuttall, "High synchrony compound action potentials evoked by rising frequency-swept tonebursts," J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 78, 1286-1295 (1985)] reflecting activity at the level of the auditory nerve. Since the ABR components considered here presumably reflect neural response from the brainstem, the effect of an optimized synchronization at the peripheral level can also be observed at the brainstem level. The rising chirp may therefore be of clinical use in assessing the integrity of the entire peripheral organ and not just its basal end.     

Relative phase measurement of a stark wave packet in the vicinity of the saddle point

A gas of Rb atoms in a static electric field has been photoexcited to just above the classical ionization threshold by a phase-locked sequence of two far infrared pulses. A single laser pulse generates a series of ejected electron packets emerging at the saddle point of the potential; each of the ejected packets is characterized by a phase and a chirp. We calculate and measure these phases and chirps using the time dependent interference of the electronic wave function controlled by the delay between the two light pulses.     

The importance of cochlear processing for the formation of auditory brainstem and frequency following responses

A model for the generation of auditory brainstem responses (ABR) and frequency following responses (FFRs) is presented. The model is based on the concept introduced by Goldstein and Kiang [J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 30, 107-114 (1958)] that evoked potentials recorded at remote electrodes can theoretically be given by convolution of an elementary unit waveform (unitary response) with the instantaneous discharge rate function for the corresponding unit. In the present study, the nonlinear computational auditory-nerve model recently developed by Heinz et al. [ARLO 2(3), 91-96 (2001)] was used to calculate the instantaneous discharge rate ri(t) for fibers i in the frequency range from 0.1 and 10 kHz. The summed activity across frequency was convolved with a unitary response which is assumed to reflect contributions from different cell populations within the auditory brainstem, recorded at a given pair of electrodes on the scalp. Predicted potential patterns are compared with experimental data for a number of stimulus and level conditions. Clicks, chirps as defined in Dau et al. [J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 107, 1530-1540 (2000)], long-duration stimuli comprising the chirp, as well as tones and slowly varying tonal sweeps were considered. The results demonstrate the importance of considering the effects of the basilar-membrane traveling wave and auditory-nerve processing for the formation of ABR and FFR. Specifically, the results support the hypothesis that the FFR to low-frequency tones represents synchronized activity mainly stemming from mid- and high-frequency units at more basal sites, and not from units tuned to frequencies around the signal frequency.     

Click- and chirp-evoked human compound action potentials

In the experiments reported here, the amplitude and the latency of human compound action potentials (CAPs) evoked from a chirp stimulus are compared to those evoked from a traditional click stimulus. The chirp stimulus was created with a frequency sweep to compensate for basilar membrane traveling wave delay using the O-Chirp equations from Fobel and Dau [(2004). J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 116, 2213-2222] derived from otoacoustic emission data. Human cochlear traveling wave delay estimates were obtained from derived compound band action potentials provided by Eggermont [(1979). J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 65, 463-470]. CAPs were recorded from an electrode placed on the tympanic membrane (TM), and the acoustic signals were monitored with a probe tube microphone attached to the TM electrode. Results showed that the amplitude and latency of chirp-evoked N1 of the CAP differed from click-evoked CAPs in several regards. For the chirp-evoked CAP, the N1 amplitude was significantly larger than the click-evoked N1s. The latency-intensity function was significantly shallower for chirp-evoked CAPs as compared to click-evoked CAPs. This suggests that auditory nerve fibers respond with more unison to a chirp stimulus than to a click stimulus.     

Auditory brainstem responses to chirps delivered by an insert earphone with equalized frequency response

Recently it has been demonstrated that auditory brainstem responses, ABRs, to chirps are larger with the ER-2 than with the ER-3A insert earphone due to differences between the corresponding amplitude-frequency responses. Therefore a modified chirp, which equalizes the amplitude-frequency response of the ER-3A, is constructed and subsequently compared to the unmodified chirp. ABRs are recorded from 20 normal-hearing subjects in response to the two chirps delivered by the ER-3A earphone at a wide range of levels. The results confirm that the modified chirp generates significantly larger ABRs than the unmodified chirp at levels below 60?dB nHL.     

基于SFRL的FWM型可调谐波长转换器啁啾特性分析

基于半导体光纤环形腔激光器的四波混频型可调谐全光波长转换器的宽带理论模型,从理论上研究了输入信号光功率、注入电流、两个耦合器的耦合比、激射光波长和半导体光放大器有源区长度对转换光频率啁啾的影响.结果表明:转换光的频率啁啾随着输入信号光峰值功率、注入电流以及SOA有源区长度的增大而增大,随两个耦合器耦合比的增大而减小.     

初始啁啾对脉冲频谱演变的影响

本文从理论上分析了色散和非线性对脉冲频谱的影响 ,采用数值方法求解了非线性薛定谔方程的频域解。模拟了初始啁啾对不同形状脉冲频谱的作用。研究结果表明 :初始啁啾对频谱的影响随脉冲形状而变化。对高斯型脉冲 ,正的初始啁啾导致频谱严重展宽 ,负初始啁啾对频谱影响较小。超高斯型脉冲的频谱出现了旁瓣 ,这会引起能量的损失 ;而初始啁啾对其频谱的影响并不大。孤子型脉冲的频谱受初始啁啾的影响较大 ,尤其是高阶孤子。因此 ,为了保证脉冲稳定传输 ,必须消除初始啁啾。     

五阶非线性光纤中连续谱相位扰动下的光传输与脉冲串产生

根据包含五阶非线性的扩展非线性薛定谔方程,数值研究了高斯型连续谱相位扰动而不是传统单色扰动下基于调制不稳定性的高重复率脉冲串产生.结果表明:脉冲串也能像传统情形那样形成,但却呈现出不同的特性.如脉冲数目有限,且各脉冲的高度、强度及间距不等.脉冲数目随传输距离增加而增加.而五阶非线性能使脉冲宽度和间距变小因而有利于高重复率脉冲串产生,负五阶非线性则相反.对脉冲串形成过程中演变啁啾的数值计算表明,啁啾及其随距离的变化都是高度非单调的,五阶非线性将改变啁啾的范围和量值.     

色散平坦渐减光纤中非线性啁啾脉冲的传输及超连续谱的产生

基于非线性薛定谔方程,数值研究了色散平坦渐减光纤中非线性啁啾脉冲的传输及超连续谱的产生。研究结果表明,初始啁啾对脉冲传输及超连续谱产生的影响与泵浦条件和光纤参量的选取有很大关系。当色散平坦渐减光纤具有小的归一化二次色散系数时,适当的正啁啾能显著增强超连续谱的带宽,而负啁啾和太大的正啁啾抑制超连续谱的带宽。能增强超连续谱带宽的正啁啾有一个较宽的范围,但随着输入脉冲孤子阶数的降低,该范围将变窄。当色散平坦渐减光纤具有大的归一化二次色散系数同时输入脉冲为低阶孤子时,初始啁啾对超连续谱带宽的增强效果不明显,初始啁啾接近为0时可产生最宽的超连续谱。     

Invariants of the dynamics of molecular vibrational wave packets in phase modulation

An exact analytic solution was obtained for the correlation function of the motion of a phase-modulated Gauss wave packet in an anharmonic potential. The solution is expressed through the theta-function with the parameters depending on both the potential and phase modulation of the initial wave packet. Changes in both linear and quadratic chirps result in an invariant correlation function time shift in a weakly anharmonic potential with the conservation of all the total and fractional revivals. At a strong potential anharmonicity, translational invariance with respect to a quadratic chirp is preserved in certain instances, whereas the dynamics of packets experiences qualitative changes depending on linear phase modulation. This approach can be used to qualitatively analyze intramolecular dynamics if the potential energy surface is not known exactly, which is especially useful for quantum control of large molecules, in particular, photochromes.     

三五阶非线性下啁啾超高斯脉冲的啁啾和频谱

利用三五阶非线性效应下的扩展非线性薛定谔方程,在忽略光纤色散的情况下,计算模拟了以二阶情形为例的啁啾超高斯光脉冲的啁啾和频谱。结果表明,脉冲无预啁啾时,正五阶非线性增大啁啾量,负五阶非线性在减小啁啾量的同时还改变啁啾曲线的形状。当预啁啾与五阶非线性系数同(异)号时,总啁啾增加(减小)。随着超高斯脉冲阶次的增大,总啁啾量增大,脉冲中心附近无啁啾的范围变宽,整个有啁啾的范围变小,总啁啾中预啁啾所占比重增大。脉冲无预啁啾时,正负五阶非线性分别可以增大和减小频谱展宽。预啁啾若增强非线性所致啁啾,则可能使频谱峰值结构加强,谱峰数目增多。当超高斯光脉冲的阶次或最大非线性相移增大时,在某些宽大的频谱峰上还可能出现许多精细谱峰。     

Experimental evaluation of a non-linear coded excitation method for contrast imaging

Previously, we have shown that for a single bubble, using chirps as the excitation signal improves both the linear and the non-linear response. Computer simulations of randomly distributed contrast agent bubbles show an increase of 10-13 dB in response when comparing pulse excitations with chirp excitations that have equal bandwidths and peak amplitudes. Second harmonic compression of simulated bubble echoes with chirp excitation shows low side-lobe levels and limited loss of axial resolution when compared to pulse excitation. Experimental results from water tank measurements with SonoVue contrast agent are in agreement with computer simulations showing increased signal-to-noise ratio and an increase of approximately 12 dB at the second harmonic when comparing pulse and chirp excitation.     

Variable-time-delay optical coherent transient signal processing

A technique is proposed and experimentally demonstrated that achieves simultaneous optical pattern waveform storage and programmable time delay for continuous real-time signal processing by use of optical coherent transient technology. We achieve variable-time-delay and broadband signal processing by frequency shifting of two chirped programming pulses, the chirp rate of one being twice that of the other, without using brief reference pulses and without changing the timing of the programming sequence. We demonstrate the technique experimentally in Tm(3+): YAG at 5 K for 40-MHz chirps by performing temporal signal convolution with true-time delays that vary over a 250-ns range.     

Flexible chirp control using the linearly inherent chirped phase mask with the equivalent chirp design

The design of fiber Bragg grating to achieve different chirp amount in the selective transmission channel is presented. The method depends on the combination effect of introduced equivalent chirp with the linearly inherent chirp provided by the phase mask. Since these two chirps can be incorporated, or be counteracted, the different chirp amount can be easily obtained.     

Improving the intensity and efficiency of compressed echo in rare-earth-ion-doped crystal

We investigate the intensity and efficiency of a compressed echo, which is important in arbitrary waveform generation(AWG). A new model of compressed echo is proposed based on the optical Bloch equations, which exposes much more detailed parameters than the conventional model, such as the time delay of the chirp lasers, the nature of the rare-earth-iondoped crystal, etc. According to the novel model of compressed echo, we find that reducing the time delay of the chirp lasers and scanning the lasers around the center frequency of the inhomogeneously broadened spectrum, while utilizing a crystal with larger coherence time and excitation lifetime can improve the compressed echo's intensity and efficiency. The theoretical analysis is validated by numerical simulations.