Linear and nonlinear optical properties of CdSexS1−x microcrystallites

Microcrystals of CdSe_xS_1−x (x≈0.6) with nanometer dimensions have been investigated experimentally by a range of optical techniques. This system of ‘quantum dot’ consists of nanometer sized semiconductor particles embedded within an insulating glass matrix. The existence of microscopic CdSeS crystals within the glass matrix is demonstrated by the observation of Raman scattering from the ‘CdSe-like’ and ‘CdS-like’ LO phonons. The nature of the electronic states within these three dimensionally confined systems is investigated by linear absorption and photoluminescence spectroscopy. The photoluminescence spectra show features which are attributed to direct electron-hole recombination and recombination via states within the ‘blue shifted’ energy gap (which are possibly surface related). Carrier relaxation is also investigated by a pump-probe experiment whereby the absorption is partially bleached by a short pump pulse then probed some variable time later by a delayed probe pulse of much lower intensity. Fast and slow components in the carrier relaxation process are identified, and a relationship is suggested between the carrier relaxation and the features observed in the photoluminescence spectra. The well known ‘photodarkening’ properties of such materials are also investigated by the above techniques.     

Characteristics pathlength Fresnel number equations and ideal lens wavefront Kirchhoff formulation: analysis of focused spherical wave diffraction fields

Derivation and applications of the characteristics optical pathlength Fresnel number equation for spherical waves focused by an ‘ideal’ circular lens illustrate the wealth of information which is quickly available from its use. A Kirchhoff wavefront diffraction formulation of this problem is developed and used to aid in this analysis. New characteristics about the diffraction field are revealed.     

An unusual phenomenon observed when anodising CP titanium to produce coloured surfaces for jewellery and other decorative uses

The unpredictability of the evenness of colour developed on titanium surfaces for use in jewellery has led to a research project at Central Saint Martin's College of Art and Design (CSM) to investigate the detailed structure of the thin oxide films that produce the interference colours.In the course of some initial investigations an unusual phenomenon was observed when a specific material was anodised. Examination of the anodised surface by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) showed a profusion of flower-like ‘oxide growths’ developed in random orientations from about 30 V with increasing density up to 110 V.In honour of the late Professor Harvey Flower these features are currently referred to as ‘Flower oxides’ or ‘flowers’.Further work is continuing to clarify the nature of these growth features and their structure and composition.     

Optimization of type-II frequency doubling of spatial and temporal limited laser light in nonlinear crystals

Type-II frequency doubling of short Gaussian laser pulses is studied theoretically. The situation is analysed when the group velocity mismatch and the walk-off angle of the interacting waves limit the frequency conversion efficiency. It is shown that with collinear ‘o’ and ‘e’ polarized fundamental waves a temporal and spatial separation of the fundamental beams is necessary to compensate for both effects. Results of the presented model are discussed for KDP crystals.     

New Developments in the Eight Vertex Model II. Chains of Odd Length

We study the transfer matrix of the 8 vertex model with an odd number of lattice sites N. For systems at the root of unity pointsη=mK/L with m odd the transfer matrix is known to satisfy the famous ‘‘TQ’’ equation where Q(υ) is a specifically known matrix. We demonstrate that the location of the zeroes of this Q(υ) matrix is qualitatively different from the case of evenN and in particular they satisfy a previously unknown equation which is more general than what is often called ‘‘Bethe’s equation.’’ For the case of even m where no Q(υ) matrix is known we demonstrate that there are many states which are not obtained from the formalism of the SOS model but which do satisfy the TQ equation. The ground state for the particular case of η=2K/3 and N odd is investigated in detail.     

Colour, design and virtual reality at JET

Joint European torus (JET) is the world's largest nuclear fusion research facility investigating the use of nuclear fusion, the process that powers the stars, as a source of clean, limitless electrical energy.The JET machine undergoes an on-going program of upgrades and modifications facilitating a broad scientific program of experimentation. Maintenance of the JET machine is carried out remotely using telemanipulators mounted on a robotic Boom, employing a ‘man in the loop’ approach. The system relies on the use of real time 3D computer graphic models in a ‘virtual reality’ environment for preparation and support of remote-handling operations. Colour is used in this virtual environment to emphasise robots from the vessel environment and to highlight materials, components and systems requiring special care.     

Missing data in image and signal processing: The case of binary objects

I investigated which portions of the Fourier transform of binary signals, images and three-dimensional objects are necessary to correctly identify an object in the presence of noise. This is practically possible for very small binary data sets since the total number of possible objects is then very limited. There are for example 512 different binary images with 9 pixels. It is easy to see that this number soon becomes impractically large for bigger images or if one allows more than two possible pixel values. It turns out that even in the presence of large amounts of noise a relatively small portion of the Fourier transform is essential for deciding which of all possible binary objects the Fourier transform belongs to. These ‘decision experiments’ can be used as a standard for how well algorithms for retrieval of missing Fourier components perform. In another set of computer experiments I investigate the possibility of retrieving various missing Fourier components algorithmically. The main finding of this second set of computer experiments is that the simple retrieval algorithm (a limited form of ‘projection onto convex sets’) used falls very much short of what one might expect from the ‘decision experiments’.I conclude with a discussion what this discrepancy might be due to and some suggestions how to improve the performance of retrieval algorithms for binary objects.     

CO2 laser treatment system of tinea pedis

The CO₂ laser treatment system ‘Melase 1000’ has been developed for the treatment of Tinea pedis and the efficacy of the treatment using the system and its optimum irradiation condition are studied. The present system enables us to make the healing time of Tinea pedis treatment far shorter than conventional pharmaceuticals. This is in spite of using heat levels low enough for patients not to feel discomfort. Features offered by the system are a safe-and-easy operation and a stable laser power for a prolonged use. The efficacy of the present therapy is excellent; only two treatments a week for three weeks, i.e. six consecutive treatments, attained an improvement rate of 71.8% in the skin findings and a ‘usefulness’ of 66.2% determined from cases rated as ‘useful’ or ‘better’. The optimum laser irradiation condition for a single treatment found in this experiment is a light fluence of about 3 J/cm² and four laser pulses with a time interval between pulses of 1 s for a typical horny layer thinner than 0.5 mm.     

Coupling of one-dimensionally confined optical modes in porous silicon: Spectral observation and photonic-quantum-well description

Single and double photonic-quantum-wells (PQWs) have been fabricated, using refractive-index-modulated porous silicon multilayer structures. The one-dimensionally confined optical modes observed are consistent with those calculated using the transfer matrix method. While single PQWs exhibit atom-like discrete spectral features, molecule-like energy level splitting is accessible by combining two single PQWs into a double PQW structure. Similar to an electron in a double-quantum-well structure, the energy separation between the split ‘anti-bonding’ and ‘bonding’ photonic states can be ‘tuned’ by changing the strength of inter-well coupling.     

The probable fate of the Standard Model

Extrapolating the Standard Model to high scales using the renormalisation group, three possibilities arise, depending on the mass of the Higgs boson: if the Higgs mass is large enough the Higgs self-coupling may blow up, entailing some new non-perturbative dynamics; if the Higgs mass is small the effective potential of the Standard Model may reveal an instability; or the Standard Model may survive all the way to the Planck scale for an intermediate range of Higgs masses. This latter case does not necessarily require stability at all times, but includes the possibility of a metastable vacuum which has not yet decayed. We evaluate the relative likelihoods of these possibilities, on the basis of a global fit to the Standard Model made using the Gfitter package. This uses the information about the Higgs mass available directly from Higgs searches at LEP and now the Tevatron, and indirectly from precision electroweak data. We find that the ‘blow-up’ scenario is disfavoured at the 99% confidence level (96% without the Tevatron exclusion), whereas the ‘survival’ and possible ‘metastable’ scenarios remain plausible. A future measurement of the mass of the Higgs boson could reveal the fate of the Standard Model.     

A spatial filtering technique for improved holographic character recognition

Conventional holographic pattern recognition systems suffer from the disadvantage that, in dealing with highly ordered patterns such as Arabic numerals or the letters of the Roman alphabet it is sometimes impossible to distinguish between patterns with a high degree of similarity (eg the capital letters ‘E’ and ‘F’ or ‘B’ and ‘P’).The present paper analyzes a simple case and shows how the insertion of a suitable spatial filter in the Fourier transform plane can reduce the unwanted cross-correlation signal between dissimilar patterns to zero, without removing the desired auto-correlation signal between similar patterns. Although no attempt is made to generalize the analysis, it seems probable that in cases involving the recognition of a small number of patterns with a strong ‘family resemblance’ a compromise filtering arrangement could be developed which would lead to a substantially improved performance.     

Proximity effect, Andreev reflections, and charge transport in mesoscopic superconducting/semiconducting heterostructures

In the quasi-two-dimensional (Q2D) electron gas of an InAs channel between an AlSb substrate and superconducting niobium layers, the proximity effect induces a pair potential so that a Q2D mesoscopic superconducting/normal/superconducting (SNS) junction forms in the channel. The pair potential is calculated with quasiclassical Green’s functions in the clean limit. For such a junction, alternating Josephson currents and current–voltage characteristics (CVCs) are computed, using the nonequilibrium quasiparticle wavefunctions which solve the time-dependent Bogoliubov–de Gennes equations. The CVCs exhibit features found experimentally by the Kroemer group: a steep rise of the current at small voltages (‘foot’) changes at a ‘corner current’ to a much slower increase of current with higher voltages, and the zero-bias differential resistance increases with temperature. Phase-coherent multiple Andreev reflections and the associated Cooper pair transfers are the physical mechanisms responsible for the oscillating Josephson currents and the CVCs. Additional experimental findings not reproduced by the theory require model improvements, especially a consideration of the external current leads which should give rise to hybrid quasiparticle/collective-mode excitations.     

Polarization and spatial-mode behavior of short-wavelength VCSELs

We have investigated the packaging introduced feedback and resulting variations in the characteristics of Vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs). An integrated test and characterization method was developed for both the packaged and bare dies as well as on-wafers chips. Using an ‘integrated test bench (ITB)’ for characterization, packaged and ‘un-packaged’ VCSELs from multiple sources were studied. ITB was used to monitor and measure simultaneously several beam-parameters under various bias conditions including both dc and high-speed pulsed pumping at room-temperature, or at higher-/lower-temperatures that are thermo-electrically controlled. Typical beam parameters included state of polarization (SOP), transverse (spatial) modes, wavelength spectra, and output power. A common observation was that majority of devices are affected by the presence of optical windows capping the package. A shift in longitudinal mode was noticeable in packaged versus ‘un-packaged’ (window-removed) devices. But, SOP and transverse modes in various devices are affected severely and in an unpredictable fashion.     

Modelling resonances of the standing body exposed to vertical whole-body vibration: Effects of posture

Lumped parameter mathematical models representing anatomical parts of the human body have been developed to represent body motions associated with resonances of the vertical apparent mass and the fore-and-aft cross-axis apparent mass of the human body standing in five different postures: ‘upright’, ‘lordotic’, ‘anterior lean’, ‘knees bent’, and ‘knees more bent’. The inertial and geometric parameters of the models were determined from published anthropometric data. Stiffness and damping parameters were obtained by comparing model responses with experimental data obtained previously.The principal resonance of the vertical apparent mass, and the first peak in the fore-and-aft cross-axis apparent mass, of the standing body in an upright posture (at 5–6 Hz) corresponded to vertical motion of the viscera in phase with the vertical motion of the entire body due to deformation of the tissues at the soles of the feet, with pitch motion of the pelvis out of phase with pitch motion of the upper body above the pelvis. Upward motion of the body was in phase with the forward pitch motion of the pelvis. Changing the posture of the upper body had minor effects on the mode associated with the principal resonances of the apparent mass and cross-axis apparent mass, but the mode changed significantly with bending of the legs. In legs-bent postures, the principal resonance (at about 3 Hz) was attributed to bending of the legs coupled with pitch motion of the pelvis in phase with pitch motion of the upper body. In this mode, extension of the legs was in phase with the forward pitch motion of the upper body and the upward vertical motion of the viscera.     

Critical ray-like propagation modes along graded-index planar optical waveguides

Graded-index planar optical waveguides and surface compression layers were formed simultaneously in the surface layer of glass plates by ion exchange. A change in the refractometer patterns was observed. Before ion exchange, only a critical ray fringe was observed, but with ion exchange a guided wave fringe appeared on the high effective refractive index side of the ‘critical ray’ fringe, and the number of guided wave fringes increased. The guided wave fringe or fringes were birefringent, whereas the ‘critical ray’ fringe was kept nonbirefringent. It was concluded that the ‘critical ray’ propagated along the bottom of a waveguide, ie at the foot of the refractive index distribution.     

On the environmental decoherence and spin interference in mesoscopic loop structures

Mechanisms of ‘environmental decoherence’ such as surface scattering, Elliot–Yafet process and precession mechanisms, as well as their influence on the spin phase relaxation are considered and compared. It is shown that the ‘spin ballistic’ regime is possible, when the phase relaxation length for the spin part of the wave function (L^(s)) is much greater than the phase relaxation length for the ‘orbital part’ (L^(e)). In the presence of an additional magnetic field, the spin part of the electron's wave function (WF) acquires a phase shift due to additional spin precession about that field. If the structure length L is chosen to be L^(s)>L>L^(e), it is possible to ‘wash out’ the quantum interference related to the phase coherence of the ‘orbital part’ of the WF, retaining at the same time that related to the phase coherence of the spin part and, hence, to reveal corresponding conductance oscillations.     

Observations and modeling of lightning leaders

The development of atmospheric lightning is initiated by a ‘leader’ phase during which ionized channels appear in virgin air. The use of rapid cameras, the measure of fields and currents associated with the discharge allow one to compare the propagation of laboratory leaders with those of natural or artificially triggered lightning. The corresponding physical processes can be analyzed with the help of models developed for laboratory leaders provided that the non linear effects due to the intense current circulation leading to lightning leader thermalization are taken into account. A self-coherent simulation of triggered lightning leaders for both polarities is presented is this paper. Furthermore, these models make it possible to define the ‘stabilization field’ concept, equal to the minimum ambient field allowing the stable progress of a leader from a ground structure, expressed as a height and curvature function of this structure. This concept can be validated through triggered lightning tests. Finally, the stabilization field analysis is completed by a simplified analytical model based upon an electrostatic approach of propagation equilibrium. To cite this article: P. Lalande et al., C. R. Physique 3 (2002) 1375–1392.     

Red in Estonian popular belief and folk costume

A visit by one of the authors to Estonia, and the discovery that the term ‘red’ was used locally for the colour ‘orange’, led to a detailed study of the colour red in Estonian belief and culture. The study is reported here, together with an interpretation of the red/orange substitution based on Berlin and Kay's model of colour term development in language.     

Large and anisotropic third-order nonlinear optical response from anisotropy-controlled metallic nanocomposites

High-energy metallic ions were implanted in silica matrices, obtaining spherical-like metallic nanoparticles (NPs) after a proper thermal treatment. These NPs were then deformed by irradiation with Si ions, obtaining an anisotropic metallic nanocomposite, for which its third-order nonlinear optical response was measured using a self-diffraction technique at 532 nm with 26 ps pulses. By adjusting the incident light’s polarization and the angular position of the nanocomposite, the measurements were related to the three linear independent components of its third-order susceptibility tensor, finding a large, but anisotropic, response of around 10⁻⁷ esu with respect to other isotropic metallic systems, and establishing a relationship between these components.