Coherent heterodyne-assisted pulsed spectroscopy: sub-Doppler two-photon spectra of krypton, characterizing a tunable nonlinear-optical ultraviolet light source

A chirp-minimized, nanosecond-pulsed system has been developed to generate tunable coherent ultraviolet light at ∼212.5 nm by fourth-harmonic conversion of output from an amplified, injection-seeded optical parametric oscillator (OPO). Our CHAPS (coherent heterodyne-assisted pulsed spectroscopy) method is used to characterize the frequency stability and optical bandwidth of the system’s output radiation by recording sub-Doppler two-photon excitation spectra of krypton. In our new scanned-reference variant of CHAPS, the central frequency for each amplified OPO pulse is logged by the optical-heterodyne chirp-analysis software, with the frequency of the seed laser slowly tuned and monitored by a high-resolution wavemeter, unlike our previous implementation of CHAPS where the seed-laser frequency was fixed. For the amplified, up-converted pulses at ∼212.5 nm, our CHAPS measurements indicate an optical bandwidth of ∼100 MHz, consistent with the Fourier-transform limit of their duration (∼4.5 ns).     

Effect of Head Size in Head‐Tail‐Type Polycations on their in vitro Performances as Nonviral Gene Vectors

Three kinds of head‐tail‐type block copolymers composed of polyamidoamine (PAMAM) dendron heads and poly(L ‐lysine) (PLL) tail blocks (PAMAM dendron‐PLL), having PAMAM dendrons with different generations (G2.5‐PLL, G3.5‐PLL and G4.5‐PLL) were synthesized. Some of the dendron heads were located at polyplex surface, and G2.5‐PLL and G3.5‐PLL could form small polyplexes (less than 150 nm in size). G2.5‐PLL and G3.5‐PLL polyplexes were taken up into the cells more effectively. PAMAM dendron‐PLL that had a larger dendron head could show a more‐effective buffering effect. The in vitro performance of the PAMAM dendron‐PLL polyplexes was controlled by the balance of cellular uptake and endosomal escape by a buffering effect.

     

Rhodopsin deactivation is affected by mutations of Tyrl91

The 9-methyl group of 11-cis retinal is important in the efficient formation of the active conformation of rhodopsin, Meta II. Here, Tyrl91 rhodopsin mutants were generated because of its proximity to that methyl group in the dark structure. If photoactivation results in movement of the 9-methyl group toward Tyrl91, the steric interactions involved with activation and/or deactivation might not be as tightly coupled in mutant proteins with smaller amino acids at that position. Tyrl91 mutations have no effect on the dark pigment. However, after photobleaching, the lifetime of Meta II is shorter; Meta II decays quickly into two inactive species: (1) a Meta III or Meta III-like species and (2) opsin and free retinal. The Meta III-like fraction maintains the covalent Schiff base linkage of the chromophore much longer than the wild type. On the other hand, the fast chromophore release is similar to cone pigments. Taken together, the data suggest that the role of the 9-methyl group after photo-isomerization is not only to form Meta II efficiently, but also to maintain its active conformation and allow for the timely hydrolysis of the Schiff base. Perturbation of this interaction effects changes in the hydrolysis of the Schiff base and for the case of the Y191A mutation the folded structure of the protein after photobleaching.     

On the cohomology of free and twisted loop spaces

A natural extension of the cohomology suspension to a free loop space is constructed from the evaluation map and is shown to have good properties in cohomology calculation. This map is generalized to a twisted loop space which is a space of paths twisted by a given self-map of the underlying space. As an application, the cohomology of free and twisted loop spaces of classifying spaces of compact Lie groups, including some finite Chevalley groups, is calculated.     

Solvent extraction-spectrophotometric determination of rare earths with chlorophosphonazo-III

The rare-earth chlorophosphonazo III chelates are easily extracted from an aqueous solution (pH 1.1-1.5) into n-butanol. The absorbance at the absorption maximum (at 668 nm) is about 3 times that in aqueous solution. The spectrophotometric determination of rare earths has been investigated.     

Amphiphilic copolymers with increased affinity for substrates

The copolymers of methyl quaternized 2-dimethylaminoethyl acrylate and styrene, 2-vinyl naphthalene, acrylic acid iso-octyl ester, or acrylic acid n-butyl ester have been prepared. Studies were made of the binding of a “binding probe,” methyl orange, by the copolymers in aqueous solution. The first binding constants and the thermodynamic parameters in the course of the binding were evaluated. Furthermore, the intensity of fluorescence of a hydrophobic fluorescent probe, 2-p-toluidinylnaphthalene-6-sulfonate, in the presence of these polymers was investigated. In addition, the fluorescence spectra of monomer and excimer emissions of the polymers with aromatic residues were measured. The excimer/monomer fluorescence intensity ratio was studied in the presence of various additives such as methyl orange, urea, methanol, and NaCl to gain an insight into the nature of microdomains in the polymer. The nature and phenomena of dye binding and hydrophobic fluorescent probe binding with the polymers are discussed. © 1993 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Ultrafast quenching of ferromagnetism in InMnAs induced by intense laser irradiation

Time-resolved magneto-optical Kerr spectroscopy of ferromagnetic InMnAs reveals two distinct demagnetization processes--fast (<1 ps) and slow (approximately 100 ps). Both components diminish with increasing temperature and are absent above the Curie temperature. The fast component rapidly grows with pump power and saturates at high fluences (>10 mJ/cm(2)); the saturation value indicates a complete quenching of ferromagnetism on a subpicosecond time scale. We attribute this fast dynamics to spin heating through p-d exchange interaction between photocarriers and Mn ions, while the approximately 100 ps component is interpreted as spin-lattice relaxation.     

Ultrafast electroabsorption at the transition between classical and quantum response

We report the first observation of unusually large induced absorption in semiconductors strongly driven by intense ultrashort midinfrared laser fields. This ultrafast electroabsorption has the largest extent below the band edge ( approximately 1 eV) ever observed, to our knowledge, which we interpret as being a manifestation of the dynamical Franz-Keldysh effect. The electroabsorption is observable when the ponderomotive potential is comparable to the photon energy of the applied field, i.e., when the applied field is at the transition between the classical and quantum regimes.     

X-ray photoemission of valence electrons in cuprous halides,and lead and cadmium iodides.

The XPS spectra of valence bands in CuCl, CuBr, and CuI show the existence of two separate bands after appropriate deconvolution. The evaluation of the average p-d mixing rates on the basis of the tight-binding approximation with a few simplifying assumptions indicates, in accordance with optical data, that the upper valence band arises mainly from the 3d state of copper. The XPS spectra coincide qualitatively but not quantitatively with the spectra obtained by excitation with monochromatized synchrotron radiation at 40, 61, and 76 eV. A major difference is that the ratio of integrated intensity of the upper band to that of the lower band is larger in the case of excitation at 40, 61, or 76 eV. The XPS spectra of PbI₂ and CdI₂ have also been measured. In both materials, the valence band spectra have composite structures and give two well-defined peaks after deconvolution. The profile of the spectrum of PbI₂ appears to have some deviation from the reported energy band structure.