The generation of tunable coherent radiation in the wavelength range 2300–3000 Å using lithium formate monohydride

The generation of continuously tunable UV radiation in the wavelength range 2300–3000 Å by frequency doubling the output of a nitrogen pumped dye laser is described. A lithium formate monohydride crystal 10 mm long yields a conversion efficiency of typically 2% at fundamental powers in excess of 50 kW and allows the generation of harmonic radiation at wavelengths 150 Å below those attainable using a refrigerated ammonium dihydrogen phosphate crystal.     

A study of high transverse momentum π0's at ISR energies

We present a study of the transverse momentum spectrum of π⁰'s produced at c.m. angles θ = 90° and 53° in pp collisions at √s = 23.6, 30.8, 45.1, 53.2, and 62.9 GeV. The experiment was performed with a lead-glass detector. The data can be described with the usual parametrization $\text{p}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>T</mtext>}}{}^{\mathrm{?n}}\text{?;(x}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>T</mtext>}}\text{, θ)}$, with n = 7.2 ± 0.2. Comparison between the 90° and 53° data further indicates no appreciable dependence on θ, at least for x_T < 0.3. Two-particle inclusive cross sections for π⁰'s produced alongside are also presented. They are observed to have a dependence upon the transverse momentum of the dipion similar to that of single-particle cross sections and with the same value of n. Two-photon decays of η mesons are observed between 3 and 4 GeV/c transverse momentum with a production cross section half of that of π⁰.     

Performance evaluation of a near infrared QEPAS based ethylene sensor

A sensor based on quartz-enhanced photoacoustic spectroscopy (QEPAS) was evaluated for the detection of trace levels of ethylene at atmospheric pressure using a fiber coupled DFB diode laser emitting in the 1.62 μm spectral range. A noise-equivalent QEPAS signal of ∼4 ppm C₂H₄ was achieved for a 0.7 s data acquisition time using wavelength-modulation with a second-harmonic detection scheme on the strongest C₂H₄ absorption peak at 6177.14 cm⁻¹ with an average optical power of ∼15 mW. Improved detection sensitivity of 0.5 and 0.3 ppm C₂H₄ (1σ) was demonstrated using longer averaging time of 70 and 700 s, respectively. Important characteristics for the QEPAS based sensor operation in real-world conditions are presented, particularly the influence of external temperature variations. Furthermore, the response time of the ethylene sensor was measured in different configurations and it is shown that the QEPAS technique can provide a response time in a few seconds range even without active gas flow.     

Chemical sensing with pulsed QC-DFB lasers operating at 15.6 micrometers

Pulsed thermoelectrically cooled QC-DFB lasers operating at 15.6 μm were characterized for spectroscopic gas sensing applications. A new method for wavelength scanning based on repetition rate modulation was developed. A non-wavelength-selective pyroelectric detector was incorporated in the sensor configuration giving the advantage of room-temperature operation and low cost. Absorption lines of CO₂ and H₂O were observed in ambient air, providing information about the concentration of these species. Received: 29 April 2002 / Published online: 21 August 2002 RID="*" ID="*"Corresponding author. Fax: +1-713/348-5686, E-mail: akoster@rice.edu     

13CO2/12CO2 isotopic ratio measurements using a difference frequency-based sensor operating at 4.35 micrometers

A portable modular gas sensor for measuring the ¹³C/¹²C isotopic ratio in CO₂ with a precision of 0.8‰(±1σ) was developed for volcanic gas emission studies. This sensor employed a difference frequency generation (DFG)-based spectroscopic source operating at 4.35 μm (∼2300 cm^-1) in combination with a dual-chamber gas absorption cell. Direct absorption spectroscopy using this specially designed cell permitted rapid comparisons of isotopic ratios of a gas sample and a reference standard for appropriately selected CO₂ absorption lines. Special attention was given to minimizing undesirable precision degrading effects, in particular temperature and pressure fluctuations. Received: 16 April 2002 / Revised version: 28 May 2002 / Published online: 21 August 2002 RID="*" ID="*"Corresponding author. Fax: +1-713/5245237, E-mail: fkt@rice.edu     

A measurement of the proton-proton cross section at the CERN ISR

We present a measurement of the total cross section σ_t in proton-proton collisions at the CERN ISR. The method involves determination of the total interaction rate and machine luminosity. A two-arm scintillation hodoscope observes ～ 90% of the total interaction rate, while a streamer chamber is employed for event topologies missed by the main trigger. An increase of about 10% in σ_t is observed in the energy range √s = 23.6 to √s = 62.8 GeV/c in agreement with previous experiments.     

Application of terahertz quantum-cascade lasers to semiconductor cyclotron resonance

Quantum-cascade lasers operating at 4.7, 3.5, and 2.3 THz have been used to achieve cyclotron resonance in InAs and InSb quantum wells from liquid-helium temperatures to room temperature. This represents one of the first spectroscopic applications of terahertz quantum-cascade lasers. Results show that these compact lasers are convenient and reliable sources with adequate power and stability for this type of far-infrared magneto-optical study of solids. Their compactness promises interesting future applications in solid-state spectroscopy.     

Mid-infrared trace-gas sensing with a quasi- continuous-wave Peltier-cooled distributed feedback quantum cascade laser

A recently developed distributed feedback quantum cascade laser (QCL) capable of thermoelectric-cooled (TEC) continuous-wave (cw) operation and emitting at 9 m is used to perform laser chemical sensing by tunable infrared spectroscopy. A quasi-continuous-wave mode of operation relying on long current pulses (5 Hz, 50% duty cycle) is utilized rather than pure cw operation in order to extend the continuous frequency tuning range of the quantum cascade laser. Sulfur dioxide and ammonia were selected as convenient target molecules to evaluate the performance of the cw TEC QCL based sensor. Direct absorption spectroscopy and wavelength-modulation spectroscopy were performed to demonstrate chemical sensing applications with this novel type of quantum cascade laser. For ammonia detection, a 18-ppm noise-equivalent sensitivity (1 ) was achieved for a 1-m absorption path length and a 25-ms data-acquisition time using direct absorption spectroscopy. The use of second-harmonic-detection wavelength-modulation spectroscopy instead of direct absorption increased the sensitivity by a factor of three, achieving a normalized noise-equivalent sensitivity of 82 ppbHz^-1/2 for a 1-m absorption path length, which corresponds to 2×10^-7 cm^-1Hz^-1/2. PACS 42.55.Px; 42.62.Fi; 07.88.+y     

Continuous wave optical parametric oscillator for quartz-enhanced photoacoustic trace gas sensing

A continuous wave optical parametric oscillator, generating up to 300 mW idler output in the 3–4 μm wavelength region, and pumped by a fiber-amplified DBR diode laser is used for trace gas detection by means of quartz-enhanced photoacoustic spectroscopy (QEPAS). Mode-hop-free tuning of the OPO output over 5.2 cm^-1 and continuous spectral coverage exceeding 16.5 cm^-1 were achieved via electronic pump source tuning alone. Online monitoring of the idler wavelength, with feedback to the DBR diode laser, provided an automated closed-loop control allowing arbitrary idler wavelength selection within the pump tuning range and locking of the idler wavelength with a stability of 1.7×10^-3 cm^-1 over at least 30 min. Using this approach, we locked the idler wavelength at an ethane absorption peak and obtained QEPAS data to verify the linear response of the QEPAS signal at different ethane concentrations (100 ppbv-20 ppmv) and different power levels. The detection limit for ethane was determined to be 13 ppbv (20 s averaging), corresponding to a normalized noise equivalent absorption coefficient of 4.4×10^-7 cm^-1  W/Hz^1/2. PACS 42.55.Wd; 42.65.Yj; 42.62.Fi     

Quantum cryptography using entangled photons in energy-time bell states

We present a setup for quantum cryptography based on photon pairs in energy-time Bell states and show its feasibility in a laboratory experiment. Our scheme combines the advantages of using photon pairs instead of faint laser pulses and the possibility to preserve energy-time entanglement over long distances. Moreover, using four-dimensional energy-time states, no fast random change of bases is required in our setup: Nature itself decides whether to measure in the energy or in the time base, thus rendering eavesdropper attacks based on "photon number splitting" less efficient.