Numerical Study on Population Inversion and Lasing Conditions in an Optically Thick Recombining Helium Plasma

Lasing conditions for He I in a cold recombining helium plasma are numerically discussed including optical thicknesses. A collisional radiative model is used to calculate population densities. We discuss the effect of self absorptions by the background residual gas on the lasing conditions quantitatively. The optical thickness is essential in the calculation and affects the population inversions between level pairs of the singlet state drastically, while those of the triplet state are not affected very much. In the optically thin plasma, the laser lower levels of the singlet state depopulate mainly through radiative transitions. On the other hand, they depopulate mainly through electron collisional deexcitations in the optically thick plasma. Results of the calculations are verified by the spectroscopic observations of an arc-heated magnetically trapped expanding plasma jet generator which we developed. The requirement for the background pressure in which the lasing is possible is discussed quantitatively.     

Optical current transducer with bulk type Bi12SiO20 faraday sensor for power systems

Two types of optical current transducers (OCTs) have a bulk Faraday sensor inserted into the gap of an iron core and a porcelain insulator with optical fiber. The sensor consists of Bi₁₂SiO₂₀ (BSO) single crystal, a polarizer, and an analyzer. The OCTs satisfied the target performance requirement for fault location and metering and demonstrated maintained performance at some power utilities in Japan and the US. We have developed a fault location system that immediately detects the fault current with the OCTs, there by locating the fault section. The OCT can easily replace the existing support insulators for the disconnecting switch without any modifications to structure height or bus-bar. For metering requiring 0.3% class accuracy, use of a BSO with right optical rotatory power combined with BSO with left optical rotatory power results in a Faraday sensor with improved temperature characteristics. The OCT demonstrated 0.3% class accuracy for metering described in the current transformer Specifications of IEEE C57–13, 1993.     

Syntheses and characterization of 16‐arm star and star diblock copolymer and AB8 9‐miktoarm star copolymer via NMRP and ROP from dendritic multifunctional macroinitiators

A dendritic macroinitiator having 16 TEMPO‐based alkoxyamines, Star‐16 , was prepared by the reaction of a dendritic macroinitiator having eight TEMPO‐based alkoxyamines, [G‐3]‐OH , with 4,4′‐bis(chlorocarbonyl)biphenyl. The nitroxide‐mediated radical polymerization (NMRP) of styrene (St) from Star‐16 gave 16‐arm star polymers with PDI of 1.19–1.47, and NMPR of 4‐vinylpyridine from the 16‐arm star polymer gave 16‐arm star diblock copolymers with PDI of 1.30–1.43. The ring‐opening polymerization of ε‐caprolactone from [G‐3]‐OH and the subsequent NMRP of St gave AB₈ 9‐miktoarm star copolymers with PDI of 1.30–1.38. The benzyl ether linkages of the 16‐arm star polymers and the AB₈ 9‐miktoarm star copolymers were cleaved by treating with Me₃SiI, and the resultant poly(St) arms were investigated by size exclusion chromatography (SEC). The SEC results showed PDIs of 1.23–1.28 and 1.18–1.22 for the star polymers and miktoarm stars copolymers, respectively, showing that they have well‐controlled poly(St) arms. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 45: 1159–1169, 2007.     

Design of a widely tunable laser with a chirped ladder filter

We theoretically investigated a digitally tunable laser with a chirped ladder filter and a ring resonator to obtain a wide wavelength tuning range covering the whole C- or L- band. The clear relation between the tuning range and laser structure, especially the ladder filter, is described analytically. The introduction of a chirped structure into a ladder filter is effective in achieving both wide tunability and a stable lasing mode. A numerical simulation based on multimode rate equations shows that a tuning range of over 40 nm and a mode suppression ratio over 40 dB can be achieved by introducing a chirped ladder filter.     

Stability of the steady state for the Falk model system of shape memory alloys

In this article a stability result for the Falk model system is proven. The Falk model system describes the martensitic phase transitions in shape memory alloys. In our setting, the steady state is a nonlocal elliptic problem. We show the dynamical stability for the linearized stable critical point of the corresponding functional. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Slow positron beam study of corrosion-related defects in pure iron

Corrosion-related defects of pure iron were investigated by measuring Doppler broadening energy spectra (DBES) of positron annihilation and positron annihilation lifetime (PAL). Defect profiles of the S-parameter from DBES as a function of positron incident energy up to 30 keV (i.e. ∼1 μm depth) were analyzed. The DBES data show that S-parameter increases as a function of positron incident energy (mean depth) after corrosion, and the increase in the S-parameter is larger near the surface than in the bulk due to corrosion. Furthermore, information on defect size from PAL data as a function of positron incident energy up to 10 keV (i.e. ∼0.2 μm depth) was analyzed. In the two-state trapping model, the lifetime τ₂ = 500 ps is ascribed to annihilation of positrons in voids with a size of the order of nanometer. τ₁, which decreases with depth from the surface to the bulk, is ascribed to the annihilation of positrons in dislocations and three-dimensional vacancy clusters. The corroded samples show a significant increase in τ₁ and the intensity I₂, and near the surface the corroded iron introduces both voids and large-size three-dimensional vacancy clusters. The size of vacancy clusters decreases with depth.