Raman spectra and structure of multicomponent oxide planar waveguides prepared by sol-gel

This work was aimed at understanding the structure of SiO₂–MO₂ (M = Ti, Zr, Hf) and SiO₂–HfO₂–MO₂ (M = Ti, Zr) materials, used as mixed oxide glass hosts for Er³⁺ ions in the fabrication of optical planar waveguides by sol-gel processing. This structural study was performed by Waveguide Raman Spectroscopy (WRS), complemented with X-ray diffraction (XRD). The admixture of TiO₂ to HfO₂, SiO₂–HfO₂ and HfO₂–ZrO₂ compositions was found to cause precipitation of nanocrystals of tetragonal HfO₂ or ZrO₂, or the formation of hafnia-titania mixed crystals, depending on the HfO₂/TiO₂ molar ratio.     

可交联聚甲基丙烯酸甲酯的合成、表征及在阵列式波导光栅中的应用

合成了含环氧基团的可交联的甲基丙烯酸甲酯和甲基丙烯酸环氧丙酯的共聚物[Poly(MMA-co-GMA)],通过FTIR,NMR,GPC,DSC和AFM等技术对其进行了表征. 结果表明,所合成的聚合物材料具有较好的成膜性; 通过热固化使引入的环氧基团开环交联,该聚合物的玻璃化转变温度(Tg)比固化前提高了24 K,同时有效地降低了聚合物的双折射率. 用Poly(MMA-co-GMA)作为包层材料,双酚A型环氧化合物作为高折射率材料, 将其引入到包层材料中形成芯层材料的折射率在波长1.55 μm处可调,其范围是1.483~1.588. 采用旋涂、 铝掩膜和氧反应离子刻蚀的方法(RIE)制得了阵列式光波导. 测试结果表明,制作的波导在1.55 μm处实现了光的单模传输,光损小于3.0 dB/cm.      

Sol–Gel SiO2-ZrO2 Coatings for Optical Applications

SiO₂-ZrO₂ based nanostructured multilayers films have been prepared by sol–gel processing from metallorganic precursors by low temperature inorganic polymerization reactions. Simultaneous gelation of both precursors was realized. Homogeneous and transparent films were obtained at room temperature by dip- and spin-coating on glass and silicon wafer substrates. Samples with successively deposited layers (1–3 layers) and successive thermal treatments have been also studied. Each deposited layer was thermally treated for 1 h at 300°C. The coatings were characterized by XRD, spectroellipsometry (SE), UV-VIS spectroscopy and AFM methods. The influence of substrates, number of coatings and number of thermal treatments on the optical and structural properties of the films was established. The thickness of three deposited SiO₂-ZrO₂ layers is about 496 nm on glass substrates and 413 nm on the silicon wafer substrate. The films deposited on glass are more porous than those deposited on silicon. The properties of optical waveguide prepared from SiO₂-ZrO₂ layers on silicon substrates will be discussed.     

Acoustooptic extension of the frequency tunability of CW CO2 lasers: New FIR lasers emissions from CH3OH and13CH3OH

We have increased the frequency tunability of our CW waveguide CO₂ lasers by means of an acoustooptic amplitude modulator, operating at the fixed frequency of 90 MHz. The up-shifted, or down-shifted, laser optical sideband can be generated independently by adjusting the orientation of the modulator. The efficiency is larger than 50%. The frequency tunability of the CO₂ laser around each laser line is thus increased by 180 MHz. To demonstrate the possibilities of this method, a source composed of the above modulator and of a CW, 300 MHz tunable waveguide CO₂ laser has been used for the search of new large offset FIR laser lines from optically pumped CH₃OH and¹³CH₃OH molecules. As a result 15 and 10 new large offset laser lines were discovered respectively. New assignments of some laser lines are also proposed. We have also measured the Stark effect, the offset, and the polarization of other already known lines. In particular a Stark effect frequency tuning of about 1 GHz is demonstrated for a laser line at 208.399 m.     

Study of adsorption of methylene blue and new methylene blue in liquid-solid interface by slab optical waveguide spectroscopy

A slab optical waveguide (SOWG) has been used for study of adsorption of both methylene blue (MB) and new methylene blue (NMB) in liquid–solid interface. Adsorption characteristics of MB and NMB on both bare SOWG and silanized SOWG by octadecyltrichlorosilane (ODS) were compared. Effect of pH on adsorption on MB and NMB was investigated. Binding rate constant analysis showed that both MB and NMB on bare SOWG demonstrates larger association constants than those on ODS-SOWG. Interactions of MB and NMB on bare SOWG and ODS-SOWG were analyzed by molecular mechanics calculation method. The binding energy change was in the following order: E_NMB–bare > E_MB–bare > E_NMB–ODS > E_MB–ODS.     

Optoacoustic Laser Stark spectroscopy and FIR laser action on CH3Br using a waveguide CO2 laser

The optoacoustic spectrum of CH₃Br around 10 m band lines of a tunable cw waveguide CO₂ laser is investigated. Several new infrared absorptions are observed and most of the correspond ing molecular transitions are assigned. Far infra red laser action is reported by pumping with the same CO₂ laser: pump offsets are given using the Transferred Lambs dip (TLD) technique. A new FIR laser emission is obtained and assigned. An optoacoustic Laser Stark spectroscopy technique is used to investigate off resonance infrared tran sitions.     

Hyphenation of column liquid chromatography and Raman spectroscopy via a liquid-core waveguide: chemometrical elimination of spectral eluent background

In column liquid chromatography (LC) coupled to conventional Raman spectroscopy (RS) removal of the spectral background of the eluent is often demanding, because of the strong signals of the organic modifier. A new chemometrical method is proposed, called the eluent background subtraction (EBS) method, which can correct for small shape and intensity differences of the eluent spectra. The variations in the eluent spectra are modelled using principal component analysis (PCA). The PCA loading vectors are subsequently used for eluent background correction of the elution spectra of the analyte. The loading vectors are fitted under these spectra by an asymmetric least-squares method. This method was successfully applied under various experimental conditions and performed much better than conventional background correction methods. Analyte detectability was improved by (weighted) averaging of all elution spectra and smoothing via a p-spline function.     

Improved square coloring of planar graphs

Square coloring is a variant of graph coloring where vertices within distance two must receive different colors. When considering planar graphs, the most famous conjecture (Wegner, 1977) states that $\frac{3}{2}\mathrm{\Delta }+1$ colors are sufficient to square color every planar graph of maximum degree Δ. This conjecture has been proven asymptotically for graphs with large maximum degree. We consider here planar graphs with small maximum degree and show that $2\mathrm{\Delta }+7$ colors are sufficient, which improves the best known bounds when $6?\mathrm{\Delta }?31$.