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.     

Determination of amino acids in tea leaves and beverages using capillary electrophoresis with light-emitting diode-induced fluorescence detection

The combination of capillary electrophoresis (CE) and light-emitting diode-induced fluorescence (LED-IF) detection has been demonstrated in the analysis of major amino acids in tea leaves and beverages. The separation efficiency of amino acids, which were derivatized with naphthalene-2,3-dicarboxaldehyde (NDA), depended on the capillary length and PEO concentration. We suggested that the interactions between the NDA derivatives and poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) molecules are based on hydrogen bonding, hydrophobic patches, and Van der Waals forces. The magnitude of EOF and the interactions between them can be further controlled by the capillary length. The separation of 17 NDA-amino acids derivatives was completed within 16 min using 0.5% PEO and 60 cm capillary length. The relative standard deviations (R.S.D.) of their migration times (n = 5) were less than 2.7%. Additionally, the limits of detection at signal-to-noise ratio 3 for the tested amino acids ranged from 3.6 to 28.3 nM. Quantitative determination of amino acids in tea leaves and beverages was accomplished by our proposed method. This study showed that amino acid present in highest concentration in tea leaves and beverages is γ-aminobutyric acid and theanine, respectively. The experimental results suggest that our proposed methods have great potential in the investigation of the biofunction of different tea samples.     

Development of a stabilized low temperature infrared absorption cell for use in low temperature and collisional cooling experiments

We have constructed a stabilized low temperature infrared absorption cell cooled by an open cycle refrigerator, which can run with liquid nitrogen from 250 to 80K or with liquid helium from 80K to a few kelvin. Several CO infrared spectra were recorded at low temperature using a tunable diode laser spectrometer. These spectra were analyzed taking into account the detailed effects of collisions on the line profile when the pressure increases. We also recorded spectra at very low pressure to accurately model the diode laser emission. Spectra of the R(2) line in the fundamental band of 13CO cooled by collisions with helium buffer gas at 10.5K and at pressures near 1 Torr have been recorded. The He-pressure broadening parameter (gamma(0) = 0.3 cm(-1) atm(-1)) has been derived from the simultaneous analysis of four spectra at different pressures.     

Far infrared surface plasmon propagation

New experimental evidence is presented which shows that, contrary to an earlier report, far-infrared surface plasmons at metal-air interfaces propagate long distances (tens of centimeters or longer).     

Use of Extraction Disks for Trace Enrichment of Various Pesticides from River and Sea Water Samples

Abstract

C-18 Empore extraction disks were used for the isolation and trace enrichment of different groups of pesticides from river water and artificial sea water at concentration levels of 0.2, 5 and 20 μg/l [chlorotriazines, (atrazine and simazine), their dealkylated metabolites, (deethyl- and deisopropylatrazine), organophosphorus (parathion-ethyl), phenylurea (linuron), anilide (propanil), carbamate (aldicarb and carbofuran) and carbamate transformation products (aldicarb sulfoxide, aldicarb sulfone and 3-hydroxy-7-phenol carbofuran]. The extraction disks allowed high flow rates thus 51 samples could be processed within 2h. 30 min.

For most of the pesticides the recoveries, as determined by liquid chromatography with diode array detection (LC-DAD), varied from 74 up to 125% with coefficients of variations (CV) of 5-10%, whereas for the carbamate transformation products the recoveries were in the range of 30-35% having a CV of 17-21%. At spiking level of 0.2 μg/l the dealkylated triazine metabolites and the carbamate transformation products were not detected at all.     

Effect of incoherent scattering on three-terminal quantum Hall thermoelectrics

A three-terminal conductor presents peculiar thermoelectric and thermal properties in the quantum Hall regime: it can behave as a symmetric rectifier and as an ideal thermal diode. These properties rely on the coherent propagation along chiral edge channels. We investigate the effect of breaking the coherent propagation by the introduction of a probe terminal. It is shown that chiral effects not only survive the presence of incoherence but they can even improve the thermoelectric performance in the totally incoherent regime.     

Biparametric multicommutated flow analysis system for determination of human serum phosphoesterase activity

A multicommutated flow analysis (MCFA) system constructed of microsolenoid valves and pumps offering simultaneous determination of activity of acid phosphatase (ACP) and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) in human serum samples has been developed. The MCFA system is based on optoelectronic flow-through detector made of two light emitting diodes and operating according to paired emitter detector diode (PEDD) principle. This photometric PEDD device has been dedicated for detection of p-nitrophenol (NP) generated in the course of enzymatic hydrolysis of p-nitrophenyl phosphate and optimized for the determination of NP in human serum samples. The developed PEDD-based MCFA system allows independent optimization of conditions for reaction and detection steps of photometric ACP and ALP bioassays. Moreover, it allows elimination of photometric interferences from serum matrix components according to two-points kinetic mode of measurement. The single measurement cycle takes 12 min, consists of four measurements (two for each phosphoesterase) and enables determination of serum ACP and ALP activities at physiological and pathological levels. The real analytical utility of the developed MCFA system has been confirmed by analysis of control sera as well as real human serum samples from healthy persons and oncological patients.     

Material growth and device fabrication of terahertz quantum-cascade laser based on bound-to-continuum structure

The terahertz quantum-cascade laser （THz QCL） based on bound-to-continuum structure is demonstrated. The X-ray diffraction measurement of the material shows a high crystalline quality of the active region. A THz QCL device was fabricated with semi-insulating surface-plasmon waveguide. The test device is lasing at about 3 THz and operating up to 60 K. It shows a single frequency property under different drive currents and temperatures. At 9 K, the maximum output power is greater than 2 mW with a threshold current density of 159 A/cm2.     

Monodisperse Six-Armed Starbursts based on Truxene-Cored Multibranched Oligofluorenes: Design,Synthesis, and Stabilized Lasing Characteristics

A series of monodisperse six-armed conjugated starbursts ( Tr1F , Tr2F , and Tr3F ) containing a truxene core and multibranched oligofluorene bridges capped with diphenylamine (DPA) units has been designed, synthesized, and investigated as robust gain media for organic semiconductor lasers (OSLs). The influence of electron-rich DPA end groups on their optoelectronic characteristics has been discussed at length. DPA cappers effectively raise HOMO levels of the starbursts, thus enhancing the hole injection and transport ability. Solution-processed electroluminescence devices based on the resulting six-armed starbursts exhibited efficient deep-blue electroluminescence with clear reduced turn-on voltages (3.2–3.5 V). Moreover, the resulting six-armed molecules showed stabilized electroluminescence and amplified spontaneous emission with low thresholds (27.4–63.9 nJ pulse⁻¹), high net gain coefficients (80.1–101.3 cm⁻¹), and small optical loss (2.6–4.4 cm⁻¹). Distributed feedback OSLs made from Tr3F exhibited a low lasing threshold of 0.31 kW cm⁻² (at 465 nm). The results suggest that the construction of truxene-centered six-armed conjugated starbursts with the incorporation of DPA units can effectively enhance EL properties by precisely regulating the HOMO energy levels, and further optimizing their optical gain properties.