Generation and noise analysis of a wide-band optical -frequency comb based on recirculating frequency shifter

By optimizing the gain configuration and length of the loop, a 90-tone optical frequency comb （OFC） is successfully generated based on recirculating frequency shifter structure. The peak-to-peak power fluctuation of the 90-tone OFC is 4.26 dB and the tone-to-noise ratio is higher than 19.17 dB. To further analyze the noise accumulation feature of the tones when travelling around the loop, linewidth of the tones is measured by delayed self-heterodyne interferometer structure. The result shows the linewidth of the tones deteriorates little during the recirculating process, indicating that the generated OFC is an ideal multi-wavelength source for high-speed communication svstems.     

Compact and high-energy diode-side-pumped Q-switched Nd:YAG slab laser system for space application

We develop a compact and high-energy Nd：YAG slab laser system consisting of an oscillator and an amplifier for space applications. The oscillator is a diode-side-pumped electro-optically Q-switched slab laser with a cross-Porro resonator. The KD＊P Pockels cell with a low driving voltage of 950 V is used to polarization output coupling. The amplifier is a Nd：YAG zigzag slab pumped at bounces. The maximum output pulse energy of 341 m3 with 13 ns pulse duration is obtained from the system at the repetition rate of 20 Hz and the beam quality factors are M2=3.1 and M2=3.5. The beam pointing stabilities of the laser system are 3.05μrad in the X-direction and 3.99 grad in the Y-direction, respectively.     

Light-enhanced catalysis by pyridoxal phosphate-dependent aspartate aminotransferase

The mechanisms of pyridoxal 5'-phosphate (PLP)-dependent enzymes require substrates to form covalent "external aldimine" intermediates, which absorb light strongly between 410 and 430 nm. Aspartate aminotransferase (AAT) is a prototypical PLP-dependent enzyme that catalyzes the reversible interconversion of aspartate and α-ketoglutarate with oxalacetate and glutamate. From kinetic isotope effects studies, it is known that deprotonation of the aspartate external aldimine C(α)-H bond to give a carbanionic quinonoid intermediate is partially rate limiting in the thermal AAT reaction. We show that excitation of the 430-nm external aldimine absorption band increases the steady-state catalytic activity of AAT, which is attributed to the photoenhancement of C(α)-H deprotonation on the basis of studies with Schiff bases in solution. Blue light (250 mW) illumination gives an observed 2.3-fold rate enhancement for WT AAT activity, a 530-fold enhancement for the inactive K258A mutant, and a 58600-fold enhancement for the PLP-Asp Schiff base in water. These different levels of enhancement correlate with the intrinsic reactivities of the C(α)-H bond in the different environments, with the less reactive Schiff bases exhibiting greater enhancement. Time-resolved spectroscopy, ranging from femtoseconds to minutes, was used to investigate the nature of the photoactivation of C(α)-H bond cleavage in PLP-amino acid Schiff bases both in water and bound to AAT. Unlike the thermal pathway, the photoactivation pathway involves a triplet state with a C(α)-H pK(a) that is estimated to be between 11 and 19 units lower than the ground state for the PLP-Val Schiff base in water.