Effect of absorbed pump power on the quality of output beam from monolithic microchip lasers

The dependence of the beam propagation factor (M ² parameter) with the absorbed pump power in the case of monolithic microchip laser under face-cooled configuration is extensively studied. Our investigations show that the M ₂ parameter is related to the absorbed pump power through two parameters (α and β) whose values depend on the laser material properties and laser configuration. We have shown that one parameter arises due to the oscillation of higher order modes in the microchip cavity and the other parameter accounts for the spherical aberration associated with the thermal lens induced by the pump beam. Such dependency of M ² parameter with the absorbed pump power is experimentally verified for a face-cooled monolithic microchip laser based on Nd³⁺ -doped GdVO₄ crystal and the values of α and β parameters were estimated from the experimentally measured data points.     

Conjugate addition of pyrroles to α,β-unsaturated ketones using copper bromide as a catalyst

Copper bromide was used as a catalyst for the addition of pyrroles to enones. When both the reactants were used in equimolar amounts, mono and dialkylated products were obtained. However, the use of excess enone furnished only dialkylated products. Thus, copper bromide was shown to be an efficient catalyst for the dialkylation of pyrroles.     

Phonon density of states of ann-component alloy

We have generalized the coherent potential approximation (CPA) of Tripathi and Behera to the case of ann-component alloy. It is seen that then-component CPA density of states reproduces the binary, ternary quartenary alloys etc when the appropriate limits are adopted.     

Modification of magnetic anisotropy in metallic glasses using high-energy ion beam irradiation

Heavy ion irradiation in the electronic stopping power region induces macroscopic dimensional change in metallic glasses and introduces magnetic anisotropy in some magnetic materials. The present work is on the irradiation study of ferromagnetic metallic glasses, where both dimensional change and modification of magnetic anisotropy are expected. Magnetic anisotropy was measured using Mössbauer spectroscopy of virgin and irradiated Fe₄₀Ni₄₀B₂₀ and Fe₄₀Ni₃₈Mo₄B₁₈ metallic glass ribbons. 90 MeV ¹²⁷I beam was used for the irradiations. Irradiation doses were 5×10¹³ and 7.5×10¹³ ions/cm². The relative intensity ratios D ₂₃ of the second and third lines of the Mössbauer spectra were measured to determine the magnetic anisotropy. The virgin samples of both the materials display in-plane magnetic anisotropy, i.e., the spins are oriented parallel to the ribbon plane. Irradiation is found to cause reduction in magnetic anisotropy. Near-complete randomization of magnetic moments is observed at high irradiation doses. Correlation is found between the residual stresses introduced by ion irradiation and the change in magnetic anisotropy.     

Synthesis and characterization of novel thermoresponsive‐co‐biodegradable hydrogels composed of N‐isopropylacrylamide,poly(L‐lactic acid), and dextran

A series of novel multifunctional hydrogels that combined the merits of both thermoresponsive and biodegradable polymeric materials were designed, synthesized, and characterized. The hydrogels were copolymeric networks composed of N‐isopropylacrylamide (NIPAAM) as a thermoresponsive component, poly(L‐lactic acid) (PLLA) as a hydrolytically degradable and hydrophobic component, and dextran as an enzymatically degradable and hydrophilic component. The chemical structures of the hydrogels were characterized by an attenuated total reflection–Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR–FTIR) technique. The hydrogels were thermoresponsive, showing a lower critical solution temperature (LCST) at approximately 32 °C, and their swelling properties strongly depended on temperature changes, the balance of the hydrophilic/hydrophobic components, and the degradation of the PLLA component. The degradation of the hydrogels caused by hydrolytic cleavage of ester bonds in the PLLA component was faster at 25 °C below the LCST than at 37 °C above the LCST, determined by the ATR–FTIR technique. Due to their multifunctional properties, the designed hydrogels show great potential for biomedical applications, including drug delivery and tissue engineering. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 42: 5054–5066, 2004     

Kinetics and mechanism of the reactions of hexaaqua rhodium (III) with sulphur (IV) in aqueous medium

An O-bonded sulphito complex, Rh(OH₂)₅(OSO₂H)²⁺, is reversibly formed in the stoppedflow time scale when Rh(OH₂) ₆ ³⁺ and SO₂/HSO ₃ ⁻ buffer (1 <pH< 3) are allowed to react. For Rh(OH₂)₅OH₂₊+ SO₂ □ Rh(OH₂)₅(OSO₂H)²⁺ (k₁/k_-1), k₁ = (2.2 ±0.2) × 10³ dm³ mol⁻¹ s⁻¹, k₋1 = 0.58 ±0.16 s⁻¹ (25°C,I = 0.5 mol dm⁻³). The protonated O-sulphito complex is a moderate acid (K _d = 3 × 10⁻⁴ mol dm⁻³, 25°C, I= 0.5 mol dm⁻³). This complex undergoes (O, O) chelation by the bound bisulphite withk= 1.4 × 10⁻³ s⁻¹ (31°C) to Rh(OH₂)₄(O₂SO)⁺ and the chelated sulphito complex takes up another HSO ₃ ⁻ in a fast equilibrium step to yield Rh(OH₂)₃(O₂SO)(OSO₂H) which further undergoes intramolecular ligand isomerisation to the S-bonded sulphito complex: Rh(OH₂)₃(O₂SO)(OSO₂)^- → Rh(OH₂)₃(O₂SO)(SO₃)⁻ (k _iso = 3 × 10⁻⁴ s⁻¹, 31°C). A dinuclear (μ-O, O) sulphite-bridged complex, Na₄[Rh₂(μ-OH)₂(OH)₂(μ-OS(O)O)(O₂SO)(SO₃) (OH₂)]5H₂O with (O, O) chelated and S-bonded sulphites has been isolated and characterized. This complex is sparingly soluble in water and most organic solvents and very stable to acid-catalysed decomposition     

Photoinduced dissociative electron transfer (DET) interactions in methoxycalixarene–chloroalkane systems

Fluorescence quenching of methoxycalixarenes (MOCX) by chloroalkanes (CA) has been investigated in acetonitrile solutions. Observed quenching is attributed to photoinduced dissociative electron transfer (DET) interaction, which is supported by the characterization of the Cl⁻ ions and by the radical scavenging experiments. Comparing the Cl⁻ yields with different DET systems, it is inferred that both concerted and stepwise DET mechanisms operate simultaneously in MOCX–CA systems. A correlation of the quenching constants with the free-energy changes following a suitable DET theory supports the above inference.     

Working group report: Neutrino and astroparticle physics

This is the report of neutrino and astroparticle physics working group at WHEPP-7. Discussions and work on CP violation in long baseline neutrino experiments, ultra high energy neutrinos, supernova neutrinos and water Cerenkov detectors are discussed.