Thermodynamical control of the grain size of LiCoPO4 powders

The control of the grain size distribution of the LiCoPO₄ compound was achieved by a thermodynamically monitored heating regime of the used ceramic route. For this purpose, on the basis of calorimetric (DSC-TG) measurements collected in non-isothermal and isothermal regime and then related to the grain size of the final product via equations, the irreversibility degree of the heating regime was determined. Grain size of the final product was revealed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), while the purity of the final product was discussed from thermodynamic calculations (DSC and TG) and confirmed by X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD). The purity and the grain size of the product was tested a priori, using a series of heating regimes and then the accuracy of the established model was checked.     

Sensing and compensation of femtosecond waveform distortion induced by all-order polarization mode dispersion at selected polarization states

We demonstrate full characterization of femtosecond pulse distortion induced by all-order polarization mode dispersion (PMD) at selected polarization states via second-harmonic generation (SHG) frequency-resolved optical gating (FROG) measurements at an average power of under 28 nW. By applying the inverse of the measured spectral phase via a programmable pulse shaper, we compress the distorted pulses from more than 3 ps to nearly bandwidth-limited durations of less than 500 fs. Our results show that SHG FROG measurements performed by using fiber-pigtailed aperiodically poled lithium niobate waveguides can serve as a robust and sensitive tool for characterization of PMD-induced spectral phase.     

RNA Cleavage Catalyzed by Amphoteric Bis(acyl)guanidinium Derivatives

Described herein are two series (twelve compounds each) of very closely related guanidinium‐based receptors and their ability to catalyze hydrolytic cleavage of a unique RNA substrate – oligo‐dT flanked t rans‐ A ctivation R esponsive region of the HIV‐1 mRNA, TAR RNA. The significant difference in activities of otherwise very similar compounds is discussed, and direct and indirect evidences supporting our interpretation are presented. The results indicate that improvements in catalytic efficiency could be achieved with little modification of the structure of a relatively weak catalyst, and that a crucial feature could be a finely calibrated interplay between anion‐binding and proton‐donating abilities.     

Spherically symmetric inhomogeneous dust collapse in higher dimensional space-time and cosmic censorship hypothesis

We consider a collapsing spherically symmetric inhomogeneous dust cloud in higher dimensional space-time. We show that the central singularity of collapse can be a strong curvature or a weak curvature naked singularity depending on the initial density distribution.     

Rotations of nuclei with reflection asymmetry correlations

We propose a collective Hamiltonian that incorporates interactions capable of generating rotations in nuclei with simultaneous presence of octupole and quadrupole deformations. It is demonstrated that the model formalism could be applied to reproduce the staggering effects observed in nuclear octupole bands. On this basis, we propose that the interactions involved would provide a relevant handle in the study of collective phenomena in nuclei and other quantum mechanical systems with reflection asymmetry correlations.     

Amplitude modulation and apodization of quasiphase-matched interactions

We propose several techniques to modulate the local amplitude of quasi-phase-matched (QPM) interactions in periodically poled lithium niobate waveguides and demonstrate apodization by using each of these techniques. When the hard edges are removed in the spatial profile of the nonlinear coupling, the sidelobes of the frequency tuning curves are suppressed by 13 dB or more, compared with a uniform grating, consistent with theoretical predictions. The sidelobe-suppressed gratings are useful for frequency conversion devices in optical communication systems to minimize interchannel cross talk, while the amplitude modulation techniques in general have potential uses in applications that require altering the tuning curve shapes.     

Scattering by small defects in the neighbourhood of a fluid-solid interface

The scattering of incident plane elastic waves by a varietyof different defects that lie upon a fluid-solid interface isconsidered here using matched asymptotic expansions. The expansionscheme is developed in terms of a parameter , the ratio of typicaldefect length scale to a typical wavelength of the incidentfield, taken to be small. Three different canonical situations occur and these are illustratedvia three specific examples treated here: a rigid strut, anedge crack, and a rigid strip. In each case the leading-ordermatching is performed to identify the leading-order contributionof the defect to the acoustic field in the far field. In particular,each defect is identified with a source of dipole response ininterfacial stress of displacement. It is shown in the limit as s<<s1 that in the inner problemsthe fluid and solid pieces uncouple in a particularly convenientmanner allowing analytical solutions to be deduced. These arethen matched with appropriate outer solutions.     

Iodine stabilization of a diode laser in the optical communication band

The iodine molecule has frequently been used as a frequency reference from the green to the near-infrared wavelength region (500-900 nm). We describe the frequency locking of the second-harmonic signal of a 197.2-THz (1520.25-nm) distributed-feedback diode laser to the absorption lines of the iodine hyperfine structure; a frequency jitter below 0.1 MHz was achieved at a 300-ms time constant. This scheme provides a simple, compact, and high-performance frequency reference in the optical communication band.