Laser-induced electron emission from an Au surface irradiated by single picosecond pulses at λ=2.94 μm. The intermediate region between multiphoton and tunneling effects

The photoinduced electron emission from the surface of a solid gold target irradiated by single picosecond pulses of an erbium laser is investigated. The applied laser intensity (5–120 GW/cm²) corresponds to the intermediate interaction region between the pure multiphoton and tunnel effects, where the decisive Keldysh-parameter, , is in the range 1<<12=n ₀. In the light intensity region which is free of surface heating (I _L<80 GW/cm²), the slope of the measured logarithmic intensity dependence of the photocurrent decreases from the n ₀=12 perturbative value down to n 5. Therefore the experiment shows that the Keldysh-type theories, which have recently been proved to describe correctly the ionization of atoms, are also valid to a certain extent in the case of the photoeffect in metals.     

Experimental study of a broad-band XeCl double-pass amplifier with SBS mirror

An oscillator-amplifier XeCl laser system has been used to experimentally investigate the effectiveness of a liquid stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS) mirror for correcting the spatial aberrations of broad-band laser radiation in a double-pass amplifier. It has been found that the SBS amplifier performance is strongly dependent on the intensity I _p exciting the Brillouin medium. A good beam reconstruction has been attained at I _p1GW/cm², whereas highly aberrated output beams have been delivered by the SBS amplifier for I _p>1 GW/cm². By comparing the broad-band SBS amplifier performance to that of the same amplifier with a dielectrically coated flat mirror at one end, it has been found that the use of a SBS mirror is advantageous to obtain lower divergence output beams only for low energy pump beams (<1 mJ).     

Large near resonance third order nonlinearity in GaN

We have studied third order nonlinearities, including two-photon absorption coefficient and nonlinear refractive index n ₂, of GaN in below bandgap ultraviolet (UV) wavelength regime by using UV femtosecond pulses. Two-photon absorption was investigated by demonstrating femtosecond UV pulsewidth autocorrelation in a GaN thin film while femtosecond Z-scan measurements revealed information for both n ₂ and . The distribution of n ₂ versus wavelength was found to be consistent with a model described by the quadratic Stark effect, which is the dominant factor contributed to the nonlinear refractive index near the bandgap. Large on the order of 10 cm/GW and large negative n ₂ with a magnitude on the order of several 10^–12 cm²/W were obtained. The at near mid-gap infrared (IR) wavelength was also found to be on the order of several cm/GW by using two-photon-type autocorrelations in a GaN thin film. Taking advantage of the large two-photon absorption at mid-gap wavelengths, we have demonstrated excellent image quality on two-photon confocal microscopy, including two-photon-scanning-photoluminescence imaging and two-photon optical-beam-induced current microscopy, on a GaN Hall measurement sample and an InGaN green light emitting diode.     

Recent heavy ion experiments and statistical model of hadrons

The combined CERN and Brookhaven heavy ion (H.I.) data supports a scenario of hadron gas which is in chemical and thermal equilibrium at a temperatureT of about 140 MeV. Using the Brown-Stachel-Welke model (which gives 150 MeV) we show that in this scenario, the hot nucleons have mass 3T and the and mesons have masses close to T and 2T, respectively. A simple model with pions and quarks supports the co-existence of two phases in these heavy ion experiments, suggesting a second order phase transition. The masses of the pion, rho and the nucleon are intriguingly close to the lattice screening masses.Supported by FAPESP of São Paulo, Brasil and DST grant no SP/S2/K04/92 Govt. of India     

Effects of Field Fluctuations,Losses, and Aberrations on the Sensitivity of a Michelson GW Antenna Using Squeezed Radiation

The sensitivity of an interferometric gravitational wave (GW) antenna operating above a few hundred Hertz is shot-noise limited. Sub-shot-noise sensitivity can be achieved by superimposing squeezed light on the laser field. The benefits of this approach are reduced in nonideal interferometers having fringe visibility less than unity, as pointed out by Gea-Banacloche and Leuchs and recently discussed by Chickarmane. Here, we consider an interferometer described by a set of coefficients V_l^(k), V_sq^(k), V_lsq^(k) depending on the misalignment, mismatching, and aberrations of the optical systems, as well as on the asymmetry of the beam splitter and the two-arm losses. Due to the presence of terms proportional to the product of laser times squeezed fields, we have taken into account the amplitude fluctuations of a_l. A simple model of the squeezed vacuum light, produced by a degenerate optical parametric oscillator (OPO), is used for calculating the dependence of the spectral density of the output of a GW antenna on the fluctuations of the OPO-cavity resonance frequency, the pump amplitude fluctuation, and the nonlinear-crystal-temperature drift. A set of figures η_sq± and r_lsq±⁽²⁾ are introduced for describing the effects of the amplitude fluctuations and the relative line width γ_la on the spectral density of the quadrature phase operator X = a_la_sq⁺ h.c.     

Optical probing of laser-induced shock waves in air

Shock Waves (SW) were produced in air by focusing the (0.25 J, 6 ns) second-harmonic ( = 532 nm) Nd : YAG laser light into a stainless-steel cylindrical cell at a pressure from 200 to 760 Torr. The laser fluence at the focal point is > 5 GW/cm². The spatial variation and consequently the time evolution of the radial propagation velocityU of the generated shock waves were measured via a simple optical system utilizing a HeNe laser beam triply intersecting the propagating shock wave at three successive positions. Using a reflector, we were able to probe the traveling SW in six consecutive positions during its round trip. Good agreement was obtained between the experimental results and the predictions of the point strong explosion theory. It is shown that this method is simple with a fairly good precision. It therefore appears to be useful for the determination of the SW dynamic parameters, namely its Mach number, the pressure at the SW front, the thickness of the compressed air layer and the energy consumed in producing this layer.     

Estimate of the cosmic ray background in an interferometric antenna for gravitational wave detection

The effect of the cosmic ray interaction in the masses of an interferometric antenna for gravitational wave (GW) detection is evaluated. In a 3 km antenna this background, mainly due to muons gives a limit, for 1 ms GW pulses, of h∼8.5×10^-23 with a frequency of 2×10^-1 events/year and 8.5×10^-26 with 4.1×10^-6 events/year. For GW having frequency>10 Hz the sensitivity limit is h∼1.7×10^-31. This background seems to allow unshielded operation of the interferometer test masses.     

Nanometer thin-film Ni-NiO-Ni diodes for 30 THz radiation

We report on the development of antenna-coupled thin-film nanometer Ni-NiO-Ni diodes which are used to detect 10.6 m CO₂-laser radiation. The Ni-NiO-Ni diodes have a minimum contact area of 0.056 m². This is smaller than those of any previously fabricated thin-film Metal-metalOxide-Metal (MOM) diodes. By measuring the second derivative of the dc current-voltage characteristics I(V), we demonstrate that the nonlinearity of the dc I(V) characteristics of our Ni-NiO-Ni diodes is larger than that of the dc I(V) characteristics of thin-film MOM diodes fabricated before by other authors. It is comparable to the nonlinearity of the dc I(V) characteristics of point-contact MOM diodes. Furthermore, we show that the polarisation-dependent infrared response of the Ni-NiO-Ni diodes is due to antenna coupling and that the polarisation-independent response is mainly of thermal origin. Consequently, the heating of the Ni-NiO-Ni diodes is due to the absorption of the incident CO₂-laser radiation in the SiO₂, and dissipation of the laser-induced ac antenna currents in the antenna.     

Stability of two-dimensional quasisingular space-times

We study the stability of a class of two-dimensional cylindrical space-times with quasiregular singularities using massless scalar waves. The fact that the stress-energy scalarT _v T ^v diverges indicates the instability of the singularity toward formation of a scalar curvature singularity. In special cases a nonscalar curvature singularity results.     

Femtosecond-pulse laser ablation of human corneas

A femtosecond pulse laser in the visible spectral region shows promise as a potentially new powerful corneal sculpting tool. It combines the clinical and technical advantages of visible wavelengths with the high ablation quality observed with nanosecond-pulse excimer lasers at 193 nm. A femtosecond and a nanosecond dye laser with pulse durations of 300 fs and 7 ns, and centre wavelengths at 615 nm and 600 nm, respectively, both focused to an area of the order of 10^–5 cm², have been applied to human corneal ablation. Nanosecond laser pulses caused substantial tissue disruption within a 30–100 m range from the excision edge at all fluences above the ablation threshold of F _th60 J cm^–2 (I _th9 GW cm^–2). Completely different excisions are produced by the femtosecond-pulse laser: high quality ablations of the Bowman membrane and the stroma tissue characterised by damage zones of less than 0.5 m were observed at all fluences above ablation threshold of F _th1 J cm^–2 or I _th3 TW cm^–2 (3×10¹² W cm^–2). The transparent cornea material can be forced to absorb ultrashort pulses of extremely high intensity. The fs laser generates its own absorption by a multiphoton absorption process.     

Properties of antennas focused in the Fresnel zone

The paper deals with the calculation of the electric field strength distribution of a circular antenna focused in the Fresnel zone. To express the electric field strength distribution ⁿ W _v–1 (w, x) functions defined by Lommel functions of two variables are used. On the basis of the calculated electric field strength distribution the fundamental properties of an antenna focused in the Fresnel zone are determined. The width and depth of the focused beam are calculated and the results of the numerical computations are plotted. Formulae for determining the wavelengths in the focused beam are expressed as a function of the circular aperture illumination.The author would like to express his gratitude to J. atlov, CSc, and F. áek for their kind discussion.     

The electric field induced by a gravitational wave in a superconductor: a principle for a new gravitational wave antenna

In this paper we investigate the effect of gravitational waves (GW) on a superconductor. We find that the key properties of a superconductor, namely zero resistance and perfect diamagnetism, give rise to an important new effect, the presence of an induced electric fieldE(r, t) in the interior of the superconductor. TheE field reacts with the ions and superelectrons. We argue, that not only is the finding of the coupled interactions of gravitation, electromagnetism and superconductivity inherently interesting, but that the inducedE field might provide a significantly more sensitive means of detecting gravitational waves. It appears likely that existing resonant-mass superconducting antennas withL - 3m,Q - 10⁸ could be readily modified to detectE fields induced by GWs of dimensionless amplitudeh - 10^–24 This essay received the first award from the Gravity Research Foundation for the year 1989—Ed.     

Emission of Concentrated Solutions of Organic Compounds Excited with High-Power Laser Radiation

Specific features of emission of concentrated (C 1.2·10¹⁹ cm^–3) solutions of organic molecules (rhodamine 6G, rhodamine C, phenalemine 512, and substituted paraterphenyl (LOC-1)) are investigated as functions of the exciting photon energy (at _exc = 308 and 532 nm) and power density of exciting radiation (up to 1 GW/cm²). One of the observed emission types – band emission – is studied. The intensity of band emission (its short- and long-wavelength maxima) is investigated versus the exciting radiation power density, and its time and polarization characteristics are also analyzed. The results obtained together with the specific features of the emission spectrum of concentrated rhodamine-C solution, measured after passage of sounding radiation with maximum at the wavelength equal to that of the short-wavelength maximum of band emission, demonstrate that the band emission is simply superfluorescence.     

Spallation neutron spectrum on a massive lead/paraffin target irradiated with 1 GeV protons

The gamma-ray spectra emitted by decaying of residual nuclei produced by spallation neutrons in (n, xn), (n, xnyp), (n, p), (n, ) reactions with activation threshold detectors, i.e. ²⁰⁹Bi, ¹⁹⁷Au, ⁵⁹Co, ¹¹⁵In, ²³²Th, were measured in the Laboratory of Nuclear Problems (LNP), JINR, Dubna, Russia. Spallation neutrons were generated by bombarding a 20 cm long cylindrical lead target with 8 cm diameter surrounded by a 6 cm thick layer of paraffin moderator with 1 GeV proton beam from the NUCLOTRON accelerator. Reaction rates and a spallation neutron spectrum were measured and compared with CASCADE code calculations.     

Gravitational radiation antennas using the Sagnac effect

A new class of gravitational antennas that utilize the general relativistic Sagnac effect is proposed. These antennas may be more efficient than the Weber bar by a factor of (c/v_s)⁴ 10¹⁹, wherev _sis the velocity of sound in the bar. A specific case of such an antenna consisting of a superfluid helium Josephson interferometer is considered. A general relativistic theory of the interaction of the superfluid with the gravitational field is given. Using this theory, the phase shift due to a gravitational plane wave on one such antenna is obtained. More generally, the proposed interferometer involves the interplay of general relativity and quantum theory and may afford the possibility of testing general relativity in the laboratory at the quantum mechanical level. The possibility of detecting gravitons, assuming nearly unit coupling efficiency for the antenna, is explored.This essay received the second award from the Gravity Research Foundation for the year 1981-Ed.Research was supported by NSF grant No. PHY 79-13146.Research was supported by NSF grant No. ECS-8009834.     

Crossover finite-size scaling at first-order transitions

In a recent paper we developed a method which allows one to control rigorously the finite-size behavior in long cylinders near first-order phase transitions at low temperature. Here we apply this method to asymmetric transitions with two competing phases, and to theq-state Potts model as a typical model of a temperature-driven transition, whereq low-temperature phases compete with one high-temperature phase. We obtain the finite-size scaling of the firstN eigenvalues (whereN is the number of competing phases) of the transfer matrix in a periodic box of volumeL × ... ×L ×t, and, as a corollary, the finite-size scaling of the shape of the order parameter in a hypercubic box (t=L), the infinite cylinder (t=), and the crossover regime from hypercubic to cylindrical scaling. For the two-phase case (N=2 we find that the crossover length _L is given by O(L^w)exp(L^v), where is the inverse temperature, is the surface tension, and w=1/2 if v+1=2 whilew=0 if v+1 >2. For the standard Ising model we also consider free boundary conditions, showing that _L=exp[L^v+O(L^v– 1)] for any dimension v+12. For v+1=2 we finally discuss a class of boundary conditions which interpolate between free (corresponding to the interpolating parameter g=0) and periodic boundary conditions (corresponding to g=1), finding that _L=O(L^w)exp(L ^v) withw=0 forg=0 andw=1/2 for 0<g1.     

Aluminium electron-phonon relaxation-time measurement from subpicosecond nonlinear single-photon photoelectric emission at 248 nm

The sensitivity of photoelectric emission of polycrystalline aluminium, produced by 248 nm laser pulses with p-polarization and 450 fs duration, under incidence angles = 74–86°, has been measured. A nonlinear increase of photoemission efficiency, as a function of the incident laser peak intensity in the range of 1–50 GW/cm², was displayed, which confirms earlier observations with gold and tungsten. This nonlinearity is consecutive to the non-thermal distribution of electron gas of laser-heated metal on the time scale of the electron-phonon relaxation time. Analysis of experimental data, using the model previously developed by us [1], gives a value of electron-phonon relaxation time 0.55 ± 0.11 ps.     

Exact gravitational field of the infinitely long rotating hollow cylinder

The vacuum line element inside an infinitely long rotating hollow cylinder is the usual flat space line element. It is fitted in a most general way to the general cylindrical vacuum field outside at the singular hypersurfaceR ₀=const, representing the infinitely thin hollow cylinder. With the use of the jump conditions atR ₀=const the surface densities , of which the energy-momentum-stress tensor of the shell consists, are calculated. The physical properties of the cylinder, as derived from the eigenvalues and -vectors of , and the generated gravitational field are discussed in full detail.     

Laser induced electron emission from gold surface irradiated by picosecond pulses at λ=2.9 μm

A nonlinear photoelectric emission from a gold surface irradiated by intense (16 GW/cm²) ultrashort (100 ps) erbium laser pulses of the 3-micron wavelength region was observed. The results obtained were interpreted by the theoretically predicted thermally enhanced multiphoton photoemission.     

The nonlinear refraction and nonlinear absorption in 4-(4,6-diaminopyrimidin-2-ylthio) substituted double-decker Lu(III) phthalocyanine

A 4-(4,6-diaminopyrimidin-2-ylthio) substituted double-decker Lu(III) phthalocyanines (4) have been prepared and characterized by elemental analysis, IR, UV-vis and ¹H NMR spectroscopies. The nonlinear refractive index, nonlinear absorption and the optical limiting (OL) performance of the compound 4 in a 0.5 mm spectroscopic cell in DMF solution were investigated by using 4 ns pulse laser at 532 nm. Z-scan experiments have been conducted between 0.24 and 2.39 GW/cm² peak intensities for 10 Hz repetition rate and also between 2.39 and 23.89 GW/cm² peak intensities for 1 Hz repetition rate. The thermal effect contributes to the nonlinear response of the material higher than 0.72 GW/cm² peak intensity at 10 Hz. We measured the effective nonlinear refractive index of the material as 1.2×10⁻¹¹ esu at 3.5×10⁻⁴ M concentration with the peak intensity less than 0.72 GW/cm² and we found that nonlinear absorption was very small. On the other hand, when concentration is increased to 2.4×10⁻³ M material's nonlinear absorption becomes dominant mechanism for the nonlinear response and the compound 4 indicates OL behavior at 2.4×10⁻³ M concentration.