Laser-induced transport of atoms from an illuminated region in a gas

A new optical effect in the transport of atoms in dense gases, capillaries, and porous media is predicted. The origin of this effect lies in superelastic collisions of excited atoms, which give rise to thermal diffusion processes. Model estimates are made for the magnitude of the effects in the absence of flows and in the presence of flows in capillary systems. It is shown that under certain assumptions regarding superelastic collisions of atoms with the walls, the optical effect changes the transmission of a capillary. Zh. Tekh. Fiz. 68, 9–13 (May 1998)     

Generation of bright two-color continuous variable entanglement

We present the first measurement of squeezed-state entanglement between the twin beams produced in an optical parametric oscillator operating above threshold. In addition to the usual squeezing in the intensity difference between the twin beams, we have measured squeezing in the sum of phase quadratures. Our scheme enables us to measure such phase anticorrelations between fields of different frequencies. In the present measurements, wavelengths differ by approximately 1 nm. Entanglement is demonstrated according to the Duan et al. criterion [Phys. Rev. Lett. 84, 2722 (2000)] Delta2p- + Delta2q+ = 1.41(2) < 2. This experiment opens the way for new potential applications such as the transfer of quantum information between different parts of the electromagnetic spectrum.     

Generation of acoustically distributed feedback lasers based on gyrotropic crystals

Oscillation conditions were determined for acoustically distributed feedback (ADFB) lasers based on gyrotropic uniaxial and cubic crystals. The lasing threshold was shown to be higher for the modes with clockwise polarization than for those with counterclockwise polarization. It is established that the regions of maximal amplification for clockwise (counterwise) waves of the gyrotropic crystal are displaced in the direction of decreased (increased) phase detuning, respectively, relative to amplification regions that correspond to the absence of crystal gyrotropy. The ADFB laser was shown to be capable of generating at the Bragg frequency. __________ Translated from Zhurnal Prikladnoi Spektroskopii, Vol. 75, No. 3, pp. 331–335, May–June, 2008.     

Localization of multiple acoustic sources with small arrays using a coherence test

Direction finding of more sources than sensors is appealing in situations with small sensor arrays. Potential applications include surveillance, teleconferencing, and auditory scene analysis for hearing aids. A new technique for time-frequency-sparse sources, such as speech and vehicle sounds, uses a coherence test to identify low-rank time-frequency bins. These low-rank bins are processed in one of two ways: (1) narrowband spatial spectrum estimation at each bin followed by summation of directional spectra across time and frequency or (2) clustering low-rank covariance matrices, averaging covariance matrices within clusters, and narrowband spatial spectrum estimation of each cluster. Experimental results with omnidirectional microphones and colocated directional microphones demonstrate the algorithm's ability to localize 3-5 simultaneous speech sources over 4 s with 2-3 microphones to less than 1 degree of error, and the ability to localize simultaneously two moving military vehicles and small arms gunfire.     

Generation of an ultrabroadband supercontinuum in the mid-infrared region using dispersion-engineered GeAsSe photonic crystal fiber

An ultrabroadband mid-infrared (MIR) region supercontinuum (SC) is demonstrated numerically through dispersion-engineered traditional chalcogenide (ChG) photonic crystal fiber (PCF). By varying structural parameters pitch (hole to hole spacing) and air-hole diameter to pitch ratio, a number of 10-mm-long hexagonal PCFs made employing GeAsSe ChG glass as a core and air-holes of hexagonal lattice running through their lengths as a cladding are optimized to predict an efficient mid-infrared region SC spectral emission by pumping them using a tunable pump source between 2.9 and 3.3 µm. Simulations are carried out using an ultrashort pump pulse of 100-fs duration with a low pulse peak powers of between 3 and 4 kW into the optimized designs. It is found through numerical analysis that efficient SC spectral broadening with flattened output can be obtained by increasing the PCF pitch rather than increasing the PCF cladding containing air-hole diameter although a larger nonlinear coefficient could be obtained through increasing air-hole diameter of an optimized design. Simulation results show that the SC spectra can be broadened up to 12.2 µm for a certain design with a peak power of 3 kW. Using a peak power of 4 kW, it is possible to obtain SC spectral broadening beyond 14 µm with an optimized design spanning the wavelength range from 1.8 to 14 µm which covers the electromagnetic spectrum required for MIR molecular fingerprint region applications such as sensing and biological imaging.     

Metal nanoplasmas as bright sources of hard X-ray pulses

We report significant enhancements in light coupling to intense-laser-created solid plasmas via surface plasmon and "lightning rod" effects. We demonstrate this in metal nanoparticle-coated solid targets irradiated with 100 fs, 806 nm laser pulses, focused to intensities approximately 10(14)-10(15) W cm(-2). Our experiments show a 13-fold enhancement in hard x-ray yield (10-200 keV) emitted by copper nanoparticle plasmas formed at the focal volume. A simple model explains the observed enhancement quantitatively and provides pointers to the design of structured surfaces for maximizing such emissions.     

Generation of X-ray vortex with ultra-long depth of focus using axial line-focused spiral zone plates

We propose axial line-focused spiral zone plates(ALFSZPs) for generating tightly focused X-ray vortex beams with ultra-long depth of focus(DOF) along the propagation direction. In this typical design, compared with the conventional spiral zone plates(SZPs) under the same numerical aperture(NA), the DOF of ALFSZPs has been extended to an ultra-length by optimizing the corresponding parameters. Besides, it also exhibits lower side lobes and smaller dark cores in the whole focus volume. The diameters of dark cores increase as the topological charge value increases.     

Ultrasound attenuation estimation using backscattered echoes from multiple sources

The objective of this study was to devise an algorithm that can accurately estimate the attenuation along the propagation path (i.e., the total attenuation) from backscattered echoes. It was shown that the downshift in the center frequency of the backscattered ultrasound echoes compared to echoes obtained in a water bath was calculated to have the form Deltaf=mf(o)+b after normalizing with respect to the source bandwidth where m depends on the correlation length, b depends on the total attenuation, and f(o) is the center frequency of the source as measured from a reference echo. Therefore, the total attenuation can be determined independent of the scatterer correlation length by measuring the downshift in center frequency from multiple sources (i.e., different f(o)) and fitting a line to the measured shifts versus f(o). The intercept of the line gives the total attenuation along the propagation path. The calculations were verified using computer simulations of five spherically focused sources with 50% bandwidths and center frequencies of 6, 8, 10, 12, and 14 MHz. The simulated tissue had Gaussian scattering structures with effective radii of 25 mum placed at a density of 250 mm(3). The attenuation of the tissue was varied from 0.1 to 0.9 dB / cm-MHz. The error in the attenuation along the propagation path ranged from -3.5+/-14.7% for a tissue attenuation of 0.1 dB / cm-MHz to -7.0+/-3.1% for a tissue attenuation of 0.9 dB / cm-MHz demonstrating that the attenuation along the propagation path could be accurately determined using backscattered echoes from multiple sources using the derived algorithm.     

Generation of bright squeezed vacuum in the Karassiov states

We suggest an experimental procedure allowing one to prepare squeezed vacuum in a special type of generalized Bell states, first introduced by V.P. Karassiov. We present the first results on the experimental generation of such states and observation of their polarization properties.     

A localization approach for multiple sound sources via an expectation maximization algorithm using differential microphone arrays

Conventional sound localization approaches with small-sized microphone arrays are usually sensitive to noise and reverberation. To deal with the problem, an approach based on expectation maximization algorithm with differential microphone arrays(DMAs) is proposed.Firstly, the parameters of Gaussian mixture model for time-frequency instantaneous direction estimation are estimated through the EM algorithm, and then the direction of each sound source is estimated via time-frequency separation. In order to overcome the weakness of existing time-frequency separation techniques, an improved method, which combines the advantages of both the hard and soft separation methods, is also proposed. The improved time-frequency separation method is shown to be less sensitive to noise and reverberation. Simulation and experimental results demonstrate that the proposed localization approach is superior to its existing counterparts in terms of localization accuracy and robustness.     

A pseudo-inverse algorithm for simultaneous measurements using multiple acoustical sources

Simultaneous multiple acoustical sources measurement (SMASM) has been proposed for more effective and reliable identification of acoustical systems under critical conditions [N. Xiang and M. R. Schroeder, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 113, 2754-2761 (2003); N. Xiang, J. N. Daigle, and M. Kleiner, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 117, 1889-1894 (2005)]. This paper presents a pseudo-inverse algorithm for the SMASM correlation technique as an alternative way of extracting impulse responses of acoustical channels. Simulations and room acoustics experiments are carried out and the results prove the feasibility of the proposed algorithm.     

Aerodynamic characteristics of an acoustically modulated gas jet

Technical Physics - It has been established from a theoretical and experimental analysis of aerodynamic characteristics of acoustically modulated gas jets that, in the subcritical flow regime,...     

Localization of multiple sound sources with two microphones

This paper presents a two-microphone technique for localization of multiple sound sources. Its fundamental structure is adopted from a binaural signal-processing scheme employed in biological systems for the localization of sources using interaural time differences (ITD). The two input signals are transformed to the frequency domain and analyzed for coincidences along left/right-channel delay-line pairs. The coincidence information is enhanced by a nonlinear operation followed by a temporal integration. The azimuths of the sound sources are estimated by integrating the coincidence locations across the broadband of frequencies in speech signals (the "direct" method). Further improvement is achieved by using a novel "stencil" filter pattern recognition procedure. This includes coincidences due to phase delays of greater than 2pi, which are generally regarded as ambiguous information. It is demonstrated that the stencil method can greatly enhance localization of lateral sources over the direct method. Also discussed and analyzed are two limitations involved in both methods, namely missed and artifactual sound sources. Anechoic chamber tests as well as computer simulation experiments showed that the signal-processing system generally worked well in detecting the spatial azimuths of four or six simultaneously competing sound sources.     

Generation of modulation-free pulses using an active fabry-perot

A high gain active medium, Nd:YAG, has been shown to act as an efficient intracavity etalon for the generation of modulation-free Q-switched pulses. The “active etalon” thus formed offers a distinct advantage of finesse variation by varying the active medium gain. The analysis and experimental verification is presented.     

Highly efficient and bright doped organic electroluminescent diodes using an aluminum electrode

Remarkable improvement in efficiency and electroluminescence (EL) has been observed in an organic EL device, which consists of a hole-transport layer and a luminescent layer. The hole-transport layer is an N,N-bis(3-methyphenyl)-N,N-diphenylbenzidine film. The doped emitting layer consists of 8-(quinolinolate)-aluminum as the host and rubrene as the emission dopant. The doped cell with aluminum cathode demonstrated a luminance in excess of 20,000 cd/m² and an external quantum efficiency of 2.7%, which is about four times and three times, respectively, greater than those of the undoped cell. The EL emission from the device shows spectral narrowing and a shift to higher energy.     

RMS phase dependence of the number of random point sources on laser illuminated surfaces

In electric field backscatter considerations, the number of random-phase sources on a rough surface is over three times that for the correlation cells whenever the rms phase fluctuation is above ten. A triangular phase probability distribution leads to essentially the same relationship between these numbers as a gaussian distribution.     

Generation of multiple pulses with extremely short pulse repetitioninterval

A new type of multipulse generator is proposed for the generation of high power pulses with an extremely short interpulse repetition interval. In this system, an air-core step-up transformer is used with a magnetic switch and a pulse forming line, which is charged in the double-resonance mode. Numerical simulations of this system have shown that 600 kV, 56 ns pulses, matched to a 20 Ω impedance can be produced with a minimum pulse separation of 2.7 μs. A small system was constructed to demonstrate the production of double pulses experimentally. The system contains two first stage capacitors of 150 nF each, a 1:15 air-core step-up transformer, a magnetic switch using cobalt based material, a second stage capacitor of 1.6 nF, and an 80 Ω load. Double-pulses 100 ns wide, peak voltages of 85 kV (first pulse) and 90 kV (second pulse) have been successfully generated with an interval of 3.75 μs between pulses, when the first stage capacitors were charged to 14 kV (for the first pulse) and 17 kV (for the second pulse)