Dynamics of resonant energy transfer in a cold Rydberg gas

We investigate excitation transfer and migration processes in a cold gas of rubidium Rydberg atoms. Density-dependent measurements of the resonant population exchange for atoms initially excited into the 32P_3/2(|m_J|=3/2) state are compared with a Monte Carlo model for coherent energy transfer. The model is based on simulations of small atom subensembles involving up to ten atoms interacting via coherent pair processes. The role of interatomic mechanical forces due to the resonant dipole-dipole interaction is investigated. Good agreement is found between the experimental data and the predictions of the model, from which we infer that atomic motion has negligible influence on the energy transfer up to Rydberg densities of 10⁸ cm^-3, that the system has to be described in terms of many-body dynamics, and that the energy transfer preserves coherence on microsecond timescales.     

Exact solutions of the Schrödinger equation for zero energy

Some new exact solutions of the Schrödinger equation for zero energy are presented for certain nontrivial model potentials. Exact expressions for the different scattering lengths are derived and their differences and similarities are worked out. In particular, the respective distributions of the zeros and poles of the scattering lengths are characterized in detail.     

s-wave and p-wave scattering in a cold gas of Na and Rb atoms

Using improved experimentally based X¹Σ⁺ and a³Σ⁺ molecular potentials of NaRb, we apply the variable phase method to compute new data for low energy scattering of ²³Na atoms by ⁸⁵Rb atoms and ⁸⁷Rb atoms. These are the scattering lengths and volumes, numbers of bound states and effective ranges, which we use to obtain the low energy spin-change cross section as functions of the system temperature and the isotope masses. From an analysis of the contributions of s-wave and p-wave scatterings to the elastic cross section we estimate temperatures below which only s-wave scattering is dominant. We compare our quantal results to data obtained from the semiclassical approximation. We supply evidence for the existence of a near zero energy p-wave bound state supported by the singlet molecular potential.     

Development of a ReaxFF description for gold

Atomistic simulations of the chemistry of thiol-gold-systems have been restricted by the lack of interatomic interaction models for the involved elements. The ReaxFF framework already has potentials for hydrocarbons, making it an attractive basis for extending to the complete AuSCH-system. Here, an interatomic potential for gold, based on the ReaxFF framework, is presented and compared to existing gold potentials available in the literature. Electronic supplementary material  Supplementary Online Material     

Connection between the 2-body energy of the Kaxiras-Pandey and the Biswas-Hamann potentials

Relationship among interatomic potential functions can be useful in shedding insight on the extent of similarity, and in obtaining a potential function from parameters of another potential function. The 2-body portion of the Biswas-Hamann (BH) and the Kaxiras-Pandey (KP) potential functions are related by equating both functions, as well as their corresponding derivatives up to the third order at the equilibrium bond length. Validity of the parametric relationship is verified by plotting the loose form of the 2-body BH potential in terms of KP parameters and comparing it with the KP potential function. The parametric relationships developed herein are then compared with those that concern other potential functions, with particular emphasis on the scaling factors.     

Photoemission and coincidence studies on gas-phase molecules

This article describes Young’s double-slit experiment using high-energy core-level photoemission from N₂ molecules and experimental identification of interatomic Coulombic decay in Ar₂ dimers after Auger decay using k-resolved electron–ion–ion coincidence spectroscopy, aiming to illustrate the leading edge of gas-phase experiments using synchrotron radiation.     

Influence of the pump threshold on the single-frequency output power of singly resonant optical parametric oscillators

We demonstrate that for a given pump source, there is an optimum pump threshold to achieve the maximum single-frequency output power in singly resonant optical parametric oscillators. Therefore, cavity losses and parametric amplification have to be adjusted. In particular, continuous-wave output powers of 1.5 W were achieved with a 2.5 cm lithium niobate crystal in comparison with 0.5 W by a 5 cm long crystal within the same cavity design. This counter-intuitive result of weaker amplification leading to larger powers can be explained using a model from L.B. Kreuzer (Proc. Joint Conf. Lasers and Opt.-Elect., p. 52, 1969). Kreuzer also states that single-mode operation is possible only up to pump powers which are 4.6 times the threshold value. Additionally, implementing an outcoupling mirror to increase losses, single-frequency waves with powers of 3 W at 3.2 μm and 7 W at 1.5 μm could be generated simultaneously.     

Growth of gas phase nanoparticles with an accretion mechanism

Nano-droplet growth in a supersaturated vapor has been investigated in a gas aggregation source using laser-ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry. During its propagation into an atomic vapor, a small particle grows by sticking atoms on its surface. This accretion process has been highlighted through the clustering of homogeneous particles M_n and heterogeneous M_n(M₂O) and M_n(MOH)₂ particles in a metallic vapor and a helium buffer gas (M = Na or K). A modelization is introduced so as to connect the measured cluster mass distributions to the pertinent physical parameters. The mass distribution width is particularly sensitive to the efficiency of the first steps in the growth sequence. We used this property to compare the ability of this vapor-condensed matter phase transition to occur around various homogeneous and heterogeneous nucleation seeds.     

Cluster growth in an ablation plume propagating through a buffer gas

A phenomenological mixed-propagation model that describes the expansion of an ablation plume through a buffer gas is introduced. Selected experiments including LaMnO₃ and tin ablation in oxygen, as well as tungsten ablation in argon, are analysed. For given ablation conditions the expansion parameters required to model the growth of clusters in the expanding plasma plume are deduced and the average asymptotic size of the clusters is calculated and compared (for tungsten) with the size of clusters measured by transmission electron microscopy.     

Novel sets of coupling expansion parameters for low-energy pQCD

In quantum theory, physical amplitudes are usually presented in the form of a Feynman perturbation series in powers of coupling constant α. However, it is known that these amplitudes are not regular functions at α = 0. For QCD, we propose new sets of expansion parameters w _k (α _s ) that reflect singularity at α _s = 0 and should be used instead of powers α _s ^k . Their explicit form is motivated by the so-called Analytic Perturbation Theory. These parameters reveal saturation in a strong coupling case at the level α _s ^eff (α _s 1) = w ₁(α _s 1) ∼ 0.5. They can be used for the quantitative analysis of divers low-energy amplitudes. We argue that this new picture with non-power sets of perturbation expansion parameters, as well as the saturation feature, is of a rather general nature. The text was submitted by the author in English. A preliminary version with the main results was published in [1].     

Printing biological solutions through laser-induced forward transfer

Laser-induced forward transfer (LIFT) is a direct-writing technique adequate for the high-resolution printing of a wide range of materials, including biological molecules. In this article, the preparation through LIFT of microarrays of droplets from a solution containing rabbit antibody immunoglobulin G (IgG) is presented. The microarrays were prepared at different laser pulse energy conditions, obtaining microdroplets with a circular and well-defined contour. The transfer process has a double threshold: a minimum energy density required to generate an impulsion on the liquid film, and a minimum pulse energy, which corresponds to the onset for material ejection. In addition, it was demonstrated that the transfer process can be correctly described through a simple model which relates the energy density threshold with the amount of released material. Finally, a fluorescence assay was carried out in which the preservation of the activity of the transferred biomolecules was demonstrated.     

Thermal effects in singly resonant continuous-wave optical parametric oscillators

Stability and tuning characteristics of continuous-wave optical parametric oscillators (CW OPOs) are affected by various thermal effects arising from optical absorption in nonlinear crystals. In this paper, we present an experimental study of such effects in a singly resonant CW OPO. The OPO operates in the 3-μm mid-infrared region and it is based on a MgO-doped periodically poled lithium niobate crystal. We focus our study on two thermally induced phenomena that have been recently reported to exist in singly resonant CW OPOs: optical bi-stability and thermal self-locking. Thermal self-locking effect, which is known to alter the stability and tuning properties of doubly and triply resonant CW OPOs, is shown to be also of importance in singly resonant OPOs. We report the stability and tuning characteristics of a thermally loaded OPO and discuss a simple temperature-tuning method that can be used to scan the OPO idler frequency continuously over several THz.     

Calculation of the 1s–2s two-photon excitation cross-section in atomic hydrogen

The two-photon excitation cross-section of atomic hydrogen is calculated using explicit summation over intermediate states within the framework of dipole approximation. The matrix element for two-photon excitation is transformed into finite sums, consisting of the product of a radial and angular part. Nine intermediate states are employed in the calculation of the transition matrix element. The two-photon excitation cross-section obtained for the transition 1s ²S_1/2–2s ²S_1/2in atomic hydrogen is a good agreement with the literature.     

Mass resolved angular distribution in helium ion induced fission of233U

Mass resolved fission fragment angular distribution was measured in the 28.5 MeV alpha induced fission of²³³U using recoil catcher technique and direct gamma spectrometry. The angular distribution of 8 fission products were obtained. The angular anisotropies of asymmetric fission products were found to be higher than those of symmetric products indicating a correlation between the fragment angular distribution and the mass distribution.The authors are grateful to Dr. S.K. Kataria and Dr. T. Datta for fruitful discussions. We thank the operation crew of the variable energy cyclotron, Calcutta for their help in carrying out the irradiations. Thanks are due to Dr. P.R. Natarajan, Head of the Radiochemistry Division for his keen interest in the work.     

Independent electron theory of multiple ionization of xenon by intense laser pulses

The intensity dependence of the multiphoton ionization spectra of Xe atoms has been investigated with an improved accuracy and well-controlled laser parameters. In particular, we have examined the ionization rates for X³⁺, X²⁻, X⁺ as functions of the laser intensity and the pressure in the target chamber. The apparatus used for these measurements is characterized by a high-energy resolution (better than 200 meV) and a completely digital acquisition system. The time-of-flight spectra clearly show the contributions of the different isotopes present in Xe gas. The laser pulses have been characterized with great accuracy by monitoring the energy, pulse width and divergence shot by shot. The ionization rates of the different ions have been used for testing the basic assumption of the Geltman theory of multiple ionization based on the single electron ionization model. We have found that for the small intensity range investigated the quantity (dXe ⁺/dI)·(dXe ³⁺/dI)/(dXe ²⁺/dI)² appears to be quite close to the value 0.5 predicted by this model.     

Control of electrical resistance of TiO2 films by short-pulse laser irradiation

Titanium dioxide (TiO₂) films were irradiated with a femtosecond laser beam to alter their electrical resistances. The TiO₂ film was produced by aerosol beam deposition. The wavelength, pulse duration, and repetition rate of the femtosecond laser scanned across the sample surface were 800 nm, 100 fs, and 1 kHz, respectively. By attenuating the laser fluence on the TiO₂ film, a range was found in which the electrical resistance of the TiO₂ film was varied even though the morphology of the film surface was not changed.     

Absorption measurements in InSe:Ho single crystal under an electric field

InSe:Ho single crystal was grown by Bridgman-Stockberger method. Electric field effects on the absorption measurements have been investigated as a function of temperature in InSe:Ho single crystal. The absorption edge shifted towards longer wavelengths and a decrease of intensity in absorption spectra occurred under an electric field of 7.5 kV/cm. Using absorption measurements, steepness parameter and Urbach energy were calculated under electric field. Applied electric field caused an increase in the Urbach energy. At 10 K and 320 K, the first exciton energies were calculated as 1.322 and 1.301 eV for zero voltage and 1.245 and 1.232 eV for applied electric field, respectively.     

Display glass cutting by femtosecond laser induced single shot periodic void array

We propose an idea of fast cutting a display glass plate where the sample is pre-processed micromachining single shot rear-surface and internal void arrays aligned on working plane prior to glass cleaving. Single shot void morphology is investigated varying input pulse energy, focusing depth, and scanning speed. A femtosecond laser with pulse duration of 172 fs, central wavelength of 780 nm, and repetition rate of 1 kHz is used to fabricate voids.     

Visualization of particle trajectories in the laser shock cleaning process

The laser shock cleaning (LSC) method has recently attracted substantial attention since it can remove micro/nano-scale contaminant particles from a solid surface without direct exposure of the surface to laser irradiation. However, despite the importance of the particle detachment and redeposition mechanisms in the LSC process, the behavior of the particles during the cleaning process has never been analyzed experimentally. In this work, the motion of the micrometer-scale particles detached by a laser-induced plasma/shock wave is visualized by a photoluminescence imaging technique. The technique yields time-resolved particle trajectories under typical conditions of the LSC process, with and without a gas jet blowing. Discussions are made on the behavior of the detached particles and redeposition mechanisms.     

Sulfur dioxide measurements using an ultraviolet light-emitting diode in combination with gas correlation techniques

The important air pollutant sulfur dioxide has a strong structured absorption band in the ultraviolet (UV) region around 300 nm. Recently, light-emitting diodes (LEDs) with structureless emission in a band about 15-nm wide in the UV region have become available. We demonstrate that they can be ideal sources for gas absorption measurements combined with the gas correlation technique, where an absorption cell with an optically thick column of the gas under investigation is used for analysing the target gas contents in a path between the LED and the measurement device. A sensitivity of 0.4 ppm sulfur dioxide was obtained with a 19-cm optical path length and 60-s integration time. Particularly compact and cost-effective monitors especially for industrial emissions can be envisaged.