Two- and three-photon excitation of Gd in CaAl12O19

We have employed two-photon excitation to study the higher energy levels of Gd³⁺ ions in CaAl₁₂O₁₉ and we compare the results with those obtained using conventional UV excitation techniques. Under two-photon excitation, the luminescence intensity exhibits an unusual temporal behavior, a very long build-up followed by a decrease by orders of magnitude, ascribed to a recombination-assisted luminescence excitation mechanism assuming photo-ionization of Gd³⁺ ions and trapping of free electrons on deep traps.

We also find that the two-photon excitation spectra contain an additional broadening contribution which can be attributed to homogeneous broadening of excitation levels caused by excited state absorption into the conduction band. We believe that this may be a general phenomenon whenever participating photons produce ionization of impurity ions from metastable excited states. The phenomenon can manifest itself also in two-photon ionization spectral hole burning and in up-conversion processes (in the latter case, the homogeneous broadening can be caused by an intra-ion excited-state absorption).     

Nonlinear Optical Properties of Semiconductor-Doped Sol-Gel Waveguides

Thin silica-titania films doped with CdS and PbS nanocrystals have been prepared by the sol-gel route. Their nonlinear properties have been studied using the techniques of degenerated four-wave mixing and m-lines with picosecond (ps) and nanosecond laser pulses. Depending on wavelength, doping level, and laser pulse duration, high negative nonlinearity was found for CdS-doped (n₂ = -2 x 10^-8 cm² per kW) and PbS-doped films (-10^-10 to -2 x 10^-7 cm² per kW). The response time of the nonlinearity was below 35 ps. Saturation of the nonlinearity was observed. Straight, monomode channel waveguides have been fabricated on these films. The influence of MIE-scattering due to the nanoparticles is investigated.     

Study of the photoexcited carrier dynamics in InP:Fe using time-resolved reflection and photoluminescence spectra

The photoexcited carrier dynamics and photoluminescence of the undoped InP and Fe implanted InP was studied by time-resolved reflection and photoluminescence spectra. The decay times of reflection recovery and the radiative recombination for Fe implanted InP are shorter than those of undoped InP. Considering the surface recombination, a model was developed to simulate the reflection recovery dynamics, it agrees with the experimental results very well. Moreover, we obtained the ambipolar diffusion coefficient and the surface recombination velocity by using the model. For Fe-doped InP, the surface recombination velocity is much larger than that for the undoped InP, which is probably due to Fe^2+/3+ trapping centers and the large surface band bending. The PL decay time for Fe implanted InP is shorter than that for undoped InP, which is ascribed to the capture centers introduced by metallic precipitates.     

Solvent effect on the steady-state fluorescence anisotropy of two-photon absorbing fluorene derivatives

The effect of solvent polarity on the fluorescence properties of several two-photon absorbing fluorene derivatives was investigated. A strong solvatochromic effect was observed for symmetrical fluorene compound, which can be explained by large changes in the quadrupolar moment under excitation. Limiting values of excitation anisotropy of the investigated fluorenes exhibited a dependence on solvent polarity, and the angles between the absorption and emission transition dipole moments decrease in polar solvents by more than a factor of two.     

The effect of two-photon absorption and optical excitation area on the generation of THz radiation

It was found experimentally that the THz radiation throughput based on optical rectification is strongly related to the optical excitation size in a ZeTe emitter. The factors affecting the THz radiation throughput are investigated in detail both experimentally and theoretically. By taking into account optical rectification, diffraction and two-photon absorption effects, a theoretical model is established to describe the emitting field intensity of THz radiation. There is excellent agreement between the theoretical results and the experimental data under high excitation power. Both theoretical and experimental results demonstrate that there is a trade-off between these three effects for THz radiation, and that in order to increase the THz radiation throughput based on optical rectification, one should choose suitable excitation size under a given pump power.     

Structure study of rare earth doped vitreous silica by molecular dynamics simulation

A series of erbium doped vitreous silica, with erbium concentration as low as 0.25 per cent up to 5 per cent, has been modeled, using molecular dynamics. It has been found that as the Er content decreases, the percentage of erbium ions in pairs remains almost constant until very low concentration, when pairing is the only clustering mechanism and those that are not in pairs are isolated.     

7-羟基喹啉在二甲基亚砜中的荧光光谱

7-羟基喹啉(7-HQ)是一种具有激发态质子转移(ESPT)效应的有机分子。它溶于乙醇溶剂中,在紫外光的激励下,将发生ESPT反应,荧光光谱出现2个荧光带。7-HQ溶于二甲基亚砜(DMS)溶剂中,则不能发生ESPT反应,其荧光光谱只出现单一荧光带。但样品被强紫外光照射后,其荧光光谱也出现2个荧光带。文章首次报道了这一现象,并通过对7-HQ的乙醇、二甲基亚砜和二甲基甲酰胺溶液的吸收光谱和荧光光谱的研究,探讨产生这一现象的机理。认为7-HQ溶于DMS中被强紫外光照射后荧光光谱的变化是由于DMS被光解并生成水而使7-HQ发生ESPT反应的结果。     

Measurement and analysis of the excitation functions for alpha particle induced reactions on niobium

Stacked foil activation technique and Ge(Li) gamma ray spectroscopy have been used for determining the excitation functions up to 45 MeV, of six reactions⁹³Nb[(α, n), (α, 2n) ^m , (α, 2n) ^g , (α, 3n), (α,p3n) and (α, αn)]. Excitation functions were also calculated theoretically by means of the hybrid model with and without the inclusion of pre-equilibrium emission of particles. A general agreement was found in (α, xn) type of reactions.     

Influence of excitation light wavelength on the photoluminescence properties for ZnO films prepared by magnetron sputtering

Highly orientated polycrystalline ZnO films were deposited on sapphire, silicon and quartz substrates at room temperature by r.f. magnetron sputtering. Different photoluminescence (PL) spectra were observed when excited with different wavelength light. A UV emission peak (356 nm) and a blue peak (446 nm) were generated for the films on sapphire, silicon and quartz substrates, and only the 446 nm blue emission appeared for the films on glass substrates when the wavelength of the excitation light was 270 nm. With increasing the wavelength of the excitation light up to 300 and 320 nm, the UV emission disappeared for films on various substrates and the wavelength of the PL peaks increased up to 488 and 516 nm, respectively. When the wavelength of the excitation light increased to 398 nm, the PL spectrum becomes a wide band that is consistent with three emission peaks.     

Optical methods for the study of dynamics in biological membrane models

Membranes are highly complex and heterogeneous interfaces that are the active partition between living cells and the outside world. Many biologically important processes occur at the membrane surface, such as transmembrane transport and signaling. Many of these processes depend on the subtle interactions between the different membrane constituents: lipids, proteins and water. At present, a large body of knowledge exists on the molecular composition and static structure of membranes. However, our understanding of the dynamics of membrane molecules has not yet reached the same level of sophistication. Information on membrane dynamics, such as conformational fluctuations, conformational changes and dynamical interactions between membrane constituents are essential for a full understanding of membrane action. Here, we review a recently developed approach aimed at obtaining such dynamical information. The approach is based on surface-specific femtosecond laser vibrational spectroscopy, and is illustrated for simple membrane model systems.     

Optical excitation study on the efficiency droop behaviors of InGaN/GaN multiple-quantum-well structures

Efficiency droop is generally observed in electroluminescence under high current injection. Optical characterization on efficiency droop in InGaN/GaN multiple-quantum-well structures has been conducted at 12 K. Clear droop behaviors were observed for the sample excited by above-bandgap excitation of GaN with pulse laser. The results show that dislocation is not the crucial factor to droop under high carrier density injection, and Auger recombination just slightly affects the efficiency. The radiative recombination may be mainly affected by a multi-carrier-related process (diffusion and drift with a factor of n ^3.5 and n ^5.5) at the interface between GaN barrier and InGaN well.     

A molecular dynamics study of ion migration in a doped electroactive polymer

Simulating the \hbox{BF}_{4}^{-} -doped poly(3-octylthiophene) lattice by molecular dynamics results in a structure in which dopant ions intercalate as a sandwich between thiophene rings on adjacent polymer chains. The ions occupy sites in channels parallel to the polymer main chain, which retains a high degree of planarity in contrast to the pristine (undoped) polymer. Even when lattice imperfections are created by expanding the cell, Coulomb forces ensure that the intercalation features containing the dopant channels are largely retained. On applying electric fields in the principal directions of the 'perfect lattice' it is found that the ions migrate most readily along the ion-channel directions (the lattice c axis), leaving the lattice undisturbed. Although higher electric fields cause dopant migration to occur perpendicular to the channel directions they destroy the intercalated lattice. In the reduced-order lattice regions substantial motion of the ions are predicted at a critical value of the lattice parameter.     

聚芳香杂环甲烯的三阶非线性光学效应与时间分辨光克尔效应

合成了一系列聚芳香杂环甲烯,包括聚吡咯甲烯和聚噻吩甲烯.采用四波混频法研究材料的共振三阶非线性光学效应(λ＝532nm),其共振二阶超分子极化率γ三阶非线性光学系数分别达到10^-30esu和10^-8esu.选择具有良好溶解性、成膜性的聚吡咯对二甲氨基苯甲烯(PPDMAB),采用飞秒时间分辨光克尔效应方法研究材料的非共振三阶非线性光学效应(λ=790nm).实验表明,翠绿亚胺碱溶液的光克尔信号仅表现一超快响应的成分,归功于π电子云扭转产生的非共振激发.PPDMAB的非共振二阶超分子极化率γ三阶非线性光学系数分别达到γ=5.78×10^-32esu和χ⁽³⁾=1.26×10^-10esu.     

Analysis of the characteristics of time-resolved signals for transient radiative transfer in scattering participating media

Transient radiative transfer (TRT) in one-dimensional (1-D) homogeneous and inhomogeneous media with ultra-short pulse laser irradiated is investigated by means of the finite volume method (FVM) in the present research. Comparing with the steady radiative transfer (SRT), the extra time-resolved information can be obtained in TRT. Meanwhile, the propagation speed of short-pulse laser and the geometric thickness of the media should be considered in the simulation of TRT problem besides the optical thickness. A new nondimensional number ζ=ct_p/L is presented. For the homogeneous media, the temporal signals would overlap one another with different combinations of the pulse duration and the thickness of the media with the same ζ. Furthermore, in two-layer media, the influence of the scattering albedo, optical thickness and the geometric thickness of the participating media on ‘dual-peak’ are studied thoroughly. The improved expression of the ‘local minimum’ in the ‘dual-peak’ and the interface location of the multi-layer media are provided.     

Modification of erbium photoluminescence excitation spectra for the emission wavelength 1.54 μm in mesoscopic structures

Photoluminescence excitation (PLE) spectra for the emission wavelength 1.54 μm were studied for erbium-doped xerogels embedded in artificial opals and porous anodic alumina films. Opals were chosen with photonic stop-band in green spectral range, where excitation of 1.54 μm occurs most efficiently. In comparison to the structure erbium-doped titania xerogel/porous anodic alumina/silicon the photoluminescence excitation spectra for 1.54 μm emission wavelength significantly changes for the same xerogels embedded in artificial opals. Enhancement of erbium-related 1.54 μm emission was observed from the structure Fe₂O₃ xerogel/porous anodic alumina fabricated on silicon, having some incompletely anodized aluminium, under excitation with either the lasing source at 532 nm or xenon lamp. Evident difference in PLE spectra for erbium doped TiO₂ and Fe₂O₃ xerogels in porous anodic alumina is observed.     

Optical control of the coherent dynamics of a bismuth lattice at liquid-helium temperature at low and high excitation levels

The fully symmetric A_1g phonons of bismuth have been investigated at liquid-helium temperature by the coherent control method for various crystal excitation levels. It has been found that large-amplitude coherent phonons exhibit the “rigidity” of the phase, which is absent at a small amplitude. The impossibility of changing the phase of phonon oscillations appears at the excitation levels at which their amplitude relaxation law changes from exponential to power. The modification of the phase properties and relaxation law of the excitations of the crystal lattice can be understood in terms of the concept of the condensation of phonons, which occurs with an increase in the crystal excitation level.     

Optical study of charge dynamics in CaCo_2As_2

We present an infrared spectroscopy study of charge dynamics in CaCo_2As_2 single crystal. In this material, the optical conductivity can be described by two Drude components with different scattering rates(1/τ): a broad incoherent background and a narrow Drude component. By monitoring the temperature dependence, we find that only the narrow Drude component is temperature-dependent and determines the transport properties. Especially a Fermi liquid behavior of carriers is revealed by the T~2 behavior in the dc resistivity ρ_n and scattering rate 1/τ_n, indicating a coherent nature of quasiparticles in the narrow Drude subsystem.     

侧链结构对PPV/C_(60)组合体系的激发传递和电荷转移过程的影响

本文考察不同的侧链长度对聚对苯乙炔 (PPV)衍生物的光学性质等的影响 ,以及PPV/C60 的组合薄膜中的激发传递和电荷转移过程。结果表明随着连接在PPV的侧链长度的增长 ,其π π 跃迁带隙变窄 ,使得吸收和发射峰的位置逐渐红移 ;同时观测到PPV/C60 间存在着极有效的激发传递过程 ,从而使得PPV衍生物的荧光在很大程度上被C60 分子所猝灭 ;MD PPV/C60 组合膜中观测到了C-60 的吸收峰 ,这表明该体系存在着基态电荷转移过程 ,同时也表明PPV衍生物与C60 分子间的相互作用和PPV的侧链长短密切相关。