AC electrical behaviour of a Pb2CrO5 ceramic sample with surface electrodes

ac measurements (1 Hz–10 kHz) have been carried out on a Pb₂CrO₅ ceramic sample (with surface electrodes) at room temperature as a function of voltage and intensity of visible light illuminating the sample. Cole-Cole complex impedance plots show that the electrical behaviour of Pb₂CrO₅ is strongly modified when the sample is illuminated. The bulk conductance of the sample is found to increase with increasing light intensity indicating that this dielectric material becomes semiconducting due to the photogeneration of free charge carriers in the conduction band. The dielectric constant of the sample is enhanced by illumination probably due to light-dependent space charge effects in a manner where the dielectric's relaxation time (=RC=0.7 ms) remains constant with light intensity. On the other hand, both the bulk conductance and geometrical capacitance of the sample have been found to be almost independent of the applied voltage.     

One-on-One and R-on-One Tests on KDP and DKDP Crystals with Different Orientations

By testing a substantial number of tripler and z-cut KDP and DKDP crystals, we have observed that at 355nm, the laser induced damage threshold in the R-on-one test is higher than that in the one-on-one test. It is proved that laser conditioning is an efficient way to improve the damage resistance. The efficiency of laser conditioning becomes increasingly good with smaller ramping fluence steps. We have also found that the damage resistance of the z-cut crystal is higher than the triplet cut, and the pinpoint number is definitely less in the z-cut crystal. The reason for these observations is discussed.     

A Thermal Approach to Model Laser Damage in KDP and DKDP Crystals

A thermal model is considered in order to better understand the mechanism of laser induced damage in KDP and DKDP crystals. We demonstrate that the expressions of pinpoint density and damage probability, predicted by the thermal model, are consistent with the experimental data. We also discuss the effect of particle interaction on the thermal model.     

Subwavelength Imaging in a One-Dimensional Metal-Dielectric Structure

We analyse the dispersion relation of a one-dimensional （1D） metal-dielectric （MD） structure for H-polarized light （i.e. the magnetic field is parallel to the interfaces of the layers） and use the transfer matrix method to simulate the subwavelength image effect through the 1D-MD structure. The structure operates in the self-collimation regime, and does not involve negative refraction or amplification of evanescent waves. The Fabry-Perot resonance effect is studied in order to obtain optimum parameters for maximum transmission. A resolution of ）λ/10 for a single point source is achieved when the thickness of the 1D-MD is about 300 nm. Taking into account the actual values of the dielectric constants of the metal （silver） and the dielectric （HfO2） layers, we find that a silver/HfO2 stack, with suitable parameters, has a resolution of λ/5 at visible wavelengths.     

Influence of Concentration of Vanadium in Zinc Oxide on Structural and Optical Properties with Lower Concentration

ZnO films doped with different vanadium concentrations are deposited onto glass substrates by dc reactive magnetron sputtering using a zinc target doped with vanadium. The vanadium concentrations are examined by energy dispersive spectroscopy （EDS） and the charge state of vanadium in ZnO thin films is characterized by x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The results of x-ray diffraction （XRD） show that all the films have a wurtzite structure and grow mainly in the c-axis orientation. The grain size and residual stress in the deposited films are estimated by fitting the XRD results. The optical properties of the films are studied by measuring the transmittance. The optical constants （refractive index and extinction coefficient） and the film thickness are obtained by fitting the transmittance. All the results are discussed in relation with the doping of the vanadium.     

Spectral Hole-Burning of Eu^3＋：Y2SiO5 Crystal at 16 K

By using an Ar^＋ ion laser, a tunable Rh 6G dye laser （linewidth 0.5cm^-1） pumped by the second harmonic of a YAG：Nd laser and a Coherent 899-21 dye laser as light sources and using a monochromator, a phase-locking amplifier and a computer as the data detecting system, we detect the optical properties of Eu^3＋-doped Y2SiO5 crystal. Persistent ,spectral hole burning （PSHB） are observed in the Eu^3＋ ions spectral lines （^5 Do-T Fo transition） in the crystal at the temperature of 16K. For 15mW dye laser burning the crystal for 0.1 s spectral holes with hole width about 80 MHz both at 579.62nm and at 579.82nm are detected and the holes can remain for a long time, more than 10h.     

Multilayer Au/TiO2Composite Films with Ultrafast Third-Order Nonlinear Optical Properties

We report on the ultrafast third-order optical nonlinearity in multilayer Au/TiO2 composite films fabricated on quartz substrates by pulsed laser deposition technique. The linear optical properties of the films are determined and optical absorption peaks due to surface plasmon resonance of Au particles are observed at about 590hm. The third-order optical nonlinearities of the films are investigated by z-scan method using a femtosecond laser （50 fs） at the wavelength of 800 nm. The sample showed fast nonlinear optical responses with nonlinear absorption coefficient and nonlinear refractive index being -3.66 × 10^-10 m/W and -2.95 × 10^-17 m^2/W, respectively. The results also show that the nonlinear optical effects increase with the increasing Au concentration in the composite films.     

Spectroscopic properties of Tm -doped Ba3Gd2(BO3)4 crystal

crystal with the size up to Φ 13 mm×44 mm was grown successfully by the Czochralski technique and its optical properties were presented. The absorption cross-section and emission cross-section were presented. Also, the potential laser gain near 1.9 μm was investigated. In the framework of the Judd-Ofelt (J-O) theory, the intensity parameters were calculated to be: Ω₂=11.375×10⁻²⁰ cm², Ω₄=5.077×10⁻²⁰ cm² and Ω₆=6.524×10⁻²⁰ cm². The spectroscopic parameters of this crystal such as the oscillator strengths, radiative transition probabilities, radiative lifetime as well as the branching ratios were calculated, too. This crystal is promising as a tunable infrared laser crystal.     

Observation of dark dot splitting pattern in terbium gallium garnet

We have observed a new polarisation pattern in terbium gallium garnet which is both laser excited and mechanically stressed. The pattern can be characterized by a splitting from a “one dot” structure to a “two dots” structure. We have found that the new pattern is very sensitive to the orientation and the strength of the external forces applied to the sample. Thanks to this sensitivity and to the image simplicity, this new effect may be used in a vectorial force sensor and actuator. Received: 25 March 1999 / Accepted: 20 April 1999 / Published online: 25 August 1999     

Laser conditioning and nonlinear absorption of LaF3/MgF2 dielectric multilayers at 193 nm

A sensitive and simple pulsed surface thermal lens (TL) technique is used in situ to investigate the laser conditioning and to measure the nonlinear absorption of LaF₃/MgF₂ dielectric multilayers deposited on CaF₂ substrates at 193 nm. Due to the high single-shot sensitivity of the surface TL technique, the laser conditioning can be monitored from the first shot of irradiation on a shot-by-shot basis. The LaF₃/MgF₂ multilayers show a very strong conditioning effect. The ratio of the absorption before and after the laser irradiation is in the range 4–8 for a highly reflective (LH)²⁰ LaF₃/MgF₂ multilayer, and 3–4 for (1L3H)⁷ and (3L1H)⁷ multilayers. In comparison, a (LH)²⁰ LaF₃/AlF₃ multilayer shows only a weak conditioning effect, with an absorption ratio of approximately 1.4. Our experimental results suggest that the strong conditioning effect of the LaF₃/MgF₂ multilayer is due to the absorption conditioning of the LaF₃ layers. However, the MgF₂ layers are shown to be responsible for the considerable increase in LaF₃ absorption as well as the ability to condition the absorption. The fluoride multilayers present non-negligible nonlinear absorption and the two-photon absorption coefficient of the multilayers is estimated to be approximately 5×10^-7 cm/W. Received: 11 December 2000 / Accepted: 20 February 2001 / Published online: 25 July 2001     

Negative Goos-Hanchen Effect in Thin-Film Fabry-Perot Filter

We investigate the Goos-Hgnchen effect of a Gaussian light beam reflected by the thin-film Fabry-Perot filter. It is shown that the Goos-Hanchen shift can be either negative or positive, The Gaussian-beam analysis and stationary phase method are introduced to calculate the lateral shift between the incident beam and the reflected beam at different wavelengths and to analyse the Goos-Hgnchen effect in the thin-film Fabry-Perot filter, The effect of the incident beam diameter is also discussed,     

Upconversion in YAlO3:Er pumped at 800 nm

Fluorescence at 3 m and 545 nm in a YAlO₃:Er (30 at.%) crystal has been measured as a function of wavelength, intensity and polarization for the excitation in the 800 nm wavelength region. Emission at 545 nm is an indicator of losses for 3 m emission due to excited-state absorption and upconversion. The experimental results allow to determine the excitation mechanisms, the upconversion coefficient W ₂ and the optimum pump wavelengths to generate 3 m radiation.     

Characterization of SnO2/Pb2CrO5 thin film/metal photovoltaic device

The photovoltaic behavior in a design of SnO₂/Pb₂CrO₅ thin film/metal (Au or Al) is described as functions of light intensity and wavelength for two different illumination directions. The Pb₂CrO₅ thin film in each device is formed over the SnO₂ coated glass substrate by an electron-beam evaporation technique. When illuminated from the metal side, the device with Au or Al shows the positive or the negative photovoltage, respectively. For the illumination from the SnO₂ side, the device with Au has the negative photovoltage at the short wavelength, and the positive one at the longer, while the device with Al has the negative photovoltage at both wavelength regions. These photovoltaic devices have two junctions at both sides of the Pb₂CrO₅ thin film. The band model of each device is also discussed.     

Effect of Rapid Thermal Annealing on the Formation of In-N Clusters in Strained InGaNAs

A model for the effect of rapid thermal annealing on the formation of In-N clusters in strained GalnNAs is developed according to thermodynamics. In the model, the lowest annealing temperature influencing the redistribution of atoms is introduced. The average variation of energy for formation per In-N bond is obtained by fitting the experimental values. Using the present model, we calculate the average number of nearest-neighbor In atoms per N atom after annealing. The obtained results are compared with the experiment. The qualitative analysis and quantitative analysis are in good agreement with each other. The model is helpful to explain the essence of the blueshift caused by annealing.     

Temperature-Dependent Defect-Induced New Emission in ZnSe Crystal

The temperature-dependent photoluminescence behaviour of chemical vapour transport （CVT）-grown ZnSe crystal is investigated. A new emission band appears when temperature is reduced to 155K. It is shown that the new emission band is strongly related to defect emission peaked at around 2.1 eV. The emergence of the new emission band is accompanied by decreasing emission intensity of free exciton, as well as redshiR of defect emission with temperature decreases. The activated energy of the defect state is estimated to be 60.6 meV, which is approximately equal to the energy difference between the new emission and the free exciton emission at 155K.     

Effect of Media on the Electric Field of a Rhombic Nanostructure Array

Electric field distribution is an important parameter for nanostructure arrays in nanobiosensing appfications. It can influence the sensitivity and the resolution of nanobiosensors. We focus on the effect of media on the electric field distribution of a rhombic silver nanostructure array. The finite-difference time-domain algorithm- based numerical calculation method is used to monitor the electric field distribution of the silver nanostructures when the refractive index of the medium around the nanostructure array is changed. The calculated results show that tuning the refractive index of the medium around silver can have a considerable influence on the electric field distribution in the reflection and transmission directions. This effect can be used to increase the extinction efficiency and to improve the resolution of the spectra for nanobiosensing.     

Study of the order–disorder transition and martensitic transformation in a Cu–Al–Be alloy by EELS

Changes in 3d states occupancy associated with order–disorder transition and martensitic transformation in a Cu–Al–Be alloy was investigated by electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS) in both high energy and low energy loss regions. From the high energy loss region, the Cu L_2,3 white-line intensities, which reflect the unoccupied density of states in 3d bands, was measured for three states of the alloy: disordered austenite, ordered austenite and martensite. It was found that the white-line intensity remains the same during order–disorder transition but appears slightly smaller in martensite, indicating that some electrons left Cu 3d bands or some hybridization took place during phase transformation. From the low energy loss region, the optical joint density of states (OJDS) was obtained by Kramers–Kronig analysis. As maxima observed in the OJDS spectra are assigned to interband transitions, these spectra can be used to probe changes in the electronic band structure. The analysis shows that during the martensitic transformation, the peaks positions and relative intensities in the OJDS spectra undergoes noticeable changes, which are associated with interband transitions.     

Magnetic anisotropy of textured CrO2 thin films investigated by X-ray magnetic circular dichroism

Highly a-axis-textured CrO₂ films have been deposited on Al₂O₃ (0001) substrates by chemical vapor deposition. CrO₂ has been found to have highly a-axis (010)-oriented columnar growth on a Cr₂O₃ (0001) initial layer. The six-fold surface symmetry of the Cr₂O₃ initial layer leads to three equivalent in-plane orientations of the a-axis-oriented CrO₂ unit cell. We report Cr L_2,3 X-ray magnetic circular dichroism data along the surface normal and at 60° off-normal sample orientation. For a 60° sample alignment, a strong increase of the projected orbital moment could be observed for unoccupied majority t_2g states using moment analysis. Therefore, the c axis is identified as the intrinsic magnetic easy axis of CrO₂. In addition, a small spin moment and a very strong magnetic dipole term T_z have been found. Received: 8 January 2002 / Accepted: 8 January 2002     

Investigation of Ag2O Thermal Decomposition by Terahertz Time-Domain Spectroscopy

Application of terahertz time-domain spectroscopy is demonstrated to study the process of Ag2O thermal decomposition. In the process of decomposition, the time-resolved signals are characterized by broad oscillations and decreased intensity, and Tttz pulse essentially contains two broad spectral components： one centered at around 0.35 THz and a band with a maximum at around 0.81 THz shift to 0.71 THz. Optical absorption spectra of different specimens are studied in the frequency range 0.3-1.4 THz and the data are analyzed by the relevant theory of the effective medium approach combined with the Drude-Lorentz model. The analysis suggests that optical properties stem from the Drude term for the metallic phase and the Lorentz term for the insulator phase in the complex system.     

Optimization of F-doped SnO2 electrodes for organic photovoltaic devices

Fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) thin films have been investigated as an alternative to indium tin oxide anodes in organic photovoltaic devices. The structural, electrical, and optical properties of the FTO films grown by pulsed laser deposition were studied as a function of oxygen deposition pressure. For 400 nm thick FTO films deposited at 300°C and 6.7 Pa of oxygen, an electrical resistivity of 5×10⁻⁴ Ω-cm, sheet resistance of 12.5 Ω/□, average transmittance of 87% in the visible range, and optical band gap of 4.25 eV were obtained. Organic photovoltaic (OPV) cells based on poly(3-hexylthiophene)/[6,6]-phenyl-C₆₁-butyric acid methyl ester bulk heterojunctions were prepared on FTO/glass electrodes and the device performance was investigated as a function of FTO film thickness. OPV cells fabricated on the optimum FTO anodes (∼300–600 nm thick) exhibited power conversion efficiencies of ∼3%, which is comparable to the same device made on commercial ITO/glass electrodes (3.4%).