TM–TE hybridization and tunable refraction in magnetophotonic crystals

In the present work we study the photonic band structure (PBS) and the polarization state of the Bloch eigenmodes of a two-dimensional magnetophotonic crystal (MPC) with square lattice formed from magneto-optically (MO) active cylinders. The refraction of light at the boundary of the MPC is analyzed. We found that both—the PBS and eigenmodes of the MPC—are most significantly altered by the MO activity in the vicinity of the degeneracies. For this case we demonstrated the possibility of an abrupt change in the propagation direction of light by the application of a magnetic field. For the Bloch wave vectors and frequencies corresponding to non-degenerate branches, the alteration of the PBS is shown to be negligible and eigenmodes almost completely coincide with linearly TE- and/or TM-polarized eigenmodes of the non-magnetic photonic crystal.     

Heat Assisted Magnetic Recording with Matching Media and Recording Head Field

The dynamic performance of heat assisted magnetic recording （HAMR） on different media is investigated. Signal and signal-to-noise ratio enhancement are achieved in high coereivity perpendicular media with the aid of laser heating. Linear recording density is increased while saturation write current is lowered. Trailing field partial erasure is observed in lower coercivity media with a ring head, which causes signal reduction with increasing write current or application of a laser. Precautions should be taken against partial erasure in overall recording system optimization of HAMR in order to achieve ultrahigh recording density.     

An effective method for improving diffraction performance of magnetostatic backward volume wave-based magneto-optic Bragg cells by using an appropriately tilted bias magnetic field in YIG film plane

The universal magneto-optic (MO) coupled-mode equations for magnetostatic waves (MSWs) and guided optical waves (GOWs) under arbitrarily tilted bias magnetic fields are presented for the first time and, as an example, applied to the noncollinear Stokes interaction between the incident TE₀-mode light and magnetostatic backward volume wave (MSBVW) excited by single-element microstrip line transducer in yttrium–iron–garnet (YIG) film. Our calculation indicates that, for the case of magnetization parallel to the MSBVW propagation direction, the diffraction efficiency (DE) is equal to the mode-conversion efficiency of the diffracted lights (MCDE) and the calculated curve of relative DE for the MSBVW-based MO Bragg cell in pure YIG waveguide is in good agreement with the experimental data. In contrast, the diffraction performance can be greatly improved by optimizing the bias magnetic field and the DE gain can be increased by 6.3 dB in the tangentially magnetized film. The angular dependences of the DE and the corresponding Bragg angle upon the magnetization direction are also discussed in the paper.     

High-density all-optical magnetic recording using a high-NA lens illuminated by circularly polarized pulse lights

We propose a method for high-density all-optical magnetic recording. Our analyses, based on the vector diffraction theory, show that owing to the inverse Faraday effect, circularly polarized laser pulses focused by a high numerical aperture (NA) lens can induce a small magnetization domain. For an example, the FWHM of the effective magnetization domain is 0.4646λ when NA=0.85. The magnetization direction is basically perpendicular to the surface of the optic-magneto film within the effective magnetization domain and the switching direction of magnetization can be controlled by the helicity of the incident circularly polarized light. These characteristics are useful to next-generation high-density all-optical magnetic storage.     

Investigation of the Imaging Polarization Effect Based on a Pixellated CdZnTe Detector

A pixel array CdZnTe imaging system, employing a 40 × 40× 5 mm^3 pixellated CdZnTe detector, is established. The imaging polarization effect in the CdZnTe pixellated detector for a collimated CS137 Gamma source is investigated in detail. The experimental results for different irradiated fluxes indicate that excessive irradiated flux indeed causes central pixels to be shut off completely. The imaging performance of the polarized detector is severely degraded. Polarized detector counts are simultaneously reduced to one-third of the non-polarized detector counts. A theoretical model of potential distribution is also proposed by solving the Poisson equation and, in turn, the electric potential distortion for high irradiated flux is discussed by comparison with the experimental results.     

Optimized factor of merit of the magneto-optical Kerr effect of ferromagnetic thin films

This paper deals with the optimization of the factor of merit of the magneto-optical Kerr effect of a resonant multilayer cavity including a ferromagnetic film. This optimization is of interest in the context of optical storage technology. Using numerical simulations based on the Green's dyadic technique, we discuss a route to obtain magneto-optical multilayers with a vanishing ellipticity and factors of merit (with respect to the bulk magnetic material) larger than 3 on a broad range of wavelengths, significantly higher than the actual state of the art. Received 21 May 1999     

Magneto-optical spectroscopy of Yb ions in huntite structure

We report the first measurements of magnetic circular dichroism (MCD) and magneto-optical activity (ratio of zero moments of MCD and absorption bands) of Yb³⁺ ion in the trigonal single crystals Yb_xTm_1−xAl₃(BO₃)₄ as a function of temperature in the range of 100-293 K. Magneto-optical activity follows the Curie-Weiss law with the Weiss constant θ=−55 K for Yb_0.1Tm_0.9Al₃(BO₃)₄ crystal. The value and origin of the magneto-optical activity is theoretically analyzed.     

Reduction of optical absorption at a wavelength of around 0.8 μm in LPE garnet (TmBiCa)3(FeGaPt)5O12

Liquid-phase epitaxy (LPE) garnet films (TmBiCa)₃(FeGaPt)₅O₁₂ have been grown using only Bi₂O₃ as the flux so that the film containing Bi gives high specific Faraday rotation. The film does not contain Pb, which may affect optical absorption. The optical absorption coefficient at 810 nm has been effectively reduced by doping Ca in the melt. Our data show that a minimum level of and of the anisotropy constantK _u and also the maximum of the electrical resistivity are achieved when Ca²⁺ replaces Fe²⁺. Fe²⁺ results from Pt⁴⁺ incorporation in the film due to a Bi₂O₃ flux attack on a Pt crucible. Using a compensated film, of 58 cm^–1 and a figure of merit of 9deg/dB were obtained.     

Effect of TiO2 Nanotubes on Polymer-Fullerene Bulk Heterojunction Solar Cells

We investigate the photovoltaic properties of hybrid organ/c solar cell based on the blend of poly[2-methoxy-5-（2- ethylhexoxy-l,4-phenylenevinylene） （MEH-PPV）, C60 and titanium dioxide （TiO2） nanotubes. In comparison of the composite devices with different TiO2：[MEH-PPV ＋C60] weight ratios of lw$.% （D1-1）, 2wt.% （D1-2）, 3wt.% （D1-3）, 5wt.% （D1-4）, 10wt.% （D1-5） and 20wt.% （D1-6）, it is found that the device Dl-a exhibits the best performance. The conversion efficiency is improved by a factor of 3 compared with the MEH-PPV：C60 device.     

Diffuse Backscattering Mueller Matrices Patterns from Turbid Media

We present experimental measurements and theory of the diffusely backscattered Mueller matrix patterns that arise from illuminating a turbid medium with a polarized laser beam. Our technique employs polarized light from a He-Ne laser (λ=632.8nm) focused onto the surface of the scattering medium. A surface area of approximately 2×2 cm² centred on the light input point is imaged through polarization analysis optics onto a CCD camera. The Mueller matrix is reconstructed by 49 intensity measurements with various orientations of polarizer and analyser. The measured Mueller matrix of polystyrene spheres is compared with the theory result of incoherent scattering of light by spheres. It shows that the azimuthal patterns of the Mueller matrix are determined by the symmetry of the turbid media and the shape of scattering particles. The result is further proved by experiments with polystyrene spheres of different concentrations in de-ionized water.     

Motional Stark Effect and Its Active Cancellation in Diamagnetic Spectrum of Barium

With time-of-flight and electric field ionization detection technique, we investigate the motional Stark effect for highly excited Rydberg barium in high magnetic field and its active cancellation experimentally. In the experiment, the atom beam is aligned at a small angle of 15° with respect to the magnetic field. The motional Stark effect cancellation is demonstrated on two sets of. circularly polarized spectra in static magnetic field B = 1.00000 Tesla and B = 1.70000 Tesla, respectively, although the effect is very small （- 3.5 Vcm^-1） in our apparatus configuration.     

CPT Magnetometer with Atomic Energy Level Modulation

We propose and experimentally investigate a coherent population trapping state based magnetometer prototype with ^87Rb atoms. Through modulating Zeeman sublevels with an ac magnetic field, not only a phase sensitive detection scheme suitable for miniature magnetometer is realized, but also the detection resolution of magnetic field intensity could be improved by a factor of two. Our study result indicates that it is a promising low power consumption miniature sensitive low magnetic field sensor offering spatially resolved measurement at the sub-millimetre level.     

Highly Efficient Self-Starting Femtosecond Cr:Forsterite Laser

We report a highly efficient and high power self-starting femtosecond Cr：forsterite laser pumped by a 1064-nm Yb doped fibre laser. Five chirped mirrors are used to compensate for the intra-cavity group-delay dispersion, and the mode-locking is initiated by a semiconductor saturable absorber mirror （SESAM）. Under pump power of 7.9 W, stable femtosecond laser pulses with average power of 760mW are obtained, yielding a pump power slope efficiency of 12.3%. The measured pulse duration and spectral bandwidth （FWHM） are 46 fs and 45 nm; the repetition rate is 82 MHz.     

Magneto-optic Faraday effect in maghemite nanoparticles/silica matrix nanocomposites prepared by the Sol–Gel method

Bulk monolithic samples of γ-Fe₂O₃/SiO₂ composites with different iron oxide/silica ratios have been prepared by the sol–gel technique. Iron oxide nanoparticles are obtained in-situ during heat treatment of samples and silica matrix consolidation. Preparation method was previously optimized to minimize the percentage of antiferromagnetic α-Fe₂O₃ and parallelepipeds of roughly 2×5×12 mm³, with good mechanical stability, are obtained. RT magnetization curves show a non-hysteretic behavior. Thus, magnetization measurements have been well fitted to an expression that combines the Langevin equation with an additional linear term, indicating that some of the nanoparticles are still superparamagnetic as confirmed by X-ray diffraction and electron microscopy measurements. Zero field cooled /field cooled experiments show curves with slightly different shapes, depending on the size and shape distribution of nanoparticles for a given composition. Magneto-optical Faraday effect measurements show that the Faraday rotation is proportional to magnetization of the samples, as expected. As a demonstration of their sensing possibilities, the relative intensity of polarized light, measured at 5° from the extinction angle, was plotted versus applied magnetic field.     

The origin of the phase separation in partially deuterated κ-(ET)2Cu[N(CN)2]Br studied by infrared magneto-optical imaging spectroscopy

The direct observation of the phase separation between the metallic and insulating states of 75%-deuterated κ-(ET)₂Cu[N(CN)₂]Br (d33) using infrared magneto-optical imaging spectroscopy is reported, as well as the associated temperature, cooling rate, and magnetic field dependencies of the separation. The distribution of the center of spectral weight (〈ω〉) of d33 did not change under any of the conditions in which data were taken and was wider than that of the non-deuterated material. This result indicates that the inhomogenity of the sample itself is important as part of the origin of the metal-insulator phase separation.     

Structures and Equation of State of ε-Fe under High Pressure

The equation of state （EOS） and the axial ratio c/a of ε-Fe at high pressures are investigated by using the gen- eralized gradient approximation （GGA） within the plane-wave pseudopotential density functional theory （DFT）. The results show that at the lower pressure, the EOS of ferromagnetic ε-Fe is consistent with the experimental result. While at higher pressure, the EOS of the nonmagnetic ε-Fe is in good agreement with the experimental result. Meanwhile, we find an obvious increase of the axial ratio c/a with pressure, and there is only a small increase with increasing temperature at high pressure.     

Interacting Holographic Dark Energy in the Scalar Gauss-Bonnet Gravity

We study cosmological application of interacting holographic dark energy density in the scalar Gauss-Bonnet framework. We employ the interacting holographic model of dark energy to obtain the equation of state for the interacting holographic energy density in a spatially fiat universe. Our calculations show that taking Ω∧ = 0.73 for the present time, it is possible to have w∧^eff crossing -1. This implies that one can generate a phantom-like equation of state from the interacting holographic dark energy model in flat universe in the scalar Gauss-Bonnet cosmology framework. Then we reconstruct the potential of the scalar field.     

Ultrasonic Vibration Suspends Large Pendant Drops

A stationary substrate can suspend only small pendant drops even with excellent wetting ability because of gravity. We report the suspension of large pendant water drops by a copper substrate that vibrates ultrasonically with a frequency of 22 kHz. The mass of the largest pendant drop suspended by the vibrating substrate reaches 1.1 g, which is 9 times that by the same stationary substrate. The pendant drop deforms drasticaJly and quickly at both the beginning and the end of the vibration procedure. As the vibration power increases, the contact area between the drop and substrate expands and the drop height shrinks accordingly. Theoretical analysis indicates that the Bernoulli pressure induced by ultrasonic vibration may contribute strongly to enhancing the suspensibility of pendant drops.     

Influence of the Nonlinearity of Loudspeakers on the Performance of Thermoacoustic Refrigerators Driven by Current and Voltage

The influence of the nonlinearity of electrodynamic loudspeakers on the performance of thermoacoustic refrigerators with the loudspeakers as acoustic sources is studied by nonlinear equivalent circuit models of electrodynamic loudspeakers driven by current and voltage. The simulated results demonstrate that there are different nonlinear effects between current-drive and voltage-drive refrigerators, and the differences are mainly induced by the motional electromotive force caused by the coil moving in the magnetic field. With voltage driving, the influence of the nonlinearity of the loudspeaker on the diaphragm displacement and acoustic output power is much smaller than that with current driving. Therefore, considering the nonlinearity of the loudspeakers, a proper driving method must be chosen according to the practical applications although little difference is found with the linear models.