Investigation of the interference field of two spherical waves for holographic recording of precision radial diffraction gratings

Precision radial diffraction gratings with a spatial pitch down to 1 μm, and with a line number over the ring area of up to half a million, are obtained through multiple recordings of a radial interference field segment. The radial field is produced by two spherical coherent waves. The spatial distribution of the interference fringes is analysed. Equations are provided for determination of the coordinates of the wave centres, taking into account the pitch and the radius of the grating to be recorded, as well as for estimation of interference field errors.     

Line Parameters for Ozone Hot Bands in the 3.3-μm Spectral Region

Line positions, intensities, and lower state energies have been calculated for eight hot bands of ¹⁶O₃ in the 3.3-μm spectral region. The results are based on spectroscopic parameters deduced in recent high-resolution laboratory studies and improved rotational energy levels of the (103), (004), and (310) vibrational states derived by refitting earlier data and experimental (004) energy levels from measurements of the 4ν₃ - ν₃ hot band. The good quality of the new parameters has been verified through comparisons of line-by-line simulations with high-resolution laboratory spectra. The present work and the results of our analyses of the main bands at 3.6 μm [Smith et al., J. Mol. Spectrosc.139, 171-181 (1990)] and 3.3 μm [Camy-Peyret et al., J. Mol. Spectrosc.141, 134-144 (1990)] provide a complete set of ozone spectroscopic line parameters covering the 3-μm region.     

Use of confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) for depthwise resolved microscale-particle image velocimetry (μ-PIV)

A novel use of confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) makes the truly focused field-of-view with well-defined depthwise resolution possible for microscale particle image velocimetry (μ-PIV) applications. The operating principle of the CLSM is presented using the point spread function (PSF) that describes diffracted images of extremely small particles. The implemented high-speed CLSM system using a Nipkow rotating disk is applied to measure the microscale rotating Couette flow field confined between two parallel horizontal disks that are 180-μm apart, with the bottom one stationary and the top one rotating and seeded by 200-nm fluorescent spheres. The CLSM provides much distinct particle images in comparison with the conventional wide-field microscopy (WFM) and the measured vector profiles are more concentric and accurate depicting closer to an ideal Couette flow.     

Analysis of nonlinearity in a high-resolution grating interferometer

Metrological feasibilities of a high-resolution grating interferometer (GI) based on a transverse Zeeman laser are investigated. When the grating pitch equals 20 μm, a resolution of 0.7 nm is obtained by means of a heterodyne signal processing method. The comparison of two approaches for determining the residual nonlinearity is presented. One is to evaluate the maximum residual error by determining the amplitude modulation degree of the measurement signal. The other is to do a high precision calibration with a differential dual-frequency interferometer that has a higher precision. The experimental results show that the nonlinearity is no more than 25 nm which fits well with the estimating result. Analysis of the depolarization effect of the grating indicates that it has little influence on the measurement accuracy.     

1.3-μm GaInAsP/InP Multi-Quantum-Well Surface-Emitting Lasers

A multi-quantum-well (MQW) active layer has been introduced to 1.3-μm GaInAsP/InP surface-emitting (SE) lasers. Room temperature pulsed operation of a 1.3-μm MQW SE laser was obtained for the first time and its threshold current was 15 mA. CW (continuous wave) operation up to 7°C (threshold current 1_th=7.6 mA at 7°C) was achieved.     

Design and fabrication of planar blazed grating for LC rear-projection display system

Design and fabrication of planar blazed grating for single-panel LC rear-projection display system are presented. The structure of planar blazed grating is designed to disperse the incident visible light and achieve a high diffraction efficiency in a specified direction corresponding to a specified order. Two economical fabrication methods are studied. By ultrahigh-precision cutting technology, the continuous-relief planar gratings with the structure line width 0.96 and 1.5 μm are fabricated. In addition, other grating with the structure line width 2.5 μm is fabricated by using excimer laser dragging. Comparing the two fabrication results, the second one has smoother surface and smaller spacing error but the vertex angle is not enough sharp and the structure line width is limited.     

Gain and threshold properties of InGaAsN/GaAsN material system for 1.3-μm semiconductor lasers

The gain properties and valence subbands of InGaAsN/GaAsN quantum-well structures are numerically investigated with a self-consistent LASTIP simulation program. The simulation results show that the InGaAsN/GaAsN has lower transparency carrier density than the conventional InGaAsP/InP material system for 1.3-μm semiconductor lasers. The material gain and radiative current density of InGaAsN/GaAsN with different compressive strains in quantum well and tensile strains in barrier are also studied. The material gain and radiative current density as functions of strain in quantum well and barrier are determined. The simulation results suggest that the laser performance and Auger recombination rate of the 1.3-μm InGaAsN semiconductor laser may be markedly improved when the traditional GaAs barriers are replaced with the AlGaAs graded barriers.     

Influence of microsupersonic gas jets on nanosecond laser percussion drilling

This paper reports on etching rates and hole quality for nanosecond laser percussion drilling of 200-μm thick 316L stainless steel performed with micro supersonic gas jets. The assist-gas jets were produced using nozzles of 200, 300 and 500 μm nominal throat diameters. Air and oxygen were used separately for the process gas in the drilling trials and the drilling performance was compared to drilling in ambient conditions. The highest etch rate of 1.2 μm per pulse was obtained in the ambient atmosphere condition, but this was reduced by about 50% with assist-air jets from the 200 μm nozzle. Increasing the jet diameter and/or using oxygen assist gas also decreased the etching rate and increased the hole diameter. The 200 μm nozzle using air-assist jets produced the least amount of recast and gave the best compromise for etching rate. A combination of plasma shielding and different gas dynamic conditions inside the holes and at the surface are correlated to the observations of different drilling rates and hole characteristics.     

Q-switching of a diode-pumped Nd : YVO4 laser with GaAs nonlinear output coupler

Passive Q-switching of a diode-pumped Nd : YVO₄ laser was demonstrated using GaAs as an output coupler and as a saturable absorber. When pumped with a 3-W diode laser at 809 nm, the highly compact laser produced 12-μJ pulses of 2.2 ns in duration at 1.064 μm in a single transverse mode, corresponding to a peak power of 5.6 kW.     

Development of x-ray scintillator functioning also as an analyser grating used in grating-based x-ray differential phase contrast imaging

In order to push the grating-based phase contrast imaging system to be used in hospital and laboratories,this paper designs and develops a novel structure of x-ray scintillator functioning also as an analyser grating,which has been proposed for grating-based x-ray differential phase contrast imaging. According to this design,the scintillator should have a periodical structure in one dimension with the pitch equaling the period of self-image of the phase grating at the Talbot distance,where one half of the pitch is pixellated and is made of x-ray sensitive fluorescent material,such as CsI(Tl),and the remaining part of the pitch is made of x-ray insensitive material,such as silicon. To realize the design,a deep pore array with a high aspect ratio and specially designed grating pattern are successfully manufactured on 5 inch silicon wafer by the photo-assisted electrochemical etching method. The related other problems,such as oxidation-caused geometrical distortion,the filling of CsI(Tl) into deep pores and the removal of inside bubbles,have been overcome. Its pixel size,depth and grating pitch are 3 μm×7.5 μm,150 μm and 3 μm,respectively. The microstructure of the scintillator has been examined microscopically and macroscopically by scanning electron microscope and x-ray resolution chart testing,respectively. The preliminary measurements have shown that the proposed scintillator,also functioning as an analyser grating,has been successfully designed and developed.     

Analytical modeling of loss characteristics of a polymer arrayed waveguide grating multiplexer

Theoretical analysis is performed for the loss characteristics of a polymer arrayed waveguide grating (AWG) multiplexer around the central wavelength of 1.55 μm with the wavelength spacing of 1.6 nm. The total loss of the device includes the diffraction loss in the input and output (I/O) slab waveguides, bent loss caused by the AWG and I/O channels, leakage loss resulted from the high refractive index substrate, and propagation loss due to the absorption and scattering of the materials of the device. The effects of some structural parameters on the loss characteristics are investigated and discussed. The computed results show that when we select the core thickness as 4 μm, core width as 6 μm, pitch of adjacent waveguides as 15.5 μm, diffraction order as 50, the number of the arrayed waveguides as 91, that of the I/O channels as 17, confined layer thickness between the core and the substrate as 10 μm, distance between the focal point and the origin as 5500 μm, and central angle between the central waveguide and the x-axis (i.e. the vertical of the symmetrical line of the device) as 60°, the total loss of the device can be dropped to the range 3.79–7.93 dB.     

Microstructures of patterned nc-Si superlattices made by pulsed laser interference crystallization

We employed atomic force microscopy, cross-section transmission electron microscopy and high-resolution electron microscopy to investigate the microstructures and surface morphology of laser interference crystallized a-Si : H/a-SiN_x : H superlattices. The experimental results show that Si nanocrystallites (nc-Si) are formed within the initial a-Si : H sublayers and are patterned in certain regions with the same periodicity of 2.0 μ m as the phase-shifting mask grating. The size of nc-Si is limited by adjacent a-SiN _x: H sublayers due to the constrained crystallization effect so it is possible to use this crystallization method to get a three-dimensional ordered nc-Si array.     

InGaAsSb negative luminescent devices with built-in cavities emitting at 3.9 μm

An As₂S₃ fiber coupled to an InGaAsSb photodiode was used to record the radiation distribution over the emitting surface in InGaAsSb episide-down-bonded negative luminescence devices (λ=3.9 μm). Emission spectra were recorded under forward and reverse bias and both were modulated by a Fabry–Perot resonator formed by the anode contact and emitting InAs surface in 45-μm thick diodes. The results show that the current/emission distribution crowds in the vicinity of the contact under forward bias, while a uniform current/emission distribution over the emitting surface is seen under reverse bias.     

Enhanced photoluminescence intensity of 1.3-μm multi-layer InAs/InGaAs dots-in-well structure using the high growth temperature spacer layer step

The effects of growth temperature of the GaAs spacer layers (SPLs) on the photoluminescence (PL) efficiency of multi-layer GaAs-based 1.3-μm InAs/InGaAs dots-in-well (DWELL) structures have been investigated. It is found that the PL intensity of DWELLs is enhanced by incorporating a high growth temperature step for GaAs SPLs. This improved PL efficiency could be understood in term of reducing the non-radiative recombination centers. An extremely low continuous-wave room-temperature threshold current density of 35 A/cm² is achieved for an as-cleaved 5-layer device with emission at 1.31 μm by using this growth technique.     

Testing micro devices with fringe projection and white-light interferometry

Optical sensors are very suitable for the analysis of microscopic structures and micro devices. We compare two very promising methods: the white-light interferometry and the fringe projection technique for the application to this task. The fringe projection is very useful for fast measurement of objects with vertical dimensions of some μm. White-light interferometry is especially useful for highly resolved 3-D measurements. Furthermore, we present a new technique, the scanning fringe projection (SFP), which enables absolute 3-D measurements with one single grating period.     

An Advanced Signal Processing Technique Designed for Multilevel Signal Optical Disc System

We propose a novel signal processing technique by which we can increase the effective signal to noise ratio of optical discs. This technique is capable of reducing the influence of random noise even when the playback signal contains a distortion. We apply this signal processing technique to single carrier independent pit edge recording optical disc system. When a linear recording density of 0.2 μm/bit and a track pitch of 0.8 μm for an optical pickup is used in a DVD pickup (γ =635 nm, NA=0.6), the experimental results show that the system can obtain tangential and radial skew margins of ±0.5° and ±0.75°, respectively. From the experimental results, we estimate that the proposed method is capable of increasing the capacity of DVD by a factor of about 1.2.     

Realization of high sensitivity displacement field from moiré interferometer with rough phase shifting mechanism and pattern matching technique

In this study, phase shifting method is used to modify moiré system into micro moiré interferometer which can measure displacement field with highly improved sensitivity. Apart from existing micro moiré technique, a low cost and less precise translation stage with rough resolution (10 μm resolution) is adapted for the phase shifter. Least square algorithm is applied to estimate the arbitrary phase shifted amount and to minimize the errors induced by lowering the cost. Moreover, specimen grating is phase shifted instead of reference grating which enables simple construction from given moiré system. To compensate for rigid body in-plane translation of specimen that may occur during phase shifting, pattern matching algorithm is put into practice to ensure pixel correspondence for each phase shifted images. To verify the newly constructed micro moiré technique, local displacement fields of Fine pitch Ball Grid Array package and Wafer Level Chip Size Package with elevated sensitivity up to 26 nm per fringe was acquired.     

Passive Q-switching at 1.54 μm of an Er–Yb: GdCa4O(BO3)3 laser with a Co2+: MgAl2O4 saturable absorber

We report, for the first time to our knowledge, efficient passive Q-switching of the 1.54-μm laser transition in an Er–Yb-doped crystalline medium. The laser configuration is a compact microchip design that is suitable for a range of practical applications such as range finding and lidar. The slope efficiency of 11.6%, pulse duration of 5–6 ns and average output power of 88 mW are all comparable with standard Er–Yb:glass lasers.     

High electric-field-induced strain of Pb(Mg 1/3 Nb 2/3 )O 3 -PbTiO 3 crystals and their application in multilayer actuators

Electric-field-induced strain behavior of differently oriented and componential (1-x)Pb(Mg_1/3Nb_2/3)O₃xPbTiO₃ (PMNT) crystals was investigated. An optimum composition range (29%≤x≤31%) of 〈001〉-oriented PMNT crystals was ascertained for multilayer actuator applications, which exhibited high-strain and low-hysteresis behavior. The rhombohedral (monoclinic)–tetragonal phase-transition behavior in PMNT single crystals is dependent on their thermal and electric history, which markedly impacts on the strain performance of the crystals. In contrast to PZT-SF (doped PZT ceramics) multilayer actuators, the strain values for 20-layer PMNT actuators with individual element sizes of 6×6×0.3 mm³ are larger by more than five times at 20 kV/cm (0.373% compared to 0.072%), and 23-μm displacements can been achieved. Against 40-N load, the displacements are decreased to 20.2 μm. PACS 77.80.Bh; 77.80.-e; 77.65.Dq; 77.65.Ly; 77.22.-d     

Estimation of the Refractive Index Change in Glass Induced by Femtosecond Laser Pulses

It is known that local refractive index change occurs when femtosecond laser pulses with extremely high peak power are launched into glass. We focused 130-femtosecond laser pulses of 800 nm into the bulk of glass and examined the shape of the induced refractive index change. We found that the length of the spot of the refractive index change along the optical axis reached about 30 μm despite the diameter being about 2 μm. To estimate the distribution of induced refractive index change, we fabricated Bragg grating by scanning the focused spot and calculated the amount of the change by applying Kogelnik’s coupled mode theory to the measured diffraction efficiencies of the higher order diffracted beams.