Comparison of the solutions from a novel variational method with numerical results for the study of beam propagation in a Kerr medium with nonlinear absorption

We present results from a novel variational method for the study of beam propagation in a Kerr medium with nonlinear absorption. This new method combines the variational method and a nonlinear absorption equation and gives a concise expression for the combination. The results obtained with this method show good quantitative agreement with numerical solutions obtained with the finite-difference method. It is shown that the variational method takes much less time than a numerical simulation with the finite-difference method for analysis of beam propagation in a thick medium with nonlinear absorption and nonlinear refraction. The new method makes detailed analysis of beam propagation in a Kerr medium with nonlinear absorption very simple and fast.     

Memory effects in the problem of light propagation in a Universe with inhomogeneities

The Jacobi equation on a geodesic of a Riemannian manifold with random curvature describes the propagation of light in a Universe with inhomogeneities. A formula for the effective space curvature is derived within the framework of a model with a gradual loss of memory. This curvature is shown to be negative for any correlation radius. The results are compared with the well-known results obtained within the framework of models with piecewise constant random curvature and a small correlation radius of curvature.     

Coherent scattering with pulsed matter beams

We present a quantum theory for the interaction of a quantum target with a time dependent matter beam. When several pulses in the incident beam arrive with a period tau, transitions between levels with an energy difference h/tau can be enhanced. Unlike all previous studies, we find that transitions in passive targets can distinguish between an incoherent beam and a beam with a coherent wave packet structure. As an example, we calculate the transition probability of Rb Rydberg atoms interacting with a pulsed electron beam.     

Heavy flags undergo spontaneous oscillations in flowing water

By immersing a compliant yet self-supporting sheet into flowing water, we study a heavy, streamlined, and elastic body interacting with a fluid. We find that above a critical flow velocity a sheet aligned with the flow begins to flap with a Strouhal frequency consistent with animal locomotion. This transition is subcritical. Our results agree qualitatively with a simple fluid dynamical model that predicts linear instability at a critical flow speed. Both experiment and theory emphasize the importance of body inertia in overcoming the stabilizing effects of finite rigidity and fluid drag.     

Hybrid diffractive-refractive 40° head-mounted display

The design of a head-mounted display with a field of view of 40 degrees and suitable for use with a micro display of 17.5 mm diagonal is presented. It is a combination of a diffractive-refractive eyepiece with an appropriate reflective relay system. The eyepiece design is based on a Kellner eyepiece. By replacing the cemented-doublet of the traditional eyepiece with a diffractive-refractive element (a plano-convex lens with the plane surface as the diffractive surface) an improved eyepiece is obtained. The proposed eyepiece shows a considerable reduction in physical size (which is particularly important for binocular systems) and weight, and exhibits superior performance compared to the traditional refractive type. It is emphasized that the proposed design has a performance that is well matched to a micro display with SXGA resolution.     

Geometry in transition: a model of emergent geometry

We study a three matrix model with global SO(3) symmetry containing at most quartic powers of the matrices. We find an exotic line of discontinuous transitions with a jump in the entropy, characteristic of a 1st order transition, yet with divergent critical fluctuations and a divergent specific heat with critical exponent alpha=1/2. The low temperature phase is a geometrical one with gauge fields fluctuating on a round sphere. As the temperature increased the sphere evaporates in a transition to a pure matrix phase with no background geometrical structure. Both the geometry and gauge fields are determined dynamically. It is not difficult to invent higher dimensional models with essentially similar phenomenology. The model presents an appealing picture of a geometrical phase emerging as the system cools and suggests a scenario for the emergence of geometry in the early Universe.     

The characteristics of laser micro drilling using a Bessel beam

A Bessel beam is suitable for laser micro-fabrication because it possesses both a micron-sized focal spot and a deep focal depth. As the influence of focusing aberrations is much smaller than that of a convex lens, the generation of a Bessel beam using an axicon is very practical. In the case of laser micro drilling of austenitic stainless steel with a Bessel beam, suitable processing conditions were investigated. The threshold fluence to make a through hole increased with an increase in the sample thickness. For samples with the same thickness, the threshold fluence increased with an increase in the crossing angle. A small crossing angle Bessel beam can drill a deep hole with a small threshold fluence. A through hole with a diameter smaller than 10 μm can be made on a stainless steel sheet 20 μm thick by using a Bessel beam with a large crossing angle. The taper of the hole drilled with the Bessel beam is smaller than that with the focused beam from the convex lens. PACS 52.38.Mf; 42.62.Cf; 42.79.Bh     

Bump formation on a glass surface with a transparent coating using femtosecond laser processing

The morphology of a glass surface having a transparent coating processed with focused femtosecond laser pulses is investigated. The transparent coating is formed of poly-methyl methacrylate (PMMA). When the glass was coated with a PMMA film with a thickness of 2.8 μm, bumps were formed over a wide range of axial focus positions. The same laser pulse energy produced cavities when processing bare glass with no coating. The bumps were formed as a result of suppressing material emission from the glass surface by a shielding effect of plasma generated by ablation of the PMMA film and by physical blocking of the PMMA film. A thinner film with a thickness of 0.7 μm produced a reduced shielding effect, forming an exploded bump with a small pit at its center and debris around the periphery. PACS 44.10.+i; 61.80.Ba; 79.20.Ds     

A geometrical interpretation of parity violation in gravity with torsion

In a space-time with torsion, the action for the gravitational field can be extended with a parity-violating piece. We show how to obtain such a piece from geometry itself, by suitably modifying the affine connection so as to include a pseudo-tensorial part. The merit of such an approach is that it provides one with a consistent method for incorporating parity-violation in the Lagrangians for matter fields with arbitrary spin in a space-time background with torsion.     

Random motion with interfacial contact: Driven diffusion vis-à-vis mechanical activation

Rolling of a small sphere on a patterned support of an elastomer is governed by a non-linear friction. No motion occurs when the external field is weaker than the frictional resistance. However, with the intervention of an external noise, a viscous friction like behavior emerges; thus the sphere rolls with a uniform drift velocity that is proportional to the applied field. At a very low noise strength, the sphere exhibits a stick-slip behavior with motion occurring always along the bias. With the increase in the noise strength, the sphere exhibits a diffusive drift accompanied with forward and backward displacements. During this stage of driven diffusive motion, the ratio of the integrated probabilities of the negative-to-positive work fluctuations decreases monotonically with the time of observation, from which a temperature like intensive parameter can be estimated. This parameter conforms to Einstein's ratio of diffusivity and mobility that increases almost linearly, even though the diffusivity increases super-linearly, with the strength of the noise. A new barrier crossing experiment is introduced that can be performed either with a hard (e.g. a steel ball) or with a soft (e.g. a water drop) sphere in contact with a periodically undulated substrate. The frequency of barrier crossing follows a transition state equation allowing a direct estimation of the effective temperature. These experiments as well as certain numerical simulations suggest that the effective temperature of a system controlled by a non-linear friction may not have a unique value.     

Strong field localization in subwavelength metal-dielectric optical waveguides

Detailed calculations of eigenmodes of waveguiding structures made of silver and glass and containing coaxial cables with a nanoscale cross section of different configurations are conducted. In particular, the study focuses on optical coaxial waveguides with the core made in the form of a thin metallic cylinder filled with a dielectric. We show that these waveguides support relatively low-loss propagation of radiation that is strongly localized in the central region, has phase velocity approaching the speed of light and predominant electric-field orientation (dipole type). Optical characteristics of such waveguides are compared with those of coaxial-type waveguides containing a continuous central filament made of metal and with a multilayer structure. Using numeric modeling, we established that the proposed type of the waveguide enables the transmission of an optical image with relatively low losses with a submicron resolution over a distance considerably longer than its cross section. A typical propagation length in the waveguides based on silver and glass with the refractive index of about 1.5 at a wavelength of 500 nm is about 1700 nm.     

A note on the Percus-Yevick and hypernetted chain theories of adsorption: The second and third virial coefficients for a hard-sphere gas in contact with a wall with a soft surface layer

The first three virial coefficients of a new type in the density expansion of the adsorption isotherm for hard spheres in contact with a wall with a soft surface layer are calculated. The results are compared with those for hard spheres in contact with a hard wall.     

Random motion with interfacial contact: Driven diffusion vis-à-vis mechanical activation

Rolling of a small sphere on a patterned support of an elastomer is governed by a non-linear friction. No motion occurs when the external field is weaker than the frictional resistance. However, with the intervention of an external noise, a viscous friction like behavior emerges; thus the sphere rolls with a uniform drift velocity that is proportional to the applied field. At a very low noise strength, the sphere exhibits a stick-slip behavior with motion occurring always along the bias. With the increase in the noise strength, the sphere exhibits a diffusive drift accompanied with forward and backward displacements. During this stage of driven diffusive motion, the ratio of the integrated probabilities of the negative-to-positive work fluctuations decreases monotonically with the time of observation, from which a temperature like intensive parameter can be estimated. This parameter conforms to Einstein??s ratio of diffusivity and mobility that increases almost linearly, even though the diffusivity increases super-linearly, with the strength of the noise. A new barrier crossing experiment is introduced that can be performed either with a hard (e.g. a steel ball) or with a soft (e.g. a water drop) sphere in contact with a periodically undulated substrate. The frequency of barrier crossing follows a transition state equation allowing a direct estimation of the effective temperature. These experiments as well as certain numerical simulations suggest that the effective temperature of a system controlled by a non-linear friction may not have a unique value.     

Environment-induced decoherence I. The Stern-Gerlach measurement

A dynamical model for the collapse of the wave function in a quantum measurement process is proposed by considering the interaction of a quantum system (spin -1/2) with a macroscopic quantum apparatus interacting with an environment in a dissipative manner. The dissipative interaction leads to decoherence in the superposition states of the apparatus, making its behaviour classical in the sense that the density matrix becomes diagonal with time. Since the apparatus is also interacting with the system, the probabilities of the diagonal density matrix are determined by the state vector of the system. We consider a Stern-Gerlach type model, where a spin-1/2 particle is in an inhomogeneous magnetic field, the whole set up being in contact with a large environment. Here we find that the density matrix of the combined system and apparatus becomes diagonal and the momentum of the particle becomes correlated with a spin operator, selected by the choice of the system-apparatus interaction. This allows for a measurement of spin via a momentum measurement on the particle with associated probabilities in accordance with quantum principles.     

High-frequency resonant blockade in one-dimensional quantum pump with oscillating potential wells

The conductance and the stationary current are studied in a one-dimensional quantum wire with a harmonically oscillating delta-potential barrier or well. It is shown that, in the structure with a single well, the conductance vanishes at certain parameters. This phenomenon is associated with the occurrence of quasi-energy states corresponding to the total and elastic reflection of particles from the well. The stationary photovoltaic current under an alternating field in a double-well structure is considered. It is shown that the derivative of the photovoltaic current with respect to the Fermi energy vanishes under the same conditions. The results for a system with a single well are generalized to the case of a one-dimensional lattice in the tight binding model with an oscillating level of one of its sites. It is shown that the problem of particle scattering by a three-dimensional short-range center with an oscillating potential is reduced to the corresponding one-dimensional problem.     

超短脉冲通过拼接光栅的远场分析

 从惠更斯-菲涅耳原理出发,得到了含有色差项的1/4圆光束在焦平面上的光场积分表达式（对于光束口径）,以及具有不同相位延迟的4束1/4圆光束相干叠加后的光场表达式,并建立了该相干叠加场的远场的数学模型,并对光束口径为10 cm,焦距为200 cm,脉宽1 ps的实例进行了模拟,得到了单光束、4个子光束间无相差和存在相位差三种情况下的远场强度分布图。结果表明,单束1/4圆光束的远场不再中心对称,而是轴对称;当子光束间存在π相位差时远场将出现明显的焦斑分裂,因此光栅拼接应将束间相差控制在远小于π的水平上。     

Optical and electrical characteristics of InGaP/AlGaAs/GaAs composite emitter heterojunction bipolar/phototransistors (CEHBTs/CEHPTs)

We report on new InGaP/AlGaAs/GaAs composite emitter heterojunction bipolar and phototransistors (CEHBTs/CEHPTs) with a low turn-on voltage. The composite emitter comprised of the digital graded superlattice emitter and the InGaP sub-emitter is used to smooth out potential spike associated with the emitter–base heterojunction and to obtain a low emitter–base turn-on voltage. A fabricated CEHBT exhibits a small offset voltage of 55 mV and a low turn-on voltage of 0.83 V with a dc current gain as high as 150. In case of a CEHPT’s collector–emitter characteristics with base floating, optical gains increase with increasing input optical power. Furthermore, the collector current saturation voltage is small due to a low turn-on voltage. We obtain an optical gain larger than 6.83 with a collector current saturation voltage smaller than 0.5 V. On the other hand, performance results of a CEHPT with two- and three-terminal configuration were investigated and compared.     

Effects of confinement on static and dynamical properties of water

Molecular-dynamics results on water confined in a silica pore are reviewed and discussed in connection with experiments performed on water in Vycor and with studies of water in contact with proteins. The properties of confined water are studied as a function of both temperature and hydration level. The interaction of water in the film close to the substrate with the silica atoms induces a strong distortion of the hydrogen bond network. At high hydration levels a double dynamical regime is observed. At low hydration an anomalous diffusion is found upon supercooling with a transition from a Brownian to a non-Brownian regime on approaching the substrate in agreement with results found in studies of water in contact with globular proteins.Received: 1 January 2003, Published online: 14 October 2003PACS: 61.20.-p Structure of liquids - 61.20.Ja Computer simulation of liquid structure     

Single-mode excitation of multimode fibers with ultrashort pulses

Single-mode excitation of step-index multimode fibers with light sources with short temporal coherence lengths is demonstrated. Multimode fiber designs with reduced microbending-induced mode coupling are described that allow the propagation of the fundamental mode over long lengths with negligible mode coupling even in the presence of tight fiber bends. At a wavelength of 1.56microm a fiber with a core diameter of 45microm can preserve the fundamental mode for a propagation length of ~20m . Such fibers allow coiling with a coil diameter as small as 7cm.     

Mössbauer Investigations of MDAS Diamond Powder

Metal inclusions in synthetic MDAS diamond grits were investigated by Mössbauer spectroscopy as a function of the grit size. The larger grit sizes show a nicely developed sextet, which collapses to a paramagnetic singlet with decreasing grit size. This superparamagnetic behavior shows that the metal inclusions are of the order of 10 nm in size, and become larger with the grit size. One grit which was showing the collapse was further investigated from 300 K down to 4 K. Part of the paramagnetic singlet unfolds to a sextet with B_hf ～33T, while another part unfolds with a narrower hyperfine magnetic field of ～4T and is associated with the paramagnetic phase that coexists with a ferromagnetic phase in Invar at higher temperatures. A singlet with an isomer shift of about 1.1 mm/s is associated with similar findings in catalysts with iron particles supported on carbonaceous materials.