Axially blown SF6-arcs around current zero

The increase of the interrupting capability of modern SF6 puffer breakers demands a better knowledge of the interaction of the arc with the gas flow. During the current interruption in an SF6 breaker the arc temperature in the stagnation zone is of decisive importance. The temporal evolution of the arc temperature and the diameter is studied by means of interferometry and emission spectroscopy. Experimental results are presented which show the influence of the current slope and the gas pressure on the arc decay. These results are compared with a theoretical model describing the temperature decay after current interruption.     

Origin of laser-output noise of cataphoretic HeSe+ lasers

We investigated noise and fluctuations of the output power of cataphoretic HeSe⁺ lasers in positive column plasma. Direct coupling of laser output power noise and fluctuations of the local population inversion was found. An investigation of the positive column plasma showed moving striations being responsible for the gain fluctuations. Whereas the local plasma properties are dominated by high frequency striations in the 100 kHz range, integrated quantities such as laser gain per pass are most strongly influenced by low-frequency waves with a continuous noise spectrum below 200 kHz. External modulation of the discharge voltage or current at a frequency near thehf striations reduces laser noise and increases laser output power.     

The influence of phase-modulation on femtosecond time-resolved coherent Raman spectroscopy

The influence of phase-modulation on femtosecond time-resolved coherent Raman scattering is investigated theoretically and experimentally. The coherent Raman signal taken as a function of the spectral position shows unexpected temporal oscillations close to time zero. A theoretical analysis of the coherent Raman scattering process indicates that the femtosecond light pulses are amplitude and phase modulated. The pulses are asymmetric in time with more slowly decaying trailing wings. The phase of the pulse amplitude contains quadratic and higher-order contributions.     

Sub-Doppler excited molecule energy transfer spectroscopy

A sub-Doppler spectroscopic technique involving the detection of vibrational energy transfer in excited molecules with selected velocity components at a microphone diaphragm is demonstrated. The technique is applied to the investigation of thev ₃ R(16) transition in HCN and the results compared with a previously derived theoretical model.     

Characterization of polymer strip waveguides by leaky-mode spectroscopy

Strip waveguides, recorded by UV lithography into photopolymer films were characterized as leaky guides. The effective modes indices of the guides have been measured by the prism coupling method. It is demonstrated that application of the effective index method on leaky strip guides allows the determination of the optical pattern parameters throughout an exposure or annealing procedure.     

Application of pressure-tuned diode lasers to high-resolution spectroscopy

The application of the high-pressure chamber with a pressure transmitting medium (liquid at room temperature) to diode-laser tuning was found to be a useful method for high-resolution spectroscopy. Ammonia absorbtion spectra in the 10 μm region were recorded with a resolution approaching the Doppler limit.     

Surface plasmon enhanced transient thermoreflectance

It is shown that optically excited surface plasmons can be used for measurements of the surface temperature of a metal with nanosecond time resolution. This method is closely related to transient thermoreflectance, but its sensitivity is considerably higher. We give a survey on the mechanisms involved, briefly discussing the dependence on the sample properties. Experimental confirmation of the proposed sensitivity enhancement as well as the time resolution is presented.     

Sensitive density-fluctuation measurements using wavelength-modulation spectroscopy with high-order-harmonic detection

We discuss experimental and theoretical results which show that when wavelength-modulation spectroscopy is used to monitor concentration fluctuations of gaseous species, greater sensitivity may be obtained if one uses high-order detection. We also show that, depending on the ambient concentration being monitored, there are regions in which the commonly used second derivative would show a negligible variation of signal magnitude with concentration fluctuations, whereas measurement with a higher harmonic would result in a much improved signal. Theoretical results for the measurements of any transition that can be described by the Voigt profile are given. The technique discussed is illustrated by presenting the results of measurements of wavelength-modulation spectroscopy of lines in the oxygenA band. Different detection harmonic orders are suitable for different ambient concentrations, and a related criterion that helps in the determination of a suitable detection harmonic order is given.     

Calorimetric absorption spectroscopy of J-aggregate dye monolayers below 0.1 Kelvin

We describe an extremely sensitive method to investigate nonradiative processes following optical excitation. In a low-temperature calorimeter, the sample is irradiated with monochromatic light. The absorbed energy which is converted into phonons leads to a measurable increase of the sample temperature. The lowest detectable dissipated energy is 2·10^–12J at a working temperature of 0.03 K. We demonstrate our method with a calorimetric absorption spectrum of J-aggregate monolayers of 1-methyl-1-octadecyl-2,2-cyanine. From this spectrum the emission quantum efficiency is obtained as a function of excitation wavelength. A relative minimum is found at the long wavelength edge of the absorption band at 582.5 nm.SFB 126     

Direct observation of excimer-laser photoablation products from polymers by picosecond-uv-laser mass spectroscopy

A bistable device driven by the incident light polarization is created on the basis of a phase electro-optical modulator from LiNbO₃. The light transmitted through the device does not vary its intensity. The switching takes place between states with different polarization. The device action at different parameters is experimentally investigated.     

Applications of wavelength-modulation spectroscopy in resolution of pressure and modulation broadened spectra

Theoretical and experimental results for modulation absorption spectroscopy (with simultaneous amplitude and wavelength modulations) are given, with particular emphasis on the effects of pressure and modulation broadening. As expected, such broadening effects result in a loss of resolution of nearly overlapping lines, whether these are from one or more absorbing species. The effects of phase-sensitive detection at harmonics greater than the commonly used second are investigated. It is shown that when detection is performed at higher harmonics, one is able to counter the loss of resolution due to pressure and modulation broadening. Applications in measurements of congested spectra, and in the simultaneous measurement of more than one species, are discussed. Other general characteristics of signals obtained by using higher-harmonic detection are also discussed, together with corresponding applications.     

Theory of intracavity absorption spectroscopy with a singly resonant optical parametric oscillator

The suitability of a singly resonant optical parametric oscillator pumped by a one-mode field and oscillating simultaneously in several signal and idler modes, for intracavity absorption spectroscopic measurements is studied theoretically. For steadystate operation, the enhancement factor ξ indicating the increased detection sensitivity, is shown to be mainly determined by the ratio of the intensity in one of the signal modes to the intensity (per mode) due to parametric fluorescence. Hence, rather high values of ξ, say of order 10⁸ or more, might be attainable, at least in principle. For pulsed operation, on the other hand, a numerical analysis leads to the result that for realistic pulse durations only moderate values of ξ (smaller than some 10³) will be found. Paper given in parts at the 6th Vavilov-Conference on Nonlinear Optics, Novosibirsk, USSR, 1979.     

Polarization selective optical heterodyne detection for dramatically improved sensitivity in laser spectroscopy

The noise characteristic of available laser sources limits the sensitivity of many types of nonlinear spectroscopy. We show how to maximize the sensitivity by optimizing the strength of a local oscillator wave in a heterodyne detection scheme without altering the amplitude of the wave being detected. The intensity profile of the optimum local oscillator closely matches that of the incident probe wave, but the optimum intensity is much less than that of the probe under realistic conditions. A general signal-to-noise analysis applicable to all nonlinear spectroscopy techniques is presented along with specific applications to coherent Raman spectroscopy, two-photon absorption, saturation spectroscopy, and optical coherent transient techniques. A simple optimization procedure employing polarization selection rules is described. Detailed calculations are performed for the case of TEM₀₀ waves interacting via a third-order nonlinear susceptibility and for the case where the sample is simultaneously probed at many different frequency combinations. Supported by the National Science Foundation and Office of Naval Research.     

Ellipsometric spectroscopy of the ZnO nonpolar(1\bar 100) surface

Ellipsometric spectroscopy has been performed on nonpolar ZnO surfaces in the spectral range 1.5 eV<ħω<4.0 eV. Absolute measurements with two different crystal orientations in air allow the determination of the optical constantsn _∥,k _∥ andn _⊥,k _⊥ for light polarized parallel and perpendicular to thec-axis. The ellipsometric angles Δ and ψ are changed remarkably on ultrahigh vacuum cleaved surfaces near the band gap energy of ∼3.4eV when oxygen or atomic hydrogen is adsorbed or when the crystal is annealed. This observation is interpreted in terms of a field effect on the optical constants in the space charge layer.     

Doppler-free spectroscopy and wave-front conjugation by four-wave mixing of nonmonochromatic waves

A new technique to determine the natural and collision width of Doppler-broadened two-photon transitions is shown. The method consists of using the pump with the spectral width considerably exceeding the Doppler one of the transition. Feasibility of effective wave front conjugation is shown for the case of radiation with a large spectral width.