Narrow-band extreme-ultraviolet laser radiation tunable in the range 90.5–95 nm

Tunable, narrowband extreme ultraviolet radiation in the range 90.5–95 nm with only limited intensity variations is produced by frequency-tripling ultraviolet light from a frequency-doubled dye laser in a gas-jet of xenon. Acetylene gas is found to be an efficient medium for third-harmonic generation in this wavelength range as well. The extreme-ultraviolet radiation is applied in a spectroscopic study of the b ¹ II _u , v=6–8 and v=10–12, o ¹ II _u , v=0 and b¹ _u ⁺ , v=9 states of molecular nitrogen. From linewidth measurements a value k _p=6×10¹⁰ s^–1 for the predissociation rate of the b ¹ II _u , v=11 state is deduced.     

Dual-dressed four-wave mixing and dressed six-wave mixing in a five-level atomic system

We study the co-existing four-wave mixing(FWM)process with two dressing fields and the six-wave mixing (SWM)process with one dressing field in a five-level system with carefully arranged laser beams.We also show two kinds of doubly dressing mechanisms in the FWM process.FWM and SWM signals propagating along the same direction compete with each other.With the properly controlled dressing fields,the FWM signals can be suppressed,while the SWM signals have been enhanced.     

An all-solid-state high power quasi-continuous-wave tunable dual-wavelength Ti：sapphire laser system using birefringence filter

This paper describes a tunable dual-wavelength Ti:sapphire laser system with quasi-continuous-wave and high-power outputs. In the design of the laser, it adopts a frequency-doubled Nd:YAG laser as the pumping source, and the birefringence filter as the tuning element. Tunable dual-wavelength outputs with one wavelength range from 700~nm to 756.5~nm, another from 830~nm to 900mn have been demonstrated. With a pump power of 23~W at 532~nm, a repetition rate of 7~kHz and a pulse width of 47.6~ns, an output power of 5.1~W at 744.8~nm and 860.9~nm with a pulse width of 13.2~ns and a line width of 3~nm has been obtained, it indicates an optical-to-optical conversion efficiency of 22.2{\%}.     

Tunable UV radiation at short wavelengths (188–240 nm) generated by sum-frequency mixing in lithium borate

Sum-frequency mixing (₃=₁+₂) of UV laser radiation (₁=266 nm and 213 nm) and tunable coherent infrared light (₂=1.2–2.6 m) in lithium borate (LBO) generates radiation at short wavelengths (₃=188–242 nm). The UV radiation at ₁ is produced by the fourth and fifth harmonic of a pulsed Nd-YAG laser. The infrared light is generated with an optical parametric oscillator of beta barium borate. The phase-matching angle is measured as function of ₃ and compared with calculated values. For UV laser radiation at shorter wavelengths (173 nm₁213 nm) the calculations predict an extension of the tuning range of the sum-frequency generated at ₃ to wavelengths as short as the LBO transmission cutoff at 160 nm.     

Development of a Lyman-α laser system for spectroscopy and laser cooling of antihydrogen

Hydrogen Lyman-α radiation (121.56 nm) is important because it allows for the excitation and detection of ground-state hydrogen atoms by a one-photon process. The trapping of antihydrogen, recently reported by the ALPHA collaboration at CERN, has revived interest in Lyman-α lasers. In order to perform high precision tests of matter-antimatter symmetry violations or gravity-antimatter interactions with antihydrogen, laser cooling using the 1s ? 2p single photon transition is essential. Recent theoretical simulations predict that even with a pulsed Lyman-α source, laser cooling of antihydrogen would be possible. Here we describe the implementation of a high power vacuum-ultraviolet (VUV) laser at the Lyman-α transition of hydrogen. The VUV light was generated using a two-photon-resonant four-wave mixing process in a phase-matched mixture of krypton and argon. Two wavelengths (ω _R → 202.31 and ω _T → 602.56 nm) were mixed in a sum-difference scheme (ω _VUV = 2ω _R ? ω _T ) with a two-photon resonance at (4s ²4p ⁵5p[1/2]₀ ← 4s ²4p ⁶(1S ₀)) transition in Kr. With an Ar/Kr mixture of 3.9:1 we obtained 10 ns pulses of 0.1 μJ of energy at a repetition rate of 10 Hz.     

Simultaneous generation of ultrashort pulses at 158 and 198?nm in a single filamentation cell by cascaded four-wave mixing in Ar

Ultrashort 198- and 158-nm pulses are generated simultaneously by cascaded four-wave mixing of the second and third harmonics of a 80-fs Ti:Sapphire laser in filamentation propagation through a single Ar gas cell. The energies of the 198- and 158-nm pulses are 7.6?μJ and 600?nJ, respectively. The duration of 198-nm pulse is determined to be ca. 45?fs by transient-grating frequency-resolved optical grating, which indicates that the pulse is intrinsically transform limited and chirped by the rear window of the gas cell. The spectral bandwidths of 198- and 158?nm support the transform limited pulse durations of 40 and 28?fs, respectively.     

An all-solid-state laser system for generation of 100 μJ femtosecond pulses near 625 nm at 1 kHz

Frequency doubling the output of a high-power femtosecond Cr:forsterite regenerative amplifier with >50% conversion efficiency in a temperature-tuned noncritically phase-matched LBO crystal produces femtosecond pulses of >100 μJ energy in the visible range near 625 nm at a pulse duration of about 200 fs or >65 μJ at <170 fs. Received: 29 March 1999 / Revised version: 27 April 1999 / Published online: 24 June 1999     

Stimulated electronic Raman scattering in Cs vapour: a simple tunable laser system for the 2.7 to 3.5 μm region

Stimulated electronic Raman scattering (SERS) in atomic vapours provides a simple method of extending the tuning ranges of pulsed dye lasers well into the infrared region. The special advantages of this technique in comparison with other types of tunable infrared lasers are discussed, and are illustrated by describing a SERS system which uses a modest nitrogen laser-pumped dye laser ( 20 kW). This produces infrared radiation tunable from 2.67 to 3.47m by SERS in caesium vapour, which is contained in a heat pipe oven. Photon conversion efficiencies of up to 50% are obtained. The design of the heat pipe oven, operation of the system and optimization of experimental parameters are described in detail.     

Characteristics of laser and current pulses in a He–SrCl2 vapor laser

An experimental investigation on the characteristics of laser and current pulses in a He–SrCl₂ vapor laser is carried out. The temporal dependences of the discharge current pulse on the laser pulses at the 1.09 μm, ～3 μm and 6.45 μm lines in strontium atoms and ions are measured and analyzed under different laser output powers. It is found that all laser pulses appear at the falling edge of the current pulse and shift forward to the current pulse with increasing laser output power.     

A laser system providing tunable, narrow-band radiation from 35 nm to 2 μm

We describe a laser system that readily provides radiation tunable from 2 μm in the infra-red to 35 nm in the extreme ultraviolet spectral range. The broad spectral range is covered through a range of non-linear processes such as Raman shifting and high-order harmonic generation. Pulses with duration of tens of picoseconds are obtained. The relative bandwidth of the radiation is δλ/λ=10^-4, comparable with what can be achieved by using high-resolution monochromators at state-of-the-art synchrotron beamlines. We discuss different methods for characterising the radiation in this wide wavelength regime. We also discuss the capabilities of the system from the measured parameters. Received: 12 December 2000 / Revised version: 8 March 2001 / Published online: 27 April 2001     

A near-infrared acetylene detection system based on a 1.534 μm tunable diode laser and a miniature gas chamber

A near-infrared (NIR) dual-channel differential acetylene (C₂H₂) detection system was experimentally demonstrated based on tunable diode laser absorption spectroscopy (TDLAS) technique and wavelength modulation spectroscopy (WMS) technique. A distributed feedback (DFB) laser modulated by a self-developed driver around 1.534 μm is used as light source. A miniature gas chamber with 15 cm path length is adopted as absorption pool, and an orthogonal lock-in amplifier is developed to extract the second harmonic (2f) signal. Sufficient standard C₂H₂ samples with different concentrations were prepared, and detailed measurements were carried out to study the detection performance. A good linear relationship is observed between the amplitude of the 2f signal and C₂H₂ concentration within the range of 200–10,000 ppm, and the relative measurement error is less than 5% within the whole range. A long-term monitoring lasting for 20 h on a 1000 ppm C₂H₂ sample was carried out, and the maximum concentration fluctuation is less than 2%. Due to the capability of using long-distance and low-loss optical fiber, the gas-cell can be placed in the filed for remote monitoring, which enables the system to have good prospects in industrial field.     

Line-shape study of water vapour by tunable diode laser spectrometer in the 822–832 nm wavelength region

A near-infrared tunable diode laser absorption spectrometer is set up to measure the air-induced broadening coefficients and the line-strength parameters of water-vapour overtone transitions within the (2,1,1)(0,0,0) band in the 822–832 nm wavelength region. A Hitachi HL8311 E double hetero-junction structure diode laser is used as a probe. The diode laser controller is home-built and stable within ±10 A and ±10 mK, respectively. The laser-head mount has a simple design and provides easy access whenever changing of the laser head is required. The diode laser emission wavelength is thermally tuned between 50 °C and 12 °C. Thermal tuning of the diode laser emission wavelength is used to reveal the mode structure of the diode laser and to probe the overtone-band transitions of water vapour within its operating wavelength range. Current tuning of the diode laser is used at a fixed laser temperature to study the transitions one at a time. A balanced detector is used to improve the S/N ratio of the spectrum. A phase sensitive detection technique is followed to obtain the first-derivative spectra of the overtone transitions. The first-derivative spectra have been recorded at different air pressures inside the sample cell while the water-vapour pressure is kept fixed. The first-derivative spectrum is numerically integrated to obtain the original line shape. The original line shape is fitted with a Voigt profile by using a nonlinear least-squares fit program to extract the air-broadening coefficient and the line-strength parameter. The data obtained in our work is compared with the results of the HITRAN database. PACS 33.70.-w; 33.70.Fd; 33.70.Jg     

Exotic electron states and tunable magneto-transport in a fractal Aharonov–Bohm interferometer

A Sierpinski gasket fractal network model is studied in respect of its electronic spectrum and magneto-transport when each ‘arm’ of the gasket is replaced by a diamond shaped Aharonov–Bohm interferometer, threaded by a uniform magnetic flux. Within the framework of a tight binding model for non-interacting, spinless electrons and a real space renormalization group method we unravel a class of extended and localized electronic states. In particular, we demonstrate the existence of extreme localization of electronic states at a special finite set of energy eigenvalues, and an infinite set of energy eigenvalues where the localization gets ‘delayed’ in space (staggered localization). These eigenstates exhibit a multitude of localization areas. The two terminal transmission coefficient and its dependence on the magnetic flux threading each basic Aharonov–Bohm interferometer is studied in details. Sharp switch on–switch off effects that can be tuned by controlling the flux from outside, are discussed. Our results are analytically exact.     

Generation of tunable and narrow linewidth continuous-wave yellow laser by sum–frequency mixing of diode-pumped solid-state Nd:YAG ring lasers

We report a tunable, narrow linewidth and high beam quality continuous-wave (CW) yellow laser system at 589 nm. The system is an all solid-state design employing single-pass sum–frequency generation in a KTP crystal by mixing the 1064 nm with 1319 nm lines of two side-pumped Nd:YAG enforcing unidirectional ring lasers. With this method, a CW yellow laser at 589.159 nm with an output power of 0.8 W, a linewidth less than 1.5 GHz and a beam quality M² = 1.29 is obtained. The wavelength of the laser also can be precisely tuned from 589.112 to 589.181 nm in step-length of about 0.22 pm.     

Neutrino mixing and masses in a left–right model with mirror fermions

In the framework of a left–right model containing mirror fermions with gauge group SU(3) _C ⊗SU(2) _L ⊗SU(2) _R ⊗U(1) _Y′, we estimate the neutrino masses, which are found to be consistent with their experimental bounds and hierarchy. We evaluate the decay rates of the Lepton Flavor Violation (LFV) processes μ→eγ, τ→μγ and τ→eγ. We obtain upper limits for the flavor-changing branching ratios in agreement with their present experimental bounds. We also estimate the decay rates of heavy Majorana neutrinos in the channels N→W ^± l ^∓, N→Zν _l and N→Hν _l , which are roughly equal for large values of the heavy neutrino mass. Starting from the most general Majorana neutrino mass matrix, the smallness of active neutrino masses turns out from the interplay of the hierarchy of the involved scales and the double application of seesaw mechanism. An appropriate parameterization on the structure of the neutrino mass matrix imposing a symmetric mixing of electron neutrino with muon and tau neutrinos leads to tri-bimaximal mixing matrix for light neutrinos.     

Attaining the wavelength range 189–197 nm by frequency mixing inβ-BaB2O4

Wavelengths in the range from 188.9 to 197 nm have been obtained by type-I sum frequency generation (SFG) in -BaB₂O₄. The fundamental beams were supplied by pulsed dye lasers one of which tuned between 780 and 950 nm and the other frequency-doubled at 497 nm. The possibility of shifting the excimer wavelength 248.5 nm to the excimer wavelength 193 nm has been demonstrated, replacing the frequency-doubled dye laser by KrF excimer lasers of different beam properties.     

A Fokker–Planck approach to a moment closure for mixing in variable-density turbulence

ABSTRACT

We develop a theory for the cascade mixing terms in a moment closure approach to binary active scalar mixing in variable-density turbulence. To address the variable-density complications we apply, as a principle and constraint, the conservation of the probability density function (PDF) through a Fokker–Planck equation with bounded sample space whose attractor is the beta PDF with skewness. Mixing is related to a single-point PDF as a realisability principle to provide mathematically rigorous expressions for the small scale statistics in terms of largescale moments. The problem of the unknown small-scale mixing is replaced with the determination of the drift and diffusion terms of a Fokker–Planck equation in a beta-PDF-convergent stochastic process. We find that realisability of a beta-convergent process requires the mixing time-scale ratio, taken as a constant in passive scalar mixing, to be a function of the mean mass fraction, mean fluid density, the Atwood number, the density-volume correlation and moments of the density field. We develop and compare the new model with direct numerical simulations data of non-stationary homogeneous variable-density turbulence.     

Metal–insulator phase transition and topology in a three-component system

Due to the topology, insulators become non-trivial, particularly those with large Chern numbers which support multiple edge channels, catching our attention. In the framework of the tight binding approximation, we study a non-interacting Chern insulator model on the three-component dice lattice with real nearest-neighbor and complex next-nearest-neighbor hopping subjected to Λ-or V-type sublattice potentials. By analyzing the dispersions of corresponding energy bands, we find that the system undergoes a metal–insulator transition which can be modulated not only by the Fermi energy but also the tunable extra parameters. Furthermore, rich topological phases, including the ones with high Hall plateau, are uncovered by calculating the associated band’s Chern number. Besides, we also analyze the edge-state spectra and discuss the correspondence between Chern numbers and the edge states by the principle of bulk-edge correspondence. In general, our results suggest that there are large Chern number phases with C = ±3 and the work enriches the research about large Chern numbers in multiband systems.     

Soliton solutions and conservation laws for a generalized Ablowitz–Ladik system

In this paper, a generalized Ablowitz–Ladik system is systemically investigated via the Darboux transformation method. Soliton solutions and conservation laws are presented. Depending on the choices of parameters, the dynamic behaviors are discussed graphically.