Resonant-cavity-enhanced photodetectors and LEDs in the mid-infrared

In this paper we outline the use of resonant-cavity enhancement for increasing the exterior coupling efficiency of photodetectors and light-emitting diodes (LEDs) in the mid-infrared (MIR) spectral region. This method is potentially very important in the MIR because encapsulation is not presently feasible due to the lack of suitable materials. Among other potential applications, resonant-cavity-enhanced (RCE) photodetectors and LEDs could be particularly suitable for greenhouse gas detection because of their ‘pre-tunable’ spectrally narrowed resonantly enhanced peaks. We also present the optical characterization of an InAs RCE photodetector aimed at the detection of methane gas (λ≈3.3 μm), and an InAs/InAs_0.91Sb_0.09 resonant-cavity LED (RCLED) aimed at carbon dioxide gas (λ≈4.2 μm). The high peak responsivity of the RCE photodetector was 34.7 A/W at λ=3.14 μm, and the RCLED peaked at λ=3.96 μm. These are among the longest operating wavelengths for III–V RCE photodetectors and RCLEDs reported in the literature.     

Origin of the training effect and asymmetry of the magnetization in polycrystalline exchange bias systems

The training effect and asymmetry in exchange-coupled polycrystalline CoO/Co bilayers with in-plane magnetization has been investigated. This system is selected for its large training effect and initial asymmetry of the magnetic hysteresis after field cooling, which is removed after training. Applying an in-plane magnetic field perpendicular to the cooling field largely restores the untrained state with its pronounced asymmetry. The possibility to reinduce the asymmetry strongly depends on the magnitude of the perpendicular field, providing the key to identify the physical origin of training and removal of the asymmetry. These effects result from misalignment between the ferromagnetic magnetization and the uncompensated magnetization of the granular antiferromagnet.     

Inclusive\bar K^{0*} (892) andK 0*(892) production on silicon by 200 GeVK − andπ −

The production of the neutralK ^? (892) resonances by 200 GeVK ^? andπ ^? has been studied over the kinematic range 0.0<x _f<1.0 andp _t ² <5.0 GeV². Longitudinal and transverse momentum distributions are presented. In addition the decay angular distributions inK ^? fragmentation to \(\bar K^{0*} \) have been investigated.     

Measurement of angular distribution of soft X‐ray radiation from thin targets in the tabletop storage ring MIRRORCLE‐20SX

The only available tabletop electron storage rings are the machines from the MIRRORCLE series. The electrons are accelerated in a microtron and injected into the storage ring. During its circulation, each electron passes through a tiny target many times, emitting a photon beam. Both the spectrum and the angular distribution of the radiation depend on the material, the thickness and the shape of the target. In this paper measured angular distributions of the radiation from several different targets in the magnetic field of the 20 MeV storage ring MIRRORCLE‐20SX are presented. The detector comprises a 3 mm × 3 mm × 8.5 µm plastic scintillator (PS) coupled to a photomultiplier by a bundle of optical fibers. The output of the photomultiplier is digitized by an IF converter. This detector is sensitive mostly to soft X‐ray radiation, and its PS is moved by a mechanical system in a plane perpendicular to the radiation axis. The measured angular distributions for Mo and Sn targets contain an annulus which is attributed to transition radiation. The angular distributions for Al, carbon nanotube and diamond‐like carbon (DLC) targets show some suppression of the radiation along the magnetic field. This is the first evidence of observation of the angular distribution of synchrotron Cherenkov radiation, which represents Cherenkov radiation in a magnetic field. The power radiated from the DLC target is estimated.     

Thermodynamically stable phases of carbon at multiterapascal pressures

Phases of carbon are studied up to pressures of 1 petapascal (PPa) using first-principles density-functional-theory methods and a structure searching algorithm. Our extensive search over the potential energy surface supports the sequence of transitions diamond → BC8 → simple cubic under increasing pressure found in previous theoretical studies. At higher pressures we predict a soft-phonon driven transition to a simple hexagonal structure at 6.4 terapascals (TPa), and further transitions to the face centered cubic electride structure at 21 TPa, a double hexagonal close packed structure at 270 TPa, and the body centered cubic structure at 650 TPa.     

Generation of femtosecond pulses at 1350 nm by Cerenkov radiation in higher-order-mode fiber

We demonstrate a method of generating short pulses at 1350 nm by exciting Cerenkov radiation in a higher-order-mode fiber with a 1064 nm femtosecond fiber laser. We measure a 106 fs, 0.66 nJ output pulse. Cerenkov radiation in fibers allows for energy transfer between a soliton and a dispersive wave, providing an effective and engineerable platform to shift the wavelength of a femtosecond source. With appropriate design of the higher-order-mode fiber, this method of generating short pulses at 1350 nm can be extended to other wavelengths and to higher pulse energies.     

Multispectrum analysis of CH4 in the ν4 spectral region: II. Self-broadened half widths, pressure-induced shifts, temperature dependences and line mixing

Accurate values for line positions, absolute line intensities, self-broadened half width and self-pressure-induced shift coefficients have been measured for over 400 allowed and forbidden transitions in the ν₄ band of methane (¹²CH₄). Temperature dependences of half width and pressure-induced shift coefficients were also determined for many of these transitions. The spectra used in this study were recorded at temperatures between 210 and 314 K using the National Solar Observatory's 1 m Fourier transform spectrometer at the McMath-Pierce solar telescope. The complete data set included 60 high-resolution (0.006-0.01 cm⁻¹) absorption spectra of pure methane and methane mixed with dry air. The analysis was performed using a multispectrum nonlinear least squares curve fitting technique where a number of spectra (20 or more) were fit simultaneously in spectral intervals 5-15 cm⁻¹ wide. In addition to the line broadening and shift parameters, line mixing coefficients (using the off-diagonal relaxation matrix element formalism) were determined for more than 50 A-, E-, and F-species transition pairs in J manifolds of the P- and R-branches. The measured self-broadened half width and self-shift coefficients, their temperature dependences and the line mixing parameters are compared to self-broadening results available in the literature and to air-broadened parameters determined for these transitions from the same set of spectra.     

Low Temperature Metal-Enhanced Fluorescence

In this short letter, we describe the effects of low temperature on the Metal-Enhanced Fluorescence (MEF) phenomenon. Fluorophores close to Silver Island Films (SiFs) show on average two- to ten-fold enhancements in their fluorescence signatures at room temperature. However, at 77 K, we have observed that MEF is even more pronounced as compared to an identical glass control sample. We also demonstrate that the further enhancements in MEF occur at low temperature over a range of visible wavelengths for different fluorophores, for both SiFs and 20 nm surface deposited gold colloids.