First observation of the P-wave spin-singlet bottomonium states hb(1P) and hb(2P)

We report the first observations of the spin-singlet bottomonium states h(b)(1P) and h(b)(2P). The states are produced in the reaction e(+)e(-)→h(b)(nP)π(+)π(-) using a 121.4 fb(-1) data sample collected at energies near the Υ(5S) resonance with the Belle detector at the KEKB asymmetric-energy e(+)e(-) collider. We determine M[h(b)(1P)]=(9898.2(-1.0-1.1)(+1.1+1.0)) MeV/c(2) and M[h(b)(2P)]=(10,259.8±0.6(-1.0)(+1.4)) MeV/c(2), which correspond to P-wave hyperfine splittings ΔM(HF)=(+1.7±1.5) and (+0.5(-1.2)(+1.6)) MeV/c(2), respectively. The significances of the h(b)(1P) and h(b)(2P) are 5.5σ and 11.2σ, respectively. We find that the production of the h(b)(1P) and h(b)(2P) is not suppressed relative to the production of the Υ(1S), Υ(2S), and Υ(3S).     

Optical switch based on variable aperture

We report on a pixel whose aperture can be varied electrically. The pixel is confined by a hole-patterned polymer wall and a dielectric liquid forms a ring shape around the wall surface. Without an electric field, the pixel has the largest aperture. The applied fringing field stretches the liquid surface, leading to a decrease in the aperture size. The switchable aperture ratio of the pixel is over 80% and the response time is ~10 ms. Such a device is useful for an optical attenuator, a light shutter, an adaptive iris, and an information display.     

Developing a time-domain finite-element method for modeling of electromagnetic cylindrical cloaks

In this paper we propose a time-domain finite element method for modeling of electromagnetic cloaks. The permittivity and permeability of the cloak model are described by the Drude dispersion model. The model to be solved is quite challenging in that we have to solve a coupled problem with different partial differential equations given in different regions. Our method is based on a mixed finite element method using edge elements with different types of meshes in different regions. Numerical results demonstrate that our algorithm is quite effective for simulating cloaks in time-domain. To our knowledge, this is the first cloak simulation carried out by the time-domain finite element method.     

Spectral tuning and energy transfer in a potential fluorescent lamp phosphor BaMg2Al6Si9O30:Eu2+

BaMg₂Al₆Si₉O₃₀:Eu²⁺ phosphors are synthesized by the solid-state reaction method and their photoluminescence (PL) properties are investigated. The ultraviolet emission originates from Eu²⁺(I) substituting for Ba²⁺ sites, whereas the blue emission is attributed to Eu²⁺(II) substituting for Mg²⁺ sites. With increasing Eu²⁺ doping concentrations, the blue emission band shifts to long wavelength and the PL intensity ratio of blue to ultraviolet emission increases. Energy transfer between the two different Eu²⁺ ions is analyzed by photoluminescence excitation and emission spectra, and lifetimes. Results indicate that the emission spectra can be tuned by changing Eu²⁺ contents. We have also demonstrated that BaMg₂Al₆Si₉O₃₀:Eu²⁺ phosphor is a kind of potential phosphor for fluorescent lamps.     

Analysis of signal-to-noise ratio and heterodyne efficiency for reference-beam laser Doppler velocimeter

Heterodyne efficiency is a very important factor in a laser Doppler velocimeter (LDV). Gaussian-Airy mode is put forward to analyze the heterodyne efficiency. By studying the distribution of the optical field, the mathematic expression and simulation results of heterodyne efficiency are given under the conditions of both exact match and mismatch. The results of numerical analysis show that heterodyne efficiency of LDV depends on Gaussian beam's parameter Q, detector's parameter X₀, angle of collimation mismatching θ_a, parameter of offset mismatching X_a and the radius of curvature of the reference beam on the detector R(z). Heterodyne efficiency can reach 83.39% when Q=4.15×10^?7, X₀=6.1×10^?7, θ_a=X_a=0, R(z)=∞. But it declines to 0.5 when Fθ_a enhances to 0.28. It decreases with the increment of the offset X_a and the diminishment of the radius of curvature R(z). Results of experiment are in good accordance with the theoretical analysis.     

Investigation on the electric-field-induced Pockels effect and optical rectification in near-intrinsic silicon samples

Based on the classical polarization theory, we studied and specified the physical mechanism of the electric-field-induced (EFI) Pockels effect and optical rectification in the space charge region of a near-intrinsic silicon sample with the planar capacitor structure. Especially, the effect of the applied DC bias on these EFI effects was investigated. The results show that the electro-optic signal from Pockels effect in silicon linearly increases with the applied DC voltage and the modulating voltage, and the signal of optical rectification is linearly enhanced by the DC bias as well, but the polarization characteristic of optical rectification does not vary. The enhancement of these EFI effects is mainly owed to the strengthening of the built-in field and the extension of the space charge region in the silicon sample. The Kerr effect of silicon was also detected and contrasted against the EFI Pockels effect, and it is verified that the EFI Pockels effect is much stronger than the Kerr effect in the silicon sample. These EFI effects are significant for the development of silicon photonics or silicon optoelectronics.     

The influences of amplified spontaneous emission,crystal temperature and round-trip loss on scaling of CW thin-disk laser

In this paper, a model is built to explore how the parameters (amplified spontaneous emission (ASE), temperature and round-trip loss) influence the output power in a thin-disk laser. It is found that optical efficiency of the disk laser is reduced with the increase of ASE, temperature or round-trip loss. The parameters are optimized to maximize the output power based on our model. We find that it is necessary to balance the need to lower the temperature with the need to control ASE during the optimization process. But the balance becomes more difficult to achieve with the increase of round-trip loss. We conclude that output power of more than 2.6 MW with a single disk can be achieved, but the necessary disk size (more than 0.5 m) is far beyond the actual technical limits. But it is possible to achieve output power of over a hundred kilowatts using a 10 cm disk in the near future.     

Holographic image projection using fractional Fourier transformation

A new method of image projection based on fractional Fourier transformation is presented. This method can project an image at any distance after a lens plane. We use a modified Gerschberg–Saxton (GS) iteration algorithm to compute a phase-only hologram. The amplitude distributions both on the hologram plane and image plane are restricted while allowing their phase distributions to drift into an optimum value. The quality of the image projected by fractional Fourier hologram is close to the image projected by Fourier hologram. The RMS error between the projected image and the constrained image is computed in our experiment. A comparison in flexibility of the two projection methods is also discussed.     

Phase sensitive amplifier for PSK signals based on non-degenerate four-wave-mixing in the optical fiber

A phase-sensitive-amplifier (PSA) using only one pump channel based on frequency non-degenerate four-wave-mixing (FWM) process for phase-shift-keying (PSK) signals is proposed and demonstrated. Theoretical analyses are given first. By optimizing power levels of three channels and parameters of the highly nonlinear fiber (HNLF), the PSA is able to restore the signal fidelity (down to a BER of 10^? 9) as the input signal shows an error-floor with the BER of 10^? 6. Moreover, the PSA for the multi-level PSK signals could be achieved by adjusting the phase relationship between two input signals.