Linear and nonlinear optical properties of carbon nanotube-coated single-mode optical fiber gratings

Single-wall carbon nanotube deposition on the cladding of optical fibers has been carried out to fabricate an all-fiber nonlinear device. Two different nanotube deposition techniques were studied. The first consisted of repeatedly immersing the optical fiber into a nanotube supension, increasing the thickness of the coating in each step. The second deposition involved wrapping a thin film of nanotubes around the optical fiber. For both cases, interaction of transmitted light through the fiber core with the external coating was assisted by the cladding mode resonances of a tilted fiber Bragg grating. Ultrafast nonlinear effects of the nanotube-coated fiber were measured by means of a pump-probe pulses experiment.     

Quantitative determination of the 3D dipole orientation of single molecules

Recently, different approaches have been implemented to detect single molecules with an optical dipole out of the sample plane. Principles to solve this problem of general interest have been laid but no detailed analysis has been performed to date. This paper is devoted to a quantitative analysis of the dipole orientation of out of plane molecules that we have detected by amplitude and phase masking of the input beam. The accuracy of the orientation is discussed.Received: 22 July 2003, Published online: 2 December 2003PACS: 32.50. + d Fluorescence, phosphorescence (including quenching)     

A Hierarchical Model of Quantum Anharmonic Oscillators: Critical Point Convergence

We study the two-dimensional gauge theory of the symmetric group S_n describing the statistics of branched n-coverings of Riemann surfaces. We consider the theory defined on the disc and on the sphere in the large-n limit. A non trivial phase structure emerges, with various phases corresponding to different connectivity properties of the covering surface. We show that any gauge theory on a two-dimensional surface of genus zero is equivalent to a random walk on the gauge group manifold: in the case of S_n, one of the phase transitions we find can be interpreted as a cutoff phenomenon in the corresponding random walk. A connection with the theory of phase transitions in random graphs is also pointed out. Finally we discuss how our results may be related to the known phase transitions in Yang-Mills theory. We discover that a cutoff transition occurs also in two dimensional Yang-Mills theory on a sphere, in a large N limit where the coupling constant is scaled with N with an extra logN compared to the standard t Hooft scaling.     

Lattice vibrations of armchair carbon nanotubes: phonons,soliton deformations and lattice discreteness effects

Small and large-amplitude elastic deformations of the armchair structure of single-walled carbon nanotubes are investigated with emphasis on the cylindrical geometry. As starting model, we consider a discrete one-dimensional lattice of atoms interacting via a Lennard-Jones type two-body potential. In an expansion scheme using cylindrical coordinates where radial displacements are assumed negligible compared to the angular motions, a sine-lattice Hamiltonian is derived. In the limit of small-amplitude angular displacements, the dispersion spectrum of acoustic phonons is derived and the associate characteristic frequency is given as a function of parameters of the model. In the large-amplitude regime, lattice vibrations give rise to kink-type deformations which move undergoing lattice dispersion and lattice discreteness effects. The dispersion law of the kink motion is obtained and shown to lower the effect of lattice discreteness, giving rise to a vanishing Peierls stress for kink sizes of the order of a few lattice spacings. Implications of the coupling of two armchair structures on the stability of vibrational modes of an individual armchair nanotube are also discussed. A gap of forbidden modes is predicted in the phonon spectrum while the energy needed to create a kink deformation in individual nanotubes is shifted in the presence of a wall-to-wall interaction.Received: 2 August 2004, Published online: 14 December 2004PACS: 81.07.De Nanotubes - 62.30. + d Mechanical and elastic waves-vibrations - 63.22. + m Phonons in low-dimensional nanoscale materials - 63.20.Ry Anharmonic lattices modes     

High order harmonic generation by non-linear reflection of a pedestal-free intense laser pulse on a plasma

We demonstrate the influence of the prepulses and ASE of ultrashort pulses interacting with a solid target by addressing the direct comparison of the harmonic spectra generated by reflection onto a solid target with and without the introduction of a plasma mirror system. Harmonics up to the 20th of the fundamental of the Ti-Sa laser are clearly visible in a situation free from any plasma expansion. PACS 42.65. Ky; 52.38.-r; 52.38.Ph; 52.50.Jm     

Beta-decay of 71Co and 73Co

A decay spectroscopy study of the neutron-rich cobalt isotopes has been performed using fragmentation of a ⁸⁶Kr³⁶⁺ beam and the new LISE2000 spectrometer at GANIL. For ⁷¹Co and ⁷³Co, the -delayed radiation has been observed for the first time, and the half-lives were found to be 79(5) ms and 41(4) ms, respectively. Features of the decay are discussed qualitatively in terms of nuclear models.     

Application of phased array techniques to coarse grain components inspection

Ultrasonic inspection of cast stainless steel components from primary and auxiliary cooling circuits of French Nuclear Power Plant has to face with major difficulties due to the coarse grained structure of these materials. Attenuation losses and structural noise are encountered, which limits the performances of defect detection ability, mostly in terms of degraded signal-to-noise ratio and poor sensitivity. To overcome such problems, theoretical and experimental studies have been achieved at the French Atomic Energy Commission, with support from the French Institute for Radiological Protection and Nuclear Safety. Experimental studies have been performed over stainless steel specimen of known coarse structure (equiaxial grains and/or elongated grains), containing artificial reflectors (cylindrical holes and electro-eroded surface breaking notches). Those mock-ups have been inspected using contact probes of different array designs (linear or matrix splitting), and using pulse echo or dual-element techniques. Such arrays allow to control the ultrasonic beam so as to investigate different inspection angles and focusing depths. Experiments were carried out using oblique longitudinal waves, using delay laws computed by a specific model, taking account of acoustical and geometrical properties of the probes and the inspected component. In addition, specific reconstruction techniques have been investigated to enhance the signal-to-noise ratio as well as spatial resolution. These techniques are based on beam-forming summation and multi-angle inspections. Experimental results show that such techniques allow to reduce the speckle noise and to optimise the beam resolution. Those increased performances allow to detect and to size small planar defects located at the inner wall of a thick specimen, using corner and tip diffraction echoes.     

Glycosylation sites of hemocyanins of Helix pomatia and Sepia officinalis

Glycopeptides were isolated from functional units of two molluscan hemocyanins (Hcs). They were analyzed and localized in the sequences. A comparison with potential N-glycosylation sites of two other molluscan Hcs was made. An immunological cross-reactivity was observed between the beta-Hc and the alpha-macroglobulin of Helix pomotia. ELISA experiments with glycopeptide fractions indicated a competition.     

Effects of nonuniform illumination on implosion asymmetry in direct-drive inertial confinement fusion

Target areal density (rhoR) asymmetries in OMEGA direct-drive spherical implosions are studied. The rms variation / for low-mode-number structure is approximately proportional to the rms variation of on-target laser intensity / with an amplification factor of approximately 1/2(C(r)-1), where C(r) is the capsule convergence ratio. This result has critical implications for future work on the National Ignition Facility as well as OMEGA.