Nanocrystalline materials an approach to a novel solid structure with gas-like disorder?

Randomly oriented “nanocrystal” with sizes d below 10 nm, were compacted into a nanocrystalline solid. Studies by X-ray diffraction, Mössbauer spectroscopy, and magnetic measurements suggest a novel type of solid structure which consists of crystalline domains and a connective matrix without any short or long range order, corresponding structurally to a “gas-like solid”.     

BeF-Emissionsbanden im induktiv gekoppelten plasma

In this study we try to detect metal fluoride bands in the inductively coupled plasma. BeF¹ provided the most intense spectra with a head at 300.99 nm. Maximum intensity of BeF¹ was found under the following conditions: high carrier gas flow, low power level and low observation height above the load coil. The detection limit of fluoride by means of molecular emission was 400 mg l^?1.     

Accurate and precise spectrochemical analysis of Bi-Pb-Sr-Ca-Cu-O high-temperature superconductor materials

For quality tests of ceramic Bi-Pb-Sr-Ca-Cu-O superconductor materials (precursors and final products) accurate stoichiometric determinations of the metallic major components are necessary. Three methods were developed during the last decade in our group. Their properties and the results obtained are compared. The first classical analytical procedure requires to much manpower. The second combined chemical-spectrometric procedure is a routine method today, but also unsuitable for rapid tests. A new fully spectrometric procedure was recently developed using a simultaneously working Echelle spectrometer with CID detector, autosampler and a special self-made data evaluation software. The basis of this method are multiline measurements of each analyte element, a new method of spectral line selection for main component precision determinations, multi-component calibrations, and frequent external standardizations. For this method the sum of the confidence intervals of all element determinations was less than 1%, and no systematic error was detected.     

Polarization squeezing with photonic crystal fibers

We report on the generation of polarization squeezing by employing intense, ultrashort light pulses in a single pass method in photonic crystal fibers. We investigated the squeezing behavior near the zero-dispersion wavelength and in the anomalous dispersion regime by using two distinct fibers. We observed a maximal squeezing at 810 nm of −3.3 ± 0.3 dB with an excess noise of +16.8 ± 0.3 dB in the anomalous regime. Correcting for linear and interference losses between the polarization modes, this corresponds to −6 ± 1 dB. The ratio of squeezing to excess noise indicates the creation of a much purer state; this ratio indeed lies an order of magnitude below those squeezing experiments that exploit traditional fibers [1]. We attribute this increased state of purity to increased effective nonlinearity and to the reduction of scattering on acoustic modes in the fiber. Original Text ? Astro, Ltd., 2007.     

Quantum light from a whispering-gallery-mode disk resonator

Optical parametric down-conversion has proven to be a valuable source of nonclassical light. The process is inherently able to produce twin-beam correlations along with individual intensity squeezing of either parametric beam, when pumped far above threshold. Here, we present for the first time the direct observation of intensity squeezing of -1.2 dB of each of the individual parametric beams in parametric down-conversion by use of a high quality whispering-gallery-mode disk resonator. In addition, we observed twin-beam quantum correlations of -2.7 dB with this cavity. Such resonators feature strong optical confinement and offer tunable coupling to an external optical field. This work exemplifies the potential of crystalline whispering-gallery-mode resonators for the generation of quantum light. The simplicity of this device makes the application of quantum light in various fields highly feasible.     

Geometric Spin Hall Effect of Light at polarizing interfaces

The geometric Spin Hall Effect of Light (geometric SHEL) amounts to a polarization-dependent positional shift when a light beam is observed from a reference frame tilted with respect to its direction of propagation. Motivated by this intriguing phenomenon, the energy density of the light beam is decomposed into its Cartesian components in the tilted reference frame. This illustrates the occurrence of the characteristic shift and the significance of the effective response function of the detector. We introduce the concept of a tilted polarizing interface and provide a scheme for its experimental implementation. A light beam passing through such an interface undergoes a shift resembling the original geometric SHEL in a tilted reference frame. This displacement is generated at the polarizer and its occurrence does not depend on the properties of the detection system. We give explicit results for this novel type of geometric SHEL and show that at grazing incidence this effect amounts to a displacement of multiple wavelengths, a shift larger than the one introduced by Goos?CH?nchen and Imbert?CFedorov effects.     

Structure of the O‐Glycosylated Conopeptide CcTx from Conus consors Venom

The glycopeptide CcTx, isolated from the venom of the piscivorous cone snail Conus consors, belongs to the κA‐family of conopeptides. These toxins elicit excitotoxic responses in the prey by acting on voltage‐gated sodium channels. The structure of CcTx, a first in the κA‐family, has been determined by high‐resolution NMR spectroscopy together with the analysis of its O‐glycan at Ser7. A new type of glycopeptide O‐glycan core structure, here registered as core type 9, containing two terminal L ‐galactose units {α‐L ‐Galp‐(1→4)‐α‐D ‐GlcpNAc‐(1→6)‐[α‐L ‐Galp‐(1→2)‐β‐D ‐Galp‐(1→3)‐]α‐D ‐GalpNAc‐(1→O)}, is highlighted. A sequence comparison to other putative members of the κA‐family suggests that O‐linked glycosylation might be more common than previously thought. This observation alone underlines the requirement for more careful and in‐depth investigations into this type of post‐translational modification in conotoxins.