An Experimental Study of Mg Aggregation in AA5754 Alloys by Positron Annihilation Spectroscopy

Defects in an AA5754 （Al-3.0%Mg） alloy are investigated by coincidence Doppler broadening spectroscopy and positron lifetime spectroscopy. The results indicate enhancement of positron trapping by Mg atoms in this Al-Mg alloy after quenching treatment at 623K, which may be due to the formation of vacancy-Mg complexes or the aggregation of Mg near the vacancy sites. It is speculated that the aggregation of Mg atoms in the moderate temperature range is responsible for cracking in spot welding of AA5754 alloys.     

All-Optical RZ-to-NRZ Format Conversion with a Tunable Fibre Based Delay Interferometer

All-optical format conversion from return-to-zero （RZ） to non-return-to-zero （NRZ） is demonstrated with temperaturecontrolled all-fibre delay interferometer （DI） at 20 Gb/s. The operation principle is theoretical analysed with the help of numerical simulation and spectra analysis. Theoretical analysis results are consistent well with the experimental results. The format conversion can be achieved with power penalty of 0.54 dB and with output extinction ratio 20 dB.     

Effects of Inhomogeneous Spin Coupling and Anisotropy on Thermal Entanglement

We study the thermal entanglement properties of a simple system that includes three spins inhomogeneously coupled between them with additional anisotropy in their couplings. The main result is the systematic analysis of the concurrence evolution as functions of inhomogeneity, anisotropy and temperature. By adjusting proportional factor of the interaction J and anisotropy parameter △, the comparison between concurrences C₁₂ andC₁₃ is also presented.     

Thermal Performance of Laser Diode Array under Constant Convective Heat Transfer Boundary Condition

Three-dimensional heat transfer model of laser diode array under constant convective heat transfer coefficient boundary condition is established and analytical temperature profiles within its heat sink are obtained by separation of variables. The influences on thermal resistance and maximum temperature variation among emitters from heat sink structure parameters and convective heat transfer coefficient are brought forward. The derived formula enables the thermal optimization of laser diode array.     

Measuring Grüneisen Parameter of Lead by High Pressure-Jump Method

Using the technology of pressure jump, variations of temperature associated with pressure from 2.4 GPa to 4.6 GPa are measured for lead. The Grfuneisen parameter is calculated from the thermodynamic relation γ =（Ks/T）（aT/aP）s, in which substitution of △T/△P for aT/aP at median pressure is strictly justified. The correction of temperature change is carried out by analysing the experimental data, which makes the process more approaching to an adiabatic condition. The calculated values of △T/ △ P and γ gradually decrease with the increasing pressure. The decrease trend is consistent with the previous work. The γ values in the range of 2-3 GPa are averagely higher than the results of Ramakrishnan et al., indicating the effect of temperature correction. The improved method is promising for measurements of Grfineisen parameter to higher pressure range.     

Possible Way to Synthesize Superheavy Element Z=117

Within the framework of the dinuclear system model, the production of superheavy element Z = 117 in possible projectile-target combinations is analysed systematically. The calculated results show that the production cross sections are strongly dependent on the reaction systems. Optimal combinations, corresponding excitation energies and evaporation channels are proposed, such as the isotopes^248.249 Bk in ^48 Ca induced reactions in 3n evaporation channels and the reactions ^45Sc＋246.248Cm in 3n and 4n channels, and the system ^51 V＋ 244pu in 3n channel.     

Extended Measurement of the v2 (1- ←0+) Band of H3O+ by Mid-Infrared Diode Laser Spectroscopy

Twenty-five new R-branch lines of the v2（1^-← 0^＋） band of H3O^＋ are measured using diode laser velocity modulation spectroscopy between 1070 and 1230 cm^-1. The H3O^＋ ions are produced in a high voltage ac discharge with water diluted in helium. The observed lines together with all the previously published measurements are fit to the standard vibration-rotational Hamiltonian of an oblate symmetric top, yielding a set of improved molecular constants. All the sextic centrifugal distortion constants for both 0^＋ and 1^- states are determined precisely. The observed R（13, 0） transition is shifted about -0.129 cm^-1 from its calculated value, indicating that a near degeneracy exists between the （13, 0）^＋ and （13, 3）^- ground-state rotation-inversion levels.     

Gain Measurement and Anomalous Decrease of Peak Gain at Long Wavelength for InAs/GaAs Quantum-Dot Lasers

Mode gain spectrum is measured by the Fourier series expansion method for InAs/GaAs quantum-dot （QD） lasers with seven stacks of QDs at different injection currents. Gain spectra with distinctive peaks are observed at the short and long wavelengths of about 1210nm and 1300nm. For a QD laser with the cavity length of 1060μm, the peak gain of the long wavelength first increases slowly or even decreases with the injection current as the peak gain of the short wavelength increases quickly, and finally increases quickly before approaching the saturated values as the injection current further increases.     

Contrast Adaptation Decreases Complexity in Retinal Ganglion Cell Spike Train

The difference in temporal structures of retinal ganglion cell spike trains between spontaneous activity and firing activity after contrast adaptation is investigated. The Lempel-Ziv complexity analysis reveals that the complexity of the neural spike train decreases after contrast adaptation. This implies that the behaviour of the neuron becomes ordered, which may carry relevant information about the external stimulus. Thus, during the neuron activity after contrast adaptation, external information could be encoded in forms of some certain patterns in the temporal structure of spike train that is significantly different, compared to that of the spike train during spontaneous activity, although the firing rates in spontaneous activity and firing activity after contrast adaptation are sometime similar.     

Flat Supercontinuum Generation at 1550 nm in a Dispersion-Flattened Microstructure Fibre Using Picosecond Pulse

The generation of a flat supercontinuum of over 80nm in the 1550nm region by injecting 1.6ps 10 GHz repetition rate optical pulses into an 80-m-long dispersion-flattened microstructure fibre is demonstrated. The fibre has small normal dispersion with a variation smaller than 1.5 （ps·nm^-1·km^-1） between 1500 and 1650nm. The generated supercontinuum ranging from 1513 to 1591 nm has the flatness of ±1.5 dB and it is not so flat in the range of several nanometres around the pump wavelength 1552nm. Numerical simulation is also used to study the effect of optical loss, fibre parameters and pumping conditions on supercontinuum generation in the dispersion-flattened microstructure fibre, and can be used for further optimization to generate flat broad spectra.