Frequency fine-tuning in Class IV flextensional transducers

Class IV flextensional transducers (FTs) are the best-known FTs in literature. These are light-weight projectors (compared to the conventional Tonpilz designs) with capability for high power delivery at low frequencies. The resonance frequencies of this type of transducers are known to be dominantly dependent on the characteristics of the outer shell than on the driver stack. Consequently, the method of achieving fine-tuning of the transducer by modifying the characteristics of the stack, as practiced in the case of Tonpilz designs, is not very effective. This paper describes a method for fine-tuning of the frequency of a Class IV FT, which involves only a modification of a pair of small components used for coupling the stack to the transducer. The effectiveness of the method is examined by finite element modelling using the package ATILA, in the case of a 3 kHz aluminium shell transducer. Experimental results are also presented.     

The role of binder mobility in spontaneous adhesive contact and implications for cell adhesion

The standard view of mechanical adhesive contact is as a competition between a reduction in free energy when surfaces with bonding potential come into contact and an increase in free energy due to elastic deformation that is required to make these surfaces conform. An equilibrium state is defined by an incremental balance between these effects, akin to the Griffith crack growth criterion. In the case of adhesion of biological cells, the molecules that tend to form surface-to-surface bonds are confined to the cell wall but they are mobile within the wall, adding a new phenomenon of direct relevance to adhesive contact. In this article, the process of adhesive contact of an initially curved elastic plate to a flat surface is studied for the case in which the binders that account for adhesion are able to migrate within the plate. This is done by including entropic free energy of the binder distribution in the total free energy of the system. By adopting a constitutive assumption that binders migrate at a speed proportional to the local gradient in chemical potential, the transient growth of an adhesion zone due to binder transport is analyzed. For the case of a plate of very large extent, the problem can be solved in closed form, whereas numerical methods are invoked for the case of a plate of limited extent. Results are presented on the rate of growth of an adhesion zone in terms of system parameters, on the evolution of the distribution of binders and, in the case of a plate of limited extent, on the long-term limiting size of the adhesion zone.     

Analysis of a demodulation system for Fiber Bragg Grating sensors using two fixed filters

The analysis of a demodulation system for Fiber Bragg Grating sensors based on two fixed spectral filters has been carried out both theoretically and experimentally. Different system configurations were analyzed by modifying the spectral position of the filters as well as the optical power-level of the signal reaching the two photo-detectors. Measurements with integration times that varied from 0.01 to 1 s have been compared with the low-frequency limit predicted for long-term operation. Comparisons between simulated and experimental results show good agreement, and extrapolations indicate that it should be possible to achieve an operating spectrum range of the order of 7 nm, with uncertainties equivalent to less than 2 pm in measurements of the sensor peak position.     

Three-dimensional structure of the calcite-water interface by surface X-ray scattering

The three-dimensional structure of the calcite (104)-water interface has been determined with surface X-ray scattering. Nine crystal truncation rods (including specular and non-specular rods) were measured providing both vertical and lateral sensitivity to the interfacial structure. The results reveal that calcite is nearly ideally terminated with a single surface hydration layer that includes two inequivalent water molecules having distinct heights of 2.3 ± 0.1 and 3.5 ± 0.2 Å, each with a well-defined lateral registry with respect to the calcite surface. No additional layering of water is observed beyond this surface hydration layer. Small displacements in the outer two calcium carbonate layers were also observed. These results are compared with previous experimental and computational results.     

Analysis of Threshold Current and Wall-Plug Efficiency of Diode Lasers with Asymmetric Facet Reflectivity

Threshold current and differential quantum efficiency of broad contact lasers with asymmetric facet reflectivity are discussed with the purpose to reveal factors essential for optimisation of the wall-plug efficiency of such lasers. Lasers with low front facet reflectivity and short cavity often exhibit behaviour difficult to explain with a classical theory. More rigorous calculation performed in this work show that differential quantum efficiency is indeed less affected by a change of the front facet reflectivity or cavity length than predicted by such theory. These findings greatly simplify criteria for optimisation of the wall-plug efficiency of broad contact lasers with coated facets.     

A Miura of the Painlevé I Equation and Its Discrete Analogs

We present Miura transformations for the continuous and several discrete Painlev\'e I equations. In the case of the continuous P_I, we use the Hamiltonian formulation of the Painlev\'e equations and show that there exists a Miura transformation between P_I and the binomial, second degree, equation of Cosgrove SD_V. In the case of the discrete P_I's we obtain two different kinds of Miuras. One kind relates a d-P_I to some other d-P_I while the other leads to discrete four-point equations which are the discrete analogs of the derivative of Cosgrove's equation SD_V.     

Quantum correlations in dual quantum measurements

 We analyze the quantum measurement properties of dual non-degenerate parametric amplifers in the twin-beam configuration, in the cascaded back-action-evasion configuration, and in Kerr-type photon-number quantum non-demolition measurements. It is found that Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen correlations can be obtained between the quadrature components of an idler mode and the sum of the readout of two signal modes. Furthermore, we discuss dual-mode quantum non-demolition measurements on the combination of two light modes, and the generation of number-state entanglement. Received: 12 April 1996/Revised version: 2 July 1996