10-Gbit/s Serial Optical Interconnection for an ATM Switch

Serial optical interconnection is proposed for connections in a Torus asynchronous transfer mode switch. A cross-point switch was developed that operates at a bit rate of 20 Gbit/s. The switching operation was successfully performed using cascaded cross-point switches through an optical interconnection configuration consisting of commercial optoelectronics devices. The measured switching rate was 10 Gbit/s, and it was limited by the responses of the optoelectronics devices.     

Synthesis of Δ1[9]- and/or Δ8[9]-dehydroindolizidines and related compounds

A facile synthesis of Δ^1[9]- and/or Δ^8[9]-dehydroindolizidine and related compounds, consisting of dry distillation of γ-(N-2-piperidinonyl)butyric acid over soda-lime, is described. Reductions of these dehydroindolizidines and stereochemistry of 1-methylindolizidine are also described.     

Interferometers for displacement-noise-free gravitational-wave detection

We propose a class of displacement- and laser-noise-free gravitational-wave-interferometer configurations, which does not sense nongeodesic mirror motion and laser noise, but provides a nonvanishing gravitational-wave signal. Our interferometers consist of four mirrors and two beam splitters, which form four Mach-Zehnder interferometers. By contrast to previous works, no composite mirrors with multiple reflective surfaces are required. Each mirror in our configuration is sensed redundantly, by at least two pairs of incident and reflected beams. Displacement- and laser-noise-free detection is achieved when output signals from these four interferometers are combined appropriately. Our 3-dimensional interferometer configuration has a low-frequency response proportional to f2, which is better than the f3 achievable by previous 2-dimensional configurations.     

Effects of localized triplet exciton on reactivity of photoinduced omega-bond dissociation in naphthyl phenyl ketones having pi,pi* lowest triplet (T1) states studied by laser flash photolysis

Photochemical properties of photoinduced omega-bond dissociation in naphthyl phenyl ketones having a phenylthiyl moiety as a leaving group, p-(alpha-naphthoyl)benzyl phenyl sulfide (NBPS) and 4-benzoyl-1-naphthylmethyl phenyl sulfide (BNMPS), in solution were investigated by laser flash photolysis techniques. Both ketones were shown to undergo photoinduced omega-bond cleavage of the C-S bond to release the phenyl thiyl radical (PTR) at room temperature. Irrespective of excitation wavelengths of NBPS, a quantum yield (Phi(rad)) of the PTR formation was obtained to be 0.1, whereas that for BNMPS was found to depend on the excitation wavelength, i.e., absorption bands from the ground state (S0) to the excited singlet states, S3, S2, and S1 of BNMPS; Phi(rad)(S3) = 0.77 and Phi(rad)(S2) = Phi(rad)(S1) = 1.0. By using triplet sensitization of p-phenylbenzophenone (PBP), efficiencies (alpha(rad)) of the radical formation in the lowest triplet state (T1(pi,pi*)) of NBPS and BNMPS were determined to be 0 and 1.0, respectively. The agreement between Phi(rad)(S1) and alpha(rad) values for BNMPS indicates that the C-S bond dissociation occurs in the T1 state via the S1 state via a fast intersystem crossing from the S1 to the T1 state. The wavelength dependence of the radical yields upon direct excitation of BNMPS was interpreted in terms of the C-S bond cleavage in the S3 state competing with internal conversion from the S3 to the S2 state. The smaller value of Phi(rad)(S3) than those of Phi(rad)(S1) and Phi(rad)(S2) was proposed to originate from the geminate recombination of singlet radical pairs produced by the bond dissociation via the S3 state. Photoinduced omega-cleavage of NBPS was concluded to take place only in the S1(n,pi*) state. Difference in reactivity of omega-cleavage between the triplet states of NBPS and BNMPS was interpreted in terms of localized triplet exciton in the naphthoyl moieties.     

Stable 10 W Er:ZBLAN fiber laser operating at 2.71-2.88 μm

We have developed a diode-pumped tunable 3 μm fiber laser with a cw output power of the order of 10 W with the use of an erbium-doped ZBLAN fiber. A tunability range of 110 nm (2770 to 2880 nm) with an output power between 8 and 11 W was demonstrated. As the pump power was increased, the center of the wavelength range was shifted toward longer wavelengths, but the width of the wavelength range was largely unaffected. The total tunability range for various pump power levels was 170 nm (2710 to 2880 nm). To our knowledge, this is the highest performance (output power and tunability) obtained from a tunable 3 μm fiber laser.     

Annihilation and creation of rotating waves by a local light pulse in a protoplasmic droplet of the Physarum plasmodium

Pattern dynamics plays a fundamental role in biological functions from cell to organ in living systems, and the appearance of rotating waves can lead to pathological situations. Basic dynamics of rotating waves of contraction-relaxation activity under local perturbation is studied in a newly developed protoplasmic droplet of the Physarum plasmodium. A light pulse is applied by irradiating circularly a quarter of the droplet showing a single rotating wave. The oscillation pattern changes abruptly only when the irradiation is applied at a part of the droplet near the maximal contraction. The abrupt changes are as follows: the rotating wave disappears or is displaced when the irradiation area is very close to the center of the rotating wave, while new rotating waves are created when the irradiation area is far from the center of the rotating wave. These results support the hypothesis that the phase response curve has a discontinuous change (type 0 resetting) from delay to advance around the maximal contraction. The significance of the results is discussed in relation to “vulnerability” in excitable media and biological systems in general.     

Structure and excitation relaxation dynamics of dimethylanthracene dimer in a gamma-cyclodextrin nanocavity in aqueous solution

Dimethylanthracene (DMA), which exhibits almost no self-association in bulk organic solvents, forms a dimer and emits excimer-like fluorescence in a gamma-cyclodextrin nanocavity in a dilute aqueous solution. The 1Bb and 1La electronic transitions of the DMA dimer split by 2230 and 344 cm(-1), respectively, in a fluorescence excitation spectrum obtained with the excimer-like emission. From these energy splits, the structure of dimer in relation to a dielectric constant inside gamma-CD was discussed on the basis of atom-atom Lennard-Jones potential calculations including Coulombic interactions. Excitation relaxations of DMA in the presence of alpha-, beta-, and gamma-CDs in aqueous solutions were investigated by time-resolved fluorescence. The results suggest that both the hydrated and anhydrated species exist in the alpha- and gamma-CD complexes, while only the anhydrated species exists in the beta-CD complex.