Calculation of effective index for different dielectric waveguides structures made of PVCi/PMATRIFE polymers at telecom-wavelength \lambda =1.55\,\upmu m

In this paper, a number of polymeric waveguide structures have been analyzed by using two distinct techniques which are: effective index method (EIM) and numerical simulation based on finite difference method (FDM). The main aim of this investigation is the calculation of effective indexes (EI) of the following structures: rib, ridge and buried channel waveguides at telecom wavelength $\lambda =1.55\,\upmu \hbox {m}$ for different dimensions of waveguide cores varying from 1.5–4  $\upmu \hbox {m}$ . Moreover, other optical propagation characteristics such as: confinement factor, normalized and propagation constant have been studied in TE polarisation. Otherwise the effect of the structure parameters and dimensions on the dispersion characteristics has been investigated. On the other hand, the optical field distribution has been computed using commercial software named OlympIOs. The polymers applied in the design of waveguide structures are the PVCi (n = 1,562 $\lambda = {1.55}\,\upmu $ m) used as core layer and the PMATRIFE (n = 1,409 $\lambda = 1.55\,\upmu $ m) used as substrate or cladding layer. The results obtained using EIM and simulation based on FDM show that effective index and field confinement factor of TE fundamental mode increase monotonously with the increasing dimension of core. The obtained results are in good agreement with published data based on other numerical methods.     

Population lensing effect in Cr:LiSAF probed by Z-scan technique

An experiment has been performed for measuring a nonlinear refractive index that is due to the polarizability difference Δ_P between excited (⁴T₂) and ground (⁴A₂) states in a Cr³⁺:LiSAF crystal at λ = 647 nm. The latter one is responsible for a population lensing effect which has been monitored by using the eclipsing Z-scan technique. We have performed a data analysis that allows to distinguish between thermal and population contributions to the lensing effect. We have found Δ_P = 4.6 × 10⁻²⁵ cm³ which is in a good agreement with our previous measurements with a different technique.     

Sonochemical and sonocatalytic degradation of monolinuron in water

The degradation of the phenylurea monolinuron (MLN) by ultrasound irradiation alone and in the presence of TiO(2) was investigated in aqueous solution. The experiments were carried out at low and high frequency (20 and 800 kHz) in complete darkness. The degradation of MLN by ultrasounds occurred mainly by a radical pathway, as shown the inhibitory effect of adding tert-butanol and bicarbonate ions to scavenge hydroxyl radicals. However, CO(3)(-) radicals were formed with bicarbonate and reacted in turn with MLN. In this study, the degradation rate of MLN and the rate constant of H(2)O(2) formation were used to evaluate the oxidative sonochemical efficiency. It was shown that ultrasound efficiency was improved in the presence of nanoparticles of TiO(2) and SiO(2) only at 20 kHz. These particles provide nucleation sites for cavitation bubbles at their surface, leading to an increase in the number of bubbles when the liquid is irradiated by ultrasound, thereby enhancing sonochemical reaction yield. In the case of TiO(2), sonochemical efficiency was found to be greater than with SiO(2) for the same mass introduced. In addition to the increase in the number of cavitation bubbles, activated species may be formed at the TiO(2) surface that promote the formation of H(2)O(2) and the decomposition of MLN.     

Application of Multilinear Gradient Elution for Optimization of Separation of Chlorophenols Using Derringer’s Desirability Function

Multilinear gradient elution was applied for the simultaneous optimization of resolution and analysis times of nine chlorophenols separated by HPLC. The first relationship of ln k versus φ was determined using the isocratic retention time for each analyte. For prediction of gradient retention times of analytes, the fundamental equation of gradient elution was numerically solved. Then a grid search program was used to simulate chromatograms under each new condition. Two different chromatographic goals, analysis time and minimum distance between adjacent peaks, were evaluated simultaneously using Derringer’s desirability function for each chromatogram. The sigmoid function was used to transform the optimization criteria to desirability values. Under optimal conditions, a good agreement was observed between predicted and experimental values of the chromatographic response function when analysis time was less than 40 min.     

Theoretical study of laser light generation and color image formation: FA1:Cs+ and FA2:Li+ centers at the low coordination (100) and (110) surfaces of AgCl and AgBr

The F_A1:Cs⁺ and F_A2:Li⁺ color centers at the low coordination (100) and (110) surfaces of AgCl and AgBr play important roles in laser light generation and color image formation. Double‐well potentials at these surfaces are investigated by using ab initio calculations. Quantum clusters were embedded in the simulated Coulomb fields that closely approximate the Madelung fields of the host surfaces, and ions that are the nearest neighbors to the F_A ? defect site are allowed to relax to equilibrium. The calculated Stokes shifts suggest that laser light generation is sensitive to the simultaneous effects of the vibrational coupling mode, the impurity cation, the coordination number of the surface ion, the lattice anion, and the choice of the basis set centered on the anion vacancy. An attempt has been made to explain these effects in terms of Madelung potential, electron affinity, and optical–optical conversion efficiency. All relaxed excited states of the defect‐containing surfaces are deep below the lower edges of the conduction bands of the ground‐state defect‐free surfaces, suggesting that the F_A(I):Cs⁺ and F_A(II):Li⁺ centers are suitable laser defects. The dependence of orientational destruction, recording sensitivity, and exciton (energy) transfer on the empty cation; the coordination number of the surface ion; and the lattice anion is clarified. The Glasner–Tompkins empirical rule was generalized to include the impurity cation and the coordination number of the surface ion. As far as color image formation is concerned, the supersensitizer was found to increase the sensitizing capabilities of two primary dyes in the excited states by increasing the relative yield of quantum efficiency. The (110) surfaces of AgBr and AgCl were more sensitive than the corresponding (100) surfaces, and AgBr thin film was found to be more sensitive than that of AgCl. On the basis of quasi‐Fermi levels, the difference in the sensitizing capabilities between the examined dyes in the excited states is determined. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Quantum Chem, 2005     

Design and synthesis of self-included pillar[5]arene-based bis-[1]rotaxanes

Two strategies for the design of new pillar[5]arene-based mechanically self-interlocked molecules (MSMs) are reported here. The first strategy is based on the construction of an intermediate pseudo[1]rotaxane followed by the desired bis-[1]rotaxane. The other one is based on the construction of the desired bis-[1]-rotaxane directly via a condensation reaction through host-guest interactions between a mono-functionalized pillar[5]arene and the axle. This compound has interesting self-assembly properties in methanol and some extended applications of this compound will be reported in the near future.     

Synthesis,crystal structure,magnetic properties and second harmonic generation of a new noncentrosymmetric coordination compound:Triaqua(4-amino-6-methoxypyrimidine) cuprate(Ⅱ)sulfate

The chemical preparation, crystal structure and infrared spectroscopic characterization of the triaqua(4-amino-6-methoxypyrimidine) cuprate(II) sulfate, [Cu(C_5H_7N_3)(H_2O)_3]SO_4, is reported. The compound crystallizes in the noncentrosymmetric orthorhombic space group P2_12_12_1 with lattice parameters a = 7.9025(3), b = 11.1189(4), c = 12.9720(4) , V = 1139.81(7) ~3 and Z = 4. The Cu(II) cation is fivecoordinated, in an early half-way between square pyramidal and trigonal bipyramidal fashion, by two nitrogen atoms of the 4-amino-6-methoxypyrimidine ligand and three water oxygen atoms. In the atomic arrangement, the organic ligands and the 5-connected Cu centers are linked with each other to give a 1-D corrugated hybrid chain running along the b-axis direction. The chains are interconnected by the SO_4~(2-) anions via O–H...O, O–H...S, C–H...O and N–H...O hydrogen bonds to form layers spreading parallel to the(011) plane. The vibrational absorption bands were identified by infrared spectroscopy. Quantitative measurements of the second harmonic generation(SHG) of a powdered sample at 1064 nm were performed and a relative efficiency of 5.2 times the KDP standard was observed. Magnetic properties were also defined to characterize the complex. Magnetic measurements revealed that this material had a onedimensional antiferromagnetic character. The magnetic parameters were g = 2.11 and 2J/k B = -36 K.     

Enveloping semigroups and mappings onto the two-shift

Enveloping semigroups of topological actions of semigroups on compact spaces are studied. For zero dimensional spaces, and under modest conditions on , the enveloping semigroup is shown to be the Stone-\v{C}ech compactification if and only if some Cartesian product has the two-shift as a factor. Examples are discussed showing that, unlike in the measure theory case, positive entropy does not imply the existence of such a factor even if the Cartesian product has large entropy.