Spectral stabilization of amplified pulses from synchronously-pumped dye laser systems

We demonstrate an effective scheme for passively stabilizing the single shot spectrum of the amplified pulses from a synchronously pumped dye laser system. This scheme is easy to implement and inexpensive. Data from resonant and nonresonant coherent transient experiments are shown to illustrate its effectiveness.     

Irradiated rare‐earth‐doped powellite single crystal probed by confocal Raman mapping and transmission electron microscopy

The irradiation‐induced damages and structure modifications of rare earths doped powellite single crystal have been precisely studied using optical and electron microscopy techniques, including optical interferometry, confocal micro‐Raman spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy. The surface of powellite crystal pops out anisotropically after exposing under Ar ion beam, with a saturation swelling value of 2.0% along a‐axis and 1.3% along the c‐axis of powellite at high dose. Raman mapping on focused ion‐beam sections (5 × 3 µm²) perpendicular to the irradiated surface reveals that irradiation damage induces orientation‐dependent compressive stresses in powellite. However, no significant anisotropic effect has been found on the irradiation‐induced structural disorder in powellite. At low dose (0.012 dpa), the main irradiation‐induced defects created in powellite crystal are small defect clusters. By comparison, the dominant kinds of defects in high‐dose (5.0 dpa) sample are dislocations loops and networks. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Zirconium-doped hybrid films patterned by soft lithography for distributed-feedback lasers

Zirconium (Zr)-doped hybrid films containing Rhodamine 6G (Rh6G) were prepared by spin-coating on glass substrates with different Zr–Si molar ratio. Second-order distributed-feedback (DFB) resonators with large surface-relief modulation depth over 160 nm could be fabricated by soft lithographic technique using a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) replica. Optically pumped by a pulsed frequency-doubled Q-switched Nd:YAG laser, the emission wavelength of the DFB-lasers can be tuned over 16 nm by changing the grating period. With the optimization of the Zr–Si molar ratio, low laser threshold of 3 μJ/mm² was obtained.     

Electro-hydrodynamic fabrication of ZnO-based dye sensitized solar cells

The electro-hydrodynamic (EHD) technique has been successfully applied for manufacturing ZnO photoanode in dye sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). Porous structure of ZnO film after calcinations was beneficial to the absorption of dye and infiltration of electrolyte. By using ionic liquid as an electrolyte, a high short-circuit photocurrent density of 12.1 mA/cm² was attained and the overall photo-to-electric energy conversion efficiency (η) was 3.4% under an AM-1.5 illumination at 100 mW/cm². At the same time, the influence factors on the solar cell performance, such as the concentrations of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) during EHD process and light intensity were discussed. PACS 81.07.Bc; 84.60.Jt; 81.15.Rs     

Spectral Characterization of Nitrogen in Farmland Soil by Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy

Nitrogen is one of the most important elements in farmland soil, and nitrogen content is one of the evaluation indicators of fertilizers. It is difficult to measure the nitrogen content in farmland soil because the chemical and physical properties of farmland soil are complex. Through the adoption of buffer gases to remove the influence of the nitrogen in air, this paper studied the laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) characteristics of nitrogen in soil to establish a foundation for in situ measurement of nitrogen in farmland soil. Three characteristic spectral lines have been found. Based on the precise controlling of laser power and triggering of delay time between laser generation and spectra collection, we have studied the effects of laser energy on LIBS spectral characteristics and the time evolution characteristics to supply the basis of parameter optimization for the measurement. In addition, we have studied the relationship between nitrogen concentration and LIBS spectral intensity. The results demonstrated that LIBS was an effective measurement method of nitrogen content in farmland soil with simple hardware structure, fast detection, and high precision.     

A photonic approach for microwave/millimeter-wave frequency measurement using stimulated brillouin scattering in single mode fiber

A photonic approach for microwave/millimeter-wave (MMW) frequency measurement is proposed and demonstrated based on stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS) of a 20-km standard single mode fiber (SSMF). After the MMW signal is modulated to a laser source with two sidebands using optical carrier suppression (OCS) modulation, its frequency can be easily measured by monitoring the SBS-induced amplification with a power meter. Due to the 1-pm resolution of a tunable pump laser source, a frequency measurement range of 1–40 GHz is demonstrated in our experiment with a frequency resolution of 125 MHz. We believe the frequency measurement range can be further extended to satisfy photonic radar front-end processing application.     

Perfect impedance-matched left-handed behavior in combined metamaterial

Matching the impedance of a medium to free space, which is usually not available in natural materials, is an important advance in metamaterials. In this paper, we present a simple mechanism for a perfect impedance-matched left-handed metamaterials, that reveals a nearly zero reflection over operating frequency. This finding is based on the independent manipulation of the electric response without any effect on the magnetic one.     

General theory for the ferroelectric polarization induced by spin-spiral order

The ferroelectric polarization of triangular-lattice antiferromagnets induced by helical spin-spiral order is not explained by any existing model of magnetic-order-driven ferroelectricity. We resolve this problem by developing a general theory for the ferroelectric polarization induced by spin-spiral order and then by evaluating the coefficients needed to specify the general theory on the basis of density functional calculations. Our theory correctly describes the ferroelectricity of triangular-lattice antiferromagnets driven by helical spin-spiral order and incorporates known models of magnetic-order-driven ferroelectricity as special cases.