Diode-pumped mode-locked femtosecond Tm:CLNGG disordered crystal laser

A diode-end-pumped passively mode-locked femtosecond Tm-doped calcium lithium niobium gallium garnet (Tm:CLNGG) disordered crystal laser was demonstrated for the first time to our knowledge. With a 790 nm laser diode pumping, stable CW mode-locking operation was obtained by using a semiconductor saturable absorber mirror. The disordered crystal laser generated mode-locked pulses as short as 479 fs, with an average output power of 288 mW, and repetition rate of 99 MHz in 2 μm spectral region.     

Electric-field control of nonvolatile magnetization in Co40Fe40B20/Pb(Mg(1/3)Nb(2/3))(0.7)Ti(0.3)O3 structure at room temperature

We report a large and nonvolatile bipolar-electric-field-controlled magnetization at room temperature in a Co(40)Fe(40)B(20)/Pb(Mg(1/3)Nb(2/3))(0.7)Ti(0.3)O(3) structure, which exhibits an electric-field-controlled looplike magnetization. Investigations on the ferroelectric domains and crystal structures with in situ electric fields reveal that the effect is related to the combined action of 109° ferroelastic domain switching and the absence of magnetocrystalline anisotropy in Co(40)Fe(40)B(20). This work provides a route to realize large and nonvolatile magnetoelectric coupling at room temperature and is significant for applications.     

Synchronization between integer-order chaotic systems and a class of fractional-order chaotic systems via sliding mode control

In this paper, we focus on the synchronization between integer-order chaotic systems and a class of fractional-order chaotic system using the stability theory of fractional-order systems. A new sliding mode method is proposed to accomplish this end for different initial conditions and number of dimensions. More importantly, the vector controller is one-dimensional less than the system. Furthermore, three examples are presented to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed scheme, which are the synchronization between a fractional-order Chen chaotic system and an integer-order T chaotic system, the synchronization between a fractional-order hyperchaotic system based on Chen's system and an integer-order hyperchaotic system, and the synchronization between a fractional-order hyperchaotic system based on Chen's system and an integer-order Lorenz chaotic system. Finally, numerical results are presented and are in agreement with theoretical analysis.     

Defects in room-temperature ferromagnetic Cu-doped ZnO films probed by x-ray absorption spectroscopy

We report a comprehensive study of the defects in room-temperature ferromagnetic (RTFM) Cu-doped ZnO thin films using x-ray absorption spectroscopy. The films are doped with 2 at.% Cu, and are prepared by reactive magnetron sputtering (RMS) and pulsed laser deposition (PLD), respectively. The results reveal unambiguously that atomic point defects exist in these RTFM thin films. The valence states of the Cu ions in both films are 2(+). In the film prepared by PLD, the oxygen vacancies (V(O)) form around both Zn ions and Cu ions in the hexagonal wurtzite structure. Upon annealing of the film in O(2), the V(O) population reduces and so does the RTFM. In the film prepared by RMS, the V(O)s around Cu ions are not detected, and the V(O) population around Zn ions is also smaller than in the PLD-prepared film. However, zinc vacancies (V(Zn)) are evidenced. Given the low doping level of spin-carrying Cu ions, these results provide strong support for defect-mediated ferromagnetism in Cu-doped ZnO thin films.     

Crystal growth and optical properties of Cr3+, Er3+, RE3+: Gd3Ga5O12 (RE=Tm,Ho, Eu) for mid-IR laser applications

In this paper we report on the optical properties of triply Cr³⁺, Er³⁺, and RE³⁺ (RE=Tm, Ho, Eu) doped Gd₃Ga₅O₁₂ crystals that were grown by the Czochralski method. Optical absorption, near-infrared (NIR), and mid-infrared (mid-IR) fluorescence spectra were characterized for the fabricated crystals and corresponding luminescence decay measurements under 654 nm excitation were also carried out. Based on the analysis of energy transfer process between Er and RE (RE=Tm, Ho, Eu) ions, the energy transfer efficiency (ETE) values were evaluated, correspondingly. From the spectral data of all the studied crystals, it is observed that the co-doped Cr³⁺ ion highly increases the absorption pump power and the three kinds of co-doped RE³⁺ ions depopulate the Er:⁴I_13/2 energy level effectively. The spectral analysis shows that titled rare earth doped crystals are promising materials for ～3.0 μm mid-IR laser applications and among them Cr,Er,Eu:GGG is relatively more suitable due to its excellent optical properties compared with others.     

A diamine ligand with long “arms” and its corresponding dinuclear rhenium(I) complex: Synthesis,characterization, photophysical property,and sensing activity towards molecular oxygen

In this paper, we synthesize a novel diamine ligand of 4,7-dinonadecyl-1,10-phenanthroline (DN-Phen) with two long alkyl chain arms serving as a shield and its corresponding dinuclear Re(I) complex of Re₂(CO)₆(bpy)(DN-Phen)₂ (bpy=4,4′-bipyridine), aiming at an optical sensor immune to the surrounding interferences. Its geometric and electronic structures are investigated, which suggest that the introduced long alkyl chains act as a shield for the excited state of emissive center. The promising photophysical parameters of Re₂(CO)₆(bpy)(DN-Phen)₂, including the immunity of emission towards the surrounding interferences and long excited state lifetime, make itself a potential probe for oxygen detection. By doping Re₂(CO)₆(bpy)(DN-Phen)₂ into two silica matrixes of MCM-41 and SBA-15, oxygen sensing performances of the resulted composite materials are investigated. Finally, a high sensitivity of 20.1 is realized, with short response/recovery time of 8 s/42 s. Here, sensitivity is defined as the ratio of emission maximum under pure nitrogen to emission minimum under pure oxygen, response and recovery times are the times for a sample to lose (response time) or recover (recovery time) 95% of its emission maximum upon periodically changed atmosphere.     

The influences of amplified spontaneous emission,crystal temperature and round-trip loss on scaling of CW thin-disk laser

In this paper, a model is built to explore how the parameters (amplified spontaneous emission (ASE), temperature and round-trip loss) influence the output power in a thin-disk laser. It is found that optical efficiency of the disk laser is reduced with the increase of ASE, temperature or round-trip loss. The parameters are optimized to maximize the output power based on our model. We find that it is necessary to balance the need to lower the temperature with the need to control ASE during the optimization process. But the balance becomes more difficult to achieve with the increase of round-trip loss. We conclude that output power of more than 2.6 MW with a single disk can be achieved, but the necessary disk size (more than 0.5 m) is far beyond the actual technical limits. But it is possible to achieve output power of over a hundred kilowatts using a 10 cm disk in the near future.     

Phase retardation measurement by analyzing flipping points of polarization states in laser with an anisotropy feedback cavity

Phase retardation of wave plate is measured by analyzing flipping points of polarization states. Measured result and system error are analyzed. Nonlinearity of piezoelectric ceramic is an important error source. The nonlinearity is measured with an interferometer based on microchip Nd:YAG laser feedback phenomenon. The measured system of phase retardation, in this paper, is calibrated to the frequency splitting system. The accuracy of the system is improved. The measurement repeatability is better than 0.12° and the accuracy is better than 0.22°. This paper has a very important significance for wave plate high precision manufacture.     

Temperature and strain discrimination using two parallel connected Sagnac loops based on character-1 shaped polarization-maintaining fiber

A fiber sensor configuration suitable for discrimination of temperature and strain is presented. The sensor head is composed of two parallel concatenated Sagnac loops based on character-1 shaped polarization-maintaining fiber (PMF). The two Sagnac loops include different sections of character-1 shaped PMFs, and show different sensitivity to temperature and strain. By monitoring the wavelength shift of the two dips in the transmission spectrum, simultaneous measurement of temperature and strain is obtained. The sensitivity for strain and temperature are measured to be 14.46 pm and ? 0.54 nm.     

Measurements of dynamics of nondegenerate optical nonlinearity in ZnS with pulses from optical parameter generation

We expand the degenerate PO pump-probe technique to nondegenerate field and use it to investigate optical nonlinear dynamics in ZnS single crystal. Excited by 532-nm laser pulses with 21-ps duration, the temporal response of nondegenerate nonlinear absorption and nondegenerate nonlinear refraction are probed by laser pulses from optical parameter generation (OPG) at 600 and 680 nm with pulse width of 10 ps. Based on the theory of free-carrier optical nonlinearity, we study the pure free-carrier refraction in ZnS. By numerically fitting based on the nondegenerate pump-probe theory, the nondegenerate two-photon absorption coefficient, the free-carrier lifetime, the free-carrier absorptive cross section and refractive coefficient at both probe wavelengths are determined respectively. The dispersion of the free-carrier refractive coefficients is discussed.