Coherent beam combining and phase noise measurements of ytterbium fiber amplifiers

Phase noise characterization of a 10-W Yb fiber amplifier is presented, and we demonstrate phase locking of two fiber amplifiers with near-perfect fringe contrast at power levels of as much as 10 W per fiber. Coherent beam combining is maintained during the turn-on transient as well as in thermal steady-state operation.     

The first fluorescent diboronic acid sensor specific for hepatocellular carcinoma cells expressing sialyl Lewis X

Carbohydrate antigens with subterminal fucosylation have been implicated in the development and progression of several cancers, including hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Fluorescent sensors targeting fucosylated carbohydrate antigens could potentially be used for diagnostic and other applications. We have designed and synthesized a series of 26 diboronic acid compounds as potential fluorescent sensors for such carbohydrates. Among these compounds, 7q was able to fluorescently label cells expressing high levels of sLex (HEPG2) within a concentration range of 0.5 to 10 microM. This compound (7q) did not label cells expressing Lewis Y (HEP3B), nor cells without fucosylated antigens (COS7). This represents the first example of a fluorescent compound labeling cells based on cell surface carbohydrate structures.     

All-optical transistor action with bistable switching in a photonic crystal cross-waveguide geometry

We demonstrate all-optical switching action in a nonlinear photonic crystal cross-waveguide geometry with instantaneous Kerr nonlinearity, in which the transmission of a signal can be reversibly switched on and off by a control input. Our geometry accomplishes both spatial and spectral separation between the signal and the control in the nonlinear regime. The device occupies a small footprint of a few micrometers squared and requires only a few milliwatts of power at a 10-Gbit/s switching rate by use of Kerr nonlinearity in AlGaAs below half the electronic bandgap. We also show that the switching dynamics, as revealed by both coupled-mode theory and finite-difference time domain simulations, exhibits collective behavior that can be exploited to generate high-contrast logic levels and all-optical memory.     

Wavelength beam combining of ytterbium fiber lasers

Wavelength beam combining of five ytterbium fiber lasers is demonstrated in a master-oscillator power-amplifier configuration at combined powers up to 6 W. The combined beam profile has an M2 value of 1.14, which is equal to that of an individual fiber. Beam steering in one dimension over 140 resolvable spots is also demonstrated.     

Circumferential resonance modes of solid elastic cylinders excited by obliquely incident acoustic waves

When an immersed solid elastic cylinder is insonified by an obliquely incident plane acoustic wave, some of the resonance modes of the cylinder are excited. These modes are directly related to the incidence angle of the insonifying wave. In this paper, the circumferential resonance modes of such immersed elastic cylinders are studied over a large range of incidence angles and frequencies and physical explanations are presented for singular features of the frequency-incidence angle plots. These features include the pairing of one axially guided mode with each transverse whispering gallery mode, the appearance of an anomalous pseudo-Rayleigh in the cylinder at incidence angles greater than the Rayleigh angle, and distortional effects of the longitudinal whispering gallery modes on the entire resonance spectrum of the cylinder. The physical explanations are derived from Resonance Scattering Theory (RST), which is employed to determine the interior displacement field of the cylinder and its dependence on insonification angle.     

Nucleation of single-walled carbon nanotubes

The nucleation pathway for single-wall carbon nanotubes on a metal surface is demonstrated by a series of total energy calculations using density functional theory. Incorporation of pentagons at an early stage of nucleation is energetically favorable as they reduce the number of dangling bonds and facilitate curvature of the structure and bonding to the metal. In the presence of the metal surface, nucleation of a closed cap or a capped single-wall carbon nanotube is overwhelmingly favored compared to any structure with dangling bonds or to a fullerene.     

Field expulsion and reconfiguration in polaritonic photonic crystals

We uncover a rich set of optical phenomena stemming from the incorporation of polar materials exhibiting transverse phonon polariton excitations into a photonic crystal structure. We identify in the frequency spectrum two regimes in which the dielectric response of the polaritonic medium can induce extreme localization of the electromagnetic energy. Our analysis of the effect of polarization and the interaction between the polariton and photonic band gaps on the Bloch states leads to a pair of mechanisms for sensitive frequency-controlled relocation and/or reconfiguration of the fields.     

QSAR study of ethyl 2-[(3-methyl-2,5-dioxo(3-pyrrolinyl))amino]-4-(trifluoromethyl) pyrimidine-5-carboxylate: an inhibitor of AP-1 and NF-kappa B mediated gene expression based on support vector machines

The support vector machine, as a novel type of learning machine, for the first time, was used to develop a QSAR model of 57 analogues of ethyl 2-[(3-methyl-2,5-dioxo(3-pyrrolinyl))amino]-4-(trifluoromethyl)pyrimidine-5-carboxylate (EPC), an inhibitor of AP-1 and NF-kappa B mediated gene expression, based on calculated quantum chemical parameters. The quantum chemical parameters involved in the model are Kier and Hall index (order3) (KHI3), Information content (order 0) (IC0), YZ Shadow (YZS) and Max partial charge for an N atom (MaxPCN), Min partial charge for an N atom (MinPCN). The mean relative error of the training set, the validation set, and the testing set is 1.35%, 1.52%, and 2.23%, respectively, and the maximum relative error is less than 5.00%.     

Rapid and high-capacity immobilization of enzymes based on mesoporous silicas with controlled morphologies

Very rapid (< 10 min to reach equilibrium) and high-capacity (up to 533 mg g(-1)) immobilization of enzymes within mesoporous silica has been achieved by finely tuning their morphologies.     

MASSIS: a mass spectrum simulation system. 2: Procedures and performance

The use of the mass spectral simulation system, MASSIS, is reported and its performance has been evaluated. The search for substructures matching with fragments stored in four pivot databases was realised using the Ullmann algorithm. Special cleavage rules, such as the McLafferty rearrangement, the retro-Diels-Alder reaction, elimination of a neutral small molecule and oxygen migration, are processed through shortest path and depth-first search algorithms. For a search in the database of small fragments, the key step is to determine the tautomeric fragments; then a match can be obtained using a subgraph isomorphism algorithm. A string match is used to determine peak intensity. If the limited environment of an atom is the same as that found in the database of relationships between fragment and intensity, this intensity value is assigned to the query atom. Performance in a set of tests is very important in evaluating the system performance. A comparison of peaks with an intensity greater than 5% (relative) shows that our system has a very high performance figure (> 90% ) for routine organic compounds.