Simultaneous strain and temperature measurement based on a photonic crystal fiber modal-interference interacting with a long period fiber grating

An alternative all-fiber sensor for simultaneous strain and temperature measurement based on a photonic crystal fiber (PCF) spliced between single-mode fibers cascaded with a long period grating (LPG) is proposed. By collapsing the air holes at two splicing regions along the PCF, a simple but effective modal-interference (MI) is occurred between the core and cladding modes of the PCF. Due to the different responses on the changes of strain and temperature on the MI and the cascaded LPG, the strain and temperature can be measured simultaneously. Experimental results show that the sensing resolution of 9.1 με in strain measurement is experimentally achieved over a range of 2640 με, while the temperature sensing resolution is 0.27 °C within a range of 30-100 °C.     

Evolutionary dynamics of restriction site avoidance

Molecular noise in bacterial restriction-modification systems can cause rare events of host DNA cleavage at restriction sites. Such noise-induced selective pressure may result in evolved sequences exhibiting restriction site avoidance. We identify a two-state regime of evolutionary dynamics, in which populations either develop avoidance or go extinct. Using perturbation theory, we show that equilibrium sequence statistics exhibit power-law scaling in the ratio of restriction strength to mutation rate. Noise levels comparable to mutation rates can be sufficient to evolve detectable avoidance.     

Three Dimensionality and Orbital Characters of the Fermi Surface in (Tl,Rb)_{y}Fe_{2-x}Se_{2}

We report a comprehensive angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy study of the tridimensional electronic bands in the recently discovered Fe selenide superconductor (Tl,Rb)_{y}Fe_{2-x}Se_{2} (T_{c}=32 K). We determined the orbital characters and the k_{z} dependence of the low energy electronic structure by tuning the polarization and the energy of the incident photons. We observed a small 3D electron Fermi surface pocket near the Brillouin zone center and a 2D like electron Fermi surface pocket near the zone boundary. The photon energy dependence, the polarization analysis and the local-density approximation calculations suggest a significant contribution from the Se 4p_{z} and Fe 3d_{xy} orbitals to the small electron pocket. We argue that the emergence of Se 4p_{z} states might be the cause of the different magnetic properties between Fe chalcogenides and Fe pnictides.     

Biological ferroelectricity uncovered in aortic walls by piezoresponse force microscopy

Many biological tissues are piezoelectric and pyroelectric with spontaneous polarization. Ferroelectricity, however, has not been reported in soft biological tissues yet. Using piezoresponse force microscopy, we discover that the porcine aortic walls are not only piezoelectric, but also ferroelectric, with the piezoelectric coefficient in the order of 1 pm/V and coercive voltage approximately 10 V. Through detailed switching spectroscopy mapping and relaxation studies, we also find that the polarization of the aortic walls is internally biased outward, and the inward polarization switched by a negative voltage is unstable, reversing spontaneously to the more stable outward orientation shortly after the switching voltage is removed. The discovery of ferroelectricity in soft biological tissues adds an important dimension to their biophysical properties, and could have physiological implications as well.     

Redistributing energy flow and polarization of a focused azimuthally polarized beam with rotationally symmetric sector-shaped obstacles

The redistribution of transversal energy flow and polarization in the focal field are represented by obstructing an azimuthally polarized beam with rotationally symmetric sector-shaped obstacles. Several energy flow rings that can finally transport the absorptive particles into fixed locations are formed in the focal plane. Furthermore, the local polarization state of the focal field is also modified by use of the rotationally symmetric obstacles. This kind of energy flow may have wide applications in optical trapping and manipulation.     

Fabrication of nested elliptical KB mirrors using profile coating for synchrotron radiation X-ray focusing

This paper describes fabrication methods used to demonstrate the advantages of nested or Montel optics for micro/nanofocusing of synchrotron X-ray beams. A standard Kirkpatrick-Baez (KB) mirror system uses two separated elliptical mirrors at glancing angles to the X-ray beam and sequentially arranged at 90° to each other to focus X-rays successively in the vertical and horizontal directions. A nested KB mirror system has the two mirrors positioned perpendicular and side-by-side to each other. Compared to a standard KB mirror system, Montel optics can focus a larger divergence and the mirrors can have a shorter focal length. As a result, nested mirrors can be fabricated with improved demagnification factor and ultimately smaller focal spot, than with a standard KB arrangement. The nested system is also more compact with an increased working distance, and is more stable, with reduced complexity of mirror stages. However, although Montel optics is commercially available for laboratory X-ray sources, due to technical difficulties they have not been used to microfocus synchrotron radiation X-rays, where ultra-precise mirror surfaces are essential. The main challenge in adapting nested optics for synchrotron microfocusing is to fabricate mirrors with a precise elliptical surface profile at the very edge where the two mirrors meet and where X-rays scatter. For example, in our application to achieve a sub-micron focus with high efficiency, a surface figure root-mean-square (rms) error on the order of 1 nm is required in the useable area along the X-ray footprint with a ∼0.1 mm-diameter cross section. In this paper we describe promising ways to fabricate precise nested KB mirrors using our profile coating technique and inexpensive flat Si substrates.     

表面等离子体环形共振器的滤波性质

利用时域有限差分法研究了基于金属-绝缘体-金属结构的环形波导共振器的滤波特性.研究结果表明,环形波导中存在多个共振模式.共振波长受环形波导的内径调制,随着环形波导内径的增加共振波长发生红移.共振带宽受耦合距离调制,随着耦合距离的增加带宽显著地减小.     

Multi-scaling mix and non-universality between population and facility density

The distribution of facilities is closely related to our social economic activities. Recent studies have reported a scaling relation between population and facility density, with the exponent depending on the type of facility. In this paper, we show that generally this exponent is not universal for a specific type of facility. Instead, by using Chinese data, we find that it increases with per capita gross domestic product (GDP). Thus our observed scaling law is actually a mixture of several multi-scaling relations. This result indicates that facilities may change their public or commercial attributes according to the outside environment. We argue that this phenomenon results from an unbalanced regional economic level, and suggest a modification of a previous model by introducing the consuming capacity. The modified model reproduces most of our observed properties.     

Type II GaSb/GaAs quantum dot/ring stacks with extended photoresponse for efficient solar cells

We report on the fabrication of GaAs based p–i–n solar cells containing 5 and 10 layers of type II GaSb quantum rings grown by molecular beam epitaxy. Solar cells containing quantum rings show improved efficiency at longer wavelengths into the near-IR extending up to 1500 nm and show enhanced short-circuit current under 1 sun illumination compared to a GaAs control cell. A reduction in the open-circuit voltage is observed due to the build-up of internal strain. The MBE growth, formation and photoluminescence of single and stacked layers of GaSb/GaAs quantum rings are also presented.