Broadly tunable UV-blue picosecond pulsed laser and its application for biological imaging

We have achieved a rapid and random wavelength tuned picosecond pulsed laser and a widely tunable UV-blue picosecond pulsed laser by using the intracavity second harmonic generation of the laser. The tuning range was from 384 to 434 nm with picosecond pulse oscillation. In addition, we demonstrated biological imaging using a fluorescent protein excited by the widely tunable UV-blue picosecond pulsed laser. We found that the laser is suitable for biological imaging using the fluorescent protein as an excitation light source without damages.     

Development of ultra-short pulse VUV laser system for nanoscale processing

We have developed intense vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) radiation sources for advanced material processing, such as photochemical surface reactions and precise processing on a nanometer scale. We have constructed a new VUV laser system to generate sub-picosecond pulses at the wavelength of 126 nm. A seed VUV pulse was generated in Xe as the 7th harmonic of a 882-nm Ti:sapphire laser. The optimum conversion was achieved at the pressure of 1.2 Torr. The seed pulse will be amplified by the Ar₂^*\mathrm{Ar}_{2}^{*} media generated by an optical-field-induced ionization Ar plasma produced by the Ti:sapphire laser. We have obtained a gain coefficient of g=0.16 cm⁻¹. Our developing system will provide VUV ultra-short pulses with sub-μJ energy at a repetition rate of 1 kHz.     

Second-harmonic wave induced by vortex beams with radial and azimuthal polarizations

The author investigated second-harmonic (SH) wave patterns generated by focused vortex beams with radial and azimuthal polarizations. Expressions for electric field components near the focus through a dielectric interface were obtained based on vector diffraction theory. Furthermore, the (110) and (001) planes of a crystal classified in the symmetry group 4?3m were considered as second order nonlinear optical medium to analyze nonlinear polarization and the intensity distributions of the SH wave in the far-field were simulated for topological charge m = 1 and 2. Numerical simulations indicated that the intensity and emission pattern of the SH wave depended principally on the electric field component and distribution near the focus. In particular, for the (001) plane, the intensity of the SH wave was strongly correlated with the existence of a longitudinal electric field.     

Polarization-maintaining photonic crystal fibers with near-zero flattened dispersion in 1.06 μm waveband for medical applications

In this paper we present the design of a modified hexagonal photonic crystal fiber (PCF) having high birefringence and a near-zero flattened dispersion. Using the finite-difference method (FDM), it is shown that the proposed multiple Gedoped core hexagonal PCF exhibits a high birefringence of order 10⁻³ and a nearly zero flattened dispersion in the optical coherence tomography (OCT) waveband. In addition, the proposed PCF has a confinement loss of less than 10⁻⁸ dB/m at 1.06 μm. PCFs with such properties are considered suitable for both endoscopic OCT and other experimental setups employing 1.06 μm lasers.     

Superparamagnetic FePt nanoparticles as excellent MRI contrast agents

Chemically disordered face-centered cubic (fcc) FePt nanoparticles (NPs) with a mean diameter of 9 nm were synthesized via pyrolysis of iron(III) ethoxide and platinum(II) acetylacetonate. The surface ligands of these NPs were then exchanged from oleic acid to tetramethylammonium hydroxide (TMAOH) to measure the longitudinal (T₁) and transverse (T₂) proton relaxation times of aqueous dispersion of FePt NPs. Magnetic resonance relaxometry reveals that TMAOH-capped FePt NPs have a higher T₂-shortening effect than conventional superparamagnetic iron oxide NPs, indicating that fcc-phase FePt NPs might be superior negative contrast agents for magnetic resonance imaging.     

Applying a Mode Selector to Improve the Pulse-Compression Performance of Asymmetric-Coupled-Waveguide-Based Dispersion Compensators

An InGaAsP slab-type asymmetric-coupled-waveguide-based dispersion compensator with a mode selector has been designed and fabricated. The mode selector is necessary to select either a symmetric [with a positive group-velocity dispersion (GVD)] or antisymmetric (with a negative GVD) supermode. These supermodes exist simultaneously in the dispersion-compensation region of the device. Pulse-compression experiments were used to test the dispersion compensator, evaluating the function of the mode selector. A theoretical study of the experimental results shows that the mode selector obtains a very strong selectivity (nearly 100%) for the antisymmetric supermode.     

High-performance optical code generation and recognition by use of a 511-chip, 640-Gchip/s phase-shifted superstructured fiber Bragg grating

The generation and recognition of a record-length 511-chip optical code is experimentally demonstrated by use of a superstructured fiber Bragg grating (SSFBG) with a chip rate of 640 Gchips/s. Very high reflectivity (92%) is achieved with high-quality correlation properties. The temperature deviation tolerance is approximately +/- 0.3 degrees C, which is within the package's temperature stability range (+/- 0.1 degrees C). Experimental results show good agreement with the theory. They indicate the SSFBG's potential for processing a long optical code with an ultrahigh chip rate, which could significantly improve the system's performance.     

Current-voltage characteristics of charge-ordered organic crystals

The current-voltage characteristics of layered organic crystals theta-(BEDT-TTF)2MZn(SCN)4 (M = Cs, Rb) follow the power law with a large exponent (e.g., 8.4 at 0.29 K for M = Cs) over a wide range of currents in the low-temperature insulating state. The power-law characteristics are attributed to electric field-induced unbinding of electron-hole pairs that are thermally excited in the background of the two-dimensional charge order. The magnitude of crossover electric fields from Ohmic to the power-law characteristics indicates that the electron-electron Coulomb interaction is significantly long-ranged: The screening length is greater than 10 molecule sites.     

Indirect bounds on heavy scalar masses of the two-Higgs-doublet model in light of recent Higgs boson searches

We study an upper bound on masses of additional scalar bosons from the electroweak precision data and theoretical constraints such as perturbative unitarity and vacuum stability in the two-Higgs-doublet model taking account of recent Higgs boson search results. If the mass of the Standard-Model-like Higgs boson is rather heavy and is outside the allowed region by the electroweak precision data, such a discrepancy should be compensated by contributions from the additional scalar bosons. We show the upper bound on masses of the additional scalar bosons to be about 2 (1) TeV for the mass of the Standard-Model-like Higgs boson to be 240 (500) GeV.     

Apparent diffusion coefficient of line scan diffusion image in normal prostate and prostate cancer—comparison with single-shot echo planner image

Purpose

This retrospective study was designed to evaluate the apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) of line scan diffusion images (LSDI) in normal prostate and prostate cancer. Single-shot echo planner images (SS-EPI) were used for comparison.

Materials and Methods

Twenty prostate tumors were examined by conventional MRI in 14 patients prior to radical prostatectomy. All patients were examined with a 1.5-T MR imager (Signa CV/i ver. 9.1 GE Medical System Milwaukee, WI, USA). Diffusion-weighted MR imaging (DWI) using LSDI was performed with a pelvic phased-array coil, with b values of 5 and 800 s/mm². DWI using SS-EPI was performed with a body coil, with b values of 0 and 800 s/mm². The ADCs of each sequence for 14 normal prostate and 20 prostate cancers were histopathologically assessed. Signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) on DWI was estimated and compared for each sequence.

Results

The mean ADCs (±S.D.) of normal peripheral zones (PZ), transition zones (TZ) and cancer (in 10⁻³ mm²/s) that used LSDI were 1.42±0.12, 1.23±0.10 and 0.79±0.19, respectively. Those that used SS-EPI were 1.76±0.26, 1.38±0.20 and 1.05±0.27, respectively. Using unpaired t test (P<.05), we found a significant difference in each sequence between normal tissue (both PZ and TZ) and the cancer. Paired t test (P<.05) also registered a significant difference between LSDI and SS-EPI. Mean SNR for DWI using LSDI was 16.49±5.03, while the DWI using SS-EPI was 18.85±9.26. The difference between the SNR of each sequence was not statistically significant by paired t test.

Conclusion

We found that ADCs using LSDI and SS-EPI showed similar tendencies in the same patients. However, in all regions, LSDI ADCs had smaller standard deviations than SS-EPI ADCs.