Stimulated four-photon mixing and efficient polychromatic visible light generation in SiO2−based single-mode optical fibers pumped at 1.319 μm

Abstract

The generation of near-infrared and intense visible light through stimulated multi-wave mixing processes in single-mode silica-based optical fibers pumped by a Q-switched and mode-locked Nd:YAG laser operated at 1.319 μm is described. The experimental results show that intense infrared light around 1.2 μm is produced via selp-hase-matched four-photon mixing at the minimum group velocity dispersion region of pure SiO₂?core and P₂O₅?doped silica fibers. In the visible spectral region, from 580 nm to 600 nm, 20 W peak power 100-ps pulses were generated by pumping single spans of single-mode P₂O₅?doped and undoped SiO₂?core fibers with 1.319-μm laser pulses. The signal light generated in such fibers propagated in the LP₀₂ fiber mode and exhibited a threshold power that depended upon the fiber length and a critical length that was power dependent. Also, it exhibited an asymmetrical spectrum of a few nanometers bandwidth, with a long tail toward high frequencies. For GeO₂?doped silica-based fibers, a multiple-wavelength visible signal propagating in several high-order fiber modes was generated.     

Stereoselective separations of chiral phosphinic acid pseudodipeptides by CEC using silica monoliths modified with an anion-exchange-type chiral selector

A nonaqueous CEC method for the simultaneous separation of the four stereoisomers of the N-benzyloxycarbonyl phosphinic pseudodipeptide methyl ester benzyloxycarbonyl-homophenylalanine Z-hPhepsi(PO2HCH2)Phe-OCH3 as well as of the corresponding N-2,4-dinitrophenyl (DNP)-derivative with free C-terminal carboxylic group DNP-hPhepsi(PO2HCH2)Phe-OH was developed. For this purpose, a monolithic silica capillary column modified with a cinchona alkaloid-derived anion-exchange-type chiral selector, namely O-9-(tert-butylcarbamoyl)quinidine (tBuCQD) was prepared. The mobile phase composition (ACN/methanol ratio, counterion type) was thoroughly optimized to end up with baseline resolution of all four stereoisomers with critical resolution of as high as about 2. The CEC method proved to be superior over the corresponding HPLC separations primarily due to significantly enhanced plate numbers (between 200,000 and 600,000 m(-1) in CEC). Diastereoselectivity contributions arising from electrophoretic mobility differences of the diastereomers facilitated the separation of the later eluted diastereomeric peak pair (peaks III and IV), but had a negative influence on the selectivity of the earlier eluted diastereomeric peak pair (peaks I and II). The stereoselective CEC assay allowed the assessment of the stereoisomeric purity of the individual isomers which were obtained by preparative HPLC on a CHIRALPAK QD-AX column that is based on the same tBuCQD selector. The present study demonstrates that there exist problems which are hard to solve by HPLC, yet can be conveniently solved by CEC. Moreover, it was intended to prove by this practical application that CEC with monolithic columns is robust enough to be used for solving real-life problems.     

Kinetics of the hydrogen abstraction OH + alkane --> H2O + alkyl reaction class: an application of the reaction class transition state theory

This paper presents an application of the reaction class transition state theory (RC-TST) to predict thermal rate constants for hydrogen abstraction reactions of the type OH + alkane --> HOH + alkyl. We have derived all parameters for the RC-TST method for this reaction class from rate constants of 19 representative reactions, coupling with linear energy relationships (LERs), so that rate constants for any reaction in this class can be predicted from its reaction energy calculated at either the AM1 semiempirical or BH&HLYP/cc-pVDZ level of theory. The RC-TST/LER thermal rate constants for selected reactions are in good agreement with those available in the literature. Detailed analyses of the results show that the RC-TST/LER method is an efficient method for accurately estimating rate constants for a large number of reactions in this class. Analysis of the LERs leads to the discovery of the beta-carbon radical stabilization effect that stabilizes the transition state of any reaction in this class that yields products having one or more beta-carbons, and thus leads to the lower barrier for such a reaction.     

Asymmetric synthesis of 2-alkyl-substituted 2-hydroxyglutaric acid γ-lactones

3-Alkyl-1,2-cyclopentanediones 1 are transformed into 2-alkyl-2-hydroxyglutaric acid γ-lactones 3 in up to 83% isolated yields and up to 96% ee, affording a simple access to many bioactive compounds, including diacylglycerol lactones (DAG-lactones).     

Some remarks on the calculation of the pore size distribution function of activated carbons

Different authors investigated the effects of geometric and energetic heterogeneities on adsorption and on carbon characterization methods. In most theoretical studies carbon structure is modeled as parallel infinite graphite walls that form ideal slit-shaped pores of the fixed widths. In the literature there is the lack of systematic studies showing the influence of pore structural and Lennard-Jones (LJ) potential parameters on the pore-size distribution functions. Moreover, the parameters characterizing the properties of the adsorbed phase and the heterogeneity of the adsorbent surface should be taken into account. The Nguyen and Do method with proposed by us ASA algorithm, were utilized for the assessment of the porosity from the series of almost few thousands numerically generated local adsorption isotherms. The values of the mentioned-above parameters are varied over the wide range (ca. +/-20%) of the reference ones. Different types of the theoretical and experimental adsorption isotherms (nitrogen at 77 K) were taken into account as the global ones. They were related to the mechanism of the primary, secondary or mixed micropore filling. The variations in some above-mentioned parameters have significant effects only for PSDs (and for average pore widths) corresponding to the primary micropore filling mechanism. On the other hand, for the process of the secondary micropore filling, the influence of these parameters (without the BET coefficient for adsorption on a "flat" surface, c(s,B)) is rather insignificant. Nevertheless the differences between local and global adsorption isotherms (in the whole range of relative pressures) the absence of micropores having pore half width equal to ca. 1 nm on PSDs was observed for studied adsorbate-adsorbent systems with exceptions of the strictly microporous adsorbents and/or the low values of c(s,B). Comparison of the experimental data with the generated theoretical isosteric enthalpy of adsorption indicates that the phenomenal uptake observed from experiment can be explained in terms of the reasonable solid-fluid interaction parameters. Therefore, we varied the heterogeneity of the adsorbent surface via the strength and the range of the solid-fluid potential and the parameter c(s,B) in order to reproduce the experimental data of enthalpy of adsorption. Note that similar procedure was applied by Wang and Johnson to reproduce some hydrogen adsorption data measured for carbon nanofibres. The analysis of the obtained results shows that the selection of the values of the parameters of the intermolecular interactions and the quantities characterizing the properties of the adsorbed phase and the heterogeneity of the adsorbent walls for molecular simulations should be made with care and the influence of possible errors should be considered.     

NMR diffusometry and conductometry study of the host-guest association between beta-cyclodextrin and dodecane 1,12-bis(trimethylammonium bromide)

Surfactants form association complexes with cyclodextrins. In the present investigation we have used NMR-diffusometry and electrical conductivity to follow the interactions which take place between beta-cyclodextrin and a bolaform surfactant: dodecane 1,12-bis(trimethylammonium bromide). Both (1)H NMR self-diffusion and conductometry data indicate the formation of a 1:1 inclusion complex. Assuming this stoichiometry, it was possible to calculate the association constant; from the analysis of the self-diffusion coefficients of free beta-cyclodextrin and the bolaform surfactant an association constant K=3x10(3)M(-1) was obtained while the analysis of conductivity data gave a comparable value of K=2.5x10(3)M(-1).     

Anomalous specific-heat jump in a two-component ultracold fermi gas

The thermodynamic functions of a Fermi gas with spin population imbalance are studied in the temperature-asymmetry plane in the BCS limit. The low-temperature domain is characterized by an anomalous enhancement of the entropy and the specific heat above their values in the unpaired state, decrease of the gap and eventual unpairing phase transition as the temperature is lowered. The unpairing phase transition induces a second jump in the specific heat, which can be measured in calorimetric experiments. While the superfluid is unstable against a supercurrent carrying state, it may sustain a metastable state if cooled adiabatically down from the stable high-temperature domain. In the latter domain the temperature dependence of the gap and related functions is analogous to the predictions of the BCS theory.     

Free energy surfaces from nonequilibrium processes without work measurement

Recent developments in statistical mechanics have allowed the estimation of equilibrium free energies from the statistics of work measurements during processes that drive the system out of equilibrium. Here a different class of processes is considered, wherein the system is prepared and released from a nonequilibrium state, and no external work is involved during its observation. For such "clamp-and-release" processes, a simple strategy for the estimation of equilibrium free energies is offered. The method is illustrated with numerical simulations and analyzed in the context of tethered single-molecule experiments.     

Quantifying electron transfer during hyperthermal scattering of C60+ from Au(111) and n-alkylthiol self-assembled monolayers

A tandem time-of-flight mass spectrometer with an intermediate surface was used to quantify electron transfer during glancing incidence scattering of hyperthermal C(60) (+) (E(coll)=250-500 eV, theta(in)=75 degrees ) from (i) self-assembled monolayers of n-alkylthiols on gold (of various chain lengths), (ii) partly fluorinated alkylthiols on gold, as well as (iii) clean gold surfaces. Self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) behave as insulating layers with their thicknesses determining the electron tunneling probability during collision. Correspondingly, a roughly exponential dependence of the neutralization probability on the chain length n was found. A pronounced dependence of the neutral yield on the primary beam kinetic energy indicates that dynamic SAM deformation and associated projectile penetration depth also play a role in determining electron transfer efficiency. Results are consistent with the molecular deformability of SAMs as determined with other experimental methods.     

Exponential mixing for the Teichmüller flow

We study the dynamics of the Teichmüller flow in the moduli space of Abelian differentials (and more generally, its restriction to any connected component of a stratum). We show that the (Masur-Veech) absolutely continuous invariant probability measure is exponentially mixing for the class of Hölder observables. A geometric consequence is that the $SL(2,\mathbb{R})We study the dynamics of the Teichmüller flow in the moduli space of Abelian differentials (and more generally, its restriction to any connected component of a stratum). We show that the (Masur-Veech) absolutely continuous invariant probability measure is exponentially mixing for the class of H?lder observables. A geometric consequence is that the action in the moduli space has a spectral gap.