Study of optical output couplers for submillimeter wavelength backward-wave oscillators (BWO's)

The machining of slow wave structures for high frequency BWO's is extremely difficult beyond l THz. Recently a microfabrication technique using photolithography and ion-beam assisted etching has been used to construct a prototype BWO operating at 200 to 265 GHz.The output coupler for such tubes remains a problem. Waveguides do not exist or are very lossy at the frequencies of interest (300 to 2000 GHz).This paper discusses several scaled experiments of optical output couplers for submillimeter BWO's. Various designs of planar antennas (Vivaldi horns) and lens-feed systems (hyperhemispherical lens) were constructed and tested between 20 and 100 GHz using a spectrum analyzer. The lens system was also tested at 337 GHz using a CO₂ pumped FIR laser.     

Solid‐state amidization and imidization reactions in vapor‐deposited poly(amic acid)

The condensation polymerization of 4,4′‐oxydianiline with pyromellitic dianhydride for the formation of poly(amic acid) and the subsequent imidization for the formation of polyimides were investigated for films prepared with vapor‐deposition polymerization techniques. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, thermal analysis, and matrix‐assisted laser desorption/ionization time‐of‐flight mass spectrometry of films at different temperatures indicated that additional solid‐state polymerization occurred before imidization. The experiments revealed that, upon vapor deposition, poly(amic acid) oligomers formed that had a number‐average molecular weight of about 1500 Da. Between 100–130 °C, these chains underwent an additional condensation reaction and formed slightly higher molecular weight oligomers. Calorimetry measurements showed that this reaction was exothermic [enthalpy of reaction (ΔH) ～ ?30 J/g] and had an activation energy of about 120 kJ/mol. The experimental ΔH values were compared with results from ab initio molecular modeling calculations to estimate the number of amide groups formed. At higher temperatures (150–300 °C), the imidization of amide linkages occurred as an endothermic reaction (ΔH ～ +120 J/g) with an activation energy of about 130 kJ/mol. The solid‐state kinetics depended on the reaction conversion as well as the processing conditions used to deposit the films. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 42: 5999–6010, 2004     

Saturation spectroscopy of BO2 at 5145 Å

The hyperfine structure of one of the transitions of BO₂ coincident with the 5145 Å argon-ion laser line has been resolved by the technique of intermodulated fluorescence. The splitting has been interpreted in terms of the hyperfine constants of the excited A ²Π_u electronic state.     

Controlling surface roughness in vapor-deposited poly(amic acid) films by solvent-vapor exposure

A series of vapor-deposited poly(amic acid) (PAA) films were exposed to dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) vapors to investigate sorption kinetics and surface smoothing phenomena. Gravimetric sorption and secondary-ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) results are both consistent with frontal (case II) diffusion. These experiments suggest that the solvent front is defined by a sharp interface that delineates the swollen material from the unswollen material. Solvent-vapor smoothing was studied by first depositing PAA onto rough aluminum surfaces, and then, during solvent-vapor exposure, the surface topology was continuously monitored using a light interference microscope. The resulting time-dependent power spectra indicate that high-frequency defects smooth faster than low-frequency defects. This frequency dependence was further investigated by depositing PAA onto a series of sinusoidal surfaces and exposing them to solvent vapor inside a flow channel. The sinusoidal amplitudes decay exponentially with time, with decay constants that are proportional to the surface frequency. To explain the physics of surface smoothing, a two-parameter model is presented and agrees qualitatively with experimental data.     

Quadrupole deformation of the self-conjugate nucleus 72Kr

We report on the first determination of the absolute B(E2;0+(1)-->2+(1)) excitation strength in the N=Z nucleus 72Kr. 72Kr is the heaviest N=Z nucleus for which this quantity has been measured and provides a benchmark in a region of the nuclear chart dominated by rapidly changing deformations and shapes mediated by the interplay of strongly oblate and prolate-driving orbitals. The deduced quadrupole deformation strength is in agreement with a variety of self-consistent models that predict an oblate shape for the ground state of 72Kr. Large-scale shell-model Monte Carlo calculations reproduce the experimental B(E2) value and link the result to the occupation of the deformation-driving g9/2 orbit.     

Observation of the 1S0-3P0 transition in atomic ytterbium for optical clocks and qubit arrays

We report an observation of the weak 6 1S0-6 3P0 transition in (171,173)Yb as an important step to establishing Yb as a primary candidate for future optical frequency standards, and to open up a new approach for qubits using the 1S0 and 3P0 states of Yb atoms in an optical lattice.