Order parameter criticality of the d = 3 random-field Ising antiferromagnet Fe0.85Zn0.15F2

The critical exponent beta=0.16+/-0.02 for the random-field Ising model order parameter is determined using extinction-free magnetic x-ray scattering for Fe0.85Zn0.15F2 in magnetic fields of 10 and 11 T. The observed value is consistent with other experimental random-field critical exponents, but disagrees sharply with Monte Carlo and exact ground state calculations on finite-sized systems.     

Long-term carrier-envelope phase coherence

The carrier-envelope phase of the pulse train emitted by a 10-fs mode-locked laser has been stabilized such that carrier-envelope phase coherence is maintained for at least 150 s (measurement limited). The phase coherence time was measured independently of the feedback loop.     

Fast response self-pumped phase conjugator based on a +c-face incident configuration in a pentagon-shaped BaTiO3 crystal

We propose a novel geometry for a self-pumped phase conjugator that uses a +c-face incident configuration in a photorefractive pentagon-shaped 0°-cut BaTiO₃ crystal for obtaining fast response in phase conjugation. A steady phase-conjugate output with a fast response time 0.4 s is obtained when the incident beam has a 4 W/cm² intensity. The influences of position and angle on the temporal phase-conjugate response are also investigated. The advantage of this phase conjugator using this novel configuration is improved resolution of a phase-distorted image with a value as high as 128 lp/mm.     

Achievable accuracy of parameter estimation for multidimensional NMR experiments

A fundamental issue in NMR spectroscopy is the estimation of parameters such as the Larmor frequencies of nuclei, J coupling constants, and relaxation rates. The Cramer-Rao lower bound provides a method to assess the best achievable accuracy of parameter estimates resulting from an unbiased estimation procedure. We show how the Cramer-Rao lower bound can be calculated for data obtained from multidimensional NMR experiments. The Cramer-Rao lower bound is compared to the variance of parameter estimates for simulated data using a least-squares estimation procedure. It is also shown how our results on the Cramer-Rao lower bound can be used to analyze whether an experimental design can be improved to provide experimental data which can result in parameter estimates with higher accuracy. The concept of nonuniform averaging in the indirect dimension is introduced and studied in connection with nonuniform sampling of the data.     

Flow injection kinetic spectrophotometric determination of ascorbic acid based on an inhibiting effect

A rapid and sensitive flow-injection kinetic spectrophotometric method is proposed for the determination of ascorbic acid. The procedure is based on the inhibiting effect of ascorbic acid on the enhancing effect of oxalate on the potassium dichromate-potassium iodide/rhodamine 6G system. The detection limit and linear ranges are 0.08 and 0.10-4.00 microg/ml, respectively. The relative standard deviation of 11 replicate measurements is less than 2.0%. This method has been successfully used to determine ascorbic acid in pharmaceuticals, tomatoes and oranges.     

Optical nonlinearity and structural phase-transition observation of organic dye-doped polymer silica hybrid material

The optical nonlinearity of organic dye-doped poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA)-silica-gel hybrid material was investigated by second-harmonic-generation measurement. We found that incorporation of in situ polymerized solgel precursors into the organic dye-doped PMMA significantly improved the nonlinear optical stability of the system. However, improvement of thermal stability occurred only when a sufficient amount of silica gel was incorporated. A structural phase transition from pure polymer to a hybrid system was found near a 10-mol.% silica-gel concentration. The optimum polymer/tetraethoxysilane molar ratio is 2:1 to 1:1.     

SUPPLEMENT TO “PASSAGE, BLOCKADE, SINK AND SOURCE OF A PLANAR DYNAMICAL SYSTEM”

A Theorem is given on the number of passages passing throgh a multiply-connected region,which corrects a wrong conjecture in a former paper of the author.     

Optical phase locked-loop homodyne receiver using an eight-port 90° optical hybrid

The performance of a PSK optical phase locked-loop (PLL) homodyne system based on an eight-port 90° optical hybrid, which is used to suppress the local oscillator (LO) intensity noise in both data recovery arm (I arm) and carrier recovery arm (Q arm), is evaluated. Incomplete cancellation of LO intensity noise results from unmatched photodetectors, couplers pathlengths, and non-ideal couplers power splitting ratio. Optimum LO power can be found for the given receiver parameters.     

Image guide couplers used in millimeter wave integrated circuits

The dispersion and coupling characteristics of the coupled image guides are studied by using the odd-even mode principle and effective dielectric constant method. The practical design of the image guide directional couplers is presented. The experiments of 3-dB and 10-dB couplers in ka band show several good features which are very useful to millimeter wave integrated circuits with flat coupling, easy design and fabrication, mechanical stability and low losses.