GaAs traveling-wave optical modulator using a modulated coplanar strip electrode with periodic cross-tie overlay

This paper proposes and analyzes a GaAs traveling-wave optical modulator which uses a modulated coplanar strip electrode with periodic cross-tie overlay. This slow-wave structure can be designed to satisfy phase velocity and impedance matching conditions simultaneously. The dominant conductor loss in the slow-wave structure is reduced using the modulated coplanar strip electrode. The calculated 3-dB modulation bandwidth (100 GHz) is much wider than the bandwidth limit (30 GHz) of conventional electrode structures that are limited by phase velocity mismatch.This work was supported by the U.S. Army Research Office under contract DAAL-03-88-K-0005 and the Texas Advanced Technology Program.     

An interpretation of cortical maps in echolocating bats

Target parameters such as reflectivity, range, velocity, and angular position are represented by ordered maps of tuned cortical neurons in insectivorous bats. It is suggested that the response of each neuron in such a map is determined by a hypothesis test conditioned on a particular value of the mapped parameter. The excitation of each neuron is then interpreted as a sample value of a conditional log-likelihood ratio or a log-likelihood function. Interpolation between the samples, which is needed to find the parameter that maximizes the mapped function (e.g., the maximum likelihood parameter estimate), can be accomplished with overlapped tuning curves. An attempt to portray a sharp peak by a weighted sum of relatively broad neuronal tuning curves or interpolation functions results in excitatory center/inhibitory surround behavior. Facilitation or antifacilitation of neurons that are likely to be excited by succeeding observations can be used for sequential detection and tracking. Interpolation and pulse-to-pulse data storage capability are required to explain range jitter sensitivity and to allow for moving target indication in bat sonar. If a cortical map represents an ordered array of hypothesis tests, then many such tests are implemented in parallel when target parameters are unknown. Detection performance is then degraded relative to the idealized situation in which all parameters are specified. Performance in noise may thus appear to be much worse than that of an ideal detector, even if each hypothesis test is optimally implemented.     

Time structure of iodine laser pulse in the free running mode of operation

Time structure of iodine laser pulse in the free running mode of operation was studied using the power amplifier of laser system PERUN as the laser oscillator. Two characteristic shapes of laser pulse correspond to different regimes of laser operation, the existence of which is ascribed to the critical concentration of I₂ molecules. Simultaneously an additional chemical pumping was proved at least in the initial phase of photodissociation and in a late-time lasing after the end of flashlamps pumping light.     

Low-frequency internal friction in complex composite strands

Conclusion A method was proposed which makes it possible to study the low-frequency internal friction of complex fibers. This method was used to study the internal friction of complex composite fibers based on PCA and PE. We observed a relaxation process which is typical of the composite and is absent in the pure materials.Translated from Mekhanika Kompozitnykh Materialov, No. 1, pp. 11–15, January–February, 1989.     

Effect of rare-earth oxides on the magnetic properties of anisotropic barium ferrites

The effect of rare-earth oxides on the properties of anisotropic barium ferrites has been studied by x-ray structural and Mössbauer methods. Additions of SrCO₃, as well as SrCO₃ and La₂O₃, SrCO₃ and Pr₆O₁₁, SrCO₃ and Nd₂O₃, SrCO₃ and Sm₂O₃ in amounts of 7.5 mole % Sr and 10 mole % rare-earth element to grade-A barium powder results in the substitution of barium ions by Sr and rare-earth ions; consequently, the energy of magnetic anisotropy changes and the technically important parameters B_r and (BH)_max increase.Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Fizika, No. 1, pp. 34–39, January, 1989.     

Workstage repair policies for sequential manufacturing systems

Dynamic stage repair policies where the stage repair probabilities are determined by the number of items in the buffer are examined through a model of a manufacturing system with two unreliable workstages connected by a minimal intermediate storage buffer. Definitions for workstage availability and line balance are extended for sequential manufacturing systems with dynamic repair policies. A measure for stage repair inputs and a general form of dynamic stage repair policies are presented. The steady-state probabilities of the resultant state-inhomogeneous Markov chain are computed by an efficient solution procedure. Insights obtained from extensive numerical studies are illustrated and discussed.     

Burning Voltage in Atmospheric and Vacuum Short Arcs of Vanishing Length

The stepwise increase of the burning voltage of short break arcs has been found not only in a gas but also in vacuum. It is suggested that the effect is associated with the occurrence of a positive anode fall which enhances ionisation phenomena near the anode. This view is supported by the simultaneous registration of arc current, burning voltage, light emission from the anode region, of spectral lines of ions, atoms and continuum from the near anode plasma. The phenomena occur beyond a critical gap distance which can be related to the characteristic geometry of the discharge.