Anticorrelated bidirectional output of quasistadium-shaped semiconductor microlasers

Time-domain properties of the output from quasistadium-shaped microcavity semiconductor lasers are studied. Ring modes generating a bidirectional output are selectively excited by partial pumping. We observe a high anticorrelation between the two beams output from the ring modes. This can be considered as the generalization of alternate oscillations reported previously. We find that the outputs exhibit a robust slow modulation of 4–10 MHz, and explain it by the quasi-degeneracy of the resonator modes.     

Universal Single-Mode Lasing in Fully Chaotic Billiard Lasers

By numerical simulations and experiments of fully chaotic billiard lasers, we show that single-mode lasing states are stable, whereas multi-mode lasing states are unstable when the size of the billiard is much larger than the wavelength and the external pumping power is sufficiently large. On the other hand, for integrable billiard lasers, it is shown that multi-mode lasing states are stable, whereas single-mode lasing states are unstable. These phenomena arise from the combination of two different nonlinear effects of mode-interaction due to the active lasing medium and deformation of the billiard shape. Investigations of billiard lasers with various shapes revealed that single-mode lasing is a universal phenomenon for fully chaotic billiard lasers.     

Synthesis and magnetic properties of polymeric complexes containing ruthenium(II)-ruthenium(III) tetracarboxylato units linked by cyanato,thiocyanato, and selenocyanato ligands

Polymeric complexes of ruthenium(II)-ruthenium(III) tetracarboxylato units linked by cyanato, thiocyanato, and selenocyanato ligands [Ru₂{O₂C(CH₂)_mCH₃}₄(L)] _n (m = 0, 4–7; L = OCN⁻, SCN⁻, and SeCN⁻) were prepared and characterized based on the elemental analyses, IR, and diffuse reflectance spectra. Magnetic susceptibilities were measured at the temperature range of 4.5 K to 300 K, where the interdimer antiferromagnetic interactions were revealed. The strongest interaction was exhibited in case of m = 7 and L = OCN⁻. ¹H-NMR spectra of [Ru{O₂C(CH₂)₇CH₃}₄(SCN)] _n in CD₂Cl₂ showed broad signals which can be ascribed to polymeric species, as the addition of tetrabutylammonium thiocyanate caused sharper signals due to the formation of [Ru₂{O₂C(CH₂)₇CH₃}₄(SCN)₂]⁻ adduct as the main species in the solution. Dedicated to Professor Milan Melník on the occasion of his 70th birthday     

Advancement of Hard X-ray Nano-focusing Ellipsoidal Mirror at SPring-8

Ellipsoidal mirror optics can produce a smaller, two-dimensional focus with diffraction-limited properties than is possible when using mirror optics in Kirkpatrick–Baez (K–B) geometry [1 P. Kirkpatrick and A.V. Baez, Journal of the Optical Society of America 38, 766–773 (1948).[Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]]. This is because ellipsoidal focusing mirrors can be designed such that they have a larger numerical aperture in the sagittal focusing direction as compared to that in the meridional focusing direction. Although ellipsoidal focusing mirrors have this crucial advantage over K–B optics, K–B optics are widely utilized as micro-/nano-focusing devices [2 H. Mimura, Nature Physics 6, 122–125 (2010).[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]–8 H. Mimura, Nature Communications 5, 3539 (2014).[Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]] in synchrotron radiation facilities and X-ray free electron laser facilities [9 P. Emma, Nature Photonics 4, 641–647 (2010).[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar], 10 T. Ishikawa, Nature Photonics 6, 540–544 (2012).[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]]. Figure 1 shows a schematic of focusing mirror optics; Figure 1(a) shows the ellipsoidal mirror and Figure 1(b) the K–B mirror arrangement. In K–B geometry, two mirrors with a one-dimensionally curved surface, such as an elliptical cylinder, are orthogonally arranged in tandem to reflect and focus light independently in a direction perpendicular to each other under grazing-incidence conditions. Ellipsoidal focusing mirrors, which can generate a two-dimensional focusing beam by a single reflection, have a highly sloped surface with a two-dimensional aspherical shape, when compared to elliptical-cylinder mirrors that are used for line-focusing in K–B geometry. In addition, surface shapes of nano-focusing mirrors must be fabricated with nanometer-level accuracy. Therefore, fabrication of ellipsoidal nano-focusing mirrors is extremely difficult. There are no reports on ellipsoidal nano-focusing mirrors in the hard X-ray region with superior performances to provide diffraction-limited beams.     

Asymmetric stationary lasing patterns in 2D symmetric microcavities

Locking of two resonance modes of different symmetry classes and different frequencies in 2D resonant microcavity lasers is investigated by using a nonlinear dynamical model. The patterns of stationary lasing states and far fields are asymmetric in spite of the symmetric shape of the resonant microcavity. The corresponding phenomenon is actually observed in the experiment of a 2D semiconductor microcavity laser diode.     

Formation mechanism of one-dimensional Si islands on a H/Si(001) surface

The formation mechanism of one-dimensional Si islands on a H/Si(001)-(2x1) surface is studied using scanning tunneling microscopy/spectroscopy and first-principles calculations. We observed that one-dimensional islands that are made from dimer chains are formed at the initial growth stages similar to the bare Si(001) surface. It is found that the number of odd-numbered dimer chains is larger than that of even-numbered dimer chains. We propose the growth processes of the two types of growth edges to explain the observation.     

Improvement of Laser-Beam Irradiation-Intensity Distribution Using Multi Lens Array and Edge-Shaped Plates

A new concept for improving the laser intensity distribution on an inertial confinement fusion target using a phase-controlled multi lens array has been proposed. Circular and hexagonal element lens apertures have been examined, and the circular aperture which eliminated azimuthally asymmetric intensity distribution was chosen. The diffraction fringe of the elementary lens was mitigated in a one-dimensional lens array using edge-shaped plates of a super-Gaussian phase profile. Uniform beam profiles were obtained using a one-dimensional array with 7 spherical lenses and a two-dimensional array with 37 lenses. An approximately flat-top intensity distribution was realized with the lens array with 37 lenses.     

Tail molecule dependence of thiolate adsorption on Au(111) surface: Theoretical study

The adsorption of thiolates with various tail molecules on the Au(111) surface has been investigated by first-principles calculations. We have considered six typical thiolate molecules, that is, methylthiolate, ethylthiolate, ethylenethiolate, acetylenethiolate, benzenethiolate, and thiophenethiolate. It is found that these thiolates exhibit little difference in their stable adsorption geometries. They are adsorbed at the bridge site with being significantly tilted from the surface normal. The adsorption energy of thiolate on Au, on the other hand, largely varies depending on the type of tail molecule, and is linearly proportional to the binding energy of thiolate with H. We discuss the tail molecule dependence in terms of the bonding environment around the C atom connected to the head S atom.     

A theoretical study for mechanical contact between carbon nanotubes

We have theoretically investigated motions of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) which are mounted on a flat substrate layer of SWNTs by tight-binding molecular dynamics simulations. One of the most interesting motions is the conversion of force and torque, where the force and torque acting initially on the mounted tube finally results in the lateral motion and rolling of the supporting tubes in the substrate. This motion is well understood in terms of the total energy surface of the SWNT/SWNT system. It is suggested that an undulation of the total energy surface plays a role as an atomic-scale gear tooth in the field of nanomechanics, in spite of the atomically smooth surface of SWNT.     

Molecular Dynamics Simulation of the Excited-State Dynamics of Bacteriorhodopsin

Abstract— The excited-state dynamics of bacteriorhodopsin was studied by molecular dynamics simulation. For the purpose of suppressing large displacement of amino acid residues on the surface of bacteriorhodopsin, positional restraints were imposed on these residues. A new method was developed to investigate the movement of amino acid residues upon photoexcitation and their role on the ultrafast photoisomerization of the chromophore. The structural change of bacteriorhodopsin was then traced up to 200 fs, i.e. until the formation of the intermediate I. We found that when all the conjugated bonds of the chromophore were allowed to twist freely in the excited state, many bonds including the C13=C14 bond twist in large scale within 100 fs. When only the C13=C14 bond and the single bonds were allowed to twist freely, the twisting took place at most 20° within 200 fs. From these results, it is claimed that a special potential surface is provided for the C13=C14 bond twisting by the protein environment in the course of the isomerization reaction, giving rise to the specific, ultrafast photoisomerization of bacteriorhodopsin. As a trace of such a mechanism, we observed that several functionally important residues incuding Asp85, Asp212 and Tyr185 responded quickly to the photoexcitation of the chromophore.