Ultrafast all-optical signal processing with Symmetric Mach–Zehnder type all-optical switches

We present Symmetric Mach–Zehnder (SMZ) type all-optical switches: an SMZ all-optical switch, a polarization-discriminating SMZ (PD-SMZ) all-optical switch, and a delayed interference signal wavelength converter (DISC). These switches are capable of ultrafast, low control power, and low chirp switching, which is not restricted by slow relaxation of highly efficient nonlinearities. High repetition operation unrestricted by slow relaxation is also possible for these switches. This is because of a push–pull modulation scheme or sometimes called a differential phase modulation scheme. These three devices are similar, but different in some important aspects, thus a comparison is made among the three. Then semiconductor optical amplifiers (SOAs) are discussed as a nonlinear phase shifter for these devices. Then, ultrafast all-optical signal processing using SOA based SMZs is demonstrated. Error-free demultiplexing from 168 to 10.5 Gbit/s is presented, in which a hybrid-integrated SMZ (HI-SMZ) is used as a demultiplexer. In pulse regeneration experiment, the signal pulses at 84 Gbit/s are regenerated by the PD-SMZ and the regenerated pulses are demultiplexed to 10.5 Gbit/s by the HI-SMZ to verify error-free operation. The retiming capability of this scheme is quantitatively demonstrated. Also presented is error-free all-optical wavelength conversion at 168 Gbit/s using the DISC. These results represent the fastest error-free operations reported to date in each category.     

Observation of the "self-healing" of an error field island in the large helical device

It was observed that the vacuum magnetic island produced by an external error magnetic field in the large helical device shrank in the presence of plasma. This was evidenced by the disappearance of flat regions in the electron temperature profile obtained by Thomson scattering. This island behavior depended on the magnetic configuration in which the plasmas were produced.     

2D computations of FREI with cool flames for n-heptane/air mixture

Two-dimensional axisymmetric numerical simulation reproduced flames with repetitive extinction and ignition (FREI) in a micro flow reactor with a controlled temperature profile with a stoichiometric n-heptane/air mixture, which have been observed in the experiment. The ignition of hot flame occurred from consumption reactions of CO that was remained in the previous cycle of FREI. Between extinction and ignition locations of hot flames, several other heat release rate peaks related to cool and blue flames were observed for the first time. After the extinction of the hot flame, cool flame by the low-temperature oxidation of n-heptane appeared first and was stabilized in a low wall temperature region. In the downstream of the stable cool flame, a blue flame by the consumption reactions of cool flame products of CH₂O and H₂O₂ appeared. After that, the hot flame ignition occurred from the remaining CO in the downstream of the blue flame. Then after the next hot flame ignition, the blue flame was swept away by the propagating hot flame. Soon before the hot flame merged with the stable cool flame, the hot flame propagation was intensified by the cool flame. After the hot flame merged with the stable cool flame, the hot flame reacted with the incoming fresh mixture of n-C₇H₁₆ and O₂.     

High pressure study on the superconducting transition temperature and Hall coefficient of Ba1−xKxBiO3 up to 8 GPa

The superconducting transition temperature (T_c) of Ba_0.62K_0.38Bio₃ (T_c=30 K) has been measured under high pressure up to 8 GPa. It is observed that T_c increases initially with pressure, as reported by Uwe et al., Shirber et al. and Huang et al., but decreases above 4 GPa. The Hall coefficient of Ba_0.62K_0.38BiO₃ has been measured up to 1.2 GPa. The absolute value of the Hall coefficient decreases with pressure by 10% GPa, the value of which is almost the same as that obtained in most CuO-based high-temperature superconductors.     

Aberration correction and its automatic control in scanning electron microscopes

An automatic aberration correction method has been implemented in scanning electron microscopes (SEM). Necessity of the automatic aberration correction is discussed. The procedure of the automatic aberration correction is explained in detail, where deconvolution techniques are used in order to extract probe information from SEM images. Due to the precise digitization and the usage of proper combinations of correction fields, linearity has been found between the amplitude of each aberration and the corresponding field strength. Experimental results are shown which demonstrate that the aberrations are corrected automatically by a linear feedback control method. After the automatic aberration correction, the image quality has been improved drastically.     

Contributions from the indirect ionic interactions to the elastic constants in the rock-salt structure crystals

Under the harmonic approximation, the contributions from the indirect ionic interactions to the elastic constants are calculated for the alkali halide and silver halide crystals with the rock-salt structure. The coupling constants of the indirect ionic interactions are calculated by the self-consistent field treatment of the local density approximation and the spherical solid model. The calculated values of the coupling constants are large for the silver ion. The indirect ionic interaction significantly affects the elastic constants. It quantitatively explains the deviation from the Cauchy relation in alkali halide crystals. Moreover, it provides a clear account for the large values of the deviation from the Cauchy relation in AgCl and AgBr.     

Optical testing of star sensor (II): Alignment of star sensor from off-line pictures taken in orbital test

Alignment error of an image sensor relative to the optical axis of a star sensor head and alignment errors between four heads were calculated from pictures taken in an orbital experiment. When comparing the image sensor alignment parameters in the orbital test and a ground test, both values matched well. By determining the relative relationship of the four heads using four pictures taken at the same moment in orbit and uploading the parameters to the star sensor system in orbit, the estimated attitude error was improved from 0.29 to 0.17°, though the accuracy was limited by the ±0.2° determination accuracy of the satellite itself. We estimated the attitude determination accuracy from separation angles between boresights of the four heads, calculated from pattern matching between downloaded pictures and a star catalogue. The estimated accuracy, in terms of potential optical performance, was 0.60 arcmin at 3σ, which is sufficient to satisfy the specification of 1 arcmin.     

Experimental demonstration of the induction synchrotron

We report an experimental demonstration of the induction synchrotron, the concept of which has been proposed as a future accelerator for the second generation of neutrino factory or hadron collider. The induction synchrotron supports a superbunch and a superbunch permits more charge to be accelerated while observing the constraints of the transverse space-charge limit. By using a newly developed induction acceleration system instead of radio-wave acceleration devices, a single proton bunch injected from the 500 MeV booster ring and captured by the barrier bucket created by the induction step voltages was accelerated to 6 GeV in the KEK proton synchrotron.