Anisotropic polarization maintaining optical fiber ring resonators

Suppression of the polarization drift of optical fiber ring resonators is investigated both theoretically and experimentally by employing anisotropy in a polarization maintaining fiber ring. A general analytic expression for the transmission of the device is derived allowing the fiber modes to exhibit any combination of polarization crosstalk, differential loss or differential coupling. The analysis shows that a moderate level of ring anisotropy, such as that of 10 dB in line polarizer or polarization selective coupler, is sufficient to greatly suppress the drift of the eigenstates of polarization (ESOPs), finesse and resonant point, restoring the device's suitability for most practical applications. An inevitable consequence of introducing ring anisotropy is the loss of orthogonality of the ESOPs. This effect limits the anticipated benefit in high sensitivity applications. A practical anisotropic PMRR is demonstrated by inserting a thin film of nematic liquid crystal between the two halves of the polished coupler of the ring. This resonator demonstrates a polarization response immune to environmental perturbations     

Frequency modulated heterodyne optical fiber Sagnac interferometer

This paper describes a new approach to the detection of rotation rate using the optical fiber Sagnac interferometer. An inherently reciprocal heterodyne system gives the advantages in terms of signal-to-noise ratios (SNR's) of heterodyne detection, while independent electronic monitoring of each propagation path through the interferometer significantly enhances signal processing flexibility. The system may thus be used as a probe to evaluate fiber properties in a way compatible with other architectures, and these measurements should lead to advances in performance characteristics. A prototype system has exhibited noise levels in the region of 100°/h, and improvement to the signal processing will soon improve on this figure.     

Spectral analysis of pump-cavitation noise

Pressure-transducer and accelerometer data accumulated during several water tests of a liquid-rocketengine pump were subjected to spectral analysis. The analyzer used allows signal amplitude to be displayed as a continuous function of frequency for each instant of time. Various filter bandwidths, integration times, frequency spans and display formats have been used to present the data for visual inspection. Results of attempts to discern the signature of various phases of the cavitation phenomenon occurring within the pump are reported.     

Linewidth narrowing in semiconductor laser pumped all-fibre Brillouin ring laser

Brillouin lasing in an all-fibre ring resonator made of polarisation-maintaining fibre using a semiconductor laser pump at 830 nm is reported. The stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS) lasing threshold is 0.91 mW, and the Stokes output is polarised and exhibits linewidth narrowing.<>     

Representations of Solutions of Laplacian Boundary Value Problems on Exterior Regions

This paper treats the well-posedness and representation of solutions of Poisson’s equation on exterior regions $U\subsetneq{\mathbb{R}}^{N}$ with N≥3. Solutions are sought in a space E ¹(U) of finite energy functions that decay at infinity. This space contains H ¹(U) and existence-uniqueness theorems are proved for the Dirichlet, Robin and Neumann problems using variational methods with natural conditions on the data. A decomposition result is used to reduce the problem to the evaluation of a standard potential and the solution of a harmonic boundary value problem. The exterior Steklov eigenproblems for the Laplacian on U are described. The exterior Steklov eigenfunctions are proved to generate an orthogonal basis for the subspace of harmonic functions and also of certain boundary trace spaces. Representations of solutions of the harmonic boundary value problem in terms of these bases are found, and estimates for the solutions are derived. When U is the region exterior to a 3-d ball, these Steklov representations reduce to the classical multi-pole expansions familiar in physics and engineering analysis.     

Terahertz absorption spectra of nitromethane

Nitromethane, with its heavy frame and internal rotator, readily evaporates into the atmosphere making it an ideal candidate for remote sensing. Here we present the absorption spectra of gas-phase nitromethane between 9 and 50 cm⁻¹. Measurements were taken using a Bruker IFS 66v Fourier transform far-infrared (FTIR) spectrometer at a resolution of 0.12 cm⁻¹ (0.0036 THz) from 9 to 40 cm⁻¹ and a Bruker Vertex 80v FTIR spectrometer with a resolution of 0.0075 cm⁻¹ (0.00226 THz) from 10 to 50 cm⁻¹. The absorption spectra were measured at multiple pathlengths ranging from 2 to 6 m. These measurements were used to calculate the absorption coefficient of nitromethane as a function of wavenumber.     

Synthesis of E-3-Hydroxymethyl-1-methoxy-4-(1′-pentenyl)benzene

The title compound with exclusively the E-geometry has been synthesized by two independent routes. When this compound was reacted with cerium (IV) ammonium nitrate, it was found that oxidative cyclisation to the corresponding 4-hydroxybenzo-pyrans did not occur. This further defines the structural parameters required for such oxidative cyclisations.     

Theoretical prediction and experimental measurement of the field dependence of the apparent transverse relaxation of hyperpolarized noble gases in lungs

In this work, computer modeling based on a finite element method is used to simulate the T2* relaxation of hyperpolarized noble gases (HNG) in the lungs. A physical model of lung airways consisting of a phantom constructed from micro-capillary fibers of diameters similar to the size of lung airways with semi-permeable walls is also presented. The fibers are surrounded by a liquid medium (water) of magnetic susceptibility similar to lung tissue. Theoretical predictions of the field strength dependence of T2* for 129Xe in the phantom and in vivo rat lung are presented. These predictions are in good agreement with experimental T2* values obtained from the phantoms and in vivo rat lungs (160, 19 and 8 ms) at three different field strengths (0.074, 1.89 and 3T, respectively) using hyperpolarized 129Xe. The strong dependence of T2* on field strength is consistent with the theoretical prediction that low fields may be optimal for HNG MR imaging of the lungs as the decreased T2* at high fields necessitates an increase in bandwidth for conventional MR imaging.