Multiplexing Techniques for Noninterferometric Optical Point-Sensor Networks: A Review

This article presents a review of the strategies that have been both demonstrated and proposed for the multiplexing of multiple noninterferometric optical fiber point sensors to form a sensor network. The focus, which avoids consideration of interferometric sensor types, enables discussion of conventional multiplexing tech niques, namely, spatial, time division, frequency division, and wavelength division prior to dealing with combined or hybrid schemes, which exhibit the potential for increased multiplexing gain. Specific advantages and potential drawbacks of the different strategies are provided together with an indication of the number of point sensors that each multiplexing scheme can support.     

Picosecond transient photoreflectance measurements of ion-implanted GaAs

We have used picosecond transient reflectance techniques to measure the near-surface characteristics of ion-implanted GaAs. These non-destructive laser-based diagnostic techniques allow measurement of the modification of near-surface properties at relatively low implant fluences. Photothermal phenomena dominate these results and yield important information concerning the extent of implant-induced materials modification.     

Bose–Einstein condensation in atomic hydrogen

The addition of atomic hydrogen to the set of gases in which Bose–Einstein condensation can be observed expands the range of parameters over which this remarkable phenomenon can be studied. Hydrogen, with the lowest atomic mass, has the highest transition temperature, 50 μK in our experiments. The very weak interaction between the atoms results in a high ratio of the condensate to normal gas densities, even at modest condensate fractions. Using cryogenic rather than laser precooling generates large condensates. Finally, two-photon spectroscopy is introduced as a versatile probe of the phase transition: condensation in real space is manifested by the appearance of a high-density component in the gas, condensation in momentum space is readily apparent in the momentum distribution, and the phase transition line can be delineated by following the evolution of the density of the normal component.     

Random cluster models for icosahedral phase alloys

We present results on computer generated random cluster models for icosahedral phase alloys. By the application of physically motivated constraints on the local atomic cluster configurations, the model achieves long range translational order comparable to, or greater than, that found in simple icosahedral alloys such asi-AlMnSi andi-AlLiCu. The parallel and perpendicular space structures are explored in some detail including a comparison with experimental powder diffraction patterns and an examination of the phason fluctuations. The latter are shown to decrease markedly with increased constraint on the local environment, but the remaining phason strain would seem finally not to vanish with increasing model size. Our model is compared with other cluster models for quasicrystalline materials and is shown to possess a density and connectivity very close to those of Elser's (best) model and those predicted by Henley for a canonical tiling. The relation of this model to recently discovered icosahedral phase alloys with resolution limited diffraction peak widths, which are essentially free of phason strain, is also discussed.     

Evidence for the bilobal nature of diferric rabbit plasma transferrin.

Plasma transferrin is involved in iron transport within the circulatory system of vertebrates, and provides an iron source for haemoglobin synthesis and other metabolic requirements. However, despite extensive studies by spectroscopic, biochemical and physiological techniques, the nature of iron binding and the mechanisms of uptake and release of iron are not fully understood. Plasma transferrins are monomeric glycoproteins with a molecular weight of approximately 80,000 (ref. 2); they have two similar and very strong binding sites for Fe(III), together with two associated anion binding sites. Fragmentation studies on various transferrins have shown that the polypeptide chain is composed of two domains formed from the N-terminal and C-terminal halves of the polypeptide chain. Each domain contains one metal binding site. The marked sequence similarities which exist between the two halves may reflect a doubling of an ancestral structural gene during the phylogenetic development of the protein. Preliminary crystallographic investigations of diferric rabbit plasma transferrin have been reported from this laboratory. We now report initial studies of the X-ray structure determination of dife-ric rabbit plasma transferrin which have led to a 6-A resolution electron density map.     

Critical point wetting in NbH0.31

The local α-α' phase distribution in a thin Nb single crystal loaded with the critical H-concentration was investigated with X-rays. The sample used in the experiment showed a macroscopic hydrogen density mode, leading to a curvature of the whole crystal plate with the α-phase on the concave side and the α'-phase on the convex side. In addition an α-phase wetting layer was found on top of the α'-phase separated from the bulk α'-phase by a mixed α-α' phase region. In a simple model their thickness were determined to about $\text{\$}\text{?}$1.0 and 7?0μm, resp. This thin wetting layer leads to a new interpretation of the phase transition of H and Nb, involving the familiar long-range elastic interaction as well as a short-range surface free energy contribution.     

Non-dynamical stochastic resonance: Theory and experiments with white and various coloured noises

Summary We describe the simplest system which shows stochastic resonance. A linear(ized) theory for white and (almost) arbitrarily coloured noise is presented. The presented new system has new, unique properties which originate from itsnon-dynamical character; for example, the strength and phase shift of periodic response of the system is independent of the frequency. Experiments have been carried out with the following noise processes: (physical) white noise, (physical) Lorentzian noise and (physical) 1/f noise. With a small extension of the system, its linear-response regime can be significantly increased. As the system is similar to some simple models of neurones, the new results might have not only physical but also biological importance. Paper presented at the International Workshop “Fluctuations in Physics and Biology: Stochastic Resonance, Signal Processing and Related Phenomena”, Elba, 5–10 June 1994.