Fibre gratings and devices for sensors and lasers

Although mainstream grating writing, more often than not using single photon excitation of germanosilicate based defects with CW 244 nm light, remains the key technology for complex devices it is now being complemented by a whole host of processes which can enhance and tailor the properties of both conventional and not‐so‐conventional fibre Bragg gratings. Further, processes for writing of gratings in non‐germanosilicate fibres have also continued to develop and include multi‐photon excitation directly into the band edge of the glass. It is now possible to custom tailor a gratings property based on the application and the nature of production as well as custom tailor the grating writing process to suit the type of fibre and application. Examples and suggestions where these can benefit sensors and lasers are outlined.     

Z-扫描参量对薄膜材料三阶非线性光学特性的影响

采用数值计算方法对薄膜材料的Z-扫描参量进行研究.对不同激光脉宽下Z-扫描的三阶非线性折射系数和吸收系数进行分析,结果显示不同等级的脉宽激光器对计算结果的数量级影响很大.对不同小孔光阑半径的Z-扫描闭孔曲线进行仿真,结果显示光阑小孔越小,获得特征曲线的峰谷值越明显.对不同光阑离透镜焦点的距离值进行Z-扫描闭孔曲线仿真,结果显示距离为1/2透镜焦距值时闭孔Z-扫描曲线能得到相对较大的峰谷差值.数值分析结果与相关文献报道的实验结果基本一致.     

微谐振环结构体内太赫兹增强效应

基于严格电磁场理论,给出了微型谐振环形和Fishnet结构体内太赫兹波的严格表达式,并利用电磁场的边界条件分析了太赫兹波在微型谐振环形和Fishnet结构体内空间分布的增强效应。数值模拟结果表明:谐振环金属条附近的电场大于磁场,金属条附近的电场相对其他区域明显要强得多,开口处表现更为突出,太赫兹波在Fishnet结构体内电磁场的峰位处电场和磁场分布关于x对称;电场的极值出现在大十字架的上下四个角,而磁场的极值则出现在小十字架的上下两端点。同时用电磁场传输线理论对该现象作出一定的物理解释。收稿日期:; 修订日期:     

Physics of transparent conductors

Transparent conductors (TCs) are materials, which are characterized by high transmission of light and simultaneously very high electrical DC conductivity. These materials play a crucial role, and made possible numerous applications in the fields of electro-optics, plasmonics, biosensing, medicine, and “green energy”. Modern applications, for example in the field of touchscreen and flexible displays, require that TCs are also mechanically strong and flexible. TC can be broadly classified into two categories: uniform and non-uniform TC. The uniform TC can be viewed as conventional metals (or electron plasmas) with plasma frequency located in the infrared frequency range (e.g. transparent conducting oxides), or ultra-thin metals with large plasma frequency (e.g. graphen). The physics of the nonuniform TC is much more complex, and could involve transmission enhancement due to refraction (including plasmonic), and exotic effects of electron transport, including percolation and fractal effects. This review ties the TC performance to the underlying physical phenomena. We begin with the theoretical basis for studying the various phenomena encountered in TC. Next, we consider the uniform TC, and discuss first the conventional conducting oxides (such as indium tin oxide), reviewing advantages and limitations of these classic uniform electron plasmas. Next, we discuss the potential of single- and multiple-layer graphene as uniform TC. In the part of the paper dealing with non-uniform metallic films, we begin with the review of random metallic networks. The transparency of these networks could be enhanced beyond the classical shading limit by the plasmonic refractive effects. The electrical conduction strongly depends on the network type, and we review first networks made of individual metallic nanowires, where conductivity depends on the inter-wire contact, and the percolation effects. Next, we review the uniform metallic film networks, which are free of the percolation effects and contact problems. In applications that require high-quality electric contact of a TC to an active substrate (such as LED or solar cells), the network performance can be optimized by employing a quasi-fractal structure of the network. We also consider the periodic metallic networks, where active plasmonic refraction leads to the phenomenon of the extraordinary optical transmission. We review the relevant literature on this topic, and demonstrate networks, which take advantage of this strategy (the bio-inspired leaf venation (LV) network, hybrid networks, etc.). Finally, we review “smart” TCs, with an added functionality, such as light interference, metamaterial effects, built-in semiconductors, and their junctions.     

Electronic structure and magnetism of disordered bcc Fe alloys

We study the electronic structure and magnetic properties of disordered bcc Co_xFe_1-x, Cr_xFe_1-x and Mn_xFe_1-x alloys in their ferromagnetic phases using the Augmented Space Recursion (ASR) technique coupled with the tight-binding linearized muffin tin orbital (TB-LMTO) method. We calculate the density of states and magnetic moment of these alloys to show the variation upon alloying Fe with the other neighbouring 3d transition metals using arguments based on charge transfer, exchange splitting and hybridization effects. Received 10 April 2001 and Received in final form 15 August 2001     

Transport and Coulomb drag for two interacting carbon nanotubes

We study nonlinear transport for two coupled one-dimensional quantum wires or carbon nanotubes described by Luttinger liquid theory. Transport properties are shown to crucially depend on the contact length L _c. For a special interaction strength, the problem can be solved analytically for arbitrary L _c. For point-like contacts and strong interactions, a qualitatively different picture compared to a Fermi liquid emerges, characterized by zero-bias anomalies and strong dependence on the applied cross voltage. In addition, pronounced Coulomb drag phenomena are important for extended contacts. Received 28 July 2000     

Stress state of silver nanoparticles embedded in a silicate glass matrix investigated by HREM and EXAFS spectroscopy

Ag particles of 3.9 and 5.1 nm mean size in silicate glasses were produced by ion exchange and subsequent annealing at 480 and 600 ^°C. These thermal treatments may induce stresses in matrix and particles in addition to the well known effect of surface atoms because of the thermal expansion mismatch of both materials. Structural characterisation of the particles by high-resolution electron microscopy revealed a size-dependent lattice dilatation quite opposite to the so far observed lattice contraction of similar metal/glass composites. This result, confirmed by X-ray absorption spectroscopy at the Ag K-edge, is discussed in terms of an Ag-Ag bond length increase near the particle surface. The temperature-dependent EXAFS spectra (10-300 K) indicate an increased thermal expansion coefficient of the particles with an increased mean particle size calculated on the basis of an anharmonic Einstein model. With that the bond length increase can be explained. The results can be interpreted by a combination of both the particle size effects and the influence of the surrounding matrix. Received 30 November 2000     

Structural and electronic properties of gold nanowires

We have used high resolution transmission electron microscopy to determine the structure of gold nanowires generated by mechanical stretching. Just before rupture, the contacts adopt only three possible atomic configurations, whose occurrence probabilities and quantized conductance were subsequently estimated. These predictions have shown a remarkable agreement with conductance measurements from a break junction operating in ultra-high-vacuum, corroborating the derived correlation between nanowire atomic structure and conductance behavior. Received 28 November 2000     

Static magneto-polarizability of cylindrical nanostructures

The static polarizability of cylindrical systems is shown to have a strong dependence on a uniform magnetic field applied parallel to the tube axis. This dependence is demonstrated by performing exact numerical diagonalizations of simple cylinders (rolled square lattices), armchair and zig-zag carbon nanotubes (rolled honeycomb lattices) for different electron-fillings. At low temperature, the polarizability as function of the magnetic field has a discontinuous character where plateau-like region are separated by sudden jumps or peaks. A one to one correspondence is pointed out between each discontinuity of the polarizability and the magnetic-field induced cross-over between the ground state and the first excited state. Our results suggest the possibility to use measurements of the static polarizability under magnetic field to get important informations about excited states of cylindrical systems such as carbon nanotubes. Received 29 March 2001 and Received in final form 8 August 2001     

Phonon density-of-states in the new superconductor MgB 2

We provide here experimental data on the phonon density-of-states of MgB₂ obtained by the inelastic neutron scattering technique. The measurements were performed for the natural boron-based magnesium diboride with use of a time-of-flight neutron spectrometer. Several phonon bands were observed in the phonon spectrum at energies of about 33, 55, 82 and 99 meV. We show that the cut-off energy of the density-of-states occurs at around 105 meV which is much higher than expected so far from heat-capacity data and partially explains the high T _c value observed for MgB₂. The characteristic phonon energies are indicative of an intermediate coupling regime in this compound. We conclude that a much needed neutron experiment aimed at the study of the isotopic effect in the phonon density-of-states of MgB₂ is conceivable. Received 19 March 2001