Studies on the enhancement of photoacoustic signals from non-porous solids in the presence of volatile liquids

Studies have been carried out on the enhancement of photoacoustic signals from non-porous solids in the presence of volatile liquids in order to understand the mechanism of enhancement. Dependence of enhancement on equilibration time, absorption coefficient, length of gas phase, illumination intensity, coupling gas together with influence of wall temperature, and relative vapour pressure have been presented. Experimental results are discussed in terms of existing theories and the role of the adsorbed liquid layer in the enhancement has been emphasized. A brief theoretical discussion has been presented to show that the enhancement is due to the more efficient transfer of heat to the gas phase from the solid.Contribution No. 379 from Solid State and Structural Chemistry Unit     

Spectral hole burning for pulse repetition frequency analysis

We demonstrate an optical processor based on spectral hole burning (SHB) that maps the carrier frequency into the time domain and the pulse repetition frequency (PRF) into the spatial domain by illuminating an SHB crystal with a signal beam that is scanned by a tilting mirror across a slice of the crystal. This time-to-space mapping makes it possible to measure signal envelopes with a resolution of . A signal with a pulsed envelope engraves a vertical absorption grating with a spatial periodicity given by the product of the PRF and the scan velocity. Reading the grating, which the crystal stores for up to T₁, with a collimated beam yields orders diffracted at angles proportional to the PRF, which are Fourier-transformed to produce spots displaced from the DC position by distances proportional to the PRF. Increasing the PRF increases the grating periodicity, causing the diffracted spots to move away from the DC position.     

Optical encryption with a reference wave in a joint transform correlator architecture

In this work we introduce a digital holographic configuration in a Joint Transform Correlator (JTC) architecture for encryption purposes. Conceptually, it is a Mach-Zender interferometer, with a JTC in one arm and a reference wave in the other. We describe the practical implementation of this architecture, along with experimental results that support the proposal. We analyze the noise influence caused by intensity saturation during image capture, and this information allows us a filtering process to reduce the information to be handled, with a consequent increase in the speed of the total procedure.     

Long-period fiber-gratings produced by exposure with a low-pressure mercury lamp and their sensing characteristics

A new production method of long-period fiber-gratings using neither a laser nor a fine-positioning system was proposed. A low-pressure mercury lamp emitting 254 nm ultraviolet light was used as a light source. Hydrogen-loaded Ge-B co-doped fiber was exposed to the emission of the lamp through an amplitude mask. A coupling loss up to 23 dB was obtained for a grating period of 212 μm. The maximum coupling loss for a grating period of 460 μm was 18 dB. The growth rate of the refractive index change by mercury-lamp exposure was 1.3 × 10⁻⁴/h. The temperature and strain characteristics were measured and compared with those fabricated by excimer-laser exposure. The temperature and strain sensitivities of long-period gratings with a period of 212 μm were higher than those of 460 μm. The temperature and strain sensitivities of those by mercury-lamp exposure were almost equal to those by excimer-laser exposure of the same fiber. The sensitivities of those by excimer-laser exposure of non-loaded fiber were higher than those of hydrogen-loaded fiber by mercury-lamp or excimer-laser exposures except for the temperature sensitivity of a grating period of 460 μm.     

Weathering properties of treated southern yellow pine wood examined by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy and physical characterization

In this study the weathering behavior of southern yellow pine (SYP) wood samples pretreated in different solutions has been examined using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and various types of physical characterization regarding material loss and discoloration. The treatment solutions include water as a control, a commercially available water repellent (WR) wood treating additive and polyethylene glycol (PEG) products including PEG PLUS™, PEG 8000 solutions and Compound 20M in varying concentrations. All contained the wood preservative chromated copper arsenate (CCA). One sample was treated with a CCA solution only. The treatments were carried out at 20 °C and 150 psig for 1/2 h after exposure to vacuum (28 mmHg) for 15 min. Simulated weathering was achieved in an Atlas 65-W Weather-Ometer for 2000 h with both light and dark periods and rain. The temperature ranged from 23 °C during the dark cycle to 35 °C during the light cycle. With weathering the XPS O/C ratios increase due to oxidation of the surface. Exposure to UV light results in bond breakage and reaction with oxygen in the presence of air to form organic functional groups such as , , CO and/or O-C-O. These oxidized products can protect the underlying wood from deterioration if they are insoluble in water and remain on the surface as a protective coating. If soluble, rain washes the compounds away and assists in the degradation. Correlated changes are observed in the XPS O/C ratios, the high-resolution XPS C 1s spectra, the SEM micrographs and physical measurements including thickness alteration, weight loss, and discoloration by yellowing or whitening of the weathered wood. The PEG treatments are effective in protecting wood with the 2% PEG PLUS treatment providing the best weathering behavior similar to that of the CCA treatment. The WR and water treatments yield the poorest weathering properties.     

Translocation of Biopolymer Chain Through a Nanopore: Coil--Helix Transition

The translocation dynamics of a single biopolymer chain through a nanopore in a membrane is investigated by taking the coil-helix transition into account. Based on the changing of the free energy due to the coil-helix transition, the mean first passage time T is obtained, and then the corresponding numerical simulations are presented under different conditions. It is shown that the coil--helix transition can significantly shorten the translocation time of the biopolymer chain. In addition, we also discuss the scaling behaviour for T with the chain length N and some related problems.     

All-Optical AND Logic Gate without Additional Input Beam by Utilizing Cross Polarization Modulation Effect

A novel design of all-optical AND gate is proposed by using cross polarization modulation effect in a semiconductor optical amplifier. In this scheme, an additional continuous-wave beam is not required as that in traditional scheme. AND output is obtained on either of two input signal wavelengths. The AND scheme is numerically simulated and experimentally demonstrated at a bit rate of 10 Gb/s successfully.     

Transmission intensity disturbance in a rotating polarizer

Random disturbance was observed in transmission intensity in various rotating prism polarizers when they were used in optical systems. As a result, the transmitted intensity exhibited cyclic significant deviation from the Malus cosine-squared law with rotation of prisms. The disturbance spoils the light quality transmitted through the polarizer thus dramatically depresses the accuracies of measurements when the prim polarizers were used in light path. A rigorous model is presented based on the solid basis of multi-beams interference, and theoretical results show good agreement with measured values and also indicate effective method for reducing the disturbance.     

Chern-Simons and WZW anomaly cancelations across dimensions

The WZW functional in D=4 can be derived directly from the Chern-Simons functional of a compactified D=5 gauge theory and the boundary fermions it supplants. A simple pedagogical model based on U(1) gauge groups illustrates how this works. A bulk-boundary system with the fermions eliminated manifestly evinces anomaly cancelations between CS and WZW terms.     

Characteristics of the loss modulation of intracavity Raman-Nath acousto-optic devices

Acousto-optic loss modulators for applications in active mode-locking of lasers are discussed. We show that intracavity interference effects can either enhance or decrease the modulation efficiency. Optical, electrical, and acoustic measurements for the characterization of mode-locking devices are described.