Manifestation of circular photogalvanic current by dynamic holography in BaTiO3

We report the first measurement of the photo-galvanic circular current antisymmetric tensor component in BaTiO₃: Co. The measurement gives a value of this coefficient, for extraordinary beam amplification, of 4×10^–9 A/W using a nonstationary measurement technique at a wavelength of 0.632 m.Professor N. Kukhtarev is on leave from the Institute of Physics in the Ukraine and is supported by the NSFDr. G. Dovgalenko is on leave from the IRPA Rotor-Control research laboratory of the Ukraine and is supported by the University of Arkansas     

From Molecular Conformation to Phospholipid Bilayer Organization

Abstract

The structure and the dynamics of D-erythrostearoyl sphingomyelin has been studied by the variable temperature wide-line ³¹P and high-resolution ¹C CP MAS NMR apectroscopy. The results indicate the formation of the highly ordered, relaxed gelphase, and are interpreted based on the conformation of D-erytgrosphingomylin in the unaggregated state.     

Total Synthesis of (+)- and (−)-Ononitol

Abstract

A practical, five-step synthetic sequence for conversion of myo-inositol into enantiomerically pure (+)- and (?)-ononitols in 17% and 18% overall yield, respectively, has been developed.     

Incoherent blocker soliton interactions in Kerr waveguide arrays

We have observed the incoherent interaction between a highly confined (blocker) soliton and wide, moving signal beams of a different wavelength in a one-dimensional discrete Kerr medium. Digital switching of the blocker solitons to successive adjacent channels was measured with increasing signal power via both one and two cascaded interactions in an AlGaAs waveguide array, operations equivalent to a reconfigurable three-output router.     

Synthesis of new dendrimers—trimesic acid derivatives

The efficient synthesis of new dendrimeric polyesters up to generation 3 that consist of 1,3,5-benzenetricarboxylic acid building blocks with potential applications in drug delivery is described. The dendrimers possess hydroxy or allyl functional groups on the surface and were prepared through a divergent approach using readily available 2-(hydroxymethyl)-2-ethylpropan-1,3-diol and 1,3,5-benzenetrimethanol as central cores, with 3,5-bis[(allyloxy)methyl]benzoic acid being an essential unit of the dendrimer. The latter compound was synthesized, in high yield, from 1,3,5-benzenetricarboxylic acid, applying selective hydrolysis of the corresponding triester as the key step.     

Primarily isotropic nature of photorefractive screening solitons and the interactions between them

We present experimental evidence demonstrating that the photorefractive-index change responsible for the formation of photorefractive spatial screening solitons and coherent collisions between them is primarily isotropic in nature, even though the photorefractive medium is inherently anisotropic.     

Comparative study on different carbon nanotube materials in terms of transparent conductive coatings

We compared conductive transparent carbon nanotube coatings on glass substrates made of differently produced single-wall (SWNT), double-wall, and multiwall carbon nanotubes. The airbrushing approach and the vacuum filtration method were utilized for the fabrication of carbon nanotube films. The optoelectronic performance of the carbon nanotube film was found to strongly depend on many effects including the ratio of metallic-to-semiconducting tubes, dispersion, length, diameter, chirality, wall number, structural defects, and the properties of substrates. The electronic transportability and optical properties of the SWNT network can be significantly altered by chemical doping with thionyl chloride. Hall effect measurements revealed that all of these thin carbon nanotube films are of p-type probably due to the acid reflux-based purification and atmospheric impurities. The competition between variable-range hoping and fluctuation-assisted tunneling in the functionized carbon nanotube system could lead to a crossover behavior in the temperature dependence of the network resistance.     

Experiments and analysis of infrared quantum cutting luminescence phenomena of Ho/Yb codoped nanophase oxyfluoride vitroceramics

The infrared quantum cutting phenomenon, which is an international hot research field, of Ho³⁺Yb³⁺: oxyfluoride vitroceramics (FOV) was studied in the present paper. It was found from the fluorescence spectroscopy experiments that the excitation spectrum of 973.0 nm fluorescence of Yb³⁺ ion is very similar to the absorption and excitation spectra of Ho³⁺ ion. It suggests that the energy transfer from Ho³⁺ ion to Yb³⁺ ion is very efficient. Then, all the possible important energy transfer passages were analyzed. It was found that the energy transfers {⁵G₄(Ho³⁺)→⁵F₅(Ho³⁺), ²F_7/2(Yb³⁺)→²F_5/2(Yb³⁺)} and {⁵F₅(Ho³⁺)→⁵I₇(Ho³⁺), ²F_7/2(Yb³⁺)→²F_5/2(Yb³⁺)} result in the effective two-photon quantum cutting 973.0 nm fluorescence of Yb³⁺ ion when ⁵G₄ or ³K₇ or the above energy level of Ho³⁺ ion are excited. Finally, the quantum efficiency η_QE,1%Yb=43.0% and η_QE,5%Yb=171.7% of two-photon quantum cutting was calculated for Ho(0.5)Yb(1):FOV and Ho(0.5)Yb(5):FOV respectively. This research would be beneficial for the enhancement of solar cell efficiency.     

Nonlinear optical beam propagation and solitons in photorefractive media

Conclusions  The last few years have witnessed a great renewal of interest in the photorefractive effect thanks to the realization of the possibility of propagating stable 2D spatial solitons at very low optical powers in PR crystals. This result, besides possessing a great scientific relevance in itself, associated with the first experimental demonstration of a non-diffracting two-dimensional pencil of light, has also an interesting applicative potential thanks to the guidance properties of the waveguide associated with the soliton, which survives in the dark also after the soliton has been turned off. In this paper, we have tried to present a self-contained approach to the theory of self-trapped nonlinear propagation, which is far from being definitive, together with the most important experimental demonstrations obtained in the last few years. The novelty of the field, and the fact that it is still undergoing a rapid growth, has made our task not an easy one and we apologize to the readers for the many inevitable omissions both in the subjects we have chosen to emphasize and in the references. We cannot conclude this review without mentioning self-trapping of planar optical beams by the use of the PR effect in a semiconductor (InP:Fe) [94, 95], the main advantages over standard PR materials being associated with its sensitivity in the range of the near-infrared wavelengths and faster response time.     

Sulfur-linked cyanobiphenyl-based liquid crystal dimers and the twist-bend nematic phase

ABSTRACT

The synthesis and characterisation of two series of cyanobiphenyl-based liquid crystal dimers containing sulfur links between the spacer and mesogenic units, the 4?-[1,ω-alkanediylbis(thio)]bis-[1,1?-biphenyl]-4-carbonitriles (CBSnSCB), and 4?-({ω-[(4?-cyano[1,1?-biphenyl]-4-yl)oxy]alkyl}thio)[1,1?-biphenyl]-4-carbonitriles (CBSnOCB) are described. The odd members of both series show twist-bend nematic and nematic phases, whereas the even members exhibit only the nematic phase. An analogous cyanoterphenyl-based dimer, 3⁴-{6-[(4?-cyano[1,1?-biphenyl]-4-yl)thio]-hexyl}[1¹,2¹:2⁴,3¹-terphenyl]-1⁴-carbonitrile (CT6SCB), is also reported and shows enantiotropic N_TB and N phases. The transitional properties of these dimers are discussed in terms of molecular curvature, flexibility and biaxiality. The same molecular factors also influence the birefringence of nematic phases. Resonant X-ray scattering studies of the twist-bend nematic phase at both the carbon and sulfur absorption edges were performed, which allowed for the determination of critical behaviour of the helical pitch at the transition to the nematic phase, the behaviour was found to be independent of molecular structure. It was also observed that despite the different molecular bending angle and flexibility, in all compounds the helical pitch length far from the N-N_TB transition corresponds to 4 longitudinal molecular distances.