Low-threshold interband cascade lasers operating above room temperature

Mid-IR type-II interband cascade lasers were demonstrated in pulsed mode at temperatures up to 325 K and in continuous mode up to 200 K. At 80 K, the threshold current density was 8.9 A/cm² and a continuous wave output power of 140 mW/facet was obtained.     

Effect of Pr-Ca substitution on the transport and magnetic behavior of LaMnO3 perovskite

The effect of simultaneous substitution of a fluctuating cation and a divalent cation in LaMnO₃ perovskite modifies the properties of the material to exhibit large valence colossal magnetoresistance (CMR) effect. A good example of these properties is (La_1−2x Pr _x Ca _x )MnO₃ (LPCMO) type CMR material. In this communication it is reported that, with the increase in x (for x=0.1, 0.15, 0.2), the T _c varies between 100 and 120 K with improvisation in metal-insulator transition. Interestingly, resistance increases with x from few hundred ohms to few kilo ohms with corresponding decrease in the unit cell volume. The results of the studies using X-ray diffraction (XRD), electrical resistivity, magnetoresistance and ac susceptibility measurements on LPCMO samples for understanding the structural, transport and magnetic properties are discussed in detail.     

Experimental implementation of a concatenated quantum error-correcting code

Concatenated coding provides a general strategy to achieve the desired level of noise protection in quantum information processing. We report the implementation of a concatenated quantum error-correcting code able to correct phase errors with a strong correlated component. The experiment was performed using liquid-state nuclear magnetic resonance techniques on a four spin subsystem of labeled crotonic acid. Our results show that concatenation between active and passive quantum error correction is a practical tool to handle realistic noise involving both independent and correlated errors.     

Pulsed-Field-Gradient Measurements of Time-Dependent Gas Diffusion

Pulsed-field-gradient NMR techniques are demonstrated for measurements of time-dependent gas diffusion. The standard PGSE technique and variants, applied to a free gas mixture of thermally polarized xenon and O₂, are found to provide a reproducible measure of the xenon diffusion coefficient (5.71 × 10⁻⁶m²s⁻¹for 1 atm of pure xenon), in excellent agreement with previous, non-NMR measurements. The utility of pulsed-field-gradient NMR techniques is demonstrated by the first measurement of time-dependent (i.e., restricted) gas diffusion inside a porous medium (a random pack of glass beads), with results that agree well with theory. Two modified NMR pulse sequences derived from the PGSE technique (named the Pulsed Gradient Echo, or PGE, and the Pulsed Gradient Multiple Spin Echo, or PGMSE) are also applied to measurements of time dependent diffusion of laser polarized xenon gas, with results in good agreement with previous measurements on thermally polarized gas. The PGMSE technique is found to be superior to the PGE method, and to standard PGSE techniques and variants, for efficiently measuring laser polarized noble gas diffusion over a wide range of diffusion times.     

Single-Shot Diffusion Measurement in Laser-Polarized Gas

A single-shot pulsed gradient stimulated echo sequence is introduced to address the challenges of diffusion measurements of laser polarized 3He and 129Xe gas. Laser polarization enhances the NMR sensitivity of these noble gases by >10(3), but creates an unstable, nonthermal polarization that is not readily renewable. A new method is presented which permits parallel acquisition of the several measurements required to determine a diffusive attenuation curve. The NMR characterization of a sample's diffusion behavior can be accomplished in a single measurement, using only a single polarization step. As a demonstration, the diffusion coefficient of a sample of laser-polarized 129Xe gas is measured via this method.     

Reactivity of Cr(III) μ-oxo compounds: catalyst regeneration and atom transfer processes

Oxidation of CpCr[(XylNCMe)(2)CH] (Xyl = 2,6-Me(2)C(6)H(3)) with pyridine N-oxide or air generated the μ-oxo dimer, {CpCr[(XylNCMe)(2)CH]}(2)(μ-O). The μ-oxo dimer was converted to paramagnetic Cr(III) CpCr[(XylNCMe)(2)CH](X) complexes (X = OH, O(2)CPh, Cl, OTs) via protonolysis reactions. The related Cr(III) alkoxide complexes (X = OCMe(3), OCMe(2)Ph) were prepared by salt metathesis and characterized by single crystal X-ray diffraction. The interconversion of the Cr(III) complexes and their reduction back to Cr(II) with Mn powder were monitored using UV-vis spectroscopy. The related CpCr[(DepNCMe)(2)CH] (Dep = 2,6-Et(2)C(6)H(3)) Cr(II) complex was studied for catalytic oxygen atom transfer reactions with PPh(3) using O(2) or air. Both Cr(II) complexes reacted with pyridine N-oxide and γ-terpinene to give the corresponding Cr(III) hydroxide complexes. When CpCr[(DepNCMe)(2)CH] was treated with pyridine N-oxide in benzene in the absence of hydrogen atom donors, a dimeric Cr(III) hydroxide product was isolated and structurally characterized, apparently resulting from intramolecular hydrogen atom abstraction of a secondary benzylic ligand C-H bond followed by intermolecular C-C bond formation. The use of very bulky hexaisopropylterphenyl ligand substituents did not preclude the formation of the analogous μ-oxo dimer, which was characterized by X-ray diffraction. Attempts to develop a chromium-catalyzed intermolecular hydrogen atom transfer process based on these reactions were unsuccessful. The protonolysis and reduction reactions of the μ-oxo dimer were used to improve the previously reported Cr-catalyzed radical cyclization of a bromoacetal.