MQW wavelength-tunable DBR lasers with monolithically integrated external cavity electroabsorption modulators with low-driving voltages fabricated by selective-area MOCVD

The design and operation of multiple-quantum-well (MQW) wavelength-tunable distributed Bragg reflector (DBR) InGaAs QW lasers with nonabsorbing gratings and monolithically integrated external cavity electroabsorption modulators fabricated by selective-area MOCVD are presented. Uncoated devices exhibit CW threshold currents as low as 10.5 mA with slope efficiencies of 0.21 W/A from the laser facet. Wavelength tuning of 7 nm is obtained by injection current heating of the DBR section. These devices also exhibit extinction ratios of 18 dB from the modulator facet at a low modulator bias of 1 V, when measured with a broad-area detector. When coupled to a singlemode fiber, these devices exhibited high extinction ratios of 40 dB at a modulator bias of 1.25 V.     

"Fast excitation" CID in a quadrupole ion trap mass spectrometer

Collision-induced dissociation (CID) in a quadrupole ion trap mass spectrometer is usually performed by applying a small amplitude excitation voltage at the same secular frequency as the ion of interest. Here we disclose studies examining the use of large amplitude voltage excitations (applied for short periods of time) to cause fragmentation of the ions of interest. This process has been examined using leucine enkephalin as the model compound and the motion of the ions within the ion trap simulated using ITSIM. The resulting fragmentation information obtained is identical with that observed by conventional resonance excitation CID. "Fast excitation" CID deposits (as determined by the intensity ratio of the a(4)/b(4) ion of leucine enkephalin) approximately the same amount of internal energy into an ion as conventional resonance excitation CID where the excitation signal is applied for much longer periods of time. The major difference between the two excitation techniques is the higher rate of excitation (gain in kinetic energy) between successive collisions with helium atoms with "fast excitation" CID as opposed to the conventional resonance excitation CID. With conventional resonance excitation CID ions fragment while the excitation voltage is still being applied whereas for "fast excitation" CID a higher proportion of the ions fragment in the ion cooling time following the excitation pulse. The fragmentation of the (M + 17H)(17+) of horse heart myoglobin is also shown to illustrate the application of "fast excitation" CID to proteins.     

Reciprocal space constraints create real-space anomalies in doped carbon nanotubes

When graphite is doped with electrons, carbon-carbon bonds lengthen and Raman-active phonons soften as antibonding states fill. However, in semiconducting carbon nanotubes, one Raman-active G-band mode increases in frequency at low doping levels. We show how phase constraints on the conduction-band wave function expose a latent bonding character in the conduction band of certain nanotubes. In these tubes, filling the lowest conduction band shortens the axial bonds even as it lengthens the circumferential bonds. The A{1}{LO} phonon, which preferentially stretches the axial bonds, then hardens even as the other phonons soften. Quantum confinement eliminates the angular averaging taken for granted in higher-dimensional systems and develops a new class of states, neither bonding nor antibonding, whose character depends on the angular orientation of the bonds in question.     

Wavelength-tunable asymmetric cladding ridge-waveguide distributedBragg reflector lasers with very narrow linewidth

Narrow-linewidth ridge-waveguide distributed Bragg reflector (DBR) lasers with asymmetric cladding are demonstrated. This design requires only a single epitaxial growth of an asymmetric cladding laser structure while the grating and the ridge waveguide are fabricated after the growth. These lasers have a threshold current as low as 9 mA, a slope efficiency of 0.3 W/A, and a T₀ of 100 K. Wavelength tuning of 8 nm is achieved by current injection heating of the DBR section. A spectral-linewidth minimum of 36 kHz is achieved at an output power of 20 mW and is limited by linewidth rebroadening due to current injection in both the gain section and DBR section     

Low-threshold narrow-linewidth InGaAs-GaAs ridge-waveguide DBR lasers with first-order surface gratings

The design and operation of InGaAs-GaAs ridge-waveguide distributed Bragg reflector (DBR) single quantum-well lasers with first-order surface gratings fabricated using only a single growth step are presented. Uncoated devices exhibit CW threshold currents as low as 6 mA with slope efficiencies of 0.46 W/A. By varying the period of the first-order DBR grating, a wavelength range of 540 /spl Aring/ (/spl sim/15.2 THz) is obtained with the threshold currents and slope efficiencies remaining below 10 mA and above 0.40 W/A, respectively, over the entire wavelength range. High characteristic temperature, T/sub 0/, values of 450 K, as measured between T=10/spl deg/C and 40/spl deg/C, are obtained for devices with Bragg wavelengths positively detuned from the peak gain wavelength. The spectral linewidth minimum of these devices is below 25 kHz, which is the resolution limit of the self-heterodyning system used to measure the spectral linewidth.     

Very narrow linewidth asymmetric cladding InGaAs-GaAs ridge waveguide distributed Bragg reflector lasers

Asymmetric cladding InGaAs-GaAs ridge waveguide distributed Bragg reflector (RW-DBR) lasers are demonstrated with a spectral linewidth as low as 39 kHz for an output power of 24 mW. The fabrication requires only a single standard epitaxial growth of a laser structure while the use of a thin top cladding layer allows for a shallow reactive ion etch of the distributed Bragg reflector. These RW-DBR lasers have a threshold current of 12.4 mA, a slope of 0.3 W/A, and over 40 dB side-mode suppression at a wavelength of 1010 nm.     

Dual-channel strained-layer in GaAs-GaAs-AlGaAs WDM source withintegrated coupler by selective-area MOCVD

Selective-area metalorganic chemical vapor deposition is used to fabricate a dual-channel strained-layer InGaAs-GaAs-AlGaAs WDM source with integrated coupler. Threshold currents of 11.5 mA were obtained for 1100 μm long uncoated channels operating cw at room temperature. Both channels can be coupled into a single mode fiber without the need for an external coupler     

Improved Miniaturized Linear Ion Trap Mass Spectrometer Using Lithographically Patterned Plates and Tapered Ejection Slit

We present a new two-plate linear ion trap mass spectrometer that overcomes both performance-based and miniaturization-related issues with prior designs. Borosilicate glass substrates are patterned with aluminum electrodes on one side and wire-bonded to printed circuit boards. Ions are trapped in the space between two such plates. Tapered ejection slits in each glass plate eliminate issues with charge build-up within the ejection slit and with blocking of ions that are ejected at off-nominal angles. The tapered slit allows miniaturization of the trap features (electrode size, slit width) needed for further reduction of trap size while allowing the use of substrates that are still thick enough to provide ruggedness during handling, assembly, and in-field applications. Plate spacing was optimized during operation using a motorized translation stage. A scan rate of 2300 Th/s with a sample mixture of toluene and deuterated toluene (D8) and xylenes (a mixture of o-, m-, p-) showed narrowest peak widths of 0.33 Th (FWHM).

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