Performance of a CW pumped Nd:YVO4 amplifier with kHz pulses

Until recently, simple and reliable high repetition-rate laser sources with nanosecond pulses much shorter than from conventional A-O Q-switch lasers were not available. However over the past 2 years we have developed such lasers based on proprietary fast E-O switching technology, which allows designs delivering 1 ns pulses and subnanosecond jitter for good synchronisation. The technology provides pulses with multi-kW peak power and repetition-rates to >100 kHz.Most recently, the performance of these short pulse lasers has been developed further by implementing oscillator/amplifier (master oscillator and power amplifier, MOPA) technology which increases the output to >1 W average power. Here we report on a simple model that has been used to predict the performance of the CW pumped Nd:YVO₄ amplifier used in the MOPA laser. The model is based on the well-known expressions for the saturated gain applying to laser pulses, but more usually applied to pulse-excited amplifiers. The model is shown to allow a good interpretation of the amplifier behaviour for kHz pulses and to be a useful tool for predicting the performance of the MOPA laser.     

Analysis of basic hair dyes by HPLC with on-line post-column photochemical derivatisation

Summary A reversed phase liquid chromatographic method is proposed for the analysis of basic hair dyes (raw materials and colourant formulations). The performance of the method was enhanced by introducing post-column on-line photochemical derivatisation in combination with a Diode Array Detector. On-line photoderivatisation provided an effective way of selectively transforming the analytes to compounds with different spectral properties. For each analyte two characteristic UV-Visible spectra (photoreactor on and off) were obtained with the same mobile phase and this information in combination with the chromatographic data (k' at pH 3.0 and 4.5) enabled the unambiguous identification of both commonly used, approved, and banned basic hair dyes. Additionally, this approach was found useful to improve the method sensitivity, allowing the determination of analytes present in low concentration (0.03%) in complex commercial formulations.This work constitutes part of the thesis for the Dottorato di Ricerche of Roberto Gotti.     

In situ sensing of the middle atmosphere with balloonborne near-infrared laser diodes

Since 1997, two near-infrared laser diode sensors have been developed with the support of the CNES, the French space agency, to provide in situ data of H(2)O, CH(4) and CO(2) in the middle atmosphere. The realized instruments were flown from stratospheric balloons within the framework of European campaigns for the study of stratospheric ozone and water vapor and were involved in the validation of the ODIN and ENVISAT satellites. In this paper, we describe the developed laser probing technique, we report atmospheric measurements and finally we discuss future perspectives, particularly the in situ laser sensing of the lower atmosphere of Mars and the implication of the laser hygrometers in balloon campaigns at mid-latitudes and tropical regions to investigate the sources and sinks of stratospheric H(2)O.     

Application of diode array detectors for solute identification in toxicological analysis

Summary The possibilities and limitation of automated solute identification via UV/VIS spectroscopy in HPLC are demonstrated and applications in toxicologic analysis are described. A standard isocratic system is used. The influence of various chromatographic parameters on retention time is shown. A retention time window of ±15% is required. In addition to retention time, derived spectral data are calculated (minima and maxima of derivatives, area counts under standardized spectral ranges, absorption at various wavelength) and used for positive solute identification. It is possible to identify solutes with a high degree of certainty in urine and plasma if their concentration is at least 10 ppm.     

Influence of growth temperature and post-annealing on an n-ZnO/p-GaN heterojunction diode

We report on an n-ZnO/p-GaN heterojunction diode fabricated from zinc oxide (ZnO) films at various growth temperatures (450, 500, 550, and 600 °C) by RF sputtering. The films were subsequently annealed at 700 °C in N₂ ambient. To investigate the influence of the growth temperature of n-ZnO films, the microstructural, optical, and electrical properties were measured using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), photoluminescence (PL), and Hall measurements. The XRD pattern showed the preferred orientation along the c-axis (002) regardless of growth temperature. The PL spectra showed a dominant sharp near-band-edge (NBE) emission. Current–voltage (I–V) curves showed excellent rectification behavior. The turn-on voltage of the diode was observed to be 3.2 V for the films produced at 500 °C. The ideality factor of ZnO film was observed to be 1.37, which showed the best performance of the diode.     

Rapid quantitative analysis of individual anthocyanin content based on high‐performance liquid chromatography with diode array detection with the pH differential method

A new quantitative technique for the simultaneous quantification of the individual anthocyanins based on the pH differential method and high‐performance liquid chromatography with diode array detection is proposed in this paper. The six individual anthocyanins (cyanidin 3‐glucoside, cyanidin 3‐rutinoside, petunidin 3‐glucoside, petunidin 3‐rutinoside, and malvidin 3‐rutinoside) from mulberry (Morus rubra) and Liriope platyphylla were used for demonstration and validation. The elution of anthocyanins was performed using a C₁₈ column with stepwise gradient elution and individual anthocyanins were identified by high‐performance liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry. Based on the pH differential method, the high‐performance liquid chromatography peak areas of maximum and reference absorption wavelengths of anthocyanin extracts were conducted to quantify individual anthocyanins. The calibration curves for these anthocyanins were linear within the range of 10–5500 mg/L. The correlation coefficients (r²) all exceeded 0.9972, and the limits of detection were in the range of 1–4 mg/L at a signal‐to‐noise ratio ≥5 for these anthocyanins. The proposed quantitative analysis was reproducible with good accuracy of all individual anthocyanins ranging from 96.3 to 104.2% and relative recoveries were in the range 98.4–103.2%. The proposed technique is performed without anthocyanin standards and is a simple, rapid, accurate, and economical method to determine individual anthocyanin contents.     

Harvesting vibrations via 3D phononic isolators

We report on the existence of unidirectional phononic band gaps that may span over extended regions of the Brillouin zone and can find application in trapping elastic (acoustic) waves in properly designed multilayered 3D structures. Phononic isolators operate as a result of asymmetrical wave transmission through a slab of a crystallographic phononic structure with broken mirror symmetry. Due to the use of lossless materials in the crystal, the absorption rate is dramatically enhanced when the proposed isolator is placed next to a vibrational harvesting cell.     

Fabrication and characterization of n-ZnO on p-SiC heterojunction diodes on 4H-SiC substrates

We report on the growth and characterization of n-ZnO/p-4H-SiC heterojunction diodes. Our n-ZnO layers were grown with radical-source molecular beam epitaxy (RS-MBE) on p-4H-SiC epilayers, which was previously prepared in a horizontal hot-wall reactor by chemical vapour deposition (CVD) on the n-type 4H-SiC wafers. Details on the n-ZnO growth on 8-off 4H-SiC wafers, the quality of the layers and the nature of realized p–n structures are discussed. Mesa diode structures were fabricated. Al was sputtered through a circle mask with diameter 1 mm and annealed to form Ohmic contacts to p-SiC. Ohmic contacts to the n-ZnO were formed by 30 nm/300 nm Ti/Au sputtered by electron beam evaporation. Electrical properties of the structures obtained have been studied with Hall measurements, and current–voltage measurements (I–V). I–V measurements of the device showed good rectifying behavior, from which a turn-on voltage of about 2 V was obtained.     

高效毛细管电泳-二极管阵列检测法测定土壤中的苯酚

建立了高效毛细管电泳-二极管阵列检测器测定土壤样品中苯酚的方法,研究了检测波长、缓冲体系、缓冲体系的pH值及浓度、分离电压、进样时间及压力等因素。结果表明,在温度25℃、pH=10的30mmol/L K2HPO4+0.5mmol/L十四烷基三甲基溴化铵(TTAB)运行缓冲溶液、检测波长206nm、20kV运行电压、负电压模式、0.5psi进样10s条件下,苯酚在4.2到4.4min内出峰,迁移时间和峰面积的相对标准偏差(RSD)分别为0.11%、0.28%,检出限(3Sb/Sx)为0.01mg/L。该方法成功地应用于土壤中苯酚的测定,其回收率为98.4%。     

反相液相色谱质谱法分离鉴定3,4,6,7,9,10-6H-3,3,6,6-四甲基-9-对硝基苯基吖啶-1,8二酮

应用反相高效液相色谱法，分离和鉴定3，4，6，7，9，10－6H－3，3，6，6－四甲基－9－对硝基苯基吖啶－1，8－二酮（化合物Ⅰ），分离系统包括Zorbax SB C18及苯基柱，紫外检测器检测波长为285nm，等比和线性梯度淋洗，液相色谱－质谱联用和光导二极和列检测系统被用来鉴定主要化合物及其它杂质，此方法可达到分离效果好，灵敏度高。