Noncentrosymmetric Tetrel Pnictides RuSi4P4 and IrSi3P3: Nonlinear Optical Materials with Outstanding Laser Damage Threshold

Noncentrosymmetric (NCS) tetrel pnictides have recently generated interest as nonlinear optical (NLO) materials due to their second harmonic generation (SHG) activity and large laser damage threshold (LDT). Herein nonmetal-rich silicon phosphides RuSi₄P₄ and IrSi₃P₃ are synthesized and characterized. Their crystal structures are reinvestigated using single crystal X-ray diffraction and ²⁹Si and ³¹P magic angle spinning NMR. In agreement with previous report RuSi₄P₄ crystallizes in NCS space group P1, while IrSi₃P₃ is found to crystallize in NCS space group Cm, in contrast with the previously reported space group C2. A combination of DFT calculations and diffuse reflectance measurements reveals RuSi₄P₄ and IrSi₃P₃ to be wide bandgap (E_g) semiconductors, E_g = 1.9 and 1.8 eV, respectively. RuSi₄P₄ and IrSi₃P₃ outperform the current state-of-the-art infrared SHG material, AgGaS₂, both in SHG activity and laser inducer damage threshold. Due to the combination of high thermal stabilities (up to 1373 K), wide bandgaps (≈2 eV), NCS crystal structures, strong SHG responses, and large LDT values, RuSi₄P₄ and IrSi₃P₃ are promising candidates for longer wavelength NLO materials.     

Dynamical analysis,circuit realization,and application in pseudorandom number generators of a fractional-order laser chaotic system

A new five-dimensional fractional-order laser chaotic system (FOLCS) is constructed by incorporating complex variables and fractional calculus into a Lorentz-Haken-type laser system. Dynamical behavior of the system, circuit realization and application in pseudorandom number generators are studied. Many types of multi-stable states are discovered in the system. Interestingly, there are two types of state transition phenomena in the system, one is the chaotic state degenerates to a periodical state, and the other is the intermittent chaotic oscillation. In addition, the complexity of the system when two parameters change simultaneously is measured by the spectral entropy algorithm. Moreover, a digital circuit is design and the chaotic oscillation behaviors of the system are verified on this circuit. Finally, a pseudo-random sequence generator is designed using the FOLCS, and the statistical characteristics of the generated pseudo-random sequence are tested with the NIST-800-22. This study enriches the research on the dynamics and applications of FOLCS.     

Waveguide external cavity narrow linewidth semiconductor lasers

Narrow linewidth light source is a prerequisite for high-performance coherent optical communication and sensing.Waveguide-based external cavity narrow linewidth semiconductor lasers(WEC-NLSLs)have become a competitive and attractive candidate for many coherent applications due to their small size,volume,low energy consumption,low cost and the ability to integrate with other optical components.In this paper,we present an overview of WEC-NLSLs from their required technologies to the state-of-the-art progress.Moreover,we highlight the common problems occurring to current WEC-NLSLs and show the possible approaches to resolving the issues.Finally,we present the possible development directions for the next phase and hope this review will be beneficial to the advancements of WEC-NLSLs.     

Nacre-Inspired,Liquid Metal-Based Ultrasensitive Electronic Skin by Spatially Regulated Cracking Strategy

The realization of liquid metal-based wearable systems will be a milestone toward high-performance, integrated electronic skin. However, despite the revolutionary progress achieved in many other components of electronic skin, liquid metal-based flexible sensors still suffer from poor sensitivity due to the insufficient resistance change of liquid metal to deformation. Herein, a nacre-inspired architecture composed of a biphasic pattern (liquid metal with Cr/Cu underlayer) as “bricks” and strain-sensitive Ag film as “mortar” is developed, which breaks the long-standing sensitivity bottleneck of liquid metal-based electronic skin. With 2 orders of magnitude of sensitivity amplification while maintaining wide (>85%) working range, for the first time, liquid metal-based strain sensors rival the state-of-art counterparts. This liquid metal composite features spatially regulated cracking behavior. On the one hand, hard Cr cells locally modulate the strain distribution, which avoids premature cut-through cracks and prolongs the defect propagation in the adjacent Ag film. On the other hand, the separated liquid metal cells prevent unfavorable continuous liquid-metal paths and create crack-free regions during strain. Demonstrated in diverse scenarios, the proposed design concept may spark more applications of ultrasensitive liquid metal-based electronic skins, and reveals a pathway for sensor development via crack engineering.     

Determination of sulfa antibiotic residues in river and particulate matter by field-amplified sample injection-capillary zone electrophoresis

In the present research, field-amplified sample injection–CZE (FASI–CZE) coupled with a diode array detector was established to determine trace level sulfa antibiotic. Sulfathiazole, sulfadiazine, sulfamethazine, sulfadimethoxine, sulfamethoxazole, and sulfisoxazole were selected as analytes for the experiments. The background electrolyte solution consisted of 70.0 mmol/L borax and 60.0 mmol/L boric acid (including 10% methanol, pH 9.1). The plug was 2.5 mmol/L borax, which was injected into the capillary at a pressure of 0.5 psi for 5 s. Then the sample was injected into the capillary at an injection voltage of –10 kV for 20 s. The electrophoretic separation was carried out under a voltage of +19 kV. The capillary temperature was maintained at 20˚C throughout the analysis, and six sulfonamides were completely separated within 35 min. Compared with pressure injection-CZE, the sensitivity of FASI-CZE was increased by 6.25–10.0 times, and the LODs were reduced from 0.2–0.5 to 0.02–0.05 μg/mL. The method was applied to the determination of sulfonamides in river water and particulate matter samples. The recoveries were 78.59–106.59%. The intraday and interday precisions were 2.89–7.35% and 2.77–7.09%, respectively. This provides a simpler and faster method for the analysis of sulfa antibiotic residues in environmental samples.     

Off‐grid DoA estimation method of wideband signals

In this paper, an off‐grid direction of arrival (DoA) estimation method is proposed for wideband signals. This method is based on the sparse representation (SR) of the array covariance matrix. Similar to the time domain DoA estimation methods, the correlation function of the sources was assumed to be the same and known. A new measurement vector is obtained using the lower‐left triangular elements of the covariance matrix. The DoAs are estimated by quantizing the entire range of continuous angle space into discrete grid points. However, the exact DoAs may be located between two grid points; therefore, this estimation has errors. The accuracy of DoA estimation is improved by the minimization of the difference between the new measurement vector and its estimated values. Simulation results revealed that the proposed method can enhance the DoA estimation accuracy of wideband signals.     

干扰条件下的“北斗”信号解扩重构DOA估计

在干扰条件下，卫星导航抗干扰波束形成算法往往需要卫星信号波达方向（Direction-of-Arrival，DOA）的先验信息。但当存在低信噪比信号或主动干扰源时，常规的DOA估计算法性能急剧下降甚至失效。针对此问题，提出了一种被干扰信号压制的低信噪比“北斗”信号的DOA估计算法。该算法首先通过对接收信号进行子空间投影抑制干扰信号，然后对抑制干扰后的信号进行解扩重构处理，最后通过多重信号分类算法完成对“北斗”信号的DOA估计。仿真结果表明，在干扰信号干信比80 dB条件下，“北斗”信号DOA估计误差在5°以内，为下一步进行波束形成计算提供了高精度的入射角信息。     

Concurrent multiresponse non-linear screening: Robust profiling of webpage performance

Profiling engineered data with robust mining methods continues attracting attention in knowledge engineering systems. The purpose of this article is to propose a simple technique that deals with non-linear multi-factorial multi-characteristic screening suitable for knowledge discovery studies. The method is designed to proactively seek and quantify significant information content in engineered mini-datasets. This is achieved by deploying replicated fractional-factorial sampling schemes. Compiled multi-response data are converted to a single master-response effectuated by a series of distribution-free transformations and multi-compressed data fusions. The resulting amalgamated master response is deciphered by non-linear multi-factorial stealth stochastics intended for saturated schemes. The stealth properties of our method target processing datasets which might be overwhelmed by a lack of knowledge about the nature of reference distributions at play. Stealth features are triggered to overcome restrictions regarding the data normality conformance, the effect sparsity assumption and the inherent collapse of the ‘unexplainable error’ connotation in saturated arrays. The technique is showcased by profiling four ordinary controlling factors that influence webpage content performance by collecting data from a commercial browser monitoring service on a large scale web host. The examined effects are: (1) the number of Cascading Style Sheets files, (2) the number of JavaScript files, (3) the number of Image files, and (4) the Domain Name System Aliasing. The webpage performance level was screened against three popular characteristics: (1) the time to first visual, (2) the total loading time, and (3) the customer satisfaction. Our robust multi-response data mining technique is elucidated for a ten-replicate run study dictated by an L₉(3⁴) orthogonal array scheme where any uncontrolled noise embedded contribution has not been necessarily excluded.     

基于随机光栅的可调谐随机光纤激光器

提出一种基于随机光栅与高反射布拉格光栅(FBG)相结合的可调谐随机光纤激光器。利用980nm泵浦光源泵浦一段7m长的掺铒光纤(EDF)进行增益放大,由随机光栅提供随机反馈。随机光栅长7cm,具有约10000个折射率修改点,这些点由飞秒激光逐点写入,并沿光纤方向随机分布,两点相邻间隔小于10μm。同时,利用中心波长为1548nm的高反射FBG来组成半开放腔结构,实现了随机激光的输出。实验测得的泵浦阈值功率仅为18mW,斜率效率高达13.2%,并通过改变FBG的中心波长,实现了输出激光波长的可调谐,调谐范围为4.45nm(1548.04~1552.49nm)。得益于半开放式激光腔的设计和EDF的高增益,整个系统具有阈值低、效率高、结构简单等优点。