Harmonic mode-locked ytterbium-doped fibre ring laser

We demonstrate a harmonic mode-locked ytterbium-doped fibre ring laser, which consists of a polarization-sensitive isolator, two polarization controllers, two 976 nm laser diodes as the pump source and a two-segment ytterbium-doped fibre. Utilizing an additive pulse mode-locked technique based on nonlinear polarization evolution, the ytterbium-doped fibre laser can operate in mode-locked state by adjusting the position of polarization controllers. The cavity fundamental repetition rate is 23.78 MHz. We also observe the second- and third-harmonic mode locking in the normal dispersion region, and their repetition rates are 47.66 MHz and 71.56 MHz, respectively. Over-driving of the saturable absorber in the harmonic mode-locking pulse is analysed and discussed in detail.

An experimental study of ultrashort pulsed ytterbium-doped fibre laser and amplifier

We report the generation of ultrashort pulses in ytterbium-doped fibre oscillator emitting around 1.05 mum at a repetition rate of 17.6MHz. A diode laser with single silica fibre at 976 nm pumps the ytterbium fibre laser, the all-fibre picosecond pulsed oscillator has excellent stability and compact size, and freedom from misalignment. After amplifying, pulse energy of 3.4 nJ and an average power of 60mW are obtained. The compression is obtained with a grating pair out of the cavity. The compressor produces 307 fs with the peak power 5.47 kW. A practical fibre-based source with good performance is thus demonstrated.

Environmentally stable ytterbium figure-of-eight fiber laser producing 177-fs pulses

Pulses of 177 fs and 1035 nm, with average power of 1.2 mW, have been generated directly from a passively mode-locked Yb-doped figure-of-eight fiber laser, with a nonlinear optical loop mirror for mode-locking and pairs of diffraction gratings for intracavity dispersion compensation. To our knowledge, these are the shortest pulses ever to come from a passively mode-locked Yb-doped figure-of-eight fiber laser. This represents a 5-fold reduction in pulse duration compared with that of previously reported passively mode-locked Yb-doped figure-of-eight fiber lasers. Stable pulse trains are produced at the fundamental repetition rate of the resonator, 24.0 MHz. (c) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Generation of 207-femtosecond pulses from a ytterbium figure-of-eight fibre laser

We report the generation of 207-fs pulses with 1.2mW average power at 1036 nm directly from a passively mode-locked Yb-doped fibre laser with a nonlinear optical loop mirror for mode-locking and pairs of diffraction gratings for intracavity dispersion compensation. These results imply a 4-fold reduction in pulse duration over previously reported figure-of-eight cavity passively mode-locked Yb-doped fibre lasers. Stable pulse trains are produced at the fundamental repetition rate of the resonator, 24.0MHz. On the other hand, this laser offers a cleaner spectrum and greater stability and is completely self-starting.

Influence of isooctanol on the interfacial activity and mass transfer of ytterbium(III) using 2-ethylhexylphosphonic acid mono-2-ethylhexyl ester as an acidic extractant

BACKGROUND: Introducing an adduct into an extractant system is an effective method of improving extraction performance. The effect of additives upon extraction is very important, especially in the case of interfacial behaviour. In most work published in the literature, there is little data on the interfacial behaviour of extractants and modifiers. As the mass transfer must pass through an interface, the influence of isooctanol on the interfacial activity and mass transfer of ytterbium(III) using 2-ethylhexylphosphonic acid mono-2-ethlhexyl ester has been investigated.RESULTS: With increasing amounts of isooctanol, the interfacial tension and surface excess (Gamma(max)) of the 2-ethylhexylphosphonic acid mono-2-ethylhexyl ester(HEHEHP)-isooctanol system decreased, and the area of the absorbed HEHEHP molecule (Amin) increased. The interfacial activity of the HEHEHP-isooctanol system varied significantly depending on ionic strength and temperature and the mass transfer flux decreased with increasing isooctanol content.

Density-functional study of lanthanum, ytterbium, and lutetium dimers

La-2, Yb-2, and Lu-2 have been studied by use of the density-functional methods B3LYP, BLYP, B3PW91, BHLYP, BP86, B3P86, MPW1PW91, and PBE1PBE. In these density-functional methods, the exchange functional is from either Becke's three-parameter HF-DFT hybrid exchange functional (B3), pure DFT exchange functional of 1988 (B), a modification of the half-and-half HF/DFT hybrid method (BH), Perdew-Wang 1991 (PW91), or Barone's modified PW91 (MPW1), while the correlation functional is from either Lee, Yang, and Parr (LYP), Perdew-Wang 1991 (PW91), or Perdew 86 (P86). PBE1PBE is the generalized-gradient-approximation exchange-correlation functional of Perdew, Burke, and Ernzerhof. For La-2, the calculated bond distance is in reasonable agreement with the experiment, but the calculated vibrational frequency is underestimated significantly compared with the experiment. Only BP86 and B3P86 have the best performance in reproducing the experimental dissociation energy for La-2. For the van der Waals dimer Yb-2, three functionals, B3LYP, BLYP, and BHLYP have excellent performance in reproducing the spectroscopic constants compared with both the experiment and previous theoretical studies.

Kinetics of ytterbium(III) extraction with Cyanex 272 using a constant interfacial cell with laminar flow

Studies have been made on the kinetics of ytterbium(III) with bis-(2,4,4-trimethylpentyl) phosphinic acid (Cyanex 272, HA) in n-heptane using a constant interfacial cell with laminar flow. The stiochiometry and the equilibrium constant of the extracted complex formation reaction between Yb3+ and Cyanex 272 are determined. The extraction rate is dependent of the stirring rate. This fact together with the Ea value suggests that the mass transfer process is a mixed chemical reaction-diffusion controlled at lower temperature, whereas it is entirely diffusion controlled at higher temperature. The rate equations for the ytterbium extraction with Cyanex 272 have been obtained. The rate-determining step is also made by predictions derived from interfacial reaction models, and through the approximate solutions of the flux equation, diffusion parameters and thickness of the diffusion film have been calculated.

Extraction and stripping of ytterbium (III) from H2SO4 medium by Cyanex 923

The extraction and stripping of ytterbium (III) from sulfuric acid medium using Cyanex 923 in heptane solution was investigated. The effects of extractant concentration, pH and sulfate ion as well as stripping agents, acidity and temperature on the extraction and stripping were studied. The equilibrium constants and thermodynamic parameters, such as Delta H (10.76 kJ(.)mol(-1)), Delta G (-79.26 kJ(.)mol(-1)) and Delta S (292.41 J(.)K(-1.)mol(-1)), were calculated. The extraction mechanism and the complex species extracted were determined by slope analysis and FrIR spectra. Furthermore, it was found that the extraction of Yb (III) from sulfuric acid medium by Cyanex 923 increased with pH, concentration of SO42-, HSO4-, and extractant concentration, and approximately a quantitative extraction of Yb (III) was achieved at an equilibrium pH near 3.0, and the extracted complex was YbSO4(HSO4)(.)2Cyanex923((o)).

Mass-transfer kinetics of ytterbium extraction with sec-nonylphenoxy acetic acid

The extraction kinetics of ytterbium with sec-nonylphenoxy acetic acid (CA-100) in heptane have been investigated using a constant interfacial area cell with laminar flow. The influence of stirring speed and temperature on the rate indicated that the extraction rate was controlled by the experiment conditions. The plot of interfacial area on the rate showed a linear relationship. This fact together with the low solubility in water and strong surface activity of CA-100 at heptane-water interfaces made the interface the most probable locale for the chemical reactions. The influences of extractant concentration and hydrogen ion concentration on the extraction rate were investigated, and the forward and reverse rate equations for the ytterbium extraction with CA-100 were also obtained. Based on the experimental data, the apparent forward extraction rate constant was calculated. Interfacial reaction models were proposed that agree well with the rate equations obtained from experimental data.

Extraction and separation of thorium and ytterbium with bis (2,4,4-trimethylpentyl) phosphinic acid using a hollow fiber membrane extractor

The based membrane extraction of Th4+ and Yb3+ was studied in HBTMPP-heptane using a hollow fibber membrane. The separation method of Th4+ and Yb3+ was proposed by kinetics competition. The separation operation of Th4+ and Yb3+ mixture was carried out by two successive extraction and stripping simultaneously. The concentration ratio of Th4+ to Yb3+ is 16.74 in the stripping solution. The recovery and purity of Th4+ are 71.6% and 95.74% respectively.

Quantitative structure-property relationships for colour reagents and their colour reactions with ytterbium using regression analysis and computational neural networks

In this paper, the new topological indices A(x1)-A(x3) suggested in our laboratory and molecular connectivity indices have been applied to multivariate analysis in structure-property studies. The topological indices of twenty asymmetrical phosphono bisazo derivatives of chromotropic acid have been calculated. The structure-property relationships between colour reagents and their colour reactions with ytterbium have been studied by A(x1)-A(x3) indices and molecular connectivity indices with satisfactory results. Multiple regression analysis and neural networks were employed simultaneously in this study.