Generation of long, laminar plasma jets at atmospheric pressure and effects of flow turbulence

Long, laminar plasma jets at atmospheric pressure of pure argon and a mixture of argon and nitrogen with jet length up to 45 fi,Hes its diameter could be generated with a DC are torch by! restricting the movement of arc root in the torch channel. Effects of torch structure, gas feeding, and characteristics of power supply on the length of plasma jets were experimentally examined. Plasma jets of considerable length and excellent stability could be obtained by regulating the generating parameters, including are channel geometry gas flow I ate, and feeding methods, etc. Influence of flow turbulence at the torch,nozzle exit on the temperature distribution of plasma jets was numerically simulated. The analysis indicated that laminar flow plasma with very low initial turbulent kinetic energy will produce a long jet, with low axial temperature gradient. This kind of long laminar plasma jet could greatly improve the controllability for materials processing, compared with a short turbulent are let.

Distribution of Temperature in GlidArc Discharge Plasma

The GlidArc discharge is one of the main generation methods of non-equilibrium plasma near atmospheric pressures. In general, Gliding Arc discharge is driven by gas flow [1] in axial direction or by magnetic field in circumferential direction. [2] In this paper, a GlidArc discharge driven by rotating-gas-flow in circumferential direction is presented. The principle of the plasma generator is analyzed. The distribution of the temperature in axial direction is measured by a digital thermometer for three different gases. The experimental set-up of the GlidArc plasma is shown in Fig.1. It consists of a center electrode, an outside electrode, a power supply and a gas supply. The shortest distance between the electrodes is 2-3 mm. When a power supply with 10000 volts is attached to the electrodes, the arc will be ignited at the shortest distance. The small plasma column is rotated by the rotating gas flow in circumferential direction and then the rotating arc is driven towards the exit of the setup by the gas flow.

Attosecond x-ray pulse generation by linear Thomson scattering of intense laser beam with relativistic electron

Linear Thomson scattering of a short pulse laser by relativistic electron lids been investigated using computer simulations. It is shown that scattering of an intense laser pulse of similar to 33 fs full width at half maximum, with an electron of gamma(o) = 10 initial energy, generates an ultrashort, pulsed radiation of 76 attoseconds, with a photon wavelength of 2.5 nm in the backward direction. The scattered radiation generated by a highly relativistic electron has superior quality in terms of its pulse width and angular distribution in comparison to the one generated by lower relativistic energy electron.

Ultrafast temporal pattern generation and recognition

Ultrafast temporal pattern generation and recognition with femtosecond laser technology is presented, analyzed, and experimentally implemented. Ultrafast temporal pattern generation and recognition are realized by taking advantage of two well-known techniques: the space-time conversion technique and the ultrafast pulse measurement technique. Here the temporal pattern for the designed multiple pulses, optimized with a preassumed Gaussian spectral distribution of an ultrashort pulse, is described. With the simulation of a Gaussian spectral distribution, we realize that the uniformity of the generated multiple ultrafast temporal pulses is relevant to the repeated number of modulation periods in the mask in the spectral plane. Moreover, the change of Gaussian spectral phases with the wavelengths in the modulated phase plate is considered. Experiments of ultrafast temporal pattern recognition by the frequency-resolved optical gating (FROG) characterization technique are also given. (C) 2004 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers.

Phase-shifting apodizer for next-generation digital versatile disk

The next generation digital versatile disk (DVD) using blue lasers will have a capacity of 13 to 15 Gbytes. Compared with current DVD, the wavelength will be shorter and the numerical aperture (NA) will be higher. But with the increase of NA and decrease of wave length, the depth of focus (DOF) decrease rapidly, which makes it hard for the servo-system to track. We propose an optimized three-portion phase-shifting apodizer to increase the depth of focus and at the same time minimize the spot size, which makes the DOF of next generation DVD comparable to current DVD. The simulation result shows that an optical system with this apodizer also has a good defocus characteristic. (C) 2001 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers.

Tunable three-dimensional intensity distribution by a pure phase-shifting apodizer

The three-dimensional distribution of light intensity that is modulated by a pure phase-shifting apodizer is studied. Results show that the Strehl ratio can be altered by the proposed apodizer and by the waist width of incident Gaussian beams. By changing geometrical parameters of the proposed apodizer, we can increase the focal depth to several times that of the original system. The proposed apodizer can also be used to realize focal splitting and local minimum of intensity, which may be advantageous for constructing an optical trap. Furthermore, the local minimum of intensity number is tunable by changing the parameters of the apodizer. (c) 2005 Optical Society of America

Numerical research of heat generation in flashlamp-pumped Nd : glass disk amplifiers

The heat generation in a flashlamp-pumped Nd:glass disk amplifier is studied by the simulation of the whole pumping process, which is based on the ray-tracing method. The results of temperature rise distribution as well as gain distribution are presented. The evolution of heat generation in disk during the pumping process is discussed in detail. Some main factors related with the thermal effect, such as the quantum efficiency, fluorescence lifetime, and pulse duration, are investigated through studying the ratio of the heat generation to energy storage in the gain medium. The influence of each parameter on heat generation is studied carefully, and the results provide ways to decrease the heat generation during the pumping process. (c) 2005 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers.

On-going generation of multiple forms of HIV-1 intersubtype recombinants in the Yunnan Province of China

Objectives: To investigate the molecular epidemiology of HIV in China's Yunnan Province, where the initial HIV-1 outbreak among injecting drug users (IDU) occurred in 1989, and to analyse the genesis and interrelationship of the epidemic with that in surrounding areas. Design: A molecular epidemiological investigation was conducted among IDU in three prefectures in Yunnan Province, including Wenshan (east), Honghe (southeast) and Dehong (west). Methods: Thirty-nine specimens were collected from consenting IDU in 2000-2001. The nucleotide sequences of 2.6 kb gag-RT and 340 base pair (bp) env (C2/V3) regions were determined. Phylogenetic tree and recombination breakpoint analyses were performed. Results: The circulating recombinant form (CRF), CRF08_BC, predominated in east Yunnan near Guangxi Province (89% in Wenshan and 81% in Honghe), whereas it was not detected in Dehong(0/14) in the west. In contrast, 71% (10/14) of the Dehong isolates were unique recombinant forms (URF), mostly between subtypes B' (Thailand variant of subtype B) and C, with distinct profiles of recombination breakpoints. The subtype B' accounts for the remaining 29% (4/14) of Dehong isolates. Interestingly, two Honghe isolates (2/16) shared some of the precise B'/C recombination breakpoints with CRF07_BC. Conclusion: New recombinant strains are arising continually in west Yunnan near the Myanmar border. Some appeared to be secondary recombinants derived from CRF07_BC that had further recombined with other strains. The uneven distribution of subtypes, CRF and URF, suggests the presence of independent transmission networks and clusters among IDU in Yunnan. (C) 2002 Lippincott Williams Wilkins.

Genetic analysis of all-fish growth hormone gene transferred carp (Cyprinus carpio L.) and its F-1 generation

Recombinant "all-fish" growth hormone gene (GH) was microinjected Into the fertilized eggs of carp. A comparison between the growth traits of transgenics and non-transgenics was carried out, and the transgenic individuals with significant "fast-growing" effect were successfully gained. A comparison on the reproductivities was also given out between the transgenics and their non-transgenic siblings, and showed that the reproductive capacity of transgenics was substantially equivalent to those of the non-transgenics. On the other hand, the genetic separation and the characteristic distribution of the F-1 generation were genetically analyzed, which gave solid evidence for the hypothesis that 2-3 chromosomes are integrated with transgene. In addition, the distinct biological effects for multisite-integrated transgenes were further discussed. The present study opens a door for the breeding of "fast-growing" transgenic fish.

A method to construct a third-generation horseradish peroxidase biosensor: Self-assembling gold nanoparticles to three-dimensional sol-gel network

A novel method for fabrication of horseradish peroxidase biosensor has been developed by self-assembling gold nanoparticles to a thiol-containing sol-gel network. A cleaned gold electrode was first immersed in a hydrolyzed (3-mercaptopropyl)-trimethoxysilane (MPS) sol-gel solution to assemble three-dimensional silica gel, and then gold nanoparticles were chemisorbed onto the thiol groups of the sol-gel network. Finally, horseradish peroxidase (HRP) was adsorbed onto the surface of the gold nanoparticles. The distribution of gold nanoparticles and HRP was examined by atomic force microscopy (AFM). The immobilized horseradish peroxidase exhibited direct electrochemical behavior toward the reduction of hydrogen peroxide. The performance and factors influencing the performance of the resulting biosensor were studied in detail. The resulting biosensor exhibited fast amperometric response (2.5 s) to H2O2. The detection limit of the biosensor was 2.0 mumol L-1, and the linear range was from 5.0 mumol L-1 to 10.0 mmol L-1. Moreover, the studied biosensor exhibited high sensitivity, good reproducibility, and long-term stability.