Low heat and high efficiency Nd:GdVO4 laser pumped by 913 nm

A Nd:GdVO4 crystal is pumped directly into its emitting level at 913 nm for the first time to the best of our knowledge. 3.35 W output laser emitting at 1063 nm is achieved in a 1.1 at.% Nd-doped Nd:GdVO4. The crystal absorbs pumping light of 4.30 W at 913 nm and produces a very low quantity of heat with the opto-optic conversion efficiency of 77.2%. The average slope efficiency is 81.2% from 0.21 W, at the threshold, to 4.30 W of absorbed pump power. Because of the very weakly thermal effect, the near-diffraction-limit beam is easily obtained with beam quality factor of M-2 approximate to 1.1.

Photovoltaic effect of tin disulfide with nanocrystalline/amorphous blended phases

Tin disulfide (SnS2) nanocrystalline/amorphous blended phases were synthesized by mild chemical reaction. Both X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy measurements demonstrate that the as-synthesized particles presented very small size, with a diameter of only a few nanometers. The photoluminescence (PL) spectrum suggests efficient splitting of photo-generated excitons in poly[2-methoxy-5-(3',7'-dimethyloctyloxy)-1,4-phenylenevinylene] (MDMO-PPV) and SnS2 hybrid films. Organic/inorganic hybrid solar cells comprising MDMO-PPV and SnS2 were prepared, giving photovoltage, photocurrent, fill factor and efficiency values of 0.702 V, 0.549 mA/cm(2), 0.385 and 0.148%, respectively, which suggests that this phase-blended inorganic semiconductor can also serve as a promising solar energy material. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Generation of the high efficiency high peak-power femtosecond blue optical pulse

The analysis and calculation of the compensation for the phase mismatch of the frequency-doubling using the frequency space chirp introduced from prisms are made. The result shows that suitable lens can compensate the phase mismatch in a certain extent resulting from wide femtosecond spectrum when the spectrum is space chirped. By means of this method, the experiment of second harmonic generation is carried out using a home-made femtosecond KLM Ti:sapphire laser and BBO crystal. The conversion efficiency of SHG is 63 %. The average output power of blue light is 320 mW. The central wavelength is 420 nm. The spectrum bandwidth is 5.5 nm. It can sustain the pulse width of 33.6 fs. The tuning range of blue light is 404-420 nm,when the femtosecond Ti:sapphire optical pulse is tuned using the prisms in the cavity.

Broad-spectrum and long-lifetime emissions of Nd3+ ions in lead fluorosilicate glass

A novel Nd3+-doped lead fluorosilicate glass (NPS glass) is prepared by a two-step melting process. Based on the absorption spectrum a Judd-Ofelt theory analysis is made. The emission line width of NPS glass is 44.2nm. The fluorescence decay lifetime of the 4F3/2 level is 586±20μsec, and the stimulated emission cross-section is 0.87×10-20cm2 at 1056nm. A laser oscillation is occurred at 1062nm when pumped by 808nm Diode Laser. The slope efficiency is 23.7% with a 415mJ threshold. It is supposed that NPS glass is a good candidate for using in ultra-short pulse generation and amplification by the broad emission bandwidth and long fluorescence lifetime.

The Incident Angle Dependence of Quantum Efficiency of GaAs Based RCE Photodetectors

The theoretical analysis and experimental measurement on the incident angle dependence of quantum efficiency of GaAs based resonant cavity enhanced (RCE) photodetector is presented. By changing the angle of incoming light, about 40 nm wavelength variation of peak quantum efficiency is obtained. The peak quantum efficiency and optical bandwidth at different mode corresponding to different angle incidence is characterized with different absorption dependence on wavelength. The convenient angle tuning of resonant mode will be helpful to relax the strict constraint of RCE photodetector to light source with narrow emission spectrum such applications in space optical detections and communications.

Coupled AlxGa1-xAs-AlAs distributed Bragg reflectors for high brightness AlGaInP light emitting diodes

A novel coupled distributed Bragg reflector (DBR) with double thickness periods was theoretically analyzed based on the spontaneous radiation properties of high brightness AlGaInP light emitting diodes(LED). Several important factors were considered including spontaneous radiation angle distribution, absorption and FTR of DBR. Calculation results showed that the optimum optical thickness of single layer of the DBR deviates from 1/4 lambda. AIGaInP high brightness light emitting diodes both with Al0.5Ga0.5As/AlAs coupled DBR and with conventional DBR were fabricated by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition(MOCVD). X-ray double crystal diffraction and reflection spectrum were employed to determine the thickness and reflectivity of the DBR. It was found that reflectivity of coupled DBR is less sensitive to incident angle than conventional DBR, higher external quantum efficiency of light emitting diodes with coupled DBR was obtained than that with conventional DBR.

High PL-efficiency ZnO nanocrystallites/PPV composite nanofibers

In this paper, we report for the first time on the synthesis of ZnO nanocrystallites in conjugated polymer (PPV) nanofibers by the coupling of the in situ/blend methods and electrospinning. These composite nanofibers were characterized by fluorescence microscopy, atomic force microscope (AFM), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), photoluminescence (PL) spectra, Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, and X-ray powder diffraction (XRD).

Blue amplified spontaneous emission from 2, 1, 3-benzothiadiazole attached polyfluorene semiconductor polymer with high photoluminescence efficiency

The amplified spontaneous emission properties of a 2, 1, 3-benzothiadiazole attached polyfluorene semiconductor polymer were studied. The conjugated polymer shows a high photoluminescence quantum efficiency of 67% and emits a narrowed blue emissive spectrum with a full width at half-maximum of 3.6 nm when optically pumped, indicating better lasing action. A threshold energy as low as 0.22 mJ pulse(-1) cm(-2), a net gain of 40.54 cm(-1) and a loss of 7.8 cm(-1) were obtained, demonstrating that this conjugated polymer could be a promising candidate as the gain medium for the fabrication of blue polymer lasers.

White electroluminescence from a single polymer system: Improved performance by means of enhanced efficiency and red-shifted luminescence of the blue-light-emitting species

High-efficiency white electrolurninescence from a single polymer is achieved by enhancing the electroluminescence efficiency and effecting a red-shift in the emission spectrum of the blue emissive species. A single-layer device of the resultant polymer exhibits a higher luminous efficiency than the nonmodified species (12.8 cd A(-1), see figure) and an external quantum efficiency of 5.4 % with CIE coordinates of (0.31,0.36), exemplifying the success of the reported methodology.

Effect of polymer chain structure and chain distance on luminescent efficiency

Three kinds of PPV-based copolymers were synthesized and characterized. Their luminescent properties were investigated and discussed by PL spectrum, and time-dependence luminescent spectrum in film and solution stare. The results show that in the range of our study, the PL intensity and lifetime of luminescent decay increase with the increasing length of flexible segments and the solution diluting, indicating the tendency of the increase of luminescent efficiency.

A Spectrum of TCP-Friendly Window-Based Congestion Control Algorithms

The increased diversity of Internet application requirements has spurred recent interests in transport protocols with flexible transmission controls. In window-based congestion control schemes, increase rules determine how to probe available bandwidth, whereas decrease rules determine how to back off when losses due to congestion are detected. The parameterization of these control rules is done so as to ensure that the resulting protocol is TCP-friendly in terms of the relationship between throughput and loss rate. In this paper, we define a new spectrum of window-based congestion control algorithms that are TCP-friendly as well as TCP-compatible under RED. Contrary to previous memory-less controls, our algorithms utilize history information in their control rules. Our proposed algorithms have two salient features: (1) They enable a wider region of TCP-friendliness, and thus more flexibility in trading off among smoothness, aggressiveness, and responsiveness; and (2) they ensure a faster convergence to fairness under a wide range of system conditions. We demonstrate analytically and through extensive ns simulations the steady-state and transient behaviors of several instances of this new spectrum of algorithms. In particular, SIMD is one instance in which the congestion window is increased super-linearly with time since the detection of the last loss. Compared to recently proposed TCP-friendly AIMD and binomial algorithms, we demonstrate the superiority of SIMD in: (1) adapting to sudden increases in available bandwidth, while maintaining competitive smoothness and responsiveness; and (2) rapidly converging to fairness and efficiency.

Plate-specific gain map correction for the improvement of detective quantum efficiency in computed radiography.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this work is to improve the noise power spectrum (NPS), and thus the detective quantum efficiency (DQE), of computed radiography (CR) images by correcting for spatial gain variations specific to individual imaging plates. CR devices have not traditionally employed gain-map corrections, unlike the case with flat-panel detectors, because of the multiplicity of plates used with each reader. The lack of gain-map correction has limited the DQE(f) at higher exposures with CR. This current work describes a feasible solution to generating plate-specific gain maps. METHODS: Ten high-exposure open field images were taken with an RQA5 spectrum, using a sixth generation CR plate suspended in air without a cassette. Image values were converted to exposure, the plates registered using fiducial dots on the plate, the ten images averaged, and then high-pass filtered to remove low frequency contributions from field inhomogeneity. A gain-map was then produced by converting all pixel values in the average into fractions with mean of one. The resultant gain-map of the plate was used to normalize subsequent single images to correct for spatial gain fluctuation. To validate performance, the normalized NPS (NNPS) for all images was calculated both with and without the gain-map correction. Variations in the quality of correction due to exposure levels, beam voltage/spectrum, CR reader used, and registration were investigated. RESULTS: The NNPS with plate-specific gain-map correction showed improvement over the noncorrected case over the range of frequencies from 0.15 to 2.5 mm(-1). At high exposure (40 mR), NNPS was 50%-90% better with gain-map correction than without. A small further improvement in NNPS was seen from carefully registering the gain-map with subsequent images using small fiducial dots, because of slight misregistration during scanning. Further improvement was seen in the NNPS from scaling the gain map about the mean to account for different beam spectra. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrates that a simple gain-map can be used to correct for the fixed-pattern noise in a given plate and thus improve the DQE of CR imaging. Such a method could easily be implemented by manufacturers because each plate has a unique bar code and the gain-map for all plates associated with a reader could be stored for future retrieval. These experiments indicated that an improvement in NPS (and hence, DQE) is possible, depending on exposure level, over a wide range of frequencies with this technique.

Angularly separated harmonic generation from intense laser interaction with blazed diffraction gratings

We made numerical simulations of the generation of narrowband beams of extreme ultraviolet radiation from intense laser interaction with a blazed grating surface. Strong fifth harmonic emission into its blazed diffraction order was observed as well as heavy suppression of the fundamental frequency with comparison to a typical harmonic spectrum from a flat target. The results demonstrate a new highly efficient method of generating near-monochromatic harmonics from the fundamental with minimal effect on the pulse duration. (C) 2011 Optical Society of America

Orientation effects in copper phthalocyanine films studied by electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy

The metallo-phthalocyanines (MPcs) are an interesting group of organic semiconductor materials for applications such as large area solar cells due to their optoelectronic properties coupled with the possibility of easily and cheaply fabricating thin films of MPcs [1, 2]. As for organic semiconductors in general, many of the interesting properties of the MPcs such as magnetism, light absorption and charge transport, are highly anisotropic [2, 3]. To maximise the efficiency of a device based on these materials it is therefore important to study their molecular orientation in films and to assess the influence of different growth conditions and substrate treatments.
X-ray diffraction is a well established and powerful technique for studying texture (and hence molecular orientation) in crystalline materials, but it cannot provide any information about amorphous or nanocrystalline films. In electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy the signal comes from the spin of unpaired electrons in the material. This technique therefore does not require the sample to be crystalline. It works for any sample with paramagnetic centres such as the MPcs where the unpaired electrons are contributed by the metal. In this paper we present a continuous-wave X-band EPR study using the anisotropy of the EPR spectrum of CuPc [4] to determine the orientation effects in different types of CuPc films. From these measurements we gain insight into the molecular arrangement of films with different spin concentrations, and apply our technique to the study of molecular orientation in photovoltaic cells.