Optical transitions in GaNAs/GaAs single quantum well

We have investigated GaNAs/GaAs single quantum wells (SQWs) grown by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) using photoluminescence (PL), time-resolved PL (TRPL) and photovoltaic (PV) techniques. The low temperature PL is dominated by spatially direct transitions involving electrons confined in GaNAs well and holes localized in the same GaNAs layer. This assignment was supported by PL decay time measurements and absorption line-shape analysis derived from the PV measurements. By fitting the experimental data with a simple calculation, the band offset of the GaN0.015As0.985/GaAS heterostructure was estimated, and a type II band lineup in GaN0.015As0.985/GaAs QWs was suggested. Moreover, DeltaE(C), the discontinuity of conductor band, is found to be a nonlinear function of the nitrogen (N) composition (x), and the average variation of DeltaE(C) is about 0.110eV per %N, The measured band bowing coefficient shows a strong function of x, giving an experimental support to the theoretic calculation of Wei et al [Ref.2].

Growth and fabrication of high performance 980nm strained InGaAs quantum well lasers using novel hybrid material system of InGaAsP and AlGaAs

In this paper, we report on the design, growth and fabrication of 980nm strained InGaAs quantum well lasers employing novel material system of Al-free active region and AlGaAs cladding layers. The use of AlGaAs cladding instead of InGaP provides potential advantages in laser structure design, improvement of surface morphology and laser performance. We demonstrate an optimized broad-waveguide structure for obtaining high power 980nm quantum well lasers with low vertical beam divergence. The laser structure was grown by low-pressure metalorganic chemical vapor deposition, which exhibit a high internal quantum efficiency of similar to 90% and a low internal loss of 1.5-2.5 cm(-1). The broad-area and ridge-waveguide laser devices are both fabricated. For 100 mu m wide stripe lasers with cavity length of 800 mu m, a low threshold current of 170mA, a high slope efficiency of 1.0W/A and high output power of more than 3.5W are achieved. The temperature dependences of the threshold current and the emitting spectra demonstrate a very high characteristic temperature coefficient (T-o) of 200-250K and a wavelength shift coefficient of 0.34nm/degrees C. For 4 mu m-width ridge waveguide structure laser devices, a maximum output power of 340mW with GOD-free thermal roll-over characteristics is obtained.

Design and optimization of highly nonlinear low-dispersion crystal fiber with high birefringence for four-wave mixing

We have proposed a novel type of photonic crystal fiber (PCF) with low dispersion and high nonlinearity for four-wave mixing. This type of fiber is composed of a solid silica core and a cladding with a squeezed hexagonal lattice elliptical airhole along the fiber length. Its dispersion and nonlinearity coefficient are investigated simultaneously by using the full vectorial finite element method. Numerical results show that the proposed highly nonlinear low-dispersion fiber has a total dispersion as low as +/- 2.5 ps nm(-1) km(-1) over an ultrabroad wavelength range from 1.43 to 1.8 mu m, and the corresponding nonlinearity coefficient and birefringence are about 150 W-1 km(-1) and 2.5 x 10(-3) at 1.55 mu m, respectively. The proposed PCF with low ultraflattened dispersion, high nonlinearity, and high birefringence can have important application in four-wave mixing. (C) 2010 Optical Society of America

Tunable and switchable multiwavelength fiber lasers with broadband range based on nonlinear polarization rotation technique

Switchable multiwavelength fiber laser outputs with a wide tuning range are experimentally observed in an ultralong cavity. Because of the long spooled single-mode fiber and filter effect of the cavity, multiwavelength lasers with the spacing of similar to 14.5 nm are obtained. The proposed fiber laser has the capacity of simultaneously emitting the three wavelengths. By means of adjusting the polarization controllers, the arbitrary single- and dual-wavelength operations are achieved in our laser. (C) 2010 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers. [DOI: 10.1117/1.3485754]

Preparation of Prussian blue@Pt nanoparticles/carbon nanotubes composite material for efficient determination of H2O2

In this study, the fabrication of an efficient amperometric hydrogen peroxide sensor with favorable properties is presented. Prussian blue (PB) was catalytically synthesized by Pt nanoparticles (Pt-nano) from ferric ferricyanide aqueous solution to form PB@Pt-nano hybrid, and it was confirmed by transmission electron microscope (TEM) and optical spectra. The electrochemical behavior of PB@Pt-nano was highly improved through its integration with poly(diallyldimethylammonium chloride) modified carbon nanotubes (PCNTs).

Structural and Bluish-White Luminescent Properties of Li+-Doped BPO4 as a Potential Environmentally Friendly Phosphor Material

Many efforts have been devoted to exploring novel luminescent materials that not contain expensive or toxic elements, or do not need a mercury vapor plasma source. In this paper, BPO4 and Li+-doped BPO4 powder samples were prepared by the Pechini-type sol-gel (PSG) process. The structure and optical properties of the resulting samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), photoluminescence (PL) excitation and emission spectra, kinetic decay, and X-ray photoelectron spectra (XPS), respectively. It was found that PSG -derived Li+-doped BPO4 annealed at 960 degrees C exhibited bright bluish-white emission centered at 416 nm. The luminescence decay curves analysis indicates that each sample has two kinds of lifetimes (5.9 ns and 0.529 ms) and two types of kinetic decay behaviors which can be fitted into a single-exponential function and a double-exponential function, respectively.

Bifunctional magnetic-optical nanocomposites: Grafting lanthanide complex onto core-shell magnetic silica nanoarchitecture

Anew class of bifunctional architecture combining the useful functions of superparamagnetism and terbium complex luminescence into one material has been prepared via two main steps by a modified Stober method and the layer-by-layer (LbL) assembly technique. The obtained bifunctional nanocomposites exhibit superparamagnetic behavior, high fluorescence intensity, and color purity. The architecture has been characterized by field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), UV-vis absorption and emission spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, and superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) magnetometry.

Phenolphthalein immobilized membrane for an optical pH sensor

A phenolphthalein immobilized cellulose membrane for an optical pH sensor was described. The phenolphthalein was first reacted with the formaldehyde to produce a series of prepolymers with many hydroxymethyl groups. In this paper, the prepolymers was abbreviated to phenolphthalein-formaldehyde (PPF). Then the PPF was covalently immobilized to the diacetylcellulose membrane via hydroxymethyl groups. Finally the membrane was hydrolyzed in the 0.1 M NaOH solution for 24 h to reduce the response time. Advantageous features of the pH-sensitive membrane include (a) a large dynamic range from pH 8.0 to 12.50, or even broader, (b) rapid response time (2-30 s), (c) easy of fabrication, and (d) a promising material for determination of high pH values. The immobilized PPF has a broader dynamic range from 8.0 to 12.50 than the free phenolphthalein from pH 8.0 to 11.0, and this was due to the newly produced methylenes in our investigation.

Sol-gel-derived BPO4/Ba2+ as a new efficient and environmentally-friendly bluish-white luminescent material

In this paper, BPO4 and Ba2+-doped BPO4 powder samples were prepared by the sol-gel process using glycerol and poly(ethylene glycol) as additives. The structure and optical properties of the resulting samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), diffuse reflection spectra, photoluminescence (PL) excitation and emission spectra, quantum yield, kinetic decay, and electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR), respectively. It was found that the undoped BPO4 showed a weak purple blue emission (409 nm, lifetime 6.4 ns) due to the carbon impurities involved in the host lattice. Doping Ba2+ into BPO4 resulted in oxygen-related defects as additional emission centers which enhanced the emission intensity greatly (> 10x) and shifted the emission to a longer-wavelength region (lambda(max) = 434 nm; chromaticity coordinates: x = 0.174, y = 0. 187) with a bluish-white color. The highest emission intensity was obtained ;when doping 6 mol % Ba2+ in BPO4, which has a quantum yield as high as 31%. The luminescent mechanisms of BPO4 and Ba2+-doped BPO4 were discussed in detail according to the existing models for silica-based materials.

Preparation and optical properties of trivalent europium-doped bulk and nanocrystalline SrY2O4

The nanocrystalline Sry(2)O(4):Eu3+ was prepared by a poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA)+glycine-assist combustion method. The results of x-ray diffraction indicate that the resulting Sry(2)O(4):Eu3+ nanocrystals have much broader and less intense peaks compared with those in bulk material. The charge-transfer bands in Sry(2)O(4):Eu3+ nanocrystals shift to higher energies in contrast to those in bulk material. The spectral results revealed that in bulk SrY2O4: Eu3+ the Eu3+ ions occupied three nonequivalent sites, with one at the Sr site: one at the Y(1) site and another at the Y(2) site, while in nanocrystalline SrY2O4: Eu3+, the Eu3+ ions occupied only two nonequivalent sites; one at the Y(1) site and the other at the Y(2) site. Finally, by theoretical calculation and analysis, the analyzed results are in reasonable agreement with our experimental results.

Trace analysis of Zn-doped compound semiconductor material by resonant ionization mass spectrometry

An experimental setup and the procedure for the laser resonant ionization mass spectrometry (RIMS) have been described. Both an optical spectrum and a mass spectum have been shown. The detection limit that can be reached by using this procedure has been estimated.

The nonlinear effective dielectric response of graded composites

The perturbation method is developed to deal with the effective nonlinear dielectric responses of weakly nonlinear graded composites, which consist of the graded inclusion with a linear dielectric function of spatial variables of inclusion material. For Kerr-like nonlinear graded composites, as an example in two dimensions, we have used the perturbation method to solve the boundary value problems of potentials, and studied the effective responses of nonlinear graded composites, where a cylindrical inclusion with linear dielectric function and nonlinear dielectric constant is randomly embedded in a homogeneous host with linear and nonlinear dielectric constants. For the exponential function and the power-law dielectric profiles of cylindrical inclusions, in the dilute limit, we have derived the formulae of effective nonlinear responses of both graded nonlinear composites.

Effective dielectric response of composites witli graded material

The effective dielectric response of linear composites containing graded material is investigated under an applied electric field Eo. For the cylindrical inclusion with gradient dielectric function, epsilon(i)(r) = b + cr, randomly embedded in a host with dielectric constant epsilon(m), we have obtained the exact solution of local electric potential of the composite media regions, which obeys a linear constitutive relation D = epsilonE, using hypergeometric function. In dilute limit, we have derived the effective dielectric response of the linear composite media. Furthermore, for larger volume fraction, the formulas of effective dielectric response of the graded composite media, are given.

Estimating Sensor Motion from Wide-Field Optical Flow on a Log-Dipolar Sensor

Log-polar image architectures, motivated by the structure of the human visual field, have long been investigated in computer vision for use in estimating motion parameters from an optical flow vector field. Practical problems with this approach have been: (i) dependence on assumed alignment of the visual and motion axes; (ii) sensitivity to occlusion form moving and stationary objects in the central visual field, where much of the numerical sensitivity is concentrated; and (iii) inaccuracy of the log-polar architecture (which is an approximation to the central 20°) for wide-field biological vision. In the present paper, we show that an algorithm based on generalization of the log-polar architecture; termed the log-dipolar sensor, provides a large improvement in performance relative to the usual log-polar sampling. Specifically, our algorithm: (i) is tolerant of large misalignmnet of the optical and motion axes; (ii) is insensitive to significant occlusion by objects of unknown motion; and (iii) represents a more correct analogy to the wide-field structure of human vision. Using the Helmholtz-Hodge decomposition to estimate the optical flow vector field on a log-dipolar sensor, we demonstrate these advantages, using synthetic optical flow maps as well as natural image sequences.