Polarization-Independent Micro-Ring Resonator on Silicon-on-Insulator

Polarization-independent laterally-coupled micro-ring resonator has been designed and demonstrated. The origin of the polarization-sensitivity of the photonic wire waveguide (PWW) was analyzed. A polarization-insensitive PWW structure was designed and a polarization-insensitive MRR based on this PWW structure was designed by finite difference time-domain method and was fabricated on an 8-inch silicon-on-insulator wafer. The offset between the resonant wavelengths of the quasi-TE mode and the quasi-TM mode is smaller than 0.15 nm. The FSR is about 17 nm, extinction ratio about 10 dB and Q about 620.

High Q microring resonator in silicon-on-insulator rib waveguides - art. no. 68380J

A high quality (Q) factor microring resonator in silicon-on-insulator rib waveguides was fabricated by electron beam lithography, followed by inductively coupled plasma etching. The waveguide dimensions were scaled down to submicron, for a low bending loss and compactness. Experimentally, the resonator has been realized with a quality factor as high as 21,200, as well as a large extinction ratio 12.5dB at telecommunication wavelength near 1550nm. From the measured results, propagation loss in the rib waveguide is determined as low as 6.900/cm. This high Q microring resonator is expected to lead to high speed optical modulators and bio-sensing devices.

Continuous-wave electrically injected InP/GaInAsP equilateral-triangle-resonator lasers

Equilateral-triangle-resonator (ETR) microlasers with an output waveguide connected to one of the vertices of the ETR are fabricated using standard photolithography and inductively-coupled-plasma etching techniques. Continuous-wave electrically injected 1550 nm ETR laser with side length ranged from 15 to 30 tm are realized at room temperature.

Influence of mode symmetry on quality factors of degenerate states in microlasers with an equilateral triangle resonator

Modes in equilateral triangle resonator (ETR) are analyzed and classified according to the irreducible representations of the point group C-3v., Both the analytical method based on the far field emission and the numerical method by FDTD technique are used to calculate the quality factors (Q-factors) of the doubly degenerate states in ETR. Results obtained from the two methods are in reasonable agreement. Considering the different symmetry properties of the doubly degenerate eigenstates, we also discuss the ETR joined with an output waveguide at one of the vertices by FDTD technique and the Pade approximation. The variation of Q-factors versus width of output waveguide is analyzed. The numerical results show that doubly degenerate eigenstates of TM0.36 and TM0.38 whose wavelengths are around 1.5 mu m in the resonator with side-length of 5 mu m have the Q-factors larger than 1000 when the width of the output waveguide is smaller than 0.4 mu m. When the width of the output waveguide is set to 0.3 mu m, the symmetrical states that are more efficiently coupled to output waveguide have Q-factors about 8000, which are over 3 times larger than those of asymmetric state.

Quantum-mechanical calculations of vibrationally resolved cross sections for non-dissociative charge transfer of O3+ with H-2

Charge transfer due to collisions of ground state O3+ (2s(2)2p P-2) ions with molecular hydrogen is investigated using the quantum-mechanical molecular-orbital close-coupling (MOCC) method, and electronic and vibrational state-selective cross sections along with the corresponding differential cross sections are calculated for projectile energies of 100, 500, 1000 and 5000 eV/u at the orientation angles of 25 degrees,45 degrees and 89 degrees. The adiabatic potentials and radial coupling matrix elements utilized in the QMOCC calculations were obtained with the spin-coupled valence-bond approach. The infinite order sudden approximation (IOSA) and the vibrational sudden approximation (VSA) are utilized to deal with the rotation of H-2 and the coupling between the electron and the vibration of H-2. It is found that the distribution of vibrationally resolved cross sections with the vibrational quantum number upsilon' of H-2(+) (upsilon') varies with the increment of the projectile energy; and the electronic and vibrational stateselective differential cross sections show similar behaviors: there is a highest platform within a very small scattering angle, beyond which the differential cross sections decrease as the scattering angle increases and lots of oscillating structures appear, where the scattering angle of the first structure decreases as E-P(-1/2) with the increment of the projectile energy E-P; and the structure and amplitude of the differential cross sections are sensitive to the orientation of molecule H-2, which provides a possibility to identify the orientations of molecule H-2 by the vibrational state-selective differential scattering processes.

Isotopic dependence of production cross sections of superheavy nuclei in hot fusion reactions

The dinuclear system model has been further developed by introducing the barrier distribution function method in the process of heavy-ion capture and fusion to synthesize superheavy nuclei. The capture of two colliding nuclei, formation and de-excitation process of compound nucleus are decribed by using empirical coupled channel model, solving master equation numerically and statistical evaporation model, respectively. Within the framework of the dinuclear system model, the fusion-evaporation excitation functions of the systems Ca-48(Am-243, 3n-5n) (288-286)115 and Ca-48(Cm-248, 3n-5n)(293-291)116 are calculated, which are used for synthesizing new superheavy nuclei at Dubna in recent years. Isotopic dependence of production cross sections with double magic nucleus Ca-48 bombarding actinide targets U, Np, Pu, Am, Cm to synthesize superheavy nuclei with charged numbers Z=112-116 is analyzed systematically. Based on these analysis, the optimal projectile-target combination and the optimal excitation energy are proposed. It is shown that shell correction energy and neutron separation energy will play an important role on the isotopic dependence of production cross sections of superheavy nuclei.

Determination of Nb and Ta in Nb/Ta minerals by inductively coupled plasmas optical emission spectrometry using slurry sample introduction

The determination of Nb and Ta in Nb-Ta minerals was accomplished by slurry nebulization inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES), using a clog-free V-groove ceramic nebulizer. Samples were first wet-ground to appropriate particle sizes with narrow size distribution and 90% of the particles in the slurry were smaller than 2.32 mu m in diameter. Subsamples were then dispersed in pH 9 aqueous solutions, and agitated in an ultrasonic bath for 15 min prior to analysis. Due to the lack of slurry standards matching well with the samples, calibration was simply carried out using aqueous solution standards. Results were compared with those obtained from a conventional fusion decomposition procedure and acid digestion procedures and a good agreement between the measured and referred values was obtained. The technique provided a good alternative for the rapid determination of Nb and/or Ta in their corresponding minerals.

Matching search in fractal video compression and its parallel implementation in distributed computing environments

Fractal video compression is a relatively new video compression method. Its attraction is due to the high compression ratio and the simple decompression algorithm. But its computational complexity is high and as a result parallel algorithms on high performance machines become one way out. In this study we partition the matching search, which occupies the majority of the work in a fractal video compression process, into small tasks and implement them in two distributed computing environments, one using DCOM and the other using .NET Remoting technology, based on a local area network consists of loosely coupled PCs. Experimental results show that the parallel algorithm is able to achieve a high speedup in these distributed environments.

Temporal phenomena in inductively coupled chlorine and argon-chlorine discharges

Reproducible modulations in low-pressure, inductively coupled discharges operating in chlorine and argon-chlorine mixtures have been observed and studied. Changes in the light output, floating potential, negative ion fraction, and charged particle densities were observed. Here we report two types of unstable operational modes in an inductively coupled discharge. On the one hand, when the discharge was matched, to minimize reflected power, instabilities were observed in argon-chlorine plasmas over limited operating conditions of input power and gas pressure. The instability window decreased with increasing chlorine content and was observed for chlorine concentrations between 30% and 60% only. However, when operating at pressures below 5 mTorr and the discharge circuit detuned to increase the reflected power, modulations were observed in a pure chlorine discharge. These modulations varied in nature from a series of sharp bursts to a very periodic behavior and can be controlled, by variation of the matching conditions, to produce an apparent pulsed plasma environment. (C) 2005 American Institute of Physics.

Geometry- and diffraction-independent ionization probabilities in intense laser fields: Probing atomic ionization mechanisms with effective intensity matching

We report an experimental technique for the comparison of ionization processes in ultrafast laser pulses irrespective of pulse ellipticity. Multiple ionization of xenon by 50 fs 790 nm, linearly and circularly polarized laser pulses is observed over the intensity range 10 TW/cm(2) to 10 PW/cm(2) using effective intensity matching (EIM), which is coupled with intensity selective scanning (ISS) to recover the geometry-independent probability of ionization. Such measurements, made possible by quantifying diffraction effects in the laser focus, are compared directly to theoretical predictions of multiphoton, tunnel and field ionization, and a remarkable agreement demonstrated. EIM-ISS allows the straightforward quantification of the probability of recollision ionization in a linearly polarized laser pulse. Furthermore, the probability of ionization is discussed in terms of the Keldysh adiabaticity parameter gamma, and the influence of the precursor ionic states present in recollision ionization is observed.

Plasma power measurement and hysteresis in the E-H transition of a rf inductively coupled plasma system

An experimental investigation of the argon plasma behavior near the E-H transition in an inductively coupled Gaseous Electronics Conference reference cell is reported. Electron density and temperature, ion density, argon metastable density, and optical emission measurements have been made as function of input power and gas pressure. When plotted versus plasma power, applied power corrected for coil and hardware losses, no hysteresis is observed in the measured plasma parameter dependence at the E-H mode transition. This suggests that hysteresis in the E-H mode transition is due to ignoring inherent power loss, primarily in the matching system.

A planar inductively coupled radio-frequency magnetic neutral loop discharge

A planar inductively coupled radio-frequency (rf) magnetic neutral loop discharge has been designed. It provides diagnostic access to both the main plasma production region as well as a remote plane for applications. Three coaxial coils are arranged to generate a specially designed inhomogeneous magnetic field structure with vanishing field along a ring in the discharge-the so-called neutral loop (NL). The plasma is generated by applying an oscillating rf electric field along the NL, induced through a four-turn, planar antenna operated at 13.56 MHz. Electron density and temperature measurements are performed under various parameter variations. Collisionless electron heating in the NL region allows plasma operation at comparatively low pressures, down to 10(-2) Pa, with a degree of ionization in the order of several per cent. Conventional plasma operation in inductive mode without applying the magnetic field is less efficient, in particular in the low pressure regime where the plasma cannot be sustained without magnetic fields.

Mechanically tunable multiband compact quadrifilar helix antenna with dual mode operation

We show that by introducing a gap at the center of the helical sections (where the current is minimum) of a lambda/2 quadrifilar helix antenna (QHA) and varying the axial length and radial gap between the overlapping volutes, the antenna gives a 28% impedance bandwidth which is nine times the bandwidth of a conventional QHA. A 16% bandwidth with a front to back ratio of >= 14 dB is achievable with 5-14% reduction in the size of the QHA. The structure can yield a monopole radiation pattern suitable for terrestrial applications or a hemispherical pattern suitable for satellite use. The simulation results are validated by measurements at L-band.

High precision C-14 dating of Holocene peat deposits: A comparison of Bayesian calibration and wiggle-matching approaches

The chronologies of five northern European ombrotrophic peat bogs subjected to a large ANIS C-14 dating effort (32-44 dates/site) are presented here. The results of Bayesian calibration (BCal) of dates with a prior assumption of chronological ordering were compared with a Bayesian wiggle-match approach (Bpeat) which assumes constant linear accumulation over sections of the peat profile. Interpolation of BCal age estimates of dense sequences of C-14 dates showed variable patterns of peat accumulation with time, with changes in accumulation occurring at intervals ranging from 20 to 50 cm. Within these intervals, peat accumulation appeared to be relatively linear. Close analysis suggests that some of the inferred variations in accumulation rate were related to the plant macrofossil composition of the peat. The wiggle-matched age-depth models had relatively high chronological uncertainty within intervals of closely spaced 14 C dates, suggesting that the premise of constant linear accumulation over large sections of the peat profile is unrealistic. Age models based on the assumption of linear accumulation over large parts of a peat core (and therefore only effective over millennial timescales), are not compatible with studies examining environmental change during the Holocene, where variability often occurs at decadal to centennial time-scales. Ideally, future wiggle-match age models should be constrained, with boundaries between sections based on the plant macrofossil composition of the peat and physical-chemical parameters such as the degree of decomposition. Strategies for the selection of material for dating should be designed so that there should be enough C-14 dates to accurately reconstruct the peat accumulation rate of each homogeneous stratigraphic unit. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Artificial Impedance Surfaces for Reduced Dispersion in Antenna Feeding Systems

An impedance surface is presented that reduces the dispersion experienced upon propagation of broadband pulses within rectangular waveguides. The surface impedance is selected so that, within a frequency range, the transverse resonance condition is satisfied for longitudinal wavenumber that varies linearly with frequency. A synthesis procedure for practical surface topologies consisting of periodic dipole arrays is described. An example involving a finite structure is employed to illustrate the reduced dispersion. Numerical simulation results obtained from in-house mode-matching method as well as HFSS are presented. A prototype is fabricated and tested experimentally validating the theoretical predictions.