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At least 469 records · Page 26

Availability of Seasat synthetic aperture radar imagery

One of the sensors of the Seasat satellite was a synthetic aperture radar (SAR), which was operated over both oceanic and land areas. The Seasat SAR was an active imaging microwave system which transmitted and received horizontally polarized radiation at L-band frequency (1.275 GHz, 23-cm wavelength). Extensive coverage was obtained over North America, Europe, the Eastern Pacific Ocean, the Western and Northern Atlantic Ocean, and the Beaufort Sea. Surface coverage was also acquired over limited portions of Central America, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Caribbean Sea. The majority of the data has been optically processed in a so-called survey mode. Each optically processed Seasat pass has a swath width of 100 km at a scale of 1:500,000. A subset of the SAR data has been digitally processed in a so-called high-resolution mode. Digital processing has been performed upon selected scenes with dimensions of 100 x 100 km. Digitally processed imagery has a nominal ground resolution of 25 m.

Holt, B.↗

Nonlinear localized modes in PT-symmetric optical media with competing gain and loss

The existence and stability of the nonlinear spatial localized modes are investigated in parity-time symmetric optical media characterized by a generic complex hyperbolic refractive index distribution with competing gain and loss profile. The exact analytical expression of the localized modes are found for all values of the competing parameter and in the presence of both the self-focusing and self-defocusing Kerr nonlinearity. The effects of competing gain/loss profile on the stability structure of these localized modes are discussed with the help of linear stability analysis followed by the direct numerical simulation of the governing equation. The spatial localized modes in two-dimensional geometry as well as the transverse power-flow density associated with these localized modes are also examined. -- Highlights: • Existence of localized modes is investigated in PT-symmetric complex potentials. • Exact analytical expression of the localized modes is obtained. • Effect of gain/loss profile on the stability of these localized modes is discussed. • Localized modes in 2D and associated transverse power-flow density are also examined.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

System and method for adaptive optical tracking with selectable tracking modes

The present disclosure relates to an adaptive, free-space optical system. The system may have a controller and a digital micromirror (DMM) array responsive to the controller. The digital micromirror may include a plurality of independently controllable micromirror elements forming a receiver for receiving optical signals from an environmental scene. At least two of the plurality of independently controllable micromirror elements are steerable in different directions to receive optical signals emanating from two or more locations within the environmental scene. A beam steering subsystem forms a portion of the micromirror array and is in communication with the controller for receiving control signals from the controller. A detector is used to receive an incoming free space optical signal imaged by at least one of the micromirror elements.

Panas, Robert Matthew↗

Anisotropic lattice thermal expansion of PbFeBO{sub 4}: A study by X-ray and neutron diffraction, Raman spectroscopy and DFT calculations

Highlights: • Mullite-type PbFeBO{sub 4} shows uni-axial negative coefficient of thermal expansion. • Anisotropic thermal expansion of the metric parameters was modeled using modified Grüneisen approximation. • The model includes harmonic, quasi-harmonic and intrinsic anharmonic contributions to the internal energy. • DFT calculation, temperature- and pressure-dependent Raman spectra help understand the phonon decay and associated anharmonicity. - Abstract: The lattice thermal expansion of mullite-type PbFeBO{sub 4} is presented in this study. The thermal expansion coefficients of the metric parameters were obtained from composite data collected from temperature-dependent neutron and X-ray powder diffraction between 10 K and 700 K. The volume thermal expansion was modeled using extended Grüneisen first-order approximation to the zero-pressure equation of state. The additive frame of the model includes harmonic, quasi-harmonic and intrinsic anharmonic potentials to describe the change of the internal energy as a function of temperature. The unit-cell volume at zero-pressure and 0 K was optimized during the DFT simulations. Harmonic frequencies of the optical Raman modes at the Γ-point of the Brillouin zone at 0 K were also calculated by DFT, which help to assign and crosscheck the experimental frequencies. The low-temperature Raman spectra showed significant anomaly in the antiferromagnetic regions, leading to softening or hardening of some phonons. Selected modes were analyzed using a modified Klemens model. The shift of the frequencies and the broadening of the line-widths helped to understand the anharmonic vibrational behaviors of the PbO{sub 4}, FeO{sub 6} and BO{sub 3} polyhedra as a function of temperature.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Optimisation of the prism coupling of optical whispering-gallery-mode microcavities

The methods for increasing the coupling efficiency of a prism with spheroidal microcavities, aimed at exciting whispering-gallery modes, have been analytically investigated. Optimal angles of incidence and incident beam parameters are obtained for a spheroidal cavity. The cavity eigenfrequency shift caused by the presence of a prism and the introduced loss by it is calculated. (resonators)

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Negative Refraction in Time-Varying Strongly Coupled Plasmonic-Antenna–Epsilon-Near-Zero Systems

Time-varying metasurfaces are emerging as a powerful instrument for the dynamical control of the electromagnetic properties of a propagating wave. Here we demonstrate an efficient time-varying metasurface based on plasmonic nano-antennas strongly coupled to an epsilon-near-zero (ENZ) deeply subwavelength film. The plasmonic resonance of the metal resonators strongly interacts with the optical ENZ modes, providing a Rabi level spitting of ~30%. Optical pumping at frequency ω induces a nonlinear polarization oscillating at 2ω responsible for an efficient generation of a phase conjugate and a negative refracted beam with a conversion efficiency that is more than 4 orders of magnitude greater compared to the bare ENZ film. In this work, the introduction of a strongly coupled plasmonic system therefore provides a simple and effective route towards the implementation of ENZ physics at the nanoscale.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Investigation of the Static and Dynamic Characteristics for a Wafer-Fused C-band VCSEL in the Mode of the Optical-Electric Converter

The results of an experimental study for a long wavelength vertical cavity surface-emitting laser of a wafer-fused construction as an effective resonant cavity enhanced photodetector of analog optical signals are described. The device is of interest for a number of promising microwave photonics applications and for creation of a low-cost photoreceiver in a high-speed fiber optics telecommunication system with dense wavelength division multiplexing. The schematic of the testbed, the original technique allowing to calculate the passband of the built-in optical cavity, and the results of measuring dark current, current responsivity, amplitude- and phase-frequency characteristics during the process of photo-detection are demonstrated.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗

A study of compressed spatially non-Gaussian optical pulses from mode-locked lasers.

The effect of the grating-induced phase and spatial modulations by multiple transverse modes simultaneously present in mode-locked laser pulses is investigated. Our analysis shows that the dispersions of the grating pair become strongly dependent on wavelength because of the energy exchanges occurring among transverse modes. As a result, the maximum-intensity trace at the output of the grating is shown to be curved and the grating-induced pulse-compression rate is shown to vary significantly across the beam cross section. Also, a discussion is presented relating our analysis to existing experimental data on the wavelength-dependent chirping rates of mode-locked laser beams.

Kim, D. M.↗

Multiple-mode reconfigurable electro-optic switching network for optical fiber sensor array

This paper reports the first switching network compatible with multimode fibers. A one-to-many cascaded reconfigurable interconnection was built. A thin glass substrate was used as the guiding medium which provides not only higher coupling efficiency from multimode fiber to waveguide but also better tolerance of phase-matching conditions. Involvement of a total-internal-reflection hologram and multimode waveguide eliminates interface problems between fibers and waveguides. The DCG polymer graft has proven to be reliable from -180 C to +200 C. Survivability of such an electrooptic system in harsh environments is further ensured. LiNbO3 was chosen as the E-O material because of its stability at high temperatures (phase-transition temperature of more than 1000 C) and maturity of E-O device technology. Further theoretical calculation was conducted to provide the optimal interaction length and device capacitance.

Chen, Ray T.↗

Preventing Raman Lasing in High-Q WGM Resonators

A generic design has been conceived to suppress the Raman effect in whispering- gallery-mode (WGM) optical resonators that have high values of the resonance quality factor (Q). Although it is possible to exploit the Raman effect (even striving to maximize the Raman gain to obtain Raman lasing), the present innovation is intended to satisfy a need that arises in applications in which the Raman effect inhibits the realization of the full potential of WGM resonators as frequency-selection components. Heretofore, in such applications, it has been necessary to operate high-Q WGM resonators at unattractively low power levels to prevent Raman lasing. (The Raman-lasing thresholds of WGM optical resonators are very low and are approximately proportional to Q(sup -2)). Heretofore, two ways of preventing Raman lasting at high power levels have been known, but both entail significant disadvantages: A resonator can be designed so that the optical field is spread over a relatively large mode volume to bring the power density below the threshold. For any given combination of Q and power level, there is certain mode volume wherein Raman lasing does not start. Unfortunately, a resonator that has a large mode volume also has a high spectral density, which is undesirable in a typical photonic application. A resonator can be cooled to the temperature of liquid helium, where the Raman spectrum is narrower and, therefore, the Raman gain is lower. However, liquid-helium cooling is inconvenient. The present design overcomes these disadvantages, making it possible to operate a low-spectral-density (even a single-mode) WGM resonator at a relatively high power level at room temperature, without risk of Raman lasing.

Savchenkov, Anatoliy↗

A High Current, Short Pulse, RF Synchronized Electron Gun for the Stanford Linear Accelerator

For the generation of intense single and multiple bunches of electrons (>8 nc per bunch) for accelerator studies at SLAC, a high peak current photoemission electron gun has been developed. A gallium arsenide photocathode is illuminated by the optical beam from a frequency doubled, actively mode-locked and Q-switched Nd:YAG laser. The mode-locked optical pulses are of variable, sub-nanosecond width and occur with a spacing of 8.4 nsec, synchronized with the 2856 MHz accelerator rf. The gun is designed to be space charge limited at 15 A and 200 kV, although emission of 60 A was obtained with a 57 kV test structure, corresponding to a current density of 180 A/cm 2 . With the proper choice of laser wavelength, the electron beam may be 40% longitudinally polarized.

Sinclair, C.↗

Integrated silicon optical amplifier with reduced residual pump

An optical amplifier device employing a Mach-Zehnder Interferometer (MZI) that reduces the amount of residual pump power in the optical output of the amplifier is disclosed. The MZI amplifier employs two geometrically linear optical amplifier arms or two multi-spatial-mode racetrack optical amplifiers to amplify a signal with a pumping beam, with the signal output port having extremely low levels of residual pump power. The MZI optical amplifier is a silicon photonic integrated circuit, with all optical amplifiers, couplers, phase shifters, and optical attenuators formed of silicon photonic integrated circuit elements. The MZI optical amplifier may include one, two, or three MZI stages, and multiple MZI optical amplifiers may be used in parallel or sequentially to achieve higher overall signal gain or power. The MZI optical amplifier may employ Brillouin-scattering-based amplifiers, Raman-based integrated waveguide optical amplifiers, or Erbium-doped integrated waveguide optical amplifiers.

Lentine, Anthony L.↗

Squeezing Alters Frequency Tuning of WGM Optical Resonator

Mechanical squeezing has been found to alter the frequency tuning of a whispering-gallery-mode (WGM) optical resonator that has an elliptical shape and is made of lithium niobate. It may be possible to exploit this effect to design reconfigurable optical filters for optical communications and for scientific experiments involving quantum electrodynamics. Some background information is prerequisite to a meaningful description of the squeezing-induced alteration of frequency tuning: The spectrum of a WGM resonator is represented by a comblike plot of intensity versus frequency. Each peak of the comblike plot corresponds to an electromagnetic mode represented by an integer mode number, and the modes are grouped into sets represented by integer mode indices. Because lithium niobate is an electro-optically active material, the WGM resonator can be tuned (that is, the resonance frequencies can be shifted) by applying a suitable bias potential. The frequency shift of each mode is quantified by a tuning rate defined as the ratio between the frequency shift and the applied potential. In the absence of squeezing, all modes exhibit the same tuning rate. This concludes the background information. It has been demonstrated experimentally that when the resonator is squeezed along part of either of its two principal axes, tuning rates differ among the groups of modes represented by different indices (see figure). The differences in tuning rates could be utilized to configure the resonance spectrum to obtain a desired effect; for example, through a combination of squeezing and electrical biasing, two resonances represented by different mode indices could be set at a specified frequency difference something that could not be done through electrical biasing alone.

Mohageg, Makan↗

Optical gyroscope system

Light beams pass in opposite directions through a single mode fiber optic wave guide that extends in a circle or coil in an optical gyroscope system which measures the rotation rate of the coil by measuring the relative phase shifts of the beams by interferometric techniques. Beam splitting and phase shifting of the light are facilitated by utilizing brief pulses of light and by using light-controlling devices which are operated for a brief time only when the light pulse passes in one direction through the device but not at a different time when the pulse is passing in the opposite direction through the device. High accuracy in rotation measurement is achieved at both very slow and very fast rotation rates, by alternately operating the system so that at zero rotation the interfering waves are alternately 90 out of phase and in phase. Linear polarization of the light beams is maintained by coiling the full length of the optic fiber in a single plane.

Goss, W. C.↗