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At least 577 records · Page 32

Simultaneous measurement of the exchange parameter and saturation magnetization using propagating spin waves

The exchange interaction in ferromagnetic ultra thin films is a critical parameter in magnetization-based storage and logic devices, yet the accurate measurement of it remains a challenge. While a variety of approaches are currently used to determine the exchange parameter, each has its limitations, and good agreement among them has not been achieved. To date, neutron scattering, magnetometry, Brillouin light scattering, spin-torque ferromagnetic resonance spectroscopy, and Kerr microscopy have all been used to determine the exchange parameter. Here, we present a method that exploits the wavevector selectivity of Brillouin light scattering to measure the spin wave dispersion in both the backward volume and Damon–Eshbach orientations. The exchange, saturation magnetization, and magnetic thickness are then determined by a simultaneous fit of both dispersion branches with general spin wave theory without any prior knowledge of the thickness of a magnetic “dead layer.” In this study, we demonstrate the strength of this technique for ultrathin metallic films, typical of those commonly used in industrial applications for magnetic random-access memory.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Three-dimensional shear-flow instability saturation via stable modes

Turbulence in three dimensions (3D) supports vortex stretching that has long been known to accomplish energy transfer to small scales. Moreover, net energy transfer from large-scale, forced, unstable flow-gradients to smaller scales is achieved by gradient-flattening instability. Despite such enforcement of energy transfer to small scales, it is shown here that the shear-flow-instability-supplied 3D-fluctuation energy is largely inverse-transferred from the fluctuation to the mean-flow gradient, and such inverse transfer is more efficient for turbulent fluctuations in 3D than in two dimensions (2D). The transfer is due to linearly stable eigenmodes that are excited nonlinearly. The stable modes, thus, reduce both the nonlinear energy cascade to small scales and the viscous dissipation rate. The vortex-tube stretching is also suppressed. Up-gradient momentum transport by the stable modes counters the instability-driven down-gradient transport, which also is more effective in 3D than in 2D (≈70% vs ≈50%). From unstable modes, these stable modes nonlinearly receive energy via zero-frequency fluctuations that vary only in the direction orthogonal to the plane of 2D shear flow. The more widely occurring 3D turbulence is thus inherently different from the commonly studied 2D turbulence, despite both saturating via stable modes.

Mechanics↗

Saturation of the kinetic ballooning instability due to the electron parallel nonlinearity

The electron parallel nonlinearity (EPN) is implemented in the gyrokinetic particle-in-cell turbulence code GEM [Y. Chen and S. E. Parker, J. Comp. Phys. 220, 839 (2007)]. Application to the Cyclone Base Case reveals a strong effect of EPN on the saturated heat transport above the kinetic ballooning mode (KBM) threshold. Evidence is provided to show that the strong effect is associated with the electron radial motion due to magnetic fluttering, which turns fine structures of the KBM eigenmode in radius into fine structures in velocity and increases the magnitude of the EPN term in the kinetic equation.

Gyrokinetic simulations↗

Saturated two-photon absorption of single-frequency radiation in gaseous media

A saturated nonresonant two-photon absorption (TPA) theory of quasi-monochromatic radiation by an atom is developed in a model of a three-level cascade quantum system. It is shown that doubled-frequency radiation, arising from a multipole interaction of radiation with the dipole-forbidden transition, experiences spatial oscillations at arbitrary intensities of the pump. The influence of the total phase of the waves with the initial and doubled frequencies on TPA is considered under conditions of ring frequency mixing in a medium.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Saturable absorber based on silver nanoparticles for passively mode-locked lasers

A saturable absorber based on plane (tabular) stabilised silver nanocrystals, which is promising for picoseconds laser systems operating in the range 650–900 nm, is studied. This material has a plasmon decay time of about 2 ps, while its absorption at a pump intensity of 10 MW cm{sup -2} decreases by 1.6%, which is sufficient for using this crystal for passive mode locking. (control of laser radiation parameters)

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Control of the shape of laser pulses amplified in the strong saturation regime

A new criterion for estimating the distortions of quasirectangular pulses in high-power amplifiers is proposed together with a method that allows generation of quasi-rectangular pulses at the output of a high-efficiency amplifier, i. e., in the regime of strong saturation. The efficiency of the method is demonstrated by the example of calculating the neodymium glass amplifier, used for pumping the petawatt parametric amplifier. (lasers)

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Saturation of light – current characteristics of high-power lasers (λ = 1.0 – 1.1 mm) in pulsed regime

Semiconductor lasers based on MOVPE-grown asymmetric separate-confinement heterostructures with a broadened waveguide and emitting in the wavelength range 1.0 – 1.1 μm are studied. It is found that the intensity of spontaneous emission from the active region increases with increasing pump current above the lasing threshold and that this is caused by a growth in the concentration of charge carriers in the active region due to the modal gain enhancement needed to compensate for the growing internal optical loss at high pulsed pump currents. It is shown that the increase in the internal optical loss with increasing pulsed pump current is one of the main reasons for saturation of the light – current characteristics of high-power semiconductor lasers. (lasers)

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Generation of bound states of pulses in a soliton laser with complex relaxation of a saturable absorber

A numerical model of a soliton fibre laser with a semiconductor saturable absorber mirror (SESAM), characterised by the complex dynamics of absorption relaxation, is considered. It is shown that stationary bound states of pulses can be formed in this laser as a result of their interaction via the dispersion-wave field. The stability of stationary bound states of several pulses is analysed. It is shown that an increase in the number of pulses in a stationary bound state leads eventually to its decay and formation of a random bunch. It is found that the bunch stability is caused by the manifestation of nonlinear self-phase modulation, which attracts pulses to the bunch centre. The simulation results are in qualitative agreement with experimental data. (nonlinear optical phenomena)

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Effect of laser cavity parameters on saturation of light – current characteristics of high-power pulsed lasers

We report an experimental study of power characteristics of semiconductor lasers based on MOVPE-grown asymmetric separate-confinement heterostructures with a broadened waveguide as functions of cavity length, stripe contact width and mirror reflectivities. It is shown that at high current pump levels, the variation of the cavity parameters of a semiconductor laser (width, length and mirror reflectivities) influences the light – current (L – I) characteristic saturation and maximum optical power by affecting such laser characteristics, as the current density and the optical output loss. A model is elaborated and an optical power of semiconductor lasers is calculated by taking into account the dependence of the internal optical loss on pump current density and concentration distribution of charge carriers and photons along the cavity axis of the cavity. It is found that only introduction of the dependence of the internal optical loss on pump current density to the calculation model provides a good agreement between experimental and calculated L – I characteristics for all scenarios of variations in the laser cavity parameters. (lasers)

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Passively Q-switched, intracavity frequency-doubled YVO{sub 4}/Nd : YVO{sub 4}/KTP green laser with a GaAs saturable absorber

A diode-pumped, passively Q-switched, intracavity frequency-doubled YVO{sub 4}/Nd : YVO{sub 4}/KTP green laser is realised using a GaAs saturable absorber. Two pieces of GaAs wafers are employed in the experiment. In using a 400-μm-thick GaAs wafer and an incident pump power of 10.5 W, the maximum output power of the passively Q-switched green laser is 362 mW at a pulse repetition rate of 84 kHz and a pulse duration of 2.5 ns. When use is made of a 700-mm-thick GaAs wafer, the minimum pulse duration is 1.5 ns at a repetition rate of 67 kHz, pulse energy of 4.18 μJ and peak power of 2.8 kW. (control of laser radiation parameters)

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Generation of giant spatially localised Gaussian wave packets in active fibres with saturable inertial nonlinearity

The dynamics of wave packets in an active fibre with saturable inertial nonlinearity of logarithmic type is considered. The possibility of forming spatially localised Gaussian wave packets (TEM{sub 00} mode) with a large (significantly exceeding 100 μm{sup 2}) mode area and a large (above 1 TW) peak power in such structures is shown. (nonlinear-optical phenomena)

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Formation of spectra of saturated-absorption resonances on closed transitions in the spectroscopy of unidirectional waves

The formation of spectra of saturated-absorption resonances on the atomic transitions with level momenta J = 0 → J = 1 and J = 1 → J = 2 are investigated, both numerically and analytically, by the method of unidirectional linearly polarised laser waves in order to determine how the transition openness (radiation branching) affects these spectra. It is shown that, along with quantitative changes, determined by the relaxation constants of levels, value of their splitting, polarisation orientation, and wave intensities, the spectra undergo qualitative changes with a change in the degree of atomic transition openness. (paper)

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

CONSTRAINING THE R-MODE SATURATION AMPLITUDE FROM A HYPOTHETICAL DETECTION OF R-MODE GRAVITATIONAL WAVES FROM A NEWBORN NEUTRON STAR: SENSITIVITY STUDY

This paper consists of two related parts: in the first part we derive an expression of the moment of inertia (MOI) of a neutron star as a function of observables from a hypothetical r-mode gravitational-wave detection. For a given r-mode detection we show how the value of the MOI of a neutron star constrains the equation of state (EOS) of the matter in the core of the neutron star. Subsequently, for each candidate EOS, we derive a possible value of the saturation amplitude, α, of the r-mode oscillations on the neutron star. Additionally, we argue that an r-mode detection will provide clues about the cooling rate mechanism of the neutron star. The above physics that can be derived from a hypothetical r-mode detection constitutes our motivation for the second part of the paper. In that part we present a detection strategy to efficiently search for r-modes in gravitational-wave data. R-mode signals were injected into simulated noise colored with the advanced LIGO (aLIGO) and Einstein Telescope (ET) sensitivity curves. The r-mode waveforms used are those predicted by early theories based on polytropic EOS neutron star matter. In our best case scenario (α of order 10{sup −1}), the maximum detection distance when using the aLIGO sensitivity curve is ∼1 Mpc (supernova event rate of 3–4 per century) while the maximum detection distance when using the ET sensitivity curve is ∼10 Mpc (supernova event rate of 1–2 per year)

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

NIMROD modeling of quiescent H-mode: Reconstruction considerations and saturation mechanism

The extended-MHD NIMROD code (Sovinec and King 2010 J. Comput. Phys. 229 5803) models broadband-MHD activity from a reconstruction of a quiescent H-mode shot on the DIII-D tokamak (Luxon 2002 Nucl. Fusion 42 614). Computations with the reconstructed toroidal and poloidal ion flows exhibit low-n Φ perturbations (n Φ ≃1–5) that grow and saturate into a turbulent-like MHD state. The workflow used to project the reconstructed state onto the NIMROD basis functions re-solves the Grad–Shafranov equation and extrapolates profiles to include scrape-off-layer currents. In conclusion, evaluation of the transport from the turbulent-like MHD state leads to a relaxation of the density and temperature profiles.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

Computation of Alfvèn eigenmode stability and saturation through a reduced fast ion transport model in the TRANSP tokamak transport code

Alfvénic instabilities (AEs) are well known as a potential cause of enhanced fast ion transport in fusion devices. Given a specific plasma scenario, quantitative predictions of (i) expected unstable AE spectrum and (ii) resulting fast ion transport are required to prevent or mitigate the AE-induced degradation in fusion performance. Reduced models are becoming an attractive tool to analyze existing scenarios as well as for scenario prediction in time-dependent simulations. Here, in this work, a neutral beam heated NSTX discharge is used as reference to illustrate the potential of a reduced fast ion transport model, known as kick model, that has been recently implemented for interpretive and predictive analysis within the framework of the time-dependent tokamak transport code TRANSP. Predictive capabilities for AE stability and saturation amplitude are first assessed, based on given thermal plasma profiles only. Predictions are then compared to experimental results, and the interpretive capabilities of the model further discussed. Overall, the reduced model captures the main properties of the instabilities and associated effects on the fast ion population. Finally, additional information from the actual experiment enables further tuning of the model's parameters to achieve a close match with measurements.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

Crossed-beam energy transfer: polarization effects and evidence of saturation

In this article, recent results on crossed-beam energy transfer are presented. Wave-length tuning was used to vary the amount of energy transfer between two beams in a quasi-stationary plasma with carefully controlled conditions. The amount of transfer agreed well with calculations assuming linear ion acoustic waves with amplitudes up to δn/n ≈ 0.015. Increasing the initial probe intensity to access larger ion acoustic wave amplitudes for otherwise fixed conditions yields evidence of saturation. The ability to manipulate a beam’s polarization, which results from the anisotropic nature of the interaction, is revisited; an example is provided to demonstrate how polarization effects in a multibeam situation can dramatically enhance the expected amount of energy transfer.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

Error field identification through torque balance on a saturated island in DIII-D

Measurement of the electromagnetic torque on a magnetic island could be an attractive method for error field identification in the early phase of ITER operation. Previous DIII-D experiments (Strait 2014 Nucl. Fusion 54 073004; Shiraki et al 2015 Plasma Phys. Control. Fusion 57 025016) have demonstrated the principle of this approach using a stationary or slowly rotating island, while recent developments in magnetic data analysis (Sweeney and Strait 2019 Phys. Plasmas 26 012509) allow the field of a rapidly rotating island to be readily distinguished from that of the wall currents induced by its rotation. In a recent experiment, a rotating n = 1 magnetic perturbation forced a saturated magnetic island to rotate, thus sampling all toroidal phases periodically in a single discharge. The phase and amplitude of the error field are inferred from analysis of the time-dependent torque balance on the island, including torques from the error field, the applied magnetic perturbation, and the wall currents induced by rotation of the applied perturbation and the island. Furthermore, results agree well with those from more conventional methods.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

Ion kinetics and nonlinear saturation of current-driven instabilities relevant to hollow cathode plasmas

Ion kinetics and time evolution of bulk plasma properties in the nonlinear saturation regime of a collisionless current-driven instability are studied using a 1D Vlasov–Poisson simulation. In the simulations, the ratio of initial electron bulk velocity to initial electron thermal velocity, called the electron Mach number, ranges from 0.5 to 2.5, and electron-to-ion temperature ratio is 10. A significant population of backstreaming high-energy ions is observed when the initial electron Mach number is larger than or equal to 1.3, which agrees with previous literature indicating transition to the Buneman instability. The simulations suggest that the electrons trapped in large-amplitude waves result in a bi-directional ion acoustic wave, which generates a backward-propagating high-energy ion distribution. Here, a concise formula that describes the high-energy ion distribution and potential fluctuation amplitude are obtained as a function of initial electron Mach numbers. Sputtering rate calculations using the non-Maxwellian distributions for ions obtained from the simulation and Maxwellian ion distributions of temperatures ranging from 0.5 to 4.0 eV are compared, illustrating the potential contribution of kinetic effects on cathode erosion.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗