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At least 1,243 records · Page 69

Laser and thermal characteristics of Yb : YAG crystals in the 80 - 300 K temperature range

The spectral and thermooptical characteristics of an Yb : YAG crystal were measured in the 80 - 300 K temperature range. On cooling the crystal, the amplification cross section increases fivefold, the peak of the cross section spectrum shifts from 1030.1 to 1029.3 nm, and its width lowers from {approx}10 to 1.3 nm. These effects must be taken into account when operating with cryogenic amplifiers. Also measured were thermooptical constants P and Q as well as the photoelastic anisotropy parameter. These material constants completely determine the thermal and phase polarisation distortions in an active element when the heat release and the thermal conductivity coefficient are known. The thermoinduced depolarisation was shown to lower by a factor of 1000 and the optical strength by a factor of 50 on cooling the Yb : YAG crystal to a temperature of 78 K. (active media)

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Carbon dioxide laser with an e-beam-initiated discharge produced in the working gas mixture at a pressure up to 5 atm

A high-pressure CO{sub 2} laser with a discharge initiated by an electron beam of sub-nanosecond duration in the laser gas mixture at a pressure up to 5 atm is fabricated. For the 20-ns pulses the energy from the active volume {approx} 4 cm{sup 3} amounted to 40 mJ. The laser operation at a pulse repetition rate up to 5 Hz is demonstrated. In the gas mixture CO{sub 2}:N{sub 2}:He = 1:1:6 at a pressure 5 atm, the specific energy deposition of {approx} 0.07 J cm{sup -3} atm{sup -1} is obtained in the process of a non-self-sustained discharge with ionisation amplification.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

High-power thulium-doped fibre laser with intracavity dispersion management

This paper reports a scheme for the generation and amplification of pico- and femtosecond pulses in the range 1.93-1.97 {mu}m using thulium-doped silica fibres. Group velocity dispersion (GVD) management in the cavity of the thulium-doped fibre laser oscillator is ensured by a single-mode germanosilicate fibre (75 mol % GeO{sub 2} in the core) with a positive GVD. Pulses are obtained down to 200 fs in duration and up to 56 nJ in energy.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Multiterawatt femtosecond hybrid system based on a photodissociation XeF(C-A) amplifier in the visible range

This paper describes a multiterawatt hybrid laser system based on a Ti : sapphire front end and 25-cm-aperture photodissociation XeF(C - A) amplifier. The front end generates 50-fs pulses with second-harmonic ({lambda} = 475 nm) energies of up to 5 mJ. The gainmedium of the amplifier is produced in a XeF{sub 2} - N{sub 2} mixture by VUV radiation excited in xenon by a high-power electron beam. Through amplification of a negatively chirped 1-ps pulse, followed by pulse compression in bulk fused silica, a peak power of 14 TW, record-high for the visible range, has been achieved.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Phasing of multichannel laser radiation upon stimulated Brillouin scattering

We investigated the phasing of pulsed two- and fourchannel laser beams due to phase conjugation upon transient stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS) in a double-pass amplification scheme. A high quality of beam phasing was experimentally demonstrated with the use of a microlens raster and an angular selector in the SBS-mirror scheme. The data obtained in the numerical simulation of transient SBS are in good agreement with experimental ones.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

All-fibre high-energy chirped-pulse laser in the 1 {mu}m range

We report an all-fibre 1030-nm ultrashort (100 ps with the possibility of compression to 430 fs) chirped pulse laser configuration based on a seed oscillator that includes a semiconductor saturable absorber mirror, and demonstrate amplification of its pulses to an energy of 0.6 {mu}J, with the possibility of pulse compression to 650 fs. (extreme light fields and their applications)

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Fibre amplifier based on an ytterbium-doped active tapered fibre for the generation of megawatt peak power ultrashort optical pulses

We report a new ytterbium-doped active tapered fibre used in the output amplifier stage of a fibre laser system for the generation of megawatt peak power ultrashort pulses in the microjoule energy range. The tapered fibre is single-mode at its input end (core and cladding diameters of 10 and 80 μm) and multimode at its output end (diameters of 45 and 430 μm), but ultrashort pulses are amplified in a quasi-single-mode regime. Using a hybrid Er/Yb fibre system comprising an erbium master oscillator and amplifier at a wavelength near 1.5 μm, a nonlinear wavelength converter to the 1 μm range and a three-stage ytterbium-doped fibre amplifier, we obtained pulses of 1 μJ energy and 7 ps duration, which were then compressed by a grating-pair dispersion compressor with 60% efficiency to a 130 fs duration, approaching the transform-limited pulse duration. The present experimental data agree well with numerical simulation results for pulse amplification in the threestage amplifier. (extreme light fields and their applications)

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Influence of the input radiation pulse characteristics on the parameters of a XeF(C – A) amplifier in a THL-100 laser system

We report the results of experimental and theoretical investigations on the influence of spatial and energy parameters of input radiation with a pulse duration of 50 ps on output characteristics of a XeF(C – A) amplifier in a visible-range, multi-terawatt THL-100 laser system. Dynamics of the energy density radial distribution for laser radiation passing through the amplifier is studied. Results of numerical simulation are presented for amplification of laser beams with Gaussian and super-Gaussian radial energy density distributions. It is shown that the laser energy of 3.2 J obtained experimentally is not the limiting value. According to calculations, the output energy of the amplifier with such mirror configuration may reach 4.1 J, which in the case of a pulse compressed down to 50 fs corresponds to the radiation power of 82 TW. (paper)

42 ENGINEERING↗

Brillouin optical reflectometer with a Brillouin active filter

A new scheme of a fibre-optic Brillouin reflectometer is experimentally studied, in which the spectral line of spontaneous Brillouin scattering is selected by an active Brillouin filter represented by the tested fibre itself. To improve the reflectometer characteristics, a cyclic code and Raman amplification of the scattering signal are applied. With an averaging time of 5 min, scanning of 25 km of fibre with a spatial resolution of 4 m and a sampling resolution of 1 m are provided. The root-mean-square deviation in determining the Brillouin frequency is less than 1.1 MHz. The reflectometer sensitivity is evaluated with respect to the temperature changes and mechanical deformation. (paper)

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗

Propagation of a light pulse with a duration of less than one period in a resonant amplifying medium

The propagation of a unipolar light pulse with a duration of less than one period in a two-level resonant amplifying medium is studied theoretically. In the process of amplification, the unipolar pulse becomes bipolar. The effect of the relaxation time on the shape and duration of the amplified pulse is demonstrated. It is found that the electric pulse area (integral of electric field strength with respect to time) is conserved, in contrast to the area under the long pulse envelope (integral of slowly varying field amplitude with respect to time), which, in the case of long pulses, satisfies the McCall – Hahn area theorem. (extremely short pulses)

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Contactless method for studying temperature within the active element of a multidisk cryogenic amplifier

A new original method has been developed and experimentally implemented, allowing temperature fields to be contactlessly measured in the pump region of active elements in high-power-diode-pumped laser amplifiers, including those operating at cryogenic temperatures. The presence of a temperature gradient of ∼57 K mm{sup −1} along the pump beam axis at the centre of the active element of the laser amplification unit operating at cryogenic temperatures with a pulse repetition rate up to 1 kHz is simulated and experimentally confirmed. (paper)

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Stimulated emission of AlGaN layers grown on sapphire substrates using ammonia molecular beam epitaxy

By optimising the growth temperature of the AlGaN layers and using high-temperature AlN buffer layers, high-quality Al{sub x}Ga{sub 1 – x}N layers (x = 0.15, 0.21, 0.26, and 0.3) were obtained, in which stimulated emission in the UV spectral range 330 – 297 nm was implemented with the threshold intensity of excitation I{sub th} ≈ 0.7 – 1.4 MW cm{sup −2}, respectively. It is found that the threshold value of the stimulated emission of AlGaN layers grown by molecular beam epitaxy is largely determined by the intensity of the process of thermal decomposition of GaN, which affects the surface morphology and, consequently, the amount of optical scattering loss. It is shown that no pronounced localisation of nonequilibrium charge carriers occurs in the AlGaN layers, which is manifested in the absence of a large Stokes shift and in the realisation of optical amplification at transitions in an electron-hole plasma, and also indicates a relatively homogeneous material composition. (paper)

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Laser and thermooptical characteristics of a laser head based on a thin Yb : YAG slab

Amplification and thermally induced phase distortions in a cw pumped laser head with an active element in the form of a thin Yb : YAG slab are experimentally studied. Lasing characteristics of an emitter based on this laser head are examined. Laser radiation is obtained with an average power of 32 W and a slope efficiency with respect to the absorbed pump power η = 68 %. (paper)

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Study of saturated-absorption resonances on the {sup 3}P{sub 0, 1, 2} – {sup 3}D{sub 1, 2, 3} transitions of magnesium atoms in a hollow-cathode discharge cell

The saturated-absorption resonances on the {sup 3}P{sub 0, 1, 2} – {sup 3}D{sub 1, 2, 3} transitions of magnesium atoms in a hollow-cathode discharge cell are studied. The line width (FWHM) for the observed saturated-absorption resonance on the 3{sup 3}P{sub 0} → 3{sup 3}D{sub 1} transition turns out to be ∼220 MHz. Experiments are performed using a system based on a 766-nm diode laser with amplification and frequency doubling in a nonlinear BiBO crystal. The results obtained are of interest for sub-Doppler cooling on the 3{sup 3}P{sub 2} → 3{sup 3}D{sub 3} transition. (paper)

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Evolutionary selection of enzymatically synthesized semiconductors from biomimetic mineralization vesicles

The way nature evolves and sculpts materials using proteins inspires new approaches to materials engineering but is still not completely understood. Here, we present a cell-free synthetic biological platform to advance studies of biologically synthesized solid-state materials. This platform is capable of simultaneously exerting many of the hierarchical levels of control found in natural biomineralization, including genetic, chemical, spatial, structural, and morphological control, while supporting the evolutionary selection of new mineralizing proteins and the corresponding genetically encoded materials that they produce. DNA-directed protein expression and enzymatic mineralization occur on polystyrene microbeads in water-in-oil emulsions, yielding synthetic surrogates of biomineralizing cells that are then screened by flow sorting, with light-scattering signals used to sort the resulting mineralized composites differentially. We demonstrate the utility of this platform by evolutionarily selecting newly identified silicateins, biomineralizing enzymes previously identified from the silica skeleton of a marine sponge, for enzyme variants capable of synthesizing silicon dioxide (silica) or titanium dioxide (titania) composites. Mineral composites of intermediate strength are preferentially selected to remain intact for identification during cell sorting, and then to collapse postsorting to expose the encoding genes for enzymatic DNA amplification. Some of the newly selected silicatein variants catalyze the formation of crystalline silicates, whereas the parent silicateins lack this ability. The demonstrated bioengineered route to previously undescribed materials introduces in vitro enzyme selection as a viable strategy for mimicking genetic evolution of materials as it occurs in nature.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗

Discovery of a Novel Mode of Protein Kinase Inhibition Characterized by the Mesenchymal-epithelial Transition Factor (c-Met) Protein Autophosphorylation by ARQ 197

A number of human malignancies exhibit sustained stimulation, mutation, or gene amplification of the receptor tyrosine kinase human mesenchymal-epithelial transition factor (c-Met). ARQ 197 is a clinically advanced, selective, orally bioavailable, and well tolerated c-Met inhibitor, currently in Phase 3 clinical testing in non-small cell lung cancer patients. Herein, we describe the molecular and structural basis by which ARQ 197 selectively targets c-Met. Through our analysis we reveal a previously undisclosed, novel inhibitory mechanism that utilizes distinct regulatory elements of the c-Met kinase. The structure of ARQ 197 in complex with the c-Met kinase domain shows that the inhibitor binds a conformation that is distinct from published kinase structures. ARQ 197 inhibits c-Met autophosphorylation and is highly selective for the inactive or unphosphorylated form of c-Met. Through our analysis of the interplay between the regulatory and catalytic residues of c-Met, and by comparison between the autoinhibited canonical conformation of c-Met bound by ARQ 197 to previously described kinase domains of type III receptor tyrosine kinases, we believe this to be the basis of a powerful new in silico approach for the design of similar inhibitors for other protein kinases of therapeutic interest.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗

HERSCHEL-ATLAS: TOWARD A SAMPLE OF {approx}1000 STRONGLY LENSED GALAXIES

While the selection of strongly lensed galaxies (SLGs) with 500 {mu}m flux density S{sub 500} > 100 mJy has proven to be rather straightforward, for many applications it is important to analyze samples larger than the ones obtained when confining ourselves to such a bright limit. Moreover, only by probing to fainter flux densities is it possible to exploit strong lensing to investigate the bulk of the high-z star-forming galaxy population. We describe HALOS (the Herschel-ATLAS Lensed Objects Selection), a method for efficiently selecting fainter candidate SLGs, reaching a surface density of {approx_equal} 1.5-2 deg{sup -2}, i.e., a factor of about 4-6 higher than that at the 100 mJy flux limit. HALOS will allow the selection of up to {approx}1000 candidate SLGs (with amplifications {mu} {approx}> 2) over the full H-ATLAS survey area. Applying HALOS to the H-ATLAS Science Demonstration Phase field ({approx_equal} 14.4 deg{sup 2}) we find 31 candidate SLGs, whose candidate lenses are identified in the VIKING near-infrared catalog. Using the available information on candidate sources and candidate lenses we tentatively estimate a {approx_equal} 72% purity of the sample. As expected, the purity decreases with decreasing flux density of the sources and with increasing angular separation between candidate sources and lenses. The redshift distribution of the candidate lensed sources is close to that reported for most previous surveys for lensed galaxies, while that of candidate lenses extends to redshifts substantially higher than found in the other surveys. The counts of candidate SLGs are also in good agreement with model predictions. Even though a key ingredient of the method is the deep near-infrared VIKING photometry, we show that H-ATLAS data alone allow the selection of a similarly deep sample of candidate SLGs with an efficiency close to 50%; a slightly lower surface density ({approx_equal} 1.45 deg{sup -2}) can be reached with a {approx}70% efficiency.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

ON PARTICLE ACCELERATION RATE IN GAMMA-RAY BURST AFTERGLOWS

It is well known that collisionless shocks are major sites of particle acceleration in the universe, but the details of the acceleration process are still not well understood. The particle acceleration rate, which can shed light on the acceleration process, is rarely measured in astrophysical environments. Here, we use observations of gamma-ray burst (GRB) afterglows, which are weakly magnetized relativistic collisionless shocks in ion-electron plasma, to constrain the rate of particle acceleration in such shocks. We find, based on X-ray and GeV afterglows, an acceleration rate that is most likely very fast, approaching the Bohm limit, when the shock Lorentz factor is in the range of {Gamma} {approx} 10-100. In that case X-ray observations may be consistent with no amplification of the magnetic field in the shock upstream region. We examine the X-ray afterglow of GRB 060729, which is observed for 642 days showing a sharp decay in the flux starting about 400 days after the burst, when the shock Lorentz factor is {approx}5. We find that inability to accelerate X-ray-emitting electrons at late time provides a natural explanation for the sharp decay, and that also in that case acceleration must be rather fast, and cannot be more than a 100 times slower than the Bohm limit. We conclude that particle acceleration is most likely fast in GRB afterglows, at least as long as the blast wave is ultrarelativistic.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗