Pseudopotential theory of exciton and impurity states.
Exciton and impurity states in optical absorption spectra of nonmetallic crystals in pseudopotential theory
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Exciton and impurity states in optical absorption spectra of nonmetallic crystals in pseudopotential theory
Samples of Pd(40)Ni(40)P(20) glass, produced by cooling the melt at 1 or 800 K/s, are heated in a differential scanning calorimeter to determine the crystallization kinetics. Optical microscopy shows that eutectic crystallization proceeds both by growth from the surface of the samples and by the growth of spherical regions around preexisting nuclei in the interior. A modified Kissinger (1957) analysis is used to obtain the activation energy for crystal growth (3.49 eV). The steady state homogeneous nucleation frequency at 590 K is about 10 million/cu m per sec. This is estimated to be the maximum nucleation frequency: it is too low to account for the observed population of quenched-in nuclei, which are therefore presumed to be heterogeneous. The major practical obstacle to glass formation in this system is heterogeneous nucleation.
Quantum transduction is the process of upconverting microwave quantum signals into optical signals to develop quantum networks through optical fibers outside the dilution refrigerator, enabling connections between quantum technologies on the quantum internet. In this project, upconversion is achieved by directing an optical laser and the microwave quantum signal into an electro-optic bulk crystal. The crystal is housed within a Superconducting Radio Frequency (SRF) cavity designed to maximize the overlap between the microwave field and the crystal volume. In the presence of microwaves, the refractive index of the crystal changes through the Pockels effect. This change in refractive index modifies the propagation of the optical field within the crystal, allowing the quantum information carried by the microwave field to be transferred to the optical field. This study focuses on coupling laser light from suspended waveguide chips into the whispering-gallery modes (WGMs) of the crystal to enable transduction. The coupling efficiency between the optical field in the suspended waveguide and the WGM depends on the position of the laser spot on the crystal. To address this challenge, a feedback-based algorithm is being developed to fine-tune the waveguide position so that the optical signal is coupled efficiently into the crystal. After passing through the crystal, the optical signal is detected by a photodiode connected to an oscilloscope. The algorithm evaluates the coupling quality and iteratively adjusts the waveguide position to maximize coupling efficiency. The expected outcome is an automated waveguide alignment method that improves optical coupling and enables more efficient microwave-to-optical quantum transduction.
Small diameter (Ø 16 mm) TlSr 2 Cl 5 and TlSr 2 Br 5 crystals were grown by the Vertical Bridgman method. X-ray diffraction measurements show that both have the monoclinic crystal structure with space group P21/c. TlSr 2 Cl 5 and TlSr 2 Br 5 have a density of 4.14 g/cm 3 and 5.03 g/cm 3 , respectively. The effective Z of TlSr 2 Cl 5 and TlSr 2 Br 5 is 63.7 and 58.6, respectively. Radioluminescence spectra of TlSr 2 Cl 5 and TlSr 2 Br 5 feature a broad emission band peaking at 440 and 445 nm, respectively. As a result the light yield of TlSr 2 Cl 5 and TlSr 2 Br 5 was estimated to be 17,000 and 45,000 ph/MeV, respectively.
A light extinction tomography technique has been developed to monitor ice water clouds upstream of a direct connected engine in the Propulsion Systems Laboratory (PSL) at NASA Glenn Research Center (GRC). The system consists of 60 laser diodes with sheet generating optics and 120 detectors mounted around a 36-inch diameter ring. The sources are pulsed sequentially while the detectors acquire line-of-sight extinction data for each laser pulse. Using computed tomography algorithms, the extinction data are analyzed to produce a plot of the relative water content in the measurement plane. To target the low-spatial-frequency nature of ice water clouds, unique tomography algorithms were developed using filtered back-projection methods and direct inversion methods that use Gaussian basis functions. With the availability of a priori knowledge of the mean droplet size and the total water content at some point in the measurement plane, the tomography system can provide near real-time in-situ quantitative full-field total water content data at a measurement plane approximately 5 feet upstream of the engine inlet. Results from ice crystal clouds in the PSL are presented. In addition to the optical tomography technique, laser sheet imaging has also been applied in the PSL to provide planar ice cloud uniformity and relative water content data during facility calibration before the tomography system was available and also as validation data for the tomography system. A comparison between the laser sheet system and light extinction tomography resulting data are also presented. Very good agreement of imaged intensity and water content is demonstrated for both techniques. Also, comparative studies between the two techniques show excellent agreement in calculation of bulk total water content averaged over the center of the pipe.
A new concept and experimental demonstration of a bifurcating optical pattern recognizer that uses a nonlinear gain saturation memory medium such as a high-gain photorefractive crystal are presented. A barium titanate crystal is used as a typical example of the nonlinear medium for the demonstration of the bifurcating optical pattern recognizer.
The use of 2-kHz 64 x 64 very-large-scale integrated circuit/ferroelectric-liquid-crystal electrically addressed spatial light modulators as the input and filter planes of a VanderLugt-type optical correlator is discussed. Liquid-crystal layer thickness variations that are present in the devices are analyzed, and the effects on correlator performance are investigated through computer simulations. Experimental results from the very-large-scale-integrated / ferroelectric-liquid-crystal optical-correlator system are presented and are consistent with the level of performance predicted by the simulations.
Electro-optic modulation, crystal growth and properties, and design equations and performance for 10.6-micron laser modulator of gallium arsenide
Most of optical and semiconductor single crystalline materials produced in the electronic industry is grown with the Czochralski technique. This is the only technique capable of producing large high quality single crystals in a reasonable amount of time. The technique originated, and took its name, from pioneering work by Polish engineer J. Czochralski in 1917, who pulled single crystal wires (fibers) of low melting point metals from the melt in order to determine the maximum speeds at which they could be crystallized. The technique has been modified and its application has been extended first to the growth of silicon and later to a very wide range of compound semiconductors, metals, oxides and halides. It is now the dominant technique for the wide range of materials in the electronic industries. Czochralski growth is initiated by dipping a seed crystal of a chosen crystallographic orientation onto the surface of a melt contained in the heated crucible. The seed is then slowly withdrawn, solidifying the adherent column of the melt in steady state at an average rate given by the sum of the pulling rate and the rate of lowering the solid-liquid interface due to the depletion of the melt in the crucible. The control of the desired crystal diameter is achieved by closely controlling the heat balance at the solid-liquid interface.
A versatile low-cost Czochralski system for pulling crystals from melt has been described. It is designed for low melting, transparent, and nonlinear optical materials. One of the most important novel feature of this crystal growth system is that the entire growth process including the solid-liquid interface can be viewed from any direction. Another is the use of an after-heater to reduce excess heat loss from the surface of the melt.
Optical synthesis of lossless double-pass networks using birefringent crystals
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Non ]oxide fiber optics such as heavy metal fluoride and chalcogenide glasses are extensively used in infrared transmitting applications such as communication systems, chemical sensors, and laser fiber guides for cutting, welding and medical surgery. The addition of rare earths such as erbium, enable these materials to be used as fiber laser and amplifiers. Some of these glasses however are very susceptible to crystallization. Even small crystals can lead to light scatter and a high attenuation coefficient, limiting their usefulness. Previously two research teams found that microgravity suppressed crystallization in heavy metal fluoride glasses. Looking for a less expensive method to suppress crystallization, ground based research was performed utilizing an axial magnetic field. The experiments revealed identical results to those obtained via microgravity processing. This research then led to a patented process for eliminating crystals in optical fiber preforms and the resulting optical fibers. In this paper, the microgravity results will be reviewed as well as patents and papers relating to the use of magnetic fields in various material and glass processing applications. Finally our patent to eliminate crystals in non ]oxide glasses utilizing a magnetic field will be detailed.
ZnSe crystals grown in sealed ampoules by the physical vapor transport method were monitored in situ using three techniques, simultaneously. A Michelson interferometer was set-up to observe the growth rate and surface morphological evolution. An interference pattern (interferogram) is formed by the interaction between the reflection of a HeNe laser (632.8 nm wavelength) off the crystal-vapor interface and a reference beam from the same laser. Preliminary results indicate that the rate of growth/thermal-etching can be calculated using analog data acquisition and simple fringe counting techniques. Gross surface features may also be observed using a digital frame grabber and fringe analysis software. The second in situ technique uses optical absorption to determine the partial pressures of the vapor species. The Se2 and Zn vapor species present in the sealed ampoule absorb light at characteristic wavelengths. The optical absorption is determined by monitoring the light intensity difference between the sample and reference beams. The Se2 Partial pressure profile along the length of the ampoule was estimated from the vibronic absorption peaks at 340.5, 350.8, 361.3 and 379.2 nm using the Beer's law constants established in the calibration runs of pure Se. Finally, because the high temperature crystal growth furnace contains windows, in situ visual observation of the growing crystal is also possible. The use of these techniques not only permits in situ investigation of high temperature vapor growth of semiconductors, but also offers the potential for real time feed back on the growing crystal and allows the possibility of actively controlling the growth process.
Bulk single crystals of a series of thermally stable nonlinear optical organic materials, Dicyanovinyl-anisole (DIVA) and their methoxy derivatives, have been successfully grown using the Bridgman-Stockbarger technique. The growth conditions are chosen to be temperature gradient of 5 to 10 C/cm and lowering rate of 0.1 to 0.3 mm/h. Single crystals of DIVA and its derivatives, of 8 x 8 x 50 cu mm in size, have been grown while maintaining a flat solid-liquid growth interface.
Electric field effects on optical rotary power of compensated cholesteric liquid crystal
Widely known for their uses in displays and electro-optics, liquid crystals are more than just technological marvels. They vividly reveal the topology and structure of various solitonic and singular field configurations, often markedly resembling the ones arising in many field theories and in the areas ranging from particle physics to optics, hard condensed matter and cosmology. In this review, we focus on chiral nematic liquid crystals to show how these experimentally highly accessible systems provide valuable insights into the structure and behavior of fractional, full, and multi-integer two-dimensional skyrmions, dislocations and both abelian and non-abelian defect lines, as well as various three-dimensionally localized, often knotted structures that include hopfions, heliknotons, torons and twistions. Finally, we provide comparisons of some of these field configurations with their topological counterparts in chiral magnets, discussing close analogies between these two condensed matter systems.
Electric-dipole optical second harmonic generation (SHG) is a second-order nonlinear process that is widely used as a sensitive probe to detect broken inversion symmetry and local polar order. Analytical modeling of the SHG polarimetry of a nonlinear optical material is essential to extract its point group symmetry and the absolute nonlinear susceptibilities. Current literature on SHG analysis involves numerous approximations and a wide range of (in)accuracies. We have developed an open-source package called the Second Harmonic Analysis of Anisotropic Rotational Polarimetry (#SHAARP.si) which derives analytical and numerical solutions of reflection SHG polarimetry from a single interface (.si) for bulk homogeneous crystals with arbitrary symmetry group, arbitrary crystal orientation, complex and anisotropic linear dielectric tensor with frequency dispersion, a general SHG tensor and arbitrary light polarization. #SHAARP.si enables accurate modeling of polarimetry measurements in reflection geometry from highly absorbing crystals or wedge-shaped transparent crystals. The package is extendable to multiple interfaces.