Observation of a train of attosecond pulses from high harmonic generation

In principle, the temporal beating of superposed high harmonics obtained by focusing a femtosecond laser pulse in a gas jet can produce a train of very short intensity spikes, depending on the relative phases of the harmonics. We present a method to measure such phases through two-photon, two-color photoionization. We found that the harmonics are locked in phase and form a train of 250-attosecond pulses in the time domain. Harmonic generation may be a promising source for attosecond time-resolved measurements.     

Time-resolved holography with photoelectrons

Ionization is the dominant response of atoms and molecules to intense laser fields and is at the basis of several important techniques, such as the generation of attosecond pulses that allow the measurement of electron motion in real time. We present experiments in which metastable xenon atoms were ionized with intense 7-micrometer laser pulses from a free-electron laser. Holographic structures were observed that record underlying electron dynamics on a sublaser-cycle time scale, enabling photoelectron spectroscopy with a time resolution of almost two orders of magnitude higher than the duration of the ionizing pulse.     

X-ray pulses approaching the attosecond frontier

Single soft-x-ray pulses of approximately 90-electron volt (eV) photon energy are produced by high-order harmonic generation with 7-femtosecond (fs), 770-nanometer (1.6 eV) laser pulses and are characterized by photoionizing krypton in the presence of the driver laser pulse. By detecting photoelectrons ejected perpendicularly to the laser polarization, broadening of the photoelectron spectrum due to absorption and emission of laser photons is suppressed, permitting the observation of a laser-induced downshift of the energy spectrum with sub-laser-cycle resolution in a cross correlation measurement. We measure isolated x-ray pulses of 1.8 (+0.7/-1.2) fs in duration, which are shorter than the oscillation cycle of the driving laser light (2.6 fs). Our techniques for generation and measurement offer sub-femtosecond resolution over a wide range of x-ray wavelengths, paving the way to experimental attosecond science. Tracing atomic processes evolving faster than the exciting light field is within reach.     

Ultrafast X-ray Pulses from Laser-Produced Plasmas

A high-temperature plasma is created when an intense laser pulse is focused onto the surface of a solid. An ultrafast pulse of x-ray radiation is emitted from such a plasma when the laser pulse length is less than a picosecond. A high-speed streak camera detector was used to determine the duration of these x-ray pulses, and computer simulations of the plasmas agree with the experimental results. Scaling laws predict that brighter and more efficient x-ray sources will be obtained by the use of more intense laser pulses. These sources can be used for time-resolved x-ray scattering studies and for the development of x-ray lasers.     

Ultrashort light pulses

Experimental techniques are now available for the generation of repetitive and single coherent optical pulses of extremely short time duration and high peak power. These pulses should find extensive application in basic and applied research. Additional shortening of optical pulse durations can be obtained by means of the stimulated Raman effect, second-harmonic generation, or amplification with nonlinear laser amplifiers.     

小鼠卵母细胞的电激活及胚胎电融合

为提高核移植的效率，采用SHIMADZU生产的SSH－2电融合仪进行小鼠卵母细胞电激活及2－细胞胚胎电融合，结果表明：（1）不同脉冲的卵激活率有极显著差异（P＜0．01），在2次脉冲和30μs的脉冲宽度的条件下，脉冲强度以0．1kV/cm最好，激活率达76．9％；（2）不同脉冲强度、脉冲次数和脉冲宽度的胚胎融合率亦有极显著差异（P＜0．01），最佳融合参数为0.1kv/cm,30μs的脉冲宽度及2脉冲，胚胎融合率达84．6％。     

脉冲场强和波形对小鼠卵母细胞电活化效果的影响

实验以一定持续时间与不同场强搭配的一次电脉冲对注射ｈＣＧ后１７和１９ｈ的小鼠卵母细胞进行电刺激，研究脉冲场强和波形对印母细胞活化效果的影响．结果说明：（１）在一定持续时间下，只有当场强增至一定值时才获得较高活化率（ｈＣＧ后１７ｈ卵，４０％～５５％左右；ｈＣＧ后１ｇｈ卵，４２％～７０％左右）；（２）在某一持续时间，获得较高活化率的场强不止一个，而是有一定范围；低于这一范围的场强因刺激强度不够至使许多卵母细胞不能活化，高于这一范围的场强则因刺激强度过大造成卵大量死亡而使活化率下降；（３）随脉冲持续时间倍减，获较高活化率的场强约以０．２ｋＶ／ｃｍ的强度递增；（４）与注ｈＣＧ后１７ｈ卵相比，ｈＣＧ后１９ｈ卵获较高活化率的场强范围更宽；（５）在同等条件下，不规则波形脉冲的卵活化率、碎裂率和死亡率都明显高于方波脉冲．     

Generation of femtosecond pulses of synchrotron radiation

Femtosecond synchrotron pulses were generated directly from an electron storage ring. An ultrashort laser pulse was used to modulate the energy of electrons within a 100-femtosecond slice of the stored 30-picosecond electron bunch. The energy-modulated electrons were spatially separated from the long bunch and used to generate approximately 300-femtosecond synchrotron pulses at a bend-magnet beamline, with a spectral range from infrared to x-ray wavelengths. The same technique can be used to generate approximately 100-femtosecond x-ray pulses of substantially higher flux and brightness with an undulator. Such synchrotron-based femtosecond x-ray sources offer the possibility of applying x-ray techniques on an ultrafast time scale to investigate structural dynamics in condensed matter.     

Stimulated Raman scattering in hydrogen-filled hollow-core photonic crystal fiber

We report on stimulated Raman scattering in an approximately 1-meter-long hollow-core photonic crystal fiber filled with hydrogen gas under pressure. Light was guided and confined in the 15-micrometer-diameter hollow core by a two-dimensional photonic bandgap. Using a pulsed laser source (pulse duration, 6 nanoseconds; wavelength, 532 nanometers), the threshold for Stokes (longer wavelength) generation was observed at pulse energies as low as 800 +/- 200 nanojoules, followed by a coherent anti-Stokes (shorter wavelength) generation threshold at 3.4 +/- 0.7 microjoules. The pump-to-Stokes conversion efficiency was 30 +/- 3% at a pulse energy of only 4.5 microjoules. These energies are almost two orders of magnitude lower than any other reported energy, moving gas-based nonlinear optics to previously inaccessible parameter regimes of high intensity and long interaction length.     

Enhanced optical emission during Crab giant radio pulses

We detected a correlation between optical and giant radio pulse emission from the Crab pulsar. Optical pulses coincident with the giant radio pulses were on average 3% brighter than those coincident with normal radio pulses. Combined with the lack of any other pulse profile changes, this result indicates that both the giant radio pulses and the increased optical emission are linked to an increase in the electron-positron plasma density.     

Generation of an artificial aurora

On 26 January 1969 an Aerobee 350 rocket was fired from Wallops Island, Virginia, carrying an electron accelerator. Above 230 kilometers the electron guns put out a beam of 0.5 ampere of 10 kev electrons in pulses of 1-second duration aimed downward along the earth's magnetic field lines. The interaction of electron beam with the atmosphere at an altitude of about 100 kilometers generated enough light so that the auroral rays produced could be photographed on the ground by television camera systems.     

Auditory system of noctuid moths

Insect-eating bats find their aerial food by sonar, through emitting ultrasonic chirps and locating sources of echoes. Certain moths have ears sensitive to these chirps and can detect bats well beyond the range of the bats' sonar. On hearing a distant bat, many moths turn and fly directly away from the source of ultrasound. Only one sense cell in each ear of a moth provides the primary nervous information for this response. This article describes my initial attempts to find out how a moth's central nervous system processes the train of chirps reaching its two ears. The ear of a restrained moth is exposed to a sequence of artifically generated ultrasonic pulses that approximates the cries made by a bat. This stimulus can be varied with respect to ultrasonic frequency (pitch), pulse intensity, pulse duration, the interval between pulses, and pulse-train duration. The more sensitive acoustic sense cell responds to all frequencies between about 15,000 and 80,000 cycles per second, but the signal that it transmits to the moth's central nervous system contains no measure of frequency within this range. However, this nerve signal reports variations in the other parameters of the stimulus. The acoustic fiber connects, in the central nervous system, with various nerve cells that transform the signal farther. The signal from a pulse-marker neuron contains no measures of pulse intensity or pulse duration, reporting only changes in interpulse interval and pulse-train duration. A train-marker neuron reports only the duration of the pulse train. The stimulus parameters may be likened to keys, each of which is necessary to gain admittance through a given door but becomes superfluous once this door has been passed. This analogy suggests one of the ways in which a signal is transformed in its passage through the nervous system, and how its specificity is assured in eliciting a given response. In addition to undergoing this kind of transformation, neural signals generated in the two directionally sensitive ears must be combined if a flying moth is to steer a course away from a distant bat. Neurons have been discovered in the central ganglia which summate signals from the right and left ears. Other neurons are inhibited in their activity by stimulation of one ear. The moth may combine signals from these neurons with motor-nerve information on the attitude of its own wings, which act as oscillating baffles modifying its directional acoustic sensitivity 20 to 40 times a second as it flaps an erratic path through the darkness.     

方波脉冲电场增强乳酸菌细胞通透性的条件优化

利用方波脉冲电场增强乳酸菌细胞通透性,通过将乳酸菌细胞离心,制成浓度为108cfu.mL-1菌悬液,采用不同方波电脉冲条件对其进行处理。结果表明,在0.5 mol.L-1蔗糖的等渗脉冲介质中,电场强度2.25kV.cm-1,脉冲宽度15μs,脉冲数5,间隔时间2 s,此时,乳酸菌细胞的存活率平均为78.24%,细胞内平均荧光强度为5 480。表明脉冲电场可有效增强乳酸菌细胞通透性。     

Dynamics of magnetic domain walls under their own inertia

The motion of magnetic domain walls induced by spin-polarized current has considerable potential for use in magnetic memory and logic devices. Key to the success of these devices is the precise positioning of individual domain walls along magnetic nanowires, using current pulses. We show that domain walls move surprisingly long distances of several micrometers and relax over several tens of nanoseconds, under their own inertia, when the current stimulus is removed. We also show that the net distance traveled by the domain wall is exactly proportional to the current pulse length because of the lag derived from its acceleration at the onset of the pulse. Thus, independent of its inertia, a domain wall can be accurately positioned using properly timed current pulses.     

Taste flashes: reaction times, intensity, and quality

Human simple reaction times and magnitude estimates of taste intensity increased as the duration of 500-millimolar sodium chloride or 2-millimolar saccharin sodium pulses lengthened from 100 to 1000 milliseconds. Responses to "What was the taste?" ranged from 94 to 100 percent "sweet" for saccharin and 68 to 83 percent "salty" for salt across all pulse durations when both substances were randomized with water pulses.     

Decametric radio pulses from jupiter: characteristics

On occasion the decametric radio bursts from Jupiter contain pulses of millisecond duration. Study of data for 2 years shows that the distribution in Jovian longitude of these fast pulses is different from that of the more common pulses of longer duration. The two classes of pulses also appear to be differently affected by the position of the innermost Galilean satellite.     

Deep-ultraviolet quantum interference metrology with ultrashort laser pulses

Precision spectroscopy at ultraviolet and shorter wavelengths has been hindered by the poor access of narrow-band lasers to that spectral region. We demonstrate high-accuracy quantum interference metrology on atomic transitions with the use of an amplified train of phase-controlled pulses from a femtosecond frequency comb laser. The peak power of these pulses allows for efficient harmonic upconversion, paving the way for extension of frequency comb metrology in atoms and ions to the extreme ultraviolet and soft x-ray spectral regions. A proof-of-principle experiment was performed on a deep-ultraviolet (2 x 212.55 nanometers) two-photon transition in krypton; relative to measurement with single nanosecond laser pulses, the accuracy of the absolute transition frequency and isotope shifts was improved by more than an order of magnitude.     

Isolated single-cycle attosecond pulses

We generated single-cycle isolated attosecond pulses around approximately 36 electron volts using phase-stabilized 5-femtosecond driving pulses with a modulated polarization state. Using a complete temporal characterization technique, we demonstrated the compression of the generated pulses for as low as 130 attoseconds, corresponding to less than 1.2 optical cycles. Numerical simulations of the generation process show that the carrier-envelope phase of the attosecond pulses is stable. The availability of single-cycle isolated attosecond pulses opens the way to a new regime in ultrafast physics, in which the strong-field electron dynamics in atoms and molecules is driven by the electric field of the attosecond pulses rather than by their intensity profile.     

Atomic stabilization by super-intense lasers

Supercomputer simulations predict the creation of an unexpectedly stable form of atomic matter when ordinary atoms are irradiated by very intense, high-frequency laser pulses. In the rising edge of a very intense pulse of ionizing radiation, the atom's wave function distorts adiabatically into a distribution with two well-separated peaks. As the intensity increases, the peak spacing increases so that the atomic electron spends more time far from the nucleus and the ionization rate decreases. This leads to the surprising and counter-intuitive result that the atom becomes more stable as the ionizing radiation gets stronger.     

有无透明带猪卵母细胞电激活参数的优化及体外培养方式的建立

[目的]摸索无透明带猪体外成熟卵母细胞(ZFOs)电激活的条件和无透明带孤雌激活胚胎(ZFEs)的体外培养方式,为手工克隆法生产广西巴马小型猪体细胞核移植奠定基础。[方法]用不同场强、脉冲时程和脉冲次数激活ZIOs、ZFOs,用不同培养方式(微滴法和微穴法)培养ZIEs和ZFEs,检查第7天的囊胚率及囊胚的总细胞数。[结果]有带猪体外成熟的卵母细胞电激活最佳场强和脉冲时程为125 V/(mm.80μs),微滴法培养的囊胚发育率为(30.54±11.06)%;无带猪体外成熟的卵母细胞电激活最佳场强和脉冲时程为85V/(mm.80μs),微穴法培养,其囊胚发育率为(12.77±6.98)%;单次脉冲的激活效果好于多次脉冲。[结论]对有无透明带胚胎的培养方式,微穴法培养无透明带胚胎,微滴法培养有带胚胎较合适,一次脉冲可以有效激活卵母细胞。