All-optical switching in rubidium vapor

We report on an all-optical switch that operates at low light levels. It consists of laser beams counterpropagating through a warm rubidium vapor that induce an off-axis optical pattern. A switching laser beam causes this pattern to rotate even when the power in the switching beam is much lower than the power in the pattern. The observed switching energy density is very low, suggesting that the switch might operate at the single-photon level with system optimization. This approach opens the possibility of realizing a single-photon switch for quantum information networks and for improving transparent optical telecommunication networks.     

激光测距森林罗盘仪的研究

笔者将激光技术应用于森林勘测,研制出具有可见光导向、激光测距和坡面直读水平距三项主要功能的新型测量工具。本仪由发射系统和接收系统两部分组成。发射系统发射出红色激光束,在森林环境中设置出既定方位的可见方向线,作业人员可按照红色光斑的指示砍伐测线。激光束通过半楔形透镜,分为具有一定夹角的两束光,在接收杆上直接读取实际距离值。在坡面上测量时,若接收杆垂直于水平面,读数为斜距。若接收杆垂直于坡面,读数则为水平距。利用遮光罩或定角器可以保证接收杆垂直于坡面,发明了在坡面上测距不经斜距换算而直接获得水平距的新技术。     

Quantum cascade laser

A semiconductor injection laser that differs in a fundamental way from diode lasers has been demonstrated. It is built out of quantum semiconductor structures that were grown by molecular beam epitaxy and designed by band structure engineering. Electrons streaming down a potential staircase sequentially emit photons at the steps. The steps consist of coupled quantum wells in which population inversion between discrete conduction band excited states is achieved by control of tunneling. A strong narrowing of the emission spectrum, above threshold, provides direct evidence of laser action at a wavelength of 4.2 micrometers with peak powers in excess of 8 milliwatts in pulsed operation. In quantum cascade lasers, the wavelength, entirely determined by quantum confinement, can be tailored from the mid-infrared to the submillimeter wave region in the same heterostructure material.     

Pattern formation in homogeneous polymer solutions induced by a continuous-wave visible laser

We report an unexpected nonphotothermal material organization induced by continuous-wave visible laser light at low power levels. This effect is observed along the laser beam propagation direction in fully transparent entangled solutions of common homopolymers featuring sufficiently high molecular mass and optical anisotropy along the chain backbone. The resulting formation of long-lived stringlike or dotlike patterns on the micrometer scale, probed by dark-field coherent imaging, depends on the molecular mass, architecture, solvent nature, and polymer concentration. Electrostrictive and alignment forces as well as chain cooperativity are responsible for the osmotic compression of the polymer solute. Subsequent waveguiding effects induce autoamplification and "pattern writing" upon prolonged illumination. This wave-medium coupling could potentially lead to photorefractive, microoptics, and nanotechnology applications.     

能量天平动圈位移的激光干涉测量研究

为精确测量普朗克常数h,实现能量天平法建立量子质量基准,提出了三轴双频激光外差干涉和折叠式Fabry-Perot(F-P)干涉绝对距离测量相结合的激光干涉测量方法,用于精密测量和定位能量天平装置中沿竖直方向在均匀磁场中运动的互感线圈位移。用三轴双频激光外差干涉精密测量运动线圈的质心位移和姿态,位移测量不确定度为10nm;进而将F-P腔干涉绝对距离测量与外差干涉测量结果进行比对和校准。仿真表明,采用本文方法,当位移测量范围约为30mm时,测量分辨率优于1nm。将该方法运用于真空中线圈位移测量,相对测量不确定度优于1.0×10-9。     

Monitoring the number and size of pests based on modulated infrared beam sensing technology

In order to identify the number and size of pests, a sensor based on modulated infrared sensing technology with narrow-line laser beam was developed. A mathematical model between the light current change and time was established when a pest passed through the sensor. This model indicated that the factors that influence light current change not only involved the pest dimensions but also other dimensions, such as the width of narrow-line laser beam and the height between the taper collecting mouth and the narrow-line laser beam. Therefore, information on pest numbers and dimensions, obtained from similar sensors in previous literature was inaccurate. However, quantitative analysis of the model showed that the external dimensions could be neglected if an appropriate width of the narrow-line laser beam was selected. Hence, it was set at 0.0005 m in this sensor. Experimental results indicated that the sensor could eliminate the influence of ambient light and had a good precision of pest counting and classifying, which were larger than 98 and 86.7% respectively.     

单模激光系统中输入信号后的统计涨落

应用信号调制色泵噪声和实虚部间关联量子噪声驱动的单模激光损失模型描述了单模激光系统.在计算其稳态平均光强相对涨落的基础上,在色泵噪声为长时关联的条件下,分析了单模激光系统的统计涨落与调制信号之间的关系,并讨论了系统的净增益和自饱和系数对激光系统统计涨落的影响.     

Photon number squeezed States in semiconductor lasers

Electromagnetic fields, with the noise on one quadrature component reduced to below the quantum mechanical zero-point fluctuation level and the noise on the other quadrature component enhanced to above it, are currently of great interest in quantum optics because of their potential applications to various precision measurements. Such squeezed states of light are usually produced by imposing nonlinear unitary evolution on coherent (or vacuum) states. On the other hand, squeezed states with reduced photon number noise and enhanced phase noise are generated directly by a constant current-driven semiconductor laser. This is the simplest scheme for the generation of nonclassical light, and so far it has yielded the largest quantum noise reduction. The mutual coupling between a lasing junction and an external electrical circuit provides opportunities for exploring the macroscopic and microscopic quantum effects in open systems.     

Nonlinear Optics in Relativistic Plasmas and Laser Wake Field Acceleration of Electrons

When a terawatt-peak-power laser beam is focused into a gas jet, an electron plasma wave, driven by forward Raman scattering, is observed to accelerate a naturally collimated beam of electrons to relativistic energies (up to 10(9) total electrons, with an energy distribution maximizing at 2 megaelectron volts, a transverse emittance as low as 1 millimeter-milliradian, and a field gradient of up to 2 gigaelectron volts per centimeter). Electron acceleration and the appearance of high-frequency modulations in the transmitted light spectrum were both found to have sharp thresholds in laser power and plasma density. A hole in the center of the electron beam may indicate that plasma electrons were expelled radially.     

激光深熔焊接小孔内等离子体的反韧致辐射吸收研究

在假设小孔为圆柱形的基础上，通过跟踪光线在小孔内的多次反射轨迹，对激光深熔焊接过程中小孔内等离子体的反韧致辐射吸收进行了研究，计算了小孔孔壁上吸收的激光功率密度，分析研究了孔壁的多次反射次数、聚焦透镜的焦距以及小孔直径等因素对孔壁上的激光功率密度分布的影响．计算结果表明：小孔孔壁通过等离子体的反韧致辐射吸收的激光功率密度主要取决于等离子体对直射激光的反韧致辐射吸收，小孔孔壁的多次反射光只对小孔下部孔壁的激光功率密度分布有一些影响．随着聚焦透镜焦距的增大，小孔孔壁上吸收的激光功率密度峰值减小，但分布区域向小孔深处推移．最后，对小孔孔壁上吸收的激光功率密度与小孔的尺寸之间的关系进行了讨论．小孔的尺寸取决于孔壁上吸收的激光功率密度大小．激光功率密度越大，小孔直径越大。     

Generating optical Schrödinger kittens for quantum information processing

We present a detailed experimental analysis of a free-propagating light pulse prepared in a "Schr?dinger kitten" state, which is defined as a quantum superposition of "classical" coherent states with small amplitudes. This kitten state is generated by subtracting one photon from a squeezed vacuum beam, and it clearly presents a negative Wigner function. The predicted influence of the experimental parameters is in excellent agreement with the experimental results. The amplitude of the coherent states can be amplified to transform our "Schr?dinger kittens" into bigger Schr?dinger cats, providing an essential tool for quantum information processing.     

Quantum Hall effect in polar oxide heterostructures

We observed Shubnikov-de Haas oscillation and the quantum Hall effect in a high-mobility two-dimensional electron gas in polar ZnO/Mg(x)Zn(1-x)O heterostructures grown by laser molecular beam epitaxy. The electron density could be controlled in a range of 0.7 x 10(12) to 3.7 x 10(12) per square centimeter by tuning the magnesium content in the barriers and the growth polarity. From the temperature dependence of the oscillation amplitude, the effective mass of the two-dimensional electrons was derived as 0.32 +/- 0.03 times the free electron mass. Demonstration of the quantum Hall effect in an oxide heterostructure presents the possibility of combining quantum Hall physics with the versatile functionality of metal oxides in complex heterostructures.     

High-resolution nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy in a circularly polarized laser beam

Nuclei in a fluid subjected to a continuous wave circularly polarized light beam are predicted to experience a static magnetic field proportional to E(+/-) x E(+/-), where E(+/-) is the electric vector of the right or left circularly polarized wave and the dot denotes a time derivative. The field strongly depends on the local electronic structure and is present in all atoms. For an intensity of 10 watts per square centimeter propagating in the direction of the field of a magnetic resonance spectrometer, the general theory presented here predicts shifts of +/- 4 x 10(-8) hertz for protons and +/- 10(-5) hertz for fluorine-19. Larger shifts are predicted if the laser frequency is near an optical absorption.     

2类典型偏振光束的非傍轴传输因子

运用傍轴矢量矩理论，对2类典型的偏振光束在非傍轴传输时的光束传输因子作了理论分析与数值计算，结果表明，在满足适当的条件时，光束传输因子可以小于1，并且当这2类偏振光束的二阶矩束腰相同且泪地0.54个波长时，存在相同的光束传输因子。该研究结果有助于加深对半导体激光束传输特性的认识，图3参9。     

High-gain backward lasing in air

The compelling need for standoff detection of hazardous gases and vapor indicators of explosives has motivated the development of a remotely pumped, high-gain air laser that produces lasing in the backward direction and can sample the air as the beam returns. We demonstrate that high gain can be achieved in the near-infrared region by pumping with a focused ultraviolet laser. The pumping mechanism is simultaneous resonant two-photon dissociation of molecular oxygen and resonant two-photon pumping of the atomic oxygen fragments. The high gain from the millimeter-length focal zone leads to equally strong lasing in the forward and backward directions. Further backward amplification is achieved with the use of earlier laser spark dissociation. Low-divergence backward air lasing provides possibilities for remote detection.     

High-Power Infrared (8-Micrometer Wavelength) Superlattice Lasers

A quantum-cascade long-wavelength infrared laser based on superlattice active regions has been demonstrated. In this source, electrons injected by tunneling emit photons corresponding to the energy gap (minigap) between two superlattice conduction bands (minibands). A distinctive design feature is the high oscillator strength of the optical transition. Pulsed operation at a wavelength of about 8 micrometers with peak powers ranging from approximately 0.80 watt at 80 kelvin to 0.2 watt at 200 kelvin has been demonstrated in a superlattice with 1-nanometer-thick AlInAs barriers and 4.3-nanometer-thick GaInAs quantum wells grown by molecular beam epitaxy. These results demonstrate the potential of strongly coupled superlattices as infrared laser materials for high-power sources in which the wavelength can be tailored by design.     

A quantum dot single-photon turnstile device

Quantum communication relies on the availability of light pulses with strong quantum correlations among photons. An example of such an optical source is a single-photon pulse with a vanishing probability for detecting two or more photons. Using pulsed laser excitation of a single quantum dot, a single-photon turnstile device that generates a train of single-photon pulses was demonstrated. For a spectrally isolated quantum dot, nearly 100% of the excitation pulses lead to emission of a single photon, yielding an ideal single-photon source.     

Optomechanically induced transparency

Electromagnetically induced transparency is a quantum interference effect observed in atoms and molecules, in which the optical response of an atomic medium is controlled by an electromagnetic field. We demonstrated a form of induced transparency enabled by radiation-pressure coupling of an optical and a mechanical mode. A control optical beam tuned to a sideband transition of a micro-optomechanical system leads to destructive interference for the excitation of an intracavity probe field, inducing a tunable transparency window for the probe beam. Optomechanically induced transparency may be used for slowing and on-chip storage of light pulses via microfabricated optomechanical arrays.     

Controlled phase shifts with a single quantum dot

Optical nonlinearities enable photon-photon interaction and lie at the heart of several proposals for quantum information processing, quantum nondemolition measurements of photons, and optical signal processing. To date, the largest nonlinearities have been realized with single atoms and atomic ensembles. We show that a single quantum dot coupled to a photonic crystal nanocavity can facilitate controlled phase and amplitude modulation between two modes of light at the single-photon level. At larger control powers, we observed phase shifts up to pi/4 and amplitude modulation up to 50%. This was accomplished by varying the photon number in the control beam at a wavelength that was the same as that of the signal, or at a wavelength that was detuned by several quantum dot linewidths from the signal. Our results present a step toward quantum logic devices and quantum nondemolition measurements on a chip.