Fiber Based Seed Laser for CO 2 Ultrafast Laser Systems

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Chen, Yuchuan

A compact and effective 10-micron femtosecond laser with pulse duration <500fs and repetition rate of >100Hz or smaller is desirable by DOE for seeding CO 2 ultrafast laser systems to improve the stability, reliability and efficiency in generating 10-micron laser from GW up to 100TW peak power, which is irreplaceable in driving an accelerator for particle beam generation due to the efficiency proportional to the square of the laser wavelength. Agiltron proposes a fiber based ultrafast 10-micron seed laser that can provide the required specifications and high performance. Its success will directly benefit DOE’s compact proton and ion sources. Themore » innovative technology can be used for ultrafast laser generation over the whole mid-IR range, and speed up the development of mid-IR laser applications. Agiltron, Inc. has successfully completed all tasks and demonstrated the feasibility of a fiber based 10-micron ultrafast laser in Phase I of the Program. We built a mode-locked fiber laser that generated < 400fs ultrafast laser pulses and successfully controlled the repetition rate to be the required 100Hz. Using this mode-locked laser, we demonstrated the feasibility of parametric femtosecond laser generation based on frequency down conversion. The experimental results agree with our simulation results. The investigation results of Phase I will be used to optimize the design of the laser system and build a fully functional prototype for delivery to the DOE in the Phase II program. The prototype development in Phase II program will be in the collaboration with Professor Chandrashekhar Joshi, the leader of UCLA Laser-Plasma group. Prof. Joshi discovered a new mechanism for generation of monoenergetic proton/ion beams: Shock Wave Acceleration in a near critical density plasma and demonstrated that high-energy proton beams using CO 2 laser driven collisionless shocks in a gas jet plasma, which opened an opportunity to develop a rather compact high-repetition rate

Ultrafast Phenomena XIV

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kobayashi, Takayoshi; Okada, Tadashi; Kobayashi, Tetsuro; Nelson, Keith A.; de Silvestri, Sandro

Ultrafast Phenomena XIV presents the latest advances in ultrafast science, including ultrafast laser and measurement technology as well as studies of ultrafast phenomena. Pico-, femto-, and atosecond processes relevant in physics, chemistry, biology, and engineering are presented. Ultrafast technology is now having a profound impact within a wide range of applications, among them imaging, material diagnostics, and transformation and high-speed optoelectronics . This book summarizes results presented at the 14th Ultrafast Phenomena Conference and reviews the state of the art in this important and rapidly advancing field.

Imaging Spatial Variations in the Dissipation and Transport of Thermal Energy within Individual Silicon Nanowires Using Ultrafast Microscopy.

PubMed

Cating, Emma E M; Pinion, Christopher W; Van Goethem, Erika M; Gabriel, Michelle M; Cahoon, James F; Papanikolas, John M

2016-01-13

Thermal management is an important consideration for most nanoelectronic devices, and an understanding of the thermal conductivity of individual device components is critical for the design of thermally efficient systems. However, it can be difficult to directly probe local changes in thermal conductivity within a nanoscale system. Here, we utilize the time-resolved and diffraction-limited imaging capabilities of ultrafast pump-probe microscopy to determine, in a contact-free configuration, the local thermal conductivity in individual Si nanowires (NWs). By suspending single NWs across microfabricated trenches in a quartz substrate, the properties of the same NW both on and off the substrate are directly compared. We find the substrate has no effect on the recombination lifetime or diffusion length of photogenerated charge carriers; however, it significantly impacts the thermal relaxation properties of the NW. In substrate-supported regions, thermal energy deposited into the lattice by the ultrafast laser pulse dissipates within ∼10 ns through thermal diffusion and coupling to the substrate. In suspended regions, the thermal energy persists for over 100 ns, and we directly image the time-resolved spatial motion of the thermal signal. Quantitative analysis of the transient images permits direct determination of the NW's local thermal conductivity, which we find to be a factor of ∼4 smaller than in bulk Si. Our results point to the strong potential of pump-probe microscopy to be used as an all-optical method to quantify the effects of localized environment and morphology on the thermal transport characteristics of individual nanostructured components.

Ultrafast characterization of optoelectronic devices and systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zheng, Xuemei

The recent fast growth in high-speed electronics and optoelectronics has placed demanding requirements on testing tools. Electro-optic (EO) sampling is a well-established technique for characterization of high-speed electronic and optoelectronic devices and circuits. However, with the progress in device miniaturization, lower power consumption (smaller signal), and higher throughput (higher clock rate), EO sampling also needs to be updated, accordingly, towards better signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and sensitivity, without speed sacrifice. In this thesis, a novel EO sampler with a single-crystal organic 4-dimethylamino-N-methy-4-stilbazolium tosylate (DAST) as the EO sensor is developed. The system exhibits sub-picosecond temporal resolution, sub-millivolt sensitivity, and a 10-fold improvement on SNR, compared with its LiTaO3 counterpart. The success is attributed to the very high EO coefficient, the very low dielectric constant, and the fast response, coming from the major contribution of the pi-electrons in DAST. With the advance of ultrafast laser technology, low-noise and compact femtosecond fiber lasers have come to maturation and become light-source options for ultrafast metrology systems. We have successfully integrated a femtosecond erbium-doped-fiber laser into an EO sampler, making the system compact and very reliable. The fact that EO sampling is essentially an impulse-response measurement process, requires integration of ultrashort (sub-picosecond) impulse generation network with the device under test. We have implemented a reliable lift-off and transfer technique in order to obtain epitaxial-quality freestanding low-temperature-grown GaAs (LT-GaAs) thin-film photo-switches, which can be integrated with many substrates. The photoresponse of our freestanding LT-GaAs devices was thoroughly characterized with the help of our EO sampler. As fast as 360 fs full-width-at-half-maximum (FWHM) and >1 V electrical pulses were obtained, with quantum efficiency

Nanoscale diffractive probing of strain dynamics in ultrafast transmission electron microscopy

PubMed Central

Feist, Armin; Rubiano da Silva, Nara; Liang, Wenxi; Ropers, Claus; Schäfer, Sascha

2018-01-01

The control of optically driven high-frequency strain waves in nanostructured systems is an essential ingredient for the further development of nanophononics. However, broadly applicable experimental means to quantitatively map such structural distortion on their intrinsic ultrafast time and nanometer length scales are still lacking. Here, we introduce ultrafast convergent beam electron diffraction with a nanoscale probe beam for the quantitative retrieval of the time-dependent local deformation gradient tensor. We demonstrate its capabilities by investigating the ultrafast acoustic deformations close to the edge of a single-crystalline graphite membrane. Tracking the structural distortion with a 28-nm/700-fs spatio-temporal resolution, we observe an acoustic membrane breathing mode with spatially modulated amplitude, governed by the optical near field structure at the membrane edge. Furthermore, an in-plane polarized acoustic shock wave is launched at the membrane edge, which triggers secondary acoustic shear waves with a pronounced spatio-temporal dependency. The experimental findings are compared to numerical acoustic wave simulations in the continuous medium limit, highlighting the importance of microscopic dissipation mechanisms and ballistic transport channels. PMID:29464187

Nanoscale diffractive probing of strain dynamics in ultrafast transmission electron microscopy.

PubMed

Feist, Armin; Rubiano da Silva, Nara; Liang, Wenxi; Ropers, Claus; Schäfer, Sascha

2018-01-01

The control of optically driven high-frequency strain waves in nanostructured systems is an essential ingredient for the further development of nanophononics. However, broadly applicable experimental means to quantitatively map such structural distortion on their intrinsic ultrafast time and nanometer length scales are still lacking. Here, we introduce ultrafast convergent beam electron diffraction with a nanoscale probe beam for the quantitative retrieval of the time-dependent local deformation gradient tensor. We demonstrate its capabilities by investigating the ultrafast acoustic deformations close to the edge of a single-crystalline graphite membrane. Tracking the structural distortion with a 28-nm/700-fs spatio-temporal resolution, we observe an acoustic membrane breathing mode with spatially modulated amplitude, governed by the optical near field structure at the membrane edge. Furthermore, an in-plane polarized acoustic shock wave is launched at the membrane edge, which triggers secondary acoustic shear waves with a pronounced spatio-temporal dependency. The experimental findings are compared to numerical acoustic wave simulations in the continuous medium limit, highlighting the importance of microscopic dissipation mechanisms and ballistic transport channels.

Direct Imaging of Long-Range Exciton Transport in Quantum Dot Superlattices by Ultrafast Microscopy.

PubMed

Yoon, Seog Joon; Guo, Zhi; Dos Santos Claro, Paula C; Shevchenko, Elena V; Huang, Libai

2016-07-26

Long-range charge and exciton transport in quantum dot (QD) solids is a crucial challenge in utilizing QDs for optoelectronic applications. Here, we present a direct visualization of exciton diffusion in highly ordered CdSe QDs superlattices by mapping exciton population using ultrafast transient absorption microscopy. A temporal resolution of ∼200 fs and a spatial precision of ∼50 nm of this technique provide a direct assessment of the upper limit for exciton transport in QD solids. An exciton diffusion length of ∼125 nm has been visualized in the 3 ns experimental time window and an exciton diffusion coefficient of (2.5 ± 0.2) × 10(-2) cm(2) s(-1) has been measured for superlattices constructed from 3.6 nm CdSe QDs with center-to-center distance of 6.7 nm. The measured exciton diffusion constant is in good agreement with Förster resonance energy transfer theory. We have found that exciton diffusion is greatly enhanced in the superlattices over the disordered films with an order of magnitude higher diffusion coefficient, pointing toward the role of disorder in limiting transport. This study provides important understandings on energy transport mechanisms in both the spatial and temporal domains in QD solids.

Material processing with fiber based ultrafast pulse delivery

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Baumbach, S.; Stockburger, R.; Führa, B.; Zoller, S.; Thum, S.; Moosmann, J.; Maier, D.; Kanal, F.; Russ, S.; Kaiser, E.; Budnicki, A.; Sutter, D. H.; Pricking, S.; Killi, A.

2018-02-01

We report on TRUMPF's ultrafast laser systems equipped with industrialized hollow core fiber laser light cables. Beam guidance in general by means of optical fibers, e.g. for multi kilowatt cw laser systems, has become an integral part of laser-based material processing. One advantage of fiber delivery, among others, is the mechanical separation between laser and processing head. An equally important benefit is given by the fact that the fiber end acts as an opto-mechanical fix-point close to successive optical elements in the processing head. Components like lenses, diffractive optical elements etc. can thus be designed towards higher efficiency which results in better material processing. These aspects gain increasing significance when the laser system operates in fundamental mode which is usually the case for ultrafast lasers. Through the last years beam guidance of ultrafast laser pulses by means of hollow core fiber technology established very rapidly. The combination of TRUMPF's long-term stable ultrafast laser sources, passive fiber coupling, connector and packaging forms a flexible and powerful system for laser based material processing well suited for an industrial environment. In this article we demonstrate common material processing applications with ultrafast lasers realized with TRUMPF's hollow core fiber delivery. The experimental results are contrasted and evaluated against conventional free space propagation in order to illustrate the performance of flexible ultrafast beam delivery.

Ultrafast magnetization reversal by picosecond electrical pulses

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Yang, Yang; Wilson, Richard B.; Gorchon, Jon

The field of spintronics involves the study of both spin and charge transport in solid-state devices. Ultrafast magnetism involves the use of femtosecond laser pulses to manipulate magnetic order on subpicosecond time scales. Here, we unite these phenomena by using picosecond charge current pulses to rapidly excite conduction electrons in magnetic metals. We observe deterministic, repeatable ultrafast reversal of the magnetization of a GdFeCo thin film with a single sub–10-ps electrical pulse. The magnetization reverses in ~10 ps, which is more than one order of magnitude faster than any other electrically controlled magnetic switching, and demonstrates a fundamentally new electricalmore » switching mechanism that does not require spin-polarized currents or spin-transfer/orbit torques. The energy density required for switching is low, projecting to only 4 fJ needed to switch a (20 nm) 3 cell. This discovery introduces a new field of research into ultrafast charge current–driven spintronic phenomena and devices.« less

Ultrafast magnetization reversal by picosecond electrical pulses

DOE PAGES

Yang, Yang; Wilson, Richard B.; Gorchon, Jon; ...

2017-11-03

The field of spintronics involves the study of both spin and charge transport in solid-state devices. Ultrafast magnetism involves the use of femtosecond laser pulses to manipulate magnetic order on subpicosecond time scales. Here, we unite these phenomena by using picosecond charge current pulses to rapidly excite conduction electrons in magnetic metals. We observe deterministic, repeatable ultrafast reversal of the magnetization of a GdFeCo thin film with a single sub–10-ps electrical pulse. The magnetization reverses in ~10 ps, which is more than one order of magnitude faster than any other electrically controlled magnetic switching, and demonstrates a fundamentally new electricalmore » switching mechanism that does not require spin-polarized currents or spin-transfer/orbit torques. The energy density required for switching is low, projecting to only 4 fJ needed to switch a (20 nm) 3 cell. This discovery introduces a new field of research into ultrafast charge current–driven spintronic phenomena and devices.« less

Measurements of ultrafast spin-profiles and spin-diffusion properties in the domain wall area at a metal/ferromagnetic film interface.

PubMed

Sant, T; Ksenzov, D; Capotondi, F; Pedersoli, E; Manfredda, M; Kiskinova, M; Zabel, H; Kläui, M; Lüning, J; Pietsch, U; Gutt, C

2017-11-08

Exciting a ferromagnetic material with an ultrashort IR laser pulse is known to induce spin dynamics by heating the spin system and by ultrafast spin diffusion processes. Here, we report on measurements of spin-profiles and spin diffusion properties in the vicinity of domain walls in the interface region between a metallic Al layer and a ferromagnetic Co/Pd thin film upon IR excitation. We followed the ultrafast temporal evolution by means of an ultrafast resonant magnetic scattering experiment in surface scattering geometry, which enables us to exploit the evolution of the domain network within a 1/e distance of 3 nm to 5 nm from the Al/FM film interface. We observe a magnetization-reversal close to the domain wall boundaries that becomes more pronounced closer to the Al/FM film interface. This magnetization-reversal is driven by the different transport properties of majority and minority carriers through a magnetically disordered domain network. Its finite lateral extension has allowed us to measure the ultrafast spin-diffusion coefficients and ultrafast spin velocities for majority and minority carriers upon IR excitation.

Indirect excitation of ultrafast demagnetization

DOE PAGES

Vodungbo, Boris; Tudu, Bahrati; Perron, Jonathan; ...

2016-01-06

Does the excitation of ultrafast magnetization require direct interaction between the photons of the optical pump pulse and the magnetic layer? Here, we demonstrate unambiguously that this is not the case. For this we have studied the magnetization dynamics of a ferromagnetic cobalt/palladium multilayer capped by an IR-opaque aluminum layer. Upon excitation with an intense femtosecond-short IR laser pulse, the film exhibits the classical ultrafast demagnetization phenomenon although only a negligible number of IR photons penetrate the aluminum layer. In comparison with an uncapped cobalt/palladium reference film, the initial demagnetization of the capped film occurs with a delayed onset andmore » at a slower rate. Both observations are qualitatively in line with energy transport from the aluminum layer into the underlying magnetic film by the excited, hot electrons of the aluminum film. As a result, our data thus confirm recent theoretical predictions.« less

Indirect excitation of ultrafast demagnetization

PubMed Central

Vodungbo, Boris; Tudu, Bahrati; Perron, Jonathan; Delaunay, Renaud; Müller, Leonard; Berntsen, Magnus H.; Grübel, Gerhard; Malinowski, Grégory; Weier, Christian; Gautier, Julien; Lambert, Guillaume; Zeitoun, Philippe; Gutt, Christian; Jal, Emmanuelle; Reid, Alexander H.; Granitzka, Patrick W.; Jaouen, Nicolas; Dakovski, Georgi L.; Moeller, Stefan; Minitti, Michael P.; Mitra, Ankush; Carron, Sebastian; Pfau, Bastian; von Korff Schmising, Clemens; Schneider, Michael; Eisebitt, Stefan; Lüning, Jan

2016-01-01

Does the excitation of ultrafast magnetization require direct interaction between the photons of the optical pump pulse and the magnetic layer? Here, we demonstrate unambiguously that this is not the case. For this we have studied the magnetization dynamics of a ferromagnetic cobalt/palladium multilayer capped by an IR-opaque aluminum layer. Upon excitation with an intense femtosecond-short IR laser pulse, the film exhibits the classical ultrafast demagnetization phenomenon although only a negligible number of IR photons penetrate the aluminum layer. In comparison with an uncapped cobalt/palladium reference film, the initial demagnetization of the capped film occurs with a delayed onset and at a slower rate. Both observations are qualitatively in line with energy transport from the aluminum layer into the underlying magnetic film by the excited, hot electrons of the aluminum film. Our data thus confirm recent theoretical predictions. PMID:26733106

Ultra-fast consensus of discrete-time multi-agent systems with multi-step predictive output feedback

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Wenle; Liu, Jianchang

2016-04-01

This article addresses the ultra-fast consensus problem of high-order discrete-time multi-agent systems based on a unified consensus framework. A novel multi-step predictive output mechanism is proposed under a directed communication topology containing a spanning tree. By predicting the outputs of a network several steps ahead and adding this information into the consensus protocol, it is shown that the asymptotic convergence factor is improved by a power of q + 1 compared to the routine consensus. The difficult problem of selecting the optimal control gain is solved well by introducing a variable called convergence step. In addition, the ultra-fast formation achievement is studied on the basis of this new consensus protocol. Finally, the ultra-fast consensus with respect to a reference model and robust consensus is discussed. Some simulations are performed to illustrate the effectiveness of the theoretical results.

4-D ultrafast shear-wave imaging.

PubMed

Gennisson, Jean-Luc; Provost, Jean; Deffieux, Thomas; Papadacci, Clément; Imbault, Marion; Pernot, Mathieu; Tanter, Mickael

2015-06-01

Over the last ten years, shear wave elastography (SWE) has seen considerable development and is now routinely used in clinics to provide mechanical characterization of tissues to improve diagnosis. The most advanced technique relies on the use of an ultrafast scanner to generate and image shear waves in real time in a 2-D plane at several thousands of frames per second. We have recently introduced 3-D ultrafast ultrasound imaging to acquire with matrix probes the 3-D propagation of shear waves generated by a dedicated radiation pressure transducer in a single acquisition. In this study, we demonstrate 3-D SWE based on ultrafast volumetric imaging in a clinically applicable configuration. A 32 × 32 matrix phased array driven by a customized, programmable, 1024-channel ultrasound system was designed to perform 4-D shear-wave imaging. A matrix phased array was used to generate and control in 3-D the shear waves inside the medium using the acoustic radiation force. The same matrix array was used with 3-D coherent plane wave compounding to perform high-quality ultrafast imaging of the shear wave propagation. Volumetric ultrafast acquisitions were then beamformed in 3-D using a delay-and-sum algorithm. 3-D volumetric maps of the shear modulus were reconstructed using a time-of-flight algorithm based on local multiscale cross-correlation of shear wave profiles in the three main directions using directional filters. Results are first presented in an isotropic homogeneous and elastic breast phantom. Then, a full 3-D stiffness reconstruction of the breast was performed in vivo on healthy volunteers. This new full 3-D ultrafast ultrasound system paves the way toward real-time 3-D SWE.

Ultrafast Magnetization Manipulation Using Single Femtosecond Light and Hot-Electron Pulses.

PubMed

Xu, Yong; Deb, Marwan; Malinowski, Grégory; Hehn, Michel; Zhao, Weisheng; Mangin, Stéphane

2017-11-01

Current-induced magnetization manipulation is a key issue for spintronic applications. This manipulation must be fast, deterministic, and nondestructive in order to function in device applications. Therefore, single- electronic-pulse-driven deterministic switching of the magnetization on the picosecond timescale represents a major step toward future developments of ultrafast spintronic systems. Here, the ultrafast magnetization dynamics in engineered Gd x [FeCo] 1- x -based structures are studied to compare the effect of femtosecond laser and hot-electron pulses. It is demonstrated that a single femtosecond hot-electron pulse causes deterministic magnetization reversal in either Gd-rich and FeCo-rich alloys similarly to a femtosecond laser pulse. In addition, it is shown that the limiting factor of such manipulation for perpendicular magnetized films arises from the formation of a multidomain state due to dipolar interactions. By performing time-resolved measurements under various magnetic fields, it is demonstrated that the same magnetization dynamics are observed for both light and hot-electron excitation, and that the full magnetization reversal takes place within 40 ps. The efficiency of the ultrafast current-induced magnetization manipulation is enhanced due to the ballistic transport of hot electrons before reaching the GdFeCo magnetic layer. © 2017 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Ultrafast photoelectron spectroscopy of small molecule organic films

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Read, Kendall Laine

As research in the field of ultrafast optics has produced shorter and shorter pulses, at an ever-widening range of frequencies, ultrafast spectroscopy has grown correspondingly. In particular, ultrafast photoelectron spectroscopy allows direct observation of electrons in transient or excited states, regardless of the eventual relaxation mechanisms. High-harmonic conversion of 800nm, femtosecond, Ti:sapphire laser pulses allows excite/probe spectroscopy down into atomic core level states. To this end, an ultrafast, X-UV photoelectron spectroscopic system is described, including design considerations for the high-harmonic generation line, the time of flight detector, and the subsequent data collection electronics. Using a similar experimental setup, I have performed several ultrafast, photoelectron excited state decay studies at the IBM, T. J. Watson Research Center. All of the observed materials were electroluminescent thin film organics, which have applications as the emitter layer in organic light emitting devices. The specific materials discussed are: Alq, BAlq, DPVBi, and Alq doped with DCM or DMQA. Alq:DCM is also known to lase at low photoexcitation thresholds. A detailed understanding of the involved relaxation mechanisms is beneficial to both applications. Using 3.14 eV excite, and 26.7 eV probe, 90 fs laser pulses, we have observed the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) decay rate over the first 200 picoseconds. During this time, diffusion is insignificant, and all dynamics occur in the absence of electron transport. With excitation intensities in the range of 100μJ/cm2, we have modeled the Alq, BAlq, and DPVBi decays via bimolecular singlet-singlet annihilation. At similar excitations, we have modeled the Alq:DCM decay via Förster transfer, stimulated emission, and excimeric formation. Furthermore, the Alq:DCM occupied to unoccupied molecular orbital energy gap was seen to shrink as a function of excite-to-probe delay, in accordance with the

Mega-electron-volt ultrafast electron diffraction at SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory.

PubMed

Weathersby, S P; Brown, G; Centurion, M; Chase, T F; Coffee, R; Corbett, J; Eichner, J P; Frisch, J C; Fry, A R; Gühr, M; Hartmann, N; Hast, C; Hettel, R; Jobe, R K; Jongewaard, E N; Lewandowski, J R; Li, R K; Lindenberg, A M; Makasyuk, I; May, J E; McCormick, D; Nguyen, M N; Reid, A H; Shen, X; Sokolowski-Tinten, K; Vecchione, T; Vetter, S L; Wu, J; Yang, J; Dürr, H A; Wang, X J

2015-07-01

Ultrafast electron probes are powerful tools, complementary to x-ray free-electron lasers, used to study structural dynamics in material, chemical, and biological sciences. High brightness, relativistic electron beams with femtosecond pulse duration can resolve details of the dynamic processes on atomic time and length scales. SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory recently launched the Ultrafast Electron Diffraction (UED) and microscopy Initiative aiming at developing the next generation ultrafast electron scattering instruments. As the first stage of the Initiative, a mega-electron-volt (MeV) UED system has been constructed and commissioned to serve ultrafast science experiments and instrumentation development. The system operates at 120-Hz repetition rate with outstanding performance. In this paper, we report on the SLAC MeV UED system and its performance, including the reciprocal space resolution, temporal resolution, and machine stability.

Ultrafast fiber lasers: practical applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pastirk, Igor; Sell, Alexander; Herda, Robert; Brodschelm, Andreas; Zach, Armin

2015-05-01

Over past three decades ultrafast lasers have come a long way from the bulky, demanding and very sensitive scientific research projects to widely available commercial products. For the majority of this period the titanium-sapphire-based ultrafast systems were the workhorse for scientific and emerging industrial and biomedical applications. However the complexity and intrinsic bulkiness of solid state lasers have prevented even larger penetration into wider array of practical applications. With emergence of femtosecond fiber lasers, based primarily on Er-doped and Yb-doped fibers that provide compact, inexpensive and dependable fs and ps pulses, new practical applications have become a reality. The overview of current state of the art ultrafast fiber sources, their basic principles and most prominent applications will be presented, including micromachining and biomedical implementations (ophthalmology) on one end of the pulse energy spectrum and 3D lithography and THz applications on the other.

Large-area tungsten disulfide for ultrafast photonics.

PubMed

Yan, Peiguang; Chen, Hao; Yin, Jinde; Xu, Zihan; Li, Jiarong; Jiang, Zike; Zhang, Wenfei; Wang, Jinzhang; Li, Irene Ling; Sun, Zhipei; Ruan, Shuangchen

2017-02-02

Two-dimensional (2D) layered transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) have attracted significant interest in various optoelectronic applications due to their excellent nonlinear optical properties. One of the most important applications of TMDs is to be employed as an extraordinary optical modulation material (e.g., the saturable absorber (SA)) in ultrafast photonics. The main challenge arises while embedding TMDs into fiber laser systems to generate ultrafast pulse trains and thus constraints their practical applications. Herein, few-layered WS 2 with a large-area was directly transferred on the facet of the pigtail and acted as a SA for erbium-doped fiber laser (EDFL) systems. In our study, WS 2 SA exhibited remarkable nonlinear optical properties (e.g., modulation depth of 15.1% and saturable intensity of 157.6 MW cm -2 ) and was used for ultrafast pulse generation. The soliton pulses with remarkable performances (e.g., ultrashort pulse duration of 1.49 ps, high stability of 71.8 dB, and large pulse average output power of 62.5 mW) could be obtained in a telecommunication band. To the best of our knowledge, the average output power of the mode-locked pulse trains is the highest by employing TMD materials in fiber laser systems. These results indicate that atomically large-area WS 2 could be used as excellent optical modulation materials in ultrafast photonics.

Interpreting Quasi-Thermal Effects in Ultrafast Spectroscopy of Hydrogen-Bonded Systems.

PubMed

Stingel, Ashley M; Petersen, Poul B

2018-03-15

Vibrational excitation of molecules in the condensed phase relaxes through vibrational modes of decreasing energy to ultimately generate an equilibrium state in which the energy is distributed among low-frequency modes. In ultrafast vibrational spectroscopy, changes in the vibrational features of hydrogen-bonded NH and OH stretch modes are typically observed to persist long after these high-frequency vibrations have relaxed. Due to the resemblance to the spectral changes caused by heating the sample, these features are typically described as arising from a hot ground state. However, these spectral features appear on ultrafast time scales that are much too fast to result from a true thermal state, and significant differences between the thermal difference spectrum and the induced quasi-thermal changes in ultrafast spectroscopy are often observed. Here, we examine and directly compare the thermal and quasi-thermal responses of the hydrogen-bonded homodimer of 7-azaindole with temperature-dependent FTIR spectroscopy and ultrafast mid-IR continuum spectroscopy. We find that the thermal difference spectra contain contributions from both dissociation of the hydrogen bonds and from frequency shifts due to changes in the thermal population of low-frequency modes. The transient spectra in ultrafast vibrational spectroscopy are also found to contain two contributions: initial frequency shifts over 2.3 ± 0.11 ps associated with equilibration of the initial excitation, and frequency shifts associated with the excitation of several fingerprint modes, which decay over 21.8 ± 0.11 ps, giving rise to a quasi-thermal response caused by a distribution of fingerprint modes being excited within the sample ensemble. This resembles the thermal frequency shifts due to population changes of low-frequency modes, but not the overall thermal spectrum, which is dominated by features caused by dimer dissociation. These findings provide insight into the changes in the vibrational spectrum

Mega-electron-volt ultrafast electron diffraction at SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Weathersby, S. P.; Brown, G.; Chase, T. F.

Ultrafast electron probes are powerful tools, complementary to x-ray free-electron lasers, used to study structural dynamics in material, chemical, and biological sciences. High brightness, relativistic electron beams with femtosecond pulse duration can resolve details of the dynamic processes on atomic time and length scales. SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory recently launched the Ultrafast Electron Diffraction (UED) and microscopy Initiative aiming at developing the next generation ultrafast electron scattering instruments. As the first stage of the Initiative, a mega-electron-volt (MeV) UED system has been constructed and commissioned to serve ultrafast science experiments and instrumentation development. The system operates at 120-Hz repetition ratemore » with outstanding performance. In this paper, we report on the SLAC MeV UED system and its performance, including the reciprocal space resolution, temporal resolution, and machine stability.« less

An integrated and highly sensitive ultrafast acoustoelectric imaging system for biomedical applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Berthon, Beatrice; Dansette, Pierre-Marc; Tanter, Mickaël; Pernot, Mathieu; Provost, Jean

2017-07-01

Direct imaging of the electrical activation of the heart is crucial to better understand and diagnose diseases linked to arrhythmias. This work presents an ultrafast acoustoelectric imaging (UAI) system for direct and non-invasive ultrafast mapping of propagating current densities using the acoustoelectric effect. Acoustoelectric imaging is based on the acoustoelectric effect, the modulation of the medium’s electrical impedance by a propagating ultrasonic wave. UAI triggers this effect with plane wave emissions to image current densities. An ultrasound research platform was fitted with electrodes connected to high common-mode rejection ratio amplifiers and sampled by up to 128 independent channels. The sequences developed allow for both real-time display of acoustoelectric maps and long ultrafast acquisition with fast off-line processing. The system was evaluated by injecting controlled currents into a saline pool via copper wire electrodes. Sensitivity to low current and low acoustic pressure were measured independently. Contrast and spatial resolution were measured for varying numbers of plane waves and compared to line per line acoustoelectric imaging with focused beams at equivalent peak pressure. Temporal resolution was assessed by measuring time-varying current densities associated with sinusoidal currents. Complex intensity distributions were also imaged in 3D. Electrical current densities were detected for injected currents as low as 0.56 mA. UAI outperformed conventional focused acoustoelectric imaging in terms of contrast and spatial resolution when using 3 and 13 plane waves or more, respectively. Neighboring sinusoidal currents with opposed phases were accurately imaged and separated. Time-varying currents were mapped and their frequency accurately measured for imaging frame rates up to 500 Hz. Finally, a 3D image of a complex intensity distribution was obtained. The results demonstrated the high sensitivity of the UAI system proposed. The plane wave

DURIP: A Confocal Imaging System for Ultra-Fast Three-Dimensional Transport Studies in Thermal Management Applications

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-12-01

Transport Phenomena and Thermal Management Applications,” Proceedings of the XXVIII UIT Heat Transfer Conference, Brescia, Italy, June 21-23, 2010...measurements in microscale systems. The integrated confocal microscope system is a critical component to obtain understanding of fluid- heat ...objective of this work was to develop a high speed three-dimensional (3D) confocal imaging system to study coupled fluidic and heat transport

Ultrafast Spectroscopic Noninvasive Probe of Vertical Carrier Transport in Heterostructure Devices (Second year of three year progress report)

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-10-01

properties in Army-relevant semiconductor materials and optoelectronic ( OE ) devices by developing and applying ultrafast optical spectroscopy techniques...met our Q6 through Q8 goals of incorporating electrical testing capabilities into our system, investigating OE devices under operating conditions...extending the capabilities of our system into the IR range, and investigating new OE devices. We have made significant progress towards our Q5 goal of

Ultrafast laser ablation for targeted atherosclerotic plaque removal

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lanvin, Thomas; Conkey, Donald B.; Descloux, Laurent; Frobert, Aurelien; Valentin, Jeremy; Goy, Jean-Jacques; Cook, Stéphane; Giraud, Marie-Noelle; Psaltis, Demetri

2015-07-01

Coronary artery disease, the main cause of heart disease, develops as immune cells and lipids accumulate into plaques within the coronary arterial wall. As a plaque grows, the tissue layer (fibrous cap) separating it from the blood flow becomes thinner and increasingly susceptible to rupturing and causing a potentially lethal thrombosis. The stabilization and/or treatment of atherosclerotic plaque is required to prevent rupturing and remains an unsolved medical problem. Here we show for the first time targeted, subsurface ablation of atherosclerotic plaque using ultrafast laser pulses. Excised atherosclerotic mouse aortas were ablated with ultrafast near-infrared (NIR) laser pulses. The physical damage was characterized with histological sections of the ablated atherosclerotic arteries from six different mice. The ultrafast ablation system was integrated with optical coherence tomography (OCT) imaging for plaque-specific targeting and monitoring of the resulting ablation volume. We find that ultrafast ablation of plaque just below the surface is possible without causing damage to the fibrous cap, which indicates the potential use of ultrafast ablation for subsurface atherosclerotic plaque removal. We further demonstrate ex vivo subsurface ablation of a plaque volume through a catheter device with the high-energy ultrafast pulse delivered via hollow-core photonic crystal fiber.

Conformationally controlled ultrafast intersystem crossing in bithiophene systems.

PubMed

Skov, Anders B; Larsen, Martin A B; Liisberg, Mikkel B; Hansen, Thorsten; Sølling, Theis I

2018-05-16

Bithiophenes serve as model systems for larger polythiophenes used in solar cell applications and molecular electronics. We report a study of ultrafast dynamics of two bithiophene systems measured with femtosecond time-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy, and show that their intersystem crossing takes place within the first few picoseconds after excitation, in line with previous studies. We show that the intersystem crossing rate can be explained in terms of arguments based on symmetry of the S1 minimum energy geometry, which depends on the specific conformation of bithiophene. Furthermore, this work shows that the minor cis-conformer contributes to an even higher intersystem crossing rate than the major trans conformer. The work presented here can provide guiding principles towards the design of solar cell components with even faster formation of long-lived excited states for solar energy harvesting.

Electric transport of a single-crystal iron chalcogenide FeSe superconductor: Evidence of symmetry-breakdown nematicity and additional ultrafast Dirac cone-like carriers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huynh, K. K.; Tanabe, Y.; Urata, T.; Oguro, H.; Heguri, S.; Watanabe, K.; Tanigaki, K.

2014-10-01

An SDW antiferromagnetic (SDW-AF) low-temperature phase transition is generally observed and the AF spin fluctuations are considered to play an important role for the superconductivity pairing mechanism in FeAs superconductors. However, a similar magnetic phase transition is not observed in FeSe superconductors, which has caused considerable discussion. We report on the intrinsic electronic states of FeSe as elucidated by electric transport measurements under magnetic fields using a high quality single crystal. A mobility spectrum analysis, an ab initio method that does not make assumptions on the transport parameters in a multicarrier system, provides very important and clear evidence that another hidden order, most likely the symmetry broken from the tetragonal C4 symmetry to the C2 symmetry nematicity associated with the selective d -orbital splitting, exists in the case of superconducting FeSe other than the AF magnetic order spin fluctuations. The intrinsic low-temperature phase in FeSe is in the almost compensated semimetallic states but is additionally accompanied by Dirac cone-like ultrafast electrons ˜104cm2(VS) -1 as minority carriers.

Plasmonic antennas as design elements for coherent ultrafast nanophotonics.

PubMed

Brinks, Daan; Castro-Lopez, Marta; Hildner, Richard; van Hulst, Niek F

2013-11-12

Broadband excitation of plasmons allows control of light-matter interaction with nanometric precision at femtosecond timescales. Research in the field has spiked in the past decade in an effort to turn ultrafast plasmonics into a diagnostic, microscopy, computational, and engineering tool for this novel nanometric-femtosecond regime. Despite great developments, this goal has yet to materialize. Previous work failed to provide the ability to engineer and control the ultrafast response of a plasmonic system at will, needed to fully realize the potential of ultrafast nanophotonics in physical, biological, and chemical applications. Here, we perform systematic measurements of the coherent response of plasmonic nanoantennas at femtosecond timescales and use them as building blocks in ultrafast plasmonic structures. We determine the coherent response of individual nanoantennas to femtosecond excitation. By mixing localized resonances of characterized antennas, we design coupled plasmonic structures to achieve well-defined ultrafast and phase-stable field dynamics in a predetermined nanoscale hotspot. We present two examples of the application of such structures: control of the spectral amplitude and phase of a pulse in the near field, and ultrafast switching of mutually coherent hotspots. This simple, reproducible and scalable approach transforms ultrafast plasmonics into a straightforward tool for use in fields as diverse as room temperature quantum optics, nanoscale solid-state physics, and quantum biology.

Space charge effects in ultrafast electron diffraction and imaging

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tao, Zhensheng; Zhang, He; Duxbury, P. M.; Berz, Martin; Ruan, Chong-Yu

2012-02-01

Understanding space charge effects is central for the development of high-brightness ultrafast electron diffraction and microscopy techniques for imaging material transformation with atomic scale detail at the fs to ps timescales. We present methods and results for direct ultrafast photoelectron beam characterization employing a shadow projection imaging technique to investigate the generation of ultrafast, non-uniform, intense photoelectron pulses in a dc photo-gun geometry. Combined with N-particle simulations and an analytical Gaussian model, we elucidate three essential space-charge-led features: the pulse lengthening following a power-law scaling, the broadening of the initial energy distribution, and the virtual cathode threshold. The impacts of these space charge effects on the performance of the next generation high-brightness ultrafast electron diffraction and imaging systems are evaluated.

Ultrafast Dephasing and Incoherent Light Photon Echoes in Organic Amorphous Systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yano, Ryuzi; Matsumoto, Yoshinori; Tani, Toshiro; Nakatsuka, Hiroki

1989-10-01

Incoherent light photon echoes were observed in organic amorphous systems (cresyl violet in polyvinyl alcohol and 1,4-dihydroxyanthraquinone in polymethacrylic acid) by using temporally-incoherent nanosecond laser pulses. It was found that an echo decay curve of an organic amorphous system is composed of a sharp peak which decays very rapidly and a slowly decaying wing at the tail. We show that the persistent hole burning (PHB) spectra were reproduced by the Fourier-cosine transforms of the echo decay curves. We claim that in general, we must take into account the multi-level feature of the system in order to explain ultrafast dephasing at very low temperatures.

Several new directions for ultrafast fiber lasers [Invited].

PubMed

Fu, Walter; Wright, Logan G; Sidorenko, Pavel; Backus, Sterling; Wise, Frank W

2018-04-16

Ultrafast fiber lasers have the potential to make applications of ultrashort pulses widespread - techniques not only for scientists, but also for doctors, manufacturing engineers, and more. Today, this potential is only realized in refractive surgery and some femtosecond micromachining. The existing market for ultrafast lasers remains dominated by solid-state lasers, primarily Ti:sapphire, due to their superior performance. Recent advances show routes to ultrafast fiber sources that provide performance and capabilities equal to, and in some cases beyond, those of Ti:sapphire, in compact, versatile, low-cost devices. In this paper, we discuss the prospects for future ultrafast fiber lasers built on new kinds of pulse generation that capitalize on nonlinear dynamics. We focus primarily on three promising directions: mode-locked oscillators that use nonlinearity to enhance performance; systems that use nonlinear pulse propagation to achieve ultrashort pulses without a mode-locked oscillator; and multimode fiber lasers that exploit nonlinearities in space and time to obtain unparalleled control over an electric field.

Feed-forward motor control of ultrafast, ballistic movements.

PubMed

Kagaya, K; Patek, S N

2016-02-01

To circumvent the limits of muscle, ultrafast movements achieve high power through the use of springs and latches. The time scale of these movements is too short for control through typical neuromuscular mechanisms, thus ultrafast movements are either invariant or controlled prior to movement. We tested whether mantis shrimp (Stomatopoda: Neogonodactylus bredini) vary their ultrafast smashing strikes and, if so, how this control is achieved prior to movement. We collected high-speed images of strike mechanics and electromyograms of the extensor and flexor muscles that control spring compression and latch release. During spring compression, lateral extensor and flexor units were co-activated. The strike initiated several milliseconds after the flexor units ceased, suggesting that flexor activity prevents spring release and determines the timing of strike initiation. We used linear mixed models and Akaike's information criterion to serially evaluate multiple hypotheses for control mechanisms. We found that variation in spring compression and strike angular velocity were statistically explained by spike activity of the extensor muscle. The results show that mantis shrimp can generate kinematically variable strikes and that their kinematics can be changed through adjustments to motor activity prior to the movement, thus supporting an upstream, central-nervous-system-based control of ultrafast movement. Based on these and other findings, we present a shishiodoshi model that illustrates alternative models of control in biological ballistic systems. The discovery of feed-forward control in mantis shrimp sets the stage for the assessment of targets, strategic variation in kinematics and the role of learning in ultrafast animals. © 2016. Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd.

New Aspects of Photocurrent Generation at Graphene pn Junctions Revealed by Ultrafast Optical Measurements

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Aivazian, Grant; Sun, Dong; Jones, Aaron; Ross, Jason; Yao, Wang; Cobden, David; Xu, Xiaodong

2012-02-01

The remarkable electrical and optical properties of graphene make it a promising material for new optoelectronic applications. However, one important, but so far unexplored, property is the role of hot carriers in charge and energy transport at graphene interfaces. Here we investigate the photocurrent (PC) dynamics at a tunable graphene pn junction using ultrafast scanning PC microscopy. Pump-probe measurements show a temperature dependent relaxation time of photogenerated carriers that increases from 1.5ps at 290K to 4ps at 20K; while the amplitude of the PC is independent of the lattice temperature. These observations imply that it is hot carriers, not phonons, which dominate ultrafast energy transport. Gate dependent measurements show many interesting features such as pump induced saturation, enhancement, and sign reversal of probe generated PC. These observations reveal that the underlying PC mechanism is a combination of the thermoelectric and built-in electric field effects. Our results enhance the understanding of non-equilibrium electron dynamics, electron-electron interactions, and electron-phonon interactions in graphene. They also determine fundamental limits on ultrafast device operation speeds (˜500 GHz) for graphene-based photodetectors.

Broadly tunable ultrafast pump-probe system operating at multi-kHz repetition rate

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Grupp, Alexander; Budweg, Arne; Fischer, Marco P.; Allerbeck, Jonas; Soavi, Giancarlo; Leitenstorfer, Alfred; Brida, Daniele

2018-01-01

Femtosecond systems based on ytterbium as active medium are ideal for driving ultrafast optical parametric amplifiers in a broad frequency range. The excellent stability of the source and the repetition rate tunable to up to hundreds of kHz allow for the implementation of an advanced two-color pump probe setup with the capability to achieve excellent signal-to-noise performances with sub-10 fs temporal resolution.

Ultrafast Graphene Light Emitters.

PubMed

Kim, Young Duck; Gao, Yuanda; Shiue, Ren-Jye; Wang, Lei; Aslan, Ozgur Burak; Bae, Myung-Ho; Kim, Hyungsik; Seo, Dongjea; Choi, Heon-Jin; Kim, Suk Hyun; Nemilentsau, Andrei; Low, Tony; Tan, Cheng; Efetov, Dmitri K; Taniguchi, Takashi; Watanabe, Kenji; Shepard, Kenneth L; Heinz, Tony F; Englund, Dirk; Hone, James

2018-02-14

Ultrafast electrically driven nanoscale light sources are critical components in nanophotonics. Compound semiconductor-based light sources for the nanophotonic platforms have been extensively investigated over the past decades. However, monolithic ultrafast light sources with a small footprint remain a challenge. Here, we demonstrate electrically driven ultrafast graphene light emitters that achieve light pulse generation with up to 10 GHz bandwidth across a broad spectral range from the visible to the near-infrared. The fast response results from ultrafast charge-carrier dynamics in graphene and weak electron-acoustic phonon-mediated coupling between the electronic and lattice degrees of freedom. We also find that encapsulating graphene with hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) layers strongly modifies the emission spectrum by changing the local optical density of states, thus providing up to 460% enhancement compared to the gray-body thermal radiation for a broad peak centered at 720 nm. Furthermore, the hBN encapsulation layers permit stable and bright visible thermal radiation with electronic temperatures up to 2000 K under ambient conditions as well as efficient ultrafast electronic cooling via near-field coupling to hybrid polaritonic modes under electrical excitation. These high-speed graphene light emitters provide a promising path for on-chip light sources for optical communications and other optoelectronic applications.

Modeling ultrafast exciton migration within the electron donor domains of bulk heterojunction organic photovoltaics

DOE PAGES

Bednarz, Mateusz; Lapin, Joel; McGillicuddy, Ryan; ...

2017-02-21

Recent experimental studies revealed that charge carriers harvested by bulk heterojunction organic photovoltaics can be collected on ultrafast time scales. To investigate ultrafast exciton mobility, we construct simple, nonatomistic models of a common polymeric electron donor material. We first explore the relationship between the magnitude of energetic noise in the model Hamiltonian and the spatial extent of resulting eigenstates. We then employ a quantum master equation approach to simulate migration of chromophore-localized initial excited states. Excitons initially localized on a single chromophore at the center of the model delocalize down polymer chains and across pi-stacked chromophores through a coherent, wavelikemore » mechanism during the first few tens of femtoseconds. We explore the dependence of this coherent delocalization on coupling strength and on the magnitude of energetic noise. At longer times we observe continued migration toward a uniform population distribution that proceeds through an incoherent, diffusive mechanism. A series of simulations modeling exciton harvesting in domains of varying size demonstrates that smaller domains enhance ultrafast exciton harvesting yield. Finally, our nonatomistic model falls short of quantitative accuracy but demonstrates that excitons are mobile within electron donor domains on ultrafast time scales and that coherent exciton transport can enhance ultrafast exciton harvesting.« less

Modeling ultrafast exciton migration within the electron donor domains of bulk heterojunction organic photovoltaics

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bednarz, Mateusz; Lapin, Joel; McGillicuddy, Ryan

Recent experimental studies revealed that charge carriers harvested by bulk heterojunction organic photovoltaics can be collected on ultrafast time scales. To investigate ultrafast exciton mobility, we construct simple, nonatomistic models of a common polymeric electron donor material. We first explore the relationship between the magnitude of energetic noise in the model Hamiltonian and the spatial extent of resulting eigenstates. We then employ a quantum master equation approach to simulate migration of chromophore-localized initial excited states. Excitons initially localized on a single chromophore at the center of the model delocalize down polymer chains and across pi-stacked chromophores through a coherent, wavelikemore » mechanism during the first few tens of femtoseconds. We explore the dependence of this coherent delocalization on coupling strength and on the magnitude of energetic noise. At longer times we observe continued migration toward a uniform population distribution that proceeds through an incoherent, diffusive mechanism. A series of simulations modeling exciton harvesting in domains of varying size demonstrates that smaller domains enhance ultrafast exciton harvesting yield. Finally, our nonatomistic model falls short of quantitative accuracy but demonstrates that excitons are mobile within electron donor domains on ultrafast time scales and that coherent exciton transport can enhance ultrafast exciton harvesting.« less

3D ultrafast ultrasound imaging in vivo.

PubMed

Provost, Jean; Papadacci, Clement; Arango, Juan Esteban; Imbault, Marion; Fink, Mathias; Gennisson, Jean-Luc; Tanter, Mickael; Pernot, Mathieu

2014-10-07

Very high frame rate ultrasound imaging has recently allowed for the extension of the applications of echography to new fields of study such as the functional imaging of the brain, cardiac electrophysiology, and the quantitative imaging of the intrinsic mechanical properties of tumors, to name a few, non-invasively and in real time. In this study, we present the first implementation of Ultrafast Ultrasound Imaging in 3D based on the use of either diverging or plane waves emanating from a sparse virtual array located behind the probe. It achieves high contrast and resolution while maintaining imaging rates of thousands of volumes per second. A customized portable ultrasound system was developed to sample 1024 independent channels and to drive a 32  ×  32 matrix-array probe. Its ability to track in 3D transient phenomena occurring in the millisecond range within a single ultrafast acquisition was demonstrated for 3D Shear-Wave Imaging, 3D Ultrafast Doppler Imaging, and, finally, 3D Ultrafast combined Tissue and Flow Doppler Imaging. The propagation of shear waves was tracked in a phantom and used to characterize its stiffness. 3D Ultrafast Doppler was used to obtain 3D maps of Pulsed Doppler, Color Doppler, and Power Doppler quantities in a single acquisition and revealed, at thousands of volumes per second, the complex 3D flow patterns occurring in the ventricles of the human heart during an entire cardiac cycle, as well as the 3D in vivo interaction of blood flow and wall motion during the pulse wave in the carotid at the bifurcation. This study demonstrates the potential of 3D Ultrafast Ultrasound Imaging for the 3D mapping of stiffness, tissue motion, and flow in humans in vivo and promises new clinical applications of ultrasound with reduced intra--and inter-observer variability.

Distributed ultrafast fibre laser

PubMed Central

Liu, Xueming; Cui, Yudong; Han, Dongdong; Yao, Xiankun; Sun, Zhipei

2015-01-01

A traditional ultrafast fibre laser has a constant cavity length that is independent of the pulse wavelength. The investigation of distributed ultrafast (DUF) lasers is conceptually and technically challenging and of great interest because the laser cavity length and fundamental cavity frequency are changeable based on the wavelength. Here, we propose and demonstrate a DUF fibre laser based on a linearly chirped fibre Bragg grating, where the total cavity length is linearly changeable as a function of the pulse wavelength. The spectral sidebands in DUF lasers are enhanced greatly, including the continuous-wave (CW) and pulse components. We observe that all sidebands of the pulse experience the same round-trip time although they have different round-trip distances and refractive indices. The pulse-shaping of the DUF laser is dominated by the dissipative processes in addition to the phase modulations, which makes our ultrafast laser simple and stable. This laser provides a simple, stable, low-cost, ultrafast-pulsed source with controllable and changeable cavity frequency. PMID:25765454

Roadmap on ultrafast optics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Reid, Derryck T.; Heyl, Christoph M.; Thomson, Robert R.; Trebino, Rick; Steinmeyer, Günter; Fielding, Helen H.; Holzwarth, Ronald; Zhang, Zhigang; Del'Haye, Pascal; Südmeyer, Thomas; Mourou, Gérard; Tajima, Toshiki; Faccio, Daniele; Harren, Frans J. M.; Cerullo, Giulio

2016-09-01

The year 2015 marked the 25th anniversary of modern ultrafast optics, since the demonstration of the first Kerr lens modelocked Ti:sapphire laser in 1990 (Spence et al 1990 Conf. on Lasers and Electro-Optics, CLEO, pp 619-20) heralded an explosion of scientific and engineering innovation. The impact of this disruptive technology extended well beyond the previous discipline boundaries of lasers, reaching into biology labs, manufacturing facilities, and even consumer healthcare and electronics. In recognition of such a milestone, this roadmap on Ultrafast Optics draws together articles from some of the key opinion leaders in the field to provide a freeze-frame of the state-of-the-art, while also attempting to forecast the technical and scientific paradigms which will define the field over the next 25 years. While no roadmap can be fully comprehensive, the thirteen articles here reflect the most exciting technical opportunities presented at the current time in Ultrafast Optics. Several articles examine the future landscape for ultrafast light sources, from practical solid-state/fiber lasers and Raman microresonators to exotic attosecond extreme ultraviolet and possibly even zeptosecond x-ray pulses. Others address the control and measurement challenges, requiring radical approaches to harness nonlinear effects such as filamentation and parametric generation, coupled with the question of how to most accurately characterise the field of ultrafast pulses simultaneously in space and time. Applications of ultrafast sources in materials processing, spectroscopy and time-resolved chemistry are also discussed, highlighting the improvements in performance possible by using lasers of higher peak power and repetition rate, or by exploiting the phase stability of emerging new frequency comb sources.

Unraveling shock-induced chemistry using ultrafast lasers

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Moore, David Steven

The exquisite time synchronicity between shock and diagnostics needed to unravel chemical events occurring in picoseconds has been achieved using a shaped ultrafast laser pulse to both drive the shocks and interrogate the sample via a multiplicity of optical diagnostics. The shaped laser drive pulse can produce well-controlled shock states of sub-ns duration with sub-10 ps risetimes, sufficient for investigation offast reactions or phase transformations in a thin layer with picosecond time resolution. The shock state is characterized using ultrafast dynamic ellipsometry (UDE) in either planar or Gaussian spatial geometries, the latter allowing measurements of the equation of state ofmore » materials at a range of stresses in a single laser pulse. Time-resolved processes in materials are being interrogated using UDE, ultrafast infrared absorption, ultrafast UV/visible absorption, and femtosecond stimulated Raman spectroscopy. Using these tools we showed that chemistry in an energetic thin film starts only after an induction time of a few tens of ps, an observation that allows differentiation between proposed shock-induced reaction mechanisms. These tools are presently being applied to a variety of energetic and reactive sample systems, from nitromethane and carbon disulfide, to microengineered interfaces in tunable energetic mixtures. Recent results will be presented, and future trends outlined.« less

Ultrafast and nonlinear surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy.

PubMed

Gruenke, Natalie L; Cardinal, M Fernanda; McAnally, Michael O; Frontiera, Renee R; Schatz, George C; Van Duyne, Richard P

2016-04-21

Ultrafast surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) has the potential to study molecular dynamics near plasmonic surfaces to better understand plasmon-mediated chemical reactions such as plasmonically-enhanced photocatalytic or photovoltaic processes. This review discusses the combination of ultrafast Raman spectroscopic techniques with plasmonic substrates for high temporal resolution, high sensitivity, and high spatial resolution vibrational spectroscopy. First, we introduce background information relevant to ultrafast SERS: the mechanisms of surface enhancement in Raman scattering, the characterization of plasmonic materials with ultrafast techniques, and early complementary techniques to study molecule-plasmon interactions. We then discuss recent advances in surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopies with ultrafast pulses with a focus on the study of molecule-plasmon coupling and molecular dynamics with high sensitivity. We also highlight the challenges faced by this field by the potential damage caused by concentrated, highly energetic pulsed fields in plasmonic hotspots, and finally the potential for future ultrafast SERS studies.

Ultrafast Science Opportunities with Electron Microscopy

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Durr, Hermann

X-rays and electrons are two of the most fundamental probes of matter. When the Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS), the world’s first x-ray free electron laser, began operation in 2009, it transformed ultrafast science with the ability to generate laser-like x-ray pulses from the manipulation of relativistic electron beams. This document describes a similar future transformation. In Transmission Electron Microscopy, ultrafast relativistic (MeV energy) electron pulses can achieve unsurpassed spatial and temporal resolution. Ultrafast temporal resolution will be the next frontier in electron microscopy and can ideally complement ultrafast x-ray science done with free electron lasers. This document describes themore » Grand Challenge science opportunities in chemistry, material science, physics and biology that arise from an MeV ultrafast electron diffraction & microscopy facility, especially when coupled with linac-based intense THz and X-ray pump capabilities.« less

Current-limiting and ultrafast system for the characterization of resistive random access memories.

PubMed

Diaz-Fortuny, J; Maestro, M; Martin-Martinez, J; Crespo-Yepes, A; Rodriguez, R; Nafria, M; Aymerich, X

2016-06-01

A new system for the ultrafast characterization of resistive switching phenomenon is developed to acquire the current during the Set and Reset process in a microsecond time scale. A new electronic circuit has been developed as a part of the main setup system, which is capable of (i) applying a hardware current limit ranging from nanoampers up to miliampers and (ii) converting the Set and Reset exponential gate current range into an equivalent linear voltage. The complete system setup allows measuring with a microsecond resolution. Some examples demonstrate that, with the developed setup, an in-depth analysis of resistive switching phenomenon and random telegraph noise can be made.

Gain-guided soliton fiber laser with high-quality rectangle spectrum for ultrafast time-stretch microscopy.

PubMed

Hu, Song; Yao, Jian; Liu, Meng; Luo, Ai-Ping; Luo, Zhi-Chao; Xu, Wen-Cheng

2016-05-16

The ultrafast time-stretch microscopy has been proposed to enhance the temporal resolution of a microscopy system. The optical source is a key component for ultrafast time-stretch microscopy system. Herein, we reported on the gain-guided soliton fiber laser with high-quality rectangle spectrum for ultrafast time-stretch microscopy. By virtue of the excellent characteristics of the gain-guided soliton, the output power and the 3-dB bandwidth of the stable mode-locked soliton could be up to 3 mW and 33.7 nm with a high-quality rectangle shape, respectively. With the proposed robust optical source, the ultrafast time-stretch microscopy with the 49.6 μm resolution and a scan rate of 11 MHz was achieved without the external optical amplification. The obtained results demonstrated that the gain-guided soliton fiber laser could be used as an alternative high-quality optical source for ultrafast time-stretch microscopy and will introduce some applications in fields such as biology, chemical, and optical sensing.

Ultrafast quantum computation in ultrastrongly coupled circuit QED systems.

PubMed

Wang, Yimin; Guo, Chu; Zhang, Guo-Qiang; Wang, Gangcheng; Wu, Chunfeng

2017-03-10

The latest technological progress of achieving the ultrastrong-coupling regime in circuit quantum electrodynamics (QED) systems has greatly promoted the developments of quantum physics, where novel quantum optics phenomena and potential computational benefits have been predicted. Here, we propose a scheme to accelerate the nontrivial two-qubit phase gate in a circuit QED system, where superconducting flux qubits are ultrastrongly coupled to a transmission line resonator (TLR), and two more TLRs are coupled to the ultrastrongly-coupled system for assistant. The nontrivial unconventional geometric phase gate between the two flux qubits is achieved based on close-loop displacements of the three-mode intracavity fields. Moreover, as there are three resonators contributing to the phase accumulation, the requirement of the coupling strength to realize the two-qubit gate can be reduced. Further reduction in the coupling strength to achieve a specific controlled-phase gate can be realized by adding more auxiliary resonators to the ultrastrongly-coupled system through superconducting quantum interference devices. We also present a study of our scheme with realistic parameters considering imperfect controls and noisy environment. Our scheme possesses the merits of ultrafastness and noise-tolerance due to the advantages of geometric phases.

Ultrafast quantum computation in ultrastrongly coupled circuit QED systems

PubMed Central

Wang, Yimin; Guo, Chu; Zhang, Guo-Qiang; Wang, Gangcheng; Wu, Chunfeng

2017-01-01

The latest technological progress of achieving the ultrastrong-coupling regime in circuit quantum electrodynamics (QED) systems has greatly promoted the developments of quantum physics, where novel quantum optics phenomena and potential computational benefits have been predicted. Here, we propose a scheme to accelerate the nontrivial two-qubit phase gate in a circuit QED system, where superconducting flux qubits are ultrastrongly coupled to a transmission line resonator (TLR), and two more TLRs are coupled to the ultrastrongly-coupled system for assistant. The nontrivial unconventional geometric phase gate between the two flux qubits is achieved based on close-loop displacements of the three-mode intracavity fields. Moreover, as there are three resonators contributing to the phase accumulation, the requirement of the coupling strength to realize the two-qubit gate can be reduced. Further reduction in the coupling strength to achieve a specific controlled-phase gate can be realized by adding more auxiliary resonators to the ultrastrongly-coupled system through superconducting quantum interference devices. We also present a study of our scheme with realistic parameters considering imperfect controls and noisy environment. Our scheme possesses the merits of ultrafastness and noise-tolerance due to the advantages of geometric phases. PMID:28281654

Direct observation of ultrafast many-body electron dynamics in an ultracold Rydberg gas

PubMed Central

Takei, Nobuyuki; Sommer, Christian; Genes, Claudiu; Pupillo, Guido; Goto, Haruka; Koyasu, Kuniaki; Chiba, Hisashi; Weidemüller, Matthias; Ohmori, Kenji

2016-01-01

Many-body correlations govern a variety of important quantum phenomena such as the emergence of superconductivity and magnetism. Understanding quantum many-body systems is thus one of the central goals of modern sciences. Here we demonstrate an experimental approach towards this goal by utilizing an ultracold Rydberg gas generated with a broadband picosecond laser pulse. We follow the ultrafast evolution of its electronic coherence by time-domain Ramsey interferometry with attosecond precision. The observed electronic coherence shows an ultrafast oscillation with a period of 1 femtosecond, whose phase shift on the attosecond timescale is consistent with many-body correlations among Rydberg atoms beyond mean-field approximations. This coherent and ultrafast many-body dynamics is actively controlled by tuning the orbital size and population of the Rydberg state, as well as the mean atomic distance. Our approach will offer a versatile platform to observe and manipulate non-equilibrium dynamics of quantum many-body systems on the ultrafast timescale. PMID:27849054

Spin-controlled ultrafast vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Höpfner, Henning; Lindemann, Markus; Gerhardt, Nils C.; Hofmann, Martin R.

2014-05-01

Spin-controlled semiconductor lasers are highly attractive spintronic devices providing characteristics superior to their conventional purely charge-based counterparts. In particular, spin-controlled vertical-cavity surface emitting lasers (spin-VCSELs) promise to offer lower thresholds, enhanced emission intensity, spin amplification, full polarization control, chirp control and ultrafast dynamics. Most important, the ability to control and modulate the polarization state of the laser emission with extraordinarily high frequencies is very attractive for many applications like broadband optical communication and ultrafast optical switches. We present a novel concept for ultrafast spin-VCSELs which has the potential to overcome the conventional speed limitation for directly modulated lasers by the relaxation oscillation frequency and to reach modulation frequencies significantly above 100 GHz. The concept is based on the coupled spin-photon dynamics in birefringent micro-cavity lasers. By injecting spin-polarized carriers in the VCSEL, oscillations of the coupled spin-photon system can by induced which lead to oscillations of the polarization state of the laser emission. These oscillations are decoupled from conventional relaxation oscillations of the carrier-photon system and can be much faster than these. Utilizing these polarization oscillations is thus a very promising approach to develop ultrafast spin-VCSELs for high speed optical data communication in the near future. Different aspects of the spin and polarization dynamics, its connection to birefringence and bistability in the cavity, controlled switching of the oscillations, and the limitations of this novel approach will be analysed theoretically and experimentally for spin-polarized VCSELs at room temperature.

Ultrafast optical ranging using microresonator soliton frequency combs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Trocha, P.; Karpov, M.; Ganin, D.; Pfeiffer, M. H. P.; Kordts, A.; Wolf, S.; Krockenberger, J.; Marin-Palomo, P.; Weimann, C.; Randel, S.; Freude, W.; Kippenberg, T. J.; Koos, C.

2018-02-01

Light detection and ranging is widely used in science and industry. Over the past decade, optical frequency combs were shown to offer advantages in optical ranging, enabling fast distance acquisition with high accuracy. Driven by emerging high-volume applications such as industrial sensing, drone navigation, or autonomous driving, there is now a growing demand for compact ranging systems. Here, we show that soliton Kerr comb generation in integrated silicon nitride microresonators provides a route to high-performance chip-scale ranging systems. We demonstrate dual-comb distance measurements with Allan deviations down to 12 nanometers at averaging times of 13 microseconds along with ultrafast ranging at acquisition rates of 100 megahertz, allowing for in-flight sampling of gun projectiles moving at 150 meters per second. Combining integrated soliton-comb ranging systems with chip-scale nanophotonic phased arrays could enable compact ultrafast ranging systems for emerging mass applications.

High-harmonic spectroscopy of ultrafast many-body dynamics in strongly correlated systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Silva, R. E. F.; Blinov, Igor V.; Rubtsov, Alexey N.; Smirnova, O.; Ivanov, M.

2018-05-01

We bring together two topics that, until now, have been the focus of intense but non-overlapping research efforts. The first concerns high-harmonic generation in solids, which occurs when an intense light field excites a highly non-equilibrium electronic response in a semiconductor or a dielectric. The second concerns many-body dynamics in strongly correlated systems such as the Mott insulator. We show that high-harmonic generation can be used to time-resolve ultrafast many-body dynamics associated with an optically driven phase transition, with accuracy far exceeding one cycle of the driving light field. Our work paves the way for time-resolving highly non-equilibrium many-body dynamics in strongly correlated systems, with few femtosecond accuracy.

Circularly polarized attosecond pulse generation and applications to ultrafast magnetism

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bandrauk, André D.; Guo, Jing; Yuan, Kai-Jun

2017-12-01

Attosecond science is a growing new field of research and potential applications which relies on the development of attosecond light sources. Achievements in the generation and application of attosecond pulses enable to investigate electron dynamics in the nonlinear nonperturbative regime of laser-matter interactions on the electron’s natural time scale, the attosecond. In this review, we describe the generation of circularly polarized attosecond pulses and their applications to induce attosecond magnetic fields, new tools for ultrafast magnetism. Simulations are performed on aligned one-electron molecular ions by using nonperturbative nonlinear solutions of the time-dependent Schrödinger equation. We discuss how bichromatic circularly polarized laser pulses with co-rotating or counter-rotating components induce electron-parent ion recollisions, thus producing circularly polarized high-order harmonic generation, the source of circularly polarized attosecond pulses. Ultrafast quantum electron currents created by the generated attosecond pulses give rise to attosecond magnetic field pulses. The results provide a guiding principle for producing circularly polarized attosecond pulses and ultrafast magnetic fields in complex molecular systems for future research in ultrafast magneto-optics.

Ultrafast spin exchange-coupling torque via photo-excited charge-transfer processes

DOE PAGES

Ma, X.; Fang, F.; Li, Q.; ...

2015-10-28

In this study, optical control of spin is of central importance in the research of ultrafast spintronic devices utilizing spin dynamics at short time scales. Recently developed optical approaches such as ultrafast demagnetization, spin-transfer and spin-orbit torques open new pathways to manipulate spin through its interaction with photon, orbit, charge or phonon. However, these processes are limited by either the long thermal recovery time or the low-temperature requirement. Here we experimentally demonstrate ultrafast coherent spin precession via optical charge-transfer processes in the exchange-coupled Fe/CoO system at room temperature. The efficiency of spin precession excitation is significantly higher and the recoverymore » time of the exchange-coupling torque is much shorter than for the demagnetization procedure, which is desirable for fast switching. The exchange coupling is a key issue in spin valves and tunnelling junctions, and hence our findings will help promote the development of exchange-coupled device concepts for ultrafast coherent spin manipulation.« less

Ultrafast spin exchange-coupling torque via photo-excited charge-transfer processes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ma, X.; Fang, F.; Li, Q.; Zhu, J.; Yang, Y.; Wu, Y. Z.; Zhao, H. B.; Lüpke, G.

2015-10-01

Optical control of spin is of central importance in the research of ultrafast spintronic devices utilizing spin dynamics at short time scales. Recently developed optical approaches such as ultrafast demagnetization, spin-transfer and spin-orbit torques open new pathways to manipulate spin through its interaction with photon, orbit, charge or phonon. However, these processes are limited by either the long thermal recovery time or the low-temperature requirement. Here we experimentally demonstrate ultrafast coherent spin precession via optical charge-transfer processes in the exchange-coupled Fe/CoO system at room temperature. The efficiency of spin precession excitation is significantly higher and the recovery time of the exchange-coupling torque is much shorter than for the demagnetization procedure, which is desirable for fast switching. The exchange coupling is a key issue in spin valves and tunnelling junctions, and hence our findings will help promote the development of exchange-coupled device concepts for ultrafast coherent spin manipulation.

Femtosecond coherent nuclear dynamics of excited tetraphenylethylene: Ultrafast transient absorption and ultrafast Raman loss spectroscopic studies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kayal, Surajit; Roy, Khokan; Umapathy, Siva

2018-01-01

Ultrafast torsional dynamics plays an important role in the photoinduced excited state dynamics. Tetraphenylethylene (TPE), a model system for the molecular motor, executes interesting torsional dynamics upon photoexcitation. The photoreaction of TPE involves ultrafast internal conversion via a nearly planar intermediate state (relaxed state) that further leads to a twisted zwitterionic state. Here, we report the photoinduced structural dynamics of excited TPE during the course of photoisomerization in the condensed phase by ultrafast Raman loss (URLS) and femtosecond transient absorption (TA) spectroscopy. TA measurements on the S1 state reveal step-wise population relaxation from the Franck-Condon (FC) state → relaxed state → twisted state, while the URLS study provides insights on the vibrational dynamics during the course of the reaction. The TA spectral dynamics and vibrational Raman amplitudes within 1 ps reveal vibrational wave packet propagating from the FC state to the relaxed state. Fourier transformation of this oscillation leads to a ˜130 cm-1 low-frequency phenyl torsional mode. Two vibrational marker bands, Cet=Cet stretching (˜1512 cm-1) and Cph=Cph stretching (˜1584 cm-1) modes, appear immediately after photoexcitation in the URLS spectra. The initial red-shift of the Cph=Cph stretching mode with a time constant of ˜400 fs (in butyronitrile) is assigned to the rate of planarization of excited TPE. In addition, the Cet=Cet stretching mode shows initial blue-shift within 1 ps followed by frequency red-shift, suggesting that on the sub-picosecond time scale, structural relaxation is dominated by phenyl torsion rather than the central Cet=Cet twist. Furthermore, the effect of the solvent on the structural dynamics is discussed in the context of ultrafast nuclear dynamics and solute-solvent coupling.

Femtosecond coherent nuclear dynamics of excited tetraphenylethylene: Ultrafast transient absorption and ultrafast Raman loss spectroscopic studies.

PubMed

Kayal, Surajit; Roy, Khokan; Umapathy, Siva

2018-01-14

Ultrafast torsional dynamics plays an important role in the photoinduced excited state dynamics. Tetraphenylethylene (TPE), a model system for the molecular motor, executes interesting torsional dynamics upon photoexcitation. The photoreaction of TPE involves ultrafast internal conversion via a nearly planar intermediate state (relaxed state) that further leads to a twisted zwitterionic state. Here, we report the photoinduced structural dynamics of excited TPE during the course of photoisomerization in the condensed phase by ultrafast Raman loss (URLS) and femtosecond transient absorption (TA) spectroscopy. TA measurements on the S 1 state reveal step-wise population relaxation from the Franck-Condon (FC) state → relaxed state → twisted state, while the URLS study provides insights on the vibrational dynamics during the course of the reaction. The TA spectral dynamics and vibrational Raman amplitudes within 1 ps reveal vibrational wave packet propagating from the FC state to the relaxed state. Fourier transformation of this oscillation leads to a ∼130 cm -1 low-frequency phenyl torsional mode. Two vibrational marker bands, C et =C et stretching (∼1512 cm -1 ) and C ph =C ph stretching (∼1584 cm -1 ) modes, appear immediately after photoexcitation in the URLS spectra. The initial red-shift of the C ph =C ph stretching mode with a time constant of ∼400 fs (in butyronitrile) is assigned to the rate of planarization of excited TPE. In addition, the C et =C et stretching mode shows initial blue-shift within 1 ps followed by frequency red-shift, suggesting that on the sub-picosecond time scale, structural relaxation is dominated by phenyl torsion rather than the central C et =C et twist. Furthermore, the effect of the solvent on the structural dynamics is discussed in the context of ultrafast nuclear dynamics and solute-solvent coupling.

EDITORIAL: Ultrafast magnetization processes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hillebrands, Burkard

2008-09-01

This Cluster Issue of Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics is devoted to ultrafast magnetization processes. It reports on the scientific yield of the Priority Programme 1133 'Ultrafast Magnetization Processes' which was funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft in the period 2002-2008 in three successive two-year funding periods, supporting research of 17-18 groups in Germany. Now, at the end of this Priority Programme, the members feel that the achievements made in the course of the programme merit communication to the international scientific community in a concerted way. Therefore, each of the projects of the last funding period presents a key result in a published contribution to this Cluster Issue. The purpose of the funding by a Priority Programme is to advance knowledge in an emerging field of research through collaborative networked support over several locations. Priority Programmes are characterized by their enhanced quality of research through the use of new methods and forms of collaboration in emerging fields, by added value through interdisciplinary cooperation, and by networking. The aim of the Priority Programme 1133 'Ultrafast Magnetization Processes' may be well characterized by the call for projects in June 2001 after the programme was approved by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft: 'The aim of the priority programme is the achievement of a basic understanding of the temporal evolution of fast magnetization processes in magnetically ordered films, multilayers and micro-structured systems. The challenge lies in the advancement of the field of ultrafast magnetization processes into the regime of a few femtoseconds to nanoseconds, a topic not yet well explored. A general aim is to understand the fundamental mechanisms needed for applications in ultrafast magneto-electronic devices. The fundamental topic to be addressed is the response of the magnetization of small structures upon the application of pulsed magnetic fields, laser pulses or

Harmonium: An Ultrafast Vacuum Ultraviolet Facility.

PubMed

Arrell, Christopher A; Ojeda, José; Longetti, Luca; Crepaldi, Alberto; Roth, Silvan; Gatti, Gianmarco; Clark, Andrew; van Mourik, Frank; Drabbels, Marcel; Grioni, Marco; Chergui, Majed

2017-05-31

Harmonium is a vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) photon source built within the Lausanne Centre for Ultrafast Science (LACUS). Utilising high harmonic generation, photons from 20-110 eV are available to conduct steady-state or ultrafast photoelectron and photoion spectroscopies (PES and PIS). A pulse preserving monochromator provides either high energy resolution (70 meV) or high temporal resolution (40 fs). Three endstations have been commissioned for: a) PES of liquids; b) angular resolved PES (ARPES) of solids and; c) coincidence PES and PIS of gas phase molecules or clusters. The source has several key advantages: high repetition rate (up to 15 kHz) and high photon flux (1011 photons per second at 38 eV). The capabilities of the facility complement the Swiss ultrafast and X-ray community (SwissFEL, SLS, NCCR MUST, etc.) helping to maintain Switzerland's leading role in ultrafast science in the world.

Scanning ultrafast electron microscopy.

PubMed

Yang, Ding-Shyue; Mohammed, Omar F; Zewail, Ahmed H

2010-08-24

Progress has been made in the development of four-dimensional ultrafast electron microscopy, which enables space-time imaging of structural dynamics in the condensed phase. In ultrafast electron microscopy, the electrons are accelerated, typically to 200 keV, and the microscope operates in the transmission mode. Here, we report the development of scanning ultrafast electron microscopy using a field-emission-source configuration. Scanning of pulses is made in the single-electron mode, for which the pulse contains at most one or a few electrons, thus achieving imaging without the space-charge effect between electrons, and still in ten(s) of seconds. For imaging, the secondary electrons from surface structures are detected, as demonstrated here for material surfaces and biological specimens. By recording backscattered electrons, diffraction patterns from single crystals were also obtained. Scanning pulsed-electron microscopy with the acquired spatiotemporal resolutions, and its efficient heat-dissipation feature, is now poised to provide in situ 4D imaging and with environmental capability.

Scanning ultrafast electron microscopy

PubMed Central

Yang, Ding-Shyue; Mohammed, Omar F.; Zewail, Ahmed H.

2010-01-01

Progress has been made in the development of four-dimensional ultrafast electron microscopy, which enables space-time imaging of structural dynamics in the condensed phase. In ultrafast electron microscopy, the electrons are accelerated, typically to 200 keV, and the microscope operates in the transmission mode. Here, we report the development of scanning ultrafast electron microscopy using a field-emission-source configuration. Scanning of pulses is made in the single-electron mode, for which the pulse contains at most one or a few electrons, thus achieving imaging without the space-charge effect between electrons, and still in ten(s) of seconds. For imaging, the secondary electrons from surface structures are detected, as demonstrated here for material surfaces and biological specimens. By recording backscattered electrons, diffraction patterns from single crystals were also obtained. Scanning pulsed-electron microscopy with the acquired spatiotemporal resolutions, and its efficient heat-dissipation feature, is now poised to provide in situ 4D imaging and with environmental capability. PMID:20696933

Ultrafast polarisation spectroscopy of photoinduced charges in a conjugated polymer

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bakulin, A A; Loosdrecht, P van; Pshenichnikov, M S

2009-07-31

Tunable optical parametric generators and amplifiers (OPA), proposed and developed by Akhmanov and his colleagues, have become the working horses in exploration of dynamical processes in physics, chemistry, and biology. In this paper, we demonstrate the possibility of using ultrafast polarisation-sensitive two-colour spectroscopy, performed with a set of two OPAs, to study charge photogeneration and transport in conjugated polymers and their donor-acceptor blends. (special issue devoted to the 80th birthday of S.A. Akhmanov)

Pump polarization insensitive and efficient laser-diode pumped Yb:KYW ultrafast oscillator.

PubMed

Wang, Sha; Wang, Yan-Biao; Feng, Guo-Ying; Zhou, Shou-Huan

2016-02-01

We theoretically and experimentally report and evaluate a novel split laser-diode (LD) double-end pumped Yb:KYW ultrafast oscillator aimed at improving the performance of an ultrafast laser. Compared to a conventional unpolarized single-LD end-pumped ultrafast laser system, we improve the laser performance such as absorption efficiency, slope efficiency, cw mode-locking threshold, and output power by this new structure LD-pumped Yb:KYW ultrafast laser. Experiments were carried out with a 1 W output fiber-coupled LD. Experimental results show that the absorption increases from 38.7% to 48.4%, laser slope efficiency increases from 18.3% to 24.2%, cw mode-locking threshold decreases 12.7% from 630 to 550 mW in cw mode-locking threshold, and maximum output-power increases 28.5% from 158.4 to 221.5 mW when we switch the pump scheme from an unpolarized single-end pumping structure to a split LD double-end pumping structure.

Characterization of solution-phase drug-protein interactions by ultrafast affinity extraction.

PubMed

Beeram, Sandya R; Zheng, Xiwei; Suh, Kyungah; Hage, David S

2018-03-03

A number of tools based on high-performance affinity separations have been developed for studying drug-protein interactions. An example of one recent approach is ultrafast affinity extraction. This method has been employed to examine the free (or non-bound) fractions of drugs and other solutes in simple or complex samples that contain soluble binding agents. These free fractions have also been used to determine the binding constants and rate constants for the interactions of drugs with these soluble agents. This report describes the general principles of ultrafast affinity extraction and the experimental conditions under which it can be used to characterize such interactions. This method will be illustrated by utilizing data that have been obtained when using this approach to measure the binding and dissociation of various drugs with the serum transport proteins human serum albumin and alpha 1 -acid glycoprotein. A number of practical factors will be discussed that should be considered in the design and optimization of this approach for use with single-column or multi-column systems. Techniques will also be described for analyzing the resulting data for the determination of free fractions, rate constants and binding constants. In addition, the extension of this method to complex samples, such as clinical specimens, will be considered. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Absorption spectrum and ultrafast response of monolayer and bilayer transition-metal dichalcogenides

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Turkowski, Volodymyr; Ramirez-Torres, Alfredo; Rahman, Talat S.

2015-03-01

We apply a combined time-dependent density functional theory and many-body theory approach to examine the absorption spectrum and nonequilibrium response of monolayer and bilayer MoS2, MoSe2, WS2 and WSe2 systems. In particular, we evaluate the possibility of existence of bound states - excitons and trions in the undoped systems. In a previous work we have already demonstrated that the binding energies of these states in the monolayer systems are large which makes them available for room temperature applications. We analyze the possibility of ultrafast electron-hole separation in bilayer systems through inter-layer hole transfer, and show that such a possibility exists, in agreement with experimental observations. For doped systems we consider the possibility of Mahan excitonic states in monolayers and show that the binding energy for these states is of the order of 10 meV. We perform a detailed analysis of the relaxation of doped monolayers excited by ultrafast laser pulse by taking into account electron-phonon scattering effects, and demonstrate that ultrafast (10-100fs) processes, including luminescence, may be relevant for these materials. Work supported in part by DOE Grant No. DOE-DE-FG02-07ER46354.

High-speed ultrafast laser machining with tertiary beam positioning (Conference Presentation)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, Chuan; Zhang, Haibin

2017-03-01

For an industrial laser application, high process throughput and low average cost of ownership are critical to commercial success. Benefiting from high peak power, nonlinear absorption and small-achievable spot size, ultrafast lasers offer advantages of minimal heat affected zone, great taper and sidewall quality, and small via capability that exceeds the limits of their predecessors in via drilling for electronic packaging. In the past decade, ultrafast lasers have both grown in power and reduced in cost. For example, recently, disk and fiber technology have both shown stable operation in the 50W to 200W range, mostly at high repetition rate (beyond 500 kHz) that helps avoid detrimental nonlinear effects. However, to effectively and efficiently scale the throughput with the fast-growing power capability of the ultrafast lasers while keeping the beneficial laser-material interactions is very challenging, mainly because of the bottleneck imposed by the inertia-related acceleration limit and servo gain bandwidth when only stages and galvanometers are being used. On the other side, inertia-free scanning solutions like acoustic optics and electronic optical deflectors have small scan field, and therefore not suitable for large-panel processing. Our recent system developments combine stages, galvanometers, and AODs into a coordinated tertiary architecture for high bandwidth and meanwhile large field beam positioning. Synchronized three-level movements allow extremely fast local speed and continuous motion over the whole stage travel range. We present the via drilling results from such ultrafast system with up to 3MHz pulse to pulse random access, enabling high quality low cost ultrafast machining with emerging high average power laser sources.

Ultrafast demagnetization at high temperatures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hoveyda, F.; Hohenstein, E.; Judge, R.; Smadici, S.

2018-05-01

Time-resolved pump-probe measurements were made at variable heat accumulation in Co/Pd superlattices. Heat accumulation increases the baseline temperature and decreases the equilibrium magnetization. Transient ultrafast demagnetization first develops with higher fluence in parallel with strong equilibrium thermal spin fluctuations. The ultrafast demagnetization is then gradually removed as the equilibrium temperature approaches the Curie temperature. The transient magnetization time-dependence is well fit with the spin-flip scattering model.

Staggered Multiple-PRF Ultrafast Color Doppler.

PubMed

Posada, Daniel; Poree, Jonathan; Pellissier, Arnaud; Chayer, Boris; Tournoux, Francois; Cloutier, Guy; Garcia, Damien

2016-06-01

Color Doppler imaging is an established pulsed ultrasound technique to visualize blood flow non-invasively. High-frame-rate (ultrafast) color Doppler, by emissions of plane or circular wavefronts, allows severalfold increase in frame rates. Conventional and ultrafast color Doppler are both limited by the range-velocity dilemma, which may result in velocity folding (aliasing) for large depths and/or large velocities. We investigated multiple pulse-repetition-frequency (PRF) emissions arranged in a series of staggered intervals to remove aliasing in ultrafast color Doppler. Staggered PRF is an emission process where time delays between successive pulse transmissions change in an alternating way. We tested staggered dual- and triple-PRF ultrafast color Doppler, 1) in vitro in a spinning disc and a free jet flow, and 2) in vivo in a human left ventricle. The in vitro results showed that the Nyquist velocity could be extended to up to 6 times the conventional limit. We found coefficients of determination r(2) ≥ 0.98 between the de-aliased and ground-truth velocities. Consistent de-aliased Doppler images were also obtained in the human left heart. Our results demonstrate that staggered multiple-PRF ultrafast color Doppler is efficient for high-velocity high-frame-rate blood flow imaging. This is particularly relevant for new developments in ultrasound imaging relying on accurate velocity measurements.

Quantum modeling of ultrafast photoinduced charge separation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rozzi, Carlo Andrea; Troiani, Filippo; Tavernelli, Ivano

2018-01-01

Phenomena involving electron transfer are ubiquitous in nature, photosynthesis and enzymes or protein activity being prominent examples. Their deep understanding thus represents a mandatory scientific goal. Moreover, controlling the separation of photogenerated charges is a crucial prerequisite in many applicative contexts, including quantum electronics, photo-electrochemical water splitting, photocatalytic dye degradation, and energy conversion. In particular, photoinduced charge separation is the pivotal step driving the storage of sun light into electrical or chemical energy. If properly mastered, these processes may also allow us to achieve a better command of information storage at the nanoscale, as required for the development of molecular electronics, optical switching, or quantum technologies, amongst others. In this Topical Review we survey recent progress in the understanding of ultrafast charge separation from photoexcited states. We report the state-of-the-art of the observation and theoretical description of charge separation phenomena in the ultrafast regime mainly focusing on molecular- and nano-sized solar energy conversion systems. In particular, we examine different proposed mechanisms driving ultrafast charge dynamics, with particular regard to the role of quantum coherence and electron-nuclear coupling, and link experimental observations to theoretical approaches based either on model Hamiltonians or on first principles simulations.

Ultrafast demagnetization by hot electrons: Diffusion or super-diffusion?

PubMed

Salvatella, G; Gort, R; Bühlmann, K; Däster, S; Vaterlaus, A; Acremann, Y

2016-09-01

Ultrafast demagnetization of ferromagnetic metals can be achieved by a heat pulse propagating in the electron gas of a non-magnetic metal layer, which absorbs a pump laser pulse. Demagnetization by electronic heating is investigated on samples with different thicknesses of the absorber layer on nickel. This allows us to separate the contribution of thermalized hot electrons compared to non-thermal electrons. An analytical model describes the demagnetization amplitude as a function of the absorber thickness. The observed change of demagnetization time can be reproduced by diffusive heat transport through the absorber layer.

Theoretical Study of Ultrafast Electron Injection into a Dye/TiO2 System in Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lin, Chundan; Xia, Qide; Li, Kuan; Li, Juan; Yang, Zhenqing

2018-06-01

The ultrafast injection of excited electrons in dye/TiO2 system plays a critical role, which determines the device's efficiency in large part. In this work, we studied the geometrical structures and electronic properties of a dye/TiO2 composite system for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) by using density functional theory, and we analyzed the mechanism of ultrafast electron injection with emphasis on the power conversion efficiency. The results show that the dye SPL103/TiO2 (101) surface is more stable than dye SPL101. The electron injection driving force of SPL103/TiO2 (101) is 3.55 times that of SPL101, indicating that SPL103/TiO2 (101) has a strong ability to transfer electrons. SPL103 and SPL101/TiO2 (101) both have fast electron transfer processes, and especially the electron injection time of SPL103/TiO2 (101) is only 1.875 fs. The results of this work are expected to provide a new understanding of the mechanism of electron injection in dyes/TiO2 systems for use in highly effective DSSCs.

Ultrafast electron dynamics in phenylalanine initiated by attosecond pulses.

PubMed

Calegari, F; Ayuso, D; Trabattoni, A; Belshaw, L; De Camillis, S; Anumula, S; Frassetto, F; Poletto, L; Palacios, A; Decleva, P; Greenwood, J B; Martín, F; Nisoli, M

2014-10-17

In the past decade, attosecond technology has opened up the investigation of ultrafast electronic processes in atoms, simple molecules, and solids. Here, we report the application of isolated attosecond pulses to prompt ionization of the amino acid phenylalanine and the subsequent detection of ultrafast dynamics on a sub-4.5-femtosecond temporal scale, which is shorter than the vibrational response of the molecule. The ability to initiate and observe such electronic dynamics in polyatomic molecules represents a crucial step forward in attosecond science, which is progressively moving toward the investigation of more and more complex systems. Copyright © 2014, American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Time-resolved single-shot terahertz time-domain spectroscopy for ultrafast irreversible processes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhai, Zhao-Hui; Zhong, Sen-Cheng; Li, Jun; Zhu, Li-Guo; Meng, Kun; Li, Jiang; Liu, Qiao; Peng, Qi-Xian; Li, Ze-Ren; Zhao, Jian-Heng

2016-09-01

Pulsed terahertz spectroscopy is suitable for spectroscopic diagnostics of ultrafast events. However, the study of irreversible or single shot ultrafast events requires ability to record transient properties at multiple time delays, i.e., time resolved at single shot level, which is not available currently. Here by angular multiplexing use of femtosecond laser pulses, we developed and demonstrated a time resolved, transient terahertz time domain spectroscopy technique, where burst mode THz pulses were generated and then detected in a single shot measurement manner. The burst mode THz pulses contain 2 sub-THz pulses, and the time gap between them is adjustable up to 1 ns with picosecond accuracy, thus it can be used to probe the single shot event at two different time delays. The system can detect the sub-THz pulses at 0.1 THz-2.5 THz range with signal to noise ratio (SNR) of ˜400 and spectrum resolution of 0.05 THz. System design was described here, and optimizations of single shot measurement of THz pulses were discussed in detail. Methods to improve SNR were also discussed in detail. A system application was demonstrated where pulsed THz signals at different time delays of the ultrafast process were successfully acquired within single shot measurement. This time resolved transient terahertz time domain spectroscopy technique provides a new diagnostic tool for irreversible or single shot ultrafast events where dynamic information can be extracted at terahertz range within one-shot experiment.

Time-resolved single-shot terahertz time-domain spectroscopy for ultrafast irreversible processes.

PubMed

Zhai, Zhao-Hui; Zhong, Sen-Cheng; Li, Jun; Zhu, Li-Guo; Meng, Kun; Li, Jiang; Liu, Qiao; Peng, Qi-Xian; Li, Ze-Ren; Zhao, Jian-Heng

2016-09-01

Pulsed terahertz spectroscopy is suitable for spectroscopic diagnostics of ultrafast events. However, the study of irreversible or single shot ultrafast events requires ability to record transient properties at multiple time delays, i.e., time resolved at single shot level, which is not available currently. Here by angular multiplexing use of femtosecond laser pulses, we developed and demonstrated a time resolved, transient terahertz time domain spectroscopy technique, where burst mode THz pulses were generated and then detected in a single shot measurement manner. The burst mode THz pulses contain 2 sub-THz pulses, and the time gap between them is adjustable up to 1 ns with picosecond accuracy, thus it can be used to probe the single shot event at two different time delays. The system can detect the sub-THz pulses at 0.1 THz-2.5 THz range with signal to noise ratio (SNR) of ∼400 and spectrum resolution of 0.05 THz. System design was described here, and optimizations of single shot measurement of THz pulses were discussed in detail. Methods to improve SNR were also discussed in detail. A system application was demonstrated where pulsed THz signals at different time delays of the ultrafast process were successfully acquired within single shot measurement. This time resolved transient terahertz time domain spectroscopy technique provides a new diagnostic tool for irreversible or single shot ultrafast events where dynamic information can be extracted at terahertz range within one-shot experiment.

Ultrafast photophysics of transition metal complexes.

PubMed

Chergui, Majed

2015-03-17

The properties of transition metal complexes are interesting not only for their potential applications in solar energy conversion, OLEDs, molecular electronics, biology, photochemistry, etc. but also for their fascinating photophysical properties that call for a rethinking of fundamental concepts. With the advent of ultrafast spectroscopy over 25 years ago and, more particularly, with improvements in the past 10-15 years, a new area of study was opened that has led to insightful observations of the intramolecular relaxation processes such as internal conversion (IC), intersystem crossing (ISC), and intramolecular vibrational redistribution (IVR). Indeed, ultrafast optical spectroscopic tools, such as fluorescence up-conversion, show that in many cases, intramolecular relaxation processes can be extremely fast and even shorter than time scales of vibrations. In addition, more and more examples are appearing showing that ultrafast ISC rates do not scale with the magnitude of the metal spin-orbit coupling constant, that is, that there is no heavy-atom effect on ultrafast time scales. It appears that the structural dynamics of the system and the density of states play a crucial role therein. While optical spectroscopy delivers an insightful picture of electronic relaxation processes involving valence orbitals, the photophysics of metal complexes involves excitations that may be centered on the metal (called metal-centered or MC) or the ligand (called ligand-centered or LC) or involve a transition from one to the other or vice versa (called MLCT or LMCT). These excitations call for an element-specific probe of the photophysics, which is achieved by X-ray absorption spectroscopy. In this case, transitions from core orbitals to valence orbitals or higher allow probing the electronic structure changes induced by the optical excitation of the valence orbitals, while also delivering information about the geometrical rearrangement of the neighbor atoms around the atom of

Discrete decoding based ultrafast multidimensional nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wei, Zhiliang; Lin, Liangjie; Ye, Qimiao; Li, Jing; Cai, Shuhui; Chen, Zhong

2015-07-01

The three-dimensional (3D) nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy constitutes an important and powerful tool in analyzing chemical and biological systems. However, the abundant 3D information arrives at the expense of long acquisition times lasting hours or even days. Therefore, there has been a continuous interest in developing techniques to accelerate recordings of 3D NMR spectra, among which the ultrafast spatiotemporal encoding technique supplies impressive acquisition speed by compressing a multidimensional spectrum in a single scan. However, it tends to suffer from tradeoffs among spectral widths in different dimensions, which deteriorates in cases of NMR spectroscopy with more dimensions. In this study, the discrete decoding is proposed to liberate the ultrafast technique from tradeoffs among spectral widths in different dimensions by focusing decoding on signal-bearing sites. For verifying its feasibility and effectiveness, we utilized the method to generate two different types of 3D spectra. The proposed method is also applicable to cases with more than three dimensions, which, based on the experimental results, may widen applications of the ultrafast technique.

Metalloprotein entatic control of ligand-metal bonds quantified by ultrafast x-ray spectroscopy

DOE PAGES

Mara, Michael W.; Hadt, Ryan G.; Reinhard, Marco Eli; ...

2017-06-23

The multifunctional protein cytochrome c (cyt c) plays key roles in electron transport and apoptosis, switching function by modulating bonding between a heme iron and the sulfur in a methionine residue. This Fe–S(Met) bond is too weak to persist in the absence of protein constraints. We ruptured the bond in ferrous cyt c using an optical laser pulse and monitored the bond reformation within the protein active site using ultrafast x-ray pulses from an x-ray free-electron laser, determining that the Fe–S(Met) bond enthalpy is ~4 kcal/mol stronger than in the absence of protein constraints. As a result, the 4 kcal/molmore » is comparable with calculations of stabilization effects in other systems, demonstrating how biological systems use an entatic state for modest yet accessible energetics to modulate chemical function.« less

Metalloprotein entatic control of ligand-metal bonds quantified by ultrafast x-ray spectroscopy

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Mara, Michael W.; Hadt, Ryan G.; Reinhard, Marco Eli

The multifunctional protein cytochrome c (cyt c) plays key roles in electron transport and apoptosis, switching function by modulating bonding between a heme iron and the sulfur in a methionine residue. This Fe–S(Met) bond is too weak to persist in the absence of protein constraints. We ruptured the bond in ferrous cyt c using an optical laser pulse and monitored the bond reformation within the protein active site using ultrafast x-ray pulses from an x-ray free-electron laser, determining that the Fe–S(Met) bond enthalpy is ~4 kcal/mol stronger than in the absence of protein constraints. As a result, the 4 kcal/molmore » is comparable with calculations of stabilization effects in other systems, demonstrating how biological systems use an entatic state for modest yet accessible energetics to modulate chemical function.« less

Ultrafast photon counting applied to resonant scanning STED microscopy.

PubMed

Wu, Xundong; Toro, Ligia; Stefani, Enrico; Wu, Yong

2015-01-01

To take full advantage of fast resonant scanning in super-resolution stimulated emission depletion (STED) microscopy, we have developed an ultrafast photon counting system based on a multigiga sample per second analogue-to-digital conversion chip that delivers an unprecedented 450 MHz pixel clock (2.2 ns pixel dwell time in each scan). The system achieves a large field of view (∼50 × 50 μm) with fast scanning that reduces photobleaching, and advances the time-gated continuous wave STED technology to the usage of resonant scanning with hardware-based time-gating. The assembled system provides superb signal-to-noise ratio and highly linear quantification of light that result in superior image quality. Also, the system design allows great flexibility in processing photon signals to further improve the dynamic range. In conclusion, we have constructed a frontier photon counting image acquisition system with ultrafast readout rate, excellent counting linearity, and with the capacity of realizing resonant-scanning continuous wave STED microscopy with online time-gated detection. © 2014 The Authors Journal of Microscopy © 2014 Royal Microscopical Society.

Spatially and temporally resolved exciton dynamics and transport in single nanostructures and assemblies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huang, Libai

2015-03-01

The frontier in solar energy conversion now lies in learning how to integrate functional entities across multiple length scales to create optimal devices. To address this new frontier, I will discuss our recent efforts on elucidating multi-scale energy transfer, migration, and dissipation processes with simultaneous femtosecond temporal resolution and nanometer spatial resolution. We have developed ultrafast microscopy that combines ultrafast spectroscopy with optical microscopy to map exciton dynamics and transport with simultaneous ultrafast time resolution and diffraction-limited spatial resolution. We have employed pump-probe transient absorption microscopy to elucidate morphology and structure dependent exciton dynamics and transport in single nanostructures and molecular assemblies. More specifically, (1) We have applied transient absorption microscopy (TAM) to probe environmental and structure dependent exciton relaxation pathways in sing-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) by mapping dynamics in individual pristine SWNTs with known structures. (2) We have systematically measured and modeled the optical properties of the Frenkel excitons in self-assembled porphyrin tubular aggregates that represent an analog to natural photosynthetic antennae. Using a combination of ultrafast optical microscopy and stochastic exciton modeling, we address exciton transport and relaxation pathways, especially those related to disorder.

Structure and Dynamics with Ultrafast Electron Microscopes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Siwick, Bradley

In this talk I will describe how combining ultrafast lasers and electron microscopes in novel ways makes it possible to directly `watch' the time-evolving structure of condensed matter, both at the level of atomic-scale structural rearrangements in the unit cell and at the level of a material's nano- microstructure. First, I will briefly describe my group's efforts to develop ultrafast electron diffraction using radio- frequency compressed electron pulses in the 100keV range, a system that rivals the capabilities of xray free electron lasers for diffraction experiments. I will give several examples of the new kinds of information that can be gleaned from such experiments. In vanadium dioxide we have mapped the detailed reorganization of the unit cell during the much debated insulator-metal transition. In particular, we have been able to identify and separate lattice structural changes from valence charge density redistribution in the material on the ultrafast timescale. In doing so we uncovered a previously unreported optically accessible phase/state of vanadium dioxide that has monoclinic crystallography like the insulator, but electronic structure and properties that are more like the rutile metal. We have also combined these dynamic structural measurements with broadband ultrafast spectroscopy to make detailed connections between structure and properties for the photoinduced insulator to metal transition. Second, I will show how dynamic transmission electron microscopy (DTEM) can be used to make direct, real space images of nano-microstructural evolution during laser-induced crystallization of amorphous semiconductors at unprecedented spatio-temporal resolution. This is a remarkably complex process that involves several distinct modes of crystal growth and the development of intricate microstructural patterns on the nanosecond to ten microsecond timescales all of which can be imaged directly with DTEM.

Wavelength-dependent ultrafast charge carrier separation in the WO 3/BiVO 4 coupled system

DOE PAGES

Grigioni, Ivan; Stamplecoskie, Kevin G.; Jara, Danilo H.; ...

2017-05-08

Due to its ~2.4 eV band gap, BiVO 4 is a very promising photoanode material for harvesting the blue portion of the solar light for photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting applications. In WO 3/BiVO 4 heterojunction films, the electrons photoexcited in BiVO 4 are injected into WO 3, overcoming the lower charge carriers’ diffusion properties limiting the PEC performance of BiVO 4 photoanodes. Here, we investigate by ultrafast transient absorption spectroscopy the charge carrier interactions occurring at the interface between the two oxides in heterojunction systems to directly unveil their wavelength dependence. Under selective BiVO 4 excitation, a favorable electron transfermore » from photoexcited BiVO 4 to WO 3 occurs immediately after excitation and leads to an increase of the trapped holes’ lifetime in BiVO4. However, a recombination channel opens when both oxides are simultaneously excited, evidenced by a shorter lifetime of trapped holes in BiVO 4. As a result, PEC measurements reveal the implication of these wavelength-dependent ultrafast interactions on the performances of the WO 3/BiVO 4 heterojunction.« less

Wavelength-dependent ultrafast charge carrier separation in the WO 3/BiVO 4 coupled system

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Grigioni, Ivan; Stamplecoskie, Kevin G.; Jara, Danilo H.

Due to its ~2.4 eV band gap, BiVO 4 is a very promising photoanode material for harvesting the blue portion of the solar light for photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting applications. In WO 3/BiVO 4 heterojunction films, the electrons photoexcited in BiVO 4 are injected into WO 3, overcoming the lower charge carriers’ diffusion properties limiting the PEC performance of BiVO 4 photoanodes. Here, we investigate by ultrafast transient absorption spectroscopy the charge carrier interactions occurring at the interface between the two oxides in heterojunction systems to directly unveil their wavelength dependence. Under selective BiVO 4 excitation, a favorable electron transfermore » from photoexcited BiVO 4 to WO 3 occurs immediately after excitation and leads to an increase of the trapped holes’ lifetime in BiVO4. However, a recombination channel opens when both oxides are simultaneously excited, evidenced by a shorter lifetime of trapped holes in BiVO 4. As a result, PEC measurements reveal the implication of these wavelength-dependent ultrafast interactions on the performances of the WO 3/BiVO 4 heterojunction.« less

WE-B-210-02: The Advent of Ultrafast Imaging in Biomedical Ultrasound

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Tanter, M.

In the last fifteen years, the introduction of plane or diverging wave transmissions rather than line by line scanning focused beams has broken the conventional barriers of ultrasound imaging. By using such large field of view transmissions, the frame rate reaches the theoretical limit of physics dictated by the ultrasound speed and an ultrasonic map can be provided typically in tens of micro-seconds (several thousands of frames per second). Interestingly, this leap in frame rate is not only a technological breakthrough but it permits the advent of completely new ultrasound imaging modes, including shear wave elastography, electromechanical wave imaging, ultrafastmore » doppler, ultrafast contrast imaging, and even functional ultrasound imaging of brain activity (fUltrasound) introducing Ultrasound as an emerging full-fledged neuroimaging modality. At ultrafast frame rates, it becomes possible to track in real time the transient vibrations – known as shear waves – propagating through organs. Such “human body seismology” provides quantitative maps of local tissue stiffness whose added value for diagnosis has been recently demonstrated in many fields of radiology (breast, prostate and liver cancer, cardiovascular imaging, …). Today, Supersonic Imagine company is commercializing the first clinical ultrafast ultrasound scanner, Aixplorer with real time Shear Wave Elastography. This is the first example of an ultrafast Ultrasound approach surpassing the research phase and now widely spread in the clinical medical ultrasound community with an installed base of more than 1000 Aixplorer systems in 54 countries worldwide. For blood flow imaging, ultrafast Doppler permits high-precision characterization of complex vascular and cardiac flows. It also gives ultrasound the ability to detect very subtle blood flow in very small vessels. In the brain, such ultrasensitive Doppler paves the way for fUltrasound (functional ultrasound imaging) of brain activity with

Compression of Ultrafast Laser Beams

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-03-01

Copyright 2003, AIP Publishing LLC. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.1611998.) When designing the pulse shaper, the laser beam must completely fill the...for the design of future versions of this device. The easiest way to align the pulse shaper is to use the laser beam that will be shaped, without...Afterward, an ultrafast thin beam splitter is placed into the system after the diameter of the laser beam is reduced; this is done to monitor the beam

Quantum simulation of ultrafast dynamics using trapped ultracold atoms.

PubMed

Senaratne, Ruwan; Rajagopal, Shankari V; Shimasaki, Toshihiko; Dotti, Peter E; Fujiwara, Kurt M; Singh, Kevin; Geiger, Zachary A; Weld, David M

2018-05-25

Ultrafast electronic dynamics are typically studied using pulsed lasers. Here we demonstrate a complementary experimental approach: quantum simulation of ultrafast dynamics using trapped ultracold atoms. Counter-intuitively, this technique emulates some of the fastest processes in atomic physics with some of the slowest, leading to a temporal magnification factor of up to 12 orders of magnitude. In these experiments, time-varying forces on neutral atoms in the ground state of a tunable optical trap emulate the electric fields of a pulsed laser acting on bound charged particles. We demonstrate the correspondence with ultrafast science by a sequence of experiments: nonlinear spectroscopy of a many-body bound state, control of the excitation spectrum by potential shaping, observation of sub-cycle unbinding dynamics during strong few-cycle pulses, and direct measurement of carrier-envelope phase dependence of the response to an ultrafast-equivalent pulse. These results establish cold-atom quantum simulation as a complementary tool for studying ultrafast dynamics.

Ultrafast photoinduced charge separation in metal-semiconductor nanohybrids.

PubMed

Mongin, Denis; Shaviv, Ehud; Maioli, Paolo; Crut, Aurélien; Banin, Uri; Del Fatti, Natalia; Vallée, Fabrice

2012-08-28

Hybrid nano-objects formed by two or more disparate materials are among the most promising and versatile nanosystems. A key parameter in their properties is interaction between their components. In this context we have investigated ultrafast charge separation in semiconductor-metal nanohybrids using a model system of gold-tipped CdS nanorods in a matchstick architecture. Experiments are performed using an optical time-resolved pump-probe technique, exciting either the semiconductor or the metal component of the particles, and probing the light-induced change of their optical response. Electron-hole pairs photoexcited in the semiconductor part of the nanohybrids are shown to undergo rapid charge separation with the electron transferred to the metal part on a sub-20 fs time scale. This ultrafast gold charging leads to a transient red-shift and broadening of the metal surface plasmon resonance, in agreement with results for free clusters but in contrast to observation for static charging of gold nanoparticles in liquid environments. Quantitative comparison with a theoretical model is in excellent agreement with the experimental results, confirming photoexcitation of one electron-hole pair per nanohybrid followed by ultrafast charge separation. The results also point to the utilization of such metal-semiconductor nanohybrids in light-harvesting applications and in photocatalysis.

Ultra-fast Object Recognition from Few Spikes

DTIC Science & Technology

2005-07-06

Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory Ultra-fast Object Recognition from Few Spikes Chou Hung, Gabriel Kreiman , Tomaso Poggio...neural code for different kinds of object-related information. *The authors, Chou Hung and Gabriel Kreiman , contributed equally to this work...Supplementary Material is available at http://ramonycajal.mit.edu/ kreiman /resources/ultrafast

Selective resolution of photocurrent generating pathways in transition metal dichalcogenides by ultrafast microscopy (Conference Presentation)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Graham, Matthew W.

2017-02-01

Presently, there exists no reliable in-situ time-resolved method that selectively isolates both the recombination and escape times relevant to photocurrent generation in the ultrafast regime. Transport based measurements lack the required time resolution, while purely optical measurement give a convoluted weighted-average of all electronic dynamics, offering no selectivity for photocurrent generating pathways. Recently, the ultrafast photocurrent (U-PC) autocorrelation method has successfully measured the rate limiting electronic relaxation processes in materials such as graphene, carbon nanotubes, and transition metal dichalcogenide (TMD) materials. Here, we unambiguously derive and experimentally confirm a generic U-PC response function by simultaneously resolving the transient absorption (TA) and U-PC response for highly-efficient (48% IQE at 0 bias) WSe2 devices and twisted bilayer graphene. Surprisingly, both optical TA and electrical U-PC responses give the same E-field-dependent electronic escape and recombination rates. These rates further accurately quantify a material's intrinsic PC generation efficiency. We demonstrate that the chirality of the incident light impacts the U-PC kinetics, suggesting such measurements directly access the ultrafast dynamics need to complex electronic physics such as the valley-Hall effect. By combining E-field dependent ultrafast photocurrent with transient absorption microscopy, we have selectively imaged the dominant kinetic bottlenecks that inhibit photocurrent production in devices made from stacked few-layer TMD materials. This provides a new methodology to intelligently select materials that intrinsically avoid recombination bottlenecks and maximize photocurrent yield.

Progress in ultrafast laser processing and future prospects

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sugioka, Koji

2017-03-01

The unique characteristics of ultrafast lasers have rapidly revolutionized materials processing after their first demonstration in 1987. The ultrashort pulse width of the laser suppresses heat diffusion to the surroundings of the processed region, which minimizes the formation of a heat-affected zone and thereby enables ultrahigh precision micro- and nanofabrication of various materials. In addition, the extremely high peak intensity can induce nonlinear multiphoton absorption, which extends the diversity of materials that can be processed to transparent materials such as glass. Nonlinear multiphoton absorption enables three-dimensional (3D) micro- and nanofabrication by irradiation with tightly focused femtosecond laser pulses inside transparent materials. Thus, ultrafast lasers are currently widely used for both fundamental research and practical applications. This review presents progress in ultrafast laser processing, including micromachining, surface micro- and nanostructuring, nanoablation, and 3D and volume processing. Advanced technologies that promise to enhance the performance of ultrafast laser processing, such as hybrid additive and subtractive processing, and shaped beam processing are discussed. Commercial and industrial applications of ultrafast laser processing are also introduced. Finally, future prospects of the technology are given with a summary.

Kinetic Analysis of Benign and Malignant Breast Lesions With Ultrafast Dynamic Contrast-Enhanced MRI: Comparison With Standard Kinetic Assessment.

PubMed

Abe, Hiroyuki; Mori, Naoko; Tsuchiya, Keiko; Schacht, David V; Pineda, Federico D; Jiang, Yulei; Karczmar, Gregory S

2016-11-01

The purposes of this study were to evaluate diagnostic parameters measured with ultrafast MRI acquisition and with standard acquisition and to compare diagnostic utility for differentiating benign from malignant lesions. Ultrafast acquisition is a high-temporal-resolution (7 seconds) imaging technique for obtaining 3D whole-breast images. The dynamic contrast-enhanced 3-T MRI protocol consists of an unenhanced standard and an ultrafast acquisition that includes eight contrast-enhanced ultrafast images and four standard images. Retrospective assessment was performed for 60 patients with 33 malignant and 29 benign lesions. A computer-aided detection system was used to obtain initial enhancement rate and signal enhancement ratio (SER) by means of identification of a voxel showing the highest signal intensity in the first phase of standard imaging. From the same voxel, the enhancement rate at each time point of the ultrafast acquisition and the AUC of the kinetic curve from zero to each time point of ultrafast imaging were obtained. There was a statistically significant difference between benign and malignant lesions in enhancement rate and kinetic AUC for ultrafast imaging and also in initial enhancement rate and SER for standard imaging. ROC analysis showed no significant differences between enhancement rate in ultrafast imaging and SER or initial enhancement rate in standard imaging. Ultrafast imaging is useful for discriminating benign from malignant lesions. The differential utility of ultrafast imaging is comparable to that of standard kinetic assessment in a shorter study time.

An Ultrafast Switchable Terahertz Polarization Modulator Based on III-V Semiconductor Nanowires.

PubMed

Baig, Sarwat A; Boland, Jessica L; Damry, Djamshid A; Tan, H Hoe; Jagadish, Chennupati; Joyce, Hannah J; Johnston, Michael B

2017-04-12

Progress in the terahertz (THz) region of the electromagnetic spectrum is undergoing major advances, with advanced THz sources and detectors being developed at a rapid pace. Yet, ultrafast THz communication is still to be realized, owing to the lack of practical and effective THz modulators. Here, we present a novel ultrafast active THz polarization modulator based on GaAs semiconductor nanowires arranged in a wire-grid configuration. We utilize an optical pump-terahertz probe spectroscopy system and vary the polarization of the optical pump beam to demonstrate ultrafast THz modulation with a switching time of less than 5 ps and a modulation depth of -8 dB. We achieve an extinction of over 13% and a dynamic range of -9 dB, comparable to microsecond-switchable graphene- and metamaterial-based THz modulators, and surpassing the performance of optically switchable carbon nanotube THz polarizers. We show a broad bandwidth for THz modulation between 0.1 and 4 THz. Thus, this work presents the first THz modulator which combines not only a large modulation depth but also a broad bandwidth and picosecond time resolution for THz intensity and phase modulation, making it an ideal candidate for ultrafast THz communication.

Ultrafast carrier dynamics in organic molecular crystals and conjugated polymers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hegmann, Frank

2005-03-01

Organic semiconductors are being extensively studied by many research groups around the world for applications in electronic and photonic devices. For example, much work has focused on the development of organic thin film transistors based on thermally evaporated pentacene films, where the polycrystalline morphology typically results in a thermally-activated carrier mobility. On the other hand, more intrinsic bandlike transport, where the carrier mobility increases as the temperature decreases, has been observed in many organic single crystals. However, the nature of charge transport in organic molecular crystals is still not understood. Also, despite many advances in organic photonics, the nature of photocarrier generation in organic semiconductors is not completely understood and remains controversial even today. The generation of mobile charge carriers in photoexcited organic materials occurs over femtosecond to picosecond time scales, and so ultrafast pump-probe experiments are essential in order to improve our understanding of fundamental processes in these materials. Recently, time-resolved terahertz pulse spectroscopy has been used to directly probe transient photoconductivity in pentacene and functionalized pentacene thin films and single crystals [1,2], revealing photogeneration of mobile charge carriers over sub-picosecond time scales as well as bandlike carrier transport in both single crystal and thin film samples [1]. This talk will provide an overview of ultrafast carrier dynamics in organic semiconductors, and will emphasize how time-resolved terahertz pulse spectroscopy can be used to help understand the nature of photoexcitations and carrier transport in organic materials. (This work was supported by NSERC, CFI, CIPI, the Killam Trust, and ONR. Collaborators for this work are listed in Ref. 1.) [1] O. Ostroverkhova, D. G. Cooke, S. Shcherbyna, R. F. Egerton, F. A. Hegmann, R. R. Tykwinski, and J. E. Anthony, Phys. Rev. B., in press. [2] V. K

Ultrafast FADC multiplexer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mirzoyan, R.; Cortina, J.; Lorenz, E.; Martinez, M.; Ostankov, A.; Paneque, D.

2002-10-01

Ultrafast Flash amplitude-to-digital converters (FADCs) are still very expensive. Here we propose a multiplexing scheme allowing one in common trigger mode to read out multiple signal sources by using a single FADC channel. Usual coaxial cables can be used in the multiplexer as analog signal delay elements. The limited bandwidth of the coaxial cable, depending on its type and length will set an upper limit to the number of multiplexed channels. Better bandwidth and the correspondingly higher number of multiplexed channels one can obtain when using the technique of transmission of analog signals via optical fibers. Low-cost vertical cavity surface emitting laser (VCSEL) diodes can be used as converters of fast electrical signals into near infrared light. Multiplexing can be an economically priced solution when one needs ultrafast digitization of hundreds of fast signal channels.

4D multiple-cathode ultrafast electron microscopy

PubMed Central

Baskin, John Spencer; Liu, Haihua; Zewail, Ahmed H.

2014-01-01

Four-dimensional multiple-cathode ultrafast electron microscopy is developed to enable the capture of multiple images at ultrashort time intervals for a single microscopic dynamic process. The dynamic process is initiated in the specimen by one femtosecond light pulse and probed by multiple packets of electrons generated by one UV laser pulse impinging on multiple, spatially distinct, cathode surfaces. Each packet is distinctly recorded, with timing and detector location controlled by the cathode configuration. In the first demonstration, two packets of electrons on each image frame (of the CCD) probe different times, separated by 19 picoseconds, in the evolution of the diffraction of a gold film following femtosecond heating. Future elaborations of this concept to extend its capabilities and expand the range of applications of 4D ultrafast electron microscopy are discussed. The proof-of-principle demonstration reported here provides a path toward the imaging of irreversible ultrafast phenomena of materials, and opens the door to studies involving the single-frame capture of ultrafast dynamics using single-pump/multiple-probe, embedded stroboscopic imaging. PMID:25006261

4D multiple-cathode ultrafast electron microscopy.

PubMed

Baskin, John Spencer; Liu, Haihua; Zewail, Ahmed H

2014-07-22

Four-dimensional multiple-cathode ultrafast electron microscopy is developed to enable the capture of multiple images at ultrashort time intervals for a single microscopic dynamic process. The dynamic process is initiated in the specimen by one femtosecond light pulse and probed by multiple packets of electrons generated by one UV laser pulse impinging on multiple, spatially distinct, cathode surfaces. Each packet is distinctly recorded, with timing and detector location controlled by the cathode configuration. In the first demonstration, two packets of electrons on each image frame (of the CCD) probe different times, separated by 19 picoseconds, in the evolution of the diffraction of a gold film following femtosecond heating. Future elaborations of this concept to extend its capabilities and expand the range of applications of 4D ultrafast electron microscopy are discussed. The proof-of-principle demonstration reported here provides a path toward the imaging of irreversible ultrafast phenomena of materials, and opens the door to studies involving the single-frame capture of ultrafast dynamics using single-pump/multiple-probe, embedded stroboscopic imaging.

Low-power, ultrafast, and dynamic all-optical tunable plasmon induced transparency in two stub resonators side-coupled with a plasmonic waveguide system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Boyun; Zeng, Qingdong; Xiao, Shuyuan; Xu, Chen; Xiong, Liangbin; Lv, Hao; Du, Jun; Yu, Huaqing

2017-11-01

We theoretically and numerically investigate a low-power, ultrafast, and dynamic all-optical tunable plasmon induced transparency (PIT) in two stub resonators side-coupled with a metal-dielectric-metal (MDM) plasmonic waveguide system. The optical Kerr effect is enhanced by the local electromagnetic field of surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) and the plasmonic waveguide based on graphene-Ag composite material structures with large effective Kerr nonlinear coefficient. An ultrafast response time of the order of 1 ps is reached because of ultrafast carrier relaxation dynamics of graphene. With dynamically tuning the propagation phase of the plasmonic waveguide, π-phase shift of the transmission spectrum in the PIT system is achieved under excitation of a pump light with an intensity as low as 5.8 MW cm-2. The group delay is controlled between 0.14 and 0.67 ps. Moreover, the tunable bandwidth of about 42 nm is obtained. For the indirect coupling between two stub cavities or the phase coupling scheme, the phase shift multiplication effect of the PIT effect is found. All observed schemes are analyzed rigorously through finite-difference time-domain simulations and coupled-mode formalism. This work not only paves the way towards the realization of on-chip integrated nanophotonic devices but also opens the possibility of the construction of ultrahigh-speed information processing chips based on plasmonic circuits.

Ultrafast electrical spectrum analyzer based on all-optical Fourier transform and temporal magnification.

PubMed

Duan, Yuhua; Chen, Liao; Zhou, Haidong; Zhou, Xi; Zhang, Chi; Zhang, Xinliang

2017-04-03

Real-time electrical spectrum analysis is of great significance for applications involving radio astronomy and electronic warfare, e.g. the dynamic spectrum monitoring of outer space signal, and the instantaneous capture of frequency from other electronic systems. However, conventional electrical spectrum analyzer (ESA) has limited operation speed and observation bandwidth due to the electronic bottleneck. Therefore, a variety of photonics-assisted methods have been extensively explored due to the bandwidth advantage of the optical domain. Alternatively, we proposed and experimentally demonstrated an ultrafast ESA based on all-optical Fourier transform and temporal magnification in this paper. The radio-frequency (RF) signal under test is temporally multiplexed to the spectrum of an ultrashort pulse, thus the frequency information is converted to the time axis. Moreover, since the bandwidth of this ultrashort pulse is far beyond that of the state-of-the-art photo-detector, a temporal magnification system is applied to stretch the time axis, and capture the RF spectrum with 1-GHz resolution. The observation bandwidth of this ultrafast ESA is over 20 GHz, limited by that of the electro-optic modulator. Since all the signal processing is in the optical domain, the acquisition frame rate can be as high as 50 MHz. This ultrafast ESA scheme can be further improved with better dispersive engineering, and is promising for some ultrafast spectral information acquisition applications.

Generalized GW+Boltzmann Approach for the Description of Ultrafast Electron Dynamics in Topological Insulators

PubMed Central

Battiato, Marco; Sánchez-Barriga, Jaime

2017-01-01

Quantum-phase transitions between trivial insulators and topological insulators differ from ordinary metal-insulator transitions in that they arise from the inversion of the bulk band structure due to strong spin–orbit coupling. Such topological phase transitions are unique in nature as they lead to the emergence of topological surface states which are characterized by a peculiar spin texture that is believed to play a central role in the generation and manipulation of dissipationless surface spin currents on ultrafast timescales. Here, we provide a generalized GW+Boltzmann approach for the description of ultrafast dynamics in topological insulators driven by electron–electron and electron–phonon scatterings. Taking the prototypical insulator Bi2Te3 as an example, we test the robustness of our approach by comparing the theoretical prediction to results of time- and angle-resolved photoemission experiments. From this comparison, we are able to demonstrate the crucial role of the excited spin texture in the subpicosecond relaxation of transient electrons, as well as to accurately obtain the magnitude and strength of electron–electron and electron–phonon couplings. Our approach could be used as a generalized theory for three-dimensional topological insulators in the bulk-conducting transport regime, paving the way for the realization of a unified theory of ultrafast dynamics in topological materials. PMID:28773171

Generalized GW+Boltzmann Approach for the Description of Ultrafast Electron Dynamics in Topological Insulators.

PubMed

Battiato, Marco; Aguilera, Irene; Sánchez-Barriga, Jaime

2017-07-17

Quantum-phase transitions between trivial insulators and topological insulators differ from ordinary metal-insulator transitions in that they arise from the inversion of the bulk band structure due to strong spin-orbit coupling. Such topological phase transitions are unique in nature as they lead to the emergence of topological surface states which are characterized by a peculiar spin texture that is believed to play a central role in the generation and manipulation of dissipationless surface spin currents on ultrafast timescales. Here, we provide a generalized G W +Boltzmann approach for the description of ultrafast dynamics in topological insulators driven by electron-electron and electron-phonon scatterings. Taking the prototypical insulator Bi 2 Te 3 as an example, we test the robustness of our approach by comparing the theoretical prediction to results of time- and angle-resolved photoemission experiments. From this comparison, we are able to demonstrate the crucial role of the excited spin texture in the subpicosecond relaxation of transient electrons, as well as to accurately obtain the magnitude and strength of electron-electron and electron-phonon couplings. Our approach could be used as a generalized theory for three-dimensional topological insulators in the bulk-conducting transport regime, paving the way for the realization of a unified theory of ultrafast dynamics in topological materials.

Ultrafast Electron Dynamics in Solar Energy Conversion.

PubMed

Ponseca, Carlito S; Chábera, Pavel; Uhlig, Jens; Persson, Petter; Sundström, Villy

2017-08-23

Electrons are the workhorses of solar energy conversion. Conversion of the energy of light to electricity in photovoltaics, or to energy-rich molecules (solar fuel) through photocatalytic processes, invariably starts with photoinduced generation of energy-rich electrons. The harvesting of these electrons in practical devices rests on a series of electron transfer processes whose dynamics and efficiencies determine the function of materials and devices. To capture the energy of a photogenerated electron-hole pair in a solar cell material, charges of opposite sign have to be separated against electrostatic attractions, prevented from recombining and being transported through the active material to electrodes where they can be extracted. In photocatalytic solar fuel production, these electron processes are coupled to chemical reactions leading to storage of the energy of light in chemical bonds. With the focus on the ultrafast time scale, we here discuss the light-induced electron processes underlying the function of several molecular and hybrid materials currently under development for solar energy applications in dye or quantum dot-sensitized solar cells, polymer-fullerene polymer solar cells, organometal halide perovskite solar cells, and finally some photocatalytic systems.

Terahertz Emission from Hybrid Perovskites Driven by Ultrafast Charge Separation and Strong Electron-Phonon Coupling.

PubMed

Guzelturk, Burak; Belisle, Rebecca A; Smith, Matthew D; Bruening, Karsten; Prasanna, Rohit; Yuan, Yakun; Gopalan, Venkatraman; Tassone, Christopher J; Karunadasa, Hemamala I; McGehee, Michael D; Lindenberg, Aaron M

2018-03-01

Unusual photophysical properties of organic-inorganic hybrid perovskites have not only enabled exceptional performance in optoelectronic devices, but also led to debates on the nature of charge carriers in these materials. This study makes the first observation of intense terahertz (THz) emission from the hybrid perovskite methylammonium lead iodide (CH 3 NH 3 PbI 3 ) following photoexcitation, enabling an ultrafast probe of charge separation, hot-carrier transport, and carrier-lattice coupling under 1-sun-equivalent illumination conditions. Using this approach, the initial charge separation/transport in the hybrid perovskites is shown to be driven by diffusion and not by surface fields or intrinsic ferroelectricity. Diffusivities of the hot and band-edge carriers along the surface normal direction are calculated by analyzing the emitted THz transients, with direct implications for hot-carrier device applications. Furthermore, photogenerated carriers are found to drive coherent terahertz-frequency lattice distortions, associated with reorganizations of the lead-iodide octahedra as well as coupled vibrations of the organic and inorganic sublattices. This strong and coherent carrier-lattice coupling is resolved on femtosecond timescales and found to be important both for resonant and far-above-gap photoexcitation. This study indicates that ultrafast lattice distortions play a key role in the initial processes associated with charge transport. © 2018 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Terahertz Emission from Hybrid Perovskites Driven by Ultrafast Charge Separation and Strong Electron-Phonon Coupling

DOE PAGES

Guzelturk, Burak; Belisle, Rebecca A.; Smith, Matthew D.; ...

2018-01-23

Unusual photophysical properties of organic–inorganic hybrid perovskites have not only enabled exceptional performance in optoelectronic devices, but also led to debates on the nature of charge carriers in these materials. This study makes the first observation of intense terahertz (THz) emission from the hybrid perovskite methylammonium lead iodide (CH 3NH 3PbI 3) following photoexcitation, enabling an ultrafast probe of charge separation, hot–carrier transport, and carrier–lattice coupling under 1–sun–equivalent illumination conditions. Using this approach, the initial charge separation/transport in the hybrid perovskites is shown to be driven by diffusion and not by surface fields or intrinsic ferroelectricity. Diffusivities of the hotmore » and band–edge carriers along the surface normal direction are calculated by analyzing the emitted THz transients, with direct implications for hot–carrier device applications. Furthermore, photogenerated carriers are found to drive coherent terahertz–frequency lattice distortions, associated with reorganizations of the lead–iodide octahedra as well as coupled vibrations of the organic and inorganic sublattices. This strong and coherent carrier–lattice coupling is resolved on femtosecond timescales and found to be important both for resonant and far–above–gap photoexcitation. As a result, this study indicates that ultrafast lattice distortions play a key role in the initial processes associated with charge transport.« less

Ultrafast terahertz snapshots of excitonic Rydberg states and electronic coherence in an organometal halide perovskite

DOE PAGES

Luo, Liang; Men, Long; Liu, Zhaoyu; ...

2017-06-01

How photoexcitations evolve into Coulomb-bound electron and hole pairs, called excitons, and unbound charge carriers is a key cross-cutting issue in photovoltaics and optoelectronics. Until now, the initial quantum dynamics following photoexcitation remains elusive in the hybrid perovskite system. Furthermore we reveal excitonic Rydberg states with distinct formation pathways by observing the multiple resonant, internal quantum transitions using ultrafast terahertz quasi-particle transport. Nonequilibrium emergent states evolve with a complex co-existence of excitons, carriers and phonons, where a delayed buildup of excitons under on- and off-resonant pumping conditions allows us to distinguish between the loss of electronic coherence and hot statemore » cooling processes. The nearly ~1 ps dephasing time, efficient electron scattering with discrete terahertz phonons and intermediate binding energy of ~13.5 meV in perovskites are distinct from conventional photovoltaic semiconductors. In addition to providing implications for coherent energy conversion, these are potentially relevant to the development of light-harvesting and electron-transport devices.« less

Ultrafast terahertz snapshots of excitonic Rydberg states and electronic coherence in an organometal halide perovskite

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Luo, Liang; Men, Long; Liu, Zhaoyu

How photoexcitations evolve into Coulomb-bound electron and hole pairs, called excitons, and unbound charge carriers is a key cross-cutting issue in photovoltaics and optoelectronics. Until now, the initial quantum dynamics following photoexcitation remains elusive in the hybrid perovskite system. Furthermore we reveal excitonic Rydberg states with distinct formation pathways by observing the multiple resonant, internal quantum transitions using ultrafast terahertz quasi-particle transport. Nonequilibrium emergent states evolve with a complex co-existence of excitons, carriers and phonons, where a delayed buildup of excitons under on- and off-resonant pumping conditions allows us to distinguish between the loss of electronic coherence and hot statemore » cooling processes. The nearly ~1 ps dephasing time, efficient electron scattering with discrete terahertz phonons and intermediate binding energy of ~13.5 meV in perovskites are distinct from conventional photovoltaic semiconductors. In addition to providing implications for coherent energy conversion, these are potentially relevant to the development of light-harvesting and electron-transport devices.« less

Graphene-clad microfibre saturable absorber for ultrafast fibre lasers.

PubMed

Liu, X M; Yang, H R; Cui, Y D; Chen, G W; Yang, Y; Wu, X Q; Yao, X K; Han, D D; Han, X X; Zeng, C; Guo, J; Li, W L; Cheng, G; Tong, L M

2016-05-16

Graphene, whose absorbance is approximately independent of wavelength, allows broadband light-matter interactions with ultrafast responses. The interband optical absorption of graphene can be saturated readily under strong excitation, thereby enabling scientists to exploit the photonic properties of graphene to realize ultrafast lasers. The evanescent field interaction scheme of the propagating light with graphene covered on a D-shaped fibre or microfibre has been employed extensively because of the nonblocking configuration. Obviously, most of the fibre surface is unused in these techniques. Here, we exploit a graphene-clad microfibre (GCM) saturable absorber in a mode-locked fibre laser for the generation of ultrafast pulses. The proposed all-surface technique can guarantee a higher efficiency of light-graphene interactions than the aforementioned techniques. Our GCM-based saturable absorber can generate ultrafast optical pulses within 1.5 μm. This saturable absorber is compatible with current fibre lasers and has many merits such as low saturation intensities, ultrafast recovery times, and wide wavelength ranges. The proposed saturable absorber will pave the way for graphene-based wideband photonics.

Graphene-clad microfibre saturable absorber for ultrafast fibre lasers

PubMed Central

Liu, X. M.; Yang, H. R.; Cui, Y. D.; Chen, G. W.; Yang, Y.; Wu, X. Q.; Yao, X. K.; Han, D. D.; Han, X. X.; Zeng, C.; Guo, J.; Li, W. L.; Cheng, G.; Tong, L. M.

2016-01-01

Graphene, whose absorbance is approximately independent of wavelength, allows broadband light–matter interactions with ultrafast responses. The interband optical absorption of graphene can be saturated readily under strong excitation, thereby enabling scientists to exploit the photonic properties of graphene to realize ultrafast lasers. The evanescent field interaction scheme of the propagating light with graphene covered on a D-shaped fibre or microfibre has been employed extensively because of the nonblocking configuration. Obviously, most of the fibre surface is unused in these techniques. Here, we exploit a graphene-clad microfibre (GCM) saturable absorber in a mode-locked fibre laser for the generation of ultrafast pulses. The proposed all-surface technique can guarantee a higher efficiency of light–graphene interactions than the aforementioned techniques. Our GCM-based saturable absorber can generate ultrafast optical pulses within 1.5 μm. This saturable absorber is compatible with current fibre lasers and has many merits such as low saturation intensities, ultrafast recovery times, and wide wavelength ranges. The proposed saturable absorber will pave the way for graphene-based wideband photonics. PMID:27181419

High-Average-Power Diffraction Pulse-Compression Gratings Enabling Next-Generation Ultrafast Laser Systems

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Alessi, D.

Pulse compressors for ultrafast lasers have been identified as a technology gap in the push towards high peak power systems with high average powers for industrial and scientific applications. Gratings for ultrashort (sub-150fs) pulse compressors are metallic and can absorb a significant percentage of laser energy resulting in up to 40% loss as well as thermal issues which degrade on-target performance. We have developed a next generation gold grating technology which we have scaled to the petawatt-size. This resulted in improvements in efficiency, uniformity and processing as compared to previous substrate etched gratings for high average power. This new designmore » has a deposited dielectric material for the grating ridge rather than etching directly into the glass substrate. It has been observed that average powers as low as 1W in a compressor can cause distortions in the on-target beam. We have developed and tested a method of actively cooling diffraction gratings which, in the case of gold gratings, can support a petawatt peak power laser with up to 600W average power. We demonstrated thermo-mechanical modeling of a grating in its use environment and benchmarked with experimental measurement. Multilayer dielectric (MLD) gratings are not yet used for these high peak power, ultrashort pulse durations due to their design challenges. We have designed and fabricated broad bandwidth, low dispersion MLD gratings suitable for delivering 30 fs pulses at high average power. This new grating design requires the use of a novel Out Of Plane (OOP) compressor, which we have modeled, designed, built and tested. This prototype compressor yielded a transmission of 90% for a pulse with 45 nm bandwidth, and free of spatial and angular chirp. In order to evaluate gratings and compressors built in this project we have commissioned a joule-class ultrafast Ti:Sapphire laser system. Combining the grating cooling and MLD technologies developed here could enable petawatt laser

Ultrafast all-optical control of the magnetization in magnetic dielectrics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kirilyuk, Andrei; Kimel, Alexey; Hansteen, Fredrik; Rasing, Theo; Pisarev, Roman V.

2006-08-01

The purpose of this review is to summarize the recent progress on laser-induced magnetization dynamics in magnetic dielectrics. Due to the slow phonon-magnon interaction in these materials, direct thermal effects of the laser excitation can only be seen on the time scale of almost a nanosecond and thus are clearly distinguished from the ultrafast nonthermal effects. However, laser pulses are shown to indirectly modify the magnetic anisotropy in rare-earth orthoferrites via the crystal field, and to bring about spin reorientation within a few picoseconds. More interesting, however, are the direct nonthermal effects of light on spin systems. We demonstrate coherent optical control of the magnetization in ferrimagnetic garnet films on a femtosecond time scale through a combination of two different ultrafast and nonthermal photomagnetic effects and by employing multiple pump pulses. Linearly polarized laser pulses are shown to create a long-lived modification of the magnetocrystalline anisotropy via optically induced electron transfer between nonequivalent ion sites. In addition, circularly polarized pulses are shown to act as strong transient magnetic field pulses originating from the nonabsorptive inverse Faraday effect. An all-optical scheme of excitation and detection of different antiferromagnetic resonance modes with frequencies of up to 500GHz will be discussed as well. The reported effects open new and exciting possibilities for ultrafast manipulation of spins by light and provide new insight into the physics of magnetism on ultrafast time scales.

Ultrafast exciton dynamics and light-driven H2 evolution in colloidal semiconductor nanorods and Pt-tipped nanorods.

PubMed

Wu, Kaifeng; Zhu, Haiming; Lian, Tianquan

2015-03-17

Colloidal quantum confined one-dimensional (1D) semiconductor nanorods (NRs) and related semiconductor-metal heterostructures are promising new materials for efficient solar-to-fuel conversion because of their unique physical and chemical properties. NRs can simultaneously exhibit quantum confinement effects in the radial direction and bulk like carrier transport in the axial direction. The former implies that concepts well-established in zero-dimensional quantum dots, such as size-tunable energetics and wave function engineering through band alignment in heterostructures, can also be applied to NRs; while the latter endows NRs with fast carrier transport to achieve long distance charge separation. Selective growth of catalytic metallic nanoparticles, such as Pt, at the tips of NRs provides convenient routes to multicomponent heterostructures with photocatalytic capabilities and controllable charge separation distances. The design and optimization of such materials for efficient solar-to-fuel conversion require the understanding of exciton and charge carrier dynamics. In this Account, we summarize our recent studies of ultrafast charge separation and recombination kinetics and their effects on steady-state photocatalytic efficiencies of colloidal CdS and CdSe/CdS NRs and related NR-Pt heterostructures. After a brief introduction of their electronic structure, we discuss exciton dynamics of CdS NRs. By transient absorption and time-resolved photoluminescence decay, it is shown that although the conduction band electrons are long-lived, photogenerated holes in CdS NRs are trapped on an ultrafast time scale (∼0.7 ps), which forms localized excitons due to strong Coulomb interaction in 1D NRs. In quasi-type II CdSe/CdS dot-in-rod NRs, a large valence band offset drives the ultrafast localization of holes to the CdSe core, and the competition between this process and ultrafast hole trapping on a CdS rod leads to three types of exciton species with distinct spatial

High-speed cell recognition algorithm for ultrafast flow cytometer imaging system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhao, Wanyue; Wang, Chao; Chen, Hongwei; Chen, Minghua; Yang, Sigang

2018-04-01

An optical time-stretch flow imaging system enables high-throughput examination of cells/particles with unprecedented high speed and resolution. A significant amount of raw image data is produced. A high-speed cell recognition algorithm is, therefore, highly demanded to analyze large amounts of data efficiently. A high-speed cell recognition algorithm consisting of two-stage cascaded detection and Gaussian mixture model (GMM) classification is proposed. The first stage of detection extracts cell regions. The second stage integrates distance transform and the watershed algorithm to separate clustered cells. Finally, the cells detected are classified by GMM. We compared the performance of our algorithm with support vector machine. Results show that our algorithm increases the running speed by over 150% without sacrificing the recognition accuracy. This algorithm provides a promising solution for high-throughput and automated cell imaging and classification in the ultrafast flow cytometer imaging platform.

Versatile multi-wavelength ultrafast fiber laser mode-locked by carbon nanotubes

PubMed Central

Liu, Xueming; Han, Dongdong; Sun, Zhipei; Zeng, Chao; Lu, Hua; Mao, Dong; Cui, Yudong; Wang, Fengqiu

2013-01-01

Multi-wavelength lasers have widespread applications (e.g. fiber telecommunications, pump-probe measurements, terahertz generation). Here, we report a nanotube-mode-locked all-fiber ultrafast oscillator emitting three wavelengths at the central wavelengths of about 1540, 1550, and 1560 nm, which are tunable by stretching fiber Bragg gratings. The output pulse duration is around 6 ps with a spectral width of ~0.5 nm, agreeing well with the numerical simulations. The triple-laser system is controlled precisely and insensitive to environmental perturbations with <0.04% amplitude fluctuation. Our method provides a simple, stable, low-cost, multi-wavelength ultrafast-pulsed source for spectroscopy, biomedical research and telecommunications. PMID:24056500

Experiments with trapped ions and ultrafast laser pulses

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Johnson, Kale Gifford

Since the dawn of quantum information science, laser-cooled trapped atomic ions have been one of the most compelling systems for the physical realization of a quantum computer. By applying qubit state dependent forces to the ions, their collective motional modes can be used as a bus to realize entangling quantum gates. Ultrafast state-dependent kicks [1] can provide a universal set of quantum logic operations, in conjunction with ultrafast single qubit rotations [2], which uses only ultrafast laser pulses. This may present a clearer route to scaling a trapped ion processor [3]. In addition to the role that spin-dependent kicks (SDKs) play in quantum computation, their utility in fundamental quantum mechanics research is also apparent. In this thesis, we present a set of experiments which demonstrate some of the principle properties of SDKs including ion motion independence (we demonstrate single ion thermometry from the ground state to near room temperature and the largest Schrodinger cat state ever created in an oscillator), high speed operations (compared with conventional atom-laser interactions), and multi-qubit entanglement operations with speed that is not fundamentally limited by the trap oscillation frequency. We also present a method to provide higher stability in the radial mode ion oscillation frequencies of a linear radiofrequency (rf) Paul trap-a crucial factor when performing operations on the rf-sensitive modes. Finally, we present the highest atomic position sensitivity measurement of an isolated atom to date of 0.5 nm Hz. (-1/2) with a minimum uncertaintyof 1.7 nm using a 0.6 numerical aperature (NA) lens system, along with a method to correct aberrations and a direct position measurement of ion micromotion (the inherent oscillations of an ion trapped in an oscillating rf field). This development could be used to directly image atom motion in the quantum regime, along with sensing forces at the yoctonewton [10. (-24) N)] scale forgravity sensing

Ultrafast Spectroscopy of Proton-Coupled Electron Transfer (PCET) in Photocatalysis

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-07-08

AFRL-AFOSR-VA-TR-2016-0244 Ultrafast Spectroscopy of Proton-Coupled Electron Transfer (PCET) in Photocatalysis Jahan Dawlaty UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN...TITLE AND SUBTITLE Ultrafast Spectroscopy of Proton-Coupled Electron Transfer (PCET) in Photocatalysis 5a. CONTRACT NUMBER 5b. GRANT NUMBER FA9550...298 Back (Rev. 8/98) DISTRIBUTION A: Distribution approved for public release. Final Report: AFOSR YIP Grant FA9550-13-1-0128: Ultrafast Spectroscopy

Ultrafast dynamics in atomic clusters: Analysis and control

PubMed Central

Bonačić-Koutecký, Vlasta; Mitrić, Roland; Werner, Ute; Wöste, Ludger; Berry, R. Stephen

2006-01-01

We present a study of dynamics and ultrafast observables in the frame of pump–probe negative-to-neutral-to-positive ion (NeNePo) spectroscopy illustrated by the examples of bimetallic trimers Ag2Au−/Ag2Au/Ag2Au+ and silver oxides Ag3O2−/Ag3O2/Ag3O2+ in the context of cluster reactivity. First principle multistate adiabatic dynamics allows us to determine time scales of different ultrafast processes and conditions under which these processes can be experimentally observed. Furthermore, we present a strategy for optimal pump–dump control in complex systems based on the ab initio Wigner distribution approach and apply it to tailor laser fields for selective control of the isomerization process in Na3F2. The shapes of pulses can be assigned to underlying processes, and therefore control can be used as a tool for analysis. PMID:16740664

Ultrafast dynamics in atomic clusters: analysis and control.

PubMed

Bonacić-Koutecký, Vlasta; Mitrić, Roland; Werner, Ute; Wöste, Ludger; Berry, R Stephen

2006-07-11

We present a study of dynamics and ultrafast observables in the frame of pump-probe negative-to-neutral-to-positive ion (NeNePo) spectroscopy illustrated by the examples of bimetallic trimers Ag2Au-/Ag2Au/Ag2Au+ and silver oxides Ag3O2-/Ag3O2/Ag3O2+ in the context of cluster reactivity. First principle multistate adiabatic dynamics allows us to determine time scales of different ultrafast processes and conditions under which these processes can be experimentally observed. Furthermore, we present a strategy for optimal pump-dump control in complex systems based on the ab initio Wigner distribution approach and apply it to tailor laser fields for selective control of the isomerization process in Na3F2. The shapes of pulses can be assigned to underlying processes, and therefore control can be used as a tool for analysis.

Ultrafast, sensitive and large-volume on-chip real-time PCR for the molecular diagnosis of bacterial and viral infections.

PubMed

Houssin, Timothée; Cramer, Jérémy; Grojsman, Rébecca; Bellahsene, Lyes; Colas, Guillaume; Moulet, Hélène; Minnella, Walter; Pannetier, Christophe; Leberre, Maël; Plecis, Adrien; Chen, Yong

2016-04-21

To control future infectious disease outbreaks, like the 2014 Ebola epidemic, it is necessary to develop ultrafast molecular assays enabling rapid and sensitive diagnoses. To that end, several ultrafast real-time PCR systems have been previously developed, but they present issues that hinder their wide adoption, notably regarding their sensitivity and detection volume. An ultrafast, sensitive and large-volume real-time PCR system based on microfluidic thermalization is presented herein. The method is based on the circulation of pre-heated liquids in a microfluidic chip that thermalize the PCR chamber by diffusion and ultrafast flow switches. The system can achieve up to 30 real-time PCR cycles in around 2 minutes, which makes it the fastest PCR thermalization system for regular sample volume to the best of our knowledge. After biochemical optimization, anthrax and Ebola simulating agents could be respectively detected by a real-time PCR in 7 minutes and a reverse transcription real-time PCR in 7.5 minutes. These detections are respectively 6.4 and 7.2 times faster than with an off-the-shelf apparatus, while conserving real-time PCR sample volume, efficiency, selectivity and sensitivity. The high-speed thermalization also enabled us to perform sharp melting curve analyses in only 20 s and to discriminate amplicons of different lengths by rapid real-time PCR. This real-time PCR microfluidic thermalization system is cost-effective, versatile and can be then further developed for point-of-care, multiplexed, ultrafast and highly sensitive molecular diagnoses of bacterial and viral diseases.

10-fs-level synchronization of photocathode laser with RF-oscillator for ultrafast electron and X-ray sources

PubMed Central

Yang, Heewon; Han, Byungheon; Shin, Junho; Hou, Dong; Chung, Hayun; Baek, In Hyung; Jeong, Young Uk; Kim, Jungwon

2017-01-01

Ultrafast electron-based coherent radiation sources, such as free-electron lasers (FELs), ultrafast electron diffraction (UED) and Thomson-scattering sources, are becoming more important sources in today’s ultrafast science. Photocathode laser is an indispensable common subsystem in these sources that generates ultrafast electron pulses. To fully exploit the potentials of these sources, especially for pump-probe experiments, it is important to achieve high-precision synchronization between the photocathode laser and radio-frequency (RF) sources that manipulate electron pulses. So far, most of precision laser-RF synchronization has been achieved by using specially designed low-noise Er-fibre lasers at telecommunication wavelength. Here we show a modular method that achieves long-term (>1 day) stable 10-fs-level synchronization between a commercial 79.33-MHz Ti:sapphire laser oscillator and an S-band (2.856-GHz) RF oscillator. This is an important first step toward a photocathode laser-based femtosecond RF timing and synchronization system that is suitable for various small- to mid-scale ultrafast X-ray and electron sources. PMID:28067288

10-fs-level synchronization of photocathode laser with RF-oscillator for ultrafast electron and X-ray sources

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, Heewon; Han, Byungheon; Shin, Junho; Hou, Dong; Chung, Hayun; Baek, In Hyung; Jeong, Young Uk; Kim, Jungwon

2017-01-01

Ultrafast electron-based coherent radiation sources, such as free-electron lasers (FELs), ultrafast electron diffraction (UED) and Thomson-scattering sources, are becoming more important sources in today’s ultrafast science. Photocathode laser is an indispensable common subsystem in these sources that generates ultrafast electron pulses. To fully exploit the potentials of these sources, especially for pump-probe experiments, it is important to achieve high-precision synchronization between the photocathode laser and radio-frequency (RF) sources that manipulate electron pulses. So far, most of precision laser-RF synchronization has been achieved by using specially designed low-noise Er-fibre lasers at telecommunication wavelength. Here we show a modular method that achieves long-term (>1 day) stable 10-fs-level synchronization between a commercial 79.33-MHz Ti:sapphire laser oscillator and an S-band (2.856-GHz) RF oscillator. This is an important first step toward a photocathode laser-based femtosecond RF timing and synchronization system that is suitable for various small- to mid-scale ultrafast X-ray and electron sources.

10-fs-level synchronization of photocathode laser with RF-oscillator for ultrafast electron and X-ray sources.

PubMed

Yang, Heewon; Han, Byungheon; Shin, Junho; Hou, Dong; Chung, Hayun; Baek, In Hyung; Jeong, Young Uk; Kim, Jungwon

2017-01-09

Ultrafast electron-based coherent radiation sources, such as free-electron lasers (FELs), ultrafast electron diffraction (UED) and Thomson-scattering sources, are becoming more important sources in today's ultrafast science. Photocathode laser is an indispensable common subsystem in these sources that generates ultrafast electron pulses. To fully exploit the potentials of these sources, especially for pump-probe experiments, it is important to achieve high-precision synchronization between the photocathode laser and radio-frequency (RF) sources that manipulate electron pulses. So far, most of precision laser-RF synchronization has been achieved by using specially designed low-noise Er-fibre lasers at telecommunication wavelength. Here we show a modular method that achieves long-term (>1 day) stable 10-fs-level synchronization between a commercial 79.33-MHz Ti:sapphire laser oscillator and an S-band (2.856-GHz) RF oscillator. This is an important first step toward a photocathode laser-based femtosecond RF timing and synchronization system that is suitable for various small- to mid-scale ultrafast X-ray and electron sources.

Giant ultrafast Kerr effect in superconductors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Robson, Charles W.; Fraser, Kieran A.; Biancalana, Fabio

2017-06-01

We study the ultrafast Kerr effect and high-harmonic generation in superconductors by formulating a model for a time-varying electromagnetic pulse normally incident on a thin-film superconductor. It is found that superconductors exhibit exceptionally large χ(3 ) due to the progressive destruction of Cooper pairs, and display high-harmonic generation at low incident intensities, and the highest nonlinear susceptibility of all known materials in the THz regime. Our theory opens up avenues for accessible analytical and numerical studies of the ultrafast dynamics of superconductors.

Diagnostic Performance of Ultrafast Brain MRI for Evaluation of Abusive Head Trauma.

PubMed

Kralik, S F; Yasrebi, M; Supakul, N; Lin, C; Netter, L G; Hicks, R A; Hibbard, R A; Ackerman, L L; Harris, M L; Ho, C Y

2017-04-01

MR imaging with sedation is commonly used to detect intracranial traumatic pathology in the pediatric population. Our purpose was to compare nonsedated ultrafast MR imaging, noncontrast head CT, and standard MR imaging for the detection of intracranial trauma in patients with potential abusive head trauma. A prospective study was performed in 24 pediatric patients who were evaluated for potential abusive head trauma. All patients received noncontrast head CT, ultrafast brain MR imaging without sedation, and standard MR imaging with general anesthesia or an immobilizer, sequentially. Two pediatric neuroradiologists independently reviewed each technique blinded to other modalities for intracranial trauma. We performed interreader agreement and consensus interpretation for standard MR imaging as the criterion standard. Diagnostic accuracy was calculated for ultrafast MR imaging, noncontrast head CT, and combined ultrafast MR imaging and noncontrast head CT. Interreader agreement was moderate for ultrafast MR imaging (κ = 0.42), substantial for noncontrast head CT (κ = 0.63), and nearly perfect for standard MR imaging (κ = 0.86). Forty-two percent of patients had discrepancies between ultrafast MR imaging and standard MR imaging, which included detection of subarachnoid hemorrhage and subdural hemorrhage. Sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values were obtained for any traumatic pathology for each examination: ultrafast MR imaging (50%, 100%, 100%, 31%), noncontrast head CT (25%, 100%, 100%, 21%), and a combination of ultrafast MR imaging and noncontrast head CT (60%, 100%, 100%, 33%). Ultrafast MR imaging was more sensitive than noncontrast head CT for the detection of intraparenchymal hemorrhage ( P = .03), and the combination of ultrafast MR imaging and noncontrast head CT was more sensitive than noncontrast head CT alone for intracranial trauma ( P = .02). In abusive head trauma, ultrafast MR imaging, even combined with noncontrast

Investigations on the heat transport capability of a cryogenic oscillating heat pipe and its application in achieving ultra-fast cooling rates for cell vitrification cryopreservation.

PubMed

Han, Xu; Ma, Hongbin; Jiao, Anjun; Critser, John K

2008-06-01

Theoretically, direct vitrification of cell suspensions with relatively low concentrations ( approximately 1 M) of permeating cryoprotective agents (CPA) is suitable for cryopreservation of almost all cell types and can be accomplished by ultra-fast cooling rates that are on the order of 10(6-7) K/min. However, the methods and devices currently available for cell cryopreservation cannot achieve such high cooling rates. In this study, we constructed a novel cryogenic oscillating heat pipe (COHP) using liquid nitrogen as its working fluid and investigated its heat transport capability to assess its application for achieving ultra-fast cooling rates for cell cryopreservation. The experimental results showed that the apparent heat transfer coefficient of the COHP can reach 2 x 10(5) W/m(2).K, which is two orders of the magnitude higher than traditional heat pipes. Theoretical analyzes showed that the average local heat transfer coefficient in the thin film evaporation region of the COHP can reach 1.2 x 10(6) W/m(2).K, which is approximately 10(3) times higher than that achievable with standard pool-boiling approaches. Based on these results, a novel device design applying the COHP and microfabrication techniques is proposed and its efficiency for cell vitrification is demonstrated through numerical simulation. The estimated average cooling rates achieved through this approach is 10(6-7)K/min, which is much faster than the currently available methods and sufficient for achieving vitrification with relatively low concentrations of CPA.

Investigations on the heat transport capability of a cryogenic oscillating heat pipe and its application in achieving ultra-fast cooling rates for cell vitrification cryopreservation☆

PubMed Central

Han, Xu; Ma, Hongbin; Jiao, Anjun; Critser, John K.

2010-01-01

Theoretically, direct vitrification of cell suspensions with relatively low concentrations (~1 M) of permeating cryoprotective agents (CPA) is suitable for cryopreservation of almost all cell types and can be accomplished by ultra-fast cooling rates that are on the order of 106–7 K/min. However, the methods and devices currently available for cell cryopreservation cannot achieve such high cooling rates. In this study, we constructed a novel cryogenic oscillating heat pipe (COHP) using liquid nitrogen as its working fluid and investigated its heat transport capability to assess its application for achieving ultra-fast cooling rates for cell cryopreservation. The experimental results showed that the apparent heat transfer coefficient of the COHP can reach 2 × 105 W/m2·K, which is two orders of the magnitude higher than traditional heat pipes. Theoretical analyzes showed that the average local heat transfer coefficient in the thin film evaporation region of the COHP can reach 1.2 × 106 W/m2·K, which is approximately 103 times higher than that achievable with standard pool-boiling approaches. Based on these results, a novel device design applying the COHP and microfabrication techniques is proposed and its efficiency for cell vitrification is demonstrated through numerical simulation. The estimated average cooling rates achieved through this approach is 106–7 K/min, which is much faster than the currently available methods and sufficient for achieving vitrification with relatively low concentrations of CPA. PMID:18430413

Parametric spectro-temporal analyzer (PASTA) for ultrafast optical performance monitoring

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Chi; Wong, Kenneth K. Y.

2013-12-01

Ultrafast optical spectrum monitoring is one of the most challenging tasks in observing ultrafast phenomena, such as the spectroscopy, dynamic observation of the laser cavity, and spectral encoded imaging systems. However, conventional method such as optical spectrum analyzer (OSA) spatially disperses the spectrum, but the space-to-time mapping is realized by mechanical rotation of a grating, so are incapable of operating at high speed. Besides the spatial dispersion, temporal dispersion provided by dispersive fiber can also stretches the spectrum in time domain in an ultrafast manner, but is primarily confined in measuring short pulses. In view of these constraints, here we present a real-time spectrum analyzer called parametric spectro-temporal analyzer (PASTA), which is based on the time-lens focusing mechanism. It achieves a 100-MHz frame rate and can measure arbitrary waveforms. For the first time, we observe the dynamic spectrum of an ultrafast swept-source: Fourier domain mode-locked (FDML) laser, and the spectrum evolution of a laser cavity during its stabilizing process. In addition to the basic single-lens structure, the multi-lens configurations (e.g. telescope or wide-angle scope) will provide a versatile operating condition, which can zoom in to achieve 0.05-nm resolution and zoom out to achieve 10-nm observation range, namely 17 times zoom in/out ratio. In view of the goal of achieving spectrum analysis with fine accuracy, PASTA provides a promising path to study the real-time spectrum of some dynamic phenomena and non-repetitive events, with orders of magnitude enhancement in the frame rate over conventional OSAs.

Direct Characterization of Ultrafast Energy-Time Entangled Photon Pairs.

PubMed

MacLean, Jean-Philippe W; Donohue, John M; Resch, Kevin J

2018-02-02

Energy-time entangled photons are critical in many quantum optical phenomena and have emerged as important elements in quantum information protocols. Entanglement in this degree of freedom often manifests itself on ultrafast time scales, making it very difficult to detect, whether one employs direct or interferometric techniques, as photon-counting detectors have insufficient time resolution. Here, we implement ultrafast photon counters based on nonlinear interactions and strong femtosecond laser pulses to probe energy-time entanglement in this important regime. Using this technique and single-photon spectrometers, we characterize all the spectral and temporal correlations of two entangled photons with femtosecond resolution. This enables the witnessing of energy-time entanglement using uncertainty relations and the direct observation of nonlocal dispersion cancellation on ultrafast time scales. These techniques are essential to understand and control the energy-time degree of freedom of light for ultrafast quantum optics.

High-speed cell recognition algorithm for ultrafast flow cytometer imaging system.

PubMed

Zhao, Wanyue; Wang, Chao; Chen, Hongwei; Chen, Minghua; Yang, Sigang

2018-04-01

An optical time-stretch flow imaging system enables high-throughput examination of cells/particles with unprecedented high speed and resolution. A significant amount of raw image data is produced. A high-speed cell recognition algorithm is, therefore, highly demanded to analyze large amounts of data efficiently. A high-speed cell recognition algorithm consisting of two-stage cascaded detection and Gaussian mixture model (GMM) classification is proposed. The first stage of detection extracts cell regions. The second stage integrates distance transform and the watershed algorithm to separate clustered cells. Finally, the cells detected are classified by GMM. We compared the performance of our algorithm with support vector machine. Results show that our algorithm increases the running speed by over 150% without sacrificing the recognition accuracy. This algorithm provides a promising solution for high-throughput and automated cell imaging and classification in the ultrafast flow cytometer imaging platform. (2018) COPYRIGHT Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE).

Ultrafast Ultrasound Imaging With Cascaded Dual-Polarity Waves.

PubMed

Zhang, Yang; Guo, Yuexin; Lee, Wei-Ning

2018-04-01

Ultrafast ultrasound imaging using plane or diverging waves, instead of focused beams, has advanced greatly the development of novel ultrasound imaging methods for evaluating tissue functions beyond anatomical information. However, the sonographic signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of ultrafast imaging remains limited due to the lack of transmission focusing, and thus insufficient acoustic energy delivery. We hereby propose a new ultrafast ultrasound imaging methodology with cascaded dual-polarity waves (CDWs), which consists of a pulse train with positive and negative polarities. A new coding scheme and a corresponding linear decoding process were thereby designed to obtain the recovered signals with increased amplitude, thus increasing the SNR without sacrificing the frame rate. The newly designed CDW ultrafast ultrasound imaging technique achieved higher quality B-mode images than coherent plane-wave compounding (CPWC) and multiplane wave (MW) imaging in a calibration phantom, ex vivo pork belly, and in vivo human back muscle. CDW imaging shows a significant improvement in the SNR (10.71 dB versus CPWC and 7.62 dB versus MW), penetration depth (36.94% versus CPWC and 35.14% versus MW), and contrast ratio in deep regions (5.97 dB versus CPWC and 5.05 dB versus MW) without compromising other image quality metrics, such as spatial resolution and frame rate. The enhanced image qualities and ultrafast frame rates offered by CDW imaging beget great potential for various novel imaging applications.

Ultrafast Manipulation of Magnetic Order with Electrical Pulses

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, Yang

During the last 30 years spintronics has been a very rapidly expanding field leading to lots of new interesting physics and applications. As with most technology-oriented fields, spintronics strives to control devices with very low energy consumption and high speed. The combination of spin and electronics inherent to spintronics directly tackles energy efficiency, due to the non-volatility of magnetism. However, speed of operation of spintronic devices is still rather limited ( nanoseconds), due to slow magnetization precessional frequencies. Ultrafast magnetism (or opto-magnetism) is a relatively new field that has been very active in the last 20 years. The main idea is that intense femtosecond laser pulses can be used in order to manipulate the magnetization at very fast time-scales ( 100 femtoseconds). However, the use of femtosecond lasers poses great application challenges such as diffraction limited optical spot sizes which hinders device density, and bulky and expensive integration of femtosecond lasers into devices. In this thesis, our efforts to combine ultrafast magnetism and spintronics are presented. First, we show that the magnetization of ferrimagnetic GdFeCo films can be switched by picosecond electronic heat current pulses. This result shows that a non-thermal distribution of electrons directly excited by laser is not necessary for inducing ultrafast magnetic dynamics. Then, we fabricate photoconductive switch devices on a LT-GaAs substrate, to generate picosecond electrical pulses. Intense electrical pulses with 10ps (FWHM) duration and peak current up to 3A can be generated and delivered into magnetic films. Distinct magnetic dynamics in CoPt films are found between direct optical heating and electrical heating. More importantly, by delivering picosecond electrical pulses into GdFeCo films, we are able to deterministically reverse the magnetization of GdFeCo within 10ps. This is more than one order of magnitude faster than any other electrically

Modelling ultrafast laser ablation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rethfeld, Baerbel; Ivanov, Dmitriy S.; E Garcia, Martin; Anisimov, Sergei I.

2017-05-01

This review is devoted to the study of ultrafast laser ablation of solids and liquids. The ablation of condensed matter under exposure to subpicosecond laser pulses has a number of peculiar properties which distinguish this process from ablation induced by nanosecond and longer laser pulses. The process of ultrafast ablation includes light absorption by electrons in the skin layer, energy transfer from the skin layer to target interior by nonlinear electronic heat conduction, relaxation of the electron and ion temperatures, ultrafast melting, hydrodynamic expansion of heated matter accompanied by the formation of metastable states and subsequent formation of breaks in condensed matter. In case of ultrashort laser excitation, these processes are temporally separated and can thus be studied separately. As for energy absorption, we consider peculiarities of the case of metal irradiation in contrast to dielectrics and semiconductors. We discuss the energy dissipation processes of electronic thermal wave and lattice heating. Different types of phase transitions after ultrashort laser pulse irradiation as melting, vaporization or transitions to warm dense matter are discussed. Also nonthermal phase transitions, directly caused by the electronic excitation before considerable lattice heating, are considered. The final material removal occurs from the physical point of view as expansion of heated matter; here we discuss approaches of hydrodynamics, as well as molecular dynamic simulations directly following the atomic movements. Hybrid approaches tracing the dynamics of excited electrons, energy dissipation and structural dynamics in a combined simulation are reviewed as well.

Three-Dimensional Self-Organization in Nanocomposite Layered Systems by Ultrafast Laser Pulses.

PubMed

Liu, Zeming; Siegel, Jan; Garcia-Lechuga, Mario; Epicier, Thierry; Lefkir, Yaya; Reynaud, Stéphanie; Bugnet, Matthieu; Vocanson, Francis; Solis, Javier; Vitrant, Guy; Destouches, Nathalie

2017-05-23

Controlling plasmonic systems with nanometer resolution in transparent films and their colors over large nonplanar areas is a key issue for spreading their use in various industrial fields. Using light to direct self-organization mechanisms provides high-speed and flexible processes to meet this challenge. Here, we describe a route for the laser-induced self-organization of metallic nanostructures in 3D. Going beyond the production of planar nanopatterns, we demonstrate that ultrafast laser-induced excitation combined with nonlinear feedback mechanisms in a nanocomposite thin film can lead to 3D self-organized nanostructured films. The process, which can be extended to complex layered composite systems, produces highly uniform large-area nanopatterns. We show that 3D self-organization originates from the simultaneous excitation of independent optical modes at different depths in the film and is activated by the plasmon-induced charge separation and thermally induced NP growth mechanisms. This laser color marking technique enables multiplexed optical image encoding and the generated nanostructured Ag NPs:TiO 2 films offer great promise for applications in solar energy harvesting, photocatalysis, or photochromic devices.

Proposed imaging of the ultrafast electronic motion in samples using x-ray phase contrast.

PubMed

Dixit, Gopal; Slowik, Jan Malte; Santra, Robin

2013-03-29

Tracing the motion of electrons has enormous relevance to understanding ubiquitous phenomena in ultrafast science, such as the dynamical evolution of the electron density during complex chemical and biological processes. Scattering of ultrashort x-ray pulses from an electronic wave packet would appear to be the most obvious approach to image the electronic motion in real time and real space with the notion that such scattering patterns, in the far-field regime, encode the instantaneous electron density of the wave packet. However, recent results by Dixit et al. [Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 109, 11636 (2012)] have put this notion into question and have shown that the scattering in the far-field regime probes spatiotemporal density-density correlations. Here, we propose a possible way to image the instantaneous electron density of the wave packet via ultrafast x-ray phase contrast imaging. Moreover, we show that inelastic scattering processes, which plague ultrafast scattering in the far-field regime, do not contribute in ultrafast x-ray phase contrast imaging as a consequence of an interference effect. We illustrate our general findings by means of a wave packet that lies in the time and energy range of the dynamics of valence electrons in complex molecular and biological systems. This present work offers a potential to image not only instantaneous snapshots of nonstationary electron dynamics, but also the laplacian of these snapshots which provide information about the complex bonding and topology of the charge distributions in the systems.

Proposed Imaging of the Ultrafast Electronic Motion in Samples using X-Ray Phase Contrast

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dixit, Gopal; Slowik, Jan Malte; Santra, Robin

2013-03-01

Tracing the motion of electrons has enormous relevance to understanding ubiquitous phenomena in ultrafast science, such as the dynamical evolution of the electron density during complex chemical and biological processes. Scattering of ultrashort x-ray pulses from an electronic wave packet would appear to be the most obvious approach to image the electronic motion in real time and real space with the notion that such scattering patterns, in the far-field regime, encode the instantaneous electron density of the wave packet. However, recent results by Dixit et al. [Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 109, 11 636 (2012)] have put this notion into question and have shown that the scattering in the far-field regime probes spatiotemporal density-density correlations. Here, we propose a possible way to image the instantaneous electron density of the wave packet via ultrafast x-ray phase contrast imaging. Moreover, we show that inelastic scattering processes, which plague ultrafast scattering in the far-field regime, do not contribute in ultrafast x-ray phase contrast imaging as a consequence of an interference effect. We illustrate our general findings by means of a wave packet that lies in the time and energy range of the dynamics of valence electrons in complex molecular and biological systems. This present work offers a potential to image not only instantaneous snapshots of nonstationary electron dynamics, but also the Laplacian of these snapshots which provide information about the complex bonding and topology of the charge distributions in the systems.

Ultrafast Microfluidic Cellular Imaging by Optical Time-Stretch.

PubMed

Lau, Andy K S; Wong, Terence T W; Shum, Ho Cheung; Wong, Kenneth K Y; Tsia, Kevin K

2016-01-01

general guidelines of constructing the optical system for time stretch imaging, fabrication and design of the microfluidic chip for ultrafast fluidic flow, as well as the image acquisition and processing.

Breaking resolution limits in ultrafast electron diffraction and microscopy.

PubMed

Baum, Peter; Zewail, Ahmed H

2006-10-31

Ultrafast electron microscopy and diffraction are powerful techniques for the study of the time-resolved structures of molecules, materials, and biological systems. Central to these approaches is the use of ultrafast coherent electron packets. The electron pulses typically have an energy of 30 keV for diffraction and 100-200 keV for microscopy, corresponding to speeds of 33-70% of the speed of light. Although the spatial resolution can reach the atomic scale, the temporal resolution is limited by the pulse width and by the difference in group velocities of electrons and the light used to initiate the dynamical change. In this contribution, we introduce the concept of tilted optical pulses into diffraction and imaging techniques and demonstrate the methodology experimentally. These advances allow us to reach limits of time resolution down to regimes of a few femtoseconds and, possibly, attoseconds. With tilted pulses, every part of the sample is excited at precisely the same time as when the electrons arrive at the specimen. Here, this approach is demonstrated for the most unfavorable case of ultrafast crystallography. We also present a method for measuring the duration of electron packets by autocorrelating electron pulses in free space and without streaking, and we discuss the potential of tilting the electron pulses themselves for applications in domains involving nuclear and electron motions.

Breaking resolution limits in ultrafast electron diffraction and microscopy

PubMed Central

Baum, Peter; Zewail, Ahmed H.

2006-01-01

Ultrafast electron microscopy and diffraction are powerful techniques for the study of the time-resolved structures of molecules, materials, and biological systems. Central to these approaches is the use of ultrafast coherent electron packets. The electron pulses typically have an energy of 30 keV for diffraction and 100–200 keV for microscopy, corresponding to speeds of 33–70% of the speed of light. Although the spatial resolution can reach the atomic scale, the temporal resolution is limited by the pulse width and by the difference in group velocities of electrons and the light used to initiate the dynamical change. In this contribution, we introduce the concept of tilted optical pulses into diffraction and imaging techniques and demonstrate the methodology experimentally. These advances allow us to reach limits of time resolution down to regimes of a few femtoseconds and, possibly, attoseconds. With tilted pulses, every part of the sample is excited at precisely the same time as when the electrons arrive at the specimen. Here, this approach is demonstrated for the most unfavorable case of ultrafast crystallography. We also present a method for measuring the duration of electron packets by autocorrelating electron pulses in free space and without streaking, and we discuss the potential of tilting the electron pulses themselves for applications in domains involving nuclear and electron motions. PMID:17056711

3-D ultrafast Doppler imaging applied to the noninvasive mapping of blood vessels in vivo.

PubMed

Provost, Jean; Papadacci, Clement; Demene, Charlie; Gennisson, Jean-Luc; Tanter, Mickael; Pernot, Mathieu

2015-08-01

Ultrafast Doppler imaging was introduced as a technique to quantify blood flow in an entire 2-D field of view, expanding the field of application of ultrasound imaging to the highly sensitive anatomical and functional mapping of blood vessels. We have recently developed 3-D ultrafast ultrasound imaging, a technique that can produce thousands of ultrasound volumes per second, based on a 3-D plane and diverging wave emissions, and demonstrated its clinical feasibility in human subjects in vivo. In this study, we show that noninvasive 3-D ultrafast power Doppler, pulsed Doppler, and color Doppler imaging can be used to perform imaging of blood vessels in humans when using coherent compounding of 3-D tilted plane waves. A customized, programmable, 1024-channel ultrasound system was designed to perform 3-D ultrafast imaging. Using a 32 × 32, 3-MHz matrix phased array (Vermon, Tours, France), volumes were beamformed by coherently compounding successive tilted plane wave emissions. Doppler processing was then applied in a voxel-wise fashion. The proof of principle of 3-D ultrafast power Doppler imaging was first performed by imaging Tygon tubes of various diameters, and in vivo feasibility was demonstrated by imaging small vessels in the human thyroid. Simultaneous 3-D color and pulsed Doppler imaging using compounded emissions were also applied in the carotid artery and the jugular vein in one healthy volunteer.

Ultrafast X-Ray Coherent Control

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Reis, David

2009-05-01

This main purpose of this grant was to develop the nascent eld of ultrafast x-ray science using accelerator-based sources, and originally developed from an idea that a laser could modulate the di racting properties of a x-ray di racting crystal on a fast enough time scale to switch out in time a shorter slice from the already short x-ray pulses from a synchrotron. The research was carried out primarily at the Advanced Photon Source (APS) sector 7 at Argonne National Laboratory and the Sub-Picosecond Pulse Source (SPPS) at SLAC; in anticipation of the Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS) x-ray freemore » electron laser that became operational in 2009 at SLAC (all National User Facilities operated by BES). The research centered on the generation, control and measurement of atomic-scale dynamics in atomic, molecular optical and condensed matter systems with temporal and spatial resolution . It helped develop the ultrafast physics, techniques and scienti c case for using the unprecedented characteristics of the LCLS. The project has been very successful with results have been disseminated widely and in top journals, have been well cited in the eld, and have laid the foundation for many experiments being performed on the LCLS, the world's rst hard x-ray free electron laser.« less

PREFACE: Ultrafast and nonlinear optics in carbon nanomaterials

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kono, Junichiro

2013-02-01

Carbon-based nanomaterials—single-wall carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) and graphene, in particular—have emerged in the last decade as novel low-dimensional systems with extraordinary properties. Because they are direct-bandgap systems, SWCNTs are one of the leading candidates to unify electronic and optical functions in nanoscale circuitry; their diameter-dependent bandgaps can be utilized for multi-wavelength devices. Graphene's ultrahigh carrier mobilities are promising for high-frequency electronic devices, while, at the same time, it is predicted to have ideal properties for terahertz generation and detection due to its unique zero-gap, zero-mass band structure. There have been a large number of basic optical studies on these materials, but most of them were performed in the weak-excitation, quasi-equilibrium regime. In order to probe and assess their performance characteristics as optoelectronic materials under device-operating conditions, it is crucial to strongly drive them and examine their optical properties in highly non-equilibrium situations and with ultrashot time resolution. In this section, the reader will find the latest results in this rapidly growing field of research. We have assembled contributions from some of the leading experts in ultrafast and nonlinear optical spectroscopy of carbon-based nanomaterials. Specific topics featured include: thermalization, cooling, and recombination dynamics of photo-generated carriers; stimulated emission, gain, and amplification; ultrafast photoluminescence; coherent phonon dynamics; exciton-phonon and exciton-plasmon interactions; exciton-exciton annihilation and Auger processes; spontaneous and stimulated emission of terahertz radiation; four-wave mixing and harmonic generation; ultrafast photocurrents; the AC Stark and Franz-Keldysh effects; and non-perturbative light-mater coupling. We would like to express our sincere thanks to those who contributed their latest results to this special section, and the

Carotid Artery Stiffness Assessment by Ultrafast Ultrasound Imaging: Feasibility and Potential Influencing Factors.

PubMed

Pan, Fu-Shun; Yu, Liang; Luo, Jia; Wu, Ri-Dong; Xu, Ming; Liang, Jin-Yu; Zheng, Yan-Ling; Xie, Xiao-Yan

2018-04-19

To evaluate the feasibility of the ultrafast ultrasound pulsed wave velocity (PWV) for carotid stiffness assessment and potential influencing factors. Ultrafast PWV measurements of 442 carotid arteries in 162 consecutive patients (patient group) and 66 healthy volunteers (control group) were performed. High- and very high-frequency transducers were used in 110 carotid segments. The ultrafast PWVs at the beginning and end of systole were automatically measured. The correlations between the intima-media thickness (IMT) and ultrafast PWV and the equipment and carotid factors influencing the utility of ultrafast PWV were analyzed. Each ultrafast PWV acquisition was completed within 1 minute. The intraobserver variability showed mean differences ± SD of 0.12 ± 1.28 m/s for the PWV before systole and 0.06 ± 1.30 m/s for the PWV at the end of systole. Ultrafast PWV measurements were more likely obtained with the very high- frequency transducer when the IMT was less than 1.5 mm (P < .05). A generalized linear mixed-effects model analysis showed that the very high-frequency transducer had a greater ability to obtain a valid carotid ultrafast PWV measurement with an IMT of less than 1.5 mm (P < .05). The IMT was positively correlated with the PWV before systole and at the end of systole (r = 0.207-0.771; all P < .05) in the control group, patient group, and carotid subgroup with an IMT of less than 1.5 mm. A multiple regression analysis showed that the IMT and plaque were important independent factors in predicting failure of the ultrafast PWV (P < .001). The ultrafast PWV is an effective and user-friendly method for evaluating carotid stiffness. The IMT and transducer type are factors influencing the ability to obtain an ultrafast PWV measurement. © 2018 by the American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine.

Nine time steps: ultra-fast statistical consistency testing of the Community Earth System Model (pyCECT v3.0)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Milroy, Daniel J.; Baker, Allison H.; Hammerling, Dorit M.; Jessup, Elizabeth R.

2018-02-01

The Community Earth System Model Ensemble Consistency Test (CESM-ECT) suite was developed as an alternative to requiring bitwise identical output for quality assurance. This objective test provides a statistical measurement of consistency between an accepted ensemble created by small initial temperature perturbations and a test set of CESM simulations. In this work, we extend the CESM-ECT suite with an inexpensive and robust test for ensemble consistency that is applied to Community Atmospheric Model (CAM) output after only nine model time steps. We demonstrate that adequate ensemble variability is achieved with instantaneous variable values at the ninth step, despite rapid perturbation growth and heterogeneous variable spread. We refer to this new test as the Ultra-Fast CAM Ensemble Consistency Test (UF-CAM-ECT) and demonstrate its effectiveness in practice, including its ability to detect small-scale events and its applicability to the Community Land Model (CLM). The new ultra-fast test facilitates CESM development, porting, and optimization efforts, particularly when used to complement information from the original CESM-ECT suite of tools.

Direct Imaging of Exciton Transport in Tubular Porphyrin Aggregates by Ultrafast Microscopy.

PubMed

Wan, Yan; Stradomska, Anna; Knoester, Jasper; Huang, Libai

2017-05-31

Long-range exciton transport is a key challenge in achieving efficient solar energy harvesting in both organic solar cells and photosynthetic systems. Self-assembled molecular aggregates provide the potential for attaining long-range exciton transport through strong intermolecular coupling. However, there currently lacks an experimental tool to directly characterize exciton transport in space and in time to elucidate mechanisms. Here we report a direct visualization of exciton diffusion in tubular molecular aggregates by transient absorption microscopy with ∼200 fs time resolution and ∼50 nm spatial precision. These direct measurements provide exciton diffusion constants of 3-6 cm 2 s -1 for the tubular molecular aggregates, which are 3-5 times higher than a theoretical lower bound obtained by assuming incoherent hopping. These results suggest that coherent effects play a role, despite the fact that exciton states near the band bottom crucial for transport are only weakly delocalized (over <10 molecules). The methods presented here establish a direct approach for unraveling the mechanisms and main parameters underlying exciton transport in large molecular assemblies.

Applications of ultrafast laser direct writing: from polarization control to data storage

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Donko, A.; Gertus, T.; Brambilla, G.; Beresna, M.

2018-02-01

Ultrafast laser direct writing is a fascinating technology which emerged more than two decades from fundamental studies of material resistance to high-intensity optical fields. Its development saw the discovery of many puzzling phenomena and demonstration of useful applications. Today, ultrafast laser writing is seen as a technology with great potential and is rapidly entering the industrial environment. Whereas, less than 10 years ago, ultrafast lasers were still confined within the research labs. This talk will overview some of the unique features of ultrafast lasers and give examples of its applications in optical data storage, polarization control and optical fibers.

Measurement of Nanoplasmonic Field Enhancement with Ultrafast Photoemission.

PubMed

Rácz, Péter; Pápa, Zsuzsanna; Márton, István; Budai, Judit; Wróbel, Piotr; Stefaniuk, Tomasz; Prietl, Christine; Krenn, Joachim R; Dombi, Péter

2017-02-08

Probing nanooptical near-fields is a major challenge in plasmonics. Here, we demonstrate an experimental method utilizing ultrafast photoemission from plasmonic nanostructures that is capable of probing the maximum nanoplasmonic field enhancement in any metallic surface environment. Directly measured field enhancement values for various samples are in good agreement with detailed finite-difference time-domain simulations. These results establish ultrafast plasmonic photoelectrons as versatile probes for nanoplasmonic near-fields.

Rational material design for ultrafast rechargeable lithium-ion batteries.

PubMed

Tang, Yuxin; Zhang, Yanyan; Li, Wenlong; Ma, Bing; Chen, Xiaodong

2015-10-07

Rechargeable lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) are important electrochemical energy storage devices for consumer electronics and emerging electrical/hybrid vehicles. However, one of the formidable challenges is to develop ultrafast charging LIBs with the rate capability at least one order of magnitude (>10 C) higher than that of the currently commercialized LIBs. This tutorial review presents the state-of-the-art developments in ultrafast charging LIBs by the rational design of materials. First of all, fundamental electrochemistry and related ionic/electronic conduction theories identify that the rate capability of LIBs is kinetically limited by the sluggish solid-state diffusion process in electrode materials. Then, several aspects of the intrinsic materials, materials engineering and processing, and electrode materials architecture design towards maximizing both ionic and electronic conductivity in the electrode with a short diffusion length are deliberated. Finally, the future trends and perspectives for the ultrafast rechargeable LIBs are discussed. Continuous rapid progress in this area is essential and urgent to endow LIBs with ultrafast charging capability to meet huge demands in the near future.

Nonthermal ultrafast optical control of the magnetization in garnet films

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hansteen, Fredrik; Kimel, Alexey; Kirilyuk, Andrei; Rasing, Theo

2006-01-01

We demonstrate coherent optical control of the magnetization in ferrimagnetic garnet films on the femtosecond time scale through a combination of two different ultrafast and nonthermal photomagnetic effects and by employing multiple pump pulses. Linearly polarized laser pulses are shown to create a long-lived modification of the magnetocrystalline anisotropy via optically induced electron transfer between nonequivalent ion sites while circularly polarized pulses additionally act as strong transient magnetic field pulses originating from the nonabsorptive inverse Faraday effect. Due to the slow phonon-magnon interaction in these dielectrics, thermal effects of the laser excitation are clearly distinguished from the ultrafast nonthermal effects and can be seen only on the time scale of nanoseconds for sample temperatures near the Curie point. The reported effects open exciting possibilities for ultrafast manipulation of spins by light, and provide insight into the physics of magnetism on ultrafast time scales.

Realizing Ultrafast Electron Pulse Self-Compression by Femtosecond Pulse Shaping Technique.

PubMed

Qi, Yingpeng; Pei, Minjie; Qi, Dalong; Yang, Yan; Jia, Tianqing; Zhang, Shian; Sun, Zhenrong

2015-10-01

Uncorrelated position and velocity distribution of the electron bunch at the photocathode from the residual energy greatly limit the transverse coherent length and the recompression ability. Here we first propose a femtosecond pulse-shaping method to realize the electron pulse self-compression in ultrafast electron diffraction system based on a point-to-point space-charge model. The positively chirped femtosecond laser pulse can correspondingly create the positively chirped electron bunch at the photocathode (such as metal-insulator heterojunction), and such a shaped electron pulse can realize the self-compression in the subsequent propagation process. The greatest advantage for our proposed scheme is that no additional components are introduced into the ultrafast electron diffraction system, which therefore does not affect the electron bunch shape. More importantly, this scheme can break the limitation that the electron pulse via postphotocathode static compression schemes is not shorter than the excitation laser pulse due to the uncorrelated position and velocity distribution of the initial electron bunch.

A general strategy for the ultrafast surface modification of metals.

PubMed

Shen, Mingli; Zhu, Shenglong; Wang, Fuhui

2016-12-07

Surface modification is an essential step in engineering materials that can withstand the increasingly aggressive environments encountered in various modern energy-conversion systems and chemical processing industries. However, most traditional technologies exhibit disadvantages such as slow diffusion kinetics, processing difficulties or compatibility issues. Here, we present a general strategy for the ultrafast surface modification of metals inspired by electromigration, using aluminizing austenitic stainless steel as an example. Our strategy facilitates the rapid formation of a favourable ductile surface layer composed of FeCrAl or β-FeAl within only 10 min compared with several hours in conventional processes. This result indicates that electromigration can be used to achieve the ultrafast surface modification of metals and can overcome the limitations of traditional technologies. This strategy could be used to aluminize ultra-supercritical steam tubing to withstand aggressive oxidizing environments.

A general strategy for the ultrafast surface modification of metals

PubMed Central

Shen, Mingli; Zhu, Shenglong; Wang, Fuhui

2016-01-01

Surface modification is an essential step in engineering materials that can withstand the increasingly aggressive environments encountered in various modern energy-conversion systems and chemical processing industries. However, most traditional technologies exhibit disadvantages such as slow diffusion kinetics, processing difficulties or compatibility issues. Here, we present a general strategy for the ultrafast surface modification of metals inspired by electromigration, using aluminizing austenitic stainless steel as an example. Our strategy facilitates the rapid formation of a favourable ductile surface layer composed of FeCrAl or β-FeAl within only 10 min compared with several hours in conventional processes. This result indicates that electromigration can be used to achieve the ultrafast surface modification of metals and can overcome the limitations of traditional technologies. This strategy could be used to aluminize ultra-supercritical steam tubing to withstand aggressive oxidizing environments. PMID:27924909

Relation between magnetization and Faraday angles produced by ultrafast spin-flip processes within the three-level Λ-type system

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hinschberger, Y.; Lavoine, J. P.

2015-08-07

Ultrafast magneto-optical (MO) experiments constitute a powerful tool to explore the magnetization dynamics of diverse materials. Over the last decade, there have been many theoretical and experimental developments on this subject. However, the relation between the magnetization dynamics and the transient MO response still remains unclear. In this work, we calculate the magnetization of a material, as well as the magneto-optical rotation and ellipticity angles measured in a single-beam experiment. Then, we compare the magnetization to the MO response. The magnetic material is modeled by a three-level Λ-type system, which represents a simple model to describe MO effects induced bymore » an ultrafast laser pulse. Our calculations use the density matrix formalism, while the dynamics of the system is obtained by solving the Lindblad equation taking into account population relaxation and dephasing processes. Furthermore, we consider the Faraday rotation of the optical waves that simultaneously causes spin-flip. We show that the Faraday angles remain proportional to the magnetization only if the system has reached the equilibrium-state, and that this proportionality is directly related to the population and coherence decay rates. For the non-equilibrium situation, the previous proportionality relation is no longer valid. We show that our model is able to interpret some recent experimental results obtained in a single-pulse experiment. We further show that, after a critical pulse duration, the decrease of the ellipticity as a function of the absorbed energy is a characteristic of the system.« less

Advanced optic fabrication using ultrafast laser radiation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Taylor, Lauren L.; Qiao, Jun; Qiao, Jie

2016-03-01

Advanced fabrication and finishing techniques are desired for freeform optics and integrated photonics. Methods including grinding, polishing and magnetorheological finishing used for final figuring and polishing of such optics are time consuming, expensive, and may be unsuitable for complex surface features while common photonics fabrication techniques often limit devices to planar geometries. Laser processing has been investigated as an alternative method for optic forming, surface polishing, structure writing, and welding, as direct tuning of laser parameters and flexible beam delivery are advantageous for complex freeform or photonics elements and material-specific processing. Continuous wave and pulsed laser radiation down to the nanosecond regime have been implemented to achieve nanoscale surface finishes through localized material melting, but the temporal extent of the laser-material interaction often results in the formation of a sub-surface heat affected zone. The temporal brevity of ultrafast laser radiation can allow for the direct vaporization of rough surface asperities with minimal melting, offering the potential for smooth, final surface quality with negligible heat affected material. High intensities achieved in focused ultrafast laser radiation can easily induce phase changes in the bulk of materials for processing applications. We have experimentally tested the effectiveness of ultrafast laser radiation as an alternative laser source for surface processing of monocrystalline silicon. Simulation of material heating associated with ultrafast laser-material interaction has been performed and used to investigate optimized processing parameters including repetition rate. The parameter optimization process and results of experimental processing will be presented.

Ultrafast electronic dynamics driven by nuclear motion

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vendrell, Oriol

2016-05-01

The transfer of electrical charge on a microscopic scale plays a fundamental role in chemistry, in biology, and in technological applications. In this contribution, we will discuss situations in which nuclear motion plays a central role in driving the electronic dynamics of photo-excited or photo-ionized molecular systems. In particular, we will explore theoretically the ultrafast transfer of a double electron hole between the functional groups of glycine after K-shell ionization and subsequent Auger decay. Although a large energy gap of about 15 eV initially exists between the two electronic states involved and coherent electronic dynamics play no role in the hole transfer, we will illustrate how the double hole can be transferred within 3 to 4 fs between both functional ends of the glycine molecule driven solely by specific nuclear displacements and non-Born-Oppenheimer effects. This finding challenges the common wisdom that nuclear dynamics of the molecular skeleton are unimportant for charge transfer processes at the few-femtosecond time scale and shows that they can even play a prominent role. We thank the Hamburg Centre for Ultrafast Imaging and the Volkswagen Foundation for financial support.

Fast and ultrafast endocytosis.

PubMed

Watanabe, Shigeki; Boucrot, Emmanuel

2017-08-01

Clathrin-mediated endocytosis (CME) is the main endocytic pathway supporting housekeeping functions in cells. However, CME may be too slow to internalize proteins from the cell surface during certain physiological processes such as reaction to stress hormones ('fight-or-flight' reaction), chemotaxis or compensatory endocytosis following exocytosis of synaptic vesicles or hormone-containing vesicles. These processes take place on a millisecond to second timescale and thus require very rapid cellular reaction to prevent overstimulation or exhaustion of the response. There are several fast endocytic processes identified so far: macropinocytosis, activity-dependent bulk endocytosis (ABDE), fast-endophilin-mediated endocytosis (FEME), kiss-and-run and ultrafast endocytosis. All are clathrin-independent and are not constitutively active but may use different molecular mechanisms to rapidly remove receptors and proteins from the cell surface. Here, we review our current understanding of fast and ultrafast endocytosis, their functions, and molecular mechanisms. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Ultrafast lattice dynamics in lead selenide quantum dot induced by laser excitation

DOE PAGES

Wang, Xuan; Rahmani, Hamidreza; Zhou, Jun; ...

2016-10-10

We directly monitored the lattice dynamics in PbSe quantum dots induced by laser excitation using ultrafast electron di raction. The energy relaxation between the carriers and the lattice took place within 10 ps, showing no evidence of any signi cant phonon bottleneck e ect. Meanwhile, the lattice dilation exhibited some unusual features that could not be explained by the available mechanisms of photon- induced acoustic vibrations in semiconductors alone. The heat transport between the QDs and the substrate deviates signi cantly from Fourier's Law, which opens questions about the heat transfer under nonequilibrium conditions in nanoscale materials.

Ultrafast lattice dynamics in lead selenide quantum dot induced by laser excitation

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Wang, Xuan; Rahmani, Hamidreza; Zhou, Jun

We directly monitored the lattice dynamics in PbSe quantum dots induced by laser excitation using ultrafast electron di raction. The energy relaxation between the carriers and the lattice took place within 10 ps, showing no evidence of any signi cant phonon bottleneck e ect. Meanwhile, the lattice dilation exhibited some unusual features that could not be explained by the available mechanisms of photon- induced acoustic vibrations in semiconductors alone. The heat transport between the QDs and the substrate deviates signi cantly from Fourier's Law, which opens questions about the heat transfer under nonequilibrium conditions in nanoscale materials.

Room-temperature ultrafast nonlinear spectroscopy of a single molecule

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liebel, Matz; Toninelli, Costanza; van Hulst, Niek F.

2018-01-01

Single-molecule spectroscopy aims to unveil often hidden but potentially very important contributions of single entities to a system's ensemble response. Albeit contributing tremendously to our ever growing understanding of molecular processes, the fundamental question of temporal evolution, or change, has thus far been inaccessible, thus painting a static picture of a dynamic world. Here, we finally resolve this dilemma by performing ultrafast time-resolved transient spectroscopy on a single molecule. By tracing the femtosecond evolution of excited electronic state spectra of single molecules over hundreds of nanometres of bandwidth at room temperature, we reveal their nonlinear ultrafast response in an effective three-pulse scheme with fluorescence detection. A first excitation pulse is followed by a phase-locked de-excitation pulse pair, providing spectral encoding with 25 fs temporal resolution. This experimental realization of true single-molecule transient spectroscopy demonstrates that two-dimensional electronic spectroscopy of single molecules is experimentally within reach.

Transthoracic Ultrafast Doppler Imaging of Human Left Ventricular Hemodynamic Function

PubMed Central

Osmanski, Bruno-Félix; Maresca, David; Messas, Emmanuel; Tanter, Mickael; Pernot, Mathieu

2016-01-01

Heart diseases can affect intraventricular blood flow patterns. Real-time imaging of blood flow patterns is challenging because it requires both a high frame rate and a large field of view. To date, standard Doppler techniques can only perform blood flow estimation with high temporal resolution within small regions of interest. In this work, we used ultrafast imaging to map in 2D human left ventricular blood flow patterns during the whole cardiac cycle. Cylindrical waves were transmitted at 4800 Hz with a transthoracic phased array probe to achieve ultrafast Doppler imaging of the left ventricle. The high spatio-temporal sampling of ultrafast imaging permits to rely on a much more effective wall filtering and to increase sensitivity when mapping blood flow patterns during the pre-ejection, ejection, early diastole, diastasis and late diastole phases of the heart cycle. The superior sensitivity and temporal resolution of ultrafast Doppler imaging makes it a promising tool for the noninvasive study of intraventricular hemodynamic function. PMID:25073134

Ultra-fast boriding of metal surfaces for improved properties

DOEpatents

Timur, Servet; Kartal, Guldem; Eryilmaz, Osman L.; Erdemir, Ali

2015-02-10

A method of ultra-fast boriding of a metal surface. The method includes the step of providing a metal component, providing a molten electrolyte having boron components therein, providing an electrochemical boriding system including an induction furnace, operating the induction furnace to establish a high temperature for the molten electrolyte, and boriding the metal surface to achieve a boride layer on the metal surface.

Characterization of Nanostructured Semiconductors by Ultrafast Luminescence Imaging

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Blake, Jolie

Single nanostructures are predicted to be the building blocks of next generation devices and have already been incorporated into prototypes for solar cells, biomedical devices and lasers. Their role in such applications requires a fundamental understanding of their opto-electronic properties and in particular the charge carrier dynamics occurring on an ultrafast timescale. Luminescence detection is a common approach used to investigate electronic properties of nanostructures because of the contact-less nature of these methods. They are, however, often not equipped to efficiently measure multiple single nanostructures nor do they have the temporal resolution necessary for observing femtosecond dynamics. This dissertation intends to address this paucity of techniques available for the contact-less measurement of single nanostructures through the development of an ultrafast wide-field Kerr-gated microscope system and measurement technique. The setup, operational in both the steady state and transient mode and capable of microscopic and spectroscopic measurements, was developed to measure the transient luminescence of single semiconductor nanostructures. With sub micron spatial resolution and the potential to achieve a temporal resolution greater than 90 fs, the system was used to probe the charge carrier dynamics at multiple discrete locations on single nanowires exhibiting amplified spontaneous emission. Using a rate model for amplified spontaneous emission, the transient emission data was fitted to extract the values of the competing Shockley-Read-Hall, non-geminate and Auger recombination constants. The capabilities of the setup were first demonstrated in the visible detection range, where single nanowires of the ternary alloy CdS x Se1-x were measured. The temporal emission dynamics at two separate locations were compared and calculation of the Langevin mobility revealed that the large carrier densities generated in the nanowire allows access to non

Ultrafast exciton migration in an HJ-aggregate: Potential surfaces and quantum dynamics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Binder, Robert; Polkehn, Matthias; Ma, Tianji; Burghardt, Irene

2017-01-01

Quantum dynamical and electronic structure calculations are combined to investigate the mechanism of exciton migration in an oligothiophene HJ aggregate, i.e., a combination of oligomer chains (J-type aggregates) and stacked aggregates of such chains (H-type aggregates). To this end, a Frenkel exciton model is parametrized by a recently introduced procedure [Binder et al., J. Chem. Phys. 141, 014101 (2014)] which uses oligomer excited-state calculations to perform an exact, point-wise mapping of coupled potential energy surfaces to an effective Frenkel model. Based upon this parametrization, the Multi-Layer Multi-Configuration Time-Dependent Hartree (ML-MCTDH) method is employed to investigate ultrafast dynamics of exciton transfer in a small, asymmetric HJ aggregate model composed of 30 sites and 30 active modes. For a partially delocalized initial condition, it is shown that a torsional defect confines the trapped initial exciton, and planarization induces an ultrafast resonant transition between an HJ-aggregated segment and a covalently bound "dangling chain" end. This model is a minimal realization of experimentally investigated mixed systems exhibiting ultrafast exciton transfer between aggregated, highly planarized chains and neighboring disordered segments.

Recent advances in multidimensional ultrafast spectroscopy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Oliver, Thomas A. A.

2018-01-01

Multidimensional ultrafast spectroscopies are one of the premier tools to investigate condensed phase dynamics of biological, chemical and functional nanomaterial systems. As they reach maturity, the variety of frequency domains that can be explored has vastly increased, with experimental techniques capable of correlating excitation and emission frequencies from the terahertz through to the ultraviolet. Some of the most recent innovations also include extreme cross-peak spectroscopies that directly correlate the dynamics of electronic and vibrational states. This review article summarizes the key technological advances that have permitted these recent advances, and the insights gained from new multidimensional spectroscopic probes.

Recent advances in multidimensional ultrafast spectroscopy

PubMed Central

2018-01-01

Multidimensional ultrafast spectroscopies are one of the premier tools to investigate condensed phase dynamics of biological, chemical and functional nanomaterial systems. As they reach maturity, the variety of frequency domains that can be explored has vastly increased, with experimental techniques capable of correlating excitation and emission frequencies from the terahertz through to the ultraviolet. Some of the most recent innovations also include extreme cross-peak spectroscopies that directly correlate the dynamics of electronic and vibrational states. This review article summarizes the key technological advances that have permitted these recent advances, and the insights gained from new multidimensional spectroscopic probes. PMID:29410844

Ultrafast Spreading Effect Induced Rapid Cell Trapping into Porous Scaffold with Superhydrophilic Surface.

PubMed

Wang, Chenmiao; Qiao, Chunyan; Song, Wenlong; Sun, Hongchen

2015-08-19

In this contribution, superhydrophilic chitosan-based scaffolds with ultrafast spreading property were fabricated and used to improve the trapped efficiency of cells. The ultrafast spreading property allowed cells to be trapped into the internal 3D porous structures of the prepared scaffolds more quickly and effectively. Cell adhesion, growth, and proliferation were also improved, which could be attributed to the combination of UV irradiation and ultrafast spreading property. The construction of ultrafast spreading property on the scaffold surface will offer a novel way to design more effective scaffold in tissue engineering that could largely shorten the therapeutic time for patients.

High Contrast Ultrafast Imaging of the Human Heart

PubMed Central

Papadacci, Clement; Pernot, Mathieu; Couade, Mathieu; Fink, Mathias; Tanter, Mickael

2014-01-01

Non-invasive ultrafast imaging for human cardiac applications is a big challenge to image intrinsic waves such as electromechanical waves or remotely induced shear waves in elastography imaging techniques. In this paper we propose to perform ultrafast imaging of the heart with adapted sector size by using diverging waves emitted from a classical transthoracic cardiac phased array probe. As in ultrafast imaging with plane wave coherent compounding, diverging waves can be summed coherently to obtain high-quality images of the entire heart at high frame rate in a full field-of-view. To image shear waves propagation at high SNR, the field-of-view can be adapted by changing the angular aperture of the transmitted wave. Backscattered echoes from successive circular wave acquisitions are coherently summed at every location in the image to improve the image quality while maintaining very high frame rates. The transmitted diverging waves, angular apertures and subapertures size are tested in simulation and ultrafast coherent compounding is implemented on a commercial scanner. The improvement of the imaging quality is quantified in phantom and in vivo on human heart. Imaging shear wave propagation at 2500 frame/s using 5 diverging waves provides a strong increase of the Signal to noise ratio of the tissue velocity estimates while maintaining a high frame rate. Finally, ultrafast imaging with a 1 to 5 diverging waves is used to image the human heart at a frame rate of 900 frames/s over an entire cardiac cycle. Thanks to spatial coherent compounding, a strong improvement of imaging quality is obtained with a small number of transmitted diverging waves and a high frame rate, which allows imaging the propagation of electromechanical and shear waves with good image quality. PMID:24474135

An ultrafast X-ray scintillating detector made of ZnO(Ga)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Qingmin; Yan, Jun; Deng, Bangjie; Zhang, Jingwen; Lv, Jinge; Wen, Xin; Gao, Keqing

2017-12-01

Owing to its ultrafast scintillation, quite high light yield, strong radiation resistance, and non-deliquescence, ZnO(Ga) is a highly promising choice for an ultrafast X-ray detector. Because of its high deposition rate, good production repeatability and strong adhesive force, reactive magnetron sputtering was used to produce a ZnO(Ga) crystal on a quartz glass substrate, after the production conditions were optimized. The fluorescence lifetime of the sample was 173 ps. An ultrafast X-ray scintillating detector, equipped with a fast microchannel plate (MCP) photomultiplier tube (PMT), was developed and the X-ray tests show a signal full width at half maximum (FWHM) of only 385.5 ps. Moreover, derivation from the previous measurement shows the ZnO(Ga) has an ultrafast time response (FWHM = 355.1 ps) and a high light yield (14740 photons/MeV).

Intelligent Transport Systems in the Management of Road Transportation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kalupová, Blanka; Hlavoň, Ivan

2016-11-01

Extension of European Union causes increase of free transfer of people and goods. At the same time they raised the problems associated with the transport, e.g. congestion and related accidents on roads, air traffic delays and more. To increase the efficiency and safety of transport, the European Commission supports the introduction of intelligent transport systems and services in all transport sectors. Implementation of intelligent transport systems and services in the road transport reduces accident frequency, increases the capacity of existing infrastructure and reduces congestions. Use of toll systems provides resources needed for the construction and operation of a new road network, improves public transport, cycling transport and walking transport, and also their multimodal integration with individual car transport.

Mapping carrier diffusion in single silicon core-shell nanowires with ultrafast optical microscopy.

PubMed

Seo, M A; Yoo, J; Dayeh, S A; Picraux, S T; Taylor, A J; Prasankumar, R P

2012-12-12

Recent success in the fabrication of axial and radial core-shell heterostructures, composed of one or more layers with different properties, on semiconductor nanowires (NWs) has enabled greater control of NW-based device operation for various applications. (1-3) However, further progress toward significant performance enhancements in a given application is hindered by the limited knowledge of carrier dynamics in these structures. In particular, the strong influence of interfaces between different layers in NWs on transport makes it especially important to understand carrier dynamics in these quasi-one-dimensional systems. Here, we use ultrafast optical microscopy (4) to directly examine carrier relaxation and diffusion in single silicon core-only and Si/SiO(2) core-shell NWs with high temporal and spatial resolution in a noncontact manner. This enables us to reveal strong coherent phonon oscillations and experimentally map electron and hole diffusion currents in individual semiconductor NWs for the first time.

Engineering model for ultrafast laser microprocessing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Audouard, E.; Mottay, E.

2016-03-01

Ultrafast laser micro-machining relies on complex laser-matter interaction processes, leading to a virtually athermal laser ablation. The development of industrial ultrafast laser applications benefits from a better understanding of these processes. To this end, a number of sophisticated scientific models have been developed, providing valuable insights in the physics of the interaction. Yet, from an engineering point of view, they are often difficult to use, and require a number of adjustable parameters. We present a simple engineering model for ultrafast laser processing, applied in various real life applications: percussion drilling, line engraving, and non normal incidence trepanning. The model requires only two global parameters. Analytical results are derived for single pulse percussion drilling or simple pass engraving. Simple assumptions allow to predict the effect of non normal incident beams to obtain key parameters for trepanning drilling. The model is compared to experimental data on stainless steel with a wide range of laser characteristics (time duration, repetition rate, pulse energy) and machining conditions (sample or beam speed). Ablation depth and volume ablation rate are modeled for pulse durations from 100 fs to 1 ps. Trepanning time of 5.4 s with a conicity of 0.15° is obtained for a hole of 900 μm depth and 100 μm diameter.

Proton-Based Ultrafast Magic Angle Spinning Solid-State NMR Spectroscopy.

PubMed

Zhang, Rongchun; Mroue, Kamal H; Ramamoorthy, Ayyalusamy

2017-04-18

Protons are vastly abundant in a wide range of exciting macromolecules and thus can be a powerful probe to investigate the structure and dynamics at atomic resolution using solid-state NMR (ssNMR) spectroscopy. Unfortunately, the high signal sensitivity, afforded by the high natural-abundance and high gyromagnetic ratio of protons, is greatly compromised by severe line broadening due to the very strong 1 H- 1 H dipolar couplings. As a result, protons are rarely used, in spite of the desperate need for enhancing the sensitivity of ssNMR to study a variety of systems that are not amenable for high resolution investigation using other techniques including X-ray crystallography, cryo-electron microscopy, and solution NMR spectroscopy. Thanks to the remarkable improvement in proton spectral resolution afforded by the significant advances in magic-angle-spinning (MAS) probe technology, 1 H ssNMR spectroscopy has recently attracted considerable attention in the structural and dynamics studies of various molecular systems. However, it still remains a challenge to obtain narrow 1 H spectral lines, especially from proteins, without resorting to deuteration. In this Account, we review recent proton-based ssNMR strategies that have been developed in our laboratory to further improve proton spectral resolution without resorting to chemical deuteration for the purposes of gaining atomistic-level insights into molecular structures of various crystalline solid systems, using small molecules and peptides as illustrative examples. The proton spectral resolution enhancement afforded by the ultrafast MAS frequencies up to 120 kHz is initially discussed, followed by a description of an ensemble of multidimensional NMR pulse sequences, all based on proton detection, that have been developed to obtain in-depth information from dipolar couplings and chemical shift anisotropy (CSA). Simple single channel multidimensional proton NMR experiments could be performed to probe the proximity of

Intense Plasma Waveguide Terahertz Sources for High-Field THz Probe Science with Ultrafast Lasers for Solid State Physics

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-08-25

AFRL-AFOSR-UK-TR-2016-0029 Intense Plasma-Waveguide Terahertz Sources for High-Field THz probe science with ultrafast lasers for Solid State Physics...Plasma-Waveguide Terahertz Sources for High-Field THz probe science with ultrafast lasers for Solid State Physics, 5a.  CONTRACT NUMBER 5b.  GRANT...an existing high energy laser system, has been applied to the study of intense terahertz radiation generated in gaseous plasmas in purpose

Ultrafast fluorescence spectroscopy via upconversion applications to biophysics.

PubMed

Xu, Jianhua; Knutson, Jay R

2008-01-01

This chapter reviews basic concepts of nonlinear fluorescence upconversion, a technique whose temporal resolution is essentially limited only by the pulse width of the ultrafast laser. Design aspects for upconversion spectrophotofluorometers are discussed, and a recently developed system is described. We discuss applications in biophysics, particularly the measurement of time-resolved fluorescence spectra of proteins (with subpicosecond time resolution). Application of this technique to biophysical problems such as dynamics of tryptophan, peptides, proteins, and nucleic acids is reviewed.

Modifying ultrafast optical response of sputtered VOX nanostructures in a broad spectral range by altering post annealing atmosphere

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kürüm, U.; Yaglioglu, H. G.; Küçüköz, B.; Oksuzoglu, R. M.; Yıldırım, M.; Yağcı, A. M.; Yavru, C.; Özgün, S.; Tıraş, T.; Elmali, A.

2015-01-01

Nanostructured VOX thin films were grown in a dc magnetron sputter system under two different Ar:O2 gas flow ratios. The films were annealed under vacuum and various ratios of O2/N2 atmospheres. The insulator-to-metal transition properties of the thin films were investigated by temperature dependent resistance measurement. Photo induced insulator-to-metal transition properties were investigated by Z-scan and ultrafast white light continuum pump probe spectroscopy measurements. Experiments showed that not only insulator-to-metal transition, but also wavelength dependence (from NIR to VIS) and time scale (from ns to ultrafast) of nonlinear optical response of the VOX thin films could be fine tuned by carefully adjusting post annealing atmosphere despite different initial oxygen content in the production. Fabricated VO2 thin films showed reflection change in the visible region due to photo induced phase transition. The results have general implications for easy and more effective fabrication of the nanostructured oxide systems with controllable electrical, optical, and ultrafast optical responses.

Hard-X-Ray-Induced Multistep Ultrafast Dissociation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Travnikova, Oksana; Marchenko, Tatiana; Goldsztejn, Gildas; Jänkälä, Kari; Sisourat, Nicolas; Carniato, Stéphane; Guillemin, Renaud; Journel, Loïc; Céolin, Denis; Püttner, Ralph; Iwayama, Hiroshi; Shigemasa, Eiji; Piancastelli, Maria Novella; Simon, Marc

2016-05-01

Creation of deep core holes with very short (τ ≤1 fs ) lifetimes triggers a chain of relaxation events leading to extensive nuclear dynamics on a few-femtosecond time scale. Here we demonstrate a general multistep ultrafast dissociation on an example of HCl following Cl 1 s →σ* excitation. Intermediate states with one or multiple holes in the shallower core electron shells are generated in the course of the decay cascades. The repulsive character and large gradients of the potential energy surfaces of these intermediates enable ultrafast fragmentation after the absorption of a hard x-ray photon.

3-D Ultrafast Doppler Imaging Applied to the Noninvasive and Quantitative Imaging of Blood Vessels in Vivo

PubMed Central

Provost, J.; Papadacci, C.; Demene, C.; Gennisson, J-L.; Tanter, M.; Pernot, M.

2016-01-01

Ultrafast Doppler Imaging was introduced as a technique to quantify blood flow in an entire 2-D field of view, expanding the field of application of ultrasound imaging to the highly sensitive anatomical and functional mapping of blood vessels. We have recently developed 3-D Ultrafast Ultrasound Imaging, a technique that can produce thousands of ultrasound volumes per second, based on three-dimensional plane and diverging wave emissions, and demonstrated its clinical feasibility in human subjects in vivo. In this study, we show that non-invasive 3-D Ultrafast Power Doppler, Pulsed Doppler, and Color Doppler Imaging can be used to perform quantitative imaging of blood vessels in humans when using coherent compounding of three-dimensional tilted plane waves. A customized, programmable, 1024-channel ultrasound system was designed to perform 3-D Ultrafast Imaging. Using a 32X32, 3-MHz matrix phased array (Vermon, France), volumes were beamformed by coherently compounding successive tilted plane wave emissions. Doppler processing was then applied in a voxel-wise fashion. 3-D Ultrafast Power Doppler Imaging was first validated by imaging Tygon tubes of varying diameter and its in vivo feasibility was demonstrated by imaging small vessels in the human thyroid. Simultaneous 3-D Color and Pulsed Doppler Imaging using compounded emissions were also applied in the carotid artery and the jugular vein in one healthy volunteer. PMID:26276956

Study on Ultrafast Photodynamics of Novel Multilayered Thin Films for Device Applications

DTIC Science & Technology

2004-07-31

study ultrafast phase-transition of VO2 thin film. This part of work was started right after the new laser installed. With better laser output...1-3]. With the purpose of combined effect that the proposed ultrafast phase-transition VO2 thin film deposited on a substrate of heavy metal...second point of focus was to study ultrafast phase-transition of VO2 thin film. This part of work was started right after the new laser installed

Structure-dependent water transport across nanopores of carbon nanotubes: toward selective gating upon temperature regulation.

PubMed

Zhao, Kuiwen; Wu, Huiying

2015-04-28

Determining water structure in nanopores and its influence on water transport behaviour is of great importance for understanding and regulating the transport across nanopores. Here we report an ultrafast-slow flow transition phenomenon for water transport across nanopores of carbon nanotubes owing to the change in water structure in nanopores induced by temperature. By performing extensive molecular dynamics simulations, we show the dependence of water transport behaviours on water structures. Our results indicate that owing to the change in water structure in nanopores, water flux across nanopores with certain pore sizes decreases sharply (nearly 3 orders of magnitude) with the decreasing temperature. This phenomenon is very sensitive to the pore size. The threshold temperatures for the occurrence of the ultrafast-slow flow transition for water transport are also determined for various pore sizes. These findings suggest a novel protocol for selective gating of water and proton conduction across nanopores and temperature-controlled drug release.

Single-shot ultrafast tomographic imaging by spectral multiplexing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Matlis, N. H.; Axley, A.; Leemans, W. P.

2012-10-01

Computed tomography has profoundly impacted science, medicine and technology by using projection measurements scanned over multiple angles to permit cross-sectional imaging of an object. The application of computed tomography to moving or dynamically varying objects, however, has been limited by the temporal resolution of the technique, which is set by the time required to complete the scan. For objects that vary on ultrafast timescales, traditional scanning methods are not an option. Here we present a non-scanning method capable of resolving structure on femtosecond timescales by using spectral multiplexing of a single laser beam to perform tomographic imaging over a continuous range of angles simultaneously. We use this technique to demonstrate the first single-shot ultrafast computed tomography reconstructions and obtain previously inaccessible structure and position information for laser-induced plasma filaments. This development enables real-time tomographic imaging for ultrafast science, and offers a potential solution to the challenging problem of imaging through scattering surfaces.

Ultrafast Growth of High-Quality Monolayer WSe2 on Au.

PubMed

Gao, Yang; Hong, Yi-Lun; Yin, Li-Chang; Wu, Zhangting; Yang, Zhiqing; Chen, Mao-Lin; Liu, Zhibo; Ma, Teng; Sun, Dong-Ming; Ni, Zhenhua; Ma, Xiu-Liang; Cheng, Hui-Ming; Ren, Wencai

2017-08-01

The ultrafast growth of high-quality uniform monolayer WSe 2 is reported with a growth rate of ≈26 µm s -1 by chemical vapor deposition on reusable Au substrate, which is ≈2-3 orders of magnitude faster than those of most 2D transition metal dichalcogenides grown on nonmetal substrates. Such ultrafast growth allows for the fabrication of millimeter-size single-crystal WSe 2 domains in ≈30 s and large-area continuous films in ≈60 s. Importantly, the ultrafast grown WSe 2 shows excellent crystal quality and extraordinary electrical performance comparable to those of the mechanically exfoliated samples, with a high mobility up to ≈143 cm 2 V -1 s -1 and ON/OFF ratio up to 9 × 10 6 at room temperature. Density functional theory calculations reveal that the ultrafast growth of WSe 2 is due to the small energy barriers and exothermic characteristic for the diffusion and attachment of W and Se on the edges of WSe 2 on Au substrate. © 2017 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Electrically-driven GHz range ultrafast graphene light emitter (Conference Presentation)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kim, Youngduck; Gao, Yuanda; Shiue, Ren-Jye; Wang, Lei; Aslan, Ozgur Burak; Kim, Hyungsik; Nemilentsau, Andrei M.; Low, Tony; Taniguchi, Takashi; Watanabe, Kenji; Bae, Myung-Ho; Heinz, Tony F.; Englund, Dirk R.; Hone, James

2017-02-01

Ultrafast electrically driven light emitter is a critical component in the development of the high bandwidth free-space and on-chip optical communications. Traditional semiconductor based light sources for integration to photonic platform have therefore been heavily studied over the past decades. However, there are still challenges such as absence of monolithic on-chip light sources with high bandwidth density, large-scale integration, low-cost, small foot print, and complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) technology compatibility. Here, we demonstrate the first electrically driven ultrafast graphene light emitter that operate up to 10 GHz bandwidth and broadband range (400 1600 nm), which are possible due to the strong coupling of charge carriers in graphene and surface optical phonons in hBN allow the ultrafast energy and heat transfer. In addition, incorporation of atomically thin hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) encapsulation layers enable the stable and practical high performance even under the ambient condition. Therefore, electrically driven ultrafast graphene light emitters paves the way towards the realization of ultrahigh bandwidth density photonic integrated circuits and efficient optical communications networks.

Ultrafast control and monitoring of material properties using terahertz pulses

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bowlan, Pamela Renee

These are a set of slides on ultrafast control and monitoring of material properties using terahertz pulses. A few of the topics covered in these slides are: How fast is a femtosecond (fs), Different frequencies probe different properties of molecules or solids, What can a THz pulse do to a material, Ultrafast spectroscopy, Generating and measuring ultrashort THz pulses, Tracking ultrafast spin dynamics in antiferromagnets through spin wave resonances, Coherent two-dimensional THz spectroscopy, and Probing vibrational dynamics at a surface. Conclusions are: Coherent two-dimensional THz spectroscopy: a powerful approach for studying coherence and dynamics of low energy resonances. Applying thismore » to graphene we investigated the very strong THz light mater interaction which dominates over scattering. Useful for studying coupled excitations in multiferroics and monitoring chemical reactions. Also, THz-pump, SHG-probe spectoscopy: an ultrafast, surface sensitive probe of atomic-scale symmetry changes and nonlinear phonon dymanics. We are using this in Bi 2Se 3 to investigate the nonlinear surface phonon dynamics. This is potentially very useful for studying catalysis.« less

Theoretical study on ultrafast intersystem crossing of chromium(III) acetylacetonate

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ando, Hideo; Iuchi, Satoru; Sato, Hirofumi

2012-05-01

In the relaxation process from the 4T2g state of chromium(III) acetylacetonate, CrIII(acac)3, ultrafast intersystem crossing (ISC) competes with vibrational relaxation (VR). This contradicts the conventional cascade model, where ISC rates are slower than VR ones. We hence investigate the relaxation process with quantum chemical calculations and excited-state wavepacket simulations to obtain clues about the origins of the ultrafast ISC. It is found that a potential energy curve of the 4T2g state crosses those of the 2T1g states near the Franck-Condon region and their spin-orbit couplings are strong. Consequently, ultrafast ISC between these states is observed in the wavepacket simulation.

Ultrafast demagnetisation dependence on film thickness: A TDDFT calculation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Singh, N.; Sharma, S.

2018-04-01

Ferromagnetic materials when subjected to intense laser pulses leads to reduction of their magnetisation on an ultrafast scale. Here, we perform an ab-initio calculation to study the behavior of ultrafast demagnetisation as a function of film thickness for Nickel as compared to the bulk of the material. In thin films surface formation results in amplification of demagnetisation with the percentage of demagnetisation depending upon the film thickness.

Ultrafast magnetodynamics with free-electron lasers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Malvestuto, Marco; Ciprian, Roberta; Caretta, Antonio; Casarin, Barbara; Parmigiani, Fulvio

2018-02-01

The study of ultrafast magnetodynamics has entered a new era thanks to the groundbreaking technological advances in free-electron laser (FEL) light sources. The advent of these light sources has made possible unprecedented experimental schemes for time-resolved x-ray magneto-optic spectroscopies, which are now paving the road for exploring the ultimate limits of out-of-equilibrium magnetic phenomena. In particular, these studies will provide insights into elementary mechanisms governing spin and orbital dynamics, therefore contributing to the development of ultrafast devices for relevant magnetic technologies. This topical review focuses on recent advancement in the study of non-equilibrium magnetic phenomena from the perspective of time-resolved extreme ultra violet (EUV) and soft x-ray spectroscopies at FELs with highlights of some important experimental results.

Normal-mode selectivity in ultrafast Raman excitations in C60

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, G. P.; George, Thomas F.

2006-01-01

Ultrafast Raman spectra are a powerful tool to probe vibrational excitations, but inherently they are not normal-mode specific. For a system as complicated as C60 , there is no general rule to target a specific mode. A detailed study presented here aims to investigate normal-mode selectivity in C60 by an ultrafast laser. To accurately measure mode excitation, we formally introduce the kinetic-energy-based normal-mode analysis which overcomes the difficulty with the strong lattice anharmonicity and relaxation. We first investigate the resonant excitation and find that mode selectivity is normally difficult to achieve. However, for off-resonant excitations, it is possible to selectively excite a few modes in C60 by properly choosing an optimal laser pulse duration, which agrees with previous experimental and theoretical findings. Going beyond the phenomenological explanation, our study shines new light on the origin of the optimal duration: The phase matching between the laser field and mode vibration determines which mode is strongly excited or suppressed. This finding is very robust and should be a useful guide for future experimental and theoretical studies in more complicated systems.

Normal mode selectivity in ultrafast Raman excitations in C60

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Guoping; George, Thomas F.

2006-05-01

Ultrafast Raman spectra are a powerful tool to probe vibrational excitations, but inherently they are not normal-mode specific. For a system as complicated as C60, there is no general rule to target a specific mode. A detailed study presented here aims to investigate normal mode selectivity in C60 by an ultrafast laser. To accurately measure mode excitation, we formally introduce the kinetic energy-based normal mode analysis which overcomes the difficulty with the strong lattice anharmonicity and relaxation. We first investigate the resonant excitation and find that mode selectivity is normally difficult to achieve. However, for off-resonant excitations, it is possible to selectively excite a few modes in C60 by properly choosing an optimal laser pulse duration, which agrees with previous experimental and theoretical findings. Going beyond the phenomenological explanation, our study shines new light on the origin of the optimal duration: The phase matching between laser field and mode vibration determines which mode is strongly excited or suppressed. This finding is very robust and may be a useful guide for future experimental and theoretical studies in more complicated systems.

Ultrafast Fluorescence Spectroscopy via Upconversion: Applications to Biophysics

PubMed Central

Xu, Jianhua; Knutson, Jay R.

2012-01-01

This chapter reviews basic concepts of nonlinear fluorescence upconversion, a technique whose temporal resolution is essentially limited only by the pulse width of the ultrafast laser. Design aspects for upconversion spectrophotofluorometers are discussed, and a recently developed system is described. We discuss applications in biophysics, particularly the measurement of time-resolved fluorescence spectra of proteins (with subpicosecond time resolution). Application of this technique to biophysical problems such as dynamics of tryptophan, peptides, proteins, and nucleic acids is reviewed. PMID:19152860

Understanding Transportation Systems : An Integrated Approach to Modeling Complex Transportation Systems

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2013-01-01

The ability to model and understand the complex dynamics of intelligent agents as they interact within a transportation system could lead to revolutionary advances in transportation engineering and intermodal surface transportation in the United Stat...

WS2 mode-locked ultrafast fiber laser

PubMed Central

Mao, Dong; Wang, Yadong; Ma, Chaojie; Han, Lei; Jiang, Biqiang; Gan, Xuetao; Hua, Shijia; Zhang, Wending; Mei, Ting; Zhao, Jianlin

2015-01-01

Graphene-like two dimensional materials, such as WS2 and MoS2, are highly anisotropic layered compounds that have attracted growing interest from basic research to practical applications. Similar with MoS2, few-layer WS2 has remarkable physical properties. Here, we demonstrate for the first time that WS2 nanosheets exhibit ultrafast nonlinear saturable absorption property and high optical damage threshold. Soliton mode-locking operations are achieved separately in an erbium-doped fiber laser using two types of WS2-based saturable absorbers, one of which is fabricated by depositing WS2 nanosheets on a D-shaped fiber, while the other is synthesized by mixing WS2 solution with polyvinyl alcohol, and then evaporating them on a substrate. At the maximum pump power of 600 mW, two saturable absorbers can work stably at mode-locking state without damage, indicating that few-layer WS2 is a promising high-power flexible saturable absorber for ultrafast optics. Numerous applications may benefit from the ultrafast nonlinear features of WS2 nanosheets, such as high-power pulsed laser, materials processing, and frequency comb spectroscopy. PMID:25608729

Ultrafast Ultrasound Imaging Using Combined Transmissions With Cross-Coherence-Based Reconstruction.

PubMed

Zhang, Yang; Guo, Yuexin; Lee, Wei-Ning

2018-02-01

Plane-wave-based ultrafast imaging has become the prevalent technique for non-conventional ultrasound imaging. The image quality, especially in terms of the suppression of artifacts, is generally compromised by reducing the number of transmissions for a higher frame rate. We hereby propose a new ultrafast imaging framework that reduces not only the side lobe artifacts but also the axial lobe artifacts using combined transmissions with a new coherence-based factor. The results from simulations, in vitro wire phantoms, the ex vivo porcine artery, and the in vivo porcine heart show that our proposed methodology greatly reduced the axial lobe artifact by 25±5 dB compared with coherent plane-wave compounding (CPWC), which was considered as the ultrafast imaging standard, and suppressed side lobe artifacts by 15 ± 5 dB compared with CPWC and coherent spherical-wave compounding. The reduction of artifacts in our proposed ultrafast imaging framework led to a better boundary delineation of soft tissues than CPWC.

Phonon-Assisted Ultrafast Charge Transfer at van der Waals Heterostructure Interface.

PubMed

Zheng, Qijing; Saidi, Wissam A; Xie, Yu; Lan, Zhenggang; Prezhdo, Oleg V; Petek, Hrvoje; Zhao, Jin

2017-10-11

The van der Waals (vdW) interfaces of two-dimensional (2D) semiconductor are central to new device concepts and emerging technologies in light-electricity transduction where the efficient charge separation is a key factor. Contrary to general expectation, efficient electron-hole separation can occur in vertically stacked transition-metal dichalcogenide heterostructure bilayers through ultrafast charge transfer between the neighboring layers despite their weak vdW bonding. In this report, we show by ab initio nonadiabatic molecular dynamics calculations, that instead of direct tunneling, the ultrafast interlayer hole transfer is strongly promoted by an adiabatic mechanism through phonon excitation occurring on 20 fs, which is in good agreement with the experiment. The atomic level picture of the phonon-assisted ultrafast mechanism revealed in our study is valuable both for the fundamental understanding of ultrafast charge carrier dynamics at vdW heterointerfaces as well as for the design of novel quasi-2D devices for optoelectronic and photovoltaic applications.

Ultrafast Nanoimaging of the Photoinduced Phase Transition Dynamics in VO2.

PubMed

Dönges, Sven A; Khatib, Omar; O'Callahan, Brian T; Atkin, Joanna M; Park, Jae Hyung; Cobden, David; Raschke, Markus B

2016-05-11

Many phase transitions in correlated matter exhibit spatial inhomogeneities with expected yet unexplored effects on the associated ultrafast dynamics. Here we demonstrate the combination of ultrafast nondegenerate pump-probe spectroscopy with far from equilibrium excitation, and scattering scanning near-field optical microscopy (s-SNOM) for ultrafast nanoimaging. In a femtosecond near-field near-IR (NIR) pump and mid-IR (MIR) probe study, we investigate the photoinduced insulator-to-metal (IMT) transition in nominally homogeneous VO2 microcrystals. With pump fluences as high as 5 mJ/cm(2), we can reach three distinct excitation regimes. We observe a spatial heterogeneity on ∼50-100 nm length scales in the fluence-dependent IMT dynamics ranging from <100 fs to ∼1 ps. These results suggest a high sensitivity of the IMT with respect to small local variations in strain, doping, or defects that are difficult to discern microscopically. We provide a perspective with the distinct requirements and considerations of ultrafast spatiotemporal nanoimaging of phase transitions in quantum materials.

Optimal control of laser-induced spin-orbit mediated ultrafast demagnetization

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Elliott, P.; Krieger, K.; Dewhurst, J. K.; Sharma, S.; Gross, E. K. U.

2016-01-01

Laser induced ultrafast demagnetization is the process whereby the magnetic moment of a ferromagnetic material is seen to drop significantly on a timescale of 10-100 s of femtoseconds due to the application of a strong laser pulse. If this phenomenon can be harnessed for future technology, it offers the possibility for devices operating at speeds several orders of magnitude faster than at present. A key component to successful transfer of such a process to technology is the controllability of the process, i.e. that it can be tuned in order to overcome the practical and physical limitations imposed on the system. In this paper, we demonstrate that the spin-orbit mediated form of ultrafast demagnetization recently investigated (Krieger et al 2015 J. Chem. Theory Comput. 11 4870) by ab initio time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT) can be controlled. To do so we use quantum optimal control theory (OCT) to couple our TDDFT simulations to the optimization machinery of OCT. We show that a laser pulse can be found which maximizes the loss of moment within a given time interval while subject to several practical and physical constraints. Furthermore we also include a constraint on the fluence of the laser pulses and find the optimal pulse that combines significant demagnetization with a desire for less powerful pulses. These calculations demonstrate optimal control is possible for spin-orbit mediated ultrafast demagnetization and lays the foundation for future optimizations/simulations which can incorporate even more constraints.

Ultrafast synthesis of LTA nanozeolite using a two-phase segmented fluidic microreactor.

PubMed

Zhou, Jianhai; Jiang, Hao; Xu, Jian; Hu, Jun; Liu, Honglai; Hu, Ying

2013-08-01

Fast synthesis of nanosized zeolite is desirable for many industrial applications. An ultrafast synthesis of LTA nanozeolite by the organic-additive-free method in a two-phase segmented fluidic microreactor has been realized. The results reveal that the obtained LTA nanozeolites through microreactor are much smaller and higher crystallinity than those under similar conditions through conventional macroscale batch reactor. By investing various test conditions, such as the crystallization temperature, the flow rate, the microchannel length, and the aging time of gel solution, this two-phase segmented fluidic microreactor system enables us to develop an ultrafast method for nanozeolite production. Particularly, when using a microreactor with the microchannel length of 20 m, it only takes 10 min for the crystallization and no aging process to successfully produce the crystalline LTA nanozeolites at 95 degrees C.

Ultrafast Bessel beams: advanced tools for laser materials processing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stoian, Razvan; Bhuyan, Manoj K.; Zhang, Guodong; Cheng, Guanghua; Meyer, Remy; Courvoisier, Francois

2018-05-01

Ultrafast Bessel beams demonstrate a significant capacity of structuring transparent materials with a high degree of accuracy and exceptional aspect ratio. The ability to localize energy on the nanometer scale (bypassing the 100-nm milestone) makes them ideal tools for advanced laser nanoscale processing on surfaces and in the bulk. This allows to generate and combine micron and nano-sized features into hybrid structures that show novel functionalities. Their high aspect ratio and the accurate location can equally drive an efficient material modification and processing strategy on large dimensions. We review, here, the main concepts of generating and using Bessel non-diffractive beams and their remarkable features, discuss general characteristics of their interaction with matter in ablation and material modification regimes, and advocate their use for obtaining hybrid micro and nanoscale structures in two and three dimensions (2D and 3D) performing complex functions. High-throughput applications are indicated. The example list ranges from surface nanostructuring and laser cutting to ultrafast laser welding and the fabrication of 3D photonic systems embedded in the volume.

Ultrafast dynamics induced by the interaction of molecules with electromagnetic fields: Several quantum, semiclassical, and classical approaches.

PubMed

Antipov, Sergey V; Bhattacharyya, Swarnendu; El Hage, Krystel; Xu, Zhen-Hao; Meuwly, Markus; Rothlisberger, Ursula; Vaníček, Jiří

2017-11-01

Several strategies for simulating the ultrafast dynamics of molecules induced by interactions with electromagnetic fields are presented. After a brief overview of the theory of molecule-field interaction, we present several representative examples of quantum, semiclassical, and classical approaches to describe the ultrafast molecular dynamics, including the multiconfiguration time-dependent Hartree method, Bohmian dynamics, local control theory, semiclassical thawed Gaussian approximation, phase averaging, dephasing representation, molecular mechanics with proton transfer, and multipolar force fields. In addition to the general overview, some focus is given to the description of nuclear quantum effects and to the direct dynamics, in which the ab initio energies and forces acting on the nuclei are evaluated on the fly. Several practical applications, performed within the framework of the Swiss National Center of Competence in Research "Molecular Ultrafast Science and Technology," are presented: These include Bohmian dynamics description of the collision of H with H 2 , local control theory applied to the photoinduced ultrafast intramolecular proton transfer, semiclassical evaluation of vibrationally resolved electronic absorption, emission, photoelectron, and time-resolved stimulated emission spectra, infrared spectroscopy of H-bonding systems, and multipolar force fields applications in the condensed phase.

Ultrafast dynamics induced by the interaction of molecules with electromagnetic fields: Several quantum, semiclassical, and classical approaches

PubMed Central

Antipov, Sergey V.; Bhattacharyya, Swarnendu; El Hage, Krystel; Xu, Zhen-Hao; Meuwly, Markus; Rothlisberger, Ursula; Vaníček, Jiří

2018-01-01

Several strategies for simulating the ultrafast dynamics of molecules induced by interactions with electromagnetic fields are presented. After a brief overview of the theory of molecule-field interaction, we present several representative examples of quantum, semiclassical, and classical approaches to describe the ultrafast molecular dynamics, including the multiconfiguration time-dependent Hartree method, Bohmian dynamics, local control theory, semiclassical thawed Gaussian approximation, phase averaging, dephasing representation, molecular mechanics with proton transfer, and multipolar force fields. In addition to the general overview, some focus is given to the description of nuclear quantum effects and to the direct dynamics, in which the ab initio energies and forces acting on the nuclei are evaluated on the fly. Several practical applications, performed within the framework of the Swiss National Center of Competence in Research “Molecular Ultrafast Science and Technology,” are presented: These include Bohmian dynamics description of the collision of H with H2, local control theory applied to the photoinduced ultrafast intramolecular proton transfer, semiclassical evaluation of vibrationally resolved electronic absorption, emission, photoelectron, and time-resolved stimulated emission spectra, infrared spectroscopy of H-bonding systems, and multipolar force fields applications in the condensed phase. PMID:29376107

Structural dynamics of lipid bilayers using ultrafast electron crystallography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Songye; Seidel, Marco; Zewail, Ahmed

2007-03-01

The structures and dynamics of bilayers of crystalline fatty acids and phospholipids were studied using ultrafast electron crystallography (UEC). The systems investigated are arachidic (eicosanoic) acid and dimyristoyl phosphatidic acid (DMPA), deposited on a substrate by the Langmuir-Blodgett technique. The atomic structures under different preparation conditions were determined. The structural dynamics following a temperature jump induced by femtosecond laser on the substrates were obtained and compared to the equilibrium temperature dependence.

Ultrafast Graphene Photonics and Optoelectronics

DTIC Science & Technology

2017-04-14

SUBJECT TERMS Graphene, Ultrafast Optical Processin, Terahertz Electronics ; 16. SECURITY CLASSIFICATION OF: 17. LIMITATION OF ABSTRACT SAR 18...Rep, (2016)) Fig. 4. (a) Images of scanning electron microscope for 1D and 2D gratings. (b) Ratio of the real part of the transmitted field

Multiphoton microscopy in every lab: the promise of ultrafast semiconductor disk lasers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Emaury, Florian; Voigt, Fabian F.; Bethge, Philipp; Waldburger, Dominik; Link, Sandro M.; Carta, Stefano; van der Bourg, Alexander; Helmchen, Fritjof; Keller, Ursula

2017-07-01

We use an ultrafast diode-pumped semiconductor disk laser (SDL) to demonstrate several applications in multiphoton microscopy. The ultrafast SDL is based on an optically pumped Vertical External Cavity Surface Emitting Laser (VECSEL) passively mode-locked with a semiconductor saturable absorber mirror (SESAM) and generates 170-fs pulses at a center wavelength of 1027 nm with a repetition rate of 1.63 GHz. We demonstrate the suitability of this laser for structural and functional multiphoton in vivo imaging in both Drosophila larvae and mice for a variety of fluorophores (including mKate2, tdTomato, Texas Red, OGB-1, and R-CaMP1.07) and for endogenous second-harmonic generation in muscle cell sarcomeres. We can demonstrate equivalent signal levels compared to a standard 80-MHz Ti:Sapphire laser when we increase the average power by a factor of 4.5 as predicted by theory. In addition, we compare the bleaching properties of both laser systems in fixed Drosophila larvae and find similar bleaching kinetics despite the large difference in pulse repetition rates. Our results highlight the great potential of ultrafast diode-pumped SDLs for creating a cost-efficient and compact alternative light source compared to standard Ti:Sapphire lasers for multiphoton imaging.

Ultrafast Electron Diffraction: How It Works

ScienceCinema

None

2018-01-16

A new technology at SLAC uses high-energy electrons to unravel motions in materials that are faster than a tenth of a trillionth of a second, opening up new research opportunities in ultrafast science.

Ultrafast Electron Diffraction: How It Works

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

None

2015-08-05

A new technology at SLAC uses high-energy electrons to unravel motions in materials that are faster than a tenth of a trillionth of a second, opening up new research opportunities in ultrafast science.

Ultrafast dynamics in multifunctional Ru(II)-loaded polymers for solar energy conversion.

PubMed

Morseth, Zachary A; Wang, Li; Puodziukynaite, Egle; Leem, Gyu; Gilligan, Alexander T; Meyer, Thomas J; Schanze, Kirk S; Reynolds, John R; Papanikolas, John M

2015-03-17

The use of sunlight to make chemical fuels (i.e., solar fuels) is an attractive approach in the quest to develop sustainable energy sources. Using nature as a guide, assemblies for artificial photosynthesis will need to perform multiple functions. They will need to be able to harvest light across a broad region of the solar spectrum, transport excited-state energy to charge-separation sites, and then transport and store redox equivalents for use in the catalytic reactions that produce chemical fuels. This multifunctional behavior will require the assimilation of multiple components into a single macromolecular system. A wide variety of different architectures including porphyrin arrays, peptides, dendrimers, and polymers have been explored, with each design posing unique challenges. Polymer assemblies are attractive due to their relative ease of production and facile synthetic modification. However, their disordered nature gives rise to stochastic dynamics not present in more ordered assemblies. The rational design of assemblies requires a detailed understanding of the energy and electron transfer events that follow light absorption, which can occur on time scales ranging from femtoseconds to hundreds of microseconds, necessitating the use of sophisticated techniques. We have used a combination of time-resolved absorption and emission spectroscopies with observation times that span 9 orders of magnitude to follow the excited-state evolution within polymer-based molecular assemblies. We complement experimental observations with molecular dynamics simulations to develop a microscopic view of these dynamics. This Account provides an overview of our work on polymers decorated with pendant Ru(II) chromophores, both in solution and on surfaces. We have examined site-to-site energy transport among the Ru(II) complexes, and in systems incorporating π-conjugated polymers, we have observed ultrafast formation of a long-lived charge-separated state. When attached to TiO2

Ultra-fast framing camera tube

DOEpatents

Kalibjian, Ralph

1981-01-01

An electronic framing camera tube features focal plane image dissection and synchronized restoration of the dissected electron line images to form two-dimensional framed images. Ultra-fast framing is performed by first streaking a two-dimensional electron image across a narrow slit, thereby dissecting the two-dimensional electron image into sequential electron line images. The dissected electron line images are then restored into a framed image by a restorer deflector operated synchronously with the dissector deflector. The number of framed images on the tube's viewing screen is equal to the number of dissecting slits in the tube. The distinguishing features of this ultra-fast framing camera tube are the focal plane dissecting slits, and the synchronously-operated restorer deflector which restores the dissected electron line images into a two-dimensional framed image. The framing camera tube can produce image frames having high spatial resolution of optical events in the sub-100 picosecond range.

40 MHz high-frequency ultrafast ultrasound imaging.

PubMed

Huang, Chih-Chung; Chen, Pei-Yu; Peng, Po-Hsun; Lee, Po-Yang

2017-06-01

Ultrafast high-frame-rate ultrasound imaging based on coherent-plane-wave compounding has been developed for many biomedical applications. Most coherent-plane-wave compounding systems typically operate at 3-15 MHz, and the image resolution for this frequency range is not sufficient for visualizing microstructure tissues. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to implement a high-frequency ultrafast ultrasound imaging operating at 40 MHz. The plane-wave compounding imaging and conventional multifocus B-mode imaging were performed using the Field II toolbox of MATLAB in simulation study. In experiments, plane-wave compounding images were obtained from a 256 channel ultrasound research platform with a 40 MHz array transducer. All images were produced by point-spread functions and cyst phantoms. The in vivo experiment was performed from zebrafish. Since high-frequency ultrasound exhibits a lower penetration, chirp excitation was applied to increase the imaging depth in simulation. The simulation results showed that a lateral resolution of up to 66.93 μm and a contrast of up to 56.41 dB were achieved when using 75-angles plane waves in compounding imaging. The experimental results showed that a lateral resolution of up to 74.83 μm and a contrast of up to 44.62 dB were achieved when using 75-angles plane waves in compounding imaging. The dead zone and compounding noise are about 1.2 mm and 2.0 mm in depth for experimental compounding imaging, respectively. The structure of zebrafish heart was observed clearly using plane-wave compounding imaging. The use of fewer than 23 angles for compounding allowed a frame rate higher than 1000 frames per second. However, the compounding imaging exhibits a similar lateral resolution of about 72 μm as the angle of plane wave is higher than 10 angles. This study shows the highest operational frequency for ultrafast high-frame-rate ultrasound imaging. © 2017 American Association of Physicists in Medicine.

Bright and ultra-fast scintillation from a semiconductor?

PubMed Central

Derenzo, Stephen E.; Bourret-Courshesne, Edith; Bizarri, Gregory; Canning, Andrew

2015-01-01

Semiconductor scintillators are worth studying because they include both the highest luminosities and shortest decay times of all known scintillators. Moreover, many semiconductors have the heaviest stable elements (Tl, Hg, Pb, Bi) as a major constituent and a high ion pair yield that is proportional to the energy deposited. We review the scintillation properties of semiconductors activated by native defects, isoelectronic impurities, donors and acceptors with special emphasis on those that have exceptionally high luminosities (e.g. ZnO:Zn, ZnS:Ag,Cl, CdS:Ag,Cl) and those that have ultra-fast decay times (e.g. ZnO:Ga; CdS:In). We discuss underlying mechanisms that are consistent with these properties and the possibilities for achieving (1) 200,000 photons/MeV and 1% fwhm energy resolution for 662 keV gamma rays, (2) ultra-fast (ns) decay times and coincident resolving times of 30 ps fwhm for time-of-flight positron emission tomography, and (3) both a high luminosity and an ultra-fast decay time from the same scintillator at cryogenic temperatures. PMID:26855462

The picosecond structure of ultra-fast rogue waves

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Klein, Avi; Shahal, Shir; Masri, Gilad; Duadi, Hamootal; Sulimani, Kfir; Lib, Ohad; Steinberg, Hadar; Kolpakov, Stanislav A.; Fridman, Moti

2018-02-01

We investigated ultrafast rogue waves in fiber lasers and found three different patterns of rogue waves: single- peaks, twin-peaks, and triple-peaks. The statistics of the different patterns as a function of the pump power of the laser reveals that the probability for all rogue waves patterns increase close to the laser threshold. We developed a numerical model which prove that the ultrafast rogue waves patterns result from both the polarization mode dispersion in the fiber and the non-instantaneous nature of the saturable absorber. This discovery reveals that there are three different types of rogue waves in fiber lasers: slow, fast, and ultrafast, which relate to three different time-scales and are governed by three different sets of equations: the laser rate equations, the nonlinear Schrodinger equation, and the saturable absorber equations, accordingly. This discovery is highly important for analyzing rogue waves and other extreme events in fiber lasers and can lead to realizing types of rogue waves which were not possible so far such as triangular rogue waves.

Filter-Based Dispersion-Managed Versatile Ultrafast Fibre Laser

PubMed Central

Peng, Junsong; Boscolo, Sonia

2016-01-01

We present the operation of an ultrafast passively mode-locked fibre laser, in which flexible control of the pulse formation mechanism is readily realised by an in-cavity programmable filter the dispersion and bandwidth of which can be software configured. We show that conventional soliton, dispersion-managed (DM) soliton (stretched-pulse) and dissipative soliton mode-locking regimes can be reliably targeted by changing the filter’s dispersion and bandwidth only, while no changes are made to the physical layout of the laser cavity. Numerical simulations are presented which confirm the different nonlinear pulse evolutions inside the laser cavity. The proposed technique holds great potential for achieving a high degree of control over the dynamics and output of ultrafast fibre lasers, in contrast to the traditional method to control the pulse formation mechanism in a DM fibre laser, which involves manual optimisation of the relative length of fibres with opposite-sign dispersion in the cavity. Our versatile ultrafast fibre laser will be attractive for applications requiring different pulse profiles such as in optical signal processing and optical communications. PMID:27183882

Spin-vibronic quantum dynamics for ultrafast excited-state processes.

PubMed

Eng, Julien; Gourlaouen, Christophe; Gindensperger, Etienne; Daniel, Chantal

2015-03-17

Ultrafast intersystem crossing (ISC) processes coupled to nuclear relaxation and solvation dynamics play a central role in the photophysics and photochemistry of a wide range of transition metal complexes. These phenomena occurring within a few hundred femtoseconds are investigated experimentally by ultrafast picosecond and femtosecond transient absorption or luminescence spectroscopies, and optical laser pump-X-ray probe techniques using picosecond and femtosecond X-ray pulses. The interpretation of ultrafast structural changes, time-resolved spectra, quantum yields, and time scales of elementary processes or transient lifetimes needs robust theoretical tools combining state-of-the-art quantum chemistry and developments in quantum dynamics for solving the electronic and nuclear problems. Multimode molecular dynamics beyond the Born-Oppenheimer approximation has been successfully applied to many small polyatomic systems. Its application to large molecules containing a transition metal atom is still a challenge because of the nuclear dimensionality of the problem, the high density of electronic excited states, and the spin-orbit coupling effects. Rhenium(I) α-diimine carbonyl complexes, [Re(L)(CO)3(N,N)](n+) are thermally and photochemically robust and highly flexible synthetically. Structural variations of the N,N and L ligands affect the spectroscopy, the photophysics, and the photochemistry of these chromophores easily incorporated into a complex environment. Visible light absorption opens the route to a wide range of applications such as sensors, probes, or emissive labels for imaging biomolecules. Halide complexes [Re(X)(CO)3(bpy)] (X = Cl, Br, or I; bpy = 2,2'-bipyridine) exhibit complex electronic structure and large spin-orbit effects that do not correlate with the heavy atom effects. Indeed, the (1)MLCT → (3)MLCT intersystem crossing (ISC) kinetics is slower than in [Ru(bpy)3](2+) or [Fe(bpy)3](2+) despite the presence of a third-row transition metal

Ultrafast dynamics of hard tissue ablation using fs-lasers.

PubMed

Domke, Matthias; Wick, Sebastian; Laible, Maike; Rapp, Stephan; Huber, Heinz P; Sroka, Ronald

2018-05-29

Several studies on hard tissue laser ablation demonstrated that ultrafast lasers enable precise material removal without thermal side effects. Although the principle ablation mechanisms have been thoroughly investigated, there are still open questions regarding the influence of material properties on transient dynamics. In this investigation, we applied pump-probe microscopy to record ablation dynamics of biomaterials with different tensile strengths (dentin, chicken bone, gallstone, kidney stones) at delay times between 1 ps and 10 μs. Transient reflectivity changes, pressure and shock wave velocities, and elastic constants were determined. The result revealed that absorption and excitation show the typical well-known transient behaviour of dielectric materials. We observed for all samples a photomechanical laser ablation process, where ultrafast expansion of the excited volume generates pressure waves leading to fragmentation around the excited region. Additionally, we identified tensile-strength-related differences in the size of ablated craters and ejected particles. The elastic constants derived were in agreement with literature values. In conclusion, pressure-wave-assisted material removal seems to be a general mechanism for hard tissue ablation with ultrafast lasers. This photomechanical process increases ablation efficiency and removes heated material, thus ultrafast laser ablation is of interest for clinical application where heating of the tissue must be avoided. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Payload transportation system study

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1976-01-01

A standard size set of shuttle payload transportation equipment was defined that will substantially reduce the cost of payload transportation and accommodate a wide range of payloads with minimum impact on payload design. The system was designed to accommodate payload shipments between the level 4 payload integration sites and the launch site during the calendar years 1979-1982. In addition to defining transportation multi-use mission support equipment (T-MMSE) the mode of travel, prime movers, and ancillary equipment required in the transportation process were also considered. Consistent with the STS goals of low cost and the use of standardized interfaces, the transportation system was designed to commercial grade standards and uses the payload flight mounting interfaces for transportation. The technical, cost, and programmatic data required to permit selection of a baseline system of MMSE for intersite movement of shuttle payloads were developed.

Ultrafast Beam Switching Using Coupled VCSELs

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ning, Cun-Zheng; Goorjian, Peter

2001-01-01

We propose a new approach to performing ultrafast beam switching using two coupled Vertical-Cavity Surface-Emitting Lasers (VCSELs). The strategy is demonstrated by numerical simulation, showing a beam switching of 10 deg at 42 GHz.

Ultrafast coherent excitation of a trapped ion qubit for fast gates and photon frequency qubits.

PubMed

Madsen, M J; Moehring, D L; Maunz, P; Kohn, R N; Duan, L-M; Monroe, C

2006-07-28

We demonstrate ultrafast coherent excitation of an atomic qubit stored in the hyperfine levels of a single trapped cadmium ion. Such ultrafast excitation is crucial for entangling networks of remotely located trapped ions through the interference of photon frequency qubits, and is also a key component for realizing ultrafast quantum gates between Coulomb-coupled ions.

Terahertz emission from ultrafast spin and charge currents at a Rashba interface

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Zhang, Qi; Jungfleisch, Matthias B.; Zhang, Wei

2017-01-01

Abstract: We demonstrate the efficient single-cycle THz emission from a Rashba interface, i.e., Ag/Bi, in a spintronic heterostructure. Different from the previously reported inversed spin Hall effect mechanism in bulk systems, the observed ultrafast spin-to-charge conversion in a 2D Rashba interface is due to the inversed Rashba-Edelstein effect.

Probing ultrafast proton induced dynamics in transparent dielectrics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Taylor, M.; Coughlan, M.; Nersisyan, G.; Senje, L.; Jung, D.; Currell, F.; Riley, D.; Lewis, C. L. S.; Zepf, M.; Dromey, B.

2018-05-01

A scheme has been developed permitting the spatial and temporal characterisation of ultrafast dynamics induced by laser driven proton bursts in transparent dielectrics. Advantage is taken of the high degree of synchronicity between the proton bursts generated during laser-foil target interactions and the probing laser to provide the basis for streaking of the dynamics. Relaxation times of electrons (<10‑12 s) are measured following swift excitation across the optical band gap for various glass samples. A temporal resolution of <500 fs is achieved demonstrating that these ultrafast dynamics can be characterized on a single-shot basis.

The Investigation of New Magnetic Materials and Their Phenomena Using Ultrafast Fresnel Transmission Electron Microscopy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schliep, Karl B.

State-of-the-art technology drives scientific progress, pushing the boundaries of our current understanding of fundamental processes and mechanisms. Our continual scientific advancement is hindered only by what we can observe and experimentally verify; thus, it is reasonable to assert that instrument development and improvement is the cornerstone for technological and intellectual growth. For example, the invention of transmission electron microscopy (TEM) allowed us to observe nanoscale phenomena for the first time in the 1930s and even now it is invaluable in the development of smaller, faster electronics. As we uncover more about the fundamentals of nanoscale phenomena, we have realized that images alone reveal only a snapshot of the story; to continue progressing we need a way to observe the entire scene unfold (e.g. how defects affect the flow of current across a transistor or how thermal energy propagates in nanoscale systems like graphene). Recently, by combining the spatial resolution of a TEM with the temporal resolution of ultrafast lasers, ultrafast electron microscopy ? or microscope ? (UEM) has allowed us to simultaneously observe transient nanoscale phenomena at ultrafast timescales. Ultrafast characterization techniques allow for the investigation of a new realm of previously unseen phenomenon inherent to the transient electronic, magnetic, and structural properties of materials. However, despite the progress made in ultrafast techniques, capturing the nanoscale spatial sub-ns temporal mechanisms and phenomenon at play in magnetic materials (especially during the operation of magnetic devices) has only recently become possible using UEM. With only a handful of instruments available, magnetic characterization using UEM is far from commonplace and any advances made are sparsely reported, and further, specific to the individual instrument. In this dissertation, I outline the development of novel magnetic materials and the establishment of a UEM lab at

Concept and design of a beam blanker with integrated photoconductive switch for ultrafast electron microscopy.

PubMed

Weppelman, I G C; Moerland, R J; Hoogenboom, J P; Kruit, P

2018-01-01

We present a new method to create ultrashort electron pulses by integrating a photoconductive switch with an electrostatic deflector. This paper discusses the feasibility of such a system by analytical and numerical calculations. We argue that ultrafast electron pulses can be achieved for micrometer scale dimensions of the blanker, which are feasible with MEMS-based fabrication technology. According to basic models, the design presented in this paper is capable of generating 100 fs electron pulses with spatial resolutions of less than 10 nm. Our concept for an ultrafast beam blanker (UFB) may provide an attractive alternative to perform ultrafast electron microscopy, as it does not require modification of the microscope nor realignment between DC and pulsed mode of operation. Moreover, only low laser pulse energies are required. Due to its small dimensions the UFB can be inserted in the beam line of a commercial microscope via standard entry ports for blankers or variable apertures. The use of a photoconductive switch ensures minimal jitter between laser and electron pulses. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Chirped pulse digital holography for measuring the sequence of ultrafast optical wavefronts

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Karasawa, Naoki

2018-04-01

Optical setups for measuring the sequence of ultrafast optical wavefronts using a chirped pulse as a reference wave in digital holography are proposed and analyzed. In this method, multiple ultrafast object pulses are used to probe the temporal evolution of ultrafast phenomena and they are interfered with a chirped reference wave to record a digital hologram. Wavefronts at different times can be reconstructed separately from the recorded hologram when the reference pulse can be treated as a quasi-monochromatic wave during the pulse width of each object pulse. The feasibility of this method is demonstrated by numerical simulation.

Ultrafast electronic relaxation in superheated bismuth

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gamaly, E. G.; Rode, A. V.

2013-01-01

Interaction of moving electrons with vibrating ions in the lattice forms the basis for many physical properties from electrical resistivity and electronic heat capacity to superconductivity. In ultrafast laser interaction with matter the electrons are heated much faster than the electron-ion energy equilibration, leading to a two-temperature state with electron temperature far above that of the lattice. The rate of temperature equilibration is governed by the strength of electron-phonon energy coupling, which is conventionally described by a coupling constant, neglecting the dependence on the electron and lattice temperature. The application of this constant to the observations of fast relaxation rate led to a controversial notion of ‘ultra-fast non-thermal melting’ under extreme electronic excitation. Here we provide theoretical grounds for a strong dependence of the electron-phonon relaxation time on the lattice temperature. We show, by taking proper account of temperature dependence, that the heating and restructuring of the lattice occurs much faster than were predicted on the assumption of a constant, temperature independent energy coupling. We applied the temperature-dependent momentum and energy transfer time to experiments on fs-laser excited bismuth to demonstrate that all the observed ultra-fast transformations of the transient state of bismuth are purely thermal in nature. The developed theory, when applied to ultrafast experiments on bismuth, provides interpretation of the whole variety of transient phase relaxation without the non-thermal melting conjecture.

Prospects for Electron Imaging with Ultrafast Time Resolution

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Armstrong, M R; Reed, B W; Torralva, B R

2007-01-26

Many pivotal aspects of material science, biomechanics, and chemistry would benefit from nanometer imaging with ultrafast time resolution. Here we demonstrate the feasibility of short-pulse electron imaging with t10 nanometer/10 picosecond spatio-temporal resolution, sufficient to characterize phenomena that propagate at the speed of sound in materials (1-10 kilometer/second) without smearing. We outline resolution-degrading effects that occur at high current density followed by strategies to mitigate these effects. Finally, we present a model electron imaging system that achieves 10 nanometer/10 picosecond spatio-temporal resolution.

Lunar transportation system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1993-01-01

The University Space Research Association (USRA) requested the University of Minnesota Spacecraft Design Team to design a lunar transportation infrastructure. This task was a year long design effort culminating in a complete conceptual design and presentation at Johnson Space Center. The mission objective of the design group was to design a system of vehicles to bring a habitation module, cargo, and crew to the lunar surface from LEO and return either or both crew and cargo safely to LEO while emphasizing component commonality, reusability, and cost effectiveness. During the course of the design, the lunar transportation system (LTS) has taken on many forms. The final design of the system is composed of two vehicles, a lunar transfer vehicle (LTV) and a lunar excursion vehicle (LEV). The LTV serves as an efficient orbital transfer vehicle between the earth and the moon while the LEV carries crew and cargo to the lunar surface. Presented in the report are the mission analysis, systems layout, orbital mechanics, propulsion systems, structural and thermal analysis, and crew systems, avionics, and power systems for this lunar transportation concept.

Lunar transportation system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

1993-07-01

The University Space Research Association (USRA) requested the University of Minnesota Spacecraft Design Team to design a lunar transportation infrastructure. This task was a year long design effort culminating in a complete conceptual design and presentation at Johnson Space Center. The mission objective of the design group was to design a system of vehicles to bring a habitation module, cargo, and crew to the lunar surface from LEO and return either or both crew and cargo safely to LEO while emphasizing component commonality, reusability, and cost effectiveness. During the course of the design, the lunar transportation system (LTS) has taken on many forms. The final design of the system is composed of two vehicles, a lunar transfer vehicle (LTV) and a lunar excursion vehicle (LEV). The LTV serves as an efficient orbital transfer vehicle between the earth and the moon while the LEV carries crew and cargo to the lunar surface. Presented in the report are the mission analysis, systems layout, orbital mechanics, propulsion systems, structural and thermal analysis, and crew systems, avionics, and power systems for this lunar transportation concept.

Ultrafast structural dynamics of boron nitride nanotubes studied using transmitted electrons.

PubMed

Li, Zhongwen; Sun, Shuaishuai; Li, Zi-An; Zhang, Ming; Cao, Gaolong; Tian, Huanfang; Yang, Huaixin; Li, Jianqi

2017-09-14

We investigate the ultrafast structural dynamics of multi-walled boron nitride nanotubes (BNNTs) upon femtosecond optical excitation using ultrafast electron diffraction in a transmission electron microscope. Analysis of the time-resolved (100) and (002) diffraction profiles reveals highly anisotropic lattice dynamics of BNNTs, which can be attributed to the distinct nature of the chemical bonds in the tubular structure. Moreover, the changes in (002) diffraction positions and intensities suggest that the lattice response of BNNTs to the femtosecond laser excitation involves a fast and a slow lattice dynamic process. The fast process with a time constant of about 8 picoseconds can be understood to be a result of electron-phonon coupling, while the slow process with a time constant of about 100 to 300 picoseconds depending on pump laser fluence is tentatively associated with an Auger recombination effect. In addition, we discuss the power-law relationship of a three-photon absorption process in the BNNT nanoscale system.

Multiplane wave imaging increases signal-to-noise ratio in ultrafast ultrasound imaging.

PubMed

Tiran, Elodie; Deffieux, Thomas; Correia, Mafalda; Maresca, David; Osmanski, Bruno-Felix; Sieu, Lim-Anna; Bergel, Antoine; Cohen, Ivan; Pernot, Mathieu; Tanter, Mickael

2015-11-07

Ultrafast imaging using plane or diverging waves has recently enabled new ultrasound imaging modes with improved sensitivity and very high frame rates. Some of these new imaging modalities include shear wave elastography, ultrafast Doppler, ultrafast contrast-enhanced imaging and functional ultrasound imaging. Even though ultrafast imaging already encounters clinical success, increasing even more its penetration depth and signal-to-noise ratio for dedicated applications would be valuable. Ultrafast imaging relies on the coherent compounding of backscattered echoes resulting from successive tilted plane waves emissions; this produces high-resolution ultrasound images with a trade-off between final frame rate, contrast and resolution. In this work, we introduce multiplane wave imaging, a new method that strongly improves ultrafast images signal-to-noise ratio by virtually increasing the emission signal amplitude without compromising the frame rate. This method relies on the successive transmissions of multiple plane waves with differently coded amplitudes and emission angles in a single transmit event. Data from each single plane wave of increased amplitude can then be obtained, by recombining the received data of successive events with the proper coefficients. The benefits of multiplane wave for B-mode, shear wave elastography and ultrafast Doppler imaging are experimentally demonstrated. Multiplane wave with 4 plane waves emissions yields a 5.8  ±  0.5 dB increase in signal-to-noise ratio and approximately 10 mm in penetration in a calibrated ultrasound phantom (0.7 d MHz(-1) cm(-1)). In shear wave elastography, the same multiplane wave configuration yields a 2.07  ±  0.05 fold reduction of the particle velocity standard deviation and a two-fold reduction of the shear wave velocity maps standard deviation. In functional ultrasound imaging, the mapping of cerebral blood volume results in a 3 to 6 dB increase of the contrast-to-noise ratio in deep

Tuning ultrafast electron injection dynamics at organic-graphene/metal interfaces.

PubMed

Ravikumar, Abhilash; Kladnik, Gregor; Müller, Moritz; Cossaro, Albano; Bavdek, Gregor; Patera, Laerte L; Sánchez-Portal, Daniel; Venkataraman, Latha; Morgante, Alberto; Brivio, Gian Paolo; Cvetko, Dean; Fratesi, Guido

2018-05-03

We compare the ultrafast charge transfer dynamics of molecules on epitaxial graphene and bilayer graphene grown on Ni(111) interfaces through first principles calculations and X-ray resonant photoemission spectroscopy. We use 4,4'-bipyridine as a prototypical molecule for these explorations as the energy level alignment of core-excited molecular orbitals allows ultrafast injection of electrons from a substrate to a molecule on a femtosecond timescale. We show that the ultrafast injection of electrons from the substrate to the molecule is ∼4 times slower on weakly coupled bilayer graphene than on epitaxial graphene. Through our experiments and calculations, we can attribute this to a difference in the density of states close to the Fermi level between graphene and bilayer graphene. We therefore show how graphene coupling with the substrate influences charge transfer dynamics between organic molecules and graphene interfaces.

Ultrafast optical excitations in supramolecular metallacycles with charge transfer properties.

PubMed

Flynn, Daniel C; Ramakrishna, Guda; Yang, Hai-Bo; Northrop, Brian H; Stang, Peter J; Goodson, Theodore

2010-02-03

New organometallic materials such as two-dimensional metallacycles and three-dimensional metallacages are important for the development of novel optical, electronic, and energy related applications. In this article, the ultrafast dynamics of two different platinum-containing metallacycles have been investigated by femtosecond fluorescence upconversion and transient absorption. These measurements were carried out in an effort to probe the charge transfer dynamics and the rate of intersystem crossing in metallacycles of different geometries and dimensions. The processes of ultrafast intersystem crossing and charge transfer vary between the two different classes of metallacyclic systems studied. For rectangular anthracene-containing metallacycles, the electronic coupling between adjacent ligands was relatively weak, whereas for the triangular phenanthrene-containing structures, there was a clear interaction between the conjugated ligand and the metal complex center. The transient lifetimes increased with increasing conjugation in that case. The results show that differences in the dimensionality and structure of metallacycles result in different optical properties, which may be utilized in the design of nonlinear optical materials and potential new, longer-lived excited state materials for further electronic applications.

Ultrafast fluorescence upconversion technique and its applications to proteins.

PubMed

Chosrowjan, Haik; Taniguchi, Seiji; Tanaka, Fumio

2015-08-01

The basic principles and main characteristics of the ultrafast time-resolved fluorescence upconversion technique (conventional and space-resolved), including requirements for nonlinear crystals, mixing spectral bandwidth, acceptance angle, etc., are presented. Applications to flavoproteins [wild-type (WT) FMN-binding protein and its W32Y, W32A, E13R, E13K, E13Q and E13T mutants] and photoresponsive proteins [WT photoactive yellow protein and its R52Q mutant in solution and as single crystals] are demonstrated. For flavoproteins, investigations elucidating the effects of ionic charges on ultrafast electron transfer (ET) dynamics are summarized. It is shown that replacement of the ionic amino acid Glu13 and the resulting modification of the electrostatic charge distribution in the protein chromphore-binding pocket substantially alters the ultrafast fluorescence quenching dynamics and ET rate in FMN-binding protein. It is concluded that, together with donor-acceptor distances, electrostatic interactions between ionic photoproducts and other ionic groups in the proteins are important factors influencing the ET rates. In WT photoactive yellow protein and the R52Q mutant, ultrafast photoisomerization dynamics of the chromophore (deprotonated trans-p-coumaric acid) in liquid and crystal phases are investigated. It is shown that the primary dynamics in solution and single-crystal phases are quite similar; hence, the photocycle dynamics and structural differences observed at longer time scales arise mostly from the structural restraints imposed by the crystal lattice rigidity versus the flexibility in solution. © 2014 FEBS.

Ultra-fast ipsilateral DPOAE adaptation not modulated by attention?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dalhoff, Ernst; Zelle, Dennis; Gummer, Anthony W.

2018-05-01

Efferent stimulation of outer hair cells is supposed to attenuate cochlear amplification of sound waves and is accompanied by reduced DPOAE amplitudes. Recently, a method using two subsequent f2 pulses during presentation of a longer f1 pulse was introduced to measure fast ipsilateral adaptation effects on separated DPOAE components. Compensating primary-tone onsets for their latencies at the f2-tonotopic place, the average adaptation measured in four normal-hearing subjects was 5.0 dB with a time constant below 5 ms. In the present study, two experiments were performed to determine the origin of this ultra-fast ipsilateral adaptation effect. The first experiment measured ultra-fast ipsilateral adaptation using a two-pulse paradigm at three frequencies in the four subjects, while controlling for visual attention of the subjects. The other experiment also controlled for visual attention, but utilized a sequence of f2 short pulses in the presence of a continuous f1 tone to sample ipsilateral adaptation effects with longer time constants in eight subjects. In the first experiment, no significant change in the ultra-fast adaptation between non-directed attention and visual attention could be detected. In contrast, the second experiment revealed significant changes in the magnitude of the slower ipsilateral adaptation in the visual-attention condition. In conclusion, the lack of an attentional influence indicates that the ultra-fast ipsilateral DPOAE adaptation is not solely mediated by the medial olivocochlear reflex.

Cross-phase modulation bandwidth in ultrafast fiber wavelength converters

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Luís, Ruben S.; Monteiro, Paulo; Teixeira, António

2006-12-01

We propose a novel analytical model for the characterization of fiber cross-phase modulation (XPM) in ultrafast all-optical fiber wavelength converters, operating at modulation frequencies higher than 1THz. The model is used to compare the XPM frequency limitations of a conventional and a highly nonlinear dispersion shifted fiber (HN-DSF) and a bismuth oxide-based fiber, introducing the XPM bandwidth as a design parameter. It is shown that the HN-DSF presents the highest XPM bandwidth, above 1THz, making it the most appropriate for ultrafast wavelength conversion.

Mitigating intrinsic defects and laser damage using pulsetrain-burst (>100 MHz) ultrafast laser processing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McKinney, Luke; Frank, Felix; Graper, David; Dean, Jesse; Forrester, Paul; Rioblanc, Maxence; Nantel, Marc; Marjoribanks, Robin

2005-09-01

Ultrafast-laser micromachining has promise as an approach to trimming and 'healing' small laser-produced damage sites in laser-system optics--a common experience in state-of-the-art high-power laser systems. More-conventional approaches currently include mechanical micromachining, chemical modification, and treatment using cw and long-pulse lasers. Laser-optics materials of interest include fused silica, multilayer dielectric stacks for anti-reflection coatings or high-reflectivity mirrors, and inorganic crystals such as KD*P, used for Pockels cells and frequency-doubling. We report on novel efforts using ultrafast-laser pulsetrain-burst processing (microsecond bursts at 133 MHz) to mitigate damage in fused silica, dielectric coatings, and KD*P crystals. We have established the characteristics of pulsetrain-burst micromachining in fused silica, multilayer mirrors, and KD*P, and determined the etch rates and morphology under different conditions of fluence-delivery. From all of these, we have begun to identify new means to optimize the laser-repair of optics defects and damage.

Ultrafast electron microscopy in materials science, biology, and chemistry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

King, Wayne E.; Campbell, Geoffrey H.; Frank, Alan; Reed, Bryan; Schmerge, John F.; Siwick, Bradley J.; Stuart, Brent C.; Weber, Peter M.

2005-06-01

The use of pump-probe experiments to study complex transient events has been an area of significant interest in materials science, biology, and chemistry. While the emphasis has been on laser pump with laser probe and laser pump with x-ray probe experiments, there is a significant and growing interest in using electrons as probes. Early experiments used electrons for gas-phase diffraction of photostimulated chemical reactions. More recently, scientists are beginning to explore phenomena in the solid state such as phase transformations, twinning, solid-state chemical reactions, radiation damage, and shock propagation. This review focuses on the emerging area of ultrafast electron microscopy (UEM), which comprises ultrafast electron diffraction (UED) and dynamic transmission electron microscopy (DTEM). The topics that are treated include the following: (1) The physics of electrons as an ultrafast probe. This encompasses the propagation dynamics of the electrons (space-charge effect, Child's law, Boersch effect) and extends to relativistic effects. (2) The anatomy of UED and DTEM instruments. This includes discussions of the photoactivated electron gun (also known as photogun or photoelectron gun) at conventional energies (60-200 keV) and extends to MeV beams generated by rf guns. Another critical aspect of the systems is the electron detector. Charge-coupled device cameras and microchannel-plate-based cameras are compared and contrasted. The effect of various physical phenomena on detective quantum efficiency is discussed. (3) Practical aspects of operation. This includes determination of time zero, measurement of pulse-length, and strategies for pulse compression. (4) Current and potential applications in materials science, biology, and chemistry. UEM has the potential to make a significant impact in future science and technology. Understanding of reaction pathways of complex transient phenomena in materials science, biology, and chemistry will provide fundamental

Department of Transportation's intelligent transportation systems (ITS) projects book

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2000-01-01

Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS), formerly Intelligent Vehicle-Highway Systems (IVHS), provide the technology applications helping the nation address current surface transportation problems while concurrently providing approaches for dealing ...

Imaging electronic motions by ultrafast electron diffraction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shao, Hua-Chieh; Starace, Anthony F.

2017-08-01

Recently ultrafast electron diffraction and microscopy have reached unprecedented temporal resolution, and transient structures with atomic precision have been observed in various reactions. It is anticipated that these extraordinary advances will soon allow direct observation of electronic motions during chemical reactions. We therefore performed a series of theoretical investigations and simulations to investigate the imaging of electronic motions in atoms and molecules by ultrafast electron diffraction. Three prototypical electronic motions were considered for hydrogen atoms. For the case of a breathing mode, the electron density expands and contracts periodically, and we show that the time-resolved scattering intensities reflect such changes of the charge radius. For the case of a wiggling mode, the electron oscillates from one side of the nucleus to the other, and we show that the diffraction images exhibit asymmetric angular distributions. The last case is a hybrid mode that involves both breathing and wiggling motions. Owing to the demonstrated ability of ultrafast electrons to image these motions, we have proposed to image a coherent population transfer in lithium atoms using currently available femtosecond electron pulses. A frequency-swept laser pulse adiabatically drives the valence electron of a lithium atom from the 2s to 2p orbitals, and a time-delayed electron pulse maps such motion. Our simulations show that the diffraction images reflect this motion both in the scattering intensities and the angular distributions.

Femtosecond timing measurement and control using ultrafast organic thin films

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Naruse, Makoto; Mitsu, Hiroyuki; Furuki, Makoto; Iwasa, Izumi; Sato, Yasuhiro; Tatsuura, Satoshi; Tian, Minquan

2003-12-01

We show a femtosecond timing measurement and control technique using a squarylium dye J-aggregate film, which is an organic thin film that acts as an ultrafast two-dimensional optical switch. Optical pulse timing is directly mapped to space-domain position on the film, and the large area and ultrafast response offer a femtosecond-resolved, large dynamic range, real-time, multichannel timing measurement capability. A timing fluctuation (jitter, wander, and skew) reduction architecture is presented and experimentally demonstrated.

Carbon Atom Hybridization Matters: Ultrafast Humidity Response of Graphdiyne Oxides.

PubMed

Yan, Hailong; Guo, Shuyue; Wu, Fei; Yu, Ping; Liu, Huibiao; Li, Yuliang; Mao, Lanqun

2018-04-03

Graphdiyne oxide (GDO), the oxidized form of graphdiyne (GDY), exhibits an ultrafast humidity response with an unprecedented response speed (ca. 7 ms), which is three times faster than that of graphene oxide (GO) with the same thickness and O/C ratio. The ultrafast humidity response of GDO is considered to benefit from the unique carbon hybridization of GDO, which contains acetylenic bonds that are more electron-withdrawing than ethylenic bonds in GO, consequently giving rise to a faster binding rate with water. This distinctive structure-based property enables the fabrication of a novel GDO-based humidity sensor with an ultrafast response speed and good selectivity against other kinds of gas molecules as well as high sensitivity. These properties allow the sensor to accurately monitor the respiration rate change of human and hypoxic rats. © 2018 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Department of Transportation's intelligent transportation systems (ITS) projects book

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1999-01-01

Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS), formerly Intelligent Vehicle-Highway Systems (IVHS), provide the technology applications helping the nation address current surface transportation problems and while concurrently providing approaches for deal...

Ultrafast Hot Carrier Dynamics in GaN and Its Impact on the Efficiency Droop.

PubMed

Jhalani, Vatsal A; Zhou, Jin-Jian; Bernardi, Marco

2017-08-09

GaN is a key material for lighting technology. Yet, the carrier transport and ultrafast dynamics that are central in GaN light-emitting devices are not completely understood. We present first-principles calculations of carrier dynamics in GaN, focusing on electron-phonon (e-ph) scattering and the cooling and nanoscale dynamics of hot carriers. We find that e-ph scattering is significantly faster for holes compared to electrons and that for hot carriers with an initial 0.5-1 eV excess energy, holes take a significantly shorter time (∼0.1 ps) to relax to the band edge compared to electrons, which take ∼1 ps. The asymmetry in the hot carrier dynamics is shown to originate from the valence band degeneracy, the heavier effective mass of holes compared to electrons, and the details of the coupling to different phonon modes in the valence and conduction bands. We show that the slow cooling of hot electrons and their long ballistic mean free paths (over 3 nm at room temperature) are a possible cause of efficiency droop in GaN light-emitting diodes. Taken together, our work sheds light on the ultrafast dynamics of hot carriers in GaN and the nanoscale origin of efficiency droop.

Rippling ultrafast dynamics of suspended 2D monolayers, graphene.

PubMed

Hu, Jianbo; Vanacore, Giovanni M; Cepellotti, Andrea; Marzari, Nicola; Zewail, Ahmed H

2016-10-25

Here, using ultrafast electron crystallography (UEC), we report the observation of rippling dynamics in suspended monolayer graphene, the prototypical and most-studied 2D material. The high scattering cross-section for electron/matter interaction, the atomic-scale spatial resolution, and the ultrafast temporal resolution of UEC represent the key elements that make this technique a unique tool for the dynamic investigation of 2D materials, and nanostructures in general. We find that, at early time after the ultrafast optical excitation, graphene undergoes a lattice expansion on a time scale of 5 ps, which is due to the excitation of short-wavelength in-plane acoustic phonon modes that stretch the graphene plane. On a longer time scale, a slower thermal contraction with a time constant of 50 ps is observed and associated with the excitation of out-of-plane phonon modes, which drive the lattice toward thermal equilibrium with the well-known negative thermal expansion coefficient of graphene. From our results and first-principles lattice dynamics and out-of-equilibrium relaxation calculations, we quantitatively elucidate the deformation dynamics of the graphene unit cell.

Ultrafast structural and electronic dynamics of the metallic phase in a layered manganite

PubMed Central

Piazza, L.; Ma, C.; Yang, H. X.; Mann, A.; Zhu, Y.; Li, J. Q.; Carbone, F.

2013-01-01

The transition between different states in manganites can be driven by various external stimuli. Controlling these transitions with light opens the possibility to investigate the microscopic path through which they evolve. We performed femtosecond (fs) transmission electron microscopy on a bi-layered manganite to study its response to ultrafast photoexcitation. We show that a photoinduced temperature jump launches a pressure wave that provokes coherent oscillations of the lattice parameters, detected via ultrafast electron diffraction. Their impact on the electronic structure are monitored via ultrafast electron energy loss spectroscopy, revealing the dynamics of the different orbitals in response to specific structural distortions. PMID:26913564

Unlocking the Constraints of Cyanobacterial Productivity: Acclimations Enabling Ultrafast Growth

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bernstein, Hans C.; McClure, Ryan S.; Hill, Eric A.

ABSTRACT Harnessing the metabolic potential of photosynthetic microbes for next-generation biotechnology objectives requires detailed scientific understanding of the physiological constraints and regulatory controls affecting carbon partitioning between biomass, metabolite storage pools, and bioproduct synthesis. We dissected the cellular mechanisms underlying the remarkable physiological robustness of the euryhaline unicellular cyanobacteriumSynechococcussp. strain PCC 7002 (Synechococcus7002) and identify key mechanisms that allow cyanobacteria to achieve unprecedented photoautotrophic productivities (~2.5-h doubling time). Ultrafast growth ofSynechococcus7002 was supported by high rates of photosynthetic electron transfer and linked to significantly elevated transcription of precursor biosynthesis and protein translation machinery. Notably, no growth or photosynthesis inhibition signaturesmore » were observed under any of the tested experimental conditions. Finally, the ultrafast growth inSynechococcus7002 was also linked to a 300% expansion of average cell volume. We hypothesize that this cellular adaptation is required at high irradiances to support higher cell division rates and reduce deleterious effects, corresponding to high light, through increased carbon and reductant sequestration. IMPORTANCEEfficient coupling between photosynthesis and productivity is central to the development of biotechnology based on solar energy. Therefore, understanding the factors constraining maximum rates of carbon processing is necessary to identify regulatory mechanisms and devise strategies to overcome productivity constraints. Here, we interrogate the molecular mechanisms that operate at a systems level to allow cyanobacteria to achieve ultrafast growth. This was done by considering growth and photosynthetic kinetics with global transcription patterns. We have delineated putative biological principles that allow unicellular cyanobacteria to achieve ultrahigh growth rates

Ultrafast photocurrents in monolayer MoS2

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Parzinger, Eric; Wurstbauer, Ursula; Holleitner, Alexander W.

Two-dimensional transition metal dichalcogenides such as MoS2 have emerged as interesting materials for optoelectronic devices. In particular, the ultrafast dynamics and lifetimes of photoexcited charge carriers have attracted great interest during the last years. We investigate the photocurrent response of monolayer MoS2 on a picosecond time scale utilizing a recently developed pump-probe spectroscopy technique based on coplanar striplines. We discuss the ultrafast dynamics within MoS2 including photo-thermoelectric currents and the impact of built-in fields due to Schottky barriers as well as the Fermi level pinning at the contact region. We acknowledge support by the ERC via Project 'NanoREAL', the DFG via excellence cluster 'Nanosystems Initiative Munich' (NIM), and through the TUM International Graduate School of Science and Engineering (IGSSE) and BaCaTeC.

Ultrafast optical excitation of magnetic skyrmions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ogawa, N.; Seki, S.; Tokura, Y.

2015-04-01

Magnetic skyrmions in an insulating chiral magnet Cu2OSeO3 were studied by all-optical spin wave spectroscopy. The spins in the conical and skyrmion phases were excited by the impulsive magnetic field from the inverse-Faraday effect, and resultant spin dynamics were detected by using time-resolved magneto-optics. Clear dispersions of the helimagnon were observed, which is accompanied by a distinct transition into the skyrmion phase, by sweeping temperature and magnetic field. In addition to the collective excitations of skyrmions, i.e., rotation and breathing modes, several spin precession modes were identified, which would be specific to optical excitation. The ultrafast, nonthermal, and local excitation of the spin systems by photons would lead to the efficient manipulation of nano-magnetic structures.

Department of Transportation's intelligent transportation systems (ITS) projects book

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1998-01-01

Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS), formerly Intelligent Vehicle-Highway Systems (IVHS), provide the tools to help us address current surface transportation problems, as well as anticipate and address future demands through an intermodal, strat...

Ultrafast web inspection with hybrid dispersion laser scanner.

PubMed

Chen, Hongwei; Wang, Chao; Yazaki, Akio; Kim, Chanju; Goda, Keisuke; Jalali, Bahram

2013-06-10

We report an ultrafast web inspector that operates at a 1000 times higher scan rate than conventional methods. This system is based on a hybrid dispersion laser scanner that performs line scans at nearly 100 MHz. Specifically, we demonstrate web inspection with detectable resolution of 48.6 μm/pixel (scan direction) × 23 μm (web flow direction) within a width of view of 6 mm at a record high scan rate of 90.9 MHz. We demonstrate the identification and evaluation of particles on silicon wafers. This method holds great promise for speeding up quality control and hence reducing manufacturing costs.

Tunneled Mesoporous Carbon Nanofibers with Embedded ZnO Nanoparticles for Ultrafast Lithium Storage.

PubMed

An, Geon-Hyoung; Lee, Do-Young; Ahn, Hyo-Jin

2017-04-12

Carbon and metal oxide composites have received considerable attention as anode materials for Li-ion batteries (LIBs) owing to their excellent cycling stability and high specific capacity based on the chemical and physical stability of carbon and the high theoretical specific capacity of metal oxides. However, efforts to obtain ultrafast cycling stability in carbon and metal oxide composites at high current density for practical applications still face important challenges because of the longer Li-ion diffusion pathway, which leads to poor ultrafast performance during cycling. Here, tunneled mesoporous carbon nanofibers with embedded ZnO nanoparticles (TMCNF/ZnO) are synthesized by electrospinning, carbonization, and postcalcination. The optimized TMCNF/ZnO shows improved electrochemical performance, delivering outstanding ultrafast cycling stability, indicating a higher specific capacity than previously reported ZnO-based anode materials in LIBs. Therefore, the unique architecture of TMCNF/ZnO has potential for use as an anode material in ultrafast LIBs.

Ultrafast dynamics of electrons in ammonia.

PubMed

Vöhringer, Peter

2015-04-01

Solvated electrons were first discovered in solutions of metals in liquid ammonia. The physical and chemical properties of these species have been studied extensively for many decades using an arsenal of electrochemical, spectroscopic, and theoretical techniques. Yet, in contrast to their hydrated counterpart, the ultrafast dynamics of ammoniated electrons remained completely unexplored until quite recently. Femtosecond pump-probe spectroscopy on metal-ammonia solutions and femtosecond multiphoton ionization spectroscopy on the neat ammonia solvent have provided new insights into the optical properties and the reactivities of this fascinating species. This article reviews the nature of the optical transition, which gives the metal-ammonia solutions their characteristic blue appearance, in terms of ultrafast relaxation processes involving bound and continuum excited states. The recombination processes following the injection of an electron via photoionization of the solvent are discussed in the context of the electronic structure of the liquid and the anionic defect associated with the solvated electron.

Advanced Instrumentation for Ultrafast Science at the LCLS

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Berrah, Nora

2015-10-13

This grant supported a Single Investigator and Small Group Research (SISGR) application to enable multi-user research in Ultrafast Science using the Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS), the world’s first hard x-ray free electron laser (FEL) which lased for the first time at 1.5 Å on April 20, 2009. The goal of our proposal was to enable a New Era of Science by requesting funds to purchase and build Advanced Instrumentation for Ultrafast Science (AIUS), to utilize the intense, short x-ray pulses produced by the LCLS. The proposed instrumentation will allow peer review selected users to probe the ultrasmall and capture themore » ultrafast. These tools will expand on the investment already made in the construction of the light source and its instrumentation in both the LCLS and LUSI projects. The AIUS will provide researchers in the AMO, Chemical, Biological and Condensed Matter communities with greater flexibility in defining their scientific agenda at the LCLS. The proposed instrumentation will complement and significantly augment the present AMO instrument (funded through the LCLS project) through detectors and capabilities not included in the initial suite of instrumentation at the facility. We have built all of the instrumentations and they have been utilized by scientists. Please see report attached.« less

Photon gating in four-dimensional ultrafast electron microscopy.

PubMed

Hassan, Mohammed T; Liu, Haihua; Baskin, John Spencer; Zewail, Ahmed H

2015-10-20

Ultrafast electron microscopy (UEM) is a pivotal tool for imaging of nanoscale structural dynamics with subparticle resolution on the time scale of atomic motion. Photon-induced near-field electron microscopy (PINEM), a key UEM technique, involves the detection of electrons that have gained energy from a femtosecond optical pulse via photon-electron coupling on nanostructures. PINEM has been applied in various fields of study, from materials science to biological imaging, exploiting the unique spatial, energy, and temporal characteristics of the PINEM electrons gained by interaction with a "single" light pulse. The further potential of photon-gated PINEM electrons in probing ultrafast dynamics of matter and the optical gating of electrons by invoking a "second" optical pulse has previously been proposed and examined theoretically in our group. Here, we experimentally demonstrate this photon-gating technique, and, through diffraction, visualize the phase transition dynamics in vanadium dioxide nanoparticles. With optical gating of PINEM electrons, imaging temporal resolution was improved by a factor of 3 or better, being limited only by the optical pulse widths. This work enables the combination of the high spatial resolution of electron microscopy and the ultrafast temporal response of the optical pulses, which provides a promising approach to attain the resolution of few femtoseconds and attoseconds in UEM.

Photon gating in four-dimensional ultrafast electron microscopy

PubMed Central

Hassan, Mohammed T.; Liu, Haihua; Baskin, John Spencer; Zewail, Ahmed H.

2015-01-01

Ultrafast electron microscopy (UEM) is a pivotal tool for imaging of nanoscale structural dynamics with subparticle resolution on the time scale of atomic motion. Photon-induced near-field electron microscopy (PINEM), a key UEM technique, involves the detection of electrons that have gained energy from a femtosecond optical pulse via photon–electron coupling on nanostructures. PINEM has been applied in various fields of study, from materials science to biological imaging, exploiting the unique spatial, energy, and temporal characteristics of the PINEM electrons gained by interaction with a “single” light pulse. The further potential of photon-gated PINEM electrons in probing ultrafast dynamics of matter and the optical gating of electrons by invoking a “second” optical pulse has previously been proposed and examined theoretically in our group. Here, we experimentally demonstrate this photon-gating technique, and, through diffraction, visualize the phase transition dynamics in vanadium dioxide nanoparticles. With optical gating of PINEM electrons, imaging temporal resolution was improved by a factor of 3 or better, being limited only by the optical pulse widths. This work enables the combination of the high spatial resolution of electron microscopy and the ultrafast temporal response of the optical pulses, which provides a promising approach to attain the resolution of few femtoseconds and attoseconds in UEM. PMID:26438835

Ultrafast dynamic response of single crystal β-HMX

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zaug, Joseph M.; Armstrong, Michael R.; Crowhurst, Jonathan C.; Radousky, Harry B.; Ferranti, Louis; Swan, Raymond; Gross, Rick; Teslich, Nick E.; Wall, Mark A.; Austin, Ryan A.; Fried, Laurence E.

2017-01-01

We report results from ultrafast compression experiments conducted on β-HMX single crystals. Results consist of nominally 12 picosecond time-resolved wave profile data, (ultrafast time domain interferometry -TDI measurements), that were analyzed to determine high-velocity wave speeds as a function of piston velocity. TDI results are used to validate calculations of anisotropic stress-strain behavior of shocked loaded energetic materials. Our previous results derived using a 350 ps duration compression drive revealed anisotropic elastic wave response in single crystal β-HMX from (110) and (010) impact planes. Here we present results using a 1.05 ns duration compression drive with a 950 ps interferometry window to extend knowledge of the anisotropic dynamic response of β-HMX within eight microns of the initial impact plane. We observe two distinct wave profiles from (010) and three wave profiles from (010) impact planes. The (110) impact plane wave speeds typically exceed (010) impact plane wave speeds at the same piston velocities. The development of multiple hydrodynamic wave profiles begins at 20 GPa for the (110) impact plane and 28 GPa for the (10) impact plane. We compare our ultrafast TDI results with previous gun and plate impact results on β-HMX and PBX9501.

Feasibility of UltraFast Doppler in Post-operative Evaluation of Hepatic Artery in Recipients following Liver Transplantation.

PubMed

Kim, Se-Young; Kim, Kyoung Won; Choi, Sang Hyun; Kwon, Jae Hyun; Song, Gi-Won; Kwon, Heon-Ju; Yun, Young Ju; Lee, Jeongjin; Lee, Sung-Gyu

2017-11-01

To determine the feasibility of using UltraFast Doppler in post-operative evaluation of the hepatic artery (HA) after liver transplantation (LT), we evaluated 283 simultaneous conventional and UltraFast Doppler sessions in 126 recipients over a 2-mo period after LT, using an Aixplorer scanner The Doppler indexes of the HA (peak systolic velocity [PSV], end-diastolic velocity [EDV], resistive index [RI] and systolic acceleration time [SAT]) by retrospective analysis of retrieved waves from UltraFast Doppler clips were compared with those obtained by conventional spectral Doppler. Correlation, performance in diagnosing the pathologic wave, examination time and reproducibility were evaluated. The PSV, EDV, RI and SAT of spectral and UltraFast Doppler measurements exhibited excellent correlation with favorable diagnostic performance. During the bedside examination, the mean time spent for UltraFast clip storing was significantly shorter than that for conventional Doppler US measurements. Both conventional and UltraFast Doppler exhibited good to excellent inter-analysis consistency. In conclusion, compared with conventional spectral Doppler, UltraFast Doppler values correlated excellently and yielded acceptable pathologic wave diagnostic performance with reduced examination time at the bedside and excellent reproducibility. Copyright © 2017 World Federation for Ultrasound in Medicine & Biology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Space Transportation Propulsion Systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Liou, Meng-Sing; Stewart, Mark E.; Suresh, Ambady; Owen, A. Karl

2001-01-01

This report outlines the Space Transportation Propulsion Systems for the NPSS (Numerical Propulsion System Simulation) program. Topics include: 1) a review of Engine/Inlet Coupling Work; 2) Background/Organization of Space Transportation Initiative; 3) Synergy between High Performance Computing and Communications Program (HPCCP) and Advanced Space Transportation Program (ASTP); 4) Status of Space Transportation Effort, including planned deliverables for FY01-FY06, FY00 accomplishments (HPCCP Funded) and FY01 Major Milestones (HPCCP and ASTP); and 5) a review current technical efforts, including a review of the Rocket-Based Combined-Cycle (RBCC), Scope of Work, RBCC Concept Aerodynamic Analysis and RBCC Concept Multidisciplinary Analysis.

Ultrafast Photoinduced Electron Transfer in a π-Conjugated Oligomer/Porphyrin Complex.

PubMed

Aly, Shawkat M; Goswami, Subhadip; Alsulami, Qana A; Schanze, Kirk S; Mohammed, Omar F

2014-10-02

Controlling charge transfer (CT), charge separation (CS), and charge recombination (CR) at the donor-acceptor interface is extremely important to optimize the conversion efficiency in solar cell devices. In general, ultrafast CT and slow CR are desirable for optimal device performance. In this Letter, the ultrafast excited-state CT between platinum oligomer (DPP-Pt(acac)) as a new electron donor and porphyrin as an electron acceptor is monitored for the first time using femtosecond (fs) transient absorption (TA) spectroscopy with broad-band capability and 120 fs temporal resolution. Turning the CT on/off has been shown to be possible either by switching from an organometallic oligomer to a metal-free oligomer or by controlling the charge density on the nitrogen atom of the porphyrin meso unit. Our time-resolved data show that the CT and CS between DPP-Pt(acac) and cationic porphyrin are ultrafast (approximately 1.5 ps), and the CR is slow (ns time scale), as inferred from the formation and the decay of the cationic and anionic species. We also found that the metallic center in the DPP-Pt(acac) oligomer and the positive charge on the porphyrin are the keys to switching on/off the ultrafast CT process.

Ultrafast Photodetection in the Quantum Wells of Single AlGaAs/GaAs-Based Nanowires.

PubMed

Erhard, N; Zenger, S; Morkötter, S; Rudolph, D; Weiss, M; Krenner, H J; Karl, H; Abstreiter, G; Finley, J J; Koblmüller, G; Holleitner, A W

2015-10-14

We investigate the ultrafast optoelectronic properties of single Al0.3Ga0.7As/GaAs core-shell nanowires. The nanowires contain GaAs-based quantum wells. For a resonant excitation of the quantum wells, we find a picosecond photocurrent which is consistent with an ultrafast lateral expansion of the photogenerated charge carriers. This Dember-effect does not occur for an excitation of the GaAs-based core of the nanowires. Instead, the core exhibits an ultrafast displacement current and a photothermoelectric current at the metal Schottky contacts. Our results uncover the optoelectronic dynamics in semiconductor core-shell nanowires comprising quantum wells, and they demonstrate the possibility to use the low-dimensional quantum well states therein for ultrafast photoswitches and photodetectors.

Next generation: In-space transportation system(s)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Huffaker, Fredrick; Redus, Jerry; Kelley, David L.

1991-01-01

The development of the next generation In-Space Transportation System presents a unique challenge to the design of a propulsion system for the Space Exploration Initiative (SEI). Never before have the requirements for long-life, multiple mission use, space basing, high reliability, man-rating, and minimum maintenance come together with performance in one system that must protect the lives of space travelers, support the mission logistics needs, and do so at an acceptable cost. The challenge that is presented is to quantify the bounds of these requirements. The issue is one of degree. The length of acceptable life in space, the time it takes for reuse to pay off, and the degree to which space basing is practical (full, partial, or expended) are the issues that determine the reusable bounds of a design and include dependability, contingency capabilities, resilency, and minimum dependence on a maintenance node in preparation for and during a mission. Missions to planet earth, other non-NASA missions, and planetary missions will provide important but less demanding requirements for the transportation systems of the future. The mission proposed for the SEI require a family of transportation vehicles to meet the requirements for establishing a permanent human presence on the Moon and eventually on Mars. Specialized vehicles are needed to accomplish the different phases of each mission. These large scale missions require assembly in space and will provide the greatest usage of the planned integrated transportation system. The current approach to defining the In-Space Transportation System for the SEI Moon missions with later Mars mission applications is presented. Several system development options, propulsion concepts, current/proposed activities are reviewed, and key propulsion design criteria, issues, and technology challenges for the next generation In-Space Transportation System(s) are outlined.

Ultrafast Time-Resolved Photoluminescence Studies of Gallium-Arsenide

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Johnson, Matthew Bruce

This thesis concerns the study of ultrafast phenomena in GaAs using time-resolved photoluminescence (PL). The thesis consists of five chapters. Chapter one is an introduction, which discusses the study of ultrafast phenomena in semiconductors. Chapter two is a description of the colliding-pulse mode-locked (CPM) ring dye laser, which is at the heart of the experimental apparatus used in this thesis. Chapter three presents a detailed experimental and theoretical investigation of photoluminescence excitation correlation spectroscopy (PECS), the novel technique which is used to time-resolve ultrafast PL phenomena. Chapters 4 and 5 discuss two applications of the PECS technique. In Chapter 4 the variation of PL intensity in In-alloyed GaAs substrate material is studied, while Chapter 5 discusses the variation of carrier lifetimes in ion-damaged GaAs used in photo-conductive circuit elements (PCEs). PECS is a pulse-probe technique that measures the cross correlation of photo-excited carrier populations. The theoretical model employed in this thesis is based upon the rate equation for a simple three-level system consisting of valence and conduction bands and a single trap level. In the limit of radiative band-to-band dominated recombination, no PECS signal should be observed; while in the capture -dominated recombination limit, the PECS signal from the band-to-band PL measures the cross correlation of the excited electron and hole populations and thus, the electron and hole lifetimes. PECS is experimentally investigated using a case study of PL in semi-insulating (SI) GaAs and In -alloyed GaAs. At 77 K, the PECS signal is characteristic of a capture-dominated system, yielding an electron-hole lifetime of about 200 ps. However, at 5 K the behavior is more complicated and shows saturation effects due to the C acceptor level, which is un-ionized at 5 K. As a first application, PECS is used to investigate the large band-to-band PL contrast observed near dislocations in In

Ultrafast Structural Dynamics in Combustion Relevant Model Systems

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Weber, Peter M.

2014-03-31

The research project explored the time resolved structural dynamics of important model reaction system using an array of novel methods that were developed specifically for this purpose. They include time resolved electron diffraction, time resolved relativistic electron diffraction, and time resolved Rydberg fingerprint spectroscopy. Toward the end of the funding period, we also developed time-resolved x-ray diffraction, which uses ultrafast x-ray pulses at LCLS. Those experiments are just now blossoming, as the funding period expired. In the following, the time resolved Rydberg Fingerprint Spectroscopy is discussed in some detail, as it has been a very productive method. The binding energymore » of an electron in a Rydberg state, that is, the energy difference between the Rydberg level and the ground state of the molecular ion, has been found to be a uniquely powerful tool to characterize the molecular structure. To rationalize the structure sensitivity we invoke a picture from electron diffraction: when it passes the molecular ion core, the Rydberg electron experiences a phase shift compared to an electron in a hydrogen atom. This phase shift requires an adjustment of the binding energy of the electron, which is measurable. As in electron diffraction, the phase shift depends on the molecular, geometrical structure, so that a measurement of the electron binding energy can be interpreted as a measurement of the molecule’s structure. Building on this insight, we have developed a structurally sensitive spectroscopy: the molecule is first elevated to the Rydberg state, and the binding energy is then measured using photoelectron spectroscopy. The molecule’s structure is read out as the binding energy spectrum. Since the photoionization can be done with ultrafast laser pulses, the technique is inherently capable of a time resolution in the femtosecond regime. For the purpose of identifying the structures of molecules during chemical reactions, and for the analysis

Femtosecond laser spectroscopy of the rhodopsin photochromic reaction: a concept for ultrafast optical molecular switch creation (ultrafast reversible photoreaction of rhodopsin).

PubMed

Smitienko, Olga; Nadtochenko, Victor; Feldman, Tatiana; Balatskaya, Maria; Shelaev, Ivan; Gostev, Fedor; Sarkisov, Oleg; Ostrovsky, Mikhail

2014-11-11

Ultrafast reverse photoreaction of visual pigment rhodopsin in the femtosecond time range at room temperature is demonstrated. Femtosecond two-pump probe experiments with a time resolution of 25 fs have been performed. The first рump pulse at 500 nm initiated cis-trans photoisomerization of rhodopsin chromophore, 11-cis retinal, which resulted in the formation of the primary ground-state photoproduct within a mere 200 fs. The second pump pulse at 620 nm with a varying delay of 200 to 3750 fs relative to the first рump pulse, initiated the reverse phototransition of the primary photoproduct to rhodopsin. The results of this photoconversion have been observed on the differential spectra obtained after the action of two pump pulses at a time delay of 100 ps. It was found that optical density decreased at 560 nm in the spectral region of bathorhodopsin absorption and increased at 480 nm, where rhodopsin absorbs. Rhodopsin photoswitching efficiency shows oscillations as a function of the time delay between two рump pulses. The quantum yield of reverse photoreaction initiated by the second pump pulse falls within the range 15%±1%. The molecular mechanism of the ultrafast reversible photoreaction of visual pigment rhodopsin may be used as a concept for the development of an ultrafast optical molecular switch.

Ultrafast Unzipping of a Beta-Hairpin Peptide

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zinth, W.; Schrader, T. E.; Schreier, W. J.; Koller, F. O.; Cordes, T.; Babitzki, G.; Denschlag, R.; Tavan, P.; Löweneck, M.; Dong, Shou-Liang; Moroder, L.; Renner, C.

Light induced switching of a beta-hairpin structure is investigated by femtosecond IR spectroscopy. While the unzipping process comprises ultrafast kinetics and is finished within 1 ns, the folding into the hairpin structure is a much slower process.

Ultrafast Carbon Dioxide Sorption Kinetics Using Lithium Silicate Nanowires.

PubMed

Nambo, Apolo; He, Juan; Nguyen, Tu Quang; Atla, Veerendra; Druffel, Thad; Sunkara, Mahendra

2017-06-14

In this paper, the Li 4 SiO 4 nanowires (NWs) were shown to be promising for CO 2 capture with ultrafast kinetics. Specifically, the nanowire powders exhibited an uptake of 0.35 g g -1 of CO 2 at an ultrafast adsorption rate of 0.22 g g -1 min -1 at 650-700 °C. Lithium silicate (Li 4 SiO 4 ) nanowires and nanopowders were synthesized using a "solvo-plasma" technique involving plasma oxidation of silicon precursors mixed with lithium hydroxide. The kinetic parameter values (k) extracted from sorption kinetics obtained using NW powders are 1 order of magnitude higher than those previously reported for the Li 4 SiO 4 -CO 2 reaction system. The time scales for CO 2 sorption using nanowires are approximately 3 min and two orders magnitude faster compared to those obtained using lithium silicate powders with spherical morphologies and aggregates. Furthermore, Li 4 SiO 4 nanowire powders showed reversibility through sorption-desorption cycles indicating their suitability for CO 2 capture applications. All of the morphologies of Li 4 SiO 4 powders exhibited a double exponential behavior in the adsorption kinetics indicating two distinct time constants for kinetic and the mass transfer limited regimes.

Ultrafast giant magnetic cooling effect in ferromagnetic Co/Pt multilayers.

PubMed

Shim, Je-Ho; Ali Syed, Akbar; Kim, Chul-Hoon; Lee, Kyung Min; Park, Seung-Young; Jeong, Jong-Ryul; Kim, Dong-Hyun; Eon Kim, Dong

2017-10-06

The magnetic cooling effect originates from a large change in entropy by the forced magnetization alignment, which has long been considered to be utilized as an alternative environment-friendly cooling technology compared to conventional refrigeration. However, an ultimate timescale of the magnetic cooling effect has never been studied yet. Here, we report that a giant magnetic cooling (up to 200 K) phenomenon exists in the Co/Pt nano-multilayers on a femtosecond timescale during the photoinduced demagnetization and remagnetization, where the disordered spins are more rapidly aligned, and thus magnetically cooled, by the external magnetic field via the lattice-spin interaction in the multilayer system. These findings were obtained by the extensive analysis of time-resolved magneto-optical responses with systematic variation of laser fluence as well as external field strength and direction. Ultrafast giant magnetic cooling observed in the present study can enable a new avenue to the realization of ultrafast magnetic devices.The forced alignment of magnetic moments leads to a large change in entropy, which can be used to reduce the temperature of a material. Here, the authors show that this magnetic cooling effect occurs on a femtosecond time scale in cobalt-platinum nano-multilayers.

System and method for ultrafast optical signal detecting via a synchronously coupled anamorphic light pulse encoded laterally

DOEpatents

Heebner, John E [Livermore, CA

2010-08-03

In one general embodiment, a method for ultrafast optical signal detecting is provided. In operation, a first optical input signal is propagated through a first wave guiding layer of a waveguide. Additionally, a second optical input signal is propagated through a second wave guiding layer of the waveguide. Furthermore, an optical control signal is applied to a top of the waveguide, the optical control signal being oriented diagonally relative to the top of the waveguide such that the application is used to influence at least a portion of the first optical input signal propagating through the first wave guiding layer of the waveguide. In addition, the first and the second optical input signals output from the waveguide are combined. Further, the combined optical signals output from the waveguide are detected. In another general embodiment, a system for ultrafast optical signal recording is provided comprising a waveguide including a plurality of wave guiding layers, an optical control source positioned to propagate an optical control signal towards the waveguide in a diagonal orientation relative to a top of the waveguide, at least one optical input source positioned to input an optical input signal into at least a first and a second wave guiding layer of the waveguide, and a detector for detecting at least one interference pattern output from the waveguide, where at least one of the interference patterns results from a combination of the optical input signals input into the first and the second wave guiding layer. Furthermore, propagation of the optical control signal is used to influence at least a portion of the optical input signal propagating through the first wave guiding layer of the waveguide.

Ultrafast electron diffraction with megahertz MeV electron pulses from a superconducting radio-frequency photoinjector

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Feng, L. W.; Lin, L.; Huang, S. L.

We report ultrafast relativistic electron diffraction operating at the megahertz repetition rate where the electron beam is produced in a superconducting radio-frequency (rf) photoinjector. We show that the beam quality is sufficiently high to provide clear diffraction patterns from gold and aluminium samples. With the number of electrons, several orders of magnitude higher than that from a normal conducting photocathode rf gun, such high repetition rate ultrafast MeV electron diffraction may open up many new opportunities in ultrafast science.

49 CFR 37.33 - Airport transportation systems.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... 49 Transportation 1 2014-10-01 2014-10-01 false Airport transportation systems. 37.33 Section 37... WITH DISABILITIES (ADA) Applicability § 37.33 Airport transportation systems. (a) Transportation systems operated by public airport operators, which provide designated public transportation and connect...

Rippling ultrafast dynamics of suspended 2D monolayers, graphene

PubMed Central

Hu, Jianbo; Vanacore, Giovanni M.; Cepellotti, Andrea; Marzari, Nicola; Zewail, Ahmed H.

2016-01-01

Here, using ultrafast electron crystallography (UEC), we report the observation of rippling dynamics in suspended monolayer graphene, the prototypical and most-studied 2D material. The high scattering cross-section for electron/matter interaction, the atomic-scale spatial resolution, and the ultrafast temporal resolution of UEC represent the key elements that make this technique a unique tool for the dynamic investigation of 2D materials, and nanostructures in general. We find that, at early time after the ultrafast optical excitation, graphene undergoes a lattice expansion on a time scale of 5 ps, which is due to the excitation of short-wavelength in-plane acoustic phonon modes that stretch the graphene plane. On a longer time scale, a slower thermal contraction with a time constant of 50 ps is observed and associated with the excitation of out-of-plane phonon modes, which drive the lattice toward thermal equilibrium with the well-known negative thermal expansion coefficient of graphene. From our results and first-principles lattice dynamics and out-of-equilibrium relaxation calculations, we quantitatively elucidate the deformation dynamics of the graphene unit cell. PMID:27791028

Watching proton transfer in real time: Ultrafast photoionization-induced proton transfer in phenol-ammonia complex cation.

PubMed

Shen, Ching-Chi; Tsai, Tsung-Ting; Wu, Jun-Yi; Ho, Jr-Wei; Chen, Yi-Wei; Cheng, Po-Yuan

2017-10-28

In this paper, we give a full account of our previous work [C. C. Shen et al., J. Chem. Phys. 141, 171103 (2014)] on the study of an ultrafast photoionization-induced proton transfer (PT) reaction in the phenol-ammonia (PhOH-NH 3 ) complex using ultrafast time-resolved ion photofragmentation spectroscopy implemented by the photoionization-photofragmentation pump-probe detection scheme. Neutral PhOH-NH 3 complexes prepared in a free jet are photoionized by femtosecond 1 + 1 resonance-enhanced multiphoton ionization via the S 1 state. The evolving cations are then probed by delayed pulses that result in ion fragmentation, and the ionic dynamics is followed by measuring the parent-ion depletion as a function of the pump-probe delay time. By comparing with systems in which PT is not feasible and the steady-state ion photofragmentation spectra, we concluded that the observed temporal evolutions of the transient ion photofragmentation spectra are consistent with an intracomplex PT reaction after photoionization from the initial non-PT to the final PT structures. Our experiments revealed that PT in [PhOH-NH 3 ] + cation proceeds in two distinct steps: an initial impulsive wave-packet motion in ∼70 fs followed by a slower relaxation of about 1 ps that stabilizes the system into the final PT configuration. These results indicate that for a barrierless PT system, even though the initial PT motions are impulsive and ultrafast, the time scale to complete the reaction can be much slower and is determined by the rate of energy dissipation into other modes.

Watching proton transfer in real time: Ultrafast photoionization-induced proton transfer in phenol-ammonia complex cation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shen, Ching-Chi; Tsai, Tsung-Ting; Wu, Jun-Yi; Ho-Wei, Jr.; Chen, Yi-Wei; Cheng, Po-Yuan

2017-10-01

In this paper, we give a full account of our previous work [C. C. Shen et al., J. Chem. Phys. 141, 171103 (2014)] on the study of an ultrafast photoionization-induced proton transfer (PT) reaction in the phenol-ammonia (PhOH-NH3) complex using ultrafast time-resolved ion photofragmentation spectroscopy implemented by the photoionization-photofragmentation pump-probe detection scheme. Neutral PhOH-NH3 complexes prepared in a free jet are photoionized by femtosecond 1 + 1 resonance-enhanced multiphoton ionization via the S1 state. The evolving cations are then probed by delayed pulses that result in ion fragmentation, and the ionic dynamics is followed by measuring the parent-ion depletion as a function of the pump-probe delay time. By comparing with systems in which PT is not feasible and the steady-state ion photofragmentation spectra, we concluded that the observed temporal evolutions of the transient ion photofragmentation spectra are consistent with an intracomplex PT reaction after photoionization from the initial non-PT to the final PT structures. Our experiments revealed that PT in [PhOH-NH3]+ cation proceeds in two distinct steps: an initial impulsive wave-packet motion in ˜70 fs followed by a slower relaxation of about 1 ps that stabilizes the system into the final PT configuration. These results indicate that for a barrierless PT system, even though the initial PT motions are impulsive and ultrafast, the time scale to complete the reaction can be much slower and is determined by the rate of energy dissipation into other modes.

Characterization of Ultrafast Laser Pulses using a Low-dispersion Frequency Resolved Optical Grating Spectrometer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Whitelock, Hope; Bishop, Michael; Khosravi, Soroush; Obaid, Razib; Berrah, Nora

2016-05-01

A low dispersion frequency-resolved optical gating (FROG) spectrometer was designed to characterize ultrashort (<50 femtosecond) laser pulses from a commercial regenerative amplifier, optical parametric amplifier, and a home-built non-colinear optical parametric amplifier. This instrument splits a laser pulse into two replicas with a 90:10 intensity ratio using a thin pellicle beam-splitter and then recombines the pulses in a birefringent medium. The instrument detects a wavelength-sensitive change in polarization of the weak probe pulse in the presence of the stronger pump pulse inside the birefringent medium. Scanning the time delay between the two pulses and acquiring spectra allows for characterization of the frequency and time content of ultrafast laser pulses, that is needed for interpretation of experimental results obtained from these ultrafast laser systems. Funded by the DoE-BES, Grant No. DE-SC0012376.

Protonation-induced ultrafast torsional dynamics in 9-anthrylbenzimidazole: a pH activated molecular rotor.

PubMed

Nandi, Amitabha; Kushwaha, Archana; Das, Dipanwita; Ghosh, Rajib

2018-03-07

We report the photophysical properties and excited state dynamics of 9-anthrylbenzimidazole (ANBI) which exhibits protonation-induced molecular rotor properties. In contrast to the highly emissive behavior of neutral ANBI, protonation of the benzimidazole group of ANBI induces efficient nonradiative deactivation by ultrafast torsional motion around the bond connecting the anthracene and benzimidazole units, as revealed by ultrafast transient absorption and fluorescence spectroscopy. Contrary to viscosity-independent fluorescence of neutral dyes, protonated ANBI is shown to display linear variation of emission yield and lifetime with solvent viscosity. The protonation-induced molecular rotor properties in the studied system are shown to be driven by enhanced charge transfer and are corroborated by quantum chemical calculations. Potential application as a microviscosity sensor of acidic regions in a heterogeneous environment by these proton-activated molecular rotor properties of ANBI is discussed.

49 CFR 37.33 - Airport transportation systems.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... 49 Transportation 1 2013-10-01 2013-10-01 false Airport transportation systems. 37.33 Section 37.33 Transportation Office of the Secretary of Transportation TRANSPORTATION SERVICES FOR INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES (ADA) Applicability § 37.33 Airport transportation systems. (a) Transportation...

49 CFR 37.33 - Airport transportation systems.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... 49 Transportation 1 2012-10-01 2012-10-01 false Airport transportation systems. 37.33 Section 37.33 Transportation Office of the Secretary of Transportation TRANSPORTATION SERVICES FOR INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES (ADA) Applicability § 37.33 Airport transportation systems. (a) Transportation...

49 CFR 37.33 - Airport transportation systems.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... 49 Transportation 1 2011-10-01 2011-10-01 false Airport transportation systems. 37.33 Section 37.33 Transportation Office of the Secretary of Transportation TRANSPORTATION SERVICES FOR INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES (ADA) Applicability § 37.33 Airport transportation systems. (a) Transportation...

Ultrafast Dynamics of Energetic Materials

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-01-23

redistributed in condensed-phase materials. In this subproject we developed a technique termed three-dimensional IR- Raman spectroscopy that allowed us to...Fang, 2011, “The distribution of local enhancement factors in surface enhanced Raman -active substrates and the vibrational dynamics in the liquid phase...3. (invited) “Vibrational energy and molecular thermometers in liquids: Ultrafast IR- Raman spectroscopy”, Brandt C. Pein and Dana D. Dlott, To

Demonstration of Two-Atom Entanglement with Ultrafast Optical Pulses

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wong-Campos, J. D.; Moses, S. A.; Johnson, K. G.; Monroe, C.

2017-12-01

We demonstrate quantum entanglement of two trapped atomic ion qubits using a sequence of ultrafast laser pulses. Unlike previous demonstrations of entanglement mediated by the Coulomb interaction, this scheme does not require confinement to the Lamb-Dicke regime and can be less sensitive to ambient noise due to its speed. To elucidate the physics of an ultrafast phase gate, we generate a high entanglement rate using just ten pulses, each of ˜20 ps duration, and demonstrate an entangled Bell state with (76 ±1 )% fidelity. These results pave the way for entanglement operations within a large collection of qubits by exciting only local modes of motion.

Demonstration of Two-Atom Entanglement with Ultrafast Optical Pulses.

PubMed

Wong-Campos, J D; Moses, S A; Johnson, K G; Monroe, C

2017-12-08

We demonstrate quantum entanglement of two trapped atomic ion qubits using a sequence of ultrafast laser pulses. Unlike previous demonstrations of entanglement mediated by the Coulomb interaction, this scheme does not require confinement to the Lamb-Dicke regime and can be less sensitive to ambient noise due to its speed. To elucidate the physics of an ultrafast phase gate, we generate a high entanglement rate using just ten pulses, each of ∼20  ps duration, and demonstrate an entangled Bell state with (76±1)% fidelity. These results pave the way for entanglement operations within a large collection of qubits by exciting only local modes of motion.

A universal concept based on cellular neural networks for ultrafast and flexible solving of differential equations.

PubMed

Chedjou, Jean Chamberlain; Kyamakya, Kyandoghere

2015-04-01

This paper develops and validates a comprehensive and universally applicable computational concept for solving nonlinear differential equations (NDEs) through a neurocomputing concept based on cellular neural networks (CNNs). High-precision, stability, convergence, and lowest-possible memory requirements are ensured by the CNN processor architecture. A significant challenge solved in this paper is that all these cited computing features are ensured in all system-states (regular or chaotic ones) and in all bifurcation conditions that may be experienced by NDEs.One particular quintessence of this paper is to develop and demonstrate a solver concept that shows and ensures that CNN processors (realized either in hardware or in software) are universal solvers of NDE models. The solving logic or algorithm of given NDEs (possible examples are: Duffing, Mathieu, Van der Pol, Jerk, Chua, Rössler, Lorenz, Burgers, and the transport equations) through a CNN processor system is provided by a set of templates that are computed by our comprehensive templates calculation technique that we call nonlinear adaptive optimization. This paper is therefore a significant contribution and represents a cutting-edge real-time computational engineering approach, especially while considering the various scientific and engineering applications of this ultrafast, energy-and-memory-efficient, and high-precise NDE solver concept. For illustration purposes, three NDE models are demonstratively solved, and related CNN templates are derived and used: the periodically excited Duffing equation, the Mathieu equation, and the transport equation.

Terahertz emission from ultrafast spin-charge current at a Rashba interface

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Qi; Jungfleisch, Matthias Benjamin; Zhang, Wei; Pearson, John E.; Wen, Haidan; Hoffmann, Axel

Ultrafast broadband terahertz (THz) radiation is highly desired in various fields from fundamental research in condensed matter physics to bio-chemical detection. Conventional ultrafast THz sources rely on either nonlinear optical effects or ultrafast charge currents in semiconductors. Recently, however, it was realized that ultrabroad-band THz radiation can be produced highly effectively by novel spintronics-based emitters that also make use of the electron's spin degree of freedom. Those THz-emitters convert a spin current flow into a terahertz electromagnetic pulse via the inverse spin-Hall effect. In contrast to this bulk conversion process, we demonstrate here that a femtosecond spin current pulse launched from a CoFeB layer can also generate terahertz transients efficiently at a two-dimensional Rashba interface between two non-magnetic materials, i.e., Ag/Bi. Those interfaces have been proven to be efficient means for spin- and charge current interconversion.

Advanced rural transportation systems (ARTS) : rural intelligent transportation systems (ITS) : program plan

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1996-08-01

This Program Plan for the Advanced Rural Transportation Systems (ARTS) implements the goals and objectives established in the U.S. Department of Transportations (USDOTs) Strategic Plan for the ARTS. This Program Plan proposes five years (FY 97...

Low damage electrical modification of 4H-SiC via ultrafast laser irradiation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ahn, Minhyung; Cahyadi, Rico; Wendorf, Joseph; Bowen, Willie; Torralva, Ben; Yalisove, Steven; Phillips, Jamie

2018-04-01

The electrical properties of 4H-SiC under ultrafast laser irradiation in the low fluence regime (<0.50 J/cm2) are presented. The appearance of high spatial frequency laser induced periodic surface structures is observed at a fluence near 0.25 J/cm2 and above, with variability in environments like in air, nitrogen, and a vacuum. In addition to the formation of periodic surface structures, ultrafast laser irradiation results in possible surface oxidation and amorphization of the material. Lateral conductance exhibits orders of magnitude increase, which is attributed to either surface conduction or modification of electrical contact properties, depending on the initial material conductivity. Schottky barrier formation on ultrafast laser irradiated 4H-SiC shows an increase in the barrier height, an increase in the ideality factor, and sub-bandgap photovoltaic responses, suggesting the formation of photo-active point defects. The results suggest that the ultrafast laser irradiation technique provides a means of engineering spatially localized structural and electronic modification of wide bandgap materials such as 4H-SiC with relatively low surface damage via low temperature processing.

Ultrafast Three-Dimensional X-ray Imaging of Deformation Modes in ZnO Nanocrystals.

PubMed

Cherukara, Mathew J; Sasikumar, Kiran; Cha, Wonsuk; Narayanan, Badri; Leake, Steven J; Dufresne, Eric M; Peterka, Tom; McNulty, Ian; Wen, Haidan; Sankaranarayanan, Subramanian K R S; Harder, Ross J

2017-02-08

Imaging the dynamical response of materials following ultrafast excitation can reveal energy transduction mechanisms and their dissipation pathways, as well as material stability under conditions far from equilibrium. Such dynamical behavior is challenging to characterize, especially operando at nanoscopic spatiotemporal scales. In this letter, we use X-ray coherent diffractive imaging to show that ultrafast laser excitation of a ZnO nanocrystal induces a rich set of deformation dynamics including characteristic "hard" or inhomogeneous and "soft" or homogeneous modes at different time scales, corresponding respectively to the propagation of acoustic phonons and resonant oscillation of the crystal. By integrating the 3D nanocrystal structure obtained from the ultrafast X-ray measurements with a continuum thermo-electro-mechanical finite element model, we elucidate the deformation mechanisms following laser excitation, in particular, a torsional mode that generates a 50% greater electric potential gradient than that resulting from the flexural mode. Understanding of the time-dependence of these mechanisms on ultrafast scales has significant implications for development of new materials for nanoscale power generation.

Ultrafast Three-Dimensional X-ray Imaging of Deformation Modes in ZnO Nanocrystals

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Cherukara, Mathew J.; Sasikumar, Kiran; Cha, Wonsuk

Imaging the dynamical response of materials following ultrafast excitation can reveal energy transduction mechanisms and their dissipation pathways, as well as material stability under conditions far from equilibrium. Such dynamical behaviour is challenging to characterize, especially operando at nanoscopic spatiotemporal scales. In this letter, we use x-ray coherent diffractive imaging to show that ultrafast laser excitation of a ZnO nanocrystal induces a rich set of deformation dynamics including characteristic ‘hard’ or inhomogeneous and ‘soft’ or homogeneous modes at different time scales, corresponding respectively to the propagation of acoustic phonons and resonant oscillation of the crystal. By integrating the 3D nanocrystalmore » structure obtained from the ultrafast x-ray measurements with a continuum thermo-electro-mechanical finite element model, we elucidate the deformation mechanisms following laser excitation, in particular, a torsional mode that generates a 50% greater electric potential gradient than that resulting from the flexural mode. Furthermore, understanding of the time-dependence of these mechanisms on ultrafast scales has significant implications for development of new materials for nanoscale power generation.« less

Ultrafast Three-Dimensional X-ray Imaging of Deformation Modes in ZnO Nanocrystals

DOE PAGES

Cherukara, Mathew J.; Sasikumar, Kiran; Cha, Wonsuk; ...

2016-12-27

Imaging the dynamical response of materials following ultrafast excitation can reveal energy transduction mechanisms and their dissipation pathways, as well as material stability under conditions far from equilibrium. Such dynamical behaviour is challenging to characterize, especially operando at nanoscopic spatiotemporal scales. In this letter, we use x-ray coherent diffractive imaging to show that ultrafast laser excitation of a ZnO nanocrystal induces a rich set of deformation dynamics including characteristic ‘hard’ or inhomogeneous and ‘soft’ or homogeneous modes at different time scales, corresponding respectively to the propagation of acoustic phonons and resonant oscillation of the crystal. By integrating the 3D nanocrystalmore » structure obtained from the ultrafast x-ray measurements with a continuum thermo-electro-mechanical finite element model, we elucidate the deformation mechanisms following laser excitation, in particular, a torsional mode that generates a 50% greater electric potential gradient than that resulting from the flexural mode. Furthermore, understanding of the time-dependence of these mechanisms on ultrafast scales has significant implications for development of new materials for nanoscale power generation.« less

Terahertz Spectroscopy of Low-Dimensional Nanomaterials: Nonlinear Emission and Ultrafast Electrodynamics

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Luo, Liang; Wang, Jigang

Nonlinear and non-equilibrium properties of low-dimensional quantum materials are fundamental in nanoscale science yet transformative in nonlinear imaging/photonic technology today. These have been poorly addressed in many nano-materials despite of their well-established equilibrium optical and transport properties. The development of ultrafast terahertz (THz) sources and nonlinear spectroscopy tools facilitates understanding these issues and reveals a wide range of novel nonlinear and quantum phenomena that are not expected in bulk solids or atoms. In this paper, we discuss our recent discoveries in two model photonic and electronic nanostructures to solve two outstanding questions: (1) how to create nonlinear broadband terahertz emittersmore » using deeply subwavelength nanoscale meta-atom resonators? (2) How to access one-dimensional (1D) dark excitons and their non-equilibrium correlated states in single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWMTs)?« less

Terahertz Spectroscopy of Low-Dimensional Nanomaterials: Nonlinear Emission and Ultrafast Electrodynamics

DOE PAGES

Luo, Liang; Wang, Jigang

2016-01-01

Nonlinear and non-equilibrium properties of low-dimensional quantum materials are fundamental in nanoscale science yet transformative in nonlinear imaging/photonic technology today. These have been poorly addressed in many nano-materials despite of their well-established equilibrium optical and transport properties. The development of ultrafast terahertz (THz) sources and nonlinear spectroscopy tools facilitates understanding these issues and reveals a wide range of novel nonlinear and quantum phenomena that are not expected in bulk solids or atoms. In this paper, we discuss our recent discoveries in two model photonic and electronic nanostructures to solve two outstanding questions: (1) how to create nonlinear broadband terahertz emittersmore » using deeply subwavelength nanoscale meta-atom resonators? (2) How to access one-dimensional (1D) dark excitons and their non-equilibrium correlated states in single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWMTs)?« less

Noise Equalization for Ultrafast Plane Wave Microvessel Imaging.

PubMed

Song, Pengfei; Manduca, Armando; Trzasko, Joshua D; Chen, Shigao

2017-11-01

Ultrafast plane wave microvessel imaging significantly improves ultrasound Doppler sensitivity by increasing the number of Doppler ensembles that can be collected within a short period of time. The rich spatiotemporal plane wave data also enable more robust clutter filtering based on singular value decomposition. However, due to the lack of transmit focusing, plane wave microvessel imaging is very susceptible to noise. This paper was designed to: 1) study the relationship between ultrasound system noise (primarily time gain compensation induced) and microvessel blood flow signal and 2) propose an adaptive and computationally cost-effective noise equalization method that is independent of hardware or software imaging settings to improve microvessel image quality.

Transportation Systems Evaluation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Fanning, M. L.; Michelson, R. A.

1972-01-01

A methodology for the analysis of transportation systems consisting of five major interacting elements is reported. The analysis begins with the causes of travel demand: geographic, economic, and demographic characteristics as well as attitudes toward travel. Through the analysis, the interaction of these factors with the physical and economic characteristics of the transportation system is determined. The result is an evaluation of the system from the point of view of both passenger and operator. The methodology is applicable to the intraurban transit systems as well as major airlines. Applications of the technique to analysis of a PRT system and a study of intraurban air travel are given. In the discussion several unique models or techniques are mentioned: i.e., passenger preference modeling, an integrated intraurban transit model, and a series of models to perform airline analysis.

Nonlinear ultrafast optical response in organic molecular crystals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rahman, Talat S.; Turkowski, Volodymyr; Leuenberger, Michael N.

2012-02-01

We analyze possible nonlinear excitonic effects in the organic molecule crystals by using a combined time-dependent DFT and many-body approach. In particular, we analyze possible effects of the time-dependent (retarded)interaction between different types of excitations, Frenkel excitons, charge transfer excitons and excimers, on the electric and the optical response of the system. We pay special attention to the case of constant electric field and ultrafast pulses, including that of four-wave mixing experiments. As a specific application we examine the optical excitations of pentacene nanocrystals and compare the results with available experimental data.[1] Our results demostrate that the nonlinear effects can play an important role in the optical response of these systems. [1] A. Kabakchiev, ``Scanning Tunneling Luminescence of Pentacene Nanocrystals'', PhD Thesis (EPFL, Lausanne, 2010).

Negative effect of nanoconfinement on water transport across nanotube membranes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhao, Kuiwen; Wu, Huiying; Han, Baosan

2017-10-01

Nanoconfinement environments are commonly considered advantageous for ultrafast water flow across nanotube membranes. This study illustrates that nanoconfinement has a negative effect on water transport across nanotube membranes based on molecular dynamics simulations. Although water viscosity and the friction coefficient evidently decrease because of nanoconfinement, water molecular flux and flow velocity across carbon nanotubes decrease sharply with the pore size of nanotubes. The enhancement of water flow across nanotubes induced by the decreased friction coefficient and water viscosity is markedly less prominent than the negative effect induced by the increased flow barrier as the nanotube size decreases. The decrease in water flow velocity with the pore size of nanotubes indicates that nanoconfinement is not essential for the ultrafast flow phenomenon. In addition, the relationship between flow velocity and water viscosity at different temperatures is investigated at different temperatures. The results indicate that flow velocity is inversely proportional to viscosity for nanotubes with a pore diameter above 1 nm, thereby indicating that viscosity is still an effective parameter for describing the effect of temperature on the fluid transport at the nanoscale.

Simple and robust generation of ultrafast laser pulse trains using polarization-independent parallel-aligned thin films

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Andong; Jiang, Lan; Li, Xiaowei; Wang, Zhi; Du, Kun; Lu, Yongfeng

2018-05-01

Ultrafast laser pulse temporal shaping has been widely applied in various important applications such as laser materials processing, coherent control of chemical reactions, and ultrafast imaging. However, temporal pulse shaping has been limited to only-in-lab technique due to the high cost, low damage threshold, and polarization dependence. Herein we propose a novel design of ultrafast laser pulse train generation device, which consists of multiple polarization-independent parallel-aligned thin films. Various pulse trains with controllable temporal profile can be generated flexibly by multi-reflections within the splitting films. Compared with other pulse train generation techniques, this method has advantages of compact structure, low cost, high damage threshold and polarization independence. These advantages endow it with high potential for broad utilization in ultrafast applications.

Monitoring Ultrafast Chemical Dynamics by Time-Domain X-ray Photo- and Auger-Electron Spectroscopy.

PubMed

Gessner, Oliver; Gühr, Markus

2016-01-19

The directed flow of charge and energy is at the heart of all chemical processes. Extraordinary efforts are underway to monitor and understand the concerted motion of electrons and nuclei with ever increasing spatial and temporal sensitivity. The element specificity, chemical sensitivity, and temporal resolution of ultrafast X-ray spectroscopy techniques hold great promise to provide new insight into the fundamental interactions underlying chemical dynamics in systems ranging from isolated molecules to application-like devices. Here, we focus on the potential of ultrafast X-ray spectroscopy techniques based on the detection of photo- and Auger electrons to provide new fundamental insight into photochemical processes of systems with various degrees of complexity. Isolated nucleobases provide an excellent testing ground for our most fundamental understanding of intramolecular coupling between electrons and nuclei beyond the traditionally applied Born-Oppenheimer approximation. Ultrafast electronic relaxation dynamics enabled by the breakdown of this approximation is the major component of the nucleobase photoprotection mechanisms. Transient X-ray induced Auger electron spectroscopy on photoexcited thymine molecules provides atomic-site specific details of the extremely efficient coupling that converts potentially bond changing ultraviolet photon energy into benign heat. In particular, the time-dependent spectral shift of a specific Auger band is sensitive to the length of a single bond within the molecule. The X-ray induced Auger transients show evidence for an electronic transition out of the initially excited state within only ∼200 fs in contrast to theoretically predicted picosecond population trapping behind a reaction barrier. Photoinduced charge transfer dynamics between transition metal complexes and semiconductor nanostructures are of central importance for many emerging energy and climate relevant technologies. Numerous demonstrations of photovoltaic and

Single-electron pulses for ultrafast diffraction

PubMed Central

Aidelsburger, M.; Kirchner, F. O.; Krausz, F.; Baum, P.

2010-01-01

Visualization of atomic-scale structural motion by ultrafast electron diffraction and microscopy requires electron packets of shortest duration and highest coherence. We report on the generation and application of single-electron pulses for this purpose. Photoelectric emission from metal surfaces is studied with tunable ultraviolet pulses in the femtosecond regime. The bandwidth, efficiency, coherence, and electron pulse duration are investigated in dependence on excitation wavelength, intensity, and laser bandwidth. At photon energies close to the cathode’s work function, the electron pulse duration shortens significantly and approaches a threshold that is determined by interplay of the optical pulse width and the acceleration field. An optimized choice of laser wavelength and bandwidth results in sub-100-fs electron pulses. We demonstrate single-electron diffraction from polycrystalline diamond films and reveal the favorable influences of matched photon energies on the coherence volume of single-electron wave packets. We discuss the consequences of our findings for the physics of the photoelectric effect and for applications of single-electron pulses in ultrafast 4D imaging of structural dynamics. PMID:21041681

Vibronic coupling explains the ultrafast carotenoid-to-bacteriochlorophyll energy transfer in natural and artificial light harvesters

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Perlík, Václav; Seibt, Joachim; Cranston, Laura J.; Cogdell, Richard J.; Lincoln, Craig N.; Savolainen, Janne; Šanda, František; Mančal, Tomáš; Hauer, Jürgen

2015-06-01

The initial energy transfer steps in photosynthesis occur on ultrafast timescales. We analyze the carotenoid to bacteriochlorophyll energy transfer in LH2 Marichromatium purpuratum as well as in an artificial light-harvesting dyad system by using transient grating and two-dimensional electronic spectroscopy with 10 fs time resolution. We find that Förster-type models reproduce the experimentally observed 60 fs transfer times, but overestimate coupling constants, which lead to a disagreement with both linear absorption and electronic 2D-spectra. We show that a vibronic model, which treats carotenoid vibrations on both electronic ground and excited states as part of the system's Hamiltonian, reproduces all measured quantities. Importantly, the vibronic model presented here can explain the fast energy transfer rates with only moderate coupling constants, which are in agreement with structure based calculations. Counterintuitively, the vibrational levels on the carotenoid electronic ground state play the central role in the excited state population transfer to bacteriochlorophyll; resonance between the donor-acceptor energy gap and the vibrational ground state energies is the physical basis of the ultrafast energy transfer rates in these systems.

Study on ultra-fast single photon counting spectrometer based on PCI

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Xi-feng

2010-10-01

The time-correlated single photon counting spectrometer developed uses PCI bus technology. We developed the ultrafast data acquisition card based on PCI, replace multi-channel analyzer primary. The system theory and design of the spectrometer are presented in detail, and the process of operation is introduced with the integration of the system. Many standard samples have been measured and the data have been analyzed and contrasted. Experimental results show that the spectrometer, s sensitive is single photon counting, and fluorescence life-span and time resolution is picosecond level. And the instrument could measure time-resolved spectroscopy.

All optical quantum control of a spin-quantum state and ultrafast transduction into an electric current.

PubMed

Müller, K; Kaldewey, T; Ripszam, R; Wildmann, J S; Bechtold, A; Bichler, M; Koblmüller, G; Abstreiter, G; Finley, J J

2013-01-01

The ability to control and exploit quantum coherence and entanglement drives research across many fields ranging from ultra-cold quantum gases to spin systems in condensed matter. Transcending different physical systems, optical approaches have proven themselves to be particularly powerful, since they profit from the established toolbox of quantum optical techniques, are state-selective, contact-less and can be extremely fast. Here, we demonstrate how a precisely timed sequence of monochromatic ultrafast (~ 2-5 ps) optical pulses, with a well defined polarisation can be used to prepare arbitrary superpositions of exciton spin states in a semiconductor quantum dot, achieve ultrafast control of the spin-wavefunction without an applied magnetic field and make high fidelity read-out the quantum state in an arbitrary basis simply by detecting a strong (~ 2-10 pA) electric current flowing in an external circuit. The results obtained show that the combined quantum state preparation, control and read-out can be performed with a near-unity (≥97%) fidelity.

rf streak camera based ultrafast relativistic electron diffraction.

PubMed

Musumeci, P; Moody, J T; Scoby, C M; Gutierrez, M S; Tran, T

2009-01-01

We theoretically and experimentally investigate the possibility of using a rf streak camera to time resolve in a single shot structural changes at the sub-100 fs time scale via relativistic electron diffraction. We experimentally tested this novel concept at the UCLA Pegasus rf photoinjector. Time-resolved diffraction patterns from thin Al foil are recorded. Averaging over 50 shots is required in order to get statistics sufficient to uncover a variation in time of the diffraction patterns. In the absence of an external pump laser, this is explained as due to the energy chirp on the beam out of the electron gun. With further improvements to the electron source, rf streak camera based ultrafast electron diffraction has the potential to yield truly single shot measurements of ultrafast processes.

Four-dimensional ultrafast electron microscopy of phase transitions

PubMed Central

Grinolds, Michael S.; Lobastov, Vladimir A.; Weissenrieder, Jonas; Zewail, Ahmed H.

2006-01-01

Reported here is direct imaging (and diffraction) by using 4D ultrafast electron microscopy (UEM) with combined spatial and temporal resolutions. In the first phase of UEM, it was possible to obtain snapshot images by using timed, single-electron packets; each packet is free of space–charge effects. Here, we demonstrate the ability to obtain sequences of snapshots (“movies”) with atomic-scale spatial resolution and ultrashort temporal resolution. Specifically, it is shown that ultrafast metal–insulator phase transitions can be studied with these achieved spatial and temporal resolutions. The diffraction (atomic scale) and images (nanometer scale) we obtained manifest the structural phase transition with its characteristic hysteresis, and the time scale involved (100 fs) is now studied by directly monitoring coordinates of the atoms themselves. PMID:17130445

3D microstructuring inside glass by ultrafast laser

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sugioka, Koji; Hanada, Yasutaka; Midorikawa, Katsumi; Kawano, Hiroyuki; Ishikawa, Ikuko S.; Miyawaki, Atsushi

2012-01-01

We demonstrate three-dimensional (3D) microstructuring inside glass by ultrafast laser to fabricate microfluidic chips integrated with some functional microcomponents such as optical attenuators and optical waveguides. The fabricated microchips are applied to understand phenomena and functions of microorganisms and cyanobacteria. Ultrafast laser irradiation followed by thermal treatment and wet etching in dilute hydrofluoric acid solution resulted in fabrication of 3D microfludic structures embedded in a photosensitive glass. The embedded microfludic structures enabled us to easily and efficiently observe Phormidium gliding to the seedling root, which accelerates growth of the vegetable. In addition, integration of optical attenuators and optical waveguides into the microfluidic structures clarified the mechanism of the gliding movement of Phormidium. We termed such integrated microchips nanoaquariums, realizing the highly efficient and functional observation and analysis of various microorganisms.

Single-shot measurement of phase and amplitude by using a heterodyne time-lens system and ultrafast digital time-holography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tikan, Alexey; Bielawski, Serge; Szwaj, Christophe; Randoux, Stéphane; Suret, Pierre

2018-04-01

Temporal imaging systems are outstanding tools for single-shot observation of optical signals that have irregular and ultrafast dynamics. They allow long time windows to be recorded with femtosecond resolution, and do not rely on complex algorithms. However, simultaneous recording of amplitude and phase remains an open challenge for these systems. Here, we present a new heterodyne time-lens arrangement that efficiently records both the amplitude and phase of complex and random signals over large temporal windows (tens of picoseconds). Phase and time are encoded onto the two spatial dimensions of a camera. We implement this phase-sensitive time-lens system in two configurations: a time microscope and a digital temporal-holography device that enables single-shot measurement with a temporal resolution of 80 fs. We demonstrate direct application of our heterodyne time-lens to turbulent-like optical fields and optical rogue waves generated from nonlinear propagation of partially coherent waves inside optical fibres.

Ultrafast dynamics and decoherence of quasiparticles in surface bands: Development of the formalism

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gumhalter, Branko

2005-10-01

We describe a formalism suitable for studying the ultrafast dynamics and nonadiabatic effects associated with propagation of a single electron injected into an empty band. Within the band the electron is coupled to vibrational or electronic excitations that can be modeled by bosons. The formalism is based on the application of cumulant expansion to calculations of diagonal single particle propagators that are used in the interpretations of time resolved measurements of the surface electronic structure. Second and fourth order cumulants which arise from linear coupling to bosonic excitations and give leading contributions to the renormalization of propagators are explicitly calculated in the real time domain and their properties analyzed. This approach enables the assessment of transient effects and energy transfer associated with nonadiabatic response of the system to promotion of electrons into unoccupied bands, as well as of higher order corrections to the lifetimes and energy shifts of the initial electronic states that in the adiabatic regime are obtained from Fermi’s golden rule approach or its improvements such as the GW approximation. In the form presented the formalism is particularly suitable for studying the non-Markovian evolution and ultrafast decoherence of electronic states encountered in electron spectroscopies of quasi-two-dimensional bands on metal surfaces whose descriptions are inaccessible to the approaches based on the adiabatic hypothesis. The fast convergence of the results obtained by this procedure is demonstrated for a simple model system relevant to surface problems. On the basis of this and some general properties of cumulants it is argued that in the majority of surface problems involving electron-boson interactions the ultrafast dynamics of quasiparticles is accurately described by the second order cumulant, which can be calculated with the effort not exceeding those encountered in the standard GW approximation calculations.

Real-time visualization of soliton molecules with evolving behavior in an ultrafast fiber laser

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Meng; Li, Heng; Luo, Ai-Ping; Cui, Hu; Xu, Wen-Cheng; Luo, Zhi-Chao

2018-03-01

Ultrafast fiber lasers have been demonstrated to be great platforms for the investigation of soliton dynamics. The soliton molecules, as one of the most fascinating nonlinear phenomena, have been a hot topic in the field of nonlinear optics in recent years. Herein, we experimentally observed the real-time evolving behavior of soliton molecule in an ultrafast fiber laser by using the dispersive Fourier transformation technology. Several types of evolving soliton molecules were obtained in our experiments, such as soliton molecules with monotonically or chaotically evolving phase, flipping and hopping phase. These results would be helpful to the communities interested in soliton nonlinear dynamics as well as ultrafast laser technologies.

Survivability of intelligent transportation systems

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1999-10-01

Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) are being deployed around the world to improve the safety and efficiency of surface transportation through the application of advanced information technology. The introduction of ITS exposes the transportation...

Photon-assisted electron energy loss spectroscopy and ultrafast imaging.

PubMed

Howie, Archie

2009-08-01

A variety of ways is described in which photons can be used not only for ultrafast electron microscopy but also to enormously widen the energy range of spatially-resolved electron spectroscopy. Periodic chains of femtosecond laser pulses are a particularly important and accurately timed source for single-shot imaging and diffraction as well as for several forms of pump-probe microscopy at even higher spatial resolution and sub-picosecond timing. Many exciting new fields are opened up for study by these developments. Ultrafast, single shot diffraction with intense pulses of X-rays supplemented by phase retrieval techniques may eventually offer a challenging alternative and purely photon-based route to dynamic imaging at high spatial resolution.

Clean sub-8-fs pulses at 400 nm generated by a hollow fiber compressor for ultraviolet ultrafast pump-probe spectroscopy.

PubMed

Liu, Jun; Okamura, Kotaro; Kida, Yuichiro; Teramoto, Takahiro; Kobayashi, Takayoshi

2010-09-27

Clean 7.5 fs pulses at 400 nm with less than 3% energy in tiny satellite pulses were obtained by spectral broadening in a hollow fiber and dispersive compensating using a prism pair together with a deformable mirror system. As an example, this stable and clean pulse was used to study the ultrafast pump-probe spectroscopy of photoactive yellow protein. Moreover, the self-diffraction signal shows a smoothed and broadened laser spectrum and is expected to have a further clean laser pulse, which makes it more useful in the ultrafast pump-probe spectroscopy in the future.

A National MagLev Transportation System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wright, Michael R.

2003-01-01

The case for a national high-speed magnetic-levitation (MagLev) transportation system is presented. Focus is on current issues facing the country, such as national security, the economy, transportation, technology, and the environment. NASA s research into MagLev technology for launch assist is also highlighted. Further, current socio-cultural norms regarding motor-vehicle-based transportation systems are questioned in light of the problems currently facing the U.S. The multidisciplinary benefits of a long-distance MagLev system support the idea that such a system would be an important element of a truly multimodal U.S. transportation infrastructure.

Ultrafast creation of large Schrödinger cat states of an atom.

PubMed

Johnson, K G; Wong-Campos, J D; Neyenhuis, B; Mizrahi, J; Monroe, C

2017-09-26

Mesoscopic quantum superpositions, or Schrödinger cat states, are widely studied for fundamental investigations of quantum measurement and decoherence as well as applications in sensing and quantum information science. The generation and maintenance of such states relies upon a balance between efficient external coherent control of the system and sufficient isolation from the environment. Here we create a variety of cat states of a single trapped atom's motion in a harmonic oscillator using ultrafast laser pulses. These pulses produce high fidelity impulsive forces that separate the atom into widely separated positions, without restrictions that typically limit the speed of the interaction or the size and complexity of the resulting motional superposition. This allows us to quickly generate and measure cat states larger than previously achieved in a harmonic oscillator, and create complex multi-component superposition states in atoms.Generation of mesoscopic quantum superpositions requires both reliable coherent control and isolation from the environment. Here, the authors succeed in creating a variety of cat states of a single trapped atom, mapping spin superpositions into spatial superpositions using ultrafast laser pulses.

Characteristics of urban transportation systems. A handbook for transportation planners

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Not Available

1975-05-01

The objective of the handbook, specifically for use by transportation planners in the evaluation of alternative systems, is to provide a single simplified reference source which characterizes the most important performance characteristics of the following contemporary urban transportation systems: (1) rail (commuter, rapid, and light); (2) local bus and bus rapid transit; (3) automobile-highway system (automobiles and other vehicles); (4) pedestrian assistance systems; and (5) activity center systems--people mover systems that have been installed at airports, zoos, amusement parks, etc. The handbook assesses the supply or performance aspect of urban transportation dealing with passenger demand implicitly. Seven supply parameters studiedmore » are: speed, capacity (service volume), operating cost (vehicle), energy consumption (vehicle or source), pollution, capital cost, and accident frequency.« less

Tracking Hole Transport in DNA Hairpins Using a Phenylethynylguanine Nucleobase.

PubMed

Brown, Kristen E; Singh, Arunoday P N; Wu, Yi-Lin; Mishra, Ashutosh Kumar; Zhou, Jiawang; Lewis, Frederick D; Young, Ryan M; Wasielewski, Michael R

2017-08-30

The hole transport dynamics of DNA hairpins possessing a stilbene electron acceptor and donor along with a modified guanine (G) nucleobase, specifically 8-(4'-phenylethynyl)deoxyguanosine, or EG, have been investigated. The nearly indistinguishable oxidation potentials of EG and G and unique spectroscopic characteristics of EG +• make it well-suited for directly observing transient hole occupation during charge transport between a stilbene electron donor and acceptor. In contrast to the cation radical G +• , EG +• possesses a strong absorption near 460 nm and has a distinct Raman-active ethynyl stretch. Both spectroscopic characteristics are easily distinguished from those of the stilbene donor/acceptor radical ion chromophores. Employing EG, we observe its role as a shallow hole trap, or as an intermediate hole transport site when a deeper trap state is present. Using a combination of ultrafast absorption and stimulated Raman spectroscopies, the hole-transport dynamics are observed to be similar in systems having EG vs G bases, with small perturbations to the charge transport rates and yields. These results show EG can be deployed at specified locations throughout the sequence to report on hole occupancy, thereby enabling detailed monitoring of the hole transport dynamics with base-site specificity.

The Ultrafast Wolff Rearrangement in the Gas Phase

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Steinbacher, Andreas; Roeding, Sebastian; Brixner, Tobias; Nuernberger, Patrick

The Wolff rearrangement of gas-phase 5-diazo Meldrum's acid is disclosed with femtosecond ion spectroscopy. Distinct differences are found for 267 nm and 200 nm excitation, the latter leading to even two ultrafast rearrangement reactions.

Ultrafast X-Ray Spectroscopy of Conical Intersections

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Neville, Simon P.; Chergui, Majed; Stolow, Albert; Schuurman, Michael S.

2018-06-01

Ongoing developments in ultrafast x-ray sources offer powerful new means of probing the complex nonadiabatically coupled structural and electronic dynamics of photoexcited molecules. These non-Born-Oppenheimer effects are governed by general electronic degeneracies termed conical intersections, which play a key role, analogous to that of a transition state, in the electronic-nuclear dynamics of excited molecules. Using high-level ab initio quantum dynamics simulations, we studied time-resolved x-ray absorption (TRXAS) and photoelectron spectroscopy (TRXPS) of the prototypical unsaturated organic chromophore, ethylene, following excitation to its S2(π π*) state. The TRXAS, in particular, is highly sensitive to all aspects of the ensuing dynamics. These x-ray spectroscopies provide a clear signature of the wave packet dynamics near conical intersections, related to charge localization effects driven by the nuclear dynamics. Given the ubiquity of charge localization in excited state dynamics, we believe that ultrafast x-ray spectroscopies offer a unique and powerful route to the direct observation of dynamics around conical intersections.

Resolving ultrafast exciton migration in organic solids at the nanoscale

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Penwell, Samuel B.; Ginsberg, Lucas D. S.; Noriega, Rodrigo; Ginsberg, Naomi S.

2017-11-01

Effectiveness of molecular-based light harvesting relies on transport of excitons to charge-transfer sites. Measuring exciton migration, however, has been challenging because of the mismatch between nanoscale migration lengths and the diffraction limit. Instead of using bulk substrate quenching methods, here we define quenching boundaries all-optically with sub-diffraction resolution, thus characterizing spatiotemporal exciton migration on its native nanometre and picosecond scales. By transforming stimulated emission depletion microscopy into a time-resolved ultrafast approach, we measure a 16-nm migration length in poly(2,5-di(hexyloxy)cyanoterephthalylidene) conjugated polymer films. Combined with Monte Carlo exciton hopping simulations, we show that migration in these films is essentially diffusive because intrinsic chromophore energetic disorder is comparable to chromophore inhomogeneous broadening. Our approach will enable previously unattainable correlation of local material structure to exciton migration character, applicable not only to photovoltaic or display-destined organic semiconductors but also to explaining the quintessential exciton migration exhibited in photosynthesis.

Resolving ultrafast exciton migration in organic solids at the nanoscale.

PubMed

Penwell, Samuel B; Ginsberg, Lucas D S; Noriega, Rodrigo; Ginsberg, Naomi S

2017-11-01

Effectiveness of molecular-based light harvesting relies on transport of excitons to charge-transfer sites. Measuring exciton migration, however, has been challenging because of the mismatch between nanoscale migration lengths and the diffraction limit. Instead of using bulk substrate quenching methods, here we define quenching boundaries all-optically with sub-diffraction resolution, thus characterizing spatiotemporal exciton migration on its native nanometre and picosecond scales. By transforming stimulated emission depletion microscopy into a time-resolved ultrafast approach, we measure a 16-nm migration length in poly(2,5-di(hexyloxy)cyanoterephthalylidene) conjugated polymer films. Combined with Monte Carlo exciton hopping simulations, we show that migration in these films is essentially diffusive because intrinsic chromophore energetic disorder is comparable to chromophore inhomogeneous broadening. Our approach will enable previously unattainable correlation of local material structure to exciton migration character, applicable not only to photovoltaic or display-destined organic semiconductors but also to explaining the quintessential exciton migration exhibited in photosynthesis.

Localized, gradient-reversed ultrafast z-spectroscopy in vivo at 7T.

PubMed

Wilson, Neil E; D'Aquilla, Kevin; Debrosse, Catherine; Hariharan, Hari; Reddy, Ravinder

2016-10-01

To collect ultrafast z-spectra in vivo in situations where voxel homogeneity cannot be assured. Saturating in the presence of a gradient encodes the frequency offset spatially across a voxel. This encoding can be resolved by applying a similar gradient during readout. Acquiring additional scans with the gradient polarity reversed effectively mirrors the spatial locations of the frequency offsets so that the same physical location of a positive offset in the original scan will contribute a negative offset in the gradient-reversed scan. Gradient-reversed ultrafast z-spectroscopy (GRUFZS) was implemented and tested in a modified, localized PRESS sequence at 7T. Lysine phantoms were scanned at various concentrations and compared with coventionally-acquired z-spectra. Scans were acquired in vivo in human brain from homogeneous and inhomogeneous voxels with the ultrafast direction cycled between read, phase, and slice. Results were compared to those from a similar conventional z-spectroscopy PRESS-based sequence. Asymmetry spectra from GRUFZS are more consistent and reliable than those without gradient reversal and are comparable to those from conventional z-spectroscopy. GRUFZS offers significant acceleration in data acquisition compared to traditional chemical exchange saturation transfer methods with high spectral resolution and showed higher relative SNR effficiency. GRUFZS offers a method of collecting ultrafast z-spectra in voxels with the inhomogeneity often found in vivo. Magn Reson Med 76:1039-1046, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Ultrafast Brain MRI: Clinical Deployment and Comparison to Conventional Brain MRI at 3T.

PubMed

Prakkamakul, Supada; Witzel, Thomas; Huang, Susie; Boulter, Daniel; Borja, Maria J; Schaefer, Pamela; Rosen, Bruce; Heberlein, Keith; Ratai, Eva; Gonzalez, Gilberto; Rapalino, Otto

2016-09-01

To compare an ultrafast brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) protocol to the conventional protocol in motion-prone inpatient clinical settings. This retrospective study was HIPAA compliant and approved by the Institutional Review Board with waived inform consent. Fifty-nine inpatients (30 males, 29 females; mean age 55.1, range 23-93 years)who underwent 3-Tesla brain MRI using ultrafast and conventional protocols, both including five sequences, were included in the study. The total scan time for five ultrafast sequences was 4 minutes 59 seconds. The ideal conventional acquisition time was 10 minutes 32 seconds but the actual acquisition took 15-20 minutes. The average scan times for ultrafast localizers, T1-weighted, T2-weighted, fluid-attenuated inversion recovery (FLAIR), diffusion-weighted, T2*-weighted sequences were 14, 41, 62, 96, 80, 6 seconds, respectively. Two blinded neuroradiologists independently assessed three aspects: (1) image quality, (2) gray-white matter (GM-WM) differentiation, and (3) diagnostic concordance for the detection of six clinically relevant imaging findings. Wilcoxon signed-rank test was used to compare image quality and GM-WM scores. Interobserver reproducibility was calculated. The ultrafast T1-weighted sequence demonstrated significantly better image quality (P = .005) and GM-WM differentiation (P < .001) compared to the conventional sequence. There was high agreement (>85%) between both protocols for the detection of mass-like lesion, hemorrhage, diffusion restriction, WM FLAIR hyperintensities, subarachnoid FLAIR hyperintensities, and hydrocephalus. The ultrafast protocol achieved at least comparable image quality and high diagnostic concordance compared to the conventional protocol. This fast protocol can be a viable option to replace the conventional protocol in motion-prone inpatient clinical settings. Copyright © 2016 by the American Society of Neuroimaging.

Transportation infrastructure : states' implementation of transportation management systems

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1997-01-13

This report focuses on the U.S. General Accounting Office's ISTEA update of the states' implementation of pavement management systems, bridges, highway safety, congestion management systems, public transportation, and intermodal management systems. A...

Fusion of Ultraviolet-Visible and Infrared Transient Absorption Spectroscopy Data to Model Ultrafast Photoisomerization.

PubMed

Debus, Bruno; Orio, Maylis; Rehault, Julien; Burdzinski, Gotard; Ruckebusch, Cyril; Sliwa, Michel

2017-08-03

Ultrafast photoisomerization reactions generally start at a higher excited state with excess of internal vibrational energy and occur via conical intersections. This leads to ultrafast dynamics which are difficult to investigate with a single transient absorption spectroscopy technique, be it in the ultraviolet-visible (UV-vis) or infrared (IR) domain. On one hand, the information available in the UV-vis domain is limited as only slight spectral changes are observed for different isomers. On the other hand, the interpretation of vibrational spectra is strongly hindered by intramolecular relaxation and vibrational cooling. These limitations can be circumvented by fusing UV-vis and IR transient absorption spectroscopy data in a multiset multivariate curve resolution analysis. We apply this approach to describe the spectrodynamics of the ultrafast cis-trans photoisomerization around the C-N double bond observed for aromatic Schiff bases. Twisted intermediate states could be elucidated, and isomerization was shown to occur through a continuous complete rotation. More broadly, data fusion can be used to rationalize a vast range of ultrafast photoisomerization processes of interest in photochemistry.

High speed fluorescence imaging with compressed ultrafast photography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Thompson, J. V.; Mason, J. D.; Beier, H. T.; Bixler, J. N.

2017-02-01

Fluorescent lifetime imaging is an optical technique that facilitates imaging molecular interactions and cellular functions. Because the excited lifetime of a fluorophore is sensitive to its local microenvironment,1, 2 measurement of fluorescent lifetimes can be used to accurately detect regional changes in temperature, pH, and ion concentration. However, typical state of the art fluorescent lifetime methods are severely limited when it comes to acquisition time (on the order of seconds to minutes) and video rate imaging. Here we show that compressed ultrafast photography (CUP) can be used in conjunction with fluorescent lifetime imaging to overcome these acquisition rate limitations. Frame rates up to one hundred billion frames per second have been demonstrated with compressed ultrafast photography using a streak camera.3 These rates are achieved by encoding time in the spatial direction with a pseudo-random binary pattern. The time domain information is then reconstructed using a compressed sensing algorithm, resulting in a cube of data (x,y,t) for each readout image. Thus, application of compressed ultrafast photography will allow us to acquire an entire fluorescent lifetime image with a single laser pulse. Using a streak camera with a high-speed CMOS camera, acquisition rates of 100 frames per second can be achieved, which will significantly enhance our ability to quantitatively measure complex biological events with high spatial and temporal resolution. In particular, we will demonstrate the ability of this technique to do single-shot fluorescent lifetime imaging of cells and microspheres.

Ultrafast terahertz electrodynamics of photonic and electronic nanostructures

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Luo, Liang

This thesis summarizes my work on using ultrafast laser pulses to study Terahertz (THz) electrodynamics of photonic and electronic nanostructures and microstructures. Ultrafast timeresolved (optical, NIR, MIR, THz) pump-probe spectroscopy setup has been successfully built, which enables me to perform a series of relevant experiments. Firstly, a novel high e ciency and compact THz wave emitter based on split-ring-resonators has been developed and characterized. The emitter can be pumped at any wavelength by tailoring the magnetic resonance and could generate gapless THz waves covering the entire THz band. Secondly, two kinds of new photonic structures for THz wave manipulation havemore » been successfully designed and characterized. One is based on the 1D and 2D photo-imprinted di ractive elements. The other is based on the photoexcited double-split-ring-resonator metamaterials. Both structures are exible and can modulate THz waves with large tunability. Thirdly, the dark excitons in semiconducting singlewalled carbon nanotubes are studied by optical pump and THz probe spectroscopy, which provides the rst insights into the THz responses of nonequilibrium excitonic correlations and dynamics from the dark ground states in carbon nanotubes. Next, several on-going projects are brie y presented such as the study of ultrafast THz dynamics of Dirac fermions in topological insulator Bi 2Se 3 with Mid-infrared excitation. Finally, the thesis ends with a summary of the completed experiments and an outlook of the future plan.« less

Light-induced pyroelectric effect as an effective approach for ultrafast ultraviolet nanosensing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Zhaona; Yu, Ruomeng; Pan, Caofeng; Li, Zhaoling; Yang, Jin; Yi, Fang; Wang, Zhong Lin

2015-09-01

Zinc oxide is potentially a useful material for ultraviolet detectors; however, a relatively long response time hinders practical implementation. Here by designing and fabricating a self-powered ZnO/perovskite-heterostructured ultraviolet photodetector, the pyroelectric effect, induced in wurtzite ZnO nanowires on ultraviolet illumination, has been utilized as an effective approach for high-performance photon sensing. The response time is improved from 5.4 s to 53 μs at the rising edge, and 8.9 s to 63 μs at the falling edge, with an enhancement of five orders in magnitudes. The specific detectivity and the responsivity are both enhanced by 322%. This work provides a novel design to achieve ultrafast ultraviolet sensing at room temperature via light-self-induced pyroelectric effect. The newly designed ultrafast self-powered ultraviolet nanosensors may find promising applications in ultrafast optics, nonlinear optics, optothermal detections, computational memories and biocompatible optoelectronic probes.

Spatially resolved ultrafast magnetic dynamics initiated at a complex oxide heterointerface

DOE PAGES

Forst, M.; Wilkins, S. B.; Caviglia, A. D.; ...

2015-07-06

Static strain in complex oxide heterostructures 1,2 has been extensively used to engineer electronic and magnetic properties at equilibrium 3. In the same spirit, deformations of the crystal lattice with light may be used to achieve functional control across heterointerfaces dynamically 4. Here, by exciting large-amplitude infrared-active vibrations in a LaAlO 3 substrate we induce magnetic order melting in a NdNiO 3 film across a heterointerface. Femtosecond resonant soft X-ray diffraction is used to determine the spatiotemporal evolution of the magnetic disordering. We observe a magnetic melt front that propagates from the substrate interface into the film, at a speedmore » that suggests electronically driven motion. Lastly, light control and ultrafast phase front propagation at heterointerfaces may lead to new opportunities in optomagnetism, for example by driving domain wall motion to transport information across suitably designed devices.« less

Four-Dimensional Ultrafast Electron Microscopy: Insights into an Emerging Technique.

PubMed

Adhikari, Aniruddha; Eliason, Jeffrey K; Sun, Jingya; Bose, Riya; Flannigan, David J; Mohammed, Omar F

2017-01-11

Four-dimensional ultrafast electron microscopy (4D-UEM) is a novel analytical technique that aims to fulfill the long-held dream of researchers to investigate materials at extremely short spatial and temporal resolutions by integrating the excellent spatial resolution of electron microscopes with the temporal resolution of ultrafast femtosecond laser-based spectroscopy. The ingenious use of pulsed photoelectrons to probe surfaces and volumes of materials enables time-resolved snapshots of the dynamics to be captured in a way hitherto impossible by other conventional techniques. The flexibility of 4D-UEM lies in the fact that it can be used in both the scanning (S-UEM) and transmission (UEM) modes depending upon the type of electron microscope involved. While UEM can be employed to monitor elementary structural changes and phase transitions in samples using real-space mapping, diffraction, electron energy-loss spectroscopy, and tomography, S-UEM is well suited to map ultrafast dynamical events on materials surfaces in space and time. This review provides an overview of the unique features that distinguish these techniques and also illustrates the applications of both S-UEM and UEM to a multitude of problems relevant to materials science and chemistry.

Ultrafast Surface-Enhanced Raman Probing of the Role of Hot Electrons in Plasmon-Driven Chemistry.

PubMed

Brandt, Nathaniel C; Keller, Emily L; Frontiera, Renee R

2016-08-18

Hot electrons generated through plasmonic excitations in metal nanostructures show great promise for efficiently driving chemical reactions with light. However, the lifetime, yield, and mechanism of action of plasmon-generated hot electrons involved in a given photocatalytic process are not well understood. Here, we develop ultrafast surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) as a direct probe of plasmon-molecule interactions in the plasmon-catalyzed dimerization of 4-nitrobenzenethiol to p,p'-dimercaptoazobenzene. Ultrafast SERS probing of these molecular reporters in plasmonic hot spots reveals transient Fano resonances, which we attribute to near-field coupling of Stokes-shifted photons to hot electron-driven metal photoluminescence. Surprisingly, we find that hot spots that yield more photoluminescence are much more likely to drive the reaction, which indirectly proves that plasmon-generated hot electrons induce the photochemistry. These ultrafast SERS results provide insight into the relative reactivity of different plasmonic hot spot environments and quantify the ultrafast lifetime of hot electrons involved in plasmon-driven chemistry.

Double-Wall Carbon Nanotubes for Wide-Band, Ultrafast Pulse Generation

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

We demonstrate wide-band ultrafast optical pulse generation at 1, 1.5, and 2 μm using a single-polymer composite saturable absorber based on double-wall carbon nanotubes (DWNTs). The freestanding optical quality polymer composite is prepared from nanotubes dispersed in water with poly(vinyl alcohol) as the host matrix. The composite is then integrated into ytterbium-, erbium-, and thulium-doped fiber laser cavities. Using this single DWNT–polymer composite, we achieve 4.85 ps, 532 fs, and 1.6 ps mode-locked pulses at 1066, 1559, and 1883 nm, respectively, highlighting the potential of DWNTs for wide-band ultrafast photonics. PMID:24735347

Ultrafast All-Optical Switching of Germanium-Based Flexible Metaphotonic Devices.

PubMed

Lim, Wen Xiang; Manjappa, Manukumara; Srivastava, Yogesh Kumar; Cong, Longqing; Kumar, Abhishek; MacDonald, Kevin F; Singh, Ranjan

2018-03-01

Incorporating semiconductors as active media into metamaterials offers opportunities for a wide range of dynamically switchable/tunable, technologically relevant optical functionalities enabled by strong, resonant light-matter interactions within the semiconductor. Here, a germanium-thin-film-based flexible metaphotonic device for ultrafast optical switching of terahertz radiation is experimentally demonstrated. A resonant transmission modulation depth of 90% is achieved, with an ultrafast full recovery time of 17 ps. An observed sub-picosecond decay constant of 670 fs is attributed to the presence of trap-assisted recombination sites in the thermally evaporated germanium film. © 2018 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Network Modeling for Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) Signals during Ultra-Fast Speech Comprehension in Late-Blind Listeners

PubMed Central

Dietrich, Susanne; Hertrich, Ingo; Ackermann, Hermann

2015-01-01

In many functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies blind humans were found to show cross-modal reorganization engaging the visual system in non-visual tasks. For example, blind people can manage to understand (synthetic) spoken language at very high speaking rates up to ca. 20 syllables/s (syl/s). FMRI data showed that hemodynamic activation within right-hemispheric primary visual cortex (V1), bilateral pulvinar (Pv), and left-hemispheric supplementary motor area (pre-SMA) covaried with their capability of ultra-fast speech (16 syllables/s) comprehension. It has been suggested that right V1 plays an important role with respect to the perception of ultra-fast speech features, particularly the detection of syllable onsets. Furthermore, left pre-SMA seems to be an interface between these syllabic representations and the frontal speech processing and working memory network. So far, little is known about the networks linking V1 to Pv, auditory cortex (A1), and (mesio-) frontal areas. Dynamic causal modeling (DCM) was applied to investigate (i) the input structure from A1 and Pv toward right V1 and (ii) output from right V1 and A1 to left pre-SMA. As concerns the input Pv was significantly connected to V1, in addition to A1, in blind participants, but not in sighted controls. Regarding the output V1 was significantly connected to pre-SMA in blind individuals, and the strength of V1-SMA connectivity correlated with the performance of ultra-fast speech comprehension. By contrast, in sighted controls, not understanding ultra-fast speech, pre-SMA did neither receive input from A1 nor V1. Taken together, right V1 might facilitate the “parsing” of the ultra-fast speech stream in blind subjects by receiving subcortical auditory input via the Pv (= secondary visual pathway) and transmitting this information toward contralateral pre-SMA. PMID:26148062

Network Modeling for Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) Signals during Ultra-Fast Speech Comprehension in Late-Blind Listeners.

PubMed

Dietrich, Susanne; Hertrich, Ingo; Ackermann, Hermann

2015-01-01

In many functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies blind humans were found to show cross-modal reorganization engaging the visual system in non-visual tasks. For example, blind people can manage to understand (synthetic) spoken language at very high speaking rates up to ca. 20 syllables/s (syl/s). FMRI data showed that hemodynamic activation within right-hemispheric primary visual cortex (V1), bilateral pulvinar (Pv), and left-hemispheric supplementary motor area (pre-SMA) covaried with their capability of ultra-fast speech (16 syllables/s) comprehension. It has been suggested that right V1 plays an important role with respect to the perception of ultra-fast speech features, particularly the detection of syllable onsets. Furthermore, left pre-SMA seems to be an interface between these syllabic representations and the frontal speech processing and working memory network. So far, little is known about the networks linking V1 to Pv, auditory cortex (A1), and (mesio-) frontal areas. Dynamic causal modeling (DCM) was applied to investigate (i) the input structure from A1 and Pv toward right V1 and (ii) output from right V1 and A1 to left pre-SMA. As concerns the input Pv was significantly connected to V1, in addition to A1, in blind participants, but not in sighted controls. Regarding the output V1 was significantly connected to pre-SMA in blind individuals, and the strength of V1-SMA connectivity correlated with the performance of ultra-fast speech comprehension. By contrast, in sighted controls, not understanding ultra-fast speech, pre-SMA did neither receive input from A1 nor V1. Taken together, right V1 might facilitate the "parsing" of the ultra-fast speech stream in blind subjects by receiving subcortical auditory input via the Pv (= secondary visual pathway) and transmitting this information toward contralateral pre-SMA.

Determination of hot carrier energy distributions from inversion of ultrafast pump-probe reflectivity measurements.

PubMed

Heilpern, Tal; Manjare, Manoj; Govorov, Alexander O; Wiederrecht, Gary P; Gray, Stephen K; Harutyunyan, Hayk

2018-05-10

Developing a fundamental understanding of ultrafast non-thermal processes in metallic nanosystems will lead to applications in photodetection, photochemistry and photonic circuitry. Typically, non-thermal and thermal carrier populations in plasmonic systems are inferred either by making assumptions about the functional form of the initial energy distribution or using indirect sensors like localized plasmon frequency shifts. Here we directly determine non-thermal and thermal distributions and dynamics in thin films by applying a double inversion procedure to optical pump-probe data that relates the reflectivity changes around Fermi energy to the changes in the dielectric function and in the single-electron energy band occupancies. When applied to normal incidence measurements our method uncovers the ultrafast excitation of a non-Fermi-Dirac distribution and its subsequent thermalization dynamics. Furthermore, when applied to the Kretschmann configuration, we show that the excitation of propagating plasmons leads to a broader energy distribution of electrons due to the enhanced Landau damping.

Bicycle Transportation and Pedestrian Walkways System

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1996-10-28

The idea for this Trans-Atlantic workshop on system architecture for Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) was born at the Second World Congress on Intelligent Transport Systems, November 1995. In my discussions with those closely involved with the USA...

49 CFR 37.25 - University transportation systems.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... 49 Transportation 1 2013-10-01 2013-10-01 false University transportation systems. 37.25 Section... INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES (ADA) Applicability § 37.25 University transportation systems. (a) Transportation services operated by private institutions of higher education are subject to the provisions of...

49 CFR 37.25 - University transportation systems.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... 49 Transportation 1 2011-10-01 2011-10-01 false University transportation systems. 37.25 Section... INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES (ADA) Applicability § 37.25 University transportation systems. (a) Transportation services operated by private institutions of higher education are subject to the provisions of...

49 CFR 37.25 - University transportation systems.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... 49 Transportation 1 2014-10-01 2014-10-01 false University transportation systems. 37.25 Section... INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES (ADA) Applicability § 37.25 University transportation systems. (a) Transportation services operated by private institutions of higher education are subject to the provisions of...

49 CFR 37.25 - University transportation systems.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... 49 Transportation 1 2012-10-01 2012-10-01 false University transportation systems. 37.25 Section... INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES (ADA) Applicability § 37.25 University transportation systems. (a) Transportation services operated by private institutions of higher education are subject to the provisions of...

49 CFR 37.25 - University transportation systems.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... 49 Transportation 1 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false University transportation systems. 37.25 Section... INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES (ADA) Applicability § 37.25 University transportation systems. (a) Transportation services operated by private institutions of higher education are subject to the provisions of...

Plasma Heating and Ultrafast Semiconductor Laser Modulation Through a Terahertz Heating Field

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Li, Jian-Zhong; Ning, C. Z.

2000-01-01

Electron-hole plasma heating and ultrafast modulation in a semiconductor laser under a terahertz electrical field are investigated using a set of hydrodynamic equations derived from the semiconductor Bloch equations. The self-consistent treatment of lasing and heating processes leads to the prediction of a strong saturation and degradation of modulation depth even at moderate terahertz field intensity. This saturation places a severe limit to bandwidth achievable with such scheme in ultrafast modulation. Strategies for increasing modulation depth are discussed.

49 CFR 37.33 - Airport transportation systems.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... systems operated by public airport operators, which provide designated public transportation and connect.... Public airports which operate fixed route transportation systems are subject to the requirements of this... part. (b) Fixed-route transportation systems operated by public airport operators between the airport...

Metastable phase formation in the Au-Si system via ultrafast nanocalorimetry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, M.; Wen, J. G.; Efremov, M. Y.; Olson, E. A.; Zhang, Z. S.; Hu, L.; de la Rama, L. P.; Kummamuru, R.; Kavanagh, K. L.; Ma, Z.; Allen, L. H.

2012-05-01

We have investigated the stability and solidification of nanometer size Au-Si droplets using an ultrafast heating/cooling nanocalorimetry and in situ growth techniques. The liquid can be supercooled to very low temperatures for both Au-rich (ΔT ˜ 95 K) and Si-rich (ΔT ˜ 220 K) samples. Solidification of a unique metastable phase δ1 is observed with a composition of 74 ± 4 at. % Au and a b-centered orthorhombic structure (a = 0.92, b = 0.72, and c = 1.35 nm; body-center in the a-c plane), which grows heteroepitaxially to Aus. Its melting temperature Tm is 305 ± 5 °C. There is competition during formation between the eutectic and δ1 phases but δ1 is the only metastable alloy observed. For small size droplets, both the δ1 and eutectic phases show considerable depression of the melting point (size-dependent melting).

Ultrafast studies of organometallic photochemistry: The mechanism of carbon-hydrogen bond activation in solution

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bromberg, S.E.

1998-05-01

When certain organometallic compounds are photoexcited in room temperature alkane solution, they are able to break or activate the C-H bonds of the solvent. Understanding this potentially practical reaction requires a detailed knowledge of the entire reaction mechanism. Because of the dynamic nature of chemical reactions, time-resolved spectroscopy is commonly employed to follow the important events that take place as reactants are converted to products. For the organometallic reactions examined here, the electronic/structural characteristics of the chemical systems along with the time scales for the key steps in the reaction make ultrafast UV/Vis and IR spectroscopy along with nanosecond Step-Scanmore » FTIR spectroscopy the ideal techniques to use for this study. An initial study of the photophysics of (non-activating) model metal carbonyls centering on the photodissociation of M(CO){sub 6} (M = Cr, W, Mo) was carried out in alkane solutions using ultrafast IR spectroscopy. Next, picosecond UV/vis studies of the C-H bond activation reaction of Cp{sup *}M(CO){sub 2} (M = Rh, Ir), conducted in room temperature alkane solution, are described in an effort to investigate the origin of the low quantum yield for bond cleavage ({approximately}1%). To monitor the chemistry that takes place in the reaction after CO is lost, a system with higher quantum yield is required. The reaction of Tp{sup *}Rh(CO){sub 2} (Tp{sup *} = HB-Pz{sub 3}{sup *}, Pz{sup *} = 3,5-dimethylpyrazolyl) in alkanes has a quantum yield of {approximately}30%, making time resolved spectroscopic measurements possible. From ultrafast IR experiments, two subsequently formed intermediates were observed. The nature of these intermediates are discussed and the first comprehensive reaction mechanism for a photochemical C-H activating organometallic complex is presented.« less

Ultrafast laser control of backward superfluorescence towards standoff sensing

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Ariunbold, Gombojav O.; National University of Mongolia, Ulaanbaatar 210646; Baylor University, Waco, Texas 76798

2014-01-13

We study infrared backward cooperative emission in a rubidium vapor induced by ultrafast two-photon optical excitations. The laser coherent control of the backward emission is demonstrated by using a pair of 100 fs pulses with a variable time delay. The temporal variation (quantum beat) of the backward beam intensity due to interference of atomic transitions in the rubidium atomic level system 5S-5P-5D is produced and controlled. Based on the obtained experimental results, we discuss possible applications of the developed approach for creation of an effective “guide star” in the sodium atomic layer in the upper atmosphere (mesosphere)

4D microvascular imaging based on ultrafast Doppler tomography.

PubMed

Demené, Charlie; Tiran, Elodie; Sieu, Lim-Anna; Bergel, Antoine; Gennisson, Jean Luc; Pernot, Mathieu; Deffieux, Thomas; Cohen, Ivan; Tanter, Mickael

2016-02-15

4D ultrasound microvascular imaging was demonstrated by applying ultrafast Doppler tomography (UFD-T) to the imaging of brain hemodynamics in rodents. In vivo real-time imaging of the rat brain was performed using ultrasonic plane wave transmissions at very high frame rates (18,000 frames per second). Such ultrafast frame rates allow for highly sensitive and wide-field-of-view 2D Doppler imaging of blood vessels far beyond conventional ultrasonography. Voxel anisotropy (100 μm × 100 μm × 500 μm) was corrected for by using a tomographic approach, which consisted of ultrafast acquisitions repeated for different imaging plane orientations over multiple cardiac cycles. UFT-D allows for 4D dynamic microvascular imaging of deep-seated vasculature (up to 20 mm) with a very high 4D resolution (respectively 100 μm × 100 μm × 100 μm and 10 ms) and high sensitivity to flow in small vessels (>1 mm/s) for a whole-brain imaging technique without requiring any contrast agent. 4D ultrasound microvascular imaging in vivo could become a valuable tool for the study of brain hemodynamics, such as cerebral flow autoregulation or vascular remodeling after ischemic stroke recovery, and, more generally, tumor vasculature response to therapeutic treatment. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Ultrafast carrier dynamics in GaN/InGaN multiple quantum wells nanorods

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Weijian; Wen, Xiaoming; Latzel, Michael; Yang, Jianfeng; Huang, Shujuan; Shrestha, Santosh; Patterson, Robert; Christiansen, Silke; Conibeer, Gavin

2018-01-01

GaN/InGaN multiple quantum wells (MQW) is a promising material for high-efficiency solid-state lighting. Ultrafast optical pump-probe spectroscopy is an important characterization technique for examining fundamental phenomena in semiconductor nanostructure with sub-picosecond resolution. In this study, ultrafast exciton and charge carrier dynamics in GaN/InGaN MQW planar layer and nanorod are investigated using femtosecond transient absorption (TA) techniques at room temperature. Here nanorods are fabricated by etching the GaN/InGaN MQW planar layers using nanosphere lithography and reactive ion etching. Photoluminescence efficiency of the nanorods have been proved to be much higher than that of the planar layers, but the mechanism of the nanorod structure improvement of PL efficiency is not adequately studied. By comparing the TA profile of the GaN/InGaN MQW planar layers and nanorods, the impact of surface states and nanorods lateral confinement in the ultrafast carrier dynamics of GaN/InGaN MQW is revealed. The nanorod sidewall surface states have a strong influence on the InGaN quantum well carrier dynamics. The ultrafast relaxation processes studied in this GaN/InGaN MQW nanostructure is essential for further optimization of device application.

Ultrafast Laser-Based Spectroscopy and Sensing: Applications in LIBS, CARS, and THz Spectroscopy

PubMed Central

Leahy-Hoppa, Megan R.; Miragliotta, Joseph; Osiander, Robert; Burnett, Jennifer; Dikmelik, Yamac; McEnnis, Caroline; Spicer, James B.

2010-01-01

Ultrafast pulsed lasers find application in a range of spectroscopy and sensing techniques including laser induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS), coherent Raman spectroscopy, and terahertz (THz) spectroscopy. Whether based on absorption or emission processes, the characteristics of these techniques are heavily influenced by the use of ultrafast pulses in the signal generation process. Depending on the energy of the pulses used, the essential laser interaction process can primarily involve lattice vibrations, molecular rotations, or a combination of excited states produced by laser heating. While some of these techniques are currently confined to sensing at close ranges, others can be implemented for remote spectroscopic sensing owing principally to the laser pulse duration. We present a review of ultrafast laser-based spectroscopy techniques and discuss the use of these techniques to current and potential chemical and environmental sensing applications. PMID:22399883

Ultrafast collinear scattering and carrier multiplication in graphene.

PubMed

Brida, D; Tomadin, A; Manzoni, C; Kim, Y J; Lombardo, A; Milana, S; Nair, R R; Novoselov, K S; Ferrari, A C; Cerullo, G; Polini, M

2013-01-01

Graphene is emerging as a viable alternative to conventional optoelectronic, plasmonic and nanophotonic materials. The interaction of light with charge carriers creates an out-of-equilibrium distribution, which relaxes on an ultrafast timescale to a hot Fermi-Dirac distribution, that subsequently cools emitting phonons. Although the slower relaxation mechanisms have been extensively investigated, the initial stages still pose a challenge. Experimentally, they defy the resolution of most pump-probe setups, due to the extremely fast sub-100 fs carrier dynamics. Theoretically, massless Dirac fermions represent a novel many-body problem, fundamentally different from Schrödinger fermions. Here we combine pump-probe spectroscopy with a microscopic theory to investigate electron-electron interactions during the early stages of relaxation. We identify the mechanisms controlling the ultrafast dynamics, in particular the role of collinear scattering. This gives rise to Auger processes, including charge multiplication, which is key in photovoltage generation and photodetectors.

Noninvasive Imaging of the Coronary Vasculature Using Ultrafast Ultrasound.

PubMed

Maresca, David; Correia, Mafalda; Villemain, Olivier; Bizé, Alain; Sambin, Lucien; Tanter, Mickael; Ghaleh, Bijan; Pernot, Mathieu

2017-08-11

The aim of this study was to investigate the potential of coronary ultrafast Doppler angiography (CUDA), a novel vascular imaging technique based on ultrafast ultrasound, to image noninvasively with high sensitivity the intramyocardial coronary vasculature and quantify the coronary blood flow dynamics. Noninvasive coronary imaging techniques are currently limited to the observation of the epicardial coronary arteries. However, many studies have highlighted the importance of the coronary microcirculation and microvascular disease. CUDA was performed in vivo in open-chest procedures in 9 swine. Ultrafast plane-wave imaging at 2,000 frames/s was combined to an adaptive spatiotemporal filtering to achieve ultrahigh-sensitive imaging of the coronary blood flows. Quantification of the flow change was performed during hyperemia after a 30-s left anterior descending (LAD) artery occlusion followed by reperfusion and was compared to gold standard measurements provided by a flowmeter probe placed at a proximal location on the LAD (n = 5). Coronary flow reserve was assessed during intravenous perfusion of adenosine. Vascular damages were evaluated during a second set of experiments in which the LAD was occluded for 90 min, followed by 150 min of reperfusion to induce myocardial infarction (n = 3). Finally, the transthoracic feasibility of CUDA was assessed on 2 adult and 2 pediatric volunteers. Ultrahigh-sensitive cine loops of venous and arterial intramyocardial blood flows were obtained within 1 cardiac cycle. Quantification of the coronary flow changes during hyperemia was in good agreement with gold standard measurements (r 2  = 0.89), as well as the assessment of coronary flow reserve (2.35 ± 0.65 vs. 2.28 ± 0.84; p = NS). On the infarcted animals, CUDA images revealed the presence of strong hyperemia and the appearance of abnormal coronary vessel structures in the reperfused LAD territory. Finally, the feasibility of transthoracic coronary vasculature imaging was

Ultrafast atomic-scale visualization of acoustic phonons generated by optically excited quantum dots

PubMed Central

Vanacore, Giovanni M.; Hu, Jianbo; Liang, Wenxi; Bietti, Sergio; Sanguinetti, Stefano; Carbone, Fabrizio; Zewail, Ahmed H.

2017-01-01

Understanding the dynamics of atomic vibrations confined in quasi-zero dimensional systems is crucial from both a fundamental point-of-view and a technological perspective. Using ultrafast electron diffraction, we monitored the lattice dynamics of GaAs quantum dots—grown by Droplet Epitaxy on AlGaAs—with sub-picosecond and sub-picometer resolutions. An ultrafast laser pulse nearly resonantly excites a confined exciton, which efficiently couples to high-energy acoustic phonons through the deformation potential mechanism. The transient behavior of the measured diffraction pattern reveals the nonequilibrium phonon dynamics both within the dots and in the region surrounding them. The experimental results are interpreted within the theoretical framework of a non-Markovian decoherence, according to which the optical excitation creates a localized polaron within the dot and a travelling phonon wavepacket that leaves the dot at the speed of sound. These findings indicate that integration of a phononic emitter in opto-electronic devices based on quantum dots for controlled communication processes can be fundamentally feasible. PMID:28852685

A Segway RMP-based robotic transport system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nguyen, Hoa G.; Kogut, Greg; Barua, Ripan; Burmeister, Aaron; Pezeshkian, Narek; Powell, Darren; Farrington, Nathan; Wimmer, Matt; Cicchetto, Brett; Heng, Chana; Ramirez, Velia

2004-12-01

In the area of logistics, there currently is a capability gap between the one-ton Army robotic Multifunction Utility/Logistics and Equipment (MULE) vehicle and a soldier"s backpack. The Unmanned Systems Branch at Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center (SPAWAR Systems Center, or SSC), San Diego, with the assistance of a group of interns from nearby High Tech High School, has demonstrated enabling technologies for a solution that fills this gap. A small robotic transport system has been developed based on the Segway Robotic Mobility Platform (RMP). We have demonstrated teleoperated control of this robotic transport system, and conducted two demonstrations of autonomous behaviors. Both demonstrations involved a robotic transporter following a human leader. In the first demonstration, the transporter used a vision system running a continuously adaptive mean-shift filter to track and follow a human. In the second demonstration, the separation between leader and follower was significantly increased using Global Positioning System (GPS) information. The track of the human leader, with a GPS unit in his backpack, was sent wirelessly to the transporter, also equipped with a GPS unit. The robotic transporter traced the path of the human leader by following these GPS breadcrumbs. We have additionally demonstrated a robotic medical patient transport capability by using the Segway RMP to power a mock-up of the Life Support for Trauma and Transport (LSTAT) patient care platform, on a standard NATO litter carrier. This paper describes the development of our demonstration robotic transport system and the various experiments conducted.

Carbon Nanotubes as an Ultrafast Emitter with a Narrow Energy Spread at Optical Frequency.

PubMed

Li, Chi; Zhou, Xu; Zhai, Feng; Li, Zhenjun; Yao, Fengrui; Qiao, Ruixi; Chen, Ke; Cole, Matthew Thomas; Yu, Dapeng; Sun, Zhipei; Liu, Kaihui; Dai, Qing

2017-08-01

Ultrafast electron pulses, combined with laser-pump and electron-probe technologies, allow ultrafast dynamics to be characterized in materials. However, the pursuit of simultaneous ultimate spatial and temporal resolution of microscopy and spectroscopy is largely subdued by the low monochromaticity of the electron pulses and their poor phase synchronization to the optical excitation pulses. Field-driven photoemission from metal tips provides high light-phase synchronization, but suffers large electron energy spreads (3-100 eV) as driven by a long wavelength laser (>800 nm). Here, ultrafast electron emission from carbon nanotubes (≈1 nm radius) excited by a 410 nm femtosecond laser is realized in the field-driven regime. In addition, the emitted electrons have great monochromaticity with energy spread as low as 0.25 eV. This great performance benefits from the extraordinarily high field enhancement and great stability of carbon nanotubes, superior to metal tips. The new nanotube-based ultrafast electron source opens exciting prospects for extending current characterization to sub-femtosecond temporal resolution as well as sub-nanometer spatial resolution. © 2017 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Sensor Technologies for Intelligent Transportation Systems

PubMed Central

Guerrero-Ibáñez, Juan; Zeadally, Sherali

2018-01-01

Modern society faces serious problems with transportation systems, including but not limited to traffic congestion, safety, and pollution. Information communication technologies have gained increasing attention and importance in modern transportation systems. Automotive manufacturers are developing in-vehicle sensors and their applications in different areas including safety, traffic management, and infotainment. Government institutions are implementing roadside infrastructures such as cameras and sensors to collect data about environmental and traffic conditions. By seamlessly integrating vehicles and sensing devices, their sensing and communication capabilities can be leveraged to achieve smart and intelligent transportation systems. We discuss how sensor technology can be integrated with the transportation infrastructure to achieve a sustainable Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) and how safety, traffic control and infotainment applications can benefit from multiple sensors deployed in different elements of an ITS. Finally, we discuss some of the challenges that need to be addressed to enable a fully operational and cooperative ITS environment. PMID:29659524

Sensor Technologies for Intelligent Transportation Systems.

PubMed

Guerrero-Ibáñez, Juan; Zeadally, Sherali; Contreras-Castillo, Juan

2018-04-16

Modern society faces serious problems with transportation systems, including but not limited to traffic congestion, safety, and pollution. Information communication technologies have gained increasing attention and importance in modern transportation systems. Automotive manufacturers are developing in-vehicle sensors and their applications in different areas including safety, traffic management, and infotainment. Government institutions are implementing roadside infrastructures such as cameras and sensors to collect data about environmental and traffic conditions. By seamlessly integrating vehicles and sensing devices, their sensing and communication capabilities can be leveraged to achieve smart and intelligent transportation systems. We discuss how sensor technology can be integrated with the transportation infrastructure to achieve a sustainable Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) and how safety, traffic control and infotainment applications can benefit from multiple sensors deployed in different elements of an ITS. Finally, we discuss some of the challenges that need to be addressed to enable a fully operational and cooperative ITS environment.

Ultrafast Pulse Generation in an Organic Nanoparticle-Array Laser.

PubMed

Daskalakis, Konstantinos S; Väkeväinen, Aaro I; Martikainen, Jani-Petri; Hakala, Tommi K; Törmä, Päivi

2018-04-11

Nanoscale coherent light sources offer potentially ultrafast modulation speeds, which could be utilized for novel sensors and optical switches. Plasmonic periodic structures combined with organic gain materials have emerged as promising candidates for such nanolasers. Their plasmonic component provides high intensity and ultrafast nanoscale-confined electric fields, while organic gain materials offer fabrication flexibility and a low acquisition cost. Despite reports on lasing in plasmonic arrays, lasing dynamics in these structures have not been experimentally studied yet. Here we demonstrate, for the first time, an organic dye nanoparticle-array laser with more than a 100 GHz modulation bandwidth. We show that the lasing modulation speed can be tuned by the array parameters. Accelerated dynamics is observed for plasmonic lasing modes at the blue side of the dye emission.

Interrogating ultrafast dynamics of a salicylideneaniline derivative within faujasite zeolites

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Alarcos, Noemí; Sánchez, Félix; Douhal, Abderrazzak

2017-09-01

We report on femtosecond (fs) studies of (E)-2-(2-hydroxybenzyliden) amino-4-nitrophenol (HBA-4NP) in dichloromethane (DCM) and triacetin (TAC) solutions, and within NaX and NaY zeolites. In solution, an ultrafast (≤80 fs) excited-state intramolecular proton-transfer (ESIPT) reaction produces a keto (K) tautomer, which undergoes a rotational process in ∼4 (DCM) and ∼7 ps (TAC) toward the formation of non-emitting structures. Within NaX and NaY, where monomers and aggregates are formed, host-guest and guest-guest interactions play an important role in the ultrafast behaviour of these complexes. These results clearly reflect how nanoconfinement and zeolite composition affect the encapsulated dye photodynamics.

Intelligent Transportation Systems Early Deployment Planning Study

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1996-06-01

INTELLIGENT TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS (ITS) REFER TO INNOVATIVE APPROACHES TO SOLVING TRANSPORTATION PROBLEMS AND PROVIDING SERVICES TO TRAVELERS. ITS SOLUTIONS ARE TYPICALLY BASED ON A USER'S VIEW OF THE TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM, AND RELY ON PARTNERSHIPS ...

Ultrafast Plasmonic Control of Second Harmonic Generation

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Davidson, Roderick B.; Yanchenko, Anna; Ziegler, Jed I.

Efficient frequency conversion techniques are crucial to the development of plasmonic metasurfaces for information processing and signal modulation. In principle, nanoscale electric-field confinement in nonlinear materials enables higher harmonic conversion efficiencies per unit volume than those attainable in bulk materials. Here we demonstrate efficient second-harmonic generation (SHG) in a serrated nanogap plasmonic geometry that generates steep electric field gradients on a dielectric metasurface. An ultrafast control pulse is used to control plasmon-induced electric fields in a thin-film material with inversion symmetry that, without plasmonic enhancement, does not exhibit an even-order nonlinear optical response. The temporal evolution of the plasmonic near-fieldmore » is characterized with ~100 as resolution using a novel nonlinear interferometric technique. The serrated nanogap is a unique platform in which to investigate optically controlled, plasmonically enhanced harmonic generation in dielectric materials on an ultrafast time scale. Lastly, this metamaterial geometry can also be readily extended to all-optical control of other nonlinear phenomena, such as four-wave mixing and sum- and difference-frequency generation, in a wide variety of dielectric materials.« less

Ultrafast Plasmonic Control of Second Harmonic Generation

DOE PAGES

Davidson, Roderick B.; Yanchenko, Anna; Ziegler, Jed I.; ...

2016-06-01

Efficient frequency conversion techniques are crucial to the development of plasmonic metasurfaces for information processing and signal modulation. In principle, nanoscale electric-field confinement in nonlinear materials enables higher harmonic conversion efficiencies per unit volume than those attainable in bulk materials. Here we demonstrate efficient second-harmonic generation (SHG) in a serrated nanogap plasmonic geometry that generates steep electric field gradients on a dielectric metasurface. An ultrafast control pulse is used to control plasmon-induced electric fields in a thin-film material with inversion symmetry that, without plasmonic enhancement, does not exhibit an even-order nonlinear optical response. The temporal evolution of the plasmonic near-fieldmore » is characterized with ~100 as resolution using a novel nonlinear interferometric technique. The serrated nanogap is a unique platform in which to investigate optically controlled, plasmonically enhanced harmonic generation in dielectric materials on an ultrafast time scale. Lastly, this metamaterial geometry can also be readily extended to all-optical control of other nonlinear phenomena, such as four-wave mixing and sum- and difference-frequency generation, in a wide variety of dielectric materials.« less

Ultrafast carrier dynamics in LT-GaAs doped with Si delta layers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Khusyainov, D. I.; Dekeyser, C.; Buryakov, A. M.; Mishina, E. D.; Galiev, G. B.; Klimov, E. A.; Pushkarev, S. S.; Klochkov, A. N.

2017-10-01

We characterized the ultrafast properties of LT-GaAs doped with silicon δ-layers and introduced delta-doping (δ-doping) as efficient method for enhancing the properties of GaAs-based structures which can be useful for terahertz (THz) antenna, ultrafast switches and other high frequency applications. Low temperature grown GaAs (LT-GaAs) became one of the most promising materials for ultrafast optical and THz devices due to its short carrier lifetime and high carrier mobility. Low temperature growth leads to a large number of point defects and an excess of arsenic. Annealing of LT-GaAs creates high resistivity through the formation of As-clusters, which appear due to the excess of arsenic. High resistivity is very important for THz antennas so that voltage can be applied without the risk of breakdown. With δ-Si doping, control of As-clusters is possible, since after annealing, clusters align in the plane where the δ-doping occurs. In this paper, we compare the properties of LT-GaAs-based planar structures with and without δ-Si doping and subsequent annealing. We used pump-probe transient reflectivity as a probe for ultrafast carrier dynamics in LT-GaAs. The results of the experiment were interpreted using the Ortiz model and show that the δ-Si doping increases deep donor and acceptor concentrations and decreases the photoinduced carrier lifetime as compared with LT-GaAs with same growth and annealing temperatures, but without doping.

Ultralow-power and ultrafast all-optical tunable plasmon-induced transparency in metamaterials at optical communication range.

PubMed

Zhu, Yu; Hu, Xiaoyong; Fu, Yulan; Yang, Hong; Gong, Qihuang

2013-01-01

Actively all-optical tunable plasmon-induced transparency in metamaterials paves the way for achieving ultrahigh-speed quantum information processing chips. Unfortunately, up to now, very small experimental progress has been made for all-optical tunable plasmon-induced transparency in metamaterials in the visible and near-infrared range because of small third-order optical nonlinearity of conventional materials. The achieved operating pump intensity was as high as several GW/cm(2) order. Here, we report an ultralow-power and ultrafast all-optical tunable plasmon-induced transparency in metamaterials coated on polycrystalline indium-tin oxide layer at the optical communication range. Compared with previous reports, the threshold pump intensity is reduced by four orders of magnitude, while an ultrafast response time of picoseconds order is maintained. This work not only offers a way to constructing photonic materials with large nonlinearity and ultrafast response, but also opens up the possibility for realizing quantum solid chips and ultrafast integrated photonic devices based on metamaterials.

Ultralow-power and ultrafast all-optical tunable plasmon-induced transparency in metamaterials at optical communication range

PubMed Central

Zhu, Yu; Hu, Xiaoyong; Fu, Yulan; Yang, Hong; Gong, Qihuang

2013-01-01

Actively all-optical tunable plasmon-induced transparency in metamaterials paves the way for achieving ultrahigh-speed quantum information processing chips. Unfortunately, up to now, very small experimental progress has been made for all-optical tunable plasmon-induced transparency in metamaterials in the visible and near-infrared range because of small third-order optical nonlinearity of conventional materials. The achieved operating pump intensity was as high as several GW/cm2 order. Here, we report an ultralow-power and ultrafast all-optical tunable plasmon-induced transparency in metamaterials coated on polycrystalline indium-tin oxide layer at the optical communication range. Compared with previous reports, the threshold pump intensity is reduced by four orders of magnitude, while an ultrafast response time of picoseconds order is maintained. This work not only offers a way to constructing photonic materials with large nonlinearity and ultrafast response, but also opens up the possibility for realizing quantum solid chips and ultrafast integrated photonic devices based on metamaterials. PMID:23903825

Ultrafast Spectroscopic Noninvasive Probe of Vertical Carrier Transport in Heterostructure Devices

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-03-01

where barriers, tunneling , scattering, strong polarization-induced fields, or carrier localization due to Type I or Type II quantum-well structures can... tunneling across junctions, scattering at heterointerfaces, and internal fields. For light-emitting devices, poor charge transport across multilayer...localization of holes and rapid electron tunneling .5 However, direct transport properties were Approved for public release; distribution is

An ultrafast angle-resolved photoemission apparatus for measuring complex materials

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Smallwood, Christopher L.; Jozwiak, Christopher; Zhang, Wentao; Lanzara, Alessandra

2012-12-01

We present technical specifications for a high resolution time- and angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy setup based on a hemispherical electron analyzer and cavity-dumped solid state Ti:sapphire laser used to generate pump and probe beams, respectively, at 1.48 and 5.93 eV. The pulse repetition rate can be tuned from 209 Hz to 54.3 MHz. Under typical operating settings the system has an overall energy resolution of 23 meV, an overall momentum resolution of 0.003 Å-1, and an overall time resolution of 310 fs. We illustrate the system capabilities with representative data on the cuprate superconductor Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+δ. The descriptions and analyses presented here will inform new developments in ultrafast electron spectroscopy.

Ultrafast Photoinduced Multimode Antiferromagnetic Spin Dynamics in Exchange-Coupled Fe/RFeO3 (R = Er or Dy) Heterostructures.

PubMed

Tang, Jin; Ke, Yajiao; He, Wei; Zhang, Xiangqun; Zhang, Wei; Li, Na; Zhang, Yongsheng; Li, Yan; Cheng, Zhaohua

2018-05-25

Antiferromagnetic spin dynamics is important for both fundamental and applied antiferromagnetic spintronic devices; however, it is rarely explored by external fields because of the strong exchange interaction in antiferromagnetic materials. Here, the photoinduced excitation of ultrafast antiferromagnetic spin dynamics is achieved by capping antiferromagnetic RFeO 3 (R = Er or Dy) with an exchange-coupled ferromagnetic Fe film. Compared with antiferromagnetic spin dynamics of bare RFeO 3 orthoferrite single crystals, which can be triggered effectively by ultrafast laser heating just below the phase transition temperature, the ultrafast photoinduced multimode antiferromagnetic spin dynamic modes, for exchange-coupled Fe/RFeO 3 heterostructures, including quasiferromagnetic resonance, impurity, coherent phonon, and quasiantiferromagnetic modes, are observed in a temperature range of 10-300 K. These experimental results not only offer an effective means to trigger ultrafast antiferromagnetic spin dynamics of rare-earth orthoferrites, but also shed light on the ultrafast manipulation of antiferromagnetic magnetization in Fe/RFeO 3 heterostructures. © 2018 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

GPU.proton.DOCK: Genuine Protein Ultrafast proton equilibria consistent DOCKing.

PubMed

Kantardjiev, Alexander A

2011-07-01

GPU.proton.DOCK (Genuine Protein Ultrafast proton equilibria consistent DOCKing) is a state of the art service for in silico prediction of protein-protein interactions via rigorous and ultrafast docking code. It is unique in providing stringent account of electrostatic interactions self-consistency and proton equilibria mutual effects of docking partners. GPU.proton.DOCK is the first server offering such a crucial supplement to protein docking algorithms--a step toward more reliable and high accuracy docking results. The code (especially the Fast Fourier Transform bottleneck and electrostatic fields computation) is parallelized to run on a GPU supercomputer. The high performance will be of use for large-scale structural bioinformatics and systems biology projects, thus bridging physics of the interactions with analysis of molecular networks. We propose workflows for exploring in silico charge mutagenesis effects. Special emphasis is given to the interface-intuitive and user-friendly. The input is comprised of the atomic coordinate files in PDB format. The advanced user is provided with a special input section for addition of non-polypeptide charges, extra ionogenic groups with intrinsic pK(a) values or fixed ions. The output is comprised of docked complexes in PDB format as well as interactive visualization in a molecular viewer. GPU.proton.DOCK server can be accessed at http://gpudock.orgchm.bas.bg/.

Ultrafast quantum control of ionization dynamics in krypton.

PubMed

Hütten, Konrad; Mittermair, Michael; Stock, Sebastian O; Beerwerth, Randolf; Shirvanyan, Vahe; Riemensberger, Johann; Duensing, Andreas; Heider, Rupert; Wagner, Martin S; Guggenmos, Alexander; Fritzsche, Stephan; Kabachnik, Nikolay M; Kienberger, Reinhard; Bernhardt, Birgitta

2018-02-19

Ultrafast spectroscopy with attosecond resolution has enabled the real time observation of ultrafast electron dynamics in atoms, molecules and solids. These experiments employ attosecond pulses or pulse trains and explore dynamical processes in a pump-probe scheme that is selectively sensitive to electronic state of matter via photoelectron or XUV absorption spectroscopy or that includes changes of the ionic state detected via photo-ion mass spectrometry. Here, we demonstrate how the implementation of combined photo-ion and absorption spectroscopy with attosecond resolution enables tracking the complex multidimensional excitation and decay cascade of an Auger auto-ionization process of a few femtoseconds in highly excited krypton. In tandem with theory, our study reveals the role of intermediate electronic states in the formation of multiply charged ions. Amplitude tuning of a dressing laser field addresses different groups of decay channels and allows exerting temporal and quantitative control over the ionization dynamics in rare gas atoms.

A Mars/phobos Transportation System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1989-01-01

A transportation system will be necessary to support construction and operation of bases on Phobos and Mars beginning in the year 2020 or later. An approach to defining a network of vehicles and the types of vehicles which may be used in the system are presented. The network will provide a convenient, integrated means for transporting robotically constructed bases to Phobos and Mars. All the technology needed for the current plan is expected to be available for use at the projected date of cargo departure from the Earth system. The modular design of the transportation system provides easily implemented contingency plans, so that difficulties with any one vehicle will have a minimal effect on the progress of the total mission. The transportation network proposed consists of orbital vehicles and atmospheric entry vehicles. Initially, only orbital vehicles will participate in the robotic construction phase of the Phobos base. The Interplanetary Transfer Vehicle (ITV) will carry the base and construction equipment to Phobos where the Orbital Maneuvering Vehicles (OMV's) will participate in the initial construction of the base. When the Mars base is ready to be sent, one or more ITV's will be used to transport the atmospheric entry vehicles from Earth. These atmospheric vehicles are the One Way Landers (OWL's) and the Ascent/Descent Vehicles (ADV's). They will be used to carry the base components and/or construction equipment. The OMV's and the Orbital Transfer Vehicles (OTV's) will assist in carrying the atmospheric entry vehicles to low Martian orbit where the OWL's or ADV's will descent to the planet surface. The ADV's were proposed to accommodate expansion of the system. Additionally, a smaller version of the ADV class is capable of transporting personnel between Mars and Phobos.

Robust Stacking-Independent Ultrafast Charge Transfer in MoS2/WS2 Bilayers.

PubMed

Ji, Ziheng; Hong, Hao; Zhang, Jin; Zhang, Qi; Huang, Wei; Cao, Ting; Qiao, Ruixi; Liu, Can; Liang, Jing; Jin, Chuanhong; Jiao, Liying; Shi, Kebin; Meng, Sheng; Liu, Kaihui

2017-12-26

Van der Waals-coupled two-dimensional (2D) heterostructures have attracted great attention recently due to their high potential in the next-generation photodetectors and solar cells. The understanding of charge-transfer process between adjacent atomic layers is the key to design optimal devices as it directly determines the fundamental response speed and photon-electron conversion efficiency. However, general belief and theoretical studies have shown that the charge transfer behavior depends sensitively on interlayer configurations, which is difficult to control accurately, bringing great uncertainties in device designing. Here we investigate the ultrafast dynamics of interlayer charge transfer in a prototype heterostructure, the MoS 2 /WS 2 bilayer with various stacking configurations, by optical two-color ultrafast pump-probe spectroscopy. Surprisingly, we found that the charge transfer is robust against varying interlayer twist angles and interlayer coupling strength, in time scale of ∼90 fs. Our observation, together with atomic-resolved transmission electron characterization and time-dependent density functional theory simulations, reveals that the robust ultrafast charge transfer is attributed to the heterogeneous interlayer stretching/sliding, which provides additional channels for efficient charge transfer previously unknown. Our results elucidate the origin of transfer rate robustness against interlayer stacking configurations in optical devices based on 2D heterostructures, facilitating their applications in ultrafast and high-efficient optoelectronic and photovoltaic devices in the near future.

Measurement of carotid pulse wave velocity using ultrafast ultrasound imaging in hypertensive patients.

PubMed

Li, Xiaopeng; Jiang, Jue; Zhang, Hong; Wang, Hua; Han, Donggang; Zhou, Qi; Gao, Ya; Yu, Shanshan; Qi, Yanhua

2017-04-01

The study aimed to assess the utility of ultrafast ultrasound imaging for evaluation of carotid pulse wave velocity (PWV) in newly diagnosed hypertension patients. This prospective non-randomized study enrolled 90 hypertensive patients in our hospital from September to December 2013 as a hypertension group. An age- and sex-matched cohort of 50 healthy adults in our hospital from September to December 2013 was also included in the study as a control group. Carotid PWV at the beginning and at the end of systole (PWV-BS and PWV-ES, respectively) and intima-media thickness (IMT) were measured by ultrafast ultrasound imaging technology. The associations of PWV-BS, PWV-ES, and IMT with hypertension stage were evaluated by Spearman correlation analysis. PWV-BS and PWV-ES in the hypertension group were significantly elevated compared with those in control group. Different hypertension stages significantly differed in PWV-BS and PWV-ES. PWV-BS and PWV-ES appeared to increase with the hypertension stage. Moreover, IMT, PWV-BS, and PWV-ES were positively correlated with the hypertension stage in hypertensive patients. Ultrafast ultrasound imaging was a valid and convenient method for the measurement of carotid PWV in hypertensive patients. Ultrafast ultrasound imaging might be recommended as a promising alternative method for early detection of arterial abnormality in clinical practice.

Ultrafast electron and energy transfer in dye-sensitized iron oxide and oxyhydroxide nanoparticles.

PubMed

Gilbert, Benjamin; Katz, Jordan E; Huse, Nils; Zhang, Xiaoyi; Frandsen, Cathrine; Falcone, Roger W; Waychunas, Glenn A

2013-10-28

An emerging area in chemical science is the study of solid-phase redox reactions using ultrafast time-resolved spectroscopy. We have used molecules of the photoactive dye 2',7'-dichlorofluorescein (DCF) anchored to the surface of iron(III) oxide nanoparticles to create iron(II) surface atoms via photo-initiated interfacial electron transfer. This approach enables time-resolved study of the fate and mobility of electrons within the solid phase. However, complete analysis of the ultrafast processes following dye photoexcitation of the sensitized iron(III) oxide nanoparticles has not been reported. We addressed this topic by performing femtosecond transient absorption (TA) measurements of aqueous suspensions of uncoated and DCF-sensitized iron oxide and oxyhydroxide nanoparticles, and an aqueous iron(III)-dye complex. Following light absorption, excited state relaxation times of the dye of 115-310 fs were found for all samples. Comparison between TA dynamics on uncoated and dye-sensitized hematite nanoparticles revealed the dye de-excitation pathway to consist of a competition between electron and energy transfer to the nanoparticles. We analyzed the TA data for hematite nanoparticles using a four-state model of the dye-sensitized system, finding electron and energy transfer to occur on the same ultrafast timescale. The interfacial electron transfer rates for iron oxides are very close to those previously reported for DCF-sensitized titanium dioxide (for which dye-oxide energy transfer is energetically forbidden) even though the acceptor states are different. Comparison of the alignment of the excited states of the dye and the unoccupied states of these oxides showed that the dye injects into acceptor states of different symmetry (Ti t2gvs. Fe eg).

Probing ultrafast spin dynamics through a magnon resonance in the antiferromagnetic multiferroic HoMnO 3

DOE PAGES

Bowlan, P.; Trugman, S. A.; Bowlan, J.; ...

2016-09-26

Here, we demonstrate an approach for directly tracking antiferromagnetic (AFM) spin dynamics by measuring ultrafast changes in a magnon resonance. We also test this idea on the multiferroic HoMnO 3 by optically photoexciting electrons, after which changes in the spin order are probed with a THz pulse tuned to a magnon resonance. This reveals a photoinduced change in the magnon line shape that builds up over 5–12 picoseconds, which we show to be the spin-lattice thermalization time, indicating that electrons heat the spins via phonons. We compare our results to previous studies of spin-lattice thermalization in ferromagnetic manganites, giving insightmore » into fundamental differences between the two systems. Finally, our work sheds light on the microscopic mechanism governing spin-phonon interactions in AFMs and demonstrates a powerful approach for directly monitoring ultrafast spin dynamics.« less

Probing ultrafast spin dynamics through a magnon resonance in the antiferromagnetic multiferroic HoMnO 3

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bowlan, P.; Trugman, S. A.; Bowlan, J.

Here, we demonstrate an approach for directly tracking antiferromagnetic (AFM) spin dynamics by measuring ultrafast changes in a magnon resonance. We also test this idea on the multiferroic HoMnO 3 by optically photoexciting electrons, after which changes in the spin order are probed with a THz pulse tuned to a magnon resonance. This reveals a photoinduced change in the magnon line shape that builds up over 5–12 picoseconds, which we show to be the spin-lattice thermalization time, indicating that electrons heat the spins via phonons. We compare our results to previous studies of spin-lattice thermalization in ferromagnetic manganites, giving insightmore » into fundamental differences between the two systems. Finally, our work sheds light on the microscopic mechanism governing spin-phonon interactions in AFMs and demonstrates a powerful approach for directly monitoring ultrafast spin dynamics.« less

A dynamic and ultrafast group delay tuning mechanism in two microcavities side-coupled with a waveguide system

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Wang, Boyun; Wang, Tao, E-mail: wangtao@hust.edu.cn; Tang, Jian

2014-10-07

We theoretically propose a dynamic and ultrafast group delay tuning mechanism in two microcavities side-coupled to a waveguide system through external optical pump beams. The optical Kerr effect modulation method is applied to improve tuning rate with response time of subpicoseconds or even femtoseconds. The group delay of an all-optical analog to electromagnetically induced transparency effect can be controlled by tuning either the frequency of photonic crystal microcavities or the propagation phase of line waveguide. Group delay is controlled between 5.88 and 70.98 ps by dynamically tuning resonant frequencies of the microcavities. Alternatively, the group delay is controlled between 1.86more » and 12.08 ps by dynamically tuning the propagation phase of line waveguide. All observed schemes are analyzed rigorously through finite-difference time-domain simulations and coupled-mode formalism. Results show a new direction toward microstructure integration optical pulse trapping and all-optical dynamical storage of light devices in optical communication and quantum information processing.« less

Ultrafast all-optical tuning of direct-gap semiconductor metasurfaces

DOE PAGES

Shcherbakov, Maxim R.; Liu, Sheng; Zubyuk, Varvara V.; ...

2017-05-12

Optical metasurfaces are regular quasi-planar nanopatterns that can apply diverse spatial and spectral transformations to light waves. But, metasurfaces are no longer adjustable after fabrication, and a critical challenge is to realise a technique of tuning their optical properties that is both fast and efficient. Here, we experimentally realise an ultrafast tunable metasurface consisting of subwavelength gallium arsenide nanoparticles supporting Mie-type resonances in the near infrared. In using transient reflectance spectroscopy, we demonstrate a picosecond-scale absolute reflectance modulation of up to 0.35 at the magnetic dipole resonance of the metasurfaces and a spectral shift of the resonance by 30 nm,more » both achieved at unprecedentedly low pump fluences of less than 400 μJ cm –2. Our findings thereby enable a versatile tool for ultrafast and efficient control of light using light.« less

Ultrafast all-optical tuning of direct-gap semiconductor metasurfaces

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Shcherbakov, Maxim R.; Liu, Sheng; Zubyuk, Varvara V.

Optical metasurfaces are regular quasi-planar nanopatterns that can apply diverse spatial and spectral transformations to light waves. But, metasurfaces are no longer adjustable after fabrication, and a critical challenge is to realise a technique of tuning their optical properties that is both fast and efficient. Here, we experimentally realise an ultrafast tunable metasurface consisting of subwavelength gallium arsenide nanoparticles supporting Mie-type resonances in the near infrared. In using transient reflectance spectroscopy, we demonstrate a picosecond-scale absolute reflectance modulation of up to 0.35 at the magnetic dipole resonance of the metasurfaces and a spectral shift of the resonance by 30 nm,more » both achieved at unprecedentedly low pump fluences of less than 400 μJ cm –2. Our findings thereby enable a versatile tool for ultrafast and efficient control of light using light.« less

Solving the jitter problem in microwave compressed ultrafast electron diffraction instruments: Robust sub-50 fs cavity-laser phase stabilization

PubMed Central

Otto, M. R.; René de Cotret, L. P.; Stern, M. J.; Siwick, B. J.

2017-01-01

We demonstrate the compression of electron pulses in a high-brightness ultrafast electron diffraction instrument using phase-locked microwave signals directly generated from a mode-locked femtosecond oscillator. Additionally, a continuous-wave phase stabilization system that accurately corrects for phase fluctuations arising in the compression cavity from both power amplification and thermal drift induced detuning was designed and implemented. An improvement in the microwave timing stability from 100 fs to 5 fs RMS is measured electronically, and the long-term arrival time stability (>10 h) of the electron pulses improves to below our measurement resolution of 50 fs. These results demonstrate sub-relativistic ultrafast electron diffraction with compressed pulses that is no longer limited by laser-microwave synchronization. PMID:28852686

Shaping ultrafast laser inscribed optical waveguides using a deformable mirror.

PubMed

Thomson, R R; Bockelt, A S; Ramsay, E; Beecher, S; Greenaway, A H; Kar, A K; Reid, D T

2008-08-18

We use a two-dimensional deformable mirror to shape the spatial profile of an ultrafast laser beam that is then used to inscribe structures in a soda-lime silica glass slide. By doing so we demonstrate that it is possible to control the asymmetry of the cross section of ultrafast laser inscribed optical waveguides via the curvature of the deformable mirror. When tested using 1.55 mum light, the optimum waveguide exhibited coupling losses of approximately 0.2 dB/facet to Corning SMF-28 single mode fiber and propagation losses of approximately 1.5 dB.cm(-1). This technique promises the possibility of combining rapid processing speeds with the ability to vary the waveguide cross section along its length.

Effectively Single-Mode Self-Recovering Ultrafast Nonlinear Nanowire Surface Plasmons

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tuniz, Alessandro; Weidlich, Stefan; Schmidt, Markus A.

2018-04-01

We report on a regime for surface-plasmon propagation, which is robust to defects and effectively single mode, and we exploit it for accessing the ultrafast nonlinear response of gold on centimeter-long subwavelength-diameter cylindrical nanowires. The hybrid plasmonic-photonic platform is formed by a gold nanowire, monolithically integrated into the core of an optical fiber. We show that, despite the dual-waveguide nature of this structure, the long-range surface plasmon is the only effectively propagating mode in the near infrared, which self-recovers in the presence of gaps via a light-recapturing effect. This self-recovery overcomes detrimental effects of wire discontinuities and enables measurements of the ultrafast nonlinearity of gold, which we perform for a 28-fs pulse duration.

Heterogeneous to homogeneous melting transition visualized with ultrafast electron diffraction

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

None

The ultrafast laser excitation of matters leads to non-equilibrium states with complex solid-liquid phase transition dynamics. We used electron diffraction at mega-electronvolt energies to visualize the ultrafast melting of gold on the atomic scale length. For energy densities approaching the irreversible melting regime, we first observed heterogeneous melting on time scales of 100 ps to 1000 ps, transitioning to homogeneous melting that occurs catastrophically within 10-20 ps at higher energy densities. We showed evidence for the heterogeneous coexistence of solid and liquid. We determined the ion and electron temperature evolution and found superheated conditions. Our results constrain the electron-ion couplingmore » rate, determine the Debye temperature and reveal the melting sensitivity to nucleation seeds.« less

Letters: Noise Equalization for Ultrafast Plane Wave Microvessel Imaging

PubMed Central

Song, Pengfei; Manduca, Armando; Trzasko, Joshua D.

2017-01-01

Ultrafast plane wave microvessel imaging significantly improves ultrasound Doppler sensitivity by increasing the number of Doppler ensembles that can be collected within a short period of time. The rich spatiotemporal plane wave data also enables more robust clutter filtering based on singular value decomposition (SVD). However, due to the lack of transmit focusing, plane wave microvessel imaging is very susceptible to noise. This study was designed to: 1) study the relationship between ultrasound system noise (primarily time gain compensation-induced) and microvessel blood flow signal; 2) propose an adaptive and computationally cost-effective noise equalization method that is independent of hardware or software imaging settings to improve microvessel image quality. PMID:28880169

Room-temperature ballistic energy transport in molecules with repeating units

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Rubtsova, Natalia I.; Nyby, Clara M.; Zhang, Hong

2015-06-07

In materials, energy can propagate by means of two limiting regimes: diffusive and ballistic. Ballistic energy transport can be fast and efficient and often occurs with a constant speed. Using two-dimensional infrared spectroscopy methods, we discovered ballistic energy transport via individual polyethylene chains with a remarkably high speed of 1440 m/s and the mean free path length of 14.6 Å in solution at room temperature. Whereas the transport via the chains occurs ballistically, the mechanism switches to diffusive with the effective transport speed of 130 m/s at the end-groups attached to the chains. A unifying model of the transport inmore » molecules is presented with clear time separation and additivity among the transport along oligomeric fragments, which occurs ballistically, and the transport within the disordered fragments, occurring diffusively. The results open new avenues for making novel elements for molecular electronics, including ultrafast energy transporters, controlled chemical reactors, and sub-wavelength quantum nanoseparators.« less

Dynamic diffraction effects and coherent breathing oscillations in ultrafast electron diffraction in layered 1T-TaSeTe

PubMed Central

Wei, Linlin; Sun, Shuaishuai; Guo, Cong; Li, Zhongwen; Sun, Kai; Liu, Yu; Lu, Wenjian; Sun, Yuping; Tian, Huanfang; Yang, Huaixin; Li, Jianqi

2017-01-01

Anisotropic lattice movements due to the difference between intralayer and interlayer bonding are observed in the layered transition-metal dichalcogenide 1T-TaSeTe following femtosecond laser pulse excitation. Our ultrafast electron diffraction investigations using 4D-transmission electron microscopy (4D-TEM) clearly reveal that the intensity of Bragg reflection spots often changes remarkably due to the dynamic diffraction effects and anisotropic lattice movement. Importantly, the temporal diffracted intensity from a specific crystallographic plane depends on the deviation parameter s, which is commonly used in the theoretical study of diffraction intensity. Herein, we report on lattice thermalization and structural oscillations in layered 1T-TaSeTe, analyzed by dynamic diffraction theory. Ultrafast alterations of satellite spots arising from the charge density wave in the present system are also briefly discussed. PMID:28470025

A lunar transportation system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1986-01-01

Due to large amounts of oxygen required for space travel, a method of mining, transporting, and storing this oxygen in space would facilitate further space exploration. The following project deals specifically with the methods for transporting liquid oxygen from the lunar surface to the Lunar Orbit (LO) space station, and then to the Lower Earth Orbit (LEO) space station. Two vehicles were designed for operation between the LEO and LO space stations. The first of these vehicles is an aerobraked design vehicle. The Aerobrake Orbital Transfer Vehicle (OTV) is capable of transporting 5000 lbm of payload to LO while returning to LEO with 60,000 lbm of liquid oxygen, and thus meet mission requirements. The second vehicle can deliver 18,000 lbm of payload to LO and is capable of bringing 60,000 lbm of liquid oxygen back to LEO. A lunar landing vehicle was also designed for operation between LO and the established moon base. The use of an electromagnetic railgun as a method for launching the lunar lander was also investigated. The feasibility of the railgun is doubtful at this time. A system of spheres was also designed for proper storing and transporting of the liquid oxygen. The system assumes a safe means for transferring the liquid oxygen from tank to tank is operational. A sophisticated life support system was developed for both the OTV and the lunar lander. This system focuses on such factors as the vehicle environment, waste management, water requirements, food requirements, and oxygen requirements.

Attosecond electron pulse trains and quantum state reconstruction in ultrafast transmission electron microscopy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Priebe, Katharina E.; Rathje, Christopher; Yalunin, Sergey V.; Hohage, Thorsten; Feist, Armin; Schäfer, Sascha; Ropers, Claus

2017-12-01

Ultrafast electron and X-ray imaging and spectroscopy are the basis for an ongoing revolution in the understanding of dynamical atomic-scale processes in matter. The underlying technology relies heavily on laser science for the generation and characterization of ever shorter pulses. Recent findings suggest that ultrafast electron microscopy with attosecond-structured wavefunctions may be feasible. However, such future technologies call for means to both prepare and fully analyse the corresponding free-electron quantum states. Here, we introduce a framework for the preparation, coherent manipulation and characterization of free-electron quantum states, experimentally demonstrating attosecond electron pulse trains. Phase-locked optical fields coherently control the electron wavefunction along the beam direction. We establish a new variant of quantum state tomography—`SQUIRRELS'—for free-electron ensembles. The ability to tailor and quantitatively map electron quantum states will promote the nanoscale study of electron-matter entanglement and new forms of ultrafast electron microscopy down to the attosecond regime.

Large lateral photovoltaic effect with ultrafast relaxation time in SnSe/Si junction

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Wang, Xianjie; Zhao, Xiaofeng; Hu, Chang

In this paper, we report a large lateral photovoltaic effect (LPE) with ultrafast relaxation time in SnSe/p-Si junctions. The LPE shows a linear dependence on the position of the laser spot, and the position sensitivity is as high as 250 mV mm{sup −1}. The optical response time and the relaxation time of the LPE are about 100 ns and 2 μs, respectively. The current-voltage curve on the surface of the SnSe film indicates the formation of an inversion layer at the SnSe/p-Si interface. Our results clearly suggest that most of the excited-electrons diffuse laterally in the inversion layer at the SnSe/p-Si interface, whichmore » results in a large LPE with ultrafast relaxation time. The high positional sensitivity and ultrafast relaxation time of the LPE make the SnSe/p-Si junction a promising candidate for a wide range of optoelectronic applications.« less

STARS: The Space Transportation Architecture Risk System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Greenberg, Joel S.

1997-01-01

Because of the need to perform comparisons between transportation systems that are likely to have significantly different levels of risk, both because of differing degrees of freedom in achieving desired performance levels and their different states of development and utilization, an approach has been developed for performing early comparisons of transportation architectures explicitly taking into account quantitative measures of uncertainty and resulting risk. The approach considers the uncertainty associated with the achievement of technology goals, the effect that the achieved level of technology will have on transportation system performance and the relationship between transportation system performance/capability and the ability to accommodate variations in payload mass. The consequences of system performance are developed in terms of expected values and associated standard deviations of nonrecurring, recurring and the present value of transportation system life cycle cost. Typical results are presented to illustrate the application of the methodology.

Ultrafast Directional Beam Switching in Coupled VCSELs

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ning, Cun-Zheng; Goorjian, Peter

2001-01-01

We propose a new approach to performing ultrafast directional beam switching using two coupled Vertical-Cavity Surface-Emitting Lasers (VCSELs). The proposed strategy is demonstrated for two VCSELs of 5.6 microns in diameter placed about 1 micron apart from the edges, showing a switching speed of 42 GHz with a maximum far-field angle span of about 10 degrees.

Single-shot Monitoring of Ultrafast Processes via X-ray Streaking at a Free Electron Laser.

PubMed

Buzzi, Michele; Makita, Mikako; Howald, Ludovic; Kleibert, Armin; Vodungbo, Boris; Maldonado, Pablo; Raabe, Jörg; Jaouen, Nicolas; Redlin, Harald; Tiedtke, Kai; Oppeneer, Peter M; David, Christian; Nolting, Frithjof; Lüning, Jan

2017-08-03

The advent of x-ray free electron lasers has extended the unique capabilities of resonant x-ray spectroscopy techniques to ultrafast time scales. Here, we report on a novel experimental method that allows retrieving with a single x-ray pulse the time evolution of an ultrafast process, not only at a few discrete time delays, but continuously over an extended time window. We used a single x-ray pulse to resolve the laser-induced ultrafast demagnetisation dynamics in a thin cobalt film over a time window of about 1.6 ps with an excellent signal to noise ratio. From one representative single shot measurement we extract a spin relaxation time of (130 ± 30) fs with an average value, based on 193 single shot events of (113 ± 20) fs. These results are limited by the achieved experimental time resolution of 120 fs, and both values are in excellent agreement with previous results and theoretical modelling. More generally, this new experimental approach to ultrafast x-ray spectroscopy paves the way to the study of non-repetitive processes that cannot be investigated using traditional repetitive pump-probe schemes.

Conformational Control of Ultrafast Molecular Rotor Property: Tuning Viscosity Sensing Efficiency by Twist Angle Variation.

PubMed

Ghosh, Rajib; Kushwaha, Archana; Das, Dipanwita

2017-09-21

Fluorescent molecular rotors find widespread application in sensing and imaging of microscopic viscosity in complex chemical and biological media. Development of viscosity-sensitive ultrafast molecular rotor (UMR) relies upon the understanding of the excited-state dynamics and their implications for viscosity-dependent fluorescence signaling. Unraveling the structure-property relationship of UMR behavior is of significance toward development of an ultrasensitive fluorescence microviscosity sensor. Herein we show that the ground-state equilibrium conformation has an important role in the ultrafast twisting dynamics of UMRs and consequent viscosity sensing efficiency. Synthesis, photophysics, and ultrafast spectroscopic experiments in conjunction with quantum chemical calculation of a series of UMRs based on dimethylaniline donor and benzimidazolium acceptor with predefined ground-state torsion angle led us to unravel that the ultrafast torsional dynamics around the bond connecting donor and acceptor groups profoundly influences the molecular rotor efficiency. This is the first experimental demonstration of conformational control of small-molecule-based UMR efficiencies which can have wider implication toward development of fluorescence sensors based on the UMR principle. Conformation-controlled UMR efficiency has been shown to exhibit commensurate fluorescence enhancement upon DNA binding.

Interlayer‐State‐Coupling Dependent Ultrafast Charge Transfer in MoS2/WS2 Bilayers

PubMed Central

Zhang, Jin; Hong, Hao; Lian, Chao; Ma, Wei; Xu, Xiaozhi; Zhou, Xu; Fu, Huixia

2017-01-01

Light‐induced interlayer ultrafast charge transfer in 2D heterostructures provides a new platform for optoelectronic and photovoltaic applications. The charge separation process is generally hypothesized to be dependent on the interlayer stackings and interactions, however, the quantitative characteristic and detailed mechanism remain elusive. Here, a systematical study on the interlayer charge transfer in model MoS2/WS2 bilayer system with variable stacking configurations by time‐dependent density functional theory methods is demonstrated. The results show that the slight change of interlayer geometry can significantly modulate the charge transfer time from 100 fs to 1 ps scale. Detailed analysis further reveals that the transfer rate in MoS2/WS2 bilayers is governed by the electronic coupling between specific interlayer states, rather than the interlayer distances, and follows a universal dependence on the state‐coupling strength. The results establish the interlayer stacking as an effective freedom to control ultrafast charge transfer dynamics in 2D heterostructures and facilitate their future applications in optoelectronics and light harvesting. PMID:28932669

Integrating the transportation system with a university transportation master plan.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2010-02-01

Introduction and Research Objectives : -TxDOT commissioned TTI and the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) to perform a : research study of the integration of the transportation system with the UTEP : transportation master plan : -The objective is ...

LCLS-II CRYOMODULE TRANSPORT SYSTEM TESTING

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Huque, Naeem; Daly, Edward F.; McGee, Michael W.

The Cryomodules (CM) for the Linear Coherent Light Source II (LCLS-II) will be shipped to SLAC (Menlo Park, California) from JLab (Newport News, Virginia) and FNAL (Batavia, Illinois). A transportation system has been designed and built to safely transport the CMs over the road. It uses an array of helical isolator springs to attenuate shocks on the CM to below 1.5g in all directions. The system rides on trailers equipped with Air-Ride suspension, which attenuates vibration loads. The prototype LCLS-II CM (pCM) was driven 750 miles to test the transport system; shock loggers recorded the shock attenuation on the pCMmore » and vacuum gauges were used to detect any compromises in beamline vacuum. Alignment measurements were taken before and after the trip to check whether cavity positions had shifted beyond the ± 0.2mm spec. Passband frequencies and cavity gradients were measured at 2K at the Cryomodule Test Facility (CMTF) at JLab to identify any degradation of CM performance after transportation. The transport system was found to have safely carried the CM and is cleared to begin shipments from JLab and FNAL to SLAC.« less

Ultrafast ultrasound localization microscopy for deep super-resolution vascular imaging

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Errico, Claudia; Pierre, Juliette; Pezet, Sophie; Desailly, Yann; Lenkei, Zsolt; Couture, Olivier; Tanter, Mickael

2015-11-01

Non-invasive imaging deep into organs at microscopic scales remains an open quest in biomedical imaging. Although optical microscopy is still limited to surface imaging owing to optical wave diffusion and fast decorrelation in tissue, revolutionary approaches such as fluorescence photo-activated localization microscopy led to a striking increase in resolution by more than an order of magnitude in the last decade. In contrast with optics, ultrasonic waves propagate deep into organs without losing their coherence and are much less affected by in vivo decorrelation processes. However, their resolution is impeded by the fundamental limits of diffraction, which impose a long-standing trade-off between resolution and penetration. This limits clinical and preclinical ultrasound imaging to a sub-millimetre scale. Here we demonstrate in vivo that ultrasound imaging at ultrafast frame rates (more than 500 frames per second) provides an analogue to optical localization microscopy by capturing the transient signal decorrelation of contrast agents—inert gas microbubbles. Ultrafast ultrasound localization microscopy allowed both non-invasive sub-wavelength structural imaging and haemodynamic quantification of rodent cerebral microvessels (less than ten micrometres in diameter) more than ten millimetres below the tissue surface, leading to transcranial whole-brain imaging within short acquisition times (tens of seconds). After intravenous injection, single echoes from individual microbubbles were detected through ultrafast imaging. Their localization, not limited by diffraction, was accumulated over 75,000 images, yielding 1,000,000 events per coronal plane and statistically independent pixels of ten micrometres in size. Precise temporal tracking of microbubble positions allowed us to extract accurately in-plane velocities of the blood flow with a large dynamic range (from one millimetre per second to several centimetres per second). These results pave the way for deep non

Ultrafast ultrasound localization microscopy for deep super-resolution vascular imaging.

PubMed

Errico, Claudia; Pierre, Juliette; Pezet, Sophie; Desailly, Yann; Lenkei, Zsolt; Couture, Olivier; Tanter, Mickael

2015-11-26

Non-invasive imaging deep into organs at microscopic scales remains an open quest in biomedical imaging. Although optical microscopy is still limited to surface imaging owing to optical wave diffusion and fast decorrelation in tissue, revolutionary approaches such as fluorescence photo-activated localization microscopy led to a striking increase in resolution by more than an order of magnitude in the last decade. In contrast with optics, ultrasonic waves propagate deep into organs without losing their coherence and are much less affected by in vivo decorrelation processes. However, their resolution is impeded by the fundamental limits of diffraction, which impose a long-standing trade-off between resolution and penetration. This limits clinical and preclinical ultrasound imaging to a sub-millimetre scale. Here we demonstrate in vivo that ultrasound imaging at ultrafast frame rates (more than 500 frames per second) provides an analogue to optical localization microscopy by capturing the transient signal decorrelation of contrast agents--inert gas microbubbles. Ultrafast ultrasound localization microscopy allowed both non-invasive sub-wavelength structural imaging and haemodynamic quantification of rodent cerebral microvessels (less than ten micrometres in diameter) more than ten millimetres below the tissue surface, leading to transcranial whole-brain imaging within short acquisition times (tens of seconds). After intravenous injection, single echoes from individual microbubbles were detected through ultrafast imaging. Their localization, not limited by diffraction, was accumulated over 75,000 images, yielding 1,000,000 events per coronal plane and statistically independent pixels of ten micrometres in size. Precise temporal tracking of microbubble positions allowed us to extract accurately in-plane velocities of the blood flow with a large dynamic range (from one millimetre per second to several centimetres per second). These results pave the way for deep non

IR-Driven Ultrafast Transfer of Plasmonic Hot Electrons in Nonmetallic Branched Heterostructures for Enhanced H2 Generation.

PubMed

Zhang, Zhenyi; Jiang, Xiaoyi; Liu, Benkang; Guo, Lijiao; Lu, Na; Wang, Li; Huang, Jindou; Liu, Kuichao; Dong, Bin

2018-03-01

The ultrafast transfer of plasmon-induced hot electrons is considered an effective kinetics process to enhance the photoconversion efficiencies of semiconductors through strong localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) of plasmonic nanostructures. Although this classical sensitization approach is widely used in noble-metal-semiconductor systems, it remains unclear in nonmetallic plasmonic heterostructures. Here, by combining ultrafast transient absorption spectroscopy with theoretical simulations, IR-driven transfer of plasmon-induced hot electron in a nonmetallic branched heterostructure is demonstrated, which is fabricated through solvothermal growth of plasmonic W 18 O 49 nanowires (as branches) onto TiO 2 electrospun nanofibers (as backbones). The ultrafast transfer of hot electron from the W 18 O 49 branches to the TiO 2 backbones occurs within a timeframe on the order of 200 fs with very large rate constants ranging from 3.8 × 10 12 to 5.5 × 10 12 s -1 . Upon LSPR excitation by low-energy IR photons, the W 18 O 49 /TiO 2 branched heterostructure exhibits obviously enhanced catalytic H 2 generation from ammonia borane compared with that of W 18 O 49 nanowires. Further investigations by finely controlling experimental conditions unambiguously confirm that this plasmon-enhanced catalytic activity arises from the transfer of hot electron rather than from the photothermal effect. © 2018 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Future space transportation systems analysis study. Phase 1 extension: Transportation systems reference data, volume 2

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1975-01-01

Transportation mass requirements are developed for various mission and transportation modes based on vehicle systems sized to fit the exact needs of each mission. The parametric data used to derive the mass requirements for each mission and transportation mode are presented to enable accommodation of possible changes in mode options or payload definitions. The vehicle sizing and functional requirements used to derive the parametric data are described.

Bunch evolution study in optimization of MeV ultrafast electron diffraction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lu, Xian-Hai; Du, Ying-Chao; Huang, Wen-Hui; Tang, Chuan-Xiang

2014-12-01

Megaelectronvolt ultrafast electron diffraction (UED) is a promising detection tool for ultrafast processes. The quality of diffraction image is determined by the transverse evolution of the probe bunch. In this paper, we study the contributing terms of the emittance and space charge effects to the bunch evolution in the MeV UED scheme, employing a mean-field model with an ellipsoidal distribution as well as particle tracking simulation. The small transverse dimension of the drive laser is found to be critical to improve the reciprocal resolution, exploiting both smaller emittance and larger transverse bunch size before the solenoid. The degradation of the reciprocal spatial resolution caused by the space charge effects should be carefully controlled.

Advanced Transport Operating Systems Program

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

White, John J.

1990-01-01

NASA-Langley's Advanced Transport Operating Systems Program employs a heavily instrumented, B 737-100 as its Transport Systems Research Vehicle (TRSV). The TRSV has been used during the demonstration trials of the Time Reference Scanning Beam Microwave Landing System (TRSB MLS), the '4D flight-management' concept, ATC data links, and airborne windshear sensors. The credibility obtainable from successful flight test experiments is often a critical factor in the granting of substantial commitments for commercial implementation by the FAA and industry. In the case of the TRSB MLS, flight test demonstrations were decisive to its selection as the standard landing system by the ICAO.

Ultrafast image-based dynamic light scattering for nanoparticle sizing

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Zhou, Wu; Zhang, Jie; Liu, Lili

An ultrafast sizing method for nanoparticles is proposed, called as UIDLS (Ultrafast Image-based Dynamic Light Scattering). This method makes use of the intensity fluctuation of scattered light from nanoparticles in Brownian motion, which is similar to the conventional DLS method. The difference in the experimental system is that the scattered light by nanoparticles is received by an image sensor instead of a photomultiplier tube. A novel data processing algorithm is proposed to directly get correlation coefficient between two images at a certain time interval (from microseconds to milliseconds) by employing a two-dimensional image correlation algorithm. This coefficient has been provedmore » to be a monotonic function of the particle diameter. Samples of standard latex particles (79/100/352/482/948 nm) were measured for validation of the proposed method. The measurement accuracy of higher than 90% was found with standard deviations less than 3%. A sample of nanosilver particle with nominal size of 20 ± 2 nm and a sample of polymethyl methacrylate emulsion with unknown size were also tested using UIDLS method. The measured results were 23.2 ± 3.0 nm and 246.1 ± 6.3 nm, respectively, which is substantially consistent with the transmission electron microscope results. Since the time for acquisition of two successive images has been reduced to less than 1 ms and the data processing time in about 10 ms, the total measuring time can be dramatically reduced from hundreds seconds to tens of milliseconds, which provides the potential for real-time and in situ nanoparticle sizing.« less

Vibronic coupling explains the ultrafast carotenoid-to-bacteriochlorophyll energy transfer in natural and artificial light harvesters

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Perlík, Václav; Seibt, Joachim; Šanda, František

The initial energy transfer steps in photosynthesis occur on ultrafast timescales. We analyze the carotenoid to bacteriochlorophyll energy transfer in LH2 Marichromatium purpuratum as well as in an artificial light-harvesting dyad system by using transient grating and two-dimensional electronic spectroscopy with 10 fs time resolution. We find that Förster-type models reproduce the experimentally observed 60 fs transfer times, but overestimate coupling constants, which lead to a disagreement with both linear absorption and electronic 2D-spectra. We show that a vibronic model, which treats carotenoid vibrations on both electronic ground and excited states as part of the system’s Hamiltonian, reproduces all measuredmore » quantities. Importantly, the vibronic model presented here can explain the fast energy transfer rates with only moderate coupling constants, which are in agreement with structure based calculations. Counterintuitively, the vibrational levels on the carotenoid electronic ground state play the central role in the excited state population transfer to bacteriochlorophyll; resonance between the donor-acceptor energy gap and the vibrational ground state energies is the physical basis of the ultrafast energy transfer rates in these systems.« less

Case study on the dynamics of ultrafast laser heating and ablation of gold thin films by ultrafast pump-probe reflectometry and ellipsometry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pflug, T.; Wang, J.; Olbrich, M.; Frank, M.; Horn, A.

2018-02-01

To increase the comprehension of ultrafast laser ablation, the ablation process has to be portrayed with sufficient temporal resolution. For example, the temporal modification of the complex refractive index {\\tilde{n}} and the relative reflectance of a sample material after irradiation with ultrafast single-pulsed laser radiation can be measured with a pump-probe setup. This work describes the construction and validation of a pump-probe setup enabling spatially, temporally, and spectroscopically resolved Brewster angle microscopy, reflectometry, ellipsometry, and shadow photography. First pump-probe reflectometry and ellipsometry measurements are performed on gold at λ _{probe}= 440 nm and three fluences of the single-pulsed pump radiation at λ _{pump}= 800 nm generating no, gentle, and strong ablation. The relative reflectance overall increases at no and gentle ablation. At strong ablation, the relative reflectance locally decreases, presumable caused by emitted thermal electrons, ballistic electrons, and ablating material. The refractive index n is slightly decreasing after excitation, while the extinction coefficient k is increasing.

Surveillance systems for intermodal transportation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jakovlev, Sergej; Voznak, Miroslav; Andziulis, Arunas

2015-05-01

Intermodal container monitoring is considered a major security issue in many major logistic companies and countries worldwide. Current representation of the problem, we face today, originated in 2002, right after the 9/11 attacks. Then, a new worldwide Container Security Initiative (CSI, 2002) was considered that shaped the perception of the transportation operations. Now more than 80 larger ports all over the world contribute to its further development and integration into everyday transportation operations and improve the regulations for the developing regions. Although, these new improvements allow us to feel safer and secure, constant management of transportation operations has become a very difficult problem for conventional data analysis methods and information systems. The paper deals with a proposal of a whole new concept for the improvement of the Containers Security Initiative (CSI) by virtually connecting safety, security processes and systems. A conceptual middleware approach with deployable intelligent agent modules is proposed to be used with possible scenarios and a testbed is used to test the solution. Middleware examples are visually programmed using National Instruments LabView software packages and Wireless sensor network hardware modules. An experimental software is used to evaluate he solution. This research is a contribution to the intermodal transportation and is intended to be used as a means or the development of intelligent transport systems.

Towards ultrafast dynamics with split-pulse X-ray photon correlation spectroscopy at free electron laser sources

DOE PAGES

Roseker, W.; Hruszkewycz, S. O.; Lehmkuhler, F.; ...

2018-04-27

One of the important challenges in condensed matter science is to understand ultrafast, atomic-scale fluctuations that dictate dynamic processes in equilibrium and non-equilibrium materials. Here, we report an important step towards reaching that goal by using a state-of-the-art perfect crystal based split-and-delay system, capable of splitting individual X-ray pulses and introducing femtosecond to nanosecond time delays. We show the results of an ultrafast hard X-ray photon correlation spectroscopy experiment at LCLS where split X-ray pulses were used to measure the dynamics of gold nanoparticles suspended in hexane. We show how reliable speckle contrast values can be extracted even from verymore » low intensity free electron laser (FEL) speckle patterns by applying maximum likelihood fitting, thus demonstrating the potential of a split-and-delay approach for dynamics measurements at FEL sources. This will enable the characterization of equilibrium and, importantly also reversible non-equilibrium processes in atomically disordered materials.« less

Towards ultrafast dynamics with split-pulse X-ray photon correlation spectroscopy at free electron laser sources

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Roseker, W.; Hruszkewycz, S. O.; Lehmkuhler, F.

One of the important challenges in condensed matter science is to understand ultrafast, atomic-scale fluctuations that dictate dynamic processes in equilibrium and non-equilibrium materials. Here, we report an important step towards reaching that goal by using a state-of-the-art perfect crystal based split-and-delay system, capable of splitting individual X-ray pulses and introducing femtosecond to nanosecond time delays. We show the results of an ultrafast hard X-ray photon correlation spectroscopy experiment at LCLS where split X-ray pulses were used to measure the dynamics of gold nanoparticles suspended in hexane. We show how reliable speckle contrast values can be extracted even from verymore » low intensity free electron laser (FEL) speckle patterns by applying maximum likelihood fitting, thus demonstrating the potential of a split-and-delay approach for dynamics measurements at FEL sources. This will enable the characterization of equilibrium and, importantly also reversible non-equilibrium processes in atomically disordered materials.« less

Ultrafast Gap Dynamics and Electronic Interactions in a Photoexcited Cuprate Superconductor

DOE PAGES

Parham, S.; Li, H.; Nummy, T. J.; ...

2017-10-20

We perform time- and angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (trARPES) on optimally doped Bi 2Sr 2CaCu 2O 8+δ (BSCCO-2212) using sufficient energy resolution (9 meV) to resolve the k-dependent near-nodal gap structure on time scales where the concept of an electronic pseudotemperature is a useful quantity, i.e., after electronic thermalization has occurred. We study the ultrafast evolution of this gap structure, uncovering a very rich landscape of decay rates as a function of angle, temperature, and energy. We explicitly focus on the quasiparticle states at the gap edge as well as on the spectral weight inside the gap that “fills” the gap—understoodmore » as an interaction, or self-energy effect—and we also make high resolution measurements of the nodal states, enabling a direct and accurate measurement of the electronic temperature (or pseudotemperature) of the electrons in the system. Rather than the standard method of interpreting these results using individual quasiparticle scattering rates that vary significantly as a function of angle, temperature, and energy, we show that the entire landscape of relaxations can be understood by modeling the system as following a nonequilibrium, electronic pseudotemperature that controls all electrons in the zone. Furthermore, this model has zero free parameters, as we obtain the crucial information of the SC gap Δ and the gap-filling strength Γ TDoS by connecting to static ARPES measurements. The quantitative and qualitative agreement between data and model suggests that the critical parameters and interactions of the system, including the pairing interactions, follow parametrically from the electronic pseudotemperature. In conclusion, we expect that this concept will be relevant for understanding the ultrafast response of a great variety of electronic materials, even though the electronic pseudotemperature may not be directly measurable.« less

Ultrafast Gap Dynamics and Electronic Interactions in a Photoexcited Cuprate Superconductor

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Parham, S.; Li, H.; Nummy, T. J.

We perform time- and angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (trARPES) on optimally doped Bi 2Sr 2CaCu 2O 8+δ (BSCCO-2212) using sufficient energy resolution (9 meV) to resolve the k-dependent near-nodal gap structure on time scales where the concept of an electronic pseudotemperature is a useful quantity, i.e., after electronic thermalization has occurred. We study the ultrafast evolution of this gap structure, uncovering a very rich landscape of decay rates as a function of angle, temperature, and energy. We explicitly focus on the quasiparticle states at the gap edge as well as on the spectral weight inside the gap that “fills” the gap—understoodmore » as an interaction, or self-energy effect—and we also make high resolution measurements of the nodal states, enabling a direct and accurate measurement of the electronic temperature (or pseudotemperature) of the electrons in the system. Rather than the standard method of interpreting these results using individual quasiparticle scattering rates that vary significantly as a function of angle, temperature, and energy, we show that the entire landscape of relaxations can be understood by modeling the system as following a nonequilibrium, electronic pseudotemperature that controls all electrons in the zone. Furthermore, this model has zero free parameters, as we obtain the crucial information of the SC gap Δ and the gap-filling strength Γ TDoS by connecting to static ARPES measurements. The quantitative and qualitative agreement between data and model suggests that the critical parameters and interactions of the system, including the pairing interactions, follow parametrically from the electronic pseudotemperature. In conclusion, we expect that this concept will be relevant for understanding the ultrafast response of a great variety of electronic materials, even though the electronic pseudotemperature may not be directly measurable.« less

Resolution limits of ultrafast ultrasound localization microscopy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Desailly, Yann; Pierre, Juliette; Couture, Olivier; Tanter, Mickael

2015-11-01

As in other imaging methods based on waves, the resolution of ultrasound imaging is limited by the wavelength. However, the diffraction-limit can be overcome by super-localizing single events from isolated sources. In recent years, we developed plane-wave ultrasound allowing frame rates up to 20 000 fps. Ultrafast processes such as rapid movement or disruption of ultrasound contrast agents (UCA) can thus be monitored, providing us with distinct punctual sources that could be localized beyond the diffraction limit. We previously showed experimentally that resolutions beyond λ/10 can be reached in ultrafast ultrasound localization microscopy (uULM) using a 128 transducer matrix in reception. Higher resolutions are theoretically achievable and the aim of this study is to predict the maximum resolution in uULM with respect to acquisition parameters (frequency, transducer geometry, sampling electronics). The accuracy of uULM is the error on the localization of a bubble, considered a point-source in a homogeneous medium. The proposed model consists in two steps: determining the timing accuracy of the microbubble echo in radiofrequency data, then transferring this time accuracy into spatial accuracy. The simplified model predicts a maximum resolution of 40 μm for a 1.75 MHz transducer matrix composed of two rows of 64 elements. Experimental confirmation of the model was performed by flowing microbubbles within a 60 μm microfluidic channel and localizing their blinking under ultrafast imaging (500 Hz frame rate). The experimental resolution, determined as the standard deviation in the positioning of the microbubbles, was predicted within 6 μm (13%) of the theoretical values and followed the analytical relationship with respect to the number of elements and depth. Understanding the underlying physical principles determining the resolution of superlocalization will allow the optimization of the imaging setup for each organ. Ultimately, accuracies better than the size

Ultrafast MR imaging of the pelvic floor.

PubMed

Unterweger, M; Marincek, B; Gottstein-Aalame, N; Debatin, J F; Seifert, B; Ochsenbein-Imhof, N; Perucchini, D; Kubik-Huch, R A

2001-04-01

The aim of this study was to compare pelvic floor anatomy and laxity at rest and on straining (Valsalva's maneuver) using dynamic ultrafast MR imaging in women who were continent versus those with stress incontinence differing in obstetric history. Thirty continent women were divided into three equal groups (nulliparous, previous cesarean delivery, previous vaginal delivery) and compared with 10 women with stress-incontinence with a history of at least one vaginal delivery. MR imaging of the pelvic floor at rest and on maximal strain was performed, using axial T2-weighted fast spin-echo images followed by sagittal ultrafast T2-weighted single-shot fast spin-echo sequences. Mean population age (age range, 22-45 years; mean +/- SD, 36 +/- 5.4 years), was similar in the four groups, as was parity in the three parous groups. Mean distances between the bladder floor and pubococcygeal line at rest did not differ between the four groups. On straining, bladder floor descent was 1.1 +/- 0.9, 1.0 +/- 1.1, and 1.9 +/- 0.9 cm in continent nulliparous, cesarean delivery, and vaginal delivery women, respectively, versus 3.2 +/- 1.0 cm in incontinent women (p = 0.0005). Cervical descent was greater in incontinent versus nulliparous women (p = 0.0019). Bladder floor descent was greater in the continent vaginal delivery group than in continent cesarean delivery control patients (p = 0.04). In patients with stress incontinence, symptoms did not correlate with amplitude of descent. The right levator muscle was thinner overall than the left, regardless of frequency direction (p = 0.001). Ultrafast MR imaging using the T2-weighted single-shot fast spin-echo sequence allows dynamic evaluation of the pelvic compartments at maximal strain with no need for contrast medium. Pelvic floor laxity and supporting fascia abnormalities were most common in patients with stress incontinence followed by continent women with a history of vaginal delivery. The results are therefore compatible with the

Ultrafast Laser Beam Switching and Pulse Train Generation by Using Coupled Vertical-Cavity, Surface-Emitting Lasers (VCSELS)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Goorjian, Peter M. (Inventor); Ning, Cun-Zheng (Inventor)

2005-01-01

Ultrafast directional beam switching is achieved using coupled VCSELs. This approach is demonstrated to achieve beam switching frequencies of 40 GHz and more and switching directions of about eight degrees. This switching scheme is likely to be useful for ultrafast optical networks at frequencies much higher than achievable with other approaches.

Ultrafast transmission electron microscopy using a laser-driven field emitter: Femtosecond resolution with a high coherence electron beam.

PubMed

Feist, Armin; Bach, Nora; Rubiano da Silva, Nara; Danz, Thomas; Möller, Marcel; Priebe, Katharina E; Domröse, Till; Gatzmann, J Gregor; Rost, Stefan; Schauss, Jakob; Strauch, Stefanie; Bormann, Reiner; Sivis, Murat; Schäfer, Sascha; Ropers, Claus

2017-05-01

We present the development of the first ultrafast transmission electron microscope (UTEM) driven by localized photoemission from a field emitter cathode. We describe the implementation of the instrument, the photoemitter concept and the quantitative electron beam parameters achieved. Establishing a new source for ultrafast TEM, the Göttingen UTEM employs nano-localized linear photoemission from a Schottky emitter, which enables operation with freely tunable temporal structure, from continuous wave to femtosecond pulsed mode. Using this emission mechanism, we achieve record pulse properties in ultrafast electron microscopy of 9Å focused beam diameter, 200fs pulse duration and 0.6eV energy width. We illustrate the possibility to conduct ultrafast imaging, diffraction, holography and spectroscopy with this instrument and also discuss opportunities to harness quantum coherent interactions between intense laser fields and free-electron beams. Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Sustainable Transport Systems: Linkages Between Environmental Issues, Public Transport, Non-Motorized Transport And Safety

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2000-10-01

A sustainable transport system must provide mobility and accessibility to all urban residents in a safe and end environmentally friendly mode of transport. This is a complex and difficult task when the needs and demands of people belonging to differe...

Development of Ultrafast Indirect Flash Heating Methods for RDX

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-02-01

8 1 1. Introduction The mission of the Multiscale Response of Energetic Materials program is to establish...vinyl nitrate ) Films. J. Phys. Chem. A 2004, 108 (43), 9342–9347. 11 12. Gottfried, J. L.; de Lucia, F. C., Jr.; Piraino, S. M. Ultrafast Laser

A Robust Scalable Transportation System Concept

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hahn, Andrew; DeLaurentis, Daniel

2006-01-01

This report documents the 2005 Revolutionary System Concept for Aeronautics (RSCA) study entitled "A Robust, Scalable Transportation System Concept". The objective of the study was to generate, at a high-level of abstraction, characteristics of a new concept for the National Airspace System, or the new NAS, under which transportation goals such as increased throughput, delay reduction, and improved robustness could be realized. Since such an objective can be overwhelmingly complex if pursued at the lowest levels of detail, instead a System-of-Systems (SoS) approach was adopted to model alternative air transportation architectures at a high level. The SoS approach allows the consideration of not only the technical aspects of the NAS", but also incorporates policy, socio-economic, and alternative transportation system considerations into one architecture. While the representations of the individual systems are basic, the higher level approach allows for ways to optimize the SoS at the network level, determining the best topology (i.e. configuration of nodes and links). The final product (concept) is a set of rules of behavior and network structure that not only satisfies national transportation goals, but represents the high impact rules that accomplish those goals by getting the agents to "do the right thing" naturally. The novel combination of Agent Based Modeling and Network Theory provides the core analysis methodology in the System-of-Systems approach. Our method of approach is non-deterministic which means, fundamentally, it asks and answers different questions than deterministic models. The nondeterministic method is necessary primarily due to our marriage of human systems with technological ones in a partially unknown set of future worlds. Our goal is to understand and simulate how the SoS, human and technological components combined, evolve.

A study of characteristics of intercity transportation systems. Phase 1: Definition of transportation comparison methodology

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

English, J. M.; Smith, J. L.; Lifson, M. W.

1978-01-01

Decision making in early transportation planning must be responsive to complex value systems representing various policies and objectives. The assessment of alternative transportation concepts during the early initial phases of the system life cycle, when supportive research and technology development activities are defined, requires estimates of transportation, environmental, and socio-economic impacts throughout the system life cycle, which is a period of some 40 or 50 years. A unified methodological framework for comparing intercity passenger and freight transportation systems is described and is extended to include the comparison of long term transportation trends arising from implementation of the various R & D programs. The attributes of existing and future transportation systems are reviewed in order to establish measures for comparison, define value functions, and attribute weightings needed for comparing alternative policy actions for furthering transportation goals. Comparison criteria definitions and an illustrative example are included.

20-Gbps optical LiFi transport system.

PubMed

Ying, Cheng-Ling; Lu, Hai-Han; Li, Chung-Yi; Cheng, Chun-Jen; Peng, Peng-Chun; Ho, Wen-Jeng

2015-07-15

A 20-Gbps optical light-based WiFi (LiFi) transport system employing vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) and external light injection technique with 16-quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM)-orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) modulating signal is proposed. Good bit error rate (BER) performance and clear constellation map are achieved in our proposed optical LiFi transport systems. An optical LiFi transport system, delivering 16-QAM-OFDM signal over a 6-m free-space link, with a data rate of 20 Gbps, is successfully demonstrated. Such a 20-Gbps optical LiFi transport system provides the advantage of a free-space communication link for high data rates, which can accelerate the visible laser light communication (VLLC) deployment.

Not planning a sustainable transport system

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Finnveden, Göran, E-mail: goran.finnveden@abe.kth.se; Åkerman, Jonas

2014-04-01

The overall objective of the Swedish transport policy is to ensure the economically efficient and sustainable provision of transport services for people and business throughout the country. More specifically, the transport sector shall, among other things, contribute to the achievement of environmental quality objectives in which the development of the transport system plays an important role in the achievement of the objectives. The aim of this study is to analyse if current transport planning supports this policy. This is done by analysing two recent cases: the National Infrastructure Plan 2010–2021, and the planning of Bypass Stockholm, a major road investment.more » Our results show that the plans are in conflict with several of the environmental quality objectives. Another interesting aspect of the planning processes is that the long-term climate goals are not included in the planning processes, neither as a clear goal nor as factor that will influence future transport systems. In this way, the long-term sustainability aspects are not present in the planning. We conclude that the two cases do not contribute to a sustainable transport system. Thus, several changes must be made in the processes, including putting up clear targets for emissions. Also, the methodology for the environmental assessments needs to be further developed and discussed. - Highlights: • Two cases are studied to analyse if current planning supports a sustainable transport system. • Results show that the plans are in conflict with several of the environmental quality objectives. • Long-term climate goals are not included in the planning processes. • Current practices do not contribute to a sustainable planning processes. • Methodology and process for environmental assessments must be further developed and discussed.« less

Organelle-localized potassium transport systems in plants.

PubMed

Hamamoto, Shin; Uozumi, Nobuyuki

2014-05-15

Some intracellular organelles found in eukaryotes such as plants have arisen through the endocytotic engulfment of prokaryotic cells. This accounts for the presence of plant membrane intrinsic proteins that have homologs in prokaryotic cells. Other organelles, such as those of the endomembrane system, are thought to have evolved through infolding of the plasma membrane. Acquisition of intracellular components (organelles) in the cells supplied additional functions for survival in various natural environments. The organelles are surrounded by biological membranes, which contain membrane-embedded K(+) transport systems allowing K(+) to move across the membrane. K(+) transport systems in plant organelles act coordinately with the plasma membrane intrinsic K(+) transport systems to maintain cytosolic K(+) concentrations. Since it is sometimes difficult to perform direct studies of organellar membrane proteins in plant cells, heterologous expression in yeast and Escherichia coli has been used to elucidate the function of plant vacuole K(+) channels and other membrane transporters. The vacuole is the largest organelle in plant cells; it has an important task in the K(+) homeostasis of the cytoplasm. The initial electrophysiological measurements of K(+) transport have categorized three classes of plant vacuolar cation channels, and since then molecular cloning approaches have led to the isolation of genes for a number of K(+) transport systems. Plants contain chloroplasts, derived from photoautotrophic cyanobacteria. A novel K(+) transport system has been isolated from cyanobacteria, which may add to our understanding of K(+) flux across the thylakoid membrane and the inner membrane of the chloroplast. This chapter will provide an overview of recent findings regarding plant organellar K(+) transport proteins. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.

Ultra-fast relaxation, decoherence, and localization of photoexcited states in π-conjugated polymers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mannouch, Jonathan R.; Barford, William; Al-Assam, Sarah

2018-01-01

The exciton relaxation dynamics of photoexcited electronic states in poly(p-phenylenevinylene) are theoretically investigated within a coarse-grained model, in which both the exciton and nuclear degrees of freedom are treated quantum mechanically. The Frenkel-Holstein Hamiltonian is used to describe the strong exciton-phonon coupling present in the system, while external damping of the internal nuclear degrees of freedom is accounted for by a Lindblad master equation. Numerically, the dynamics are computed using the time evolving block decimation and quantum jump trajectory techniques. The values of the model parameters physically relevant to polymer systems naturally lead to a separation of time scales, with the ultra-fast dynamics corresponding to energy transfer from the exciton to the internal phonon modes (i.e., the C-C bond oscillations), while the longer time dynamics correspond to damping of these phonon modes by the external dissipation. Associated with these time scales, we investigate the following processes that are indicative of the system relaxing onto the emissive chromophores of the polymer: (1) Exciton-polaron formation occurs on an ultra-fast time scale, with the associated exciton-phonon correlations present within half a vibrational time period of the C-C bond oscillations. (2) Exciton decoherence is driven by the decay in the vibrational overlaps associated with exciton-polaron formation, occurring on the same time scale. (3) Exciton density localization is driven by the external dissipation, arising from "wavefunction collapse" occurring as a result of the system-environment interactions. Finally, we show how fluorescence anisotropy measurements can be used to investigate the exciton decoherence process during the relaxation dynamics.

Generation of an ultrafast femtosecond soliton fiber laser by carbon nanotube as saturable absorber

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Salim, M. A. M.; Ahmad, H.; Harun, S. W.; Bidin, N.; Krishnan, G.

2018-05-01

This paper reports the demonstration of ultrafast fiber laser in a simple erbium-doped fiber (EDF) laser that employed a carbon nanotube (CNT) thin film saturable absorber (SA) to generate a stable soliton pulse. The repetition rate of 10.8 MHz pulse consistently achieved has narrowest pulse width of 640 fs and 1555.78 nm central wavelength for an hour operation in room temperature. This proposed setup has the capability for reliable and stable system features.

Towards Direct Measurement of Ultrafast Vibrational Energy Flow in Proteins

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Müller-Werkmeister, Henrike M.; Essig, Martin; Durkin, Patrick; Budisa, Nediljko; Bredenbeck, Jens

Vibrational energy transfer (VET) within a molecule can be investigated in great detail with ultrafast IR spectroscopy. We report on progress towards mapping of VET pathways in proteins using unnatural amino acids as site-specific probes.

Droplet transport system and methods

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Neitzel, G. Paul (Inventor)

2010-01-01

Embodiments of droplet transport systems and methods are disclosed for levitating and transporting single or encapsulated droplets using thermocapillary convection. One method embodiment, among others comprises providing a droplet of a first liquid; and applying thermocapillary convection to the droplet to levitate and move the droplet.

Urban Transportation Planning Short Course: Evaluation of Alternative Transportation Systems.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Federal Highway Administration (DOT), Washington, DC.

This urban transportation pamphlet delves into the roles of policy groups and technical staffs in evaluating alternative transportation plans, evaluation criteria, systems to evaluate, and evaluation procedures. The introduction admits the importance of subjective, but informed, judgment as an effective tool in weighing alternative transportation…

Lattice-level measurement of material strength with LCLS during ultrafast dynamic compression

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Milathianaki, Despina; Boutet, Sebastien; Ratner, Daniel; White, William; Williams, Garth; Gleason, Arianna; Swift, Damian; Higginbotham, Andrew; Wark, Justin

2013-10-01

An in-depth understanding of the stress-strain behavior of materials during ultrafast dynamic compression requires experiments that offer in-situ observation of the lattice at the pertinent temporal and spatial scales. To date, the lattice response under extreme strain-rate conditions (>108 s-1) has been inferred predominantly from continuum-level measurements and multi-million atom molecular dynamics simulations. Several time-resolved x-ray diffraction experiments have captured important information on plasticity kinetics, while limited to nanosecond timescales due to the lack of high brilliance ultrafast x-ray sources. Here we present experiments at LCLS combining ultrafast laser-shocks and serial femtosecond x-ray diffraction. The high spectral brightness (~1012 photons per pulse, ΔE/E = 0.2%) and subpicosecond temporal resolution (<100 fs pulsewidth) of the LCLS x-ray free electron laser allow investigations that link simulations and experiments at the fundamental temporal and spatial scales for the first time. We present movies of the lattice undergoing rapid shock-compression, composed by a series of single femtosecond x-ray snapshots, demonstrating the transient behavior while successfully decoupling the elastic and plastic response in polycrystalline Cu.

Ultrafast intersystem crossings in Fe-Co Prussian blue analogues

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

van Veenendaal, Michel

Ultrafast spincrossover is studied in Fe-Co Prussian blue analogues using a dissipative quantum-mechanical model of a cobalt ion coupled to a breathing mode. All electronic interactions are treated on an equal footing. It is theoretically demonstrated that the divalent cobalt ion reaches 90% of the S = 3/2 value within 20 fs after photoexciting a low-spin Co 3+ ion by an iron-to-cobalt charge transfer. The doublet-to-quartet spin crossover is significantly faster than the oscillation period of the breathing mode. The system relaxes to the lowest manifold of divalent cobalt ( 4T 1) in 150-200 fs. In conclusion, strong oscillations inmore » spin-orbit coupling and the involvement of higher-lying quartets are found.« less

Ultrafast intersystem crossings in Fe-Co Prussian blue analogues

DOE PAGES

van Veenendaal, Michel

2017-07-27

Ultrafast spincrossover is studied in Fe-Co Prussian blue analogues using a dissipative quantum-mechanical model of a cobalt ion coupled to a breathing mode. All electronic interactions are treated on an equal footing. It is theoretically demonstrated that the divalent cobalt ion reaches 90% of the S = 3/2 value within 20 fs after photoexciting a low-spin Co 3+ ion by an iron-to-cobalt charge transfer. The doublet-to-quartet spin crossover is significantly faster than the oscillation period of the breathing mode. The system relaxes to the lowest manifold of divalent cobalt ( 4T 1) in 150-200 fs. In conclusion, strong oscillations inmore » spin-orbit coupling and the involvement of higher-lying quartets are found.« less

Transportation Systems Center Bibliography of Technical Reports

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1973-01-01

The bibliography lists unlimited distribution reports released by the Transportation Systems Center from January through December 1978. It supplements the Transportation Systems Center Bibliography of Technical Reports, July 1970 - December 1976 (DOT...

Static and Dynamic Electron Microscopy Investigations at the Atomic and Ultrafast Scales

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Suri, Pranav Kumar

Advancements in the electron microscopy capabilities - aberration-corrected imaging, monochromatic spectroscopy, direct-electron detectors - have enabled routine visualization of atomic-scale processes with millisecond temporal resolutions in this decade. This, combined with progress in the transmission electron microscopy (TEM) specimen holder technology and nanofabrication techniques, allows comprehensive experiments on a wide range of materials in various phases via in situ methods. The development of ultrafast (sub-nanosecond) time-resolved TEM with ultrafast electron microscopy (UEM) has further pushed the envelope of in situ TEM to sub-nanosecond temporal resolution while maintaining sub-nanometer spatial resolution. A plethora of materials phenomena - including electron-phonon coupling, phonon transport, first-order phase transitions, bond rotation, plasmon dynamics, melting, and dopant atoms arrangement - are not yet clearly understood and could be benefitted with the current in situ TEM capabilities having atomic-level and ultrafast precision. Better understanding of these phenomena and intrinsic material dynamics (e.g. how phonons propagate in a material, what time-scales are involved in a first-order phase transition, how fast a material melts, where dopant atoms sit in a crystal) in new-generation and technologically important materials (e.g. two-dimensional layered materials, semiconductor and magnetic devices, rare-earth-element-free permanent magnets, unconventional superconductors) could bring a paradigm shift in their electronic, structural, magnetic, thermal and optical applications. Present research efforts, employing cutting-edge static and dynamic in situ electron microscopy resources at the University of Minnesota, are directed towards understanding the atomic-scale crystallographic structural transition and phonon transport in an iron-pnictide parent compound LaFeAsO, studying the mechanical stability of fast moving hard-drive heads in heat

Department of Transportation's intelligent transportation systems (ITS) projects book

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2001-01-01

Surface transportation systems in the United States today face a number of significant challenges. Congestion and safety continue to present serious problems in spite of the nations superb roadway systems. Congestion imposes an exorbitant cost on ...

Department of Transportation's intelligent transportation systems (ITS) projects book

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2002-01-01

Surface transportation systems in the United States today face a number of significant challenges. Congestion and safety continue to present serious problems in spite of the nations superb roadway systems. Congestion imposes an exorbitant cost on ...

An ultrafast electron microscope gun driven by two-photon photoemission from a nanotip cathode

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bormann, Reiner; Strauch, Stefanie; Schäfer, Sascha, E-mail: schaefer@ph4.physik.uni-goettingen.de

We experimentally and numerically investigate the performance of an advanced ultrafast electron source, based on two-photon photoemission from a tungsten needle cathode incorporated in an electron microscope gun geometry. Emission properties are characterized as a function of the electrostatic gun settings, and operating conditions leading to laser-triggered electron beams of very low emittance (below 20 nm mrad) are identified. The results highlight the excellent suitability of optically driven nano-cathodes for the further development of ultrafast transmission electron microscopy.

Concept of Integrated Information Systems of Rail Transport

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Siergiejczyk, Mirosław; Gago, Stanisław

This paper will present a need to create integrated information systems of the rail transport and their links with other means of public transportation. IT standards will be discussed that are expected to create the integrated information systems of the rail transport. Also the main tasks will be presented of centralized information systems, the concept of their architecture, business processes and their implementation as well as the proposed measures to secure data. A method shall be proposed to implement a system to inform participants of rail transport in Polish conditions.

Ultrafast Non-thermal Response of Plasmonic Resonance in Gold Nanoantennas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Soavi, Giancarlo; Valle, Giuseppe Della; Biagioni, Paolo; Cattoni, Andrea; Longhi, Stefano; Cerullo, Giulio; Brida, Daniele

Ultrafast thermalization of electrons in metal nanostructures is studied by means of pump-probe spectroscopy. We track in real-time the plasmon resonance evolution, providing a tool for understanding and controlling gold nanoantennas non-linear optical response.

Performance measures for rural transportation systems : guidebook.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2006-06-01

This Performance Measures for Rural Transportation Systems Guidebook provides a : standardized and supportable performance measurement process that can be applied to : transportation systems in rural areas. The guidance included in this guidebook was...

The Space Transportation System. [Space Shuttle-Spacelab-Space Tug system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Donlan, C. J.; Brazill, E. J.

1976-01-01

The Space Transportation System, consisting of the Space Shuttle, Spacelab, and the Space Tug, is discussed from the viewpoint of reductions in the cost of space operations. Each of the three vehicles is described along with its mission capabilities, and the time table for system development activities is outlined. Basic attributes of the Space Transportation System are reviewed, all operational modes are considered, and the total cost picture of the system is examined from the standpoint of a mission economic analysis. It is concluded that as the features of the Space Transportation System, especially the Shuttle and the Tug, are put to more efficient use during the maturing-operation phase, the total cost of conducting space missions should be about half of what it would be if any other system were employed.

Ultrafast Nonlinear Microscopy in III-V Semiconductor Nanostructures

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-01-20

SECURITY CLASSIFICATION OF: This project involved the investigation of the photoluminescence properties of individual ZnO nano-rods, characterization ...13. SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES 12. DISTRIBUTION AVAILIBILITY STATEMENT 6. AUTHORS 7. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION NAMES AND ADDRESSES 15. SUBJECT TERMS b...Office P.O. Box 12211 Research Triangle Park, NC 27709-2211 ultrafast imaging, strained nanomaterials , electron-hole plasma dynamics, microscopy

Systemic Analysis Approaches for Air Transportation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Conway, Sheila

2005-01-01

Air transportation system designers have had only limited success using traditional operations research and parametric modeling approaches in their analyses of innovations. They need a systemic methodology for modeling of safety-critical infrastructure that is comprehensive, objective, and sufficiently concrete, yet simple enough to be used with reasonable investment. The methodology must also be amenable to quantitative analysis so issues of system safety and stability can be rigorously addressed. However, air transportation has proven itself an extensive, complex system whose behavior is difficult to describe, no less predict. There is a wide range of system analysis techniques available, but some are more appropriate for certain applications than others. Specifically in the area of complex system analysis, the literature suggests that both agent-based models and network analysis techniques may be useful. This paper discusses the theoretical basis for each approach in these applications, and explores their historic and potential further use for air transportation analysis.

Lunar articulated remote transportation system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Beech, Geoffrey; Conley, Gerald; Diaz, Claudine; Dimella, Timothy; Dodson, Pete; Hykin, Jeff; Richards, Byron; Richardson, Kroy; Shetzer, Christie; Vandyke, Melissa

1990-01-01

A first generation lunar transportation vehicle was designed for use on the surface of the Moon between the years 2010 and 2020. Attention is focussed on specific design details on all components of the Lunar Articulated Remote Transportation System (Lunar ARTS). The Lunar ARTS will be a three cart, six-wheeled articulated vehicle. It's purpose will be for the transportation of astronauts and/or materials for excavation purposes at a short distance from the base (37.5 kilometers). The power system includes fuel cells for both the primary system and the back-up system. The vehicle has the option of being operated in a manned or unmanned mode. The unmanned mode includes stereo imaging with signal processing for navigation. For manned missions the display console is a digital readout displayed on the inside of the asronaut's helmet. A microprocessor is also on board the vehicle. Other components of the vehicle include: a double wishbone/flexible hemispherical wheel suspension; chassis; a steering system; motors; seat restraints, heat rejection systems; solar flare protection; dust protection; and meteoroid protection. A one-quarter scale dynamic model was built to study the dynamic behavior of the vehicle. The dynamic model closely captures the mechanical and electrical details of the total design.

Ultrafast terahertz control of extreme tunnel currents through single atoms on a silicon surface

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jelic, Vedran; Iwaszczuk, Krzysztof; Nguyen, Peter H.; Rathje, Christopher; Hornig, Graham J.; Sharum, Haille M.; Hoffman, James R.; Freeman, Mark R.; Hegmann, Frank A.

2017-06-01

Ultrafast control of current on the atomic scale is essential for future innovations in nanoelectronics. Extremely localized transient electric fields on the nanoscale can be achieved by coupling picosecond duration terahertz pulses to metallic nanostructures. Here, we demonstrate terahertz scanning tunnelling microscopy (THz-STM) in ultrahigh vacuum as a new platform for exploring ultrafast non-equilibrium tunnelling dynamics with atomic precision. Extreme terahertz-pulse-driven tunnel currents up to 107 times larger than steady-state currents in conventional STM are used to image individual atoms on a silicon surface with 0.3 nm spatial resolution. At terahertz frequencies, the metallic-like Si(111)-(7 × 7) surface is unable to screen the electric field from the bulk, resulting in a terahertz tunnel conductance that is fundamentally different than that of the steady state. Ultrafast terahertz-induced band bending and non-equilibrium charging of surface states opens new conduction pathways to the bulk, enabling extreme transient tunnel currents to flow between the tip and sample.

Ultrafast far-infrared studies of vanadates &mdash Multiple routes for an insulator to metal transition

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Mengkun

The metal insulator transition in vanadates has been studied for decades and yet new discoveries still spring up revealing new physics, especially among two of the most studied members: Vanadium sesquioxide (V20 3) and Vanadium dioxide (VO2). Although subtleties abound, both of the materials have first order insulator to metal phase transitions that are considered to be related to strong electron-electron (e-e) correlation. Further, ultrafast spectroscopy of strongly correlated materials has generated great interest in the field given the potential to dynamically distinguish the difference between electronic (spin) response versus lattice responses due to the associated characteristic energy and time scales. In this thesis, I mainly focus on utilizing ultrafast optical and THz spectroscopy to study phase transition dynamics in high quality V20 3 and VO2 thin films epitaxially grown on different substrates. The main findings of the thesis are: (1) Despite the fact that the insulator to metal transition (IMT) in V203 is electron-correlation driven, lattice distortion plays an important role. Coherent oscillations in the far-infrared conductivity are observed resulting from coherent acoustic phonon modulation of the bandwidth W. The same order of lattice distortion induces less of an effect on the electron transport in VO2 in comparison to V203. This is directly related to the difference in latent heat of the phase transitions in VO2 and V203. (2) It is possible for the IMT to occur with very little structural change in epitaxial strained VO2 films, like in the case of Cr doped or strained V203. However, in V02, this necessitates a large strain which is only possible by clamping to a substrate with larger c axis parameter through epitaxial growth. This is demonstrated for VO 2 films on TiO2 substrates. (3) Initiating an ultrafast photo-induced insulator-to-metal transition (IMT) is not only possible with above bandgap excitation, but also possible with high-field far

Electrical Power Systems for NASA's Space Transportation Program

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lollar, Louis F.; Maus, Louis C.

1998-01-01

Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) is the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) lead center for space transportation systems development. These systems include earth to orbit launch vehicles, as well as vehicles for orbital transfer and deep space missions. The tasks for these systems include research, technology maturation, design, development, and integration of space transportation and propulsion systems. One of the key elements in any transportation system is the electrical power system (EPS). Every transportation system has to have some form of electrical power and the EPS for each of these systems tends to be as varied and unique as the missions they are supporting. The Preliminary Design Office (PD) at MSFC is tasked to perform feasibility analyses and preliminary design studies for new projects, particularly in the space transportation systems area. All major subsystems, including electrical power, are included in each of these studies. Three example systems being evaluated in PD at this time are the Liquid Fly Back Booster (LFBB) system, the Human Mission to Mars (HMM) study, and a tether based flight experiment called the Propulsive Small Expendable Deployer System (ProSEDS). These three systems are in various stages of definition in the study phase.

Ultrafast acousto-optic mode conversion in optically birefringent ferroelectrics

PubMed Central

Lejman, Mariusz; Vaudel, Gwenaelle; Infante, Ingrid C.; Chaban, Ievgeniia; Pezeril, Thomas; Edely, Mathieu; Nataf, Guillaume F.; Guennou, Mael; Kreisel, Jens; Gusev, Vitalyi E.; Dkhil, Brahim; Ruello, Pascal

2016-01-01

The ability to generate efficient giga–terahertz coherent acoustic phonons with femtosecond laser makes acousto-optics a promising candidate for ultrafast light processing, which faces electronic device limits intrinsic to complementary metal oxide semiconductor technology. Modern acousto-optic devices, including optical mode conversion process between ordinary and extraordinary light waves (and vice versa), remain limited to the megahertz range. Here, using coherent acoustic waves generated at tens of gigahertz frequency by a femtosecond laser pulse, we reveal the mode conversion process and show its efficiency in ferroelectric materials such as BiFeO3 and LiNbO3. Further to the experimental evidence, we provide a complete theoretical support to this all-optical ultrafast mechanism mediated by acousto-optic interaction. By allowing the manipulation of light polarization with gigahertz coherent acoustic phonons, our results provide a novel route for the development of next-generation photonic-based devices and highlight new capabilities in using ferroelectrics in modern photonics. PMID:27492493

Phosphorene quantum dot saturable absorbers for ultrafast fiber lasers

PubMed Central

Du, J.; Zhang, M.; Guo, Z.; Chen, J.; Zhu, X.; Hu, G.; Peng, P.; Zheng, Z.; Zhang, H.

2017-01-01

We fabricate ultrasmall phosphorene quantum dots (PQDs) with an average size of 2.6 ± 0.9 nm using a liquid exfoliation method involving ultrasound probe sonication followed by bath sonication. By coupling the as-prepared PQDs with microfiber evanescent light field, the PQD-based saturable absorber (SA) device exhibits ultrafast nonlinear saturable absorption property, with an optical modulation depth of 8.1% at the telecommunication band. With the integration of the all-fiber PQD-based SA, a continuous-wave passively mode-locked erbium-doped (Er-doped) laser cavity delivers stable, self-starting pulses with a pulse duration of 0.88 ps and at the cavity repetition rate of 5.47 MHz. Our results contribute to the growing body of work studying the nonlinear optical properties of ultrasmall PQDs that present new opportunities of this two-dimensional (2D) nanomaterial for future ultrafast photonic technologies. PMID:28211471

Ultrafast studies of coexisting electronic order in cuprate superconductors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hinton, James; Thewalt, Eric; Alpichshev, Zhanybek; Sternbach, Aaron; McLeod, Alex; Ji, L.; Veit, Mike; Dorrow, Chelsey; Koralek, Jake; Xhao, Xudong; Barisic, Neven; Kemper, Alexander; Gedik, Nuh; Greven, Martin; Basov, Dimitri; Orenstein, Joe

The cuprate family of high temperature superconductors displays a variety of electronic phases which emerge when charge carriers are added to the antiferromagnetic parent compound. These electronic phases are characterized by subtle differences in the low energy electronic excitations. Ultrafast time-resolved reflectivity (TRR) provides an ideal tool for investigating the cuprate phase diagram, as small changes in the electronic structure can produce significant contrast in the non-equilibrium reflectivity. Here we present TRR measurements of cuprate superconductors, focusing on the model single-layer cuprate HgBa2CuO4+δ. We observe a cusp-like feature in the quasiparticle lifetime near the superconducting transition temperature Tc. This feature can be understood using a model of coherently-mixed charge-density wave and superconducting pairing. We propose extending this technique to the nanoscale using ultrafast scattering scanning near-field microscopy (u-SNOM). This will allow us to explore how these electronic phases coexist and compete in real-space.

Precision machining of pig intestine using ultrafast laser pulses

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Beck, Rainer J.; Góra, Wojciech S.; Carter, Richard M.; Gunadi, Sonny; Jayne, David; Hand, Duncan P.; Shephard, Jonathan D.

2015-07-01

Endoluminal surgery for the treatment of early stage colorectal cancer is typically based on electrocautery tools which imply restrictions on precision and the risk of harm through collateral thermal damage to the healthy tissue. As a potential alternative to mitigate these drawbacks we present laser machining of pig intestine by means of picosecond laser pulses. The high intensities of an ultrafast laser enable nonlinear absorption processes and a predominantly nonthermal ablation regime. Laser ablation results of square cavities with comparable thickness to early stage colorectal cancers are presented for a wavelength of 1030 nm using an industrial picosecond laser. The corresponding histology sections exhibit only minimal collateral damage to the surrounding tissue. The depth of the ablation can be controlled precisely by means of the pulse energy. Overall, the application of ultrafast lasers to ablate pig intestine enables significantly improved precision and reduced thermal damage to the surrounding tissue compared to conventional techniques.

Ultrafast X-ray Auger probing of photoexcited molecular dynamics

DOE PAGES

McFarland, B. K.; Farrell, J. P.; Miyabe, S.; ...

2014-06-23

Here, molecules can efficiently and selectively convert light energy into other degrees of freedom. Disentangling the underlying ultrafast motion of electrons and nuclei of the photoexcited molecule presents a challenge to current spectroscopic approaches. Here we explore the photoexcited dynamics of molecules by an interaction with an ultrafast X-ray pulse creating a highly localized core hole that decays via Auger emission. We discover that the Auger spectrum as a function of photoexcitation—X-ray-probe delay contains valuable information about the nuclear and electronic degrees of freedom from an element-specific point of view. For the nucleobase thymine, the oxygen Auger spectrum shifts towardsmore » high kinetic energies, resulting from a particular C–O bond stretch in the ππ* photoexcited state. A subsequent shift of the Auger spectrum towards lower kinetic energies displays the electronic relaxation of the initial photoexcited state within 200 fs. Ab-initio simulations reinforce our interpretation and indicate an electronic decay to the nπ* state.« less

Ultrafast acousto-optic mode conversion in optically birefringent ferroelectrics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lejman, Mariusz; Vaudel, Gwenaelle; Infante, Ingrid C.; Chaban, Ievgeniia; Pezeril, Thomas; Edely, Mathieu; Nataf, Guillaume F.; Guennou, Mael; Kreisel, Jens; Gusev, Vitalyi E.; Dkhil, Brahim; Ruello, Pascal

2016-08-01

The ability to generate efficient giga-terahertz coherent acoustic phonons with femtosecond laser makes acousto-optics a promising candidate for ultrafast light processing, which faces electronic device limits intrinsic to complementary metal oxide semiconductor technology. Modern acousto-optic devices, including optical mode conversion process between ordinary and extraordinary light waves (and vice versa), remain limited to the megahertz range. Here, using coherent acoustic waves generated at tens of gigahertz frequency by a femtosecond laser pulse, we reveal the mode conversion process and show its efficiency in ferroelectric materials such as BiFeO3 and LiNbO3. Further to the experimental evidence, we provide a complete theoretical support to this all-optical ultrafast mechanism mediated by acousto-optic interaction. By allowing the manipulation of light polarization with gigahertz coherent acoustic phonons, our results provide a novel route for the development of next-generation photonic-based devices and highlight new capabilities in using ferroelectrics in modern photonics.

Ultrafast Multi-Level Logic Gates with Spin-Valley Coupled Polarization Anisotropy in Monolayer MoS2

PubMed Central

Wang, Yu-Ting; Luo, Chih-Wei; Yabushita, Atsushi; Wu, Kaung-Hsiung; Kobayashi, Takayoshi; Chen, Chang-Hsiao; Li, Lain-Jong

2015-01-01

The inherent valley-contrasting optical selection rules for interband transitions at the K and K′ valleys in monolayer MoS2 have attracted extensive interest. Carriers in these two valleys can be selectively excited by circularly polarized optical fields. The comprehensive dynamics of spin valley coupled polarization and polarized exciton are completely resolved in this work. Here, we present a systematic study of the ultrafast dynamics of monolayer MoS2 including spin randomization, exciton dissociation, free carrier relaxation, and electron-hole recombination by helicity- and photon energy-resolved transient spectroscopy. The time constants for these processes are 60 fs, 1 ps, 25 ps, and ~300 ps, respectively. The ultrafast dynamics of spin polarization, valley population, and exciton dissociation provides the desired information about the mechanism of radiationless transitions in various applications of 2D transition metal dichalcogenides. For example, spin valley coupled polarization provides a promising way to build optically selective-driven ultrafast valleytronics at room temperature. Therefore, a full understanding of the ultrafast dynamics in MoS2 is expected to provide important fundamental and technological perspectives. PMID:25656222

System dynamics of subcellular transport.

PubMed

Chen, Vivien Y; Khersonsky, Sonya M; Shedden, Kerby; Chang, Young Tae; Rosania, Gus R

2004-01-01

In pharmacokinetic experiments, interpretations often hinge on treating cells as a "black box": a single, lumped compartment or boundary. Here, a combinatorial library of fluorescent small molecules was used to visualize subcellular transport pathways in living cells, using a kinetic, high content imaging system to monitor spatiotemporal variations of intracellular probe distribution. Most probes accumulate in cytoplasmic vesicles and probe kinetics conform to a nested, two-compartment dynamical system. At steady state, probes preferentially partition from the extracellular medium to the cytosol, and from the cytosol to cytoplasmic vesicles, with hydrophobic molecules favoring sequestration. Altogether, these results point to a general organizing principle underlying the system dynamics of subcellular, small molecule transport. In addition to plasma membrane permeability, subcellular transport phenomena can determine the active concentration of small molecules in the cytosol and the efflux of small molecules from cells. Fundamentally, direct observation of intracellular probe distribution challenges the simple boundary model of classical pharmacokinetics, which considers cells as static permeability barriers.

Hyperspectral imaging utility for transportation systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bridgelall, Raj; Rafert, J. Bruce; Tolliver, Denver

2015-03-01

The global transportation system is massive, open, and dynamic. Existing performance and condition assessments of the complex interacting networks of roadways, bridges, railroads, pipelines, waterways, airways, and intermodal ports are expensive. Hyperspectral imaging is an emerging remote sensing technique for the non-destructive evaluation of multimodal transportation infrastructure. Unlike panchromatic, color, and infrared imaging, each layer of a hyperspectral image pixel records reflectance intensity from one of dozens or hundreds of relatively narrow wavelength bands that span a broad range of the electromagnetic spectrum. Hence, every pixel of a hyperspectral scene provides a unique spectral signature that offers new opportunities for informed decision-making in transportation systems development, operations, and maintenance. Spaceborne systems capture images of vast areas in a short period but provide lower spatial resolution than airborne systems. Practitioners use manned aircraft to achieve higher spatial and spectral resolution, but at the price of custom missions and narrow focus. The rapid size and cost reduction of unmanned aircraft systems promise a third alternative that offers hybrid benefits at affordable prices by conducting multiple parallel missions. This research formulates a theoretical framework for a pushbroom type of hyperspectral imaging system on each type of data acquisition platform. The study then applies the framework to assess the relative potential utility of hyperspectral imaging for previously proposed remote sensing applications in transportation. The authors also introduce and suggest new potential applications of hyperspectral imaging in transportation asset management, network performance evaluation, and risk assessments to enable effective and objective decision- and policy-making.

Morphological changes in ultrafast laser ablation plumes with varying spot size

DOE PAGES

Harilal, S. S.; Diwakar, P. K.; Polek, M. P.; ...

2015-06-04

We investigated the role of spot size on plume morphology during ultrafast laser ablation of metal targets. Our results show that the spatial features of fs LA plumes are strongly dependent on the focal spot size. Two-dimensional self-emission images showed that the shape of the ultrafast laser ablation plumes changes from spherical to cylindrical with an increasing spot size from 100 to 600 μm. The changes in plume morphology and internal structures are related to ion emission dynamics from the plasma, where broader angular ion distribution and faster ions are noticed for the smallest spot size used. The present resultsmore » clearly show that the morphological changes in the plume with spot size are independent of laser pulse width.« less

Morphological changes in ultrafast laser ablation plumes with varying spot size.

PubMed

Harilal, S S; Diwakar, P K; Polek, M P; Phillips, M C

2015-06-15

We investigated the role of spot size on plume morphology during ultrafast laser ablation of metal targets. Our results show that the spatial features of fs LA plumes are strongly dependent on the focal spot size. Two-dimensional self-emission images showed that the shape of the ultrafast laser ablation plumes changes from spherical to cylindrical with an increasing spot size from 100 to 600 μm. The changes in plume morphology and internal structures are related to ion emission dynamics from the plasma, where broader angular ion distribution and faster ions are noticed for the smallest spot size used. The present results clearly show that the morphological changes in the plume with spot size are independent of laser pulse width.

Ultrafast time-resolved photoemission of a metallic tip/substrate junction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Meng, Xiang; Jin, Wencan; Yang, Hao; Dadap, Jerry; Osgood, Richard; Camillone, Nicholas, III

The strong near-field enhancement of metallic-tip nanostructures has attracted great interest in scanning microscopy techniques, such as surface-enhanced Raman scattering, near-field scanning optical microscopy and tip-enhanced nonlinear imaging. In this talk, we use a full vectorial 3D-FDTD method to investigate the spatial characteristics of the optical field confinement and localization between a tungsten nanoprobe and an infinite planar silver substrate, with two-color ultrafast laser excitation scheme. The degree of two-color excited field enhancement, geometry dependence, the exact mechanism of optical tip-substrate coupling and tip-substrate plasmon resonances are significant in understanding the electrodynamical responses at tip-substrate junction. The demonstrated measurements with subpicosecond time and subnanometer spatial resolution suggest a new approach to ultrafast time-resolved measurements of surface electron dynamics. DE-FG 02-90-ER-14104; DE-FG 02-04-ER-46157.

Lightweight Monorail Transport System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Weir, Harold F.; Wood, Kenneth E.; Strecker, Myron T.

1987-01-01

Report proposes monorail transportation system for zero-gravity environment. System carries materials and parts between locations on space station. Includes tubular rails instead of open channels usually found in overhead conveyor systems. Since resistance to torque of closed tube greater than that of open channel for same amount of material, tubular monorail designed for higher loads or for greater spacing between support points.

Ultrafast magnon generation in an Fe film on Cu(100).

PubMed

Schmidt, A B; Pickel, M; Donath, M; Buczek, P; Ernst, A; Zhukov, V P; Echenique, P M; Sandratskii, L M; Chulkov, E V; Weinelt, M

2010-11-05

We report on a combined experimental and theoretical study of the spin-dependent relaxation processes in the electron system of an iron film on Cu(100). Spin-, time-, energy- and angle-resolved two-photon photoemission shows a strong characteristic dependence of the lifetime of photoexcited electrons on their spin and energy. Ab initio calculations as well as a many-body treatment corroborate that the observed properties are determined by relaxation processes involving magnon emission. Thereby we demonstrate that magnon emission by hot electrons occurs on the femtosecond time scale and thus provides a significant source of ultrafast spin-flip processes. Furthermore, engineering of the magnon spectrum paves the way for tuning the dynamic properties of magnetic materials.

Transportation Planning with Immune System Derived Approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sugiyama, Kenji; Yaji, Yasuhito; Ootsuki, John Takuya; Fujimoto, Yasutaka; Sekiguchi, Takashi

This paper presents an immune system derived approach for planning transportation of materials between manufacturing processes in the factory. Transportation operations are modeled by Petri Net, and divided into submodels. Transportation orders are derived from the firing sequences of those submodels through convergence calculation by the immune system derived excitation and suppression operations. Basic evaluation of this approach is conducted by simulation-based investigation.

Solutions to Improve Person Transport System in the Pitesti City by Analyzing Public Transport vs. Private Transport

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mihaela, Istrate; Alexandru, Boroiu; Viorel, Nicolae; Ionel, Vieru

2017-10-01

One of the major problems facing the Pitesti city is the road congestion that occurs in the central area of the city during the peak hours. With all the measures taken in recent years - the widening of road arteries, increasing the number of parking spaces, the creation of overground road passages - it is obvious that the problem can only be solved by a new philosophy regarding urban mobility: it is no longer possible to continue through solutions to increase the accessibility of the central area of the city, but it is necessary, on the contrary, to promote a policy of discouraging the penetration of vehicles in the city center, coupled with a policy of improving the connection between urban public transport and county public transport. This new approach is also proposed in the new Urban Mobility Plan of Pitesti city, under development. The most convincing argument for the necessity of this new orientation in the Pitesti city mobility plan is based on the analysis of the current situation of passenger transport on the territory of Pitesti city: the analysis of “public transport versus private transport” reveals a very low occupancy rate for cars and the fact that the road surface required for a passenger (the dynamic area) is much higher in the case of private transport than in the case of public transport. Measurements of passenger flows and vehicle flows on the 6 penetration ways in the city have been made and the calculations clearly demonstrate the benefits of an urban public transport system connected by “transshipment buses” to be made at the edge of the city, to the county public transport system. In terms of inter-county transport, it will continue to be connected to the urban public transport system by existing bus Station, within the city: South Bus Station and North Bus Station. The usefulness of the paper is that it identifies the solutions for sustainable mobility in Pitesti city and proposes concrete solutions for the development of the

Integrated Intermodal Passenger Transportation System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Klock, Ryan; Owens, David; Schwartz, Henry; Plencner, Robert

2012-01-01

Modern transportation consists of many unique modes of travel. Each of these modes and their respective industries has evolved independently over time, forming a largely incoherent and inefficient overall transportation system. Travelers today are forced to spend unnecessary time and efforts planning a trip through varying modes of travel each with their own scheduling, pricing, and services; causing many travelers to simply rely on their relatively inefficient and expensive personal automobile. This paper presents a demonstration program system to not only collect and format many different sources of trip planning information, but also combine these independent modes of travel in order to form optimal routes and itineraries of travel. The results of this system show a mean decrease in inter-city travel time of 10 percent and a 25 percent reduction in carbon dioxide emissions over personal automobiles. Additionally, a 55 percent reduction in carbon dioxide emissions is observed for intra-city travel. A conclusion is that current resources are available, if somewhat hidden, to drastically improve point to point transportation in terms of time spent traveling, the cost of travel, and the ecological impact of a trip. Finally, future concepts are considered which could dramatically improve the interoperability and efficiency of the transportation infrastructure.

Effectiveness of work zone intelligent transportation systems.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2013-12-01

In the last decade, Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) have increasingly been deployed in work zones by state departments of transportation. Also known as smart work zone systems they improve traffic operations and safety by providing real-time...

Ultrafast demagnetization enhancement in CoFeB/MgO/CoFeB magnetic tunneling junction driven by spin tunneling current.

PubMed

He, Wei; Zhu, Tao; Zhang, Xiang-Qun; Yang, Hai-Tao; Cheng, Zhao-Hua

2013-10-07

The laser-induced ultrafast demagnetization of CoFeB/MgO/CoFeB magnetic tunneling junction is exploited by time-resolved magneto-optical Kerr effect (TRMOKE) for both the parallel state (P state) and the antiparallel state (AP state) of the magnetizations between two magnetic layers. It was observed that the demagnetization time is shorter and the magnitude of demagnetization is larger in the AP state than those in the P state. These behaviors are attributed to the ultrafast spin transfer between two CoFeB layers via the tunneling of hot electrons through the MgO barrier. Our observation indicates that ultrafast demagnetization can be engineered by the hot electrons tunneling current. It opens the door to manipulate the ultrafast spin current in magnetic tunneling junctions.

Preparing Texas' freight transportation system for 2055.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2017-04-01

Efficient, reliable, and safe freight transportation is critical to the economic prosperity of any region. An efficient multimodal and intermodal transportation system reduces transportation and supply chain transaction costs and increases connectivi...

Transportation Systems Technology : a Twenty-Year Outlook

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1971-08-01

An overall technology assessment of new and improved transportation systems is given. A broad survey has been made of new systems concepts for passenger and freight transportation in urban and interurban applications. Results of the findings are repo...

Transporters, channels, or simple diffusion? Dogmas, atypical roles and complexity in transport systems.

PubMed

Conde, Artur; Diallinas, George; Chaumont, François; Chaves, Manuela; Gerós, Hernâni

2010-06-01

The recent breakthrough discoveries of transport systems assigned with atypical functions provide evidence for complexity in membrane transport biochemistry. Some channels are far from being simple pores creating hydrophilic passages for solutes and can, unexpectedly, act as enzymes, or mediate high-affinity uptake, and some transporters are surprisingly able to function as sensors, channels or even enzymes. Furthermore, numerous transport studies have demonstrated complex multiphasic uptake kinetics for organic and mineral nutrients. The biphasic kinetics of glucose uptake in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, a result of several genetically distinct uptake systems operating simultaneously, is a classical example that is a subject of continuous debate. In contrast, some transporters display biphasic kinetics, being bona fidae dual-affinity transporters, their kinetic properties often modulated by post-translational regulation. Also, aquaporins have recently been reported to exhibit diverse transport properties and can behave as highly adapted, multifunctional channels, transporting solutes such as CO(2), hydrogen peroxide, urea, ammonia, glycerol, polyols, carbamides, purines and pyrimidines, metalloids, glycine, and lactic acid, rather than being simple water pores. The present review provides an overview on some atypical functions displayed by transporter proteins and discusses how this novel knowledge on cellular uptake systems may be related to complex multiphasic uptake kinetics often seen in a wide variety of living organisms and the intriguing diffusive uptake of sugars and other solutes. Copyright 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Ultrafast band-gap oscillations in iron pyrite

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kolb, B; Kolpak, AM

2013-12-20

With its combination of favorable band gap, high absorption coefficient, material abundance, and low cost, iron pyrite, FeS2, has received a great deal of attention over the past decades as a promising material for photovoltaic applications such as solar cells and photoelectrochemical cells. Devices made from pyrite, however, exhibit open circuit voltages significantly lower than predicted, and despite a recent resurgence of interest in the material, there currently exists no widely accepted explanation for this disappointing behavior. In this paper, we show that phonons, which have been largely overlooked in previous efforts, may play a significant role. Using fully self-consistentmore » GW calculations, we demonstrate that a phonon mode related to the oscillation of the sulfur-sulfur bond distance in the pyrite structure is strongly coupled to the energy of the conduction-band minimum, leading to an ultrafast (approximate to 100 fs) oscillation in the band gap. Depending on the coherency of the phonons, we predict that this effect can cause changes of up to +/- 0.3 eV relative to the accepted FeS2 band gap at room temperature. Harnessing this effect via temperature or irradiation with infrared light could open up numerous possibilities for novel devices such as ultrafast switches and adaptive solar absorbers.« less

Enhanced Ultrafast Nonlinear Optics With Microstructure Fibers And Photonic Crystals

DTIC Science & Technology

2004-07-01

NANOHOLES FREQUENCY-TUNABLE ANTI-STOKES LINE EMISSION BY EIGENMODES OF A BIREFRINGENT MICROSTRUCTURE FIBER GENERATION OF FEMTOSECOND ANTI-STOKES PULSES...laser technologies, and ultrafast photonics. ANTI-STOKES GENERATION IN GUIDED MODES OF PHOTONIC-CRYSTAL FIBERS MODIFIED WITH AN ARRAY OF NANOHOLES

Apparatus and method for characterizing ultrafast polarization varying optical pulses

DOEpatents

Smirl, Arthur; Trebino, Rick P.

1999-08-10

Practical techniques are described for characterizing ultrafast potentially ultraweak, ultrashort optical pulses. The techniques are particularly suited to the measurement of signals from nonlinear optical materials characterization experiments, whose signals are generally too weak for full characterization using conventional techniques.

Cryogenic Transport of High-Pressure-System Recharge Gas

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ungar, Eugene K,; Ruemmele, Warren P.; Bohannon, Carl

2010-01-01

A method of relatively safe, compact, efficient recharging of a high-pressure room-temperature gas supply has been proposed. In this method, the gas would be liquefied at the source for transport as a cryogenic fluid at or slightly above atmospheric pressure. Upon reaching the destination, a simple heating/expansion process would be used to (1) convert the transported cryogenic fluid to the room-temperature, high-pressure gaseous form in which it is intended to be utilized and (2) transfer the resulting gas to the storage tank of the system to be recharged. In conventional practice for recharging high-pressure-gas systems, gases are transported at room temperature in high-pressure tanks. For recharging a given system to a specified pressure, a transport tank must contain the recharge gas at a much higher pressure. At the destination, the transport tank is connected to the system storage tank to be recharged, and the pressures in the transport tank and the system storage tank are allowed to equalize. One major disadvantage of the conventional approach is that the high transport pressure poses a hazard. Another disadvantage is the waste of a significant amount of recharge gas. Because the transport tank is disconnected from the system storage tank when it is at the specified system recharge pressure, the transport tank still contains a significant amount of recharge gas (typically on the order of half of the amount transported) that cannot be used. In the proposed method, the cryogenic fluid would be transported in a suitably thermally insulated tank that would be capable of withstanding the recharge pressure of the destination tank. The tank would be equipped with quick-disconnect fluid-transfer fittings and with a low-power electric heater (which would not be used during transport). In preparation for transport, a relief valve would be attached via one of the quick-disconnect fittings (see figure). During transport, the interior of the tank would be kept at a near

Ultrafast Synaptic Events in a Chalcogenide Memristor

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Yi; Zhong, Yingpeng; Xu, Lei; Zhang, Jinjian; Xu, Xiaohua; Sun, Huajun; Miao, Xiangshui

2013-04-01

Compact and power-efficient plastic electronic synapses are of fundamental importance to overcoming the bottlenecks of developing a neuromorphic chip. Memristor is a strong contender among the various electronic synapses in existence today. However, the speeds of synaptic events are relatively slow in most attempts at emulating synapses due to the material-related mechanism. Here we revealed the intrinsic memristance of stoichiometric crystalline Ge2Sb2Te5 that originates from the charge trapping and releasing by the defects. The device resistance states, representing synaptic weights, were precisely modulated by 30 ns potentiating/depressing electrical pulses. We demonstrated four spike-timing-dependent plasticity (STDP) forms by applying programmed pre- and postsynaptic spiking pulse pairs in different time windows ranging from 50 ms down to 500 ns, the latter of which is 105 times faster than the speed of STDP in human brain. This study provides new opportunities for building ultrafast neuromorphic computing systems and surpassing Von Neumann architecture.