微型铷原子钟专用795nm垂直腔表面发射激光器

针对铷(87 Rb)原子钟激励光源微型化和高温工作的特殊需求,设计并制备了对应铷原子能级跃迁的795nm垂直腔面发射激光器(VCSEL)。首先,根据k·p理论计算了InAlGaAs/AlGaAs量子阱的价带能级和材料增益,得到最优的量子阱组分和厚度;然后,采用一维传输矩阵方法设计了795nm波段的布拉格反射器(DBR),根据完整结构VCSEL器件的驻波场分布设计了掺杂分布;最后,采用金属有机气相外延(MOVPE)技术生长了优化的795nm VCSEL外延结构,并制备了氧化限制型非闭合台面结构的795nm顶发射器件。实验显示:封装后的75μm口径器件可在室温至85℃范围内连续工作,最高功率为17mW,激光光束呈圆形,发散角为15°,激射波长的温漂系数为0.064nm/℃;在温度为52℃、注入电流为100mA时,激射波长位于794.7nm(对应铷原子钟需要的波长),基本满足铷原子钟激励光源对波长稳定和高温工作的要求。     

A tetrode based fast pulsed microwave source for electron cyclotron resonance breakdown experiments

To study electron cylotron resonance (ECR) breakdown and afterglow plasma in an experimental linear plasma system, a pulsed microwave source with rapid rise and fall of microwave power is desired. A pulsed microwave source with fast rise and fall capability for ECR breakdown experiments has been designed and tested for performance in the system. A tetrode, controlled by a modulator card, is used as a fast switch to initiate microwave power from a conventional magnetron operating at 2.45 GHz. The typical rise time of microwave power is approximately 3 micros and a fall time of approximately 10 micros. Using this scheme in a realistic pulsed microwave source at 800 W power, ECR breakdown of neutral gas is achieved and the plasma delay and fall time are observed from the plasma density measurements using a Langmuir probe. The design details of the fast rise pulsed microwave source are presented in this article with initial experimental results.     

A microwave radiometer for measuring signals with a low effective noise temperature

A modulation microwave radiometer using a combined pulse modulation with automatic zero balance control is described. For measurements of signals with a low noise temperature, the radiometer realizes the method of shifting a measurement range toward lower temperatures by using reference noise signals with a high effective temperature. The whole measurement range in a low-temperature region up to 0 K is divided into subranges. The subrange width is 20 K, and the measured resolution is 0.075 K, which corresponds to the fluctuation sensitivity of the radiometer for a 1-s acquisition time.     

A novel method for focus assessment in atomic resolution STEM HAADF experiments

Analysis of the Fourier components of through-focal images in scanning transmission electron microscopy with a high angle annular dark field detector is used to assess illumination defocus values. The method is based on a least squares fitting of the peculiar dependence of Fourier components of the high angle annular dark field image on defocus. The validity of the method has been checked against simulations and experiments obtaining a good level of accuracy on the defocus measurement (δf=2 nm) for simulated specimen thickness up to 40 nm. The difference between simulated and experimental Fourier coefficients for large defoci can be used to estimate the specimen thickness at least up to 30 nm but with decreasing precision for larger thickness.     

Phase-locked laser system for use in atomic coherence experiments

We describe a phase-coherent laser system designed for use in experiments involving coherently prepared atomic media. We implement a simple technique based on a sample-and-hold circuit together with a reset of the integrating electronics that makes it possible to scan continuously the relative frequency between the lasers of over tens of gigahertz while keeping them phase locked. The system consists of three external-cavity diode lasers operating around 795 nm. A low-power laser serves as a frequency reference for two high-power lasers which are phased locked with an optical phase-locked loop. We measured the residual phase noise of the system to be less than 0.04 rad(2). In order to show the application of the system towards atomic coherence experiments, we used it to implement electromagnetically induced transparency in a rubidium vapor cell and obtained a reduction in the absorption coefficient of 92%.     

A phase stability control system in radiointerferometry experiments

A phase-stability control system of the radio-receiving section of a radio telescope, used in radiointerferometry observations, is presented. The system contains a picosecond pulse generator the phase of output pulses of which is synchronized with the reference-signal phase. The generator pulses with a 40-ps duration are applied to the input of the receiving unit, and, having passed the same path, as a signal received from celestial sources, are intended to compensate a signal-phase change occurring in the receiving-converting section by the correlation processing. The designed system controls the phase stability with an accuracy of 10 ps.     

A field-emission source of charges based on nanotubes for low-temperature experiments

Methods for the production of field-emission sources of charges on the basis of carbon nanotubes are described. These sources can be used to study the properties of injected charges in cryogenic liquids and crystals (the area of the source surface is about several square millimeters, the dissipated power is <10^?6 W). The first and second batches of sources were produced by means of the deposition of nanotubes from an arc discharge on a flat copper substrate and via mechanical rubbing of nanotubes into a porous metal, respectively. Tests of sources from the first batch in a diode with a gap of 0.5 mm showed that in superfluid He-II, the current of negative charges at a level of 10^?12 A arises when the voltage at the cathode is U = ?140 V and increases to 10^?9 A, when U rises to 170 V. When the voltage polarity changes, the current of positive charges arises in the diode for the voltage U ≥ 240 V. A source from the first batch was used to observe the movement of negative and positive charges in solid-helium samples at T < 75 mK. For second-batch sources, the current of negative charges at a level of 10^?12 A in superfluid He-II arises at U = ?260 V.     

Exploiting cantilever curvature for noise reduction in atomic force microscopy

Optical beam deflection is a widely used method for detecting the deflection of atomic force microscope (AFM) cantilevers. This paper presents a first order derivation for the angular detection noise density which determines the lower limit for deflection sensing. Surprisingly, the cantilever radius of curvature, commonly not considered, plays a crucial role and can be exploited to decrease angular detection noise. We demonstrate a reduction in angular detection shot noise of more than an order of magnitude on a home-built AFM with a commercial 450 μm long cantilever by exploiting the optical properties of the cantilever curvature caused by the reflective gold coating. Lastly, we demonstrate how cantilever curvature can be responsible for up to 45% of the variability in the measured sensitivity of cantilevers on commercially available AFMs.     

发动机噪声的声压测量与分析

利用声压法对某直列六缸机的整机噪声进行测量分析,对整机噪声水平作出评价,确定了该机的主要噪声源位置,并为其降噪提供依据.     

An oscillator with low phase noise based on active resonator using metamaterial in K-band

An oscillator(OSC)with a metamaterial resonator based on high-Q is designed to improve the phase noise in Kband.The proposed metamaterial resonator is a lattice structure resonator(LSR)that is designed to be high-Q by a strong coupling of E-field at the resonance frequency.Thus the output of OSC is about 12.5dBm at the f0.The phase noise is 109.477dBc/Hz at 100kHz offset frequency.     

Reduction of frequency noise and frequency shift by phase shifting elements in frequency modulation atomic force microscopy

We recently reported the analysis of the frequency noise in the frequency modulation atomic force microscopy (FM-AFM) both in high-Q and low-Q environments [Rev. Sci. Instrum. 80, 043708 (2009)]. We showed in the paper that the oscillator noise, the frequency fluctuation of the oscillator, becomes prominent in the modulation frequency lower than f(0)∕2Q, where f(0) and Q are the resonance frequency and Q-factor. The magnitude of the oscillator noise is determined by the slope of the phase versus frequency curve of the cantilever at f(0). However, in actual FM-AFM in liquids, the phase versus frequency curve may not be always ideal because of the existence of various phase shifting elements (PSEs). For example, the spurious resonance peaks caused by the acoustic excitation and a band-pass filter in the self-oscillation loop increase the slope of the phase versus frequency curve. Due to those PSEs, the effective Q-factor is often increased from the intrinsic Q-factor of the cantilever. In this article, the frequency noise in the FM-AFM system with the PSEs in the self-oscillation loop is analyzed to show that the oscillator noise is reduced by the increase of the effective Q-factor. It is also shown that the oscillation frequency deviates from the resonance frequency due to the increase of the effective Q-factor, thereby causing the reduction in the frequency shift signal with the same factor. Therefore the increase of the effective Q-factor does not affect the signal-to-noise ratio in the frequency shift measurement, but it does affect the quantitativeness of the measured force in the FM-AFM. Furthermore, the reduction of the frequency noise and frequency shift by the increase of the effective Q-factor were confirmed by the experiments.     

Note: innovative demodulation scheme for coherent detectors in cosmic microwave background experiments

We propose an innovative demodulation scheme for coherent detectors used in cosmic microwave background polarization experiments. Removal of non-white noise, e.g., narrow-band noise, in detectors is one of the key requirements for the experiments. A combination of modulation and demodulation is used to extract polarization signals as well as to suppress such noise. Traditional demodulation, which is based on the two-point numerical differentiation, works as a first-order high pass filter for the noise. The proposed demodulation is based on the three-point numerical differentiation. It works as a second-order high pass filter. By using a real detector, we confirmed significant improvements of suppression power for the narrow-band noise. We also found improvement of the noise floor.     

Study of thermal and acoustic noise interferences in low stiffness atomic force microscope cantilevers and characterization of their dynamic properties

The atomic force microscope (AFM) is a powerful tool for the measurement of forces at the micro/nano scale when calibrated cantilevers are used. Besides many existing calibration techniques, the thermal calibration is one of the simplest and fastest methods for the dynamic characterization of an AFM cantilever. This method is efficient provided that the Brownian motion (thermal noise) is the most important source of excitation during the calibration process. Otherwise, the value of spring constant is underestimated. This paper investigates noise interference ranges in low stiffness AFM cantilevers taking into account thermal fluctuations and acoustic pressures as two main sources of noise. As a result, a preliminary knowledge about the conditions in which thermal fluctuations and acoustic pressures have closely the same effect on the AFM cantilever (noise interference) is provided with both theoretical and experimental arguments. Consequently, beyond the noise interference range, commercial low stiffness AFM cantilevers are calibrated in two ways: using the thermal noise (in a wide temperature range) and acoustic pressures generated by a loudspeaker. We then demonstrate that acoustic noises can also be used for an efficient characterization and calibration of low stiffness AFM cantilevers. The accuracy of the acoustic characterization is evaluated by comparison with results from the thermal calibration.     

A general model for porous medium flow in squeezing film situations

The present paper deals with a numerical investigation of the hydrodynamic lubrication of a porous squeeze film between two circular discs. To this purpose, the thin film (reduced) Navier Stokes equations and a generalised porous medium model are solved. The numerical results show that the effect of the porous disc is to reduce the lubricating properties of the fluid film. This effect is increased during the squeezing action. In addition, it is shown that the film pressure, the load‐carrying capacity and the velocity field based only on the Darcy model are predicted higher than those obtained from the generalised porous medium model. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A firmware system for phase measurements in extremely low and ultralow frequency ranges

In experimental investigations of artificial and natural signals in extremely-low frequency (ELF) and ultra-low frequency (ULF) ranges, it is necessary to measure amplitudes and relative phases of the electromagnetic field components in a network of stations. The phase measurement includes accurate synchronization of data with the universal time. In this work, the geophysical data acquisition system, which allows one to synchronize measurement results and the coordinated universal time with an accuracy of a few microseconds, is described. Methods for processing the electromagnetic field components of the harmonic signal source, recorded by this data acquisition system, are proposed.     

A ground-based radio frequency inductively coupled plasma apparatus for atomic oxygen simulation in low Earth orbit

A radio frequency (rf) inductively coupled plasma apparatus has been developed to simulate the atomic oxygen environment encountered in low Earth orbit (LEO). Basing on the novel design, the apparatus can achieve stable, long lasting operation, pure and high density oxygen plasma beam. Furthermore, the effective atomic oxygen flux can be regulated. The equivalent effective atomic oxygen flux may reach (2.289-2.984) x 10(16) at.cm(2) s at an oxygen pressure of 1.5 Pa and rf power of 400 W. The equivalent atomic oxygen flux is about 100 times than that in the LEO environment. The mass loss measured from the polyimide sample changes linearly with the exposure time, while the density of the eroded holes becomes smaller. The erosion mechanism of the polymeric materials by atomic oxygen is complex and involves initial reactions at the gas-surface interface as well as steady-state material removal.     

微波消解-石墨炉原子吸收法测定花椒中的镉

花椒样品经微波消解后,用石墨炉原子吸收光谱法测定其镉含量。通过试验优化消解体系、消解升温程序、石墨炉加热升温程序、基体改进剂等实验条件,建立测定花椒中镉的新方法。结果表明,此方法简便、快速、准确,较好满足花椒中镉含量检测要求。     

A heated vapor cell unit for dichroic atomic vapor laser lock in atomic rubidium

The design and performance of a compact heated vapor cell unit for realizing a dichroic atomic vapor laser lock (DAVLL) for the D(2) transitions in atomic rubidium is described. A 5 cm long vapor cell is placed in a double-solenoid arrangement to produce the required magnetic field; the heat from the solenoid is used to increase the vapor pressure and correspondingly the DAVLL signal. We have characterized experimentally the dependence of important features of the DAVLL signal on magnetic field and cell temperature. For the weaker transitions both the amplitude and gradient of the signal are increased by an order of magnitude.     

A proposal for dichroic experiments in the electron microscope

Building upon the similarities between inelastic electron scattering and X-ray absorption we show that dichroism can be observed in electron energy loss spectrometry (EELS) in the transmission electron microscope (TEM). Natural or magnetic linear dichroism can be studied in electron scattering experiment with definite wave vector transfer in the interaction.The detection of circular dichroism in the TEM relies on interferometric EELS in a particular scattering geometry that allows extraction of the mixed dynamic form factor from energy loss spectra. Similarities between dichroic signals in energy loss near edge structures and X-ray absorption near edge structures are discussed, and a new experimental setup for dichroic measurements in the TEM is proposed.     

Quantitative analysis of image contrast in phase contrast STEM for low dose imaging

This work quantitatively evaluates the contrast in phase contrast images of thin vermiculite crystals recorded by TEM and aberration-corrected bright-field STEM. Specimen movement induced by electron irradiation remains a major problem limiting the phase contrast in TEM images of radiation-sensitive specimens. While spot scanning improves the contrast, it does not eliminate the problem. One possibility is to utilise aberration-corrected scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) with an Ångstrom-sized probe to illuminate the sample, and thus further reduce irradiation-induced specimen movement. Vermiculite is relatively radiation insensitive in TEM to electron fluences below 100,000 e⁻/Ų and this is likely to be similar for STEM although different damage mechanisms could occur. We compare the performance of a TEM with a thermally assisted field emission electron gun (FEG) and charge coupled device (CCD) image capture to the performance of STEMs with spherical aberration correction, cold field emission electron sources and photomultiplier tube image capture at a range of electron fluences and similar illumination areas. We show that the absolute contrast of the phase contrast images obtained by aberration-corrected STEM is better than that obtained by TEM. Although the STEM contrast is higher, the efficiency of collection of electrons in bright field STEM is still much less than that in bright field TEM (where for thin samples virtually all the electrons contribute to the image), and the SNR of equivalent STEM images is three times lower. This is better than expected, probably due to the absence of a frequency dependent modulation transfer function in the STEM detection system. With optimisation of the STEM bright field collection angles, the efficiency may approach that of bright field TEM, and if reductions in beam-induced specimen movement are found, STEM could surpass the overall performance of TEM.