Design, implementation, and characterization of a hybrid optical interconnect for a four-stage free-space optical backplane demonstrator

A four-stage unidirectional ring free-space optical interconnect system was designed, analyzed, implemented, and characterized. The optical system was used within a complementary metal-oxide semiconductor-self-electro-optic-effect-device-based optical backplane demonstrator that was designed to fit into a standard VME chassis. This optical interconnect was a hybrid microlens-macrolens system, in which the microlens relays were arranged in a maximum lens-to-waist configuration to route the optical beams from the optical power supply to the transceiver arrays, while the macrolens optical relays were arranged in a telecentric configuration to route optical signal beams from stage to stage. The following aspects of the optical system design are discussed: the optical parameters for the hybrid optical system, the image mapping of the two-dimensional array of optical beams from stage to stage, the alignment tolerance of the hybrid relay system, and the power budget of the overall optical interconnect. The implementation of the optical system, including the characterization of optical components, subsystem prealignment, and final system assembly, is presented. The two-dimensional array of beams for the stage-to-stage interconnect was adjusted with a rotational error of <0.05 degrees and a lateral offset error of <3.5 mum. The measured throughput is in good agreement with the lower-bound predictions obtained in the theoretical results, with an optical power throughput of -20.2 dB from the fiber input of the optical power supply to the modulator array and -25.5 dB from the fiber input to the detector plane.     

Effect of scatter on reconstructed image quality in cone beam computed tomography: evaluation of a scatter-reduction optimisation function

The effect of scatter on reconstructed image quality in cone beam computed tomography was investigated and a function which can be used in scatter-reduction optimisation tasks was tested. Projections were calculated using the Monte Carlo method in an axially symmetric cone beam geometry consisting of a point source, water phantom and a single row of detector elements. Image reconstruction was performed using the filtered backprojection method. Image quality was assessed by the L2-norm-based difference relative to a reference image derived from (1) weighted linear attenuation coefficients and (2) projections by primary photons. It was found that the former function was strongly affected by the beam hardening artefact and did not properly reflect the amount of scatter but the latter function increased with increasing beam width, was higher for the larger phantom and exhibited properties which made it a good candidate for scatter-reduction optimisation tasks using polyenergetic beams.     

Size effect tests of torsional failure of plain and reinforced concrete beams

The current design code formulae for the torsional failure of plain or longitudinally reinforced beams exhibit no size effect, i.e. the failure of geometrically similar beams of different sizes is supposed to occur at the same nominal stress. Experiments on reduced-scale beams were carried out, and the results confirm that there is a significant size effect, such that the nominal stress at failure decreases as the beam size increases. This is found for both plain and longitudinally reinforced beams. The results are consistent with the recently proposed Bažant's size-effect law. However, the scatter of the results and the scope, and range limitations prevent it from being concluded that the applicability of this law is proven.     

Frequency stability in plasma relativistic microwave oscillators

Some features in the operation of microwave oscillators based on the interaction of high-current relativistic electron beams with plasma are considered. The frequency of radiation generated by such oscillators depends of the plasma density, which can vary both during a single microwave pulse and from one pulse to another. The magnitude of these variations can reach several percent. The dependence of the oscillator frequency on the plasma density has been analyzed and the possibility of ensuring stable generation has been studied in numerical experiments. It is established that microwave pulses can be generated with a frequency scatter, which does not exceed the natural spectral bandwidth determined by the pulse duration. The results of calculations and numerical simulations are compared to the available experimental data.     

Power scaling of a fiber master oscillator power amplifier system using a coherent polarization beam combination

A new coherent polarization beam combination (CPBC) architecture was employed to combine four amplified beams and produce over 25 W of coherent output with 94% efficiency and nearly diffraction-limited beam quality. The individual beams were produced by a fiber master oscillator power amplifier system and their phases were controlled and locked using servo-controlled phase modulators. The CPBC approach relies on a coherent superposition of orthogonal polarization states and allows the combination of an arbitrary number of beams with arbitrary power ratios.     

Dynamic effective thickness in laminated-glass beams and plates

In recent years, several equations have been proposed to calculate deflections and stresses in laminated-glass beams and plates under static loading using the concept of effective thickness, which consists of calculating the thickness of a monolithic element with equivalent bending properties to a laminated element. Recently, an effective thickness for the dynamic behavior of laminated-glass beams has been proposed to enable the modal parameters (natural frequencies, loss factors and mode shapes) to be determined using an equivalent monolithic model. In the present paper, the technique has been extended to the two-dimensional case of rectangular laminated-glass plates and the steps needed to estimate the modal parameters of laminated-glass elements using this methodology are presented. The dynamic effective thickness concept has been validated by experimental tests made on a laminated-glass beam and a laminated-glass plate. The results show that good accuracy is achieved in the natural frequencies and mode shapes but high scatter is encountered in the loss factors.     

Ultra short wave generation

The feasibility is investigated of generating ultra short wavelength radiofrequency power by the use of relativistic electron beams in conjunction with cavities operating at very high modes, and transverse magnetic fields which alternate in direction. It is found to be practical to generate coherent radiofrequency power using the type of electron beams available from linear accelerators at wavelengths as short as about 0.1 mm and with efficiencies of about 1%. Using a circulating electron beam contained in a magnetic storage ring system, it seems possible to generate coherent radiation at wavelengths as short as visible light.     

Rotating target for high power neutral beams

For the development of 160 keV neutral deuterium beams, needed for the plasma heating in JET, a test bed was constructed in our laboratory at FAR. An important element of the test bed is a rotating target which can handle high power beams (∼ 5 MW) with power densities up to 20 kW/cm² for long pulse operation (∼ 10 s). Here we describe the rotating target and its long term operation.     

Application of an all-solid-state,frequency-doubled Nd:YAP laser to the generation of twin beams at 1080 nm

A laser-diode-pumped intracavity frequency-doubled Nd:YAP/KTP laser is presented. Over 110 mw of TEM00 single-frequency output power at 540-nm wavelength was obtained. The output green laser was employed to pump a semimonolithic nondegenerate optical parametric oscillator to produce intensity quantum correlated twin beams at 1080 nm, and the maximum quantum noise squeezing of 74% (5.9dB) on the intensity difference fluctuation between the twin beams is observed. The threshold was reduced and the stability was increased significantly when compared with similar lamp-pumped systems.     

Role of evanescent waves in power calculations for counterpropagating beams

A general expression is obtained for the time-average power passing through a plane transverse to the direction of propagation for two counterpropagating electromagnetic beams. Each beam is represented by its plane-wave spectrum, which contains both propagating and evanescent plane waves. The expression clearly shows that, under certain conditions, the evanescent plane waves contribute to the time-average power passing through the plane. This is in contrast to the case of a single electromagnetic beam, in which only the propagating plane waves contribute to the time-average power passing through the plane. The utility of the expression is demonstrated with a practical example: a line current placed over a dielectric slab. Here the counterpropagating beams are the incident and reflected fields in the region between the current and the slab. The expression is applied to a plane in this region, and it is used to determine the time-average power associated with the evanescent waves passing through this plane. This power is then shown to be equal to the time-average power carried by the guided modes of the slab.     

近海大气环境下考虑锈蚀的不同剪跨比RC框架梁抗震性能试验

为了研究近海大气环境下锈蚀RC框架梁的抗震性能,采用人工气候加速腐蚀方法对8榀剪跨比分别为2.6和5（λ=2.6和λ=5）的RC框架梁进行腐蚀试验,进而进行拟静力试验,研究锈蚀程度和剪跨比对RC框架梁抗震性能的影响。结果表明:随着钢筋锈蚀程度的增加,RC框架梁破坏时剪切变形所占的比例增大,破坏过程更加迅速,延性更差。另外,随着钢筋锈蚀程度的增加,RC框架梁的强度、变形能力和耗能能力都逐渐降低,尤其是对剪跨比较小的框架梁,降低幅度更大。因此,钢筋锈蚀对剪跨比较小的RC框架梁抗震性能影响更加严重。同时,该文拟合出锈蚀RC框架梁延性系数、功比指数及累积耗能与剪跨比和锈蚀率之间的关系曲线,为锈蚀劣化RC框架梁抗震性能的定量分析提供理论依据。     

Non-uniqueness of cohesive-crack stress-separation law of human and bovine bones and remedy by size effect tests

It is shown that if the bilinear stress-separation law of the cohesive crack model is identified from the complete softening load-deflection curve of a notched human bone specimen of only one size, the problem is ill-conditioned and the result is non-unique. The same measured load-deflection curve can be fitted with values of initial fracture energy and tensile strength differing, respectively, by up to 100 and 72.4 % (of the lower value). The material parameters, however, give very different load-deflection curves when the specimen is scaled up or down significantly. This implies that the aforementioned non-uniqueness could be avoided by testing human bone specimens of different sizes. To demonstrate it, tests of notched bovine bone beams of sizes in the ratio of 1: $\sqrt{6}$ :6 are conducted. To minimize random scatter, all the specimens are cut from one and the same bovine bone, even though this limits the number of specimens to 8. A strong size effect is found, but an anomaly in the size effect data trend is obtained, probably due to random scatter and too small a number of specimens. Further it is shown that the optimum range of size effect testing based on Ba?ant’s size effect law approximately coincides with the size range of beams that can be cut from one bovine bone. By size effect fitting of previously published data on human bone, it is shown that the optimum size range calls for beam depths under 10 mm, which is too small for the standard equipment of mechanics of materials labs and would require a special miniaturized precision equipment.     

Spectrally constrained chromophore and scattering near-infrared tomography provides quantitative and robust reconstruction

A multispectral direct chromophore and scattering reconstruction technique has been implemented for near-infrared frequency-domain tomography in recovering images of total hemoglobin, oxygen saturation, water, and scatter parameters. The method applies the spectral constraint of the chromophores and scattering spectra directly in the reconstruction algorithm, thereby reducing the parameter space of the inversion process. This new method was validated by use of simulated and experimental data, and results show better robustness and stability in the presence of higher levels of noise. The method suppresses artifacts, especially those significant in water and scatter power images, and reduces cross talk between chromophore and scatter parameters. Variation in scattering was followed by this spectral approach successfully in experimental data from 90-mm-diameter cylindrical phantoms, and results show linear variation in scatter amplitude and reduced scattering coefficient (micro(s)'), with total hemoglobin, oxygen saturation, and water remaining constant and quantitatively accurate. Similar experiments were carried out for varying oxygen saturation and total hemoglobin. Accurate quantification was obtained with a mean error of 7.7% for oxygen saturation and 6.2% for total hemoglobin, with minimal cross talk between different parameters.     

Tunable generator of broadband chaotic microwave oscillations on turbulent electron beams

A new generator of broadband chaotic microwave oscillations of medium power on turbulent electron beams is proposed, in which it is possible to tune the generation regime. The characteristics of turbulent electron beams have been studied by experimental and theoretical methods. It is established that drag of the electron beam produces its turbulization, which leads to the generation of broadband chaotic microwave oscillations.     

Fracture toughness in the transition region

In order to study the origin of the scatter in the fracture toughness in the transition region and to specify the lower bound of the scatter, approximately 100 pieces 0.5T-CT NiCrMoV steel specimens were tested in the transition region, and their fracture surfaces were investigated. Major portion of the scatter was caused by the scatter in the length of preceding dimple crack which was generated at the fatigue precrack before conversion to final cleavage fracture. A method to predict the lower bound of the scatter in the small-specimen fracture toughness was proposed. It employs Weibull plot of new parameter J₁ which represents the scatter in the cleavage strength of material. The cleavage fracture origin may be associated with micro-stress-concentration in the microstructure which may not be caused by the micromechanism in terms of grain size unit.     

Evolution of arbitrary moments of radiant intensity distribution for partially coherent general beams in atmospheric turbulence

The evolution law of arbitrary order moments of the Wigner distribution function, which can be applied to the different spatial power spectra, is obtained for partially coherent general beams propagating in atmospheric turbulence using the extended Huygens–Fresnel principle. A coupling coefficient of radiant intensity distribution (RID) in turbulence is introduced. Analytical expressions of the evolution of the first five-order moments, kurtosis parameter, coupling coefficient of RID for general beams in turbulence are derived, and the formulas are applied to Airy beams. Results show that there exist two types for general beams in turbulence. A larger value of kurtosis parameter for Airy beams also reveals that coupling effect due to turbulence is stronger. Both theoretical analysis and numerical results show that the maximum value of kurtosis parameter for an Airy beam in turbulence is independent of turbulence strength parameter and is only determined by inner scale of turbulence. Relative angular spread, kurtosis and coupling coefficient are less influenced by turbulence for Airy beams with a smaller decay factor and a smaller initial width of the first lobe.     

Signal and noise transfer in spatiotemporal quantum-based imaging systems

Fourier-based transfer theory is extended into the temporal domain to describe both spatial and temporal noise processes in quantum-based medical imaging systems. Lag is represented as a temporal scatter in which the release of image quanta is delayed according to a probability density function. Expressions describing transfer of the spatiotemporal Wiener noise power spectrum through quantum gain and scatter processes are derived. Lag introduces noise correlations in the temporal domain in proportion to the correlated noise component only. The effect of lag is therefore dependent on both spatial and temporal physical processes. A simple model of a fluoroscopic system shows that image noise is reduced by a factor that is similar to Wagner's information bandwidth integral, which depends on the temporal modulation transfer function.     

Microfluidic flow cytometer for quantifying photobleaching of fluorescent proteins in cells

Traditional flow cytometers are capable of rapid cellular assays on the basis of fluorescence intensity and light scatter. Microfluidic flow cytometers have largely followed the same path of technological development as their traditional counterparts; however, the significantly smaller transport distance and resulting lower cell speeds in microchannels provides for the opportunity to detect novel spectroscopic signatures based on multiple, nontemporally coincident excitation beams. Here, we characterize the design and operation of a cytometer with a three-beam, probe/bleach/probe geometry, employing HeLa suspension cells expressing fluorescent proteins. The data collection rate exceeds 20 cells/s under a range of beam intensities (5 kW to 179 kW/cm(2)). The measured percent photobleaching (ratio of fluorescence intensities excited by the first and third beams: S(beam3)/S(beam1)) partially resolves a mixture of four red fluorescent proteins in mixed samples. Photokinetic simulations are presented and demonstrate that the percent photobleaching reflects a combination of the reversible and irreversible photobleaching kinetics. By introducing a photobleaching optical signature, which complements traditional fluorescence intensity-based detection, this method adds another dimension to multichannel fluorescence cytometry and provides a means for flow-cytometry-based screening of directed libraries of fluorescent protein photobleaching.