Solid-state multiple-prism grating dye-laser oscillators

Compact solid-state multiple-prism grating dye-laser oscillators are shown to yield in excess of 9% conversion efficiency at Δv ≈ 1.12 GHz and a tuning range of 47 nm.     

Measured limits to contamination of optical surfaces by elastomers in vacuum

We have monitored the reflectivity of mirrors that were exposed to a fluoroelastomer (3M-Fluorel 2176) and a room-temperature vulcanizing silicone rubber (RTV-615) in vacuum. The 95% confidence limit on the decrease of mirror reflectivities was less than 0.35 ppm/week for Fluorel and <0.29 ppm/week for RTV-615.     

Experimental studies of electro-optic polymer modulators and waveguides

The results of an experimental study of electro-optic modulators and waveguides based on polymeric materials are presented. Included are the design, fabrication, and testing of integrated Mach-Zehnder modulators, which are based on polymer films that contain a novel, nonlinear electro-optic chromophore. Studies also show the efficacy of photolithography or photobleaching by the use of this chromophore to form passive, branching waveguides, which are operated at the 1300-nm wavelength.     

Fast SPECT simulation including object shape dependent scatter

A fast simulator of SPECT projection data taking into account attenuation, distance dependent detector response, and scatter has been developed, based on an analytical point spread function model. The parameters of the scatter response are obtained from a single line source measurement with a triangular phantom. The simulator is able to include effects of object curvature on the scatter response to a high accuracy. The simulator has been evaluated for homogeneous media by measurements of (99m)Tc point sources placed at different locations in a water-filled cylinder at energy windows of 15% and 20%. The asymmetrical shapes of measured projections of point sources are In excellent agreement with simulations for both energy windows. Scatter-to-primary ratio (SPR) calculations of point sources at different positions in a cylindrical phantom differ not more than a few percent from measurements. The simulator uses just a few megabytes of memory for storing the tables representing the forward model; furthermore, simulation of 60 SPECT projections from a three-dimensional digital brain phantom with 6-mm cubic voxels takes only ten minutes on a standard workstation. Therefore, the simulator could serve as a projector in iterative true 3-D SPECT reconstruction.     

Polarization-Dependent Periodic Pulse Oscillation in a Diode-Laser-Pumped and Intracavity Frequency-Doubled Nd:YVO 4 Laser

We demonstrate that two cross-polarized longitudinal modes can have 50% higher conversion efficiency than two parallel-polarized longitudinal modes in a diode-laser-pumped and intracavity frequency-doubled Nd:YVO(4) laser when operated under periodic pulse oscillation. Through simulations of the rate equations for primary frequency intensities and gains, we also verify that this effect can be attributed to gain competition and complementary conversion coefficient between second-harmonic and sum-frequency generations.     

Pinhole-array x-ray spectrometer for laser-fusion experiments

A pinhole-array x-ray spectrometer for laser-fusion experiments is demonstrated. An array of approximately 300 pinholes is placed in front of a flat-crystal spectrometer, yielding target images at photon energies ~10 eV apart (for photon energies of ~4 to 5 keV). For wideband radiation the images are two dimensional, whereas when a single spectral line is used, the field of view in the direction of dispersion is limited. However, single spectral line images can have a field of view sufficient for imaging the compressed target core. We show the image at the Ti-Kalpha-line fluorescence from a Ti-doped shell, which we show to be excited by continuum radiation from the compressed core. The Kalpha image delineates the cold, compressed shell at peak compression, which can otherwise be obtained only through backlighting. In addition, the array provides spectra of high spectral resolution because of the reduction in the effective source size.     

Long-pulse narrow-linewidth dispersive solid-state dye-laser oscillator

We report on narrow-linewidth long-pulse laser emission from a dispersive solid-state dye-laser oscillator. Output energy was ~0.4 mJ/pulse at laser linewidths of 650 MHz and pulse lengths of 105 ns FWHM. The solid-state gain medium utilized was Rhodamine 6G dye-doped 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate:methyl methacrylate.     

Improved SPECT quantitation using fully three-dimensional iterative spatially variant scatter response compensation

The quality and quantitative accuracy of iteratively reconstructed SPECT images improves when better point spread function (PSF) models of the gamma camera are used during reconstruction. Here, inclusion in the PSF model of photon crosstalk between different slices caused by limited gamma camera resolution and scatter is examined. A three-dimensional (3-D) projector back-projector (proback) has been developed which models both the distance dependent detector point spread function and the object shape-dependent scatter point spread function of single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT). A table occupying only a few megabytes of memory is sufficient to represent this scatter model. The contents of this table are obtained by evaluating an analytical expression for object shape-dependent scatter. The proposed approach avoids the huge memory requirements of storing the full transition matrix needed for 3-D reconstruction including object shape-dependent scatter. In addition, the method avoids the need for lengthy Monte Carlo simulations to generate such a matrix. In order to assess the quantitative accuracy of the method, reconstructions of a water filled cylinder containing regions of different activity levels and of simulated 3-D brain projection data have been evaluated for technetium-99m. It is shown that fully 3-D reconstruction including complete detector response and object shape-dependent scatter modeling clearly outperforms simpler methods that lack a complete detector response and/or a complete scatter response model. Fully 3-D scatter correction yields the best quantitation of volumes of interest and the best contrast-to-noise curves.     

Calibrated 0.1-cm(-1) IR emission spectra from 80°N

Spectra from a 0.1-cm(-1) resolution absolutely calibrated emission interferometer installed near Eureka, Northwest Territories, Canada (80°N, 86°W), at the Arctic Stratospheric Observatory are presented. The Michelson-type interferometer has a maximum path difference of 10 cm and uses a liquid-N(2)-cooled HgCdTe detector, which covers the spectral region from 650 to 1250 cm(-1). Spectral intervals containing CO(2), HNO(3), and ozone have been modeled with a line-by-line radiative-transfer code and column amounts retrieved for the latter two constituents. The instrument and initial measurements are described.