Polarization stability of phase-locked arrays of vertical-cavitysurface-emitting lasers

The polarization stability of the fundamental lasing super-mode obtained from coherently coupled arrays of vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers has been investigated. Various devices have been analyzed and none showed the abrupt change of the polarization direction (flip) often observed in solitary devices. This polarization stability is due to a current independent dichroism of 0.5 GHz     

Complex resonances of conducting spheres with lossy coatings

The electromagnetic scattering amplitude for metal objects coated with a lossless dielectric exhibits a large number of resonances versus real frequency. These resonances are a function of the object shape and size, coating thickness, and coating electrical properties. Previously, it was shown that for coated spheres and nonspherical bare objects, these resonances can be understood in terms of phase matched circumnavigating surface waves and the objects' complex eigenfrequencies. The effect of dielectric loss in the coating on the complex eigenfrequencies and phase velocities of these surface waves is presented for a metal sphere coated with a uniform homogeneous dielectric coating. It is seen that the positions of the complex resonance frequencies move away from the real frequency axis under the influence of dielectric loss in the coating. The effect of this is shown to correspond to the changes in the backscatter spectrum versus real frequency as computed using a Mie series expansion. The significant difference between the lossless and lossy dielectric-coated sphere cases is seen to be due to a modification of the phase velocities of surface waves, particularly the whispering gallery types, and the increased attenuation of the surface wave modes     

Long-term spectral stability of singlemode VCSELs

The long-term spectral stability of 780 nm AlGaAs-based vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers has been investigated. The 28 devices from two different wafers show a thermally induced averaged total spectral shift of 75±9 and 47±7 GHz, respectively     

Wettability Studies of Pb-Free Soldering Materials

For Pb-free soldering materials, two main substitutes are currently being considered, consisting of Sn–Ag and Sn–Ag–Cu eutectics, both with melting points higher than that of the Sn–Pb eutectic. Therefore, both will require higher soldering temperatures for industrial applications. Also, both eutectics have a higher surface tension than the Sn–Pb eutectic, requiring wettability studies on adding Bi, Sb, and In to the eutectics to decrease the melting points and surface tension. The experimental results for the surface tension were compared with thermodynamic modeling by Butler’s method and were used to create the SURDAT database, which also includes densities for pure metals, binary, ternary, quaternary, and quinary alloys. To model the surface tension, excess Gibbs energies of the molten components were taken from the ADAMIS database. For the case of the Ag–Sn system, enthalpies of formation of Ag₃Sn from solution calorimetry were used for checking optimized thermodynamic parameters. In the study of Sn–Ag–Cu–Bi–Sb liquid alloys, the range of possible Bi compositions for practical applications has been used to formulate a generalized metric of wettability, which was checked by measurements of the influence of In on the Sn–Ag–Cu system.     

A paired comparison experiment for gathering expert judgment for an aircraft wiring risk assessment

Wire failure in aircraft can be attributed to several factors and the assessment of the risk of wire failure is becoming an increasingly important task. This paper will discuss the results of an actual experiment to use the paired-comparison technique for expert judgment to develop a relationship for the probability of wire failure as a function of influencing factors in an aircraft environment. The reasons for using this technique are two-fold. First, the failure probability depends on many variables including wire gauge, vibration, environmental condition, etc. In addition, the wire failure data are sparse and fitting these data to a complex failure function is a nontrivial task that may involve a host of assumptions that may not be provable.We describe a method for using actual failure data and the results from a paired comparison to populate the model parameters. In the approach, paired comparison data from select environments is used to obtain failure rate estimates for the candidate environments. Next, a functional relationship for wire failure as a function of the environments is constructed using a proportional hazards model. A regression model is fit from the failure rate estimates to the environmental variables and is used as an estimate of the failure response surface. This technique is being investigated as a means to generate failure rates for an electrical wiring interconnection system (EWIS) risk assessment software tool currently being developed for the FAA Tech Center.     

The Symphony of Life [Chronobiological Investigations]

Biological rhythms in a wide range of frequencies are present in the whole organism as well as within each living cell. Some of these rhythms reflect adaptations to cosmic cycles and help to anticipate changes in the environment. Others integrate and coordinate body. Importance, interaction, and visualization of biological rhythms is presented in this article. Chronobiology observes notable amount of rhythms at all organismic levels and over several orders of time magnitude.     

Properties of CsI(TI) — Renaissance of an old scintillation material

CsI(TI) is an interesting material for calorimeters in high energy physics. Properties of this material are reported.