Polarization control in a vertical cavity surface emitting laser submitted to optical feedback

We study experimentally and theoretically two polarization effects in a vertical cavity surface emitting laser submitted to optical feedback. In a first experiment, we obtain flips between two linearly polarized laser modes up to a frequency of 50 MHz using an external cavity with a polarizer. In a second experiment, polarization self modulation is demonstrated up to a frequency of 2.6 GHz, using a quarter wave plate instead. Numerical calculations, based on a four levels model for the active medium, show a good agreement with the experiments.     

Analysis of integrated optical waveguide mirrors

A new method is presented to analyze reflection losses of integrated mirrors, taking into account the exact guided mode profile and assuming that this profile remains unchanged up to the reflecting plane. The fraction of the reflected light coupled to one of the guided modes of the output waveguide is calculated, taking into account the mirror reflection coefficient. The influence of both translation and tilt of the reflecting plane is investigated. The method applies for every guided mode and any reflection angles. Numerical calculations are derived for a 90° optical corner mirror     

Excess noise in AlGaAs/GaAs heterojunction bipolar transistors andassociated TLM test structures

Noise measurements both on transmission line model (TLM) test structures and on associated HBT's are presented. Contact noise is proved to be negligible in the TLM's related to the base structure of transistors. A Hooge parameter for p⁺⁺ doped GaAs is extracted. Activation energies are calculated from results versus temperature. Considering the TLM related to the structure of the emitter, it is shown that the g-r levels observed originate from the AlGaAs layer. Noise measurements on HBT's also exhibit excess noise. A value of the cutoff frequency between the equivalent input current white noise and the 1/f component is given. The base current dependencies associated with different measurement configurations suggest the 1/f noise to come from the base or the emitter-base junction. The g-r components are studied as a function of temperature. Activation energies are deduced. Finally a comparison of the TLM and HBT noise results is presented. The presence of the complex DX center and of g-r levels in the base region are proposed as possible origins for the g-r noise in HBT's     

Changes in the dielectric relaxations of water in epoxy resin as a function of the extent of water ingress in carbon fibre composites

Dielectric relaxation measurements are reported over a frequency range from 10⁻¹ to 10⁹ Hz as a function of exposure time for an epoxy resin-carbon fibre composite, ageing at 60 °C in water. Investigation of the nature of the dipole relaxation of the water molecules, indicates the nature of their interaction with the polymer matrix. Analysis of the dielectric relaxation spectra allow identification of processes that can be attributed to ‘free’ and ‘bonded’ water, water in micro-cracking, located in carbon fibre disbonds and plasticizing the polymer matrix. Identification of the various types of location in which water exists was aided by use of the N_g factor from the Kirkwood-Frölich equation, which describes the constraints on free dipole ration nature imposed by the environment in which it is located. These data indicate the power of the dielectric technique for quantitative analysis of water ingress into epoxy composites.     

Une architecture massivement parallèle intégrée

This paper presents a new massively parallel MIMD architecture, halfway between the Connection Machine and hypercubes based on 32-bit processors. It is built from specific 8-bit processors arranged in a 2-D grid and communicating by message transfers. We discuss the communication problems, the instruction set of the basic processing unit, the programmation of the whole array and the use of a high level data-flow language.     

Influence of wood extractives on the photo‐discoloration of wood surfaces exposed to artificial weathering

Extracted and unextracted black cherry (Prunus serotina), red oak (Quercus rubra), and red pine (Pinus resinosa) wood specimens were exposed to artificial weathering, and their discoloration process was investigated to obtain basic understanding on the role of wood extractives in the weathering of hardwoods and softwoods. Color measurements were made with a spectrometer according to ISO 2470 standards, using the CIELAB system. Results obtained showed that the rate of whiteness was not significantly affected by extractives removed with organic solvents, but were significantly affected when organic solvent extraction was followed by water extraction. The total discoloration rate had the same pattern, and chromaticity coordinates were less affected by wood extractives. These results confirm the hypothesis that some extractives contained in wood act as antioxidants and are able to provide some protection to wood surfaces against weathering degradation. However, more work is needed to understand the chemistry and mechanism of action of these extractives so as to develop any practical use for this property. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Col Res Appl, 31, 425–434, 2006; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/col.20248     

Towards a Dual-Tip STM Application in Mesoscopic Electron Transport

A new design for a dual-tip scanning tunneling microscope (STM) is presented. The design is a variation on the mechanically controllable break-junction with two electron beam-induced deposition nano-tips. The new design enables one to scan surfaces simultaneously with two probes having a nano-gap separation. By collecting the lateral current flowing between the tips, the transconductance map can then be compared with the STM images for local characterizations of the electron transport. Since the lateral beam carries the property of the density of states of the surface at momentum space, the dispersion of the electronic structure should give an orientation and position dependence of the local transconductance current. In addition, the reduced terminal separation, on the order of the characteristic mesoscopic length scales, is likely to be sensitive to a variety of typically observed interactions and interference effects.