Ultrafast all-optical switching in GaAlAs integrated interferometer in 1.55 mu m spectral region

The first observation is reported of ultrafast all-optical switching in an integrated asymmetric Mach-Zehnder interferometer, using the nonresonant nonlinearity in Ga/sub 0.82/Al/sub 0.18/As below half the bandgap. A relative switching fraction of more than 80% has been achieved using 330 fs pulses at around 1.55 mu m from a coupled-cavity mode-locked colour centre laser.<>     

Pellet cladding interaction — Evaluation of lubrication by graphite

Graphite CANLUB interlayers between UO₂ pellets and Zircaloy cladding increase the tolerance of fuel pins to power ramping defects. This paper evaluates the effectiveness of graphite as a lubricant in dry, low oxygen potential environments such as exist at the UO₂ — Zircaloy interface of an operating fuel pin. Two types of laboratory tests were performed at 573 ± 5 K in moist air and also dry inert gas. In the first test series, graphite-coated Zircaloy cladding was expanded by the outward movement of a 4-segment bronze mandrel. Depleting the oxygen and water vapour reduced circumferential failure strains from about 19% to about 12%, but there remained a large margin of improvement over the 4% failure strain attained with bare Zircaloy. In the second series of laboratory tests a disc of UO₂ was clamped between Zircaloy plates, and the force required to cause it to slide was measured as a function of normal loading with and without graphite lubrication. The coefficient of friction μ for graphite lubricating a Zircaloy-UO₂ interface rose only slightly from 0.19 to 0.24 on changing the gaseous environment from laboratory air to dry deoxygenated helium. These values were low compared with μ ~ 0.9 for bare Zircaloy-UO₂ interfaces in air or inert gas. An indirect evaluation was made of whether or not graphite acts as a lubricant in-service by counting peripheral radial UO₂ cracks in metallographic cross-sections of irradiated fuel pins. The number of peripheral cracks in highly powered fuel depends on the interfacial shear stress at the pellet-clad interface, and hence on the friction coefficient. In fuel pins ramped to a linear power of 55 kW/m there were, on average, 17 peripheral UO₂ cracks in graphite lubricated CANLUB fuel compared with 30 in bare Zircaloy-clad fuel. We deduce that the ratio of friction coefficients in-service (CANLUB graphite : bare Zircaloy) had been 0.57 : 1.0. Finally, we discuss theoretical limitations of CAN-LUB coatings and their implications regarding fuel design and performance.     

Actively compensated parametric amplifiers ? some further results

This letter details further results obtained with active reactance compensation of parametric amplifiers; in particular, a useful measure of gain independence of pump power is described.     

Controlling a Semiconductor Optical Amplifier Using a State-Space Model

We derive nonlinear and linear state-space control models for a multichannel semiconductor optical amplifier. Verified against the governing partial differential equations through simulation, the linear model tracks modulations up to 20% qualitatively well. Linear feedback control is then employed to design two interchannel crosstalk suppressing systems, one using state feedback into the electronic drive current and the other using optical output feedback into an optical control channel; the controller designed with the linear model is seen to work well even with 100% modulations of the nonlinear system. This linear state-space model opens the way for further robust analysis, design and control of integrated active photonic circuits     

Simple and accurate procedure for modeling erbium-doped waveguideamplifiers with high concentration

We present an accurate, fast, and easily implemented procedure for modeling erbium-doped waveguide amplifiers (EDWAs) with high concentration doping level. The model is shown to be in a very good agreement when compared with experimental results, and is used in a detailed analysis of a waveguide amplifier with 980-nm pumping     

Three-port ring discriminator

A novel microwave discriminator is described which uses a single microstrip three-port ring. Results are presented for a representative circuit which show good agreement between theoretical and experimental results over a 20% bandwidth centred on 10 GHz. The device exhibits a narrowband match with a VSWR of 1.14 at the centre (design) frequency.     

Extrafacial lentigo maligna melanoma: analysis of 71 cases and comparison with lentigo maligna melanoma of the head and neck

We report a retrospective analysis of extrafacial lentigo maligna melanoma (LMM), and a comparison with patients with LMM of the head and neck. Seventy-one patients (22 men, 49 women) with extrafacial LMM were identified from the Scottish Melanoma Group database for January 1979-March 1996. Their mean age (63 years) was significantly less than that of 335 patients with head and neck LMM (mean 72 years, P < 0.001), with a significantly greater difference among women than men. Extrafacial sites comprised 17.5% of LMMs. There was a marked body site distribution difference between the sexes (P = 0. 001): 68% of extrafacial LMMs in men were on the trunk while 80% in women were on the limbs, particularly the lower leg. Extrafacial LMMs were thinner at presentation than head and neck LMMs (P < 0.05) in both sexes, but this was not simply explained by the younger age of these patients as there was no significant correlation between age and tumour thickness at either extrafacial or at head and neck sites. Although the female lower leg is a site of chronic solar exposure in older women, the other extrafacial sites are habitually covered in the temperate Scottish climate. The significantly younger age group of patients with LMM at extrafacial compared with head and neck sites therefore suggests that the relationship between LMM and sunlight is not simply related to cumulative solar exposure. The demonstration that head and neck LMMs were thicker at presentation compared with extrafacial sites, despite being at a more routinely visible part of the body, suggests that there are still opportunities for targeted pigmented lesion public education.