Doyle Temple

Visible Laser Action of Dy3+ Ions in Monoclinic KY(WO 4) 2 and KGd(WO 4) 2 Crystals under Xe-Flashlamp Pumping

Pulsed laser action in the novel visible laser channels 4F9/2→6H13/2 (at ≈0.57 µm) and 4F9/2→6H11/2 (at ≈0.66 µm) of Dy3+ ions in monoclinic KY(WO4)2 and KGd(WO4)2 single crystals at nitrogen cryogenic temperature under Xe-flashlamp pumping is excited for the first time. All observed lasing emissions are identified. Some spectroscopic characteristics of the investigated crystals are also presented.

Optical nonlinearities of Au nanoparticles and Au/Ag coreshells

Au nanoparticles exhibited both negative and positive nonlinear absorptions with ground-state plasmon bleaching and free-carrier absorption that could be origins of the saturable and reverse-saturable optical properties. Au/Ag coreshells displayed only positive nonlinear absorption and reverse-saturable optical properties as a function of excitation intensity at the edge of surface-plasmon resonance, which implies no ground-state plasmon bleaching and the existence of two-photon absorption.

Synthesis and optical characterization of CdTe nanocrystals prepared by ball milling process

Abstract CdTe nanocrystals have been successfully synthesized by mechanical alloying (MA) process. XRD pattern and HRTEM images confirmed the formation of cubic structural CdTe Nan crystals (2–40 nm). The capped CdTe nanocrystals show absorption peaks locating within the visible range of 500–700 nm, when uncapped ones locating within ultraviolet range.

Distortions in Z-scan spectroscopy

The sample imperfection induced distortions in the closed Z-scan curve are analyzed. It is found that both the magnitudes of the peak and valley transmittances and the shape of the curve are distorted significantly by the inhomogeneous thickness, the nonuniform nonlinearity, and the curved surfaces of the sample. The results suggest that the I-scan method is a more practical choice for the measurement of the third-order nonlinear susceptibility of an inhomogeneous sample.

Large pure refractive nonlinearity of nanostructure silica aerogel

The nonlinear refraction coefficient of silica aerogel was estimated to be ∼−1.5×10−15 m2/W (∼−3.67×10−9 esu) with a signal-beam z-scan spectroscopy. The third-order nonlinear refraction coefficient of nanostructure silica aerogel was almost five orders larger than the nonlinear refraction (χ3) of bulk material. The large nonlinear refraction with high nonlinear figure of merit is an ideal optical property for nonlinear optical applications.

Design validation of an eye-safe scanning aerosol lidar with the Center for Lidar and Atmospheric Sciences Students (CLASS) at Hampton University

ITTs Advanced Engineering and Sciences Division and the Hampton University Center for Lidar and Atmospheric Sciences Students (CLASS) team have worked closely to design, fabricate and test an eye-safe, scanning aerosol-lidar system that can be safely deployed and used by students form a variety of disciplines. CLASS is a 5-year undergraduate- research training program funded by NASA to provide hands-on atmospheric-science and lidar-technology education. The system is based on a 1.5 micron, 125 mJ, 20 Hz eye-safe optical parametric oscillator (OPO) and will be used by the HU researchers and students to evaluate the biological impact of aerosols, clouds, and pollution a variety of systems issues. The system design tasks we addressed include the development of software to calculate eye-safety levels and to model lidar performance, implementation of eye-safety features in the lidar transmitter, optimization of the receiver using optical ray tracing software, evaluation of detectors and amplifiers in the near RI, test of OPO and receiver technology, development of hardware and software for laser and scanner control and video display of the scan region.

Interferometer-less coherent optical range finder

A new coherent optical detection technique employing coherent frequency-domain reflectometry and a novel optical frequency sensor is demonstrated for high-precision optical path-length measurements. Using pulsed laser sources, an improvement of more than two orders of magnitude in spatial resolution over conventional optical coherent frequency domain reflectometry techniques is demonstrated. Varying degrees of spatial resolution ranging from several centimeters to a few hundred nanometers are achieved. High-precision distance measurement with long baseline is also presented.

Edge effects in photorefractive thin films

We have used a two-dimensional charge transport model to study edge effects in photorefractive thin films. Our result shows the presence of a large surface charge layer that causes saturation of trap-limited-field in the large fringe spacing limit. Quadratic electro-optic materials were used as an example to quantitatively study the contribution of the surface-charge-layer field to the total photorefractive grating. We clearly demonstrate that the device performance can be dominated by either surface charge or bulk trap charges.

Ultrafast Time-Resolved DFWM of CdTe Quantum Dots in Toluene

Ultrafast third-order nonlinear dynamics in CdTe quantum dots at room temperature have been investigated using a degenerate four-wave mixing at ~775 nm. The effective third-order nonlinear optical susceptibility and the intrinsic dephasing time in CdTe QDs were estimated to be ~4.39×10-22 m2/V2 and ~675 fs, respectively.

I-scan measurements of the nonlinear refraction and nonlinear absorption coefficients of some nanomaterials

We give the analytical expressions of the nonlinear transmittance of materials through an aperture in the far field with finite aperture size. The result can be used under the conditions of and . Based on this equation, the nonlinear refractive index coefficients of some nanomaterials from both the closed I-scan and Z-scan measurements at 800 nm and 1064 nm were extracted, respectively. The obtained values from I-scan measurements are comparable with those from the Z-scan measurements. The nonlinear absorptions of these materials were also studied by fulfilling the open I-scan and Z-scan measurements. The advantages of I-scan technology were discussed.