Mikhail V. Alfimov

Highly birefringent silicate glass photonic-crystal fiber with polarization-controlled frequency-shifted output: A promising fiber light source for nonlinear Raman microspectroscopy.

A highly birefringent silicate glass photonic-crystal fiber (PCF) is employed for polarization-controlled nonlinear-optical frequency conversion of femtosecond Cr: forsterite laser pulses with a central wavelength of 1.24 mum to the 530--720-nm wavelength range through soliton dispersion-wave emission. The fiber exhibits a modal birefringence of 1.2.10(-3) at the wavelength of 1.24 mum due to a strong form anisotropy of its core, allowing polarization switching of the central wavelength of its blue-shifted output by 75 nm. Polarization properties and the beam quality of the blue-shifted PCF output are shown to be ideally suited for polarization-sensitive nonlinear Raman microspectroscopy.

Third-harmonic generation by Raman-shifted solitons in a photonic-crystal fiber

Raman-shifted solitons in a photonic-crystal fiber can serve as a pump field for phase-matched third-harmonic generation in a higher-order guided mode of the same fiber. Phase matching for this soliton-dispersive-wave mixing process differs in its physics and in its formal notation from the conventional phase matching for third-harmonic generation with a dispersive pump.

Monolayers of a novel ionoselective butadienyl dye

The novel amphiphilic benzodithia-18-crown-6 butadienyl dye (1) forms relatively stable insoluble monolayers on distilled water (collapse pressure of 41 mN/m) and on aqueous subphases containing alkali metal or heavy metal salts (collapse pressures in the range of 27-38 mN/m, respectively). The dye 1 monolayer organization depends on chromophore association and interactions (especially complex formation) with heavy and alkali metal ions as deduced from surface pressure-area and surface potential-area isotherms as well as reflection spectra and Brewster angle microscopy observations. Dye 1 undergoes specific interactions with Hg(2+) and Ag(+), respectively (formation of different complexes). Nonspecific interactions have been observed with other salts, such as KClO(4) or Pb(ClO(4))(2). Further, dye 1 monolayers on 1 mM Hg(ClO(4))(2) solution undergo reversible photoisomerization, in contrast to monolayers on water and other aqueous salt subphases.

Preferential solvation of spherical ions in binary DMSO/benzene mixtures.

We consider a new qualitative approach for treating theoretically the solvation of single-atomic ionic solutes in binary mixtures of polar and nonpolar aprotic solvents. It is based on the implicit continuum electrostatic model of the solvent mixture involving distance-dependent dielectric permittivity epsilon(R) (where R is the distance from the ion) and local concentrations C(1)(R) and C(2)(R) of the solvent ingredients. For a given R, the condition for local thermodynamic equilibrium provides the transcendental equation for explicitly establishing the permittivity and concentration profiles. Computations performed with real Cl(-) and model Cl(+) ions as solutes in benzene/DMSO mixtures are compared with the molecular dynamics simulations of the same systems. A significant discrepancy of molecular and continuum results is revealed for the concentration profiles in the close vicinity of the ion boundary, although the general trends are similar. The continuum methodology cannot account for the formation of rigid solvent structures around ions, which is most significant for the case of Cl(+). Such defect, however, proves to become of less importance in calculations of the solvation free energy, which are quite satisfactory for Cl(-) ion. Free energy calculations for Cl(+) are less successful in the range of low DMSO concentration.

Advanced dielectric continuum model of preferential solvation.

A continuum model for solvation effects in binary solvent mixtures is formulated in terms of the density functional theory. The presence of two variables, namely, the dimensionless solvent composition y and the dimensionless total solvent density z, is an essential feature of binary systems. Their coupling, hidden in the structure of the local dielectric permittivity function, is postulated at the phenomenological level. Local equilibrium conditions are derived by a variation in the free energy functional expressed in terms of the composition and density variables. They appear as a pair of coupled equations defining y and z as spatial distributions. We consider the simplest spherically symmetric case of the Born-type ion immersed in the benzene/dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO) solvent mixture. The profiles of y(R) and z(R) along the radius R, which measures the distance from the ion center, are found in molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. It is shown that for a given solute ion z(R) does not depend significantly on the composition variable y. A simplified solution is then obtained by inserting z(R), found in the MD simulation for the pure DMSO, in the single equation which defines y(R). In this way composition dependences of the main solvation effects are investigated. The local density augmentation appears as a peak of z(R) at the ion boundary. It is responsible for the fine solvation effects missing when the ordinary solvation theories, in which z=1, are applied. These phenomena, studied for negative ions, reproduce consistently the simulation results. For positive ions the simulation shows that z>>1 (z=5-6 at the maximum of the z peak), which means that an extremely dense solvation shell is formed. In such a situation the continuum description fails to be valid within a consistent parametrization.

Wavelength-tunable ultrashort-pulse output of a photonic-crystal fiber designed to resolve ultrafast molecular dynamics

Wavelength-tunable 100 fs pulses generated through the soliton self-frequency shift in a photonic-crystal fiber are employed to visualize femtosecond coherence and population relaxation dynamics in molecular aggregates by means of time-resolved sum-frequency generation. This technique reveals an ultrafast dephasing of coherent molecular excitations with a phase relaxation time of about 120 fs and resolves an ultrafast switching of the nonlinear-optical response of molecular aggregates.

Doubly phase-matched cascaded parametric wave mixing of ultrashort laser pulses

Doubly phase-matched cascaded parametric wave mixing of femtosecond laser pulses in tapered fibers is experimentally demonstrated. Fibers with an appropriately tailored dispersion profile allow simultaneous phase matching for two types of nonlinear-optical processes-third-harmonic generation and parametric four-wave mixing. Doubly phase-matched cascaded parametric interactions of ultrashort light pulses give rise to a manifold of new spectral components, expanding substantially the capabilities of the available laser sources of ultrashort pulses.

Ultrafast photonic-crystal fiber light flash for streak-camera fluorescence measurements

Photonic-crystal fibers (PCFs) provide a high efficiency of frequency upconversion of femtosecond Cr: forsterite laser pulses through the emission of dispersive waves by solitons and third-harmonic generation. Dispersion management allows the central wavelength of the frequency-upconverted signal in PCF output to be tuned within the range of wavelengths from 400 to 900 nm. PCF frequency shifters are employed as excitation sources for time-resolved fluorescence streak-camera measurements on fluorescein solution.

Control of the self-assembly processes in a droplet of a colloidal solution by an acoustic field

The formation of structured films consisting of ensembles of micro- or nanoparticles and possessing preset functional characteristics is studied both experimentally and theoretically. The films are obtained by drying out droplets of colloidal solutions on a solid substrate under the acoustic effect produced by a standing SAW field.

Soft-glass photonic-crystal fibers for frequency shifting and white-light spectral superbroadening of femtosecond Cr:forsterite laser pulses

Structural dispersion and nonlinearity management of multicomponent-glass photonic-crystal fibers is shown to allow wavelength-tunable frequency shifting and white-light spectral transformation of femtosecond Cr:forsterite laser pulses. Launching 200 fs pulses of 1.25 μm Cr:forsterite laser radiation into such dispersion-managed soft-glass photonic-crystal fibers in the regime of anomalous dispersion, we demonstrate spectrally tailored supercontinuum generation and frequency upshifting, yielding isolated spectral components with central wavelengths ranging from 400 to 900 nm.