A new two-dimensional photonic crystal (2D PC) slab structure was created with a full three-dimensional light confinement. Guided modes with broad bandwidth and high transmission within the band gap are also observed. As an optical analog to electronic crystals, PC promises a revolution in the photonic world similar to the electronic revolution created by the electronic band gap engineering in semiconductor. 2D PC has an advantage of being easier to fabricate at optical wavelength ({lambda}) comparing with 3D PC. However, the light leakage in the vertical direction has been the main problem for using 2D PC in opto-electronic application. In this study, the authors solve this problem by combining traditional 2D PC with strong vertical index guiding between the waveguide layer (GaAs) and the cladding layer (Al{sub x}O{sub y}). A set of triangular lattice holes 2D PC's were fabricated with lattice constant a=460nm, hole diameter (d=0.6a) and waveguide layer thickness (t = 0.5a). Those parameters were chosen to maximize the TE photonic band gap (PBG) around {lambda} = 1.55{micro}m. The depth of etched holes is {approximately}0.6{micro}m and the 2{micro}m thick Al{sub x}O{sub y} cladding layer is obtained by thermal oxidation of Al{sub 0.9}Ga{sub 0.1}As. PC waveguides were also created by …

Recent progress in the development of high-performance, 0.6-eV Ga0.32In0.68As/InAs0.32P0.68 thermophotovoltaic (TPV) converters and monolithically interconnected modules (MIMs) is described. The converter structure design is based on using a lattice-matched InAs0.32P0.68/Ga0.32In0.68As/InAs0.32P0.68 double-heterostructure (DH) device, which is grown lattice-mismatched on an InP substrate, with an intervening compositionally step-graded region of InAsyP1-y. The Ga0.32In0.68As alloy has a room-temperature band gap of {approx}0.6 eV and contains a p/n junction. The InAs0.32P0.68 layers have a room-temperature band gap of {approx}0.96 eV and serve as passivation/confinement layers for the Ga0.32In0.68As p/n junction. InAsyP1-y step grades have yielded DH converters with superior electronic quality and performance characteristics. Details of the microstructure of the converters are presented. Converters prepared for this work were grown by atmospheric-pressure metalorganic vapor-phase epitaxy (APMO VPE) and were processed using a combination of photolithography, wet-chemical etching, and conventional metal and insulator deposition techniques. Excellent performance characteristics have been demonstrated for the 0.6-eV TPV converters. Additionally, the implementation of MIM technology in these converters has been highly successful.

We have measured gain and saturation in sing;e mode Yb:silica fiber, and developed fiber lasers and amplifiers at 1053 nm. The lasers are tunable over 10`s of nanometers, with amplifier gain flattened by fiber gratings or dielectric filters.

A food web model of predator arthropods and microarthropods was developed based upon data collected at SRS. The model indentifies numerous connections because of the diversity of species. Relationships vary over time and many predators feed on their own group. The model demonstrates the importance of detrital food webs in belowground and aboveground transfers in the ecosystem.

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The authors obtained good estimates of measured velocities of sand-peat samples at low pressures by using a theoretical method, the self-consistent theory of Berryman (1980), using sand and porous peat to represent the microstructure of the mixture. They were unable to obtain useful estimates with several other theoretical approaches, because the properties of the quartz, air and peat components of the samples vary over several orders of magnitude. Methods that are useful for consolidated rock cannot be applied directly to unconsolidated materials. Instead, careful consideration of microstructure is necessary to adapt the methods successfully. Future work includes comparison of the measured velocity values to additional theoretical estimates, investigation of Vp/Vs ratios and wave amplitudes, as well as modeling of dry and saturated sand-clay mixtures (e.g., Bonner et al., 1997, 1998). The results suggest that field data can be interpreted by comparing laboratory measurements of soil velocities to theoretical estimates of velocities in order to establish a systematic method for predicting velocities for a full range of sand-organic material mixtures at various pressures. Once the theoretical relationship is obtained, it can be used to estimate the soil composition at various depths from field measurements of seismic velocities. Additional refining of the …

The Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) CTBT R{ampersand}D program has made significant progress assembling a comprehensive seismic database (DB) for events and derived parameters in the Middle East and North Africa (ME/NA). The LLNL research DB provides not only a coherent framework in which store and organize large volumes of collected seismic waveforms and associated event parameter information but also provides an efficient data processing/research environment. The DB is designed to be flexible and extensible in order to accommodate the large volumes of data in diverse formats from many sources in addition to maintaining detailed quality control and metadata. Researchers can make use of the relational nature of the DB and interactive analysis tools to quickly and efficiently process large volumes of data. Seismic waveforms have been systematically collected form a wide range of local and regional networks using numerous earthquake bulletins and converted a common format based on CSS3.O while undergoing quality control and corrections of errors. By combining traveltime observations, event characterization studies, and regional wave-propagation studies of the LLNL CTBT team, we are assembling a library of ground truth information and event location correction surfaces required to support the ME/NA regionalization program. Corrections and parameters distilled from …

LOW-180 silicic magmas are reported from only a small number of localities (e.g., Yellowstone and Iceland), yet petrologic evidence points to upper crustal assimilation coupled with fractional crystallization (AFC) during magma genesis for nearly all silicic magmas. The rarity of 10W-l `O magmas in intracontinental caldera settings is remarkable given the evidence of intense 10W-l*O meteoric hydrothermal alteration in the subvolcanic remnants of larger caldera systems. In the Platoro caldera complex, regional ignimbrites (150-1000 km3) have plagioclase 6180 values of 6.8 + 0.1%., whereas the Middle Tuff, a small-volume (est. 50-100 km3) post-caldera collapse pyroclastic sequence, has plagioclase 8]80 values between 5.5 and 6.8%o. On average, the plagioclase phenocrysts from the Middle Tuff are depleted by only 0.3%0 relative to those in the regional tuffs. At Yellowstone, small-volume post-caldera collapse intracaldera rhyolites are up to 5.5%o depleted relative to the regional ignimbrites. Two important differences between the Middle Tuff and the Yellowstone 10W-180 rhyolites elucidate the problem. Middle Tuff magmas reached water saturation and erupted explosively, whereas most of the 10W-l 80 Yellowstone rhyolites erupted effusively as domes or flows, and are nearly devoid of hydrous phenocrysts. Comparing the two eruptive types indicates that assimilation of 10W-180 material, combined with …

Two different systems for noise cancellation (first order gradiometers) have been developed using two similar high temperature superconducting (HTS) SQUIDs. ''Analog'' gradiometry is accomplished in hardware by either (1) subtracting the signals from the sensor and background SQUIDs at a summing amplifier (parallel technique) or (2) converting the inverted background SQUID signal to a magnetic field at the sensor SQUID (series technique). Balance levels achieved are 2000 and 1000 at 20 Hz for the parallel and series methods respectively. The balance level as a function of frequency is also presented. The effect which time delays in the two sets of SQUID electronics have on this balance level is presented and discussed.

Conditions which seed the self focussing of high-power broadband laser beams are determined by examining growth rates for plane-wave perturbations on a strong pump field as a function of frequency and angle. Measurements verifying predictions of growth based on the linearized stability analysis of Bespalov and Talanov extended to broadband fields are reported.