Laser frequency stabilization and spectroscopy at 2051 nm using a compact CO2-filled Kagome hollow core fiber gas-cell system.

We describe a compact, all fiber, frequency stabilized diode laser system at 2051 nm using CO2 gas-filled Kagome Hollow Core Fiber (HCF), capable of tuning continuously over four transitions in 12C16O2: R(24), R(26), R(28), and R(30). This laser system has been designed for use in future space-based atmospheric monitoring using differential absorption lidar (DIAL). The fully spliced Kagome HCF gas cell is filled to 2 kPa CO2 partial pressure and we compare the observed CO2 lineshape features with those calculated using HITRAN, to quantify the properties of the CO2-filled fiber cell. In this first demonstration of Kagome HCF used in a fully sealed gas cell configuration for spectroscopy at 2 µm, we characterize the frequency stability of the locked system by beat frequency comparison against a reference laser. Results are presented for the laser locked to the center of the 12C16O2 R(30) transition, with frequency stability of ∼40 kHz or better at 1 s, and a frequency reproducibility at the 0.4-MHz level over a period of > 1 month. For DIAL applications, we also demonstrate two methods of stabilizing the laser frequency ~3 GHz from this line. Furthermore, no pressure degradation was observed during the ~15-month period in which frequency stability measurements were acquired.

High power narrow linewidth discrete mode laser diode integrated with a curved semiconductor optical amplifier emitting at 2051 nm.

We report on a 2.051 µm InxGaAs/InP-based discrete mode laser diode monolithically integrated with a curved tapered semiconductor optical amplifier for CO2 sensing applications. At a heat-sink temperature of 0°C, the laser emits a record InP value of more than 35 mW continuous-wave output power in a single longitudinal mode.

Bacteria do not incorporate ß-N-methylamino-L-alanine into their proteins.

ß-N-methylamino-l-alanine (BMAA), is commonly found in both a free and proteinassociated form in various organisms exposed to the toxin. The long latency of development of neurodegeneration attributed to BMAA, is hypothesized to be the result of excitotoxicity following slow release of the toxin from protein reservoirs. It was recently suggested that these BMAA-protein associations may reflect misincorporation of BMAA in place of serine, as occurs, for example, when canavanine misincorporates in place of arginine. We therefore compared BMAA and canavanine toxicty in various bacterial species, and misincorporation of these amino acids into proteins in a bacterial protein expression system. None of the bacterial species showed any physiological stress responses to BMAA in contrast to the growth reduction observed when cultures were incubated in media containing canavanine. LC-MS analysis confirmed uptake of BMAA from growth media. However, after immobilized metal affinity chromatography and SDS-PAGE purification of proteins produced in an E scherichia coli expression system, no BMAA was detected by either LC-MS or LC-MS/MS analysis using two derivatization methods, or by orbitrap MS of trypsin digests of the protein. We therefore conclude that BMAA is not misincorporated into proteins in bacteria and that the observed BMAA-protein association in bacteria is superficial.

Modulator-free quadrature amplitude modulation signal synthesis.

The ability to generate high-speed on-off-keyed telecommunication signals by directly modulating a semiconductor laser's drive current was one of the most exciting prospective applications of the nascent field of laser technology throughout the 1960s. Three decades of progress led to the commercialization of 2.5 Gbit s(-1)-per-channel submarine fibre optic systems that drove the growth of the internet as a global phenomenon. However, the detrimental frequency chirp associated with direct modulation forced industry to use external electro-optic modulators to deliver the next generation of on-off-keyed 10 Gbit s(-1) systems and is absolutely prohibitive for today's (>)100 Gbit s(-1) coherent systems, which use complex modulation formats (for example, quadrature amplitude modulation). Here we use optical injection locking of directly modulated semiconductor lasers to generate complex modulation format signals showing distinct advantages over current and other currently researched solutions.

All-optical switching with a dual-state, single-section quantum dot laser via optical injection.

An all-optical switching mechanism via optical injection of an InAs/GaAs quantum dot laser is presented. Relative state suppression in excess of 40 dB is achieved, and experimental switching times of the order of a few hundred picoseconds are demonstrated.

The localization of exogenous microcystin LR taken up by a non-microcystin producing cyanobacterium.

The effect of exogenous microcystin on non-microcystin producing cyanobacteria has not yet been extensively studied. Existing evidence for internalization of microcystin by cyanobacteria is based only on the presence of internalized radioisotopic label. Where a function or physiological role for microcystin has been proposed based on the molecule acting as a signalling molecule, the hypothetical function has not been demonstrated at the site of action in receiving cells. We therefore exposed Synechocystis PCC6803 to microcystin LR and showed that the microcystin-LR was both taken up by Synechocystis PCC6803 and localised in the thylakoid membranes, where it caused a decrease in photosystem II activity as has been shown for endogenous microcystin, without any negative effects on the cell's survival.

Phase synchronization scheme for a practical phase sensitive amplifier of ASK-NRZ signals.

We present a phase locking scheme that enables the demonstration of a practical dual pump degenerate phase sensitive amplifier for 10 Gbit/s non-return to zero amplitude shift keying signals. The scheme makes use of cascaded Mach Zehnder modulators for creating the pump frequencies as well as of injection locking for extracting the signal carrier and synchronizing the local lasers. An in depth optimization study has been performed, based on measured error rate performance, and the main degradation factors have been identified.

40 nm wavelength tunable gain-switched optical comb source.

A wavelength tunable optical comb is generated based on the gain-switching of an externally seeded Fabry-Pérot laser diode. The comb consists of about eight clearly resolved 10 GHz coherent sidebands within 3 dB spectral envelope peak and is tunable over the entire C-band (1530 to 1570 nm). The optical linewidth of the individual comb tones is measured to be lower than 100 kHz, and the RIN of the individually filtered comb tones (<-120 dB/Hz) is shown to be comparable to the entire unfiltered comb (<-135 dB/Hz). Besides, expansion of the tunable gain switched comb is achieved with the aid of an optical phase modulator, resulting in near doubling of the number of comb tones.

Wide temperature range 0 < T < 85 °C narrow linewidth discrete mode laser diodes for coherent communications applications.

Cost effective lasers meeting the linewidth requirements for coherent communication systems are a key element in reducing the overall cost of future coherent systems. We report on monolithic devices with linewidths as low as 138 kHz which operate in a narrow linewidth, single wavelength mode with high sidemode suppression ratio over a wide temperature tuning range of -10 °C < T < 110 °C. A linewidth variation of only 23 kHz was measured at a constant emitted power of 4 mW as the device temperature is varied in the range 0 °C < T < 85 °C.

A practical phase sensitive amplification scheme for two channel phase regeneration.

A "black-box" phase sensitive amplifier is presented achieving simultaneous suppression of deterministic phase distortion on two independent 42.66 Gbit/s DPSK modulated signal wavelengths.

A GROWTH ADVANTAGE FOR MICROCYSTIN PRODUCTION BY MICROCYSTIS PCC7806 UNDER HIGH LIGHT(1).

Batch cultures of both Microcystis PCC7806 and a mcyA(-) knockout mutant (MT) of PCC7806 were cultured at three different light intensities and five media treatments, so as to vary cellular N:C ratios and concentrations and sampled daily over 5 d for analysis of microcystin concentration, cell numbers, and residual nitrate in the growth medium. A competitive survival advantage was noted at a high-light level (37 µmol photons · m(-2 ) · s(-1) ), where the toxic strain survived while the nontoxic strain became chlorotic. A strong correlation (r(2) = 0.91, P < 0.001, N = 22) between microcystin concentration and growth rate was observed at high-light conditions. No advantage was observed at optimal or low-light conditions, and media composition had no significant effect on the relationship between toxicity and survival at high-light conditions. These data suggest a possible role for microcystin in protection against photooxidation.

Phase shift keyed systems based on a gain switched laser transmitter.

Return-to-Zero (RZ) and Non-Return-to-Zero (NRZ) Differential Phase Shift Keyed (DPSK) systems require cheap and optimal transmitters for widespread implementation. The authors report on a gain switched Discrete Mode (DM) laser that can be employed as a cost efficient transmitter in a 10.7 Gb/s RZ DPSK system and compare its performance to that of a gain switched Distributed Feed-Back (DFB) laser. Experimental results show that the gain switched DM laser readily provides error free performance and a receiver sensitivity of -33.1 dBm in the 10.7 Gbit/s RZ DPSK system. The standard DFB laser on the other hand displays an error floor at 10(-1) in the same RZ DPSK system. The difference in performance, between the two types of gain switched transmitters, is analysed by investigating their linewidths. We also demonstrate, for the first time, the generation of a highly coherent gain switched pulse train which displays a spectral comb of approximately 13 sidebands spaced by the 10.7 GHz modulation frequency. The filtered side-bands are then employed as narrow linewidth Continuous Wave (CW) sources in a 10.7 Gb/s NRZ DPSK system.

One-step synthesis of stoichiometrically defined metal oxide nanoparticles at room temperature.

A great variety of metal oxide nanoparticles have been readily synthesized by using alkali metal oxides, M(2)O (M is Na or Li) and soluble metal salts (metal chlorides) in polar organic solutions, for example, methanol and ethanol, at room temperature. The oxidation states of the metals in the resulting metal oxides (Cu(2)O, CuO, ZnO, Al(2)O(3), Fe(2)O(3), Bi(2)O(3), TiO(2), SnO(2), CeO(2), Nb(2)O(5), WO(3), and CoFe(2)O(4)) range from 1 to 6 and remain invariable through the reactions where good control of stoichiometry is achieved. Metal oxide nanoparticles are 1-30 nm and have good monodispersivity and displayed comparable optical spectra. These syntheses are based on a general ion reaction pathway during which the precipitate occurs when O(2-) ions meet metal cations (M(n+)) in anhydrous solution and the reaction equation is M(n+) + n/2 O(2-) --> MO(n/2) (n=1-6).

Characteristics of several NIR tuneable diode lasers for spectroscopic based gas sensing: a comparison.

Tuneable laser diodes were characterized and compared for use as tuneable sources in gas absorption spectroscopy. Specifically, the characteristics of monolithic widely tuneable single frequency lasers, such as sampled grating distributed Bragg reflector laser and modulated grating Y-branch laser diodes, recently developed for optical communications, with operating wavelengths in the 1,520 nm

Simultaneous multispecies gas sensing by use of a sampled grating distributed Bragg reflector and modulated grating Y laser diode.

Widely tunable laser diodes operating at 1520 < or = lambda < or = 1570 nm are characterized and compared for use as sources for tunable laser diode gas absorption spectroscopy. Three gases, hydrogen cyanide, ammonia, and acetylene, with overlapping absorption features within the 50 nm tuning range of the devices were targeted by use of wavelength modulation spectroscopy with second-harmonic detection. In addition, a method for modulating the laser to improve sensitivity by taking advantage of the unique structure of these devices is reported.

Absorption line shift with temperature and pressure: impact on laser-diode-based H2O sensing at 1.393 microm.

High-resolution absorption measurements of the H2O line in the v1 + v3 band at 1.3928 microm were made in the temperature range of 296-1100 K by use of an InGaAsP distributed-feedback laser diode operating at 1.39 microm. Spectral line shift, line strength, and N2 broadening on the water-vapor line and their impact on the accuracy of optical-absorption-based gas sensing have been investigated. The results obtained were compared with values obtained from the HITRAN database and values reported in the literature, facilitating H2O sensing in a nonstandard temperature and pressure environment.