Electrical coupling of individual electrocatalytic oscillators.

The catalytic electro-oxidation of some small organic molecules is known to display kinetic instabilities, which reflect on potential and/or current oscillations. Under oscillatory conditions, those systems can be considered electrocatalytic oscillators and, therefore, can be described by their amplitude, frequency, and waveform. Just like mechanical oscillators, the electrocatalytic ones can be coupled and their dynamics can be changed by setting different coupling parameters. In the present work, we study the unidirectional coupling of electrocatalytic oscillators, namely, those comprehending the catalytic electro-oxidation of methanol and formic acid on polycrystalline platinum in acidic media under potentiostatic control. Herein, we explore two different scenarios (the coupling of compositionally identical and non-identical oscillators) and investigate the effects of the master's identity and of the coupling constant on the slave's dynamics. For the master (methanol)-slave (methanol) coupling, the oscillators exhibited phase lag synchronization and complete phase synchronization. On the other hand, for the master (formic acid)-slave (methanol) coupling, the oscillators exhibited complete phase synchronization with phase-locking with a 2:3 ratio, complete phase synchronization with phase-locking with a 1:2 ratio, phase lag synchronization, and complete phase synchronization. The obtained results suggest that both the master's identity and the coupling constant (sign and magnitude) are parameters that play an important role on the coupled systems, in such a way that even for completely different systems, synchronization could emerge by setting a suitable coupling constant. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report concerning the electrical coupling of hidden N-shaped-negative differential resistance type systems.

Laser locking to the 199Hg 1S0-3P0 clock transition with 5.4 × 10(-15)/✓τ fractional frequency instability.

With 199Hg atoms confined in an optical lattice trap in the Lamb-Dicke regime, we obtain a spectral line at 265.6 nm for which the FWHM is ~15 Hz. Here we lock an ultrastable laser to this ultranarrow 1S0-3P0 clock transition and achieve a fractional frequency instability of 5.4×10(-15)/✓τ for τ ≤ 400 s. The highly stable laser light used for the atom probing is derived from a 1062.6 nm fiber laser locked to an ultrastable optical cavity that exhibits a mean drift rate of -6.0×10(-17) s(-1) (-16.9 mHz s(-1) at 282 THz) over a six month period. A comparison between two such lasers locked to independent optical cavities shows a flicker noise limited fractional frequency instability of 4×10(-16) per cavity.

Hardness evaluation of a dental composite polymerized with experimental LED-based devices.

OBJECTIVE: The main goal of this study was the hardness evaluation of a composite resin cured by five LED (Light Emitting Diodes) based devices and a comparison with a conventional curing unit. The hardness test was used to compare the efficacy of both types of light source. METHODS: The LED-based devices were made employing an array of LEDs (Nichia Chem. Ind., Japan) emitting light peaked at 470nm. Composite resin (Z100, shade A3) was cured for 20, 40, 60, 120 and 180s with each LED-based device and for 40s with the halogen lamp. The composite samples were prepared with 0.35, 1.25 and 1.8mm of thickness. Five samples of each set of parameters were done. The hardness evaluation was performed at the non-illuminate surface with three indentations for each sample. RESULTS: All the samples cured by the LED-based devices showed inferior hardness values when compared with the halogen lamp at the typical curing time (40s). The L6 (device composed of six LEDs) was the most efficient one of the LED-based devices. Its obtained irradiance was 79mW/cm(2), whereas the halogen lamp irradiance was of 475mW/cm(2). For the L6 device here presented, longer exposure times or a thinner resin layer are required to achieve reasonable hardness values. SIGNIFICANCE: Besides the difference of irradiance when compared with halogen lamps, LED-based devices show to be a promising alternative curing instrument. Further development in instrumentation may result in devices even more efficient than conventional lamps.

Construction and evaluation of the first Brazilian atomic clock.

For the past two years we have been implementing a program for the establishment of scientific time and frequency metrology in Brazil. The main objective of this program is to construct an atomic fountain and use it as a primary standard. As a first step toward this goal, we have constructed a (133)Cs beam optically pumped conventional clock. In this paper we describe the system and the results of its evaluation. The possible limitations of our short-term stability are discussed.

Doppler-free spectroscopy of the 1S0-3P0 optical clock transition in laser-cooled fermionic isotopes of neutral mercury.

We report direct laser spectroscopy of the 1S0-3P0 transition at 265.6 nm in fermionic isotopes of neutral mercury in a magneto-optical trap. Measurements of the frequency against the LNE-SYRTE primary reference using an optical frequency comb yield 1 128 575 290 808.4+/-5.6 kHz in 199Hg and 1 128 569 561 139.6+/-5.3 kHz in 201Hg. The uncertainty, allowed by the observation of the Doppler-free recoil doublet, is 4 orders of magnitude lower than previous indirect determinations. Mercury is a promising candidate for future optical lattice clocks due to its low sensitivity to blackbody radiation.

Human teeth exposed to argon laser irradiation: determination of power-time-temperature working conditions.

OBJECTIVE: This study was conducted to establish the operating parameters of the argon laser without thermal damage to the pulp tissue for clinical applications. SUMMARY BACKGROUND DATA: Previous studies have mainly compared the temperature modifications of the pulp chamber in a very limited situation, where a complete view of the thermal history cannot be obtained nor even extrapolated to new applications. METHODS: We used samples of molar and premolar tooth where a class V cavity was prepared and illuminated with an argon laser at different power levels, fixing the exposition area for all cases. Situations including open cavity and teeth restoration were analyzed. High-precision thermistors were placed in four different positions, one of which was inside the pulp chamber. The temperature evolution was monitored continuously by an interfaced computer during all laser exposure. Special attention was paid to the intrapulpal temperature variation because it is considered the most vulnerable thermal region. The temperature time evolution allowed the determination of the operating conditions (power-time-temperature variation) in which the use of the argon laser causes no pulpal damage. As a function of temperature variation, we divided the whole parameter space (power-time-temperature) into zones and the optimum zone of operation was determined. CONCLUSIONS: We created a diagram called power-time-temperature (PTT) where zones of temperature increased under laser irradiation allow the verification of which condition is safe for clinical laser application. The results have a broad use when this type of analysis is applicable.

Characterization of light penetration in rat tissues.

OBJECTIVE: The goal of this study is to determine the optical properties of different rat tissues with respect to spatial intensity variation and light distribution. We are interested mainly in the wavelength of 630 nm. Nevertheless, for liver tissue we have used 514 nm and 670 nm as well. BACKGROUND DATA: In the past, many articles have been written about the interaction of lasers with rat tissues. However, the technique of imaging the light distribution allows us to obtain the spatial scattering as well as an effective attenuation coefficient for the light intensity. METHODS: Slices of different rat tissues were placed between two microscope slide mounts (spaced by 3 mm). A laser beam was irradiated on the sandwiched tissue. A CCD camera placed on the side, orthogonal to the beam path, recorded the intensity distribution of the scattered light. Analysis of this spatial intensity profile allowed determining the variation of the intensity as the light penetrates the tissue. RESULTS: We have found that abdominal wall fat presents the lowest exponential decay when compared with liver, muscle, and kidney. The obtained values provided good data about the light distribution in those tissues when irradiated with a nondiffuse laser beam. For all tissues, we observed a spherical light distribution and exponential decay. Cirrhotic liver shows much stronger decay than healthy liver. These results are useful for several applications of laser for biostimulation a phototherapy.