Multi-octave mid-infrared supercontinuum generation in tapered chalcogenide-glass rods.

We report on the experimental development of short-tapered chalcogenide-glass rods for mid-infrared supercontinuum generation. Multi-octave spectral broadening of femtosecond laser pulses is demonstrated from 1.6 to 15.6 µm in a 5-cm-long tapered Ge20Se70Te10 rod with a waist diameter of 25 µm. Despite the multimode nature of the optical waveguide used, this work clearly shows the potential of such simple post-processed rods for advancing fiber SC sources with infrared glasses, thereby unlocking new possibilities in terms of coupling efficiency, spectral coverage, and output power.

Annulated Azuleno[2,1,8-ija]azulenes: Synthesis and Properties.

Non-alternant non-benzenoid hydrocarbons exhibit very different optical and electronic properties than their well-studied benzenoid analogues. However, preparing such structures with extended conjugation length, remains challenging. Herein, we report the synthesis and properties of azuleno[2,1,8-ija]azulene derivatives using a two-step sequence involving a four-fold aldol condensation between aromatic dialdehydes and readily available tetrahydropentalene-2,5-(1H,3H)-dione. Molecules with band gap values ranging from 1.69 to 2.14 eV and molar extinction coefficients (ϵ) of nearly 3×105  M-1 cm-1 have been prepared. These annulene-like structures exhibit significant diatropic ring currents (aromatic), as supported by 1 H NMR spectroscopy and DFT calculations. Field-effect transistors (OFETs) using azuleno[2,1,8-ija]azulene derivatives as semiconductors exhibit charge mobility values of up to 0.05 cm2  V-1 s-1 .

Synthesis of an azulene-containing graphene nanoribbon.

The solution-phase synthesis of a non-benzenoid nanoribbon from an azulene-containing polymer via alkyne benzannulation is reported. The nanoribbon is soluble in common organic solvents and exhibits conductivity values up to 1.5 × 10-3 S cm-1 once doped by protonation in the thin film state.

Semilinear coherent optical oscillator with frequency shifted feedback.

It is shown that the saw-tooth variation of the cavity length in a photorefractive semilinear coherent oscillator can suppress the instability in the frequency domain and prevent a bifurcation in the oscillation spectrum. To achieve such a suppression the frequency of the cavity length modulation should be chosen appropriately. It depends on the photorefractive crystal parameters (electrooptic properties, photoconductivity, dimensions) and on the experimental conditions (pump intensity ratio, orientation of the pump and oscillation waves with respect to the crystallographic axes, polarization of the pump waves, etc. ). It depends also strongly on a possible misalignment of the two pump waves. On the other hand, within a certain range of the experimental parameters the mirror vibration may lead to a further frequency splitting in the already existing two-mode oscillation spectrum.

Helicenes from diarylmaleimides.

Perkin condensations of arylglyoxylic acids with arylacetic acids, followed by the addition of alkylamine, yield diarylmaleimides in a one-pot procedure. The arylglyoxylic acids are obtained by arene acylation with ClCOCO2Et and reduced with NaI and hypophosphorous acid to the arylacetic acids. With 2,7-di-tert-butyl-pyren-4-yl or chrysen-6-yl as the aryl, photocyclodehydrogenation of the diarylmaleimides yields substituted helicenes which can be reduced to stable anions. The helicenes combine bathochromically shifted absorption with hypsochromically shifted fluorescence with respect to their precursors.

Four-wave-mixing coherent oscillator with frequency shifted feedback and misaligned pump waves.

The effect of the pump waves misalignment on the oscillation spectra and oscillation intensity of a semilinear photorefractive oscillator is studied numerically and compared with the results of the experiment performed with a KNbO3:Fe,Ag crystal.

Strong lowering of the mirrorless optical oscillation threshold by angular mismatches for nonlocal photorefractive nonlinearity.

We show that the introduction of an angular mismatch for the pump waves results, in the case of nonlocal photorefractive nonlinearity, in a strong almost twofold decrease of the threshold value of the coupling strength for the mirrorless optical oscillation. This surprising feature will lead to a strong modification of the threshold and near-threshold behavior of a vast variety of optical oscillators based on the photorefractive phase conjugation and involving finite-size light beams.