Microwave variable waveguide attenuator.

A new type of cutoff attenuator is presented. The attenuator works in the X-band in conditions of almost perfect matching. This means that the phase of the wave, which propagates inside the guide, does not suffer sensible variation in the passage between X- and K(u)-bands. Moreover, the attenuator works directly in the X-band, avoiding the passage between waveguide and cable, thus eliminating spurious effects due to this (double) passage. Experimental results of attenuation and dephasing using a prototype are also presented.

Defects creation under UV irradiation of PbWO4 crystals.

A systematic study of photothermally stimulated defects creation processes is carried out by the thermally stimulated luminescence (TSL) method for a large number of undoped and doped PbWO4 crystals under irradiation at 80-180 K in the 3.4-4.3 eV energy range. The activation energy Ea for the regular exciton state disintegration is found to be approximately 0.1 eV. For defect-related states disintegration, Ea varies in the crystals studied from 0.03 to 0.36 eV. The origin of the defect-related states is discussed. The conclusion is made that not only a release of charge carriers but also charge transfer processes take place under UV irradiation of PbWO4 crystals.

Optical gain measurements with the amplified spontaneous emission technique.

An amplified spontaneous emission technique is described for the evaluation of optical gain as a function of the length of the pumped pencil-shaped area of the active medium. Continuous measurements of emission intensity are made while a movable screen varies the pumped length. Inhomogeneities of the pumping beam can be taken into account by employing two different pump intensities in alternate sequence. The system allows low-gain measurements minimizing the effect of pump intensity drifts, rf interferences, and efficiency loss of the active medium. In the presence of reabsorption the system suffers some modifications.

Emission spectra from copper proteins containing type-3 centres.

Aqueous solutions of copper-proteins containing type-3 centres (ceruloplasmin, tyrosinase, haemocyanin), excited within their absorption bands at 325-345 nm, show typical luminescence spectra. The emission bands peak at 415-445 nm and their decay time is no longer than 10 ns. A strong analogous fluorescence is obtained also by excitation of concentrated solutions of carboxylic acids and amino acids, which show again absorption bands around 330 nm. Such a fluorescence, although less intense, is also observed in copper(II) carboxylate solutions. In contrast, no fluorescence has been recorded in solutions of acetic anhydride and of polypeptides (valinomycin, gramicidin D), which do not have free carboxyl groups. We tentatively attribute this novel fluorescence in the investigated copper proteins to interactions between carboxyl groups of amino acids at, or near, the active site.