Ultrafast control of slow light in THz electromagnetically induced transparency metasurfaces

In this paper,we experimentally demonstrate ultrafast optical control of slow light in the terahertz(THz) range by combining the electromagnetically induced transparency(EIT) metasurfaces with the cut wire made of P+-implanted silicon with short carrier lifetime.Employing the optical-pump THz-probe spectroscopy,we observed that the device transited from a state with a slow light effect to a state without a slow light effect in an ultrafast time of 5 ps and recovered within 200 ps.A coupled oscillator model is utilized to explain the origin of controllability.The experimental results agree very well with the simulated and theoretical results.These EIT metasurfaces have the potential to be used as an ultrafast THz optical delay device.

Synthesis and enhanced visible-light responsive of C,N,S-tridoped TiO_2 hollow spheres

C,N,S-tridoped TiO2 hollow spheres （labeled as C,N,S-THs） were synthesized using carbon spheres as template and C,N,S-tridoped TiO2 nanoparticles as building blocks. The structure and physicochemical properties of the catalysts were characterized by X- ray diffraction （XRD）, scanning electron microscopy （SEM）, UV-Vis diffuse reflectance spectrum （DRS）, N2 adsorption-desorption isotherms, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy （XPS） and Photoluminescence emission spectroscopy （PL）. The results showed that the hollow spheres had average diameter of about 200 nm and the shell thickness was about 20 nm. The tridoped TiO2 hollow spheres exhibited strong absorption in the visible-light region. C,N,S-tridoped could narrow the band gap of the THs by mixing the orbit O 2p with C 2p, N 2p and S 3p orbits and shift its optical response from ultraviolet （UV） to the visible-light region. PL analysis indicated that the electron-hole recombination rate of TiO2 hollow spheres had been effectively inhibited when doped with C, N and S elements. The photocatalytic activities of the samples were evaluated for the degradation of X-3B （Reactive Brilliant Red dye, C.I. Reactive Red 2） aqueous solution under visible-light （λ 〉 420 nm） irradiation. It was found that the C,N,S-tridoped TiO2 hollow spheres indicated higher photocatalytic activity than commercial P25 and the undoped counterpart photocatalyst.

Improving the Nowcasting of Strong Convection by Assimilating Both Wind and Reflectivity Observations of Phased Array Radar:A Case Study

With the advent of the phased array radar(PAR)technology,it is possible to capture the development and evolution of convective systems in a much shorter time interval and with higher spatial resolution than via traditional Doppler radar.Research on the assimilation of PAR observations in numerical weather prediction models is still in its infancy in China.In this paper,the impact of assimilating PAR data on model forecasts was investigated by a case study of a local heavy rainfall event that occurred over Foshan city of Guangdong Province on 26 August 2020,via a series of sensitivity experiments.Both the retrieved three-dimensional wind and hydrometeor fields were assimilated through the nudging method with the Tropical Regional Assimilation Model for South China Sea_Rapid Update Cycle_1km(TRAMS_RUC_1km).The temperature and moisture fields were also adjusted accordingly.The results show that significant improvements are made in the experiments with latent heat nudging and adjustment of the water vapor field,which implies the importance of thermodynamic balance in the initialization of the convective system and highlights the need to assimilate PAR radar observations in a continuous manner to maximize the impact of the data.Sensitivity tests also indicate that the relaxation time should be less than 5 min.In general,for this case,the assimilation of PAR data can significantly improve the nowcasting skill of the regional heavy precipitation.This study is the first step towards operational PAR data assimilation in numerical weather prediction in southern China.