Phase-locked single-mode terahertz quantum cascade lasers array

We demonstrated a scheme of phase-locked terahertz quantum cascade lasers(THz QCLs)array,with a single-mode pulse power of 108 mW at 13 K.The device utilizes a Talbot cavity to achieve phase locking among five ridge lasers with first-order buried distributed feedback(DFB)grating,resulting in nearly five times amplification of the single-mode power.Due to the optimum length of Talbot cavity depends on wavelength,the combination of Talbot cavity with the DFB grating leads to better power amplification than the combination with multimode Fabry-Perot(F-P)cavities.The Talbot cavity facet reflects light back to the ridge array direction and achieves self-imaging in the array,enabling phase-locked operation of ridges.We set the spacing between adjacent elements to be 220μm,much larger than the free-space wavelength,ensuring the operation of the fundamental supermode throughout the laser's dynamic range and obtaining a high-brightness far-field distribution.This scheme provides a new approach for enhancing the single-mode power of THz QCLs.

Seasonal Phase-Locking of Peak Events in the Eastern Indian Ocean

The sea surface temperature （SST） anomaly of the eastern Indian Ocean （EIO） exhibits cold anomalies in the boreal summer or fall during E1 Nino development years and warm anomalies in winter or spring following the E1 Nino events. There also tend to be warm anomalies in the boreal summer or fall during La Nina development years and cold anomalies in winter or spring following the La Nina events. The seasonal phase-locking of SST change in the EIO associated with E1 Nino/Southern Oscillation is linked to the variability of convection over the maritime continent, which induces an atmospheric Rossby wave over the EIO. Local air-sea interaction exerts different effects on SST anomalies, depending on the relationship between the Rossby wave and the mean flow related to the seasonal migration of the buffer zone, which shifts across the equator between summer and winter. The summer cold events start with cooling in the Timor Sea, together with increasing easterly flow along the equator. Negative SST anomalies develop near Sumatra, through the interaction between the atmospheric Rossby wave and the underneath sea surface. These SST anomalies are also contributed to by the increased upwelling of the mixed layer and the equatorward temperature advection in the boreal fall. As the buffer zone shifts across the equator towards boreal winter, the anomalous easterly flow tends to weaken the mean flow near the equator, and the EIO SST increases due to the reduction of latent heat flux from the sea surface. As a result, wintertime SST anomalies appear with a uniform and nearly basin-wide pattern beneath the easterly anomalies. These SST anomalies are also caused by the increase in solar radiation associated with the anticyclonic atmospheric Rossby wave over the EIO. Similarly, the physical processes of the summer warm events, which are followed by wintertime cold SST anomalies, can be explained by the changes in atmospheric and oceanic fields with opposite signs to those anomalies described above.

Monsoon Circulation Related to ENSO Phase-Locking

The relation of interannual anomaly of East Asian monsoon to the ENSO cycle is investigated in terms of even and odd symmetry analysis over a tropical heating field based on the past 30-year data. Evidence suggests that odd and even symmetry components related to the monsoon and Walker heating, respectively, effectively describe the East Asian monsoon circulation and Pacific Walker analog, with the monsoon intensity index corresponding to its heating vigor and western Pacific Walker heating vigor to ENSO phase change, both types of heating marked by pronounced seasonal variation and phase-locking; the key region for linking monsoon-ENSO interaction is the western Pacific warm pool; the monsoon effect upon ENSO cycle is affected jointly by the seasonal evolution and interannual anomaly of the heating components; the superimposition of an anti-Walker circulation phase produced by interannual winter monsoon perturbation upon a weaker Walker phase on a seasonal basis leads to an El Nino happening in March-April and plays a significant role in maintaining a warm ENSO phase.

134-W phase locking of two-dimensional four-fiber lasers with improved self-imaging resonator

We experimentally demonstrate the phase locking of a two-dimensional （2D） array of four fiber lasers using an improved self-imaging resonator with a spatial filter. The high visibility interference round stripes of the coherent beam profile are observed. The coherent output power of the fiber array exceeds 134 W. Tile entire system operates quite stably, and no thermal effects observe in the spatial filter, indicating that the coherent output power can be increased using this method.

On the Mechanism of the Locking of the El Nino Event Onset Phase to Boreal Spring

The mechanism of the locking of the E1 Nino event onset phase to boreal spring （from April to June） in an intermediate coupled ocean-atmosphere model is investigated. The results show that the seasonal variation of the zonal wind anomaly over the equatorial Pacific associated with the seasonal variation of the ITCZ is the mechanism of the locking in the model. From January to March of the E1 Nino year, the western wind anomaly over the western equatorial Pacific can excite the downwelling Kelvin wave that propagates eastward to the eastern and middle Pacific by April to June. From April to December of the year before the E1 Nifio year, the eastern wind anomaly over the equatorial Pacific forces the downwelling Rossby waves that modulate the ENSO cycle. The modulation and the reflection at the western boundary modulate the time of the transition from the cool to the warm phase to September of the year before the E1 Nifio year and cause the strongest downwelling Kelvin wave from the reflected Rossby waves at the western boundary to arrive in the middle and eastern equatorial Pacific by April to June of the E1 Nino year. The superposition of these two kinds of downwelling Kelvin waves causes the El Nino event to tend to occur from April to June.

Dynamic Bonds Mediate π-π Interaction via Phase Locking Effect for Enhanced Heat Resistant Thermoplastic Polyurethane

Stimulus-responsive polymers containing dynamic bonds enable fascinating properties of self-healing,recycling and reprocessing due to enhanced relaxation of polymer chain/network with labile linkages.Here,we study the structure and properties of a new type of thermoplastic polyurethanes(TPUs)with trapped dynamic covalent bonds in the hard-phase domain and report the frustrated relaxation of TPUs containing weak dynamic bond andπ-πinteraction in hard segments.As detected by rheometry,the aromatic TPUs with alkyl disulfide in the hard segments possess the maximum network relaxation time in contrast to those without dynamic bonds and alicyclic TPUs.In situ FTIR and small-angle scattering results reveal that the alkyl disulfide facilitates stronger intermolecular interaction and more stable micro-phase morphology inπ-πinteraction based aromatic TPUs.Molecular dynamics simulation for pure hard segments of model molecules verify that the presence of disulfide bonds leads to strongerπ-πstacking of aromatic rings due to both enhanced assembling thermodynamics and kinetics.The enhancedπ-πpacking and micro-phase structure in TPUs further kinetically immobilize the dynamic bond.This kinetically interlocking between the weak dynamic bonds and strong molecular interaction in hard segments leads to much slower network relaxation of TPU.This work provides a new insight in tuning the network relaxation and heat resistance as well as molecular self-assembly in stimulus-responsive dynamic polymers by both molecular design and micro-phase control toward the functional applications of advanced materials.

Propagation of phase-locked truncated Gaussian beam array in turbulent atmosphere

Truncation manipulation is a simple but effective way to improve the intensity distribution properties of the phase-locked Gaussian beam array at the receiving plane. In this paper, the analytical expression for the propagation of the phase-locked truncated Gaussian beam array in a turbulent atmosphere is obtained based on the extended Huygens--Fresnel principle. Power in the diffraction-limited bucket is introduced as the beam quality factor to evaluate the influence of different truncation parameters. The dependence of optimal truncation ratio on the number of beamlets, the intensity of turbulence, propagation distance and laser wavelength is calculated and discussed. It is revealed that the optimal truncation ratio is larger for the laser array that contains more lasers, and the optimal truncation ratio will shift to a larger value with an increase in propagation distance and decrease in intensity of atmosphere turbulence. The optimal truncation ratio is independent of laser wavelength.

Historical Phase-Locked El Nino Episodes

Using a newly reported Pacific sea surface temperature data set, we extend a prior study that assigned El Ni&#241o episodes to distinct sequences. Within these sequences the episodes are phase-locked to subharmonics of the annual solar irradiance cycle having two- or three-year periodicity. There are 40 El Ni&#241o episodes occurring since 1872, each found within one of eighteen such sequences. Our list includes all previously reported events. Three El Ni&#241o episodes have already been observed in boreal winters of 2009, 2012 and 2015, illustrating a sequence of 3-year intervals that began in 2008. If the climate system remains in this state, the next El Ni&#241o is likely to occur in boreal winter of 2018.

A novel high precision Doppler frequency estimation method based on the third-order phase-locked loop

In deep space exploration,many engineering and scientific requirements require the accuracy of the measured Doppler frequency to be as high as possible.In our paper,we analyze the possible frequency measurement points of the third-order phase-locked loop(PLL)and find a new Doppler measurement strategy.Based on this finding,a Doppler frequency measurement algorithm with significantly higher measurement accuracy is obtained.In the actual data processing,compared with the existing engineering software,the accuracy of frequency of 1 second integration is about 5.5 times higher when using the new algorithm.The improved algorithm is simple and easy to implement.This improvement can be easily combined with other improvement methods of PLL,so that the performance of PLL can be further improved.

Dual-Delay-Path Ring Oscillator with Self-Biased Delay Cells for Clock Generation

This work summarizes the structure and operating features of a high-performance 3-stage dual-delay-path (DDP) voltage-controlled ring oscillator (VCRO) with self-biased delay cells for Phase-Locked Loop (PLL) structurebased clock generation and digital system driving. For a voltage supply VDD = 1.8 V, the resulting set of performance parameters include power consumption PDC = 4.68 mW and phase noise PN@1MHz = -107.8 dBc/Hz. From the trade-off involving PDC and PN, a system level high performance is obtained considering a reference figure-of-merit ( FoM = -224 dBc/Hz ). Implemented at schematic level by applying CMOS-based technology (UMC L180), the proposed VCRO was designed at Cadence environment and optimized at MunEDA WiCkeD tool.

Spiking patterns of a hippocampus model in electric fields

We develop a model of CA3 neurons embedded in a resistive array to mimic the effects of electric fields from a new perspective. Effects of DC and sinusoidal electric fields on firing patterns in CA3 neurons are investigated in this study. The firing patterns can be switched from no firing pattern to burst or from burst to fast periodic firing pattern with the increase of DC electric field intensity. It is also found that the firing activities are sensitive to the frequency and amplitude of the sinusoidal electric field. Different phase-locking states and chaotic firing regions are observed in the parameter space of frequency and amplitude. These findings are qualitatively in accordance with the results of relevant experimental and numerical studies. It is implied that the external or endogenous electric field can modulate the neural code in the brain. Furthermore, it is helpful to develop control strategies based on electric fields to control neural diseases such as epilepsy.

Characterizing passive coherent population trapping resonance in a cesium vapor cell filled with neon buffer gas

We present a pair of phase-locked lasers with a 9.2-GHz frequency difference through the injection locking of a master laser to the RF-modulation sideband of a slave diode laser. Using this laser system, a coherent population trapping （CPT） signal with a typical linewidth of ～ 182 Hz is obtained in a cesium vapor cell filled with 30 Torr （4kPa） of neon as the buffer gas. We investigate the influence of the partial pressure of the neon buffer gas on the CPT linewidth, amplitude, and frequency shift. The results may offer some references for CPT atomic clocks and CPT atomic magnetometers.

Interaction function of coupled bursting neurons

The interaction functions of electrically coupled Hindmarsh–Rose（HR） neurons for different firing patterns are investigated in this paper.By applying the phase reduction technique,the phase response curve（PRC） of the spiking neuron and burst phase response curve（BPRC） of the bursting neuron are derived.Then the interaction function of two coupled neurons can be calculated numerically according to the PRC（or BPRC） and the voltage time course of the neurons.Results show that the BPRC is more and more complicated with the increase of the spike number within a burst,and the curve of the interaction function oscillates more and more frequently with it.However,two certain things are unchanged：Φ = 0,which corresponds to the in-phase synchronization state,is always the stable equilibrium,while the anti-phase synchronization state with Φ = 0.5 is an unstable equilibrium.

When Will the Next El Nino Occur?

There is great interest in knowing when a future El Ni&#241o will occur. Most physical models forecast the future based on climate data from the recent past—about a year. The forecasted future is also a fraction of a year. This approach to predicting the future does not use the fact that the climate system may be in a phase-locked state in which sinusoidal oscillations of 2 or 3 years are observed. These states can last many cycles. Thus, if the climate system is in a phase-locked state, one may be able to make definite statements about the future independent of physical models. Douglass, Knox, Curtiss, Geise and Ray (DKCGR) have used the fact that the climate system is presently in a phase-loxked state of period 3 years to state (December 2016) that the next El Ni&#241o episode may show a maximum at about November of 2018. We present an updated analysis and state (September 2018) that if the climate system remains in a phase-locked state of period 3 years there will be an El Ni&#241o maximum at about November 2018. If that happens, there could be another El Ni&#241o maximum at about November 2021.

A New North Atlantic Oscillation Index and Its Variability

A new North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) index, the NAOI, is defined as the differences of normalized sea level pressures regionally zonal-averaged over a broad range of longitudes 80°W-30°E. A comprehensive comparison of six NAO indices indicates that the new NAOI provides a more faithful representation of the spatial-temporal variability associated with the NAO on all timescales. A very high signal-to-noise ratio for the NAOI exists for all seasons, and the life cycle represented by the NAOI describes well the seasonal migration for action centers of the NAO. The NAOI captures a larger fraction of the variance of sea level pressure over the North Atlantic sector (20°-90°N, 80°W-30°E), on average 10% more than any other NAO index. There are quite different relationships between the NAOI and surface air temperature during winter and summer. A novel feature, however, is that the NAOI is significantly negative correlated with surface air temperature over the North Atlantic Ocean between 10°-25°N and 70°-30°W, whether in winter or summer. From 1873, the NAOI exhibits strong interannual and decadal variability. Its interannual variability of the twelve calendar months is obviously phase-locked with the seasonal cycle. Moreover, the annual NAOI exhibits a clearer decadal variability in amplitude than the winter NAOI. An upward trend is found in the annual NAOI between the 1870s and 1910s, while the other winter NAO indices fail to show this tendency. The annual NAOI exhibits a strongly positive epoch of 50 years between 1896 and 1950. After 1950, the variability of the annual NAOI is very similar to that of the winter NAO indices.

Approach to blind estimation of the PN sequence in DS-SS signals with residual carrier

This paper presents an approach of singular value de- composition plus digital phase lock loop to solve the difficult problem of blind pseudo-noise （PN） sequence estimation in low signal to noise ratios （SNR） direct sequence spread spectrum （DS-SS） signals with residual carrier. This approach needs some given parameters, such as the period and code rate of PN sequence. The received signal is firstly sampled and divided into non-overlapping signal vectors according to a temporal window, whose duration is two periods of PN sequence. An autocorrelation matrix is then computed and accumulated by those signal vectors one by one. The PN sequence with residual carrier can be estimated by the principal eigenvector of the autocorrelation matrix. Further more, a digital phase lock loop is used to process the estimated PN sequence, it estimates and tracks the residual carrier and removes the residual carrier in the end. Theory analysis and computer simulation results show that this approach can effectively realize the PN sequence blind estimation from the input DS-SS signals with residual carrier in lower SNR.

Simple and robust method for rapid cooling of 87Rb to quantum degeneracy

We demonstrate a simple and fast way to produce 87Rb Bose–Einstein condensates. A digital optical phase lock loop(OPLL) board is introduced to lock and adjust the frequency of the trap laser, which simplifies the optical design and improves the experimental efficiency. We collect atoms in a magneto-optical trap, then compress the cloud and cut off hot atoms by rf knife in a magnetic quadrupole trap. The atom clouds are then transferred into a spatially mode-matched optical dipole trap by lowering the quadrupole field gradient. Our system reliably produces a condensate with 2 × 106 atoms every7.5 s. The compact optical design and rapid preparation speed of our system will open the gate for mobile quantum sensing.

Precise determination of characteristic laser frequencies by an Er-doped fiber optical frequency comb

Femtosecond optical frequency combs correlate the microwave and optical frequencies accurately and coherently.Therefore,any optical frequency in visible to near-infrared region can be directly traced to a microwave frequency.As a result,the length unit“meter”is directly related to the time unit“second”.This paper validates the capability of the national wavelength standards based on a home-made Er-doped fiber femtosecond optical frequency comb to measure the laser frequencies ranging from visible to near-infrared region.Optical frequency conversion in the femtosecond optical frequency comb is achieved by combining spectral broadening in a highly nonlinear fiber with a single-point frequencydoubling scheme.The signal-to-noise ratio of the beat notes between the femtosecond optical frequency comb and the lasers at 633,698,729,780,1064,and 1542 nm is better than 30 d B.The frequency instability of the above lasers is evaluated by using a hydrogen clock signal with a instability of better than 1×10^(-13)at 1-s averaging time.The measurement is further validated by measuring the absolute optical frequency of an iodine-stabilized 532-nm laser and an acetylenestabilized 1542-nm laser.The results are within the uncertainty range of the international recommended values.Our results demonstrate the accurate optical frequency measurement of lasers at different frequencies using the femtosecond optical frequency comb,which is not only important for the precise and accurate traceability and calibration of the laser frequencies,but also provides technical support for establishing the national wavelength standards based on the femtosecond optical frequency comb.

Development Processes of the Tropical Pacific Meridional Mode

Mechanisms for the spatio-temporal development of the Tropical Pacific Meridional Mode （TPMM） are investigated using a coupled ocean-atmosphere model and observations. In both observations and the model, this meridional mode displays decadal variations and is most pronounced in spring and early summer. The model simulation suggests that once SST anomalies in the subtropical northeastern Pacific are initiated, say by northeasterly trade wind variability, perturbations evolve into a merdional dipole in 2 -3 months. A wind-evaporative-SST feedback causes a southwestward propagation of initial subtropical SST anomalies, while anomalous equatorial upwelling helps form the southern lobe of the meridional dipole. The TPMM development is a fast process （a few months） and depends on the seasonal cycle.

FAREY SEQUENCE OF NONLINEAR DIFFERENTIAL DYNAMIC SYSTEM IN TWO DIMENSIONS

In this paper , through the discrim ination of Farey sequence in the forced Brusselator withweak coupling , it is proved that there is a topological translation fro m a nonlinear differen tial system ( limit cycle) to the circle m ap .