Study on Inclusions in Large Sapphire Optical Crystal Grown by SAPMAC Method

The sapphire （Al2O3） single crystal is a kind of excellent infrared transmission window materials. A large-sized sapphire （Ф225 mm×205 mm, 27.5 kg） was grown by SAPMAC method （sapphire growth technique with micro-pulling and shoulder-expanding at cooled center）. Several kinds of inclusion in the large sapphire crystal were investigated by means of an optical microscopy （OM）, scanning electron microscopy （SEM） and electron probe microanalysis （EPMA）. The experimental results show that most inclusions are consisted of solid metallic and non-metallic particles as well as gas pores caused by the impurity of alumina as the raw material, the thermal dissociation of aluminum oxide melt and the reaction of the melt to the crucible material （Mo） at high temperatures. It is also found that in different crystal regions the inclusions are of varied sizes, morphology and chemical compositions. Finally, the measures to reduce and eliminate the inclusions are proposed to improve the crystal quality.

Pulsed Laser Deposition of VO_(2)Single Crystal Thin Films on Sapphire Substrates

Thin films of VO_(2)single-crystalline on(0001)sapphire substrates have been prepared by visible pulsed laser ablation technique.The crystal quality and properties of the films are evaluated through electrical resistance measurement,x-ray diffraction(XRD),and Rutherford-backscattering spectroscopy/channeling(RBS/C)analysis.The dependence of the surface electrical resistance of the films on the temperature shows semiconductor-to-metal transitions with the resistance change of 7×10^(3)-2×10^(4).The hysteresis widths are from less than 1 to 3 K.XRD and RBS/C data reveal that the films prepared in particular conditions are single-crystalline VO_(2)with the(010)planes parallel to the surface of the sapphire substrate.

Machine Learning Application for Prediction of Sapphire Crystals Defects

We investigate the impact of different numbers of positive and negative examples on machine learning for sapphire crystals defects prediction. We obtain the models of crystal growth parameters influence on the sapphire crystal growth. For example, these models allow predicting the defects that occur due to local overcooling of crucible walls in the thermal node leading to the accelerated crystal growth. We also develop the prediction models for obtaining the crystal weight, blocks, cracks, bubbles formation, and total defect characteristics. The models were trained on all data sets and later tested for generalization on testing sets, which did not overlap the training set.During training and testing, we find the recall and precision of prediction, and analyze the correlation among the features. The results have shown that the precision of the neural network method for predicting defects formed by local overcooling of the crucible reached 0.94.

Influence of Thermal Conductivity on Interface Shape during Growth of Sapphire Crystal Using a Heat-Exchanger-Method

The internal radiative contributed on heat transfer will enhance the heat transport inside the crystalline phase during growth the transparent sapphire crystal using a heat-exchanger-method (HEM). The artificially enhanced thermal conductivity of the solid to include the internal radiation effect was used in the present study. Numerical simulations using FIDAP were performed to investigate the effects of the thermal conductivity on the shape of the melt-crystal interface, the temperature distribution, and the velocity distribution. Heat transfer (including radiation) from the furnace to the crucible and heat extraction from the heat exchanger can be modeled by the convection boundary conditions. In the present study, we focus on the influence of the conductivity on the shape of the melt-crystal interface. Therefore, the effect of the others growth parameters during the HEM crystal growth was neglected. For the homogenous conductivity (km=kS=k), the maximum convexity decreases as k increases and the rate of maximum convexity increases for a higher conductivity is less abrupt than for a lower conductivity. For the no homogenous conductivity (km≠kS), the higher solid's kS generates lower maximum convexity and the variation in maximum convexity was less abrupt for the different melt's km. The maximum convexity decreases slightly as the enhance conductivity of the sapphire crystal increases. The effects of the anisotropic conductivity of the sapphire crystal were also addressed. The maximum convexity of the melt-crystal interface decreases when the radial conductivity (ksr) of the crystal increases. The maximum convexity increases as the axial conductivity (ksz) of the crucible increases.

Influence of gas flow on thermal field and stress during growth of sapphire single crystal using Kyropoulos method

The professional modeling software package CrysVUn was employed to study the process of a large sapphire single crystal growth using Kyropoulos method.The influence of gas pressure on thermal field,solid-liquid interface shape,gas velocity field and von Mises stress were studied for the first time.It is found that the root of the seed melt when gas pressure equals to one atmosphere or more than one atmosphere,especially during the seeding period,this result is consistent with the experimental observation,and this paper presents three ways to solve this problem.The temperature gradient and stress decreases significantly as the gas pressure increases.The convexity of the solid-liquid interface slightly increases when the gas pressure increases.Numerical analysis was used to optimize the hot zone design.

Operation of Kerr-lens mode-locked Ti:sapphire laser in the non-soliton regime

A Kerr-lens mode-locked Ti：sapphire laser operating in a non-soliton regime is demonstrated. Dispersive wave generation is observed as a result of third order dispersion in the vicinity of zero dispersion. The characteristics of the Ti：sapphire l^ser operating in a positive dispersion regime are presented, where the oscillator directly generates pulses with duration continuously tunable from 0.37 ps to 2.11 ps, and 36 fs pulses are achieved atter extracavity compression. The oscillation is numerically simulated with an extended nonlinear Schr6dinger equation, and the simulation results are in good agreement with the experimental results.

An all-solid-state high power quasi-continuous-wave tunable dual-wavelength Ti：sapphire laser system using birefringence filter

This paper describes a tunable dual-wavelength Ti：sapphire laser system with quasi-continuous-wave and high-power outputs. In the design of the laser, it adopts a frequency-doubled Nd：YAG laser as the pumping source, and the birefringence filter as the tuning element. Tunable dual-wavelength outputs with one wavelength range from 700 nm to 756.5 nm, another from 830 nm to 900mn have been demonstrated. With a pump power of 23 W at 532 nm, a repetition rate of 7 kHz and a pulse width of 47.6 ns, an output power of 5.1 W at 744.8 nm and 860.9 nm with a pulse width of 13.2 ns and a line width of 3 nm has been obtained, it indicates an optical-to-optical conversion efficiency of 22.2%.

Wavefront evolution of the signal beam in Ti:sapphire chirped pulse amplifier

We studied the evolution of wavefront aberration(WFA) of a signal beam during amplification in a Ti:sapphire chirped pulse amplification(CPA) system. The results verified that the WFA of the amplified laser beam has little relation with the change of the pump beam energies. Transverse parasitic lasing that might occur in CPA hardly affects the wavefront of the signal beam. Thermal effects were also considered in this study, and the results show that the thermal effect cumulated in multiple amplification processes also has no obvious influence on the wavefront of the signal beam for a single-shot frequency. The results presented in this paper confirmed experimentally that the amplification in a Ti:sapphire CPA system has little impact on the WFA of the signal beam and it is very helpful for wavefront correction of single-shot PW and multi-PW laser systems based on Ti:sapphire.

A High-Pulse-Energy High-Beam-Quality Tunable Ti:Sapphire Laser Using a Prism-Dispersion Cavity

A high-pulse-energy high-beam-quality tunable Ti：sapphire laser pumped by a frequency-doubled Nd：YAG laser is demonstrated. Using a fused-silica prism as the dispersion element, a tuning range of 740-855 nm is obtained. At an incident pump energy of 774mJ, the maximum output energy of 104mJ at 790nm with a pulse width of 100μs is achieved at a repetition rate of 5 Hz. To the best of our knowledge, it is the highest pulse energy at 790 nm with pulse width of hundred micro-seconds for an all-solid-state laser. The linewidth of output is 0.5 nm, and the beam quality factor M2 is 1.16. The high-pulse-energy high-beam-quality tunable Ti：sapphire laser in the range of 740-855 nm can be used to establish a more accurate and consistent absolute scale of second-order optical-nonlinear coefficients for KBe2BO3F2 measured in a wider wavelength range and to assess Miller＇s rule quantitatively.

Dislocation of Cz-sapphire substrate for GaN growth by chemical etching method

The diameter of Czochralski (Cz) sapphire crystals is 50 mm. The sapphire substrates were lapped by using diamond powders and polished by chemical mechanical polishing(CMP) method using alkali slurry with SiO2 abrasive. After obtaining the smooth surfaces, the chemical etching experiments were processed by using fused KOH and NaOH etchants at different temperature for different times. The dislocation was observed by means of optical microscope and scanning electron microscope. The clear and stable contrast images of sample etching pits were observed. On the whole, the dislocation density is about 104?105 cm?2. Comparing the results under the conditions of different etchants, temperatures and times during the etching proceeding, it was found that the optimal condition for dislocation displaying is etching 15 min with fused KOH at 290 ℃. At the same time, the formation of the etch pits and the reducing method of dislocation density were also discussed.

Diode-pumped Kerr-lens mode-locked Ti: sapphire laser with broad wavelength tunability

We report a direct blue-diode-pumped wavelength tunable Kerr-lens mode-locked Ti: sapphire laser.Central wavelength tunability as broad as 89 nm(736-825 nm) is achieved by adjusting the insertion of the prism.Pulses as short as 17 fs are generated at a central wavelength of 736 nm with an average output power of 31 mW.The maximum output power is 46.8 mW at a central wavelength of 797 nm with a pulse duration of 46 fs.

A 100-TW Ti:Sapphire Laser System at a Repetition Rate of 0.1 Hz

We demonstrate a 100-TW-class femtosecond Ti:sapphire laser running at a repetition rate of 0.1Hz based on a 20TW/10 Hz laser facility (XL-Ⅱ).Pumping the new stage amplifier with a 25J green Nd:glass laser,we successfully improve the laser energy to 3.4J with duration of 29 fs,corresponding to a peak power of 11 7 TW.

Spatial chirp in Ti：sapphire multipass amplifier

The spatial chirp generated in the Ti：sapphire multipass amplifier is numerically investigated based on the one- dimensional （1D） and two-dimensional （2D） Frantz-Nodvik equations. The simulation indicates that the spatial chirp is induced by the spatially inhomogeneous gain, and it can be almost eliminated by utilization of proper beam profiles and spot sizes of the signal and pump pulses, for example, the pump pulse has a top-hatted beam profile and the signal pulse has a super-Gaussian beam profile with a relatively larger spot size. In this way, a clear understanding of spatial chirp mechanisms in the Ti：sapphire multipass amplifier is proposed, therefore we can effectively almost eliminate the spatial chirp and improve the beam quality of a high-power Ti：sapphire chirped pulse amplifier system.

Tunable Supercontinuum Generated in a Yb^3＋-Doped Microstructure Fiber Pumped by Ti：Sapphire Femtosecond Laser

We experimentally demonstrate that a tunable supercontinuum（SC） can be generated in a Yb3＋-doped microstructure fiber by the concept of wavelength conversion with a Ti：sapphire femtosecond（fs） laser as the pump.Experimental results show that an emission light around 1040 nm in an anomalous dispersion region is first generated and amplified by fs pulses in the normal dispersion region. Then, SC spectra from 1100 to 1380 nm and 630 to 840 nm can be achieved by combined effects of higher-order soliton fission and Raman soliton self-frequency shift in the anomalous dispersion region and self-phase modulation, dispersive wave, and four-wave mixing in the normal dispersion region. It is also demonstrated that the 20 nm change of pump results in a 280 nm broadband shift of soliton and the further red-shift of soliton is limited by OH-absorption at 1380 nm.

Behaviors of optical and chemical state of Nb^+ implanted sapphire after annealing

The behavior of the radiation damage of sapphire crystal, produced by implantation with 380 keV Nb+ ion followed by annealing in a series of steps from 500 to 1100℃ at reducing atmosphere, was investigated in optical absorption and XPS measurements. It is found that the implanted niobium in sapphire is in different local environments with different chemical states after the annealing. The changes in optical density (OD) from the bands, based on the well known F-type centers, show that the annealing behavior of the radiation damage may be divided into different stages due to different mechanisms.

Effect of microvoids on microplasticity behavior of dual-phase titanium alloy under high cyclic loading(Ⅰ):Crystal plasticity analysis

A crystal plasticity finite element(CPFE)model was established and 2D simulations were carried out to study the relationship between microvoids and the microplasticity deformation behavior of the dual-phase titanium alloy under high cyclic loading.Results show that geometrically necessary dislocations(GND)tend to accumulate around the microvoids,leading to an increment of average GND density.The influence of curvature in the tip plastic zone(TPZ)on GND density is greater than that of the size of the microvoid.As the curvature in TPZ and the size of the microvoid increase,the cumulative shear strain(CSS)in the primaryα,secondaryα,andβphases increases.Shear deformation in the prismatic slip system is dominant in the primaryαphase.As the distance between the microvoids increases,the interactive influence of the microvoids on the cumulative shear strain decreases.

Study of material removal behavior on R-plane of sapphire during ultra-precision machining based on modified slip-fracture model

In this paper, the modified slip/fracture activation model has been used in order to understand the mechanism of ductile-brittle transition on the R-plane of sapphire during ultra-precision machining by reflecting direction of resultant force. Anisotropic characteristics of crack morphology and ductility of machining depending on cutting direction were explained in detail with modified fracture cleavage and plastic deformation parameters. Through the analysis, it was concluded that crack morphologies were mainly determined by the interaction of multiple fracture systems activated while, critical depth of cut was determined by the dominant plastic deformation parameter. In addition to this, by using proportionality relationship between magnitude of resultant force and depth of cut in the ductile region, an empirical model for critical depth of cut was developed.

Homogeneous Plastic Flow of Fully Amorphous and Partially Crystallized Zr_(41.2)Ti_(13.8)Cu_(12.5)Ni_(10)Be_(22.5) Bulk Metallic Glass

The homogeneous plastic flow of fully amorphous and partially crystallized Zr(41.2)Ti(13.8)Cu(12.5)Ni(10)Be(22.5) bulk metallic glass (Vitl) has been investigated by compression tests at high temperatures in supercooled liquid region. Experimental results show that at sufficiently low strain rates, the supercooled liquid of the fully amorphous alloy reveals Newtonian flow with a linear relationship between the flow stress and strain rate. As the strain rate is increased, a transition from linear Newtonian to nonlinear flow is detected, which can be explained by the transition state theory. Over the entire strain rate interval investigated, however, only nonlinear flow is present in the partially crystallized alloy, and the flow stress for each strain rate is much higher. It is found that the strain rate-stress relationship for the partially crystaltized alloy at the given temperature of 646 K also obeys the sinh law derived from the transition state theory, similar to that of the initial homogeneous amorphous alloy. Thus, it is proposed that the flow behavior of the nanocrystalline/amorphous composite at 646 K is mainly controlled by the viscous flow of the remaining supercooled liquid.

Formation and crystallization of Zr-Ni-Ti metallic glass

The metallic Zr65Ni25Ti10（mole fraction, %） glass has been fabricated by a single roller melt-spinning method. The glass forming ability（GFA） and thermal stability of the Zr65Ni25Ti10 melt-spun ribbons were investigated by using X-ray diffraction（XRD） and differential scanning calorimetry（DSC） in the mode of continuous heating. It is shown that the reduced glass transition temperature (Trg) is 0.506 and the supercooled liquid region （ΔTx） is 30 K. Two exothermic peaks were observed in the DSC curves of the as-quenched ribbon, which indicates that the crystallization process undergoes two different stages. The phase transformation during the isothermal annealing was investigated by X-ray diffraction（XRD） and transmission electronic microscope（TEM）. It is observed that the metastable FCC Zr2Ni（Fd3m, a=12.27 ） precipitated while annealing in the suppercooled region（615 K） and the stable BCT Zr2Ni（I4/mcm, a=6.499 , c=5.270 ） precipitated while annealing at higher temperature（673 K or 723 K）. The crystallines are on nanoscale, with grain size of 1530 nm. The reason for the precipitation of the different structural Zr2Ni from the glassy matrix under different annealing conditions was discussed based on the concept of multi-component chemical short range order（MCSRO）.

A pulse shape discrimination of CsI(Tl) crystal with ~6He beam

The performance test of a CsI(Tl) crystal (70×27×23 mm3) was performed by applying the pulse shape discrimination technique for identification of light charged particles .The crystal is coupled to a photomultiplier tube during an experiment with 6He beam.The pulse waveform is fully recorded by employing a high precision digital oscilloscope.The fast and slow gates are used for the pulse shape discrimination and the best values for the gate widths were determined to be 0.5 μs and 1.67 μs,respectively.The 6He,4He and 3He are successfully discriminated with this technique.