Phase shift effects of radio-frequency bias on ion energy distribution in continuous wave and pulse modulated inductively coupled plasmas

A retarding field energy analyzer（RFEA） is used to measure the time-averaged ion energy distributions（IEDs） on the substrate in both continuous wave（CW） and synchronous pulse modulated radio-frequency（RF） inductively coupled Ar plasmas（ICPs）.The effects of the phase shift θ between the RF bias voltage and the RF source on the IED is investigated under various discharge conditions.It is found that as θ increases from 0 to π,the IED moves towards the low-energy side,and its energy width becomes narrower.In order to figure out the physical mechanism,the voltage waveforms on the substrate are also measured.The results show that as θ increases from 0 to π,the amplitude of the voltage waveform decreases and,meanwhile,the average sheath potential decreases as well.Specifically,the potential drop in the sheath on the substrate exhibits a maximum value at the same phase（i.e.,θ = 0） and a minimum value at the opposite phase（i.e.,θ = π）.Therefore,when ions traverse across the sheath region above the substrate,they obtain less energies at lower sheath potential drop,leading to lower ion energy.Besides,as θ increases from π to 2π,the IEDs and their energy widths change reversely.

Sub-diffraction-limit cell imaging using a super-resolution microscope with simplified pulse synchronization

Stimulated emission depletion(STED) microscope is one of the most prominent super-resolution bio-imaging instruments, which holds great promise for ultrahigh-resolution imaging of cells. To construct a STED microscope, it is challenging to realize temporal synchronization between the excitation pulses and the depletion pulses. In this study, we present a simple and low-cost method to achieve pulse synchronization by using a condensed fluorescent dye as a depletion indicator. By using this method, almost all the confocal microscopes can be upgraded to a STED system without losing its original functions. After the pulse synchronization,our STED system achieved sub-100-nm resolution for fluorescent nanospheres and single-cell imaging.

Synchronization of Fourier-Synthesized Optical Pulses to a Mode-Locked Optical Clock

A Fourier-synthesized 40-GHz optical pulse train was successfully synchronized to an 8-GHz optical clock generated from a mode-locked fiber ring laser. The measured timing jitter of the synchronization was 0.43 ps.

Global synchronous discontinuous pulse width modulation method with fast calculation capability for distributed three-phase inverters

When multiple distributed converters are integrated, the high frequency harmonics will randomly accumulate at the point of common coupling(PCC). This paper proposes a new fast global synchronous discontinuous pulse width modulation(GSDPWM) method of threephase inverters to effectively attenuate the high frequency current harmonics at PCC. Firstly, the basic principle and the realization method of GSDPWM for three-phase inverters are explained, which can be employed for different modulation types. Then a fast calculation method,which can equally derive the minimized total harmonic distortion(THD) of total current, is proposed to release the calculation burden. Finally, MATLAB simulations and experimental results are presented to verify the performance of GSDPWM.

Self-synchronized multi-color Q-switched fiber laser using a parallel-integrated fiber Bragg grating

We demonstrate an intracavity self-synchronized multi-color Q-switched fiber laser using a parallel-integrated fiber Bragg grating(PI-FBG), fabricated by a femtosecond laser with a point-by-point parallel inscription method. The multi-color Q-switched pulses can be always self-synchronized when the group delay differences between neighboring spectra range from-3.4 to 3.4 ps.The starting and evolution dynamics indicate that the saturable absorption effect of the carbon nanotube plays a dual role: synchronously triggering the startup of the pulse at successive colors by active Q-switching and spontaneously compensating to some extent the temporal walk-off of the multi-color pulses through the cross saturable absorption modulation. This work unveils the intracavity self-synchronization mechanism of the multi-color Q-switched pulses and also demonstrates the potential of PI-FBGs for the customizable generation of the synchronized multi-color pulse in a single cavity.