Elastic, anelastic, and piezoelectric coefficients of langasite: resonance ultrasound spectroscopy with laser-Doppler interferometry

This paper presents advanced techniques to determine all independent elastic-stiffness coefficients C/sub ij/, the associated internal friction Q/sub ij//sup -1/, and piezoelectric coefficients e/sub ij/ of monocrystal langasite (La/sub 3/Ga/sub 5/SiO/sub 14/) using a single rectangular parallelepiped specimen. Langasite's crystal structure belongs to the trigonal system with point group 32, and thus possesses six independent C/sub ij/, two e/sub ij/, and two dielectric coefficients /spl epsiv//sub ij/. All of the elastic and piezoelectric coefficients affect the mechanical resonance frequencies of the solid specimen, and measuring them very accurately permits one to determine the C/sub ij/ and e/sub ij/ with known density, dimensions, and e/sub ij/. We developed a piezoelectric tripod to support the specimen upward and measured the free-vibration resonance frequencies with minimum load from its own weight. This weak and stable acoustic coupling ensures accuracy of the frequency measurement better than 10/sup -5/, enough to determine the coefficients reliably. Our C/sub ij/ fall in the range of results measured with previous (conventional) methods. Our e/sub 11/ is smaller than the reported values by 1.2-13%, and e/sub 14/ is larger by 44-97%. For the internal friction measurement, we used a solenoid coil to vibrate the specimen without any contact. The longitudinal-wave internal friction considerably exceeds the shear-wave internal friction, which can be explained by phonon-phonon interactions.     

Dependence of the efficiency-bandwidth product on electrical volumeof small dielectric loaded antennas

The efficiency fractional efficiency bandwidth product (EB) that is expressed as a ratio of the radiation resistance to the absolute value of an input reactance of an antenna is used as a performance measure for small dielectric-loaded monopole antennas (DLMAs). The dependence of the efficiency bandwidth (EB) on the permittivity of the dielectric loading (i.e., the electrical volume) is experimentally investigated for the first time after we succeeded in measuring the small radiation resistance of the DLMAs precisely on the basis of the Wheeler cap method. As a result, it was found that the EBs of some DLMAs were enhanced over a bare monopole antenna and an EB characteristic curve has a maximum point. This result suggests the presence of the optimum electrical volume for the dielectric loading in order to obtain the best EB performance. A calculation by the finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method was also conducted to confirm the presence of the maximum EB value under a certain condition. A general reason for the existence of the peak value is also explained using a mathematical deduction     

Recovery retardation in equal channel angular pressed Al–Zr alloy during friction stir welding

The effect of Zr on reduction of hardness and microstructure in an FS weld of equal channel angular-pressed Al alloy was investigated. Zr addition to Al suppressed dynamic recovery in the thermomechanically affected zone and enabled retention of the high hardness of the ECA-pressed material throughout the weld.     

Dynamic properties of an all solid-state frequency-shifted feedbacklaser

Frequency-shifted feedback (FSF) laser exhibits outstanding features in its oscillation spectrum. We analyze build-up dynamic properties of the FSF laser by means of rate equation and analyze steady-state dynamic properties of the FSF laser by means of Wigner-Ville distribution of intracavity electric field. Furthermore, we analyze instantaneous oscillation frequency at peak spectral intensity and oscillation bandwidth of its spectrum using the formula of instantaneous spectral intensity derived from Wigner-Ville distribution of intracavity electric field. These analytical results are in good agreement with the experimental ones which have been observed by a diode-pumped Nd:YVO₄ FSF laser. It becomes clear that the FSF laser supports many frequency components simultaneously even though the gain medium is homogeneously broadened and has a continuously chirped frequency components of comb in which the creation of chirped frequency components are strongly correlated in phase because of a replica of the preceding components. Also, the instantaneous oscillation frequency is closely related to the detuning frequency which depends on the total net gain in the cavity and the gain bandwidth of atomic transition. The oscillation bandwidth is defined as the product of the saturation-broadened bandwidth and the total resonant modes contributing to FSF operation     

50 J discharge-pumped XeCl laser

An X-ray preionized XeCl laser with a wide aperture of 10×10 cm² is described. The density for preionization electrons is estimated from an X-ray energy distribution to be greater than 6×10⁹ cm^-3 under operational gas conditions. In high pressure operation at 4500 torr, sufficient preionization has led to successful discharge-breakdown at a low E/N of 6.4×10^-17 V-cm², resulting in a high electrical efficiency of 3.1% with an output energy of 17.6 J. An output energy of 50 J in an 85-ns (FWHM) optical pulse has been extracted from an active volume of about 10:1 for a pulse-forming-line (PFL) voltage of 400 kV. The effects of impedance transformation of a pulse-transmission-line (PTL) following the PFL have been investigated using two types of PTL with output impedances of 0.26 and 0.48 Ω     

Nonlinear influence on PM-AM conversion measurement of groupvelocity dispersion in optical fibres

The authors propose a method for measuring the group velocity dispersion, including the polarity, of optical fibre by using a single wavelength light source. The method is based on the interplay between phase modulation-amplitude modulation (PM-AM) conversion and self-phase modulation (SPM)     

Comparative influence of steroid hormones and immunosuppressive agents on autoimmune expression in lacrimal glands of a female mouse model of Sj?gren's syndrome

PURPOSE: Previous research has demonstrated that testosterone therapy causes a profound suppression of autoimmune disease in lacrimal glands of female mouse models of Sj?gren's syndrome. The aim of the present study was to determine whether other anabolic androgens, nonandrogenic steroids, or immunosuppressive agents might duplicate this hormonal effect. For comparative purposes, we also evaluated the influence of these various pharmacologic compounds on the tear volume, the magnitude of lymphocyte infiltration in the submandibular gland, and the extent of mucosal and peripheral lymphadenopathy. METHODS: Female MRL/MpJ-lpr/lpr mice were administered vehicle, steroids, or immunosuppressive compounds for 21 days after the onset of disease. Lacrimal glands and tears, as well as submandibular glands, spleens, and superior cervical and mesenteric lymph nodes were collected immediately before or after treatment and then processed for analysis. RESULTS: Our results showed that: (1) the immunosuppressive impact of testosterone on lymphocyte infiltration in lacrimal tissue was reproduced by the administration of 19-nortestosterone or cyclophosphamide, but not by therapy with 17 beta-estradiol, danazol, the experimental steroid Org 4094, cyclosporine A or dexamethasone; (2) treatment with testosterone, 19-nortestosterone, cyclophosphamide, or dexamethasone significantly reduced the extent of inflammation in salivary glands; (3) exposure to cyclophosphamide markedly diminished the size of lymphatic and splenic tissues, whereas glucocorticoid treatment only decreased the weight of superior cervical lymph nodes; and (4) administration of 17 beta-estradiol, Org 4094, or dexamethasone led to a significant decrease in tear volume. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, these results demonstrate that androgen or cyclophosphamide therapy may successfully ameliorate autoimmune expression in lacrimal and salivary glands of a female mouse model of Sj?gren's syndrome.     

Surface Hardening of Carbon Steel Using High Powered YAG Laser

A high powered YAG laser with kaleidoscope for surface modification was applied to the surface hardening of carbon steels containing 0. 18-0.54 wt% C without the absorbents, and the relationships between laser processing and surface hardening were investigated by hardness and microstructure. The structure of the hardened zone underwent complete martensitic transformation in all of the carbon steels tested, and its hardness increased with greater carbon content. Under identical irradiated conditions, the hardened zone expanded with increasing carbon content. A hardened zone extending from the surface to a depth of 1.0 mm was obtained at a laser power of 1.0 kW and a scanning speed of 1 mm/sec. It was found that in the surface hardening of carbon steels, a high powered YAG laser can be used to control the hardened zone by selecting the appropriate irradiation conditions, however, the hardened zone was affected by the assistant gas and the flow rate.