HAZ microstructure in joints made of X13CrMoCoVNbNB9-2-1 (PB2) steel welded with and without post-weld heat treatment

The article presents the results of research butt welded joints made of X13CrMoCoVNbNB9-2-1 steel. The joints were welded with post-weld heat treatment PWHT and without PWHT, using the temper bead technique TBT. After welding the joint welded with PWHT underwent stress-relief annealing at 770 °C for 3 hours. The scope of structural tests included the microstructural examination of the coarse-grained heat affected zone (HAZ) areas of the joints, the comparison of the morphology of these areas and the determination of carbide precipitate types of the coarse grain heat affected zone (CGHAZ) of the joints welded with and without PWHT

Beam splitting and Hong-Ou-Mandel interference for stored light

Storing and release of a quantum light pulse in a medium of atoms in the tripod configuration are studied. Two complementary sets of control fields are defined, which lead to independent and complete photon release at two stages. The system constitutes a new kind of a flexible beam splitter in which the input and output ports concern photons of the same direction but well separated in time. A new version of Hong-Ou-Mandel interference is discussed.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figure

Electromagnetically-induced transparency and light storing of a pair of pulses

Electromagnetically-induced transparency and light storing are studied in the case of a medium of atoms in a double Lambda configuration, both in terms of dark- and bright-state polatitons and atomic susceptibility. It is proven that the medium can be made transparent simultaneously for two pulses following their self-adjusting so that a condition for an adiabatic evolution has become fulfilled. Analytic formulas are given for the shapes and phases of the transmitted/stored pulses. The level of transparency can be regulated by adjusting the heights and phases of the control fields.Comment: text +6 figure

High-precision interferometric measurement of slow and fast temperature changes in static fluid and convective flow

We explore the strengths and limitations of using a standard Michelson interferometer to sample line-of-sight-averaged temperature in water via two experimental setups: slow-varying temperature in static fluid and fast temperature variations in convective flow. The high precision of our measurements (a few mK) is enabled by the fast response time and high sensitivity of the interferometer to minute changes in the refractive index of water caused by temperature variations. These features allow us to detect the signature of fine fluid dynamical patterns in convective flow in a fully non-intrusive manner. For example, we are able to observe an asymmetry in the rising thermal plume (i.e. an asynchronous arrival of two counter-rotating vortices at the measurement location), which is not possible to resolve with more traditional (and invasive) techniques, such as RTD (Resistance Temperature Detector) sensors. These findings, and the overall reliability of our method, are further corroborated by means of Particle Image Velocimetry and Large Eddy Simulations. While this method presents inherent limitations (mainly stemming from the line-of-sight-averaged nature of its results), its non-intrusiveness and robustness, along with the ability to readily yield real-time, highly accurate measurements, render this technique very attractive for a wide range of applications in experimental fluid dynamics

Coherent processing of a light pulse stored in a medium of four-level atoms

It is demonstrated that the properties of light stored in a four-level atomic system can be modified by an additional control interaction present during the storage stage. By choosing the pulse area of this interaction one can in particular continuously switch between two channels into which light is released.Comment: text+4 figure

Light slowdown in the vicinity of cross-over resonances

Pulse propagation is considered in an inhomogeneously broadened medium of three-level atoms in a V-configuration, dressed by a counter-propagating pump pulse. A significant signal slowdown is demonstrated in this of the three frequency windows of a reduced absorption and a steep normal dispersion, which is due to a cross-over resonance. Particular properties of the group index in the vicinity of such a resonance are demonstrated in the case of closely spaced upper levels.Comment: 4 figure

Ultra-Narrow Faraday Rotation Filter at the Rb D1 Line

We present a theoretical and experimental study of the ultra-narrow bandwidth Faraday anomalous dispersion optical filter (FADOF) operating at the rubidium D1 line (795 nm). This atomic line gives better performance than other lines for the main FADOF figures of merit, e.g. simultaneously 71% transmission, 445 MHz bandwidth and 1.2 GHz equivalent noise bandwidth.Comment: 3 pages, 2 figures. Manuscript same as v1. FADOF calculator (ancillary file) now allows for extension to the D2 lin