Anti-resonant acoustic waveguides enabled tailorable Brillouin scattering on chip

Empowering independent control of optical and acoustic modes and enhancing the photon-phonon interaction, integrated photonics boosts the advancements of on-chip stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS). However, achieving acoustic waveguides with low loss, tailorability, and easy fabrication remains a challenge. Here, inspired by the optical anti-resonance in hollow-core fibers, we propose suspended anti-resonant acoustic waveguides (SARAWs) with superior confinement and high selectivity of acoustic modes, supporting both forward and backward SBS on chip. Furthermore, this structure streamlines the design and fabrication processes. Leveraging the advantages of SARAWs, we have showcased a series of record-breaking results for SBS within a compact footprint on the silicon-on-insulator platform. For forward SBS, a centimeter-scale SARAW supports a large net gain exceeding 6.4 dB. For backward SBS, we have observed an unprecedented Brillouin frequency shift of 27.6 GHz and a mechanical quality factor of up to 1,960 in silicon waveguides. This paradigm of acoustic waveguide propels SBS into a new era, unlocking new opportunities in the fields of optomechanics, phononic circuits, and hybrid quantum systems.Comment: 18 pages, 13 figure

Loading-effect-based 3-D microfabrication empowers on-chip Brillouin optomechanics

The acousto-optic interaction known as stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS) has emerged as fundamental principles for realizing crucial components and functionalities in integrated photonics. However, the main challenge of integrated Brillouin devices is how to effectively confine both optical and acoustic waves. Apart from that, the manufacturing processes for these devices need to be compatible with standard fabrication platforms, and streamlined to facilitate their large-scale integration. Here, we demonstrate a novel suspended nanowire structure that can tightly confine photons and phonons. Furthermore, tailored for this structure, we introduce a loading-effect-based three-dimensional microfabrication technique, compatible with complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) technology. This innovative technique allows for the fabrication of the entire structure using a single-step lithography exposure, significantly streamlining the fabrication process. Leveraging this structure and fabrication scheme, we have achieved a Brillouin gain coefficient of 1100 1/W/m on the silicon-on-insulator platform within a compact footprint. It can support a Brillouin net gain over 4.1 dB with modest pump powers. We believe that this structure can significantly advance the development of SBS on chip, unlocking new opportunities for the large-scale integration of Brillouin-based photonic devices.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure

Crystal Structure Manipulation of the Exchange Bias in an Antiferromagnetic Film

Exchange bias is one of the most extensively studied phenomena in magnetism, since it exerts a unidirectional anisotropy to a ferromagnet (FM) when coupled to an antiferromagnet (AFM) and the control of the exchange bias is therefore very important for technological applications, such as magnetic random access memory and giant magnetoresistance sensors. In this letter, we report the crystal structure manipulation of the exchange bias in epitaxial hcp Cr2O3 films. By epitaxially growing twined (10-10) oriented Cr2O3 thin films, of which the c axis and spins of the Cr atoms lie in the film plane, we demonstrate that the exchange bias between Cr2O3 and an adjacent permalloy layer is tuned to in-plane from out-of-plane that has been observed in (0001) oriented Cr2O3 films. This is owing to the collinear exchange coupling between the spins of the Cr atoms and the adjacent FM layer. Such a highly anisotropic exchange bias phenomenon is not possible in polycrystalline films.Comment: To be published in Scientific Reports, 12 pages, 6 figure

Experimental investigation of a novel vertical loop-heat-pipe PV/T heat and power system under different height differences

For a novel vertical solar loop-heat-pipe photovoltaic/thermal system, the height difference between evaporator and condenser plays an important role in the heat transport capacity, which has significant impact on the solar thermal efficiency and parametrical optimization of this system. Therefore, based on the results derived from the authors’ previous analytical investigation and computer modelling studies, a prototype of this novel system was designed, constructed, and an experimental investigation under different height difference was undertaken to study the impact of height difference on the system performance. It was found that the relationship between the solar thermal efficiency of this vertical system and the height difference is nonlinear. In present study, the optimal height difference is around 1.1 m, which was selected as an optimal value for the following experimental investigations, and below 1.1 m, the PV module surface temperature decreased with the increase of the height difference. Furthermore, the transient solar thermal and electrical performance of this system with the selected optimal height difference were investigated under outdoor real weather condition. These results of this experimentation can help optimize the system construction and thus help to develop the high thermal performance and low-cost solar PV/T system for space heating and power generation

Performance investigation of a micro-channel flat separated loop heat pipe system for data centre cooling

This paper investigates a novel micro-channel flat separated loop heat pipe system for cooling the information technology equipment in the data centres through theoretical and experimental analysis and by assessing the impact of the inlet water temperature on system performance. A computer model is developed to simulate the steady-state performance of the micro-channel flat separated loop heat pipe system. After comparing the experimental and modelling results, the new and conventional system under the same working conditions, the model is validated yielding high accuracy in predicting the performance of the micro-channel flat separated loop heat pipe system with recorded error being limited to 2.16–8.97%. The new system has better performance than the conventional system. Under the operating conditions of heat load intensity of 1,000 W/m2, water flow rate of 0.28 m3/h, refrigerant filling rate of 30%, ambient air temperature of 26°C, and evaporator and condenser height difference of 0.8 m, the performance of the system has been explored at inlet temperature from 15 to 24°C with increments of 3°C. The system’s averaged heat transfer efficiency was found to decrease with the increase in inlet temperature. This research provides valuable insight into the data centre information technology equipment cooling, which is of great significance for energy saving and environmentally friendly operation of data centres

Experimental and numerical investigation of a novel photovoltaic/thermal system using micro-channel flat loop heat pipe (PV/T-MCFLHP)

In this paper, a novel photovoltaic/thermal system using micro-channel flat loop heat pipe (PV/T-MCFLHP) is proposed, and the thermal and electrical performance of the system is investigated theoretically and experimentally. The variations of temperatures were analysed, and the efficiency of the system was calculated under different conditions, i.e. simulated solar radiation, water flow rate and refrigerant filling ratio. The maximum overall efficiency of the system was found to be 51.3%, the thermal efficiency 43.8% and the electrical efficiency 7.5% with the refrigerant filling ratio of 25%, simulated solar radiation of 800 W/m2 and water flow rate of 400 L/h. Test results were compared with simulation results, and the recorded average error was 10.2%

A compendium of genetic regulatory effects across pig tissues

The Farm Animal Genotype-Tissue Expression (FarmGTEx) project has been established to develop a public resource of genetic regulatory variants in livestock, which is essential for linking genetic polymorphisms to variation in phenotypes, helping fundamental biological discovery and exploitation in animal breeding and human biomedicine. Here we show results from the pilot phase of PigGTEx by processing 5,457 RNA-sequencing and 1,602 whole-genome sequencing samples passing quality control from pigs. We build a pig genotype imputation panel and associate millions of genetic variants with five types of transcriptomic phenotypes in 34 tissues. We evaluate tissue specificity of regulatory effects and elucidate molecular mechanisms of their action using multi-omics data. Leveraging this resource, we decipher regulatory mechanisms underlying 207 pig complex phenotypes and demonstrate the similarity of pigs to humans in gene expression and the genetic regulation behind complex phenotypes, supporting the importance of pigs as a human biomedical model.</p

Enhanced PON and AMCC Joint Transmission with GMM-Based Probability Shaping Techniques

In ITU-T standards, auxiliary management and control channels (AMCCs), as defined, facilitate the rapid deployment and efficient management of wavelength division multiplexing passive optical network (WDM-PON) systems. The super-imposition of an AMCC introduces additional interference to a PON signal, resulting in the degradation of the performance of the overall transmission. In prior research, we proposed employing a Gaussian mixture model (GMM) to fit a baseband-modulated AMCC signal. Following the analysis of the interference model and the distribution characteristics of received signal errors, we propose a combined optimization method for a transmitter and receiver in this paper. This method, grounded in probabilistic shaping (PS) techniques, optimizes the probability distribution of the transmitted signal based on the AMCC interference model, with the objective of reducing the error rate in PON signal transmission. We have validated this approach within a 50G-PON experimental system by utilizing PAM4 modulation. The experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of this method for mitigating the impact of baseband-modulated AMCC, thereby reducing the error rate in PON signal transmission. The approach presented in this paper can further minimize the performance degradation introduced by baseband-modulated AMCC in WDM-PON systems, enhancing the efficiency of WDM-PON deployment

Acta Phys.-Chim. Sin.

In this paper a new method is presented for estimating thermodynamic properties of binary intermetallic compounds through fitting a simple correlation equation. Entropies and heat capacities of some binary intermetallic compounds are calculated by this new method. The result shows that this method is simple, and it can guarantee an acceptable accuracy.In this paper a new method is presented for estimating thermodynamic properties of binary intermetallic compounds through fitting a simple correlation equation. Entropies and heat capacities of some binary intermetallic compounds are calculated by this new method. The result shows that this method is simple, and it can guarantee an acceptable accuracy