1,176 research outputs found
Buried heterostructure vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser with semiconductor mirrors
We report a buried heterostructure vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser
fabricated by epitaxial regrowth over an InGaAs quantum well gain medium. The
regrowth technique enables microscale lateral confinement that preserves a high
cavity quality factor (loaded 4000) and eliminates parasitic
charging effects found in existing approaches. Under optimal spectral overlap
between gain medium and cavity mode (achieved here at = 40 K) lasing was
obtained with an incident optical power as low as = 10 mW
( = 808 nm). The laser linewidth was found to be 3
GHz at 5
Quantum dot photonic crystal lasers
Coupled cavity designs on two-dimensional square lattice photonic crystal slabs were used to demonstrate optically pumped indium arsenide quantum dot photonic crystal lasers at room temperature. Threshold pump powers of 120 and 370 μW were observed for coupled cavities including two and four defect cavities defined in optimised photonic crystals
Simulating the effects of wetland loss and inter-annual variability on the fitness of migratory bird species
Long-distance migratory shorebirds require wetland stopover sites where they can forage and deposit sufficient fat to complete their migration and, in the spring, reproduce. Conservation biologists are concerned that continental-scale reductions in wetland availability and quality due to human disturbance, climate change, and natural drought events are negatively impacting these species by eliminating critical stopovers along migratory flyways. We describe an individual-based migration model driven by remotely sensed land surface data, climate data assimilation models, and biological field data to examine the impact of changing environmental conditions on migration routes, temporal patterns, and fitness. We used an evolutionary programming approach to evaluate birds’ adaptive responses to variation in refueling potential in the landscape. Birds’ shifted their migratory routes and extended their stopovers as the mean quality of the landscape decreased and spatial variation in refueling potential increased. We discuss possible applications of our model for understanding inter-annual climate variation, climate change, and wetland loss
Dephasing of a superconducting flux qubit
In order to gain a better understanding of the origin of decoherence in
superconducting flux qubits, we have measured the magnetic field dependence of
the characteristic energy relaxation time () and echo phase relaxation
time () near the optimal operating point of a flux qubit. We
have measured by means of the phase cycling method. At the
optimal point, we found the relation . This means
that the echo decay time is {\it limited by the energy relaxation} (
process). Moving away from the optimal point, we observe a {\it linear}
increase of the phase relaxation rate () with the applied
external magnetic flux. This behavior can be well explained by the influence of
magnetic flux noise with a spectrum on the qubit
Quantum Griffiths phase in CePd(1-x)Rh(x) with x ~ 0.8
The magnetic field dependence of the magnetisation () and the temperature
dependence of the ac susceptibility () of CePd(1-x)Rh(x) single
crystals with are analysed within the frame of the
quantum Griffiths phase scenario, which predicts and
with . All vs and
vs data follow the predicted power-law behaviour. The parameter
, extracted from , is very sensitive to the Rh content
and varies systematically with from -0.1 to 0.4. The value of ,
derived from measurements on a \cpr single crystal, seems to be rather
constant, , in a broad range of temperatures between 0.05
and 2 K and fields up to about 10 T. All observed signatures and the
values are thus compatible with the quantum Griffiths scenario.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure
Space-Based Ornithology - Studying Bird Migration and Environmental Change in North America
Natural fluctuations in the availability of critical stopover sites coupled with anthropogenic destruction of wetlands, land-use change, and anticipated losses due to climate change present migratory birds with a formidable challenge. Space based technology in concert with bird migration modeling and geographical information analysis yields new opportunities to shed light on the distribution and movement of organisms on the planet and their sensitivity to human disturbances and environmental changes. At the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, we are creating ecological forecasting tools for science and application users to address the consequences of loss of wetlands, flooding, drought or other natural disasters such as hurricanes on avian biodiversity and bird migration. We use an individual-based bird biophysical migration model, driven by remotely sensed land surface data, climate and hydrologic data, and biological field observations to study migratory bird responses to environmental change in North America. Simulation allows us to study bird migration across multiple scales and can be linked to mechanistic processes describing the time and energy budget states of migrating birds. We illustrate our approach by simulating the spring migration of pectoral sandpipers from the Gulf of Mexico to Alaska. Mean stopover length and trajectory patterns are consistent with field observations
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