High power femtosecond source based on passively mode-locked 1055nm VECSEL and Yb-fibre power amplifier

We report 5 ns pulses at 160 W average power and 910 repetition rate from a passively mode-locked VECSEL source seeding an Yb-doped fibre power amplifier. The amplified pulses were compressed to 291 fs duration

Social huddling and physiological thermoregulation are related to melanism in the nocturnal barn owl.

Endothermic animals vary in their physiological ability to maintain a constant body temperature. Since melanin-based coloration is related to thermoregulation and energy homeostasis, we predict that dark and pale melanic individuals adopt different behaviours to regulate their body temperature. Young animals are particularly sensitive to a decrease in ambient temperature because their physiological system is not yet mature and growth may be traded-off against thermoregulation. To reduce energy loss, offspring huddle during periods of cold weather. We investigated in nestling barn owls (Tyto alba) whether body temperature, oxygen consumption and huddling were associated with melanin-based coloration. Isolated owlets displaying more black feather spots had a lower body temperature and consumed more oxygen than those with fewer black spots. This suggests that highly melanic individuals display a different thermoregulation strategy. This interpretation is also supported by the finding that, at relatively low ambient temperature, owlets displaying more black spots huddled more rapidly and more often than those displaying fewer spots. Assuming that spot number is associated with the ability to thermoregulate not only in Swiss barn owls but also in other Tytonidae, our results could explain geographic variation in the degree of melanism. Indeed, in the northern hemisphere, barn owls and allies are less spotted polewards than close to the equator, and in the northern American continent, barn owls are also less spotted in colder regions. If melanic spots themselves helped thermoregulation, we would have expected the opposite results. We therefore suggest that some melanogenic genes pleiotropically regulate thermoregulatory processes

Hollow microspheres as targets for staged laser-driven proton acceleration

A coated hollow core microsphere is introduced as a novel target in ultra-intense laser-matter interaction experiments. In particular, it facilitates staged laser-driven proton acceleration by combining conventional target normal sheath acceleration (TNSA), power recycling of hot laterally spreading electrons and staging in a very simple and cheap target geometry. During TNSA of protons from one area of the sphere surface, laterally spreading hot electrons form a charge wave. Due to the spherical geometry, this wave refocuses on the opposite side of the sphere, where an opening has been laser micromachined. This leads to a strong transient charge separation field being set up there, which can post-accelerate those TNSA protons passing through the hole at the right time. Experimentally, the feasibility of using such targets is demonstrated. A redistribution is encountered in the experimental proton energy spectra, as predicted by particle-in-cell simulations and attributed to transient fields set up by oscillating currents on the sphere surface

Cancellation of probe effects in measurements of spin polarized momentum density by electron positron annihilation

Measurements of the two dimensional angular correlation of the electron-positron annihilation radiation have been done in the past to detect the momentum spin density and the Fermi surface. We point out that the momentum spin density and the Fermi Surface of ferromagnetic metals can be revealed within great detail owing to the large cancellation of the electron-positron matrix elements which in paramagnetic multiatomic systems plague the interpretation of the experiments. We prove our conjecture by calculating the momentum spin density and the Fermi surface of the half metal CrO2, who has received large attention due to its possible applications as spintronics material

Laser-driven plasma waves in capillary tubes

The excitation of plasma waves over a length of up to 8 centimeters is, for the first time, demon- strated using laser guiding of intense laser pulses through hydrogen filled glass capillary tubes. The plasma waves are diagnosed by spectral analysis of the transmitted laser radiation. The dependence of the spectral redshift, measured as a function of filling pressure, capillary tube length and incident laser energy, is in excellent agreement with simulation results. The longitudinal accelerating field inferred from the simulations is in the range 1 -10 GV/m

Engineering the spatial confinement of exciton-polaritons in semiconductors

We demonstrate the spatial confinement of electronic excitations in a solid state system, within novel artificial structures that can be designed having arbitrary dimensionality and shape. The excitations under study are exciton-polaritons in a planar semiconductor microcavity. They are confined within a micron-sized region through lateral trapping of their photon component. Striking signatures of confined states of lower and upper polaritons are found in angle-resolved light emission spectra, where a discrete energy spectrum and broad angular patterns are present. A theoretical model supports unambiguously our observations

Preventing sexism and sexual harassment in medical schools by using Theater of the Oppressed as an interactive and reflexive tool.

Among the measures taken to combat sexism and sexual harassment, prevention courses for medical students are one possibility. We aimed to describe the process of implementing a training course on the prevention of sexism and sexual harassment for medical students in two Swiss medical schools by using the Theater of the Oppressed as an interactive and reflexive tool within the course. The purpose of this theater was to give the students the opportunity to express themselves and to collectively look for and discuss ways to combat and escape from oppressive situations. This collaborative, innovative, and interactive implementation showed that different forms of a training course can be implemented with similar objectives in an adaptable and transferable manner. The interactive and reflexive Theater of the Oppressed was an appropriate option to reach the objectives. Courses were based on identifying and acting on concrete problematic situations by focusing on individual, collective, and institutional resources. Students reported a high level of satisfaction

XUV digital in-line holography using high-order harmonics

A step towards a successful implementation of timeresolved digital in-line holography with extreme ultraviolet radiation is presented. Ultrashort XUV pulses are produced as high-order harmonics of a femtosecond laser and a Schwarzschild objective is used to focus harmonic radiation at 38 nm and to produce a strongly divergent reference beam for holographic recording. Experimental holograms of thin wires are recorded and the objects reconstructed. Descriptions of the simulation and reconstruction theory and algorithms are also given. Spatial resolution of few hundreds of nm is potentially achievable, and micrometer resolution range is demonstrated.Comment: 8 pages, 8 figure

Controlling the spectrum of x-rays generated in a laser-plasma accelerator by tailoring the laser wavefront

By tailoring the wavefront of the laser pulse used in a laser-wakefield accelerator, we show that the properties of the x-rays produced due to the electron beam's betatron oscillations in the plasma can be controlled. By creating a wavefront with coma, we find that the critical energy of the synchrotron-like x-ray spectrum can be significantly increased. The coma does not substantially change the energy of the electron beam, but does increase its divergence and produces an energy-dependent exit angle, indicating that changes in the x-ray spectrum are due to an increase in the electron beam's oscillation amplitude within the wakefield.Comment: 7 pages, 2 figures, submitted to Appl. Phys. Let