Tuneable VCSEL aiming for the application in interconnects and short haul systems

Widely tunable vertical cavity surface emitting lasers (VCSEL) are of high interest for optical communications, gas spectroscopy and fiber-Bragg-grating measurements. In this paper we present tunable VCSEL operating at wavelength around 850 nm and 1550 nm with tuning ranges up to 20 nm and 76 nm respectively. The first versions of VCSEL operating at 1550 nm with 76 nm tuning range and an output power of 1.3mW were not designed for high speed modulation, but for applications where only stable continious tuning is essential (e.g. gas sensing). The next step was the design of non tunable VCSEL showing high speed modulation frequencies of 10 GHz with side mode supression ratios beyond 50 dB. The latest version of these devices show record output powers of 6.7mW at 20 °C and 3mW at 80 °C. The emphasis of our present and future work lies on the combination of both technologies. The tunable VCSEL operating in the 850 nm-region reaches a modulation bandwidth of 5.5GHz with an output power of 0.8mW

Polarization investigation of a tunable high-speed short-wavelength bulk-micromachined MEMS-VCSEL

We report the investigation of the state of polarization (SOP) of a tunable vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) operating near 850 nm with a mode-hop free single-mode tuning range of about 12 nm and an amplitude modulation bandwidth of about 5 GHz. In addition, the effect of a sub-wavelength grating on the device and its influence on the polarization stability and polarization switching has been investigated. The VCSEL with an integrated sub-wavelength grating shows a stable SOP with a polarization mode suppression ratio (PMSR) more than 35 dB during the tuning

Household networks and emergent territory: a GIS study of Chumash households, villages and rock-art in South-Central California

Elite households of the Californian Chumash have been studied in order to understand the development of Late Holocene hunter-gatherer alliance networks. Equally, models of what has been termed ‘tribelet territories’ have been used to describe land ownership within larger Californian concepts. Surprisingly little research has explicitly addressed issues of how such territories may have developed. In this article, we turn to DeLanda’s philosophy of social complexity to consider how Chumash households may have underpinned the development of tribelet territories and the political implications for their articulation with wider alliances. Importantly, utilizing Geographic Information Systems (GIS), we analyse potential mobility patterns in relation to households, villages and rock-art locales in a case from the Emigdiano Chumash. The results suggest that the painting of rock art was imbricated within processes of territorialization, and that the local placement of art reflects which villages were home to particularly high-status households

A review of the stable isotope bio-geochemistry of the global silicon cycle and its associated trace elements

Silicon (Si) is the second most abundant element in the Earth's crust and is an important nutrient in the ocean. The global Si cycle plays a critical role in regulating primary productivity and carbon cycling on the continents and in the oceans. Development of the analytical tools used to study the sources, sinks, and fluxes of the global Si cycle (e.g., elemental and stable isotope ratio data for Ge, Si, Zn, etc.) have recently led to major advances in our understanding of the mechanisms and processes that constrain the cycling of Si in the modern environment and in the past. Here, we provide background on the geochemical tools that are available for studying the Si cycle and highlight our current understanding of the marine, freshwater and terrestrial systems. We place emphasis on the geochemistry (e.g., Al/Si, Ge/Si, Zn/Si, δ13C, δ15N, δ18O, δ30Si) of dissolved and biogenic Si, present case studies, such as the Silicic Acid Leakage Hypothesis, and discuss challenges associated with the development of these environmental proxies for the global Si cycle. We also discuss how each system within the global Si cycle might change over time (i.e., sources, sinks, and processes) and the potential technical and conceptual limitations that need to be considered for future studies.The work by JS was supported by the “Laboratoire d’Excellence” LabexMER (ANR-10-LABX-19) and co-funded by a grant from the French government under the program “Investissements d’Avenir,” and by a grant from the Regional Council of Brittany (SAD programme). DJC was partially supported by the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation (KAW Wallenberg Scholar) and the Swedish Research Council. This review article has benefited from funding by the European Union Seventh Framework Programme under grant agreement n◦294146 (project MuSiCC, Marie Curie CIG to DC). GdS is supported by a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Research Fellowship under EU Horizon2020 (GA #708407). JuD was supported by the American Chemical Society Petroleum Research Fund (Grant # 53798-DNI2). CE acknowledges financial support by the Institute for Chemistry and Biology of the Marine Environment (Oldenburg, Germany) and the Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology (Bremen, Germany). KH is funded by The Royal Society (UF120084) and the European Research Council (ERC-2015-StG - 678371_ICY-LAB). PG acknowledges funding by the Collaborative Research Centre 754 “ClimateBiogeochemistry interactions in the Tropical Ocean” (www. sfb754.de), supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG)

Direction-Selective Circuitry in Rat Retina Develops Independently of GABAergic, Cholinergic and Action Potential Activity

The ON-OFF direction selective ganglion cells (DSGCs) in the mammalian retina code image motion by responding much more strongly to movement in one direction. They do so by receiving inhibitory inputs selectively from a particular sector of processes of the overlapping starburst amacrine cells, a type of retinal interneuron. The mechanisms of establishment and regulation of this selective connection are unknown. Here, we report that in the rat retina, the morphology, physiology of the ON-OFF DSGCs and the circuitry for coding motion directions develop normally with pharmacological blockade of GABAergic, cholinergic activity and/or action potentials for over two weeks from birth. With recent results demonstrating light independent formation of the retinal DS circuitry, our results strongly suggest the formation of the circuitry, i.e., the connections between the second and third order neurons in the visual system, can be genetically programmed, although emergence of direction selectivity in the visual cortex appears to require visual experience

Investigating trophic ecology and dietary niche overlap among morphs of Lake Trout in Lake Superior

Four morphs of Lake Trout (Salvelinus namaycush, Walbaum 1792) have been identified in Lake Superior: leans, siscowets, humpers, and redfins. In this comprehensive study, the trophic ecology of Lake Trout morphs were characterized using stomach content, fatty acid, and stable isotope data. Stomach content results indicated a predominately piscivorous diet for leans, siscowets, and redfins, whereas humper diets were comprised of 50% fish and 50% Mysis by mass. Humper and siscowets were most similar in their dietary fatty acid profiles, whereas redfins had the most distinct dietary fatty acid profile. Results from stable isotope analysis revealed some among-morph differences along a pelagic-profundal consumption gradient (34S), but there were no significant differences in trophic position (15N) or basal carbon sources among morphs (13C). Using the recently developed nicheROVER software package, 4-dimensional trophic niches for each morph were quantified using stable isotope ratios (δ13C, δ15N, and δ34S) and fatty acid profiles (30 dietary fatty acids, condensed to one axis). Humpers had the largest 4-dimensional niche regions of all four morphs, and redfins had the smallest. Pairwise probability of overlap among morphs in these four-dimensional niche regions was determined to be < 50% in most cases. Overall, stomach content results indicate that humpers diets were more planktivorous than the other morphs, consistent with previous research. Results of the niche overlap analysis suggests some degree of generalist feeding for all morphs. Better characterization of seasonal variation in diet using tracers that reflect more recent feeding (e.g., fatty acids, stomach contents, and/or stable isotope analyses performed on tissues that turnover more quickly than muscle) are needed to further elucidate among-morph differences and similarities in diet and trophic ecology