Job Loss and Effects on Firms and Workers

This paper serves as an introduction and (incomplete) survey of the wide-ranging literature on job loss. We begin with a discussion of job stability in the US and the commitment between firms and workers, and how this has changed in recent years. We then focus on the short and long-term consequences to workers (i.e. wages, health outcomes) following a layoff, and the effect which mass layoffs have on future firm performance. The changing nature of these relationships over the past several decades is a central theme of this paper. We review the common data sources used to examine these questions, and identify many influential papers on each topic. Additionally, we discuss alternative policies to the typical mass layoff, such as worksharing

High School Experiences, the Gender Wage Gap, and the Selection of Occupation

Using within-high-school variation and controlling for a measure of cognitive ability, this paper finds that high-school leadership experiences explain a significant portion of the residual gender wage gap and selection into management occupations. Our results imply that high-school leadership could build non-cognitive, productive skills that are rewarded years later in the labor market and that explain a portion of the systematic difference in pay between men and women. Alternatively, high-school leadership could be a proxy variable for personality characteristics that differ between men and women and that drive higher pay and becoming a manager. Because high school leadership experiences are exogenous to direct labor market experiences, our results leave less room for direct labor market discrimination as a driver of the gender wage gap and occupation selection

Vibration-tolerant narrow-linewidth semiconductor disk laser using novel frequency-stabilisation schemes

This paper will present developments in narrow-linewidth semiconductor-disk-laser systems using novel frequency-stabilisation schemes for reduced sensitivity to mechanical vibrations, a critical requirement for mobile applications. Narrow-linewidth single-frequency lasers are required for a range of applications including metrology and high-resolution spectroscopy. Stabilisation of the laser was achieved using a monolithic fibre-optic ring resonator with free spectral range of 181 MHz and finesse of 52 to act as passive reference cavity for the laser. Such a cavity can operate over a broad wavelength range and is immune to a wide band of vibrational frequency noise due to its monolithic implementation. The frequency noise of the locked system has been measured and compared to typical Fabry-Perot-locked lasers using vibration equipment to simulate harsh environments, and analysed here. Locked linewidths of < 40 kHz have been achieved. These developments offer a portable, narrow-linewidth laser system for harsh environments that can be flexibly designed for a range of applications

Technique for the measurement of picosecond optical pulses using a non-linear fiber loop mirror and an optical power meter

A method for measuring picosecond pulse width by using only fiber components and optical power meters is presented. We have shown that the output power splitting ratio of a non-linear fiber loop mirror can be used to extract the full-width half maximum of the optical pulse, assuming a known slowly varying envelope shape and internal phase structure. Theoretical evaluation was carried out using both self-phase and cross-phase modulation approaches, with the latter showing a twofold sensitivity increase, as expected. In the experimental validation, pulses from an actively fiber mode-locked laser at the repetition rate of 10 GHz were incrementally temporally dispersed by using SMF–28 fiber, and then successfully measured over a pulse width range of 2–10 ps, with a resolution of 0.25 ps. This range can be easily extended from 0.25 to 40 ps by selecting different physical setup parameters

Measurement of optical pulsewidth in the picosecond regime using a non-linear fiber and power meter

A technique for the characterization of picosecond pulse widths is presented, based a non-linear optical fiber loop mirror and power meter measurement. Pulse-widths in the 2-10ps range are successfully recovered with a resolution of 0.25p

High precision transfer printing for hybrid integration of multi-material waveguide devices

We present a transfer printing technique with sub-100nm absolute placement accuracy. Hybrid integration of pre-processed membrane waveguide devices is achieved across a range of materials, including silicon, polymer and III-V devices

Laser written nitrogen vacancy centers in diamond integrated with transfer print GaN solid immersion lenses

Laser-written Nitrogen Vacancy (NV−) centers are combined with transfer-printed GaN micro-lenses to increase fluorescent light collection by reducing total internal reflection at the planar diamond interface. We find a 2x improvement of fluorescent light collection using a 0.95 NA air objective at room temperature, in agreement with FDTD simulations. The nature of the transfer print micro-lenses leads to better performance with lower Numerical Aperture (NA) collection, as confirmed by results with a 0.5NA air objective which show improvement greater than 5x. The approach is attractive for scalable integrated quantum technologies

A full degree-of-freedom photonic crystal spatial light modulator

Harnessing the full complexity of optical fields requires complete control of all degrees-of-freedom within a region of space and time -- an open goal for present-day spatial light modulators (SLMs), active metasurfaces, and optical phased arrays. Here, we solve this challenge with a programmable photonic crystal cavity array enabled by four key advances: (i) near-unity vertical coupling to high-finesse microcavities through inverse design, (ii) scalable fabrication by optimized, 300 mm full-wafer processing, (iii) picometer-precision resonance alignment using automated, closed-loop "holographic trimming", and (iv) out-of-plane cavity control via a high-speed micro-LED array. Combining each, we demonstrate near-complete spatiotemporal control of a 64-resonator, two-dimensional SLM with nanosecond- and femtojoule-order switching. Simultaneously operating wavelength-scale modes near the space- and time-bandwidth limits, this work opens a new regime of programmability at the fundamental limits of multimode optical control.Comment: 25 pages, 20 figure

Altered spring phenology of North American freshwater turtles and the importance of representative populations

Globally, populations of diverse taxa have altered phenology in response to climate change. However, most research has focused on a single population of a given taxon, which may be unrepresentative for comparative analyses, and few long-term studies of phenology in ectothermic amniotes have been published. We test for climate- altered phenology using long-term studies (10–36 years) of nesting behavior in 14 populations representing six genera of freshwater turtles (Chelydra, Chrysemys, Kinosternon, Malaclemys, Sternotherus, and Trachemys). Nesting season initiation oc- curs earlier in more recent years, with 11 of the populations advancing phenology. The onset of nesting for nearly all populations correlated well with temperatures during the month preceding nesting. Still, certain populations of some species have not advanced phenology as might be expected from global patterns of climate change. This collection of findings suggests a proximate link between local climate and reproduction that is potentially caused by variation in spring emergence from hibernation, ability to process food, and thermoregulatory opportunities prior to nesting. However, even though all species had populations with at least some evi- dence of phenological advancement, geographic variation in phenology within and among turtle species underscores the critical importance of representative data for accurate comprehensive assessments of the biotic impacts of climate change

Expanding Economic Opportunity for More Americans: Bipartisan Policies to Increase Work, Wages, and Skills

Many workers today find themselves lacking the skills and training necessary to thrive in the modern economy. Most low- and middle-income workers have not seen meaningful wage increases in many years. Millions of men and women are missing from the workforce altogether. These challenges stem from profound shifts in the American economy and necessitate a dedicated policy response.Over the course of the past year, the Aspen Economic Strategy Group collected policy ideas to address the barriers to broad-based economic opportunity and identified concrete proposals with bipartisan appeal. These proposals are presented here