Ultra-Short Optical Pulse Generation with Single-Layer Graphene

Pulses as short as 260 fs have been generated in a diode-pumped low-gain Er:Yb:glass laser by exploiting the nonlinear optical response of single-layer graphene. The application of this novel material to solid-state bulk lasers opens up a way to compact and robust lasers with ultrahigh repetition rates.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures, to appear in Journal of Nonlinear Optical Physics & Material

Temperature shift suppression scheme for two-photon two-color rubidium vapor clocks

We propose a new scheme for interrogating a warm rubidium vapor using two different clock lasers. Performance-wise, this approach is distinctly different from the recently proposed two-color two-photon rubidium clocks as our scheme does not trade off the AC Stark suppression against an increased sensitivity to the cell-temperature/pressure. Instead, our approach compensates all, the AC-Stark shift and the temperature & pressure-induced frequency shifts. The proposed scheme also makes use of the modulation transfer technique, which enables a two-orders of magnitude increase in the signal-to-noise ratio compared to traditional clocks that rely on fluorescence measurements

Simple piezoelectric-actuated mirror with 180 kHz servo bandwidth

We present a high bandwidth piezoelectric-actuated mirror for length stabilization of an optical cavity. The actuator displays a transfer function with a flat amplitude response and greater than 135$^\circ$ phase margin up to 200 kHz, allowing a 180 kHz unity gain frequency to be achieved in a closed servo loop. To the best of our knowledge, this actuator has achieved the largest servo bandwidth for a piezoelectric transducer (PZT). The actuator should be very useful in a wide variety of applications requiring precision control of optical lengths, including laser frequency stabilization, optical interferometers, and optical communications

X-Band photonic microwaves with phase noise below-180 dBc/Hz using a free-running monolithic comb

Free-running mode-locked monolithic optical frequency combs offer a compact and simple alternative to complicated optical frequency division schemes. Ultra-low free-running noise performance of these oscillators removes the necessity of external phase stabilization, making the microwave systems uncomplicated and compact with lower power consumption while liberating the sidebands of the carrier from servo bumps typically present around hundreds of kilohertz offsets. Here we present a free-running monolithic laser-based 8 GHz photonic microwaves generation and characterization with a cryogenically cooled power splitter to demonstrate a state-of-the-art phase noise floor of less than &minus;180 dBc/Hz below 1 MHz offset from the carrier. &nbsp;</p

Ultra-low phase noise microwave generation with a free-running monolithic femtosecond laser

Phase noise performance of photonic microwave systems, such as optical frequency division (OFD), can surpass state-of-the-art electronic oscillators by several orders of magnitude. However, high-finesse cavities and active stabilization requirements in OFD systems make them complicated and potentially unfit for field deployment. Ultra-low noise mode-locked monolithic lasers offer a viable alternative for a compact and simple photonic microwave system. Here we present a free-running monolithic laser-based 8 GHz microwave generation with ultra-low phase noise performance comparable to laboratory OFD systems. The measured noise performance reached &minus;130 dBc/Hz at 100 Hz, &ndash; 150 dBc/Hz at 1 kHz, and &ndash;167 dBc/Hz at 10 kHz offsets from the 8-GHz carrier. We also report a sub-Poissonian noise floor of &minus;179 dBc/Hz above 30 kHz (timing noise floor of 32 zs Hz&minus;1/2), which is &sim;12 dB below the noise floor of time-invariant shot noise. In addition to the low phase noise, the system is compact, with a power consumption of less than 9 W, and offers excellent potential for mobile or space-borne applications.</p

Gender differences in paediatric patients of the swiss inflammatory bowel disease cohort study.

PURPOSE: Gender differences in paediatric patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) are frequently reported as a secondary outcome and the results are divergent. To assess gender differences by analysing data collected within the Swiss IBD cohort study database since 2008, related to children with IBD, using the Montreal classification for a systematic approach. METHODS: Data on gender, age, anthropometrics, disease location at diagnosis, disease behaviour, and therapy of 196 patients, 105 with Crohn's disease (CD) and 91 with ulcerative or indeterminate colitis (UC/IC) were retrieved and analysed. RESULTS: THE CRUDE GENDER RATIO (MALE : female) of patients with CD diagnosed at &lt;10 years of age was 2.57, the adjusted ratio was 2.42, and in patients with UC/IC it was 0.68 and 0.64 respectively. The non-adjusted gender ratio of patients diagnosed at ≥10 years was 1.58 for CD and 0.88 for UC/IC. Boys with UC/IC diagnosed &lt;10 years of age had a longer diagnostic delay, and in girls diagnosed with UC/IC &gt;10 years a more important use of azathioprine was observed. No other gender difference was found after analysis of age, disease location and behaviour at diagnosis, duration of disease, familial occurrence of IBD, prevalence of extra-intestinal manifestations, complications, and requirement for surgery. CONCLUSION: CD in children &lt;10 years affects predominantly boys with a sex ratio of 2.57; the impact of sex-hormones on the development of CD in pre-pubertal male patients should be investigated

Low noise electro-optic comb generation by fully stabilizing to a mode-locked fiber comb.

A fully stabilized EO comb is demonstrated by phase locking the two degrees of freedom of an EO comb to a low noise mode-locked fiber comb. Division/magnification of residual phase noise of locked beats is observed by measuring an out-of-loop beat. By phase locking the 200 th harmonics of the EO comb and a driving cw frequency to a fiber comb, a record low phase noise EO comb across +/- 200 harmonics (from 1544.8 nm to 1577.3 nm) is demonstrated