Autonomous navigation accuracy using simulated horizon sensor and sun sensor observations

A relatively simple autonomous system which would use horizon crossing indicators, a sun sensor, a quartz oscillator, and a microprogrammed computer is discussed. The sensor combination is required only to effectively measure the angle between the centers of the Earth and the Sun. Simulations for a particular orbit indicate that 2 km r.m.s. orbit determination uncertainties may be expected from a system with 0.06 deg measurement uncertainty. A key finding is that knowledge of the satellite orbit plane orientation can be maintained to this level because of the annual motion of the Sun and the predictable effects of Earth oblateness. The basic system described can be updated periodically by transits of the Moon through the IR horizon crossing indicator fields of view

Simulation Studies of the NLC with Improved Ground Motion Models

The performance of various systems of the Next Linear Collider (NLC) have been studied in terms of ground motion using recently developed models. In particular, the performance of the beam delivery system is discussed. Plans to evaluate the operation of the main linac beam-based alignment and feedback systems are also outlined.Comment: Submitted to XX International Linac Conferenc

The role of pump coherence in two-photon interferometry

We use a parametric down-conversion source pumped by a short coherence-length continuous-wave (CW) diode laser to perform two-photon interferometry in an intermediate regime between the more familiar Franson-type experiments with a long coherence-length pump laser, and the short pulsed pump "time-bin" experiments pioneered by Gisin's group. The use of a time-bin-like Mach-Zehnder interferometer in the CW pumping beam induces coherence between certain two-photon amplitudes, while the CW nature of the experiment prevents the elimination of remaining incoherent ones. The experimental results highlight the role of pump coherence in two-photon interferometry

Measurement of Magnetization Dynamics in Single-Molecule Magnets Induced by Pulsed Millimeter-Wave Radiation

We describe an experiment aimed at measuring the spin dynamics of the Fe8 single-molecule magnet in the presence of pulsed microwave radiation. In earlier work, heating was observed after a 0.2-ms pulse of intense radiation, indicating that the spin system and the lattice were out of thermal equilibrium at millisecond time scale [Bal et al., Europhys. Lett. 71, 110 (2005)]. In the current work, an inductive pick-up loop is used to probe the photon-induced magnetization dynamics between only two levels of the spin system at much shorter time scales (from ns to us). The relaxation time for the magnetization, induced by a pulse of radiation, is found to be on the order of 10 us.Comment: 3 RevTeX pages, including 3 eps figures. The paper will appear in the Journal of Applied Physics as MMM'05 conference proceeding

All-Optical Switching Demonstration using Two-Photon Absorption and the Classical Zeno Effect

Low-contrast all-optical Zeno switching has been demonstrated in a silicon nitride microdisk resonator coupled to a hot atomic vapor. The device is based on the suppression of the field build-up within a microcavity due to non-degenerate two-photon absorption. This experiment used one beam in a resonator and one in free-space due to limitations related to device physics. These results suggest that a similar scheme with both beams resonant in the cavity would correspond to input power levels near 20 nW.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figure

Vacuum rabi splitting using a single quantum dot in a photonic crystal slab nanocavity

We report the observation of vacuum-field Rabi splitting (true strong coupling) between a single InAs quantum dot and a single photon in the mode of a photonic crystal slab nanocavity

Dip coating process: Silicon sheet growth development for the large-area silicon sheet task of the low-cost silicon solar array project

The technical and economic feasibility of producing solar cell quality sheet silicon by dip-coating one surface of carbonized ceramic substrates with a thin layer of large grain polycrystalline silicon was investigated. The dip-coating methods studied were directed toward a minimum cost process with the ultimate objective of producing solar cells with a conversion efficiency of 10% or greater. The technique shows excellent promise for low cost, labor-saving, scale-up potentialities and would provide an end product of sheet silicon with a rigid and strong supportive backing. An experimental dip-coating facility was designed and constructed, several substrates were successfully dip-coated with areas as large as 25 sq cm and thicknesses of 12 micron to 250 micron. There appears to be no serious limitation on the area of a substrate that could be coated. Of the various substrate materials dip-coated, mullite appears to best satisfy the requirement of the program. An inexpensive process was developed for producing mullite in the desired geometry

Radiation- and Phonon-Bottleneck-Induced Tunneling in the Fe8 Single-Molecule Magnet

We measure magnetization changes in a single crystal of the single-molecule magnet Fe8 when exposed to intense, short (<20 $\mu$s) pulses of microwave radiation resonant with the m = 10 to 9 transition. We find that radiation induces a phonon bottleneck in the system with a time scale of ~5 $\mu$s. The phonon bottleneck, in turn, drives the spin dynamics, allowing observation of thermally assisted resonant tunneling between spin states at the 100-ns time scale. Detailed numerical simulations quantitatively reproduce the data and yield a spin-phonon relaxation time of T1 ~ 40 ns.Comment: 6 RevTeX pages, including 4 EPS figures, version accepted for publicatio

Scanning a photonic crystal slab nanocavity by condensation of xenon

Allowing xenon or nitrogen gas to condense onto a photonic crystal slab nanocavity maintained at 10–20 K results in shifts of the nanocavity mode wavelength by as much as 5 nm (~=4 meV). This occurs in spite of the fact that the mode defect is achieved by omitting three holes to form the spacer. This technique should be useful in changing the detuning between a single quantum dot transition and the nanocavity mode for cavity quantum electrodynamics experiments, such as mapping out a strong coupling anticrossing curve. Compared with temperature scanning, it has a much larger scan range and avoids phonon broadening