Narrow-band optical filter through phase conjugation by nondegenerate four-wave mixing in sodium vapor

An ultrahigh-Q tunable optical filter with a FWHM bandwidth of 41 MHz is demonstrated. The filtering is produced by nondegenerate phase conjugation through four-wave mixing in atomic-sodium vapor. The filter is observed to have a maximum quantum efficiency of 4 x 10^-3. However, degenerate phase-conjugation experiments in sodium suggest that a quantum efficiency of greater than unity can be attained on a cw basis

Transgender Health Medical Education Intervention and its Effects on Beliefs, Attitudes, Comfort, and Knowledge

Introduction. Transgender health disparities have been well documentedin the literature in recent years, as have the lack of transgenderhealth issues in medical education programs across the country. Methods. A prospective study was conducted with an hour-longdidactic lecture on transgender health being given to faculty, medicalstudents, and residents at the University of Kansas School of Medicine-Wichita. The didactic lecture included educational informationand presentations by transgender persons. A pre-intervention andtwo post-intervention survey was given to assess attitudes, comfortlevel, knowledge, and beliefs regarding the treatment of transgenderedpersons and associated health concerns. A second post-interventionsurvey was given at 90 days. The question of what attendees plannedto do differently as a result of the intervention was asked. Results. The intervention provided a significant positive increase inattitudes, comfort levels, and knowledge with respect to transgenderhealth issues between the pre- and post-intervention surveys,however, did not provide a significant positive increase in beliefs ontransgender health issues. There was no significant change in attitude,comfort levels, knowledge, or beliefs from the post-survey after 90days. Four categories of what attendees planned to do differently as aresult of the intervention also were identified. Conclusions. A didactic lecture on transgender health issues canpositively change attitudes, comfort levels, and knowledge on transgenderhealth issues significantly with the changes sustaining after 90days. Beliefs tend to be much harder to change.Kans J Med 2018;11(4):106-109

Phase Conjugation via Four-Wave Mixing in a Resonant Medium

This thesis describes the theoretical solution and experimental verification of phase conjugation via nondegenerate four-wave mixing in resonant media. The theoretical work models the resonant medium as a two-level atomic system with the lower state of the system being the ground state of the atom. Working initially with an ensemble of stationary atoms, the density matrix equations are solved by third-order perturbation theory in the presence of the four applied electro-magnetic fields which are assumed to be nearly resonant with the atomic transition. Two of the applied fields are assumed to be non-depleted counterpropagating pump waves while the third wave is an incident signal wave. The fourth wave is the phase conjugate wave which is generated by the interaction of the three previous waves with the nonlinear medium. The solution of the density matrix equations gives the local polarization of the atom. The polarization is used in Maxwell's equations as a source term to solve for the propagation and generation of the signal wave and phase conjugate wave through the nonlinear medium. Studying the dependence of the phase conjugate signal on the various parameters such as frequency, we show how an ultrahigh-Q isotropically sensitive optical filter can be constructed using the phase conjugation process. In many cases the pump waves may saturate the resonant medium so we also present another solution to the density matrix equations which is correct to all orders in the amplitude of the pump waves since the third-order solution is correct only to first-order in each of the field amplitudes. In the saturated regime, we predict several new phenomena associated with degenerate four-wave mixing and also describe the ac Stark effect and how it modifies the frequency response of the filtering process. We also show how a narrow bandwidth optical filter with an efficiency greater than unity can be constructed. In many atomic systems the atoms are moving at significant velocities such that the Doppler linewidth of the system is larger than the homogeneous linewidth. The latter linewidth dominates the response of the ensemble of stationary atoms. To better understand this case the density matrix equations are solved to third-order by perturbation theory for an atom of velocity v. The solution for the polarization is then integrated over the velocity distribution of the macroscopic system which is assumed to be a gaussian distribution of velocities since that is an excellent model of many real systems. Using the Doppler broadened system, we explain how a tunable optical filter can be constructed whose bandwidth is limited by the homogeneous linewidth of the atom while the tuning range of the filter extends over the entire Doppler profile. Since it is a resonant system, sodium vapor is used as the nonlinear medium in our experiments. The relevant properties of sodium are discussed in great detail. In particular, the wavefunctions of the 3S and 3P states are analyzed and a discussion of how the 3S-3P transition models a two-level system is given. Using sodium as the nonlinear medium we demonstrate an ultrahigh-Q optical filter using phase conjugation via nondegenerate four-wave mixing as the filtering process. The filter has a FWHM bandwidth of 41 MHz and a maximum efficiency of 4 x 10-3. However, our theoretical work and other experimental work with sodium suggest that an efficient filter with both gain and a narrower bandwidth should be quite feasible.</p

Nondegenerate four-wave mixing in a Doppler-broadened resonant medium

Third-order susceptibilities are calculated for a Doppler-broadened two-level system. The dependence of four-wave mixing on the angle θ between the pump and signal fields is studied, and the reflection coefficient is shown to have a narrow field of view that is inversely proportional to the ratio of the Doppler width to the homogeneous linewidth. For the collinear geometry, θ = 0°, the frequency dependence of the nondegenerate case is analyzed and shown capable of yielding a real-time narrow-bandwidth optical filter whose bandwidth is limited by the homogeneous linewidth

Nondegenerate four-wave mixing in a homogeneously broadened two-level system with saturating pump waves

The formulation of phase conjugation via nondegenerate four-wave mixing in a homogeneously broadened resonant medium is generalized to include saturating pump waves. An ultrahigh-Q optical filter is predicted, showing both gain and a bandwidth less than the homogeneous linewidth of the atom. The dependence of the filter function on the ac Stark effect and on the use of asymmetric pump wave intensities is discussed. In addition, several new phenomena are shown which manifest themselves as a dip in the degenerate reflectivity at line center

Association Between Observer-Rated Disfigurement and Body Image-Related Distress Among Head and Neck Cancer Survivors

This cross-sectional study assesses the association between observer-rated disfigurement and body image–related distress among survivors of head and neck cancer

Prediction and observation of tin and silver plasmas with index of refraction greater than one in the soft x-ray range

Includes bibliographical references (pages 016404-6-016404-7).We present the calculated prediction and the experimental confirmation that doubly ionized Ag and Sn plasmas can have an index of refraction greater than one for soft x-ray wavelengths. Interferometry experiments conducted using a capillary discharge soft x-ray laser operating at a wavelength of 46.9 nm (26.44 eV) confirm that in few times ionized laser-created plasmas of these elements the anomalous dispersion from bound electrons can dominate the free electron contribution, making the index of refraction greater than one. The results confirm that bound electrons can strongly influence the index of refraction of numerous plasmas over abroad range of soft x-ray wavelengths confirming recent observations. The understanding of index of refraction at short wavelengths will become even more essential during the next decade as x-ray free electron lasers will become available to probe a wider variety of plasmas at higher densities and shorter wavelengths

Prediction and observation of tin and silver plasmas with index of refraction greater than one in the soft x-ray range

Includes bibliographical references (pages 016404-6-016404-7).We present the calculated prediction and the experimental confirmation that doubly ionized Ag and Sn plasmas can have an index of refraction greater than one for soft x-ray wavelengths. Interferometry experiments conducted using a capillary discharge soft x-ray laser operating at a wavelength of 46.9 nm (26.44 eV) confirm that in few times ionized laser-created plasmas of these elements the anomalous dispersion from bound electrons can dominate the free electron contribution, making the index of refraction greater than one. The results confirm that bound electrons can strongly influence the index of refraction of numerous plasmas over abroad range of soft x-ray wavelengths confirming recent observations. The understanding of index of refraction at short wavelengths will become even more essential during the next decade as x-ray free electron lasers will become available to probe a wider variety of plasmas at higher densities and shorter wavelengths