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Dissipative Solitons
Dissipative solitons (DSs) are stable solitary localized structures (''solitons'') that arise in nonlinear spatially extended dissipative systems due to mechanisms of self-organization. They can be considered as an extension of the classical soliton concept in conservative systems. An alternative terminology includes autosolitons, spots and pulses. Apart from aspects similar to the behavior of classical particles like the formation of bound states, DSs exhibit interesting behavior – e.g. scattering, creation and annihilation – all without the constraints of energy or momentum conservation. The excitation of internal degrees of freedom may result in a dynamically stabilized intrinsic speed, or periodic oscillations of the shape. Historical development Origin of the soliton concept DSs have been experimentally observed for a long time. Helmholtz measured the propagation velocity of nerve pulses in 1850. In 1902, Lehmann found the formation of localized anode spots i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Soliton
In mathematics and physics, a soliton is a nonlinear, self-reinforcing, localized wave packet that is , in that it preserves its shape while propagating freely, at constant velocity, and recovers it even after collisions with other such localized wave packets. Its remarkable stability can be traced to a balanced cancellation of nonlinear and dispersive effects in the medium.Dispersive effects are a property of certain systems where the speed of a wave depends on its frequency. Solitons were subsequently found to provide stable solutions of a wide class of weakly nonlinear dispersive partial differential equations describing physical systems. The soliton phenomenon was first described in 1834 by John Scott Russell who observed a solitary wave in the Union Canal in Scotland. He reproduced the phenomenon in a wave tank and named it the " Wave of Translation". The Korteweg–de Vries equation was later formulated to model such waves, and the term "soliton" was coined by Zabu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fiberglass
Fiberglass (American English) or fibreglass (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English) is a common type of fibre-reinforced plastic, fiber-reinforced plastic using glass fiber. The fibers may be randomly arranged, flattened into a sheet called a chopped strand mat, or woven into glass cloth. The plastic Matrix (composite), matrix may be a thermoset polymer matrix—most often based on thermosetting polymers such as epoxy, polyester resin, or vinyl ester resin—or a thermoplastic. Cheaper and more flexible than Carbon-fiber-reinforced polymers, carbon fiber, it is stronger than many metals by weight, non-magnetic, non-conductive, transparent to electromagnetic radiation, can be molded into complex shapes, and is chemically inert under many circumstances. Applications include aircraft, boats, automobiles, bath tubs and enclosures, swimming pools, hot tubs, septic tanks, water tanks, roofing, pipes, cladding, orthopedic casts, surfboards, and external door skins ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Photorefractive Effect
The photorefractive effect is a nonlinear optical effect seen in certain crystals and other materials that respond to light by altering their refractive index. The effect can be used to store temporary, erasable holograms and is useful for holographic data storage. It can also be used to create a phase-conjugate mirror or an optical spatial soliton. Mechanism The photorefractive effect occurs in several stages: #A photorefractive material is illuminated by coherent beams of light. (In holography, these would be the signal and reference beams). Interference between the beams results in a pattern of dark and light fringes throughout the crystal. #In regions where a bright fringe is present, electrons can absorb the light and be photoexcited from an impurity level into the conduction band of the material, leaving an electron hole (a net positive charge). Impurity levels have an energy intermediate between the energies of the valence band and conduction band of the material. # ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Light Valve
A light valve (LV) is a device for varying the quantity of light, from a source, which reaches a target. Examples of targets are computer screen surfaces, or a wall screen in the case of a light projector. There are two basic principles of achieving this. One is by deflecting the light on its way to the target (a reflective LV). The other method is to block the light (a transmissive LV). The blocking method has found its way into liquid crystal displays (LCDs), video projectors and rear projection TVs. In this type of screens and projectors, the source light is first polarised by a filter in one direction and then passed on to another filter, filled with liquid crystals. By changing the voltage applied to this crystal filter, it will work as a switching polarising filter, giving different gray scales of the light coming out. The light is changed only once for each image frame. The light valve thus consists of the two polarising filters, where one has a voltage controlled switch ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Optical Parametric Oscillator
An optical parametric oscillator (OPO) is a parametric oscillator that oscillates at optical frequencies. It converts an input laser wave (called "pump") with frequency \omega_p into two output waves of lower frequency (\omega_s, \omega_i) by means of second-order nonlinear optical interaction. The sum of the output waves' frequencies is equal to the input wave frequency: \omega_s + \omega_i=\omega_p. For historical reasons, the two output waves are called "signal" and "idler", where the output wave with higher frequency is the "signal". A special case is the degenerate OPO, when the output frequency is one-half the pump frequency, \omega_s=\omega_i=\omega_p/2, which can result in half-harmonic generation when signal and idler have the same polarization. The first optical parametric oscillator was demonstrated by Joseph A. Giordmaine and Robert C. Miller in 1965, five years after the invention of the laser, at Bell Labs. Optical parametric oscillators are used as coherent light ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Saturable Absorption
Saturable absorption is a property of materials where the absorption of light decreases with increasing light intensity. Most materials show some saturable absorption, but often only at very high optical intensities (close to the optical damage). At sufficiently high incident light intensity, the ground state of a saturable absorber material is excited into an upper energy state at such a rate that there is insufficient time for it to decay back to the ground state before the ground state becomes depleted, causing the absorption to saturate. The key parameters for a saturable absorber are its wavelength range (where in the electromagnetic spectrum it absorbs), its dynamic response (how fast it recovers), and its saturation intensity and fluence (at what intensity or pulse energy it saturates). Saturable absorber materials are useful in laser cavities. For instance, they are commonly used for passive Q-switching. Phenomenology Within the simple model of saturated absorption, t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Polarization (waves)
, or , is a property of transverse waves which specifies the geometrical orientation of the oscillations. In a transverse wave, the direction of the oscillation is perpendicular to the direction of motion of the wave. One example of a polarized transverse wave is vibrations traveling along a taut string, for example, in a musical instrument like a guitar string. Depending on how the string is plucked, the vibrations can be in a vertical direction, horizontal direction, or at any angle perpendicular to the string. In contrast, in longitudinal waves, such as sound waves in a liquid or gas, the displacement of the particles in the oscillation is always in the direction of propagation, so these waves do not exhibit polarization. Transverse waves that exhibit polarization include electromagnetic waves such as light and radio waves, gravitational waves, and transverse sound waves ( shear waves) in solids. An electromagnetic wave such as light consists of a coupled oscillating el ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Feedback
Feedback occurs when outputs of a system are routed back as inputs as part of a chain of cause and effect that forms a circuit or loop. The system can then be said to ''feed back'' into itself. The notion of cause-and-effect has to be handled carefully when applied to feedback systems: History Self-regulating mechanisms have existed since antiquity, and the idea of feedback started to enter economic theory in Britain by the 18th century, but it was not at that time recognized as a universal abstraction and so did not have a name. The first ever known artificial feedback device was a float valve, for maintaining water at a constant level, invented in 270 BC in Alexandria, Egypt. This device illustrated the principle of feedback: a low water level opens the valve, the rising water then provides feedback into the system, closing the valve when the required level is reached. This then reoccurs in a circular fashion as the water level fluctuates. Centrifugal governors were ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nonlinear Optics
Nonlinear optics (NLO) is the branch of optics that describes the behaviour of light in Nonlinearity, nonlinear media, that is, media in which the polarization density P responds non-linearly to the electric field E of the light. The non-linearity is typically observed only at very high light intensities (when the electric field of the light is >108 V/m and thus comparable to the atomic electric field of ~1011 V/m) such as those provided by lasers. Above the Schwinger limit, the vacuum itself is expected to become nonlinear. In nonlinear optics, the superposition principle no longer holds. History The first nonlinear optical effect to be predicted was two-photon absorption, by Maria Goeppert Mayer for her PhD in 1931, but it remained an unexplored theoretical curiosity until 1961 and the almost simultaneous observation of two-photon absorption at Bell Labs and the discovery of second-harmonic generation by Peter Franken ''et al.'' at University of Michigan, both shortly after th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
PIN Diode
A PIN diode is a diode with a wide, undoped intrinsic semiconductor region between a p-type semiconductor and an n-type semiconductor region. The p-type and n-type regions are typically heavily doping (semiconductor), doped because they are used for ohmic contacts. The wide Intrinsic semiconductor, intrinsic region is in contrast to an ordinary p–n diode. The wide intrinsic region makes the PIN diode an inferior rectifier (one typical function of a diode), but it makes it suitable for attenuators, fast switches, photodetectors, and high-voltage power electronics applications. The PIN photodiode was invented by Jun-Ichi Nishizawa and his colleagues in 1950. It is a semiconductor device. Operation A PIN diode operates under what is known as high-level injection. In other words, the intrinsic "i" region is flooded with charge carriers from the "p" and "n" regions. Its function can be likened to filling up a water bucket with a hole on the side. Once the water reaches the hole ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Semiconductor
A semiconductor is a material with electrical conductivity between that of a conductor and an insulator. Its conductivity can be modified by adding impurities (" doping") to its crystal structure. When two regions with different doping levels are present in the same crystal, they form a semiconductor junction. The behavior of charge carriers, which include electrons, ions, and electron holes, at these junctions is the basis of diodes, transistors, and most modern electronics. Some examples of semiconductors are silicon, germanium, gallium arsenide, and elements near the so-called " metalloid staircase" on the periodic table. After silicon, gallium arsenide is the second-most common semiconductor and is used in laser diodes, solar cells, microwave-frequency integrated circuits, and others. Silicon is a critical element for fabricating most electronic circuits. Semiconductor devices can display a range of different useful properties, such as passing current more easil ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Plasma (physics)
Plasma () is a state of matter characterized by the presence of a significant portion of charged particles in any combination of ions or electrons. It is the most abundant form of ordinary matter in the universe, mostly in stars (including the Sun), but also dominating the rarefied intracluster medium and Outer space#Intergalactic space, intergalactic medium. Plasma can be artificially generated, for example, by heating a neutral gas or subjecting it to a strong electromagnetic field. The presence of charged particles makes plasma electrically conductive, with the dynamics of individual particles and macroscopic plasma motion governed by collective electromagnetic fields and very sensitive to externally applied fields. The response of plasma to electromagnetic fields is used in many modern devices and technologies, such as plasma display, plasma televisions or plasma etching. Depending on temperature and density, a certain number of neutral particles may also be present, in wh ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
