Low Threshold Two-Dimensional Annular Bragg Lasers

Lasing at telecommunication wavelengths from annular resonators employing radial Bragg reflectors is demonstrated at room temperature under pulsed optical pumping. Sub milliwatt pump threshold levels are observed for resonators with 0.5-1.5 wavelengths wide defects of radii 7-8 mm. The quality factors of the resonator modal fields are estimated to be on the order of a few thousands. The electromagnetic field is shown to be guided by the defect. Good agreement is found between the measured and calculated spectrum.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figure

Vertically emitting annular Bragg lasers using polymer epitaxial transfer

Fabrication of a planar semiconductor microcavity, composed of cylindrical Bragg reflectors surrounding a radial defect, is demonstrated. A versatile polymer bonding process is used to transfer active InGaAsP resonators to a low-index transfer substrate. Vertical emission of in-plane modes lasing at telecom wavelengths is observed under pulsed optical excitation with a submilliwatt threshold

Band splitting and Modal Dispersion induced by Symmetry braking in Coupled-Resonator Slow-Light Waveguide Structures

We study the dispersion relations in slow-light waveguide structures consisting of coupled microdisk resonators. A group theoretical analysis of the symmetry properties of the propagating modes reveals an interesting phenomenon: The degeneracy of the CW and CCW rotating modes is removed, giving rise to two distinct transmission bands. This effect induces symmetry-based dispersion which may limit usable bandwidth of such structures. The properties of this band splitting and its impact on CROW performance for optical communications are studied in detail

Collapsar Jets, Bubbles and Fe Lines

In the collapsar scenario, gamma ray bursts are caused by relativistic jets expelled along the rotation axis of a collapsing stellar core. We discuss how the structure and time-dependence of such jets depends on the stellar envelope and central engine properties, assuming a steady jet injection. It takes a few seconds for the jet to bore its way through the stellar core; most of the energy output during that period goes into a cocoon of relativistic plasma surrounding the jet. This material subsequently forms a bubble of magnetized plasma that takes several hours to expand, subrelativistically, through the envelope of a high-mass supergiant. Jet break-through and a conventional burst would be expected not only in He stars but possibly also in blue supergiants. Shock waves and magnetic dissipation in the escaping bubble can contribute a non thermal UV/X-ray afterglow, and also excite Fe line emission from thermal gas, in addition to the standard jet deceleration power-law afterglow.Comment: Ap.J. Letters, accepted 6/20/01, first subm 4/24/01; aaspp4, 9 pages, no figures; minor revision

Evidence of nitric acid uptake in warm cirrus anvil clouds during the NASA TC4 campaign

Uptake of HNO3 onto cirrus ice may play an important role in tropospheric NOx cycling. Discrepancies between modeled and in situ measurements of gas-phase HNO3 in the troposphere suggest that redistribution and removal mechanisms by cirrus ice have been poorly constrained. Limited in situ measurements have provided somewhat differing results and are not fully compatible with theory developed from laboratory studies. We present new airborne measurements of HNO3 in cirrus clouds from anvil outflow made during the Tropical Composition, Cloud, and Climate Coupling Experiment (TC4). Upper tropospheric (\u3e9 km) measurements made during three flights while repeatedly traversing the same cloud region revealed depletions of gas-phase HNO3 in regions characterized by higher ice water content and surface area. We hypothesize that adsorption of HNO3 onto cirrus ice surfaces could explain this. Using measurements of cirrus ice surface area density and some assumptions about background mixing ratios of gas-phase HNO3, we estimate molecular coverages of HNO 3 on cirrus ice surface in the tropical upper troposphere during the TC4 racetracks to be about 1 × 1013 molecules cm-2. This likely reflects an upper limit because potential dilution by recently convected, scavenged air is ignored. Also presented is an observation of considerably enhanced gas-phase HNO3 at the base of a cirrus anvil suggesting vertical redistribution of HNO3 by sedimenting cirrus particles and subsequent particle sublimation and HNO3 evaporation. The impact of released HNO3, however, appears to be restricted to a very thin layer just below the cloud. Copyright 2010 by the American Geophysical Union

Radiative Efficiencies of Continuously Powered Blast Waves

We use general arguments to show that a continuously powered radiative blast wave can behave self similarly if the energy injection and radiation mechanisms are self similar. In that case, the power-law indices of the blast wave evolution are set by only one of the two constituent physical mechanisms. If the luminosity of the energy source drops fast enough, the radiation mechanisms set the power-law indices, otherwise, they are set by the behavior of the energy source itself. We obtain self similar solutions for the Newtonian and the ultra-relativistic limits. Both limits behave self similarly if we assume that the central source supplies energy in the form of a hot wind, and that the radiative mechanism is the semi-radiative mechanism of Cohen, Piran & Sari (1998). We calculate the instantaneous radiative efficiencies for both limits and find that a relativistic blast wave has a higher efficiency than a Newtonian one. The instantaneous radiative efficiency depends strongly on the hydrodynamics and cannot be approximated by an estimate of local microscopic radiative efficiencies, since a fraction of the injected energy is deposited in shocked matter. These solutions can be used to calculate Gamma Ray Bursts afterglows, for cases in which the energy is not supplied instantaneously.Comment: 28 LaTeX pages, including 9 figures and 3 table

Seasonal distributions of fine aerosol sulfate in the North American Arctic basin during TOPSE

We used the mist chamber/ion chromatography technique to quantify fine aerosol SO4=(\u3c2.7 μm) in the Arctic during the Tropospheric Ozone Production about the Spring Equinox Experiment (TOPSE) with about 2.5 min time resolution. Our effective sample area ranged from 50° to 86°N and 53° to 100°W. The seasonal evolution of fine aerosol sulfate in the Arctic troposphere during TOPSE was consistent with the phenomenon of Arctic haze. Arctic haze has been attributed to pollution from sources in the Arctic and pollution transported meridionally along stable isentropes into the Arctic in geographically broad but vertically narrow bands. These layers became more prevalent at higher altitudes as the season progressed toward summer, and the relevant isentropes are not held so close to the surface. Mean fine particle SO4= mixing ratios during TOPSE in February below 1000 m were elevated (112 pptv) and highly variable (between 28 and 290 pptv) but were significantly lower at higher altitudes (about 40 pptv). As the season progressed, elevated mixing ratios and higher variability were observed at higher altitudes, up to 7 km. In May, mixing ratios at the lowest altitudes declined but still remained higher than in February at all altitudes. The high variability in our measurements likely reflects the vertical heterogeneity of the wintertime Arctic atmosphere as the airborne sampling platform passed in and out of these layers. It is presumed that mixing ratios and variability will continue to decline at all altitudes into the summer as wet deposition processes become important in removing aerosol SO4= from the troposphere

Lasing from a circular Bragg nanocavity with an ultra-small modal volume

We demonstrate single-mode lasing at telecommunication wavelengths from a circular nanocavity employing a radial Bragg reflector. Ultra-small modal volume and Sub milliwatt pump threshold level are observed for lasers with InGaAsP quantum well active membrane. The electromagnetic field is shown to be tightly confined within the 300nm central pillar of the cavity. The quality factors of the resonator modal fields are estimated to be on the order of a few thousands.Comment: 3 pages, 4 figures Submitted to AP

Stratospheric influence on the northern North American free troposphere during TOPSE: 7Be as a stratospheric tracer

We use 7Be, with HNO3 and O3, to identify air masses sampled from the NCAR C-130 during TOPSE that retained clear evidence of stratospheric influence. A total of 43 such air masses, spread fairly evenly across the February to May sampling period, and 40°N–86°N latitude range, were encountered. South of 55°N, nearly all clear stratospheric influence was restricted to altitudes above 6 km. At higher latitudes stratospherically influenced air masses were encountered as low as 2 km. Approximately 12% of all TOPSE sampling time at altitudes above 2 km was spent in stratospherically impacted air, above 6 km this increased to more than half of the time. Because it is not certain how much of this stratospherically influenced air irreversibly injected mass (and chemical compounds) into the troposphere, we estimate the stratospheric fraction of O3 in high latitude TOPSE samples based on a linear relationship to7Be and compare it to in situ O3. This analysis indicates that the stratospheric source can account for a dominant fraction (\u3e85%) of in situ O3 throughout TOPSE, but that the stratospheric contribution was nearly constant through the 4 month campaign. In February and March the 7Be based estimates of stratospheric O3 account for 10–15% more O3 than was measured, but by April and May there is up to about 10% more O3 than expected from the stratospheric source. This trend suggests that a seasonal transition from O3 depletion to photochemical production in the high latitude North American troposphere is the major cause of the springtime increase in O3

Warped discs and the directional stability of jets in Active Galactic Nuclei

Warped accretion discs in Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) exert a torque on the black hole that tends to align the rotation axis with the angular momentum of the outer disc. We compute the magnitude of this torque by solving numerically for the steady state shape of the warped disc, and verify that the analytic solution of Scheuer and Feiler (1996) provides an excellent approximation. We generalise these results for discs with strong warps and arbitrary surface density profiles, and calculate the timescale on which the black hole becomes aligned with the angular momentum in the outer disc. For massive holes and accretion rates of the order of the Eddington limit the alignment timescale is always short (less than a Myr), so that jets accelerated from the inner disc region provide a prompt tracer of the angular momentum of gas at large radii in the disc. Longer timescales are predicted for low luminosity systems, depending on the degree of anisotropy in the disc's hydrodynamic response to shear and warp, and for the final decay of modest warps at large radii in the disc that are potentially observable via VLBI. We discuss the implications of this for the inferred accretion history of those Active Galactic Nuclei whose jet directions appear to be stable over long timescales. The large energy deposition rate at modest disc radii during rapid realignment episodes should make such objects transiently bright at optical and infrared wavelengths.Comment: MNRAS, in press. Revised to match accepted version, with one new figure showing alignment timescale as a function of black hole mas