Semiconductor laser with feedback is an excellent model for nonlinear optical system which shows chaotic dynamics. It is interesting not only from the fundamental physical study but also application standpoints of view. The dynamics of feedback induced instability and chaos, especially for optical feedback, and their applications are reviewed in this paper. The model of such a system is described by the laser rate equations. At first the dynamic behaviors of feedback induced instability and chaos in semiconductor lasers are discussed on the basis of the theory and experiments. Instability and chaos may be stabilized by the method of chaos control. Then we apply the method to suppress the noise induced by the feedback in a semiconductor laser. The synchronization of chaos between two similar systems is also an important issue in chaos applications and we discuss secure communications based on chaos synchronization. Some other examples of applications of feedback induced chaos are also described.

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Based on techniques for single molecule imaging and nanomanipulation by optical tweezers, we have developed a new technique that allows simultaneous measurement of individual ATPase and mechanical reactions from a single myosin molecule during force generation. We show how the ATPase reaction couples to the mechanical reaction directly at the single molecule level. The results show that the myosin head can produce force even after releasing the bound nucleotide, probably ADP, suggesting that the chemical energy driven by ATP hydrolysis can be hysteretically stored in the myosin molecule. This view does not support a widely accepted hypothesis in which the force generation is tightly coupled to ligand dissociation.

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A spatial light modulator (SLM) is introduced to an optical manipulation system. The real-time reconfigurable feature of the SLM makes it possible to perform an optical manipulation of microparticles without mechanical movements of optical parts. A liquid crystal SLM incorporated in the system forms a Fresnel zone plate (FZP). The beam spot generated by the FZP is imaged on a sample solution by reduction optics. A microparticle in the sample solution is trapped by the beam and manipulated by changing the addressing position of the FZP onto the SLM from a computer. The nonmechanical optical manipulation of microparticles is demonstrated for the first time.

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We present a new simulation code able to simulate the entire propagation of laser pulse, from the amplifiers level up to the focusing stage. This algorithm has some new characteristics that we intend to present. It computes the three-dimensional optical propagation equation using no approximation other than its picosecond expression. The stability has been carefully studied so that it can be applied to any geometry. This is a great improvement since, up to now only cylindrical geometry was accessible for accuracy. In this paper we also present a method using Fast Fourier Transform able to evaluate with a high accuracy, Fresnel's distribution of a focused laser pulse. The advantages provided by our algorithm are its rapidity and its high physical understanding of the focusing phenomena.

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We describe the behavior of multi-sidebands in a self-mode-locked femtosecond Cr⁴⁺:YAG laser operating near 1.54 μm. Stokes and anti-Stokes sideband components are extended over 20 THz around the center frequency. An interesting feature here is that when the spectral width of the mode-locked pulse is increased, the specific Stokes sideband near 1.65 μm (a shift of 13.5 THz) is strongly enhanced due to an induced-Raman process in the laser rod. The measured frequency shifts for all sidebands are well explained by four-wave-mixing processes in the laser rod, accompanied by the resonance effect of the soliton and dispersive wave, both of which are affected mainly by cavity dispersions.

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The possibility of improving the discrimination capability (DC) in color pattern recognition is analyzed. In each channel, red, green and blue (R, G, B), a region of support is designed to improve the behavior of the Phase Only Filter matched to the corresponding component of the target. The procedure of optimization is based on the analytical expressions which give the DC in R, G, B channels, for real valued input scenes. Computer simulation results are presented and discussed.

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Using scattered radiation as useful information to improve radioisotope image quality is a topic attracting many researchers. Some reports showed that incorporating scattered components offers a possibility to improve image quality. The general method is modeling scatter in multiple energy windows and incorporating that information into the reconstruction process. However, what the performance will be and how noise will behave when using scattered radiation in reconstruction are not yet well answered. In this paper, we investigate a method of modeling scatter in multiple energy windows in cases of a few projection views. The system performance is analyzed using singular value decomposition and resolution kernels. For noise behavior investigation, reconstructions are accomplished by estimating the variance of reconstructed voxel values and the effectiveness of using scatter is evaluated by resolution kernel analysis. The results show there are improvements in normalized mean-square error of the images and the resolution kernels. When photon counts fall below about one million, it is still effective to use scatter for some cases of a few projections.

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A new technique is proposed to improve the way of selecting samples used to estimate spectral reflectance from sensor responses in multi-band images. This technique limits the samples of reflectance spectra based on the spectral reflectance estimated by the conventional estimation method, and estimates it again using the limited samples. Vector angle and distance among reflectance spectra as the criteria for the limitation can be applied to improve the estimation of reflectance spectra.

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In this paper we use a superluminescent diode (SLD) as the light source of an interferometer and extract a narrow spectrum from a wide spectrum of the SLD with a Fabry-Perot Etalone (FPE). By varying sinusoidally the distance between the two mirrors of FPE, the central wavelength of the narrow spectrum is scanned sinusoidally. The distance between the mirrors is exactly set by a feedback control system, and sinusoidal phase-modulated SLD light that has a large scanning width of about 10 nm can be obtained with high stability and spatial uniformity. The phase of the interference signal has two different components. One is amplitude Z_b of sinusoidal phase modulation, which is proportional to the optical path difference (OPD) and the scanning width. The other is conventional phase α, which provides a fractional value of the OPD in the range of the wavelength. By combining the two values of the OPD obtained from Z_b and α, an exact OPD larger than the wavelength can be measured with high accuracy in α. Characteristics of the interferometer are made clear through step-profile measurements.

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Refractive index change of liquids was detected using a temperature compensated prism cavity together with a diffractive optical element fabricated by electron beam lithography. Small changes of refractive index could be detected from image data of the sensor.

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In low-coherence reflectometry, the light scattered back from a scattering medium is expected to carry information about the spectral properties of the medium as well as range information about the reflective boundaries and backscattering sites. We built and evaluated a white-light interferometry system that gives the range and spectral information about the medium using the white-light continuum. The white-light continuum gives an extremely bright and broad spectrum. Experimental results on multi-layered media are presented.

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We propose a system for depositing thin films on waveguides which enables low-temperature deposition and precise control of the refractive index and film thickness. It is composed of a conventional ion-beam sputtering (IBS) system and a new system for directly monitoring film characteristics during deposition. We controlled refractive indices over a wide range from 1.52 to 1.97 by moving the sputtering targets (SiO₂ and Si₃N₄) in the IBS system. The refractive index or film thickness was in-situ monitored by observing the optical power reflected from the end-face of a monitoring fiber set in the deposition chamber. Antireflection coating films were successfully deposited on a fiber end-face and a laser diode chip facet with low reflectivity from 0.05 to 0.07%. This deposition system is attractive for constructing highly functional optical devices for future photonic networks.

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An investigation was carried out on decay time of the 2.09 eV emission of S^{2−}-vacancy pair centers in NaCl crystals. When the crystal was excited by a pulsed 337 nm light from an N₂ laser, the 2.09 eV yellow luminescence principally decayed with the lifetime of 14.2 μs at low temperatures, and exhibited a weak thermal quenching with an activation energy of 51.3 meV above about 150 K. Such S^{2−}-vacancy pair centers responsible for the 2.09 eV luminescence were thermally stable at room temperature, and not bleached even when exposed to ultraviolet lights below about 5 eV. Thus, the 2.09 eV emission center possibly can be used as a solid-state laser active center working at room temperature.

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This paper reports on the development of a unique, high precision linear motor integrated air slide table for precise positioning and its application to laser beam writers for photo-mask pattern-making. The air slide table takes advantage of the balance between the air bearing's levitating and magnetic forces. A brushless linear motor and a high resolution linear encoder are integrated into the table. The unique construction of the device results in a very compact package with excellent accuracy. The basic characteristics of the air slide table are evaluated. The device is applied to a laser beam writer, which must be capable of rendering minute and precise patterns for photo-masking equipment. Examples are given including optical devices such as wave guides and Fresnel zone plates which were fabricated and evaluated. Experimental data is given to show that the Fresnel zone plate fabricated here can be used to focus a laser beam to the theoretical limit, just like a standard refractive lens.

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