20,343 research outputs found
Dataset for Amplification of a radially polarised beam in an Yb:YAG thin-slab
No full textRaw Data
Funded by Fianium and the Engineering Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) for an Industrial CASE studentship.</span
Organic Gardening and Possibilities for its Implementation at Smith College: An Exercise on the Sustainable Use of Limited Resources
No full textThe focus of this paper lies in the comparison of conventional agriculture methods versus those of sustainable alternative or organic farming, in terms of their impacts on the environment and the sustainable use of limited resources. By looking at the economic, environmental, and social dimensions of sustainable agriculture in comparison to conventional practices, there is an emphasis on approaches that Smith College students could take to further educate themselves on this topic. Specifically, I have investigated possibilities for the implementation of an organically grown student-run garden at Smith College, and the benefits that it would produce for Smith College from a systems level perspective. This paper encourages Smith College students to become involved in what the Five-College Consortium has to offer in terms of educational opportunities geared towards the merits of sustainable alternatives to mainstream, conventional agricultural. The detrimental consequences of conventional agriculture are pervasive and widespread, and this is important for students to understand. Finally, the author urges for the eventual involvement of Smith College students in an alternative methods, student-run community garden on the Smith College campus or in the nearby vicinity
Power Scaling Architectures for Solid-State and Fiber Lasers
No full textThis thesis focuses on developing power scaling architectures for solid-state and fiber lasers. The thermally-guided fiber-rod (TGFR) laser is suggested as a novel power scalable concept. This device lies in a domain between bulk rod lasers and traditional fiber lasers. The motivation is to benefit from the excellent thermal management properties of fibers, whilst negating deleterious nonlinear effects owing to the tight beam confinement and long interaction lengths that plague high power fiber lasers. An elegant thermal guiding technique is proposed to provide mode control with the TGFR. We derive the refractive index profile that ensues as a result of end-pumping the TGFR with a fiber-coupled diode laser. Furthermore, we construct a model that predicts the resulting impact on Gaussian beam propagation through the TGFR for various pump configurations. A model describing the gain within the device is derived from the laser rate equations. These two models allow us to predict amplifier and laser performance of the TGFR device.We initially suggest soft glass as a host material for the TGFR, owing to the ability to dope this material with rare-earth ions in significantly higher concentrations than silica which is the traditional material of choice for fiber lasers, thus allowing the realisation of shorter devices. The requirements of a soft glass host are discussed in terms of both device fabrication and laser operation. Three potential sources are identified, including an in-house manufactured neodymium-doped and undoped phosphate glass, a commercial neodymium-doped and undoped silicate glass, and a neodymium-doped and undoped phosphate glass obtained through collaboration. The fabrication of potential TGFR devices with these three sources is described. This is followed by a laser investigation of these devices, where the issues of glass homogeneity and transmission loss become apparent, which are largely attributed to poor glass quality and unsuitable compatibility between the doped and undoped glasses. The neodymium-doped phosphate obtained through collaboration performed best, with a maximum output power around 1054nm of 2.5W, with a slope efficiency with respect to launched pump power of 28.5%. However, the poor glass quality prevented the thermal guiding investigation, and thus the beam quality was dictated by the highly multimode guide, resulting in a beam propagation factor of M2 = 60. Additionally, although this device had the lowest loss of the three sources, a significant loss of 5.7dB/m was measured using the Findlay-Clay analysis.In light of these glass quality issues, the TGFR concept was fully tested using an extra-large mode area silica fiber. A mode guiding investigation revealed that an in-built non-uniform refractive index profile was responsible for providing a degree of guiding, even in the absence of pumping. This guiding was well predicted by assuming a parabolic refractive index profile and utilising the mode guiding model. Furthermore, the thermal guiding model gave excellent agreement with measured data across a range of launched pump powers up to 30W. The device was operated as an amplifier for seed beams at 976nm and 1030nm, and good agreement with the gain model was observed. At 976nm a maximum gain of 4.1dB was achieved for a 60mW seed resulting in an output power of 155mW, and 2.2dB for a 450mW seed resulting in an output power of 750mW. For 1030nm a maximum gain of 5.0dB was achieved for a 50mW seed resulting in an output power of 160mW, and 3.9dB for a 1.1W seed resulting in an output power of 2.7W. Excellent beam quality was maintained throughout amplification with M2 < 1.1 at the maximum gain levels for both 976nm and 1030nm. The concept was extended to a laser configuration at for both the 975nm and 1030nm transition. A device operating at 1032.5nm achieving a maximum output power of 13.1W with a slope efficiency of 44% with respect to launched power and 53% with respect to absorbed power. Excellent beam quality was achieved at maximum output power with M2 < 1.1. Additionally, a device operating at 978.5nm achieved a maximum output power of 1W with a slope efficiency of 8% with respect to launched power. Again, excellent beam quality was achieved at maximum output power with M2 < 1.1. The slope efficiencies of both of these devices, particularly the latter, are expected to increase with higher pump powers.An Yb:YAG thin-slab architecture is suggested as a power scalable architecture for cylindrical vector (CV) beams, which have promising applications within materials processing. A seed source is constructed for operation at 1030nm, which exploits thermally-induced bi-focusing to produce a radially polarised output beam with a maximum output power of 6.9W, with a conversion efficiency of 41% with respect to absorbed pump power. The beam quality was measured as M2 = 2.3, whilst the radial polarisation extinction ratio (RPER) was > 15dB. It was demonstrated that the seed source could be amplified in a highly asymmetric thin-slab gain medium whilst maintaining radial polarisation purity. The implications of the Gouy phase shift owing to astigmatic focusing within the slab are discussed. Amplifier experiments yielded a gain of 7.5dB for a 25mW seed input power, and 4.4dB for a 1.45W seed input power, resulting in a maximum output power of 4W.The beam propagation factor at the maximum gain level was maintained at the lowest seed input power at M2 = 2.3, and was only slightly degraded to M2 = 2.4 at the highest seed input powers. Crucially, the RPER was maintained at >15dB for both cases
Data set for Thermally-guided Yb-doped fiber-rod amplifier and laser
No full textData set for the paper Smith, C. R., Simakov, N., Hemming, A., & Clarkson, W. A. (2019). Thermally-guided Yb-doped fiber-rod amplifier and laser. Applied Physics B: Lasers and Optics, 125(32), 1-10. DOI: 10.1007/s00340-018-7126-3</span
Chinese Classics: The Commentarial Tradition
No full textChapter Abstract:
Reading texts from the Chinese and Japanese canons, Knight and Smith engage the subtle interplay of classic texts and commentaries, ancient and modern. They find that no classic text is a stand-alone: each inner text has traditionally been read as a dialogue between originating author(s) and authoritative later readers. When we approach these texts, then, we find ourselves part of an explicit, venerable conversation. Knight and Smith focus on five examples: the Sunzi (Sun Tzu) Art of War, the Japanese Zen Master Ikkyū, the great Tang dynasty poet Li Bo (Li Po), the ancient divination text the Yijing (I Ching) or Classic of Change, and the perplexing philosopher Laozi (Lao Tzu), originator of Daoism (Taoism). Reading these texts is like marrying into a very large family, one whose members, allusions, rewritings, irregular knowing and jokes we may appreciate or tolerate to different degrees. No way to control this process!
Book Abstract:
This Is a Classic illuminates the overlooked networks that contribute to the making of literary classics through the voices of multiple translators, without whom writers would have a difficult time reaching a global audience. It presents the work of some of today\u27s most accomplished literary translators who translate classics into English or who work closely with translation in the US context and magnifies translators\u27 knowledge, skills, creativity, and relationships with the literary texts they translate, the authors whose works they translate, and the translations they make. The volume presents translators\u27 expertise and insight on how classics get defined according to language pairs and contexts. It advocates for careful attention to the role of translation and translators in reading choices and practices, especially regarding literary classics.https://scholarworks.smith.edu/clt_books/1004/thumbnail.jp
Short Stories from Taiwan
No full textWith careful literary crafting, Taiwan\u27s writers have told the complex story of their country since World War II. Sabina Knight, a professor at Smith College and author of Chinese Literature: A Very Short Introduction, recommends five of her favourite short story collections.
Interview by Sophie Roell, Edito
The Cultural Revolution and Mo Yan’s Nobel Prize
No full textWe spoke to Dr. Sabina Knight of Smith for a two-part conversation on her book: Chinese Literature: A Very Short Introduction.
In Part 2 (our conclusion) we discuss the literature of China\u27s May 4th movement, the literature of the cultural revolution & Nobel-Prize winning author Mo Yan
In part one, we discussed the historic & contemporary influence that Daoism, Confucianism & Anti-War Poetry have had on China\u27s literature & literary culture.
Episode webpage
Mary Ann Smith Wilson, Ruby Doris Smith Robinson Collection on Student Activism
No full textThe Mary Ann Smith Wilson - Ruby Doris Smith Robinson Collection on Student Activism spans the dates 1948-2008 with the bulk of the material dated 1960-1967. The collection documents both Ruby Doris Smith Robinson's and Mary Ann Smith Wilson's participation in the civil rights movement and the organizations with which they were affiliated. Although the collection documents both sisters' activities, the bulk of the collection reflects Ruby Doris Smith Robinson’s activism activities in the civil rights movement. Also included in the collection are photographs, correspondences, news articles, programs, reports, and flyers.
At the AUC Robert W. Woodruff Library, we are always striving to improve our digital collections. We welcome additional information about people, places, or events depicted in any of the works in this collection. To submit information, please contact us at [email protected]
DSpace for e-print archives
Get PDFDSpaceTM (http://dspace.org/) is the new open source digital repository system from the MIT Libraries and Hewlett-Packard Labs designed to support the digital collections of academic research institutions, as well as the SPARC conception of Institutional Repositories for digital research material. The DSpace system has been described elsewhere in detail so the focus of this article is on its implementation at MIT for archiving e-prints and other artifacts of scholarly communication, and making these available to the public. The MIT Libraries are deeply concerned about the well-documented crisis in scholarly communication and are committed to working
towards innovative solutions. We share this concern with many of the MIT faculty and administration, several of who have been key supporters of the DSpace project and related
initiatives at the university. The MIT Libraries were a founding member of SPARC, and are a signatory of the Budapest Open Access Initiative (BOAI). This article will describe how MIT Libraries have implemented DSpace to support these goals
An interview with Michael Barresi
Get PDFMichael Barresi is Professor of Biological Sciences at Smith College, Northampton, MA, USA, where he uses the zebrafish to understand central nervous system development. Michael is also Program Director of the ‘Student Scientists’ outreach project and has made significant contributions to teaching developmental biology, including being co-author and illustrator of the textbook Developmental Biology, producing developmental documentaries and starting the Online Developmental Teaching Forums. He was awarded the 2021 Viktor Hamburger Outstanding Educator Prize from the Society of Developmental Biology (SDB). We caught up with Michael over Teams to hear more about his career and love of learning
- …
