We report a test operation of an Er-doped fibre femtosecond laser which was conducted for the first time in outer space. The fibre-based ultrashort pulse laser payload was designed to meet space-use requirements, undergone through ground qualification tests and finally launched into a low-earth orbit early in 2013. Test results obtained during a one-year mission lifetime confirmed stable mode-locking all the way through although the radiation induced attenuation (RIA) in the Er-doped gain fibre caused an 8.6% reduction in the output power. This successful test operation would help facilitate diverse scientific and technological applications of femtosecond lasers in space and earth atmosphere in the near future.

Pt NPs were in situ synthesised on poly(sodium styrene sulfonate) functionalized graphene supports (PSS-G) in aqueous solution. We investigate the reduction of graphene oxide, PSS adsorption on reduced graphene, and Pt NP functionalization by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), X-ray absorption fine structure studies (XAFS), Raman spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. The as-prepared Pt on PSS-G sample (Pt-PSS-G) was used directly as a catalyst ink without further treatment. The use of PSS as a stabilizer prevents stacking of reduced graphene sheets, binds Pt NPs, and promotes mass transport of reaction species. The as-prepared Pt-PSS-G exhibits higher activity and stability for methanol oxidation reaction than Pt NPs supported on pristine graphene sheets (Pt-G). The higher activity is due to the presence of Pt NPs on the surface of the PSS-G support, which provides an integrated electron and mass transport pathway for every Pt NP. This work realizes both scalable and greener production of highly efficient catalysts, and would be valuable for practical applications of graphene based fuel cell catalysts.

Fabrication of highly ordered arrays of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) has been of great interest for a wide range of potential applications. Here, we report thermally switchable one- and two-dimensional arrays of individually isolated SWNTs formed by cooperative self-assembly of functionalized SWNTs and a block copolymer/water system. Small-angle X-ray scattering measurements reveal that when the block copolymer/water system is in an isotropic phase, two-dimensional hexagonal arrays of SWNTs are formed by depletion attraction, and when the block copolymer/water system is in a lamellar phase, one-dimensional lattices of SWNTs intercalated in the polar regions of the polymeric lamellar structure are formed by entropically driven segregation and two-dimensional depletion attraction. These two SWNT arrays are thermally interchangeable, following the temperature-dependent phase behavior of the block copolymer/water system.

A new dispersant for stabilization of single wall carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) in water that simultaneously utilizes three different dispersion or stabilization mechanisms: surfactant adsorption, polymeric wrapping, and Coulomb repulsive interaction, has been demonstrated. The new dispersant, a charged rod‐like nanoparticle (cROD), is a cylindrical micelle wrapped by negatively charged polymers which is fabricated by the aqueous free radical polymerization of a polymerizable cationic surfactant, cetyltrimethylammonium 4‐vinylbenzoate (CTVB), in the presence of sodium 4‐styrenesulfonate (NaSS). The surface charge density of the cRODs is controlled by varying the concentration of NaSS. Dispersions of SWNTs are obtained by sonicating a mixture of SWNTs and cROD in water, followed by ultra‐centrifugation and decanting. While the cRODs with neutral or low surface change densities (0 and 5 mol % NaSS) result in very low dispersion power and poor stability, the cRODs with high surface charge densities (15, 25, and 40 mol % NaSS) produce excellent dispersions with SWNT concentration as high as 437 mg L−1 and long term stability. The sharp van Hove transition peaks of the cROD assisted SWNT dispersions indicate the presence of individually isolated SWNTs. Atomic force microscopy and small angle neutron scattering analysis show that the dominant encapsulation structure of the cROD assisted SWNTs is surfactant assisted polymeric wrapping. SWNTs dispersed by the cRODs can be fully dried and easily re‐dispersed in water, providing enhanced processibility of SWNTs.

Phase-coherent transfer of optical frequencies over a long distance is required for diverse photonic applications, including optical clock dissemination and physical constants measurement. Several demonstrations were made successfully over fiber networks, but not much work has been done yet through the open air where atmospheric turbulence prevails. Here, we use an 18 km outdoor link to transmit multiple optical carriers extracted directly from a frequency comb of a 4.2 THz spectral width. In stabilization to a high-finesse cavity with a 1.5 Hz linewidth, the comb-rooted optical carriers are simultaneously transferred with collective suppression of atmospheric phase noise to −80 dBc Hz−1. Microwaves are also delivered by pairing two separate optical carriers bound with inter-comb-mode coherence, for example a 10 GHz signal with phase noise of −105 dBc Hz−1 at 1 Hz offset. Lastly, an add-on demonstration is given for multi-channel coherent optical communications with the potential of multi-Tbps data transmission in free space.

The subdomain structures of lamellar and reverse hexagonal phases of P84/water/p-xylene ternary system have been investigated by contrast varied small angle neutron scattering (SANS) measurements. As the neutron scattering length density of either polar or apolar domain was varied, the scattering intensities of the first Bragg peaks changed as expected, but the intensities of the second Bragg peaks did not change significantly. This variation of the relative peak intensities can not be explained by the typical simple models where the polar and apolar domains are regarded as homogeneous mixtures of PEO + water and PPO + oil, respectively, in which case the relative intensities of Bragg peaks do not change. For both lamellar and reverse hexagonal Pluronic ternary systems, the analysis of the contrast varied SANS intensities with subdomain structure models reproduce the experimental data very successfully, showing that a water-rich layer exists in the middle of the polar domain and water- and oil-depleted layers exist at the polar/apolar interfaces.

The emergence of a triple phase point in a two-dimensional parameter space (such as pressure and temperature) can offer unforeseen opportunities for the coupling of two seemingly independent order parameters. On the basis of this, we demonstrate the electric control of magnetic order by manipulating chemical pressure: lanthanum substitution in the antiferromagnetic ferroelectric BiFeO3. Our demonstration relies on the finding that a multiferroic triple phase point of a single spin-disordered phase and two spin-ordered phases emerges near room temperature in Bi0.9La0.1FeO3 ferroelectric thin films. By using spatially resolved X-ray absorption spectroscopy, we provide direct evidence that the electric poling of a particular region of the compound near the triple phase point results in an antiferromagnetic phase while adjacent unpoled regions remain magnetically disordered, opening a promising avenue for magnetoelectric applications at room temperature

We report a multi-channel optical frequency synthesizer developed to generate extremely stable continuous-wave lasers directly out of the optical comb of an Er-doped fiber oscillator. Being stabilized to a high-finesse cavity with a fractional frequency stability of 3.8 × 10 −15 at 0.1 s, the comb-rooted synthesizer produces multiple optical frequencies of ultra-narrow linewidth of 1.0 Hz at 1 s concurrently with an output power of tens of mW per each channel. Diode-based stimulated emission by injection locking is a key mechanism that allows comb frequency modes to sprout up with sufficient power amplification but no loss of original comb frequency stability. Channel frequencies are individually selectable with a 0.1 GHz increment over the entire comb bandwidth spanning 4.25 THz around a 1550 nm center wavelength. A series of out-of-loop test results is discussed to demonstrate that the synthesizer is able to provide stable optical frequencies with the potential for advancing diverse ultra-precision applications such as optical clocks comparison, atomic line spectroscopy, photonic microwaves generation, and coherent optical telecommunications.