We present a novel Vertical External Cavity Surface Emitting Laser (VECSEL) cavity design which makes use of multiple interactions with the gain region under different angles of incidence in a single round trip. This design allows for optimization of the net, round-trip Group Delay Dispersion (GDD) by shifting the GDD of the gain via cavity fold angle while still maintaining the high gain of resonant structures. The effectiveness of this scheme is demonstrated with femtosecond-regime pulses from a resonant structure and record pulse energies for the VECSEL gain medium. In addition, we show that the interference pattern of the intracavity mode within the active region, resulting from the double-angle multifold, is advantageous for operating the laser in CW on multiple wavelengths simultaneously. Power, noise, and mode competition characterization is presented.

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This study was carried out as a bachelor's thesis at KTH Royal Institute of Technology during the spring of 2023, investigating the correlation between the color with the concentration of various metal and metalloids (MMs) in the soil of Marinduque, The Philippines. With a history of mineral exploitation, notably copper and gold, the island has faced persistent environmental challenges, exemplified by the catastrophic waste spills in 1993 and 1996 that contaminated the Boac and Mogpog Rivers. These incidents have left lasting consequences on the environment and human health. The research methodology involved an analysis of soil samples collected from Marinduque, using portable equipment such as Olympus Vanta X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF), color scanning using the Nix Pro 2 Color Sensor, followed by data processing through MATLAB version R2023a. The latter involved statistical methods such as Pearson correlation and p-value, which produced correlation coefficients and identified which correlations were statistically significant. The correlations yielded were those between varying MMs concentrations in the soil and CIE L*a*b* soil color parameters across different municipalities in Marinduque. These correlations offer insights into potential causal relationships between arsenic (As), iron (Fe), lead (Pb), manganese (Mn) and zinc (Zn), and soil discoloration. Based on correlations between MMs concentrations and soil color, future studies can encompass a broader range of soil assessment and contamination risks analysis, thus offering valuable guidance to local communities and authorities in devising effective strategies for mitigating MMs pollution in the natural environment. / Denna studie utfördes som en kandidatuppsats vid Kungliga Tekniska högskolan (KTH) under våren 2023 och undersökte korrelationer mellan färg, metalloid- och metallkoncentrationer i marken på Marinduque, Filippinerna. Med en historia av mineralutvinning, särskilt koppar och guld, har ön stått inför pågående miljöutmaningar, såsom katastrofala avfallsutsläpp som förorenat floderna Boac och Mogpog. Dessa händelser har lämnat långvariga konsekvenser för miljön och människors hälsa. Forskningsmetoden omfattade en analys av jordprover från Marinduque, med användning av laboratorieutrustning som röntgenfluorescens (XRF), färgskanning med Nix Pro 2 Color Sensor, följt av databehandling genom MATLAB version R2023a. Den senare involverade statistiska metoder som Pearson-korrelation och p-värde, vilka genererade korrelationskoefficienter och identifierade vilka korrelationer som var statistiskt signifikanta. De erhållna korrelationerna var mellan varierande metallkoncentrationer i jorden och CIE L*a*b* markfärgsparametrar inom olika kommuner på Marinduque. Dessa korrelationer ger insikter i potentiella kausala samband mellan arsenik (As), järn (Fe), bly (Pb), mangan (Mn) och zink (Zn), samt jordfärg. Baserat på korrelationer mellan metalloid- och metallkoncentrationer i mark och markfärg kan framtida studier täcka en bredare räckvidd av risker för markförorening, och därmed erbjuda värdefull vägledning till lokala samhällen och myndigheter för att utveckla effektiva strategier för att minska förorening av tungmetaller i den naturliga miljön.

I have investigated gap plasmon mode of an eccentric coaxial waveguide structure using effective index method. The results found good agreement with fully-vectorial numerical calculation. In the eccentric structure, a strong field localization has been noticed at and around the smallest gap. Analysis showed the increase of effective index of lowest-order waveguide mode to 3.7 in the structure considered with a 2 nm minimum gap for a wavelength of 4 micrometer. In the visible regime, the effective index increases to over 10 for the same structure. Nanohole arrays, both flowover and flow-through formats, have been fabricated using focused ion beam (FIB). A 2-color LED-based nanohole sensor has been presented. The objective of the sensing platform was to register mutually opposite intensity change of transmitted light when the dielectric medium of metal-dielectric interface of the nanohole sensor undergoes a change. A number of tests with microfluidics setup demonstrated the proof-of-concept.