The first demonstration of laser action in ruby was made in 1960 by T. H. Maiman of Hughes Research Laboratories, USA. Many laboratories worldwide began the search for lasers using different materials, operating at different wavelengths. In the UK, academia, industry and the central laboratories took up the challenge from the earliest days to develop these systems for a broad range of applications. This historical review looks at the contribution the UK has made to the advancement of the technology, the development of systems and components and their exploitation over the last 60 years.

Our review highlights research during the past century focussed on the population ecology of outbreak-prone insect defoliators in Canadian forests. Based on reports from national and provincial surveys that began in the 1930s, there have been at least 106 insect defoliators reported to outbreak, most of which are native Lepidoptera, Hymenoptera (sawflies), or Coleoptera (in order of frequency from most to least). Studies comparing life-history traits of outbreak versus non-outbreak species to better understand why certain species are more outbreak-prone indicate several traits especially common among outbreak species, including egg clustering and aggregative larval feeding. There have been at least 50 time-series studies examining the spatiotemporal population behaviour of 12 major defoliator species. These studies provide evidence for both regular periodicity and spatial synchrony of outbreaks for most major species. Life-table studies seeking to understand the agents causing populations to fluctuate have been carried out for at least seven outbreak species, with the majority identifying natural enemies (usually parasitoids) as the major driver of outbreak collapse. Our review concludes with several case studies highlighting the impact and historical underpinnings of population studies for major defoliator species and a discussion of potential avenues for future research.

Bandgap engineered ZnSxO1-x films were grown on Fluorinated Ethylene Propylene (FEP) substrates and analyzed using transmission spectroscopy. FEP is considered as a potential substrate for application in flexible electronics and semiconductor films.

We report apparent robust doping of ZnO and MgxZn1-xO (x ∼20%) nanoparticle films by annealing in hydrogen gas. The annealing was done at sequentially higher temperatures from about 20 °C to 140 °C. The effect of the annealing was determined by comparing current-voltage measurements of the samples at room-temperature and in vacuum after each annealing cycle.The nanoparticles were grown using an aqueous solution and heating process that created thinfilms of ZnO or MgZnO nanoparticles with diameters of about 30 nm. When exposed to hydrogen gas at room-temperature or after annealing at temperatures up to about 100 °C, no measureable changes to the room-temperature vacuum conductivity of the films was observed. However, when the samples were annealed at temperatures above 100 °C, an appreciable robust increase in the room-temperature conductance in vacuum occurred. Annealing at the maximum temperature (∼135-140 °C) resulted in about a factor of about twenty increase in the conductivity. Furthermore, the ratio of the conductance of the ZnO and MgZnO nanoparticle films while being annealed to their conductance at room-temperature were found to increase and then decrease for increasing annealing temperatures. Maximum changes of about five-fold and seven-fold for the MgZnO and ZnO samples, respectively, were found to occur at temperatures just below the annealing temperature threshold for the onset of the robust hydrogen gas doping. Comparisons of these results to other work on bulk ZnO and MgZnO films and reasons for this behavior will be discussed.

TheBattleLines in the evolution controversy had been clearly drawn by the year 1890. In scientific circles a few die-hards, like the German zoologist, Virchow, were making a last ditch fight against the increasingly popular Darwinian concept. American scientists, however, were virtually unanimous in their acceptance of evolution now that the restraining hand of Louis Aggassiz had been lifted. Among the theologians too might be found liberals who embraced the new theory; such influential Protestant preachers as Henry Ward Beecher and Lyman Abbott announced that they were “enthusiastic evolutionists.” Most Protestant leaders did not share this enthusiasm. They remained skeptical of evolution's scientific merits, suspicious of its philosophical implications, and fearful of its theological effects. Perhaps the most common Protestant technique was to denounce Darwinism as a threat to Christianity. Thus, as matters stood, America was in the midst of a struggle between a school of evolutionists, many of whom espoused unchristian or antichristian philosophies, and another group of anti-evolutionists who denied the scientific validity of evolution and objected to its theological implications. The evolutionists seemed to be gaining in strength and numbers.

We report on the ultraviolet photoluminescence (UV-PL), Raman and structural properties of wurtzite MgxZn1-xO nanopowders of average size ∼ 30 nm that were synthesized via the thermal decomposition method. For the studied composition range of, the room temperature UV-PL was found to be tuned by ∼ 0.24 eV towards the UV-spectral range, and the PL emission was established to be due to an excitonic-type recombination mechanism. The first-order LO Raman mode was found to exhibit a blueshift of ∼ 33 cm-1. The LO-mode of the nanopowders is discussed in terms of a mixed A1-E1 symmetry phonon known as a quasi-LO mode. The observed 30 cm-1 blueshift indicates that the E1 is the principle symmetry component in the Raman scattering of the MgxZn1-xO nanopowders.

The Raman modes of ZnO crystallites of the wurtzite structure were investigated via micro-Raman scattering at resonant and out-of-resonant conditions. The E2 mode was the predominant mode in the spectra for out-of-resonant conditions. For the resonant conditions one mode at the spectral range of the LO's of ZnO single crystal was the predominant mode: its frequency was found to be at ∼ 580 cm−1. The A1(LO) and the E1(LO) modes of a reference ZnO single crystal were found to be 568 cm−1 and 586 cm−1 respectively. Two possible mechanisms were considered that may explain the mode frequency of the crystallites: it can be regarded as a confined E1(LO) mode or as a quasi-LO mode. The UV-photoluminescence of the crystallites was found to have the same energy as that of the single crystal ∼ 3.3 eV, indicating the lack of size-confinement of the electronic states in the crystallites, and inter alia that of the phonon states. Our analysis indicated that the observed frequency can be explained in terms of Loudon's model of a quasi-mode behavior which is due to the crystallites tilt.

We give an update of our ongoing survey for intracluster light (ICL), in a sample of distant Abell clusters. We find that the amount of intracluster starlight is comparable to that seen in nearby clusters, and that tidal debris appear to be common.

The photoluminescence (PL) properties of GaN nanorods were studied utilizing UV micro-photoluminescence. The room temperature PL of the GaN nanorods exhibits one strong emission line. The PL intensity as a function of the laser power was investigated in order to determine whether this emission originates from an excitonic or a bandgap recombination process. Our analysis indicates that the PL of the rods is excitonic-like and very similar to the behavior of the free exciton A in GaN thin films. However, for a relatively large and compact ensemble of rods, the PL intensity exhibits a significant saturation occurring already at relatively low laser power. We attribute the intensity saturation to the laser heating and heat trapping which takes place in the enclosure of the ensemble.

The UV-photoluminescence (PL) properties of GaN and ZnO nanocrystallites and nanocrystallite ensembles were studied utilizing micro-photoluminescence. We address the origin of the light emissions of the nanocrystallite as to whether it is due a bandgap or excitonic recombination process. The other topic presented here focuses on the interaction of the laser with a collective of crystallites; we address the phenomena of intensity saturation at a high density of laser excitations as well as the impact of the vacuum state on the PL characteristics. Our analysis indicates that the PL of both GaN and ZnO nanocrysallites is excitonic-like and very similar to the behavior of the free exciton in bulk materials. Additionally, we attribute the intensity saturation of GaN and ZnO to the laser heating and heat trapping which takes place in the enclosure of the nanocrystallite ensemble. In vacuum the PL energy was found to exhibit a strong PL energy redshift relative to the PL in air. We attribute the observed shift to a thermal effect and analyze it in terms of the conditions enabling a convective cooling in the ensemble: the mean free path of air in atmospheric pressure and in vacuum relative to the interparticle separation inside the ensemble.