We propose a fiber-optic-plasmonic hybrid device that is based on a corrugation-assisted metal-coated angled fiber facet (CA-MCAFF) for wavelength-dependent off-axis directional beaming (WODB). The device breaks into two key structures: One is the MCAFF structure, which is a modified Kretschmann configuration implemented onto a fiber platform, thereby being able to generate a unidirectional surface plasmon with dramatically enhanced properties in terms of non-confined diffracted radiation loss and operational bandwidth. The other is the periodic corrugation structure put on the MCAFF, thereby enabling WODB functionality out of the whole structures. The corrugated metal surface out-couples the surface plasmon mode to free-space optical radiation into a direction that varies with the wavelength of the optical radiation with excellent linearity. We perform extensive numerical investigations based on the finite-element-method and analyze the out-coupling efficiency (OCE_out) and spectral bandwidth (SB_out) of the proposed device for various designs and conditions. We determine the seven structural parameters of the device via taking sequential optimization steps. We deduce two optimal conditions particularly for the fiber-facet angle, in terms of the averaged OCE_out or the SB_out in the whole visible wavelength range (400 - 700 nm), which eventually leads to OCE_out = 30.4% and SB_out = 230 nm or to OCE_out = 24.5% and SB_out = 245 nm, respectively. These results suggest substantial enhancements in both OCE_out and SB_out, in comparison with the performance properties of a typical nano-slit-based device having a similar type of WODB functionality. The proposed CA-MCAFF is a simple, compact and efficient WODB device that is fully compatible with the state-of-the-art optical fiber technology.

A key comparison of low absolute pressure standards, organized under the auspices of the Consultative Committee for Mass and Related Quantities (CCM), was carried out at seven national metrology institutes (NMIs) between March 1998 and September 1999 in order to determine the degrees of equivalence of the standards at pressures in the range 1 Pa to 1000 Pa. The primary standards, which represent two principal measurement methods, included five liquid-column manometers and four static expansion systems. The transfer standard package consisted of four high-precision pressure transducers: two capacitance diaphragm gauges to provide high resolution at low pressures, and two resonant silicon gauges to provide the required calibration stability. Two nominally identical transfer packages were used to reduce the time required for the measurements, with Package A being circulated among laboratories in the European region (Istituto di

The first Japanese infrared space mission AKARI successfully scanned the whole sky with its two main instruments, the Infrared Camera (IRC) and the Far-Infrared Surveyor (FIS). The AKARI All-Sky Survey provides us with an invaluable opportunity to examine the zodiacal emission (ZE) over the entire sky in the leading as well as the trailing direction of the Earth's motion. We describe our efforts to reduce the ZE brightness map from the AKARI's survey in the 9 μm waveband. Compared with the interplanetary dust cloud model of Kelsall et al. (1998), the map requires an increase of the contribution of the resonance ring component to the ZE brightness by about 20%. We paid special attention to the north and south ecliptic pole brightnesses. The symmetry plane's inclination and longitude of ascending node need to be modified from those in Kelsall et al. (1998) to reach a best fit to the observed pole brightness difference.

This report describes a CCM key comparison of absolute pressure at five National Metrology Institutes (NMIs) that was carried out from August 1998 to May 2002. The goal of the key comparison was to determine the degree of equivalence of NMI standards at pressures in the range of 3×10 -6 Pa to 9×10 -4 Pa. The primary standards were dynamic expansion standards at four of the NMIs and a series expansion standard at the fifth NMI. The transfer standard package consisted of two spinning rotor gauges (SRGs) and three Bayard-Alpert ionization gauges. Due to equipment malfunctions, only one of the ionization gauges was calibrated by all of the participants. The SRG measurements were used to compare NMIs at 9×10 -4 Pa and to normalize the ionization gauge results at that same pressure. The ionization gauge measurements were used to compare NMIs at the lower pressures. The degrees of equivalence of the NMI standards were determined in two ways: deviations from the key comparison reference value (KCRV), and pairwise differences between those deviations. The standards of four of the NMIs show equivalence to the KCRV and each other over the full range of pressures relative to the expanded uncertainties of the comparisons at the k=2 level. The standard of one NMI was equivalent to the KCRV at 3×10 -6 Pa only, and showed lack of equivalence to the standards of one or more NMIs in the range of 9×10 -6 Pa to 9×10

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