Modules consisting of multiple single emitters pose demanding challenges on assembly, production capabilities and cost. A fiber coupled module has been produced delivering 100 W optical power from a 105 mu m, NA 0.15 fiber. The module consists of two times six vertically stacked single emitters combined by polarization multiplexing. Special attention was paid to the development of a very robust low cost pigtail. The developed semiautomatic highly accurate process enables assembly times way faster than possible in a purely manual procedure. The achievable yield in combination with low material costs proofs the excellent potential for the manufacturing of cost efficient laser modules.

Using a homogenous sample of 38,208 quasars with a sky coverage of similar to 4000 deg(2) drawn from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release Five quasar catalog, we study the dependence of quasar clustering on luminosity, virial black hole (BH) mass, quasar color, and radio loudness. At z < 2.5, quasar clustering depends weakly on luminosity and virial BH mass, with typical uncertainty levels similar to 10% for the measured correlation lengths. These weak dependences are consistent with models in which substantial scatter between quasar luminosity, virial BH mass, and the host dark matter halo mass has diluted any clustering difference, where halo mass is assumed to be the relevant quantity that best correlates with clustering strength. However, the most luminous and most massive quasars are more strongly clustered (at the similar to 2 sigma level) than the remainder of the sample, which we attribute to the rapid increase of the bias factor at the high-mass end of host halos. We do not observe a strong dependence of clustering strength on quasar colors within our sample. On the other hand, radio-loud quasars are more strongly clustered than are radio-quiet quasars matched in redshift and optical luminosity (or virial BH mass), consistent with local observations of radio galaxies and radio-loud type 2 active galactic nuclei. Thus, radio-loud quasars reside in more massive and denser environments in the biased halo clustering picture. Using the Sheth et al. (2001) formula for the linear halo bias, the estimated host halo mass for radio-loud quasars is similar to 10(13) h(-1) M-circle dot, compared to similar to 2 x 10(12) h(-1) M-circle dot for radio-quiet quasar hosts at z similar to 1.5.

We present measurements of the quasar two-point correlation function, \xi_{Q}, over the redshift range z=0.3-2.2 based upon data from the SDSS. Using a homogeneous sample of 30,239 quasars with spectroscopic redshifts from the DR5 Quasar Catalogue, our study represents the largest sample used for this type of investigation to date. With this redshift range and an areal coverage of approx 4,000 deg^2, we sample over 25 h^-3 Gpc^3 (comoving) assuming the current LCDM cosmology. Over this redshift range, we find that the redshift-space correlation function, xi(s), is adequately fit by a single power-law, with s_{0}=5.95+/-0.45 h^-1 Mpc and \gamma_{s}=1.16+0.11-0.16 when fit over s=1-25 h^-1 Mpc. Using the projected correlation function we calculate the real-space correlation length, r_{0}=5.45+0.35-0.45 h^-1 Mpc and \gamma=1.90+0.04-0.03, over scales of rp=1-130 h^-1 Mpc. Dividing the sample into redshift slices, we find very little, if any, evidence for the evolution of quasar clustering, with the redshift-space correlation length staying roughly constant at s_{0} ~ 6-7 h^-1 Mpc at z<2.2 (and only increasing at redshifts greater than this). Comparing our clustering measurements to those reported for X-ray selected AGN at z=0.5-1, we find reasonable agreement in some cases but significantly lower correlation lengths in others. We find that the linear bias evolves from b~1.4 at z=0.5 to b~3 at z=2.2, with b(z=1.27)=2.06+/-0.03 for the full sample. We compare our data to analytical models and infer that quasars inhabit dark matter haloes of constant mass M ~2 x 10^12 h^-1 M_Sol from redshifts z~2.5 (the peak of quasar activity) to z~0. [ABRIDGED]

We determine the number counts and z=0-5 luminosity function for a well-defined, homogeneous sample of quasars from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). We conservatively define the most uniform statistical sample possible, consisting of 15,343 quasars within an effective area of 1622 deg^2 that was derived from a parent sample of 46,420 spectroscopically confirmed broad-line quasars in the 5282 deg^2 of imaging data from SDSS Data Release Three. The sample extends from i=15 to i=19.1 at z<3 and to i=20.2 for z>3. The number counts and luminosity function agree well with the results of the 2dF QSO Survey, but the SDSS data probe to much higher redshifts than does the 2dF sample. The number density of luminous quasars peaks between redshifts 2 and 3, although uncertainties in the selection function in this range do not allow us to determine the peak redshift more precisely. Our best fit model has a flatter bright end slope at high redshift than at low redshift. For z<2.4 the data are best fit by a redshift-independent slope of beta = -3.1 (Phi(L) propto L^beta). Above z=2.4 the slope flattens with redshift to beta=-2.37 at z=5. This slope change, which is significant at a >5-sigma level, must be accounted for in models of the evolution of accretion onto supermassive black holes.

We present a time-variability analysis of 29 broad absorption line quasars (BALQSOs) observed in two epochs by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). These spectra are selected from a larger sample of BALQSOs with multiple observations by virtue of exhibiting a broad CIV λ1549 absorption trough separated from the rest frame of the associated emission peak by more than 3600 km s. Detached troughs facilitate higher precision variability measurements, since the measurement of the absorption in these objects is not complicated by variation in the emission line flux. We have undertaken a statistical analysis of these detached-trough BALQSO spectra to explore the relationships between BAL features that are seen to vary and the dynamics of emission from the quasar central engine. We have measured variability within our sample, which includes three strongly variable BALs. We have also verified that the statistical behavior of the overall sample agrees with current model predictions and previous studies of BAL variability. Specifically, we observe that the strongest BAL variability occurs among the smallest equivalent width features and at velocities exceeding 12,000 km s, as predicted by recent disk-wind modeling. Subject headings: quasars: general Department of Astronomy, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign 1002 W. Green St. Urbana, IL 61801 National Center for Supercomputing Applications, Champaign, IL 61820 Department of Physics and Astronomy, York University, 4700 Keele St., Toronto, ON, M3J1P3, Canada Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, The Pennsylvania State University, 525 Davey Laboratory, University Park, PA 16802, USA Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, USA Enrico Fermi Institute, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, USA Apache Point Observatory, 2001 Apache Point Road, PO Box 59, Sunspot, NM 88349, USA

A hybrid microscope system was developed and used to inspect lithography-masks at 193 nm. The realization of the DOE as most critical element involves both, high frequency lithography and an additional ion etching process.