Self-phase modulation of submicrojoule femtosecond pulses in a hollow-core photonic-crystal fiber

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Konorov, S.O.; Sidorov-Biryukov, D.A.; Zheltikov, A.M.

Hollow-core photonic-crystal fibers (PCFs) capable of transporting sub-100-fs pulses of Ti:sapphire laser radiation in one of their transmission peaks centered around 800 nm have been designed and demonstrated. These fibers are shown to enhance self-phase modulation of submicrojoule 100-fs Ti:sapphire laser pulses, allowing a spectral bandwidth of 35 nm to be achieved with an 8-cm PCF sample.

The blood perfusion and NADH/FAD content combined analysis in patients with diabetes foot

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dremin, Victor V.; Sidorov, Victor V.; Krupatkin, Alexander I.; Galstyan, Gagik R.; Novikova, Irina N.; Zherebtsova, Angelina I.; Zherebtsov, Evgeny A.; Dunaev, Andrey V.; Abdulvapova, Zera N.; Litvinova, Karina S.; Rafailov, Ilya E.; Sokolovski, Sergei G.; Rafailov, Edik U.

2016-03-01

Skin blood microcirculation and the metabolism activity of tissue were examined on the patients with type 2 diabetes. Laser Doppler flowmetry (LDF) with 1064 nm laser light source and fluorescence spectroscopy (FS) with excitation light of 365 nm and 450 nm have been used to monitor the blood perfusion and the content of coenzymes NADH and FAD. Concluding, the proposed combined LDF and tissue FS approach allows to identify the significant violations in the blood microcirculation and metabolic activity for type 2 diabetes patients.

Tunable, continuous-wave Ti:sapphire channel waveguide lasers written by femtosecond and picosecond laser pulses.

PubMed

Grivas, Christos; Corbari, Costantino; Brambilla, Gilberto; Lagoudakis, Pavlos G

2012-11-15

Fabrication and cw lasing at 798.25 nm is reported for femtosecond (fs) and picosecond (ps) laser-inscribed channel waveguides in Ti:sapphire crystals. Lasing in channels written by fs (ps) pulses was obtained above a threshold of 84 mW (189 mW) with a maximum output power and a slope efficiency of 143 mW (45 mW) and 23.5% (7.1%), respectively. The emission wavelength was tuned over a 170 nm range by using a birefringent filter in an external cavity.

Effects of pulse durations and environments on femtosecond laser ablation of stainless steel

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xu, Shizhen; Ding, Renjie; Yao, Caizhen; Liu, Hao; Wan, Yi; Wang, Jingxuan; Ye, Yayun; Yuan, Xiaodong

2018-04-01

The influence of pulse durations (35fs and 260 fs) and environments (air and vacuum) on the laser-induced damage thresholds (LIDTs) and ablation rates of 304 stainless steel were studied. Two distinct ablation regimes were obtained from the ablation rate curves. At low fluence regime, the ablation rates were similar in spite of the differences of pulse durations and experiment environments. At high fluence regime, the ablation rates of 35 fs pulse duration in vacuum were obviously higher than others. The ablation craters showed smooth edges, moth-eye such as structures, and laser-induced periodic surface structures (LIPSSs). At a fixed fluence, the periods of LIPSSs decreased monotonously in their mean spatial period between 700 nm (5 pulses) and 540 nm (200 pulses) with the increase of pulse numbers in air with 35 fs pulse duration. The formation mechanisms of moth-eye like structures and LIPSSs were also discussed.

Femtosecond laser-induced periodic surface structure on the Ti-based nanolayered thin films

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Petrović, Suzana M.; Gaković, B.; Peruško, D.

2013-12-21

Laser-induced periodic surface structures (LIPSSs) and chemical composition changes of Ti-based nanolayered thin films (Al/Ti, Ni/Ti) after femtosecond (fs) laser pulses action were studied. Irradiation is performed using linearly polarized Ti:Sapphire fs laser pulses of 40 fs pulse duration and 800 nm wavelength. The low spatial frequency LIPSS (LSFL), oriented perpendicular to the laser polarization with periods slightly lower than the irradiation wavelength, was typically formed at elevated laser fluences. On the contrary, high spatial frequency LIPSS (HSFL) with uniform period of 155 nm, parallel to the laser light polarization, appeared at low laser fluences, as well as in themore » wings of the Gaussian laser beam distribution for higher used fluence. LSFL formation was associated with the material ablation process and accompanied by the intense formation of nanoparticles, especially in the Ni/Ti system. The composition changes at the surface of both multilayer systems in the LSFL area indicated the intermixing between layers and the substrate. Concentration and distribution of all constitutive elements in the irradiated area with formed HSFLs were almost unchanged.« less

All-fiber pulse shortening of passively Q-switched microchip laser pulses down to sub-200 fs.

PubMed

Lehneis, R; Steinmetz, A; Limpert, J; Tünnermann, A

2014-10-15

We present an all-fiber concept that generates ultrashort pulses using a passively Q-switched microchip seed laser. A proof-of-principle configuration combines nonlinear pulse compression applying a chirped fiber-Bragg-grating, dispersion-free pulse shortening by means of a fiber-integrated spectral filtering, and a final hollow-core-fiber compression to reach the sub-200-fs pulse-duration region. In a compact all-fiber pulse-shortening unit, initial 100 ps long microchip pulses at 1064 nm wavelength have been shortened to 174 fs and shifted to 1034 nm while preserving a high temporal quality.

Bright broadband coherent fiber sources emitting strongly blue-shifted resonant dispersive wave pulses

PubMed Central

Tu, Haohua; Lægsgaard, Jesper; Zhang, Rui; Tong, Shi; Liu, Yuan; Boppart, Stephen A.

2013-01-01

We predict and realize the targeted wavelength conversion from the 1550-nm band of a fs Er:fiber laser to an isolated band inside 370-850 nm, corresponding to a blue-shift of 700-1180 nm. The conversion utilizes resonant dispersive wave generation in widely available optical fibers with good efficiency (~7%). The converted band has a large pulse energy (~1 nJ), high spectral brightness (~1 mW/nm), and broad Gaussian-like spectrum compressible to clean transform-limited ~17 fs pulses. The corresponding coherent fiber sources open up portable applications of optical parametric oscillators and dual-output synchronized ultrafast lasers. PMID:24104233

300-MHz-repetition-rate, all-fiber, femtosecond laser mode-locked by planar lightwave circuit-based saturable absorber.

PubMed

Kim, Chur; Kim, Dohyun; Cheong, YeonJoon; Kwon, Dohyeon; Choi, Sun Young; Jeong, Hwanseong; Cha, Sang Jun; Lee, Jeong-Woo; Yeom, Dong-Il; Rotermund, Fabian; Kim, Jungwon

2015-10-05

We show the implementation of fiber-pigtailed, evanescent-field-interacting, single-walled carbon nanotube (CNT)-based saturable absorbers (SAs) using standard planar lightwave circuit (PLC) fabrication processes. The implemented PLC-CNT-SA device is employed to realize self-starting, high-repetition-rate, all-fiber ring oscillators at telecommunication wavelength. We demonstrate all-fiber Er ring lasers operating at 303-MHz (soliton regime) and 274-MHz (stretched-pulse regime) repetition-rates. The 303-MHz (274-MHz) laser centered at 1555 nm (1550 nm) provides 7.5 nm (19 nm) spectral bandwidth. After extra-cavity amplilfication, the amplified pulse train of the 303-MHz (274-MHz) laser delivers 209 fs (178 fs) pulses. To our knowledge, this corresponds to the highest repetition-rates achieved for femtosecond lasers employing evanescent-field-interacting SAs. The demonstrated SA fabrication method, which is based on well-established PLC processes, also shows a potential way for mass-producible and lower-cost waveguide-type SA devices suitable for all-fiber and waveguide lasers.

Broadly tunable femtosecond mode-locking in a Tm:KYW laser near 2 μm.

PubMed

Lagatsky, A A; Calvez, S; Gupta, J A; Kisel, V E; Kuleshov, N V; Brown, C T A; Dawson, M D; Sibbett, W

2011-05-09

Efficient mode-locking in a Tm:KY(WO(4))(2) laser is demonstrated by using InGaAsSb quantum-well SESAMs. Self-starting ultrashort pulse generation was realized in the 1979-2074 nm spectral region. Maximum average output power up to 411 mW was produced around 1986 nm with the corresponding pulse duration and repetition rate of 549 fs and 105 MHz respectively. Optimised pulse durations of 386 fs were produced with an average power of 235 mW at 2029 nm. © 2011 Optical Society of America

Generation of sub-100-fs pulses from a CW mode-locked chromium-doped forsterite laser

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Seas, A.; Petricevic, V.; Alfano, R. R.

1992-01-01

Generation of femtosecond pulses from a continuous-wave mode-locked chromium-doped forsterite laser is reported. The forsterite laser was actively mode locked by using an acoustooptic modulator operating at 78 MHz with two Brewster high-dispersion glass prisms for intracavity chirp compensation. Transform-limited sub-100-fs pulses were routinely generated in the TEM(00) mode with 85 mW of continuous power (with 1 percent output coupler), tunable over 1230-1280 nm. The shortest pulses measured had a 60-fs pulse width.

Femtosecond-laser surface modification and micropatterning of diamond-like nanocomposite films to control friction on the micro and macroscale

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pimenov, S. M.; Zavedeev, E. V.; Arutyunyan, N. R.; Zilova, O. S.; Shupegin, M. L.; Jaeggi, B.; Neuenschwander, B.

2017-10-01

Laser surface micropatterning (texturing) of hard materials and coatings is an effective technique to improve tribological systems. In the paper, we have investigated the laser-induced surface modifications and micropatterning of diamond-like nanocomposite (DLN) films (a-C:H,Si:O) using IR and visible femtosecond (fs) lasers, focusing on the improvement of frictional properties of laser-patterned films on the micro and macroscale. The IR and visible fs-lasers, operating at λ = 1030 nm and λ = 515 nm wavelengths (pulse duration 320 fs and pulse repetition rate 101 kHz), are used to fabricate different patterns for subsequent friction tests. The IR fs-laser is applied to produce hill-like micropatterns under conditions of surface graphitization and incipient ablation, and the visible fs-laser is used for making microgroove patterns in DLN films under ablation conditions. Regimes of irradiation with low-energy IR laser pulses are chosen to produce graphitized micropatterns. For these regimes, results of numerical calculations of the temperature and graphitized layer growth are presented to show good correlation with surface relief modifications, and the features of fs-laser graphitization are discussed based on Raman spectroscopy analysis. Using lateral force microscopy, the role of surface modifications (graphitization, nanostructuring) in the improved microfriction properties is investigated. New data of the influence of capillary forces on friction forces, which strongly changes the microscale friction behaviour, are presented for a wide range of loads (from nN to μN) applied to Si tips. In macroscopic ball-on-disk tests, a pair-dependent friction behaviour of laser-patterned films is observed. The first experimental data of the improved friction properties of laser-micropatterned DLN films under boundary lubricated sliding conditions are presented. The obtained results show the DLN films as an interesting coating material suitable for laser patterning applications in tribology.

Formation of laser-induced periodic surface structures on niobium by femtosecond laser irradiation

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Pan, A.; Dias, A.; Gomez-Aranzadi, M.

2014-05-07

The surface morphology of a Niobium sample, irradiated in air by a femtosecond laser with a wavelength of 800 nm and pulse duration of 100 fs, was examined. The period of the micro/nanostructures, parallel and perpendicularly oriented to the linearly polarized fs-laser beam, was studied by means of 2D Fast Fourier Transform analysis. The observed Laser-Induced Periodic Surface Structures (LIPSS) were classified as Low Spatial Frequency LIPSS (periods about 600 nm) and High Spatial Frequency LIPSS, showing a periodicity around 300 nm, both of them perpendicularly oriented to the polarization of the incident laser wave. Moreover, parallel high spatial frequency LIPSS were observedmore » with periods around 100 nm located at the peripheral areas of the laser fingerprint and overwritten on the perpendicular periodic gratings. The results indicate that this method of micro/nanostructuring allows controlling the Niobium grating period by the number of pulses applied, so the scan speed and not the fluence is the key parameter of control. A discussion on the mechanism of the surface topology evolution was also introduced.« less

Ultrafast laser induced periodic sub-wavelength aluminum surface structures and nanoparticles in air and liquids

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kuladeep, Rajamudili; Dar, Mudasir H.; Rao, D. Narayana, E-mail: dnrsp@uohyd.ac.in, E-mail: dnr-laserlab@yahoo.com

2014-09-21

In this communication, we demonstrate the generation of laser-induced periodic sub-wavelength surface structures (LIPSS) or ripples on a bulk aluminum (Al) and Al nanoparticles (NPs) by femtosecond (fs) laser direct writing technique. Laser irradiation was performed on Al surface at normal incidence in air and by immersing in ethanol (C₂H₅OH) and water (H₂O) using linearly polarized Ti:sapphire fs laser pulses of ~110 fs pulse duration and ~800 nm wavelength. Field emission scanning electron microscope is utilized for imaging surface morphology of laser written structures and it reveals that the spatial periodicity as well as the surface morphology of the LIPSSmore » depends on the surrounding dielectric medium and also on the various laser irradiation parameters. The observed LIPSS have been classified as low spatial frequency LIPSS which are perpendicularly oriented to the laser polarization with a periodicity from 460 to 620 nm and high spatial frequency LIPSS which spectacles a periodicity less than 100 nm with the orientation parallel to the polarization of the incident laser beam. Fabricated colloidal solutions, which contain the Al NPs, were characterized by UV-Vis absorption spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). TEM results reveal the formation of internal cavities in Al NPs both in ethanol and water. Formation mechanism of LIPSS and cavities inside the nanoparticles are discussed in detail.« less

Dissemination of optical-comb-based ultra-broadband frequency reference through a fiber network.

PubMed

Nagano, Shigeo; Kumagai, Motohiro; Li, Ying; Ido, Tetsuya; Ishii, Shoken; Mizutani, Kohei; Aoki, Makoto; Otsuka, Ryohei; Hanado, Yuko

2016-08-22

We disseminated an ultra-broadband optical frequency reference based on a femtosecond (fs)-laser optical comb through a kilometer-scale fiber link. Its spectrum ranged from 1160 nm to 2180 nm without additional fs-laser combs at the end of the link. By employing a fiber-induced phase noise cancellation technique, the linewidth and fractional frequency instability attained for all disseminated comb modes were of order 1 Hz and 10^-18 in a 5000 s averaging time. The ultra-broad optical frequency reference, for which absolute frequency is traceable to Japan Standard Time, was applied in the frequency stabilization of an injection-seeded Q-switched 2051 nm pulse laser for a coherent light detection and ranging LIDAR system.

Temporal-spatial measurement of electron relaxation time in femtosecond laser induced plasma using two-color pump-probe imaging technique

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pan, Changji; Jiang, Lan; Wang, Qingsong; Sun, Jingya; Wang, Guoyan; Lu, Yongfeng

2018-05-01

The femtosecond (fs) laser is a powerful tool to study ultrafast plasma dynamics, especially electron relaxation in strong ionization of dielectrics. Herein, temporal-spatial evolution of femtosecond laser induced plasma in fused silica was investigated using a two-color pump-probe technique (i.e., 400 nm and 800 nm, respectively). We demonstrated that when ionized electron density is lower than the critical density, free electron relaxation time is inversely proportional to electron density, which can be explained by the electron-ion scattering regime. In addition, electron density evolution within plasma was analyzed in an early stage (first 800 fs) of the laser-material interaction.

Direct diode-pumped Kerr Lens 13 fs Ti:sapphire ultrafast oscillator using a single blue laser diode

DOE PAGES

Backus, Sterling; Colorado State Univ., Fort Collins, CO; Kirchner, Matt; ...

2017-05-18

We demonstrate a direct diode-pumped Kerr Lens Modelocked Ti:sapphire laser producing 13 fs pulses with 1.85 nJ energy at 78 MHz (145 mW) using a single laser diode pump. We also present a similar laser using three spectrally combined diodes, generating >300 mW output power with >50 nm bandwidth. We discuss the use of far-from TEM 00 pump laser sources, and their effect on the Kerr lens modelocking process.

Direct diode-pumped Kerr Lens 13 fs Ti:sapphire ultrafast oscillator using a single blue laser diode

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Backus, Sterling; Colorado State Univ., Fort Collins, CO; Kirchner, Matt

We demonstrate a direct diode-pumped Kerr Lens Modelocked Ti:sapphire laser producing 13 fs pulses with 1.85 nJ energy at 78 MHz (145 mW) using a single laser diode pump. We also present a similar laser using three spectrally combined diodes, generating >300 mW output power with >50 nm bandwidth. We discuss the use of far-from TEM 00 pump laser sources, and their effect on the Kerr lens modelocking process.

Direct writing of continuous and discontinuous sub-wavelength periodic surface structures on single-crystalline silicon using femtosecond laser

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kuladeep, Rajamudili; Sahoo, Chakradhar; Narayana Rao, Desai, E-mail: dnrsp@uohyd.ernet.in, E-mail: dnr-laserlab@yahoo.com

Laser-induced ripples or uniform arrays of continuous near sub-wavelength or discontinuous deep sub-wavelength structures are formed on single-crystalline silicon (Si) by femtosecond (fs) laser direct writing technique. Laser irradiation was performed on Si wafers at normal incidence in air and by immersing them in dimethyl sulfoxide using linearly polarized Ti:sapphire fs laser pulses of ∼110 fs pulse duration and ∼800 nm wavelength. Morphology studies of laser written surfaces reveal that sub-wavelength features are oriented perpendicular to laser polarization, while their morphology and spatial periodicity depend on the surrounding dielectric medium. The formation mechanism of the sub-wavelength features is explained by interferencemore » of incident laser with surface plasmon polaritons. This work proves the feasibility of fs laser direct writing technique for the fabrication of sub-wavelength features, which could help in fabrication of advanced electro-optic devices.« less

Mode-locked Ti:sapphire laser oscillators pumped by wavelength-multiplexed laser diodes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sugiyama, Naoto; Tanaka, Hiroki; Kannari, Fumihiko

2018-05-01

We directly pumped a Ti:sapphire laser by combining 478 and 520 nm laser diodes to prevent the effect of absorption loss induced by the pump laser of shorter wavelengths (∼450 nm). We obtain a continuous-wave output power of 660 mW at a total incident pump power of 3.15 W. We demonstrate mode locking using a semiconductor saturable absorber mirror, and 126 fs pulses were obtained at a repetition rate of 192 MHz. At the maximum pump power, the average output power is 315 mW. Shorter mode-locked pulses of 42 and 48 fs were respectively achieved by Kerr-lens mode locking with average output powers of 280 and 360 mW at a repetition rate of 117 MHz.

Diode-pumped Kerr-lens mode-locked Yb:CaGdAlO4 laser with tunable wavelength

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gao, Ziye; Zhu, Jiangfeng; Wang, Junli; Wang, Zhaohua; Wei, Zhiyi; Xu, Xiaodong; Zheng, Lihe; Su, Liangbi; Xu, Jun

2016-01-01

We experimentally demonstrated a wavelength tunable Kerr-lens mode-locked femtosecond laser based on an Yb:CaGdAlO4 (Yb:CGA) crystal. The Kerr-lens mode-locked wavelength tuning range was from 1043.5 to 1076 nm, as broad as 32.5 nm, by slightly tilting the end mirror. Pulses as short as 60 fs were generated at the central wavelength of 1043.8 nm with an average output power of 66 mW. By using an output coupler with 1.5% transmittance, the Kerr-lens mode-locked average output power reached 127 mW with a pulse duration of 81 fs at a central wavelength of 1049.5 nm.

Observation of the death process of cancer cells killed through surface plasmon resonance of gold nanoring with optical coherence tomography (Conference Presentation)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Shih-Yang; He, Yulu; Hsieh, Cheng-Che; Hua, Wei-Hsiang; Low, Meng Chun; Tsai, Meng-Tsan; Kiang, Yean-Woei; Yang, Chih-Chung

2017-02-01

The use of a high-resolution optical coherence tomography (OCT) system with the operation wavelength around 800 nm to scan SCC4 cancer cells under different laser illumination conditions is demonstrated. The cancer cells are incubated with Au nanorings (NRIs), which are linked with photosensitizer, AlPcS, for them to be up-taken by the cells. Two Au NRI samples of different geometries for inducing localized surface plasmon (LSP) resonance around 1310 and 1064 nm are used. Four different lasers are utilized for illuminating the cells under OCT scanning, including 1310-nm continuous (cw) laser, 1064-nm cw laser, 1064-nm femtosecond (fs) laser, and 660-nm cw laser. The 1310- and 1064-nm cw lasers mainly produce the photothermal effect through the LSP resonance of Au NRIs for damaging the observed cells. Besides the photothermal effect, the 1064-nm fs laser can produce strong two-photon absorption through the assistance of the LSP resonance of Au NRI for exciting AlPcS to effectively generate singlet oxygen and damage the observed cells. The 660-nm laser can excite AlPcS through single-photon absorption for generating singlet oxygen and damaging the observed cells. With the photothermal effect, the observed cells can be killed through the process of necrosis. Through the generation of singlet oxygen, the cell membrane can be preserved and the interior substances are solidified to become a hard body of strong scattering. In this situation, the cells are killed through the apoptosis process. Illuminated by the 660-nm cw laser, a process of interior substance escape is observed through high-speed OCT scanning.

Optical field ionization of atoms and ions using ultrashort laser pulses

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fittinghoff, D. N.

1993-12-01

This dissertation research is an investigation of the strong optical field ionization of atoms and ions by 120-fs, 614-run laser pulses and 130-fs, 800-nm laser pulses. The experiments have shown ionization that is enhanced above the predictions of sequential tunneling models for He(+2), Ne(+2), and Ar(+2). The ion yields for He(+1), Ne(sup +1) and Ar(sup +1) agree well with the theoretical predictions of optical tunneling models. Investigation of the polarization dependence of the ionization indicates that the enhancements are consistent with a nonsequential ionization mechanism in which the linearly polarized field drives the electron wavefunction back toward the ion core and causes double ionization through inelastic e-2e scattering. These investigations have initiated a number of other studies by other groups and are of current scientific interest in the fields of high-irradiance laser-matter interactions and production of high-density plasmas. This work involved the following: (1) Understanding the characteristic nature of the ion yields produced by tunneling ionization through investigation of analytic solutions for tunneling at optical frequencies. (2) Extensive characterization of the pulses produced by 614-nm and 800-ran ultrashort pulse lasers. Absolute calibration of the irradiance scale produced shows the practicality of the inverse problem--measuring peak laser irradiance using ion yields. (3) Measuring the ion yields for three noble gases using linear, circular and elliptical polarizations of laser pulses at 614-nm and 800-nm. The measurements are some of the first measurements for pulse widths as low as 120-fs.

Sub-200 femtosecond dispersion-managed soliton ytterbium-doped fiber laser based on carbon nanotubes saturable absorber.

PubMed

Hou, Lei; Guo, Hongyu; Wang, Yonggang; Sun, Jiang; Lin, Qimeng; Bai, Yang; Bai, Jintao

2018-04-02

Ultrafast fiber laser light sources attract enormous interest due to the booming applications they are enabling, including long-distance communication, optical metrology, detecting technology of infra-biophotons, and novel material processing. In this paper, we demonstrate 175 fs dispersion-managed soliton (DMS) mode-locked ytterbium-doped fiber (YDF) laser based on single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) saturable absorber (SA). The output DMSs have been achieved with repetition rate of 21.2 MHz, center wavelength of 1025.5 nm, and a spectral width of 32.7 nm. The operation directly pulse duration of 300 fs for generated pulse is the reported shortest pulse width for broadband SA based YDF lasers. By using an external grating-based compressor, the pulse duration could be compressed down to 175 fs. To the best of our knowledge, it is the shortest pulse duration obtained directly from YDF laser based on broadband SAs. In this paper, SWCNTs-SA has been utilized as the key optical component (mode locker) and the grating pair providing negative dispersion acts as the dispersion controller.

Simultaneous generation of sub-5-femtosecond 400  nm and 800  nm pulses for attosecond extreme ultraviolet pump-probe spectroscopy.

PubMed

Chang, Hung-Tzu; Zürch, Michael; Kraus, Peter M; Borja, Lauren J; Neumark, Daniel M; Leone, Stephen R

2016-11-15

Few-cycle laser pulses with wavelengths centered at 400 nm and 800 nm are simultaneously obtained through wavelength separation of ultrashort, spectrally broadened Vis-NIR laser pulses spanning 350-1100 nm wavelengths. The 400 nm and 800 nm pulses are separately compressed, yielding pulses with 4.4 fs and 3.8 fs duration, respectively. The pulse energy exceeds 5 μJ for the 400 nm pulses and 750 μJ for the 800 nm pulses. Intense 400 nm few-cycle pulses have a broad range of applications in nonlinear optical spectroscopy, which include the study of photochemical dynamics, semiconductors, and photovoltaic materials on few-femtosecond to attosecond time scales. The ultrashort 400 nm few-cycle pulses generated here not only extend the spectral range of the optical pulse for NIR-XUV attosecond pump-probe spectroscopy but also pave the way for two-color, three-pulse, multidimensional optical-XUV spectroscopy experiments.

Tetravalent chromium (Cr(4+)) as laser-active ion for tunable solid-state lasers

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Seas, A.; Petricevic, V.; Alfano, Robert R.

1993-01-01

Major accomplishments under NASA grant NAG-1-1346 are summarized. (1) numerical modeling of the four mirror astigmatically compensated, Z-fold cavity was performed and several design parameters to be used for the construction of a femtosecond forsterite laser were revealed by simulation. (2) femtosecond pulses from a continuous wave mode-locked chromium doped forsterite laser were generated. The forsterite laser was actively mode-locked using an acousto-optic modulator operating at 78 MHz with two Brewster high dispersion glass prisms for intra-cavity chirp compensation. Transform-limited sub-100-fs pulses were routinely generated in the TEM(sub 00) mode with 85 mW of continuous power tunable over 1230-1280 nm. The shortest pulses of 60-fs pulsewidth were measured. (3) Self-mode-locked operation of the Cr:forsterite laser was achieved. Synchronous pumping was used to mode lock the forsterite laser resulting in picosecond pulses, which in turn provided the starting mechanism for self-mode-locking. The pulses generated had an FWHM of 105 fs and were tunable between 1230-1270 nm. (4) Numerical calculations indicated that the pair of SF 14 prisms used in the cavity compensated for quadratic phase but introduced a large cubic phase term. Further calculations of other optical glasses indicated that a pair of SFN 64 prisms can introduce the same amount of quadratic phase as SF 14 prisms but introduce a smaller cubic phase. When the SF 14 prisms were replaced by SFN 64 prisms the pulsewidth was reduced to 50 fs. Great improvement was observed in the stability of the self mode-locked forsterite laser and in the ease of achieving mode locking. Using the same experimental arrangement and a new forsterite crystal with improved FOM the pulse width was reduced to 36 fs.

Three-Photon Luminescence of Gold Nanorods and Its Applications for High Contrast Tissue and Deep In Vivo Brain Imaging

PubMed Central

Wang, Shaowei; Xi, Wang; Cai, Fuhong; Zhao, Xinyuan; Xu, Zhengping; Qian, Jun; He, Sailing

2015-01-01

Gold nanoparticles can be used as contrast agents for bio-imaging applications. Here we studied multi-photon luminescence (MPL) of gold nanorods (GNRs), under the excitation of femtosecond (fs) lasers. GNRs functionalized with polyethylene glycol (PEG) molecules have high chemical and optical stability, and can be used as multi-photon luminescent nanoprobes for deep in vivo imaging of live animals. We have found that the depth of in vivo imaging is dependent upon the transmission and focal capability of the excitation light interacting with the GNRs. Our study focused on the comparison of MPL from GNRs with two different aspect ratios, as well as their ex vivo and in vivo imaging effects under 760 nm and 1000 nm excitation, respectively. Both of these wavelengths were located at an optically transparent window of biological tissue (700-1000 nm). PEGylated GNRs, which were intravenously injected into mice via the tail vein and accumulated in major organs and tumor tissue, showed high image contrast due to distinct three-photon luminescence (3PL) signals upon irradiation of a 1000 nm fs laser. Concerning in vivo mouse brain imaging, the 3PL imaging depth of GNRs under 1000 nm fs excitation could reach 600 μm, which was approximately 170 μm deeper than the two-photon luminescence (2PL) imaging depth of GNRs with a fs excitation of 760 nm. PMID:25553113

High-power parametric amplification of 11.8-fs laser pulses with carrier-envelope phase control.

PubMed

Zinkstok, R Th; Witte, S; Hogervorst, W; Eikema, K S E

2005-01-01

Phase-stable parametric chirped-pulse amplification of ultrashort pulses from a carrier-envelope phase-stabilized mode-locked Ti:sapphire oscillator (11.0 fs) to 0.25 mJ/pulse at 1 kHz is demonstrated. Compression with a grating compressor and a LCD shaper yields near-Fourier-limited 11.8-fs pulses with an energy of 0.12 mJ. The amplifier is pumped by 532-nm pulses from a synchronized mode-locked laser, Nd:YAG amplifier system. This approach is shown to be promising for the next generation of ultrafast amplifiers aimed at producing terawatt-level phase-controlled few-cycle laser pulses.

Towards femtosecond laser surgery guidance in the posterior eye: utilization of optical coherence tomography and adaptive optics for focus positioning and shaping

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Krüger, Alexander; Hansen, Anja; Matthias, Ben; Ripken, Tammo

2014-02-01

Although fs-laser surgery is clinically established in the field of corneal flap cutting for laser in situ keratomileusis, surgery with fs-laser in the posterior part of the eye is impaired by focus degradation due to aberrations. Precise targeting and keeping of safety distance to the retina also relies on an intraoperative depth resolved imaging. We demonstrate a concept for image guided fs-laser surgery in the vitreous body combining adaptive optics (AO) for focus reshaping and optical coherence tomography (OCT) for focus position guidance. The setup of the laboratory system consist of an 800 nm fs-laser which is focused into a simple eye model via a closed loop adaptive optics system with Hartmann-Shack sensor and a deformable mirror to correct for wavefront aberrations. A spectral domain optical coherence tomography system is used to target phantom structures in the eye model. Both systems are set up to share the same scanner and focusing optics. The use of adaptive optics results in a lowered threshold energy for laser induced breakdown and an increased cutting precision. 3D OCT imaging of porcine retinal tissue prior and immediately after fs-laser cutting is also demonstrated. In the near future OCT and AO will be two essential assistive components in possible clinical systems for fs-laser based eye surgery beyond the cornea.

5-fs, Multi-mJ, CEP-locked parametric chirped-pulse amplifier pumped by a 450-nm source at 1 kHz.

PubMed

Adachi, S; Ishii, N; Kanai, T; Kosuge, A; Itatani, J; Kobayashi, Y; Yoshitomi, D; Torizuka, K; Watanabe, S

2008-09-15

We report on the development of an optical parametric chirpedpulse amplifier at a 1-kHz repetition rate with a 5.5-fs pulse duration, a 2.7-mJ pulse energy and carrier-envelope phase-control. The amplifier is pumped by a 450-nm pulse from a frequency-doubled Ti:sapphire laser.

Dynamics of femtosecond laser-induced periodic surface structures on silicon by high spatial and temporal resolution imaging

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Jia, X., E-mail: jiaxin@sdju.edu.cn; Department of Mathematics and Physics, Shanghai Dianji University, Shanghai 201306; Jia, T. Q., E-mail: tqjia@phy.ecnu.edu.cn

2014-04-14

The formation dynamics of periodic ripples induced by femtosecond laser pulses (pulse duration τ = 50 fs and central wavelength λ = 800 nm) are studied by a collinear pump-probe imaging technique with a temporal resolution of 1 ps and a spatial resolution of 440 nm. The ripples with periods close to the laser wavelength begin to appear upon irradiation of two pump pulses at surface defects produced by the prior one. The rudiments of periodic ripples emerge in the initial tens of picoseconds after fs laser irradiation, and the ripple positions keep unmoved until the formation processes complete mainly in a temporal span of 1500 ps. Themore » results suggest that the periodic deposition of laser energy during the interaction between femtosecond laser pulses and sample surface plays a dominant role in the formation of periodic ripples.« less

Generation of 70 fs broadband pulses in a hybrid nonlinear amplification system with mode-locked Yb:YAG ceramic oscillator

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Yang; Wang, Chao; Luo, Daping; Yang, Chao; Li, Jiang; Ge, Lin; Pan, Yubai; Li, Wenxue

2017-12-01

We demonstrate the passively mode-locked laser performances of bulk Yb:YAG ceramic prepared by non-aqueous tape casting, which generates initial pulses in temporal width of 3 ps and spectrum width of 3 nm without intra-cavity dispersion management. The ceramic laser is further used as seeding oscillator in a fiber nonlinear amplification system, where ultrashort pulses in maximum output power of ˜100 W and pulse duration of 70 fs are achieved. Moreover, the laser spectrum is broadened to be ˜41 nm due to self-phase modulation effects in the gain fiber, overcoming the narrow spectrum limitations of ceramic materials. Our approach opens a new avenue for power-scaling and spectrum-expanding of femtosecond ceramic lasers.

Self-mode-locked chromium-doped forsterite laser generates 50-fs pulses

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Seas, A.; Petricevic, V.; Alfano, R. R.

1993-01-01

Stable transform-limited (delta nu-delta tau = 0.32) femtosecond pulses with a FWHM of 50 fs were generated from a self-mode-locked chromium-doped forsterite laser. The forsterite laser was synchronously pumped by a CW mode-locked Nd:YAG (82 MHz) laser that generated picosecond pulses (200-300 ps) and provided the starting mechanism for self-mode-locked operation. Maximum output power was 45 mW for 3.9 W of absorbed pumped power with the use of an output coupler with 1 percent transmission. The self-mode-locked forsterite laser was tuned from 1240 to 1270 nm.

Post-mortem characterization of fs laser-generated micro-pillars in Li(Ni1/3Mn1/3Co1/3)O2 electrodes by laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Smyrek, P.; Zheng, Y.; Seifert, H. J.; Pfleging, W.

2016-03-01

NMC thick films were prepared by tape-casting and subsequent ultrafast laser-structuring. The lithium distribution in electrochemically cycled and unstructured or fs laser-structured NMC cathodes was investigated by using Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS). The main goal is to develop an optimized three dimensional cell architecture with improved electrochemical properties based on studies of the homogeneity of the local State-of-Charge. LIBS experiments were carried out using a LIBS workstation equipped with a mode-locked diode pumped solid state Nd:YAG laser operating at a wavelength of 1063 nm. The element distribution was investigated using two different techniques: element mapping and element depth-profiling of the unstructured / fs laser-structured electrode surface. Results achieved from post-mortem studies using LIBS will be presented.

Core-pumped mode-locked ytterbium-doped fiber laser operating around 980 nm

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhou, Yue; Dai, Yitang; Li, Jianqiang; Yin, Feifei; Dai, Jian; Zhang, Tian; Xu, Kun

2018-07-01

In this letter, we first demonstrate a core-pumped passively mode-locked all-normal-dispersion ytterbium-doped fiber oscillator based on nonlinear polarization evolution operating around 980 nm. The dissipative soliton fiber laser pulse can be compressed down to 250 fs with 1 nJ pulse energy, and the slope efficiency of the oscillator can be as high as 19%. To improve the dissipative soliton laser output spectrum smoothness, we replace the birefringent plate based intracavity filter with a diffraction-grating based filter. The output pulse duration can then be further compressed down to 180 fs with improved spectral-smoothness. These schemes have potential applications in seeding cryogenic Yb:YLF amplifiers and underwater exploration of marine resources.

Nearly fully compressed 1053 nm pulses directly obtained from 800 nm laser-seeded photonic crystal fiber below zero dispersion point

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Refaeli, Zaharit; Shamir, Yariv; Ofir, Atara; Marcus, Gilad

2018-02-01

We report a simple robust and broadly spectral-adjustable source generating near fully compressed 1053 nm 62 fs pulses directly out of a highly-nonlinear photonic crystal fiber. A dispersion-nonlinearity balance of 800 nm Ti:Sa 20 fs pulses was obtained initially by negative pre-chirping and then launching the pulses into the fibers' normal dispersion regime. Following a self-phase modulation spectral broadening, some energy that leaked below the zero dispersion point formed a soliton whose central wavelength could be tuned by Self-Frequency-Raman-Shift effect. Contrary to a common approach of power, or, fiber-length control over the shift, here we continuously varied the state of polarization, exploiting the Raman and Kerr nonlinearities responsivity for state of polarization. We obtained soliton pulses with central wavelength tuned over 150 nm, spanning from well below 1000 to over 1150 nm, of which we could select stable pulses around the 1 μm vicinity. With linewidth of > 20 nm FWHM Gaussian-like temporal-shape pulses with 62 fs duration and near flat phase structure we confirmed high quality pulse source. We believe such scheme can be used for high energy or high power glass lasers systems, such as Nd or Yb ion-doped amplifiers and systems.

Characteristics of optical parametric oscillator synchronously pumped by Yb:KGW laser and based on periodically poled potassium titanyl phosphate crystal

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vengelis, Julius; Tumas, Adomas; Pipinytė, Ieva; Kuliešaitė, Miglė; Tamulienė, Viktorija; Jarutis, Vygandas; Grigonis, Rimantas; Sirutkaitis, Valdas

2018-03-01

We present experimental data and numerical simulation results obtained during investigation of synchronously pumped optical parametric oscillator (SPOPO) pumped by femtosecond Yb:KGW laser (central wavelength at 1033 nm). The nonlinear medium for parametric generation was periodically poled potassium titanyl phosphate crystal (PPKTP). Maximum parametric light conversion efficiency from pump power to signal power was more than 37.5% at λs=1530 nm wavelength, whereas the achieved signal wave continuous tuning range was from 1470 nm to 1970 nm with signal pulse durations ranging from 91 fs to roughly 280 fs. We demonstrated wavelength tuning by changing cavity length and PPKTP crystal grating period and also discussed net cavity group delay dispersion (GDD) influence on SPOPO output radiation characteristics. The achieved high pump to signal conversion efficiency and easy wavelength tuning make this device a very promising alternative to Ti:sapphire based SPOPOs as a source of continuously tunable femtosecond laser radiation in the near and mid-IR range.

Interband and intraband electron kinetics in non-thermal warm dense gold

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brennan Brown, Shaughnessy; Chen, Zhijiang; Curry, Chandra; Hering, Philippe; Hoffmann, Matthias C.; Ng, Andrew; Reid, Matthew; Tsui, Ying Y.; Glenzer, Siegfried H.

2015-11-01

Single-state warm dense matter may be produced via isochoric heating of thin metal foils using ultrafast high-power lasers. Previous experiments have confirmed that electron temperatures exceed ion temperatures during the initial picoseconds following excitation; however, electron kinetics in non-thermal states preceding establishment of a well-defined electron thermal distribution remain little understood. X-ray and optical probing techniques provide necessary resolution to investigate these electronic properties. Here, we will present a study of electron kinetics in warm dense gold produced by irradiating free-standing 30 nm Au foils with a 400 nm FWHM, 45 fs Ti:Sapphire laser system at SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory. The temporal evolutions of AC conductivity for 400 nm and 800 nm laser pulses are simultaneously determined with sub-100 fs resolution, providing insight into the 5 d-6 s/ p interband and 6 s / p intraband transitions respectively. Our results suggest that Auger decay and three-body recombination play important roles in electron thermalization of warm dense gold.

Electron diffraction using ultrafast electron bunches from a laser-wakefield accelerator at kHz repetition rate

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

He, Z.-H.; Thomas, A. G. R.; Beaurepaire, B.; Nees, J. A.; Hou, B.; Malka, V.; Krushelnick, K.; Faure, J.

2013-02-01

We show that electron bunches in the 50-100 keV range can be produced from a laser wakefield accelerator using 10 mJ, 35 fs laser pulses operating at 0.5 kHz. It is shown that using a solenoid magnetic lens, the electron bunch distribution can be shaped. The resulting transverse and longitudinal coherence is suitable for producing diffraction images from a polycrystalline 10 nm aluminum foil. The high repetition rate, the stability of the electron source, and the fact that its uncorrelated bunch duration is below 100 fs make this approach promising for the development of sub-100 fs ultrafast electron diffraction experiments.

Clean sub-8-fs pulses at 400 nm generated by a hollow fiber compressor for ultraviolet ultrafast pump-probe spectroscopy.

PubMed

Liu, Jun; Okamura, Kotaro; Kida, Yuichiro; Teramoto, Takahiro; Kobayashi, Takayoshi

2010-09-27

Clean 7.5 fs pulses at 400 nm with less than 3% energy in tiny satellite pulses were obtained by spectral broadening in a hollow fiber and dispersive compensating using a prism pair together with a deformable mirror system. As an example, this stable and clean pulse was used to study the ultrafast pump-probe spectroscopy of photoactive yellow protein. Moreover, the self-diffraction signal shows a smoothed and broadened laser spectrum and is expected to have a further clean laser pulse, which makes it more useful in the ultrafast pump-probe spectroscopy in the future.

Multiphoton near-infrared femtosecond laser pulse-induced DNA damage with and without the photosensitizer proflavine.

PubMed

Shafirovich, V; Dourandin, A; Luneva, N P; Singh, C; Kirigin, F; Geacintov, N E

1999-03-01

The excitation of pBr322 supercoiled plasmid DNA with intense near-IR 810 nm fs laser pulses by a simultaneous multiphoton absorption mechanism results in single-strand breaks after treatment of the irradiated samples with Micrococcus luteus UV endonuclease. This enzyme cleaves DNA strands at sites of cyclobutane dimers that are formed by the simultaneous absorption of three (or more) 810 nm IR photons (pulse width approximately 140 fs, 76 MHz pulse repetition, average power output focused through 10x microscope objective is approximately 1.2 MW/cm2). Direct single-strand breaks (without treatment with M. luteus) were not observed under these conditions. However, in the presence of 6 microM of the intercalator proflavine (PF), both direct single- and double-strand breaks are observed under conditions where substantial fractions of undamaged supercoiled DNA molecules are still present. The fraction of direct double-strand breaks is 30 +/- 5% of all measurable strand cleavage events, is independent of dosage (up to 6.4 GJ/cm2) and is proportional to In, where I is the average power/area of the 810 nm fs laser pulses, and n = 3 +/- 1. The nicking of two DNA strands in the immediate vicinity of the excited PF molecules gives rise to this double-strand cleavage. In contrast, excitation of the same samples under low-power, single-photon absorption conditions (approximately 400-500 nm) gives rise predominantly to single-strand breaks, but some double-strand breaks are observed at the higher dosages. Thus, single-photon excitation with 400-500 nm light and multiphoton activation of PF by near-IR fs laser pulses produces different distributions of single- and double-strand breaks. These results suggest that DNA strand cleavage originates from unrelaxed, higher excited states when PF is excited by simultaneous IR multiphoton absorption processes.

Tetravalent chromium (Cr(4+)) as laser-active ion for tunable solid-state lasers

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Seas, A.; Petricevic, V.; Alfano, Robert R.

1992-01-01

Generation of femtosecond pulses from a continuous-wave mode-locked chromium-doped forsterite (Cr(4+):Mg2SiO4) laser has been accomplished. The forsterite laser was actively mode-locked using an acousto-optic modulator operating at 78 MHz with two Brewster high-dispersion glass prisms for intra-cavity chirp compensation. Transform-limited sub-100-fs pulses were routinely generated in the TEM(sub 00) mode with 85 mW of continuous power (with 1 percent output coupler), tunable over 1230-1280 nm. The shortest pulses of 60-fs pulsewidth were measured.

Kilohertz Cr:forsterite regenerative amplifier.

PubMed

Evans, J M; Petri Evi, V; Alfano, R R; Fu, Q

1998-11-01

We report on a tunable regenerative amplifier that is operational in the near-infrared spectral region from 1230 to 1280 nm based on the vibronic laser material Cr:forsterite. Utilizing the technique of chirped-pulse amplification, we generated pulses as short as 150 fs at 1255 nm at a repetition rate of 1 kHz. Pulse amplification of more than 5 x 10(5) times was observed, with recorded output pulse energies of 34 muJ . Implementation of a second-harmonic generator yielded 110-fs-duration pulses of 7-muJ energy at 625 nm.

Commercial mode-locked vertical external cavity surface emitting lasers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lubeigt, Walter; Bialkowski, Bartlomiej; Lin, Jipeng; Head, C. Robin; Hempler, Nils; Maker, Gareth T.; Malcolm, Graeme P. A.

2017-02-01

In recent years, M Squared Lasers have successfully commercialized a range of mode-locked vertical external cavity surface emitting lasers (VECSELs) operating between 920-1050nm and producing picosecond-range pulses with average powers above 1W at pulse repetition frequencies (PRF) of 200MHz. These laser products offer a low-cost, easy-to-use and maintenance-free tool for the growing market of nonlinear microscopy. However, in order to present a credible alternative to ultrafast Ti-sapphire lasers, pulse durations below 200fs are required. In the last year, efforts have been directed to reduce the pulse duration of the Dragonfly laser system to below 200fs with a target average power above 1W at a PRF of 200MHz. This paper will describe and discuss the latest efforts undertaken to approach these targets in a laser system operating at 990nm. The relatively low PRF operation of Dragonfly lasers represents a challenging requirement for mode-locked VECSELs due to the very short upper state carrier lifetime, on the order of a few nanoseconds, which can lead to double pulsing behavior in longer cavities as the time between consecutive pulses is increased. Most notably, the design of the Dragonfly VECSEL cavity was considerably modified and the laser system extended with a nonlinear pulse stretcher and an additional compression stage. The improved Dragonfly laser system achieved pulse duration as short as 130fs with an average power of 0.85W.

408-fs SESAM mode locked Cr:ZnSe laser

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bu, Xiangbao; Shi, Yuhang; Xu, Jia; Li, Huijuan; Wang, Pu

2018-01-01

We report self-starting femtosecond operation of a 127-MHz SESAM mode locked Cr:ZnSe laser around 2420 nm. A thulium doped double clad fiber laser at 1908 nm was used as the pumping source. In the normal dispersion regime, stable pulse pairs with constant phase differences in the multipulse regime were observed. The maximum output power was 342 mW with respect to incident pump power of 4.8 W and the corresponding slope efficiency was 10.4%. By inserting a piece of sapphire plate, dispersion compensation was achieved and the intra-cavity dispersion was moved to the anomalous regime. A maximum output power of 403 mW was obtained and the corresponding slope efficiency was 12.2%. Pulse width was measured to be 408 fs by a collinear autocorrelator using two-photon absorption in an InGaAs photodiode. The laser spectrum in multipulse operation showed a clear periodic modulation.

Generation of Ultrashort Pulses from Chromium - Forsterite Laser

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Seas, Antonios

This thesis discusses the generation of ultrashort pulses from the chromium-doped forsterite laser, the various designs, construction and operation of forsterite laser systems capable of generating picosecond and femtosecond pulses in the near infrared. Various mode-locking techniques including synchronous optical pumping, active mode-locking, and self-mode-locking were successfully engineered and implemented. Active and synchronously pumped mode-locking using a three mirror, astigmatically compensated cavity design and a forsterite crystal with a figure of merit of 26 (FOM = alpha_{rm 1064nm} /alpha_{rm 1250nm }) generated pulses with FWHM of 49 and 260 ps, respectively. The tuning range of the mode-locked forsterite laser in both cases was determined to be in the order of 100 nm limited only by the dielectric coatings of the mirrors used in the cavity. The slope efficiency was measured to be 12.5% for synchronous pumping and 9.1% for active mode-locking. A four mirror astigmatically compensated cavity was found to be more appropriate for mode-locking. Active mode-locking using the four-mirror cavity generated pulses with FWHM of 31 ps. The pulsewidth was further reduced to 6 ps by using a forsterite crystal with a higher figure of merit (FOM = 39). Pulsewidth-bandwidth measurements indicated the presence of chirp in the output pulses. Numerical calculation of the phase characteristics of various optical materials indicated that a pair of prisms made of SF 14 optical glass can be used in the cavity in order to compensate for the chirp. The insertion of the prisms in the cavity resulted in a reduction of the pulsewidth from 6 ps down to 900 fs. Careful optimization of the laser cavity resulted in the generation of stable 90-fs pulses. Pulses as short as 60 fs were generated and self-mode-locked mode of operation using the Cr:forsterite laser was demonstrated for the first time. Pure self-mode-locking was next achieved generating 105-fs pulses tunable between 1230-1270 nm. Numerical calculations of the cubic phase characteristics of the prism pair used indicated that the pair of SF 14 prisms compensated for quadratic phase but introduced a large cubic phase term. Numerical evaluation of other optical glasses indicated that a pair of SFN 64 prisms can introduce the same quadratic phase as SF 14 prisms but introduce a smaller cubic phase. When the SF 14 prisms were replaced by SFN 64 prisms the pulsewidth was reduced to 50 fs. Great improvement was also observed in the stability of the self-mode-locked forsterite laser and in the ease of achieving mode-locking. Using the same experimental arrangement and a forsterite crystal with improved FOM the pulse width was reduced to 36 fs.

Concept for image-guided vitreo-retinal fs-laser surgery: adaptive optics and optical coherence tomography for laser beam shaping and positioning

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Matthias, Ben; Brockmann, Dorothee; Hansen, Anja; Horke, Konstanze; Knoop, Gesche; Gewohn, Timo; Zabic, Miroslav; Krüger, Alexander; Ripken, Tammo

2015-03-01

Fs-lasers are well established in ophthalmic surgery as high precision tools for corneal flap cutting during laser in situ keratomileusis (LASIK) and increasingly utilized for cutting the crystalline lens, e.g. in assisting cataract surgery. For addressing eye structures beyond the cornea, an intraoperative depth resolved imaging is crucial to the safety and success of the surgical procedure due to interindividual anatomical disparities. Extending the field of application even deeper to the posterior eye segment, individual eye aberrations cannot be neglected anymore and surgery with fs-laser is impaired by focus degradation. Our demonstrated concept for image-guided vitreo-retinal fs-laser surgery combines adaptive optics (AO) for spatial beam shaping and optical coherence tomography (OCT) for focus positioning guidance. The laboratory setup comprises an adaptive optics assisted 800 nm fs-laser system and is extended by a Fourier domain optical coherence tomography system. Phantom structures are targeted, which mimic tractional epiretinal membranes in front of excised porcine retina within an eye model. AO and OCT are set up to share the same scanning and focusing optics. A Hartmann-Shack sensor is employed for aberration measurement and a deformable mirror for aberration correction. By means of adaptive optics the threshold energy for laser induced optical breakdown is lowered and cutting precision is increased. 3D OCT imaging of typical ocular tissue structures is achieved with sufficient resolution and the images can be used for orientation of the fs-laser beam. We present targeted dissection of the phantom structures and its evaluation regarding retinal damage.

Synthesis of blue-shifted luminescent colloidal GaN nanocrystals through femtosecond pulsed laser ablation in organic solution

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Demirel, Abdülmelik; Öztaş, Tuğba; Kurşungöz, Canan; Yılmaz, İbrahim; Ortaç, Bülend

2016-05-01

We demonstrate the synthesis of GaN nanocrystals (NCs) with the sizes of less than the doubled exciton Bohr radius leading quantum confinement effects via a single-step technique. The generation of colloidal GaN nanoparticles (NPs) in organic solution through nanosecond (ns) and femtosecond (fs) pulsed laser ablation (PLA) of GaN powder was carried out. Ns PLA in ethanol and polymer matrix resulted in amorphous GaN-NPs with the size distribution of 12.4 ± 7.0 and 6.4 ± 2.3 nm, respectively, whereas fs PLA in ethanol produced colloidal GaN-NCs with spherical shape within 4.2 ± 1.9 nm particle size distribution. XRD and selected area electron diffraction analysis of the product via fs PLA revealed that GaN-NCs are in wurtzite structure. Moreover, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy measurements also confirm the presence of GaN nanomaterials. The colloidal GaN-NCs solution exhibits strong blue shift in the absorption spectrum compared to that of the GaN-NPs via ns PLA in ethanol. Furthermore, the photoluminescence emission behavior of fs PLA-generated GaN-NCs in the 295-400 nm wavelength range is observed with a peak position located at 305 nm showing a strong blue shift with respect to the bulk GaN.

Mechanisms of ultrafast laser-induced deep-subwavelength gratings on graphite and diamond

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huang, Min; Zhao, Fuli; Cheng, Ya; Xu, Ningsheg; Xu, Zhizhan

2009-03-01

Deep-subwavelength gratings with periodicities of 170, 120, and 70 nm can be observed on highly oriented pyrolytic graphite irradiated by a femtosecond (fs) laser at 800 nm. Under picosecond laser irradiation, such gratings likewise can be produced. Interestingly, the 170-nm grating is also observed on single-crystal diamond irradiated by the 800-nm fs laser. In our opinion, the optical properties of the high-excited state of material surface play a key role for the formation of the deep-subwavelength gratings. The numerical simulations of the graphite deep-subwavelength grating at normal and high-excited states confirm that in the groove the light intensity can be extraordinarily enhanced via cavity-mode excitation in the condition of transverse-magnetic wave irradiation with near-ablation-threshold fluences. This field enhancement of polarization sensitiveness in deep-subwavelength apertures acts as an important feedback mechanism for the growth and polarization dependence of the deep-subwavelength gratings. In addition, we suggest that surface plasmons are responsible for the formation of seed deep-subwavelength apertures with a particular periodicity and the initial polarization dependence. Finally, we propose that the nanoscale Coulomb explosion occurring in the groove is responsible for the ultrafast nonthermal ablation mechanism.

Divided-pulse nonlinear amplification and simultaneous compression

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hao, Qiang; Zhang, Qingshan; Sun, Tingting

2015-03-09

We report on a fiber laser system delivering 122 fs pulse duration and 600 mW average power at 1560 nm by the interplay between divided pulse amplification and nonlinear pulse compression. A small-core double-clad erbium-doped fiber with anomalous dispersion carries out the pulse amplification and simultaneously compresses the laser pulses such that a separate compressor is no longer necessary. A numeric simulation reveals the existence of an optimum fiber length for producing transform-limited pulses. Furthermore, frequency doubling to 780 nm with 240 mW average power and 98 fs pulse duration is achieved by using a periodically poled lithium niobate crystal at roommore » temperature.« less

Studies on nanosecond 532nm and 355nm and ultrafast 515nm and 532nm laser cutting super-hard materials

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Jie; Tao, Sha; Wang, Brian; Zhao, Jay

2017-02-01

In this paper, micro-processing of three kinds of super-hard materials of poly-crystal diamond (PCD)/tungsten-carbide (WC), CVD-diamond and cubic boron nitride (CNB) has been systematically studied using nanosecond laser (532nm and 355nm), and ultrafast laser (532nm and 515nm). Our purpose is to investigate a full laser micro-cutting solution to achieve a ready-to-use cutting tool insert (CTI). The results show a clean cut with little burns and recasting at edge. The cutting speed of 2-10mm/min depending on thickness was obtained. The laser ablation process was also studied by varying laser parameters (wavelength, pulse width, pulse energy, repetition rate) and tool path to improve cutting speed. Also, studies on material removal efficiency (MRE) of PCD/WC with 355nm-ns and 515nm-fs laser as a function of laser fluence show that 355nm-ns laser is able to achieve higher MRE for PCD and WC. Thus, ultrafast laser is not necessarily used for superhard material cutting. Instead, post-polishing with ultrafast laser can be used to clean cutting surface and improve smoothness.

Dynamic imaging of a single gold nanoparticle in liquid irradiated by off-resonance femtosecond laser.

PubMed

Boutopoulos, Christos; Hatef, Ali; Fortin-Deschênes, Matthieu; Meunier, Michel

2015-07-21

Plasmonic nanoparticles can lead to extreme confinement of the light in the near field. This unique ability of plasmonic nanoparticles can be used to generate nanobubbles in liquid. In this work, we demonstrate with single-particle monitoring that 100 nm gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) irradiated by off-resonance femtosecond (fs) laser in the tissue therapeutic optical window (λ = 800 nm), can act as a durable nanolenses in liquid and provoke nanocavitation while remaining intact. We have employed combined ultrafast shadowgraphic imaging, in situ dark field imaging and dynamic tracking of AuNP Brownian motion to ensure the study of individual AuNPs/nanolenses under multiple fs laser pulses. We demonstrate that 100 nm AuNPs can generate multiple, highly confined (radius down to 550 nm) and transient (life time < 50 ns) nanobubbles. The latter is of significant importance for future development of in vivo AuNP-assisted laser nanosurgery and theranostic applications, where AuNP fragmentation should be avoided to prevent side effects, such as cytotoxicity and immune system's response. The experimental results have been correlated with theoretical modeling to provide an insight to the AuNP-safe cavitation mechanism as well as to investigate the deformation mechanism of the AuNPs at high laser fluences.

Ambient Molecular Analysis of Biological Tissue Using Low-Energy, Femtosecond Laser Vaporization and Nanospray Postionization Mass Spectrometry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shi, Fengjian; Flanigan, Paul M.; Archer, Jieutonne J.; Levis, Robert J.

2016-03-01

Direct analysis of plant and animal tissue samples by laser electrospray mass spectrometry (LEMS) was investigated using low-energy, femtosecond duration laser vaporization at wavelengths of 800 and 1042 nm followed by nanospray postionization. Low-energy (<50 μJ), fiber-based 1042 nm LEMS (F-LEMS) allowed interrogation of the molecular species in fresh flower petal and leaf samples using 435 fs, 10 Hz bursts of 20 pulses from a Ytterbium-doped fiber laser and revealed comparable results to high energy (75-1120 μJ), 45 fs, 800 nm Ti:Sapphire-based LEMS (Ti:Sapphire-LEMS) measurements. Anthocyanins, sugars, and other metabolites were successfully detected and revealed the anticipated metabolite profile for the petal and leaf samples. Phospholipids, especially phosphatidylcholine, were identified from a fresh mouse brain section sample using Ti:Sapphire-LEMS without the application of matrix. These lipid features were suppressed in both the fiber-based and Ti:Sapphire-based LEMS measurements when the brain sample was prepared using the optimal cutting temperature compounds that are commonly used in animal tissue cryosections.

Femtosecond laser fluorescence and propagation in very dense potassium vapor.

PubMed

Makdisi, Y; Kokaj, J; Afrousheh, K; Nair, R; Mathew, J; Pichler, G

2013-12-16

Femtosecond (fs) laser propagation and fluorescence of dense potassium vapor was studied, and the spectral region around the first and the second doublets of the principal series lines of potassium atoms was investigated. In our search we did not observe the conical emission in the far field, although it was previously observed in the case of rubidium. We discuss the possible reason of this unexpected result. The fluorescence spectrum revealed Rb impurity resonance lines in emission due to the collisional redistribution from the K(4p) levels into the Rb(5p) levels. In the forward propagation of 400 nm femtosecond light we observed the molecular band red shifted from potassium second doublet. However, no molecular spectrum was observed when the mode-locked fs laser light was discretely tuned within the wings of the first resonance lines, at 770 nm.

Inverse Calibration Free fs-LIBS of Copper-Based Alloys

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Smaldone, Antonella; De Bonis, Angela; Galasso, Agostino; Guarnaccio, Ambra; Santagata, Antonio; Teghil, Roberto

2016-09-01

In this work the analysis by Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) technique of copper-based alloys having different composition and performed with fs laser pulses is presented. A Nd:Glass laser (Twinkle Light Conversion, λ = 527 nm at 250 fs) and a set of bronze and brass certified standards were used. The inverse Calibration-Free method (inverse CF-LIBS) was applied for estimating the temperature of the fs laser induced plasma in order to achieve quantitative elemental analysis of such materials. This approach strengthens the hypothesis that, through the assessment of the plasma temperature occurring in fs-LIBS, straightforward and reliable analytical data can be provided. With this aim the capability of the here adopted inverse CF-LIBS method, which is based on the fulfilment of the Local Thermodynamic Equilibrium (LTE) condition, for an indirect determination of the species excitation temperature, is shown. It is reported that the estimated temperatures occurring during the process provide a good figure of merit between the certified and the experimentally determined composition of the bronze and brass materials, here employed, although further correction procedure, like the use of calibration curves, can be demanded. The reported results demonstrate that the inverse CF-LIBS method can be applied when fs laser pulses are used even though the plasma properties could be affected by the matrix effects restricting its full employment to unknown samples provided that a certified standard having similar composition is available.

Ultrashort laser pulse driven inverse free electron laser accelerator experiment

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Moody, J. T.; Anderson, S. G.; Anderson, G.

In this paper we discuss the ultrashort pulse high gradient Inverse Free Electron laser accelerator experiment carried out at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory which demonstrated gra- dients exceeding 200 MV/m using a 4 TW 100 fs long 800 nm Ti:Sa laser pulse. Due to the short laser and electron pulse lengths, synchronization was determined to be one of the main challenges in this experiment. This made necessary the implementation of a single-shot, non destructive, electro-optic sampling based diagnostics to enable time-stamping of each laser accelerator shot with < 100 fs accuracy. The results of this experiment are expected tomore » pave the way towards the development of future GeV-class IFEL accelerators.« less

Ultrashort laser pulse driven inverse free electron laser accelerator experiment

DOE PAGES

Moody, J. T.; Anderson, S. G.; Anderson, G.; ...

2016-02-29

In this paper we discuss the ultrashort pulse high gradient Inverse Free Electron laser accelerator experiment carried out at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory which demonstrated gra- dients exceeding 200 MV/m using a 4 TW 100 fs long 800 nm Ti:Sa laser pulse. Due to the short laser and electron pulse lengths, synchronization was determined to be one of the main challenges in this experiment. This made necessary the implementation of a single-shot, non destructive, electro-optic sampling based diagnostics to enable time-stamping of each laser accelerator shot with < 100 fs accuracy. The results of this experiment are expected tomore » pave the way towards the development of future GeV-class IFEL accelerators.« less

Formation of laser-induced periodic surface structures on fused silica upon two-color double-pulse irradiation

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Höhm, S.; Herzlieb, M.; Rosenfeld, A.

2013-12-16

The formation of laser-induced periodic surface structures (LIPSS) upon irradiation of fused silica with multiple irradiation sequences consisting of laser pulse pairs (50 fs single-pulse duration) of two different wavelengths (400 and 800 nm) is studied experimentally. Parallel polarized double-pulse sequences with a variable delay Δt between −10 and +10 ps and between the individual fs-laser pulses were used to investigate the LIPSS periods versus Δt. These two-color experiments reveal the importance of the ultrafast energy deposition to the silica surface by the first laser pulse for LIPSS formation. The second laser pulse subsequently reinforces the previously seeded spatial LIPSSmore » frequencies.« less

Tribological performance of sub-100-nm femtosecond laser-induced periodic surface structures on titanium

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bonse, J.; Höhm, S.; Koter, R.; Hartelt, M.; Spaltmann, D.; Pentzien, S.; Rosenfeld, A.; Krüger, J.

2016-06-01

Sub-100-nm laser-induced periodic surface structures (LIPSS) were processed on bulk titanium (Ti) surfaces by femtosecond laser pulse irradiation in air (30 fs pulse duration, 790 nm wavelength). The laser peak fluence, the spatial spot overlap, and the number of overscans were optimized in a sample-scanning geometry in order to obtain large surface areas (5 mm × 5 mm) covered homogeneously by the LIPSS. The laser-processed regions were characterized by optical microscopy (OM), white light interference microscopy (WLIM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The friction coefficient of the nanostructured surfaces was tested during 1000 cycles under reciprocal sliding conditions (1 Hz, 1.0 N normal load) against a 10-mm diameter ball of hardened 100Cr6 steel, both in paraffin oil and in engine oil used as lubricants. Subsequently, the corresponding wear tracks were qualified by OM, SEM, and energy dispersive X-ray analyses (EDX). The results of the tribological tests are discussed and compared to that obtained for near wavelength-sized fs-LIPSS, processed under somewhat different irradiation conditions. Some constraints for a beneficial effect of LIPSS on the tribological performance are provided.

Analysis of laser damage tests on coatings designed for broad bandwidth high reflection of femtosecond pulses

DOE PAGES

Bellum, John Curtis; Winstone, Trevor; Lamaignere, Laurent; ...

2016-08-25

We designed an optical coating based on TiO 2/SiO 2 layer pairs for broad bandwidth high reflection (BBHR) at 45-deg angle of incidence (AOI), P polarization of femtosecond (fs) laser pulses of 900-nm center wavelength, and produced the coatings in Sandia’s large optics coater by reactive, ion-assisted e-beam evaporation. This paper reports on laser-induced damage threshold (LIDT) tests of these coatings. The broad HR bands of BBHR coatings pose challenges to LIDT tests. An ideal test would be in a vacuum environment appropriate to a high energy, fs-pulse, petawatt-class laser, with pulses identical to its fs pulses. Short of thismore » would be tests over portions of the HR band using nanosecond or sub-picosecond pulses produced by tunable lasers. Such tests could, e.g., sample 10-nm-wide wavelength intervals with center wavelengths tunable over the broad HR band. Alternatively, the coating’s HR band could be adjusted by means of wavelength shifts due to changing the AOI of the LIDT tests or due to the coating absorbing moisture under ambient conditions. In conclusion, we had LIDT tests performed on the BBHR coatings at selected AOIs to gain insight into their laser damage properties and analyze how the results of the different LIDT tests compare.« less

Analysis of laser damage tests on coatings designed for broad bandwidth high reflection of femtosecond pulses

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bellum, John Curtis; Winstone, Trevor; Lamaignere, Laurent

We designed an optical coating based on TiO 2/SiO 2 layer pairs for broad bandwidth high reflection (BBHR) at 45-deg angle of incidence (AOI), P polarization of femtosecond (fs) laser pulses of 900-nm center wavelength, and produced the coatings in Sandia’s large optics coater by reactive, ion-assisted e-beam evaporation. This paper reports on laser-induced damage threshold (LIDT) tests of these coatings. The broad HR bands of BBHR coatings pose challenges to LIDT tests. An ideal test would be in a vacuum environment appropriate to a high energy, fs-pulse, petawatt-class laser, with pulses identical to its fs pulses. Short of thismore » would be tests over portions of the HR band using nanosecond or sub-picosecond pulses produced by tunable lasers. Such tests could, e.g., sample 10-nm-wide wavelength intervals with center wavelengths tunable over the broad HR band. Alternatively, the coating’s HR band could be adjusted by means of wavelength shifts due to changing the AOI of the LIDT tests or due to the coating absorbing moisture under ambient conditions. In conclusion, we had LIDT tests performed on the BBHR coatings at selected AOIs to gain insight into their laser damage properties and analyze how the results of the different LIDT tests compare.« less

Noncontact laser microsurgery of three-dimensional living objects for use in reproductive and regenerative medicine

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sitnikov, D. S.; Ilina, I. V.; Kosheleva, N. V.; Khramova, Yu V.; Filatov, M. A.; Semenova, M. L.; Zurina, I. M.; Gorkun, A. A.; Saburina, I. N.

2018-01-01

Laser microsurgery has enabled us to make highly precise and delicate processing of living biological specimens. We present the results of using femtosecond (fs) laser pulses in assisted reproductive technologies. Femtosecond laser dissection of outer shells of embryos (so-called laser-assisted hatching) as well as laser-mediated detachment of the desired amount of trophectoderm cells (so-called embryo biopsy) required for preimplantaion genetic diagnosis were successfully performed. The parameters of laser radiation were optimized so as to efficiently perform embryo biopsy and preserve the viability of the treated embryos. Effects of application of fs-laser radiation in the infrared (1028 nm) and visible (514 nm) wavelength ranges were studied. We also applied laser microsurgery to develop a new simple reproducible model for studying repair and regeneration in vitro. Nanosecond laser pulses were applied to perform localized microdissection of cell spheroids. After microdissection, the edges of the wound surface opened, the destruction of the initial spheroid structure was observed in the wound area, with surviving cells changing their shape into a round one. It was shown that the spheroid form partially restored in the first six hours with subsequent complete restoration within seven days due to remodeling of surviving cells.

Pulsewidth-dependent nature of laser-induced DNA damage in RPE cells

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hall, Rebecca M.; Glickman, Randolph D.; Rockwell, Benjamin A.; Kumar, Neeru; Noojin, Gary D.

2001-07-01

Ultrashort pulse laser radiation may produce cellular damage through unique mechanisms. Primary cultures of bovine retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells were exposed to the out put of a Ti:Sapphire laser producing 30 fs (mode-locked) pulses, 44 amplified fs pulses, or continuous wave exposures at 800 nm. Laser exposures at and below the damage threshold were studied. DNA damage was detected using single cell gel electrophoresis (comet assay). Unexposed (control) cells produced short tails with low tail moments. In contrast, all laser-exposed cells showed some degree of DNA fragmentation, but the size and shape of the resulting comets differed among the various modalities. CW-exposed cells produced generally light and relatively compact tails, suggesting fewer and larger DNA fragments, while mode-locked laser exposures (30 fs pulses) resulted in large and diffuse comets, indicating the DNA was fragmented into many very small pieces. Work is continuing to define the relationship of laser pulsewidth and intensity with the degree of DNA fragmentation. These results suggest that DNA damage may result from multiple mechanisms of laser-cell interaction, including multiphoton absorption.

Laser impulse coupling measurements at 400 fs and 80 ps using the LULI facility at 1057 nm wavelength

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Phipps, C. R.; Boustie, M.; Chevalier, J.-M.; Baton, S.; Brambrink, E.; Berthe, L.; Schneider, M.; Videau, L.; Boyer, S. A. E.; Scharring, S.

2017-11-01

At the École Polytechnique « LULI » facility, we have measured the impulse coupling coefficient Cm (target momentum per joule of incident laser light) with several target materials in vacuum, at 1057 nm and 400 fs and 80 ps pulse duration. A total of 64 laser shots were completed in a two-week experimental campaign, divided between the two pulse durations and among the materials. Our main purpose was to resolve wide discrepancies among reported values for Cm in the 100 ps region, where many applications exist. A secondary purpose was to compare Cm at 400 fs and 80 ps pulse duration. The 80 ps pulse was obtained by partial compression. Materials were Al, Ta, W, Au, and POM (polyoxymethylene, trade name Delrin). One application of these results is to pulsed laser ablation propulsion in space, including space debris re-entry, where narrow ranges in Cm and specific impulse Isp spell the difference between dramatic and uneconomical performance. We had difficulty measuring mass loss from single shots. Imparted momentum in single laser shots was determined using pendulum deflection and photonic Doppler velocimetry. Cm was smaller at the 400 fs pulse duration than at 80 ps. To our surprise, Cm for Al at 80 ps was at most 30 N/MW with 30 kJ/m2 incident fluence. On the other extreme, polyoxymethylene (POM, trade name Delrin) demonstrated 770 N/MW under these conditions. Together, these results offer the possibility of designing a Cm value suited to an application, by mixing the materials appropriately.

InP/InGaP quantum-dot SESAM mode-locked Alexandrite laser

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ghanbari, Shirin; Fedorova, Ksenia A.; Krysa, Andrey B.; Rafailov, Edik U.; Major, Arkady

2018-02-01

A semiconductor saturable absorber mirror (SESAM) passively mode-locked Alexandrite laser was demonstrated. Using an InP/InGaP quantum-dot saturable absorber mirror, pulse duration of 420 fs at 774 nm was obtained. The laser was pumped at 532 nm and generated 325 mW of average output power in mode-locked regime with a pump power of 7.12 W. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of a passively mode-locked Alexandrite laser using SESAM in general and quantum-dot SESAM in particular.

Nanosurgery with near-infrared 12-femtosecond and picosecond laser pulses

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Uchugonova, Aisada; Zhang, Huijing; Lemke, Cornelius; König, Karsten

2011-03-01

Laser-assisted surgery based on multiphoton absorption of NIR laser light has great potential for high precision surgery at various depths within the cells and tissues. Clinical applications include refractive surgery (fs-LASIK). The non-contact laser method also supports contamination-free cell nanosurgery. Here we apply femtosecond laser scanning microscopes for sub-100 nm surgery of human cells and metaphase chromosomes. A mode-locked 85 MHz Ti:Sapphire laser with an M-shaped ultrabroad band spectrum (maxima: 770 nm/830 nm) with an in situ pulse duration at the target ranging from 12 femtoseconds up to 3 picoseconds was employed. The effects of laser nanoprocessing in cells and chromosomes have been quantified by atomic force microscopy (AFM) and electron microscopy. These studies demonstrate the potential of extreme ultrashort femtosecond laser pulses at low mean milliwatt powers for sub-100 nm surgery.

Robust, low-noise, polarization-maintaining mode-locked Er-fiber laser with a planar lightwave circuit (PLC) device as a multi-functional element.

PubMed

Kim, Chur; Kwon, Dohyeon; Kim, Dohyun; Choi, Sun Young; Cha, Sang Jun; Choi, Ki Sun; Yeom, Dong-Il; Rotermund, Fabian; Kim, Jungwon

2017-04-15

We demonstrate a new planar lightwave circuit (PLC)-based device, integrated with a 980/1550 wavelength division multiplexer, an evanescent-field-interaction-based saturable absorber, and an output tap coupler, which can be employed as a multi-functional element in mode-locked fiber lasers. Using this multi-functional PLC device, we demonstrate a simple, robust, low-noise, and polarization-maintaining mode-locked Er-fiber laser. The measured full-width at half-maximum bandwidth is 6 nm centered at 1555 nm, corresponding to 217 fs transform-limited pulse duration. The measured RIN and timing jitter are 0.22% [10 Hz-10 MHz] and 6.6 fs [10 kHz-1 MHz], respectively. Our results show that the non-gain section of mode-locked fiber lasers can be easily implemented as a single PLC chip that can be manufactured by a wafer-scale fabrication process. The use of PLC processes in mode-locked lasers has the potential for higher manufacturability of low-cost and robust fiber and waveguide lasers.

Femtosecond laser induced nanostructuring of graphite for the fabrication of quasi-periodic nanogratings and novel carbon nanostructures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Saikiran, V.; Dar, Mudasir H.; Rao, D. Narayana

2018-01-01

Here we have experimentally studied ultrafast femtosecond laser ablation of graphite in air and water environments for the fabrication of promising nanostructures on the graphite surface and also nanographite flakes, graphene quantum dots in water. After the fs laser irradiation in air quasi-periodic nanogratings were found on the graphite surface and when the irradiation is done in water we observed graphene quantum dots (GQDs) and graphitic flakes dispersed in the solution. The sheets consist of few layers of spongy kind of porous graphene, which form an irregular 3D porous structure. The field emission scanning electron microscopy reveals the formation of fluence dependent quasi-periodic deep-subwavelength nanogratings (Ʌ = 130-230 nm) on the surface. Several characterization methods have confirmed the formation of layered graphene and quantum dots. The studies on the solution confirmed the presence of GQDs with dimensions ranging about 2-4 nm. It is found that the formation of subwavelength structures and GQDs depends on the fs-laser energy and vary with different laser parameters such as fluence, energy, laser polarization.

Low Group Delay Dispersion Optical Coating for Broad Bandwidth High Reflection at 45° Incidence, P Polarization of Femtosecond Pulses with 900 nm Center Wavelength

DOE PAGES

Bellum, John C.; Field, Ella S.; Winstone, Trevor B.; ...

2016-03-01

We describe an optical coating design suitable for broad bandwidth high reflection (BBHR) at 45° angle of incidence (AOI), P polarization (Ppol) of femtosecond (fs) laser pulses whose wavelengths range from 800 to 1000 nm. The design process is guided by quarter-wave HR coating properties. Our design must afford low group delay dispersion (GDD) for reflected light over the broad, 200 nm bandwidth in order to minimize temporal broadening of the fs pulses due to dispersive alteration of relative phases between their frequency components. The design should also be favorable to high laser-induced damage threshold (LIDT). We base the coatingmore » on TiO 2/SiO 2 layer pairs produced by means of e-beam evaporation with ion-assisted deposition, and use OptiLayer Thin Film Software to explore designs starting with TiO 2/SiO 2 layers having thicknesses in a reverse chirped arrangement. This approach led to a design with R > 99% from 800 to 1000 nm and GDD < 20 fs 2 from 843 to 949 nm (45° AOI, Ppol). The design’s GDD behaves in a smooth way, suitable for GDD compensation techniques, and its electric field intensities show promise for high LIDTs. Reflectivity and GDD measurements for the initial test coating indicate good performance of the BBHR design. Subsequent coating runs with improved process calibration produced two coatings whose HR bands satisfactorily meet the design goals. Lastly, for the sake of completeness, we summarize our previously reported transmission spectra and LIDT test results with 800 ps, 8 ps and 675 fs pulses for these two coatings, and present a table of the LIDT results we have for all of our TiO 2/SiO 2 BBHR coatings, showing the trends with test laser pulse duration from the ns to sub-ps regimes.« less

Cell perforation mediated by plasmonic bubbles generated by a single near infrared femtosecond laser pulse.

PubMed

Boutopoulos, Christos; Bergeron, Eric; Meunier, Michel

2016-01-01

We report on transient membrane perforation of living cancer cells using plasmonic gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) enhanced single near infrared (NIR) femtosecond (fs) laser pulse. Under optimized laser energy fluence, single pulse treatment (τ = 45 fs, λ = 800 nm) resulted in 77% cell perforation efficiency and 90% cell viability. Using dark field and ultrafast imaging, we demonstrated that the generation of submicron bubbles around the AuNPs is the necessary condition for the cell membrane perforation. AuNP clustering increased drastically the bubble generation efficiency, thus enabling an effective laser treatment using low energy dose in the NIR optical therapeutical window. © 2015 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

152 fs nanotube-mode-locked thulium-doped all-fiber laser

PubMed Central

Wang, Jinzhang; Liang, Xiaoyan; Hu, Guohua; Zheng, Zhijian; Lin, Shenghua; Ouyang, Deqin; Wu, Xu; Yan, Peiguang; Ruan, Shuangchen; Sun, Zhipei; Hasan, Tawfique

2016-01-01

Ultrafast fiber lasers with broad bandwidth and short pulse duration have a variety of applications, such as ultrafast time-resolved spectroscopy and supercontinuum generation. We report a simple and compact all-fiber thulium-doped femtosecond laser mode-locked by carbon nanotubes. The oscillator operates in slightly normal cavity dispersion at 0.055 ps2, and delivers 152 fs pulses with 52.8 nm bandwidth and 0.19 nJ pulse energy. This is the shortest pulse duration and the widest spectral width demonstrated from Tm-doped all-fiber lasers based on 1 or 2 dimensional nanomaterials, underscoring their growing potential as versatile saturable absorber materials. PMID:27374764

Theoretical exploration of control factors for the high-order harmonic generation (HHG) spectrum in two-color field.

PubMed

Huang, Xinting; Yang, Dapeng; Yao, Li

2014-09-15

In this work, the laser-parameter effects on the high-order harmonic generation (HHG) spectrum and attosecond trains by mixing two-color laser field, a visible light field of 800 nm and a mid-infrared (mid-IR) laser pulses of 2400 nm, are theoretically demonstrated for the first time. Different schemes are applied to discuss the function of intensity, carrier-envelope phase (CEP) and pulse duration on the generation of an isolated attosecond pulse. As a consequence, an isolated 16as pulse is obtained by Fourier transforming an ultrabroad XUV continuum of 208 eV with the fundamental field of duration of 6 fs, 9×10(14)W/cm2 of intensity, the duration of 12 fs, the CEPs of the two driving pulses of -π and the relative strength ratio √R=0.2. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

A High-Quality Mach-Zehnder Interferometer Fiber Sensor by Femtosecond Laser One-Step Processing

PubMed Central

Zhao, Longjiang; Jiang, Lan; Wang, Sumei; Xiao, Hai; Lu, Yongfeng; Tsai, Hai-Lung

2011-01-01

During new fiber sensor development experiments, an easy-to-fabricate simple sensing structure with a trench and partially ablated fiber core is fabricated by using an 800 nm 35 fs 1 kHz laser. It is demonstrated that the structure forms a Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI) with the interference between the laser light passing through the air in the trench cavity and that in the remained fiber core. The fringe visibilities are all more than 25 dB. The transmission spectra vary with the femtosecond (fs) laser ablation scanning cycle. The free spectral range (FSR) decreases as the trench length increases. The MZI structure is of very high fabrication and sensing repeatability. The sensing mechanism is theoretically discussed, which is in agreement with experiments. The test sensitivity for acetone vapor is about 104 nm/RIU, and the temperature sensitivity is 51.5 pm/°C at 200 ∼ 875 °C with a step of 25 °C. PMID:22346567

Time-Space Position of Warm Dense Matter in Laser Plasma Interaction Process

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Cao, L F; Uschmann, I; Forster, E

2006-09-25

Laser plasma interaction experiments have been perform performed using an fs Titanium Sapphire laser. Plasmas have been generated from planar PMMA targets using single laser pulses with 3.3 mJ pulse energy, 50 fs pulse duration at 800 nm wavelength. Electron density distributions of the plasmas in different delay times have been characterized by means of Nomarski Interferometry. Experimental data were cautiously compared with relevant 1D numerical simulation. Finally these results provide a first experience of searching for the time-space position of the so-called warm dense plasma in an ultra fast laser target interaction process. These experiments aim to prepare nearmore » solid-density plasmas for Thomson scattering experiments using the short wavelength free-electron laser FLASH, DESY Hamburg.« less

Frequency-doubled DBR-tapered diode laser for direct pumping of Ti:sapphire lasers generating sub-20 fs pulses.

PubMed

Müller, André; Jensen, Ole Bjarlin; Unterhuber, Angelika; Le, Tuan; Stingl, Andreas; Hasler, Karl-Heinz; Sumpf, Bernd; Erbert, Götz; Andersen, Peter E; Petersen, Paul Michael

2011-06-20

For the first time a single-pass frequency doubled DBR-tapered diode laser suitable for pumping Ti:sapphire lasers generating ultrashort pulses is demonstrated. The maximum output powers achieved when pumping the Ti:sapphire laser are 110 mW (CW) and 82 mW (mode-locked) respectively at 1.2 W of pump power. This corresponds to a reduction in optical conversion efficiencies to 75% of the values achieved with a commercial diode pumped solid-state laser. However, the superior electro-optical efficiency of the diode laser improves the overall efficiency of the Ti:sapphire laser by a factor > 2. The optical spectrum emitted by the Ti:sapphire laser when pumped with our diode laser shows a spectral width of 112 nm (FWHM). Based on autocorrelation measurements, pulse widths of less than 20 fs can therefore be expected.

Femtosecond diffraction dynamics of laser-induced periodic surface structures on fused silica

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hoehm, S.; Rosenfeld, A.; Krueger, J.

2013-02-04

The formation of laser-induced periodic surface structures (LIPSS) on fused silica upon irradiation with linearly polarized fs-laser pulses (50 fs pulse duration, 800 nm center wavelength) is studied experimentally using a transillumination femtosecond time-resolved (0.1 ps-1 ns) pump-probe diffraction approach. This allows to reveal the generation dynamics of near-wavelength-sized LIPSS showing a transient diffraction at specific spatial frequencies even before a corresponding permanent surface relief was observed. The results confirm that the ultrafast energy deposition to the materials surface plays a key role and triggers subsequent physical mechanisms such as carrier scattering into self-trapped excitons.

Highly periodic laser-induced nanostructures on thin Ti and Cu foils for potential application in laser ion acceleration

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Das, Susanta Kumar, E-mail: skdasfpy@kiit.ac.in; Andreev, Alexander; Braenzel, Julia

2016-03-21

The feasibility of femtosecond laser-induced periodic nanostructures on thin Ti and Cu foils (thickness down to 1 μm) is demonstrated. At pulse durations of 120 fs and a wavelength of 400 nm, periods of 61 nm to 320 nm were obtained. Particle-in-cell simulations of laser ion acceleration processes with such nanostructured targets indicate their potential for high energy particle physics applications. In particular, a measurable enhancement of the proton cut-off energy and a significant enhancement of the number of accelerated particles compared to non- or weakly structured targets of same thickness and material are expected.

Demonstration of periodic nanostructure formation with less ablation by double-pulse laser irradiation on titanium

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Furukawa, Yuki; Sakata, Ryoichi; Konishi, Kazuki; Ono, Koki; Matsuoka, Shusaku; Watanabe, Kota; Inoue, Shunsuke; Hashida, Masaki; Sakabe, Shuji

2016-06-01

By pairing femtosecond laser pulses (duration ˜40 fs and central wavelength ˜810 nm) at an appropriate time interval, a laser-induced periodic surface structure (LIPSS) is formed with much less ablation than one formed with a single pulse. On a titanium plate, a pair of laser pulses with fluences of 70 and 140 mJ/cm2 and a rather large time interval (>10 ps) creates a LIPSS with an interspace of 600 nm, the same as that formed by a single pulse of 210 mJ/cm2, while the double pulse ablates only 4 nm, a quarter of the ablation depth of a single pulse.

Modeling Photochemical Dynamics in Optically Active Energetic Materials

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nelson, Tammie; Bjorgaard, Josiah; Greenfield, Margo; Bolme, Cindy; Brown, Katie; McGrane, Shawn; Scharff, R. Jason; Tretiak, Sergei

Most high explosives (HEs) absorb in the UV range, making it difficult to develop HEs that can be excited with standard lasers. The conventional optical initiation mechanisms require high laser intensity and occur via indirect thermal or shock processes. A photochemical initiation mechanism could allow control over the chemistry contributing to decomposition leading to initiation. We combine UV femtosecond transient absorption (TA) spectroscopy and excited state femtosecond stimulated Raman spectroscopy (FSRS) with Nonadiabatic Excited State Molecular Dynamics (NA-ESMD) to model the photochemical pathways in nitromethane (NM), a low sensitivity HE known to undergo UV photolysis. We investigate the ultrafast photodecomposition of NM from the nπ* state excited at 266 nm. The FSRS photoproduct spectrum points to methyl nitrite formation as the dominant photoproduct. A total photolysis quantum yield of 0.27 and an nπ* state lifetime of 20 fs were predicted from simulations. Predicted time scales reveal that NO2 dissociation occurs in 81 +/-4 fs and methyl nitrite formation is much slower at 452 +/-9 fs corresponding to the absorption feature in the TA spectrum. The relative time scales are consistent with isomerization by NO2 dissociation and ONO rebinding.

High-power ultrafast Yb:fiber laser frequency combs using commercially available components and basic fiber tools

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Xinlong; Reber, Melanie A. R.; Corder, Christopher; Chen, Yuning; Zhao, Peng; Allison, Thomas K.

2016-09-01

We present a detailed description of the design, construction, and performance of high-power ultrafast Yb:fiber laser frequency combs in operation in our laboratory. We discuss two such laser systems: an 87 MHz, 9 W, 85 fs laser operating at 1060 nm and an 87 MHz, 80 W, 155 fs laser operating at 1035 nm. Both are constructed using low-cost, commercially available components, and can be assembled using only basic tools for cleaving and splicing single-mode fibers. We describe practical methods for achieving and characterizing low-noise single-pulse operation and long-term stability from Yb:fiber oscillators based on nonlinear polarization evolution. Stabilization of the combs using a variety of transducers, including a new method for tuning the carrier-envelope offset frequency, is discussed. High average power is achieved through chirped-pulse amplification in simple fiber amplifiers based on double-clad photonic crystal fibers. We describe the use of these combs in several applications, including ultrasensitive femtosecond time-resolved spectroscopy and cavity-enhanced high-order harmonic generation.

Studies on linear, nonlinear optical and excited state dynamics of silicon nanoparticles prepared by picosecond laser ablation

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hamad, Syed; Nageswara Rao, S. V. S.; Pathak, A. P.

2015-12-15

We report results from our studies on the fabrication and characterization of silicon (Si) nanoparticles (NPs) and nanostructures (NSs) achieved through the ablation of Si target in four different liquids using ∼2 picosecond (ps) pulses. The consequence of using different liquid media on the ablation of Si target was investigated by studying the surface morphology along with material composition of Si based NPs. The recorded mean sizes of these NPs were ∼9.5 nm, ∼37 nm, ∼45 nm and ∼42 nm obtained in acetone, water, dichloromethane (DCM) and chloroform, respectively. The generated NPs were characterized by selected area electron diffraction (SAED),more » high resolution transmission microscopy (HRTEM), Raman spectroscopic techniques and Photoluminescence (PL) studies. SAED, HRTEM and Raman spectroscopy data confirmed that the material composition was Si NPs in acetone, Si/SiO{sub 2} NPs in water, Si-C NPs in DCM and Si-C NPs in chloroform and all of them were confirmed to be polycrystalline in nature. Surface morphological information of the fabricated Si substrates was obtained using the field emission scanning electron microscopic (FESEM) technique. FESEM data revealed the formation of laser induced periodic surface structures (LIPSS) for the case of ablation in acetone and water while random NSs were observed for the case of ablation in DCM and chloroform. Femtosecond (fs) nonlinear optical properties and excited state dynamics of these colloidal Si NPs were investigated using the Z-scan and pump-probe techniques with ∼150 fs (100 MHz) and ∼70 fs (1 kHz) laser pulses, respectively. The fs pump-probe data obtained at 600 nm consisted of single and double exponential decays which were tentatively assigned to electron-electron collisional relaxation (<1 ps) and non-radiative transitions (>1 ps). Large third order optical nonlinearities (∼10{sup −14} e.s.u.) for these colloids have been estimated from Z-scan data at an excitation wavelength of 680 nm suggesting that the colloidal Si NPs find potential applications in photonic devices.« less

Femtosecond laser-induced subwavelength ripples formed by asymmetrical grating splitting

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Feng, Pin; Jiang, Lan; Li, Xin; Zhang, Kaihu; Shi, Xuesong; Li, Bo; Lu, Yongfeng

2016-05-01

The formation process and mechanism of subwavelength ripples were studied upon irradiation of ZnO by a femtosecond laser (800 nm, 50 fs, 1 kHz). An abnormally asymmetrical grating-splitting phenomenon was discovered. At relatively high laser fluences (F = 0.51-0.63 J/cm2), near-wavelength ripples were split asymmetrically to create subwavelength laser-induced periodic surface structures (LIPSS) with dual gaps (˜230 nm and ˜430 nm) on the primary grooves. At relatively low laser fluences (F = 0.4-0.45 J/cm2), near-wavelength ripples were split symmetrically, leading to the formation of uniform subwavelength structures with a period of ˜340 nm. The splitting phenomena are related to the varying laser beam dose induced by the overlapping during line scanning. The two grating-splitting types further imply that the dominated mechanism for LIPSS formation may be changed under different processing conditions.

Wavelength and pulse duration tunable ultrafast fiber laser mode-locked with carbon nanotubes.

PubMed

Li, Diao; Jussila, Henri; Wang, Yadong; Hu, Guohua; Albrow-Owen, Tom; C T Howe, Richard; Ren, Zhaoyu; Bai, Jintao; Hasan, Tawfique; Sun, Zhipei

2018-02-09

Ultrafast lasers with tunable parameters in wavelength and time domains are the choice of light source for various applications such as spectroscopy and communication. Here, we report a wavelength and pulse-duration tunable mode-locked Erbium doped fiber laser with single wall carbon nanotube-based saturable absorber. An intra-cavity tunable filter is employed to continuously tune the output wavelength for 34 nm (from 1525 nm to 1559 nm) and pulse duration from 545 fs to 6.1 ps, respectively. Our results provide a novel light source for various applications requiring variable wavelength or pulse duration.

Precise ablation of dental hard tissues with ultra-short pulsed lasers. Preliminary exploratory investigation on adequate laser parameters.

PubMed

Bello-Silva, Marina Stella; Wehner, Martin; Eduardo, Carlos de Paula; Lampert, Friedrich; Poprawe, Reinhart; Hermans, Martin; Esteves-Oliveira, Marcella

2013-01-01

This study aimed to evaluate the possibility of introducing ultra-short pulsed lasers (USPL) in restorative dentistry by maintaining the well-known benefits of lasers for caries removal, but also overcoming disadvantages, such as thermal damage of irradiated substrate. USPL ablation of dental hard tissues was investigated in two phases. Phase 1--different wavelengths (355, 532, 1,045, and 1,064 nm), pulse durations (picoseconds and femtoseconds) and irradiation parameters (scanning speed, output power, and pulse repetition rate) were assessed for enamel and dentin. Ablation rate was determined, and the temperature increase measured in real time. Phase 2--the most favorable laser parameters were evaluated to correlate temperature increase to ablation rate and ablation efficiency. The influence of cooling methods (air, air-water spray) on ablation process was further analyzed. All parameters tested provided precise and selective tissue ablation. For all lasers, faster scanning speeds resulted in better interaction and reduced temperature increase. The most adequate results were observed for the 1064-nm ps-laser and the 1045-nm fs-laser. Forced cooling caused moderate changes in temperature increase, but reduced ablation, being considered unnecessary during irradiation with USPL. For dentin, the correlation between temperature increase and ablation efficiency was satisfactory for both pulse durations, while for enamel, the best correlation was observed for fs-laser, independently of the power used. USPL may be suitable for cavity preparation in dentin and enamel, since effective ablation and low temperature increase were observed. If adequate laser parameters are selected, this technique seems to be promising for promoting the laser-assisted, minimally invasive approach.

Direct diode-pumped Kerr-lens mode-locked Ti:sapphire laser

PubMed Central

Durfee, Charles G.; Storz, Tristan; Garlick, Jonathan; Hill, Steven; Squier, Jeff A.; Kirchner, Matthew; Taft, Greg; Shea, Kevin; Kapteyn, Henry; Murnane, Margaret; Backus, Sterling

2012-01-01

We describe a Ti:sapphire laser pumped directly with a pair of 1.2W 445nm laser diodes. With over 30mW average power at 800 nm and a measured pulsewidth of 15fs, Kerr-lens-modelocked pulses are available with dramatically decreased pump cost. We propose a simple model to explain the observed highly stable Kerr-lens modelocking in spite of the fact that both the mode-locked and continuous-wave modes are smaller than the pump mode in the crystal. PMID:22714433

Pulsed laser deposition to synthesize the bridge structure of artificial nacre: Comparison of nano- and femtosecond lasers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Melaibari, Ammar A.; Molian, Pal

2012-11-01

Nature offers inspiration to new adaptive technologies that allow us to build amazing shapes and structures such as nacre using synthetic materials. Consequently, we have designed a pulsed laser ablation manufacturing process involving thin film deposition and micro-machining to create hard/soft layered "brick-bridge-mortar" nacre of AlMgB14 (hard phase) with Ti (soft phase). In this paper, we report pulsed laser deposition (PLD) to mimic brick and bridge structures of natural nacre in AlMgB14. Particulate formation inherent in PLD is exploited to develop the bridge structure. Mechanical behavior analysis of the AlMgB14/Ti system revealed that the brick is to be 250 nm thick, 9 μm lateral dimensions while the bridge (particle) is to have a diameter of 500 nm for a performance equivalent to natural nacre. Both nanosecond (ns) and femtosecond (fs) pulsed lasers were employed for PLD in an iterative approach that involves varying pulse energy, pulse repetition rate, and target-to-substrate distance to achieve the desired brick and bridge characteristics. Scanning electron microscopy, x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and optical profilometer were used to evaluate the film thickness, particle size and density, stoichiometry, and surface roughness of thin films. Results indicated that both ns-pulsed and fs-pulsed lasers produce the desired nacre features. However, each laser may be chosen for different reasons: fs-pulsed laser is preferred for much shorter deposition time, better stoichiometry, uniform-sized particles, and uniform film thickness, while ns-pulsed laser is favored for industrial acceptance, reliability, ease of handling, and low cost.

Intravital autofluorescence 2-photon microscopy of murine intestinal mucosa with ultra-broadband femtosecond laser pulse excitation: image quality, photodamage, and inflammation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Klinger, Antje; Krapf, Lisa; Orzekowsky-Schroeder, Regina; Koop, Norbert; Vogel, Alfred; Hüttmann, Gereon

2015-11-01

Ultra-broadband excitation with ultrashort pulses may enable simultaneous excitation of multiple endogenous fluorophores in vital tissue. Imaging living gut mucosa by autofluorescence 2-photon microscopy with more than 150 nm broad excitation at an 800-nm central wavelength from a sub-10 fs titanium-sapphire (Ti:sapphire) laser with a dielectric mirror based prechirp was compared to the excitation with 220 fs pulses of a tunable Ti:sapphire laser at 730 and 800 nm wavelengths. Excitation efficiency, image quality, and photochemical damage were evaluated. At similar excitation fluxes, the same image brightness was achieved with both lasers. As expected, with ultra-broadband pulses, fluorescence from NAD(P)H, flavines, and lipoproteins was observed simultaneously. However, nonlinear photodamage apparent as hyperfluorescence with functional and structural alterations of the tissue occurred earlier when the laser power was adjusted to the same image brightness. After only a few minutes, the immigration of polymorphonuclear leucocytes into the epithelium and degranulation of these cells, a sign of inflammation, was observed. Photodamage is promoted by the higher peak irradiances and/or by nonoptimal excitation of autofluorescence at the longer wavelength. We conclude that excitation with a tunable narrow bandwidth laser is preferable to ultra-broadband excitation for autofluorescence-based 2-photon microscopy, unless the spectral phase can be controlled to optimize excitation conditions.

Efficient generation of 509 nm light by sum-frequency mixing between two tapered diode lasers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tawfieq, Mahmoud; Jensen, Ole Bjarlin; Hansen, Anders Kragh; Sumpf, Bernd; Paschke, Katrin; Andersen, Peter E.

2015-03-01

We demonstrate a concept for visible laser sources based on sum-frequency generation of beam combined tapered diode lasers. In this specific case, a 1.7 W sum-frequency generated green laser at 509 nm is obtained, by frequency adding of 6.17 W from a 978 nm tapered diode laser with 8.06 W from a 1063 nm tapered diode laser, inside a periodically poled MgO doped lithium niobate crystal. This corresponds to an optical to optical conversion efficiency of 12.1%. As an example of potential applications, the generated nearly diffraction-limited green light is used for pumping a Ti:sapphire laser, thus demonstrating good beam quality and power stability. The maximum output powers achieved when pumping the Ti:sapphire laser are 226 mW (CW) and 185 mW (mode-locked) at 1.7 W green pump power. The optical spectrum emitted by the mode-locked Ti:sapphire laser shows a spectral width of about 54 nm (FWHM), indicating less than 20 fs pulse width.

Carrier-envelope offset frequency stabilization of an ultrafast semiconductor laser

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jornod, Nayara; Gürel, Kutan; Wittwer, Valentin J.; Brochard, Pierre; Hakobyan, Sargis; Schilt, Stéphane; Waldburger, Dominik; Keller, Ursula; Südmeyer, Thomas

2018-02-01

We present the self-referenced stabilization of the carrier-envelope offset (CEO) frequency of a semiconductor disk laser. The laser is a SESAM-modelocked VECSEL emitting at a wavelength of 1034 nm with a repetition frequency of 1.8 GHz. The 270-fs pulses are amplified to 3 W and compressed to 120 fs for the generation of a coherent octavespanning supercontinuum spectrum. A quasi-common-path f-to-2f interferometer enables the detection of the CEO beat with a signal-to-noise ratio of 30 dB sufficient for its frequency stabilization. The CEO frequency is phase-locked to an external reference with a feedback signal applied to the pump current.

Demonstration of periodic nanostructure formation with less ablation by double-pulse laser irradiation on titanium

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Furukawa, Yuki; Graduate School of Science, Kyoto University, Kitashirakawa, Sakyo, Kyoto 606-8502; Advanced Research Center for Beam Science, Institute for Chemical Research, Kyoto University, Gokasho, Uji, Kyoto 611-0011

By pairing femtosecond laser pulses (duration ∼40 fs and central wavelength ∼810 nm) at an appropriate time interval, a laser-induced periodic surface structure (LIPSS) is formed with much less ablation than one formed with a single pulse. On a titanium plate, a pair of laser pulses with fluences of 70 and 140 mJ/cm{sup 2} and a rather large time interval (>10 ps) creates a LIPSS with an interspace of 600 nm, the same as that formed by a single pulse of 210 mJ/cm{sup 2}, while the double pulse ablates only 4 nm, a quarter of the ablation depth of a single pulse.

Dynamics of laser ablative shock waves from one dimensional periodic structured surfaces

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Paturi, Prem Kiran; Chelikani, Leela; Pinnoju, Venkateshwarlu; Acrhem Team

2015-06-01

Spatio-temporal evolution of Laser ablative shock waves (LASWs) from one dimensional periodic structured surfaces (1D-PSS) of Aluminum is studied using time resolved defocused shadowgraphy technique. LASWs are generated by focusing 7 ns pulses from second harmonic of Nd:YAG (532 nm, 10 Hz) laser on to 1D-PSS with sinusoidal and triangular modulations of varying periodicity. An expanded He-Ne laser (632.8 nm) is used as probe beam for shadowgraphy. Evolution of ablative shock front (SF) with 1.5 ns temporal resolution is used to measure position of the SF, its nature, density and pressure behind the SF. The effect of surface modulation on the LASW and contact front dynamics was compared to those from a flat surface (FS) of Aluminum. SWs from FS and PSS obeyed Taylor's solution for spherical and planar nature, respectively. The velocity of SF from 1D PSS had a twofold increase compared to the FS. This was further enhanced for structures whose periodicity is of the order of excitation wavelength. Variation of SF properties with varying periodicity over a range of 3.3 μm to 0.55 μm has the potential to tailor shockwaves of required parameters. The work is supported by Defence Research and Developement Organization, India through Grants-in-Aid Program. The periodic surfaces were procured with financial support from BRFST project No. NFP-MAT-A12-04.

High speed inscription of uniform, large-area laser-induced periodic surface structures in Cr films using a high repetition rate fs laser.

PubMed

Ruiz de la Cruz, A; Lahoz, R; Siegel, J; de la Fuente, G F; Solis, J

2014-04-15

We report on the fabrication of laser-induced periodic surface structures in Cr films upon high repetition rate fs laser irradiation (up to 1 MHz, 500 fs, 1030 nm), employing beam scanning. Highly regular large-area (9  cm2) gratings with a relative diffraction efficiency of 42% can be produced within less than 6 min. The ripple period at moderate and high fluences is 0.9 μm, with a small period of 0.5 μm appearing at lower energies. The role of the irradiation parameters on the characteristics of the laser-induced periodic surface structures (LIPSS) is studied and discussed in the frame of the models presently used. We have identified the polarization vector orientation with respect to the scan direction as a key parameter for the fabrication of high-quality, large-area LIPSS, which, for perpendicular orientation, allows the coherent extension of the sub-wavelength structure over macroscopic distances. The processing strategy is robust in terms of broad parameter windows and applicable to other materials featuring LIPSS.

Octave-spanning mid-infrared pulses by plasma generation in air pumped with an Yb:KGW source

PubMed Central

Huang, Jinqing; Parobek, Alexander; Ganim, Ziad

2016-01-01

Femtosecond mid-infrared (IR) supercontinuum generation in gas media provides a broadband source suited for time-domain spectroscopies and microscopies. This technology has largely utilized <100 fs Ti:sapphire pump lasers. In this Letter, we describe the first plasma generation mid-IR source based on a 1030 nm, 171 fs Yb:KGW laser system; when its first three harmonics are focused in air, a conical mode supercontinuum is generated that spans <1000 to 2700 cm−1 with a 190 pJ pulse energy and 0.5% RMS stability. PMID:27805634

Detection and identification of amino acids in Ficoll solutions with femtosecond laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Markushin, Y.; Sivakumar, P.; Melikechi, N.; Boukari, H.

2018-02-01

We report femtosecond Laser-induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (fs-LIBS) measurements on several amino acids (Serine, Glutamine, and Cysteine) and Albumin protein solutions mixed with Ficoll polysaccharide at different proportions. The goal is to assess the effects of a host matrix on the identification and spectral characterization of amino acids by fs-LIBS. fs-LIBS utilizes an intense short laser pulse to obliterate a sample into basic constituents and to record the emission spectrum of atoms, ions, and molecules in the cooling down of the plasma plume. Several spectral peaks associated primarily with elemental composition of a sample were observed in the fs-LIBS spectra in a range from 200 to 950 nm. In addition, some molecular information associated with diatomic vibrational modes in certain molecules such as C-C and C-N were also obtained. The presence of Ficoll affects the relative intensity and broadening of the CN band, which could be considered as signatures of the amino acids. The fs-LIBS data and their analysis compare favorably with those derived from Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR). Interpretation of the spectral information enclosed in the emission of the diatomic molecules during laser ablation may lead to a better understanding of plume chemistry with a direct consequence on chemical analysis of complex samples such as amino acids. Altogether, the results demonstrate the potential of fs-LIBS technique as a detection method of biomolecules and for probing interactions of these biomolecules with a host matrix.

Toward Generation of High Power Ultrafast White Light Laser Using Femtosecond Terawatt Laser in a Gas-Filled Hollow-Core Fiber

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tawfik, Walid

2015-06-01

In this work, we could experimentally achieved the generation of white-light laser pulses of few-cycle fs pulses using a neon-filled hollow-core fiber. The observed pulses reached 6-fs at at repetition rate of 1 kHz using 2.5 mJ of 31 fs femtosecond pulses. The pulse compressing achieved by the supercontinuum produced in static neon-filled hollow fibers while the dispersion compensation is achieved by five pairs of chirped mirrors. We showed that gas pressure can be used to continuously vary the bandwidth from 350 nm to 900 nm. Furthermore, the applied technique allows for a straightforward tuning of the pulse duration via the gas pressure whilst maintaining near-transform-limited pulses with constant output energy, thereby reducing the complications introduced by chirped pulses. Through measurements of the transmission through the fiber as a function of gas pressure, a high throughput exceeding 60% was achieved. Adaptive pulse compression is achieved by using the spectral phase obtained from a spectral phase interferometry for direct electric field reconstruction (SPIDER) measurement as feedback for a liquid crystal spatial light modulator (SLM). The spectral phase of these supercontinua is found to be extremely stable over several hours. This allowed us to demonstrate successful compression to pulses as short as 5.2 fs with controlled wide spectral bandwidth, which could be used to excite different states in complicated molecules at once.

0.4-1.4 μm Visible to Near-Infrared Widely Broadened Super Continuum Generation with Er-doped Ultrashort Pulse Fiber Laser System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nishizawa, Norihiko; Mitsuzawa, Hideyuki; Sumimura, Kazuhiko

2009-03-01

Visible to near-infrared widely broadened super continuum generation is demonstrated using ultrashort-pulse fiber laser system. Er-doped fiber chirped-pulse amplification system operated at 1550 nm in wavelength is used for the amplifier system, which generated ultrashort-pulse of 112 fs in FWHM with output power of 160 mW, on average. Almost pedestal free 200 fs second harmonic generation pulse is generated at 780 nm region using periodically poled LiNbO3 and conversion efficiency is as high as 37%. 0.45-1.40 μm widely broadened super continuum is generated in highly nonlinear photonic crystal fiber and spectrum flatness is within ±6 dB. All of the fiber devices are fusion spliced so that this system shows a good stability.

Mode coupling enhancement by astigmatism compensation in a femtosecond laser cavity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Castro-Olvera, Gustavo; Garduño-Mejía, Jesus; Rosete-Aguilar, Martha; Roman-Moreno, Carlos J.

2016-09-01

In this work we present a numerical analysis of the mode coupling between the pump-beam and the laser-beam in a Ti:Sapphire crystal used as a gain medium of a femtosecond laser. Using the Matrix ABCD and propagation gaussian beam models, we obtained an optimal configuration for compensate the astigmatism in the output beam laser. Also we analysed pump-beam propagation and got the settings to fix the astigmatism in the crystal. Furthermore we apply this configuration to a homemade femtosecond laser, accomplishing an overall efficiency of laser to 20% in continuum wave (CW) and 16% in mode looking (ML) operation. The femtosecond laser have 30 nm bandwidth to FWHM at 810 nm corresponding 30fs.

Diode-pumped Kerr-lens mode-locked femtosecond Yb:YAG ceramic laser

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zi-Ye, Gao; Jiang-Feng, Zhu; Ke, Wang; Jun-Li, Wang; Zhao-Hua, Wang; Zhi-Yi, Wei

2016-02-01

We experimentally demonstrated a diode-pumped Kerr-lens mode-locked femtosecond laser based on an Yb:YAG ceramic. Stable laser pulses with 97-fs duration, 2.8-nJ pulse energy, and 320-mW average power were obtained. The femtosecond oscillator operated at a central wavelength of 1049 nm and a repetition rate of 115 MHz. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first demonstration of a Kerr-lens mode-locked operation in a diode-pumped Yb:YAG ceramic laser with sub-100 fs pulse duration. Project supported by the National Major Scientific Instrument Development Project of China (Grant No. 2012YQ120047), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 61205130), and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities, China (Grant No. JB140502).

Generation of 70-fs pulses at 286 μm from a mid-infrared fiber laser

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Woodward, R. I.; Hudson, D. D.; Fuerbach, A.; Jackson, S. D.

2017-12-01

We propose and demonstrate a simple route to few-optical-cycle pulse generation from a mid-infrared fiber laser through nonlinear compression of pulses from a holmium-doped fiber oscillator using a short length of chalcogenide fiber and a grating pair. Pulses from the oscillator with 265-fs duration at 2.86 {\\mu}m are spectrally broadened through self-phase modulation in step-index As2S3 fiber to 141-nm bandwidth and then re-compressed to 70 fs (7.3 optical cycles). These are the shortest pulses from a mid-infrared fiber system to date, and we note that our system is compact, robust, and uses only commercially available components. The scalability of this approach is also discussed, supported by numerical modeling.

Selective generation of laser-induced periodic surface structures on Al2O3-ZrO2-Nb composites

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kunz, Clemens; Bartolomé, José F.; Gnecco, Enrico; Müller, Frank A.; Gräf, Stephan

2018-03-01

Laser-induced periodic surface structures (LIPSS) were selectively fabricated on the metal phase of Al2O3-nZrO2-Nb (78.3-1.7-20 vol.%) ceramic matrix composites. For this purpose, sample surfaces were irradiated with fs-laser pulses (τ = 300 fs, λ = 1025 nm) of different laser peak fluences ranging from 0.23 to 0.40 J/cm2. The structured surfaces were characterised by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR), and by measuring the water contact angle. Well-pronounced LIPSS with a period of Λ ≈ 750 nm and a height of h ≈ 263 nm were found solely on the metal phase of the composite when applying the highest fluence whereas no structural and chemical modifications were found on the surface of the ceramic matrix. This can be explained by the different light absorption behaviour of both phases, which results in different ablation thresholds. The water contact angle of composite surfaces was successfully reduced from 68.4° for untreated samples to 40.9° for structured samples. Selectively structured composites with adjustable wettability are of particular interest for biomedical and tribological applications.

Time-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy of polyatomic molecules using 42-nm vacuum ultraviolet laser based on high harmonics generation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nishitani, Junichi; West, Christopher W.; Higashimura, Chika; Suzuki, Toshinori

2017-09-01

Time-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy (TRPES) of gaseous polyatomic molecules using 266-nm (4.7 eV) pump and 42-nm (29.5 eV) probe pulses is presented. A 1-kHz Ti:sapphire laser with a 35 fs pulse duration is employed to generate high harmonics in Kr gas, and the 19th harmonic (42-nm) was selected using two SiC/Mg mirrors. Clear observation of the ultrafast electronic dephasing in pyrazine and photoisomerization of 1,3-cyclohexadiene demonstrates the feasibility of TRPES with the UV pump and VUV probe pulses under weak excitation conditions in the perturbation regime.

Space-Time Characterization of Laser Plasma Interactions in the Warm Dense Matter Regime

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Cao, L F; Uschmann, I; Forster, E

2008-04-30

Laser plasma interaction experiments have been performed using a fs Titanium Sapphire laser. Plasmas have been generated from planar PMMA targets using single laser pulses with 3.3 mJ pulse energy, 50 fs pulse duration at 800 nm wavelength. The electron density distributions of the plasmas in different delay times have been characterized by means of Nomarski Interferometry. Experimental data were compared with hydrodynamic simulation. First results to characterize the plasma density and temperature as a function of space and time are obtained. This work aims to generate plasmas in the warm dense matter (WDM) regime at near solid-density in anmore » ultra-fast laser target interaction process. Plasmas under these conditions can serve as targets to develop x-ray Thomson scattering as a plasma diagnostic tool, e.g., using the VUV free-electron laser (FLASH) at DESY Hamburg.« less

Direct analysis of intact biological macromolecules by low-energy, fiber-based femtosecond laser vaporization at 1042 nm wavelength with nanospray postionization mass spectrometry.

PubMed

Shi, Fengjian; Flanigan, Paul M; Archer, Jieutonne J; Levis, Robert J

2015-03-17

A fiber-based laser with a pulse duration of 435 fs and a wavelength of 1042 nm was used to vaporize biological macromolecules intact from the condensed phase into the gas phase for nanospray postionization and mass analysis. Laser vaporization of dried standard protein samples from a glass substrate by 10 Hz bursts of 20 pulses having 10 μs pulse separation and <50 μJ pulse energy resulted in signal comparable to a metal substrate. The protein signal observed from an aqueous droplet on a glass substrate was negligible compared to either a droplet on metal or a thin film on glass. The mass spectra generated from dried and aqueous protein samples by the low-energy, fiber laser were similar to the results from high-energy (500 μJ), 45-fs, 800-nm Ti:sapphire-based femtosecond laser electrospray mass spectrometry (LEMS) experiments, suggesting that the fiber-based femtosecond laser desorption mechanism involves a nonresonant, multiphoton process, rather than thermal- or photoacoustic-induced desorption. Direct analysis of whole blood performed without any pretreatment resulted in features corresponding to hemoglobin subunit-heme complex ions. The observation of intact molecular ions with low charge states from protein, and the tentatively assigned hemoglobin α subunit-heme complex from blood suggests that fiber-based femtosecond laser vaporization is a "soft" desorption source at a laser intensity of 2.39 × 10(12) W/cm(2). The low-energy, turnkey fiber laser demonstrates the potential of a more robust and affordable laser for femtosecond laser vaporization to deliver biological macromolecules into the gas phase for mass analysis.

Tetravalent Chromium (Cr(4+)) as Laser-Active Ion for Tunable Solid-State Lasers

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Seas, A.; Petricevic, V.; Alfano, Robert R.

1993-01-01

During 10/31/92 - 3/31/93, the following summarizes our major accomplishments: (1) the self-mode-locked operation of the Cr:forsterite laser was achieved; (2) synchronous pumping was used to mode lock the forsterite laser resulting in picosecond pulses, which in turn provided the starting mechanism for self-mode-locking; and (3) the pulses generated had a FWHW of 105 fs and were tunable between 1230 - 1270 nm.

Formation of organic layer on femtosecond laser-induced periodic surface structures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yasumaru, Naoki; Sentoku, Eisuke; Kiuchi, Junsuke

2017-05-01

Two types of laser-induced periodic surface structures (LIPSS) formed on titanium by femtosecond (fs) laser pulses (λ = 800 nm, τ = 180 fs, ν = 1 kHz) in air were investigated experimentally. At a laser fluence F above the ablation threshold, LIPSS with a minimum mean spacing of D < λ⁄2 were observed perpendicular to the laser polarization direction. In contrast, for F slightly below than the ablation threshold, ultrafine LIPSS with a minimum value of D < λ/10 were formed parallel to the polarization direction. The surface roughness of the parallel-oriented LIPSS was almost the same as that of the non-irradiated surface, unlike the high roughness of the perpendicular-oriented LIPSS. In addition, although the surface state of the parallel-oriented LIPSS was the same as that of the non-irradiated surface, the perpendicular-oriented LIPSS were covered with an organic thin film similar to a cellulose derivative that cannot be easily formed by conventional chemical synthesis. The results of these surface analyses indicate that these two types of LIPSS are formed through different mechanisms. This fs-laser processing technique may become a new technology for the artificial synthesis of cellulose derivatives.

175 fs-long pulses from a high-power single-mode Er-doped fiber laser at 1550 nm

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Elahi, Parviz; Kalaycıoğlu, Hamit; Li, Huihui; Akçaalan, Önder; Ilday, F. Ömer

2017-11-01

Development of Er-doped ultrafast lasers have lagged behind the corresponding developments in Yb- and Tm-doped lasers, in particular, fiber lasers. Various applications benefit from operation at a central wavelength of 1.5 μm and its second harmonic, including emerging applications such as 3D processing of silicon and 3D printing based on two-photon polymerization. We report a simple, robust fiber master oscillator power amplifier operating at 1.55 μm, implementing chirp pulse amplification using single-mode fibers for diffraction-limited beam quality. The laser generates 80 nJ pulses at a repetition rate of 43 MHz, corresponding to an average power of 3.5 W, which can be compressed down to 175 fs. The generation of short pulses was achieved using a design which is guided by numerical simulations of pulse propagation and amplification and manages to overturn gain narrowing with self-phase modulation, without invoking excessive Raman scattering processes. The seed source for the two-stage amplifier is a dispersion-managed passively mode-locked oscillator, which generates a ∼40 nm-wide spectrum and 1.7-ps linearly chirped pulses.

Towards a Compact Fiber Laser for Multimodal Imaging

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nie, Bai; Saytashev, Ilyas; Dantus, Marcos

We report on multimodal depth-resolved imaging of unstained living Drosophila Melanogaster larva using sub-50 fs pulses centered at 1060 nm wavelength. Both second harmonic and third harmonic generation imaging modalities are demonstrated.

Towards a compact fiber laser for multimodal imaging

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nie, Bai; Saytashev, Ilyas; Dantus, Marcos

2014-03-01

We report on multimodal depth-resolved imaging of unstained living Drosophila Melanogaster larva using sub-50 fs pulses centered at 1060 nm wavelength. Both second harmonic and third harmonic generation imaging modalities are demonstrated.

L-band ultrafast fiber laser mode locked by carbon nanotubes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sun, Z.; Rozhin, A. G.; Wang, F.; Scardaci, V.; Milne, W. I.; White, I. H.; Hennrich, F.; Ferrari, A. C.

2008-08-01

We fabricate a nanotube-polyvinyl alcohol saturable absorber with a broad absorption at 1.6 μm. We demonstrate a pulsed fiber laser working in the telecommunication L band by using this composite as a mode locker. This gives ˜498±16 fs pulses at 1601 nm with a 26.7 MHz repetition rate.

Femtosecond few- to single-electron point-projection microscopy for nanoscale dynamic imaging

PubMed Central

Bainbridge, A. R.; Barlow Myers, C. W.; Bryan, W. A.

2016-01-01

Femtosecond electron microscopy produces real-space images of matter in a series of ultrafast snapshots. Pulses of electrons self-disperse under space-charge broadening, so without compression, the ideal operation mode is a single electron per pulse. Here, we demonstrate femtosecond single-electron point projection microscopy (fs-ePPM) in a laser-pump fs-e-probe configuration. The electrons have an energy of only 150 eV and take tens of picoseconds to propagate to the object under study. Nonetheless, we achieve a temporal resolution with a standard deviation of 114 fs (equivalent to a full-width at half-maximum of 269 ± 40 fs) combined with a spatial resolution of 100 nm, applied to a localized region of charge at the apex of a nanoscale metal tip induced by 30 fs 800 nm laser pulses at 50 kHz. These observations demonstrate real-space imaging of reversible processes, such as tracking charge distributions, is feasible whilst maintaining femtosecond resolution. Our findings could find application as a characterization method, which, depending on geometry, could resolve tens of femtoseconds and tens of nanometres. Dynamically imaging electric and magnetic fields and charge distributions on sub-micron length scales opens new avenues of ultrafast dynamics. Furthermore, through the use of active compression, such pulses are an ideal seed for few-femtosecond to attosecond imaging applications which will access sub-optical cycle processes in nanoplasmonics. PMID:27158637

1997 Technical Digest Series. Volume 7: Applications of High Field and Short Wavelength Sources VII

DTIC Science & Technology

1997-03-01

clusters irradiated with ultrashort , high intensity laser pulses can exhibit "ionization ig- nition" which leads...8, 9]. 25-atom Ne clusters and 25-atom Ar clusters are modelled as irradiated by a 800 nm, 15 fs (fwhm) laser pulse with peak intensities ranging...Measurements of the spatial and spectral properties of ultrashort , intense laser pulses propagating in underdense plasmas demonstrate

Combination of photothermal and photodynamic inactivation of cancer cells through surface plasmon resonance of a gold nanoring

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chu, Chih-Ken; Tu, Yi-Chou; Hsiao, Jen-Hung; Yu, Jian-He; Yu, Chih-Kang; Chen, Shih-Yang; Tseng, Po-Hao; Chen, Shuai; Kiang, Yean-Woei; Yang, C. C.

2016-03-01

We demonstrate effective inactivation of oral cancer cells SAS through a combination of photothermal therapy (PTT) and photodynamic therapy (PDT) effects based on localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) around 1064 nm in wavelength of a Au nanoring (NRI) under femtosecond (fs) laser illumination. The PTT effect is caused by the LSPR-enhanced absorption of the Au NRI. The PDT effect is generated by linking the Au NRI with the photosensitizer of sulfonated aluminum phthalocyanines (AlPcS) for producing singlet oxygen through the LSPR-enhanced two-photon absorption (TPA) excitation of AlPcS. The laser threshold intensity for cancer cell inactivation with the applied Au NRI linked with AlPcS is significantly lower when compared to that with the Au NRI not linked with AlPcS. The comparison of inactivation threshold intensity between the cases of fs and continuous laser illuminations at the same wavelength and with the same average power confirms the crucial factor of TPA under fs laser illumination for producing the PDT effect.

Enhanced stimulated Raman scattering by femtosecond ultraviolet plasma grating in water

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Fengjiang; Yuan, Shuai; He, Boqu; Nan, Junyi; Khan, Abdul Qayyum; Ding, Liang'en; Zeng, Heping

2018-02-01

Efficient forward stimulated Raman scattering (SRS) was observed along 400-nm femtosecond (fs) laser filaments in water. SRS conversion dominated over self-phase modulation induced continuum generation as the input pulse energy was above 4 μJ (˜30 Pcr), implying that plasma in the aqueous filamentation channel played an important role in compensating for the group velocity walk-off between the pump and Stokes pulses. By overlapping two synchronous fs 400-nm filaments to form plasma grating in water, significant enhancement of SRS conversion was observed. Such a SRS enhancement originated from the ultrahigh plasma density in the intersection region of the preformed plasma grating.

Excitation of H+2 with one-cycle laser pulses: shaped post-laser-field electronic oscillations, generation of higher- and lower-order harmonics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Paramonov, Guennaddi K.; Kühn, Oliver; Bandrauk, André D.

2017-08-01

Non-Born-Oppenheimer quantum dynamics of H+2 excited by shaped one-cycle laser pulses linearly polarised along the molecular axis have been studied by the numerical solution of the time-dependent Schrödinger equation within a three-dimensional model, including the internuclear separation, R, and the electron coordinates z and ρ. Laser carrier frequencies corresponding to the wavelengths λl = 25 nm through λl = 400 nm were used and the amplitudes of the pulses were chosen such that the energy of H+2 was close to its dissociation threshold at the end of any laser pulse applied. It is shown that there exists a characteristic oscillation frequency ωosc ≃ 0.2265 au (corresponding to the period of τosc ≃ 0.671 fs and the wavelength of λosc ≃ 201 nm) that manifests itself as a 'carrier' frequency of temporally shaped oscillations of the time-dependent expectation values ⟨z ⟩ and ⟨∂V/∂z ⟩ that emerge at the ends of the laser pulses and exist on a timescale of at least 50 fs. Time-dependent expectation values ⟨ρ⟩ and ⟨∂V /∂ρ⟩ of the optically passive degree of freedom, ρ, demonstrate post-laser-field oscillations at two basic frequencies ωρ1 ≈ ωosc and ωρ2 ≈ 2ωosc. Power spectra associated with the electronic motion show higher- and lower-order harmonics with respect to the driving field.

Femtosecond laser-controlled self-assembly of amorphous-crystalline nanogratings in silicon

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Puerto, Daniel; Garcia-Lechuga, Mario; Hernandez-Rueda, Javier; Garcia-Leis, Adianez; Sanchez-Cortes, Santiago; Solis, Javier; Siegel, Jan

2016-07-01

Self-assembly (SA) of molecular units to form regular, periodic extended structures is a powerful bottom-up technique for nanopatterning, inspired by nature. SA can be triggered in all classes of solid materials, for instance, by femtosecond laser pulses leading to the formation of laser-induced periodic surface structures (LIPSS) with a period slightly shorter than the laser wavelength. This approach, though, typically involves considerable material ablation, which leads to an unwanted increase of the surface roughness. We present a new strategy to fabricate high-precision nanograting structures in silicon, consisting of alternating amorphous and crystalline lines, with almost no material removal. The strategy can be applied to static irradiation experiments and can be extended into one and two dimensions by scanning the laser beam over the sample surface. We demonstrate that lines and areas with parallel nanofringe patterns can be written by an adequate choice of spot size, repetition rate and scan velocity, keeping a constant effective pulse number (N eff) per area for a given laser wavelength. A deviation from this pulse number leads either to inhomogeneous or ablative structures. Furthermore, we demonstrate that this approach can be used with different laser systems having widely different wavelengths (1030 nm, 800 nm, 400 nm), pulse durations (370 fs, 100 fs) and repetition rates (500 kHz, 100 Hz, single pulse) and that the grating period can also be tuned by changing the angle of laser beam incidence. The grating structures can be erased by irradiation with a single nanosecond laser pulse, triggering recrystallization of the amorphous stripes. Given the large differences in electrical conductivity between the two phases, our structures could find new applications in nanoelectronics.

Femtosecond laser-controlled self-assembly of amorphous-crystalline nanogratings in silicon.

PubMed

Puerto, Daniel; Garcia-Lechuga, Mario; Hernandez-Rueda, Javier; Garcia-Leis, Adianez; Sanchez-Cortes, Santiago; Solis, Javier; Siegel, Jan

2016-07-01

Self-assembly (SA) of molecular units to form regular, periodic extended structures is a powerful bottom-up technique for nanopatterning, inspired by nature. SA can be triggered in all classes of solid materials, for instance, by femtosecond laser pulses leading to the formation of laser-induced periodic surface structures (LIPSS) with a period slightly shorter than the laser wavelength. This approach, though, typically involves considerable material ablation, which leads to an unwanted increase of the surface roughness. We present a new strategy to fabricate high-precision nanograting structures in silicon, consisting of alternating amorphous and crystalline lines, with almost no material removal. The strategy can be applied to static irradiation experiments and can be extended into one and two dimensions by scanning the laser beam over the sample surface. We demonstrate that lines and areas with parallel nanofringe patterns can be written by an adequate choice of spot size, repetition rate and scan velocity, keeping a constant effective pulse number (N eff) per area for a given laser wavelength. A deviation from this pulse number leads either to inhomogeneous or ablative structures. Furthermore, we demonstrate that this approach can be used with different laser systems having widely different wavelengths (1030 nm, 800 nm, 400 nm), pulse durations (370 fs, 100 fs) and repetition rates (500 kHz, 100 Hz, single pulse) and that the grating period can also be tuned by changing the angle of laser beam incidence. The grating structures can be erased by irradiation with a single nanosecond laser pulse, triggering recrystallization of the amorphous stripes. Given the large differences in electrical conductivity between the two phases, our structures could find new applications in nanoelectronics.

Pore size assessment during corneal endothelial cells permeabilization by femtosecond laser activated carbon nanoparticles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jumelle, C.; Mauclair, C.; Houzet, J.; Bernard, A.; He, Z.; Piselli, S.; Perrache, C.; Egaud, G.; Baubeau, E.; Gain, P.; Thuret, G.

2015-07-01

Corneal therapeutic molecules delivery represents a promising solution to maintain human corneal endothelial cells (HCECs) viability, but the difficulty is transport across cell membrane. A new delivery method published recently consists in ephemerally permeabilizing cell membranes using a photo-acoustic reaction produced by carbon nanoparticles (CNPs) and femtosecond laser (FsL). The aim of this work is to investigate the size of pores formed at cell membrane by this technique. To induce cell permeabilization, HCECs were put in contact with CNPs and irradiated with a 500 μm diameter Ti:Sa FsL focalized spot. Four sizes of marker molecules were delivered into HCECs to investigate pore sizes: calcein (1.2 nm), FITC-Dextran 4kDa (2.8 nm) and FITC-Dextran 70kDa (12 nm) and FITC-Dextran 2MDa (50 nm). Delivery of each molecule was assessed by flow cytometry, a technique able to measure their presence into cells. We showed that the delivery rate was dependent of their size. Calcein was delivered in 56.1±8.2% of HCECs, FITC-Dextran 4kDa in 42.2±3.5%, FITC-Dextran 70 kDa in 21.5±2.7% and finally FITC-Dextran 2MDa in 12.9±2.0%. It means that a large number of pores in the size ranging from 1.2 to 2.8 nm were formed. However, 12 nm and larger pores were almost half more infrequent. Pore sizes formed at cell membrane by the technique of cell permeabilization by FsL activated CNPs was investigated. The results indicated that the pore sizes are large enough for the efficient delivery of small, medium and big therapeutics molecules on HCECs by this technique.

Deep in vivo two-photon microscopy with a low cost custom built mode-locked 1060 nm fiber laser

PubMed Central

Perillo, Evan P.; McCracken, Justin E.; Fernée, Daniel C.; Goldak, John R.; Medina, Flor A.; Miller, David R.; Yeh, Hsin-Chih; Dunn, Andrew K.

2016-01-01

Here we demonstrate that a mode-locked ytterbium fiber laser for two-photon fluorescence microscopy can be built for $13,000. The laser emits at a wavelength of 1060 nm with a usable average power of 1 W at a repetition rate of 40 MHz and a compressed pulse width of 81 fs at the sample. The laser is used to obtain deep in vivo two-color images of layer-V pyramidal neurons expressing YFP and vasculature labelled with Texas Red at depths up to 900 µm. The sub-1 µm features of dendritic spines can be resolved at a 200 µm depth. PMID:26977343

Spectroscopy and laser operation of Indium-modified Yb:KLuW: a promising crystal for femtosecond lasers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mateos, Xavier; Serres, Josep Maria; Loiko, Pavel; Yumashev, Konstantin; Griebner, Uwe; Petrov, Valentin; Aguiló, Magdalena; Díaz, Francesc

2017-02-01

We report on the growth, spectroscopic and laser characterization of a novel monoclinic laser crystal, 3.5 at.% Yb, 5.5 at.% In:KLu(WO4)2 (Yb,In:KLuW). Single-crystals of high optical quality are grown by the TSSG method. The absorption, stimulated-emission and gain cross-sections are determined for this material at room temperature with polarized light. The maximum σabs is 9.9×10-20 cm2 at 980.8 nm for light polarization E || Nm. The radiative lifetime of Yb3+ in Yb,In:KLuW is 237+/-5 μs. The stimulated-emission cross-sections are σSE(m) = 2.4×10-20 cm2 at 1022.4 nm and σSE(p) = 1.3×10-20 cm2 at 1039.1 nm corresponding to an emission bandwidth of >30 nm and >35 nm, respectively. A diode-pumped Ng-cut Yb,In:KLuW microchip laser generates 4.11 W at 1047-1052 nm with a slope efficiency of 78%. Passive Q-switching of a Yb,In:KLuW laser is also demonstrated. The Yb,In:KLuW crystal seems very promising for sub-100 fs mode-locked lasers.

Picosecond transient backward stimulated Raman scattering and pumping of femtosecond dye lasers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Arrivo, Steven M.; Spears, Kenneth G.; Sipior, Jeffrey

1995-02-01

We report studies of transient, backward stimulated, Raman scattering (TBSRS) in solvents with a 10 Hz, 27 ps, 532 nm pump laser. The TBSRS effect was used to create pulses at 545 nm and 630 nm with durations of 2-3 ps and 5-10 μJ of energy. The duration, energy and fluctuations of the Raman pulse were studied as a function of pump energy and focal parameters. A 5 μJ Raman pulse was amplified in either a Raman amplifier or two stage dye amplifier to 1 mJ levels. A 545 nm pulse of 3 ps duration was generated in CCl 4 and was then used to pump a short cavity dye laser (SCDL). The SCDL oscillator and a 5 stage dye amplifier provided a pulse of 700 fs and 400 μJ that was tunable near 590 nm.

Low-cost, single-mode diode-pumped Cr:Colquiriite lasers.

PubMed

Demirbas, Umit; Li, Duo; Birge, Jonathan R; Sennaroglu, Alphan; Petrich, Gale S; Kolodziejski, Leslie A; Kaertner, Franz X; Fujimoto, James G

2009-08-03

We present three Cr3+:Colquiriite lasers as low-cost alternatives to Ti:Sapphire laser technology. Single-mode laser diodes, which cost only $150 each, were used as pump sources. In cw operation, with approximately 520 mW of absorbed pump power, up to 257, 269 and 266 mW of output power and slope efficiencies of 53%, 62% and 54% were demonstrated for Cr:LiSAF, Cr:LiSGaF and Cr:LiCAF, respectively. Record cw tuning ranges from 782 to 1042 nm for Cr:LiSAF, 777 to 977 nm for Cr:LiSGaF, and 754 to 871 nm for Cr:LiCAF were demonstrated. In cw mode-locking experiments using semiconductor saturable absorber mirrors at 800 and 850 nm, Cr:Colquiriite lasers produced approximately 50-100 fs pulses with approximately 1-2.5 nJ pulse energies at approximately 100 MHz repetition rate. Electrical-to-optical conversion efficiencies of 8% in mode-locked operation and 12% in cw operation were achieved.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Atanasov, Petar A., E-mail: paatanas@ie.bas.bg; Nedyalkov, Nikolay N.; Valova, Eugenia I.

We present an experimental analysis on surface structuring of polydimethylsiloxane films with UV (263 nm) femtosecond laser pulses, in air. Laser processed areas are analyzed by optical microscopy, SEM, and μ-Raman spectroscopy. The laser-treated sample shows the formation of a randomly nanostructured surface morphology. μ-Raman spectra, carried out at both 514 and 785 nm excitation wavelengths, prior and after laser treatment allow evidencing the changes in the sample structure. The influence of the laser fluence on the surface morphology is studied. Finally, successful electro-less metallization of the laser-processed sample is achieved, even after several months from the laser-treatment contrary to previous observationmore » with nanosecond pulses. Our findings address the effectiveness of fs-laser treatment and chemical metallization of polydimethylsiloxane films with perspective technological interest in micro-fabrication devices for MEMS and nano-electromechanical systems.« less

Ridge waveguide laser in Nd:LiNbO3 by Zn-diffusion and femtosecond-laser structuring

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Martínez de Mendívil, Jon; del Hoyo, Jesús; Solís, Javier; Lifante, Ginés

2016-12-01

Ridge waveguide lasers have been fabricated on Nd3+ doped LiNbO3 crystals. The fs-laser writing technique was used to define ridge structures on a gradient-index planar waveguide fabricated by Zn-diffusion. This planar waveguide was formed in a z-cut LiNbO3 substrate homogeneously doped with a 0.23% of Nd3+ ions. To obtain lateral light confinement, the surface was then micromachined using a multiplexed femtosecond laser writing beam, forming the ridge structures. By butting two mirrors at the channel waveguide end-facets, forming a waveguide laser cavity, TM-polarized laser action at 1085 nm was achieved by end-fire TM-pumping at 815 nm. The waveguide laser shows a threshold of 31 mW, with a 7% of slope efficiency.

Ultra-fast nonlinear optical properties and photophysical mechanism of a novel pyrene derivative

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Youwei; Yang, Junyi; Xiao, Zhengguo; Song, Yinglin

2016-10-01

The third-order nonlinear optical properties of 1-(pyrene-1-y1)-3-(3-methylthiophene) acrylic keton named PMTAK was investigated by using Z-scan technique. The light sources for picoseconds(ps) and femtosecond(fs) Z-scan were a mode-locked Nd: YAG laser (21 ps, 532 nm,10 Hz) and an Yb: KGW based fiber laser (190 fs, 515 nm,532 nm, 20 Hz), respectively. In the two cases, reverse saturation absorption(RSA) are observed. The dynamics of the sample's optical nonlinearity is discussed via the femtosecond time-resolved pump probe with phase object at 515nm. We believe that the molecules in excited state of particle population count is caused by two-photon absorption(TPA). The five-level theoretical model is used to analysis the optical nonlinear mechanism. Combining with the result of picosecond Z-scan experiment, a set of optical nonlinear parameters are calculated out. The femtosecond Z-scan experiment is taken to confirm these parameters. The obvious excited-state nonlinearity is found by the set of parameters. The result shows that the sample has good optical nonlinearity which indicates it has potential applications in nonlinear optics field.

Broadband Optical Active Waveguides Written by Femtosecond Laser Pulses in Lithium Fluoride

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ismael, Chiamenti; Francesca, Bonfigli; Anderson, S. L. Gomes; Rosa, Maria Montereali; Larissa, N. da Costa; Hypolito, J. Kalinowski

2014-01-01

Broadband waveguiding through light-emitting strips directly written in a blank lithium fluoride crystal with a femtosecond laser is reported. Light guiding was observed at several optical wavelengths, from blue, 458 nm, to near-infrared, at 1550 nm. Visible photoluminescence spectra of the optically active F2 and F3+ color centers produced by the fs laser writing process were measured. The wavelength-dependent refractive index increase was estimated to be in the order of 10-3-10-4 in the visible and near-infrared spectral intervals, which is consistent with the stable formation of point defects in LiF.

Femtosecond wavelength tunable semiconductor optical amplifier fiber laser mode-locked by backward dark-optical-comb injection at 10 GHz.

PubMed

Lin, Gong-Ru; Chiu, I-Hsiang

2005-10-31

Femtosecond nonlinear pulse compression of a wavelength-tunable, backward dark-optical-comb injection harmonic-mode-locked semiconductor optical amplifier based fiber laser (SOAFL) is demonstrated for the first time. Shortest mode-locked SOAFL pulsewidth of 15 ps at 1 GHz is generated, which can further be compressed to 180 fs after linear chirp compensation, nonlinear soliton compression, and birefringent filtering. A maximum pulsewidth compression ratio for the compressed eighth-order SOAFL soliton of up to 80 is reported. The pedestal-free eighth-order soliton can be obtained by injecting the amplified pulse with peak power of 51 W into a 107.5m-long single-mode fiber (SMF), providing a linewidth and time-bandwidth product of 13.8 nm and 0.31, respectively. The tolerance in SMF length is relatively large (100-300 m) for obtaining <200fs SOAFL pulsewidth at wavelength tuning range of 1530-1560 nm. By extending the repetition frequency of dark-optical-comb up to 10 GHz, the mode-locked SOAFL pulsewidth can be slightly shortened from 5.4 ps to 3.9 ps after dispersion compensating, and further to 560 fs after second-order soliton compression. The lasing linewidth, time-bandwidth product and pulsewidth suppressing ratio of the SOAFL soliton become 4.5 nm, 0.33, and 10, respectively.

Laser-induced periodic surface structures on titanium upon single- and two-color femtosecond double-pulse irradiation.

PubMed

Höhm, Sandra; Rosenfeld, Arkadi; Krüger, Jörg; Bonse, Jörn

2015-10-05

Single- and two-color double-fs-pulse experiments were performed on titanium to study the dynamics of the formation of laser-induced periodic surface structures (LIPSS). A Mach-Zehnder inter-ferometer generated polarization controlled (parallel or cross-polarized) double-pulse sequences in two configurations - either at 800 nm only, or at 400 and 800 nm wavelengths. The inter-pulse delays of the individual 50-fs pulses ranged up to some tens of picoseconds. Multiple of these single- or two-color double-fs-pulse sequences were collinearly focused by a spherical mirror to the sample surface. In both experimental configurations, the peak fluence of each individual pulse was kept below its respective ablation threshold and only the joint action of both pulses lead to the formation of LIPSS. Their resulting characteristics were analyzed by scanning electron microscopy and the periods were quantified by Fourier analyses. The LIPSS periods along with the orientation allow a clear identification of the pulse which dominates the energy coupling to the material. A plasmonic model successfully explains the delay-dependence of the LIPSS on titanium and confirms the importance of the ultrafast energy deposition stage for LIPSS formation.

Aerospace Sponsored Research Summary Report for 1 October 1989 Through 30 September 1990. Scientific and Engineering Research

DTIC Science & Technology

1990-12-01

3,4]. This work allowed us to view the ultrashort ( - 100 fs) pulses . While this laser was being temporal characteristics of the absorption spectrum...regions of high intensity in single water drop- lets (a = 60 Ant) following excita- tion by a single 7-ns, 532-nn laser pulse . Resonant 532-nm laser ...electronic properties of cluster ions of ion beam and the laser pulse , any desired mass range for simple metals (alkali metals). Our earlier efforts

Palm-top-size, 1.5 kW peak-power, and femtosecond (160 fs) diode-pumped mode-locked Yb+3:KY(WO4)2 solid-state laser with a semiconductor saturable absorber mirror.

PubMed

Yamazoe, Shogo; Katou, Masaki; Adachi, Takashi; Kasamatsu, Tadashi

2010-03-01

We report a palm-top-size femtosecond diode-pumped mode-locked Yb(+3):KY(WO(4))(2) solid-state laser with a semiconductor saturable absorber mirror utilizing soliton mode locking for shortening the cavity to 50 mm. An average output power of 680 mW and a pulse width of 162 fs were obtained at 1045 nm with a repetition rate of 2.8 GHz, which led to a peak power of 1.5 kW. Average power fluctuations of a modularized laser source were found to be +/-10% for the free-running 3000 h operation and +/-1% for the power-controlled 2000 h operation.

Single-shot carrier-envelope-phase-tagged ion-momentum imaging of nonsequential double ionization of argon in intense 4-fs laser fields

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Johnson, Nora G.; Herrwerth, O.; Wirth, A.

2011-01-15

Single-shot carrier-envelope-phase (CEP) tagging is combined with a reaction mircoscope (REMI) to investigate CEP-dependent processes in atoms. Excellent experimental stability and data acquisition longevity are achieved. Using this approach, we study the CEP effects for nonsequential double ionization of argon in 4-fs laser fields at 750 nm and an intensity of 1.6x10{sup 14} W/cm{sup 2}. The Ar{sup 2+} ionization yield shows a pronounced CEP dependence which compares well with recent theoretical predictions employing quantitative rescattering theory [S. Micheau et al., Phys. Rev. A 79, 013417 (2009)]. Furthermore, we find strong CEP influences on the Ar{sup 2+} momentum spectra along themore » laser polarization axis.« less

Increased x-ray conversion efficiency from ultra high contrast, relativistic laser pulse irradiation of large aspect ratio, vertically aligned nanowires

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hollinger, R. C.; Bargsten, C.; Shlyaptsev, V. N.; Kaymak, V.; Pukhov, A.; Capeluto, M. G.; Wang, Y.; Wang, S.; Rockwood, A.; Curtis, A.; Rocca, J. J.

2016-10-01

Recent experiments at Colorado State University have shown that the effective trapping of clean, Joule-level fs laser pulses of relativistic intensity in arrays of high aspect ratio aligned nanowire creates multi-kev, near solid density, large scale (>4um deep) plasmas. The drastically decreased radiative life time and increased hydrodynamic cooling time from these plasmas increases the x-ray conversion efficiency. We measured a record conversion efficiency of 10% into hv>1KeV photons (2pi steradians), and of 0.3% for hv>6KeV. The experiments used Au and Ni nanowires of 55nm, 80nm and 100nm in diameter with 12% of solid density irradiated by high contrast (>1012) pulses of 60fs FWHM duration from a frequency doubled Ti:Sa laser at intensities of I =5x1019Wcm-2. We also present preliminary results on x-ray emission from Rhodium nanowires in the 19-22KeV range and demonstrate the potential of this picosecond X-ray source in flash radiography. This work was supported by the Fusion Energy Program, Office of Science of the U.S Department of Energy, and by the Defense Threat Reduction Agency Grant HDTRA-1-10-1-0079.

Generation of an isolated sub-40-as pulse using two-color laser pulses: Combined chirp effects

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Feng, Liqiang; Chu, Tianshu; Institute for Computational Sciences and Engineering, Laboratory of New Fiber Materials and Modern Textile, the Growing Base for State Key Laboratory, Qingdao University, Qingdao, 266071

2011-11-15

In this paper, we theoretically discuss the combined chirp effects on the isolated attosecond generation when a model Ar is exposed to an intense 5-fs, 800-nm fundamental chirped pulse combined with a weak 10-fs, 1200-nm controlling chirped pulse. It shows that for the case of the chirp parameters {beta}{sub 1} = 6.1 (corresponding to the 800-nm field) and {beta}{sub 2} = 4.0 (corresponding to the 1200-nm field), both the harmonic cutoff energy and the supercontinuum can be remarkably extended resulting in a 663-eV bandwidth. Moreover, due to the introduction of the chirps, the short quantum path is selected to contributemore » to the harmonic spectrum. Finally, by superposing a properly selected harmonic spectrum in the supercontinuum region, an isolated pulse as short as 31 as (5 as) is generated without (with) phase compensation.« less

Generation of 103 fs mode-locked pulses by a gain linewidth-variable Nd,Y:CaF2 disordered crystal.

PubMed

Qin, Z P; Xie, G Q; Ma, J; Ge, W Y; Yuan, P; Qian, L J; Su, L B; Jiang, D P; Ma, F K; Zhang, Q; Cao, Y X; Xu, J

2014-04-01

We have demonstrated a diode-pumped passively mode-locked femtosecond Nd,Y:CaF2 disordered crystal laser for the first time to our knowledge. By choosing appropriate Y-doping concentration, a broad fluorescence linewidth of 31 nm has been obtained from the gain linewidth-variable Nd,Y:CaF2 crystal. With the Nd,Y:CaF2 disordered crystal as gain medium, the mode-locked laser generated pulses with pulse duration as short as 103 fs, average output power of 89 mW, and repetition rate of 100 MHz. To our best knowledge, this is the shortest pulse generated from Nd-doped crystal lasers so far. The research results show that the Nd,Y:CaF2 disordered crystal will be a potential alternative as gain medium of repetitive chirped pulse amplification for high-peak-power lasers.

Femtosecond Cr:LiSAF and Cr:LiCAF lasers pumped by tapered diode lasers.

PubMed

Demirbas, Umit; Schmalz, Michael; Sumpf, Bernd; Erbert, Götz; Petrich, Gale S; Kolodziejski, Leslie A; Fujimoto, James G; Kärtner, Franz X; Leitenstorfer, Alfred

2011-10-10

We report compact, low-cost and efficient Cr:Colquiriite lasers that are pumped by high brightness tapered laser diodes. The tapered laser diodes provided 1 to 1.2 W of output power around 675 nm, at an electrical-to-optical conversion efficiency of about 30%. Using a single tapered diode laser as the pump source, we have demonstrated output powers of 500 mW and 410 mW together with slope efficiencies of 47% and 41% from continuous wave (cw) Cr:LiSAF and Cr:LiCAF lasers, respectively. In cw mode-locked operation, sub-100-fs pulse trains with average power between 200 mW and 250 mW were obtained at repetition rates around 100 MHz. Upon pumping the Cr:Colquiriite lasers with two tapered laser diodes (one from each side of the crystal), we have observed scaling of cw powers to 850 mW in Cr:LiSAF and to 650 mW in Cr:LiCAF. From the double side pumped Cr:LiCAF laser, we have also obtained ~220 fs long pulses with 5.4 nJ of pulse energy at 77 MHz repetition rate. These are the highest energy levels reported from Cr:Colquiriite so far at these repetition rates. Our findings indicate that tapered diodes in the red spectral region are likely to become the standard pump source for Cr:Colquiriite lasers in the near future. Moreover, the simplified pumping scheme might facilitate efficient commercialization of Cr:Colquiriite systems, bearing the potential to significantly boost applications of cw and femtosecond lasers in this spectral region (750-1000 nm).

Cutaneous porphyrins exhibit anti-stokes fluorescence that is detectable in sebum (Conference Presentation)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tian, Giselle; Zeng, Haishan; Zhao, Jianhua; Wu, Zhenguo; Al Jasser, Mohammed; Lui, Harvey; Mclean, David I.

2016-02-01

Porphyrins produced by Propionibacterium acnes represent the principal fluorophore associated with acne, and appear as orange-red luminescence under the Wood's lamp. Assessment of acne based on Wood's lamp (UV) or visible light illumination is limited by photon penetration depth and has limited sensitivity for earlier stage lesions. Inducing fluorescence with near infrared (NIR) excitation may provide an alternative way to assess porphyrin-related skin disorders. We discovered that under 785 nm CW laser excitation PpIX powder exhibits fluorescence emission in the shorter wavelength range of 600-715 nm with an intensity that is linearly dependent on the excitation power. We attribute this shorter wavelength emission to anti-Stokes fluorescence. Similar anti-Stokes fluorescence was also detected focally in all skin-derived samples containing porphyrins. Regular (Stokes) fluorescence was present under UV and visible light excitation on ex vivo nasal skin and sebum from uninflamed acne, but not on nose surface smears or sebum from inflamed acne. Co-registered CW laser-excited anti-Stokes fluorescence and fs laser-excited multi-photon fluorescence images of PpIX powder showed similar features. In the skin samples because of the anti-Stokes effect, the NIR-induced fluorescence was presumably specific for porphyrins since there appeared to be no anti-Stokes emission signals from other typical skin fluorophores such as lipids, keratins and collagen. Anti-Stokes fluorescence under NIR CW excitation is more sensitive and specific for porphyrin detection than UV- or visible light-excited regular fluorescence and fs laser-excited multi-photon fluorescence. This approach also has higher image contrast compared to NIR fs laser-based multi-photon fluorescence imaging. The anti-Stokes fluorescence of porphyrins within sebum could potentially be applied to detecting and targeting acne lesions for treatment via fluorescence image guidance.

Polarization dependent formation of femtosecond laser-induced periodic surface structures near stepped features

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Murphy, Ryan D.; Torralva, Ben; Adams, David P.

2014-06-09

Laser-induced periodic surface structures (LIPSS) are formed near 110 nm-tall Au microstructured edges on Si substrates after single-pulse femtosecond irradiation with a 150 fs pulse centered near a 780 nm wavelength. We investigate the contributions of Fresnel diffraction from step-edges and surface plasmon polariton (SPP) excitation to LIPSS formation on Au and Si surfaces. For certain laser polarization vector orientations, LIPSS formation is dominated by SPP excitation; however, when SPP excitation is minimized, Fresnel diffraction dominates. The LIPSS orientation and period distributions are shown to depend on which mechanism is activated. These results support previous observations of the laser polarization vectormore » influencing LIPSS formation on bulk surfaces.« less

Tunable femtosecond near-infrared source based on a Yb:LYSO-laser-pumped optical parametric oscillator

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wen-Long, Tian; Zhao-Hua, Wang; Jiang-Feng, Zhu; Zhi-Yi, Wei

2016-01-01

We demonstrate a widely tunable near-infrared source from 767 nm to 874 nm generated by the intracavity second harmonic generation (SHG) in an optical parametric oscillator pumped by a Yb:LYSO solid-state laser. The home-made Yb:LYSO oscillator centered at 1035 nm delivers an average power of 2 W and a pulse duration as short as 351 fs. Two MgO doped periodically poled lithium niobates (MgO:PPLN) with grating periods of 28.5-31.5 μm in steps of 0.5 μm and 19.5-21.3 μm in steps of 0.2 μm are used for the OPO and intracavity SHG, respectively. The maximum average output power of 180 mW at 798 nm was obtained and the output pulses have pulse duration of 313 fs at 792 nm if a sech2-pulse shape was assumed. In addition, tunable signal femtosecond pulses from 1428 nm to 1763 nm are also realized with the maximum average power of 355 mW at 1628 nm. Project supported by the National Key Basic Research Program of China (Grant No. 2013CB922402), the National Key Scientific Instruments Development Program of China (Grant No. 2012YQ120047), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 61205130 and 11174361), and the Key Deployment Project of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Grant No. KJZD-EW-L11-03).

Power and efficiency scaling of diode pumped Cr:LiSAF lasers: 770-1110 nm tuning range and frequency doubling to 387-463 nm.

PubMed

Demirbas, Umit; Baali, Ilyes

2015-10-15

We report significant average power and efficiency scaling of diode-pumped Cr:LiSAF lasers in continuous-wave (cw), cw frequency-doubled, and mode-locked regimes. Four single-emitter broad-area laser diodes around 660 nm were used as the pump source, which provided a total pump power of 7.2 W. To minimize thermal effects, a 20 mm long Cr:LiSAF sample with a relatively low Cr-concentration (0.8%) was used as the gain medium. In cw laser experiments, 2.4 W of output power, a slope efficiency of 50%, and a tuning range covering the 770-1110 nm region were achieved. Intracavity frequency doubling with beta-barium borate (BBO) crystals generated up to 1160 mW of blue power and a record tuning range in the 387-463 nm region. When mode locked with a saturable absorber mirror, the laser produced 195 fs pulses with 580 mW of average power around 820 nm at a 100.3 MHz repetition rate. The optical-to-optical conversion efficiency of the system was 33% in cw, 16% in cw frequency-doubled, and 8% in cw mode-locked regimes.

Femtosecond time-resolved MeV electron diffraction

DOE PAGES

Zhu, Pengfei; Zhu, Y.; Hidaka, Y.; ...

2015-06-02

We report the experimental demonstration of femtosecond electron diffraction using high-brightness MeV electron beams. High-quality, single-shot electron diffraction patterns for both polycrystalline aluminum and single-crystal 1T-TaS 2 are obtained utilizing a 5 fC (~3 × 10 4 electrons) pulse of electrons at 2.8 MeV. The high quality of the electron diffraction patterns confirms that electron beam has a normalized emittance of ~50 nm rad. The transverse and longitudinal coherence length is ~11 and ~2.5 nm, respectively. The timing jitter between the pump laser and probe electron beam was found to be ~100 fs (rms). The temporal resolution is demonstrated bymore » observing the evolution of Bragg and superlattice peaks of 1T-TaS 2 following an 800 nm optical pump and was found to be 130 fs. Lastly, our results demonstrate the advantages of MeV electrons, including large elastic differential scattering cross-section and access to high-order reflections, and the feasibility of ultimately realizing below 10 fs time-resolved electron diffraction.« less

Solid-density plasma expansion in intense ultra-short laser irradiation measured on nanometer scale and in real time

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kluge, T.; Metzkes, J.; Pelka, A.; Laso Garcia, A.; Prencipe, I.; Bussmann, M.; Zeil, K.; Schoenherr, T.; Hartley, N.; Gutt, C.; Galtier, E.; Nam, I.; Lee, Hj; McBride, Ee; Glenzer, S.; Huebner, U.; Roedel, C.; Nakatsutsumi, M.; Roedel, M.; Rehwald, M.; Garten, M.; Zacharias, M.; Schramm, U.; Cowan, T. E.

2017-10-01

Small Angle X-ray Scattering (SAXS) is discussed to allow unprecedented direct measurements limited only by the probe X-ray wavelength and duration. Here we present the first direct in-situ measurement of intense short-pulse laser - solid interaction that allows nanometer and high temporal resolution at the same time. A 120 fs laser pulse with energy 1 J was focused on a silicon membrane. The density was probed with an X-ray beam of 49 fs duration by SAXS. Despite prepulses, we can exclude premature bulk expansion. The plasma expansion is triggered only shortly before the main pulse, when an expansion of 10 nm within less than 200 fs was measured. Analysis of scattering patterns allows the first direct verification of numerical simulations. Supported by DOE FWP 100182, SF00515; EC FP7 LASERLAB-EUROPE/CHARPAC (contract 284464); German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) under Contract Number 03Z1O511; MG and MZ supported by the European Union's Horizon 2020 No 654220.

Ultra-fast Movies Resolve Ultra-short Pulse Laser Ablation and Bump Formation on Thin Molybdenum Films

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Domke, Matthias; Rapp, Stephan; Huber, Heinz

For the monolithic serial interconnection of CIS thin film solar cells, 470 nm molybdenum films on glass substrates must be separated galvanically. The single pulse ablation with a 660 fs laser at a wavelength of 1053 nm is investigated in a fluence regime from 0.5 to 5.0 J/cm2. At fluences above 2.0 J/cm2 bump and jet formation can be observed that could be used for creating microstructures. For the investigation of the underlying mechanisms of the laser ablation process itself as well as of the bump or jet formation, pump probe microscopy is utilized to resolve the transient ablation behavior.

Tapered photonic crystal fiber for simplified Yb:fiber laser frequency comb with low pulse energy and robust f ceo singals.

PubMed

Jiang, Tongxiao; Wang, Aimin; Wang, Guizhong; Zhang, Wei; Niu, Fuzeng; Li, Chen; Zhang, Zhigang

2014-01-27

A tapered silica photonic crystal fiber was designed and fabricated to generate more than one octave spanning supercontinuum (from 550 nm to 1400 nm at -30 dB level), by an input pulse of 40 fs 200 pJ directly from an Yb:fiber ring laser. The low pulse energy spectrum broadening are favorable to generate the high contrast f ceo signals with low noise. The f ceo signal with 40 dB signal-to-noise ratio was detected, which helps to build a compact real-world frequency comb.

Diode-pumped mode-locked femtosecond Tm:CLNGG disordered crystal laser.

PubMed

Ma, J; Xie, G Q; Gao, W L; Yuan, P; Qian, L J; Yu, H H; Zhang, H J; Wang, J Y

2012-04-15

A diode-end-pumped passively mode-locked femtosecond Tm-doped calcium lithium niobium gallium garnet (Tm:CLNGG) disordered crystal laser was demonstrated for the first time to our knowledge. With a 790 nm laser diode pumping, stable CW mode-locking operation was obtained by using a semiconductor saturable absorber mirror. The disordered crystal laser generated mode-locked pulses as short as 479 fs, with an average output power of 288 mW, and repetition rate of 99 MHz in 2 μm spectral region. © 2012 Optical Society of America

Tunable, stable source of femtosecond pulses near 2 μm via supercontinuum of an Erbium mode-locked laser.

PubMed

Klose, Andrew; Ycas, Gabriel; Maser, Daniel L; Diddams, Scott A

2014-11-17

A source of ultrashort pulses of light in the 2 μm region was constructed using supercontinuum broadening from an erbium mode-locked laser. The output spectrum spanned 1000 nm to 2200 nm with an average power of 250 mW. A pulse width of 39 fs for part of the spectrum in the 2000 nm region, corresponding to less than six optical cycles, was achieved. A heterodyne measurement of the free-running mode-locked laser with a narrow-linewidth continuous wave laser resulted in a near shot noise-limited beat note with a signal-to-noise ratio of 45 dB in a 10 kHz resolution bandwidth. The relative intensity noise of the broadband system was investigated over the entire supercontinuum, and the integrated relative intensity noise of the 2000 nm portion of the spectrum was 1.7 × 10(-3). The long-term stability of the system was characterized, and intensity fluctuations in the spectrum were found to be highly correlated throughout the supercontinuum. Spectroscopic limitations due to the laser noise characteristics are discussed.

Generation of an ultrafast femtosecond soliton fiber laser by carbon nanotube as saturable absorber

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Salim, M. A. M.; Ahmad, H.; Harun, S. W.; Bidin, N.; Krishnan, G.

2018-05-01

This paper reports the demonstration of ultrafast fiber laser in a simple erbium-doped fiber (EDF) laser that employed a carbon nanotube (CNT) thin film saturable absorber (SA) to generate a stable soliton pulse. The repetition rate of 10.8 MHz pulse consistently achieved has narrowest pulse width of 640 fs and 1555.78 nm central wavelength for an hour operation in room temperature. This proposed setup has the capability for reliable and stable system features.

Passivation of black phosphorus saturable absorbers for reliable pulse formation of fiber lasers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Na, Dongsoo; Park, Kichul; Park, Ki-Hwan; Song, Yong-Won

2017-11-01

Black phosphorus (BP) has attracted increasing attention due to its unique electrical properties. In addition, the outstanding optical nonlinearity of BP has been demonstrated in various ways. Its functionality as a saturable absorber, in particular, has been validated in demonstrations of passive mode-locked lasers. However, normally, the performance of BP is degraded eventually by both thermal and chemical damage in ambient conditions. The passivation of BP is the critical issue to guarantee a stable performance of the optical devices. We quantitatively characterized the mode-locked lasers operated by BP saturable absorbers with diversified passivation materials such as polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) or Al2O3, considering the atomic structure of the materials, and therefore the hydro-permeability of the passivation layers. Unlike the BP layers without passivation, we demonstrated that the Al2O3-passivated BP layer was protected from the surface oxidation reaction in the long-term, and the PDMS-passivated one had a short-term blocking effect. The quantitative analysis showed that the time-dependent characteristics of the pulsed laser without passivation were changed with respect to the pulse duration, spectral width, and time-bandwidth product displaying 550 fs, 2.8 nm, and 0.406, respectively. With passivation, the changes were limited to <43 fs, <0.3 nm, and <0.012, respectively.

Passivation of black phosphorus saturable absorbers for reliable pulse formation of fiber lasers.

PubMed

Na, Dongsoo; Park, Kichul; Park, Ki-Hwan; Song, Yong-Won

2017-11-24

Black phosphorus (BP) has attracted increasing attention due to its unique electrical properties. In addition, the outstanding optical nonlinearity of BP has been demonstrated in various ways. Its functionality as a saturable absorber, in particular, has been validated in demonstrations of passive mode-locked lasers. However, normally, the performance of BP is degraded eventually by both thermal and chemical damage in ambient conditions. The passivation of BP is the critical issue to guarantee a stable performance of the optical devices. We quantitatively characterized the mode-locked lasers operated by BP saturable absorbers with diversified passivation materials such as polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) or Al 2 O 3 , considering the atomic structure of the materials, and therefore the hydro-permeability of the passivation layers. Unlike the BP layers without passivation, we demonstrated that the Al 2 O 3 -passivated BP layer was protected from the surface oxidation reaction in the long-term, and the PDMS-passivated one had a short-term blocking effect. The quantitative analysis showed that the time-dependent characteristics of the pulsed laser without passivation were changed with respect to the pulse duration, spectral width, and time-bandwidth product displaying 550 fs, 2.8 nm, and 0.406, respectively. With passivation, the changes were limited to <43 fs, <0.3 nm, and <0.012, respectively.

Surface nanotexturing of tantalum by laser ablation in water

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Barmina, E V; Simakin, Aleksandr V; Shafeev, Georgii A

2009-01-31

Surface nanotexturing of tantalum by ablation with short laser pulses in water has been studied experimentally using three ablation sources: a neodymium laser with a pulse duration of 350 ps, an excimer laser (248 nm) with a pulse duration of 5 ps and a Ti:sapphire laser with a pulse duration of 180 fs. The morphology of the nanotextured surfaces has been examined using a nanoprofilometer and field emission scanning electron microscope. The results demonstrate that the average size of the hillocks produced on the target surface depends on the laser energy density and is {approx}200 nm at an energy densitymore » approaching the laser-melting threshold of tantalum and a pulse duration of 350 ps. Their surface density reaches 10{sup 6} cm{sup -2}. At a pulse duration of 5 ps, the average hillock size is 60-70 nm. Nanotexturing is accompanied by changes in the absorption spectrum of the tantalum surface in the UV and visible spectral regions. The possible mechanisms of surface nanotexturing and potential applications of this effect are discussed. (nanostructures)« less

Laser processing of sapphire with picosecond and sub-picosecond pulses

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ashkenasi, D.; Rosenfeld, A.; Varel, H.; Wähmer, M.; Campbell, E. E. B.

1997-11-01

Laser processing of sapphire using a Ti:sapphire laser at 790 and 395 nm and pulse widths varying between 0.2 and 5 ps is reported. A clear improvement in quality is demonstrated for multi-shot processing with sub-ps laser pulses. For fluences between 3 and 12 J/cm 2 two ablation phases were observed, in agreement with previous work from Tam et al. using 30 ps, 266 nm laser pulses [A.C. Tam, J.L. Brand, D.C. Cheng, W. Zapka, Appl. Phys. Lett. 55 (20) (1994) 2045]. During the `gentle ablation' phase periodic wavelike structures, i.e. ripples, were observed on the Al 2O 3 surface, perpendicular to the laser polarisation and with a spacing almost equalling the laser wavelength, indicating metallic-like behaviour. The ripple modulation depth was in the order of a few tens of nm. For fluences between 1 and 2.5 J/cm 2, below the single-shot surface damage threshold and at a pulse width above 200 fs, microstructures could be produced at the rear side of a 1 mm thick sapphire substrate without affecting the front surface.

Passively synchronized Q-switched and mode-locked dual-band Tm3+:ZBLAN fiber lasers using a common graphene saturable absorber

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jia, Chenglai; Shastri, Bhavin J.; Abdukerim, Nurmemet; Rochette, Martin; Prucnal, Paul R.; Saad, Mohammed; Chen, Lawrence R.

2016-11-01

Dual-band fiber lasers are emerging as a promising technology to penetrate new industrial and medical applications from their dual-band properties, in addition to providing compactness and environmental robustness from the waveguide structure. Here, we demonstrate the use of a common graphene saturable absorber and a single gain medium (Tm3+:ZBLAN fiber) to implement (1) a dual-band fiber ring laser with synchronized Q-switched pulses at wavelengths of 1480 nm and 1840 nm, and (2) a dual-band fiber linear laser with synchronized mode-locked pulses at wavelengths of 1480 nm and 1845 nm. Q-switched operation at 1480 nm and 1840 nm is achieved with a synchronized repetition rate from 20 kHz to 40.5 kHz. For synchronous mode-locked operation, pulses with full-width at half maximum durations of 610 fs and 1.68 ps at wavelengths of 1480 nm and 1845 nm, respectively, are obtained at a repetition rate of 12.3 MHz. These dual-band pulsed sources with an ultra-broadband wavelength separation of ~360 nm will add new capabilities in applications including optical sensing, spectroscopy, and communications.

Passively synchronized Q-switched and mode-locked dual-band Tm3+:ZBLAN fiber lasers using a common graphene saturable absorber.

PubMed

Jia, Chenglai; Shastri, Bhavin J; Abdukerim, Nurmemet; Rochette, Martin; Prucnal, Paul R; Saad, Mohammed; Chen, Lawrence R

2016-11-02

Dual-band fiber lasers are emerging as a promising technology to penetrate new industrial and medical applications from their dual-band properties, in addition to providing compactness and environmental robustness from the waveguide structure. Here, we demonstrate the use of a common graphene saturable absorber and a single gain medium (Tm 3+ :ZBLAN fiber) to implement (1) a dual-band fiber ring laser with synchronized Q-switched pulses at wavelengths of 1480 nm and 1840 nm, and (2) a dual-band fiber linear laser with synchronized mode-locked pulses at wavelengths of 1480 nm and 1845 nm. Q-switched operation at 1480 nm and 1840 nm is achieved with a synchronized repetition rate from 20 kHz to 40.5 kHz. For synchronous mode-locked operation, pulses with full-width at half maximum durations of 610 fs and 1.68 ps at wavelengths of 1480 nm and 1845 nm, respectively, are obtained at a repetition rate of 12.3 MHz. These dual-band pulsed sources with an ultra-broadband wavelength separation of ~360 nm will add new capabilities in applications including optical sensing, spectroscopy, and communications.

Non-Intrusive Optical Diagnostic Methods for Flowfield Characterization

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Tabibi, Bagher M.; Terrell, Charles A.; Spraggins, Darrell; Lee, Ja. H.; Weinstein, Leonard M.

1997-01-01

Non-intrusive optical diagnostic techniques such as Electron Beam Fluorescence (EBF), Laser-Induced Fluorescence (LIF), and Focusing Schlieren (FS) have been setup for high-speed flow characterization and large flowfield visualization, respectively. Fluorescence emission from the First Negative band of N2(+) with the (0,0) vibration transition (at lambda =391.44 nm) was obtained using the EBF technique and a quenching rate of N2(+)* molecules by argon gas was reported. A very high sensitivity FS system was built and applied in the High-Speed Flow Generator (HFG) at NASA LaRC. A LIF system is available at the Advanced Propulsion Laboratory (APL) on campus and a plume exhaust velocity measurement, measuring the Doppler shift from lambda = 728.7 nm of argon gas, is under way.

Visible continuum pulses based on enhanced dispersive wave generation for endogenous fluorescence imaging.

PubMed

Cui, Quan; Chen, Zhongyun; Liu, Qian; Zhang, Zhihong; Luo, Qingming; Fu, Ling

2017-09-01

In this study, we demonstrate endogenous fluorescence imaging using visible continuum pulses based on 100-fs Ti:sapphire oscillator and a nonlinear photonic crystal fiber. Broadband (500-700 nm) and high-power (150 mW) continuum pulses are generated through enhanced dispersive wave generation by pumping femtosecond pulses at the anomalous dispersion region near zero-dispersion wavelength of high-nonlinear photonic crystal fibers. We also minimize the continuum pulse width by determining the proper fiber length. The visible-wavelength two-photon microscopy produces NADH and tryptophan images of mice tissues simultaneously. Our 500-700 nm continuum pulses support extending nonlinear microscopy to visible wavelength range that is inaccessible to 100-fs Ti:sapphire oscillators and other applications requiring visible laser pulses.

Femtosecond laser melting of silver nanoparticles: comparison of model simulations and experimental results

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cheng, Chung-Wei; Chang, Chin-Lun; Chen, Jinn-Kuen; Wang, Ben

2018-05-01

Ultrafast laser-induced melting of silver nanoparticles (NPs) using a femtosecond laser pulse is investigated both theoretically and experimentally. The sintered Ag structure fabricated from printed Ag NP ink using femtosecond laser (1064 nm, 300 fs) irradiation is experimentally studied. A two-temperature model with dynamic optical properties and particle size effects on the melting temperature of Ag NPs is considered. The rapid phase change model is incorporated to simulate the Ag NPs' ultrafast laser-induced melting process, and a multi-shot melting threshold fluence predicted from the simulated single-shot melting threshold is developed.

256 fs, 2 nJ soliton pulse generation from MoS2 mode-locked fiber laser

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jiang, Zike; Chen, Hao; Li, Jiarong; Yin, Jinde; Wang, Jinzhang; Yan, Peiguang

2017-12-01

We demonstrate an Er-doped fiber laser (EDFL) mode-locked by a MoS2 saturable absorber (SA), delivering a 256 fs, 2 nJ soliton pulse at 1563.4 nm. The nonlinear property of the SA prepared by magnetron sputtering deposition (MSD) is measured with a modulation depth (MD) of ∼19.48% and a saturable intensity of 4.14 MW/cm2. To the best of our knowledge, the generated soliton pulse has the highest pulse energy of 2 nJ among the reported mode-locked EDFLs based on transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs). Our results indicate that MSD-grown SAs could offer an exciting platform for high pulse energy and ultrashort pulse generation.

Air-guided photonic-crystal-fiber pulse-compression delivery of multimegawatt femtosecond laser output for nonlinear-optical imaging and neurosurgery

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lanin, Aleksandr A.; Fedotov, Il'ya V.; Sidorov-Biryukov, Dmitrii A.; Doronina-Amitonova, Lyubov V.; Ivashkina, Olga I.; Zots, Marina A.; Sun, Chi-Kuang; Ömer Ilday, F.; Fedotov, Andrei B.; Anokhin, Konstantin V.; Zheltikov, Aleksei M.

2012-03-01

Large-core hollow photonic-crystal fibers (PCFs) are shown to enable a fiber-format air-guided delivery of ultrashort infrared laser pulses for neurosurgery and nonlinear-optical imaging. With an appropriate dispersion precompensation, an anomalously dispersive 15-μm-core hollow PCF compresses 510-fs, 1070-nm light pulses to a pulse width of about 110 fs, providing a peak power in excess of 5 MW. The compressed PCF output is employed to induce a local photodisruption of corpus callosum tissues in mouse brain and is used to generate the third harmonic in brain tissues, which is captured by the PCF and delivered to a detector through the PCF cladding.

Fabrication of oxidation-resistant Ge colloidal nanoparticles by pulsed laser ablation in aqueous HCl

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hamanaka, Yasushi; Iwata, Masahiro; Katsuno, Junichi

2017-06-01

Spherical Ge nanoparticles with diameters of 20-80 nm were fabricated by laser ablation of a Ge single crystal in water and in aqueous HCl using sub-picosecond laser pulses (1040 nm, 700 fs, 100 kHz, and a pulse energy of 10 µJ). We found that the as-synthesized nanoparticles suffered rapid oxidization followed by dissolution when laser ablation was conducted in pure water. In contrast, oxidation of Ge nanoparticles produced in dilute HCl and stored intact was minimal, and colloidal dispersions of the Ge nanoparticles remained stable up to 7 days. It was elucidated that dangling bonds on the surfaces of the Ge nanoparticles were terminated by Cl, which inhibited oxidation, and that such hydrophilic surfaces might improve the dispersibility of nanoparticles in aqueous solvent.

Using femtosecond laser to fabricate highly precise interior three-dimensional microstructures in polymeric flow chip

PubMed Central

Lee, Chia-Yu; Chang, Ting-Chou; Wang, Shau-Chun; Chien, Chih-Wei; Cheng, Chung-Wei

2010-01-01

This paper reports using femtosecond laser marker to fabricate the three-dimensional interior microstructures in one closed flow channel of plastic substrate. Strip-like slots in the dimensions of 800 μm×400 μm×65 μm were ablated with pulse Ti:sapphire laser at 800 nm (pulse duration of ∼120 fs with 1 kHz repetition rate) on acrylic slide. After ablation, defocused beams were used to finish the surface of microstructures. Having finally polished with sonication, the laser fabricated structures are highly precise with the arithmetic roughness of 1.5 and 4.5 nm. Fabricating such highly precise microstructures cannot be accomplished with nanosecond laser marking or other mechanical drilling methods. In addition, since laser ablation can directly engrave interior microstructures in one closed chip, glue smearing problems to damage molded microstructures possibly to occur during the chip sealing procedures can be avoided too. PMID:21079695

Using femtosecond laser to fabricate highly precise interior three-dimensional microstructures in polymeric flow chip.

PubMed

Lee, Chia-Yu; Chang, Ting-Chou; Wang, Shau-Chun; Chien, Chih-Wei; Cheng, Chung-Wei

2010-10-18

This paper reports using femtosecond laser marker to fabricate the three-dimensional interior microstructures in one closed flow channel of plastic substrate. Strip-like slots in the dimensions of 800 μm×400 μm×65 μm were ablated with pulse Ti:sapphire laser at 800 nm (pulse duration of ∼120 fs with 1 kHz repetition rate) on acrylic slide. After ablation, defocused beams were used to finish the surface of microstructures. Having finally polished with sonication, the laser fabricated structures are highly precise with the arithmetic roughness of 1.5 and 4.5 nm. Fabricating such highly precise microstructures cannot be accomplished with nanosecond laser marking or other mechanical drilling methods. In addition, since laser ablation can directly engrave interior microstructures in one closed chip, glue smearing problems to damage molded microstructures possibly to occur during the chip sealing procedures can be avoided too.

Distributed feedback fiber laser based on a fiber Bragg grating inscribed using the femtosecond point-by-point technique

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Skvortsov, M. I.; Wolf, A. A.; Dostovalov, A. V.; Vlasov, A. A.; Akulov, V. A.; Babin, S. A.

2018-03-01

A distributed feedback (DFB) fiber laser based on a 32-mm long pi-phase-shifted fiber Bragg grating inscribed using the femtosecond point-by-point technique in a single-mode erbium-doped optical fiber (CorActive EDF-L 1500) is demonstrated. The lasing power of the DFB laser reaches 0.7 mW at a wavelength of 1550 nm when pumped with a laser diode at a wavelength of 976 nm and power of 525 mW. The width of the lasing spectrum is 17 kHz. It is shown that the pi-phase-shifted fiber Bragg grating fs-inscribed in a non-PM fiber provides the selection of the single polarization mode of the DFB laser. DFB laser formation in a highly doped non-photosensitive optical fiber (CoreActive SCF-ER60-8/125-12) is also demonstrated.

Influence of femtosecond laser radiation on cells of the transplantable tumour Krebs-2

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Meshalkin, Yu P.; Popova, N. A.; Nikolin, V. P.; Kaledin, V. I.; Kirpichnikov, A. V.; Pestryakov, Efim V.

2012-06-01

The influence of femtosecond radiation of a titaniumsapphire laser on cells of the transplantable ascitic tumour Krebs-2 was studied. After in vitro irradiation by the pulsed fundamentalharmonic radiation with the wavelength 800 nm, pulse duration 30 fs, repetition rate 1 kHz, mean power 100 and 300 mW and exposure time 3 min, as well as by the second-harmonic radiation (40 nm, 50 fs, 120 mW), all cells were diffusely stained by the vital stain trypan blue, which may be an evidence of their death or abnormalities of membrane permeability. However, implantation of such cells to experimental animals led to formation of tumours at the transplantation site with the kinetics slightly different from the control one. In the group of mice to which the cells were inoculated after irradiation with second harmonic pulses of titanium-sapphire laser the inhibition of tumour growth was observed due to partial death of cells under the action of UV spectral components. To explain the mechanism of the observed phenomenon the possibility of pore formation (photoporation) in the cell membrane, described earlier in the papers on foreign DNA transfection into cells, is considered.

Tribological performance of titanium samples oxidized by fs-laser radiation, thermal heating, or electrochemical anodization

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kirner, S. V.; Slachciak, N.; Elert, A. M.; Griepentrog, M.; Fischer, D.; Hertwig, A.; Sahre, M.; Dörfel, I.; Sturm, H.; Pentzien, S.; Koter, R.; Spaltmann, D.; Krüger, J.; Bonse, J.

2018-04-01

Commercial grade-1 titanium samples (Ti, 99.6%) were treated using three alternative methods, (i) femtosecond laser processing, (ii) thermal heat treatment, and (iii) electrochemical anodization, respectively, resulting in the formation of differently conditioned superficial titanium oxide layers. The laser processing (i) was carried out by a Ti:sapphire laser (pulse duration 30 fs, central wavelength 790 nm, pulse repetition rate 1 kHz) in a regime of generating laser-induced periodic surface structures (LIPSS). The experimental conditions (laser fluence, spatial spot overlap) were optimized in a sample-scanning setup for the processing of several square-millimeters large surface areas covered homogeneously by these nanostructures. The differently oxidized titanium surfaces were characterized by optical microscopy, micro Raman spectroscopy, variable angle spectroscopic ellipsometry, and instrumented indentation testing. The tribological performance was characterized in the regime of mixed friction by reciprocating sliding tests against a sphere of hardened steel in fully formulated engine oil as lubricant. The specific tribological performance of the differently treated surfaces is discussed with respect to possible physical and chemical mechanisms.

Diode-pumped continuous-wave and femtosecond Cr:LiCAF lasers with high average power in the near infrared, visible and near ultraviolet.

PubMed

Demirbas, Umit; Baali, Ilyes; Acar, Durmus Alp Emre; Leitenstorfer, Alfred

2015-04-06

We demonstrate continuous-wave (cw), cw frequency-doubled, cw mode-locked and Q-switched mode-locked operation of multimode diode-pumped Cr:LiCAF lasers with record average powers. Up to 2.54 W of cw output is obtained around 805 nm at an absorbed pump power of 5.5 W. Using intracavity frequency doubling with a BBO crystal, 0.9 W are generated around 402 nm, corresponding to an optical-to-optical conversion efficiency of 12%. With an intracavity birefringent tuning plate, the fundamental and frequency-doubled laser output is tuned continuously in a broad wavelength range from 745 nm to 885 nm and from 375 to 440 nm, respectively. A saturable Bragg reflector is used to initiate and sustain mode locking. In the cw mode-locked regime, the Cr:LiCAF laser produces 105-fs long pulses near 810 nm with an average power of 0.75 W. The repetition rate is 96.4 MHz, resulting in pulse energies of 7.7 nJ and peak powers of 65 kW. In Q-switched mode-locked operation, pulses with energies above 150 nJ are generated.

High power Yb:CALGO ultrafast regenerative amplifier for industrial application

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Caracciolo, E.; Guandalini, A.; Pirzio, F.; Kemnitzer, M.; Kienle, F.; Agnesi, A.; Aus der Au, J.

2017-02-01

We present a high-power, single-crystal based, Yb:CALGO regenerative amplifier. The system delivers more than 50 W output power in continuous-wave regime, with diffraction limited beam quality. In Q-switching regime the spectrum is centered at 1043 nm and is 11 nm wide. In regenerative amplification experiments we achieved 34 W at 500 kHz with 12.7 nm FWHM wide spectra centered at 1044 nm seeding with a broadly tunable, single-prism SESAM mode-locked Yb:CALGO laser providing 9 nm wide spectra at 1049 nm. Pulse duration after compression was 140 fs, with excellent beam quality (M2 < 1.25).

Towards sub-100 fs multi-GW pulses directly emitted from a Thulium-doped fiber CPA system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gaida, C.; Gebhardt, M.; Stutzki, F.; Jauregui, C.; Limpert, J.; Tünnermann, A.

2017-02-01

Experimental demonstrations of Tm-doped fiber amplifiers (typically in CW- or narrow-band pulsed operation) span a wavelength range going from about 1700 nm to well beyond 2000 nm. Thus, it should be possible to obtain a bandwidth of more than 100 nm, which would enable sub-100 fs pulse duration in an efficient, linear amplification scheme. In fact, this would allow the emission of pulses with less than 20 optical cycles directly from a Tm-doped fiber system, something that seems to be extremely challenging for other dopants in a fused silica fiber. In this contribution, we summarize the current development of our Thulium-doped fiber CPA system, demonstrate preliminary experiments for further scaling and discuss important design factors for the next steps. The current single-channel laser system presented herein delivers a pulse-peak power of 2 GW and a nearly transform-limited pulse duration of 200 fs in combination with 28.7 W of average power. Special care has been taken to reduce the detrimental impact of water vapor absorption by placing the whole system in a dry atmosphere housing (<0.1% rel. humidity) and by using a sufficiently long wavelength (1920-1980 nm). The utilization of a low-pressure chamber in the future will allow for the extension of the amplification bandwidth. Preliminary experiments demonstrating a broader amplification bandwidth that supports almost 100 fs pulse duration and average power scaling to < 100W have already been performed. Based on these results, a Tm-doped fiber CPA with sub-100 fs pulse duration, multi-GW pulse peak power and >100 W average power can be expected in the near future.

Compact fixed wavelength femtosecond oscillators as an add-on for tunable Ti:sapphire lasers extend the range of applications towards multimodal imaging and optogenetics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hakulinen, T.; Klein, J.

2016-03-01

Two-photon (2P) microscopy based on tunable Ti:sapphire lasers has become a widespread tool for 3D imaging with sub-cellular resolution in living tissues. In recent years multi-photon microscopy with simpler fixed-wavelength femtosecond oscillators using Yb-doped tungstenates as gain material has raised increasing interest in life-sciences, because these lasers offer one order of magnitude more average power than Ti:sapphire lasers in the wavelength range around 1040 nm: Two-photon (2P) excitation of mainly red or yellow fluorescent dyes and proteins (e.g. YFP, mFruit series) simultaneously has been proven with a single IR laser wavelength. A new approach is to extend the usability of existing tunable Titanium sapphire lasers by adding a fixed IR wavelength with an Yb femtosecond oscillator. By that means a multitude of applications for multimodal imaging and optogenetics can be supported. Furthermore fs Yb-lasers are available with a repetition rate of typically 10 MHz and an average power of typically 5 W resulting in pulse energy of typically 500 nJ, which is comparably high for fs-oscillators. This makes them an ideal tool for two-photon spinning disk laser scanning microscopy and holographic patterning for simultaneous photoactivation of large cell populations. With this work we demonstrate that economical, small-footprint Yb fixed-wavelength lasers can present an interesting add-on to tunable lasers that are commonly used in multiphoton microscopy. The Yb fs-lasers hereby offer higher power for imaging of red fluorescent dyes and proteins, are ideally enhancing existing Ti:sapphire lasers with more power in the IR, and are supporting pulse energy and power hungry applications such as spinning disk microscopy and holographic patterning.

FS laser processing of bio-polymer thin films for studying cell-to-substrate specific response

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Daskalova, A.; Nathala, Chandra S. R.; Kavatzikidou, P.; Ranella, A.; Szoszkiewicz, R.; Husinsky, W.; Fotakis, C.

2016-09-01

The use of ultra-short pulses for nanoengineering of biomaterials opens up possibilities for biological, medical and tissue engineering applications. Structuring the surface of a biomaterial into arrays with micro- and nanoscale features and architectures, defines new roadmaps to innovative engineering of materials. Thin films of novel collagen/elastin composite and gelatin were irradiated by Ti:sapphire fs laser in air at central wavelength 800 nm, with pulse durations in the range of 30 fs. The size and shape as well as morphological forms occurring in the resulted areas of interaction were analyzed as a function of irradiation fluence and number of pulses by atomic force microscopy (AFM). The fs interaction regime allows generation of well defined micro porous surface arrays. In this study we examined a novel composite consisting of collagen and elastin in order to create a biodegradable matrix to serve as a biomimetic surface for cell attachment. Confocal microscopy images of modified zones reveal formation of surface fringe patterns with orientation direction alongside the area of interaction. Outside the crater rim a wave-like topography pattern is observed. Structured, on a nanometer scale, surface array is employed for cell-culture experiments for testing cell's responses to substrate morphology. Mice fibroblasts migration was monitored after 3 days cultivation period using FESEM. We found that fibroblasts cells tend to migrate and adhere along the laser modified zones. The performed study proved that the immobilized collagen based biofilms suite as a template for successful fibroblasts cell guidance and orientation. Fs laser induced morphological modification of biomimetic materials exhibit direct control over fibroblasts behaviour due to induced change in their wettability state.

Anisotropy modulations of femtosecond laser pulse induced periodic surface structures on silicon by adjusting double pulse delay.

PubMed

Han, Weina; Jiang, Lan; Li, Xiaowei; Wang, Qingsong; Li, Hao; Lu, YongFeng

2014-06-30

We demonstrate that the polarization-dependent anisotropy of the laser-induced periodic surface structure (LIPSS) on silicon can be adjusted by designing a femtosecond laser pulse train (800 nm, 50 fs, 1 kHz). By varying the pulse delay from 100 to 1600 fs within a double pulse train to reduce the deposited pulse energy, which weakens the directional surface plasmon polarition (SPP)-laser energy coupling based on the initial formed ripple structure, the polarization-dependent geometrical morphology of the LIPSS evolves from a nearly isotropic circular shape to a somewhat elongated elliptical shape. Meanwhile, the controllable anisotropy of the two-dimensional scanned-line widths with different directions is achieved based on a certain pulse delay combined with the scanning speed. This can effectively realize better control over large-area uniform LIPSS formation. As an example, we further show that the large-area LIPSS can be formed with different scanning times under different pulse delays.

Cell-specific optoporation with near-infrared ultrafast laser and functionalized gold nanoparticles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bergeron, Eric; Boutopoulos, Christos; Martel, Rosalie; Torres, Alexandre; Rodriguez, Camille; Niskanen, Jukka; Lebrun, Jean-Jacques; Winnik, Françoise M.; Sapieha, Przemyslaw; Meunier, Michel

2015-10-01

Selective targeting of diseased cells can increase therapeutic efficacy and limit off-target adverse effects. We developed a new tool to selectively perforate living cells with functionalized gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) and near-infrared (NIR) femtosecond (fs) laser. The receptor CD44 strongly expressed by cancer stem cells was used as a model for selective targeting. Citrate-capped AuNPs (100 nm in diameter) functionalized with 0.01 orthopyridyl-disulfide-poly(ethylene glycol) (5 kDa)-N-hydroxysuccinimide (OPSS-PEG-NHS) conjugated to monoclonal antibodies per nm2 and 5 μM HS-PEG (5 kDa) were colloidally stable in cell culture medium containing serum proteins. These AuNPs attached mostly as single particles 115 times more to targeted CD44+ MDA-MB-231 and CD44+ ARPE-19 cells than to non-targeted CD44- 661W cells. Optimally functionalized AuNPs enhanced the fs laser (800 nm, 80-100 mJ cm-2 at 250 Hz or 60-80 mJ cm-2 at 500 Hz) to selectively perforate targeted cells without affecting surrounding non-targeted cells in co-culture. This novel highly versatile treatment paradigm can be adapted to target and perforate other cell populations by adapting to desired biomarkers. Since living biological tissues absorb energy very weakly in the NIR range, the developed non-invasive tool may provide a safe, cost-effective clinically relevant approach to ablate pathologically deregulated cells and limit complications associated with surgical interventions.Selective targeting of diseased cells can increase therapeutic efficacy and limit off-target adverse effects. We developed a new tool to selectively perforate living cells with functionalized gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) and near-infrared (NIR) femtosecond (fs) laser. The receptor CD44 strongly expressed by cancer stem cells was used as a model for selective targeting. Citrate-capped AuNPs (100 nm in diameter) functionalized with 0.01 orthopyridyl-disulfide-poly(ethylene glycol) (5 kDa)-N-hydroxysuccinimide (OPSS-PEG-NHS) conjugated to monoclonal antibodies per nm2 and 5 μM HS-PEG (5 kDa) were colloidally stable in cell culture medium containing serum proteins. These AuNPs attached mostly as single particles 115 times more to targeted CD44+ MDA-MB-231 and CD44+ ARPE-19 cells than to non-targeted CD44- 661W cells. Optimally functionalized AuNPs enhanced the fs laser (800 nm, 80-100 mJ cm-2 at 250 Hz or 60-80 mJ cm-2 at 500 Hz) to selectively perforate targeted cells without affecting surrounding non-targeted cells in co-culture. This novel highly versatile treatment paradigm can be adapted to target and perforate other cell populations by adapting to desired biomarkers. Since living biological tissues absorb energy very weakly in the NIR range, the developed non-invasive tool may provide a safe, cost-effective clinically relevant approach to ablate pathologically deregulated cells and limit complications associated with surgical interventions. Electronic supplementary information (ESI) available: Characterization of functionalized gold nanoparticles by UV-visible-NIR spectroscopy and zeta potential measurements; selectivity of cell targeting with functionalized gold nanoparticles by immunofluorescence, flow cytometry and scanning electron microscopy; selective treatment of targeted cells with functionalized gold nanoparticles and ultrafast laser. See DOI: 10.1039/c5nr05650k

Femtosecond time-resolved X-ray absorption spectroscopy of anatase TiO2 nanoparticles using XFEL

PubMed Central

Obara, Yuki; Ito, Hironori; Ito, Terumasa; Kurahashi, Naoya; Thürmer, Stephan; Tanaka, Hiroki; Katayama, Tetsuo; Togashi, Tadashi; Owada, Shigeki; Yamamoto, Yo-ichi; Karashima, Shutaro; Nishitani, Junichi; Yabashi, Makina; Suzuki, Toshinori; Misawa, Kazuhiko

2017-01-01

The charge-carrier dynamics of anatase TiO2 nanoparticles in an aqueous solution were studied by femtosecond time-resolved X-ray absorption spectroscopy using an X-ray free electron laser in combination with a synchronized ultraviolet femtosecond laser (268 nm). Using an arrival time monitor for the X-ray pulses, we obtained a temporal resolution of 170 fs. The transient X-ray absorption spectra revealed an ultrafast Ti K-edge shift and a subsequent growth of a pre-edge structure. The edge shift occurred in ca. 100 fs and is ascribed to reduction of Ti by localization of generated conduction band electrons into shallow traps of self-trapped polarons or deep traps at penta-coordinate Ti sites. Growth of the pre-edge feature and reduction of the above-edge peak intensity occur with similar time constants of 300–400 fs, which we assign to the structural distortion dynamics near the surface. PMID:28713842

Energy transport in short-pulse-laser-heated targets measured using extreme ultraviolet laser backlighting.

PubMed

Wilson, L A; Tallents, G J; Pasley, J; Whittaker, D S; Rose, S J; Guilbaud, O; Cassou, K; Kazamias, S; Daboussi, S; Pittman, M; Delmas, O; Demailly, J; Neveu, O; Ros, D

2012-08-01

The accurate characterization of thermal electron transport and the determination of heating by suprathermal electrons in laser driven solid targets are both issues of great importance to the current experiments being performed at the National Ignition Facility, which aims to achieve thermonuclear fusion ignition using lasers. Ionization, induced by electronic heat conduction, can cause the opacity of a material to drop significantly once bound-free photoionization is no longer energetically possible. We show that this drop in opacity enables measurements of the transmission of extreme ultraviolet (EUV) laser pulses at 13.9 nm to act as a signature of the heating of thin (50 nm) iron layers with a 50-nm thick parylene-N (CH) overlay irradiated by 35-fs pulses at irradiance 3×10(16) Wcm(-2). Comparing EUV transmission measurements at different times after irradiation to fluid code simulations shows that the target is instantaneously heated by hot electrons (with approximately 10% of the laser energy), followed by thermal conduction with a flux limiter of ≈0.05.

Generation of UV light by intense ultrashort laser pulses in air

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Alexeev, Ilya; Ting, Antonio; Gordon, Daniel; Briscoe, Eldridge; Penano, Joe; Sprangle, Phillip

2004-11-01

The propagation of collimated high-peak-power ultrashort laser pulses in air has attracted considerable attention, which may have a variety of important applications including remote sensing and chemical-biological aerosols standoff detection. Sub-millimeter diameter laser filaments can develop without any focusing optics and instead solely from laser self-focusing and plasma formation in air. These filaments can produce ultraviolet radiations in the form of the 3rd harmonic of the fundamental frequency and also through spectral broadening due to self-phase modulation of the laser pulse. Using femtosecond laser pulses produced by a high power Ti:Sapphire laser (0.8 TW, 50 fs, 800 nm) we observed generation of the third harmonic radiation light in air (centered around 267 nm) by the laser filaments. Characterization of the 3rd harmonic generation with respect to the major gas components of the air will be reported. Supported by the ONR and RDECOM. I. Alexeev is NRC/NRL Post-Doc.

Bombyx mori silk protein films microprocessing with a nanosecond ultraviolet laser and a femtosecond laser workstation: theory and experiments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lazare, S.; Sionkowska, A.; Zaborowicz, M.; Planecka, A.; Lopez, J.; Dijoux, M.; Louména, C.; Hernandez, M.-C.

2012-01-01

Laser microprocessing of several biopolymers from renewable resources is studied. Three proteinic materials were either extracted from the extracellular matrix like Silk Fibroin/Sericin and collagen, or coming from a commercial source like gelatin. All can find future applications in biomedical experimentation, in particular for cell scaffolding. Films of ˜hundred of microns thick were made by aqueous solution drying and laser irradiation. Attention is paid to the properties making them processable with two laser sources: the ultraviolet and nanosecond (ns) KrF (248 nm) excimer and the infrared and femtosecond (fs) Yb:KGW laser. The UV radiation is absorbed in a one-photon resonant process to yield ablation and the surface foaming characteristics of a laser-induced pressure wave. To the contrary, resonant absorption of the IR photons of the fs laser is not possible and does not take place. However, the high field of the intense I>˜1012 W/cm2 femtosecond laser pulse ionizes the film by the multiphoton absorption followed by the electron impact mechanism, yielding a dense plasma capable to further absorb the incident radiation of the end of the pulse. The theoretical model of this absorption is described in detail, and used to discuss the presented experimental effects (cutting, ablation and foaming) of the fs laser. The ultraviolet laser was used to perform simultaneous multiple spots experiments in which energetic foaming yields melt ejection and filament spinning. Airborne nanosize filaments "horizontally suspended by both ends" (0.25 μm diameter and 10 μm length) of silk biopolymer were observed upon irradiation with large fluences.

Noninvasive intratissue refractive index shaping (IRIS) of the cornea with blue femtosecond laser light.

PubMed

Xu, Lisen; Knox, Wayne H; DeMagistris, Margaret; Wang, Nadan; Huxlin, Krystel R

2011-10-17

To test the feasibility of intratissue refractive index shaping (IRIS) in living corneas by using 400-nm femtosecond (fs) laser pulses (blue-IRIS). To test the hypothesis that the intrinsic two-photon absorption of the cornea allows blue-IRIS to be performed with greater efficacy than when using 800-nm femtosecond laser pulses. Fresh cat corneas were obtained postmortem and cut into six wedges. Blue laser pulses at 400 nm, with 100-fs pulse duration at 80 MHz were used to micromachine phase gratings into each corneal wedge at scanning speeds from 1 to 15 mm/s. Grating lines were 1 μm wide, 5 μm apart, and 150 μm below the anterior corneal surface. Refractive index (RI) changes in micromachined regions were measured immediately by recording the diffraction efficiency of inscribed gratings. Six hours later, the corneas were processed for histology, and TUNEL staining was performed to assess whether blue-IRIS causes cell death. Scanning at 1 and 2 mm/s caused overt corneal damage in the form of bubbles and burns. At faster scanning speeds (5, 10, and 15 mm/s), phase gratings were created in the corneal stroma, which were shown to be pure RI changes ranging from 0.037 to 0.021 in magnitude. The magnitude of RI change was inversely related to scanning speed. TUNEL staining showed cell death only around bubbles and burns. Blue-IRIS can be performed safely and effectively in living cornea. Compared with near-infrared laser pulses, blue-IRIS enhances both achievable RI change and scanning speed without the need to dope the tissue with two-photon sensitizers, increasing the clinical applicability of this technique.

Noninvasive Intratissue Refractive Index Shaping (IRIS) of the Cornea with Blue Femtosecond Laser Light

PubMed Central

Xu, Lisen; Knox, Wayne H.; DeMagistris, Margaret; Wang, Nadan

2011-01-01

Purpose. To test the feasibility of intratissue refractive index shaping (IRIS) in living corneas by using 400-nm femtosecond (fs) laser pulses (blue-IRIS). To test the hypothesis that the intrinsic two-photon absorption of the cornea allows blue-IRIS to be performed with greater efficacy than when using 800-nm femtosecond laser pulses. Methods. Fresh cat corneas were obtained postmortem and cut into six wedges. Blue laser pulses at 400 nm, with 100-fs pulse duration at 80 MHz were used to micromachine phase gratings into each corneal wedge at scanning speeds from 1 to 15 mm/s. Grating lines were 1 μm wide, 5 μm apart, and 150 μm below the anterior corneal surface. Refractive index (RI) changes in micromachined regions were measured immediately by recording the diffraction efficiency of inscribed gratings. Six hours later, the corneas were processed for histology, and TUNEL staining was performed to assess whether blue-IRIS causes cell death. Results. Scanning at 1 and 2 mm/s caused overt corneal damage in the form of bubbles and burns. At faster scanning speeds (5, 10, and 15 mm/s), phase gratings were created in the corneal stroma, which were shown to be pure RI changes ranging from 0.037 to 0.021 in magnitude. The magnitude of RI change was inversely related to scanning speed. TUNEL staining showed cell death only around bubbles and burns. Conclusions. Blue-IRIS can be performed safely and effectively in living cornea. Compared with near-infrared laser pulses, blue-IRIS enhances both achievable RI change and scanning speed without the need to dope the tissue with two-photon sensitizers, increasing the clinical applicability of this technique. PMID:21931133

Experimental investigation into generation of bursts of linearly-polarized, dissipative soliton pulses from a figure-eight fiber laser at 1.03 µm

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ko, Seunghwan; Lee, Junsu; Koo, Joonhoi; Lee, Ju Han

2018-03-01

We experimentally demonstrate a simple and stable all-polarization maintaining fiber (PMF) nonlinear amplifying loop mirror (NALM)-based burst pulse fiber laser with a pulse number tuning capability, which can readily generate bursts of linearly-polarized femtosecond pulses at 1030 nm. The laser was based on an NALM that was operated to produce burst-mode, dissipative soliton pulses at a wavelength of 1030 nm, and these were then compressed into 400 fs Gaussian pulses using a grating pair-based compressor. The laser was constructed with the figure-eight configuration incorporating ytterbium-doped fiber as gain medium. It was shown that the number of burst pulses was readily tunable through the adjustment of the pump power. Further, the output-pulse characteristics were quantitatively investigated and the laser stability was checked by observing the temporal characteristic variation of the output pulses for one hour.

On second harmonic generation and multiphoton-absorption induced luminescence from laser-reshaped silver nanoparticles embedded in glass.

PubMed

Zolotovskaya, S A; Tyrk, M A; Stalmashonak, A; Gillespie, W A; Abdolvand, A

2016-10-28

Spherical silver nanoparticles (NPs) of 30 nm diameter embedded in soda-lime glass were uniformly reshaped (elongated) after irradiation by a linearly polarised 250 fs pulsed laser operating within the NPs' surface plasmon resonance band. We observed second harmonic generation (SHG) and multiphoton-absorption-induced luminescence (MAIL) in the embedded laser-reshaped NPs upon picosecond (10 ps) pulsed laser excitation at 1064 nm. A complementary study of SHG and MAIL was conducted in soda-lime glass containing embedded, mechanically-reshaped silver NPs of a similar elongation ratio (aspect ratio) to the laser-reshaped NPs. This supports the notion that the observed difference in SHG and MAIL in the studied nanocomposite systems is due to the shape modification mechanism. The discrete dipole approximation method was used to assess the absorption and scattering cross-sections of the reshaped NPs with different elongation ratios.

High repetition rate tunable femtosecond pulses and broadband amplification from fiber laser pumped parametric amplifier.

PubMed

Andersen, T V; Schmidt, O; Bruchmann, C; Limpert, J; Aguergaray, C; Cormier, E; Tünnermann, A

2006-05-29

We report on the generation of high energy femtosecond pulses at 1 MHz repetition rate from a fiber laser pumped optical parametric amplifier (OPA). Nonlinear bandwidth enhancement in fibers provides the intrinsically synchronized signal for the parametric amplifier. We demonstrate large tunability extending from 700 nm to 1500 nm of femtosecond pulses with pulse energies as high as 1.2 muJ when the OPA is seeded by a supercontinuum generated in a photonic crystal fiber. Broadband amplification over more than 85 nm is achieved at a fixed wavelength. Subsequent compression in a prism sequence resulted in 46 fs pulses. With an average power of 0.5 W these pulses have a peak-power above 10 MW. In particular, the average power and pulse energy scalability of both involved concepts, the fiber laser and the parametric amplifier, will enable easy up-scaling to higher powers.

Sub-diffraction limit laser ablation via multiple exposures using a digital micromirror device.

PubMed

Heath, Daniel J; Grant-Jacob, James A; Feinaeugle, Matthias; Mills, Ben; Eason, Robert W

2017-08-01

We present the use of digital micromirror devices as variable illumination masks for pitch-splitting multiple exposures to laser machine the surfaces of materials. Ultrafast laser pulses of length 150 fs and 800 nm central wavelength were used for the sequential machining of contiguous patterns on the surface of samples in order to build up complex structures with sub-diffraction limit features. Machined patterns of tens to hundreds of micrometers in lateral dimensions with feature separations as low as 270 nm were produced in electroless nickel on an optical setup diffraction limited to 727 nm, showing a reduction factor below the Abbe diffraction limit of ∼2.7×. This was compared to similar patterns in a photoresist optimized for two-photon absorption, which showed a reduction factor of only 2×, demonstrating that multiple exposures via ablation can produce a greater resolution enhancement than via two-photon polymerization.

Femtosecond OPO based on MgO:PPLN synchronously pumped by a 532 nm fiber laser

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cao, Jianjun; Shen, Dongyi; Zheng, Yuanlin; Feng, Yaming; Kong, Yan; Wan, Wenjie

2017-05-01

With the rapid progress in fiber technologies, femtosecond fiber lasers, which are compact, cost-effective and stable, have been developed and are commercially available. Studies of optical parametric oscillators (OPOs) pumped by this type of laser are demanding. Here we report a femtosecond optical parametric oscillator (OPO) at 79.6 MHz repetition rate based on MgO-doped periodically poled LiNbO3 (MgO:PPLN), synchronously pumped by the integrated second harmonic radiation of a femtosecond fiber laser at 532 nm. The signal delivered by the single resonant OPO is continuously tunable from 757 to 797 nm by tuning the crystal temperature in a poling period of 7.7 μ \\text{m} . The output signal shows good beam quality in TEM00 mode profile with pulse duration of 206 fs at 771 nm. Maximum output signal power of 71 mW is obtained for a pump power of 763 mW and a low pumping threshold of 210 mW is measured. Moreover, grating tuning and cavity length tuning of the signal wavelength are also investigated.

Generation and erasure of femtosecond laser-induced periodic surface structures on nanoparticle-covered silicon by a single laser pulse.

PubMed

Yang, Ming; Wu, Qiang; Chen, Zhandong; Zhang, Bin; Tang, Baiquan; Yao, Jianghong; Drevensek-Olenik, Irena; Xu, Jingjun

2014-01-15

We experimentally show that the generation and erasure of femtosecond laser-induced periodic surface structures on nanoparticle-covered silicon inducted by irradiation with a single laser pulse (800 nm, 120 fs, linear polarization) depend on the pulse fluence. We propose that this is due to competition between periodic surface structuring originating from the interference of incident light with surface plasmon polaritons and surface smoothing associated with surface melting. Experimental results are supported by theoretical analysis of transient surface modifications based on combining the two-temperature model and the Drude model.

Controlling the excitation process of free electrons by a femtosecond elliptically polarized laser

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gao, Lili; Wang, Feng; Jiang, Lan; Qu, Liangti; Lu, Yongfeng

2015-11-01

This paper is focused on the excitation rates of free electrons of an aluminum (Al) bulk irradiated by an elliptically polarized laser in simulation, using time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT). The polarized 400 nm, 10 fs laser pulse consisted of two elementary sinusoidal beams, and is adjusted by changing the phase difference φ and the intersection angle θ of the polarization directions between the two beams. The simulation includes cases of φ = π/2 with θ = 30°, θ = 45°, θ = 60°, θ = 90°, θ = 120°, θ = 135°, θ = 150°, and cases of θ = 90° with φ = π/4, φ = π/3, φ = π/2, φ = 2π/3, φ = 3π/4. The absorbed energy, the excitation rates and the density distributions of free electrons after laser termination are investigated. At the given power intensity (1×1014Wcm-2), pulse width (10 fs) and wavelength (400 nm) of each elementary laser beam, computational results indicate that the excitation rate of free electrons is impacted by three major factors: the long axis direction of the laser projected profile, the amplitude difference of the first main oscillation (1st AD), and the total amplitude difference of main oscillations (TAD) of the external electric field. Among the aforementioned three factors for the excitation rate of free electrons, the direction of long axis plays the most significant role. The screen effect is crucial to compare the importance of the remaining two factors. The analysis approach to investigate the electron dynamics under an elliptically polarized laser is both pioneering and effective.

The formation of periodic micro/nano structured on stainless steel by femtosecond laser irradiation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yao, Caizhen; Gao, Wei; Ye, Yayun; Jiang, Yong; Xu, Shizhen; Yuan, Xiaodong

2017-07-01

Stainless steel surface was irradiated by linear polarized laser (800 nm, 35 fs, 4 Hz and 0.7 J/cm2) with different pulse numbers. Environmental scanning electron microscope (ESEM/EDS) was used for detailed morphology, microstructure and composition studies. The wettability of irradiated steel surface was tested by Interface Tensiometer JC-2000X and compared with untreated stainless steel. Results showed that micro/nanostripes with different periods were formed. The period increased with the increasing pulse numbers from 450 nm for 90 pulses to 500 nm for 180 pulses. The orientation of those stripes was parallel with the laser beam polarization. Nanoparticles were observed on those periodic structures. EDS indicated that the atomic ratio of Cr increased and the atomic ratios of Fe and Ni decreased after laser irradiation, which may enhance the corrosion resistance due to the Cr-rich layer. The prepared structure exhibited hydrophobic property without further treatment. The formation mechanism of micro/nanoperiodic structures was also explored.

Femtosecond laser ablation-based mass spectrometry. An ideal tool for stoichiometric analysis of thin films

DOE PAGES

LaHaye, Nicole L.; Kurian, Jose; Diwakar, Prasoon K.; ...

2015-08-19

An accurate and routinely available method for stoichiometric analysis of thin films is a desideratum of modern materials science where a material’s properties depend sensitively on elemental composition. We thoroughly investigated femtosecond laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (fs-LA-ICP-MS) as an analytical technique for determination of the stoichiometry of thin films down to the nanometer scale. The use of femtosecond laser ablation allows for precise removal of material with high spatial and depth resolution that can be coupled to an ICP-MS to obtain elemental and isotopic information. We used molecular beam epitaxy-grown thin films of LaPd (x)Sb 2 and T´-La 2CuOmore » 4 to demonstrate the capacity of fs-LA-ICP-MS for stoichiometric analysis and the spatial and depth resolution of the technique. Here we demonstrate that the stoichiometric information of thin films with a thickness of ~10 nm or lower can be determined. Furthermore, our results indicate that fs-LA-ICP-MS provides precise information on the thin film-substrate interface and is able to detect the interdiffusion of cations.« less

Nonlinear optical collagen cross-linking and mechanical stiffening: a possible photodynamic therapeutic approach to treating corneal ectasia

PubMed Central

Chai, Dongyul; Juhasz, Tibor; Brown, Donald J.

2013-01-01

Abstract. In this study we test the hypothesis that nonlinear optical (NLO) multiphoton photoactivation of riboflavin using a focused femtosecond (FS) laser light can be used to induce cross-linking (CXL) and mechanically stiffen collagen as a potential clinical therapy for the treatment of keratoconus and corneal ectasia. Riboflavin-soaked, compressed collagen hydrogels are cross-linked using a FS laser tuned to 760 nm and set to either 100 mW (NLO CXL I) or 150 mW (NLO CXL II) of laser power. FS pulses are focused into the hydrogel using a 0.75 NA objective lens, and the hydrogel is three-dimensionally scanned. Measurement of hydrogel stiffness by indentation testing show that the calculated elastic modulus (E) values are significantly increased over twofold following NLO CXL I and II compared with baseline values (P<0.05). Additionally, no significant differences are detected between NLO CXL and single photon, UVA CXL (P>0.05). This data suggests that NLO CXL has a comparable effect to conventional UVA CXL in mechanically stiffening collagen and may provide a safe and effective approach to localize CXL at different regions and depths within the cornea. PMID:23515869

Femtosecond laser microfabrication in polymers towards memory devices and microfluidic applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Deepak, K. L. N.; Venugopal Rao, S.; Narayana Rao, D.

2011-12-01

We have investigated femtosecond laser induced microstructures, gratings, and craters in four different polymers: poly methyl methacrylate (PMMA), poly dimethyl siloxane (PDMS), polystyrene (PS) and poly vinyl alcohol (PVA) using Ti:sapphire laser delivering 800 nm, 100 femtosecond (fs) pulses at 1 kHz repetition rate with a maximum pulse energy of 1 mJ. Local chemical modifications leading to the formation of optical centers and peroxide radicals which were studied using UV-Visible absorption and emission, confocal micro-Raman and Electron Spin Resonance (ESR) spectroscopic techniques.

Femtosecond laser-induced periodic surface structures on silicon upon polarization controlled two-color double-pulse irradiation.

PubMed

Höhm, Sandra; Herzlieb, Marcel; Rosenfeld, Arkadi; Krüger, Jörg; Bonse, Jörn

2015-01-12

Two-color double-fs-pulse experiments were performed on silicon wafers to study the temporally distributed energy deposition in the formation of laser-induced periodic surface structures (LIPSS). A Mach-Zehnder interferometer generated parallel or cross-polarized double-pulse sequences at 400 and 800 nm wavelength, with inter-pulse delays up to a few picoseconds between the sub-ablation 50-fs-pulses. Multiple two-color double-pulse sequences were collinearly focused by a spherical mirror to the sample. The resulting LIPSS characteristics (periods, areas) were analyzed by scanning electron microscopy. A wavelength-dependent plasmonic mechanism is proposed to explain the delay-dependence of the LIPSS. These two-color experiments extend previous single-color studies and prove the importance of the ultrafast energy deposition for LIPSS formation.

Femtosecond laser ablation of cemented carbides: properties and tribological applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dumitru, G.; Romano, V.; Weber, H. P.; Gerbig, Y.; Haefke, H.; Bruneau, S.; Hermann, J.; Sentis, M.

Laser ablation with fs laser pulses was performed in air on cobalt cemented tungsten carbide by means of a Ti : sapphire laser (800 nm, 100 fs). Small and moderate fluences (2, 5, 10 J/cm2) and up to 5×104 pulses per irradiated spot were used to drill holes with aspect ratios up to 10. Cross-section cuts from laser-irradiated samples were produced and they were analysed with optical microscopy and SEM. EDX analyses were carried out on selected zones. Quasi-cylindrical holes were found for 2 J/cm2, whereas for 5 and 10 J/cm2 irregular shapes (lobes, bottoms wider than hole entrances) were found to occur after a given number of incident pulses. Layers with modified structure were evidenced at pore walls. SEM revealed a denser structure, while EDX analyses showed uniform and almost similar contents of W, C, and Co in these layers. As a direct application, patterning of coated WC-Co was carried out with 2 J/cm2 and 100 pulses per pore. The resulted surfaces were tribologically tested and these tests revealed an improved friction and wear behaviour.

Formation and Properties of Laser-Induced Periodic Surface Structures on Different Glasses.

PubMed

Gräf, Stephan; Kunz, Clemens; Müller, Frank A

2017-08-10

The formation and properties of laser-induced periodic surface structures (LIPSS) was investigated on different technically relevant glasses including fused silica, borosilicate glass, and soda-lime-silicate glass under irradiation of fs-laser pulses characterized by a pulse duration τ = 300 fs and a laser wavelength λ = 1025 nm. For this purpose, LIPSS were fabricated in an air environment at normal incidence with different laser peak fluence, pulse number, and repetition frequency. The generated structures were characterized by using optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, focused ion beam preparation and Fast-Fourier transformation. The results reveal the formation of LIPSS on all investigated glasses. LIPSS formation on soda-lime-silicate glass is determined by remarkable melt-formation as an intra-pulse effect. Differences between the different glasses concerning the appearing structures, their spatial period and their morphology were discussed based on the non-linear absorption behavior and the temperature-dependent viscosity. The findings facilitate the fabrication of tailored LIPSS-based surface structures on different technically relevant glasses that could be of particular interest for various applications.

Formation and Properties of Laser-Induced Periodic Surface Structures on Different Glasses

PubMed Central

Kunz, Clemens; Müller, Frank A.

2017-01-01

The formation and properties of laser-induced periodic surface structures (LIPSS) was investigated on different technically relevant glasses including fused silica, borosilicate glass, and soda-lime-silicate glass under irradiation of fs-laser pulses characterized by a pulse duration τ = 300 fs and a laser wavelength λ = 1025 nm. For this purpose, LIPSS were fabricated in an air environment at normal incidence with different laser peak fluence, pulse number, and repetition frequency. The generated structures were characterized by using optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, focused ion beam preparation and Fast-Fourier transformation. The results reveal the formation of LIPSS on all investigated glasses. LIPSS formation on soda-lime-silicate glass is determined by remarkable melt-formation as an intra-pulse effect. Differences between the different glasses concerning the appearing structures, their spatial period and their morphology were discussed based on the non-linear absorption behavior and the temperature-dependent viscosity. The findings facilitate the fabrication of tailored LIPSS-based surface structures on different technically relevant glasses that could be of particular interest for various applications. PMID:28796180

In-vitro photo-translocation of antiretroviral drug delivery into TZMbl cells

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Malabi, Rudzani; Manoto, Sello; Ombinda-Lemboumba, Saturnin; Maaza, Malik; Mthunzi-Kufa, Patience

2017-02-01

The current human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) treatment regime possesses the ability to diminish the viral capacity to unnoticeable levels; however complete eradication of the virus cannot be achieved while latent HIV-1 reservoirs go unchallenged. Therapeutic targeting of HIV therefore requires further investigation and current therapies need modification in order to address HIV eradication. This deflects research towards investigating potential novel antiretroviral drug delivery systems. The use of femtosecond (fs) laser pulses in promoting targeted optical drug delivery of antiretroviral drugs (ARVs) into TZMbl cells revolves around using ultrafast laser pulses that have high peak powers, which precisely disrupt the cell plasma membrane in order to allow immediate transportation and expression of exogenous material into the live mammalian cells. A photo-translocation optical setup was built and validated by characterisation of the accurate parameters such as wavelength (800 nm) and pulse duration (115 fs). Optimisation of drug translocation parameters were done by performing trypan blue translocation studies. Cellular responses were determined via cell viability (Adenosine Triphosphate activity) and cell cytotoxicity (Lactate Dehydrogenase) assays which were done to study the influence of the drugs and laser exposure on the cells. After laser irradiation, high cell viability was observed and low toxicity levels were observed after exposure of the cells to both the ARVs and the laser. Our results confirmed that, with minimal damage and high therapeutic levels of ARVs, the fs laser assisted drug delivery system is efficient with benefits of non-invasive and non-toxic treatment to the cells.

Pump-probe imaging of laser-induced periodic surface structures after ultrafast irradiation of Si

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Murphy, Ryan D.; Torralva, Ben; Adams, David P.

2013-09-30

Ultrafast pump-probe microscopy has been used to investigate laser-induced periodic surface structure (LIPSS) formation on polished Si surfaces. A crater forms on the surface after irradiation by a 150 fs laser pulse, and a second, subsequent pulse forms LIPSS within the crater. Sequentially delayed images show that LIPSS with a periodicity slightly less than the fundamental laser wavelength of 780 nm appear on Si surfaces ∼50 ps after arrival of the second pump laser pulse, well after the onset of melting. LIPSS are observed on the same timescale as material removal, suggesting that their formation involves material ejection.

Pulse generation without gain-bandwidth limitation in a laser with self-similar evolution.

PubMed

Chong, A; Liu, H; Nie, B; Bale, B G; Wabnitz, S; Renninger, W H; Dantus, M; Wise, F W

2012-06-18

With existing techniques for mode-locking, the bandwidth of ultrashort pulses from a laser is determined primarily by the spectrum of the gain medium. Lasers with self-similar evolution of the pulse in the gain medium can tolerate strong spectral breathing, which is stabilized by nonlinear attraction to the parabolic self-similar pulse. Here we show that this property can be exploited in a fiber laser to eliminate the gain-bandwidth limitation to the pulse duration. Broad (∼200 nm) spectra are generated through passive nonlinear propagation in a normal-dispersion laser, and these can be dechirped to ∼20-fs duration.

Laser induced periodic surface structures on pyrolytic carbon prosthetic heart valve

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stepak, Bogusz D.; Łecka, Katarzyna M.; Płonek, Tomasz; Antończak, Arkadiusz J.

2016-12-01

Laser-induced periodic surface structures (LIPSS) can appear in different forms such as ripples, grooves or cones. Those highly periodic wavy surface features which are frequently smaller than incident light wavelength bring possibility of nanostructuring of many different materials. Furthermore, by changing laser parameters one can obtain wide spectrum of periodicities and geometries. The aim of this research was to determine possibility of nanostructuring pyrolytic carbon (PyC) heart valve leaflets using different irradiation conditions. The study was performed using two laser sources with different pulse duration (15 ps, 450 fs) as well as different wavelengths (1064, 532, 355 nm). Both low and high spatial frequency LIPSS were observed for each set of irradiation parameters. In case femtosecond laser pulses we obtained deep subwavelength ripple period which was even ten times smaller than applied wavelength. Obtained ripple period was ranging from 90 up to 860 nm. Raman spectra revealed the increase of disorder after laser irradiation which was comparable for both pico- and femtosecond laser.

Commercial mode-locked vertical external cavity surface emitting lasers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Head, C. Robin; Paboeuf, David; Ortega, Tiago; Lubeigt, Walter; Bialkowski, Bartlomiej; Lin, Jipeng; Hempler, Nils; Maker, Gareth T.; Malcolm, Graeme P. A.

2018-02-01

This paper presents the latest efforts in the development of commercial optically-pumped semiconductor disk lasers (SDLs) at M Squared Lasers. Two types of SDLs are currently being developed: an ultrafast system and a continuous wave single frequency system under the names of Dragonfly and Infinite, respectively. Both offer a compact, low-cost, easy-to-use and maintenance-free tool for a range of growing markets including nonlinear microscopy and quantum technology. To facilitate consumer uptake of the SDL technology, the performance specifications aim to closely match the currently employed systems. An extended Dragonfly system is being developed targeting the nonlinear microscopy market, which typically requires 1-W average power pulse trains with pulse durations below 200 fs. The pulse repetition frequency (PRF) of the commonly used laser systems, typically Titanium-sapphire lasers, is 80 MHz. This property is particularly challenging for mode-locked SDLs which tend to operate at GHz repetition rates, due to their short upper state carrier lifetime. Dragonfly has found a compromise at 200 MHz to balance mode-locking instabilities with a low PRF. In the ongoing development of Dragonfly, additional pulse compression and nonlinear spectral broadening stages are used to obtain pulse durations as short as 130 fs with an average power of 0.85 W, approaching the required performance. A variant of the Infinite system was adapted to provide a laser source suitable for the first stage of Sr atom cooling at 461 nm. Such a source requires average powers of approximately 1 W with a sub-MHz linewidth. As direct emission in the blue is not a viable approach at this stage, an SDL emitting at 922 nm followed by an M Squared Lasers SolTiS ECD-X doubler is currently under development. The SDL oscillator delivered >1 W of single frequency (RMS frequency noise <150kHz) light at 922 nm.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Meshalkin, Yu P; Popova, N A; Nikolin, V P

The influence of femtosecond radiation of a titaniumsapphire laser on cells of the transplantable ascitic tumour Krebs-2 was studied. After in vitro irradiation by the pulsed fundamentalharmonic radiation with the wavelength 800 nm, pulse duration 30 fs, repetition rate 1 kHz, mean power 100 and 300 mW and exposure time 3 min, as well as by the second-harmonic radiation (40 nm, 50 fs, 120 mW), all cells were diffusely stained by the vital stain trypan blue, which may be an evidence of their death or abnormalities of membrane permeability. However, implantation of such cells to experimental animals led to formationmore » of tumours at the transplantation site with the kinetics slightly different from the control one. In the group of mice to which the cells were inoculated after irradiation with second harmonic pulses of titanium-sapphire laser the inhibition of tumour growth was observed due to partial death of cells under the action of UV spectral components. To explain the mechanism of the observed phenomenon the possibility of pore formation (photoporation) in the cell membrane, described earlier in the papers on foreign DNA transfection into cells, is considered.« less

Novel carbazole derivatives with quinoline ring: synthesis, electronic transition, and two-photon absorption three-dimensional optical data storage.

PubMed

Li, Liang; Wang, Ping; Hu, Yanlei; Lin, Geng; Wu, Yiqun; Huang, Wenhao; Zhao, Quanzhong

2015-03-15

We designed carbazole unit with an extended π conjugation by employing Vilsmeier formylation reaction and Knoevenagel condensation to facilitate the functional groups of quinoline from 3- or 3,6-position of carbazole. Two compounds doped with poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) films were prepared. To explore the electronic transition properties of these compounds, one-photon absorption properties were experimentally measured and theoretically calculated by using the time-dependent density functional theory. We surveyed these films by using an 800 nm Ti:sapphire 120-fs laser with two-photon absorption (TPA) fluorescence emission properties and TPA coefficients to obtain the TPA cross sections. A three-dimensional optical data storage experiment was conducted by using a TPA photoreaction with an 800 nm-fs laser on the film to obtain a seven-layer optical data storage. The experiment proves that these carbazole derivatives are well suited for two-photon 3D optical storage, thus laying the foundation for the research of multilayer high-density and ultra-high-density optical information storage materials. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Monolithic hybrid optics for focusing ultrashort laser pulses

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fuchs, U.

2014-03-01

Almost any application of ultrashort laser pulses involves focusing them in order to reach high intensities and/or small spot sizes as needed for micro-machining or Femto-LASIK. Hence, it is indispensable to be able to understand pulse front distortion caused by real world optics. Focusing causes pulse front distortion due to aberrations, dispersion and diffraction. Thus, the spatio-temporal profile of ultrashort laser is altered, which increases automatically the pulse duration and the focusing spot. Consequently, the main advantage of having ultrashort laser pulses - pulse durations way below 100 fs - can be lost in that one last step of the experimental set-up by focusing them unfavorable. Since compensating for dispersion, aberration and diffraction effects is quite complicated and not always possible, we pursue a different approach. We present a specially designed monolithic hybrid optics comprising refraction and diffraction effects for tight spatial and temporal focusing of ultrashort laser pulses. Both aims can be put into practice by having a high numerical aperture (NA = 0.35) and low internal dispersion at the same time. The focusing properties are very promising, due to a design, which provides diffraction limited focusing for 100 nm bandwidth at 780 nm center wavelength. Thus, pulses with durations as short as 10 fs can be focused without pulse front distortion. The outstanding performance of this optics is shown in theory and experimentally. Above that, such focusing optics are easily adapted to their special purpose - changing the center wavelength, achromatic bandwidth or even correcting for focusing into material is possible.

A 1,470 nm diode laser in stapedotomy: Mechanical, thermal, and acoustic effects.

PubMed

Koenraads, Simone P C; de Boorder, Tjeerd; Grolman, Wilko; Kamalski, Digna M A

2017-08-01

Multiple laser systems have been investigated for their use in stapes surgery in patients with otosclerosis. The diode 1,470 nm laser used in this study is an attractive laser system because it is easily transported and relatively inexpensive in use. This wavelength has relative high absorption in water. This study aimed to investigate the mechanical, thermal, and acoustic effects of the diode 1,470 nm laser on a stapes in an inner ear model. Experiments were performed in an inner ear model including fresh frozen human stapes. High-speed imaging with frame rates up to 2,000 frames per second (f/s) was used to visualize the effects in the vestibule during fenestration of the footplate. A special high-speed color Schlieren technique was used to study thermal effects. The sound produced by perforation was recorded by a hydrophone. Single pulse settings of the diode 1,470 nm laser were 100 ms, 3 W. Diode 1,470 nm laser fenestration showed mechanical effects with small vapor bubbles and pressure waves pushed into the vestibule. Thermal imaging visualized an increase temperature underneath the stapes footplate. Acoustic effects were limited, but larger sounds levels were reached when vaporization bubbles arise and explode in the vestibule. The diode 1,470 nm laser highly absorbs in perilymph and is capable of forming a clear fenestration in the stapes. An overlapping laser pulse will increase the risk of vapor bubbles, pressure waves, and heating the vestibule. As long as we do not know the possible damage of these effects to the inner ear function, it seems advisable to use the laser with less potential harm. Lasers Surg. Med. 49:619-624, 2017. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Femtosecond pulses generated from a synchronously pumped chromium-doped forsterite laser

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Seas, A.; Petricevic, V.; Alfano, R. R.

1993-01-01

Kerr lens mode-locking (KLM) has become a standard method to produce femtosecond pulses from tunable solid state lasers. High power inside the laser resonator propagating through the laser-medium with nonlinear index of refraction, coupled with the stability conditions of the laser modes in the resonator, result in a passive amplitude modulation which explains the mechanism for pulse shortening. Recently, chromium doped forsterite was shown to exhibit similar pulse behavior. A successful attempt to generate femtosecond pulses from a synchronously pumped chromium-doped forsterite laser with intracavity dispersion compensation is reported. Stable, transform limited pulses with duration of 105 fs were routinely generated, tunable between 1240 to 1270 nm.

All-fiber femtosecond laser providing 9 nJ, 50 MHz pulses at 1650 nm for three-photon microscopy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cadroas, P.; Abdeladim, L.; Kotov, L.; Likhachev, M.; Lipatov, D.; Gaponov, D.; Hideur, A.; Tang, M.; Livet, J.; Supatto, W.; Beaurepaire, E.; Février, S.

2017-06-01

The spectral window lying between 1.6 and 1.7 μm is interesting for in-depth multiphoton microscopy of intact tissues due to reduced scattering and absorption in this wavelength range. However, wide adoption of this excitation range will rely on the availability of robust and cost-effective high peak power pulsed lasers operating at these wavelengths. In this communication, we report on a monolithically integrated high repetition rate (50 MHz) all-fiber femtosecond laser based on a soliton self-frequency shift providing 9 nJ, 75 fs pulses at 1650 nm. We illustrate its potential for biological microscopy by recording three-photon-excited fluorescence and third-harmonic generation images of mouse nervous tissue and developing Drosophila embryos labeled with a red fluorescent protein.

Mode-locked Er-doped fiber laser based on liquid phase exfoliated Sb2Te3 topological insulator

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Boguslawski, J.; Sotor, J.; Sobon, G.; Tarka, J.; Jagiello, J.; Macherzynski, W.; Lipinska, L.; Abramski, K. M.

2014-10-01

In this paper, femtosecond pulse generation in an Er-doped fiber laser is reported. The laser is passively mode-locked by an antimony telluride (Sb2Te3) topological insulator (TI) saturable absorber (SA) placed on a side-polished fiber. The Sb2Te3/chitosan suspension used to prepare the SA was obtained via liquid phase exfoliation from bulk Sb2Te3.Ultra-short 449 fs soliton pulses were generated due to the interaction between the evanescent field propagated in the fiber cladding and the Sb2Te3 layers. The optical spectrum is centered at 1556 nm with 6 nm of full-width at half maximum bandwidth. The presented method benefits from a much better repeatability compared to mechanical exfoliation.

Femtosecond optical parametric amplification in BBO and KTA driven by a Ti:sapphire laser for LIDT testing and diagnostic development

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Meadows, Alexander R.; Cupal, Josef; Hříbek, Petr; Durák, Michal; Kramer, Daniel; Rus, Bedřich

2017-05-01

We present the design of a collinear femtosecond optical parametric amplification (OPA) system producing a tunable output at wavelengths between 1030 nm and 1080 nm from a Ti:Sapphire pump laser at a wavelength of 795 nm. Generation of a supercontinuum seed pulse is followed by one stage of amplification in Beta Barium Borate (BBO) and two stages of amplification in Potassium Titanyle Arsenate (KTA), resulting in a 225 μJ output pulse with a duration of 90 fs. The output of the system has been measured by self-referenced spectral interferometry to yield the complete spectrum and spectral phase of the pulse. When compared to KTP, the greater transparency of KTA in the spectral range from 3 - 4 μm allows for reduced idler absorption and enhanced gain from the OPA process when it is pumped by the fundamental frequency of a Ti:sapphire laser. In turn, the use of the Ti:sapphire fundamental at 795 nm as a pump improves the efficiency with which light can be converted to wavelengths between 1030 nm and 1080 nm and subsequently used to test components for Nd-based laser systems. This OPA system is operated at 1 kHz for diagnostic development and laser-induced damage threshold testing of optical components for the ELI-Beamlines project.

Synthesis, characterization, and nonlinear optical (NLO) properties of truxene-cored diphenylamine derivatives

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Fusheng; Zhao, Baodong; Chen, Yu; Zhang, Yufei; Wang, Tao; Xue, Song

2017-10-01

Three star-shaped compounds based on a truxene core (FS11, FS12 and FS13) were prepared. The truxene core is incorporating with asymmetric diphenylamines, including one phenyl of diphenylamine substituted by methoxy group and the other phenyl substituted by tolyl, fluorophenyl and phenylethynyl for FS11, FS12 and FS13, respectively. Their one-photon, two-photon absorption, geometric structures, electrochemical behavior and thermal properties were investigated. The absorption maxima of charge transfer band for FS11, FS12 and FS13 are 375 nm, 373 nm and 383 nm, and the corresponding molar extinction coefficients of FS11, FS12 and FS13 is 79,950 M- 1 cm- 1, 67,220 M- 1 cm- 1 and 108,780 M- 1 cm- 1. The ;pull-push; structure promotes charge transfer between asymmetric diphenylamine branches and the truxene core. Their two-photon absorbtion property is measured by two-photon induced fluorescence. The maximum two-photon cross-sections values of FS11, FS12 and FS13 are excited at 750 nm, which are 260 GM, 204GM and 367 GM, respectively.

Graphene oxide vs. reduced graphene oxide as saturable absorbers for Er-doped passively mode-locked fiber laser.

PubMed

Sobon, Grzegorz; Sotor, Jaroslaw; Jagiello, Joanna; Kozinski, Rafal; Zdrojek, Mariusz; Holdynski, Marcin; Paletko, Piotr; Boguslawski, Jakub; Lipinska, Ludwika; Abramski, Krzysztof M

2012-08-13

In this work we demonstrate comprehensive studies on graphene oxide (GO) and reduced graphene oxide (rGO) based saturable absorbers (SA) for mode-locking of Er-doped fiber lasers. The paper describes the fabrication process of both saturable absorbers and detailed comparison of their parameters. Our results show, that there is no significant difference in the laser performance between the investigated SA. Both provided stable, mode-locked operation with sub-400 fs soliton pulses and more than 9 nm optical bandwidth at 1560 nm center wavelength. It has been shown that GO might be successfully used as an efficient SA without the need of its reduction to rGO. Taking into account simpler manufacturing technology and the possibility of mass production, GO seems to be a good candidate as a cost-effective material for saturable absorbers for Er-doped fiber lasers.

Tungsten diselenide for mode-locked erbium-doped fiber lasers with short pulse duration

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Wenjun; Liu, Mengli; OuYang, Yuyi; Hou, Huanran; Ma, Guoli; Lei, Ming; Wei, Zhiyi

2018-04-01

In this paper, a WSe2 film prepared by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) is transferred onto a tapered fiber, and a WSe2 saturable absorber (SA) is fabricated. In order to measure the third-order optical nonlinearity of the WSe2, the Z-scan technique is applied. The modulation depth of the WSe2 SA is measured as being 21.89%. Taking advantage of the remarkable nonlinear absorption characteristic of the WSe2 SA, a mode-locked erbium-doped fiber laser is demonstrated at 1557.4 nm with a bandwidth of 25.8 nm and signal to noise ratio of 96 dB. To the best of our knowledge, the pulse duration of 163.5 fs is confirmed to be the shortest compared with previous mode-locked fiber lasers based on transition-metal dichalcogenides SAs. These results indicate that WSe2 is a powerful competitor in the application of ultrashort pulse lasers.

Structure changes in steels and hard metal induced by nanosecond and femtosecond laser processing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dumitru, Gabriel; Romano, Valerio; Weber, Heinz P.; Haefke, Henry; Gerbig, Yvonne; Sentis, Marc L.; Hermann, Joerg; Bruneau, Sebastien

2003-11-01

Investigations on the occurrence of structure and hardness changes (for two sorts of steel and for a hard metal substrate) in the immediate vicinity of laser induced craters are presented in this work. Experiments with femtosecond pulses were performed in air with a Ti:sapphire laser (800 nm, 100 fs) at mean fluences of 2, 5 and 10 J/cm2. Series of microcraters were induced with 100 to 5,000 laser pulses per hole. Experiments with similar fluences, but 10 to 40 pules per hole, were performed on the same materials using a Nd:YAG delivering 100 ns pulese. After laser irradiation, cuts were made through the processed samples and the changes occurred in the crystalline structure of the target materials were evidenced by metallographical analysis of the resulting cross-sections. Hardness measurements were performed in points situated in the immediate vicinity of the laser-induced pores. Affected zones in the material surrounding laser induced pores were always found in the ns-regime, however with different properties for various laser parameters. In the fs-regime, zones of modified materials were also found and in such zones a significant hardness increasing was evidenced; the limit of the low fluences regime, where no structure changes occurred, was found to be slightly above 2 J/cm2.

Effects of electron relaxation on multiple harmonic generation from metal surfaces with femtosecond laser pulses

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Karatzas, N. E.; Georges, A. T.

2006-11-01

Calculations are presented for the first four (odd and even) harmonics of an 800 nm laser from a gold surface, with pulse widths ranging from 100 down to 14 fs. For peak laser intensities above 1 GW/cm 2 the harmonics are enhanced because of a partial depletion of the initial electron states. At 10 11 W/cm 2 of peak laser intensity the calculated conversion efficiency for 2nd-harmonic generation is 3 × 10 -9, while for the 5th-harmonic it is 10 -10. The generated harmonic pulses are broadened and delayed relative to the laser pulse because of the finite relaxation times of the excited electronic states. The finite electron relaxation times cause also the broadening of the autocorrelations of the laser pulses obtained from surface harmonic generation by two time-delayed identical pulses. Comparison with recent experimental results shows that the response time of an autocorrelator using nonlinear optical processes in a gold surface is shorter than the electron relaxation times. This seems to indicate that for laser pulses shorter than ˜30 fs, the fast nonresonant channel for multiphoton excitation via continuum-continuum transitions in metals becomes important as the resonant channel becomes slow (relative to the laser pulse) and less efficient.

Imaging single cells in a beam of live cyanobacteria with an X-ray laser (CXIDB ID 27)

DOE Data Explorer

Schot, Gijs, vander

2015-02-10

Diffraction pattern of a micron-sized S. elongatus cell at 1,100 eV photon energy (1.13 nm wavelength) with ~10^11 photons per square micron on the sample in ~70 fs. The signal to noise ratio at 4 nm resolution is 3.7 with 0.24 photons per Nyquist pixel. The cell was alive at the time of the exposure. The central region of the pattern (dark red) is saturated and this prevented reliable image reconstruction.

Femtosecond nonlinear optical properties of laser ablated gold nanoparticles in water

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Krishnakanth, K. N.; Bharathi, M. S. S.; Hamad, S.; Rao, S. Venugopal

2018-04-01

Femtosecond third order nonlinear optical (NLO) properties of ultrafast laser ablated gold (Au) colloidsin distilled waterare investigatedusing degenerate four wave mixing technique with 50fs pulses at 800nm wavelength. The estimated value of χ(3) obtained for Au nanoparticles is 1.93×10-14 e.s.u. The characterization of the NPs was achieved done using TEM and HR-TEM techniques. We also present the time resolved studies of Au colloids by using DFWM technique in the forward BOXCAR phase matching geometry.

Femtosecond laser spectroscopy of the rhodopsin photochromic reaction: a concept for ultrafast optical molecular switch creation (ultrafast reversible photoreaction of rhodopsin).

PubMed

Smitienko, Olga; Nadtochenko, Victor; Feldman, Tatiana; Balatskaya, Maria; Shelaev, Ivan; Gostev, Fedor; Sarkisov, Oleg; Ostrovsky, Mikhail

2014-11-11

Ultrafast reverse photoreaction of visual pigment rhodopsin in the femtosecond time range at room temperature is demonstrated. Femtosecond two-pump probe experiments with a time resolution of 25 fs have been performed. The first рump pulse at 500 nm initiated cis-trans photoisomerization of rhodopsin chromophore, 11-cis retinal, which resulted in the formation of the primary ground-state photoproduct within a mere 200 fs. The second pump pulse at 620 nm with a varying delay of 200 to 3750 fs relative to the first рump pulse, initiated the reverse phototransition of the primary photoproduct to rhodopsin. The results of this photoconversion have been observed on the differential spectra obtained after the action of two pump pulses at a time delay of 100 ps. It was found that optical density decreased at 560 nm in the spectral region of bathorhodopsin absorption and increased at 480 nm, where rhodopsin absorbs. Rhodopsin photoswitching efficiency shows oscillations as a function of the time delay between two рump pulses. The quantum yield of reverse photoreaction initiated by the second pump pulse falls within the range 15%±1%. The molecular mechanism of the ultrafast reversible photoreaction of visual pigment rhodopsin may be used as a concept for the development of an ultrafast optical molecular switch.

Simulation of the temperature increase in human cadaver retina during direct illumination by 150-kHz femtosecond laser pulses

PubMed Central

Sun, Hui; Hosszufalusi, Nora; Mikula, Eric R.; Juhasz, Tibor

2011-01-01

We have developed a two-dimensional computer model to predict the temperature increase of the retina during femtosecond corneal laser flap cutting. Simulating a typical clinical setting for 150-kHz iFS advanced femtosecond laser (0.8- to 1-μJ laser pulse energy and 15-s procedure time at a laser wavelength of 1053 nm), the temperature increase is 0.2°C. Calculated temperature profiles show good agreement with data obtained from ex vivo experiments using human cadaver retina. Simulation results obtained for different commercial femtosecond lasers indicate that during the laser in situ keratomileusis procedure the temperature increase of the retina is insufficient to induce damage. PMID:22029369

Limiting of microjoule femtosecond pulses in air-guided modes of a hollow photonic-crystal fiber

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Konorov, S.O.; Serebryannikov, E.E.; Sidorov-Biryukov, D.A.

Self-phase-modulation-induced spectral broadening of laser pulses in air-guided modes of hollow photonic-crystal fibers (PCFs) is shown to allow the creation of fiber-optic limiters for high-intensity ultrashort laser pulses. The performance of PCF limiters is analyzed in terms of elementary theory of self-phase modulation. Experiments performed with 100 fs microjoule pulses of 800 nm Ti:sapphire laser radiation demonstrate the potential of hollow PCFs as limiters for 10 MW ultrashort laser pulses and show the possibility to switch the limiting level of output radiation energy by guiding femtosecond pulses in different PCF modes.

Femtosecond lasers for laser in situ keratomileusis: a systematic review and meta-analysis

PubMed Central

Huhtala, Anne; Pietilä, Juhani; Mäkinen, Petri; Uusitalo, Hannu

2016-01-01

Purpose The aim of this study was to review and meta-analyze whether there are differences between reported femtosecond (FS) lasers for laser-assisted in situ keratomileusis (LASIK) in terms of efficacy, predictability, and safety as primary outcomes and corneal flap thickness measurements and pre- and postoperative complications as secondary outcomes. Methods A comprehensive literature search of PubMed, Science Direct, Scopus, and Cochrane CENTRAL Trials Library databases was conducted to identify the relevant prospective randomized controlled trials of FS lasers for LASIK. Thirty-one articles describing a total of 5,404 eyes were included. Results Based on efficacy, IntraLase FS 10 and 30 kHz gave the best results. Based on predictability and safety, there were no differences between various FS lasers. FEMTO LDV and IntraLase FS 60 kHz produced the most accurate flap thicknesses. IntraLase and Wavelight SF200 had the fewest intraoperative complications. IntraLase, Visumax, and Wavelight FS200 had the most seldom postoperative complications. Conclusion There were dissimilarities between different FS lasers based on efficacy and intraoperative and postoperative complications. All FS lasers were predictable and safe for making corneal flaps in LASIK. PMID:27022236

Femtosecond lasers for laser in situ keratomileusis: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

PubMed

Huhtala, Anne; Pietilä, Juhani; Mäkinen, Petri; Uusitalo, Hannu

2016-01-01

The aim of this study was to review and meta-analyze whether there are differences between reported femtosecond (FS) lasers for laser-assisted in situ keratomileusis (LASIK) in terms of efficacy, predictability, and safety as primary outcomes and corneal flap thickness measurements and pre- and postoperative complications as secondary outcomes. A comprehensive literature search of PubMed, Science Direct, Scopus, and Cochrane CENTRAL Trials Library databases was conducted to identify the relevant prospective randomized controlled trials of FS lasers for LASIK. Thirty-one articles describing a total of 5,404 eyes were included. Based on efficacy, IntraLase FS 10 and 30 kHz gave the best results. Based on predictability and safety, there were no differences between various FS lasers. FEMTO LDV and IntraLase FS 60 kHz produced the most accurate flap thicknesses. IntraLase and Wavelight SF200 had the fewest intraoperative complications. IntraLase, Visumax, and Wavelight FS200 had the most seldom postoperative complications. There were dissimilarities between different FS lasers based on efficacy and intraoperative and postoperative complications. All FS lasers were predictable and safe for making corneal flaps in LASIK.

Fabrication of amorphous micro-ring arrays in crystalline silicon using ultrashort laser pulses

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fuentes-Edfuf, Yasser; Garcia-Lechuga, Mario; Puerto, Daniel; Florian, Camilo; Garcia-Leis, Adianez; Sanchez-Cortes, Santiago; Solis, Javier; Siegel, Jan

2017-05-01

We demonstrate a simple way to fabricate amorphous micro-rings in crystalline silicon using direct laser writing. This method is based on the fact that the phase of a thin surface layer can be changed into the amorphous phase by irradiation with a few ultrashort laser pulses (800 nm wavelength and 100 fs duration). Surface-depressed amorphous rings with a central crystalline disk can be fabricated without the need for beam shaping, featuring attractive optical, topographical, and electrical properties. The underlying formation mechanism and phase change pathway have been investigated by means of fs-resolved microscopy, identifying fluence-dependent melting and solidification dynamics of the material as the responsible mechanism. We demonstrate that the lateral dimensions of the rings can be scaled and that the rings can be stitched together, forming extended arrays of structures not limited to annular shapes. This technique and the resulting structures may find applications in a variety of fields such as optics, nanoelectronics, and mechatronics.

Sub-picosecond streak camera measurements at LLNL: From IR to x-rays

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kuba, J; Shepherd, R; Booth, R

An ultra fast, sub-picosecond resolution streak camera has been recently developed at the LLNL. The camera is a versatile instrument with a wide operating wavelength range. The temporal resolution of up to 300 fs can be achieved, with routine operation at 500 fs. The streak camera has been operated in a wide wavelength range from IR to x-rays up to 2 keV. In this paper we briefly review the main design features that result in the unique properties of the streak camera and present its several scientific applications: (1) Streak camera characterization using a Michelson interferometer in visible range, (2)more » temporally resolved study of a transient x-ray laser at 14.7 nm, which enabled us to vary the x-ray laser pulse duration from {approx}2-6 ps by changing the pump laser parameters, and (3) an example of a time-resolved spectroscopy experiment with the streak camera.« less

Analysis of chirality by femtosecond laser ionization mass spectrometry.

PubMed

Horsch, Philipp; Urbasch, Gunter; Weitzel, Karl-Michael

2012-09-01

Recent progress in the field of chirality analysis employing laser ionization mass spectrometry is reviewed. Emphasis is given to femtosecond (fs) laser ionization work from the author's group. We begin by reviewing fundamental aspects of determining circular dichroism (CD) in fs-laser ionization mass spectrometry (fs-LIMS) discussing an example from the literature (resonant fs-LIMS of 3-methylcyclopentanone). Second, we present new data indicating CD in non-resonant fs-LIMS of propylene oxide. Copyright © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc., A Wiley Company.

Thermal and non-thermal explosion in metals ablation by femtosecond laser pulse: classical approach of the Two Temperature Model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Abdelmalek, Ahmed; Bedrane, Zeyneb; Amara, El-Hachemi

2018-03-01

We propose a classical Two Temperature Model TTMc where we consider the metal film during the irradiation like an ideal plasma. The numerical results are comparing to those finding by the existing TTM and the experimental data. In our model The cooper is taken as a target irradiated by a single laser pulse with 120 fs at 800 nm wavelength in air room. Our numerical results shown that there are a thermal and non-thermal explosion successively occurs in metal ablation by ultrashort laser pulse.

Undistorted 3D microstructures in SU8 formed through two-photon polymerization

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ohlinger, Kris; Lin, Yuankun; Poole, Zsolt; Chen, Kevin P.

2011-09-01

This paper presents the wavelength dependence of two-photon polymerization in SU-8 between 720-780 nm. The study is performed by microstructuring SU-8 through a single-shot exposure of SU-8 to 140 fs tunable laser pulses with 80 MHz repetition rate, or by laser direct writing. Two-photon absorption is closely related to one-photon absorption in pristine SU-8. By careful design of the neighboring micro-structures, or by varying wet-processing parameters during development, undistorted and unbended 3D micro-structures have been fabricated through direct laser writing.

Femtosecond laser micromachining of waveguides in silicone-based hydrogel polymers.

PubMed

Ding, Li; Blackwell, Richard I; Künzler, Jay F; Knox, Wayne H

2008-06-10

By tightly focusing 27 fs laser pulses from a Ti:sapphire oscillator with 1.3 nJ pulse energy at 93 MHz repetition rate, we are able to fabricate optical waveguides inside hydrogel polymers containing approximately 36% water by weight. A tapered lensed fiber is used to couple laser light at a wavelength of 632.8 nm into these waveguides within a water environment. Strong waveguiding is observed due to large refractive index changes. A large waveguide propagation loss is found, and we show that this is caused by surface roughness which can be reduced by optimizing the waveguides.

Monolithic carrier-envelope phase-stabilization scheme.

PubMed

Fuji, Takao; Rauschenberger, Jens; Apolonski, Alexander; Yakovlev, Vladislav S; Tempea, Gabriel; Udem, Thomas; Gohle, Christoph; Hänsch, Theodor W; Lehnert, Walter; Scherer, Michael; Krausz, Ferenc

2005-02-01

A new scheme for stabilizing the carrier-envelope (CE) phase of a few-cycle laser pulse train is demonstrated. Self-phase modulation and difference-frequency generation in a single periodically poled lithium niobate crystal that transmits the main laser beam allows CE phase locking directly in the usable output. The monolithic scheme obviates the need for splitting off a fraction of the laser output for CE phase control, coupling into microstructured fiber, and separation and recombination of spectral components. As a consequence, the output yields 6-fs, 800-nm pulses with an unprecedented degree of short- and long-term reproducibility of the electric field waveform.

CNT-based saturable absorbers with scalable modulation depth for Thulium-doped fiber lasers operating at 1.9 μm

PubMed Central

Sobon, Grzegorz; Duzynska, Anna; Świniarski, Michał; Judek, Jarosław; Sotor, Jarosław; Zdrojek, Mariusz

2017-01-01

In this work, we demonstrate a comprehensive study on the nonlinear parameters of carbon nanotube (CNT) saturable absorbers (SA) as a function of the nanotube film thickness. We have fabricated a set of four saturable absorbers with different CNT thickness, ranging from 50 to 200 nm. The CNTs were fabricated via a vacuum filtration technique and deposited on fiber connector end facets. Each SA was characterized in terms of nonlinear transmittance (i.e. optical modulation depth) and tested in a Thulium-doped fiber laser. We show, that increasing the thickness of the CNT layer significantly increases the modulation depth (up to 17.3% with 200 nm thick layer), which strongly influences the central wavelength of the laser, but moderately affects the pulse duration. It means, that choosing the SA with defined CNT thickness might be an efficient method for wavelength-tuning of the laser, without degrading the pulse duration. In our setup, the best performance in terms of bandwidth and pulse duration (8.5 nm and 501 fs, respectively) were obtained with 100 nm thick CNT layer. This is also, to our knowledge, the first demonstration of a fully polarization-maintaining mode-locked Tm-doped laser based on CNT saturable absorber. PMID:28368014

Femtosecond laser fabrication of long period fiber gratings and applications in refractive index sensing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Benye; Jiang, Lan; Wang, Sumei; Tsai, Hai-Lung; Xiao, Hai

2011-11-01

An improved point-by-point inscription method is proposed to fabricate long period fiber gratings (LPFGs) by using a laser operating at 800 nm with 35 fs duration pulses. The sensitivity to misalignment between the core and the focus is reduced by scanning a rectangular part on the fiber. LPFGs with an attenuation depth of 20 dB are achieved within the wavelength range of 1465-1575 nm. Characterization of the temperature sensitivity and thermal stability of the LPFGs is presented. A 5.6 nm wavelength shift and a 1.2 dB decrease in the attenuation peak are observed following heat treatment at 600 °C for 4 h. The fabricated LPFGs are used as refractive index sensors. The effect of heat treatment on the response of the LPFGs to refractive index changes is also studied.

Properties of plasmonic arrays produced by pulsed-laser nanostructuring of thin Au films

PubMed Central

Siuzdak, Katarzyna; Atanasov, Peter A; Bittencourt, Carla; Dikovska, Anna; Nedyalkov, Nikolay N; Śliwiński, Gerard

2014-01-01

Summary A brief description of research advances in the area of short-pulse-laser nanostructuring of thin Au films is followed by examples of experimental data and a discussion of our results on the characterization of structural and optical properties of gold nanostructures. These consist of partially spherical or spheroidal nanoparticles (NPs) which have a size distribution (80 ± 42 nm) and self-organization characterized by a short-distance order (length scale ≈140 nm). For the NP shapes produced, an observably broader tuning range (of about 150 nm) of the surface plasmon resonance (SPR) band is obtained by renewal thin film deposition and laser annealing of the NP array. Despite the broadened SPR bands, which indicate damping confirmed by short dephasing times not exceeding 4 fs, the self-organized Au NP structures reveal quite a strong enhancement of the optical signal. This was consistent with the near-field modeling and micro-Raman measurements as well as a test of the electrochemical sensing capability. PMID:25551038

Laser System for Photoelectron and X-Ray Production in the PLEIADES Compton Light Source

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Gibson, D J; Barty, C J; Betts, S M

2005-04-21

The PLEIADES (Picosecond Laser-Electron Interaction for the Dynamic Evaluation of Structures) facility provides tunable short x-ray pulses with energies of 30-140 keV and pulse durations of 0.3-5 ps by scattering an intense, ultrashort laser pulse off a 35-75 MeV electron beam. Synchronization of the laser and electron beam is obtained by using a photoinjector gun, and using the same laser system to generate the electrons and the scattering laser. The Ti Ti:Sapphire, chirped pulse amplification based 500 mJ, 50 fs, 810 nm scattering laser and the similar 300 {micro}J, 5 ps, 266 nm photoinjector laser systems are detailed. Additionally, anmore » optical parametric chirped pulse amplification (OPCPA) system is studied as a replacement for part of the scattering laser front end. Such a change would significantly simplify the set-up the laser system by removing the need for active switching optics, as well as increase the pre-pulse contrast ratio which will be important when part of the scattering laser is used as a pump beam in pump-probe diffraction experiments using the ultrashort tunable x-rays generated as the probe.« less

Sub-wavelength ripples in fused silica after irradiation of the solid/liquid interface with ultrashort laser pulses.

PubMed

Böhme, R; Vass, C; Hopp, B; Zimmer, K

2008-12-10

Laser-induced backside wet etching (LIBWE) is performed using ultrashort 248 nm laser pulses with a pulse duration of 600 fs to obtain sub-wavelength laser-induced periodic surface structures (LIPSS) on the back surface of fused silica which is in contact with a 0.5 mol l(-1) solution of pyrene in toluene. The LIPSS are strictly one-dimensional patterns, oriented parallel to the polarization of the laser radiation, and have a constant period of about 140 nm at all applied laser fluences (0.33-0.84 J cm(-2)) and pulse numbers (50-1000 pulses). The LIPSS amplitude varies due to the inhomogeneous fluence in the laser spot. The LIPSS are examined with scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). Their power spectral density (PSD) distribution is analysed at a measured area of 10 µm × 10 µm. The good agreement of the measured and calculated LIPSS periods strongly supports a mechanism based on the interference of surface-scattered and incident waves.

Acousto-optic replication of ultrashort laser pulses

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yushkov, Konstantin B.; Molchanov, Vladimir Ya.; Ovchinnikov, Andrey V.; Chefonov, Oleg V.

2017-10-01

Precisely controlled sequences of ultrashort laser pulses are required in various scientific and engineering applications. We developed a phase-only acousto-optic pulse shaping method for replication of ultrashort laser pulses in a TW laser system. A sequence of several Fourier-transform-limited pulses is generated from a single femtosecond laser pulse by means of applying a piecewise linear phase modulation over the whole emission spectrum. Analysis demonstrates that the main factor which limits maximum delay between the pulse replicas is spectral resolution of the acousto-optic dispersive delay line used for pulse shaping. In experiments with a Cr:forsterite laser system, we obtained delays from 0.3 to 3.5 ps between two replicas of 190 fs transform-limited pulses at the central wavelength of laser emission, 1230 nm.

Dissolution-and-reduction CVD synthesis of few-layer graphene on ultra-thin nickel film lifted off for mode-locking fiber lasers

PubMed Central

Peng, Kaung-Jay; Lin, Yung-Hsiang; Wu, Chung-Lun; Lin, Sheng-Fong; Yang, Chun-Yu; Lin, Shih-Meng; Tsai, Din-Ping; Lin, Gong-Ru

2015-01-01

The in-situ dissolution-and-reduction CVD synthesized few-layer graphene on ultra-thin nickel catalyst film is demonstrated at temperature as low as 550 °C, which can be employed to form transmission-type or reflection-type saturable absorber (SA) for mode-locking the erbium-doped fiber lasers (EDFLs). With transmission-type graphene SA, the EDFL shortens its pulsewidth from 483 to 441 fs and broadens its spectral linewidth from 4.2 to 6.1 nm with enlarging the pumping current from 200 to 900 mA. In contrast, the reflection-type SA only compresses the pulsewidth from 875 to 796 fs with corresponding spectral linewidth broadened from 2.2 to 3.3 nm. The reflection-type graphene mode-locker increases twice of its equivalent layer number to cause more insertion loss than the transmission-type one. Nevertheless, the reflection-type based saturable absorber system can generate stabilized soliton-like pulse easier than that of transmission-type system, because the nonlinearity induced self-amplitude modulation depth is simultaneously enlarged when passing through the graphene twice under the retro-reflector design. PMID:26328535

Single-pass, efficient type-I phase-matched frequency doubling of high-power ultrashort-pulse Yb-fiber laser using LiB_3O_5

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shukla, Mukesh Kumar; Kumar, Samir; Das, Ritwick

2016-05-01

We report 48 % efficient single-pass second harmonic generation of high-power ultrashort-pulse ({≈ }250 fs) Yb-fiber laser by utilizing type-I phase matching in LiB_3O_5 (LBO) crystal. The choice of LBO among other borate crystals for high-power frequency doubling is essentially motivated by large thermal conductivity, low birefringence and weak group velocity dispersion. By optimally focussing the beam in a 4-mm-long LBO crystal, we have generated about 2.3 W of average power at 532 nm using 4.8 W of available pump power at 1064 nm. The ultrashort green pulses were found out to be near-transform limited sech^2 pulses with a pulse width of Δ τ ≈ 150 fs and being delivered at 78 MHz repetition rate. Due to appreciably low spatial walk-off angle for LBO ({≈ }0.4°), we obtain M^2<1.26 for the SH beam which signifies marginal distortion in comparison with the pump beam (M^2<1.15). We also discuss the impact of third-order optical nonlinearity of the LBO crystal on the generated ultrashort SH pulses.

Laser-induced damage thresholds of bulk and coating optical materials at 1030  nm, 500  fs.

PubMed

Gallais, Laurent; Commandré, Mireille

2014-02-01

We report on extensive femtosecond laser damage threshold measurements of optical materials in both bulk and thin-film form. This study, which is based on published and new data, involved simple oxide and fluoride films, composite films made from a mixture of two dielectric materials, metallic films, and the surfaces of various bulk materials: oxides, fluorides, semiconductors, and ionic crystals. The samples were tested in comparable conditions at 1030 nm, 375 to 600 fs, under single-pulse irradiation. A large number of different samples prepared by different deposition techniques have been tested, involving classical materials used in the fabrication of optical thin film components (Ag, AlF3, Al2O3, HfO2, MgF2, Nb2O5, Pt, Sc2O3, SiO2, Ta2O5, Y2O3, and ZrO2) and their combination with codeposition processes. Their behaviors are compared with the surfaces of bulk materials (Al2O3, BaF2, CaF2, Ge, KBr, LiF, MgF2, NaCl, Quartz, Si, ZnS, ZnSe, and different silica glasses). Tabulated values of results are presented and discussed.

A New Type of Frequency Chain and Its Application to Fundamental Frequency Metrology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Udem, Thomas; Reichert, Joerg; Holzwarth, Ronald; Diddams, Scott; Jones, David; Ye, Jun; Cundiff, Steven; Haensch, Theodor; Hall, John

A suitable femtosecond (fs) laser system can provide a broad band comb of stable optical frequencies and thus can serve as an rf/optical coherent link. In this way we have performed a direct comparison of the 1S-2S transition in atomic hydrogen at 121 nm with a cesium fountain clock, built at the LPTF/Paris, to reach an accuracy of 1.9times 10^{-14}. The same comb-line counting technique was exploited to determine and recalibrate several important optical frequency standards. In particular, the improved measurement of the Cesium D1 line is necessary for a more precise determination of the fine structure constant. In addition, several of the best-known optical frequency standards have been recalibrated via the fs method. By creating an octave-spanning frequency comb a single-laser frequency chain has been realized and tested.

Measurement of ultrashort laser pulses using single-crystal films of 4-aminobenzophenone

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bhowmik, Achintya K.; Tan, Shida; Ahyi, Ayayi C.; Dharmadhikari, J. A.; Dharmadhikari, A. K.; Mathur, D.

2007-12-01

Single-crystal thin-film of an organic second-order nonlinear optical material, 4-aminobenzophenone (ABP), is used to measure the pulsewidth of a Ti-Sapphire laser producing ˜45 fs pulses at 1 kHz repetition rate, by the non-collinear second-harmonic generation (SHG) intensity autocorrelation technique. These films are suitable for measurements over a broad wavelength range, down to 780 nm, due to their wide optical transparency. The single-crystal film with thickness (˜3 μm) less than the coherence length requires no phase-matching for efficient broadband SHG. Pulse walk-off due to group-velocity mismatch (GVM) and temporal broadening of the pulses due to group-velocity dispersion (GVD) are found to be negligible. These effects have been estimated for pulse width down to few-cycle pulses (˜10 fs), and the analyses show that these films can be used to characterize such ultrashort optical pulses.

1-MHz high power femtosecond Yb-doped fiber chirped-pulse amplifier

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hu, Zhong-Qi; Yang, Pei-Long; Teng, Hao; Zhu, Jiang-Feng; Wei, Zhi-Yi

2018-01-01

A practical femtosecond polarization-maintaining Yb-doped fiber amplifier enabling 153 fs transform-limited pulse duration with 32 μJ pulse energy at 1 MHz repetition rate corresponding to a peak power of 0.21 GW is demonstrated. The laser system based on chirped-pulse amplification (CPA) technique is seeded by a dispersion managed, nonlinear polarization evolution (NPE) mode-locked oscillator with spectrum bandwidth of 31 nm at 1040 nm and amplified by three fiber pre-amplifying stages and a rod type fiber main amplifying stage. The laser works with beam quality of M2 of 1.3 and power stability of 0.63% (root mean square, RMS) over 24 hours will be stable sources for industrial micromachining, medical therapy and scientific research.

Mode-locked fiber laser using SU8 resist incorporating carbon nanotubes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hernandez-Romano, Ivan; Mandridis, Dimitrios; May-Arrioja, Daniel A.; Sanchez-Mondragon, Jose J.; Delfyett, Peter J.

2011-06-01

We report the fabrication of a saturable absorber made of a novel polymer SU8 doped with Single Wall Carbon Nanotubes (SWCNTs). A passive mode-locked ring cavity fiber laser was built with a 100 μm thick SU8/SWCNT film inserted between two FC/APC connectors. Self-starting passively mode-locked lasing operation was observed at 1572.04 nm, with a FWHM of 3.26 nm. The autocorrelation trace was 1.536 ps corresponding to a pulse-width of 871 fs. The time-bandwidth product was 0.344, which is close enough to transform-limited sech squared pulses. The repetition rate was 21.27 MHz, and a maximum average output power of 1 mW was also measured.

Long-period fiber grating fabricated by 800 nm femtosecond laser pulses

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Yani; Xi, Yaru; Liu, Sicong; Jiang, Peng; Zhao, Ya; Xu, Qiang

2018-02-01

In this paper, the long period fiber gratings (LPFGs) in standard SMF-28 telecommunication fibers without hydrogen loading were inscribed by using point-to-point direct writing method of femtosecond laser pulses with pulse duration of 100 fs, repetition rate of 1kHz and a central wavelength of 800 nm. The LPFGs with different spectral characteristics were fabricated by adjusting grating period, grating length and duty ratio. The results show that the resonant peak wavelengths shift to the long-wave direction with the increase of the grating length increasing. The variations of duty ratio will lead to the generation of resonance rejection band of LPFGs from singlepeak to multi-peak plus lesser out-of-band loss.

Coherent electronic wave packet motion in C(60) controlled by the waveform and polarization of few-cycle laser fields.

PubMed

Li, H; Mignolet, B; Wachter, G; Skruszewicz, S; Zherebtsov, S; Süssmann, F; Kessel, A; Trushin, S A; Kling, Nora G; Kübel, M; Ahn, B; Kim, D; Ben-Itzhak, I; Cocke, C L; Fennel, T; Tiggesbäumker, J; Meiwes-Broer, K-H; Lemell, C; Burgdörfer, J; Levine, R D; Remacle, F; Kling, M F

2015-03-27

Strong laser fields can be used to trigger an ultrafast molecular response that involves electronic excitation and ionization dynamics. Here, we report on the experimental control of the spatial localization of the electronic excitation in the C_{60} fullerene exerted by an intense few-cycle (4 fs) pulse at 720 nm. The control is achieved by tailoring the carrier-envelope phase and the polarization of the laser pulse. We find that the maxima and minima of the photoemission-asymmetry parameter along the laser-polarization axis are synchronized with the localization of the coherent electronic wave packet at around the time of ionization.

Ultrafast time-resolved pump-probe spectroscopy of PYP by a sub-8 fs pulse laser at 400 nm.

PubMed

Liu, Jun; Yabushita, Atsushi; Taniguchi, Seiji; Chosrowjan, Haik; Imamoto, Yasushi; Sueda, Keiichi; Miyanaga, Noriaki; Kobayashi, Takayoshi

2013-05-02

Impulsive excitation of molecular vibration is known to induce wave packets in both the ground state and excited state. Here, the ultrafast dynamics of PYP was studied by pump-probe spectroscopy using a sub-8 fs pulse laser at 400 nm. The broadband spectrum of the UV pulse allowed us to detect the pump-probe signal covering 360-440 nm. The dependence of the vibrational phase of the vibrational mode around 1155 cm(-1) on the probe photon energy was observed for the first time to our knowledge. The vibrational mode coupled to the electronic transition observed in the probe spectral ranges of 2.95-3.05 and 3.15-3.35 eV was attributed to the wave packets in the ground state and the excited state, respectively. The frequencies in the ground state and excited state were determined to be 1155 ± 1 and 1149 ± 1 cm(-1), respectively. The frequency difference is due to change after photoexcitation. This means a reduction of the bond strength associated with π-π* excitation, which is related to the molecular structure change associated with the primary isomerization process in the photocycle in PYP. Real-time vibrational modes at low frequency around 138, 179, 203, 260, and 317 cm(-1) were also observed and compared with the Raman spectrum for the assignment of the vibrational wave packet.

Broad emission band of Yb3+ in the nonlinear Nb:RbTiOPO4 crystal: origin and applications.

PubMed

Carvajal, J J; Ciatto, G; Mateos, X; Schmidt, A; Griebner, U; Petrov, V; Boulon, G; Brenier, A; Peña, A; Pujol, M C; Aguiló, M; Díaz, F

2010-03-29

By means of micro-structural and optical characterization of the Yb:Nb:RbTiOPO(4) crystal, we demonstrated that the broad emission band of Yb(3+) in these crystals is due to the large splitting of the ytterbium ground state only, and not to a complex multisite occupation by the ytterbium ions in the crystals. We used this broad emission band to demonstrate wide laser tuning range and generation of femtosecond laser pulses. Passive mode-locked laser operation has been realized by using a semiconductor saturable absorber mirror, generating ultra short laser pulses of 155 fs, which were very stable in time, under Ti:sapphire laser pumping at 1053 nm.

Ultralow-threshold Kerr-lens mode-locked Ti:Al(2)O(3) laser.

PubMed

Kowalevicz, A M; Schibli, T R; Kärtner, F X; Fujimoto, J G

2002-11-15

An ultralow-threshold Kerr-lens mode-locked Ti:Al(2)O(3) laser achieved by use of an extended cavity design is demonstrated. Mode-locking thresholds as low as 156 mW are achieved. Pulses with durations as short as 14 fs and bandwidths of >100 nm with output powers of ~15 mW at 50-MHz repetition rates are generated by only 200 mW of pump power. Reducing the pump power requirements to a factor of 10x less than required by most conventional Kerr-lens mode-locked lasers permits inexpensive, low-power pump lasers to be used. This will facilitate the development of low-cost, high-performance femtosecond Ti:Al(2)O(3) laser technology.

[Understanding the advantages and disadvantages of femtosecond laser comprehensive applications in ophthalmology].

PubMed

Xie, Li-xin; Gao, Hua

2013-04-01

The femtosecond (FS) laser is a novel laser technology, and is approved clinical application by FDA in 2000. FS laser initially mainly used in corneal refractive surgery to replace the mechanical microkeratome. Since the accuracy and controllability of the FS laser is very high, it shows superiority in the field of corneal refractive surgery. And with the development of the relative hard and software, FS laser is began to used in other fields of ophthalmology, such as corneal transplants, cataract surgery, as well as assisted diagnosis et al., although still have some limitations, the preliminary clinical results have been shown a very good prospects in the ophthalmology fields. Therefore, we reviewed the alternative applications, challenges and limitations, research direction in the future of FS laser, so that provide a reference and revelations for the peers.

Femtosecond laser fabrication of birefringent directional couplers as polarization beam splitters in fused silica.

PubMed

Fernandes, Luís A; Grenier, Jason R; Herman, Peter R; Aitchison, J Stewart; Marques, Paulo V S

2011-06-20

Integrated polarization beam splitters based on birefringent directional couplers are demonstrated. The devices are fabricated in bulk fused silica glass by femtosecond laser writing (300 fs, 150 nJ at 500 kHz, 522 nm). The birefringence was measured from the spectral splitting of the Bragg grating resonances associated with the vertically and horizontally polarized modes. Polarization splitting directional couplers were designed and demonstrated with 0.5 dB/cm propagation losses and -19 dB and -24 dB extinction ratios for the polarization splitting.

Three-dimensional calibration targets for optical coherence tomography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gabriele Sandrian, Michelle; Tomlins, Pete; Woolliams, Peter; Rasakanthan, Janarthanan; Lee, Graham C.; Yang, Anna; Považay, Boris; Alex, Aneesh; Sugden, Kate; Drexler, Wolfgang

2012-03-01

The recent expansion of clinical applications for optical coherence tomography (OCT) is driving the development of approaches for consistent image acquisition. There is a simultaneous need for time-stable, easy-to-use imaging targets for calibration and standardization of OCT devices. We present calibration targets consisting of three-dimensional structures etched into nanoparticle-embedded resin. Spherical iron oxide nanoparticles with a predominant particle diameter of 400 nm were homogeneously dispersed in a two part polyurethane resin and allowed to harden overnight. These samples were then etched using a precision micromachining femtosecond laser with a center wavelength of 1026 nm, 100kHz repetition rate and 450 fs pulse duration. A series of lines in depth were etched, varying the percentage of inscription energy and speed of the translation stage moving the target with respect to the laser. Samples were imaged with a dual wavelength spectral-domain OCT system (λ=800nm, ▵λ~180nm, and λ=1325nm, ▵λ~100nm) and point-spread function of nanoparticles within the target was measured.

Femtosecond diode-pumped mode-locked neodymium lasers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kubeček, Václav; Jelínek, Michal; Čech, Miroslav; Vyhlídal, David; Su, Liangbi; Jiang, Dapeng; Ma, Fengkai; Qian, Xiaobo; Wang, Jingya; Xu, Jun

2016-12-01

Fluoride-type crystals (CaF2, SrF2) doped with neodymium Nd3+ and codoped with buffer ions for breaking clusters of active ions and increasing fluorescence efficiency, present interesting alternative as laser active media for the diode-pumped mode-locked lasers. In comparison with widely used materials as Nd:YAG or Nd:YVO4, they have broad emission spectra as well as longer fluorescence lifetime, in comparison with Nd:glass, SrF2 and CaF2 have better thermal conductivity. In spite of the fact, that this thermal conductivity decreases with Nd3+ doping concentration, these crystals are alternative for the Nd:glass in subpicosecond mode-locked laser systems. In this paper we review the basic results reported recently on these active materials and in the second part we present our results achieved in low power diode pumped passively mode locked lasers with Nd,La:CaF2 and Nd,Y:SrF2 crystals. The pulses as short as 258 fs at wavelength of 1057 nm were obtained in the first case, while 5 ps long pulses at 1065 nm were generated from the second laser system.

Femtosecond laser-induced periodic surface structures on steel and titanium alloy for tribological applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bonse, J.; Koter, R.; Hartelt, M.; Spaltmann, D.; Pentzien, S.; Höhm, S.; Rosenfeld, A.; Krüger, J.

2014-10-01

Laser-induced periodic surface structures (LIPSS, ripples) were generated on stainless steel (100Cr6) and titanium alloy (Ti6Al4V) surfaces upon irradiation with multiple femtosecond laser pulses (pulse duration 30 fs, central wavelength 790 nm). The experimental conditions (laser fluence, spatial spot overlap) were optimized in a sample-scanning geometry for the processing of large surface areas (5 × 5 mm2) covered homogeneously by the nanostructures. The irradiated surface regions were subjected to white light interference microscopy and scanning electron microscopy revealing spatial periods around 600 nm. The tribological performance of the nanostructured surface was characterized by reciprocal sliding against a ball of hardened steel in paraffin oil and in commercial engine oil as lubricants, followed by subsequent inspection of the wear tracks. For specific conditions, on the titanium alloy a significant reduction of the friction coefficient by a factor of more than two was observed on the laser-irradiated (LIPSS-covered) surface when compared to the non-irradiated one, indicating the potential benefit of laser surface structuring for tribological applications.

Magnetorheological elastic super-smooth finishing for high-efficiency manufacturing of ultraviolet laser resistant optics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shi, Feng; Shu, Yong; Dai, Yifan; Peng, Xiaoqiang; Li, Shengyi

2013-07-01

Based on the elastic-plastic deformation theory, status between abrasives and workpiece in magnetorheological finishing (MRF) process and the feasibility of elastic polishing are analyzed. The relationship among material removal mechanism and particle force, removal efficiency, and surface topography are revealed through a set of experiments. The chemical dominant elastic super-smooth polishing can be fulfilled by changing the components of magnetorheological (MR) fluid and optimizing polishing parameters. The MR elastic super-smooth finishing technology can be applied in polishing high-power laser-irradiated components with high efficiency, high accuracy, low damage, and high laser-induced damage threshold (LIDT). A 430×430×10 mm fused silica (FS) optic window is polished and surface error is improved from 538.241 nm [peak to valley (PV)], 96.376 nm (rms) to 76.372 nm (PV), 8.295 nm (rms) after 51.6 h rough polishing, 42.6 h fine polishing, and 54.6 h super-smooth polishing. A 50×50×10 mm sample is polished with exactly the same parameters. The roughness is improved from 1.793 nm [roughness average (Ra)] to 0.167 nm (Ra) and LIDT is improved from 9.77 to 19.2 J/cm2 after MRF elastic polishing.

Cladding-pumped passively mode-locked fiber laser generating femtosecond and picosecond pulses

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fermann, M. E.; Harter, D.; Minelly, J. D.; Vienne, G. G.

1996-07-01

Passively mode-locked fiber lasers cladding pumped by broad-area diode-laser arrays are described. With a dispersion-compenstated erbium-ytterbium fiber oscillator, 200-fs pulses with pulse energies up to 100 pJ are generated at a wavelength of 1560 nm. In a highly dispersive cavity, pulse widths of 3 ps with pulse energies up to 1 nJ are obtained. A saturable absorber is used for pulse startup, whereas nonlinear polarization evolution is exploited for steady-state pulse shaping. An environmentally stable design is ensured by use of a compensation scheme for linear polarization drifts in the cavity.

Cladding-pumped passively mode-locked fiber laser generating femtosecond and picosecond pulses.

PubMed

Fermann, M E; Harter, D; Minelly, J D; Vienne, G G

1996-07-01

Passively mode-locked fiber lasers cladding pumped by broad-area diode-laser arrays are described. With a dispersion-compenstated erbium-ytterbium fiber oscillator, 200-fs pulses with pulse energies up to 100 pJ are generated at a wavelength of 1560 nm. In a highly dispersive cavity, pulse widths of 3 ps with pulse energies up to 1 nJ are obtained. A saturable absorber is used for pulse startup, whereas nonlinear polarization evolution is exploited for steady-state pulse shaping. An environmentally stable design is ensured by use of a compensation scheme for linear polarization drifts in the cavity.

Single-pulse femtosecond laser fabrication of concave microlens- and micromirror arrays in chalcohalide glass

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kadan, Viktor; Blonskyi, Ivan; Shynkarenko, Yevhen; Rybak, Andriy; Calvez, Laurent; Mytsyk, Bohdan; Spotyuk, Oleh

2017-11-01

The diffraction-limited plano-concave microlens- and micromirror arrays were produced in chalcohalide glass of 65GeS2-25Ga2S3-10CsCl composition transparent from ∼0.5 to 11 μm. Only a single 200 fs laser pulse with 800 nm central wavelength is required to form microlens, which after metal coating becomes a concave micromirror. This process can serve as a basis for flexible technology to fabricate regular microlens and micromirror arrays for optotelecom applications, its performance being limited only by repetition rate of the laser pulses (typically 1000 microlenses per second).

An extreme ultraviolet Michelson interferometer for experiments at free-electron lasers

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hilbert, Vinzenz; Fuchs, Silvio; Paulus, Gerhard G.

2013-09-15

We present a Michelson interferometer for 13.5 nm soft x-ray radiation. It is characterized in a proof-of-principle experiment using synchrotron radiation, where the temporal coherence is measured to be 13 fs. The curvature of the thin-film beam splitter membrane is derived from the observed fringe pattern. The applicability of this Michelson interferometer at intense free-electron lasers is investigated, particularly with respect to radiation damage. This study highlights the potential role of such Michelson interferometers in solid density plasma investigations using, for instance, extreme soft x-ray free-electron lasers. A setup using the Michelson interferometer for pseudo-Nomarski-interferometry is proposed.

Experimental Retrieval of Target Structure Information from Laser-Induced Rescattered Photoelectron Momentum Distributions

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Okunishi, M.; Pruemper, G.; Shimada, K.

We have measured two-dimensional photoelectron momentum spectra of Ne, Ar, and Xe generated by 800-nm, 100-fs laser pulses and succeeded in identifying the spectral ridge region (back-rescattered ridges) which marks the location of the returning electrons that have been backscattered at their maximum kinetic energies. We demonstrate that the structural information, in particular the differential elastic scattering cross sections of the target ion by free electrons, can be accurately extracted from the intensity distributions of photoelectrons on the ridges, thus effecting a first step toward laser-induced self-imaging of the target, with unprecedented spatial and temporal resolutions.

Ridge Minimization of Ablated Morphologies on ITO Thin Films Using Squared Quasi-Flat Top Beam

PubMed Central

Jeon, Jin-Woo; Choi, Wonsuk; Shin, Young-Gwan; Ji, Suk-Young

2018-01-01

In this study, we explore the improvements in pattern quality that was obtained with a femtosecond laser with quasi-flat top beam profiles at the ablated edge of indium tin oxide (ITO) thin films for the patterning of optoelectronic devices. To ablate the ITO thin films, a femtosecond laser is used that has a wavelength and pulse duration of 1030 nm and 190 fs, respectively. The squared quasi-flat top beam is obtained from a circular Gaussian beam using slits with varying x-y axes. Then, the patterned ITO thin films are measured using both scanning electron and atomic force microscopes. In the case of the Gaussian beam, the ridge height and width are approximately 39 nm and 1.1 μm, respectively, whereas, when the quasi-flat top beam is used, the ridge height and width are approximately 7 nm and 0.25 μm, respectively. PMID:29601515

Low threshold linear cavity mode-locked fiber laser using microfiber-based carbon nanotube saturable absorber

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lau, K. Y.; Ng, E. K.; Abu Bakar, M. H.; Abas, A. F.; Alresheedi, M. T.; Yusoff, Z.; Mahdi, M. A.

2018-06-01

In this work, we demonstrate a linear cavity mode-locked erbium-doped fiber laser in C-band wavelength region. The passive mode-locking is achieved using a microfiber-based carbon nanotube saturable absorber. The carbon nanotube saturable absorber has low saturation fluence of 0.98 μJ/cm2. Together with the linear cavity architecture, the fiber laser starts to produce soliton pulses at low pump power of 22.6 mW. The proposed fiber laser generates fundamental soliton pulses with a center wavelength, pulse width, and repetition rate of 1557.1 nm, 820 fs, and 5.41 MHz, respectively. This mode-locked laser scheme presents a viable option in the development of low threshold ultrashort pulse system for deployment as a seed laser.

Capturing thermal, mechanical, and acoustic effects of the diode (980 nm) laser in stapedotomy.

PubMed

Kamalski, Digna M A; de Boorder, Tjeerd; Bittermann, Arnold J N; Wegner, Inge; Vincent, Robert; Grolman, Wilko

2014-07-01

The diode laser, with a wavelength of 980 nm, has promising characteristics for being used for the fenestration during stapedotomy. It is known that at this wavelength absorption in pigmented tissues is high, and absorption in water is relatively low compared with medical lasers in the infrared, making it theoretically an applicable laser for stapes surgery in patients with otosclerosis. Another important advantage is that, with respect to other lasers, this device is relatively inexpensive. Despite the potential advantages, the available literature only shows limited reports of this laser being used in stapes surgery. The present article evaluates the thermal, mechanical, and acoustic properties of the diode laser during stapes surgery. For the mechanical effects, high-speed imaging with a frame rate up to 4000 f/s (=250 μs resolution) was performed in an inner ear model. For thermal effects, the high-speed Schlieren technique was used. Acoustics were recorded by a hydrophone, incorporated in the model. Pulse settings were 100 ms, 3 W, which are the same settings used during stapes surgery. The application of the diode laser resulted in limited mechanical and thermal effects. Impulse noise was low with an average of 52 (SD, 7.8) dB (A). Before carbonization of the tip of the delivery laser, fiber enhances ablation of the footplate. The 980-nm diode laser is a useful tool for laser-assisted stapedotomy in patients with otosclerosis. Mechanical, thermal, and acoustic effects are limited and well within the safety limits.

Comparison of retina damage thresholds simulating the femtosecond-laser in situ keratomileusis (fs-LASIK) process with two laser systems in the CW- and fs-regime

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sander, M.; Minet, O.; Zabarylo, U.; Müller, M.; Tetz, M. R.

2012-04-01

The femtosecond-laser in situ keratomileusis procedure affords the opportunity to correct ametropia by cutting transparent corneal tissue with ultra-short laser pulses. Thereby the tissue cut is generated by a laser-induced optical breakdown in the cornea with ultra-short laser pulses in the near-infrared range. Compared to standard procedures such as photorefractive keratectomy and laser in-situ keratomileusis with the excimer laser, where the risk potential for the eye is low due to the complete absorption of ultraviolet irradiation from corneal tissue, only a certain amount of the pulse energy is deposited in the cornea during the fs-LASIK process. The remaining energy propagates through the eye and interacts with the retina and the strong absorbing tissue layers behind. The objective of the presented study was to determine and compare the retina damage thresholds during the fs-LASIK process simulated with two various laser systems in the CW- and fs-regime.

Laser shock microforming of aluminum foil with fs laser

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ye, Yunxia; Feng, Yayun; Xuan, Ting; Hua, Xijun; Hua, Yinqun

2014-12-01

Laser shock microforming of Aluminum(Al) foil through fs laser has been researched in this paper. The influences of confining layer, clamping method and impact times on induced dent depths were investigated experimentally. Microstructure of fs laser shock forming Al foil was observed through Transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Under the condition of tightly clamping, the dent depths increase with impact times and finally tend to saturating. Another new confining layer, the main component of which is polypropylene, was applied and the confining effect of it is better because of its higher impedance. TEM results show that dislocation is one of the main deformation mechanisms of fs laser shock forming Al foil. Specially, most of dislocations exist in the form of short and discrete dislocation lines. Parallel straight dislocation slip line also were observed. We analyzed that these unique dislocation arrangements are due to fs laser-induced ultra high strain rate.

Toward compact and ultra-intense laser-based soft x-ray lasers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sebban, S.; Depresseux, A.; Oliva, E.; Gautier, J.; Tissandier, F.; Nejdl, J.; Kozlova, M.; Maynard, G.; Goddet, J. P.; Tafzi, A.; Lifschitz, A.; Kim, H. T.; Jacquemot, S.; Rousseau, P.; Zeitoun, P.; Rousse, A.

2018-01-01

We report here recent work on an optical field ionized (OFI), high-order harmonic-seeded EUV laser. The amplifying medium is a plasma of nickel-like krypton obtained by OFI when focusing a 1 J, 30 fs, circularly-polarized, infrared pulse into a krypton-filled gas cell or krypton gas jet. The lasing transition is the 3d94d (J = 0) → 3d94p (J = 1) transition of Ni-like krypton ions at 32.8 nm and is pumped by collisions with hot electrons. The gain dynamics was probed by seeding the amplifier with a high-order harmonic pulse at different delays. The gain duration monotonically decreased from 7 ps to an unprecedented shortness of 450 fs full width at half-maximum as the amplification peak rose from 150 to 1200 with an increase of the plasma density from 3 × 1018 to 1.2 × 1020 cm-3. The integrated energy of the EUV laser pulse was also measured, and found to be around 2 μJ. It is to be noted that in the ASE mode, longer amplifiers were achieved (up to 2 cm), yielding EUV outputs up to 14 μJ.

Cancer cell death processes in combining photothermal and photodynamic effects through surface plasmon resonance of gold nanoring (Conference Presentation)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

He, Yulu; Yu, Jian-He; Hsiao, Jen-Hung; Tu, Yi-Chou; Low, Meng Chun; Hua, Wei-Hsiang; Hsieh, Cheng-Che; Kiang, Yean-Woei; Yang, Chih-Chung; Zhang, Zhenxi

2017-02-01

In combining the photothermal and photodynamic effects for killing cancer cells through the localized surface plasmon resonance (LSP) of photosensitizer-linked Au nanorings (NRIs), which are up-taken by the cells, the cells can be killed via different processes, including necrosis and apoptosis. In particular, the dominating effect, either photothermal or photodynamic effect, for cancer cell killing leading to either necrosis or apoptosis process is an important issue to be understood for improving the therapy efficiency. In this paper, we demonstrate the study results in differentiating the necrosis and apoptosis processes of cell death under different laser illumination conditions. With the LSP resonance wavelength of the Au NRIs around 1064 nm, the illumination of a 1064-nm cw laser can mainly produce the photothermal effect. The illumination of a 1064-nm fs laser can lead to LSP resonance-assisted two-photon absorption of the photosensitizer (AlPcS) for generating singlet oxygen and hence the photodynamic effect, besides the photothermal effect. Also, the illumination of a 660-nm cw laser can result in single-photon absorption of the photosensitizer for generating singlet oxygen and the photodynamic effect. By comparing the necrosis and apoptosis distributions in dead cells between the cases of different laser illumination conditions, we can differentiate the cancer cell killing processes between the photothermal effect, photodynamic effect, and the mixed effect.

Femtosecond Optical and X-Ray Measurement of the Semiconductor-to-Metal Transition in VO2

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cavalleri, Andrea; Toth, Csaba; Squier, Jeff; Siders, Craig; Raksi, Ferenc; Forget, Patrick; Kieffer, Jean-Claude

2001-03-01

While the use of ultrashort visible pulses allows access to ultrafast changes in the optical properties during phase transitions, measurement of the correlation between atomic movement and electronic rearrangement has proven more elusive. Here, we report on the conjunct measurement of ultrafast electronic and structural dynamics during a semiconductor-to-metal phase transition in VO2. Rearrangement of the unit cell from monoclinic to rutile (measured by ultrafast x-ray diffraction) is accompanied by a sharp increase in the electrical conductivity and perturbation of the optical properties (measured with ultrafast visible spectroscopy). Ultrafast x-ray diffraction experiments were performed using femtosecond bursts of Cu-Ka from a laser generated plasma source. A clear rise of the diffraction signal originating from the impulsively generated metallic phase was observable on the sub-picosecond timescale. Optical experiments were performed using time-resolved microscopy, providing temporally and spatially resolved measurements of the optical reflectivity at 800 nm. The data indicate that the reflectivity of the low-temperature semiconducting solid is driven to that of the equilibrium, high-temperature metallic phase within 400 fs after irradiation with a 50-fs laser pulse at fluences in excess of 10 mJ/cm2. In conclusion, the data presented in this contribution suggest that the semiconductor-to-metal transition in VO2 occurs within 500 fs after laser-irradiation. A nonthermal physical mechanism governs the re-arrangement.

Femtosecond laser irradiation on Nd:YAG crystal: Surface ablation and high-spatial-frequency nanograting

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ren, Yingying; Zhang, Limu; Romero, Carolina; Vázquez de Aldana, Javier R.; Chen, Feng

2018-05-01

In this work, we systematically study the surface modifications of femtosecond (fs) laser irradiated Nd:YAG crystal in stationary focusing case (i.e., the beam focused on the target in the steady focusing geometry) or dynamic scanning case (i.e., focused fs-laser beam scanning over the target material). Micro-sized structures (e.g. micro-craters or lines) are experimentally produced in a large scale of parameters in terms of pulse energy as well as (effective) pulse number. Surface ablation of Nd:YAG surface under both processing cases are investigated, involving the morphological evolution, parameter dependence, the ablation threshold fluences and the incubation factors. Meanwhile, under specific irradiation conditions, periodic surface structures with high-spatial-frequency (<λ/2) can be generated. The obtained period is as short as 157 nm in this work. Investigations on the evolution of nanograting formation and fluence dependence of period are performed. The experimental results obtained under different cases and the comparison between them reveal that incubation effect plays an important role not only in the ablation of Nd:YAG surface but also in the processes of nanograting formation.

High incidence of rainbow glare after femtosecond laser assisted-LASIK using the upgraded FS200 femtosecond laser.

PubMed

Zhang, Yu; Chen, Yue-Guo

2018-03-05

To compare the incidence of rainbow glare (RG) after femtosecond laser assisted-LASIK (FS-LASIK) using the upgraded FS200 femtosecond laser with different flap cut parameter settings. A consecutive series of 129 patients (255 eyes) who underwent FS-LASIK for correcting myopia and/or astigmatism using upgraded WaveLight FS200 femtosecond laser with the original settings was included in group A. Another consecutive series of 129 patients (255 eyes) who underwent FS-LASIK using upgraded WaveLight FS200 femtosecond laser with flap cut parameter settings changed (decreased pulse energy, spot and line separation) was included in group B. The incidence and fading time of RG, confocal microscopic image and postoperative clinical results were compared between the two groups. There were no differences between the two groups in age, baseline refraction, excimer laser ablation depth, postoperative uncorrected visual acuity and refraction. The incidence rate of RG in group A (35/255, 13.73%) was significantly higher than that in group B (4/255, 1.57%) (P < 0.05). The median fading time was 3 months in group A and 1 month in group B (P > 0.05).The confocal microscopic images showed wider laser spot spacing in group A than group B. The incidence of RG was significantly correlated with age and grouping (P < 0.05). The upgraded FS200 femtosecond laser with original flap cut parameter settings could increase the incidence of RG. The narrower grating size and lower pulse energy could ameliorate this side effect.

Photo-ionization and modification of nanoparticles on transparent substrates by ultrashort laser pulses

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gruzdev, Vitaly; Komolov, Vladimir; Li, Hao; Yu, Qingsong; Przhibel'skii, Sergey; Smirnov, Dmitry

2011-02-01

The objective of this combined experimental and theoretical research is to study the dynamics and mechanisms of nanoparticle interaction with ultrashort laser pulses and related modifications of substrate surface. For the experimental effort, metal (gold), dielectric (SiO2) and dielectric with metal coating (about 30 nm thick) spherical nanoparticles deposited on glass substrate are utilized. Size of the particles varies from 20 to 200 nm. Density of the particles varies from low (mean inter-particle distance 100 nm) to high (mean inter-particle distance less than 1 nm). The nanoparticle assemblies and the corresponding empty substrate surfaces are irradiated with single 130-fs laser pulses at wavelength 775 nm and different levels of laser fluence. Large diameter of laser spot (0.5-2 mm) provides gradient variations of laser intensity over the spot and allows observing different laser-nanoparticle interactions. The interactions vary from total removal of the nanoparticles in the center of laser spot to gentle modification of their size and shape and totally non-destructive interaction. The removed particles frequently form specific sub-micrometer-size pits on the substrate surface at their locations. The experimental effort is supported by simulations of the nanoparticle interactions with high-intensity ultrashort laser pulse. The simulation employs specific modification of the molecular dynamics approach applied to model the processes of non-thermal particle ablation following laser-induced electron emission. This technique delivers various characteristics of the ablation plume from a single nanoparticle including energy and speed distribution of emitted ions, variations of particle size and overall dynamics of its ablation. The considered geometry includes single isolated particle as well a single particle on a flat substrate that corresponds to the experimental conditions. The simulations confirm existence of the different regimes of laser-nanoparticle interactions depending on laser intensity and wavelength. In particular, implantation of ions departing from the nanoparticles towards the substrate is predicted.

Sacrificial-layer free transfer of mammalian cells using near infrared femtosecond laser pulses

PubMed Central

Zhang, Jun; Hartmann, Bastian; Siegel, Julian; Marchi, Gabriele; Clausen-Schaumann, Hauke; Sudhop, Stefanie; Huber, Heinz P.

2018-01-01

Laser-induced cell transfer has been developed in recent years for the flexible and gentle printing of cells. Because of the high transfer rates and the superior cell survival rates, this technique has great potential for tissue engineering applications. However, the fact that material from an inorganic sacrificial layer, which is required for laser energy absorption, is usually transferred to the printed target structure, constitutes a major drawback of laser based cell printing. Therefore alternative approaches using deep UV laser sources and protein based acceptor films for energy absorption, have been introduced. Nevertheless, deep UV radiation can introduce DNA double strand breaks, thereby imposing the risk of carcinogenesis. Here we present a method for the laser-induced transfer of hydrogels and mammalian cells, which neither requires any sacrificial material for energy absorption, nor the use of UV lasers. Instead, we focus a near infrared femtosecond (fs) laser pulse (λ = 1030 nm, 450 fs) directly underneath a thin cell layer, suspended on top of a hydrogel reservoir, to induce a rapidly expanding cavitation bubble in the gel, which generates a jet of material, transferring cells and hydrogel from the gel/cell reservoir to an acceptor stage. By controlling laser pulse energy, well-defined cell-laden droplets can be transferred with high spatial resolution. The transferred human (SCP1) and murine (B16F1) cells show high survival rates, and good cell viability. Time laps microscopy reveals unaffected cell behavior including normal cell proliferation. PMID:29718923

Single- and multi-pulse formation of surface structures under static femtosecond irradiation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Guillermin, M.; Garrelie, F.; Sanner, N.; Audouard, E.; Soder, H.

2007-07-01

Femtosecond surface structure modifications are investigated under irradiation with laser pulses of 150 fs at 800 nm, on copper and silicon. We report sub-wavelength periodic structures formation (ripples) with a periodicity of 500 nm for both materials. These ripples are perpendicular to the laser polarization and can be obtained with only one pulse. The formation of these ripples corresponds to a fluence threshold of 1 J/cm 2 for copper and 0.15 J/cm 2 for silicon. We find several morphologies when more pulses are applied: larger ripples parallel to the polarization are formed with a periodicity of 1 μm and degenerate into a worm-like morphology with a higher number of pulses. In addition, walls of deep holes also show sub-wavelength and large ripples.

Threshold Dependence of Deep- and Near-subwavelength Ripples Formation on Natural MoS2 Induced by Femtosecond Laser

PubMed Central

Pan, Yusong; Yang, Ming; Li, Yumei; Wang, Zhenhua; Zhang, Chunling; Zhao, Ying; Yao, Jianghong; Wu, Qiang; Xu, Jingjun

2016-01-01

Deep sub-wavelength ripples (DSRs) and near sub-wavelength ripples (NSRs) with uniform periods of ~160 nm and ~660 nm generated at the MoS2-vacuum interface is reported for the first time by the processing of femtosecond laser (800 nm, 120 fs, 1 kHz) in this paper. The DSRs and NSRs formation fluence thresholds are experimentally determined as 160 mJ/cm2 and 192 mJ/cm2, respectively. In addition, the ripple period is insensitive to the pulse number. Moreover, Raman analyses show that the MoS2 lattice in the irradiated area does not exhibit oxidation at room environment and the crystalline representation is well preserved in NSRs region. We attribute our result to the joint interactions of the spallation and sublimation of layered MoS2 together with the laser induced surface plasmon polaritons and propose an explanation to the threshold dependence of the ripple period. Our study provides some insights for ultrafast laser-matter interactions and indicates a simple effective method for future nano-fabrication of MoS2. PMID:26795074

Full stabilization and characterization of an optical frequency comb from a diode-pumped solid-state laser with GHz repetition rate.

PubMed

Hakobyan, Sargis; Wittwer, Valentin J; Brochard, Pierre; Gürel, Kutan; Schilt, Stéphane; Mayer, Aline S; Keller, Ursula; Südmeyer, Thomas

2017-08-21

We demonstrate the first self-referenced full stabilization of a diode-pumped solid-state laser (DPSSL) frequency comb with a GHz repetition rate. The Yb:CALGO DPSSL delivers an average output power of up to 2.1 W with a typical pulse duration of 96 fs and a center wavelength of 1055 nm. A carrier-envelope offset (CEO) beat with a signal-to-noise ratio of 40 dB (in 10-kHz resolution bandwidth) is detected after supercontinuum generation and f-to-2f interferometry directly from the output of the oscillator, without any external amplification or pulse compression. The repetition rate is stabilized to a reference synthesizer with a residual integrated timing jitter of 249 fs [10 Hz - 1 MHz] and a relative frequency stability of 10 -12 /s. The CEO frequency is phase-locked to an external reference via pump current feedback using home-built modulation electronics. It achieves a loop bandwidth of ~150 kHz, which results in a tight CEO lock with a residual integrated phase noise of 680 mrad [1 Hz - 1 MHz]. We present a detailed characterization of the GHz frequency comb that combines a noise analysis of the repetition rate f rep , of the CEO frequency f CEO , and of an optical comb line at 1030 nm obtained from a virtual beat with a narrow-linewidth laser at 1557 nm using a transfer oscillator. An optical comb linewidth of about 800 kHz is assessed at 1-s observation time, for which the dominant noise sources of f rep and f CEO are identified.

HD{sup +} in a short strong laser pulse: Practical consideration of the observability of carrier-envelope phase effects

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Roudnev, V.; Esry, B. D.

2007-08-15

We summarize the results of numerical calculations of HD{sup +} in a 7.1 fs (intensity full width at half maximum) 790 nm laser pulse. The molecule is assumed to be aligned with the linearly polarized laser field and includes two electronic and one nuclear degrees of freedom. We report total dissociation and ionization probabilities from the lowest 10 vibrational states for a range of intensities from 10{sup 13} to 7x10{sup 14} W/cm{sup 2}. The conditions for the observability of carrier-envelope phase (CEP) effects for a mixed initial state and for intensity averaging over the laser focal volume are discussed inmore » detail.« less

Broad-spectrum neodymium-doped laser glasses for high-energy chirped-pulse amplification.

PubMed

Hays, Greg R; Gaul, Erhard W; Martinez, Mikael D; Ditmire, Todd

2007-07-20

We have investigated two novel laser glasses in an effort to generate high-energy, broad-spectrum pulses from a chirped-pulse amplification Nd:glass laser. Both glasses have significantly broader spectra (>38 nm FWHM) than currently available Nd:phosphate and Nd:silicate glasses. We present calculations for small signal pulse amplification to simulate spectral gain narrowing. The technique of spectral shaping using mixed-glass architecture with an optical parametric chirped-pulse amplification front end is evaluated. Our modeling shows that amplified pulses with energies exceeding 10 kJ with sufficient bandwidth to achieve 120 fs pulsewidths are achievable with the use of the new laser glasses. With further development of current technologies, a laser system could be scaled to generate one exawatt in peak power.

Magnetic field effects on ultrafast lattice compression dynamics of Si(111) crystal when excited by linearly-polarized femtosecond laser pulses

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hatanaka, Koji; Odaka, Hideho; Ono, Kimitoshi; Fukumura, Hiroshi

2007-03-01

Time-resolved X-ray diffraction measurements of Si (111) single crystal are performed when excited by linearly-polarized femtosecond laser pulses (780 nm, 260 fs, negatively-chirped, 1 kHz) under a magnetic field (0.47 T). Laser fluence on the sample surface is 40 mJ/cm^2, which is enough lower than the ablation threshold at 200 mJ/cm^2. Probing X-ray pulses of iron characteristic X-ray lines at 0.193604 and 0.193998 nm are generated by focusing femtosecond laser pulses onto audio-cassette tapes in air. Linearly-polarized femtosecond laser pulse irradiation onto Si(111) crystal surface induces transient lattice compression in the picosecond time range, which is confirmed by transient angle shift of X-ray diffraction to higher angles. Little difference of compression dynamics is observed when the laser polarization is changed from p to s-pol. without a magnetic field. On the other hand, under a magnetic field, the lattice compression dynamics changes when the laser is p-polarized which is vertical to the magnetic field vector. These results may be assigned to photo-carrier formation and energy-band distortion.

Decoration of silica nanowires with gold nanoparticles through ultra-short pulsed laser deposition

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gontad, F.; Caricato, A. P.; Cesaria, M.; Resta, V.; Taurino, A.; Colombelli, A.; Leo, C.; Klini, A.; Manousaki, A.; Convertino, A.; Rella, R.; Martino, M.; Perrone, A.

2017-10-01

The ablation of a metal target at laser energy densities in the range of 1-10 TW/cm2 leads to the generation of nanoparticles (NP) of the ablated material. This aspect is of particular interest if the immobilization of NPs on three-dimensional (3D) substrates is necessary as for example in sensing applications. In this work the deposition of Au NP by irradiation of a Au bulk target with a sub-picosecond laser beam (500 fs; 248 nm; 10 Hz) on 2D (silica and Si(100)) and 3D substrates (silica nanowire forests) is reported for different number of laser pulses (500, 1000, 1500, 2000, 2500). A uniform coverage of small Au NPs (with a diameter of few nm) on both kinds of substrates has been obtained using a suitable number of laser pulses. The presence of spherical droplets, with a diameter ranging from tens of nm up to few μm was also detected on the substrate surface and their presence can be explained by the weak electron-phonon coupling of Au. The optical characterization of the samples on 2D and 3D substrates evidenced the surface plasmon resonance peak characteristic of the Au NPs although further improvements of the size-distribution are necessary for future applications in sensing devices.

Diagnosis of energy transport in iron buried layer targets using an extreme ultraviolet laser

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Shahzad, M.; Culfa, O.; Rossall, A. K.

2015-02-15

We demonstrate the use of extreme ultra-violet (EUV) laboratory lasers in probing energy transport in laser irradiated solid targets. EUV transmission through targets containing a thin layer of iron (50 nm) encased in plastic (CH) after irradiation by a short pulse (35 fs) laser focussed to irradiances 3 × 10{sup 16} Wcm{sup −2} is measured. Heating of the iron layer gives rise to a rapid decrease in EUV opacity and an increase in the transmission of the 13.9 nm laser radiation as the iron ionizes to Fe{sup 5+} and above where the ion ionisation energy is greater than the EUV probe photon energy (89 eV).more » A one dimensional hydrodynamic fluid code HYADES has been used to simulate the temporal variation in EUV transmission (wavelength 13.9 nm) using IMP opacity values for the iron layer and the simulated transmissions are compared to measured transmission values. When a deliberate pre-pulse is used to preform an expanding plastic plasma, it is found that radiation is important in the heating of the iron layer while for pre-pulse free irradiation, radiation transport is not significant.« less

X-Ray Radiation Measurements With Photodiodes In Plasmas Generated By 1017 W/Cm2 Intensity Krf Excimer Laser Pulses

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rácz, E.; Földes, I. B.; Ryć, L.

2006-01-01

Experiments were carried out using a prepulse-free hybrid KrF excimer-dye laser system (700fs pulse duration, 248nm wavelength, 15mJ pulse energy). The intensity of the p-polarized, focused laser beam was 1.5ṡ1017 W/cm2. Vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) and x-rays from solid state laser plasmas were generated in the laser-plasma interaction of subpicosecond laser pulses of nonrelativistic laser intensities. An x-ray sensitive FLM photodiode (ITE, Warsaw) was used to detect x-rays between 1-19 keV in front of the targets. The diode was filtered by a 4μm Al foil. The dependence of the x-ray flux on laser intensity and the angular distribution of x-rays for aluminum and copper targets in the half space of the front side of the targets were investigated.

Precision ablation of dental enamel using a subpicosecond pulsed laser.

PubMed

Rode, A V; Gamaly, E G; Luther-Davies, B; Taylor, B T; Graessel, M; Dawes, J M; Chan, A; Lowe, R M; Hannaford, P

2003-12-01

In this study we report the use of ultra-short-pulsed near-infrared lasers for precision laser ablation of freshly extracted human teeth. The laser wavelength was approximately 800nm, with pulsewidths of 95 and 150fs, and pulse repetition rates of 1kHz. The laser beam was focused to an approximate diameter of 50microm and was scanned over the tooth surface. The rise in the intrapulpal temperature was monitored by embedded thermocouples, and was shown to remain below 5 degrees C when the tooth was air-cooled during laser treatment. The surface preparation of the ablated teeth, observed by optical and electron microscopy, showed no apparent cracking or heat effects, and the hardness and Raman spectra of the laser-treated enamel were not distinguishable from those of native enamel. This study indicates the potential for ultra-short-pulsed lasers to effect precision ablation of dental enamel.

Femtosecond laser refractive surgery: small-incision lenticule extraction vs. femtosecond laser-assisted LASIK.

PubMed

Lee, Jimmy K; Chuck, Roy S; Park, Choul Yong

2015-07-01

Small-incision lenticule extraction (SMILE) is a novel technique devised to correct refractive errors. SMILE circumvents excimer laser photoablation of cornea, as the stromal lenticule cut by femtosecond laser is removed manually. Smaller incisions and preservation of anterior corneal biomechanical strength have been suggested as some of the advantages of SMILE over femtosecond laser-assisted LASIK (FS-LASIK). In this review, we compared previous published results of SMILE and FS-LASIK. The advantage, efficacy and safety of SMILE are compared with FS-LASIK. SMILE achieved similar efficacy, predictability and safety as FS-LASIK. Greater preservations of corneal biomechanical strength and corneal nerves were observed in SMILE when compared with LASIK or PRK. Additionally, the incidence of postoperative dry eye syndrome was found to be less problematic in SMILE than in FS-LASIK. SMILE is a promising new surgery for refractive error correction. Prospective and retrospective studies of SMILE have shown that results of SMILE are similar to FS-LASIK. With advances in femtosecond laser technology, SMILE may gain greater acceptance in the future.

An actively mode-locked fiber laser for sampling in a wide-bandwidth opto-electronic analog-to-digital converter

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Powers, John P.; Pace, Phillip E.

2008-02-01

We have designed, built and tested an actively mode-locked fiber laser, operating at 1550 nm, for use as the sampling waveform in an opto-electronic analog-to-digital converter (ADC). Analysis shows that, in order to digitize a 10-GHz signal to 10 bits of resolution, the sampling pulsewidth must be less than 2.44 ps, the RMS timing jitter must be below 31.0 fs, and the RMS amplitude jitter must be below 0.195%. Fiber lasers have proven to have the capability to narrowly exceed these operating requirements. The fiber laser is a "sigma" laser consisting of Er-doped gain medium, dispersion-compensating fiber, nonlinear fiber, a Faraday rotation mirror, polarization-maintaining fiber and components, and diode pump lasers. The active mode-locking is achieved by a Mach-Zehnder interferometer modulator, driven by a frequency synthesizer operating at the desired sampling rate. A piezo-electric element is used in a feedback control loop to stabilize the output PRF against environmental changes. Measurements of the laser output revealed the maximum nominal PRF to be 16 GHz, the nominal pulsewidth to be 7.2 ps, and the nominal RNS timing jitter to be 386 fs. Incorporating this laser into a sampling ADC would allow us to sample a 805-MHz bandwidth signal to a resolution of 10 bits as limited by timing jitter. Techniques to reduce the timing-jitter bottleneck are discussed.

Underwater femtosecond laser micromachining of thin nitinol tubes for medical coronary stent manufacture

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Muhammad, Noorhafiza; Li, Lin

2012-06-01

Microprofiling of medical coronary stents has been dominated by the use of Nd:YAG lasers with pulse lengths in the range of a few milliseconds, and material removal is based on the melt ejection with a high-pressure gas. As a result, recast and heat-affected zones are produced, and various post-processing procedures are required to remove these defects. This paper reports a new approach of machining stents in submerged conditions using a 100-fs pulsed laser. A comparison is given of dry and underwater femtosecond laser micromachining techniques of nickel-titanium alloy (nitinol) typically used as the material for coronary stents. The characteristics of laser interactions with the material have been studied. A femtosecond Ti:sapphire laser system (wavelength of 800 nm, pulse duration of 100 fs, repetition rate of 1 kHz) was used to perform the cutting process. It is observed that machining under a thin water film resulted in no presence of heat-affected zone, debris, spatter or recast with fine-cut surface quality. At the optimum parameters, the results obtained with dry cutting showed nearly the same cut surface quality as with cutting under water. However, debris and recast formation still appeared on the dry cut, which is based on material vaporization. Physical processes involved during the cutting process in a thin water film, i.e. bubble formation and shock waves, are discussed.

Passive, active, and hybrid mode-locking in a self-optimized ultrafast diode laser

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Alloush, M. Ali; Pilny, Rouven H.; Brenner, Carsten; Klehr, Andreas; Knigge, Andrea; Tränkle, Günther; Hofmann, Martin R.

2018-02-01

Semiconductor lasers are promising sources for generating ultrashort pulses. They are directly electrically pumped, allow for a compact design, and therefore they are cost-effective alternatives to established solid-state systems. Additionally, their emission wavelength depends on the bandgap which can be tuned by changing the semiconductor materials. Theoretically, the obtained pulse width can be few tens of femtoseconds. However, the generated pulses are typically in the range of several hundred femtoseconds only. Recently, it was shown that by implementing a spatial light modulator (SLM) for phase and amplitude control inside the resonator the optical bandwidth can be optimized. Consequently, by using an external pulse compressor shorter pulses can be obtained. We present a Fourier-Transform-External-Cavity setup which utilizes an ultrafast edge-emitting diode laser. The used InGaAsP diode is 1 mm long and emits at a center wavelength of 850 nm. We investigate the best conditions for passive, active and hybrid mode-locking operation using the method of self-adaptive pulse shaping. For passive mode-locking, the bandwidth is increased from 2.34 nm to 7.2 nm and ultrashort pulses with a pulse width of 216 fs are achieved after external pulse compression. For active and hybrid mode-locking, we also increased the bandwidth. It is increased from 0.26 nm to 5.06 nm for active mode-locking and from 3.21 nm to 8.7 nm for hybrid mode-locking. As the pulse width is strongly correlated with the bandwidth of the laser, we expect further reduction in the pulse duration by increasing the bandwidth.

Mechanical properties and polymerization shrinkage of composite resins light-cured using two different lasers.

PubMed

Kim, Tae-Wan; Lee, Jang-Hoon; Jeong, Seung-Hwa; Ko, Ching-Chang; Kim, Hyung-Il; Kwon, Yong Hoon

2015-04-01

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the usefulness of 457 and 473 nm lasers for the curing of composite resins during the restoration of damaged tooth cavity. Monochromaticity and coherence are attractive features of laser compared with most other light sources. Better polymerization of composite resins can be expected. Eight composite resins were light cured using these two lasers and a light-emitting diode (LED) light-curing unit (LCU). To evaluate the degrees of polymerization achieved, polymerization shrinkage and flexural and compressive properties were measured and compared. Polymerization shrinkage values by 457 and 473 nm laser, and LED ranged from 10.9 to 26.8, from 13.2 to 26.1, and from 11.5 to 26.3 μm, respectively. The values by 457 nm laser was significantly different from those by 473 and LED LCU (p<0.05). However, there was no statistical difference between values by 473 and LED LCU. Before immersion in distilled water, flexural strength (FS) and compressive modulus (CM) of the specimens were inconsistently influenced by LCUs. On the other hand, flexural modulus (FM) and compressive strength (CS) were not significantly different for the three LCUs (p>0.05). For the tested LCUs, no specific LCU could consistently achieve highest strength and modulus from the specimens tested. Two lasers (457 and 473 nm) can polymerize composite resins to the level that LED LCU can achieve despite inconsistent trends of polymerization shrinkage and flexural and compressive properties of the tested specimens.

Possibility of Recombination Gain Increase in CV Ions at 4.0 nm Via Coherence

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Luo, Y.; Morozov, A.; Gordon, D.; Sprangle, P.; Svidzinsky, A.; Xia, H.; Scully, M.; Suckewer, S.

This paper is about the recent experimental results on amplification of the CV line in the "water window" at 4.03 nm from resonance transition to the ground level of He-like ions in recombination scheme. The indication of the amplification of the CV line has been observed when an elongated narrow plasma channel was created, where high intensity 100 fs beams, optimal for creating CV ions in high density plasma, was propagated up to 0.5-0.6 mm. Without channeling the effective plasma length was much shorter and there was no indication of amplification.The large interest in gain generation in He-like ions in the transition to ground state is due to the possibility of applying a recently developed theory of Lasing Without Inversion (LWI) in XUV and X-ray regions to largely increase the gain for such transitions. The presented results of the indication of CV line amplifications are being discussed from the point of view of using LWI as a superradiance gain increase, hence to construct a very compact soft X-ray laser in the "water window".The last part of the paper is related to the application of the ultra-intensive fs plasma laser, which is currently in the process of development by using stimulated Raman backscattering (SRBS) to create a plasma amplifier and compressor, as the pump for compact laser operating in the "water window" and also at shorter wavelengths.

Fabrication of nanoparticles and nanostructures using ultrafast laser ablation of silver with Bessel beams

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Krishna Podagatlapalli, G.; Hamad, Syed; Ahamad Mohiddon, Md; Venugopal Rao, S.

2015-03-01

Ablation of silver targets immersed in double distilled water (DDW)/acetone was performed with first order, non-diffracting Bessel beams generated by focusing ultrashort Gaussian pulses (~2 and ~40 fs) through an Axicon. The fabricated Ag dispersions were characterized by UV-visible absorption spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy and the nanostructured Ag targets were characterized by field emission scanning electron microscopy. Ag colloids prepared with ~2 ps laser pulses at various input pulse energies of ~400, ~600, ~800 and ~1000 µJ demonstrated similar localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) peaks appearing near 407 nm. Analogous behavior was observed for Ag colloids prepared in acetone and ablated with ~40 fs pulses, wherein the LSPR peak was observed near 412 nm prepared with input energies of ~600, ~800 and ~1000 µJ. Observed parallels in LSPR peaks, average size of NPs, plasmon bandwidths are tentatively explained using cavitation bubble dynamics and simultaneous generation/fragmentation of NPs under the influence of Bessel beam. Fabricated Ag nanostructures in both the cases demonstrated strong enhancement factors (>106) in surface enhanced Raman scattering studies of the explosive molecule CL-20 (2,4,6,8,10,12-Hexanitro-2,4,6,8,10,12-hexaazaisowurtzitane) at 5 μM concentration.

Octave-spanning spectrum generation in tapered silica photonic crystal fiber by Yb:fiber ring laser above 500 MHz.

PubMed

Jiang, Tongxiao; Wang, Guizhong; Zhang, Wei; Li, Chen; Wang, Aimin; Zhang, Zhigang

2013-02-15

We report octave-spanning spectrum generated in a tapered silica photonic crystal fiber by a mode-locked Yb:fiber ring laser at a repetition rate as high as 528 MHz. The output pulses from this laser were compressed to 62 fs. By controlling the hole expansion and core diameter, a silica PCF was tapered to 20 cm with an optimal d/Λ ratio of 0.6. Pulses with the energy of 280 pJ and the peak power of 4.5 kW were injected into the tapered fiber and the pulse spectrum was expanded from 500 to 1600 nm at the level of -30 dB.

Atomistic simulations of ultra-short pulse laser ablation of aluminum: validity of the Lambert-Beer law

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Eisfeld, Eugen; Roth, Johannes

2018-05-01

Based on hybrid molecular dynamics/two-temperature simulations, we study the validity of the application of Lambert-Beer's law, which is conveniently used in various modeling approaches of ultra-short pulse laser ablation of metals. The method is compared to a more rigorous treatment, which involves solving the Helmholtz wave equation for different pulse durations ranging from 100 fs to 5 ps and a wavelength of 800 nm. Our simulations show a growing agreement with increasing pulse durations, and we provide appropriate optical parameters for all investigated pulse durations.

Highly efficient and high-power diode-pumped femtosecond Yb:LYSO laser

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tian, Wenlong; Wang, Zhaohua; Zhu, Jiangfeng; Zheng, Lihe; Xu, Jun; Wei, Zhiyi

2017-04-01

A diode-pumped high-power femtosecond Yb:LYSO laser with high efficiency is demonstrated. With a semiconductor saturable absorber mirror for passive mode-locking and a Gires-Tournois interferometer mirror for intracavity dispersion compensation, stable mode-locking pulses of 297 fs duration at 1042 nm were obtained. The maximum average power of 3.07 W was realized under 5.17 W absorbed pump power, corresponding to as high as 59.4% opt-opt efficiency. The single pulse energy and peak power are about 35.5 nJ and 119.5 kW, respectively.

Comparison of laser in situ keratomileusis flaps created by 2 femtosecond lasers.

PubMed

Zheng, Yan; Zhou, Yuehua; Zhang, Jing; Liu, Qian; Zhai, Changbin; Wang, Yonghua

2015-03-01

To compare flap morphology created by the WaveLight FS200 femtosecond laser and the VisuMax femtosecond laser, assessing the uniformity, accuracy, and predictability of flap creation. A total of 400 eyes had corneal flaps created with the WaveLight FS200 femtosecond laser (200 eyes) or the VisuMax femtosecond laser (200 eyes). The desired flap thickness was 110 μm. At 1 week postoperatively, all eyes were evaluated with RTVue Fourier-domain optical coherence tomography. Dimensions of the flaps were tested for their regularity, uniformity, accuracy, and predictability comparison. One week after surgery, the central flap thickness and the mean flap thickness of the FS200 group were 105.4 ± 3.4 μm and 105.7 ± 2.6 μm, respectively. They were both thinner than those of the VisuMax group, which were 110.8 ± 3.9 μm and 111.3 ± 2.3 μm, respectively. The mean deviation between the achieved and attempted flap thickness of the FS200 group (5.2 ± 1.9 μm) was greater than that of the VisuMax group (3.2 ± 1.8 μm). Flap thickness measurements at 36 points in both groups were close to the intended thickness. Morphology of the flaps in the 0-, 45-, 90-, and 135-degree lines created by the FS200 femtosecond laser and VisuMax femtosecond laser were uniform and regular. Flap dimensions created by the WaveLight FS200 femtosecond laser and VisuMax femtosecond laser were uniform and regular. Although the flap thickness created by the FS200 was less than that created by the VisuMax, measurements of both femtosecond lasers were close to the intended thickness.

In vivo studies of ultrafast near-infrared laser tissue bonding and wound healing

PubMed Central

Sriramoju, Vidyasagar; Alfano, Robert R.

2015-01-01

Abstract. Femtosecond (fs) pulse lasers in the near-infrared (NIR) range exhibit very distinct properties upon their interaction with biomolecules compared to the corresponding continuous wave (CW) lasers. Ultrafast NIR laser tissue bonding (LTB) was used to fuse edges of two opposing animal tissue segments in vivo using fs laser photoexcitation of the native vibrations of chomophores. The fusion of the incised tissues was achieved in vivo at the molecular level as the result of the energy–matter interactions of NIR laser radiation with water and the structural proteins like collagen in the target tissues. Nonthermal vibrational excitation from the fs laser absorption by water and collagen induced the formation of cross-links between tissue proteins on either sides of the weld line resulting in tissue bonding. No extrinsic agents were used to facilitate tissue bonding in the fs LTB. These studies were pursued for the understanding and evaluation of the role of ultrafast NIR fs laser radiation in the LTB and consequent wound healing. The fs LTB can be used for difficult to suture structures such as blood vessels, nerves, gallbladder, liver, intestines, and other viscera. Ultrafast NIR LTB yields promising outcomes and benefits in terms of wound closure and wound healing under optimal conditions. PMID:26465615

In vivo studies of ultrafast near-infrared laser tissue bonding and wound healing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sriramoju, Vidyasagar; Alfano, Robert R.

2015-10-01

Femtosecond (fs) pulse lasers in the near-infrared (NIR) range exhibit very distinct properties upon their interaction with biomolecules compared to the corresponding continuous wave (CW) lasers. Ultrafast NIR laser tissue bonding (LTB) was used to fuse edges of two opposing animal tissue segments in vivo using fs laser photoexcitation of the native vibrations of chomophores. The fusion of the incised tissues was achieved in vivo at the molecular level as the result of the energy-matter interactions of NIR laser radiation with water and the structural proteins like collagen in the target tissues. Nonthermal vibrational excitation from the fs laser absorption by water and collagen induced the formation of cross-links between tissue proteins on either sides of the weld line resulting in tissue bonding. No extrinsic agents were used to facilitate tissue bonding in the fs LTB. These studies were pursued for the understanding and evaluation of the role of ultrafast NIR fs laser radiation in the LTB and consequent wound healing. The fs LTB can be used for difficult to suture structures such as blood vessels, nerves, gallbladder, liver, intestines, and other viscera. Ultrafast NIR LTB yields promising outcomes and benefits in terms of wound closure and wound healing under optimal conditions.

Femtosecond laser induced concentric semi-circular periodic surface structures on silicon based on the quasi-plasmonic annular nanostructure.

PubMed

Han, Weina; Liu, Furong; Yuan, Yanping; Li, Xiaowei; Wang, Qingsong; Wang, Shaojun; Jiang, Lan

2018-05-04

In this study, we report polarization-dependent concentric circular periodic surface structures on Si induced by a single shot femtosecond (fs) laser pulse based on pre-processed quasi-plasmonic annular-shaped nanostructure. An abnormal annular-shaped energy deposition of the fundamental fs laser pulse can be found by using dual-wavelength superposition of the fundamental frequency (ω) and the second-harmonic frequency (2ω) of an fs Ti:sapphire laser, which is confirmed by real beam shape detection. Based on the annular-shaped energy distribution of dual-wavelength fs laser, a concentric quasi-plasmonic corral nanostructure can be imprinted on the Au thin film. Surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) excitations on the planar metallic nanostructures enable the manipulation of light on subwavelength scales. Thus, the pre-processed concentric quasi-plasmonic corral nanostructure can act as a precursor for the subsequent SPPs excitation and propagation by the fs laser irradiation. Using this technique, polarization-dependent semi-circular periodic surface structures on silicon can be found by the irradiation of fs laser pulse with only one shot. This research provides an additional freedom for the laser induced periodic surface structure (LIPSS) modulation based on the modulation of SPPs excitation and propagation, which plays an important role in the formation of LIPSS.

Femtosecond laser induced concentric semi-circular periodic surface structures on silicon based on the quasi-plasmonic annular nanostructure

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Han, Weina; Liu, Furong; Yuan, Yanping; Li, Xiaowei; Wang, Qingsong; Wang, Shaojun; Jiang, Lan

2018-07-01

In this study, we report polarization-dependent concentric circular periodic surface structures on Si induced by a single shot femtosecond (fs) laser pulse based on pre-processed quasi-plasmonic annular-shaped nanostructure. An abnormal annular-shaped energy deposition of the fundamental fs laser pulse can be found by using dual-wavelength superposition of the fundamental frequency (ω) and the second-harmonic frequency (2ω) of an fs Ti:sapphire laser, which is confirmed by real beam shape detection. Based on the annular-shaped energy distribution of dual-wavelength fs laser, a concentric quasi-plasmonic corral nanostructure can be imprinted on the Au thin film. Surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) excitations on the planar metallic nanostructures enable the manipulation of light on subwavelength scales. Thus, the pre-processed concentric quasi-plasmonic corral nanostructure can act as a precursor for the subsequent SPPs excitation and propagation by the fs laser irradiation. Using this technique, polarization-dependent semi-circular periodic surface structures on silicon can be found by the irradiation of fs laser pulse with only one shot. This research provides an additional freedom for the laser induced periodic surface structure (LIPSS) modulation based on the modulation of SPPs excitation and propagation, which plays an important role in the formation of LIPSS.

Photodissociation dynamics of nitromethane at 226 and 271 nm at both nanosecond and femtosecond time scales.

PubMed

Guo, Y Q; Bhattacharya, A; Bernstein, E R

2009-01-08

Photodissociation of nitromethane has been investigated for decades both theoretically and experimentally; however, as a whole picture, the dissociation dynamics for nitromethane are still not clear, although many different mechanisms have been proposed. To make a complete interpretation of these different mechanisms, photolysis of nitromethane at 226 and 271 nm under both collisional and collisionless conditions is investigated at nanosecond and femtosecond time scales. These two laser wavelengths correspond to the pi* <-- pi and pi* <-- n excitations of nitromethane, respectively. In nanosecond 226 nm (pi* <-- pi) photolysis experiments, CH(3) and NO radicals are observed as major products employing resonance enhanced multiphoton ionization techniques and time-of-flight mass spectrometry. Additionally, OH and CH(3)O radicals are weakly observed as dissociation products employing laser induced fluorescence spectroscopy; the CH(3)O product is only observed under collisional conditions. In femtosecond 226 nm experiments, CH(3), NO(2), and NO products are observed. These results confirm that rupture of C-N bond should be the main primary process for the photolysis of nitromethane after the pi* <-- pi excitation at 226 nm, and the NO(2) molecule should be the precursor of the observed NO product. Formation of the CH(3)O radical after the recombination of CH(3) and NO(2) species under collisional conditions rules out a nitro-nitrite isomerization mechanism for the generation of CH(3)O and NO from pi pi* CH(3)NO(2). The OH radical formation for pi pi* CH(3)NO(2) should be a minor dissociation channel because of the weak OH signal in both nanosecond and femtosecond (nonobservable) experiments. Single color femtosecond pump-probe experiments at 226 nm are also employed to monitor the dynamics of the dissociation of nitromethane after the pi* <-- pi excitation. Because of the ultrafast dynamics of product formation at 226 nm, the pump-probe transients for the three dissociation products are measured as an autocorrelation of the laser pulse, indicating the dissociation of nitromethane in the pi pi* excited state is faster than the laser pulse duration (180 fs). In nanosecond 271 nm (pi* <-- n) photolysis experiments, pump-probe experiments are performed to detect potential dissociation products, such as CH(3), NO(2), CH(3)O, and OH; however, none of them is observed. In femtosecond 271 nm laser experiments, the nitromethane parent ion is observed with major intensity, together with CH(3), NO(2), and NO fragment ions with only minor intensities. Pump-probe transients for both nitromethane parent and fragment ions at 271 nm excitation and 406.5 nm ionization display a fast exponential decay with a constant time of 36 fs, which we suggest to be the lifetime of the excited n pi* state of nitromethane. Combined with the 271 nm nanosecond pump-probe experiments, in which none of the CH(3), NO(2), CH(3)O, or OH fragment is observed, we suggest that all the fragment ions generated in 271 nm femtosecond laser experiments are derived from the parent ion, and dissociation of nitromethane from the n pi* excited electronic state does not occur in a supersonic molecular beam under collisionless conditions.

Effects of femtosecond laser and other surface treatments on the bond strength of metallic and ceramic orthodontic brackets to zirconia

PubMed Central

García-Sanz, Verónica; Bellot-Arcís, Carlos; Mendoza-Yero, Omel; Doñate-Buendía, Carlos; Montero, Javier; Albaladejo, Alberto

2017-01-01

Femtosecond laser has been proposed as a method for conditioning zirconia surfaces to boost bond strength. However, metallic or ceramic bracket bonding to femtosecond laser-treated zirconia surfaces has not been tested. This study compared the effects of four conditioning techniques, including femtosecond laser irradiation, on shear bond strength (SBS) of metallic and ceramic brackets to zirconia.Three hundred zirconia plates were divided into five groups: 1) control (C); 2) sandblasting (APA); 3) silica coating and silane (SC); 4) femtosecond laser (FS); 5) sandblasting followed by femtosecond laser (APA+SC). A thermal imaging camera measured temperature changes in the zirconia during irradiation. Each group was divided into 2 subgroups (metallic vs ceramic brackets). SBS was evaluated using a universal testing machine. The adhesive remnant index (ARI) was registered and surfaces were observed under SEM. Surface treatment and bracket type significantly affected the bracket-zirconia bond strength. SBS was significantly higher (p<0.001) for ceramic brackets in all groups (APA+FS > APA > FS > SC > control) than metallic brackets (APA+FS > FS > SC > APA > control). For metallic brackets, groups SC (5.99 ± 1.86 MPa), FS (6.72 ± 2.30 MPa) and APA+FS (7.22 ± 2.73 MPa) reported significantly higher bond strengths than other groups (p < 0.05). For ceramic brackets, the highest bond strength values were obtained in groups APA (25.01 ± 4.45 MPa), FS (23.18 ± 6.51 MPa) and APA+FS (29.22 ± 8.20 MPa).Femtosecond laser enhances bond strength of ceramic and metallic brackets to zirconia. Ceramic brackets provide significantly stronger adhesion than metallic brackets regardless of the surface treatment method. PMID:29049418

Effects of femtosecond laser and other surface treatments on the bond strength of metallic and ceramic orthodontic brackets to zirconia.

PubMed

García-Sanz, Verónica; Paredes-Gallardo, Vanessa; Bellot-Arcís, Carlos; Mendoza-Yero, Omel; Doñate-Buendía, Carlos; Montero, Javier; Albaladejo, Alberto

2017-01-01

Femtosecond laser has been proposed as a method for conditioning zirconia surfaces to boost bond strength. However, metallic or ceramic bracket bonding to femtosecond laser-treated zirconia surfaces has not been tested. This study compared the effects of four conditioning techniques, including femtosecond laser irradiation, on shear bond strength (SBS) of metallic and ceramic brackets to zirconia.Three hundred zirconia plates were divided into five groups: 1) control (C); 2) sandblasting (APA); 3) silica coating and silane (SC); 4) femtosecond laser (FS); 5) sandblasting followed by femtosecond laser (APA+SC). A thermal imaging camera measured temperature changes in the zirconia during irradiation. Each group was divided into 2 subgroups (metallic vs ceramic brackets). SBS was evaluated using a universal testing machine. The adhesive remnant index (ARI) was registered and surfaces were observed under SEM. Surface treatment and bracket type significantly affected the bracket-zirconia bond strength. SBS was significantly higher (p<0.001) for ceramic brackets in all groups (APA+FS > APA > FS > SC > control) than metallic brackets (APA+FS > FS > SC > APA > control). For metallic brackets, groups SC (5.99 ± 1.86 MPa), FS (6.72 ± 2.30 MPa) and APA+FS (7.22 ± 2.73 MPa) reported significantly higher bond strengths than other groups (p < 0.05). For ceramic brackets, the highest bond strength values were obtained in groups APA (25.01 ± 4.45 MPa), FS (23.18 ± 6.51 MPa) and APA+FS (29.22 ± 8.20 MPa).Femtosecond laser enhances bond strength of ceramic and metallic brackets to zirconia. Ceramic brackets provide significantly stronger adhesion than metallic brackets regardless of the surface treatment method.

Kerr-lens mode-locked Ti:Sapphire laser pumped by a single laser diode

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kopylov, D. A.; Esaulkov, M. N.; Kuritsyn, I. I.; Mavritskiy, A. O.; Perminov, B. E.; Konyashchenko, A. V.; Murzina, T. V.; Maydykovskiy, A. I.

2018-04-01

The performance of a Ti:sapphire laser pumped by a single 461 nm laser diode is presented for both the continuous-wave and the mode-locked regimes of operation. We introduce a simple astigmatism correction scheme for the laser diode beam consisting of two cylindrical lenses affecting the pump beam along the fast axis of the laser diode, which provides the mode-matching between the nearly square-shaped pump beam and the cavity mode. The resulting efficiency of the suggested Ti:Sapphire oscillator pumped by such a laser diode is analyzed for the Ti:sapphire crystals of 3 mm, 5 mm and 10 mm in length. We demonstrate that such a system provides the generation of ultrashort pulses up to 15 fs in duration with the repetition rate of 87 MHz, the average power being 170 mW.

Surface treatment of CFRP composites using femtosecond laser radiation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Oliveira, V.; Sharma, S. P.; de Moura, M. F. S. F.; Moreira, R. D. F.; Vilar, R.

2017-07-01

In the present work, we investigate the surface treatment of carbon fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) composites by laser ablation with femtosecond laser radiation. For this purpose, unidirectional carbon fiber-reinforced epoxy matrix composites were treated with femtosecond laser pulses of 1024 nm wavelength and 550 fs duration. Laser tracks were inscribed on the material surface using pulse energies and scanning speeds in the range 0.1-0.5 mJ and 0.1-5 mm/s, respectively. The morphology of the laser treated surfaces was investigated by field emission scanning electron microscopy. We show that, by using the appropriate processing parameters, a selective removal of the epoxy resin can be achieved, leaving the carbon fibers exposed. In addition, sub-micron laser induced periodic surface structures (LIPSS) are created on the carbon fibers surface, which may be potentially beneficial for the improvement of the fiber to matrix adhesion in adhesive bonds between CFRP parts.

Dual-wavelength, mode-locked erbium-doped fiber laser employing a graphene/polymethyl-methacrylate saturable absorber.

PubMed

Lau, K Y; Abu Bakar, M H; Muhammad, F D; Latif, A A; Omar, M F; Yusoff, Z; Mahdi, M A

2018-05-14

Mode-locked fiber laser incorporating a saturable absorber is an attractive configuration due to its stability and simple structure. In this work, we demonstrate a dual-wavelength passively mode-locked erbium-doped fiber laser employing a graphene/polymethyl-methacrylate saturable absorber. A laser resonator is developed based on dual cavity architecture with unidirectional signal oscillation, which is connected by a fiber branch sharing a common gain medium and saturable absorber. Dual wavelength mode-locked fiber lasers are observed at approximately 1530 and 1560 nm with 22.6 mW pump power threshold. Soliton pulse circulates in the laser cavity with pulse duration of 900 and 940 fs at shorter and longer wavelengths, respectively. This work presents a viable option in developing a low threshold mode-locked laser source with closely spaced dual wavelength femtosecond pulses in the C-band wavelength region.

Low threshold L-band mode-locked ultrafast fiber laser assisted by microfiber-based carbon nanotube saturable absorber

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lau, K. Y.; Ng, E. K.; Abu Bakar, M. H.; Abas, A. F.; Alresheedi, M. T.; Yusoff, Z.; Mahdi, M. A.

2018-04-01

We demonstrate a passively mode-locked erbium-doped fiber laser in L-band wavelength region with low mode-locking threshold employing a 1425 nm pump wavelength. The mode-locking regime is generated by microfiber-based saturable absorber using carbon nanotube-polymer composite in a ring cavity. This carbon nanotube saturable absorber shows saturation intensity of 9 MW/cm2. In this work, mode-locking laser threshold is observed at 36.4 mW pump power. At the maximum pump power of 107.6 mW, we obtain pulse duration at full-width half-maximum point of 490 fs and time bandwidth product of 0.33, which corresponds to 3-dB spectral bandwidth of 5.8 nm. The pulse repetition rate remains constant throughout the experiment at 5.8 MHz due to fixed cavity length of 35.5 m. Average output power and pulse energy of 10.8 mW and 1.92 nJ are attained respectively through a 30% laser output extracted from the mode-locked cavity. This work highlights the feasibility of attaining a low threshold mode-locked laser source to be employed as seed laser in L-band wavelength region.

Control of femtosecond laser interference ejection with angle and polarisation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Roper, David M.; Ho, Stephen; Haque, Moez; Herman, Peter R.

2017-03-01

The nonlinear interactions of femtosecond lasers are driving multiple new application directions for nanopatterning and structuring of thin transparent dielectric films that serve in range of technological fields. Fresnel reflections generated by film interfaces were recently shown to confine strong nonlinear interactions at the Fabry-Perot fringe maxima to generate thin nanoscale plasma disks of 20 to 40 nm thickness stacked on half wavelength spacing, λ/2nfilm, inside a film (refractive index, nfilm). The following phase-explosion and ablation dynamics have resulted in a novel means for intrafilm processing that includes `quantized' half-wavelength machining steps and formation of blisters with embedded nanocavities. This paper presents an extension in the control of interferometric laser processing around our past study of Si3N4 and SiOx thin films at 515 nm, 800 nm, and 1044 nm laser wavelengths. The role of laser polarization and incident angle is explored on fringe visibility and improving interferometric processing inside the film to dominate over interface and / or surface ablation. SiOx thin films of 1 μm thickness on silicon substrates were irradiated with a 515 nm wavelength, 280 fs duration laser pulses at 0° to 65° incident angles. A significant transition in ablation region from complete film removal to structured quantized ejection is reported for p- and s-polarised light that is promising to improve control and expand the versatility of the technique to a wider range of applications and materials. The research is aimed at creating novel bio-engineered surfaces for cell culture, bacterial studies and regenerative medicine, and nanofluidic structures that underpin lab-in-a-film. Similarly, the formation of intrafilm blisters and nanocavities offers new opportunities in structuring existing thin film devices, such as CMOS microelectronics, LED, lab-on-chips, and MEMS.

Nanometer-resolved chemical analyses of femtosecond laser-induced periodic surface structures on titanium

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kirner, Sabrina V.; Wirth, Thomas; Sturm, Heinz; Krüger, Jörg; Bonse, Jörn

2017-09-01

The chemical characteristics of two different types of laser-induced periodic surface structures (LIPSS), so-called high and low spatial frequency LIPSS (HSFL and LSFL), formed upon irradiation of titanium surfaces by multiple femtosecond laser pulses in air (30 fs, 790 nm, 1 kHz), are analyzed by various optical and electron beam based surface analytical techniques, including micro-Raman spectroscopy, energy dispersive X-ray analysis, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and Auger electron spectroscopy. The latter method was employed in a high-resolution mode being capable of spatially resolving even the smallest HSFL structures featuring spatial periods below 100 nm. In combination with an ion sputtering technique, depths-resolved chemical information of superficial oxidation processes was obtained, revealing characteristic differences between the two different types of LIPSS. Our results indicate that a few tens of nanometer shallow HSFL are formed on top of a ˜150 nm thick graded superficial oxide layer without sharp interfaces, consisting of amorphous TiO2 and partially crystallized Ti2O3. The larger LSFL structures with periods close to the irradiation wavelength originate from the laser-interaction with metallic titanium. They are covered by a ˜200 nm thick amorphous oxide layer, which consists mainly of TiO2 (at the surface) and other titanium oxide species of lower oxidation states underneath.

Tribological performance of femtosecond laser-induced periodic surface structures on titanium and a high toughness bearing steel

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bonse, J.; Koter, R.; Hartelt, M.; Spaltmann, D.; Pentzien, S.; Höhm, S.; Rosenfeld, A.; Krüger, J.

2015-05-01

Laser-induced periodic surface structures (LIPSS, ripples) were processed on steel (X30CrMoN15-1) and titanium (Ti) surfaces by irradiation in air with linear polarized femtosecond laser pulses with a pulse duration of 30 fs at 790 nm wavelength. For the processing of large LIPSS covered surface areas (5 mm × 5 mm), the laser fluence and the spatial spot overlap were optimized in a sample-scanning geometry. The laser-processed surfaces were characterized by optical microscopy (OM), white light interference microscopy (WLIM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Spatial LIPSS periods between 450 and 600 nm were determined. The nanostructured surface regions were tribologically tested under reciprocal sliding conditions against a 10-mm diameter ball of hardened 100Cr6 steel. Paraffin oil and engine oil were used as lubricants for 1000 sliding cycles at 1 Hz with a normal load of 1.0 N. The corresponding wear tracks were analyzed by OM and SEM. In particular cases, the laser-generated nanostructures endured the tribological treatment. Simultaneously, a significant reduction of the friction coefficient and the wear was observed in the laser-irradiated (LIPSS-covered) areas when compared to the non-irradiated surface. The experiments reveal the potential benefit of laser surface structuring for tribological applications.

Multi-resonance peaks fiber Bragg gratings based on largely-chirped structure

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Chao; Zhang, Xuan-Yu; Wei, Wei-Hua; Chen, Yong-Yi; Qin, Li; Ning, Yong-Qiang; Yu, Yong-Sen

2018-04-01

A composite fiber Bragg grating (FBG) with multi-resonance peaks (MRPs) has been realized by using femtosecond (fs) laser point-by-point inscription in single-mode fiber. This device contains a segment of largely-chirped gratings with the ultrahigh chirp coefficients and a segment of uniform high-order gratings. The observed MRPs are distributed in an ultra-broadband wavelength range from 1200 nm to 1700 nm in the form of quasi-period or multi-peak-group. For the 8th-order MRPs-FBG, we studied the axial strain and high-temperature sensing characteristics of different resonance peaks experimentally. Moreover, we have demonstrated a multi-wavelength fiber lasers with three-wavelength stable output by using a 9th-order MRPs-FBG as the wavelength selector. This work is significant for the fabrication and functionalization of FBGs with complicated spectra characteristics.

Broadband supercontinuum generation with femtosecond pulse width in erbium-doped fiber laser (EDFL)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rifin, S. N. M.; Zulkifli, M. Z.; Hassan, S. N. M.; Munajat, Y.; Ahmad, H.

2016-11-01

We demonstrate two flat plateaus and the low-noise spectrum of supercontinuum generation (SCG) in a highly nonlinear fiber (HNLF), injected by an amplified picosecond pulse seed of a carbon nanotube-based passively mode locked erbium-doped fiber laser. A broad spectrum of width approximately 1090 nm spanning the range 1130-2220 nm is obtained and the pulse width is compressed to the shorter duration of 70 fs. Variations of the injected peak power up to 33.78 kW into the HNLF are compared and the broad spectrum SCG profiles slightly expand for each of the injected peak powers. This straightforward configuration of SCG offers low output power and ultra-narrow femtosecond pulse width. The results facilitate the development of all fiber time-domain spectroscopy systems based on the photoconductive antenna technique.

Investigation of possible fs-LASIK induced retinal damage

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schumacher, S.; Sander, M.; Stolte, A.; Doepke, C.; Baumgaertner, W.; Lubatschowski, H.

2006-02-01

Rapid development of new laser technologies enabled the application of ultra short lasers in refractive surgery. Focused ultra short laser pulses in near-infrared spectral range can generate a laser induced breakdown (LIB) in the cornea, which will disrupt the tissue. Cutting depth and position can be established by varying the laser focus. The fs-LASIK technique allows both flap and lenticule to be formed by using fs-pulses without the presence of any mechanical impact. During the cutting process not all of the pulse energy is deposited into the cornea; approximately half of the remaining energy propagates through the eye and reaches the retina. Though defocused, the transmitted energy can still induce damage to the retina due to absorption by the retinal pigment epithelium and the transfer of thermal energy to surrounding tissue. The fs-LASIK process was simulated with two laser systems; one continous-wave and one in the fs-regime. For the simulation the exposure time and focusing numerical aperature which defines the retinal spot size were varied. The Damage thresholds of the laser beam exposed eyes were determined in terms of ophthalmoscopic and histopathologic observations.

Spectrally-broad coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering hyper-microscopy utilizing a Stokes supercontinuum pumped at 800 nm

PubMed Central

Porquez, Jeremy G.; Cole, Ryan A.; Tabarangao, Joel T.; Slepkov, Aaron D.

2016-01-01

We demonstrate spectral-focusing based coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering (SF-CARS) hyper-microscopy capable of probing vibrational frequencies from 630 cm−1 to 3250 cm−1 using a single Ti:Sapphire femtosecond laser operating at 800 nm, and a commercially-available supercontinuum-generating fibre module. A broad Stokes supercontinuum with significant spectral power at wavelengths between 800 nm and 940 nm is generated by power tuning the fibre module using atypically long and/or chirped ~200 fs pump pulses, allowing convenient access to lower vibrational frequencies in the fingerprint spectral region. This work significantly reduces the instrumental and technical requirements for multimodal CARS microscopy, while expanding the spectral capabilities of an established approach to SF-CARS. PMID:27867735

Performance tests of the 5 TW, 1 kHz, passively CEP-stabilized ELI-ALPS SYLOS few-cycle laser system (Conference Presentation)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stanislauskas, Tomas; Budriūnas, Rimantas; Veitas, Gediminas; Gadonas, Darius; Adamonis, Jonas; Aleknavičius, Aidas; Masian, Gžegož; Kuprionis, Zenonas; Hoff, Dominik; Paulus, Gerhard G.; Börzsönyi, Ádám.; Toth, Szabolcs; Kovacs, Mate; Csontos, János; López-Martens, Rodrigo; Osvay, Károly

2017-05-01

ELI-ALPS in Hungary, one of the three pillars of the Extreme Light Infrastructure, aims at providing diverse light sources, including energetic attosecond pulses at the highest possible repetition rates. One of the main laser systems for driving plasma and gas-based HHG stages, is a state-of-the-art 1 kHz few-cycle laser called SYLOS. Targeted pulse parameters are an energy of 100 mJ and a duration shorter than two optical cycles (<6 fs), with outstanding energy, phase and pointing stability as well as high spatiotemporal quality. The first phase of the laser system has already set a new standard in kHz laser system engineering and technology. The performance and reliability of the SYLOS laser have been consistently tested over the course of a six-month trial period. During this time the system was running at least 8 hours a day at full power for more than 5 months. The current output parameters are 5 TW peak power, 45 mJ pulse energy with 9 fs duration and 300 mrad CEP stability, while the spectrum spans over 300 nm around 840 nm central wavelength. The layout follows the general scheme NOPCPA architecture with a passively CEP-stabilized front-end. The pulses are negatively chirped for the amplification process and compressed by a combination of large aperture bulk glass blocks and positively chirped mirrors under vacuum conditions at the output. During the trial period, the laser system demonstrated outstanding reliability. Daily startup and shutdown procedures take only a few minutes, and the command-control system enables pulse parameters to be modified instantly. Controlling the delays of individual NOPCPA stages makes it possible to tailor the output spectrum of the pulses and tune the central wavelength between 770 nm and 940 nm. We performed several experimental tests to find out the pulse characteristics. Pulse duration was verified with Wizzler, chirp-scan, autocorrelation methods and a stereo-ATI independently. All of them confirmed the sub-9 fs pulse duration. We recorded the long-term waveform and pointing stabilities of the beam in order to find out the effect of the temperature load on optical elements. Excluding a short initial warm up time, stable signals were observed in general. The in-loop and out-of-loop CEP stability was cross-checked between f-to-2f and stereo-ATI devices. Moreover, the inherent CEP stability of the system without feedback loop was also found to be surprisingly robust thanks to the passive CEP stabilization of the front-end. The polarization contrast was better than 1000:1. The temporal contrast was also measured independently with Sequoia and Tundra cross-correlators, and on the ns scale with a fast photodiode and GHz oscilloscope as well. Results showed that the pulse pedestal generally consists of parametric superfluorescence below the 1E-7 level and about 100 ps long, well in accordance with the pump duration. Delaying the pump pulse allows us to shift the seed pulse to the front and reach a pre-pulse pedestal below 1E-11 at 30 ps before the pulse peak. Detailed findings on all the examined pulse characteristics of the SYLOS laser will be reported in this presentation.

Analysis of Femtosecond Laser Assisted Capsulotomy Cutting Edges and Manual Capsulorhexis Using Environmental Scanning Electron Microscopy

PubMed Central

Serrao, Sebastiano; Lombardo, Giuseppe; Desiderio, Giovanni; Buratto, Lucio; Schiano-Lomoriello, Domenico; Pileri, Marco; Lombardo, Marco

2014-01-01

Purpose. To investigate the structure and irregularity of the capsulotomy cutting edges created by two femtosecond (FS) laser platforms in comparison with manual continuous circular capsulorhexis (CCC) using environmental scanning electron microscopy (eSEM). Methods. Ten anterior capsulotomies were obtained using two different FS laser cataract platforms (LenSx, n = 5, and Victus, n = 5). In addition, five manual CCC (n = 5) were obtained using a rhexis forceps. The specimens were imaged by eSEM (FEI Quanta 400, OR, USA). Objective metrics, which included the arithmetic mean deviation of the surface (Sa) and the root-mean-square deviation of the surface (Sq), were used to evaluate the irregularity of both the FS laser capsulotomies and the manual CCC cutting edges. Results. Several microirregularities were shown across the FS laser capsulotomy cutting edges. The edges of manually torn capsules were shown, by comparison of Sa and Sq values, to be smoother (P < 0.05) than the FS laser capsulotomy edges. Conclusions. Work is needed to understand whether the FS laser capsulotomy edge microirregularities, not seen in manual CCC, may act as focal points for the concentration of stress that would increase the risk of capsular tear during phacoemulsification as recently reported in the literature. PMID:25505977

Analysis of femtosecond laser assisted capsulotomy cutting edges and manual capsulorhexis using environmental scanning electron microscopy.

PubMed

Serrao, Sebastiano; Lombardo, Giuseppe; Desiderio, Giovanni; Buratto, Lucio; Schiano-Lomoriello, Domenico; Pileri, Marco; Lombardo, Marco

2014-01-01

Purpose. To investigate the structure and irregularity of the capsulotomy cutting edges created by two femtosecond (FS) laser platforms in comparison with manual continuous circular capsulorhexis (CCC) using environmental scanning electron microscopy (eSEM). Methods. Ten anterior capsulotomies were obtained using two different FS laser cataract platforms (LenSx, n = 5, and Victus, n = 5). In addition, five manual CCC (n = 5) were obtained using a rhexis forceps. The specimens were imaged by eSEM (FEI Quanta 400, OR, USA). Objective metrics, which included the arithmetic mean deviation of the surface (Sa) and the root-mean-square deviation of the surface (Sq), were used to evaluate the irregularity of both the FS laser capsulotomies and the manual CCC cutting edges. Results. Several microirregularities were shown across the FS laser capsulotomy cutting edges. The edges of manually torn capsules were shown, by comparison of Sa and Sq values, to be smoother (P < 0.05) than the FS laser capsulotomy edges. Conclusions. Work is needed to understand whether the FS laser capsulotomy edge microirregularities, not seen in manual CCC, may act as focal points for the concentration of stress that would increase the risk of capsular tear during phacoemulsification as recently reported in the literature.

Periodic surface structure creation by UV femtosecond pulses on silicon

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gilicze, Barnabás; Moczok, Márió; Madarász, Dániel; Juhász, Nóra; Racskó, Bence; Nánai, László

2017-01-01

Laser-induced periodic surface structures are created on Si (100) and Si (111) wafers by 500 fs laser pulses at 248 nm. The periodic structure is concentric and highly regular. The spatial period is consistently varying between 1.1 µm and 3.3 µm in the radial direction. It is shown that the fluence of the irradiation at the same pulse number determines the size of the area where the periodic structure is created and for the same fluence the pulse number determines the regularity of the created grooves by melting processes. The origin of this structure is identified as the inhomogeneity of the laser beam profile caused by Fresnel diffraction close to the focal plane. Further improvement of the formation of periodic structure with femtosecond laser pulses is suggested.

Nano-machining of biosensor electrodes through gold nanoparticles deposition produced by femtosecond laser ablation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Della Ventura, B.; Funari, R.; Anoop, K. K.; Amoruso, S.; Ausanio, G.; Gesuele, F.; Velotta, R.; Altucci, C.

2015-06-01

We report an application of femtosecond laser ablation to improve the sensitivity of biosensors based on a quartz crystal microbalance device. The nanoparticles produced by irradiating a gold target with 527-nm, 300-fs laser pulses, in high vacuum, are directly deposited on the quartz crystal microbalance electrode. Different gold electrodes are fabricated by varying the deposition time, thus addressing how the nanoparticles surface coverage influences the sensor response. The modified biosensor is tested by weighting immobilized IgG antibody from goat and its analyte (IgG from mouse), and the results are compared with a standard electrode. A substantial increase of biosensor sensitivity is achieved, thus demonstrating that femtosecond laser ablation and deposition is a viable physical method to improve the biosensor sensitivity by means of nanostructured electrodes.

In vitro perforation of human epithelial carcinoma cell with antibody-conjugated biodegradable microspheres illuminated by a single 80 femtosecond near-infrared laser pulse

PubMed Central

Terakawa, Mitsuhiro; Tsunoi, Yasuyuki; Mitsuhashi, Tatsuki

2012-01-01

Pulsed laser interaction with small metallic and dielectric particles has been receiving attention as a method of drug delivery to many cells. However, most of the particles are attended by many risks, which are mainly dependent upon particle size. Unlike other widely used particles, biodegradable particles have advantages of being broken down and eliminated by innate metabolic processes. In this paper, the perforation of cell membrane by a focused spot with transparent biodegradable microspheres excited by a single 800 nm, 80 fs laser pulse is demonstrated. A polylactic acid (PLA) sphere, a biodegradable polymer, was used. Fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC)-dextran and short interfering RNA were delivered into many human epithelial carcinoma cells (A431 cells) by applying a single 80 fs laser pulse in the presence of antibody-conjugated PLA microspheres. The focused intensity was also simulated by the three-dimensional finite-difference time-domain method. Perforation by biodegradable spheres compared with other particles has the potential to be a much safer phototherapy and drug delivery method for patients. The present method can open a new avenue, which is considered an efficient adherent for the selective perforation of cells which express the specific antigen on the cell membrane. PMID:22679375

5-nJ Femtosecond Ti3+:sapphire laser pumped with a single 1 W green diode

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Muti, Abdullah; Kocabas, Askin; Sennaroglu, Alphan

2018-05-01

We report a Kerr-lens mode-locked, extended-cavity femtosecond Ti3+:sapphire laser directly pumped at 520 nm with a 1 W AlInGaN green diode. To obtain energy scaling, the short x-cavity was extended with a q-preserving multi-pass cavity to reduce the pulse repetition rate to 5.78 MHz. With 880 mW of incident pump power, we obtained as high as 90 mW of continuous-wave output power from the short cavity by using a 3% output coupler. In the Kerr-lens mode-locked regime, the extended cavity produced nearly transform-limited 95 fs pulses at 776 nm. The resulting energy and peak power of the pulses were 5.1 nJ and 53 kW, respectively. To our knowledge, this represents the highest pulse energy directly obtained to date from a mode-locked, single-diode-pumped Ti3+:sapphire laser.

Photoimaging of the multiple filamentation of femtosecond laser pulses in poly(methyl methacrylate) doped with 2,2-difluoro-4-(9-anthracyl)-6-methyl-1,3,2-dioxaborine

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kulchin, Yu N; Vitrik, O B; Chekhlenok, A A

2013-12-31

We have studied the filamentation of femtosecond laser pulses (λ = 800 nm, ∼42 fs pulse duration) in poly(methyl methacrylate) doped with 2,2-difluoro-4-(9-anthracyl)-6-methyl-1,3,2- dioxaborine and the associated photomodification of the material. The results demonstrate that multiple filamentation occurs at pulse energies above 5 μJ. At a pulse energy of 1.5 mJ, it is accompanied by supercontinuum generation. The average filament length in PMMA is 9 mm and the filament diameter is ∼10 μm. An incident power density of ∼10{sup 12} W cm{sup -2} ensures inscription of the filament pattern owing to two-photon photochemical processes. Preliminary exposure to continuous light atmore » λ = 400 nm enables an ordered filament pattern to be written. (interaction of laser radiation with matter)« less

Generation of energetic femtosecond green pulses based on an OPCPA-SFG scheme.

PubMed

Mero, M; Sipos, A; Kurdi, G; Osvay, K

2011-05-09

Femtosecond green pulses were generated from broadband pulses centered at 800 nm and quasi-monochromatic pulses centered at 532 nm using noncollinear optical parametric chirped pulse amplification (NOPCPA) followed by sum frequency mixing. In addition to amplifying the 800-nm pulses, the NOPCPA stage pumped by a Q-switched, injection seeded Nd:YAG laser also provided broadband idler pulses at 1590 nm. The signal and idler pulses were sum frequency mixed using achromatic and chirp assisted phase matching yielding pulses near 530 nm with a bandwidth of 12 nm and an energy in excess of 200 μJ. The generated pulses were recompressed with a grating compressor to a duration of 150 fs. The technique is scalable to high energies, broader bandwidths, and shorter pulse durations with compensation for higher order chirps and dedicated engineering of the interacting beams. © 2011 Optical Society of America

The influence of laser pulse duration and energy on ICP-MS signal intensity, elemental fractionation, and particle size distribution in NIR fs-LA-ICP-MS

PubMed Central

Diwakar, Prasoon K.; Harilal, Sivanandan S.; LaHaye, Nicole L.; Hassanein, Ahmed; Kulkarni, Pramod

2015-01-01

Laser parameters, typically wavelength, pulse width, irradiance, repetition rate, and pulse energy, are critical parameters which influence the laser ablation process and thereby influence the LA-ICP-MS signal. In recent times, femtosecond laser ablation has gained popularity owing to the reduction in fractionation related issues and improved analytical performance which can provide matrix-independent sampling. The advantage offered by fs-LA is due to shorter pulse duration of the laser as compared to the phonon relaxation time and heat diffusion time. Hence the thermal effects are minimized in fs-LA. Recently, fs-LA-ICP-MS demonstrated improved analytical performance as compared to ns-LA-ICP-MS, but detailed mechanisms and processes are still not clearly understood. Improvement of fs-LA-ICP-MS over ns-LA-ICP-MS elucidates the importance of laser pulse duration and related effects on the ablation process. In this study, we have investigated the influence of laser pulse width (40 fs to 0.3 ns) and energy on LA-ICP-MS signal intensity and repeatability using a brass sample. Experiments were performed in single spot ablation mode as well as rastering ablation mode to monitor the Cu/Zn ratio. The recorded ICP-MS signal was correlated with total particle counts generated during laser ablation as well as particle size distribution. Our results show the importance of pulse width effects in the fs regime that becomes more pronounced when moving from femtosecond to picosecond and nanosecond regimes. PMID:26664120

Hydrogen scrambling in ethane induced by intense laser fields: statistical analysis of coincidence events.

PubMed

Kanya, Reika; Kudou, Tatsuya; Schirmel, Nora; Miura, Shun; Weitzel, Karl-Michael; Hoshina, Kennosuke; Yamanouchi, Kaoru

2012-05-28

Two-body Coulomb explosion processes of ethane (CH(3)CH(3)) and its isotopomers (CD(3)CD(3) and CH(3)CD(3)) induced by an intense laser field (800 nm, 1.0 × 10(14) W/cm(2)) with three different pulse durations (40 fs, 80 fs, and 120 fs) are investigated by a coincidence momentum imaging method. On the basis of statistical treatment of the coincidence data, the contributions from false coincidence events are estimated and the relative yields of the decomposition pathways are determined with sufficiently small uncertainties. The branching ratios of the two body decomposition pathways of CH(3)CD(3) from which triatomic hydrogen molecular ions (H(3)(+), H(2)D(+), HD(2)(+), D(3)(+)) are ejected show that protons and deuterons within CH(3)CD(3) are scrambled almost statistically prior to the ejection of a triatomic hydrogen molecular ion. The branching ratios were estimated by statistical Rice-Ramsperger-Kassel-Marcus calculations by assuming a transition state with a hindered-rotation of a diatomic hydrogen moiety. The hydrogen scrambling dynamics followed by the two body decomposition processes are discussed also by using the anisotropies in the ejection directions of the fragment ions and the kinetic energy distribution of the two body decomposition pathways.

Optical characterization in wide spectral range by a coherent spectrophotometer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sirutkaitis, Valdas; Eckardt, Robert C.; Balachninaite, Ona; Grigonis, Rimantas; Melninkaitis, A.; Rakickas, T.

2003-11-01

We report on the development and use of coherent spectrophotometers specialized for the unusual requirements of characterizing nonlinear optical materials and multilayer dielectric coatings used in laser systems. A large dynamic range is required to measure the linear properties of transmission, reflection and absorption and nonlinear properties of laser-induced damage threshold and nonlinear frequency conversion. Optical parametric oscillators generate coherent radiation that is widely tunable with instantaneous powers that can range from milliwatts to megawatts and are well matched to this application. As particular example a laser spectrophotometer based on optical parametric oscillators and a diode-pumped, Q-switched Nd:YAG laser and suitable for optical characterization in the spectral range 420-4500 nm is described. Measurements include reflectance and transmittance, absorption, scattering and laser-induced damage thresholds. Possibilities of a system based on a 130-fs Ti:sapphire laser and optical parametric generators are also discussed.

X-ray emission as a potential hazard during ultrashort pulse laser material processing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Legall, Herbert; Schwanke, Christoph; Pentzien, Simone; Dittmar, Günter; Bonse, Jörn; Krüger, Jörg

2018-06-01

In laser machining with ultrashort laser pulses unwanted X-ray radiation in the keV range can be generated when a critical laser intensity is exceeded. Even if the emitted X-ray dose per pulse is low, high laser repetition rates can lead to an accumulation of X-ray doses beyond exposure safety limits. For 925 fs pulse duration at a center wavelength of 1030 nm, the X-ray emission was investigated up to an intensity of 2.6 × 1014 W/cm2. The experiments were performed in air with a thin disk laser at a repetition rate of 400 kHz. X-ray spectra and doses were measured for various planar target materials covering a wide range of the periodic table from aluminum to tungsten. Without radiation shielding, the measured radiation doses at this high repetition rate clearly exceed the regulatory limits. Estimations for an adequate radiation shielding are provided.

Generation of high-field terahertz pulses in an HMQ-TMS organic crystal pumped by an ytterbium laser at 1030 nm.

PubMed

Rovere, Andrea; Jeong, Young-Gyun; Piccoli, Riccardo; Lee, Seung-Heon; Lee, Seung-Chul; Kwon, O-Pil; Jazbinsek, Mojca; Morandotti, Roberto; Razzari, Luca

2018-02-05

We present the generation of high-peak-electric-field terahertz pulses via collinear optical rectification in a 2-(4-hydroxy-3-methoxystyryl)-1-methilquinolinium-2,4,6-trimethylbenzenesulfonate (HMQ-TMS) organic crystal. The crystal is pumped by an amplified ytterbium laser system, emitting 170-fs-long pulses centered at 1030 nm. A terahertz peak electric field greater than 200 kV/cm is obtained for 420 µJ of optical pump energy, with an energy conversion efficiency of 0.26% - about two orders of magnitude higher than in common inorganic crystals collinearly pumped by amplified femtosecond lasers. An open-aperture Z-scan measurement performed on an n-doped InGaAs thin film using such terahertz source shows a nonlinear increase in the terahertz transmission of about 2.2 times. Our findings demonstrate the potential of this terahertz generation scheme, based on ytterbium laser technology, as a simple and efficient alternative to the existing intense table-top terahertz sources. In particular, we show that it can be readily used to explore nonlinear effects at terahertz frequencies.

Real-time detection of S(1D2) photofragments produced from the 1B2(1Σu+) state of CS2 by vacuum ultraviolet photoelectron imaging using 133 nm probe pulses

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Horio, Takuya; Spesyvtsev, Roman; Furumido, Yu; Suzuki, Toshinori

2017-07-01

Ultrafast photodissociation dynamics from the 1B2(1Σu+) state of CS2 are studied by time-resolved photoelectron imaging using the fourth (4ω, 198 nm) and sixth (6ω, 133 nm) harmonics of a femtosecond Ti:sapphire laser. The 1B2 state of CS2 was prepared with the 4ω pulses, and subsequent dynamics were probed using the 6ω vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) pulses. The VUV pulses enabled real-time detection of S(1D2) photofragments, produced via CS2*(1B2(1Σu+)) → CS(X 1Σ+) + S(1D2). The photoionization signal of dissociating CS2*(1B2(1Σu+)) molecules starts to decrease at about 100 fs, while the S(1D2) fragments appear with a finite (ca. 400 fs) delay time after the pump pulse. Also discussed is the configuration interaction of the 1B2(1Σu+) state based on relative photoionization cross-sections to different cationic states.

Inscription of type I and depressed cladding waveguides in lithium niobate using a femtosecond laser.

PubMed

Bhardwaj, S; Mittholiya, K; Bhatnagar, A; Bernard, R; Dharmadhikari, J A; Mathur, D; Dharmadhikari, A K

2017-07-10

We describe two types of waveguides (type I and depressed cladding) inscribed in lithium niobate using a variable repetition rate (200 kHz-25 MHz), 270 fs duration fiber laser. The type I modification-based waveguides have propagation losses in the range from 1.2 to 10 dB/cm at 1550 nm, depending on experimental parameters. These waveguides are not permanent; they deteriorate over time. Such deterioration of waveguides can be slowed down from 30 days to 100 days by pre-annealing the samples and by writing at a 720 kHz laser repetition rate. The propagation losses measured at 1550 nm show significant improvement for pre-annealed samples. The depressed cladding-inscribed waveguides are permanent, but the propagation loss depends on the number of damage tracks. A track separation of ∼1  μm between adjacent damage tracks yields the lowest propagation loss of 0.5 dB/cm at 1550 nm for a 40 μm diameter waveguide. We observe multimode guidance for sizes in the range of 20-80 μm in these waveguide structures at 1550 nm. Their crystalline nature is found to remain intact, as inferred from second-harmonic generation within the waveguide region.

Pulsed laser micro-scribing of copper thin films on polyimide substrate in NaCl solution

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shiby, Sooraj; Nammi, Srinagalakshmi; Vasa, Nilesh J.; Krishnan, Sivarama

2018-02-01

Recently, there is an increasing interest to create micro-channels on metal thin films for diverse applications, such as biomedical, micro channel heat exchangers, chemical separation processes and microwave antenna. Nanosecond (ns) Nd3+:YAG laser has been studied for generating micro-channels on Cu thin film (35 μm) deposited on polyimide substrate (50 μm). A pulsed Nd3+:YAG laser (532 nm / 355 nm) based scribing was performed in air and water ambiancePlasma shielding phenomenon is observed to influence the depth of microchannel at higher energies. A novel pump-probe experiment has been conducted for verifying the plasma shielding effect in air. In underwater scribing the recast layer was reduced significantly as compared to that in air. Laser scribing of Cu thin film followed by chemical etching using FeCl3 was studied. However, the approach of chemical etching resulted in undercut and thinning of Cu film. Alternatively, laser material processing in NaCl solution was studied. Cl- ions present in the solution reacts with Cu which is removed from the sample via laser ablation and forms CuCl2. Formation of CuCl2 in turn improved the surface morphology of the channel through localized etching. The surface roughness parameter Ra was less than 400 nm for NaCl solution based scribing which is smaller compared to air and underwater based methods which are typically around 800 nm or above. Preliminary studies using femtosecond (fs) laser based Cu scribing in air with the fluence of 0.5 J/cm2 resulted in a crated depth of 3 μm without any recast layer.

Femtosecond laser processing of NiPd single and 5x(Ni/Pd) multilayer thin films

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Petrović, S.; Gaković, B.; Zamfirescu, M.; Radu, C.; Peruško, D.; Radak, B.; Ristoscu, C.; Zdravković, S.; Luculescu, C. L.; Mihailescu, I. N.

2017-09-01

Modification of single and complex nickel-palladium samples by laser processing in the femtosecond time domain was studied. The samples were processed by focused Ti:Sapphire laser beam (Clark CPA-2101) with 775 nm laser wavelength, 2 kHz repetition rate, 200 fs pulse duration. The laser-induced morphological modifications have shown dependence on the applied fluences and number of laser pulses. The formed surface nanostructures on the single NiPd/Si and multilayer 5x(Ni/Pd)/Si systems are compared with individual Ni and Pd thin films. The results show an increase in surface roughness, formation of parallel periodic surface structures, appearance of hydrodynamic features and ablation of surface material. At low number of pulses (less than 10 pulses) and low pulse energies range (not over 1.7 μJ), the two types of laser-induced periodic surface structure (LIPSS) can be observed: low and high spatial frequency LIPSS (HSFL and LSFL). For all samples, the measured LSFL periods were 720 nm for the ripples created solely on thin film surfaces during the single pulse action. In the case of the multi-pulse irradiation, the periodicities of created LSFLs on the all investigated thin films have shown tendency to reduction with increasing of pulse energies.

Role of surface states and defects in the ultrafast nonlinear optical properties of CuS quantum dots

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Mary, K. A. Ann; Unnikrishnan, N. V., E-mail: nvu100@yahoo.com; Philip, Reji

2014-07-01

We report facile preparation of water dispersible CuS quantum dots (2–4 nm) and nanoparticles (5–11 nm) through a nontoxic, green, one-pot synthesis method. Optical and microstructural studies indicate the presence of surface states and defects (dislocations, stacking faults, and twins) in the quantum dots. The smaller crystallite size and quantum dot formation have significant effects on the high energy excitonic and low energy plasmonic absorption bands. Effective two-photon absorption coefficients measured using 100 fs laser pulses employing open-aperture Z-scan in the plasmonic region of 800 nm reveal that CuS quantum dots are better ultrafast optical limiters compared to CuS nanoparticles.

Diode-pumped femtosecond mode-locked Nd, Y-codoped CaF2 laser

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhu, Jiangfeng; Zhang, Lijuan; Gao, Ziye; Wang, Junli; Wang, Zhaohua; Su, Liangbi; Zheng, Lihe; Wang, Jingya; Xu, Jun; Wei, Zhiyi

2015-03-01

A passively mode-locked femtosecond laser based on an Nd, Y-codoped CaF2 disordered crystal was demonstrated. The Y3+-codoping in Nd : CaF2 markedly suppressed the quenching effect and improved the fluorescence quantum efficiency and emission spectra. With a fiber-coupled laser diode as the pump source, the continuous wave tuning range covering from 1042 to 1076 nm was realized, while the mode-locked operation generated 264 fs pulses with an average output power of 180 mW at a repetition rate of 85 MHz. The experimental results show that the Nd, Y-codoped CaF2 disordered crystal has potential in a new generation diode-pumped high repetition rate chirped pulse amplifier.

Femtosecond laser-induced surface structures on carbon fibers.

PubMed

Sajzew, Roman; Schröder, Jan; Kunz, Clemens; Engel, Sebastian; Müller, Frank A; Gräf, Stephan

2015-12-15

The influence of different polarization states during the generation of periodic nanostructures on the surface of carbon fibers was investigated using a femtosecond laser with a pulse duration τ=300  fs, a wavelength λ=1025  nm, and a peak fluence F=4  J/cm². It was shown that linear polarization results in a well-aligned periodic pattern with different orders of magnitude concerning their period and an alignment parallel and perpendicular to fiber direction, respectively. For circular polarization, both types of uniform laser-induced periodic surface structures (LIPSS) patterns appear simultaneously with different dominance in dependence on the position at the fiber surface. Their orientation was explained by the polarization-dependent absorptivity and the geometrical anisotropy of the carbon fibers.

Development of very compact soft X-ray lasers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Korobkin, Dmitriy Vladlenovich

1999-10-01

A powerful subpicosecond laser system, based on solid state (Ti:Al 2O3) front end and gas excimer (KrF*) amplifiers, has been developed. It is capable of producing 40-50 mJ pulses at 248 nm (285 fs pulse duration) with 2 Hz repetition rate. That radiation can be focused to intensities greater than 1017 W/cm2 and cause the optical field ionization of lithium. The system was used in experiments on gain generation in hydrogen-like Li III. Lasing action in hydrogen-like Li III 2-1 transition to ground state (13.5 nm) has been demonstrated for the first time. Gain G = 11 cm-1 in 5-mm long plasma column, created in LiF microcapillary, was measured. The observed gain-length product was GL = 5.5. In another set of experiments an inversion population between levels n = 3 and n = 2 in hydrogen-like BV was created using a low-energy compact laser system at 1 Hz repetition rate. Gain G = 17 cm-1 at 26.2 nm was measured in 3 mm long B2O3 microcapillary, which corresponds to GL = 5.1. The entire experimental setup can be fit on a single medium size optical table. Also propagation of laser radiation through plasma, created in microcapillaries has been investigated at various experimental conditions. Real-time plasma probing with low intensity HeNe laser beam has been performed.

Pros and cons of characterising an optical translocation setup

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Maphanga, Charles; Malabi, Rudzani; Ombinda-Lemboumba, Saturnin; Maaza, Malik; Mthunzi-Kufa, Patience

2017-02-01

The delivery of genetic material and drugs into mammalian cells using femtosecond (fs) laser pulses is escalating rapidly. This novel light based technique achieved through a precise focusing of a laser beam on the plasma membrane is called photoporation. This technique is attained using ultrashort laser pulses to irradiate plasma membrane of mammalian cells, thus resulting in the accumulation of a vast amount of free electrons. These generated electrons react photochemically with the cell membrane, resulting in the generation of sub-microscopic pores on the cell membrane enabling a variety of extracellular media to diffuse into the cell. This study is aimed at critically analysing the "do's and don'ts" of designing, assembling, and characterising an optical translocation setup using a femtosecond legend titanium sapphire regenerative amplifier pulsed laser (Gaussian beam, 800 nm, 1 kHz, 113 fs, and an output power of 850 mW). The main objective in our study is to determine optical phototranslocation parameters which are compatible to the plasma membrane and cell viability. Such parameters included beam profiling, testing a range of laser fluencies suitable for photoporation, assessment of the beam quality and laser-cell interaction time. In our study, Chinese Hamster Ovary-K1 (CHO-K1) cells were photoporated in the presence of trypan blue to determine optimal parameters for photoporation experiment. An average power of 4.5 μW, exposure time of 7 ms, with a laser beam spot of 1.1 μm diameter at the focus worked optimally without any sign of cell stress and cytoplasmic bleeding. Cellular responses post laser treatment were analysed using cell morphology studies.

Pulse shape measurements using single shot-frequency resolved optical gating for high energy (80 J) short pulse (600 fs) laser

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Palaniyappan, S.; Johnson, R.; Shimada, T.

2010-10-15

Relevant to laser based electron/ion accelerations, a single shot second harmonic generation frequency resolved optical gating (FROG) system has been developed to characterize laser pulses (80 J, {approx}600 fs) incident on and transmitted through nanofoil targets, employing relay imaging, spatial filter, and partially coated glass substrates to reduce spatial nonuniformity and B-integral. The device can be completely aligned without using a pulsed laser source. Variations of incident pulse shape were measured from durations of 613 fs (nearly symmetric shape) to 571 fs (asymmetric shape with pre- or postpulse). The FROG measurements are consistent with independent spectral and autocorrelation measurements.

Ultra-fast movies of thin-film laser ablation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Domke, Matthias; Rapp, Stephan; Schmidt, Michael; Huber, Heinz P.

2012-11-01

Ultra-short-pulse laser irradiation of thin molybdenum films from the glass substrate side initiates an intact Mo disk lift off free from thermal effects. For the investigation of the underlying physical effects, ultra-fast pump-probe microscopy is used to produce stop-motion movies of the single-pulse ablation process, initiated by a 660-fs laser pulse. The ultra-fast dynamics in the femtosecond and picosecond ranges are captured by stroboscopic illumination of the sample with an optically delayed probe pulse of 510-fs duration. The nanosecond and microsecond delay ranges of the probe pulse are covered by an electronically triggered 600-ps laser. Thus, the setup enables an observation of general laser ablation processes from the femtosecond delay range up to the final state. A comparison of time- and space-resolved observations of film and glass substrate side irradiation of a 470-nm molybdenum layer reveals the driving mechanisms of the Mo disk lift off initiated by glass-side irradiation. Observations suggest that a phase explosion generates a liquid-gas mixture in the molybdenum/glass interface about 10 ps after the impact of the pump laser pulse. Then, a shock wave and gas expansion cause the molybdenum layer to bulge, while the enclosed liquid-gas mixture cools and condenses at delay times in the 100-ps range. The bulging continues for approximately 20 ns, when an intact Mo disk shears and lifts off at a velocity of above 70 m/s. As a result, the remaining hole is free from thermal effects.

CW and femtosecond operation of a diode-pumped Yb:BaY(2)F(8) laser.

PubMed

Galzerano, G; Coluccelli, N; Gatti, D; Di Lieto, A; Tonelli, M; Laporta, P

2010-03-15

We report for the first time on laser action of a diode-pumped Yb:BaY(2)F(8) crystal. Both CW and femtosecond operations have been demonstrated at room-temperature conditions. A maximum output power of 0.56 W, a slope efficiency of 34%, and a tunability range from 1013 to 1067 nm have been obtained in CW regime. Transform-limited pulse trains with a minimum duration of 275 fs, an average power of 40 mW, and a repetition rate of 83 MHz have been achieved in a passive mode-locked regime using a semiconductor saturable absorber mirror.

Femtosecond digital lensless holographic microscopy to image biological samples.

PubMed

Mendoza-Yero, Omel; Calabuig, Alejandro; Tajahuerce, Enrique; Lancis, Jesús; Andrés, Pedro; Garcia-Sucerquia, Jorge

2013-09-01

The use of femtosecond laser radiation in digital lensless holographic microscopy (DLHM) to image biological samples is presented. A mode-locked Ti:Sa laser that emits ultrashort pulses of 12 fs intensity FWHM, with 800 nm mean wavelength, at 75 MHz repetition rate is used as a light source. For comparison purposes, the light from a light-emitting diode is also used. A section of the head of a drosophila melanogaster fly is studied with both light sources. The experimental results show very different effects of the pinhole size on the spatial resolution with DLHM. Unaware phenomena on the field of the DLHM are analyzed.

A 12.1-W SESAM mode-locked Yb:YAG thin disk laser

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yingnan, Peng; Zhaohua, Wang; Dehua, Li; Jiangfeng, Zhu; Zhiyi, Wei

2016-05-01

Pumped by a 940 nm fiber-coupled diode laser, a passively mode-locked Yb:YAG thin disk oscillator was demonstrated with a semiconductor saturable absorber mirror (SESAM). 12.1 W mode-locked pulses were obtained with pulse duration of 698 fs at the repetition rate of 57.43 MHz. Measurement showed that the beam quality was close to the diffraction limit. Project supported by the National Key Basic Research Program of China (Grant No. 2013CB922402), the National Major Instrument Program of China (Grant No. 2012YQ120047), and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 61210017).

Femtosecond (FS) laser vision correction procedure for moderate to high myopia: a prospective study of ReLEx(®) flex and comparison with a retrospective study of FS-laser in situ keratomileusis.

PubMed

Vestergaard, Anders; Ivarsen, Anders; Asp, Sven; Hjortdal, Jesper Ø

2013-06-01

To present our initial clinical experience with ReLEx(®) flex (ReLEx) for moderate to high myopia. We compare efficacy, safety and corneal higher-order aberrations after ReLEx with femtosecond laser in situ keratomileusis (FS-LASIK). Prospective study of ReLEx compared with a retrospective study of FS-LASIK. ReLEx is a new keratorefractive procedure, where a stromal lenticule is cut by a femtosecond laser and manually extracted. Forty patients were treated with ReLEx on both eyes. A comparable group of 41 FS-LASIK patients were retrospectively identified. Visual acuity, spherical equivalent (SE) and corneal tomography were measured before and 3 months after surgery. Preoperative SE averaged -7.50 ± 1.16 D (ReLEx) and -7.32 ± 1.09 D (FS-LASIK). For all eyes, mean corrected distance visual acuity remained unchanged in both groups. For eyes with emmetropia as target refraction, 41% of ReLEx and 61% of FS-LASIK eyes had an uncorrected distance visual acuity of logMAR ≤ 0.10 at day 1 after surgery, increasing to, respectively, 88% and 69% at 3 months. Mean SE was -0.06 ± 0.35 D 3 months after ReLEx and -0.53 ± 0.60 D after FS-LASIK. The proportion of eyes within ±1.00 D after 3 months was 100% (ReLEx) and 85% (FS-LASIK). For a 6.0-mm pupil, corneal spherical aberrations increased significantly less in ReLEx than FS-LASIK eyes. ReLEx is an all-in-one femtosecond laser refractive procedure, and in this study, results were comparable to FS-LASIK. Refractive predictability and corneal aberrations at 3 months seemed better than or equal to FS-LASIK, whereas visual recovery after ReLEx was slower. © 2012 The Authors. Acta Ophthalmologica © 2012 Acta Ophthalmologica Scandinavica Foundation.

Layer-by-layer modification of thin-film metal-semiconductor multilayers with ultrashort laser pulses

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Romashevskiy, S. A.; Tsygankov, P. A.; Ashitkov, S. I.; Agranat, M. B.

2018-05-01

The surface modifications in a multilayer thin-film structure (50-nm alternating layers of Si and Al) induced by a single Gaussian-shaped femtosecond laser pulse (350 fs, 1028 nm) in the air are investigated by means of atomic-force microscopy (AFM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and optical microscopy (OM). Depending on the laser fluence, various modifications of nanometer-scale metal and semiconductor layers, including localized formation of silicon/aluminum nanofoams and layer-by-layer removal, are found. While the nanofoams with cell sizes in the range of tens to hundreds of nanometers are produced only in the two top layers, layer-by-layer removal is observed for the four top layers under single pulse irradiation. The 50-nm films of the multilayer structure are found to be separated at their interfaces, resulting in a selective removal of several top layers (up to 4) in the form of step-like (concentric) craters. The observed phenomenon is associated with a thermo-mechanical ablation mechanism that results in splitting off at film-film interface, where the adhesion force is less than the bulk strength of the used materials, revealing linear dependence of threshold fluences on the film thickness.

500 MW peak power degenerated optical parametric amplifier delivering 52 fs pulses at 97 kHz repetition rate.

PubMed

Rothhardt, J; Hädrich, S; Röser, F; Limpert, J; Tünnermann, A

2008-06-09

We present a high peak power degenerated parametric amplifier operating at 1030 nm and 97 kHz repetition rate. Pulses of a state-of-the art fiber chirped-pulse amplification (FCPA) system with 840 fs pulse duration and 410 microJ pulse energy are used as pump and seed source for a two stage optical parametric amplifier. Additional spectral broadening of the seed signal in a photonic crystal fiber creates enough bandwidth for ultrashort pulse generation. Subsequent amplification of the broadband seed signal in two 1 mm BBO crystals results in 41 microJ output pulse energy. Compression in a SF 11 prism compressor yields 37 microJ pulses as short as 52 fs. Thus, pulse shortening of more than one order of magnitude is achieved. Further scaling in terms of average power and pulse energy seems possible and will be discussed, since both concepts involved, the fiber laser and the parametric amplifier have the reputation to be immune against thermo-optical effects.

Broadband ultrafast nonlinear absorption and nonlinear refraction of layered molybdenum dichalcogenide semiconductors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Kangpeng; Feng, Yanyan; Chang, Chunxia; Zhan, Jingxin; Wang, Chengwei; Zhao, Quanzhong; Coleman, Jonathan N.; Zhang, Long; Blau, Werner J.; Wang, Jun

2014-08-01

A series of layered molybdenum dichalcogenides, i.e., MoX2 (X = S, Se and Te), were prepared in cyclohexyl pyrrolidinone by a liquid-phase exfoliation technique. The high quality of the two-dimensional nanostructures was verified by transmission electron microscopy and absorption spectroscopy. Open- and closed-aperture Z-scans were employed to study the nonlinear absorption and nonlinear refraction of the MoX2 dispersions, respectively. All the three-layered nanostructures exhibit prominent ultrafast saturable absorption (SA) for both femtosecond (fs) and picosecond (ps) laser pulses over a broad wavelength range from the visible to the near infrared. While the dispersions treated with low-speed centrifugation (1500 rpm) have an SA response, and the MoS2 and MoSe2 dispersions after higher speed centrifugation (10 000 rpm) possess two-photon absorption for fs pulses at 1030 nm, which is due to the significant reduction of the average thickness of the nanosheets; hence, the broadening of band gap. In addition, all dispersions show obvious nonlinear self-defocusing for ps pulses at both 1064 nm and 532 nm, resulting from the thermally-induced nonlinear refractive index. The versatile ultrafast nonlinear properties imply a huge potential of the layered MoX2 semiconductors in the development of nanophotonic devices, such as mode-lockers, optical limiters, optical switches, etc.A series of layered molybdenum dichalcogenides, i.e., MoX2 (X = S, Se and Te), were prepared in cyclohexyl pyrrolidinone by a liquid-phase exfoliation technique. The high quality of the two-dimensional nanostructures was verified by transmission electron microscopy and absorption spectroscopy. Open- and closed-aperture Z-scans were employed to study the nonlinear absorption and nonlinear refraction of the MoX2 dispersions, respectively. All the three-layered nanostructures exhibit prominent ultrafast saturable absorption (SA) for both femtosecond (fs) and picosecond (ps) laser pulses over a broad wavelength range from the visible to the near infrared. While the dispersions treated with low-speed centrifugation (1500 rpm) have an SA response, and the MoS2 and MoSe2 dispersions after higher speed centrifugation (10 000 rpm) possess two-photon absorption for fs pulses at 1030 nm, which is due to the significant reduction of the average thickness of the nanosheets; hence, the broadening of band gap. In addition, all dispersions show obvious nonlinear self-defocusing for ps pulses at both 1064 nm and 532 nm, resulting from the thermally-induced nonlinear refractive index. The versatile ultrafast nonlinear properties imply a huge potential of the layered MoX2 semiconductors in the development of nanophotonic devices, such as mode-lockers, optical limiters, optical switches, etc. Electronic supplementary information (ESI) available: Electron scattering patterns from TEM characterizations of MX2 nanosheets; CA Z-scan results of graphene dispersions in the ps region. See DOI: 10.1039/c4nr02634a

Laser chirp effect on femtosecond laser filamentation generated for pulse compression.

PubMed

Park, Juyun; Lee, Jae-Hwan; Nam, Chang H

2008-03-31

The influence of laser chirp on the formation of femtosecond laser filamentation in Ar was investigated for the generation of few-cycle high-power laser pulses. The condition for the formation of a single filament has been carefully examined using 28-fs laser pulses with energy over 3 mJ. The filament formation and output spectrum changed very sensitively to the initial laser chirp and gas pressure. Much larger spectral broadening was obtained with positively chirped pulses, compared to the case of negatively chirped pulses that generated much longer filament, and compressed pulses of 5.5 fs with energy of 0.5 mJ were obtained from the filamentation of positively chirped 30-fs laser pulses in a single Ar cell.

Laser printed glass planar lightwave circuits with integrated fiber alignment structures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Desmet, A.; Radosavljevic, A.; Missinne, J.; Van Thourhout, D.; Van Steenberge, G.

2018-02-01

Femtosecond laser inscription allows straightforward manufacturing of glass planar lightwave circuits such as waveguides, interferometers, directional couplers, resonators and more complex structures. Fiber alignment structures are needed to facilitate communication with the glass planar lightwave circuit. In this study, a technique is described to create optical waveguides and alignment structures in the same laser exposure step. Using an industrial ytterbium-doped 1030 nm fiber laser pulses of 400 fs were focused into glass with a 0.4 NA objective causing permanent alteration of the material. Depending on laser parameters this modification allows direct writing of waveguides or the creation of channels after exposing the irradiated volumes to an etchant such as KOH. Writing of channels and waveguides with different laser powers, frequencies, polarisations, stage translation speeds and scan densities were investigated in fused silica and borosilicate glass. Waveguides with controlled dimensions were created, as well as etched U-grooves with a diameter of 126 μm and a sidewall roughness Ra of 255 nm. Cut back measurements were performed giving a waveguide propagation loss of 1.1 dB/cm in borosilicate glass. A coupling loss of 0.7 dB was measured for a transition between the waveguide and standard single mode fiber at 1550 nm, using index matching liquid. The described technique eliminates active alignment requirements and is useful for many applications such as microfluidic sensing, PLCs, fan-out connectors for multicore fibers and quantum optical networks.

Femtosecond-laser-written Tm:KLu(WO₄)₂ waveguide lasers.

PubMed

Kifle, Esrom; Mateos, Xavier; de Aldana, Javier Rodríguez Vázquez; Ródenas, Airan; Loiko, Pavel; Choi, Sun Yung; Rotermund, Fabian; Griebner, Uwe; Petrov, Valentin; Aguiló, Magdalena; Díaz, Francesc

2017-03-15

Depressed-index channel waveguides with a circular and photonic crystal cladding structures are prepared in a bulk monoclinic Tm:KLu(WO₄)₂ crystal by 3D direct femtosecond laser writing. The channel waveguide structures are characterized and laser operation is achieved using external mirrors. In the continuous-wave mode, the maximum output power of 46 mW is achieved at 1912 nm corresponding to a slope efficiency of 15.2% and a laser threshold of only 21 mW. Passive Q-switching of a waveguide with a circular cladding is realized using single-walled carbon nanotubes. Stable 7 nJ/50 ns pulses are achieved at a repetition rate of 1.48 MHz. This first demonstration of ∼2  μm fs-laser-written waveguide lasers based on monoclinic double tungstates is promising for further lasers of this type doped with Tm³⁺ and Ho³⁺  ions.

Efficient high-harmonic generation from a stable and compact ultrafast Yb-fiber laser producing 100 μJ, 350 fs pulses based on bendable photonic crystal fiber

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Feehan, James S.; Price, Jonathan H. V.; Butcher, Thomas J.; Brocklesby, William S.; Frey, Jeremy G.; Richardson, David J.

2017-01-01

The development of an Yb3+-fiber-based chirped-pulse amplification system and the performance in the generation of extreme ultraviolet (EUV) radiation by high-harmonic generation is reported. The fiber laser produced 100 μJ, 350 fs output pulses with diffraction-limited beam quality at a repetition rate of 16.7 kHz. The system used commercial single-mode, polarization maintaining fiber technology. This included a 40 μm core, easily packaged, bendable final amplifier fiber in order to enable a compact system, to reduce cost, and provide reliable and environmentally stable long-term performance. The system enabled the generation of 0.4 μW of EUV at wavelengths between 27 and 80 nm with a peak at 45 nm using xenon gas. The EUV flux of 1011 photons per second for a driving field power of 1.67 W represents state-of-the-art generation efficiency for single-fiber amplifier CPA systems, corresponding to a maximum calculated energy conversion efficiency of 2.4 × 10-7 from the infrared to the EUV. The potential for high average power operation at increased repetition rates and further suggested technical improvements are discussed. Future applications could include coherent diffractive imaging in the EUV, and high-harmonic spectroscopy.

Femtosecond laser generated gold nanoparticles and their plasmonic properties

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Das, Rupali, E-mail: phz148121@iitd.ac.in; Navas, M. P.; Soni, R. K.

The pulsed laser ablation in liquid medium is now commonly used to generate stable colloidal nanoparticles (NPs) in absence of any chemical additives or stabilizer with diverse applications. In this paper, we report generation of gold NPs (Au NPs) by ultra-short laser pulses. Femtosecond (fs) laser radiation (λ = 800 nm) has been used to ablate a gold target in pure de-ionized water to produce gold colloids with smallsize distribution. The average size of the particles can be further controlled by subjecting to laser-induced post-irradiation providing a versatile physical method of size-selected gold nanoparticles. The optical extinction and morphological dimensions weremore » investigated with UV-Vis spectroscopy and Transmission Electron Microscopy measurements, respectively. Finite difference time domain (FDTD) method is employed to calculate localized surface plasmon (LSPR) wavelength and the near-field generated by Au NPs and their hybrids.« less

Electron Spectrum of Nonlinear Cold Emission from a Metal under the Action of a Laser Shot

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Golovinskii, P. A.; Mikhin, E. A.

2017-12-01

The nonlinear emission of electrons from a metal under the action of a femtosecond moderate-intensity laser pulse (laser shot) has been studied. A theoretical model of the process has been constructed based on the 1D nonstationary Schrödinger equation in the vacuum half-space with given boundary conditions for the electron wavefunction. This equation has been solved using the Laplace transformation. It has been assumed that the states of free electrons in a metal, which are described by the Sommerfeld theory of metals, are insignificantly influenced by the laser field. The energy spectrum of emitted electrons has been obtained, and its dependence on the parameters of the lased shot has been found. The calculated spectrum of nonlinear electron emission from a tungsten nanotip under the action of a 6.5-fs-long laser shot generating a field of 9.26 V/nm agrees with the experimental data.

Multiphoton photoemission from a copper cathode illuminated by ultrashort laser pulses in an RF photoinjector.

PubMed

Musumeci, P; Cultrera, L; Ferrario, M; Filippetto, D; Gatti, G; Gutierrez, M S; Moody, J T; Moore, N; Rosenzweig, J B; Scoby, C M; Travish, G; Vicario, C

2010-02-26

In this Letter we report on the use of ultrashort infrared laser pulses to generate a copious amount of electrons by a copper cathode in an rf photoinjector. The charge yield verifies the generalized Fowler-Dubridge theory for multiphoton photoemission. The emission is verified to be prompt using a two pulse autocorrelation technique. The thermal emittance associated with the excess kinetic energy from the emission process is comparable with the one measured using frequency tripled uv laser pulses. In the high field of the rf gun, up to 50 pC of charge can be extracted from the cathode using a 80 fs long, 2 microJ, 800 nm pulse focused to a 140 mum rms spot size. Taking into account the efficiency of harmonic conversion, illuminating a cathode directly with ir laser pulses can be the most efficient way to employ the available laser power.

Modification of surface properties of solids by femtosecond LIPSS writing: comparative studies on silicon and stainless steel

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Varlamova, Olga; Hoefner, Kevin; Ratzke, Markus; Reif, Juergen; Sarker, Debasish

2017-12-01

We investigate the implication of modified surface morphology on wettability of stainless steel (AISI 304) and silicon (100) targets covered by laser-induced periodic surface structures (LIPSS) on extended areas (10 × 10 mm2). Using multiple pulses from a Ti: Sapphire laser (790 nm/100 fs/1 kHz) at a fluence in the range of 0.35-2.1 J/cm2 on a spot of 1.13 × 10- 4 cm2, we scanned the target under the spot to cover a large area. A systematical variation of the irradiation dose by changing the scanning speed and thus dwelling time per spot results in the formation of surface patterns ranging from very regular linear structures with a lateral period of about 500-600 nm to complex patterns of 3D microstructures with several-µm feature size, hierarchically covered by nano-ripples.

Passively mode-locked soliton femtosecond pulses employing graphene saturable absorber

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lau, K. Y.; Muhammad, F. D.; Latif, A. A.; Abu Bakar, M. H.; Yusoff, Z.; Mahdi, M. A.

2017-09-01

We demonstrate a passively mode-locked fiber laser incorporating graphene thin film (GTF) as saturable absorber (SA). The SA is fabricated by sandwiching the GTF between two single mode fiber ferrules through a fiber adaptor. The transmission loss at 1560 nm and non-linear saturation absorption modulation depth for GTF-SA are 0.8 dB and 2.90%, respectively. An erbium-doped fiber laser cavity is constructed to verify the functionality of GTF-SA and is designed to have net anomalous dispersion. It generates large spectral width of 4.99 nm with pulse repetition rate of 9.655 MHz and pulse width of 670 fs. Net anomalous dispersion and time bandwidth product higher than the sech2 transform-limited pulse validate the experimental result. In short, we demonstrate high performance GTF-SA that is able to generate ultrafast pulse duration in femtosecond range effortlessly with simple and green SA fabrication procedures.

Depth profiling and imaging capabilities of an ultrashort pulse laser ablation time of flight mass spectrometer

PubMed Central

Cui, Yang; Moore, Jerry F.; Milasinovic, Slobodan; Liu, Yaoming; Gordon, Robert J.; Hanley, Luke

2012-01-01

An ultrafast laser ablation time-of-flight mass spectrometer (AToF-MS) and associated data acquisition software that permits imaging at micron-scale resolution and sub-micron-scale depth profiling are described. The ion funnel-based source of this instrument can be operated at pressures ranging from 10−8 to ∼0.3 mbar. Mass spectra may be collected and stored at a rate of 1 kHz by the data acquisition system, allowing the instrument to be coupled with standard commercial Ti:sapphire lasers. The capabilities of the AToF-MS instrument are demonstrated on metal foils and semiconductor wafers using a Ti:sapphire laser emitting 800 nm, ∼75 fs pulses at 1 kHz. Results show that elemental quantification and depth profiling are feasible with this instrument. PMID:23020378

Investigation Of Plasma Critical Surface Rippling By Harmonics Generation In Laser Plasmas

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Racz, E.; Foeldes, I. B.; Szatmari, S.

2006-01-15

Experiments were carried out by a tightly focused, prepulse-free hybrid KrF excimer-dye laser system (700fs pulse duration, 248nm wavelength, 15mJ pulse energy). Intense 2{omega}, 3{omega} and near threshold 4{omega} were generated in laser plasmas on solid surfaces for p- and s-polarized 1.5{center_dot}1017 W/cm2 radiation intensity. Directionality and polarization properties were investigated depending on the laser intensity and polarization. The observations showed diffuse propagation of harmonics for intensities above 1016 W/cm2 and the polarization of harmonics was mixed for the highest intensities. The explanation of these results is surface rippling of the plasma critical surface because of the Rayleigh-Taylor instability, whichmore » is an intrinsic consequence of the unstable balance between light pressure and plasma expansion.« less

Femtosecond laser-written double line waveguides in germanate and tellurite glasses

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

S. da Silva, Diego; Wetter, Niklaus U.; de Rossi, Wagner; Samad, Ricardo E.; Kassab, Luciana R. P.

2018-02-01

The authors report the fabrication and characterization of passive waveguides in GeO2-PbO and TeO2-ZnO glasses written with a femtosecond laser delivering pulses with 3μJ, 30μJ and 80fs at 4kHz repetition rate. Permanent refractive index change at the focus of the laser beam was obtained and waveguides were formed by two closely spaced laser written lines, where the light guiding occurs between them. The refractive index change at 632 nm is around 10-4 . The value of the propagation losses was around 2.0 dB/cm. The output mode profiles indicate multimodal guiding behavior. Raman measurements show structural modification of the glassy network. The results show that these materials are potential candidates for passive waveguides applications as low-loss optical components.

Chemical analysis of solids with sub-nm depth resolution by using a miniature LIMS system designed for in situ space research

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Riedo, Andreas; Grimaudo, Valentine; Moreno-García, Pavel; Brigitte Neuland, Maike; Tulej, Marek; Broekmann, Peter; Wurz, Peter

2015-04-01

Sensitive elemental and isotope analysis of solid samples are of considerable interest in nowadays in situ space research. For context in situ analysis, high spatial resolution is also of substantial importance. While the measurements conducted with high lateral resolution can provide compositional details of the surface of highly heterogeneous materials, depth profiling measurements yield information on compositional details of surface and subsurface. The mass spectrometric analysis with the vertical resolution at sub-µm levels is of special consideration and can deliver important information on processes, which may have modified the surface. Information on space weathering effects can be readily determined when the sample composition of the surface and sub-surface is studied with high vertical resolution. In this contribution we will present vertical depth resolution measurements conducted by our sensitive miniature laser ablation ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometer (160mm x Ø 60mm) designed for in situ space research [1-3]. The mass spectrometer is equipped with a fs-laser system (~190fs pulse width, λ = 775nm), which is used for ablation and ionization of the sample material [2]. Laser radiation is focussed on the target material to a spot size of about 10-20 µm in diameter. Mass spectrometric measurements are conducted with a mass resolution (m/Δm) of about 400-500 (at 56Fe mass peak) and with a superior dynamic range of more than eight orders of magnitude. The depth profiling performance studies were conducted on 10µm thick Cu films that were deposited by an additive-assisted electrochemical procedure on Si-wafers. The presented measurement study will show that the current instrument prototype is able to conduct quantitative chemical (elemental and isotope) analysis of solids with a vertical resolution at sub-nm level. Contaminants, incorporated by using additives (polymers containing e.g. C, N, O, S) and with layer thickness of a few nanometres, can be fully resolved [1]. The current measurement performance, including the sensitivity and the high vertical depth resolution, opens new perspectives for future applications in the laboratory, e.g. measurements of Genesis samples, and new measurement capabilities for in situ space research. References 1)V. Grimaudo, P. Moreno-García, M.B. Neuland, M. Tulej, P. Broekmann, P. Wurz and A. Riedo, "High-resolution chemical depth profiling of solid material using a miniature laser ablation/ionization mass spectrometer", Anal. Chem., 2015, submitted. 2)A. Riedo, M. Neuland, S. Meyer, M. Tulej, and P. Wurz, "Coupling of LMS with a fs-laser ablation ion source: elemental and isotope composition measurements", J. Anal. At. Spectrom., 2013, 28, 1256. 3)Tulej et al. CAMAM: A Miniature Laser Ablation Ionisation Mass Spectrometer and Microscope-Camera System for In Situ Investigation of the Composition and Morphology of Extraterrestrial Materials, Geostand. Geoanal. Res., 2014, doi: 10.1111/j.1751-908X.2014.00302.x

Laser-driven ion acceleration via target normal sheath acceleration in the relativistic transparency regime

DOE PAGES

Poole, P. L.; Obst, L.; Cochran, G. E.; ...

2018-01-11

Here we present an experimental study investigating laser-driven proton acceleration via target normal sheath acceleration (TNSA) over a target thickness range spanning the typical TNSA-dominant regime (~1 μm) down to below the onset of relativistic laser-transparency (<40 nm). This is done with a single target material in the form of freely adjustable films of liquid crystals along with high contrast (via plasma mirror) laser interaction (~2.65 J, 30 fs, I>1 x 10 21 W cm -2). Thickness dependent maximum proton energies scale well with TNSA models down to the thinnest targets, while those under ~40 nm indicate the influence ofmore » relativistic transparency on TNSA, observed via differences in light transmission, maximum proton energy, and proton beam spatial profile. Oblique laser incidence (45°) allowed the fielding of numerous diagnostics to determine the interaction quality and details: ion energy and spatial distribution was measured along the laser axis and both front and rear target normal directions; these along with reflected and transmitted light measurements on-shot verify TNSA as dominant during high contrast interaction, even for ultra-thin targets. Additionally, 3D particle-in-cell simulations qualitatively support the experimental observations of target-normal-directed proton acceleration from ultra-thin films.« less

Laser-driven ion acceleration via target normal sheath acceleration in the relativistic transparency regime

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Poole, P. L.; Obst, L.; Cochran, G. E.

Here we present an experimental study investigating laser-driven proton acceleration via target normal sheath acceleration (TNSA) over a target thickness range spanning the typical TNSA-dominant regime (~1 μm) down to below the onset of relativistic laser-transparency (<40 nm). This is done with a single target material in the form of freely adjustable films of liquid crystals along with high contrast (via plasma mirror) laser interaction (~2.65 J, 30 fs, I>1 x 10 21 W cm -2). Thickness dependent maximum proton energies scale well with TNSA models down to the thinnest targets, while those under ~40 nm indicate the influence ofmore » relativistic transparency on TNSA, observed via differences in light transmission, maximum proton energy, and proton beam spatial profile. Oblique laser incidence (45°) allowed the fielding of numerous diagnostics to determine the interaction quality and details: ion energy and spatial distribution was measured along the laser axis and both front and rear target normal directions; these along with reflected and transmitted light measurements on-shot verify TNSA as dominant during high contrast interaction, even for ultra-thin targets. Additionally, 3D particle-in-cell simulations qualitatively support the experimental observations of target-normal-directed proton acceleration from ultra-thin films.« less

Factors Influencing Intraocular Pressure Changes after Laser In Situ Keratomileusis with Flaps Created by Femtosecond Laser or Mechanical Microkeratome.

PubMed

Lin, Meng-Yin; Chang, David C K; Shen, Yun-Dun; Lin, Yen-Kuang; Lin, Chang-Ping; Wang, I-Jong

2016-01-01

The aim of this study is to describe factors that influence the measured intraocular pressure (IOP) change and to develop a predictive model after myopic laser in situ keratomileusis (LASIK) with a femtosecond (FS) laser or a microkeratome (MK). We retrospectively reviewed preoperative, intraoperative, and 12-month postoperative medical records in 2485 eyes of 1309 patients who underwent LASIK with an FS laser or an MK for myopia and myopic astigmatism. Data were extracted, such as preoperative age, sex, IOP, manifest spherical equivalent (MSE), central corneal keratometry (CCK), central corneal thickness (CCT), and intended flap thickness and postoperative IOP (postIOP) at 1, 6 and 12 months. Linear mixed model (LMM) and multivariate linear regression (MLR) method were used for data analysis. In both models, the preoperative CCT and ablation depth had significant effects on predicting IOP changes in the FS and MK groups. The intended flap thickness was a significant predictor only in the FS laser group (P < .0001 in both models). In the FS group, LMM and MLR could respectively explain 47.00% and 18.91% of the variation of postoperative IOP underestimation (R2 = 0.47 and R(2) = 0.1891). In the MK group, LMM and MLR could explain 37.79% and 19.13% of the variation of IOP underestimation (R(2) = 0.3779 and 0.1913 respectively). The best-fit model for prediction of IOP changes was the LMM in LASIK with an FS laser.

Factors Influencing Intraocular Pressure Changes after Laser In Situ Keratomileusis with Flaps Created by Femtosecond Laser or Mechanical Microkeratome

PubMed Central

Lin, Meng-Yin; Chang, David C. K.; Shen, Yun-Dun; Lin, Yen-Kuang; Lin, Chang-Ping; Wang, I-Jong

2016-01-01

The aim of this study is to describe factors that influence the measured intraocular pressure (IOP) change and to develop a predictive model after myopic laser in situ keratomileusis (LASIK) with a femtosecond (FS) laser or a microkeratome (MK). We retrospectively reviewed preoperative, intraoperative, and 12-month postoperative medical records in 2485 eyes of 1309 patients who underwent LASIK with an FS laser or an MK for myopia and myopic astigmatism. Data were extracted, such as preoperative age, sex, IOP, manifest spherical equivalent (MSE), central corneal keratometry (CCK), central corneal thickness (CCT), and intended flap thickness and postoperative IOP (postIOP) at 1, 6 and 12 months. Linear mixed model (LMM) and multivariate linear regression (MLR) method were used for data analysis. In both models, the preoperative CCT and ablation depth had significant effects on predicting IOP changes in the FS and MK groups. The intended flap thickness was a significant predictor only in the FS laser group (P < .0001 in both models). In the FS group, LMM and MLR could respectively explain 47.00% and 18.91% of the variation of postoperative IOP underestimation (R2 = 0.47 and R2 = 0.1891). In the MK group, LMM and MLR could explain 37.79% and 19.13% of the variation of IOP underestimation (R2 = 0.3779 and 0.1913 respectively). The best-fit model for prediction of IOP changes was the LMM in LASIK with an FS laser. PMID:26824754

Multi-photon microscopy with a low-cost and highly efficient Cr:LiCAF laser

PubMed Central

Sakadić, Sava; Demirbas, Umit; Mempel, Thorsten R.; Moore, Anna; Ruvinskaya, Svetlana; Boas, David A.; Sennaroglu, Alphan; Kartner, Franz X.; Fujimoto, James G.

2009-01-01

Multi-photon microscopy (MPM) is a powerful tool for biomedical imaging, enabling molecular contrast and integrated structural and functional imaging on the cellular and subcellular level. However, the cost and complexity of femtosecond laser sources that are required in MPM are significant hurdles to widespread adoption of this important imaging modality. In this work, we describe femtosecond diode pumped Cr:LiCAF laser technology as a low cost alternative to femtosecond Ti:Sapphire lasers for MPM. Using single mode pump diodes which cost only $150 each, a diode pumped Cr:LiCAF laser generates ~70-fs duration, 1.8-nJ pulses at ~800 nm wavelengths, with a repetition rate of 100 MHz and average output power of 180 mW. Representative examples of MPM imaging in neuroscience, immunology, endocrinology and cancer research using Cr:LiCAF laser technology are presented. These studies demonstrate the potential of this laser source for use in a broad range of MPM applications. PMID:19065223

Fundus oculi pigmentation studies simulating the fs-LASIK process Fundus oculi pigmentation studies simulating the fs-LASIK process

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sander, M.; Minet, O.; Zabarylo, U.; Müller, M.; Tetz, M. R.

2012-06-01

The femtosecond-laser in situ keratomileusis (fs-LASIK) technique has successfully entered the refractive surgery market to correct ametropia by cutting transparent corneal tissue with ultra-short laser pulses based on photodisruption. The laser pulses in the near infrared range (NIR) generate a laser-induced breakdown (LIOB) in the cornea. By propagating through the eye, a certain amount of the pulse is deposited in the cornea and the remaining energy interacts with the strong absorbing tissue behind. Due to the absorption by the retinal pigment epithelium and the transfer of the thermal energy to surrounding tissue, the transmitted energy can induce damage to the retina. The aim of this project was to find out the threshold influences concerning the tissue and the correlation between the results of the macroscopical appraisal and the fundus oculi pigmentation by simulating the fs-LASIK procedure with two various laser systems in the continuous wave (CW) and fs-regime. Therefore ex-vivo determinations were carried out macroscopically and histopathologically on porcine tissue.

Investigating radiation induced damage processes with femtosecond x-ray pulses (Conference Presentation)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Song, Changyong

2017-05-01

Interest in high-resolution structure investigation has been zealous, especially with the advent of X-ray free electron lasers (XFELs). The intense and ultra-short X-ray laser pulses ( 10 GW) pave new routes to explore structures and dynamics of single macromolecules, functional nanomaterials and complex electronic materials. In the last several years, we have developed XFEL single-shot diffraction imaging by probing ultrafast phase changes directly. Pump-probe single-shot imaging was realized by synchronizing femtosecond (<10 fs in FWHM) X-ray laser (probe) with femtosecond (50 fs) IR laser (pump) at better than 1 ps resolution. Nanoparticles under intense fs-laser pulses were investigated with fs XFEL pulses to provide insight into the irreversible particle damage processes with nanoscale resolution. Research effort, introduced, aims to extend the current spatio-temporal resolution beyond the present limit. We expect this single-shot dynamic imaging to open new science opportunity with XFELs.

Temperature and refractive index measurements using long-period fiber gratings fabricated by femtosecond laser

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yu, Yongqin; Zheng, Jiarong; Yi, Kai; Ruan, Shuangchen; Du, Chenlin; Huang, Jianhui; Zhong, Wansheng

2011-12-01

Long period fiber gratings (LPFGs) with different periods in the standard single mode fiber were fabricated, using laser direct writing method, by femtosecond laser pulses with pulse width of 200 fs and the repetition rate of 250 kHz at a center wavelength of 800 nm in air. Comparative with bare LPFG in temperature sensor, LPFG had been encapsulated using large coefficient of thermal expansion of epoxy polymer and Aluminum to enhance the temperature sensitivity. The results showed that the temperature sensitivity of encapsulated LPFG was 2 times than that of bare LPFG. In addition, we also researched the relationship between resonant wavelength and surrounding refractive index (SRI) when LPFG immersed in refractive index of solution of different index at 20 degree Celsius.

53 W average power few-cycle fiber laser system generating soft x rays up to the water window.

PubMed

Rothhardt, Jan; Hädrich, Steffen; Klenke, Arno; Demmler, Stefan; Hoffmann, Armin; Gotschall, Thomas; Eidam, Tino; Krebs, Manuel; Limpert, Jens; Tünnermann, Andreas

2014-09-01

We report on a few-cycle laser system delivering sub-8-fs pulses with 353 μJ pulse energy and 25 GW of peak power at up to 150 kHz repetition rate. The corresponding average output power is as high as 53 W, which represents the highest average power obtained from any few-cycle laser architecture so far. The combination of both high average and high peak power provides unique opportunities for applications. We demonstrate high harmonic generation up to the water window and record-high photon flux in the soft x-ray spectral region. This tabletop source of high-photon flux soft x rays will, for example, enable coherent diffractive imaging with sub-10-nm resolution in the near future.

Widely tunable 11 GHz femtosecond fiber laser based on a nonmode-locked source [Widely tunable 11 GHz femtosecond fiber laser based on a non-modelocked source

DOE PAGES

Prantil, Matthew A.; Cormier, Eric; Dawson, Jay W.; ...

2013-08-19

An 11 GHz fiber laser built on a modulated CW platform is described and characterized. This compact, vibrationinsensitive, fiber based system can be operated at wavelengths compatible with high energy fiber technology, is driven by an RF signal directly, and is tunable over a wide range of drive frequencies. The demonstration system when operated at 1040 nm is capable of 50 ns bursts of 575 micro-pulses produced at a macro-pulse rate of 83 kHz where the macro-pulse and micro-pulse energies are 1.8 μJ and 3.2 nJ respectively. Micro-pulse durations of 850 fs are demonstrated. Finally, we discuss extensions to shortermore » duration.« less

High-pulse energy-stabilized passively mode-locked external cavity inverse bow-tie 980nm laser diode for space applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Krakowski, M.; Resneau, P.; Garcia, M.; Vinet, E.; Robert, Y.; Lecomte, M.; Parillaud, O.; Gerard, B.; Kundermann, S.; Torcheboeuf, N.; Boiko, D. L.

2018-02-01

We report on multi-section inverse bow-tie laser producing mode-locked pulses of 90 pJ energy and 6.5 ps width (895 fs after compression) at 1.3 GHz pulse repetition frequency (PRF) and consuming 2.9 W of electric power. The laser operates in an 80 mm long external cavity. By translation of the output coupling mirror, the PRF was continuously tuned over 37 MHz range without additional adjustments. Active stabilization with a phase lock loop actuating on the driving current has allowed us to reach the PRF relative stability at a 2·10-10 level on 10 s intervals, as required by the European Space Agency (ESA) for inter-satellite long distance measurements.

Propagation of ultrashort laser pulses in optically ionized gases

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Morozov, A.; Luo, Y.; Suckewer, S.; Gordon, D. F.; Sprangle, P.

2010-02-01

Propagation of 800 nm, 120 fs laser pulses with intensities of 4×1016 W/cm2 in supersonic gas jets of N2 and H2 is studied using a shear-type interferometer. The plasma density distribution resulting from photoionization is resolved in space and time with simultaneously measured initial neutral density distribution. A distinct difference in laser beam propagation distance is observed when comparing propagation in jets of H2 and N2. This is interpreted in terms of ionization induced refraction, which is stronger when electrons are produced from states of higher ionization potential. Three dimensional particle-in-cell simulations, based on directly solving the Maxwell-Lorentz system of equations, show the roles played by the forward Raman and ionization scattering instabilities, which further affect the propagation distance.

Optimal design of similariton fiber lasers without gain-bandwidth limitation.

PubMed

Li, Xingliang; Zhang, Shumin; Yang, Zhenjun

2017-07-24

We have numerically investigated broadband high-energy similariton fiber lasers, demonstrated that the self-similar evolution of pulses can locate in a segment of photonic crystal fiber without gain-bandwidth limitation. The effects of various parameters, including the cavity length, the spectral filter bandwidth, the pump power, the length of the photonic crystal fiber and the output coupling ratio have also been studied in detail. Using the optimal parameters, a single pulse with spectral width of 186.6 nm, pulse energy of 23.8 nJ, dechirped pulse duration of 22.5 fs and dechirped pulse peak power of 1.26 MW was obtained. We believe that this detailed analysis of the behaviour of pulses in the similariton regime may have major implications in the development of broadband high-energy fiber lasers.

Femtosecond laser micromachining of polylactic acid/graphene composites for designing interdigitated microelectrodes for sensor applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Paula, Kelly T.; Gaál, Gabriel; Almeida, G. F. B.; Andrade, M. B.; Facure, Murilo H. M.; Correa, Daniel S.; Riul, Antonio; Rodrigues, Varlei; Mendonça, Cleber R.

2018-05-01

There is an increasing interest in the last years towards electronic applications of graphene-based materials and devices fabricated from patterning techniques, with the ultimate goal of high performance and temporal resolution. Laser micromachining using femtosecond pulses is an attractive methodology to integrate graphene-based materials into functional devices as it allows changes to the focal volume with a submicrometer spatial resolution due to the efficient nonlinear nature of the absorption, yielding rapid prototyping for innovative applications. We present here the patterning of PLA-graphene films spin-coated on a glass substrate using a fs-laser at moderate pulse energies to fabricate interdigitated electrodes having a minimum spatial resolution of 5 μm. Raman spectroscopy of the PLA-graphene films indicated the presence of multilayered graphene fibers. Subsequently, the PLA-graphene films were micromachined using a femtosecond laser oscillator delivering 50-fs pulses and 800 nm, where the pulse energy and scanning speed was varied in order to determine the optimum irradiation parameters (16 nJ and 100 μm/s) to the fabrication of microstructures. The micromachined patterns were characterized by optical microscopy and submitted to electrical measurements in liquid samples, clearly distinguishing all tastes tested. Our results confirm the femtosecond laser micromachining technique as an interesting approach to efficiently pattern PLA-graphene filaments with high precision and minimal mechanical defects, allowing the easy fabrication of interdigitated structures and an alternative method to those produced by conventional photolithography.

Femtosecond Laser Texturing of Surfaces for Tribological Applications

PubMed Central

Kirner, Sabrina V.; Griepentrog, Michael; Spaltmann, Dirk

2018-01-01

Laser texturing is an emerging technology for generating surface functionalities on basis of optical, mechanical, or chemical properties. Taking benefit of laser sources with ultrashort (fs) pulse durations features outstanding precision of machining and negligible rims or burrs surrounding the laser-irradiation zone. Consequently, additional mechanical or chemical post-processing steps are usually not required for fs-laser surface texturing (fs-LST). This work aimed to provide a bridge between research in the field of tribology and laser materials processing. The paper reviews the current state-of-the-art in fs-LST, with a focus on the tribological performance (friction and wear) of specific self-organized surface structures (so-called ripples, grooves, and spikes) on steel and titanium alloys. On the titanium alloy, specific sickle-shaped hybrid micro-nanostructures were also observed and tribologically tested. Care is taken to identify accompanying effects affecting the materials hardness, superficial oxidation, nano- and microscale topographies, and the role of additives contained in lubricants, such as commercial engine oil. PMID:29762544

Femtosecond Laser Texturing of Surfaces for Tribological Applications.

PubMed

Bonse, Jörn; Kirner, Sabrina V; Griepentrog, Michael; Spaltmann, Dirk; Krüger, Jörg

2018-05-15

Laser texturing is an emerging technology for generating surface functionalities on basis of optical, mechanical, or chemical properties. Taking benefit of laser sources with ultrashort (fs) pulse durations features outstanding precision of machining and negligible rims or burrs surrounding the laser-irradiation zone. Consequently, additional mechanical or chemical post-processing steps are usually not required for fs-laser surface texturing (fs-LST). This work aimed to provide a bridge between research in the field of tribology and laser materials processing. The paper reviews the current state-of-the-art in fs-LST, with a focus on the tribological performance (friction and wear) of specific self-organized surface structures (so-called ripples, grooves, and spikes) on steel and titanium alloys. On the titanium alloy, specific sickle-shaped hybrid micro-nanostructures were also observed and tribologically tested. Care is taken to identify accompanying effects affecting the materials hardness, superficial oxidation, nano- and microscale topographies, and the role of additives contained in lubricants, such as commercial engine oil.

Note: Large active area solid state photon counter with 20 ps timing resolution and 60 fs detection delay stability

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Prochazka, Ivan; Kodet, Jan; Eckl, Johann; Blazej, Josef

2017-10-01

We are reporting on the design, construction, and performance of a photon counting detector system, which is based on single photon avalanche diode detector technology. This photon counting device has been optimized for very high timing resolution and stability of its detection delay. The foreseen application of this detector is laser ranging of space objects, laser time transfer ground to space and fundamental metrology. The single photon avalanche diode structure, manufactured on silicon using K14 technology, is used as a sensor. The active area of the sensor is circular with 200 μm diameter. Its photon detection probability exceeds 40% in the wavelength range spanning from 500 to 800 nm. The sensor is operated in active quenching and gating mode. A new control circuit was optimized to maintain high timing resolution and detection delay stability. In connection to this circuit, timing resolution of the detector is reaching 20 ps FWHM. In addition, the temperature change of the detection delay is as low as 70 fs/K. As a result, the detection delay stability of the device is exceptional: expressed in the form of time deviation, detection delay stability of better than 60 fs has been achieved. Considering the large active area aperture of the detector, this is, to our knowledge, the best timing performance reported for a solid state photon counting detector so far.

Optimizing Ti:Sapphire laser for quantitative biomedical imaging

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

James, Jeemol; Thomsen, Hanna; Hanstorp, Dag; Alemán Hérnandez, Felipe Ademir; Rothe, Sebastian; Enger, Jonas; Ericson, Marica B.

2018-02-01

Ti:Sapphire lasers are powerful tools in the field of scientific research and industry for a wide range of applications such as spectroscopic studies and microscopic imaging where tunable near-infrared light is required. To push the limits of the applicability of Ti:Sapphire lasers, fundamental understanding of the construction and operation is required. This paper presents two projects, (i) dealing with the building and characterization of custom built tunable narrow linewidth Ti:Sapphire laser for fundamental spectroscopy studies; and the second project (ii) the implementation of a fs-pulsed commercial Ti:Sapphire laser in an experimental multiphoton microscopy platform. For the narrow linewidth laser, a gold-plated diffraction grating with a Littrow geometry was implemented for highresolution wavelength selection. We demonstrate that the laser is tunable between 700 to 950 nm, operating in a pulsed mode with a repetition rate of 1 kHz and maximum average output power around 350 mW. The output linewidth was reduced from 6 GHz to 1.5 GHz by inserting an additional 6 mm thick etalon. The bandwidth was measured by means of a scanning Fabry Perot interferometer. Future work will focus on using a fs-pulsed commercial Ti:Sapphire laser (Tsunami, Spectra physics), operating at 80 MHz and maximum average output power around 1 W, for implementation in an experimental multiphoton microscopy set up dedicated for biomedical applications. Special focus will be on controlling pulse duration and dispersion in the optical components and biological tissue using pulse compression. Furthermore, time correlated analysis of the biological samples will be performed with the help of time correlated single photon counting module (SPCM, Becker&Hickl) which will give a novel dimension in quantitative biomedical imaging.

Ni-like x-ray lasing action pumped by the TARANIS laser system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dzelzainis, T.; Doria, D.; White, S.; Makita, M.; Narsisyan, G.; Marlow, D.; Stefanuik, R.; Ahmed, H.; Seeley, C.; Riley, D.; Dromey, B.; Romagnani, L.; Zepf, M.; Borghesi, M.; Lewis, C. L. S.

2009-08-01

We report on the results of an experiment using the TARANIS laser system at Queen's University, Belfast (QUB) to pump Ni-like X-Ray Lasers (XRLs) in the GRazing Incidence Pumped (GRIP) configuration. The system uses a long 1.2ns pulse to create a pre-plasma at the correct ionization stage, and a short, ~800fs pulse to produce a population inversion. Strong lasing has been observed for Ni-ions of Mo and Ag. Mo exhibited gain on two laser lines, at 18.9nm and 22.6nm, whilst only a single line, at 13.9nm, has been observed for Ag. The growth curves for both elements are presented. The curve for Ag indicates that saturation has not been achieved. Saturation like behaviour is seen for Mo but the small signal gain and poor fit to the Linford formula indicate that the roll-off is attributable to some effect other than gain saturation. Axial non-uniformity in the gain and mis-match between the ASE group velocity and the traveling-wave excitation are discussed as possible explanations for the shape of the Mo growth curve. Results of an initial application to characterize image plate as a soft x-ray detector are presented and, finally, further possible applications, in particular the potential for the XRL to be used as a photon source for Thomson scattering, are investigated.

3D laser printing by ultra-short laser pulses for micro-optical applications: towards telecom wavelengths

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ryu, Meguya; Mizeikis, Vygantas; Morikawa, Junko; Magallanes, Hernando; Brasselet, Etienne; Varapnickas, Simonas; Malinauskas, Mangirdas; Juodkazis, Saulius

2017-08-01

Three dimensional (3D) fast (< 0.5 hour) printing of micro-optical elements down to sub-wavelength resolution over 100 μm footprint areas using femtosecond (fs-)laser oscillator is presented. Using sub-1 nJ pulse energies, optical vortex generators made of polymerised grating segments with an azimuthally changing orientation have been fabricated in SZ2080 resist; width of polymerised rods was 150 nm and period 0.6-1 μm. Detailed phase retardance analysis was carried out manually with Berek compensator (under a white light illumination) and using an equivalent principle by an automated Abrio implementation at 546 nm. Direct experimental measurements of retardance was required since the period of the grating was comparable (or larger) than the wavelength of visible light. By gold sputtering, transmissive optical vortex generators were turned into reflective ones with augmented retardance, Δn × h defined by the form birefringence, Δn, and the height h = 2d where d is the thickness of the polymerised structure. Retardance reached 315 nm as measured with Berek compensator at visible wavelengths. Birefringent phase delays of π (or λ/2 in wavelength) required for high purity vortex generators can be made based on the proposed approach. Optical vortex generators for telecom wavelengths with sub-wavelength patterns of azimuthally oriented gratings are amenable by direct laser polymerisation.

Femtosecond laser-induced periodic surface structures on titanium nitride coatings for tribological applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bonse, J.; Kirner, S. V.; Koter, R.; Pentzien, S.; Spaltmann, D.; Krüger, J.

2017-10-01

Titanium nitride (TiN) was coated on different substrate materials, namely pure titanium (Ti), titanium alloy (Ti6Al4V) and steel (100Cr6), generating 2.5 μm thick TiN layers. Using femtosecond laser pulses (30 fs, 790 nm, 1 kHz pulse repetition rate), large surface areas (5 mm × 5 mm) of laser-induced periodic surface structures (LIPSS) with sub-wavelength periods ranging between 470 nm and 600 nm were generated and characterized by optical microscopy (OM), white light interference microscopy (WLIM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). In tribological tests, coefficients of friction (COF) of the nanostructured surfaces were determined under reciprocating sliding conditions (1 Hz, 1.0 N normal load) against a 10-mm diameter ball of hardened 100Cr6 steel during 1000 cycles using two different lubricants, namely paraffin oil and engine oil. It turned out that the substrate material, the laser fluence and the lubricant are crucial for the tribological performance. However, friction and wear could not be significantly reduced by LIPSS on TiN layers in comparison to unstructured TiN surfaces. Finally, the resulting wear tracks on the nanostructured surfaces were investigated with respect to their morphology (OM, SEM), depth (WLIM) and chemical composition by energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) and, on one hand, compared with each other, on the other hand, with non-structured TiN surfaces.

Formation of thermochemical laser-induced periodic surface structures on Ti films by a femtosecond IR Gaussian beam: regimes, limiting factors, and optical properties

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dostovalov, A. V.; Korolkov, V. P.; Babin, S. A.

2017-01-01

The formation of thermochemical laser-induced periodic surface structures (TLIPSS) on 400-nm Ti films deposited onto a glass substrate is investigated under irradiation by a femtosecond laser with a wavelength of 1026 nm, pulse duration of 232 fs, repetition rate of 200 kHz, and with different spot sizes of 4-21 μm. The optimal fluence for TLIPSS formation reduces monotonously with increasing the spot diameter in the range. It is found that the standard deviation of the TLIPSS period depends significantly on the beam size and reaches approximately 2% when the beam diameter is in the range of 10-21 μm. In addition to TLIPSS formation with the main period slightly smaller than the laser wavelength, an effect of TLIPSS spatial frequency doubling is detected. The optical properties of TLIPSS (reflection spectrum and diffraction efficiency at different incident angles and polarizations) are investigated and compared with theoretical ones to give a basis for the development of an optical inspecting method. The refractive index and absorption coefficient of oxidized ridges of the TLIPSS are theoretically estimated by simulation of the experimental reflection spectrum in the zeroth diffraction order.

Carbon nanotube-based mode-locked wavelength-switchable fiber laser via net gain cross section alteration

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Latif, A. A.; Mohamad, H.; Abu Bakar, M. H.; Muhammad, F. D.; Mahdi, M. A.

2016-02-01

We have proposed and demonstrated a carbon nanotube-based mode-locked erbium-doped fiber laser with switchable wavelength in the C-band wavelength region by varying the net gain cross section of erbium. The carbon nanotube is coated on a tapered fiber to form the saturable absorber for the purpose of mode-locking by exploiting the concept of evanescent field interaction on the tapered fiber with the carbon nanotube in a ring cavity configuration. The propagation loss is adjusted by inducing macrobend losses of the optical fiber in the cavity through a fiber spooling technique. Since the spooling radius can be gradually adjusted to achieve continuous tuning of attenuation, this passive tuning approach can be an alternative to optical tunable attenuator, with freedom of external device integration into the laser cavity. Based on this alteration, the net gain cross section of the laser system can be tailored to three different lasing wavelength ranges; 1533, 1560 nm and both (1533 and 1560 nm) with the minimum pulse duration of 734 fs. The proposed design is simple and stable with high beam quality and good reliability for multiple applications.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Fu, Yongping; Zhu, Haiming; Schrader, Alex W.

The excellent intrinsic optoelectronic properties of methylammonium lead halide perovskites (MAPbX 3, X = Br, I), such as high photoluminescence quantum efficiency, long carrier lifetime, and high gain coupled with the facile solution growth of nanowires make them promising new materials for ultralow-threshold nanowire lasers. However, their photo and thermal stabilities need to be improved for practical applications. Herein, we report a low-temperature solution growth of single crystal nanowires of formamidinium lead halide perovskites (FAPbX 3) that feature red-shifted emission and better thermal stability compared to MAPbX 3. We demonstrate optically pumped room-temperature near-infrared (~820 nm) and green lasing (~560more » nm) from FAPbI 3 (and MABr-stabilized FAPbI 3) and FAPbBr 3 nanowires with low lasing thresholds of several microjoules per square centimeter and high quality factors of about 1500–2300. More remarkably, the FAPbI 3 and MABr-stabilized FAPbI 3 nanowires display durable room-temperature lasing under ~10 8 shots of sustained illumination of 402 nm pulsed laser excitation (150 fs, 250 kHz), substantially exceeding the stability of MAPbI 3 (~10 7 laser shots). We further demonstrate tunable nanowire lasers in wider wavelength region from FA-based lead halide perovskite alloys (FA,MA)PbI 3 and (FA,MA)Pb(I,Br) 3 through cation and anion substitutions. The results suggest that formamidinium lead halide perovskite nanostructures could be more promising and stable materials for the development of light-emitting diodes and continuous-wave lasers.« less

Femtosecond laser induced periodic surface structures on multi-layer graphene

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Beltaos, Angela, E-mail: abeltaos@ualberta.ca; Kovačević, Aleksander G.; Matković, Aleksandar

2014-11-28

In this work, we present an observation of laser induced periodic surface structures (LIPSS) on graphene. LIPSS on other materials have been observed for nearly 50 years, but until now, not on graphene. Our findings for LIPSS on multi-layer graphene were consistent with previous reports of LIPSS on other materials, thus classifying them as high spatial frequency LIPSS. LIPSS on multi-layer graphene were generated in an air environment by a linearly polarized femtosecond laser with excitation wavelength λ of 840 nm, pulse duration τ of ∼150 fs, and a fluence F of ∼4.3–4.4 mJ/cm{sup 2}. The observed LIPSS were perpendicular tomore » the laser polarization and had dimensions of width w of ∼30–40 nm and length l of ∼0.5–1.5 μm, and spatial periods Λ of ∼70–100 nm (∼λ/8–λ/12), amongst the smallest of spatial periods reported for LIPSS on other materials. The spatial period and width of the LIPSS were shown to decrease for an increased number of laser shots. The experimental results support the leading theory behind high spatial frequency LIPSS formation, implying the involvement of surface plasmon polaritons. This work demonstrates a new way to pattern multi-layer graphene in a controllable manner, promising for a variety of emerging graphene/LIPSS applications.« less

Handheld nonlinear microscope system comprising a 2 MHz repetition rate, mode-locked Yb-fiber laser for in vivo biomedical imaging

PubMed Central

Krolopp, Ádám; Csákányi, Attila; Haluszka, Dóra; Csáti, Dániel; Vass, Lajos; Kolonics, Attila; Wikonkál, Norbert; Szipőcs, Róbert

2016-01-01

A novel, Yb-fiber laser based, handheld 2PEF/SHG microscope imaging system is introduced. It is suitable for in vivo imaging of murine skin at an average power level as low as 5 mW at 200 kHz sampling rate. Amplified and compressed laser pulses having a spectral bandwidth of 8 to 12 nm at around 1030 nm excite the biological samples at a ~1.89 MHz repetition rate, which explains how the high quality two-photon excitation fluorescence (2PEF) and second harmonic generation (SHG) images are obtained at the average power level of a laser pointer. The scanning, imaging and detection head, which comprises a conventional microscope objective for beam focusing, has a physical length of ~180 mm owing to the custom designed imaging telescope system between the laser scanner mirrors and the entrance aperture of the microscope objective. Operation of the all-fiber, all-normal dispersion Yb-fiber ring laser oscillator is electronically controlled by a two-channel polarization controller for Q-switching free mode-locked operation. The whole nonlinear microscope imaging system has the main advantages of the low price of the fs laser applied, fiber optics flexibility, a relatively small, light-weight scanning and detection head, and a very low risk of thermal or photochemical damage of the skin samples. PMID:27699118

Handheld nonlinear microscope system comprising a 2 MHz repetition rate, mode-locked Yb-fiber laser for in vivo biomedical imaging.

PubMed

Krolopp, Ádám; Csákányi, Attila; Haluszka, Dóra; Csáti, Dániel; Vass, Lajos; Kolonics, Attila; Wikonkál, Norbert; Szipőcs, Róbert

2016-09-01

A novel, Yb-fiber laser based, handheld 2PEF/SHG microscope imaging system is introduced. It is suitable for in vivo imaging of murine skin at an average power level as low as 5 mW at 200 kHz sampling rate. Amplified and compressed laser pulses having a spectral bandwidth of 8 to 12 nm at around 1030 nm excite the biological samples at a ~1.89 MHz repetition rate, which explains how the high quality two-photon excitation fluorescence (2PEF) and second harmonic generation (SHG) images are obtained at the average power level of a laser pointer. The scanning, imaging and detection head, which comprises a conventional microscope objective for beam focusing, has a physical length of ~180 mm owing to the custom designed imaging telescope system between the laser scanner mirrors and the entrance aperture of the microscope objective. Operation of the all-fiber, all-normal dispersion Yb-fiber ring laser oscillator is electronically controlled by a two-channel polarization controller for Q-switching free mode-locked operation. The whole nonlinear microscope imaging system has the main advantages of the low price of the fs laser applied, fiber optics flexibility, a relatively small, light-weight scanning and detection head, and a very low risk of thermal or photochemical damage of the skin samples.

Silicon structuring by etching with liquid chlorine and fluorine precursors using femtosecond laser pulses

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Radu, C.; Simion, S.; Zamfirescu, M.

2011-08-01

The aim of this study is to investigate the micrometer and submicrometer scale structuring of silicon by liquid chlorine and fluorine precursors with 200 fs laser pulses working at both fundamental (775 nm) and frequency doubled (387 nm) wavelengths. The silicon surface was irradiated at normal incidence by immersing the Si (111) substrates in a glass container filled with liquid chlorine (CCl{sub 4}) and fluorine (C{sub 2}Cl{sub 3}F{sub 3}) precursors. We report that silicon surfaces develop an array of spikes with single step irradiation processes at 775 nm and equally at 387 nm. When irradiating the Si surface with 400more » pulses at 330 mJ/cm{sup 2} laser fluence and a 775 nm wavelength, the average height of the formed Si spikes in the case of fluorine precursors is 4.2 {mu}m, with a full width at half maximum of 890 nm. At the same irradiation wavelength chlorine precursors develop Si spikes 4 {mu}m in height and with a full width at half maximum of 2.3 {mu}m with irradiation of 700 pulses at 560 mJ/cm{sup 2} laser fluence. Well ordered areas of submicrometer spikes with an average height of about 500 nm and a width of 300 nm have been created by irradiation at 387 nm by chlorine precursors, whereas the fluorine precursors fabricate spikes with an average height of 700 nm and a width of about 200 nm. Atomic force microscopy and scanning electron microscopy of the surface show that the formation of the micrometer and sub-micrometer spikes involves a combination of capillary waves on the molten silicon surface and laser-induced etching of silicon, at both 775 nm and 387 nm wavelength irradiation. The energy-dispersive x-ray measurements indicate the presence of chlorine and fluorine precursors on the structured surface. The fluorine precursors create a more ordered area of Si spikes at both micrometer and sub-micrometer scales. The potential use of patterned Si substrates with gradient topography as model scaffolds for the systematic exploration of the role of 3D micro/nano morphology on cell adhesion and growth is envisaged.« less

Simple Ultraviolet Short-Pulse Intensity Diagnostic Method Using Atmosphere

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Aota, Tatsuya; Takahashi, Eiichi; Losev, Leonid L.; Tabuchi, Takeyuki; Kato, Susumu; Matsumoto, Yuji; Okuda, Isao; Owadano, Yoshiro

2005-05-01

An ultraviolet (UV) short-pulse intensity diagnostic method using atmosphere as a nonlinear medium was developed. This diagnostic method is based on evaluating the ion charge of the two-photon ionization of atmospheric oxygen upon irradiation with a UV (238-299 nm) short-pulse laser. The observed ion signal increased proportionally to the input intensity to the power of ˜2.2, during the two-photon ionization of atmospheric oxygen. An autocorrelator was constructed and used to successfully measure a UV laser pulse of ˜400 fs duration. Since this diagnostic system is used in the open-air under windowless conditions, it can be set along the beam path and used as a UV intensity monitor.

Broadband ultrafast nonlinear absorption and nonlinear refraction of layered molybdenum dichalcogenide semiconductors.

PubMed

Wang, Kangpeng; Feng, Yanyan; Chang, Chunxia; Zhan, Jingxin; Wang, Chengwei; Zhao, Quanzhong; Coleman, Jonathan N; Zhang, Long; Blau, Werner J; Wang, Jun

2014-09-21

A series of layered molybdenum dichalcogenides, i.e., MoX₂ (X = S, Se and Te), were prepared in cyclohexyl pyrrolidinone by a liquid-phase exfoliation technique. The high quality of the two-dimensional nanostructures was verified by transmission electron microscopy and absorption spectroscopy. Open- and closed-aperture Z-scans were employed to study the nonlinear absorption and nonlinear refraction of the MoX₂ dispersions, respectively. All the three-layered nanostructures exhibit prominent ultrafast saturable absorption (SA) for both femtosecond (fs) and picosecond (ps) laser pulses over a broad wavelength range from the visible to the near infrared. While the dispersions treated with low-speed centrifugation (1500 rpm) have an SA response, and the MoS₂ and MoSe₂ dispersions after higher speed centrifugation (10,000 rpm) possess two-photon absorption for fs pulses at 1030 nm, which is due to the significant reduction of the average thickness of the nanosheets; hence, the broadening of band gap. In addition, all dispersions show obvious nonlinear self-defocusing for ps pulses at both 1064 nm and 532 nm, resulting from the thermally-induced nonlinear refractive index. The versatile ultrafast nonlinear properties imply a huge potential of the layered MoX2 semiconductors in the development of nanophotonic devices, such as mode-lockers, optical limiters, optical switches, etc.

Experimental study of EUV mirror radiation damage resistance under long-term free-electron laser exposures below the single-shot damage threshold

PubMed Central

Makhotkin, Igor A.; Sobierajski, Ryszard; Chalupský, Jaromir; Tiedtke, Kai; de Vries, Gosse; Störmer, Michael; Scholze, Frank; Siewert, Frank; van de Kruijs, Robbert W. E.; Milov, Igor; Louis, Eric; Jacyna, Iwanna; Jurek, Marek; Klinger, Dorota; Syryanyy, Yevgen; Juha, Libor; Hájková, Věra; Saksl, Karel; Faatz, Bart; Keitel, Barbara; Plönjes, Elke; Toleikis, Sven; Loch, Rolf; Hermann, Martin; Strobel, Sebastian; Nienhuys, Han-Kwang; Gwalt, Grzegorz; Mey, Tobias; Enkisch, Hartmut

2018-01-01

The durability of grazing- and normal-incidence optical coatings has been experimentally assessed under free-electron laser irradiation at various numbers of pulses up to 16 million shots and various fluence levels below 10% of the single-shot damage threshold. The experiment was performed at FLASH, the Free-electron LASer in Hamburg, using 13.5 nm extreme UV (EUV) radiation with 100 fs pulse duration. Polycrystalline ruthenium and amorphous carbon 50 nm thin films on silicon substrates were tested at total external reflection angles of 20° and 10° grazing incidence, respectively. Mo/Si periodical multilayer structures were tested in the Bragg reflection condition at 16° off-normal angle of incidence. The exposed areas were analysed post-mortem using differential contrast visible light microscopy, EUV reflectivity mapping and scanning X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The analysis revealed that Ru and Mo/Si coatings exposed to the highest dose and fluence level show a few per cent drop in their EUV reflectivity, which is explained by EUV-induced oxidation of the surface. PMID:29271755

Experimental study of EUV mirror radiation damage resistance under long-term free-electron laser exposures below the single-shot damage threshold.

PubMed

Makhotkin, Igor A; Sobierajski, Ryszard; Chalupský, Jaromir; Tiedtke, Kai; de Vries, Gosse; Störmer, Michael; Scholze, Frank; Siewert, Frank; van de Kruijs, Robbert W E; Milov, Igor; Louis, Eric; Jacyna, Iwanna; Jurek, Marek; Klinger, Dorota; Nittler, Laurent; Syryanyy, Yevgen; Juha, Libor; Hájková, Věra; Vozda, Vojtěch; Burian, Tomáš; Saksl, Karel; Faatz, Bart; Keitel, Barbara; Plönjes, Elke; Schreiber, Siegfried; Toleikis, Sven; Loch, Rolf; Hermann, Martin; Strobel, Sebastian; Nienhuys, Han Kwang; Gwalt, Grzegorz; Mey, Tobias; Enkisch, Hartmut

2018-01-01

The durability of grazing- and normal-incidence optical coatings has been experimentally assessed under free-electron laser irradiation at various numbers of pulses up to 16 million shots and various fluence levels below 10% of the single-shot damage threshold. The experiment was performed at FLASH, the Free-electron LASer in Hamburg, using 13.5 nm extreme UV (EUV) radiation with 100 fs pulse duration. Polycrystalline ruthenium and amorphous carbon 50 nm thin films on silicon substrates were tested at total external reflection angles of 20° and 10° grazing incidence, respectively. Mo/Si periodical multilayer structures were tested in the Bragg reflection condition at 16° off-normal angle of incidence. The exposed areas were analysed post-mortem using differential contrast visible light microscopy, EUV reflectivity mapping and scanning X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The analysis revealed that Ru and Mo/Si coatings exposed to the highest dose and fluence level show a few per cent drop in their EUV reflectivity, which is explained by EUV-induced oxidation of the surface.

Broad and ultra-flattened supercontinuum generation in the visible wavelengths based on the fundamental mode of photonic crystal fibre with central holes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yuan, Jin-Hui; Sang, Xin-Zhu; Yu, Chong-Xiu; Xin, Xiang-Jun; Shen, Xiang-Wei; Zhang, Jin-Long; Zhou, Gui-Yao; Li, Shu-Guang; Hou, Lan-Tian

2011-05-01

By coupling a train of femtosecond pulses with 100 fs pulse width at a repetition rate of 76 MHz generated by a mode-locked Ti: sapphire laser into the fundamental mode of photonic crystal fibre (PCF) with central holes fabricated through extracting air from the central hole, the broad and ultra-flattened supercontinuum (SC) in the visible wavelengths is generated. When the fundamental mode experiences an anomalous dispersion regime, three phases in the SC generation process are primarily presented. The SC generation (SCG) in the wavelength range from 470 nm to 805 nm does not emerge significant ripples due to a higher pump peak power and the corresponding mode fields at different wavelengths are observed using Bragg gratings. The relative intensity fluctuations of output spectrum in the wavelength ranges of 530 nm to 640 nm and 543 nm to 590 nm are only 0.028 and 0.0071, respectively.

Femtosecond laser induced fixation of calcium alkali phosphate ceramics on titanium alloy bone implant material.

PubMed

Symietz, Christian; Lehmann, Erhard; Gildenhaar, Renate; Krüger, Jörg; Berger, Georg

2010-08-01

Femtosecond lasers provide a novel method of attaching bioceramic material to a titanium alloy, thereby improving the quality of bone implants. The ultrashort 30 fs laser pulses (790 nm wavelength) penetrate a thin dip-coated layer of fine ceramic powder, while simultaneously melting a surface layer of the underlying metal. The specific adjustment of the laser parameters (pulse energy and number of pulses per spot) avoids unnecessary melting of the bioactive calcium phosphate, and permits a defined thin surface melting of the metal, which in turn is not heated throughout, and therefore maintains its mechanical stability. It is essential to choose laser energy densities that correspond to the interval between the ablation fluences of both materials involved: about 0.1-0.4 Jcm(-2). In this work, we present the first results of this unusual technique, including laser ablation studies, scanning electron microscopy and optical microscope images, combined with EDX data. Copyright 2010 Acta Materialia Inc. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Evaluation of UV-fs-LA-MC-ICP-MS for precise in situ copper isotopic microanalysis of cubanite.

PubMed

Ikehata, Kei; Hirata, Takafumi

2013-01-01

We evaluated the capabilities of an in situ method for measuring copper isotopes of cubanite using UV-fs-LA-MC-ICP-MS. A comparison of the UV-fs laser results with those obtained from the NIR-fs laser system shows that there is obviously an improvement in the precision (<0.10‰, 2SE) when using the UV-fs laser. In both wavelength modes, matrix-matched standards are required for reliable in situ copper isotope analysis of cubanite. This method was applied to determinations for copper isotopes of minute cubanite grains in a skarn ore. Copper isotopic ratios of cubanite grains near a weathered surface of the sample are lower than those of intact cubanite grains within the sample, suggesting that selective leaching of heavier copper isotope in primary minerals occurred during weathering.

Selective Two-Photon Absorptive Resonance Femtosecond-Laser Electronic-Excitation Tagging (STARFLEET) Velocimetry in Flow and Combustion Diagnostics

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jiang, Naibo; Halls, Benjamin R.; Stauffer, Hans U.; Roy, Sukesh; Danehy, Paul M.; Gord, James R.

2016-01-01

Selective Two-Photon Absorptive Resonance Femtosecond-Laser Electronic-Excitation Tagging (STARFLEET), a non-seeded ultrafast-laser-based velocimetry technique, is demonstrated in reactive and non-reactive flows. STARFLEET is pumped via a two-photon resonance in N2 using 202.25-nm 100-fs light. STARFLEET greatly reduces the per-pulse energy required (30 µJ/pulse) to generate the signature FLEET emission compared to the conventional FLEET technique (1.1 mJ/pulse). This reduction in laser energy results in less energy deposited in the flow, which allows for reduced flow perturbations (reactive and non-reactive), increased thermometric accuracy, and less severe damage to materials. Velocity measurements conducted in a free jet of N2 and in a premixed flame show good agreement with theoretical velocities and further demonstrate the significantly less-intrusive nature of STARFLEET.

Selective laser melting of hypereutectic Al-Si40-powder using ultra-short laser pulses

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ullsperger, T.; Matthäus, G.; Kaden, L.; Engelhardt, H.; Rettenmayr, M.; Risse, S.; Tünnermann, A.; Nolte, S.

2017-12-01

We investigate the use of ultra-short laser pulses for the selective melting of Al-Si40-powder to fabricate complex light-weight structures with wall sizes below 100 μ {m} combined with higher tensile strength and lower thermal expansion coefficient in comparison to standard Al-Si alloys. During the cooling process using conventional techniques, large primary silicon particles are formed which impairs the mechanical and thermal properties. We demonstrate that these limitations can be overcome using ultra-short laser pulses enabling the rapid heating and cooling in a non-thermal equilibrium process. We analyze the morphology characteristics and micro-structures of single tracks and thin-walled structures depending on pulse energy, repetition rate and scanning velocity utilizing pulses with a duration of 500 {fs} at a wavelength of 1030 {nm}. The possibility to specifically change and optimize the microstructure is shown.

Fiber laser-microscope system for femtosecond photodisruption of biological samples

PubMed Central

Yavaş, Seydi; Erdogan, Mutlu; Gürel, Kutan; Ilday, F. Ömer; Eldeniz, Y. Burak; Tazebay, Uygar H.

2012-01-01

We report on the development of a ultrafast fiber laser-microscope system for femtosecond photodisruption of biological targets. A mode-locked Yb-fiber laser oscillator generates few-nJ pulses at 32.7 MHz repetition rate, amplified up to ∼125 nJ at 1030 nm. Following dechirping in a grating compressor, ∼240 fs-long pulses are delivered to the sample through a diffraction-limited microscope, which allows real-time imaging and control. The laser can generate arbitrary pulse patterns, formed by two acousto-optic modulators (AOM) controlled by a custom-developed field-programmable gate array (FPGA) controller. This capability opens the route to fine optimization of the ablation processes and management of thermal effects. Sample position, exposure time and imaging are all computerized. The capability of the system to perform femtosecond photodisruption is demonstrated through experiments on tissue and individual cells. PMID:22435105

A stabilized optical frequency comb based on an Er-doped fiber femtosecond laser

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xia, Chuanqing; Wu, Tengfei; Zhao, Chunbo; Xing, Shuai

2018-03-01

An optical frequency comb based on a 250 MHz home-made Er-doped fiber femtosecond laser is presented in this paper. The Er-doped fiber laser has a ring cavity and operates mode-locked in femtosecond regime with the technique of nonlinear polarization rotation. The pulse duration is 118 fs and the spectral width is 30 nm. A part of the femtosecond laser is amplified in Er-doped fiber amplifier before propagating through a piece of highly nonlinear fiber for expanding the spectrum. The carrier-envelope offset frequency of the comb which has a signal-to-noise ratio more than 35 dB is extracted by means of f-2f beating. It demonstrates that both carrier-envelope offset frequency and repetition frequency keep phase locked to a Rubidium atomic clock simultaneously for 2 hours. The frequency stabilized fiber combs will be increasingly applied in optical metrology, attosecond pulse generation, and absolute distance measurement.

Nanowire Lasers of Formamidinium Lead Halide Perovskites and Their Stabilized Alloys with Improved Stability

DOE PAGES

Fu, Yongping; Zhu, Haiming; Schrader, Alex W.; ...

2016-01-04

The excellent intrinsic optoelectronic properties of methylammonium lead halide perovskites (MAPbX 3, X = Br, I), such as high photoluminescence quantum efficiency, long carrier lifetime, and high gain coupled with the facile solution growth of nanowires make them promising new materials for ultralow-threshold nanowire lasers. However, their photo and thermal stabilities need to be improved for practical applications. Herein, we report a low-temperature solution growth of single crystal nanowires of formamidinium lead halide perovskites (FAPbX 3) that feature red-shifted emission and better thermal stability compared to MAPbX 3. We demonstrate optically pumped room-temperature near-infrared (~820 nm) and green lasing (~560more » nm) from FAPbI 3 (and MABr-stabilized FAPbI 3) and FAPbBr 3 nanowires with low lasing thresholds of several microjoules per square centimeter and high quality factors of about 1500–2300. More remarkably, the FAPbI 3 and MABr-stabilized FAPbI 3 nanowires display durable room-temperature lasing under ~10 8 shots of sustained illumination of 402 nm pulsed laser excitation (150 fs, 250 kHz), substantially exceeding the stability of MAPbI 3 (~10 7 laser shots). We further demonstrate tunable nanowire lasers in wider wavelength region from FA-based lead halide perovskite alloys (FA,MA)PbI 3 and (FA,MA)Pb(I,Br) 3 through cation and anion substitutions. The results suggest that formamidinium lead halide perovskite nanostructures could be more promising and stable materials for the development of light-emitting diodes and continuous-wave lasers.« less

Nanowire Lasers of Formamidinium Lead Halide Perovskites and Their Stabilized Alloys with Improved Stability.

PubMed

Fu, Yongping; Zhu, Haiming; Schrader, Alex W; Liang, Dong; Ding, Qi; Joshi, Prakriti; Hwang, Leekyoung; Zhu, X-Y; Jin, Song

2016-02-10

The excellent intrinsic optoelectronic properties of methylammonium lead halide perovskites (MAPbX3, X = Br, I), such as high photoluminescence quantum efficiency, long carrier lifetime, and high gain coupled with the facile solution growth of nanowires make them promising new materials for ultralow-threshold nanowire lasers. However, their photo and thermal stabilities need to be improved for practical applications. Herein, we report a low-temperature solution growth of single crystal nanowires of formamidinium lead halide perovskites (FAPbX3) that feature red-shifted emission and better thermal stability compared to MAPbX3. We demonstrate optically pumped room-temperature near-infrared (∼820 nm) and green lasing (∼560 nm) from FAPbI3 (and MABr-stabilized FAPbI3) and FAPbBr3 nanowires with low lasing thresholds of several microjoules per square centimeter and high quality factors of about 1500-2300. More remarkably, the FAPbI3 and MABr-stabilized FAPbI3 nanowires display durable room-temperature lasing under ∼10(8) shots of sustained illumination of 402 nm pulsed laser excitation (150 fs, 250 kHz), substantially exceeding the stability of MAPbI3 (∼10(7) laser shots). We further demonstrate tunable nanowire lasers in wider wavelength region from FA-based lead halide perovskite alloys (FA,MA)PbI3 and (FA,MA)Pb(I,Br)3 through cation and anion substitutions. The results suggest that formamidinium lead halide perovskite nanostructures could be more promising and stable materials for the development of light-emitting diodes and continuous-wave lasers.

Synthesis and characterization of gold/water nanofluids suitable for thermal applications produced by femtosecond laser radiation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mondragón, Rosa; Torres-Mendieta, Rafael; Meucci, Marco; Mínguez-Vega, Gladys; Enrique Juliá, J.; Sani, Elisa

2016-07-01

A laser-based "green" synthesis of nanoparticles (NPs) was used to manufacture gold NPs in water. The light source is a Ti:Sapphire laser with 30 fs FWHM pulses, 800 nm mean wavelength, and 1 kHz repetition rate. The method involves two stages: (1) pulsed laser ablation in liquids and (2) photo-fragmentation (PF). Highly pure and well-dispersed NPs with a diameter of 18.5 nm that can be stored at room temperature without showing any agglomeration over a period of at least 3 months were produced without the need to use any stabilizer. Transmittance spectra, extinction coefficient, NPs agglomeration dynamics, and thermal conductivity of the nanofluids obtained were analyzed before and after being submitted to thermal cycling and compared to those obtained for commercial gold/water suspensions. Optical properties have also been investigated, showing no substantial differences for thermal applications between NPs produced by the laser ablation and PF technique and commercial NPs. Therefore, nanofluids produced by this technique can be used in thermal applications, which are foreseen for conventional nanofluids, e.g., heat transfer enhancement and solar radiation direct absorption, but offering the opportunity to produce them in situ in almost any kind of fluid without the production of any chemical waste.

Laser fluence dependence on emission dynamics of ultrafast laser induced copper plasma

DOE PAGES

Anoop, K. K.; Harilal, S. S.; Philip, Reji; ...

2016-11-14

The characteristic emission features of a laser-produced plasma strongly depend strongly on the laser fluence. We investigated the spatial and temporal dynamics of neutrals and ions in femtosecond laser (800 nm, ≈ 40 fs, Ti:Sapphire) induced copper plasma in vacuum using both optical emission spectroscopy (OES) and spectrally resolved two-dimensional (2D) imaging methods over a wide fluence range of 0.5 J/cm 2-77.5 J/cm 2. 2D fast gated monochromatic images showed distinct plume splitting between the neutral and ions especially at moderate to higher fluence ranges. OES studies at low to moderate laser fluence regime confirm intense neutral line emission overmore » the ion emission whereas this trend changes at higher laser fluence with dominance of the latter. This evidences a clear change in the physical processes involved in femtosecond laser matter interaction at high input laser intensity. The obtained ion dynamics resulting from the OES, and spectrally resolved 2D imaging are compared with charged particle measurement employing Faraday cup and Langmuir probe and results showed good correlation.« less

[Scanning electron microscopic investigations of cutting edge quality in lamellar keratotomy using the Wavelight femtosecond laser (FS-200) : What influence do spot distance and an additional tunnel have?

PubMed

Hammer, T; Höche, T; Heichel, J

2018-01-01

Femtosecond lasers (fs-lasers) are established cutting instruments for the creation of LASIK flaps. Previous studies often showed even rougher surfaces after application of fs-laser systems compared to lamellar keratotomy with mechanical microkeratomes. When cutting the cornea with fs-lasers, an intrastromal gas development occurs, which has a potentially negative influence on the cutting quality if the gas cannot be dissipated; therefore, manufacturers have chosen the way of gas assimilation in so-called pockets. The investigated system creates a tunnel which opens under the conjunctiva. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of a tunnel as well as the influence of different spot distances on the quality of cut surfaces and edges. In this experimental study on freshly enucleated porcine eyes (n = 15), the following cuts were carried out with the FS-200 (Wavelight, Erlangen, Germany): 1. standard setting (spot and line separation 8 µm), 2. with tunnel for gas drainage, 3. without gas-conducting tunnel, 4. with increased spot spacing (spot and line separation 9 μm instead of 8 μm) and 5. with reduced spot spacing (spot and line separation 7 μm instead of 8 μm). Subsequently, scanning electron microscopy (FEI Quanta 650, Hillsboro, OR) of the cut edges and surfaces as well as the gas drain tunnel were performed. The evaluation was based on an established score. The current fs-laser system (200 Hz) is able to create smooth cutting surfaces and sharp edges. The changed density of laser pulses compared to the standard settings with a reduced or increased distance between the pulses, did not achieve any further improvement in the surface quality. The gas-conducting tunnel could be detected by scanning electron microscope. In the case of cutting without a tunnel, roughened surfaces and irregularities on the cutting edges were found. When the FS-200 fs-laser is used, LASIK cuts with very smooth cut surfaces and sharp cutting edges are achieved. This is only valid as long as an additional tunnel with the fs-laser is placed under the conjunctiva. It can be assumed that the resulting gas is effectively drained through this tunnel. The installation of the tunnel represents a new possibility to replace previous techniques of gas assimilation in deeper lying cutting areas.

Green and ultraviolet pulse generation with a compact, fiber laser, chirped-pulse amplification system for aerosol fluorescence measurements.

PubMed

Lou, Janet W; Currie, Marc; Sivaprakasam, Vasanthi; Eversole, Jay D

2010-10-01

We use a compact chirped-pulse amplified system to harmonically generate ultrashort pulses for aerosol fluorescence measurements. The seed laser is a compact, all-normal dispersion, mode-locked Yb-doped fiber laser with a 1050 nm center wavelength operating at 41 MHz. Average powers of more than 1.2 W at 525 nm and 350 mW at 262 nm are generated with <500 fs pulse durations. The pulses are time-stretched with high-dispersion fiber, amplified by a high-power, large-mode-area fiber amplifier, and recompressed using a chirped volume holographic Bragg grating. The resulting high-peak-power pulses allow for highly efficient harmonic generation. We also demonstrate for the first time to our knowledge, the use of a mode-locked ultraviolet source to excite individual biological particles and other calibration particles in an inlet air flow as they pass through an optical chamber. The repetition rate is ideal for biofluorescence measurements as it allows faster sampling rates as well as the higher peak powers as compared to previously demonstrated Q-switched systems while maintaining a pulse period that is longer than the typical fluorescence lifetimes. Thus, the fluorescence excitation can be considered to be quasicontinuous and requires no external synchronization and triggering.

Morphological effects of nanosecond- and femtosecond-pulsed laser ablation on human middle ear ossicles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ilgner, Justus F.; Wehner, Martin; Lorenzen, Johann; Bovi, Manfred; Westhofen, Martin

2004-07-01

Introduction: Since the early 1980's, a considerable number of different laser systems have been introduced into reconstructive middle ear surgery. Depending on the ablation mode, however, pressure transients or thermal load to inner ear structures continue to be subject to discussion. Material and methods: We examined single spot ablations by a nanosecond-pulsed, frequency-tripled Nd:YAG-Laser (355 nm, beam diameter 10 μm, pulse rate 2 kHz, power 250 mW) on isolated human mallei. In a second set-up, a similar system (355 nm, beam diameter 20 μm, pulse rate 10 kHz, power 160-1500 mW) was coupled to a scanner to examine the morphology of bone surface ablation over an area of 1mm2. A third set-up employed a femtosecond-pulsed CrLiSAF-Oscillator (850 nm, pulse duration 100 fs, pulse energy 40μJ, beam diameter 36 μm, pulse rate 1 kHz) to compare these results with the former and with those obtained from a commercially available Er:YAG laser for ear surgery (Zeiss ORL E, 2940 nm, single pulse, energy 10-25 mJ). Results: In set-up 1 and 2, thermal effects in terms of marginal carbonization were visible in all single spot ablations of 1 s and longer. With ablations of 0.5 seconds, precise cutting margins with preservation of surrounding tissue could be observed. Cooling with saline solution resulted in no carbonization at 1500 mW and a scan speed of 500 mm/s. Set-up 3 equally showed no carbonization, although scanning times were longer and ablation less pronounced. Conclusion: Ultrashort pulsed laser systems could potentially aid further refinement of reconstructive microsurgery of the middle ear.

Optical system design of a speckle-free ultrafast Red-Green-Blue (RGB) source based on angularly multiplexed second harmonic generation from a TZDW source

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yao, Yuhong; Knox, Wayne H.

2015-03-01

We report the optical system design of a novel speckle-free ultrafast Red-Green-Blue (RGB) source based on angularly multiplexed simultaneous second harmonic generation from the efficiently generated Stokes and anti-Stokes pulses from a commercially available photonic crystal fiber (PCF) with two zero dispersion wavelengths (TZDW). We describe the optimized configuration of the TZDW fiber source which supports excitations of dual narrow-band pulses with peak wavelengths at 850 nm, 1260 nm and spectral bandwidths of 23 nm, 26 nm, respectively within 12 cm of commercially available TZDW PCF. The conversion efficiencies are as high as 44% and 33% from the pump source (a custom-built Yb:fiber master-oscillator-power-amplifier). As a result of the nonlinear dynamics of propagation, the dual pulses preserve their ultrashort pulse width (with measured autocorrelation traces of 200 fs and 227 fs,) which eliminates the need for dispersion compensation before harmonic generation. With proper optical design of the free-space harmonic generation system, we achieve milli-Watt power level red, green and blue pulses at 630 nm, 517 nm and 425 nm. Having much broader spectral bandwidths compared to picosecond RGB laser sources, the source is inherently speckle-free due to the ultra-short coherence length (<37 μm) while still maintaining an excellent color rendering capability with >99.4% excitation purities of the three primaries, leading to the coverage of 192% NTSC color gamut (CIE 1976). The reported RGB source features a very simple system geometry, its potential for power scaling is discussed with currently available technologies.

Phase-stable, multi-µJ femtosecond pulses from a repetition-rate tunable Ti:Sa-oscillator-seeded Yb-fiber amplifier

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Saule, T.; Holzberger, S.; De Vries, O.; Plötner, M.; Limpert, J.; Tünnermann, A.; Pupeza, I.

2017-01-01

We present a high-power, MHz-repetition-rate, phase-stable femtosecond laser system based on a phase-stabilized Ti:Sa oscillator and a multi-stage Yb-fiber chirped-pulse power amplifier. A 10-nm band around 1030 nm is split from the 7-fs oscillator output and serves as the seed for subsequent amplification by 54 dB to 80 W of average power. The µJ-level output is spectrally broadened in a solid-core fiber and compressed to 30 fs with chirped mirrors. A pulse picker prior to power amplification allows for decreasing the repetition rate from 74 MHz by a factor of up to 4 without affecting the pulse parameters. To compensate for phase jitter added by the amplifier to the feed-forward phase-stabilized seeding pulses, a self-referencing feed-back loop is implemented at the system output. An integrated out-of-loop phase noise of less than 100 mrad was measured in the band from 0.4 Hz to 400 kHz, which to the best of our knowledge corresponds to the highest phase stability ever demonstrated for high-power, multi-MHz-repetition-rate ultrafast lasers. This system will enable experiments in attosecond physics at unprecedented repetition rates, it offers ideal prerequisites for the generation and field-resolved electro-optical sampling of high-power, broadband infrared pulses, and it is suitable for phase-stable white light generation.

Optical side-effects of fs-laser treatment in refractive surgery investigated by means of a model eye

PubMed Central

Ackermann, Roland; Kammel, Robert; Merker, Marina; Kamm, Andreas; Tünnermann, Andreas; Nolte, Stefan

2013-01-01

Optical side-effects of fs-laser treatment in refractive surgery are investigated by means of a model eye. We show that rainbow glare is the predominant perturbation, which can be avoided by randomly distributing laser spots within the lens. For corneal applications such as fs-LASIK, even a regular grid with spot-to-spot distances of ~3 µm is sufficient to minimize rainbow glare perception. Contrast sensitivity is affected, when the lens is treated with large 3D-patterns. PMID:23413236

Polymers Used as Fuel for Laser Plasma Thrusters in Small Satellites

DTIC Science & Technology

2006-09-12

irradiation fluences 100 ns after the laser pulse . The velocity of the maximum intensity versus the irradiation fluence is plotted in Fig. 61. The...The first region can be assigned to ionized elements that have been accelerated by a fs laser pulse induced coulomb explosion on the sample surface...acquired for ns laser pulses , plasma studies for fs laser pulse irradiation were performed. This data allowed a comparison of thrust

Manipulating femtosecond spin-orbit torques with laser pulse sequences to control magnetic memory states and ringing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lingos, P. C.; Wang, J.; Perakis, I. E.

2015-05-01

Femtosecond (fs) coherent control of collective order parameters is important for nonequilibrium phase dynamics in correlated materials. Here, we propose such control of ferromagnetic order based on using nonadiabatic optical manipulation of electron-hole (e -h ) photoexcitations to create fs carrier-spin pulses with controllable direction and time profile. These spin pulses are generated due to the time-reversal symmetry breaking arising from nonperturbative spin-orbit and magnetic exchange couplings of coherent photocarriers. By tuning the nonthermal populations of exchange-split, spin-orbit-coupled semiconductor band states, we can excite fs spin-orbit torques that control complex magnetization pathways between multiple magnetic memory states. We calculate the laser-induced fs magnetic anisotropy in the time domain by using density matrix equations of motion rather than the quasiequilibrium free energy. By comparing to pump-probe experiments, we identify a "sudden" out-of-plane magnetization canting displaying fs magnetic hysteresis, which agrees with switchings measured by the static Hall magnetoresistivity. This fs transverse spin-canting switches direction with magnetic state and laser frequency, which distinguishes it from the longitudinal nonlinear optical and demagnetization effects. We propose that sequences of clockwise or counterclockwise fs spin-orbit torques, photoexcited by shaping two-color laser-pulse sequences analogous to multidimensional nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, can be used to timely suppress or enhance magnetic ringing and switching rotation in magnetic memories.

Structural characterization of ZnO thin films grown on various substrates by pulsed laser deposition

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Novotný, M.; Čížek, J.; Kužel, R.; Bulíř, J.; Lančok, J.; Connolly, J.; McCarthy, E.; Krishnamurthy, S.; Mosnier, J.-P.; Anwand, W.; Brauer, G.

2012-06-01

ZnO thin films were grown by pulsed laser deposition on three different substrates: sapphire (0 0 0 1), MgO (1 0 0) and fused silica (FS). The structure and morphology of the films were characterized by x-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy and defect studies were carried out using slow positron implantation spectroscopy (SPIS). Films deposited on all substrates studied in this work exhibit the wurtzite ZnO structure and are characterized by an average crystallite size of 20-100 nm. However, strong differences in the microstructure of films deposited on various substrates were found. The ZnO films deposited on MgO and sapphire single-crystalline substrates exhibit local epitaxy, i.e. a well-defined relation between film crystallites and the substrate. Domains with different orientation relationships with the substrate were found in both films. On the other hand, the film deposited on the FS substrate exhibits fibre texture with random lateral orientation of crystallites. Extremely high compressive in-plane stress of σ ˜ 14 GPa was determined in the film deposited on the MgO substrate, while the film deposited on sapphire is virtually stress-free, and the film deposited on the FS substrate exhibits a tensile in-plane stress of σ ˜ 0.9 GPa. SPIS investigations revealed that the concentration of open-volume defects in the ZnO films is substantially higher than that in a bulk ZnO single crystal. Moreover, the ZnO films deposited on MgO and sapphire single-crystalline substrates exhibit a significantly higher density of defects than the film deposited on the amorphous FS substrate.

Electronically tunable femtosecond all-fiber optical parametric oscillator for multi-photon microscopy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hellwig, Tim; Brinkmann, Maximilian; Fallnich, Carsten

2018-02-01

We present a femtosecond fiber-based optical parametric oscillator (FOPO) for multiphoton microscopy with wavelength tuning by electronic repetition rate tuning in combination with a dispersive filter in the FOPO cavity. The all-spliced, all-fiber FOPO cavity is based on polarization-maintaining fibers and a broadband output coupler, allowing to get access to the resonant signal pulses as well as the idler pulses simultaneously. The system was pumped by a gain-switched fiber-coupled laser diode emitting pulses at a central wavelength of 1030 nm and an electronically tunable repetition frequency of about 2 MHz. The pump pulses were amplified in an Ytterbium fiber amplifier system with a pulse duration after amplification of 13 ps. Tuning of the idler (1140 nm - 1300 nm) and signal wavelengths (850 nm - 940 nm) was achieved by changing the repetition frequency of the pump laser by about 4 kHz. The generated signal pulses reached a pulse energy of up to 9.2 nJ at 920 nm and were spectrally broadened to about 6 nm in the FOPO by a combination of self-phase and cross-phase modulation. We showed external compression of the idler pulses at 920 nm to about 430 fs and appleid them to two-photon excitation microscopy with green fluorescent dyes. The presented system constitutes an important step towards a fully fiber-integrated all-electronically tunable and, thereby, programmable light source and already embodies a versatile and flexible light source for applications, e.g., for smart microscopy.

Multiband supercontinuum generation in an air-core revolver fibre

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yatsenko, Yu P.; Pleteneva, E. N.; Okhrimchuk, A. G.; Gladyshev, A. V.; Kosolapov, A. F.; Kolyadin, A. N.; Bufetov, I. A.

2017-06-01

Multiband supercontinuum generation in an air-core revolver fibre having a large number of transmission bands in a wide spectral range has been studied experimentally and theoretically for the first time. The fibre fabricated by us possesses unique dispersion and guidance characteristics for radiation transfer from one band to another despite the high losses at the band boundaries. In our experiments, launching 205-fs laser pulses of 110 μJ energy at 1028 nm into the fibre we have obtained a supercontinuum spanning the spectral range from 415 to 1593 nm, with 11 transmission bands. Numerical simulation suggests that, in the case of singlemode propagation of pulses with such energy in the fibre, the supercontinuum may span 14 transmission bands and have a spectral width above three octaves, with a long-wavelength edge at 4200 nm.

Ultra-short pulse generation in the hybridly mode-locked erbium-doped all-fiber ring laser with a distributed polarizer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Krylov, Alexander A.; Sazonkin, Stanislav G.; Lazarev, Vladimir A.; Dvoretskiy, Dmitriy A.; Leonov, Stanislav O.; Pnev, Alexey B.; Karasik, Valeriy E.; Grebenyukov, Vyacheslav V.; Pozharov, Anatoly S.; Obraztsova, Elena D.; Dianov, Evgeny M.

2015-06-01

We report for the first time to the best of our knowledge on the ultra-short pulse (USP) generation in the dispersion-managed erbium-doped all-fiber ring laser hybridly mode-locked with boron nitride-doped single-walled carbon nanotubes in the co-action with a nonlinear polarization evolution in the ring cavity with a distributed polarizer. Stable 92.6 fs dechirped pulses were obtained via precise polarization state adjustment at a central wavelength of 1560 nm with 11.2 mW average output power, corresponding to the 2.9 kW maximum peak power. We have also observed the laser switching from a USP generation regime to a chirped pulse one with a corresponding pulse-width of 7.1 ps at the same intracavity dispersion.

Toward compact and ultra-intense laser driven soft x-ray lasers (Conference Presentation)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sebban, Stéphane

2017-05-01

We report here recent work on an optical-field ionized (OFI), high-order harmonic-seeded EUV laser. The amplifying medium is a plasma of nickel-like krypton obtained by optical field ionization focusing a 1 J, 30 fs, circularly- polarized, infrared pulse into a krypton-filled gas cell or krypton gas jet. The lasing transition is the 3d94p (J=0) --> 3d94p (J=1) transition of Ni-like krypton ions at 32.8 nm and is pumped by collisions with hot electrons. The polarization of the HH-seeded EUV laser beam was studied using an analyzer composed of three grazing incidence EUV multilayer mirrors able to spin under vacuum. For linear polarization, the Malus law has been recovered while in the case of a circularly-polarized seed, the EUV signal is insensitive to the rotation of the analyzer, bearing testimony to circularly polarized. The gain dynamics was probed by seeding the amplifier with a high-order harmonic pulse at different delays. The gain duration monotonically decreased from 7 ps to an unprecedented shortness of 450 fs FWHM as the amplification peak rose from 150 to 1,200 with an increase of the plasma density from 3 × 1018 cm-3 up to 1.2 × 1020 cm-3. The integrated energy of the EUV laser pulse was also measured, and found to be around 2 μJ. It is to be noted that in the ASE mode, longer amplifiers were achieved (up to 3 cm), yielding EUV outputs up to 14 μJ.

Study of 1–8 keV K-α x-ray emission from high intensity femtosecond laser produced plasma

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Arora, V., E-mail: arora@rrcat.gov.in; Naik, P. A.; Chakera, J. A.

2014-04-15

We report an experimental study on the optimization of a laser plasma based x-ray source of ultra-short duration K-α line radiation. The interaction of pulses from a CPA based Ti:sapphire laser (10 TW, 45 fs, 10 Hz) system with magnesium, titanium, iron and copper solid target generates bright 1-8 keV K-α x-ray radiation. The x-ray yield was optimized with the laser pulse duration (at fixed fluence) which is varied in the range of 45 fs to 1.4 ps. It showed a maximum at laser pulse duration of ∼740 fs, 420 fs, 350 and 250 fs for Mg (1.3 keV), Timore » (4.5 keV), Fe (6.4 keV) and Cu (8.05 keV) respectively. The x-ray yield is observed to be independent of the sign of the chirp. The scaling of the K-α yield (I{sub x} ∝ I{sub L}{sup β}) for 45 fs and optimized pulse duration were measured for laser intensities in the region of 3 × 10{sup 14} – 8 × 10{sup 17}. The x-ray yield shows a much faster scaling exponent β = 1.5, 2.1, 2.4 and 2.6 for Mg, Ti, Fe and Cu respectively at optimized pulse duration compared to scaling exponent of 0.65, 1.3, 1.5, and 1.7 obtained for 45 fs duration laser pulses. The laser to x-ray energy conversion efficiencies obtained for different target materials are η{sub Mg} = 1.2 × 10{sup −5}, η{sub Ti} = 3.1 × 10{sup −5}, η{sub Fe} = 2.7 × 10{sup −5}, η{sub Cu} = 1.9 × 10{sup −5}. The results have been explained from the efficient generation of optimal energy hot electrons at longer laser pulse duration. The faster scaling observed at optimal pulse duration indicates that the x-ray source is generated at the target surface and saturation of x-ray emission would appear at larger laser fluence. An example of utilization of the source for measurement of shock-wave profiles in a silicon crystal by time resolved x-ray diffraction is also presented.« less

Effect of laser pulse repetition frequency on the optical breakdown threshold of quartz glass

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kononenko, T. V.; Schöneseiffen, S.; Konov, V. I.; Dausinger, F.

2013-08-01

The thresholds of optical breakdown in the volume of quartz glass were measured in relation to the number of pulses under irradiation by ultrashort laser pulses with different pulse repetition frequencies (1 - 400 kHz). Increasing this frequency from 10 to 400 kHz was found to substantially lower the breakdown threshold for 500-fs long pulses (at a wavelength of 1030 nm) and to lower to a smaller degree for 5-ps long pulses (515 nm). A strong frequency dependence of the breakdown threshold is observed under the same conditions as a manifold decrease of the breakdown threshold with increase in the number of pulses in a pulse train. The dependence of the optical breakdown on the number of pulses is attributable to the accumulation of point defects under multiple subthreshold irradiation, which affects the mechanism of collisional ionisation. In this case, the frequency dependence of the breakdown threshold of quartz glass is determined by the engagement of shortlived defects in the ionisation mechanism.

Fs-laser ablation of teeth is temperature limited and provides information about the ablated components.

PubMed

de Menezes, Rebeca Ferraz; Harvey, Catherine Malinda; de Martínez Gerbi, Marleny Elizabeth Márquez; Smith, Zachary J; Smith, Dan; Ivaldi, Juan C; Phillips, Alton; Chan, James W; Wachsmann-Hogiu, Sebastian

2017-10-01

The goal of this work is to investigate the thermal effects of femtosecond laser (fs-laser) ablation for the removal of carious dental tissue. Additional studies identify different tooth tissues through femtosecond laser induced breakdown spectroscopy (fsLIBS) for the development of a feedback loop that could be utilized during ablation in a clinical setting. Scanning Election Microscope (SEM) images reveal that minimal morphological damages are incurred at repetition rates below the carbonization threshold of each tooth tissue. Thermal studies measure the temperature distribution and temperature decay during laser ablation and after laser cessation, and demonstrate that repetition rates at or below 10kHz with a laser fluence of 40 J/cm 2 would inflict minimal thermal damage on the surrounding nerve tissues and provide acceptable clinical removal rates. Spectral analysis of the different tooth tissues is also conducted and differences between the visible wavelength fsLIBS spectra are evident, though more robust classification studies are needed for clinical translation. These results have initiated a set of precautionary recommendations that would enable the clinician to utilize femtosecond laser ablation for the removal of carious lesions while ensuring that the solidity and utility of the tooth remain intact. © 2017 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Dynamics of plasma expansion and shockwave formation in femtosecond laser-ablated aluminum plumes in argon gas at atmospheric pressures

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Miloshevsky, Alexander; Harilal, Sivanandan S.; Miloshevsky, Gennady, E-mail: gennady@purdue.edu

2014-04-15

Plasma expansion with shockwave formation during laser ablation of materials in a background gasses is a complex process. The spatial and temporal evolution of pressure, temperature, density, and velocity fields is needed for its complete understanding. We have studied the expansion of femtosecond (fs) laser-ablated aluminum (Al) plumes in Argon (Ar) gas at 0.5 and 1 atmosphere (atm). The expansion of the plume is investigated experimentally using shadowgraphy and fast-gated imaging. The computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modeling is also carried out. The position of the shock front measured by shadowgraphy and fast-gated imaging is then compared to that obtained frommore » the CFD modeling. The results from the three methods are found to be in good agreement, especially during the initial stage of plasma expansion. The computed time- and space-resolved fields of gas-dynamic parameters have provided valuable insights into the dynamics of plasma expansion and shockwave formation in fs-pulse ablated Al plumes in Ar gas at 0.5 and 1 atm. These results are compared to our previous data on nanosecond (ns) laser ablation of Al [S. S. Harilal et al., Phys. Plasmas 19, 083504 (2012)]. It is observed that both fs and ns plumes acquire a nearly spherical shape at the end of expansion in Ar gas at 1 atm. However, due to significantly lower pulse energy of the fs laser (5 mJ) compared to pulse energy of the ns laser (100 mJ) used in our studies, the values of pressure, temperature, mass density, and velocity are found to be smaller in the fs laser plume, and their time evolution occurs much faster on the same time scale. The oscillatory shock waves clearly visible in the ns plume are not observed in the internal region of the fs plume. These experimental and computational results provide a quantitative understanding of plasma expansion and shockwave formation in fs-pulse and ns-pulse laser ablated Al plumes in an ambient gas at atmospheric pressures.« less

Femtosecond laser ablation of dentin and enamel: relationship between laser fluence and ablation efficiency.

PubMed

Chen, Hu; Liu, Jing; Li, Hong; Ge, Wenqi; Sun, Yuchun; Wang, Yong; Lü, Peijun

2015-02-01

The objective was to study the relationship between laser fluence and ablation efficiency of a femtosecond laser with a Gaussian-shaped pulse used to ablate dentin and enamel for prosthodontic tooth preparation. A diode-pumped thin-disk femtosecond laser with wavelength of 1025 nm and pulse width of 400 fs was used for the ablation of dentin and enamel. The laser spot was guided in a line on the dentin and enamel surfaces to form a groove-shaped ablation zone under a series of laser pulse energies. The width and volume of the ablated line were measured under a three-dimensional confocal microscope to calculate the ablation efficiency. Ablation efficiency for dentin reached a maximum value of 0.020 mm3∕J when the laser fluence was set at 6.51 J∕cm2. For enamel, the maximum ablation efficiency was 0.009 mm3∕J at a fluence of 7.59 J∕cm2.Ablation efficiency of the femtosecond laser on dentin and enamel is closely related to the laser fluence and may reach a maximum when the laser fluence is set to an appropriate value. © 2015 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE)

Estimation of ultrashort laser irradiation effect over thin transparent biopolymer films morphology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Daskalova, A.; Nathala, C.; Bliznakova, I.; Slavov, D.; Husinsky, W.

2015-01-01

The collagen - elastin biopolymer thin films treated by CPA Ti:Sapphire laser (Femtopower - Compact Pro) at 800nm central wavelength with 30fs and 1kHz repetition rate are investigated. A process of surface modifications and microporous scaffold creation after ultrashort laser irradiation has been observed. The single-shot (N=1) and multi-shot (N<1) ablation threshold values were estimated by studying the linear relationship between the square of the crater diameter D2 and the logarithm of the laser fluence F for determination of the threshold fluences for N=1, 2, 5, 10, 15 and 30 number of laser pulses. The incubation analysis by calculation of the incubation coefficient ξ for multi - shot fluence threshold for selected materials by power - law relationship form Fth(N)=Fth(1)Nξ-1 was also obtained. In this paper, we have also shown another consideration of the multi - shot ablation threshold calculation by logarithmic dependence of the ablation rate d on the laser fluence. The morphological surface changes of the modified regions were characterized by scanning electron microscopy to estimate the generated variations after the laser treatment.

First demonstration of laser engagement of 1-Hz-injected flying pellets and neutron generation.

PubMed

Komeda, Osamu; Nishimura, Yasuhiko; Mori, Yoshitaka; Hanayama, Ryohei; Ishii, Katsuhiro; Nakayama, Suisei; Kitagawa, Yoneyoshi; Sekine, Takashi; Sato, Nakahiro; Kurita, Takashi; Kawashima, Toshiyuki; Kan, Hirofumi; Nakamura, Naoki; Kondo, Takuya; Fujine, Manabu; Azuma, Hirozumi; Motohiro, Tomoyoshi; Hioki, Tatsumi; Kakeno, Mitsutaka; Sunahara, Atsushi; Sentoku, Yasuhiko; Miura, Eisuke

2013-01-01

Pellet injection and repetitive laser illumination are key technologies for realizing inertial fusion energy. Numerous studies have been conducted on target suppliers, injectors, and tracking systems for flying pellet engagement. Here we for the first time demonstrate the pellet injection, counter laser beams' engagement and neutron generation. Deuterated polystyrene (CD) bead pellets, after free-falling for a distance of 18 cm at 1 Hz, are successfully engaged by two counter laser beams from a diode-pumped, ultra-intense laser HAMA. The laser energy, pulse duration, wavelength, and the intensity are 0.63 J per beam, 104 fs, and 811 nm, 4.7 × 10(18) W/cm(2), respectively. The irradiated pellets produce D(d,n)(3)He-reacted neutrons with a maximum yield of 9.5 × 10(4)/4π sr/shot. Moreover, the laser is found out to bore a straight channel with 10 μm-diameter through the 1-mm-diameter beads. The results indicate potentially useful technologies and findings for the next step in realizing inertial fusion energy.

First demonstration of laser engagement of 1-Hz-injected flying pellets and neutron generation

PubMed Central

Komeda, Osamu; Nishimura, Yasuhiko; Mori, Yoshitaka; Hanayama, Ryohei; Ishii, Katsuhiro; Nakayama, Suisei; Kitagawa, Yoneyoshi; Sekine, Takashi; Sato, Nakahiro; Kurita, Takashi; Kawashima, Toshiyuki; Kan, Hirofumi; Nakamura, Naoki; Kondo, Takuya; Fujine, Manabu; Azuma, Hirozumi; Motohiro, Tomoyoshi; Hioki, Tatsumi; Kakeno, Mitsutaka; Sunahara, Atsushi; Sentoku, Yasuhiko; Miura, Eisuke

2013-01-01

Pellet injection and repetitive laser illumination are key technologies for realizing inertial fusion energy. Numerous studies have been conducted on target suppliers, injectors, and tracking systems for flying pellet engagement. Here we for the first time demonstrate the pellet injection, counter laser beams' engagement and neutron generation. Deuterated polystyrene (CD) bead pellets, after free-falling for a distance of 18 cm at 1 Hz, are successfully engaged by two counter laser beams from a diode-pumped, ultra-intense laser HAMA. The laser energy, pulse duration, wavelength, and the intensity are 0.63 J per beam, 104 fs, and 811 nm, 4.7 × 1018 W/cm2, respectively. The irradiated pellets produce D(d,n)3He-reacted neutrons with a maximum yield of 9.5 × 104/4π sr/shot. Moreover, the laser is found out to bore a straight channel with 10 μm-diameter through the 1-mm-diameter beads. The results indicate potentially useful technologies and findings for the next step in realizing inertial fusion energy. PMID:24008696

Two-photon excited microscale colour centre patterns in Ag-activated phosphate glass written using a focused proton beam

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kurobori, Toshio; Kada, Wataru; Shirao, Taichi; Satoh, Takahiro

2018-02-01

We report a demonstration of microscale patterns in Ag-activated phosphate glass fabricated using a focused proton beam with an energy range of 1-3 MeV. Various microscale patterns are based on blue and orange radiophotoluminescent (RPL) centres. Two- and three-dimensional (2D and 3D) microstructures are visualised by combining two-photon confocal microscopy with femtosecond (fs) laser pulses generated from a mode-locked Ti:sapphire laser operating at 700 nm. The reconstructed images are analytically evaluated using lateral/axial dose mapping and RPL spectra. In addition, the advantages of two-photon excitation applied to Ag-activated phosphate glass are discussed, and this method is compared with single-photon excitation.

Electron Localization in Molecular Fragmentation of H{sub 2} by Carrier-Envelope Phase Stabilized Laser Pulses

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kremer, Manuel; Fischer, Bettina; Feuerstein, Bernold

2009-11-20

Fully differential data for H{sub 2} dissociation in ultrashort (6 fs, 760 nm), linearly polarized, intense (0.44 PW/cm{sup 2}) laser pulses with a stabilized carrier-envelope phase (CEP) were recorded with a reaction microscope. Depending on the CEP, the molecular orientation, and the kinetic energy release (KER), we find asymmetric proton emission at low KERs (0-3 eV), basically predicted by Roudnev and Esry, and much stronger than reported by Kling et al. Wave packet propagation calculations reproduce the salient features and discard, together with the observed KER-independent electron asymmetry, the first ionization step to be the reason for the asymmetric protonmore » emission.« less

Passively mode-locked tunable fiber laser in a soliton regime

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Endo, Michiyuki; Ghosh, Gorachand

1999-04-01

A stable, passively mode-locked erbium-doped fiber resonator is developed to generate tunable optical pulses with durations of 270 - 325 fs in the soliton regime. The lasing wavelength is tuned continuously over a wavelength range of 60 nm by rotating a bulk band-pass filter inserted in the resonator with a repetition frequency of 45.4 MHz. We reduced the timing jitter by minimizing the intensity fluctuation of the pump source using a feedback loop and by controlling the influence of airflow and temperature fluctuation of the resonator in a sealed box.

Femtosecond laser induced photodynamic therapy on 5-ALA treated SKMEL-30 cells: an efficient theranostic strategy to combat melanoma.

PubMed

Kars, Meltem Demirel; Kara, Reyhan; Gündoğdu, Yasemin; Kepceoğlu, Abdullah; Kılıç, Hamdi Şükür

2014-06-01

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is a type of photo-chemotherapy that is based on the application of photosensitizer and irradiation of the region by laser sources. Photosensitizer and light interaction will develop reactive oxygen radicals ((1)O2) in the cells and elimination of cells by apoptosis or necrosis. Metastatic skin cancer cells SKMEL-30 were treated by 5-ALA in dark and then they were irradiated by 90-femtosecond (fs) laser with different pulse powers for different durations. The effects of 5-ALA mediated photodynamic therapy on the cells were determined by XTT proliferation kit and by flow cytometry measurements of Annexin V, 7-AAD and mitochondrial membrane potential alterations. Fluorescent accumulation of protoporphyrin IX was investigated by fluorometry and confocal laser microscope. The viability tests for SKMEL-30 cells treated with different 5-ALA doses and femtosecond laser power and durations demonstrated that 635 nm, 45 mW pulse energy at 90 fs laser pulse applications for 60 sec to 1mM 5-ALA exposed cells decreased the cell proliferation by 30%. Flow cytometric measurements exhibit that PDT caused 63% of mitochondria membrane potential alteration, 30% of cell death in the population by apoptosis and 39% of cells by necrosis. There was 1mM 5-ALA exposure that also exhibited about 32% accumulation of fluorescence in the cells. The pretreatment of the cells with the precursor 5-ALA lets the imaging due to increased protoporphyrin IX fluorescence. This treatment method may be proposed as an effective theranostic strategy for melanoma because of its rapid and effective anticancer consequences. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

Morphologies of femtosecond laser ablation of ITO thin films using gaussian or quasi-flat top beams for OLED repair

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kim, Hoon-Young; Choi, Won-Suk; Ji, Suk-Young; Shin, Young-Gwan; Jeon, Jin-Woo; Ahn, Sanghoon; Cho, Sung-Hak

2018-02-01

This study compares the ablation morphologies obtained with a femtosecond laser of both Gaussian and quasi-flat top beam profiles when applied to indium tin oxide (ITO) thin films for the purpose of OLED repair. A femtosecond laser system with a wavelength of 1030 nm and pulse duration of 190 fs is used to pattern an ITO thin film. The laser fluence is optimized for patterning at 1.38 J/cm2. The patterned ITO thin film is then evaluated through both optical microscope and atomic force microscope. Ablations with a square quasi-flat top beam are demonstrated using slits with varying x- y axes. With the Gaussian beam, the pattern width of the ablated area is shown to range from 9.17 to 9.99 μm when the number of irradiation pulse increases from one to six. In contrast, when slit control is used to obtain a quasi-flat top beam, the ablated pattern width remains constant at 10 μm, despite the increase in the number of pulse. The improved surface roughness is correlated with the quasi-flat top beam through measured Ra values. Furthermore, when using the Gaussian beam, the minimum resolution of the controllable ablation depth on the ITO thin film is found to be 60 nm. In contrast, when the quasi-flat top beam is used, the minimum ablation depth decreases to 40 nm.

Laser-induced periodic surface structures on zinc oxide crystals upon two-colour femtosecond double-pulse irradiation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Höhm, S.; Rosenfeld, A.; Krüger, J.; Bonse, J.

2017-03-01

In order to study the temporally distributed energy deposition in the formation of laser-induced periodic surface structures (LIPSS) on single-crystalline zinc oxide (ZnO), two-colour double-fs-pulse experiments were performed. Parallel or cross-polarised double-pulse sequences at 400 and 800 nm wavelength were generated by a Mach-Zehnder interferometer, exhibiting inter-pulse delays up to a few picoseconds between the sub-ablation 50-fs-pulses. Twenty two-colour double-pulse sequences were collinearly focused by a spherical mirror to the sample surface. The resulting LIPSS periods and areas were analysed by scanning electron microscopy. The delay-dependence of these LIPSS characteristics shows a dissimilar behaviour when compared to the semiconductor silicon, the dielectric fused silica, or the metal titanium. A wavelength-dependent plasmonic mechanism is proposed to explain the delay-dependence of the LIPSS on ZnO when considering multi-photon excitation processes. Our results support the involvement of nonlinear processes for temporally overlapping pulses. These experiments extend previous two-colour studies on the indirect semiconductor silicon towards the direct wide band-gap semiconductor ZnO and further manifest the relevance of the ultrafast energy deposition for LIPSS formation.

Ablation mass features in multi-pulses femtosecond laser ablate molybdenum target

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhao, Dongye; Gierse, Niels; Wegner, Julian; Pretzler, Georg; Oelmann, Jannis; Brezinsek, Sebastijan; Liang, Yunfeng; Neubauer, Olaf; Rasinski, Marcin; Linsmeier, Christian; Ding, Hongbin

2018-03-01

In this study, the ablation mass features related to reflectivity of bulk Molybdenum (Mo) were investigated by a Ti: Sa 6 fs laser pulse at central wavelength 790 nm. The ablated mass removal was determined using Confocal Microscopy (CM) technique. The surface reflectivity was calibrated and measured by a Lambda 950 spectrophotometer as well as a CCD camera during laser ablation. The ablation mass loss per pulse increase with the increasing of laser shots, meanwhile the surface reflectivity decrease. The multi-pulses (100 shots) ablation threshold of Mo was determined to be 0.15 J/cm2. The incubation coefficient was estimated as 0.835. The reflectivity change of the Mo target surface following multi-pulses laser ablation were studied as a function of laser ablation shots at various laser fluences from 1.07 J/cm2 to 36.23 J/cm2. The results of measured reflectivity indicate that surface reflectivity of Mo target has a significant decline in the first 3-laser pulses at the various fluences. These results are important for developing a quantitative analysis model for laser induced ablation and laser induced breakdown spectroscopy for the first wall diagnosis of EAST tokamak.

Trends in laser micromachining

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gaebler, Frank; van Nunen, Joris; Held, Andrew

2016-03-01

Laser Micromachining is well established in industry. Depending on the application lasers with pulse length from μseconds to femtoseconds and wavelengths from 1064nm and its harmonics up to 5μm or 10.6μm are used. Ultrafast laser machining using pulses with pico or femtosecond duration pulses is gaining traction, as it offers very precise processing of materials with low thermal impact. Large-scale industrial ultrafast laser applications show that the market can be divided into various sub segments. One set of applications demand low power around 10W, compact footprint and are extremely sensitive to the laser price whilst still demanding 10ps or shorter laser pulses. A second set of applications are very power hungry and only become economically feasible for large scale deployments at power levels in the 100+W class. There is also a growing demand for applications requiring fs-laser pulses. In our presentation we would like to describe these sub segments by using selected applications from the automotive and electronics industry e.g. drilling of gas/diesel injection nozzles, dicing of LED substrates. We close the presentation with an outlook to micromachining applications e.g. glass cutting and foil processing with unique new CO lasers emitting 5μm laser wavelength.

Femtosecond laser for cavity preparation in enamel and dentin: ablation efficiency related factors.

PubMed

Chen, H; Li, H; Sun, Yc; Wang, Y; Lü, Pj

2016-02-11

To study the effects of laser fluence (laser energy density), scanning line spacing and ablation depth on the efficiency of a femtosecond laser for three-dimensional ablation of enamel and dentin. A diode-pumped, thin-disk femtosecond laser (wavelength 1025 nm, pulse width 400 fs) was used for the ablation of enamel and dentin. The laser spot was guided in a series of overlapping parallel lines on enamel and dentin surfaces to form a three-dimensional cavity. The depth and volume of the ablated cavity was then measured under a 3D measurement microscope to determine the ablation efficiency. Different values of fluence, scanning line spacing and ablation depth were used to assess the effects of each variable on ablation efficiency. Ablation efficiencies for enamel and dentin were maximized at different laser fluences and number of scanning lines and decreased with increases in laser fluence or with increases in scanning line spacing beyond spot diameter or with increases in ablation depth. Laser fluence, scanning line spacing and ablation depth all significantly affected femtosecond laser ablation efficiency. Use of a reasonable control for each of these parameters will improve future clinical application.

Comparison of performances of femtosecond laser and microkeratome for thin-flap laser in situ keratomileusis.

PubMed

Kasetsuwan, Ngamjit; Satitpitakul, Vannarut; Puangsricharern, Vilavun; Reinprayoon, Usanee; Pariyakanok, Lalida

2016-08-01

To compare the clinical outcomes of femtosecond laser (FS) and microkeratome (MK) for thin-flap in situ keratomileusis (LASIK). Data from patients with moderate to high myopia (spherical equivalent, >-4 diopters [D]) who underwent thin-flap LASIK using FS (199 eyes/110 patients) and MK (157 eyes/86 patients) were analyzed in this retrospective study. Preoperative and postoperative data were recorded from day 1 and months 1 and 3, postoperatively. Visual and refractive outcomes were compared for efficacy, safety, predictability, stability, and the efficacy and safety indices. Three months postoperatively, more eyes in the FS group had an uncorrected distance visual acuity (UCVA) of 20/40 or better compared to MK group (relative risk [RR] 1.01, 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.97-1.05, P = 0.58); significantly more eyes in FS group had an UCVA of 20/20 or better (RR, 1.26, 95%CI, 1.08-1.48, P = 0.003). Intraoperative bleeding occurred in 5% and 36.7%, respectively, of FS and MK groups. There were no significant differences in the refractive predictability within spherical equivalents of 0.5 D (FS, 72%; MK, 63%) and 1.0 D (FS, 90%; MK, 86%). Both groups showed good stability 3 months, postoperatively. The efficacy index in FS group was 113.4%; that in MK group was 102.5% at 3 months postoperatively (P < 0.05). The safety indices for FS and MK groups at 3 months postoperatively were 116.4% and 108.2%, respectively (P < 0.05). Both methods of thin-flap created LASIK were effective, safe, predicable, and stable. FS group had significant improvements in efficacy and safety, confirmed by the efficacy and safety indices, compared to MK group. Lasers Surg. Med. 48:596-601, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Nano- and femtosecond UV laser pulses to immobilize biomolecules onto surfaces with preferential orientation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lettieri, S.; Avitabile, A.; Della Ventura, B.; Funari, R.; Ambrosio, A.; Maddalena, P.; Valadan, M.; Velotta, R.; Altucci, C.

2014-10-01

By relying on the photonic immobilization technique of antibodies onto surfaces, we realized portable biosensors for light molecules based on the use of quartz crystal microbalances, given the linear dependence of the method on the laser pulse intensity. Here, we compare the quality of the anchoring method when using nanosecond (260 nm, 25 mJ/pulse, 5 ns, 10 Hz rep. rate) and femtosecond (258 nm, 25 μJ/pulse, 150 fs, 10 kHz rep. rate) laser source, delivering the same energy to the sample with the same average power. As a reference, we also tethered untreated antibodies by means of the passive adsorption. The results are striking: When the antibodies are irradiated with the femtosecond pulses, the deposition on the gold plate is much more ordered than in the other two cases. The effects of UV pulses irradiation onto the antibodies are also analyzed by measuring absorption and fluorescence and suggest the occurrence of remarkable degradation when nanosecond pulses are used likely induced by a larger thermal coupling. In view of the high average power required to activate the antibodies for the achievement of the photonic immobilization technique, we conclude that femtosecond rather than nanosecond laser pulses have to be used.

Femtosecond laser ablation of enamel

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Le, Quang-Tri; Bertrand, Caroline; Vilar, Rui

2016-06-01

The surface topographical, compositional, and structural modifications induced in human enamel by femtosecond laser ablation is studied. The laser treatments were performed using a Yb:KYW chirped-pulse-regenerative amplification laser system (560 fs and 1030 nm) and fluences up to 14 J/cm2. The ablation surfaces were studied by scanning electron microscopy, grazing incidence x-ray diffraction, and micro-Raman spectroscopy. Regardless of the fluence, the ablation surfaces were covered by a layer of resolidified material, indicating that ablation is accompanied by melting of hydroxyapatite. This layer presented pores and exploded gas bubbles, created by the release of gaseous decomposition products of hydroxyapatite (CO2 and H2O) within the liquid phase. In the specimen treated with 1-kHz repetition frequency and 14 J/cm2, thickness of the resolidified material is in the range of 300 to 900 nm. The micro-Raman analysis revealed that the resolidified material contains amorphous calcium phosphate, while grazing incidence x-ray diffraction analysis allowed detecting traces of a calcium phosphate other than hydroxyapatite, probably β-tricalcium phosphate Ca3), at the surface of this specimen. The present results show that the ablation of enamel involves melting of enamel's hydroxyapatite, but the thickness of the altered layer is very small and thermal damage of the remaining material is negligible.

Ultrafast direct laser writing of cladding waveguides in the 0.8CaSiO3-0.2Ca3(PO4)2 eutectic glass doped with Nd3+ ions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Martínez de Mendívil, J.; Sola, D.; Vázquez de Aldana, J. R.; Lifante, G.; de Aza, A. H.; Pena, P.; Peña, J. I.

2015-01-01

We report on tubular cladding optical waveguides fabricated in Neodymium doped Wollastonite-Tricalcium Phosphate glass in the eutectic composition. The glass samples were prepared by melting the eutectic powder mixture in a Pt-Rh crucible at 1600 °C and pouring it in a preheated brass mould. Afterwards, the glass was annealed to relieve the inner stresses. Cladding waveguides were fabricated by focusing beneath the sample surface using a pulsed Ti:sapphire laser with a pulsewidth of 120 fs working at 1 kHz. The optical properties of these waveguides have been assessed in terms of near-field intensity distribution and transmitted power, and these results have been compared to previously reported waveguides with double-line configuration. Optical properties have also been studied as function of the temperature. Heat treatments up to 700 °C were carried out to diminish colour centre losses where waveguide's modes and transmitted power were compared in order to establish the annealing temperature at which the optimal optical properties were reached. Laser experiments are in progress to evaluate the ability of the waveguides for 1064 nm laser light generation under 800 nm optical pumping.

Femtosecond laser ablation of highly oriented pyrolytic graphite: a green route for large-scale production of porous graphene and graphene quantum dots

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Russo, Paola; Hu, Anming; Compagnini, Giuseppe; Duley, Walter W.; Zhou, Norman Y.

2014-01-01

Porous graphene (PG) and graphene quantum dots (GQDs) are attracting attention due to their potential applications in photovoltaics, catalysis, and bio-related fields. We present a novel way for mass production of these promising materials. The femtosecond laser ablation of highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG) is employed for their synthesis. Porous graphene (PG) layers were found to float at the water-air interface, while graphene quantum dots (GQDs) were dispersed in the solution. The sheets consist of one to six stacked layers of spongy graphene, which form an irregular 3D porous structure that displays pores with an average size of 15-20 nm. Several characterization techniques have confirmed the porous nature of the collected layers. The analyses of the aqueous solution confirmed the presence of GQDs with dimensions of about 2-5 nm. It is found that the formation of both PG and GQDs depends on the fs-laser ablation energy. At laser fluences less than 12 J cm-2, no evidence of either PG or GQDs is detected. However, polyynes with six and eight carbon atoms per chain are found in the solution. For laser energies in the 20-30 J cm-2 range, these polyynes disappeared, while PG and GQDs were found at the water-air interface and in the solution, respectively. The origin of these materials can be explained based on the mechanisms for water breakdown and coal gasification. The absence of PG and GQDs, after the laser ablation of HOPG in liquid nitrogen, confirms the proposed mechanisms.Porous graphene (PG) and graphene quantum dots (GQDs) are attracting attention due to their potential applications in photovoltaics, catalysis, and bio-related fields. We present a novel way for mass production of these promising materials. The femtosecond laser ablation of highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG) is employed for their synthesis. Porous graphene (PG) layers were found to float at the water-air interface, while graphene quantum dots (GQDs) were dispersed in the solution. The sheets consist of one to six stacked layers of spongy graphene, which form an irregular 3D porous structure that displays pores with an average size of 15-20 nm. Several characterization techniques have confirmed the porous nature of the collected layers. The analyses of the aqueous solution confirmed the presence of GQDs with dimensions of about 2-5 nm. It is found that the formation of both PG and GQDs depends on the fs-laser ablation energy. At laser fluences less than 12 J cm-2, no evidence of either PG or GQDs is detected. However, polyynes with six and eight carbon atoms per chain are found in the solution. For laser energies in the 20-30 J cm-2 range, these polyynes disappeared, while PG and GQDs were found at the water-air interface and in the solution, respectively. The origin of these materials can be explained based on the mechanisms for water breakdown and coal gasification. The absence of PG and GQDs, after the laser ablation of HOPG in liquid nitrogen, confirms the proposed mechanisms. Electronic supplementary information (ESI) available. See DOI: 10.1039/c3nr05572h

Nitinol laser cutting: microstructure and functional properties of femtosecond and continuous wave laser processing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Biffi, C. A.; Tuissi, A.

2017-03-01

Thermal processing can affect the properties of smart materials, and the correct selection of the best manufacturing technology is fundamental for producing high tech smart devices, containing embedded functional properties. In this work cutting of thin superelastic Nitinol plates using a femtosecond (fs) and continuous wave (CW) laser was studied. Diamond shaped elements were cut to characterize the kerf qualitative features; microstructural analysis of the cross sections allowed identification of thermal damage characteristics introduced into the material during the laser processes. A thermally undamaged microstructure was observed for fs laser cutting, while CW was seen to be characterized by a large heat-affected zone. Functional properties were investigated by differential scanning calorimetry and tensile testing of laser cut microelements and of the reference material. It was seen that the martensitic transformation behavior of Nitinol is not affected by fs regime, while cw cutting provokes an effect equivalent to a high temperature thermal treatment in the material surrounding the cutting kerf, degradating the material properties. Finally, tensile testing indicated that superelastic performances were guaranteed by fs regime, while strong reduction of the recoverable strain was detected in the CW processed sample.

Recent laser upgrades at Sandia’s Z-backlighter facility in order to accommodate new requirements for magnetized liner inertial fusion on the Z-machine

DOE PAGES

Schwarz, Jens; Rambo, Patrick; Armstrong, Darrell; ...

2016-10-21

The Z-backlighter laser facility primarily consists of two high energy, high-power laser systems. Z-Beamlet laser (ZBL) (Rambo et al., Appl. Opt. 44, 2421 (2005)) is a multi-kJ-class, nanosecond laser operating at 1054 nm which is frequency doubled to 527 nm in order to provide x-ray backlighting of high energy density events on the Z-machine. Z-Petawatt (ZPW) (Schwarz et al., J. Phys.: Conf. Ser. 112, 032020 (2008)) is a petawatt-class system operating at 1054 nm delivering up to 500 J in 500 fs for backlighting and various short-pulse laser experiments (see also Figure 10 for a facility overview). With the developmentmore » of the magnetized liner inertial fusion (MagLIF) concept on the Z-machine, the primary backlighting missions of ZBL and ZPW have been adjusted accordingly. As a result, we have focused our recent efforts on increasing the output energy of ZBL from 2 to 4 kJ at 527 nm by modifying the fiber front end to now include extra bandwidth (for stimulated Brillouin scattering suppression). The MagLIF concept requires a well-defined/behaved beam for interaction with the pressurized fuel. Hence we have made great efforts to implement an adaptive optics system on ZBL and have explored the use of phase plates. We are also exploring concepts to use ZPW as a backlighter for ZBL driven MagLIF experiments. Alternatively, ZPW could be used as an additional fusion fuel pre-heater or as a temporally flexible high energy pre-pulse. All of these concepts require the ability to operate the ZPW in a nanosecond long-pulse mode, in which the beam can co-propagate with ZBL. Finally, some of the proposed modifications are complete and most of them are well on their way.« less

Recent laser upgrades at Sandia’s Z-backlighter facility in order to accommodate new requirements for magnetized liner inertial fusion on the Z-machine

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Schwarz, Jens; Rambo, Patrick; Armstrong, Darrell

The Z-backlighter laser facility primarily consists of two high energy, high-power laser systems. Z-Beamlet laser (ZBL) (Rambo et al., Appl. Opt. 44, 2421 (2005)) is a multi-kJ-class, nanosecond laser operating at 1054 nm which is frequency doubled to 527 nm in order to provide x-ray backlighting of high energy density events on the Z-machine. Z-Petawatt (ZPW) (Schwarz et al., J. Phys.: Conf. Ser. 112, 032020 (2008)) is a petawatt-class system operating at 1054 nm delivering up to 500 J in 500 fs for backlighting and various short-pulse laser experiments (see also Figure 10 for a facility overview). With the developmentmore » of the magnetized liner inertial fusion (MagLIF) concept on the Z-machine, the primary backlighting missions of ZBL and ZPW have been adjusted accordingly. As a result, we have focused our recent efforts on increasing the output energy of ZBL from 2 to 4 kJ at 527 nm by modifying the fiber front end to now include extra bandwidth (for stimulated Brillouin scattering suppression). The MagLIF concept requires a well-defined/behaved beam for interaction with the pressurized fuel. Hence we have made great efforts to implement an adaptive optics system on ZBL and have explored the use of phase plates. We are also exploring concepts to use ZPW as a backlighter for ZBL driven MagLIF experiments. Alternatively, ZPW could be used as an additional fusion fuel pre-heater or as a temporally flexible high energy pre-pulse. All of these concepts require the ability to operate the ZPW in a nanosecond long-pulse mode, in which the beam can co-propagate with ZBL. Finally, some of the proposed modifications are complete and most of them are well on their way.« less

The influence of ns- and fs-LA plume local conditions on the performance of a combined LIBS/LA-ICP-MS sensor

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

LaHaye, Nicole L.; Phillips, Mark C.; Duffin, Andrew M.

2016-01-01

Both laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) and laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) are well-established analytical techniques with their own unique advantages and disadvantages. The combination of the two analytical methods is a very promising way to overcome the challenges faced by each method individually. We made a comprehensive comparison of local plasma conditions between nanosecond (ns) and femtosecond (fs) laser ablation (LA) sources in a combined LIBS and LA-ICP-MS system. The optical emission spectra and ICP-MS signal were recorded simultaneously for both ns- and fs-LA and figures of merit of the system were analyzed. Characterization of the plasma was conductedmore » by evaluating temperature and density of the plume under various irradiation conditions using optical emission spectroscopy, and correlations to ns- and fs-LIBS and LA-ICP-MS signal were made. The present study is very useful for providing conditions for a multimodal system as well as giving insight into how laser ablation plume parameters are related to LA-ICP-MS and LIBS results for both ns- and fs-LA.« less

Laser wavelength effect on charge transfer and excitation processes in laser-assisted collisions of Li+ + H

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Domínguez-Gutiérrez, F. Javier; Cabrera-Trujillo, R.

2014-05-01

Total, n = 2 , and 3 charge transfer and n = 2 target excitation probabilities for collision of Li+ with ground state atomic hydrogen are calculated numerically, in the impact energy collision range 0.25-5 keV. The total wave function at the end of the dynamics of the collision is obtained by solving the time-dependent Schrödinger equation by means the finite-difference method. We use a pseudo-potential method to model the electronic structure of the Li+ ion. The n = 2 , and 3 charge transfer and n = 2 target excitation probabilities are obtained by projecting the stationary states of Lithium and Hydrogen neutral atoms to the total wave function of the collision, respectively; the stationary states of Li and H are obtained numerically. To assess the validity of our method, our numerical results have been compared with those obtained experimentally and by other theoretical methods found in the literature. We study the laser-assited collision by using a short (3 fs at FWHM) and intense (3.15 ×12 W/cm2) Gaussian laser pulse. We consider a wavelength range between 400 - 1000 nm in steps of 100 nm. Finally, we analyze the laser assisted collision by a qualitatively way with a two level approach. We acknowledge support from grant PAPIIT IN 110-714 and CONACyT (Ph.D. scholarship).

Femtosecond laser ablation and nanoparticle formation in intermetallic NiAl

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jorgensen, David J.; Titus, Michael S.; Pollock, Tresa M.

2015-10-01

The ablation behavior of a stoichiometric intermetallic compound β-NiAl subjected to femtosecond laser pulsing in air has been investigated. The single-pulse ablation threshold for NiAl was determined to be 83 ± 4 mJ/cm2 and the transition to the high-fluence ablation regime occurred at 2.8 ± 0.3 J/cm2. Two sizes of nanoparticles consisting of Al, NiAl, Ni3Al and NiO were formed and ejected from the target during high-fluence ablation. Chemical analysis revealed that smaller nanoparticles (1-30 nm) tended to be rich in Al while larger nanoparticles (>100 nm) were lean in Al. Ablation in the low-fluence regime maintained this trend. Redeposited material and nanoparticles remaining on the surface after a single 3.7 J/cm2 pulse, one hundred 1.7 J/cm2 pulses, or one thousand 250 mJ/cm2 pulses were enriched in Al relative to the bulk target composition. Further, the surface of the irradiated high-fluence region was depleted in Al indicating that the fs laser ablation removal rate of the intermetallic constituents in this regime does not scale with the individual pure element ablation thresholds.

High resolution spectroscopic optical coherence tomography in the 900-1100 nm wavelength range

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bizheva, Kostadinka K.; Povazay, Boris; Apolonski, Alexander A.; Unterhuber, Angelika; Hermann, Boris; Sattmann, Harald; Russell, Phillip S. J.; Krausz, Ferenc; Fercher, Adolf F.; Drexler, Wolfgang

2002-06-01

We demonstrate for the first time optical coherence tomography (OCT) in the 900-1100 nm wavelength range. A photonic crystal fiber (PCF) in combination with a sub-15fs Ti:sapphire laser is used to produce an emission spectrum with an optical bandwidth of 35 nm centered at ~1070 nm. Coupling the light from the PCF based source to an optimized free space OCT system results in ~15 micrometers axial resolution in air, corresponding to ~10 micrometers in biological tissue. The near infrared wavelength range around 1100 nm is very attractive for high resolution ophthalmologic OCT imaging of the anterior and posterior eye segment with enhanced penetration. The emission spectrum of the PCF based light source can also be reshaped and tuned to cover the wavelength region around 950-970 nm, where water absorption has a local peak. Therefore, the OCT system described in this paper can also be used for spatially resolved water absorption measurements in non-transparent biological tissue. A preliminary qualitative spectroscopic Oct measurement in D2O and H2 O phantoms is described in this paper.

SHG in DASMS single-crystal film producing ultraviolet

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ahyi, Ayayi; Khatavkar, Sanchit; Thakur, Mrinal

2002-03-01

Single-crystal film of the molecular salt, DASMS (noncentrosymmetric phase), has been grown using the modified shear method.^1 The DASMS film is orange in color, showing strong birefringence. The absorption spectrum of DASMS has a maximum at 590 nm, with the onset at about 600 nm and continuing to UV but with a dip around 400 nm. Such a spectrum allows efficient SHG at short wavelengths (400 nm). A Ti:Sapphire laser producing 200 fs pulses at 82 MHz with an average power of 50mW was used for the SHG experiment. The fundamental wavelength was 760nm giving SHG at 380 nm corresponding to the dip in the absorption spectrum. The beam was focused on the film using a 4" focal length lens. From the power measurements, an efficiency of 0.1% in SHG has been observed in a 1μm thick film indicating that the magnitude of d-coefficient is larger than 2000 pm/V. 1. M. Thakur and S. Meyler, Macromolecules, 18 2341 (1985); M. Thakur, Y. Shani, G.C. Chi and K. O'Brien, Synth. Met., 28 D595 (1989).

Ultrafast laser-collision-induced fluorescence in atmospheric pressure plasma

DOE PAGES

Barnat, E. V.; Fierro, A.

2017-03-07

The implementation and demonstration of laser-collision-induced fluorescence (LCIF) generated in atmospheric pressure helium environments is presented in this communication. As collision times are observed to be fast (~10 ns), ultrashort pulse laser excitation (<100 fs) of the 2 3S to 3 3P (388.9 nm) is utilized to initiate the LCIF process. Both neutral-induced and electron-induced components of the LCIF are observed in the helium afterglow plasma as the reduced electric field (E/N) is tuned from <0.1 Td to over 5 Td. Under the discharge conditions presented in this study (640 Torr He), the lower limit of electron density detection ismore » ~10 12 e cm -3. Lastly, the spatial profiles of the 2 3S helium metastable and electrons are presented as functions of E/N to demonstrate the spatial resolving capabilities of the LCIF method.« less

Direct growth of graphene on quartz substrate as saturable absorber for femtosecond solid-state laser

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xu, S. C.; Man, B. Y.; Jiang, S. Z.; Chen, C. S.; Liu, M.; Yang, C.; Gao, S. B.; Feng, D. J.; Hu, G. D.; Huang, Q. J.; Chen, X. F.; Zhang, C.

2014-08-01

We present a novel method for the direct metal-free growth of graphene on quartz substrate. The direct-grown graphene yields excellent nonlinear saturable absorption properties and is demonstrated to be suitable as a saturable absorber (SA) for an ultrafast solid-state laser. Nearly Fourier-limited 367 fs was obtained at a central wavelength of 1048 nm with a repetition rate of 105.7 MHz. At a pump power of 7.95 W, the average output power was 1.93 W and the highest pulse energy reached 18.3 nJ, with a peak power of 49.8 kW. Our work opens an easy route for making a reliable graphene SA with a mode-locking technique and also displays an exciting prospect in making low-cost and ultrafast lasers.

Generating high-brightness electron beams via ionization injection by transverse colliding lasers in a plasma-wakefield accelerator.

PubMed

Li, F; Hua, J F; Xu, X L; Zhang, C J; Yan, L X; Du, Y C; Huang, W H; Chen, H B; Tang, C X; Lu, W; Joshi, C; Mori, W B; Gu, Y Q

2013-07-05

The production of ultrabright electron bunches using ionization injection triggered by two transversely colliding laser pulses inside a beam-driven plasma wake is examined via three-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations. The relatively low intensity lasers are polarized along the wake axis and overlap with the wake for a very short time. The result is that the residual momentum of the ionized electrons in the transverse plane of the wake is reduced, and the injection is localized along the propagation axis of the wake. This minimizes both the initial thermal emittance and the emittance growth due to transverse phase mixing. Simulations show that ultrashort (~8 fs) high-current (0.4 kA) electron bunches with a normalized emittance of 8.5 and 6 nm in the two planes, respectively, and a brightness of 1.7×10(19) A rad(-2) m(-2) can be obtained for realistic parameters.

An optical parametric chirped-pulse amplifier for seeding high repetition rate free-electron lasers

DOE PAGES

Höppner, H.; Hage, A.; Tanikawa, T.; ...

2015-05-15

High repetition rate free-electron lasers (FEL), producing highly intense extreme ultraviolet and x-ray pulses, require new high power tunable femtosecond lasers for FEL seeding and FEL pump-probe experiments. A tunable, 112 W (burst mode) optical parametric chirped-pulse amplifier (OPCPA) is demonstrated with center frequencies ranging from 720–900 nm, pulse energies up to 1.12 mJ and a pulse duration of 30 fs at a repetition rate of 100 kHz. Since the power scalability of this OPCPA is limited by the OPCPA-pump amplifier, we also demonstrate a 6.7–13.7 kW (burst mode) thin-disk OPCPA-pump amplifier, increasing the possible OPCPA output power to manymore » hundreds of watts. Furthermore, third and fourth harmonic generation experiments are performed and the results are used to simulate a seeded FEL with high-gain harmonic generation.« less

Conceptual design of sub-exa-watt system by using optical parametric chirped pulse amplification

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kawanaka, J.; Tsubakimoto, K.; Yoshida, H.; Fujioka, K.; Fujimoto, Y.; Tokita, S.; Jitsuno, T.; Miyanaga, N.; Gekko-EXA Design Team

2016-03-01

A 50 PW ultrahigh-peak-power laser has been conceptually designed, which is based on optical parametric chirped pulse amplification (OPCPA). A 250 J DPSSL and a flash- lamp-pumped kJ laser are adopted as new repeatable pump source. The existed LFEX-laser with more than ten kilo joules are used in the final amplifier stage and the OPCPA with the 2x2 tiled pump beams in random phase has been proposed with several ten centimeter aperture. A pulse duration of amplified pulses is set at less than 10 fs. A broadband OPCPA with ∼500 nm of the gain spectral width near 1 μm is required. A partially deuterated KDP (p-DKDP) crystal is one of the most promising nonlinear crystals and our numerical calculation ensured such ultra-broad gain width. p-DKDP crystals with several deuteration ratio have been successfully grown.

Spatial distribution on high-order-harmonic generation of an H2+ molecule in intense laser fields

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Jun; Ge, Xin-Lei; Wang, Tian; Xu, Tong-Tong; Guo, Jing; Liu, Xue-Shen

2015-07-01

High-order-harmonic generation (HHG) for the H2 + molecule in a 3-fs, 800-nm few-cycle Gaussian laser pulse combined with a static field is investigated by solving the one-dimensional electronic and one-dimensional nuclear time-dependent Schrödinger equation within the non-Born-Oppenheimer approximation. The spatial distribution in HHG is demonstrated and the results present the recombination process of the electron with the two nuclei, respectively. The spatial distribution of the HHG spectra shows that there is little possibility of the recombination of the electron with the nuclei around the origin z =0 a.u. and equilibrium internuclear positions z =±1.3 a.u. This characteristic is irrelevant to laser parameters and is only attributed to the molecular structure. Furthermore, we investigate the time-dependent electron-nuclear wave packet and ionization probability to further explain the underlying physical mechanism.

A 20fs synchronization system for lasers and cavities in accelerators and FELs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wilcox, R. B.; Byrd, J. M.; Doolittle, L. R.; Huang, G.; Staples, J. W.

2010-02-01

A fiber-optic RF distribution system has been developed for synchronizing lasers and RF plants in short pulse FELs. Typical requirements are 50-100fs rms over time periods from 1ms to several hours. Our system amplitude modulates a CW laser signal, senses fiber length using an interferometer, and feed-forward corrects the RF phase digitally at the receiver. We demonstrate less than 15fs rms error over 12 hours, between two independent channels with a fiber path length difference of 200m and transmitting S-band RF. The system is constructed using standard telecommunications components, and uses regular telecom fiber.

Evaluation of one- and two-photon activated photodynamic therapy with pyropheophorbide-a methyl ester in human cervical, lung and ovarian cancer cells.

PubMed

Luo, Ting; Wilson, Brian C; Lu, Qing-Bin

2014-03-05

Two-photon activated photodynamic therapy (2-γ PDT) has the potential of treating deeper tumors and/or improving tumor targeting. Here, we evaluated the one- and two-photon activated PDT efficacy of pyropheophorbide-a methyl ester (MPPa), a second-generation photosensitizer derived from chlorophyll a. We show that MPPa, when activated by femtosecond (fs) laser pulses at 674 nm, has high one-photon (1-γ) PDT efficacy against cisplatin-sensitive human cervical (HeLa) and cisplatin-resistant human lung (A549) and ovarian (NIH:OVCAR-3) cancer cells. At a low light dose of 0.06 J cm(-2), the IC50 (the MPPa concentration required to kill 50% of the cells) was determined to be 5.3 ± 0.3, 3.4 ± 0.3 and 3.6 ± 0.4 μM for HeLa, A549 and NIH:OVCAR-3 cells, respectively. More significantly, we also show that MPPa can be effectively activated by an 800 nm, 120 fs laser through 2-γ excitation; at a light dose causing no measurable photocytotoxicity in the absence of photosensitizer, the corresponding IC50 values were measured to be 4.1 ± 0.3, 9.6 ± 1.0 and 1.6 ± 0.3 μM, respectively. These results indicate that MPPa is a potent photosensitizer for both 1- and 2-γ activated PDT with potential applications for difficult-to-treat tumors by conventional therapies. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Evaluation of Photodynamic Antimicrobial Therapy (PACT) against Trypomastigotes of Trypanosoma cruzi: In Vitro Study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Barbosa, Artur F. S.; Soares, Luiz G. P.; Aciole, Jouber M. S.; Aciole, Gilberth T. S.; Pitta, Ivan R.; Galdino, Suely L.; Pinheiro, Antonio L. B.

2011-08-01

Policies to combat Chagas disease presents a considerable degree of negligence and is classified at level III by TDR, where the focus of research is based on the improvement and wider dissemination of existing tools and strategies for combating them. The PACT is based on topical or systemic administration of a nontoxic dye sensitive to light, followed by low dose irradiation with visible light of wavelength appropriate. In the presence of oxygen found in the cells, the photosensitizer (FS) enabled may react with molecules in its vicinity by electron transfer or hydrogen, leading to production of free radicals (type I reaction) or by energy transfer to oxygen (type II reaction), leading to production of singlet oxygen. Both paths can lead to cell death and the destruction of diseased tissue. In this work, we verify the effectiveness of PACT associated with a semiconductor laser InGaAlP, a wavelength (λ) equal to 660 nm±10 nm, 30 mW optical power, emitting red light in the visible spectrum, with a dose of 4 J/cm2 in continuous mode, using methylene blue in five differents concentrations on the infective trypomastigote forms of Trypanosoma cruzi. To determine the viability of the parasites, one sample from each treatment group at each concentration was removed and analyzed in a hemocytometer, observing the decrease in the number of live parasites for the solution without treatment. The results demonstrated significant percentage of parasite lysis (up to 86% lethality), what can not be observed in the groups treated with laser or with the FS.

Femtosecond deep-infrared optical parametric oscillator pumped directly by a Ti:sapphire laser

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

O'Donnell, Callum; Chaitanya Kumar, S.; Zawilski, Kevin T.; Schunemann, Peter G.; Ebrahim-Zadeh, Majid

2018-02-01

We report a high-repetition-rate femtosecond optical parametric oscillator (OPO) for the deep-infrared (deep-IR) based on the nonlinear optical crystal, CdSiP2 (CSP), pumped directly by a Ti:sapphire laser, for the first time. By pumping CSP at <1 μm, we have achieved practical output powers at the longest wavelengths generated by any Ti:sapphire-pumped OPO. Using a combination of pump wavelength tuning, type-I critical phase-matching, and cavity delay tuning, we have generated continuously tunable radiation across 6654-8373 nm (1194-1503 cm-1) at 80.5 MHz repetition rate, providing up to 20 mW of average power at 7314 nm and <7 mW beyond 8000 nm, with idler spectra exhibiting bandwidths of 140-180 nm across the tuning range. Moreover, the near-IR signal is tunable across 1127-1192 nm, providing up to 37 mW of average power at 1150 nm. Signal pulses, characterised using intensity autocorrelation, have durations of 260-320 fs, with corresponding time-bandwidth product of ΔυΔτ 1. The idler and signal output exhibit a TEM00 spatial profile with single-peak Gaussian distribution. With an equivalent spectral brightness of 6.68×1020 photons s-1 mm-2 sr-1 0.1% BW-1, this OPO represents a viable table-top alternative to synchrotron and supercontinuum sources for deep-IR applications in spectroscopy, metrology and medical diagnostics.

Slowing of Femtosecond Laser-Generated Nanoparticles in a Background Gas

DOE PAGES

Rouleau, Christopher M.; Puretzky, Alexander A.; Geohegan, David B.

2014-11-25

The slowing of Pt nanoparticles in argon background gas was characterized by Rayleigh scattering imaging using a plume of nanoparticles generated by femtosecond laser through thin film ablation (fs-TTFA) of 20 nanometers-thick Pt films. The ablation was performed at threshold laser energy fluences for complete film removal to provide a well-defined plume consisting almost entirely of nanoparticles traveling with a narrow velocity distribution, providing a unique system to unambiguously characterize the slowing of nanoparticles during interaction with background gases. Nanoparticles of ~200 nm diameter were found to decelerate in background Ar gas with pressures less than 50 Torr in goodmore » agreement with a linear drag model in the Epstein regime. Based on this model, the stopping distance of small nanoparticles in the plume was predicted and tested by particle collection in an off-axis geometry, and size distribution analysis by transmission electron microscopy. These results permit a basis to interpret nanoparticle propagation through background gases in laser ablation plumes that contain mixed components.« less

Asynchronous and synchronous dual-wavelength pulse generation in a passively mode-locked fiber laser with a mode-locker.

PubMed

Hu, Guoqing; Pan, Yingling; Zhao, Xin; Yin, Siyao; Zhang, Meng; Zheng, Zheng

2017-12-01

The evolution from asynchronous to synchronous dual-wavelength pulse generation in a passively mode-locked fiber laser is experimentally investigated by tailoring the intracavity dispersion. Through tuning the intracavity-loss-dependent gain profile and the birefringence-induced filter effect, asynchronous dual-wavelength soliton pulses can be generated until the intracavity anomalous dispersion is reduced to ∼8  fs/nm. The transition from asynchronous to synchronous pulse generation is then observed at an elevated pump power in the presence of residual anomalous dispersion, and it is shown that pulses are temporally synchronized at the mode-locker in the cavity. Spectral sidelobes are observed and could be attributed to the four-wave-mixing effect between dual-wavelength pulses at the carbon nanotube mode-locker. These results could provide further insight into the design and realization of such dual-wavelength ultrafast lasers for different applications such as dual-comb metrology as well as better understanding of the inter-pulse interactions in such dual-comb lasers.

Opto-injection into single living cells by femtosecond near-infrared laser

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Peng, Cheng

This dissertation presents a novel technique to deliver membrane impermeable molecules into single living cells with the assistance of femtosecond (fs) near-infrared (NIR) laser pulses. This approach merges ultrafast laser technology with key biological, biomedical, and medical applications, such as gene transfection, gene therapy and drug delivery. This technique promises several major advantages, namely, very high transfection efficiency, high cell survival rate (≈100%) and fully preserved cell viabilities. It is also a promising method to deliver molecules into cells that are difficult or even completely resistant to established physical methods, such as microinjection by glass pipettes, electroporation, and biolistics. In this work, the system for fs NIR opto-injection was designed and built. Successful fs NIR opto-injection has been performed on several cell systems including single mammalian cells (bovine aortic endothelial cells), marine animal eggs (Spisula solidissima oocytes), and human cancer cells (fibrosarcoma HT1080) cultured in a tissue-like environment. The connections between laser parameters and cell responses were explored through further experiments and in-depth analyses, especially the relationship between dye uptake rate and incident laser intensity, and the relationship between pore size created on cell membranes and incident laser intensity. Dye uptake rate of the target cells was observed to depend on incident laser intensity. Pore size was found dependent on incident laser intensity. The conclusion was made that laser-induced breakdown and plasma-induced ablation in cell membrane are the physical principles that govern the process of fs NIR opto-injection.

Nanodissection of human chromosomes and ultraprecise eye surgery with nanojoule near-infrared femtosecond laser pulses

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Koenig, Karsten; Riemann, Iris; Krauss, Oliver; Fritzsche, Wolfgang

2002-04-01

Nanojoule and sub-nanojoule 80 MHz femtosecond laser pulses at 750-850 nm of a compact titanium:sapphire laser have been used for highly precise nanoprocessing of DNA as well as of intracellular and intratissue compartments. In particular, a mean power between 15 mW and 100 mW, 170 fs pulse width, submicron distance of illumination spots and microsecond beam dwell times on spots have been used for multiphoton- mediated nanoprocessing of human chromosomes, brain and ocular intrastromal tissue. By focusing the laser beam with high numerical aperture focusing optics of the laser scan system femt-O-cut and of modified multiphoton scanning microscopes to diffraction-limited spots and TW/cm2 light intensities, precise submicron holes and cuts have been processed by single spot exposure and line scans. A minimum FWHM cut size below 70 nm during the partial dissection of the human chromosome 3 was achieved. Complete chromosome dissection could be performed with FWHM cut sizes below 200 nm. Intracellular chromosome dissection was possible. Intratissue processing in depths of 50 - 100micrometers and deeper with a precision of about 1micrometers including cuts through a nuclei of a single intratissue cell without destructive photo-disruption effects to surrounding tissue layers have been demonstrated in brain and eye tissues. The femt-O-cut system includes a diagnostic system for optical tomography with submicron resolution based on multiphoton- excited autofluorescence imaging (MAI) and second harmonic generation. This system was used to localize the intracellular and intratissue targets and to control the effects of nanoprocessing. These studies show, that in contrast to conventional approaches of material processing with amplified femtosecond laser systems and (mu) J pulse energies, nanoprocessing of materials including biotissues can be performed with nJ and sub-nJ high repetition femtosecond laser pulses of turn-key compact lasers without collateral damage. Potential applications include highly precise cell and embryo surgery, gene diagnostics and gene therapy, intrastromal refractive surgery, cancer therapy and brain surgery.

Cornea surgery with nanojoule femtosecond laser pulses

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Koenig, Karsten; Wang, Bagui; Riemann, Iris; Kobow, Jens

2005-04-01

We report on a novel optical method for (i) flap-generation in LASIK procedures as well as (ii) for flap-free intrastromal refractive surgery based on nanojoule femtosecond laser pulses. The near infrared 200 fs pulses for multiphoton ablation have been provided by ultracompact turn-key MHz laser resonators. LASIK flaps and intracorneal cavities have been realized with high precision within living New Zealand rabbits using the system FemtoCutO (JenLab GmbH, Jena, Germany) at 800 nm laser wavelength. Using low-energy sub-2 nJ laser pulses, collateral damage due to photodisruptive and self-focusing effects was avoided. The laser ablation system consists of fast galvoscanners, focusing optics of high numerical aperture as well as a sensitive imaging system and provides also the possibility of 3D multiphoton imaging of fluorescent cellular organelles and SHG signals from collagen. Multiphoton tomography of the cornea was used to determine the exact intratissue beam position and to visualize intraocular post-laser effects. The wound healing process has been investigated up to 90 days after instrastromal laser ablation by histological analysis. Regeneration of damaged collagen structures and the migration of inflammation cells have been detected.

Enhancement of stability of aqueous suspension of alumina nanoparticles by femtosecond laser irradiation

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Seo, Youngsang; Ha, Jeonghong; Kim, Dongsik, E-mail: dskim87@postech.ac.kr

2015-09-21

In this work, we report substantially enhanced colloidal stability of aqueous nanoparticle suspensions by ultrashort laser pulse irradiation. A Ti:Sapphire femtosecond laser (wavelength: 800 nm; pulse duration: 50 fs at full width at half maximum) was used to modify the electrochemical properties of nanoparticle suspensions at laser fluences below the particle ablation threshold. The colloidal stability of the suspension was evaluated by zeta potential and dynamic light scattering (DLS). The DLS results along with the images from transmission electron microscopy revealed that the laser irradiation caused no distinct morphological change to the individual alumina particles, but a substantial portion of themore » clustered particles was fragmented by the laser pulses, decreasing the apparent size of the suspended particles. Also, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis indicates that the laser irradiation modified the surface chemistry of the alumina particles. The stabilizing capability of the proposed technique was turned out to be better than that of conventional ultrasonic treatments. The stability of the laser-treated sample with no added surfactant was maintained for up to 30 days, without requiring an additional homogenizing process such as magnetic stirring.« less

Fabrication of low loss waveguide using fundamental light of Yb-based femtosecond laser (Conference Presentation)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Imai, Ryo; Konishi, Kuniaki; Yumoto, Junji; Gonokami, Makoto K.

2017-03-01

Laser direct writing of optical devices and circuits is attracted attention because of its ability of three-dimensional fabrication without any mask[1]. Recently, Yb-fiber or solid-state laser has been commonly used for fabrication in addition to traditional Ti:S laser. However, it is reported that waveguide cannot be fabricated in fused silica by using the fundamental light from Yb-based femtosecond laser[2]. Some groups reported on waveguide fabrication by using second-harmonic beam of such lasers[3], but wavelength conversion using nonlinear process has drawbacks such as destabilization of laser power and beam deformation by walk off. In this study, we investigated fabrication of low-loss waveguide in fused silica by using the fundamental beam (1030nm) from an Yb solid-state femtosecond laser with a pulse duration of 250 fs. The NA of focusing objective lens was 0.42. The fabricated waveguide was made to have a circular cross-section by shaping laser beam with a slit[4]. We fixed repetition rate to 150 kHz, and identified appropriate scan speed and pulse energy for fabrication of low loss waveguide. Waveguide fabricated with appropriate condition had a propagation loss of 0.2 dB/cm, and this is the first report on optical waveguides in a fused silica fabricated by femto-second laser pulses at a wavelength of 1030nm. [1]K. M. Davis, et. al., Opt. Lett 21, 1729(1996) [2]J. Canning, et. al., Opt. Mater. Express 1, 998(2011) [3]L. Shah, et. al., Opt. Express 13, 1999(2005) [4]M. Ams, et. al., Opt. Express 13, 5676(2005)

Flight Tasks and Metrics to Evaluate Laser Eye Protection in Flight Simulators

DTIC Science & Technology

2017-07-07

AFRL-RH-FS-TR-2017-0026 Flight Tasks and Metrics to Evaluate Laser Eye Protection in Flight Simulators Thomas K. Kuyk Peter A. Smith Solangia...34Flight Tasks and Metrics to Evaluate Laser Eye Protection in Flight Simulators" (AFRL-RH-FS-TR- 2017 - 0026 SHORTER.PATRI CK.D.1023156390 Digitally...SUBTITLE Flight Tasks and Metrics to Evaluate Laser Eye Protection in Flight Simulators 5a. CONTRACT NUMBER FA8650-14-D-6519 5b. GRANT NUMBER 5c

Frequency comb based on a narrowband Yb-fiber oscillator: pre-chirp management for self-referenced carrier envelope offset frequency stabilization.

PubMed

Lim, Jinkang; Chen, Hung-Wen; Chang, Guoqing; Kärtner, Franz X

2013-02-25

Laser frequency combs are normally based on mode-locked oscillators emitting ultrashort pulses of ~100-fs or shorter. In this paper, we present a self-referenced frequency comb based on a narrowband (5-nm bandwidth corresponding to 415-fs transform-limited pulses) Yb-fiber oscillator with a repetition rate of 280 MHz. We employ a nonlinear Yb-fiber amplifier to both amplify the narrowband pulses and broaden their optical spectrum. To optimize the carrier envelope offset frequency (fCEO), we optimize the nonlinear pulse amplification by pre-chirping the pulses at the amplifier input. An optimum negative pre-chirp exists, which produces a signal-to-noise ratio of 35 dB (100 kHz resolution bandwidth) for the detected fCEO. We phase stabilize the fCEO using a feed-forward method, resulting in 0.64-rad (integrated from 1 Hz to 10 MHz) phase noise for the in-loop error signal. This work demonstrates the feasibility of implementing frequency combs from a narrowband oscillator, which is of particular importance for realizing large line-spacing frequency combs based on multi-GHz oscillators usually emitting long (>200 fs) pulses.

Femtosecond-resolved ablation dynamics of Si in the near field of a small dielectric particle

PubMed Central

Kühler, Paul; Puerto, Daniel; Mosbacher, Mario; Leiderer, Paul; Garcia de Abajo, Francisco Javier

2013-01-01

Summary In this work we analyze the ablation dynamics of crystalline Si in the intense near field generated by a small dielectric particle located at the material surface when being irradiated with an infrared femtosecond laser pulse (800 nm, 120 fs). The presence of the particle (7.9 μm diameter) leads to a strong local enhancement (ca. 40 times) of the incoming intensity of the pulse. The transient optical response of the material has been analyzed by means of fs-resolved optical microscopy in reflection configuration over a time span from 0.1 ps to about 1 ns. Characteristic phenomena like electron plasma formation, ultrafast melting and ablation, along with their characteristic time scales are observed in the region surrounding the particle. The use of a time resolved imaging technique allows us recording simultaneously the material response at ordinary and large peak power densities enabling a direct comparison between both scenarios. The time resolved images of near field exposed regions are consistent with a remarkable temporal shift of the ablation onset which occurs in the sub-picosend regime, from about 500 to 800 fs after excitation. PMID:24062976

Photodynamic therapy and two-photon bio-imaging applications of hydrophobic chromophores through amphiphilic polymer delivery.

PubMed

Gallavardin, Thibault; Maurin, Mathieu; Marotte, Sophie; Simon, Timea; Gabudean, Ana-Maria; Bretonnière, Yann; Lindgren, Mikael; Lerouge, Frédéric; Baldeck, Patrick L; Stéphan, Olivier; Leverrier, Yann; Marvel, Jacqueline; Parola, Stéphane; Maury, Olivier; Andraud, Chantal

2011-07-01

The synthesis and photophysical properties of two lipophilic quadrupolar chromophores featuring anthracenyl (1) or dibromobenzene (2) were described. These two chromophores combined significant two-photon absorption cross-sections with high fluorescence quantum yield for 1 and improved singlet oxygen generation efficiency for 2, in organic solvents. The use of Pluronic nanoparticles allowed a simple and straightforward introduction of these lipophilic chromophores into biological cell media. Their internal distribution in various cell lines was studied using fluorescence microscopy and flow-cytometry following a successful staining that was achieved upon 2 h of incubation. Finally, multiphoton excitation microscopy and photodynamic therapy capability of the chromophores were demonstrated by cell exposure to a 820 nm fs laser and cell death upon one photon resonant irradiation at 436 ± 10 nm, respectively.

Two-stage optical parametric chirped-pulse amplifier using sub-nanosecond pump pulse generated by stimulated Brillouin scattering compression

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ogino, Jumpei; Miyamoto, Sho; Matsuyama, Takahiro; Sueda, Keiichi; Yoshida, Hidetsugu; Tsubakimoto, Koji; Miyanaga, Noriaki

2014-12-01

We demonstrate optical parametric chirped-pulse amplification (OPCPA) based on two-beam pumping, using sub-nanosecond pulses generated by stimulated Brillouin scattering compression. Seed pulse energy, duration, and center wavelength were 5 nJ, 220 ps, and ˜1065 nm, respectively. The 532 nm pulse from a Q-switched Nd:YAG laser was compressed to ˜400 ps in heavy fluorocarbon FC-40 liquid. Stacking of two time-delayed pump pulses reduced the amplifier gain fluctuation. Using a walk-off-compensated two-stage OPCPA at a pump energy of 34 mJ, a total gain of 1.6 × 105 was obtained, yielding an output energy of 0.8 mJ. The amplified chirped pulse was compressed to 97 fs.

High-power Femtosecond Optical Parametric Amplification at 1 kHz in BiB(3)O(6) pumped at 800 nm.

PubMed

Petrov, Valentin; Noack, Frank; Tzankov, Pancho; Ghotbi, Masood; Ebrahim-Zadeh, Majid; Nikolov, Ivailo; Buchvarov, Ivan

2007-01-22

Substantial power scaling of a travelling-wave femtosecond optical parametric amplifier, pumped near 800 nm by a 1 kHz Ti:sapphire laser amplifier, is demonstrated using monoclinic BiB(3)O(6) in a two stage scheme with continuum seeding. Total energy output (signal plus idler) exceeding 1 mJ is achieved, corresponding to an intrinsic conversion efficiency of approximately 32% for the second stage. The tunability extends from 1.1 to 2.9 microm. The high parametric gain and broad amplification bandwidth of this crystal allowed the maintenance of the pump pulse duration, leading to pulse lengths less than 140 fs, both for the signal and idler pulses, even at such high output levels.

Ultrafast photodissociation dynamics of 1,4-diiodobenzene

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stankus, Brian; Zotev, Nikola; Rogers, David M.; Gao, Yan; Odate, Asami; Kirrander, Adam; Weber, Peter M.

2018-05-01

The photodissociation dynamics of 1,4-diiodobenzene is investigated using ultrafast time-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy. Following excitation by laser pulses at 271 nm, the excited-state dynamics is probed by resonance-enhanced multiphoton ionization with 405 nm probe pulses. A progression of Rydberg states, which come into resonance sequentially, provide a fingerprint of the dissociation dynamics of the molecule. The initial excitation decays with a lifetime of 33 ± 4 fs, in good agreement with a previous study. The spectrum is interpreted by reference to ab initio calculations at the CASPT2(18,14) level, including spin-orbit coupling. We propose that both the 5B1 and 6B1 states are excited initially, and based on the calculations, we identify diabatic spin-orbit coupled states corresponding to the main dissociation pathways.

Multi-imaging analysis of nascent surface structures generated during femtosecond laser irradiation of silicon in high vacuum

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gesuele, F.; JJ Nivas, J.; Fittipaldi, R.; Altucci, C.; Bruzzese, R.; Maddalena, P.; Amoruso, S.

2018-02-01

We report a correlative imaging analysis of a crystalline silicon target after irradiation with a low number of 1055 nm, 850 fs laser pulses with several microscopy techniques (e.g., scanning electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, Raman micro-imaging and confocal optical microscopy). The analysis is carried out on samples irradiated both in high vacuum and at atmospheric pressure conditions, evidencing interesting differences induced by the ambient environment. In high-vacuum conditions, the results evidence the formation of a halo, which is constituted by alternate stripes of amorphous and crystalline silicon, around the nascent ablation crater. In air, such an effect is drastically reduced, due to the significant back-deposition of nanoparticulate material induced by the larger ambient pressure.

Generation and parametric amplification of broadband chirped pulses in the near-infrared

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Marcinkevičiūtė, A.; Michailovas, K.; Butkus, R.

2018-05-01

We demonstrate generation and optical parametric amplification of broadband chirped pulses in the range of 1.8- 2 . 5 μm. The setup is built around Ti:sapphire oscillator as a seed source and 1 kHz Nd:YAG laser system as a pump source. Visible broadband seed pulses are temporally stretched and amplified in a non-collinear optical parametric amplifier before being mixed with fundamental harmonic of the pump laser. Difference frequency generation between positively-chirped broadband pulses centered at 0 . 7 μm and non-chirped narrowband pulses at 1064 nm produces negatively-chirped wide spectral bandwidth pulses in the infrared. After subsequent parametric amplification, pulses with more than 0.5 mJ energy were obtained with spectral bandwidth supporting transform-limited pulse durations as short as 23 fs.

Deep Laser-Assisted Lamellar Anterior Keratoplasty with Microkeratome-Cut Grafts

PubMed Central

Yokogawa, Hideaki; Tang, Maolong; Li, Yan; Liu, Liang; Chamberlain, Winston; Huang, David

2016-01-01

Background The goals of this laboratory study were to evaluate the interface quality in laser-assisted lamellar anterior keratoplasty (LALAK) with microkeratome-cut grafts, and to achieve good graft–host apposition. Methods Simulated LALAK surgeries were performed on six pairs of eye bank corneoscleral discs. Anterior lamellar grafts were precut with microkeratomes. Deep femtosecond (FS) laser cuts were performed on host corneas followed by excimer laser smoothing. Different parameters of FS laser cuts and excimer laser smoothing were tested. OCT was used to measure corneal pachymetry and evaluate graft-host apposition. The interface quality was quantified in a masked fashion using a 5-point scale based on scanning electron microscopy images. Results Deep FS laser cuts at 226–380 μm resulted in visible ridges on the host bed. Excimer laser smoothing with central ablation depth of 29 μm and saline as a smoothing agent did not adequately reduce ridges (score = 4.0). Deeper excimer laser ablation of 58 μm and Optisol-GS as a smoothing agent smoothed ridges to an acceptable level (score = 2.1). Same sizing of the graft and host cut diameters with an approximately 50 μm deeper host side-cut relative to the central graft thickness provided the best graft–host fit. Conclusions Deep excimer laser ablation with a viscous smoothing agent was needed to remove ridges after deep FS lamellar cuts. The host side cut should be deep enough to accommodate thicker graft peripheral thickness compared to the center. This LALAK design provides smooth lamellar interfaces, moderately thick grafts, and good graft-host fits. PMID:26890667

Materials processing by use of a Ti:Sapphire laser with automatically-adjustable pulse duration

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kamata, M.; Imahoko, T.; Ozono, K.; Obara, M.

We have developed an automatic pulsewidth-adjustable femtosecond Ti:Sapphire laser system that can generate an output of 50 fs-1 ps in duration, and sub-mJ/pulse at a repetition rate of 1 kpps. The automatic pulse compressor enables one to control the pulsewidth in the range of 50 fs-1 ps by use of a personal computer (PC). The compressor can change the distance in-between and the tilt angle of the grating pairs by use of two stepping motors and two piezo-electric transducer(PZT) driven actuators, respectively. Both are controlled by a PC. Therefore, not only control of the pulsewidth, but also of the optical chirp becomes easy. By use of this femtosecond laser system, we fabricated a waveguide in fused quartz. The numerical aperture is chosen to 0.007 to loosely focus the femtosecond laser. The fabricated waveguides are well controllable by the incident laser pulsewidth. We also demonstrated the ablation processing of hydroxyapatite (Ca10(PO4)6(OH)2), which is a key component of human tooth and human bone for orthopedics and dentistry. With pulsewidth tunable output from 50 fs through 2 ps at 1 kpps, the chemical content of calcium and phosphorus is kept unchanged before and after 50-fs-2-ps laser ablation. We also demonstrated the precise ablation processing of human tooth enamel with 2 ps Ti:Sapphire laser.

Optical coherence tomography monitoring of vocal fold femtosecond laser microsurgery

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wisweh, Henning; Merkel, Ulrich; Hüller, Ann-Kristin; Lüerßen, Kathrin; Lubatschowski, Holger

2007-07-01

Surgery of benign pathological alterations of the vocal folds results in permanent disphonia if the bounderies of the vocal fold layers are disregarded. Precise cutting with a femtosecond laser (fs-laser) combined with simultanous imaging of the layered structure enables accurate resections with respect to the layer boundaries. Earlier works demonstrated the capability of optical coherence tomography (OCT) for utilization on vocal folds. The layered structure can be imaged with a spatial resolution of 10-20μm up to a depth of 1.5mm. The performance of fs-laser cutting was analyzed on extracted porcine vocal folds with OCT monitoring. Histopathological sections of the same processed samples could be well correlated with the OCT images. With adequate laser parameters thermal effects induced only negligable damage to the processed tissue. The dimensions of the thermal necrosis were determined to be smaller than 1μm. OCT contolled fs-laser cutting of porcine vocal fold tissue in the μm range with minimal tissue damage is presented.

Bright betatron X-ray radiation from a laser-driven-clustering gas target

PubMed Central

Chen, L. M.; Yan, W. C.; Li, D. Z.; Hu, Z. D.; Zhang, L.; Wang, W. M.; Hafz, N.; Mao, J. Y.; Huang, K.; Ma, Y.; Zhao, J. R.; Ma, J. L.; Li, Y. T.; Lu, X.; Sheng, Z. M.; Wei, Z. Y.; Gao, J.; Zhang, J.

2013-01-01

Hard X-ray sources from femtosecond (fs) laser-produced plasmas, including the betatron X-rays from laser wakefield-accelerated electrons, have compact sizes, fs pulse duration and fs pump-probe capability, making it promising for wide use in material and biological sciences. Currently the main problem with such betatron X-ray sources is the limited average flux even with ultra-intense laser pulses. Here, we report ultra-bright betatron X-rays can be generated using a clustering gas jet target irradiated with a small size laser, where a ten-fold enhancement of the X-ray yield is achieved compared to the results obtained using a gas target. We suggest the increased X-ray photon is due to the existence of clusters in the gas, which results in increased total electron charge trapped for acceleration and larger wiggling amplitudes during the acceleration. This observation opens a route to produce high betatron average flux using small but high repetition rate laser facilities for applications. PMID:23715033

High power lasers for gamma source

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Durand, Magali; Sangla, Damien; Trophème, Benoit; Sevillano, Pierre; Casanova, Alexis; Caillon, Laurianne; Courjaud, Antoine

2017-02-01

A high intensity Gamma source is required for Nuclear Spectroscopy, it will be delivered by the interaction between accelerated electron and intense laser beams. Those two interactions lasers are based on a multi-stage amplification scheme that ended with a second harmonics generation to deliver 200 mJ, 3.5 ps pulses at 515 nm and 100 Hz. A t-Pulse oscillator with slow and fast feedback loop implemented inside the oscillator cavity allows the possibility of synchronization to an optical reference. A temporal jitter of 120 fs rms is achieved, integrated from 10 Hz to 10 MHz. Then a regenerative amplifier, based on Yb:YAG technology, pumped by fiber-coupled QCW laser diodes, delivers pulses up to 30 mJ. The 1 nm bandwidth was compressed to 1.5 ps with a good spatial quality: M2 of 1.1. This amplifier is integrated in a compact sealed housing (750x500x150 cm), which allows a pulse-pulse stability of 0.1% rms, and a long-term stability of 1,9% over 100 hours (with +/-1°C environment). The main amplification stage uses a cryocooled Yb:YAG crystal in an active mirror configuration. The crystal is cooled at 130 K via a compact and low-vibration cryocooler, avoiding any additional phase noise contribution, 340 mJ in a six pass scheme was achieved, with 0.9 of Strehl ratio. The trade off to the gain of a cryogenic amplifier is the bandwidth reduction, however the 1030 nm pulse was compressed to 3.5 ps.

Mechanisms of the formation of low spatial frequency LIPSS on Ni/  Ti reactive multilayers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cangueiro, Liliana T.; Cavaleiro, André J.; Morgiel, Jerzy; Vilar, Rui

2016-09-01

The present paper aims at investigating the mechanisms of imprinting LIPSS (laser-induced periodic surface structures), arrangements of parallel ripples with a periodicity slightly smaller than the radiation wavelength, on metallic surfaces. To this end, Ni/Ti multi-layered samples produced by magnetron sputtering were textured with LIPSS using a 1030 nm, 560 fs pulse duration laser and pulse frequency of 1 kHz, and the resulting surfaces were investigated by scanning and transmission electron microscopies. The results obtained show that the core of the ripples remains in the solid state during the laser treatment, except for a layer of material about 30 nm thick at the valleys and 65-130 nm thick at the top of the crests, which melts and solidifies forming NiTi with an amorphous structure. A layer of ablation debris composed of amorphous NiTi nanoparticles was redeposited on the LIPSS crests. The results achieved indicate that the periodic variation of the absorbed radiation intensity leads to a variation of the predominant ablation mechanisms and, consequently, of the ablation rate, thus explaining the rippled surface topography. The comparison with theoretical predictions suggests that in the intensity maxima (corresponding to the valleys) the material is removed by liquid spallation, while at its minima (the crests) the predominant material removal mechanism is melting and vaporization. These results support Sipe et al LIPSS formation theory and are in contradiction with the theories that explain the formation of LIPSS by convective fluid flow or self-organized mass transport of a laser-induced instability.

Two-photon excitation photodynamic therapy with Photofrin

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Karotki, Aliaksandr; Khurana, Mamta; Lepock, James R.; Wilson, Brian C.

2005-09-01

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) based on simultaneous two-photon (2-γ) excitation has a potential advantage of highly targeted treatment by means of nonlinear localized photosensitizer excitation. One of the possible applications of 2-γ PDT is a treatment of exodus age-related macular degeneration where highly targeted excitation of photosensitizer in neovasculature is vital for reducing collateral damage to healthy surrounding tissue. To investigate effect of 2-γ PDT Photofrin was used as an archetypal photosensitizer. First, 2-γ absorption properties of Photofrin in the 750 - 900 nm excitation wavelength range were investigated. It was shown that above 800 nm 2-γ interaction was dominant mode of excitation. The 2-γ cross section of Photofrin was rather small and varied between 5 and 10 GM (1 GM = 10-50 cm4s/photon) in this wavelength range. Next, endothelial cells treated with Photofrin were used to model initial effect of 2-γ PDT on neovasculature. Ultrashort laser pulses provided by mode-locked Ti:sapphire laser (pulse duration at the sample 300 fs, repetition rate 90 MHz, mean laser power 10 mW, excitation wavelength 850 nm) were used for the excitation of the photosensitizer. Before 2-γ excitation of the Photofrin cells formed a single continuous sheet at the bottom of the well. The tightly focused laser light was scanned repeatedly over the cell layer. After irradiation the cell layer of the control cells stayed intact while cells treated with photofrin became clearly disrupted. The light doses required were high (6300 Jcm(-2) for ~ 50% killing), but 2-γ cytotoxicity was unequivocally demonstrated.

Efficient terahertz wave generation from GaP crystals pumped by chirp-controlled pulses from femtosecond photonic crystal fiber amplifier

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Li, Jiang; Shi, Junkai; Xu, Baozhong

2014-01-20

A chirp-tunable femtosecond 10 W, 42 MHz photonic-crystal-fiber oscillator-amplifier system that is capable of delivering sub-60 fs light pulses at 1040 nm is used to demonstrate high-efficiency terahertz radiation generation via optical rectification in GaP crystals only a few millimeters in length. The optimization of the chirp of the fiber-laser pulses is shown to radically enhance the terahertz output, indicating one possible way to more efficiently use these extended nonlinear crystals in compact fiber-pumped terahertz radiation sources.

High-efficiency, broad band, high-damage threshold high-index gratings for femtosecond pulse compression.

PubMed

Canova, Frederico; Clady, Raphael; Chambaret, Jean-Paul; Flury, Manuel; Tonchev, Svtelen; Fechner, Renate; Parriaux, Olivier

2007-11-12

High efficiency, broad-band TE-polarization diffraction over a wavelength range centered at 800 nm is obtained by high index gratings placed on a non-corrugated mirror. More than 96% efficiency wide band top-hat diffraction efficiency spectra, as well as more than 1 J/cm(2) damage threshold under 50 fs pulses are demonstrated experimentally. This opens the way to high-efficiency Chirped Pulse Amplification for high average power laser machining by means of all-dielectric structures as well as for ultra-short high energy pulses by means of metal-dielectric structures.

Construction and characterization of ultraviolet acousto-optic based femtosecond pulse shapers

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Mcgrane, Shawn D; Moore, David S; Greenfield, Margo T

2008-01-01

We present all the information necessary for construction and characterization of acousto optic pulse shapers, with a focus on ultraviolet wavelengths, Various radio-frequency drive configurations are presented to allow optimization via knowledgeable trade-off of design features. Detailed performance characteristics of a 267 nm acousto-optic modulator (AOM) based pulse shaper are presented, Practical considerations for AOM based pulse shaping of ultra-broad bandwidth (sub-10 fs) amplified femtosecond pulse shaping are described, with particular attention paid to the effects of the RF frequency bandwidth and optical frequency bandwidth on the spatial dispersion of the output laser pulses.

Reduction of timing jitter and intensity noise in normal-dispersion passively mode-locked fiber lasers by narrow band-pass filtering.

PubMed

Qin, Peng; Song, Youjian; Kim, Hyoji; Shin, Junho; Kwon, Dohyeon; Hu, Minglie; Wang, Chingyue; Kim, Jungwon

2014-11-17

Fiber lasers mode-locked with normal cavity dispersion have recently attracted great attention due to large output pulse energy and femtosecond pulse duration. Here we accurately characterized the timing jitter of normal-dispersion fiber lasers using a balanced cross-correlation method. The timing jitter characterization experiments show that the timing jitter of normal-dispersion mode-locked fiber lasers can be significantly reduced by using narrow band-pass filtering (e.g., 7-nm bandwidth filtering in this work). We further identify that the timing jitter of the fiber laser is confined in a limited range, which is almost independent of cavity dispersion map due to the amplifier-similariton formation by insertion of the narrow bandpass filter. The lowest observed timing jitter reaches 0.57 fs (rms) integrated from 10 kHz to 10 MHz Fourier frequency. The rms relative intensity noise (RIN) is also reduced from 0.37% to 0.02% (integrated from 1 kHz to 5 MHz Fourier frequency) by the insertion of narrow band-pass filter.

Propagation of ultrashort laser pulses in water: linear absorption and onset of nonlinear spectral transformation.

PubMed

Sokolov, Alexei V; Naveira, Lucas M; Poudel, Milan P; Strohaber, James; Trendafilova, Cynthia S; Buck, William C; Wang, Jieyu; Strycker, Benjamin D; Wang, Chao; Schuessler, Hans; Kolomenskii, Alexandre; Kattawar, George W

2010-01-20

We study propagation of short laser pulses through water and use a spectral hole filling technique to essentially perform a sensitive balanced comparison of absorption coefficients for pulses of different duration. This study is motivated by an alleged violation of the Bouguer-Lambert-Beer law at low light intensities, where the pulse propagation is expected to be linear, and by a possible observation of femtosecond optical precursors in water. We find that at low intensities, absorption of laser light is determined solely by its spectrum and does not directly depend on the pulse duration, in agreement with our earlier work and in contradiction to some work of others. However, as the laser fluence is increased, interaction of light with water becomes nonlinear, causing energy exchange among the pulse's spectral components and resulting in peak-intensity dependent (and therefore pulse-duration dependent) transmission. For 30 fs pulses at 800 nm center wavelength, we determine the onset of nonlinear propagation effects to occur at a peak value of about 0.12 mJ/cm(2) of input laser energy fluence.

Nonlinear side effects of fs pulses inside corneal tissue during photodisruption

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Heisterkamp, A.; Ripken, T.; Mamom, T.; Drommer, W.; Welling, H.; Ertmer, W.; Lubatschowski, H.

In order to evaluate the potential for refractive surgery, fs laser pulses of 150-fs pulse duration were used to process corneal tissue of dead and living animal eyes. By focusing the laser radiation down to spot sizes of several microns, very precise cuts could be achieved inside the treated cornea, accompanied with minimum collateral damage to the tissue by thermal or mechanical effects. During histo-pathological analysis by light and transmission electron microscopy considerable side effects of fs photodisruption were found. Due to the high intensities at the focal region several nonlinear effects occurred. Self-focusing, photodissociation, UV-light production were observed, leading to streak formation inside the cornea.

The Physics of Ultrabroadband Frequency Comb Generation and Optimized Combs for Measurements in Fundamental Physics

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-07-02

beams Superresolution machining Threshold effect of ablation means that structure diameter is less than the beam diameter fs pulses at 800 nm yield 200...Approved for public release: distribution unlimited. Applications of Bessel beams Superresolution machining Threshold effect of ablation means that... Superresolution machining Threshold effect of ablation means that structure diameter is less than the beam diameter fs pulses at 800 nm yield 200 nm

Ultrashort pulse laser ablation of dielectrics: Thresholds, mechanisms, role of breakdown

PubMed Central

Mirza, Inam; Bulgakova, Nadezhda M.; Tomáštík, Jan; Michálek, Václav; Haderka, Ondřej; Fekete, Ladislav; Mocek, Tomáš

2016-01-01

In this paper, we establish connections between the thresholds and mechanisms of the damage and white-light generation upon femtosecond laser irradiation of wide-bandgap transparent materials. On the example of Corning Willow glass, evolution of ablation craters, their quality, and white-light emission were studied experimentally for 130-fs, 800-nm laser pulses. The experimental results indicate co-existence of several ablation mechanisms which can be separated in time. Suppression of the phase explosion mechanism of ablation was revealed at the middle of the irradiation spots. At high laser fluences, air ionization was found to strongly influence ablation rate and quality and the main mechanisms of the influence are analysed. To gain insight into the processes triggered by laser radiation in glass, numerical simulations have been performed with accounting for the balance of laser energy absorption and its distribution/redistribution in the sample, including bremsstrahlung emission from excited free-electron plasma. The simulations have shown an insignificant role of avalanche ionization at such short durations of laser pulses while pointing to high average energy of electrons up to several dozens of eV. At multi-pulse ablation regimes, improvement of crater quality was found as compared to single/few pulses. PMID:27991543

Ultrashort pulse laser ablation of dielectrics: Thresholds, mechanisms, role of breakdown

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mirza, Inam; Bulgakova, Nadezhda M.; Tomáštík, Jan; Michálek, Václav; Haderka, Ondřej; Fekete, Ladislav; Mocek, Tomáš

2016-12-01

In this paper, we establish connections between the thresholds and mechanisms of the damage and white-light generation upon femtosecond laser irradiation of wide-bandgap transparent materials. On the example of Corning Willow glass, evolution of ablation craters, their quality, and white-light emission were studied experimentally for 130-fs, 800-nm laser pulses. The experimental results indicate co-existence of several ablation mechanisms which can be separated in time. Suppression of the phase explosion mechanism of ablation was revealed at the middle of the irradiation spots. At high laser fluences, air ionization was found to strongly influence ablation rate and quality and the main mechanisms of the influence are analysed. To gain insight into the processes triggered by laser radiation in glass, numerical simulations have been performed with accounting for the balance of laser energy absorption and its distribution/redistribution in the sample, including bremsstrahlung emission from excited free-electron plasma. The simulations have shown an insignificant role of avalanche ionization at such short durations of laser pulses while pointing to high average energy of electrons up to several dozens of eV. At multi-pulse ablation regimes, improvement of crater quality was found as compared to single/few pulses.

Ultrashort pulse laser ablation of dielectrics: Thresholds, mechanisms, role of breakdown.

PubMed

Mirza, Inam; Bulgakova, Nadezhda M; Tomáštík, Jan; Michálek, Václav; Haderka, Ondřej; Fekete, Ladislav; Mocek, Tomáš

2016-12-19

In this paper, we establish connections between the thresholds and mechanisms of the damage and white-light generation upon femtosecond laser irradiation of wide-bandgap transparent materials. On the example of Corning Willow glass, evolution of ablation craters, their quality, and white-light emission were studied experimentally for 130-fs, 800-nm laser pulses. The experimental results indicate co-existence of several ablation mechanisms which can be separated in time. Suppression of the phase explosion mechanism of ablation was revealed at the middle of the irradiation spots. At high laser fluences, air ionization was found to strongly influence ablation rate and quality and the main mechanisms of the influence are analysed. To gain insight into the processes triggered by laser radiation in glass, numerical simulations have been performed with accounting for the balance of laser energy absorption and its distribution/redistribution in the sample, including bremsstrahlung emission from excited free-electron plasma. The simulations have shown an insignificant role of avalanche ionization at such short durations of laser pulses while pointing to high average energy of electrons up to several dozens of eV. At multi-pulse ablation regimes, improvement of crater quality was found as compared to single/few pulses.

Two-Photon Excited Fluorescence from Biological Aerosol Particles

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-09-29

in material damage. We overcame these limitations by building a band-limited Yb-doped fiber laser with no dispersion compensation [9], as the master...master oscillator was an all-normal- dispersion Yb-doped fiber laser [9], followed by high- dispersion fiber for stretching the pulses, a single-mode...of ~670 fs in duration, and its expected transform-limited pulse width for a normal- dispersion laser with this spectral width would be ~454 fs [10

Low-loss flake-graphene saturable absorber mirror for laser mode-locking at sub-200-fs pulse duration

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cunning, B. V.; Brown, C. L.; Kielpinski, D.

2011-12-01

Saturable absorbers are a key component for mode-locking femtosecond lasers. Polymer films containing graphene flakes have recently been used in transmission as laser mode-lockers but suffer from high nonsaturable loss, limiting their application in low-gain lasers. Here, we present a saturable absorber mirror based on a film of pure graphene flakes. The device is used to mode lock an erbium-doped fiber laser, generating pulses with state-of-the-art, sub-200-fs duration. The laser characteristic indicates that the film exhibits low nonsaturable loss (13% per pass) and large absorption modulation depth (45% of low-power absorption).

Pressure and Temperature Changes in In Vitro Applications with the Laser and Their Implications for Middle Ear Surgery

PubMed Central

Schwab, Burkard; Kontorinis, Georgios

2010-01-01

Background. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the thermal and pressure effects using a Titan Sapphire chirped-pulse amplifier system configured to deliver ultrashort pulses of 180 femtoseconds (fs) in an inner ear model. Materials and Methods. Temperature increases and heat exchange processes in the fluid (physiological saline) were examined in a calorically and physiologically approximated cochlea model for applying laser parameters effective in the creation of footplate perforations. Results. In the effective energy density range, the highest temperature increases achieved with the Carbon dioxide (CO2) laser were about 11 degrees C. The lowest temperature maxima were 6 degrees C with the Er:YAG laser (Yttrium-Aluminum-Oxide doted with Erbium3+-ions) and <5 degrees C with the femtosecond laser. Comparison of the laser-induced pressure with the limit graph published by Pfander indicated that the use of the fs laser is unobjectionable for fluences <1 J/cm2. Conclusions. Our investigations demonstrated that the application of the fs laser in middle ear surgery presents a new and promising addition to the range of ultrashort wavelength lasers used for this purpose. PMID:20953354

Comprehensive studies of ultrashort laser pulse ablation of tin target at terawatt power

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Elsied, Ahmed M.; Diwakar, Prasoon K.; Hassanein, Ahmed

2018-01-01

The fundamental properties of ultrashort laser interactions with metals using up to terawatt power were comprehensively studied, i.e., specifically mass ablation, nanoparticle formation, and ion dynamics using multitude of diagnostic techniques. Results of this study can be useful in many fields of research including spectroscopy, micromachining, thin film fabrication, particle acceleration, physics of warm dense matter, and equation-of-state determination. A Ti:Sapphire femtosecond laser system (110 mJ maximum energy, 40 fs, 800 nm, P-polarized, single pulse mode) was used, which delivered up to 3 terawatt laser power to ablate 1 mm tin film in vacuum. The experimental analysis includes the effect of the incident laser fluence on the ablated mass, size of the ablated area, and depth of ablation using white light profilometer. Atomic force microscope was used to measure the emitted particles size distribution at different laser fluence. Faraday cup (FC) detector was used to analyze the emitted ions flux by measuring the velocity, and the total charge of the emitted ions. The study shows that the size of emitted particles follows log-normal distribution with peak shifts depending on incident laser fluence. The size of the ablated particles ranges from 20 to 80 nm. The nanoparticles deposited on the wafer tend to aggregate and to be denser as the incident laser fluence increases as shown by AFM images. Laser ablation depth was found to increase logarithmically with laser fluence then leveling off at laser fluence > 400 J/cm2. The total ablated mass tends to increase logarithmically with laser fluence up to 60 J/cm2 while, increases gradually at higher fluence due to the increase in the ablated area. The measured ion emitted flux shows a linear dependence on laser fluence with two distinct regimes. Strong dependence on laser fluence was observed at fluences < 350 J/cm2. Also, a slight enhancement in ion velocity was observed with increasing laser fluence up to 350 J/cm2.

Supermode-noise-free eighth-order femtosecond soliton from a backward dark-optical-comb-injection mode-locked semiconductor optical amplifier fiber laser.

PubMed

Lin, Gong-Ru; Pan, Ci-Ling; Chiu, I-Hsiang

2006-03-15

A backward dark-optical-comb-injection mode-locked semiconductor optical amplifier fiber laser (SOAFL) with a femtosecond pulse width and an ultrahigh supermode-noise suppressing ratio (SMSR) is primarily demonstrated. The mode-locked SOAFL pulse with a spectral linewidth of 0.45 nm is shortened from 15 to 8.6 ps under chirp compensation in a 420 m long dispersion-compensated fiber, corresponding to a time-bandwidth product of 0.48. The eighth-order soliton is obtained by the nonlinearly soliton's compression of the chirp-compensated SOAFL pulse in a 112 m long single-mode fiber at an input peak power of 51 W, providing the pulse width, the linewidth, and the nearly transform-limited time-bandwidth product are <200 fs, 13.8 nm, and 0.34, respectively. The phase noise and integrated timing jitter at an offset frequency below 1 MHz are -105 dBc/Hz and 0.8 ps, respectively. An ultrahigh pulse-compression ratio of 43 and a SMSR of 87 dB for the eighth-order SOAFL soliton are reported.