Flat-top Laser Research Articles

First experimental comparisons of laser-plasma interactions between spherical and cylindrical hohlraums at SGIII laser facility

We present our recent laser-plasmas instability (LPI) comparison experiment at the SGIII laser facility between the spherical and cylindrical hohlraums. Three kinds of filling are considered: vacuum, gas-filling with or without a capsule inside. A spherical hohlraum of 3.6 mm in diameter, and a cylindrical hohlraum of 2.4 mm × 4.3 mm are used. The capsule diameter is 0.96 mm. A flat-top laser pulse with 3 ns duration and up to 92.73 kJ energy is used. The experiment has shown that the LPI level in the spherical hohlraum is close to that of the outer beam in the cylindrical hohlraum, while much lower than that of the inner beam. The experiment is further simulated by using our 2-dimensional radiation hydrodynamic code LARED-Integration, and the laser back-scattering fraction and the stimulated Raman scatter (SRS) spectrum are post-processed by the high efficiency code of laser interaction with plasmas HLIP. According to the simulation, the plasma waves are strongly damped and the SRS is mainly developed at the plasma conditions of electron density from 0.08 nc to 0.1 nc and electron temperature from 1.5 keV to 2.0 keV inside the hohlraums. However, obvious differences between the simulation and experiment are found, such as that the SRS back-scattering is underestimated, and the numerical SRS spectrum peaks at a larger wavelength and at a later time than the data. These differences indicate that the development of a 3D radiation hydrodynamic code, with more accurate physics models, is mandatory for spherical hohlraum study.

Experimental study on the incident-angle-dependent laser coupling features of polystyrene targets

Laser-produced plasmas have attracted great interest due to their potential utility in wide-ranging applications, especially in the field of inertial confinement fusion (ICF). For direct-driven ICF, laser coupling with polystyrene targets is a crucial and fundamental problem. In addition, oblique incidence is also a common phenomenon for laser facilities with multiple beams. It is necessary to evaluate the effects of oblique incidence on the laser coupling features relevant to the direct-driven ICF. Experiments using an intense nanosecond flat-top laser at around W cm–2 to irradiate polystyrene planar targets from three different incidence angles have been performed on the Shenguang-III prototype laser facility. The time-integrated absolute values of the full aperture backscatter (FABS), near backscatter scattering (NBS), and the x-ray conversion efficiency (CE) have been measured quantitatively. According to the experimental results, with the increase of the incidence angle, the percentage of the stimulated Brillouin backscatter and the overall x-ray CE decreased while the stimulated Raman backscatter fraction rose. Theoretical analyses based on hydrodynamic simulations and linear theory were qualitatively consistent with the experimental results. In addition, the specularly reflected light was also observed at 30° laser oblique incidence.

Generation of Controllable High Energy Nanosecond Flat-Top Waveform Based on Brillouin Amplification

We propose a method based on Brillouin amplification, which reshapes the Gaussian pulse generated from a $Q$ -switched laser into the flat-top waveform. The numerical simulations show that the reshaped waveform depends on Stokes pulse width and energy, and optimum conditions for a flat waveform are also investigated. It is demonstrated experimentally by the independent two-cell filled with FC-40 liquid. In the experiment, the flat-top waveform pulses with width from 9.1 to 13.3 ns and continuously adjustable energy from 90 to 210 mJ are obtained at the wavelength of 1064 nm. The pulses with flat-top waveform and high energy are achieved by injecting a small Stokes seed into the Brillouin amplifier, which is a novel method to obtain high-energy flat-top laser pulses.

平顶激光束诱导薄膜损伤阈值测量系统

平顶激光束诱导薄膜损伤阈值测量系统

Production of quasi ellipsoidal laser pulses for next generation high brightness photoinjectors

The use of high brightness electron beams in Free Electron Laser (FEL) applications is of increasing importance. One of the most promising methods to generate such beams is the usage of shaped photocathode laser pulses. It has already demonstrated that temporal and transverse flat-top laser pulses can produce very low emittance beams [1]. Nevertheless, based on beam simulations further improvements can be achieved using quasi-ellipsoidal laser pulses, e.g. 30% reduction in transverse projected emittance at 1nC bunch charge.In a collaboration between DESY, the Institute of Applied Physics of the Russian Academy of Science (IAP RAS) in Nizhny Novgorod and the Joint Institute of Nuclear Research (JINR) in Dubna such a laser system capable of producing trains of laser pulses with a quasi-ellipsoidal distribution, has been developed. The prototype of the system was installed at the Photo Injector Test facility at DESY in Zeuthen (PITZ) and is currently in the commissioning phase.In the following, the laser system will be introduced, the procedure of pulse shaping will be described and the last experimental results will be shown.

Influence of pulsed Nd3+ : YAG laser beam profile and wavelength on microscribing of copper and aluminum thin films

Evenly spaced conductive grids of copper and aluminum thin films on polyimide substrate are used for parabolic reflector antennas aboard telecommunications satellites. Laser microscribing of thin films using a flat-top and Gaussian laser beam profile is analyzed with 95% overlapping of the diameter of the laser spot. Laser scribing is performed using the Q-switched Nd3+: YAG (355, 532 nm) laser. The influence of laser irradiation and beam shape on the scribed microchannel width, depth, and surface characteristics is experimentally analyzed using a noncontact optical profilometer and scanning electron microscope (SEM). Laser scribing using a flat-top profile produced near rectangular microchannels in copper thin films. Using the Gaussian profile, the probability of melting is greater than vaporization as observed using SEM images; this melt pool plays a prominent role in resolidification at the edges. The depth of the scribe channel is observed to be 20% higher for the 532-nm wavelength compared to the 355-nm wavelength. The effect of different environments such as air, water, and vacuum on the channel depth and quality is reported. The response of aluminum and copper thin films for high fluences is also studied. Thermal modeling of the laser-material interaction has been attempted by assuming the plasma electron temperature as the laser ablation temperature for modeling the recession rate and depth for a single laser pulse. Model results agree with experimental data showing greater depth for 532 nm compared to 355 nm.

Experimental Approbation of Selective Laser Melting of Powders by the Use of Non-Gaussian Power Density Distributions

Experimental results on laser beam modulation at selective laser melting (SLM) are presented. The modulation is a possible way to improve the efficiency of the SLM process. The optical diagnostics shows the energy loss up to 30%. This could be a consequence of high thermal gradients in the melt pool resulted by the Gaussian power density distribution. The Gaussian distribution can be changed to the flat-top one or to the inverse-Gaussian (donut) one. An experimental stand with a 200W laser source was developed. Twenty single tracks for each of the three modes were obtained for a Co-Cr alloy. The samples were studied by scanning electronic microscopy (SEM) on irregularity. Optical diagnostics by high velocity camera (HVC) shows that the use of the non-Gaussian laser beam distributions can significantly reduce the width of the free-of-powder consolidation zone, which is considered as the main reason for irregularity of single tracks. A better metallurgical bonding of the single tracks with the substrate was obtained by the use of the flat-top laser beam. Both of these facts show a significant influence of the laser beam energy distribution on the energy loss at SLM, especially for high power laser sources. The observed escape of granules shows a possible influence of the dynamic factor. The use of the non-Gaussian distributions can enhance 3D parts, for example, improve the geometrical tolerance and decrease the residual porosity.

High-brightness X-ray free-electron laser with an optical undulator by pulse shaping

A normal-incident flattop laser with a tapered end is proposed as an optical undulator to achieve a high-gain and high-brightness X-ray free electron laser (FEL). The synchronic interaction of an electron bunch with the normal incident laser is realized by tilting the laser pulse front. The intensity of the flattop laser is kept constant during the interaction time of the electron bunch and the laser along the focal plane of a cylindrical lens. Optical shaping to generate the desired flattop pulse with a tapered end from an original Gaussian pulse distribution is designed and simulated. The flattop laser with a tapered end can enhance the X-ray FEL beyond the exponential growth saturation power by one order to reach 1 Gigawatt as compared to that without a tapered end. The peak brightness can reach 1030 photons/mm2/mrad2/s/0.1% bandwidth, more than 10 orders brighter than the conventional incoherent Thompson Scattering X-ray source.

Effects of laser pulse shape and carrier envelope phase on pair production

For different fields of supercycle and subcycle laser pulses, the effects of laser pulse shape and carrier envelope phase on pair production are investigated by solving quantum Vlasov equation. By changing the pulse width and shape, the nonlinear behaviors of momentum distribution function and number density of created electron–positron pairs are obtained. It is found that there exist the multiphoton processes and stabilization phenomenon in pair production for supercycle situation. Our study may shed a light on optimizing the form of applied laser field to enhance the created pairs number, for example, when other conditions are fixed, the flat-top super-Gaussian laser pulse has advantage on pairs production.

Influence of a laser beam radial intensity distribution on Zeeman electromagnetically induced transparency line-shapes in the vacuum Rb cell

Experimental and theoretical analyses show the effect of laser beam radial intensity distribution on line-shapes and line-widths of the electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT). We used Gaussian and Π (flat top) laser beam profiles, coupling the D1 transition of 87Rb atoms in the vacuum cell in the Hanle experimental configuration. We obtained non-Lorentzian EIT line-shapes for a Gaussian laser beam, while line-shapes for a Π laser beam profile are very well approximated with Lorentzian. EIT line-widths, lower for Gaussian than for Π, show nonlinear dependence on laser intensity for both laser beam profiles. EIT amplitudes have similar values and dependence on laser intensity for both laser beams, showing the maximum at around 0.8 mW cm−2. Differences between the EIT line-shapes for the two profiles are mainly due to distinct physical processes governing atomic evolution in the rim of the laser beam, as suggested from the EIT obtained from the various segments of the laser beam cross-section.

APPLICATION OF FDTD METHOD IN SIMULATION OF FLAT-TOP BEAM IN OPTICAL FIBER

In this work, an investigation of the propagation characteristics of a flat-top laser beam in Kerr nonlinear media using Finite-Difference-Time- Domain Method (FDTD) has been presented. First an appropriate nonlinear Schrodinger equation (NLSE) has been chosen to find the beam properties in optical fiber, then the discretization method is used to find central difference in space for FDTD simulation, which is written in C language. This simulation work has revealed the unstable beam behavior in the system.

Sputtered ZnO–SiO_2 nanocomposite light-emitting diodes with flat-top nanosecond laser treatment

Sputtered ZnO-SiO2 nanocomposite light-emitting diodes (LEDs) were treated using a flat-top nanosecond laser (FTNL) under room temperature. The intensity of the 376 nm electroluminescence (EL) emission of ZnO-SiO2 nanocomposite LEDs at a current of 9 mA with FTNL treatment was approximately 1.4 times greater than LEDs without FTNL treatment. Furthermore, the FTNL-treated LEDs indicated a narrower full width at half maximum of the 376 nm EL emission than those of LEDs without FTNL treatment. Thus, FTNL treatment of ZnO-SiO2 nanocomposite LEDs could induce the recrystallization of distributed ZnO nanoclusters and reduce the defects in ZnO-SiO2 nanocomposite layers.

Finite element simulation of infrared laser ablation for mass spectrometry

Laser ablation is widely used in conjunction with ambient ionization techniques, and a fundamental understanding of the mechanism of material removal is important to its optimal use in mass spectrometry. Finite element analysis simulates the laser material interaction on larger time and distance scales than atomistic approaches. Here, a two-dimensional finite element model was developed to simulate infrared laser irradiation of glycerol using a wavelength-tunable infrared (IR) laser. The laser fluence used for the simulations was varied from 1000 to 6000 J/m(2), the wavelength was varied from 2.7 to 3.7 µm, and both flat-top and Gaussian shape laser profiles were studied. Phase explosion conditions were found for laser wavelengths near 3 µm (which corresponds to the OH stretch absorption of glycerol) and fluences above 2000 J/m(2). This suggests that laser ablation of glycerol is driven by phase explosion in the OH stretch region. The Gaussian profile generated regions of higher glycerol temperature, whereas the flat-top profile heated a larger volume of material above the phase explosion temperature. These results suggest that the best performance for pulsed IR laser sample irradiation is in the wavelength range from 2.9 to 3.1 µm for materials with a strong OH stretch absorption.

Micro-Optical Initiation of Nanoenergetic Materials Using a Temporally Tailored Variable-Pulse-Width Laser

Nanoenergetic materials can provide a significant enhancement in the rate of energy release as compared with microscale materials. The energy-release rate is strongly dependent not only on the primary particle size but also on the level of agglomeration, which is of particular interest for the inclusion of nanoenergetics in practical systems where agglomeration is desired or difficult to avoid. Unlike studies of nanoparticles or nanometer-size aggregates, which can be conducted with ultrafast or nanosecond lasers assuming uniform heating, microscale aggregates of nanoparticles are more sensitive to the thermophysical time scale of the heating process. To allow control over the rate of energy deposition during laser initiation studies, a custom, temporally tailored, continuously variable-pulse-width (VPW) laser was employed for radiative heating of nanoenergetic materials. The laser consisted of a continuous-wave master oscillator, which could be sliced into desired pulses, and a chain of amplifiers to reach high peak power. The slicer allowed control over the time profile of the pulses via the combination of an arbitrary waveform generator and acousto-optic modulator (AOM). The effects of utilizing flat-top or ramped laser pulses with durations from 100 ns to 150 μs and energies up to 20 mJ at 1064 nm were investigated, along with a broad range of heating rates for single particles or nanoparticle aggregates up to 100-μm diameter. In combination with an optical microscope, laser heating of aggregates consisting of 70-nm diameter Al nanoparticles in a Teflon matrix showed significant dependence on the heating profile due to the sensitivity of nanoenergetic materials to heating rate. The ability to control the temporal pulse-intensity profile leads to greater control over the effects of ablative heating and the resulting shockwave propagation. Hence, flexible laser-pulse profiles allow the investigation of energetic properties for a wide size range of metal/metal-oxide nanoparticles, aggregates, and composites.

Adaptive-weight iterative algorithm for flat-top laser beam shaping

An adaptive-weight fast-Fourier-transform-based iterative algorithm is proposed for far-field flat-top beam shaping. This algorithm inherits the projection optimization idea from the Gerchberg-Saxton algorithm, but the far-field amplitude for inverse fast Fourier transform is adaptively modified by using a novel optimized adaptive-weight strategy. First, the application of this method to square flat-top intensity-profile beam shaping is discussed as an example. The pure-phase distribution simulated by 100 iterations of this method concentrates 93.89% of the incident laser energy into the desired region and the root mean square error (RMSE) of the tailored flat-top intensity profile is 0.0094. Less than 20 iterations of this method concentrate more than 90% of the incident laser energy into the desired region and the RMSE of the tailored flat-top intensity profile is under 0.05. Then, the applicability of the method to designing the phase distributions for variable-shape or variable-diameter flat-top beam shaping is demonstrated.

平顶光束激光冲击2024铝合金诱导残余应力场的模拟与实验

平顶光束激光冲击2024铝合金诱导残余应力场的模拟与实验

High-order-harmonic generation in gas with a flat-top laser beam

We present experimental and numerical results on high-order-harmonic generation with a flat-top laser beam. We show that a simple binary tunable phase plate, made of two concentric glass plates, can produce a flat-top profile at the focus of a Gaussian infrared beam. Both experiments and numerical calculations show that there is a scaling law between the harmonic generation efficiency and the increase of the generation volume.

Beam emittance investigation in high brightness injector using different driver laser profiles

Beam emittance plays an important role in any accelerator, and it is a main parameter to judge the performance of an accelerator. Emittance optimization is an indispensable part in conditioning and operation of the facility. For a laser-driven high brightness injector, different time structure of the laser pulse has different effects on transverse emittance. In order to compare Gaussian and flat-top laser pulse, systematic simulations of 500 pC have been done. From the simulation results, one can see that flat-top pulse laser will yield smaller minimal transverse beam size and transverse beam emittance than Gaussian pulse laser.

Effect of laser pulse time profile on its absorption by argon clusters

AbstractThe interaction of medium sized Argon clusters (30 Å) with high-intensity femtosecond laser pulses (806 nm, 8 × 1016 W/cm2) of durations ranging from 10 fs to 120 fs have been studied using a three-dimensional relativistic time dependent molecular dynamic approach. The dynamics of cluster expansion is explained in terms of temporal evolution of electron population in the cluster and snapshots of particle positions at various times. The effects of inter-cluster distance on ionization dynamics are presented. It is observed that the collisional ionization increases with decreasing inter-cluster distance. The effect of pulse duration on laser energy absorption is also studied. For a laser pulse of gaussian time profile, there exists an optimum pulse duration for maximum absorption. No such optimum exists for a nearly flat top (super-gaussian) laser pulse. Results indicate the existence of resonance absorption inside the cluster. It is also observed that the high energy component of ion emission from cluster is anisotropic, showing a preferential direction of emission along laser polarization while the low energy ions emerge almost isotropically.

Simple electro-optic technique to generate temporally flat-top laser pulses

A simple technique is presented to generate temporally flat-top shaped laser pulses using electro-optic modulator (Pockels cell). It involves splitting of input laser pulse into two halves of equal intensity and then stacking together with appropriate optical delay to get a temporally flat-top laser pulse. It also allows generation of other pulse shapes by varying the relative intensity, delay, and phase between two halves of the input laser pulse. Temporally flat-top laser pulses of duration ~ 9 ns have been generated using ~ 7 ns duration incident laser pulses from a flash lamp pumped Q-switched Nd:glass laser oscillator. The rise and fall-time of the shaped pulse is limited by speed of electro-optic switch (Pockels cell), which is ~ 2 ns in the present case.