High Laser Pulses Research Articles

Surface modulation and back reflection from foil targets irradiated by a Petawatt femtosecond laser pulse at oblique incidence.

A significant level of back reflected laser energy was measured during the interaction of ultra-short, high contrast PW laser pulses with solid targets at 30° incidence. 2D PIC simulations carried out for the experimental conditions show that at the laser-target interface a dynamic regular structure is generated during the interaction, which acts as a grating (quasi-grating) and reflects back a significant amount of incident laser energy. With increasing laser intensity above 1018 W/cm2 the back reflected fraction increases due to the growth of the surface modulation to larger amplitudes. Above 1020 W/cm2 this increase results in the partial destruction of the quasi-grating structure and, hence, in the saturation of the back reflection efficiency. The PIC simulation results are in good agreement with the experimental findings, and, additionally, demonstrate that in presence of a small amount of pre-plasma this regular structure will be smeared out and the back reflection reduced.

PH Effect on Two-Photon Cross Section of Highly Fluorescent Dyes Using Femtosecond Two-Photon Induced Fluorescence.

Effect of solution pH on two-photon absorption cross-section of highly fluorescent Coumarin and Rhodamine dyes with high repetition rate femtosecond laser pulses at 780nm is presented using two-photon induced fluorescence technique. A correspondence in the measured two-photon and single-photon cross-section values is seen when the pH changes from acidic to basic conditions (pH=2-10) for solutions in 1:1 water-ethanol binary mixture. By plotting changes in the single-photon and two-photon fluorescence in this pH range, the excited state pKa values are found. The ground state pKa values are also affected by the protonation deprotonation equilibrium as a result of variation in pH from acidic to basic, which are characterized by changes in absorbance spectra. Most of these single-photon and two-photon induced fluorescence spectra show characteristic blue shifts. Different fluorescence quantum yields calculated at each pH reflect a change in structure corresponding to their associated properties as a result of acid base equilibrium.

Real-time energy measurement of high repetition rate ultrashort laser pulses using pulse integration and FPGA processing.

Real-time energy measurement using pulse integration method for high repetition rate ultrashort laser pulses based on FPGA (Field-Programmable Gate Array) and high-speed pipeline ADC (Analog-to-Digital Convertor) is introduced in this paper. There are two parts contained in this method: pulse integration and real-time data processing. The pulse integration circuit will convert the pulse to the step type signals which are linear to the laser pulse energy. Through the real-time data processing part, the amplitude of the step signals will be obtained by ADC sampling and conducting calculation in real time in FPGA. The test result shows that the method with good linearity (4.770%) and without pulse measurement missing is suitable for ultrashort laser pulses with high repetition rate up to 100 MHz.

Diamond photonics platform enabled by femtosecond laser writing.

Diamond is a promising platform for sensing and quantum processing owing to the remarkable properties of the nitrogen-vacancy (NV) impurity. The electrons of the NV center, largely localized at the vacancy site, combine to form a spin triplet, which can be polarized with 532 nm laser light, even at room temperature. The NV’s states are isolated from environmental perturbations making their spin coherence comparable to trapped ions. An important breakthrough would be in connecting, using waveguides, multiple diamond NVs together optically. However, still lacking is an efficient photonic fabrication method for diamond akin to the photolithographic methods that have revolutionized silicon photonics. Here, we report the first demonstration of three dimensional buried optical waveguides in diamond, inscribed by focused femtosecond high repetition rate laser pulses. Within the waveguides, high quality NV properties are observed, making them promising for integrated magnetometer or quantum information systems on a diamond chip.

The modified SRRS threshold criteria for high peak power laser pulses in long air-path transmission considering the near-field beam quality

This paper demonstrates that the stimulated rotational Raman scattering (SRRS) threshold for high peak power laser pulses propagating through a long air path can be influenced strongly by the near-field quality of the laser beams, and the relationship between the SRRS threshold and the near-field beam quality (i.e., spatial intensity modulation index and contrast ratio) can be evaluated quantitatively. By using our three-dimensional numerical model, which can describe the spatial–temporal evolution behaviors of SRRS and is verified by previously published SRRS experimental data, the criteria of the safe transmission distance for high peak power nanosecond laser pulses are obtained, and the modified SRRS threshold criterion formulas considering the near-field beam conditions are presented.

Comment on “Controlling the spectral shape of nonlinear Thomson scattering with proper laser chirping”

Rykovanov, Geddes, Schroeder, Esarey and Leemans [Phys. Rev. Accel. Beams 19, 030701 (2016); hereafter RGSEL] have recently reported on the analytic derivation for the laser pulse frequency modulation (chirping) which controls spectrum broadening for high laser pulse intensities. We demonstrate here that their results are the same as the exact solutions reported in Terzi\ifmmode \acute{c}\else \'{c}\fi{}, Deitrick, Hofler and Krafft [Phys. Rev. Lett. 112, 074801 (2014); hereafter TDHK]. While the two papers deal with circularly and linearly polarized laser pulses, respectively, the difference in expressions for the two is just the usual factor of $1/2$ present from going from circular to linear polarization. In addition, we note the authors used an approximation to the number of subsidiary peaks in the unchirped spectrum when a better solution is given in TDHK.

Investigating Two-Photon-Induced Fluorescence in Rhodamine-6G in Presence of Cetyl-Trimethyl-Ammonium-Bromide.

We investigate the effect of cetyl-trimethyl-ammonium-bromides (CTAB) concentration on the fluorescence of Rhodamine-6G in water. This spectroscopic study of Rhodamine-6G in presence of CTAB was performed using two-photon-induced-fluorescence at 780nm wavelength using high repetition rate femtosecond laser pulses. We report an increment of ∼10% in the fluorescence in accordance with ∼12% enhancement in the absorption intensity of the dye molecule around the critical micellar concentration. We discuss the possible mechanism for the enhancement in the two-photon fluorescence intensity and the importance of critical micellar concentration.

Electron sheath dynamic in the laser–foil interaction

AbstractIn the interaction of ultra-short and ultra-intense high contrast laser pulse with a dense foil, accelerating electron sheath is formed. The dynamic of this sheath is obtained according to the ponderomotive force of the laser pulse and restoring electrostatic force of the stationary heavy ions. In the transient dynamics, maximum electron sheath displacement is obtained for different interaction parameters. This maximum displacement has an important effect in the explanation of the electron blow out condition. It is shown numerically that the electron sheath maximum displacement increases with increasing laser pulse amplitude or decreasing its rise time, or by decreasing plasma electron density. Recently, backward MeV acceleration of electrons in the interaction of intense laser pulse with solid targets was observed. The ponderomotive force of the compressed reflected laser pulse includes in our formalism and is used for explanation of the electron's backward acceleration. The threshold values of the interaction parameters for the occurrence of this phenomenon are considered. The electron blow out condition and backward acceleration are accompanied with numerical modeling and 1D3V, particle-in-cell simulation code.

Cavity formation and surface modeling of laser milling process under a thin-flowing water layer

Laser milling process normally involves a number of laser scans over a workpiece to selectively remove the material and then to form cavities with shape and dimensions required. However, this process adversely causes a heat accumulation in work material, which can in turn damage the laser-milled area and vicinity in terms of recast deposition and change of material properties. Laser milling process performing in a thin-flowing water layer is a promising method that can overcome such damage. With the use of this technique, water can flush away the cut debris and at the same time cool the workpiece during the ablation. To understand the potential of this technique for milling application, the effects of process parameters on cavity dimensions and surface roughness were experimentally examined in this study. Titanium sheet was used as a workpiece to be milled by a nanosecond pulse laser under different water flow velocities. A smooth and uniform cut feature can be obtained when the metal was ablated under the high laser pulse frequency and high water flow velocity. Furthermore, a surface model based on the energy balance was developed in this study to predict the cavity profile and surface roughness. By comparing to the experiments, the predicted profiles had a good agreement with the measured ones.

Laser-based K α X-ray emission characterization using a high contrast ratio and high-power laser system

We characterized a laser-based \(K_\alpha\) X-ray source produced onto a Mo solid target. We used a laser system with a high laser pulse contrast ratio (LPCR) and an instantaneous power \(\sim\)30 TW. We investigated simultaneously the \(K_\alpha\) X-ray conversion efficiency, the X-ray source size, and the proton front surface emission. We found a high \(K_\alpha\) X-ray conversion efficiency up to \(2\times 10^{-4}\) associated with an X-ray source size only \(\sim\)1.8 times larger than the laser focal spot for the highest intensities. We found that using a high LPCR laser pulse with 245 mJ per pulse is of interest to develop a laser-based X-ray imaging system as it can combine a high conversion efficiency with a small increase in the X-ray source size compared to the laser focal spot.

Chromatic annuli formation and sample oxidation on copper thin films by femtosecond laser.

We report an experimental investigation on the irradiation of copper thin films with high repetition rate femtosecond laser pulses (1040 nm, 50 MHz), in ambient air and liquid water. We observe a novel, striking phenomenon of chromatic copper oxides (CuO and Cu2O) annuli generation. The characteristic features of the chromatic copper oxide annuli are studied by exploiting micro-Raman spectroscopy, optical and scanning electron microscopies. In the case of irradiation in water, the seldom investigated effects of the immersion time, tw, after irradiation with a fixed number of pulses are analyzed, and an intriguing dependence of the color of the chromatic annuli on tw is observed. This remarkable behavior is explained by proposing an interpretation scenario addressing the various processes involved in the process. Our experimental findings show that Cu2O nanoparticles (size of ≈20 nm) and Cu2O nanocubes (nanocube edges of ≈30, ≈60 nm) can be effectively generated by exploiting high repetition rate laser-assisted oxidation.

Study of filamentation with a high power high repetition rate ps laser at 1.03 µm.

We study the propagation of intense, high repetition rate laser pulses of picosecond duration at 1.03 µm central wavelength through air. Evidence of filamentation is obtained from measurements of the beam profile as a function of distance, from photoemission imaging and from spatially resolved sonometric recordings. Good agreement is found with numerical simulations. Simulations reveal an important self shortening of the pulse duration, suggesting that laser pulses with few optical cycles could be obtained via double filamentation. An important lowering of the voltage required to induce guided electric discharges between charged electrodes is measured at high laser pulse repetition rate.

Hollow-core fibers for high power pulse delivery.

We investigate hollow-core fibers for fiber delivery of high power ultrashort laser pulses. We use numerical techniques to design an anti-resonant hollow-core fiber having one layer of non-touching tubes to determine which structures offer the best optical properties for the delivery of high power picosecond pulses. A novel fiber with 7 tubes and a core of 30µm was fabricated and it is here described and characterized, showing remarkable low loss, low bend loss, and good mode quality. Its optical properties are compared to both a 10µm and a 18µm core diameter photonic band gap hollow-core fiber. The three fibers are characterized experimentally for the delivery of 22 picosecond pulses at 1032nm. We demonstrate flexible, diffraction limited beam delivery with output average powers in excess of 70W.

Controlling the spectral shape of nonlinear Thomson scattering with proper laser chirping

Effects of nonlinearity in Thomson scattering of a high intensity laser pulse from electrons are analyzed. Analytic expressions for laser pulse shaping in amplitude and frequency are obtained which control spectrum broadening for arbitrarily high laser pulse intensities. These analytic solutions allow prediction of the spectral form and required laser parameters to avoid broadening. The predictions are validated by numerical calculations. This control over the scattered radiation bandwidth allows of narrow bandwidth sources to be produced using high scattering intensities, which in turn greatly improves scattering yield for future x- and gamma-ray sources.

Control of the configuration of multiple femtosecond filaments in air by adaptive wavefront manipulation.

We demonstrate the ability to position single and multiple filaments arbitrarily within the energy reservoir of a high power femtosecond laser pulse. A deformable mirror controlled by a genetic algorithm finds the optimal phase profile for producing filaments at user-defined locations within the energy reservoir to within a quarter of the nominal filament size, on average. This proof-of-principle experiment demonstrates a potential technique for fast control of the configuration of the filaments.

Research on Characteristic Parameter of Ta-Zro2 Fiber Blackbody Cavity Temperature Sensor

By sputtering and plasma spraying technology, a sapphire optical fiber blackbody cavity temperature sensor of tantalum (melting point is 2997℃) - zirconium oxide (melting point is 2715℃) thin film was developed. Static calibration system for the sensor to measure target temperature 1721 ℃ is also designed by using three oxygen (produced by water electrolysis) flame guns. When its impact resistant capacity is more than 50MPa, the corresponding temperature is 2802 ℃ . A high power and high frequency modulation CO2 laser pulse is used as exciting source to heat it to 1500℃, and the dynamic calibration device is designed independently, thus this sensor in experimental results show a time response on the order of μs. Signal collection and transmission through fiber optic cable are proposed, which can meet the need of transient high temperature measurement in harsh environment.

Synthesis of thin-film of nanograined titania by high frequency laser pulses for osseointegration and implant fabrication

Synthesis of thin-film of nanograined titania by high frequency laser pulses for osseointegration and implant fabrication

Quantitative analysis of doped/undoped ZnO nanomaterials using laser assisted atom probe tomography: Influence of the analysis parameters

In the last decade, atom probe tomography has become a powerful tool to investigate semiconductor and insulator nanomaterials in microelectronics, spintronics, and optoelectronics. In this paper, we report an investigation of zinc oxide nanostructures using atom probe tomography. We observed that the chemical composition of zinc oxide is strongly dependent on the analysis parameters used for atom probe experiments. It was observed that at high laser pulse energies, the electric field at the specimen surface is strongly dependent on the crystallographic directions. This dependence leads to an inhomogeneous field evaporation of the surface atoms, resulting in unreliable measurements. We show that the laser pulse energy has to be well tuned to obtain reliable quantitative chemical composition measurements of undoped and doped ZnO nanomaterials.

Direct writing of sub-wavelength ripples on silicon using femtosecond laser at high repetition rate

The near sub-wavelength and deep sub-wavelength ripples on monocrystalline silicon were formed in air by using linearly polarized and high repetition rate femtosecond laser pulses (f=76MHz, λ=800nm, Ͽ=50fs). The effects of laser pulse energy, direct writing speed and laser polarization on silicon surface morphology are studied. When the laser pulse energy is 2nJ/pulse and the direct writing speed varies from 10 to 25mm/s, the near sub-wavelength ripples (NSRs) with orientation perpendicular to the laser polarization are generated. While the direct writing speed reaches 30mm/s, the direction of the obtained deep sub-wavelength ripples (DSRs) suddenly changes and becomes parallel to the laser polarization, rarely reported so far for femtosecond laser irradiation of silicon. Meanwhile, we extend the Sipe⿿Drude interference theory by considering the thermal excitation, and numerically calculate the efficacy factor for silicon irradiated by femtosecond laser pulses. The revised Sipe⿿Drude interference theoretical results show good agreement with the periods and orientations of sub-wavelength ripples.

Generation of isolated ultra-short attosecond pulses by coherent control of the population of excited states

We present an ab-initio theoretical investigation of the enhancement of ultra-broad super-continuum harmonic spectra by coherently controlling the electron quantum paths of the helium atom and He+ ion. The time-dependent Schrödinger equation is solved by means of the time-dependent generalized pseudo-spectral method, allowing non-uniform and optimal spatial grid discretization and accurate and efficient propagation of the wave function in space and time. The population of the first two low-lying excited states of He+ is selectively controlled by adding low intensity, high frequency laser pulses to a two color mid-infrared laser field. Although the intensity of the added field is weak, its high frequency makes the subsequent ionization probability from excited states become much larger than for the case of many photons (mid-IR filed), even though the intensity is smaller. We found that the intensity of the attosecond pulse generated by superposing a range of synchronized high harmonics is significantly enhanced by 20 orders of magnitude. Similar calculations have been performed for the neutral He atoms. We found that an intense and ultra-short isolated 18 as can be generated directly. To understand the underlying mechanism of such dramatic enhancement and the role of electron quantum paths, we perform wavelet time–frequency transform of high harmonic spectra. The results show that we can selectively control the domination of the two distinct long and short electron trajectories by controlling the population of different excited states.