Micromachining of microchannel on the polycarbonate substrate with CO2 laser direct-writing ablation

Low-power CO₂ laser direct-writing ablation was used to micromachine a microchannel on the polycarbonate substrate in this work. The influence of the process parameters (the laser power, the moving velocity of the laser beam and the scanning times) on the micromachining quality (the depth, the width and their aspect ratio) of the microchannel was experimentally studied. The depth and width of microchannel both increase with the increase of the laser power and the decrease of the moving velocity of the laser beam. When higher laser power and slower moving velocity were used, the polycarbonate surface bore more heat irradiated from the CO₂ laser for longer time which results in the formation of deeper and wider molten pool, hence the ability to fabricate bigger microchannel. Because of the effect of the laser power on the depth and width of microchannels, higher aspect (depth/width) ratio could be achieved using slower moving velocity and higher laser power, and it would reach a steady state when the laser power increases to 9.0 W possibly caused by the effect of laser power on the different directions of microchannel. The polycarbonate–polycarbonate chip was bonded with hot-press bonding technique.     

Lens transformations of high power solid-state laser beams

Beam parameters of 300 W-class CW Nd:YAG lasers with double pump cavities have been investigated. The calculations have demonstrated that in the strongly pumped operating laser the amplitude of stresses in the rod can be decreased by a factor of approximately 1.5. A multibeam model of high power beam structure has been proposed. It has been shown theoretically and experimentally that 1.4–1.8 times reduction of the beam parameter product of a complex non-Gaussian beam may be achieved by placing a lens with a strength and location determined by laser parameters. An integrated parameters product has been proposed to describe the complex beams. In the range of possible pumping levels (3–10 kW) the output full divergence angle changed from 2 up to 23–28 mrad but in image space of the lens the variations of this value were no more than ±12%.     

Study of the temperature distribution in Si nanowires under microscopic laser beam excitation

The use of laser beams as excitation sources for the characterization of semiconductor nanowires (NWs) is largely extended. Raman spectroscopy and photoluminescence (PL) are currently applied to the study of NWs. However, NWs are systems with poor thermal conductivity and poor heat dissipation, which result in unintentional heating under the excitation with a focused laser beam with microscopic size, as those usually used in microRaman and microPL experiments. On the other hand, the NWs have subwavelength diameter, which changes the optical absorption with respect to the absorption in bulk materials. Furthermore, the NW diameter is smaller than the laser beam spot, which means that the optical power absorbed by the NW depends on its position inside the laser beam spot. A detailed analysis of the interaction between a microscopic focused laser beam and semiconductor NWs is necessary for the understanding of the experiments involving laser beam excitation of NWs. We present in this work a numerical analysis of the thermal transport in Si NWs, where the heat source is the laser energy locally absorbed by the NW. This analysis takes account of the optical absorption, the thermal conductivity, the dimensions, diameter and length of the NWs, and the immersion medium. Both free standing and heat-sunk NWs are considered. Also, the temperature distribution in ensembles of NWs is discussed. This analysis intends to constitute a tool for the understanding of the thermal phenomena induced by laser beams in semiconductor NWs.     

Propagation characteristics of annular laser beams passing through the reflection Bragg grating with deformation

When high-power annular laser beams produced by the unstable resonator pass through the volume Bragg grating (VBG), absorption of light in the VBG will induce a temperature increment, resulting in changes in surface distortion. Considering that the surface distortion of the grating induces index and period differences, the scalar wave equations for the annular laser beams propagating in the VBG have been solved numerically and iteratively using finite-difference and sparse matrix methods. The variation in intensity distributions, the total power reflection coefficient, and the power in the bucket (PIB) for the annular laser beams passing through the reflection VBG with deformation have been analyzed quantitatively. It can be shown that the surface distortion of the VBG and the beam orders of the annular beams affect evidently the intensity distributions, the power reflection coefficient, and the PIB of the output beam. The peak intensity decreases as the deformation of the VBG increases. The total power reflection efficiency decreases significantly with the increase in deformations of the VBG. The PIB of the output beam decreases as the obscuration ratio β and the deformation of the VBG increase. For the given obscuration ratio β, the influence of deformation of reflection VBG on the PIB of the annular beams is more sensitive with increase in distortion of the VBG and decrease in beam order.     

Laser writing techniques for photomask fabrication using a femtosecond laser

Photomasks are the backbone of microfabrication industries. Currently they are fabricated by a lithographic process, which is very expensive and time consuming since it is a multi-step process. These issues can be addressed by fabricating photomasks by direct femtosecond laser writing, which is a single-step process and comparatively cheaper and faster than lithography. In this paper we discuss our investigations on the effect of two types of laser writing techniques, namely front- and rear-side laser writing, with regard to the feature size and the edge quality of a feature. It is proved conclusively that for the patterning of masks, front-side laser writing is a better technique than rear-side laser writing with regard to smaller feature size and better edge quality. Moreover the energy required for front-side laser writing is considerably lower than that for rear-side laser writing. Received: 22 May 2001 / Accepted: 14 September 2001 / Published online: 17 October 2001     

Modeling of terahertz radiation emission from a free‐electron laser

In this article, we report the generation of terahertz (THz) radiation using the interaction of a laser‐modulated relativistic electron beam (REB) with a surface plasma wave. Two laser beams propagating through the modulator interact with the REB, leading to velocity modulation of the beam. This results in pre‐bunching of the REB. The pre‐bunched beam travels through the drift space, where the velocity modulation translates into density modulation. The density‐modulated beam, on interacting with the surface plasma pump wave, acquires an oscillatory velocity that couples with the modulated beam density to give rise to a nonlinear current density which acts as an antenna to give THz radiation. By optimizing the parameters of the beam and the wiggler, we obtain power of the order of 10⁻⁴ using the current scheme.     

Far-field properties of electromagnetic elliptical Gaussian vortex beams

The explicit far-field expressions for the TE and TM terms and energy flux distributions of electromagnetic elliptical Gaussian vortex beams are derived and their far-field properties including the phase singularities and energy flux distributions of the TE and TM terms and whole beam are studied in detail. It is shown that there exist two edge dislocations. The number and position of edge dislocations and energy flux distributions are dependent on the amplitude ratio and waist width ratio of electromagnetic elliptical Gaussian vortex beams. The analytical results are illustrated numerically.     

高功率激光在非均匀大气中传输的自聚焦效应研究进展

地基激光空间碎片清除和利用激光辐射把转换的太阳能从空间轨道输运到地面等应用中,不可避免地遇到高功率激光在非均匀大气中的传输问题。由于激光功率已远远超过大气非线性自聚焦临界功率,大气自聚焦效应是影响光束质量的一个重要物理因素。概述了近年来国内外高功率激光在非均匀大气中上行或下行传输的自聚焦效应研究进展,主要介绍了高功率激光在非均匀大气中的传输模型、理论基础、数值和解析研究方法,着重介绍了自聚焦效应对激光传输特性和光束质量的影响,并总结了优化靶面光束质量的方案。此外,还介绍了大气群速度色散效应和大气湍流效应等物理因素对激光光束质量的影响。最后,还提出了该领域值得进一步深入研究的一些问题。     

双偏心椭圆高斯光束在一阶ABCD光学系统中的传输特性

通过求解时谐条件下的亥姆霍兹方程,得到一个特解双偏心椭圆高斯光束,该光束由两个偏心椭圆高斯光束叠加而形成的,可用于描述大功率激光二极管远场分布双峰特性.分析了该光束的光场模型,运用惠更斯-菲涅尔广义积分公式,得到了该光束在一阶ABCD光学系统中的传输场分布和解析表达式,在此理论基础上,数值计算得到光场分布和远场发散角,并运用该光束模型模拟了新型激光二极管光场分布,理论结果与实际结果吻合.     

An alternative approach to determine the spot-size of a multi-mode laser beam and its application to diode laser beams

An alternative approach is suggested to determine the spot-size of a multi-mode laser beam. It has been shown by simulations that the suggested approach can give the beam quality factor and characteristic radius with less than 5% error. Unlike the power content method, the proposed method is applicable to the beams even with diameter one tenth of the CCD size. The new approach has been applied to a multi-mode diode laser output and it is shown that the ABCD matrix analysis can be used for beam propagation, with the measured parameters of the laser.     

Performance of a zoom homogenizer for reshaping coherent laser beams

We have reshaped the TEM₀₀ beam emitted by a diode-pumped Nd-Yag laser by means of an optical homogenizer with zoom. The laser beam, first enlarged up to a size of (100 × 37.5) mm², is homogenized and resized to a final dimension continuously adjustable from (130 × 4.5) mm² up to (130 × 52) mm². We measured the plateau uniformity, the root mean square fluctuation and the edge steepness of the beam according to the ISO standard definitions, showing a poor reliability of the above parameter values due to the definitions themselves, and propose an amendment to overcome this problem. We obtained a very sharp edge steepness, but the spatial coherence of the laser beam put a lower limit to the high-frequency intensity fluctuations on the plateau region of the homogenized beam. Finally, we discuss the optimum homogenizer design for spatially coherent laser beams, including the depth of focus issue.     

Control parameters in pattern formation upon femtosecond laser ablation

Femtosecond laser ablation experiments on different materials have revealed a great diversity of self-organized nano-structures on the bottom of the ablated area. They range from arrays of nano-spheres to bifurcating longer lines, with size and shape depending on the irradiation dose and number of laser pulses. In this contribution, laser beam polarization and surface charge distribution, following surface relaxation, are investigated as control parameters for this nano-structures formation. Experiments with linear, circular and, for the first time, elliptical polarized light indicate that the laser polarization has a great influence on the orientation of the ripples. Investigations with laser beams of elliptical polarization show that, whereas the ripples orientation is defined by the major axis of the polarization ellipse, the ripple morphology is sensitive to the ellipticity. For silicon samples electrical measurements with a scanning-probe microscope on the ablated area reveal a spatial variation of the surface potential, possibly generated by a local change in dopant density, correlated with the patterns’ modulation on the crater bottom.     

Beam reshaping by use of spatial solitons in the quadratic nonlinear medium KTP

We have demonstrated the transformation of elliptical beams into cylindrically symmetric beams through the formation of quadratic spatial solitons. By use of type II phase-matched second-harmonic generation in a KTP crystal, input elliptical beams with aspect ratios as large as 8:1 were propagated through the KTP crystal, and they exited the crystal as a cylindrically symmetric beam. The threshold for soliton formation and the power throughput were measured versus ellipticity.     

Patterning thin metallic film via laser structured weakly bound template

A weakly bound buffer material is structured on a surface by interfering low power laser beams, as a template for patterning metallic thin films deposited on top. The excess buffer material and metal layer are subsequently removed by a second uniform laser pulse. This laser pre-structured buffer layer assisted patterning procedure is demonstrated for gold layer forming a grating on a single crystal Ru(1 0 0) under UHV conditions, using Xe as the buffer material. Millimeters long, submicron (0.65 μm) wide wires can be obtained using laser wavelength of 1.064 μm with sharp edges of less than 30 nm, as determined by AFM. This method provides an all-in-vacuum metallic film patterning procedure at the submicron range, with the potential to be developed down to the nanometer scale upon decreasing the patterning laser wavelength down to the UV range.     

Cassegrain激光发射系统的光路设计

为了提高激光探测系统激光的发射功率,在出射激光为基模的高斯光束的光路设计中,根据高斯光束经过光学系统的变换与传输特性,分析了系统采用Cassegrain望远镜时,其遮拦比以及入射光束束腰半径对光功率透过率的影响。通过具体的数值计算得出,随着遮拦比及入射光束束腰半径的增大,系统光功率透过率将减小,给出了望远镜遮拦比与发射孔径处光斑尺寸之间的最佳匹配关系,最后讨论了离焦误差（安装误差）为0.2mm时对出射光斑尺寸的影响。     

激光束光强分布对材料激光加热的影响

 对激光强度空间均匀分布光束、高斯、超高斯以及平顶高斯光束进行了分析比较,在激光功率与光斑半径相同条件下,计算了各种光束的峰值光强和光束填充因子与光束阶次的关系,给出了光强分布的表达式。并将不同空间分布的光束作为热源,耦合到材料热传导方程中,以数值计算说明了各种光束辐照下,2mm厚30CrMnSiA钢材料靶面不同的热效应。     

High-power laser interference lithography process on photoresist: Effect of laser fluence and polarisation

High throughput and low cost fabrication techniques in the sub-micrometer scale are attractive for the industry. Laser interference lithography (LIL) is a promising technique that can produce one, two and three-dimensional periodical patterns over large areas. In this work, two- and four-beam laser interference lithography systems are implemented to produce respectively one- and two-dimensional periodical patterns. A high-power single pulse of ∼8 ns is used as exposure process. The optimum exposure dose for a good feature patterning in a 600 nm layer of AZ-1505 photoresist deposited on silicon wafers is studied. The best aspect ratio is found for a laser fluence of 20 mJ/cm². A method to control the width of the sub-micrometer structures based on controlling the resist thickness and the laser fluence is proposed.     

Efficient power scaling of laser radiation by spectral beam combining

The possibility of achieving multikilowatt laser radiation by spectrally combining beams using volume Bragg gratings (VBGs) is shown. The VBGs recorded in a photothermorefractive glass exhibit long-term stability of all its parameters in high-power laser beams with power density >1 MW/cm2 in the cw beam of total power on a kilowatt level. We consider an architecture-specific beam-combining scheme and address the cross-talk minimization problem based on optimal channel positioning. Five-channel high efficiency spectral beam combining resulted in a >750 W near-diffraction-limited cw beam has been demonstrated experimentally.     

Spatial amplification of a laser wave and the transverse spread of electrons in an undulator with a noncollinear configuration

The spatial amplification of a wave in a magnetostatic undulator with noncollinear electron and laser beams is studied in the framework of the dispersion relation for single-frequency and collective regimes. The dependence of the gain on the electron beam width is estimated with regard to the spatial boundedness of the beams. The laser power threshold at which the selection with respect to the transverse velocity is possible is obtained for a free-electron laser without inversion.     

Theoretical determination of the ablation rate of metals in multiple-nanosecond laser pulses irradiation regime

A detailed understanding of the physical determinants of the ablation rate in multiple nanosecond laser pulses regime is of key importance for technological applications such as patterning and pulsed-laser deposition. Here, theoretical modeling is employed to investigate the ablation of thick metallic plates by intense, multiple nanosecond laser pulses. A new photo-thermal model is proposed, in which the complex phenomena associated to the ablation process are accounted for as supplementary terms of the classical heat equation. The pulsed laser ablation in the nanosecond regime is considered as a competition between thermal vapourization and melt ejection under the action of the plasma recoil pressure. Computer simulations using the photo-thermal model presented here and the comparison of the theoretical results with experiment indicate two different mechanisms that contribute to the decrease of the ablation efficiency. First, during the ablation process the vapour/plasma plume expanding above the irradiated target attenuates the laser beam that reaches the sample, leading to a marked decrease of the ablation efficiency. Additional attenuation of the laser beam incident on the sample is produced due to the heating of the plasma by the absorption of the laser beam into the plasma plume. The second mechanism by which the ablation efficiency decreases consists of the reduction of the incident laser intensity with the lateral area, and of the melt ejection velocity with the depth of the hole.