Laser-induced back-side wet etching of fused silica with an aqueous solution containing organic molecules

The laser-induced back-side wet etching of fused silica with aqueous solutions of pyranine (8-hydroxy-1,3,6-pyrenetrisulfonic acid trisodium salt) is reported. KrF and XeF excimer lasers were employed as light sources. Well-defined line-and-space and grid micropatterns, free of debris and microcracks, were obtained. Compared with other organic solutions, the aqueous pyranine etching medium etches more slowly but produces a higher quality etched surface. With the KrF laser, the etch rate ranged from 0.02 to 0.12 nm pulse^-1, depending on the dye concentration and the fluence of the laser. The etch rate decreased dramatically when the XeF laser was employed, which was partially attributed to the lower absorption efficiency of the aqueous pyranine solution at the XeF laser wavelength. Received: 20 November 2001 / Accepted: 21 November 2001 / Published online: 2 May 2002     

Rapid discharge-pumped wide aperture X-ray preionized KrF laser

A wide aperture X-ray preionized discharge-pumped KrF excimer laser has been constructed. A flat plate pulse-forming line (36 nF, 340 kV) charges a peaking capacitor (6 nF) through a rail-gap to facilitate a rapid discharge in the laser head. Collimated X-ray preionization is employed to obtain a wide and uniform discharge. The laser is intended to be used as a short pulse amplifier and results are presented when characterized as an oscillator. The active cross-section of the laser beam is 10×8 cm² with 50 cm effective electrode length. The laser pulse energy exceeds 4.7 J in a 28 ns pulse (FWHM).     

Output and picosecond amplification characteristics of an efficient and high-power discharge excimer laser

Improvements in output pulse energy and efficiency of a conventional capacitor-transfer-type discharge excimer laser with automatic preionization have been achieved by extending the discharge volume and resulting moderate pumping of the active medium. The discharge laser produces a pulse energy of more than 1 J for XeCl, KrF, and ArF lasers in square beams of about 2×2 cm², and the maximum overall efficiency observed is 2.9% for XeCl, 3.2% for KrF and 1.8% for ArF. The laser device has been involved in a picosecond ( 32 ps) XeCl laser amplification system, and was operated as an amplifier at a repetitive frequency of 10 Hz. Saturation fluence for XeCl laser was measured to be 1.4 mJ/cm², and the picosecond pulse energy of 40 mJ was extracted from the amplifier.On leave from Ebara Corp., 6-6-7, Ginza, Chuo-ku, Tokyo 104, JapanOn leave from Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, LTD., 4-6-22, Kan-on shinmachi, Nishi-ku, Hiroshima 733, Japan     

Preionization kinetics of an X-ray preionized XeCl gas discharge laser

The influence of preionization conditions on the performance of a XeCl gas discharge laser preionized by a short, high intensity x-ray pulse, has been studied. The laser output energy and optical pulse temporal characteristics have been used to determine the roles of initial electron density and of electron attachment to HCl and to impurities. Although the short pulse preionization technique functions well for XeCl when the laser voltage pulse has a short risetime (?20 ns), it is less well suited to XeCl lasers using slowly rising voltage pulses (>50 ns), or to F₂ containing gas mixtures (KrF and XeF lasers).     

Discharge instability induced by external laser preionization of a XeF discharge laser

External-laser-induced preionization of excimer lasers was investigated. A discharge XeF laser was preionized by two different UV lasers [a KrF laser (λ=249 nm) and an ArF laser (λ=193 nm)], and the improvements in performance of the XeF laser were compared. The XeF laser beam profiles were measured by an intensified CCD (ICCD) camera with temporal resolution of 10 ns. Striated XeF laser profiles were obtained with 249 nm laser preionization, whereas there was no striation in the profiles for 193 nm laser preionization. These striations originated from discharge in the XeF laser induced by laser preionization. The influence of excited rare-gas atoms on the discharge instability was examined.     

Gain properties of a wide aperture X-ray pre-ionized excimer amplifier

A wide aperture, X-ray pre-ionized discharge pumped excimer laser was comparatively studied as oscillator and amplifier with XeCl and KrF as the active gases. With XeCl (KrF), an oscillator output energy of 3J (1 J) and a small-signal gain coefficient of 11%cm^–1 (6%cm^–1) were measured. The beam size was 6×5 cm². For smaller beam widths (obtained by limiting the pre-ionized region), both excimers showed considerably higher gain. The dependence of output parameters on the X-ray dose was studied for both excimers.     

双向光泵浦XeF(C-A)激光

 讨论了双向光泵浦XeF(C-A)激光技术，给出了双向泵浦情况下的XeF₂光解离波图像。在双向泵浦条件下XeF(C-A)激光输出能量提高了近3倍，最大输出达到3.3 J，激光脉宽增加到1 100 ns。激光输出特性受XeF2初始浓度的显著影响，激光形成时间随XeF₂初始浓度增大而加长，激光脉宽先增大后减小，激光近场光斑呈现出不同的形状，由方形变化为“X”形状。     

Dual-beam ablation of fused silica by multiwavelength excitation process using KrF excimer and F2 lasers

A new technique of dual-beam laser ablation of fused silica by multiwavelength excitation process using a 248-nm KrF excimer laser (ablation beam) coupled with a 157-nm F₂ laser (excitation beam) in dry nitrogen atmosphere is reported. The dual-beam laser ablation greatly reduced debris deposition and, thus, significantly improved the ablation quality compared with single-beam ablation of the KrF laser. High-quality ablation can be achieved at the delay times of KrF excimer laser irradiation shorter than 10 ns due to a large excited-state absorption. The ablation rate can reach up to 80 nm/pulse at the fluence of 4.0 J/cm² for the 248-nm laser and 60 mJ/cm² for the F₂ laser. The ablation threshold and effective absorption coefficient of KrF excimer laser are estimated to be 1.4 J/cm² and 1.2᎒⁵ cm^-1, respectively.     

放电泵浦的多波长激光器

采用高气压紫外预电离放电装置和更换激射气体的方法,在一台器件上获得10个体系:F原子,Ne原子,N₂分子,N₂⁺离子,XeF,XCl,XeBr,KrF,KrCl,ArF相干辐射,并给出了激光器件的有关参数和输出特性等。 关键词：     

Gain dynamics of XeF and subpicosecond pulse generation at 351 nm

Subpicosecond pulse amplification at the 351 nm line of XeF is reported. The study of the gain dynamics of XeF with subpicosecond (subnanosecond) pulses resulted in 0.2 mJ/cm² (0.8 mJ/cm²) for the saturation energy density and 0.18 cm^–1 (0.21 cm^–1) for the small-signal-gain coefficient. In XeF a gain recovery of 78±4% with a 79±18 ps time constant is found.     

Influence of multi-photon ionization of Xe on a XeF discharge induced by KrF laser irradiation

Excimer laser preionization induced by an external laser was investigated for XeF excimer laser discharge induced by a KrF laser, paying attention to the ionized species in the gas. Enhancement of amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) was observed for XeF gas discharge preionized by a KrF laser with and without its irradiation. In contrast, no ASE enhancement was observed for KrF gas discharge with KrF laser preionization. ASE enhancement was larger for the longer wavelength, which was close to the two-photon resonance of the Xe atom, when tunable KrF laser irradiation was used. These results indicate that multi-photon ionization of Xe atoms supplied the initial electrons to the laser-induced preionization.     

Gas density measurement of pulsed gas jets using XeF four-photon fluorescence induced by a KrF laser

The gas densities of two pulsed gas jets were measured together with spatial and temporal distributions by the XeF fluorescence induced by a KrF laser. The B-X and C-A transitions of XeF showed a biquadratic dependence on laser intensity when SF₆ was used as the F donor instead of F₂, and quadratic and cubic dependences on gas density, respectively.     

Ion synthesis and laser annealing of Cu nanoparticles in Al2O3

Al₂O₃ samples with Cu nanoparticles, synthesised by ion implantation at 40 keV with a dose of 1×10¹⁷ ion/cm² and a current density from 2.5 to 12.5 μA/cm², were annealed using ten pulses from a KrF excimer laser with a single pulse fluence of 0.3 J/cm². The copper depth distribution, formation and modification of metal nanoparticles under the ion implantation and laser treatment were studied by Rutherford backscattering (RBS), energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) analysis, atomic force microscopy (AFM) and optical spectroscopy. It was found that laser annealing leads to a reduction in the nanoparticle size without diffusion of metal atoms into the bulk. The change in particle size and the possibility for oxidation of the copper particles are examined in the framework of Mie theory. Calculations presented show that under excimer laser treatment, Cu nanoparticles are more likely to be reduced in size than to undergo oxidation. Received: 19 April 2001 / Accepted: 7 November 2001 / Published online: 23 January 2002     

Influence of Discharge Plasma Inhomogeneities on the Characteristics of KrF-Laser Radiation

Russian Physics Journal - Results of studies of the electric-discharge KrF laser with a specific pulse energy of ~6 J/L and an internal energy efficiency of more than 4% are presented. The...     

Microwave energy channeling in plasma waveguides created by a high-power UV laser in the atmosphere

The grazing mode of microwave propagation in a hollow plasma waveguide formed by ionization of atmospheric air with a small easily ionized additive by strong UV pulses of the Garpun KrF laser (λ = 248 nm, the pulse duration and energy are ∼70 ns and ∼50 J) was experimentally demonstrated for the first time. The annular laser beam produced a hollow tube ∼10 cm in diameter with an electron density of ∼10¹² cm⁻³ in a plasma wall ∼1 cm thick, over whichmicrowave radiation with λ _mw ∼ 8 mm was transmitted to a distance of 60 m. Themicrowave signal transmitted by the waveguide was amplified by a factor of 6 in comparison with propagation in free space.     

Initial testing of a high-repetition-rate electron-beam-pumped KrF laser amplifier

The initial test results of the high-repetition-rate (rep-rate) electron-beam (e-beam) pumped KrF laser amplifier under development in our laboratory are reported. This amplifier is aimed at producing a laser energy of 20 J per pulse at a rep rate of 1 Hz. Thus far, 700 consecutive e-beampulses (250 kV, 270 J/pulse) were generated at a rep rate of 1 Hz. The laser gas was repetitively pumped by the e-beams injected through the water-cooled diaphragm foils. Received: 5 February 2001 / Published online: 21 March 2001     

Modification of the properties of ferromagnetic layers based on A<Superscript>3</Superscript>B<Superscript>5</Superscript> compounds by pulsed laser annealing

Laser annealing experiments were performed in order to increase the concentration of electrically active manganese in the layers of A³B⁵: Mn semiconductors. An LPX-200 KrF excimer laser with a wavelength of 248 nm and a pulse duration of ~30 ns was used. It is shown experimentally that at a pulse energy of an excimer laser of >230 mJ/cm², the hole concentration in GaAs: Mn layers increases to 3 × 10²⁰ cm^–3. The negative magnetoresistance and the anomalous Hall effect with a hysteresis loop for annealed GaAs: Mn samples remain the same up to 80–100 K. Similar changes are observed for InAs: Mn layers as a result of laser annealing.     

Subpicosecond UV pulse generation for a multiterawatt KrF laser

A 180-fs UV pulse has been generated based on a hybrid synchronously pumped mode-locked dye laser for a multiterawatt KrF laser system. The pulse width was measured by the single shot autocorrelation technique with the three-photon fluorescence of the XeF C-A transition. The pulse width broadening due to dispersive media was investigated. The results show that the observed pulse width broadening from 210 fs to 390 fs through the entire system is explained mostly by the linear dispersion of the optical elements for near-transform-limited input pulses.     

Laser Annealing of Thin-Film Ferroelectric Heterostructures

Preliminary experiments on laser annealing of ferroelectric samples by ultraviolet radiation of a KrF laser are carried out. In principle, laser annealing allows one to reduce appreciably the duration of thermal action, minimize the size of the samples treated, and control the crystallization processes in the samples. A special focussing system was employed to provide homogeneous irradiation of the spot with dimensions of ~1×1 cm² within a broad energy range from 0.1 to 10~J per pulse. The range of energy densities leading to phase transitions in thin films is determined.