Laser ablation of absorbing liquids

We have studied experimentally the formation of microdroplets upon the ablation of an aqueous CuCl₂ solution by pulsed laser radiation. Laser fluence dependences are obtained from the number of droplets formed and from their statistical size distribution. The experimental data obtained can be explained within the framework of our acoustical microfragmentation model providing for excitation and interference in the field of laser acoustic waves of random phases. The ablation mechanism suggested is of universal character and manifests itself particularly in the laser ablation of biotissues.     

Studies of laser-induced cavitation and tissue ablation in saline using a fibre-delivered pulsed HF laser

We describe studies of the interaction of 400 ns duration, fibre delivered, multiline (2.6–3.0 m) HF-laser pulses with cornea and retina samples in saline. In this wavelength region water exhibits strong absorption (beam penetration depth 1.6 m) and laser heating leads to the creation of a hot, high pressure, vapour cavity (laser-induced cavitation) at the fibre tip. The dynamics of vapour cavity growth have been investigated experimentally using the laser shadowgraph technique and theoretically by employing an equivalent spherical cavity model for an incompressible liquid. Measurements of ablation rates and transient acoustic pressures for cornea ablation in saline, together with scanning electron microscope evaluation of irradiated samples are used to assess the damage range and mechanisms for this mid-IR laser in a strongly absorbing fluid.     

Photoacoustic studies and selective ablation of vascular tissue using a pulsed dye laser

The optical attenuation coefficient for human aorta has been measured in the 440–500 nm spectral region using the transient photoacoustic (thermoelastic) response produced by an excimer-laser-pumped dye laser. It is confirmed that diseased tissue has a significantly higher attenuation than normal samples in this spectral region. The maximum difference occurs at 480 nm and there is a lowering of the ablation threshold fluence for diseased tissue by a factor of 1.5 for dye laser ablation at this wavelength.     

Heavy-water-based solutions of rhodamine dyes: photophysical properties and laser operation

Photophysical properties of heavy-water-based rhodamine dye solutions have been investigated, with a view to assess the suitability of heavy water as a solvent for high-power, high-repetition-rate dye lasers and amplifiers. We have measured the quantum yield of fluorescence of the commonly used dyes rhodamine-6G, rhodamine-B and kiton-red, dissolved in heavy water, ethanol and normal water. The performance of a heavy-water-based pulsed rhodamine-6G dye laser has been investigated in broadband, as well as in narrowband wavelength-tunable resonator configurations, yielding laser efficiencies comparable to those achieved with ethanolic solutions of the same dye. We have also studied the thermo-optic properties of normal and heavy water, using the Z-scan technique. Finally, photodegradation rates for laser dyes have been compared in heavy water, normal water and ethanol. Our results establish heavy water as a solvent superior to both ethanol and normal water, on account of the lower thermo-optic effects and the higher photostability of rhodamine dyes when dissolved in heavy water. Received: 8 February 2002 / Published online: 8 August 2002     

Fracture mechanisms of Hg0.8Cd0.2Te induced by pulsed TEA-CO2 laser

The fracture mechanisms of Hg_0.8Cd_0.2Te induced by pulsed TEA-CO₂ laser have been investigated theoretically and experimentally in this paper. The Hg_0.8Cd_0.2Te target was irradiated by a TEA-CO₂ laser with wavelength of 10.6 μm and spike width of 240 ns in an ambient atmosphere. The evident cracks can be found on the surface of the target from the scanning electron microscopy (SEM) photos, indicating that the severe breaks happened during the experiment. Theoretical analysis has also been carried out and the results show that the fracture of Hg_0.8Cd_0.2Te is mainly induced by thermal stresses, although there are three forces (thermal stress, evaporation wave and laser-supported detonation (LSD) wave) exerted on the target surface during the process.     

Formation of diffraction-free beams by laser generation of conical radiation in a Kerr medium

Received: 16 June 1998     

Fast local intensity fluctuations in a pulsed untuned dye laser

Intensity fluctuations in a pulsed dye laser are studied. Fluctuations are local and very fast. The onset of the fluctuating regime coincides with the laser threshold. The average Fourier spectrum of fluctuations shows three broad peaks at frequencies v ₁=55 MHz, v ₂=110 MHz, v ₃=165 MHz. The three frequencies remain unchanged when resonator geometrical and optical parameters are changed. Nevertheless the amplitude of fluctuations is easily affected by such changes and by the solution temperature. The application of the Grassberger-Procaccia algorithm to the experimental fluctuations gives slope convergence (between 3 and 5) in some cases. This seems to indicate that the origin of fluctuations is chaotic-deterministic.     

Experimental and numerical study of surface alloying by femtosecond laser radiation

Here we report on experimental studies of femtosecond laser induced surface metal alloying. We demonstrate that layers of different metals can be mixed in a certain range of laser pulse energies. Numeric simulations demonstrate that the sub-surface melting and mixing is advantaged through the difference in the electron-phonon coupling constants of the metals in the multi-layer system. Dependence of the depth of the mixed layer on the number of laser pulses per unit area is studied. Numeric simulations illustrate physical picture of the laser alloying process.     

Phase explosion induced by high-repetition rate pulsed laser

The characteristics and mechanisms of the damage to absorbing glass with high-repetition laser pulses (several kHz) are discussed. The results show that: (1) in the range of comparatively low-repetition rate, the damage is characterized by material melting and a small crater on the surface of substrate; (2) with the increase in repetition rate, a bigger and deeper crater is surrounded by re-deposition and crystalline granules originating from the cooling of vapor; and (3) the crater, surrounded by evaporation and an large number of solid particulates which is obviously the characters of phase explosion, becomes even bigger and deeper when the repetition rate is further increased. We modeled the temperature distribution in different repetition rate regime and found that heat accumulation plays a significant role in damage process. Because of the temperature dependence of damage mechanism, the temperature of the area irradiated by laser beam will ramp up with increasing the repetition rate, which triggers the melting and evaporation of dielectrics and phase explosion successively. Our results may benefit the understanding of laser-induced damage in optical materials.     

Two-wavelength self-seeded pulsed tunable laser

A compact self-seeded pulsed tunable laser is described. Its optical cavity comprises a diffraction grating, operating at a grazing angle of incidence as a spectral selector and narrow-band spectral gate. The grating couples two partially overlapping laser channels: a highly selective master laser and a nonselective slave laser. Due to the implemented efficient intracavity self-seeding the laser emits spectrally pure single-longitudinal-mode radiation at two independently tunable wavelengths, with an efficiency and output energy that are typical for nonselective lasers. Results of the experimental investigation of the laser’s output characteristics are presented. Received: 12 March 2001 / Revised version: 10 December 2001 / Published online: 7 February 2002     

Single picosecond UV pulse generation by mode-locking of an excimer laser-pumped dye laser

A single picosecond ultraviolet pulse has been generated based on mode-locking of a dye laser pumped by a long pulse XeCl laser to serve as the input source for a high-power ps KrF laser system. A short-pulse uv dye laser (BBQ) pumped by an additional XeCl laser was used to selectively amplify a single pulse from a mode-locked pulse train with the pulse separation of 3.2 ns. The amplified single pulse was frequency-doubled to 248 nm with the pulse duration of 20 ps.     

Comparative study between IR and UV laser radiation applied to the removal of graffitis on urban buildings

The present article focuses on a comparison between cleaning process of graffitis on urban buildings by using laser radiation at 308 nm (XeCl excimer laser) and 1064 nm (Nd:YAG laser). Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) elemental analysis was applied as real-time diagnostic technique, safeguarding against possible damage of the substrate during ablation rate studies. The morphological analysis of the etched surfaces by optical microscopy and environmental scanning electron microscopy reveals remarkable features of interest to understand the wavelength dependence of the ablation efficiency. The ablation threshold fluences of different paints sprayed on several substrates were determined applying a photoacoustic technique. To remove graffitis from urban buildings the laser radiation at 1064 nm was observed to be the most efficient wavelength, supporting the best result.     

Ablation of poly(methyl methacrylate) and poly(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate) by 308, 222 and 193 nm excimer-laser radiation

Data on the ablation of Poly(Methyl MetAcylate) (PMMA) and Poly(2-Hydroxyethyl MetAcylate) (PHEMA) with 0%, 1% and 20% of Ethylene Glycol DiMethAcrylate (EGDMA) as crosslinking monomer by 193, 222 and 308 nm laser radiation are presented. Direct photoetching of PMMA at 308 nm is demonstrated for laser fluences ranging from 2 to 18 J/cm². The ablation rate of PHEMA is lower than the corresponding to PMMA and decreases when the amount of EGDMA increases. The determination of the absorbed energy density required to initiate significant ablation suggests that the photoetching mechanism is similar for all the polymers studied and is a function of the irradiation wavelength. The Beer-Lambert law, the Srinivasan, Smrtic and Babu (SSB) theory and the kinetic model of the moving interface are used to analyze the experimental results. It is shown that only the moving interface theory fits well the etch rate for all the selected polymers at the three radiation wavelengths.     

Tunable picosecond pulses from a short-cavity dye laser under ultra-high pressure using diamond-anvil cell

It is demonstrated that broadly tunable picosecond pulses are generated from a dye laser of very short cavity utilizing a diamond-anvil cell, which operates at pressures up to 10 GPa. The pulses as short as 5 ps are obtained from the rhodamine 6G dye laser pumped by a frequency-doubled Q-switched Nd: YAG laser. The way of tuning is based on the pressure induced shift of the emission peak of the dye. The laser is tunable over 20 nm by changing the pressure of the cell within 4 GPa.     

Finite element simulation of pulsed laser ablation of titanium carbide

In the present paper, a 2D finite element model based on the heat-conduction equation and on the Hertz-Knudsen equation for vaporization was developed and used to simulate the ablation of TiC by Nd:YAG and KrF pulsed laser radiation. The calculations were performed for fluences of 8 and 10 J/cm², which according to experimental results obtained previously, correspond to large increases of the ablation rate. The calculated maximum surface temperature of the target for both lasers is higher than the estimated value of TiC critical temperature, corroborating the hypothesis that the increase of the ablation rate is explained by the explosive boiling mechanism.     

Production of intensities of ∼ 1019 W/cm2 by a table-top KrF laser

We report on the generation of intensities of 10¹⁹ W/cm^–2 by focusing the output beam of a table-top hybrid dye-excimer laser system operating at 248 nm. The laser system uses a pulsed dye laser and a single, commercially available excimer gain module. Considerations and optical arrangements for the optimization of the phase-front and the beam homogeneity of ultraviolet excimer amplifiers are presented.Prof. F.P. Schäfer on the occasion of his 65th birthday.     

Thermoelastic wave induced by pulsed laser heating

In this work, a generalized solution for the thermoelastic plane wave in a semi-infinite solid induced by pulsed laser heating is developed. The solution takes into account the non-Fourier effect in heat conduction and the coupling effect between temperature and strain rate, which play significant roles in ultrashort pulsed laser heating. Based on this solution, calculations are conducted to study stress waves induced by nano-, pico-, and femtosecond laser pulses. It is found that with the same maximum surface temperature increase, a shorter pulsed laser induces a much stronger stress wave. The non-Fourier effect causes a higher surface temperature increase, but a weaker stress wave. Also, for the first time, it is found that a second stress wave is formed and propagates with the same speed as the thermal wave. The surface displacement accompanying thermal expansion shows a substantial time delay to the femtosecond laser pulse. On the contrary, surface displacement and heating occur simultaneously in nano- and picosecond laser heating. In femtosecond laser heating, results show that the coupling effect strongly attenuates the stress wave and extends the duration of the stress wave. This may explain the minimal damage in ultrashort laser materials processing. Received: 23 May 2000 / Accepted: 26 May 2000 / Published online: 20 September 2000     

Photoacoustic analysis of stimulated emission in pulsed dye lasers

Stimulated emission in pulsed dye lasers was characterized in several experimental conditions by analyzing the changes in the acoustic signals generated in a dye solution, with the dye laser cavity either active or inhibited (i.e., by blocking the optical path or misaligning of the optical components). Pump energy threshold, optimum dye concentration, tuning range and maximum-emission wavelength of a rhodamine 6G dye laser were measured by this method. An approximate model for the photoacoustic signal generation consistent with the experiments is presented.Member of CONICET     

Determination of Thickness of an Inaccessible Thin Film under a Multilayered System from Natural Frequencies

We investigate the relationship between natural frequencies of a multilayered system of different elastic materials and the thickness of the undermost thin film. The natural frequencies are numerically calculated from the reflection coefficient of a sample system of ＂steel-epoxy resin-aluminium-thin polymer＂ with normal incidence. Strain energy ratio is defined and calculated to give the physics explanation why some frequencies are sensitive to thickness of the thin film in certain range. Experiments of three specimens indicate that the measured natural frequencies agree well with the theoretical ones. It is found in our experiments that the ratio of the lowest film thickness to wavelength is about 1/5. The average relative errors for the inverted polymer film thicknesses are found to be 11.8%, -4.8% and -1.3%, respectively.     

Thickness Determination for a Two-Layered Composite of a Film and a Plate by Low-Frequency Ultrasound

We present an ultrasonic method for determining the thickness of a composite consisting of a soft thin film attached to a hard plate substrate, by resonance spectra in the low frequency region, The interrogating waves can be incident only to the two-layered composite from the substrate side. The reflection spectra are obtained by FFT analysis of the compressive pulsed echoes from the composite, and the thicknesses of the film and the substrate are simultaneously inversed by the simulated annealing method from the resonant frequencies knowing other acoustical parameters in prior. The sensitivity of the method to individual thickness, its convergence and stability against experimental noises are studied, Experiment with interrogating wavelength 4 times larger than the film thickness in a sample of a polymer film （0.054mm） on an aluminium plate （6.24mm） verifies the validity of the method. The average relative errors in the measurement of the thicknesses of the film and the substrate are found to be -4.1% and -0.62%, respectively.