Waveguides in lithium niobate fabricated by focused ultrashort laser pulses

We report on investigations of the bulk microstructuring of lithium niobate crystals with intense femtosecond laser pulses. In different crystal cuts, optical waveguides were produced whose properties depend strongly on the processing parameters. To explore the origin of the refractive index changes, we subjected the crystals to different conditions (like temperature, illumination, etc.) while monitoring the waveguide output. This way several mechanisms for the change in refractive index could be singled out. These include the photorefractive effect, inhomogeneous ion concentrations and stress in the crystalline lattice. As an application, we demonstrate frequency doubling of 1064 nm laser radiation in a microstructured phase-matched waveguide.     

Second harmonic generation by femtosecond Yb-doped fiber laser source based on PPKTP waveguide fabricated by femtosecond laser direct writing

The frequency doubling of femtosecond pulses from an Yb-doped fiber laser source was demonstrated in a PPKTP waveguide fabricated by femtosecond laser direct writing. The PPKTP waveguide contains a fixed period of 8.9 μm and the feomtosecond fundamental pulses have a central wavelength of 1044 nm. A maximum SHG power of 406 mW was produced, yielding a conversion efficiency of 5.6%. Numerical simulations were carried out to investigate the property of frequency doubling for femtosecond pulses. The results show that the SHG process proceeds even the quasi-phase-matching (QPM) condition is not well satisfied, which is significantly different from that of “long” pulses or CW light and is accorded with the experimental results.     

Surface ablation of lithium tantalate by femtosecond laser

We report measurements of the laser induced breakdown threshold in lithium tantalate with different number of pulses delivered from a chirped pulse amplification Ti: sapphire system. The threshold fluences were determined from the relation between the diameter D² of the ablated area and the laser fluence F₀. The threshold of lithium tantalite under single-shot is found to be 1.84 J/cm², and the avalanche rate was determined to be 1.01 cm²/J by calculation. We found that avalanche dominates the ablation process, while photoionization serves as a free electron provider.     

Micromachining of circular ring microstructure by femtosecond laser pulses

In this paper, integration of interference phenomenon into femtosecond laser micromachining was reported as the femtosecond laser pulses were reshaped spatially to perform ablation. The generation of circular interference pattern was demonstrated by overlapping infrared femtosecond laser pulses. The interference pattern was subsequently focused on a copper substrate to ablate microstructures of concentric circular rings. The present technique is expected to open up new applications in the areas of rapid fabrication of micro-Fresnel lenses, hybrid microlenses and lens arrays.     

Photoionization processes in F aggregate centres of LiF crystal

Extensive studies have been carried out on the optical conversion of F and F-aggregate colour centres produced in lithium fluoride single crystal on gamma irradiation. Using 308 nm XeCl laser it has been shown that significantly large population build-up of F ₃ ⁺ centre and reduction in the population of undesirable F₂ centres can be achieved in gamma irradiated crystal at room temperature due to multistep photoionization processes. These and other investigations have provided a scheme for possible laser action based on F ₃ ⁺ colour centres in LiF crystal at room temperature.     

飞秒激光诱导钛表面形成高空间频率周期条纹结构

利用波长为800 nm的飞秒激光,在空气和去离子水中诱导钛表面形成不同的周期条纹结构。在空气中,激光能量密度为0.265 J/cm2时,钛表面主要形成周期为500~560 nm低空间频率条纹结构;激光能量密度为0.102 J/cm2时,主要形成的是周期为220~340 nm高空间频率条纹结构。两种条纹均垂直于入射激光偏振方向,且条纹周期随着脉冲重叠数的增大而增大。在水中,除形成垂直激光偏振方向、周期为215~250 nm的高空间频率条纹结构,还形成了平行于激光偏振方向且周期约为入射激光波长八分之一的高空间频率条纹结构。利用表面等离子体理论、二次谐波及Sipe理论对各种周期条纹结构的形成机理进行分析,发现周期条纹结构的形成与钛表面氧化层有密切的关系。     

Self-assembled volume vortex grating induced by femtosecond laser pulses in glass

We presented a microfabrication process for optical volume vortex grating inside glass by femtosecond laser pulses. The self-trapped filament of femtosecond laser pulses can induce hundreds μm-long region refractive-index changes in glass. We realized the restructured optical vortex beams using a collimated He–Ne laser beam. The maximum first-order diffraction efficiency was about 19.6%. The volume vortex grating structure fabricated in glass is polarization dependent.     

飞秒激光制备彩色镍

采用飞秒脉冲激光在空气条件下扫描处理镍片表面,制备了彩色镍。用扫描电子显微镜、紫外-可见-近红外分光光度计、拉曼光谱仪等对其进行了表征。扫描电子显微镜测量显示,彩色镍表面出现了纳米激光诱导周期表面结构,结构周期为480～510 nm;紫外-可见-近红外分光光度计测量表明,彩色镍对波长为200～2 200 nm的光的反射率大大降低;拉曼谱表明样品表面形成了一定含量的氧化镍。     

飞秒激光作用下的硅表面微结构及发光特性

 采用近红外飞秒激光辐照浸泡在硫酸溶液中的N型单晶硅片,激光波长800 nm,脉宽200 fs,重频1 kHz,平均功率为100 mW,而硫酸溶液的质量分数分别选择为0.1%和1%。辐照后硅表面呈直径为5~8 mm,高度15 mm的柱型结构。分析其荧光特性,并通过比较硅材料表面微结构与激光光源、扫描参数、硅片背景环境的关系,确定最佳辐照条件为激光扫描速度750 mm/s,扫描间距5 mm/s。最终在厚度0.5 mm、直径26 mm的硅片上获得10 mm×10 mm的方形扫描区域,荧光光谱显示激光扫描后的区域在700 nm附近有很强的荧光发射。分析结果表明飞秒激光扫描改变了样品的表面微结构尺寸,增大了吸收面积,扩展了荧光激发波长,有效提高了样品的吸收效率和荧光发光相对强度(超过扫描前发光相对强度的2倍),荧光发射谱的变化是由量子限制效应和表面态模型共同作用的结果。     

Color center formation in KCl and KBr single crystals with femtosecond laser pulses

Because of their extremely high instantaneous powers, femtosecond lasers can color many nominally transparent materials. Although the excitations responsible for this defect formation occur on subpicosecond time scales, subsequent interactions between the resulting electronic and lattice defects complicate the evolution of color center formation and decay. These interactions must be understood in order to account for the long-term behavior of coloration. In this work, we probe the evolution of color centers generated by femtosecond laser radiation in potassium chloride and potassium bromide single crystals on time scales from microseconds to hundreds of seconds. By using an appropriately chosen probe laser focused through the femtosecond laser spot, we follow the changes in coloration due to individual or multiple femtosecond pulses and the evolution of that coloration for long times after femtosecond laser radiation is terminated.     

Optical studies of two dimensional gratings in fused silica, GE 124, and Foturan glasses fabricated using femtosecond laser pulses

Herein we present results on the femtosecond laser direct writing and optical characterization studies of two dimensional gratings in fused silica, GE 124, and Foturan^™ glasses. Varieties of structures were achieved with varying input energy and spatial orientation of the samples. Various characterization techniques including fluorescence spectroscopy, micro-Raman spectroscopy, and laser confocal microscopy were employed to analyze the structural and physical modifications at the focal volume resulting in change of refractive index. Diffraction efficiencies of 9–12% were observed from the grating structures. A broad-band emission was observed in the laser-modified region of the Foturan glass. The obtained results are analyzed in the light of recent work in similar glasses and exploring the applications of such structures in the fields of photonics.     

Characteristics of filament induced Dammann gratings fabricated using femtosecond laser

To establish optimal processing conditions for direct write fabrication of diffractive optical elements such as gratings, waveguides, lenses, we have investigated the effect of process parameters such as scan speed, numerical aperture (NA) of objective lens, pulse energy on the characteristics of the filament induced inside fused silica with a femtosecond Ti:sapphire laser. The optimum process parameters were used to fabricate a number of Dammann gratings, 6×6 array, having different thicknesses and number of layers. The performance of these optical elements was evaluated by measuring their diffraction efficiencies. All gratings fabricated were strongly birefringent, the zero order spot with high intensity was not separated from the spot array, and the intensity distribution of 6×6 spot array exhibited some degree of nonuniformity. The single layer Dammann grating fabricated with a thickness of 80 μm attained a maximum diffraction efficiency of 38.8%.     

3D features of modified photostructurable glass-ceramic with infrared femtosecond laser pulses

The exclusive ability of laser radiation to be focused inside transparent materials makes lasers a unique tool to process inner parts of them unreachable with other techniques. Hence, laser direct-write can be used to create 3D structures inside bulk materials. Infrared femtosecond lasers are especially indicated for this purpose because a multiphoton process is usually required for absorption and high resolution can be attained. This work studies the modifications produced by 450 fs laser pulses at 1027 nm wavelength focused inside a photostructurable glass-ceramic (Foturan^®) at different depths. Irradiated samples were submitted to standard thermal treatment and subsequent soaking in HF solution to form the buried microchannels and thus unveil the modified material. The voxel dimensions of modified material depend on the laser pulse energy and the depth at which the laser is focused. Spherical aberration and self-focusing phenomena are required to explain the observed results.     

Spectral and temporal characteristics of metallic nanoparticles produced by femtosecond laser pulses

We study the time of flight optical emission from titanium and tungsten nanosized particles, generated through femtosecond laser-matter interaction in vacuum, in the wavelength spectral range from 300 to 900 nm. Typical spectra consist of broadband structureless signals similar to black body emission from a macroscopic object. Nanoparticles temperature, deduced from their emission spectra, decreases drastically as a function of their time of arrival at a given distance from the target. This behaviour is seen to be independent of individual particle velocities.     

Talbot effect under illumination of double femtosecond laser pulses

The Talbot effect under illumination of double femtosecond laser pulses has been reported. Spectrums of double femtosecond laser pulses with phase differences are quite different from that of one single femtosecond laser pulse. Therefore, the Talbot images of the double femtosecond laser pulses with phase differences are different from that of one single femtosecond laser pulse. Specifically, for the phase difference corresponding to π, the Talbot image shows the largest difference from that of one single pulse. Experimental results are in good agreement with the theoretical analysis. The behaviors of Talbot images under double femtosecond laser pulses illumination cannot be obtained under one femtosecond laser pulse, monochromatic or polychromatic light illumination. Therefore, it is a new interesting optical phenomenon for the Talbot effect which should have potential applications.     

飞秒脉冲激光辐照下硅表面光致荧光特性

采用钛宝石飞秒脉冲激光对单晶硅在空气中进行辐照,研究了硅表面在不同扫描速度和能量密度下的光致荧光特性。光致荧光谱（PL）测量表明,在样品没有退火处理的情况下,激光扫描区域观察到橙色荧光峰（603 nm）和红色荧光带（680 nm附近）。扫描电子显微镜（SEM）测量显示,在飞秒脉冲激光辐照硅样品的过程中硅表面沉积了大量的纳米颗粒。利用傅里叶变换红外光谱仪（FT-IR）检测到了低值氧化物SiOx（x＜2）的存在,并且结合能谱仪（EDS）检测结果发现氧元素在光致发光中起着重要作用。研究表明：603 nm处橙色荧光峰来自微构造硅表面低值氧化物SiOx,680 nm附近红色荧光带来自量子限制效应。同时样品表面硅纳米颗粒的尺寸和氧元素的浓度分别决定了红色荧光带和橙色荧光的强度,通过调节飞秒激光脉冲的扫描速度和能量密度,可以有效地控制样品的荧光强度。     

Generation of regular femtosecond pulses in AlGaInP semiconductor laser

It is shown experimentally that stable ~ 200 fs regular pulses and optical frequency comb spectrum containing ~ 70 discrete frequencies can be achieved using semiconductor injection laser working in the conditions of superfluorescence under dc pumping current, which is lower than the threshold of laser action.     

Formation of periodic surface nanostructures on Ti:Al2O3 crystals using femtosecond laser pulses

Periodic surface nanostructures are observed on Ti³⁺:Al₂O₃ single crystals that have been irradiated by a single focused beam from a femtosecond pulsed laser (wavelength: 800 nm; pulse duration: 130 and 152 fs). Atomic force microscopy images of single-ablated zones and modified structures created by fixing and translating samples through the focal region of a linearly polarized laser beam reveal self-organized periodic surface nanostructures (ripples) with a subwavelength spacing, which are oriented perpendicular to the electric-field vector of the laser beam. The period of the subwavelength ripples obtained by linearly polarized laser irradiation varies from ∼λ/5 to 2λ/5 (λ: incident laser wavelength) depending on the laser pulse energy. This phenomenon can be explained by assuming that the incident light field interferes with the electric field of electron plasma waves propagating inside the material; this interference periodically modulates the electron plasma density and modifies the surface ablation. In addition, for the first time, we observe screw-shaped nanostructures in the focal spot of circularly polarized beam irradiation. The morphology of these nanostructures appears to reflect the circular polarization of the laser light.     

Superhydrophobic surfaces fabricated by microstructuring of stainless steel using a femtosecond laser

Fabrication of superhydrophobic surfaces induced by femtosecond laser is a research hotspot of superhydrophobic surface studies nowadays. We present a simple and easily-controlled method for fabricating stainless steel-based superhydrophobic surfaces. The method consists of microstructuring stainless steel surfaces by irradiating samples with femtosecond laser pulses and silanizing the surfaces. By low laser fluence, we fabricated typical laser-induced periodic surface structures (LIPSS) on the submicron level. The apparent contact angle (CA) on the surface is 150.3°. With laser fluence increasing, we fabricated periodic ripples and periodic cone-shaped spikes on the micron scale, both covered with LIPSS. The stainless steel-based surfaces with micro- and submicron double-scale structure have higher apparent CAs. On the surface of double-scale structure, the maximal apparent CA is 166.3° and at the same time, the sliding angle (SA) is 4.2°.