Photo-operated two-photon absorption effects in the GeSe2–Ga2S3–PbI2 glasses

The possibility to operate the two-photon absorption (TPA) of newly synthesized GeSe₂–Ga₂S₃–PbI₂ glasses using the CO laser beam (λ=5.5 μm) as a photoinducing one has been demonstrated. As the fundamental laser beam we have used the illumination of 10.6 μm passively modulated 0.5 ns CO₂ laser with a rate repetition of about 10 Hz. We have established that the maximal photoinduced TPA is observed for the 8% doped samples (up to 14 cm/GW), which is achieved at a pump CO laser pump power density equal to about 0.6 GW/cm². The undoped PbI₂ samples show the TPA maximum at a pump power density of about 0.2 cm/GW. The minimal TPA values were observed for the samples with 5% of PbI₂. The obtained results show that these materials can be used as effective optically operated optical limiters.     

Growth and laser properties of Nd:Ca4YO(BO3)3 crystal

Nd:Ca₄YO(BO₃)₃ (Nd:YCOB) crystal was grown by the Czochralski method, and its structure was measured by using a four circle X-ray diffractometer. The transparent spectrum from 200 to 2600 nm was measured at room temperature. The fluorescence spectrum near 1.06 μm showed that the main emission wavelength of Nd:YCOB crystal was centered at 1060.8 nm. Laser output at 1.06 μm has been demonstrated when it was pumped by a Ti:sapphire laser at the wavelength of 794 nm, the highest output power was 68 mW under pumping power of 311 mW, the pumping threshold was 163 mW and slope efficiency was 46.9%. The self-frequency doubled green light has been observed when it was pumped by a Ti:sapphire or a laser diode (LD). A 14.5 mm Nd:YCOB crystal sample cut at (θ, φ)=(90°, 33°) was used for type I second-frequency generation (SHG) of the 1.06 μm laser pulse. The SHG conversion efficiency was 22%.     

A continuously variable attenuator for the CO2 laser

A continuously variable attenuator for the CO₂ laser, causing minimal degradation of beam quality, is implemented using rotating ZnSe wedges, and is capable of transmissivities between 0.3% and 18%, and between 27% and 89%. The transmissivity at any particular setting was measured to be essentially constant for wavelengths from 9.27 μm (9R20) to 10.77 μm (10P36).     

Imaging biological specimens with the confocal scanning laser microscope/macroscope

A new confocal scanning laser microscope/macroscope (cslm/M) has recently been developed. It combines in one instrument the high resolution capability of a confocal scanning beam microscope for imaging small specimens, with good resolution confocal imaging of macroscopic specimens. Some of its main features include: (a) 0.25 μm lateral resolution in the microscope mode and 5 μm lateral resolution in the macroscope mode; (b) a field of view that can vary from 25 μm × 25 μm to 75,000 μm × 75,000 μm; (c) capability for acquiring large data sets from 512 × 512 pixels to 2048 × 2048 pixels; (d) 0.5 μm depth resolution in the microscope mode and 200 μm depth resolution in the macroscope mode.

In this work the cslm/M was used to image whole biological specimens (> 5 m diameter), including insects which are ideal specimens for the macroscope. Specimens require no preparation, unlike scanning electron microscope (SEM) specimens which require a conductive coating. The specimens described in this paper are too large to be imaged in their entirety by a scanning beam laser microscope, however they can be imaged by slower scanning stage microscopes. In the macroscope mode the cslm/M was used to acquire a large number (e.g. 20–40) of confocal image slices which were then used to reconstruct a three-dimensional image of the specimen. High resolution images were collected by the cslm/M by switching to the microscope mode where high numerical aperture (NA) objectives were used to image a small area of interest. Reflected-light and fluorescence images of plant and insect specimens are presented which demonstrate the morphological details obtained in various imaging modes. A process for three-dimensional visualization of the data is described and images are shown.     

Absorption coefficients of O3 at CO2 laser wavelengths

The O₃ absorption coefficients for the rotational lines P(12)–P(28) of the 9.4 μm emission band of the CO₂ laser are presented. Measurements were made in O₃–air dilute mixtures (20–600 ppm) at 25°C and a total pressure of 1013.25 h Pa using a frequency stabilized cw CO₂ laser and values have been determined with greater precision than in previously reported studies.     

Beam quality of a high-power CO2 laser MOPA system

In this paper, the effects of amplification of diffraction-limited pulsed CO₂ laser radiation over several meters of amplification length on beam quality and pointing stability are documented. Millijoule pulses are amplified up to 3 J. Generation and amplification of the 10 μm wavelength pulses were performed in the discharge volume of an e-beam sustained CO₂ laser. Beam quality is measured according to the ISO/DIS 11146 standard in terms of the beam quality factor M². Fluence distributions were recorded with a beam analysing system of 100 μm spatial resolution. M² parameter values ranged up to 1.55 for amplified pulse energies of 3 J. The necessity of beam-quality restoring techniques is inferred for the multijoule pulse energy regime.     

The refractivities of water vapour for CO2 laser lines

The refractivities of water vapour in the 10 μm region at temperatures near 20°C are measured with an accuracy of 1% using a 10.6 μm CO₂/0.63 μm He-Ne laser interferometer with a 2 m long vacuum cell. The measured refractivities are 30% less than the value calculated by extrapolating the dispersion equation for water vapour in the visible region. From this result, the CO₂ laser is found to be useful as a light source for a three-wavelength laser ranging system of correcting for the air refractivity in the path.     

Bi-axial texture in Ca0.1Y0.9Ba2Cu4O8 composite wires made by metallic precursors

High filament count, silver-sheathed composite wires of Ca_0.1Y_0.9Ba₂Cu₄O₈ (Y–124) were prepared by a metallic precursor route. The ductility of the metallic precursor enabled one to manufacture tapes containing up to 962 407 filaments, with filament dimensions as fine as 0.25 μm thick and 1 μm wide. By using a thermal-mechanical treatment to texture the Y–124 grains, transport critical current densities in the oxide filaments of 69 500 A/cm² at 4.2 K in self-field were obtained. Moreover, in an applied field of 0.1 T, the samples retained 39% of their self-field critical current density. A TEM investigation revealed significant bi-axial crystallographic texture: in areas viewed, c-axis alignment of adjacent grains was within 10° and oriented perpendicular to the tape face; a-axis alignment of adjacent grains was within 15° and oriented parallel to the longitudinal direction of the filaments. Furthermore, c-axis texture alone did not adequately predict the performance of these Y−124 composite conductors. Instead, performance scaled with the degree of bi-axial texture. These wires exhibited among the best reported J_c for a polycrystalline, sintered wire of YBCO in an applied magnetic field.     

UV-induced two-photon absorption in BiB3O6 single crystals

We show that BiB₃O₆ (BiBO) crystals, well known for their excellent second harmonic generation (SHG) properties, may also be of interest for third-order optical phenomena, particularly for two-photon absorption (TPA). Photoinduced TPA measurements were performed under illumination of excimer Xe–F laser (λ = 217 nm) as a photoinducing (pumping) beam. It created a thin surface layer (about 85 nm) that was a source of the observed photoinduced TPA. Raman shifted Nd-YAG laser radiation (λ = 1.9 μm) as well as its second and fourth harmonics (λ = 950 and λ = 475 nm, respectively) were used as fundamental (probing) beams of the TPA. The highest values of the TPA β coefficient were achieved for a polarization of the pumping light directed along crystallographic axis b. Quantum chemical simulations indicate on substantial contribution of UV-induced electron–phonon anharmonicity to the observed TPA. The obtained values of TPA coefficients indicate a possibility of using BiBO crystals as UV-operated optical limiters in a wide spectral range.     

Dosimetry of 40 and 70 MeV/n O beams

Using CR-39 plastic track detectors the range values of ¹⁶O ions at two different energies (initially in the beam line, 39.97 MeV/n and 69.98 MeV/n) were measured after escaping the beam pipe and found to be (3050 ± 40) μm and (8210 ± 90) μm, respectively. The longitudinal and projected angular spread of oxygen ions of an initial energy of 69.98 MeV/n in the region of the Bragg peak was derived from the measured geometrical parameters of tracks. Based on a calibration curve (etch rate ratio vs total linear energy transfer in CR-39) and the measured track length distribution at the range end of oxygen ions, the complete depth dose profile of a 67.7 MeV/n ¹⁶O beam in CR-39 (plateau, extended Bragg peak and residual ionization caused by projectile like fragments) was obtained.     

Optical fibre beam delivery of high-energy laser pulses: beam quality preservation and fibre end-preparation

This paper investigates the extension of optical fibre beam delivery to high-brightness applications, in particular laser percussion drilling, where both a good beam quality and high peak power are required. Beam quality preservation through a number of optical fibres is studied both experimentally and by using a ray propagation model. It is determined that in order to achieve the beam quality required for percussion drilling (M²<30) the largest fibre which can be used is 400 μm diameter. The laser-induced damage threshold is measured for a number of 400 μm fibres, and a CO₂ laser-annealing technique is shown to increase the damage threshold by a factor of 10, allowing 28 J, 1 ms pulses to be transmitted.     

Observations of ω0/2 harmonic emission from 0.35μm laser-irradiated plasmas

Observations of ω₀/2 harmonic emission from both spherical and plane targets irradiated by 0.35 μm, 800 ps laser pulses have been obtained with simultaneous high spectral and temporal resolutions of 16 Å and 20 ps respectively. The ω₀/2 harmonic emission spectrum is interpreted as providing a direct measurement of the frequency of the ω₀/2 plasma waves and hence can be used to estimate the electron temperature.     

Picosecond nonlinear optical response of Ba0.5Sr0.5TiO3 thin films fabricated by pulsed laser deposition

Well-crystallized Ba_0.5Sr_0.5TiO₃ thin films with good surface morphology were prepared on MgO(1 0 0) substrates by pulsed laser deposition technique at a deposition temperature of 800 °C under the oxygen pressure of 2 × 10⁻³ Pa. X-ray diffraction and atomic force microscopy were used to characterize the films. The full width at half maximum of the (0 0 2) Ba_0.5Sr_0.5TiO₃ rocking curve and the root-mean-square surface roughness within the 5 μm × 5 μm area were 0.542° and 0.555 nm, respectively. The nonlinear optical properties of the films were determined by a single beam Z-scan method at a wavelength of 532 nm with laser duration of 55 ps. The results show that Ba_0.5Sr_0.5TiO₃ thin films exhibit a fast third-order nonlinear optical response with the nonlinear refractive index and nonlinear absorption coefficient being n₂ = 5.04 × 10⁻⁶ cm²/kW and β = 3.59 × 10⁻⁶ (m/W), respectively.     

Structural and optical properties of thermally evaporated Bi2Te3 films

Bi₂Te₃ films were prepared by thermal evaporation technique. X-ray diffraction analysis for as-deposited and annealed films in vacuum at 150 °C were polycrystalline with rhombohedral structure. The crystallite size is found to increase as the film thickness increases and has values in the range 67–162 nm. The optical constants (the refractive index, n, and absorption index, k) were determined using transmittance and reflectance data in the spectral range 2.5–10 μm for Bi₂Te₃ films with different thicknesses (25–99.5 nm). Both n and k are independent on the film thickness in the investigated range. It was also found that Bi₂Te₃ is a high refractive index material (n has values of 4.7–8.8 in the wavelength range 2.5–10 μm). The allowed optical transitions were found to be direct optical transitions with energy gap  eV. The optical conductivities σ₁ = ƒ(hν) and σ₂ = f(hν) show distinct peaks at about 0.13 and 0.3 eV, respectively. These two peaks can be attributed to optical interband transitions.     

Cross-talk during single grain optically stimulated luminescence measurements of quartz and feldspar

Focussed laser systems designed to measure the optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) signals from individual sand sized mineral grains are now widely used. One system that is commonly used can hold up to 100 grains on a 9.8 mm diameter aluminium disc, and can use either a green or infrared (IR) laser for optical stimulation. The grains are held in holes drilled into the disc surface, and the spacing between the edges of adjacent holes is only 300 μm. Focussing of the laser is essential to prevent inadvertent optical stimulation of adjacent grains, but no measurements have previously been made to determine the extent of cross-talk. Measurements on two systems show that the maximum cross-talk for an adjacent position is 0.22%, but typically the value is 0.04% for the green laser and 0.08% for the IR laser. This magnitude of cross-talk is unlikely to have a significant impact on continuous wave OSL measurements where the period of optical stimulation tends to be short, but may be important in linearly modulated OSL measurements where long periods of stimulation are sometimes used to characterise slow components of the OSL signal.     

Accurate measurement of the refractive index of CO2, N2, He, O2, and air at 10.57 μ and T = 23 °C

The refractive index of carbon-dioxide, nitrogen, helium, oxygen and air have been measured at 23 °C temperature by means of a tunable CO₂ laser at 10.57 μm and of a differential interferometric technique. As the gas refractive index depends on the pressure P as n = 1 + _PP, the pressure coefficients _P has been measured with 5e–3 accuracy.     

Self-pulsing instability of a CH2F2-laser

A single mode self-pulsing instability is reported for the 117 μm optically pumped far infrared CH₂F₂ laser     

Characterization and frequency measurement of a new far infrared laser line from CHin2Fin2

We present the discovery and frequency measurement of a new FIR laser line from CH₂F₂ optically pumped by a waveguide CO₂ laser. This new line has the same CO₂ laser pump line (9R32), offset (+5 MHz) and relative polarization of the strongest FIR laser line of CH₂F₂, namely the 184.3μm. The frequency is only 19,454 MHz apart from that of this line. We got a frequency measurement of 1,646,196.6 (10) MHz, which corresponds to a wavelength of 182.112 μm.     

Correlation between structural and optical properties of ion beam synthesized β-FeSi2 precipitates in Si

The structural and optical properties of β-FeSi₂ precipitates produced by ion beam synthesis have been investigated by transmission electron microscopy, photoluminescence (PL) analysis and near infrared transmission measurements. The PL spectrum of β-FeSi₂ precipitates in a dislocation free sample has been observed to consist of a sharp line at 1.54 μm and a weak peak at 1.46 μm. Optical transmission measurements showed a direct band gap about 0.8 eV smaller than in continuous β-FeSi₂ film. Calculation of the electronic bands of β-FeSi₂ for different values of the lattice parameters indicates that this reduction can be ascribed to band distortion provided by the lattice strain.     

Domain wall pinning in polycrystalline perovskite La0.7Sr0.3MnO3

Reversible and irreversible domain wall (DW) motions have been investigated in La_0.7Sr_0.3MnO₃ ceramic samples using frequency-response complex permeability with various amplitudes of AC field. We also examine the effects of temperature in the range from 293 to 368 K and transverse DC magnetic field with a maximum of 4.40×10⁵ A/m on the real part of permeability (μ′). Two relaxations corresponding to reversible wall motions and domain rotations occur in low and high frequency regions, respectively. The irreversible DW displacements can be activated as the amplitude larger than the pinning field of 3 A/m, leading to an increase in μ′. The μ′ obeys a Rayleigh law at the temperature below 343 K or under DC field of less than 4.22×10⁴ A/m. The Rayleigh constant η increases from 5.45×10⁻² to 1.54×10⁻¹ (A/m)⁻¹ as the temperature rises from 293 to 343 K, and η decreases from 5.58×10⁻² to 3.67×10⁻² (A/m)⁻¹ with increasing DC field from 1.99×10³ to 4.22×10⁴ A/m.