Microdot pattern of multiple organic molecules prepared by laser photopolymerization process with a nanosecond pulsed laser

A microdot pattern of multiple organic molecules was prepared. Fluorescent molecules, which absorb visible light, were added to a commercial ultraviolet photopolymerization polymer solution and the polymer solution was polymerized by irradiating with nanosecond pulsed visible laser light. The size and the shape of the polymerized dots differed with the irradiation condition and the kind of the added molecules. Based on these results, a microdot pattern of multiple organic molecules was prepared by repeating a micropatterning process with the molecules. PACS 82.50.Hp; 81.65.Cf; 81.05.Lg     

Fabrication of high-aspect-ratio sub-diffraction-limit microstructures by two-photon-absorption photopolymerization

Micro-cell structures with side-walls as thin as 0.70 m and aspect ratios as high as 6.7 are fabricated by single-layer writing through two-photon-absorption (TPA) photopolymerization. The use of a moderate-numerical-aperture (N.A.) objective lens to obtain a much more elongated voxel and an in situ ultraviolet (UV) pre-exposure step to improve the sensitivity of TPA photopolymerization are the main factors responsible for the high aspect ratio and sub-diffraction-limit resolution that are achieved. PACS 42.70.Gi; 81.05.Lg; 82.35.-x     

Fabrication of fluorescent nanoparticles of dendronized perylenediimide by laser ablation in water

Highly fluorescent organic nanoparticles with size of about 300 nm were prepared by nanosecond laser ablation of micrometer-sized powder of dendronized perylenediimide dispersed in water. The nanoparticle colloidal solution provided a fluorescence quantum yield of 0.58. The absorption and emission spectral studies demonstrated that the bulky dendron groups at the side bays of perylenediimide chromophore efficiently suppress the interchromophoric interactions in the nanoparticles. Fluorescence measurement on several single nanoparticles underlines that the prepared nanoparticles are bright and photo-stable enough to be a useful probe for single particle fluorescence investigation.     

Fabrication of quantum dot transistors incorporating a single self-assembled quantum dot

We report on the fabrication and the characterization of quantum dot transistors incorporating a single self-assembled quantum dot. The current–voltage characteristics exhibit clear staircase structures at room temperature. They are attributed to electron tunneling through the quantized energy levels of a single quantum dot.     

Fabrication of polymer scaffolds for tissue engineering using surface selective laser sintering

A new approach to the fabrication of individual implants and scaffolds for tissue engineering—surface selective laser sintering (SSLS)—is proposed and realized. In contrast to the conventional selective laser sintering, the SSLS method makes it possible to sinter polymer microparticles and melt the near-surface layer rather than the microparticle as a whole. The effect of the laser radiation parameters and the structure and composition of the raw products on the structure and properties of the biomaterials sintered by the laser radiation is analyzed. This approach makes possible both the application of thermally unstable polymers (e.g., polylactides or polylactoglycolides) and the fabrication of scaffolds with incorporated bioactive proteins. The results obtained yield a regular physical basis for a new technology of the fabrication of various polymer scaffolds that represent important materials and elements of modern tissue engineering. The flexibility of the SSLS method is especially important at the stage of investigation of the cell and tissue responses needed for the optimization of the material for a specific application in tissue engineering.     

Fabrication of microchip based on UV transparent polymer for DNA electrophoresis by F2 laser ablation

A microchip for DNA electrophoresis made of a new UV transparent polymer material (CYTOP) whose absorption edge is much shorter than 190 nm has been fabricated by F₂ laser ablation. F₂ laser ablation achieves high-quality microfabrication of CYTOP surface with little deterioration of the optical property and little debris deposition at etched area. The microchip in which the microchannel connected with two reservoirs was embedded was successfully fabricated by bonding the ablated sample to the virgin CYTOP sheet. The fabricated microchip was applied for DNA analysis by electrophoresis and succeeded in separating different base-pares (bp) of DNA from 50 to 766 bp with resolution of 100 bp. PACS 42.70.Jk; 52.38.Mf; 82.45.-h     

Fabrication of polymer compound microlens by lens-on-lens microstructures

We proposed a novel method for fabricating polymer compound microlenses (PCMLs) using micro-inkjet technique and subsequent curing process. Two different types of PCMLs with sandwich microstructure (PDMS-Glycerol-PDMS), concave and convex PCMLs, have been designed and fabricated in experiments. Convex PCML has two real images and two foci. The concave PCML has one real and one virtual focal planes, which can generate one real image and one virtual image respectively. Moreover, the diameter of concave PCML can be controlled by adjusting the curing time and temperature. The proposed method is simple, efficient and suitable for realizing large-scale high numerical aperture PCMLs array, which has potential applications in diverse optical systems such as optical storage and three-dimensional imaging.     

双尺度织构的激光光刻工艺

搭建了双光束激光干涉光刻系统和激光快速扫描系统。利用干涉光刻系统,实现了不同周期、不同深度、大面积的表面规则光栅织构的构筑。利用激光快速扫描器的二维扫描功能,通过控制激光功率和扫描速度,对曝光量和填充线条间距进行了优化。提出了两种双尺度复合织构的制备方法：一种是在激光快速扫描系统中对抗蚀剂表面分别进行x, y方向的扫描光刻,然后在干涉光刻系统中进行双光束干涉光刻;另一种是在激光干涉光刻系统中进行两次曝光,每次曝光的入射角不同。实验结果表明：这两种方法在制备双尺度复合织构方面具有快速、廉价、操作简易等优点。     

Fabrication of terahertz metamaterials by laser printing

A laser printing technique was used to fabricate split-ring resonators (SRRs) on Si substrates for terahertz (THz) metamaterials and their resonance behavior evaluated by THz time-domain spectroscopy. The laser-printed Ag SRRs exhibited sharp edge definition and excellent thickness uniformity, which resulted in an electromagnetic response similar to that from identical Au SRR structures prepared by conventional photolithography. These results demonstrate that laser printing is a practical alternative to conventional photolithography for fabricating metamaterial structures at terahertz frequencies, since it allows their design to be easily modified and optimized.     

Fabrication of axicons by cw laser effusion

The fabrication of axicons by cw laser effusion is introduced for the case of a chalcogenide alloy, and experimental results concerning the lateral resolution and the intensity distribution along the optical axis are reported.     

Emission of neutral molecules during UV laser ablation of a photolabile triazeno polymer

The neutral products of irradiating a photolabile triazeno-polymer with a pulsed laser at 248 nm (KrF excimer) were studied with time-of-flight (TOF) mass spectrometry. At fluences below 1.3 J/cm², N₂ is by far the most intense neutral product. Phenyl radical (mass 76) production was also observed. The leading edge of the N₂ TOF signal shows a shoulder corresponding to kinetic energies of about 1.1 eV, followed by a long tail that lasts hundreds of microseconds. The tail is attributed to delayed emission of reaction products from the polymer. The kinetic energy of the fast peak is attributed to direct ejection of products from surface sites undergoing exothermic decomposition. The fluence dependence of the N₂ signal is highly nonlinear and is shown to fit an Arrhenius equation.     

Alignment of molecules by strong laser pulses

We review how moderately intense laser fields offer an approach to alignment of molecules [1]. In particular, molecules can be aligned along a given space fixed axis, forced to a plane, or their rotations about all three possible axes can be eliminated by choosing a linearly polarized, a circularly polarized, or an elliptically polarized alignment field, respectively. We show how molecules in the gas phase can be aligned by turning on the laser field either slowly (a few nanoseconds) or fast (a few picoseconds) with respect to the rotational period of the molecules. The role of the intensity of the laser field and the rotational temperature of the molecules is discussed. Before concluding we describe how aligned molecules enables control and selectivity in the interaction between polarized light and molecules.Received: 15 November 2002, Published online: 18 March 2003PACS: 33.15.Bh General molecular conformation and symmetry; stereochemistry - 32.80.Lg Mechanical effects of light on atoms, molecules, and ions - 33.80.Gj Diffuse spectra; predissociation, photodissociation - 33.80.Rv Multiphoton ionization and excitation to highly excited states (e.g. Rydberg states) - 34.50.Lf Chemical reactions, energy disposal, and angular distribution, as studied by atomic and molecular beams     

An extended scheme for counting fluorescent molecules by photon-antibunching

Acquisition of quantitative information from microscopic biological samples is highly desirable in the context of the emerging field of systems biology. We derive a statistical approach to estimate the number of fluorescent molecules in the observation volume based on a confocal microscope for single-molecule detection. The method employs ps-pulsed laser sources for excitation and time-correlated single-photon counting with 4 avalanche photon diodes (APDs) for detection of individual photons. The feasibility for estimating the number of molecules is shown based on simultaneous emission and detection of multiple photons (photon-antibunching) under realistic experimental conditions. In theory, it should be possible to estimate the number of molecules with errors of less than 1% by using novel photo-stabilizing agents. The proposed method puts into perspective its application for high-resolution microscopy without the need for photo-switching or photo-activation of fluorescence dyes.     

Fabrication of submicron structures by three-dimensional laser lithography

As a demonstration of unique capabilities of three-dimensional laser lithography, an example complex-shape microobject and photonic crystals with “woodpile” structure for the infrared spectral range are fabricated by this technique. Photonic dispersion relations for the woodpile structure are calculated for different values of the permittivity contrast and the filling factor.     

Fabrication of magneto-optical microstructure by femtosecond laser pulses

We investigate femtosecond laser direct writing (FLDW) in the fabrication of magneto-optical (MO) microstructures. The experimental results show that FDLW can introduce positive refractive index change in the MO materials. With the increase of the writing intensity of femtosecond laser pulses, refractive index change increases, whereas Verdet constant of the damaged area decreases nonlinearly. With suitable writing intensity, we obtain a single-mode waveguide in which Verdet constant is 80% of the bulk MO glass.     

Dammann gratings as integratable micro-optical elements created by laser micronanofabrication via two-photon photopolymerization

Dammann gratings, as beam splitters and coherent signal generators, were produced in a short fabricating cycle by femtosecond laser fabrication via two-photon photopolymerization. These holograms that each generated 2x2, 3x3, 4x4, 5x5, and 6x6 spot sources in the fan-out demonstrated diffraction efficiency of 36%, 25%, 29%, 52%, and 49%, respectively, comparable with the theoretical values. This work shows the promising prospect of femtosecond laser fabrication in compatibly manufacturing various micro-optical devices including Dammann gratings and their integrated systems.     

Cavity linewidth narrowing by voltage-controlled induced transparency in asymmetry quantum dot molecules

We theoretically investigate cavity-linewidth narrowing by means of voltage-controlled induced transparency in asymmetric double quantum dot system. The impact of voltage on frequency pulling and cavity linewidth narrowing is discussed. The linewidth and position of the cavity transmission can be engineered by the bias voltage. The scheme may be useful in designing novel optoelectronic devices.     

Effect of ionization-recombination process on fluorescent and laser properties of complex organic molecules in buffer gases

It is shown that the stepwise ionization of active organic molecules under UV pump radiation is responsible in a large part for poor lasing properties of dye-vapour active media as compared with liquid ones.     

Micro-patterning of multiple organic molecules by laser implantation

Micrometer pixelated arrays comprised of different functional organic molecules were formed on a polymer film using a laser implantation and transfer dry processing technique. The spatial distribution of the implanted organic molecules and the extended pattern that they formed could be controlled with high resolution as determined using fluorescence microscopy. The individual molecular implant pixels had a diameter of less than 4 m. This method of molecular manipulation is both precise and reproducible and could therefore be used in many applications such as molecular devices, molecular sensors, non-linear optical devices, drug delivery and opto-electronic displays. PACS 81.05.Lg; 81.16.Mk; 81.65.Cf     

Dynamics of molecules excited by infrared laser radiation

The CF₂HCl and CF₂Cl₂ molecules upon multiphoton excitation are investigated by the method of Raman light scattering spectroscopy at frequencies of fundamental transitions. It is demonstrated that essentially nonequilibrium energy distribution of molecules is formed in the process of excitation. Physical parameters characterizing this distribution are determined.