Femtosecond-pulse laser ablation of dental hydroxyapatite and single-crystalline fluoroapatite

Laser microdrilling of healthy human enamel and dentine using 300 fs pulses at a wavelength of 615 nm and 3 Hz repetition rate leads to an enhanced structuring quality in comparison with nanosecond-laser results. Microcracking and damage to neighboring tissue can be reduced. Ablation threshold fluences for 100 laser pulses of 0.3 J cm^-2 (human dentine), 0.6 J cm^-2 (human enamel) and 0.8 J cm^-2 (single crystalline fluoroapatite) could be determined. Ablation depths per pulse below 1 7m were observed.     

A proposed ablation laser

A new type of eximer laser is proposed; it involves the simultaneous sublimation and excitation of a frozen film by means of a relativistic electron beam. Calculated beam requirements for noble gases are ～ 10 kA/cm² of 400 kV electrons for periods of 2 to 12 ns. Predicted advantages of this laser are high gain and the elimination of wavelength limiting optical windows. Preliminary experimental fluorescence spectra have been obtained from xenon films. The emission from the solid phase consists primarily of two 100 Å wide bands centered at 1690 Å and 1730 Å the fluorescence lifetimes are 4 ± 2 ns for both bands.     

Plasma-mediated ablation of brain tissue with picosecond laser pulses

Plasma-mediated ablations of brain tissue have been performed using picosecond laser pulses obtained from a Nd:YLF oscillator/regenerative amplifier system. The laser pulses had a pulse duration of 35 ps at a wavelength of 1.053 µm. The pulse energy varied from 90 µJ to 550 µJ at a repetition rate of 400 Hz. The energy density at the ablation threshold was measured to be 20 J/cm². Comparisons have been made to 19 ps laser pulses at 1.68 µm and 2.92 µm from an OPG/OPA system and to microsecond pulse trains at 2.94 µm from a free running Er:YAG laser. Light microscopy and scanning electron microscopy were performed to judge the depth and the quality of the ablated cavities. No thermal damage was induced by either of the picosecond laser systems. The Er:YAG laser, on the other hand, showed 20 µm wide lateral damage zones due to the longer pulse durations and the higher pulse energies.     

Non-thermal ablation of neural tissue with femtosecond laser pulses

2 ; for 100 fs pulses from the same laser the experimental threshold was at 1.5 J/cm². Histopathological examinations and scanning electron micrographs confirm the high quality of the excisions. No sign of significant thermal damage was observed. Received: 29 January 1997/Revised version: 14 July 1997     

Doping transition metal ions as a method for enhancement of ablation rate in femtosecond laser irradiation of silicate glass

We present a doping method to improve the femtosecond laser ablation rate and promote ablation selectivity. Doping transition metal ions, Co2＋ or Cu2＋, in silicate glass apparently change absorption spectroscopy and induce resonant absorption at wavelengths of 600 and 800 nm, respectively. Comparing with femtosecond laser processing of the same glass without doping, we find that the threshold fiuenee decreases and the ablation rate increases in resonant absorption in doped silicate glass. Resonant absorption effectively increases multiphoton ionization for seed-free electron generation, which in turn enhances avalanche ionization.     

一种用于辉光放电光谱深度分析的激光实时测量新方法

辉光放电原子发射光谱仪可用于物质表面化学成分随深度分布的分析,在镀层分析、金属材料检验等领域有着广泛的应用。文章介绍了辉光深度分析的传统方法和局限性以及实时深度测量技术的近期研究,提出了一种用于辉光放电光谱深度分析的激光实时测量新方法。文章采用激光位移传感器和根据激光测量方法设计的辉光放电光源构成实时深度测量系统,详细阐述了系统的设计方案和技术原理。系统的设计结构能够实现在辉光光谱分析的同时进行激光实时溅射深度的测量。通过实验验证和分析了激光实时测量样品溅射深度过程中产生的光源位移现象。采用双激光器实时深度测量系统对锌合金标准样品进行了溅射深度的实时测量,给出了实时深度测量曲线。通过将溅射面测量曲线与参考面曲线进行叠加,得到了样品溅射坑深度的实际值,与Dektak8型表面形貌仪测量结果一致。     

A simple technique for laser-induced ablation pressure measurement

A simple method for measuring laser-induced ablation pressure is described. The technique utilizes the well-known double foil concept. In the present experiment the impact times were estimated by monitoring the reflectivity of the impact foil rear. The measurements were performed using a glass laser (1·06 μm wavelength) in the 10¹¹−10¹³ W/cm² irradiance range. Experimental results showed good agreement with those obtained using other techniques as also those with the self-regulating ablation model prediction.     

A study of laser rate equations by Liapunov's second method

An investigation is made of a system of coupled nonlinear differential equations (Statz-DeMars equations), describing the time variation of photon density and inversion in a laser or maser, without solving these equations explicitly. The method applied is based onLiapunov's stability theory. The results are rigorous and imply no approximation; they are, therefore, valid for arbitrarily large nonlinear terms. In the physically meaningful halfspace of the phase plane, i.e. where the photon density is not negative, the Statz-DeMars equations admit only damped periodic and damped aperiodic solutions. The transition between the aperiodic and the periodic mode is achieved, when the pumping rate exceeds a critical value. It is proven that the whole halfspace considered belongs to the domain of asymptotic stability of the equilibrium state and, therefore, no limit cycles and no diverging solutions exist.     

Laser ablation of dental materials using a microsecond Nd:YAG laser

The action of microsecond laser pulses with a wavelength of 1064 nm on dental tissues (enamel and dentin) and various dental materials used for tooth replacement and filling (ceramics, metal alloys, and composites) is studied. It is demonstrated that the ablation thresholds of all of the dental materials are significantly lower than the threshold laser fluences for the dental tissue (E _thr = 200–300 J/cm²). At the laser fluences that do not allow ablation and damage of the dental tissues, the dental materials are effectively removed at a rate of no greater than 40 μm per pulse. It is shown that the laser ablation of the materials under study involves two processes (evaporation and volume explosion) depending on the optical density. The results obtained indicate that the laser radiation with a wavelength of 1064 nm and the microsecond pulse duration is promising for dental applications, since it allows effective cleaning of the tooth surface from various dental materials in the absence of the damages of dental tissues.     

The effect of laser wavelength on the ablation rate of carbon

The ablation of graphite is studied as a function of laser fluence for 355, 532 and 1,064 nm wavelength generated by a nanosecond Nd:YAG laser. It has been found that in the case of lower wavelengths, the transition from the thermal ablation to the phase explosion takes place at lower laser fluences. The change of crater shape due to the effect of deep drilling in the proximity of the phase explosion threshold was observed. The calculations of plasma radiation flux to the target surface were made, and the considerable increase of absorbed energy density was found in the case of 355 nm wavelength.     

A novel laser straightness measurement method with beam bend compensation

In this paper, a novel method to measure straightness errors with beam bend compensation based on Finite Element thermal analysis is proposed. According to the Edlen formula, the main factor that causes beam bend is thermal gradation in the air. Finite Element thermal analysis is applied to the thermal field around the beam. It is evident from the experimental results that high precision straightness errors in horizontal and vertical directions can be obtained after compensation. Hence, the feasibility of straightness errors measuring system with compensation for beam bend measurement is proved.     

Double-pulse laser ablation applied to reactive PLD method for synthesis of carbon nitride film: A second laser shot delay

Carbon nitride films were deposited using ablation of graphite target by second harmonic radiation of Nd:YAG laser in nitrogen atmosphere. To produce high hardness films, the deposited particles should have sufficient kinetic energy to provide their efficient diffusion on a substrate surface for formation of crystal structure. However, a shock wave is arisen in ambient gas as a consequence of laser plasma explosive formation. This shock wave reflected from the substrate interacts with plume particles produced by the first laser pulse and decreases their kinetic energy. This results in decrease of film crystallinity. To improve film quality, two successive laser pulses was proposed to be used. At adjusting time delay, the particles induced by the second pulse wilt serve as a piston, which will push forward both stopped particles ablated by the first pulse and arisen from chemical reactions in ambient gas. An X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analysis of deposited films has shown an increase of content of sp ³ carbon atoms corresponding to crystalline phase, if double-pulse configuration is employed. The luminescence of excited C₂ and CN molecules in laser plume at different distances from the target was studied to optimize the delay between laser pulses.     

A novel method of nanocrystal fabrication based on laser ablation in liquid environment

Metal nanoparticles can be prepared by a novel technique that consists of the laser ablation of a solid target immersed in a water solution of a metal salt. Silicon was chosen as the most adequate target to synthesize silver and gold nanoparticles from a water solution of either AgNO₃ or HAuCl₄. The influence of both the silver nitrate concentrations and the irradiation time of the Si target on the optical properties of the Au and Ag nanoparticles have been investigated. The crystalline nature of the metal nanoparticles has been determined by X-ray diffraction (XRD). Average size and particle size distribution have been measured by means of TEM. The absorbance spectra show the characteristic band of the surface resonant plasmon of silver and gold nanoparticles.     

Thermo-mechanical laser ablation of soft biological tissue: modeling the micro-explosions

Characteristics of thermo-mechanical laser ablation process are investigated using an original numerical model. In contrast with previous models, it is based on a microscopic physical model of the micro-explosion process, which combines thermodynamic behavior of tissue water with elastic response of the solid tissue components. Diffusion of dissipated heat is treated in one dimension, and the amount of thermal damage is assessed using the Arrhenius model of the protein denaturation kinetics. Influence of the pulse fluence and duration on temperature profile development, ablation threshold, and depth of thermal damage is analyzed for the case of Er:YAG laser irradiation of human skin. Influence of mechanical properties on the ablation threshold of soft tissue is predicted theoretically for the first time. In addition, feasibility of deep tissue coagulation with a repetitively pulsed Er:YAG laser is indicated from the model. Received: 9 July 1998 / Revised version: 26 February 1999 / Published online: 26 May 1999     

冷却猪肉表面菌落总数的快速无损检测方法研究

研究了4℃冷链条件下,冷却猪肉在1~14 d贮藏期间,表面菌落总数与400~1 100 nm光谱范围内相应高光谱图像的关系,提出了一种基于高光谱技术的冷却猪肉表面菌落总数的快速无损检测方法。并采用多元线性回归和偏最小二乘回归两种统计分析方法分别建立预测模型,均得到较好的预测结果,其预测集相关系数RV分别为0.886和0.863。实验结果表明,利用高光谱技术可以较好地定量分析冷却猪肉表面的菌落总数,应用该技术对冷却猪肉品质安全进行快速无损评价是可行的。     

激光烧蚀硬铝产生等离子体温度和力学效应测量

 为了研究激光推进技术中激光与材料相互作用的机制,获取等离子体状态参数及力学参数,采用Nd:YAG被动调Q固体激光器烧蚀硬铝,通过激光诱导等离子体光谱技术测得等离子体光谱和温度,由冲量摆测得力学参数。实验结果显示：在激光功率密度0.534×10⁸ W/cm²时,靶材表面的等离子体温度在等离子体辐射过程中呈二次曲线衰减;改变靶材等离子体点燃阈值附近的激光功率密度时,随着功率密度的增加,等离子体温度、冲量耦合系数也随着增大,当功率密度达到靶材的等离子体点燃阈值时,各参数达到最大,此后随着功率密度增加,由于等离子体对能量的屏蔽作用,导致靶材表面的等离子体温度降低,等离子体获得的动能减少,靶材耦合的冲量降低。     

Internal stress measurement by laser feedback method

Internal stress in material detracts from its usefulness. In this Letter, a stress measurement instrument is reported. The instrument principle is based on a laser feedback effect where the polarization state of the laser with an anisotropic feedback cavity will flip between two orthogonal directions, while the feedback mirror is tuned by piezoelectric transducer sawtooth voltage. The position of polarization flipping in one period on curves reflects the birefringence or material internal stress of the feedback cavity. Hence, when a piece of internal stress material is placed in a feedback cavity, its internal stress can be measured by the polarization flipping position. The internal stress of the vacuum tube, Nd:YAG crystal, and GaN semiconductor are measured, which proved this instrument has very high precision.     

Heat diffusion and debris screening in Er:YAG laser ablation of hard biological tissues

Received: 25 March 1997/Revised version: 15 October 1997     

Nanosecond laser ablation for pulsed laser deposition of yttria

A thermal model to describe high-power nanosecond pulsed laser ablation of yttria (Y₂O₃) has been developed. This model simulates ablation of material occurring primarily through vaporization and also accounts for attenuation of the incident laser beam in the evolving vapor plume. Theoretical estimates of process features such as time evolution of target temperature distribution, melt depth and ablation rate and their dependence on laser parameters particularly for laser fluences in the range of 6 to 30 J/cm² are investigated. Calculated maximum surface temperatures when compared with the estimated critical temperature for yttria indicate absence of explosive boiling at typical laser fluxes of 10 to 30 J/cm². Material ejection in large fragments associated with explosive boiling of the target needs to be avoided when depositing thin films via the pulsed laser deposition (PLD) technique as it leads to coatings with high residual porosity and poor compaction restricting the protective quality of such corrosion-resistant yttria coatings. Our model calculations facilitate proper selection of laser parameters to be employed for deposition of PLD yttria corrosion-resistive coatings. Such coatings have been found to be highly effective in handling and containment of liquid uranium.     

A method for rapid characterization of diffusion

This paper describes a method to determine molecular displacements as a function of time in just two scans: one reference scan using the Carr-Purcell-Meiboom-Gill (CPMG) sequence, a second scan using a modified CPMG sequence (KCPMG). Measurements on free diffusion in bulk fluids, and on restricted diffusion in porous rock samples are reported. This technique can also be used for rapid measurement of flow and chemical exchange.