Cellular response to near-infrared femtosecond laser pulses in two-photon microscopes

The influence of femtosecond near-infrared (NIR) microirradiation on cell vitality and cellular reproduction has been studied. Chinese hamster ovary cells exposed to a highly focused 150-fs scanning beam at 730, 760, and 800 nm (80 MHz, 80-mus pixel dwell time) of /=6 -mW mean power, cells were unable to form clones. They died or became giant cells. Complete cell destruction, including cell fragmentation, occurred at mean powers >10 mW. Cell death was accompanied by intense luminescence in the mitochondrial region. When we consider the diffraction-limited spot size in the submicrometer region, intensities and photon flux densities of 0.8-kW pulses (10-mW mean power) are of the order of terawatts per square centimeter (10(12)W/cm (2)) and 10(32) photons cm(-2) s(-1) , respectively. Extremely high fields may induce destructive intracellular plasma formation. The power limitations should be considered during NIR femtosecond microscopy of vital cells and in the design of compact NIR femtosecond solid-state lasers for two-photon microscopes.     

超短脉冲强激光在空气中的传输

超短脉冲强激光在空气中传输时由于非线性克尔自聚焦效应会使激光光束聚焦，造成空气的离化而形成等离子体，等离子体对激光光束又会产生散焦作用，这两种过程的动态平衡可以形成很长的等离子体通道，从而产生一系列复杂而有趣的现象．文章对通道形成的机理、锥角辐射、超连续谱和三次谐波的产生进行了阐述，并介绍了目前等离子体通道形成的几种理论模型．文章还对通道内的各种复合和辐射机制进行了分析．     

飞秒强激光脉冲在等离子体中的自压缩

文章从激光等离子体相互作用的非线性薛定谔方程出发,理论研究了飞秒强激光脉冲在等离子体中的自压缩行为.结果表明在一定范围内随着激光脉冲宽度、激光强度的增大以及等离子体密度的减小,飞秒强激光脉冲在等离子体中传播的自压缩现象越明显.另外通过适当设定参量得到了近似稳定传播的基孤子.     

Multiple filamentation of intense femtosecond laser pulses in air

The propagation of focused femtosecond laser pulses with supercritical peak powers in air has been investigated by the methods of optical visualization, profilometry, and calorimetry. Laser pulses with supercritical powers create a bundle of submillimeter filaments with a diameter of about 5 μm ahead of the lens focus; the maximum number of filaments in the beam cross section and their length increase linearly and sublinearly, respectively, with the radiation peak power. The optical visualization and calorimetry indicate that the plasma channels of filaments are optical contrast (a plasma density of 10¹⁸–10¹⁹ cm⁻³), ensuring the refraction of laser radiation incident on them.     

Self-focusing of intense laser pulses in a clustered gas

We report the self-focusing of intense laser pulses in gases composed of atomic clusters. This is in strong contrast to beam spreading owing to ionization-induced refraction commonly observed in nonclustered gases. The effect is explained in terms of the ensemble average transient polarizability of the heated clusters as they explode in response to the intense pulse.     

Dynamics of H9+ in intense laser pulses

We discuss the response of the H9+ cluster to an excitation by an intense laser beam. Calculations are done within the framework of TDLDA-MD, an approach which has proven to provide a robust tool for investigations in metal cluster dynamics. We first discuss static and low energy properties of H9+ and make comparisons with other existing ab initio results. We then explore the various excitation/deexcitation scenarios as a function of the laser parameters.     

Detection of vacuum birefringence using intense laser pulses

We propose a novel technique that promises hope of being the first to directly detect a polarization of the quantum electrodynamic (QED) vacuum. The technique exploits the high fields associated with ultra-short pulses of light stored in low dispersion optical resonators. We show that the technique circumvents the need for large-scale liquid helium cooled magnets, and more importantly avoids the experimental pitfalls that plague existing experimental approaches that use these magnets. The new technique has a predicted birefringence measurement sensitivity of Δn10⁻²⁰ in a 1 s measurement. Currently available optics and lasers will enable observation of vacuum polarization in an experiment of only a few days in duration.     

Photonuclear reactions induced by intense short laser pulses

A measurement of the decay in time of nuclei excited by an intense short laser pulse of energy E₀$E_0$ yields the Fourier transform of the autocorrelation function of the associated scattering matrix. We determine the optimal length (in time) of the pulse and evaluate the time-decay function using random-matrix theory. That function is shown to contain information not otherwise available. We approximate that function in a manner that is useful for the analysis of data. For E₀$E_0$ below the threshold energy En$E_n$ of the first neutron channel, the time-decay function is exponential in time t while it is the product of an exponential and a power in t   for E₀>En$E_0>E_n$. The comparison of the measured decay functions in both energy domains yields an unambiguous and novel test of random-matrix theory in nuclei.     

Measurements of multiphoton ionization coefficients with ultrashort ultraviolet laser pulses

Multiphoton ionization coefficients of atmospheric gases were measured with ultrashort ultraviolet laser pulses. The values were obtained using two different experimental setups and the pressure range covered four orders of magnitude. The coefficients were pressure-independent and consistent with numbers predicted by the nonresonant Keldysh theory. Received: 13 June 2000 / Revised version: 5 October 2000 / Published online: 7 February 2001     

飞秒强激光能量在Ar原子团簇中的沉积

飞秒强激光与团簇的相互作用是一个十分活跃的研究领域, 本文采用一种新的理论模型, 研究了飞秒激光在团簇中的传输的过程, 计算了Ar原子团簇对超强激光能量的吸收, 并通过解析计算连续曲折射程、最大穿透深度和特征时间三个重要的物理参量来重新估算了这一模型的可行性.     

Dopant-induced ignition of helium nanodroplets in intense few-cycle laser pulses

We demonstrate ultrafast resonant energy absorption of rare-gas doped He nanodroplets from intense few-cycle (~10 fs) laser pulses. We find that less than 10 dopant atoms "ignite" the droplet to generate a nonspherical electronic nanoplasma resulting ultimately in complete ionization and disintegration of all atoms, although the pristine He droplet is transparent for the laser intensities applied. Our calculations at those intensities reveal that the minimal pulse length required for ignition is about 9 fs.     

飞秒强激光能量在Ar原子团簇中的沉积

飞秒强激光与团簇的相互作用是一个十分活跃的研究领域,本文采用一种新的理论模型,研究了飞秒激光在团簇中的传输的过程,计算了Ar原子团簇对超强激光能量的吸收,并通过解析计算连续曲折射程、最大穿透深度和特征时间三个重要的物理参量来重新估算了这一模型的可行性.     

线型三原子分子在强激光场中多光子激发的李代数方法

使用二次非谐振子模型和Magnus近似方法构造了在强激光场下线型三原子分子的振动哈密顿并推导出时间演化算符的代数形式,在此基础上研究了线型DCN分子的跃迁几率随外场的频率和强度的变化关系,表明了多光子跃迁谱的特点.