Space-selective co-precipitation of silver and gold nanoparticles in femtosecond laser pulses irradiated Ag, Au co-doped silicate glass

We report on space-selective co-precipitation of silver and gold nanoparticles in Ag⁺, Au³⁺ co-doped silicate glasses by irradiation of femtosecond laser pulses and subsequent annealing at high temperatures. The color of the irradiated area in the glass sample changed from yellow to red with the increase of the annealing temperature. The effects of average laser power and annealing temperature on precipitation of the nanoparticles were investigated. A reasonable mechanism was proposed to explain the observed phenomena.     

Polarization dependence of the permanent deformation of silver nanoparticles in glass by ultrashort laser pulses

Glass containing spherical silver nanoparticles has been irradiated with single, intense, ultrashort laser pulses, with a wavelength corresponding to the surface plasmon resonance of the particles. After irradiation with linear polarization, dichroism is observed. Transmission electron microscopy studies reveal that these spectral changes are caused by deformation of the particles to anisotropic (in the TEM projection approximately ellipsoidal) shapes with an additional halo of small silver particles around the central one. The deformed particles are uniformly oriented with their longer axes perpendicular to the laser polarization. Using laser pulses with circular polarization, again a halo is formed around the particles, but the central particles remain spherical, and no dichroism was observed in the optical spectra. Received 30 November 2000     

Effect of cerium oxide on the precipitation of silver nanoparticles in femtosecond laser irradiated silicate glass

We investigated the effect of cerium oxide on the precipitation of Ag nanoparticles in silicate glass via a femtosecond laser irradiation and successive annealing. Absorption spectra show that Ce³⁺ ions may absorb part of the laser energy via multiphoton absorption and release free electrons, resulting in an increase of the concentration of Ag atoms and a decrease of the concentration of hole-trapped color centers, which influence precipitation of the Ag nanoparticles. In addition, we found that the formed Ag⁰ may reduce Ce⁴⁺ ions to Ce³⁺ ions during the annealing process, which inhibits the growth of the Ag nanoparticles. PACS 78.55.Qr; 78.67.Bf; 81.05.Pj     

Excimer laser-assisted annealing of silicate glass with ion-synthesized silver nanoparticles

The effect of KrF excimer laser radiation on a composite layer consisting of sodium-potassium silicate glass with silver nanoparticles is studied as a function of the number of laser nanosecond pulses. The silver nanoparticles are synthesized by ion implantation. The measured optical absorption of the composite layer demonstrates that the silver nanoparticle size decreases monotonically as the number of laser pulses increases. Rutherford backscattering shows that laser annealing is accompanied by silver diffusion into the bulk of the glass and partial metal evaporation from the sample surface. The detected decrease in the silver nanoparticle size is discussed in terms of simultaneous melting of silver nanoparticles and the glass matrix due to the absorption of laser radiation.     

Micromachining bulk glass by use of femtosecond laser pulses with nanojoule energy

Using tightly focused femtosecond laser pulses of just 5 nJ, we produce optical breakdown and structural change in bulk transparent materials and demonstrate micromachining of transparent materials by use of unamplified lasers. We present measurements of the threshold for structural change in Corning 0211 glass as well as a study of the morphology of the structures produced by single and multiple laser pulses. At a high repetition rate, multiple pulses produce a structural change dominated by cumulative heating of the material by successive laser pulses. Using this cumulative heating effect, we write single-mode optical waveguides inside bulk glass, using only a laser oscillator.     

Generator of picosecond laser pulses

The design of the generator of picosecond laser pulses and the results on semiconductor target (ZnSe, CdS, and others) excitation by electric field and electron beam pulses are presented. The maximum power of laser radiation reached 10 kW at pulse durations of 100–200 ps.     

Heating of opaque surfaces by picosecond laser pulses

Received: 5 June 1997/Accepted: 13 June 1997     

Generation of rayleigh waves by picosecond laser pulses

In this paper we present the fundamental mechanism which we hold responsible for generation of high frequency Rayleigh waves by picosecond laser pulses on a single crystal surface of Silicon. These Rayleigh waves have been recorded as ripples frozen out on the surface of the crystal upon irradiation with a focused cw mode-locked laser.     

Amplification of picosecond dye laser pulses

Small signal and saturated gains of picosecond pulses in Rhodamine dye amplifiers have been measured. A 17 cm amplifier produces a maximum small signal gain of ≈20, and with three amplifiers in series, peak pulse powers of > 3 GW are obtained. Mode-locking of Rhodamine 6G in the spectral range 575–600 nm is improved by employing DQOCI as saturable absorber.     

Optical limiting of high-repetition-rate laser pulses by carbon nanofibers suspended in polydimethylsiloxane

The mechanism of optical unidirectional (OUD) transmission in parallel subwavelength dual-metal gratings was investigated. It was found that this kind of OUD phenomenon originates from the coupling of the surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) between the front grating and a layer of metal film which replaces the rear grating. The higher the intensity of the coupled SPPs at the entrances of the rear grating, the higher the transmittance can be achieved. Basing on this property, an effective OUD example was achieved by exploring the intensity difference at the entrances of the rear gratings between the two incidences of opposite directions. In this kind of OUD, the positive transmittance can exceed 80 % and the difference between the transmittances of the two opposite directions can be as large as 63 %. The detailed design process was also presented.     

Numerical analysis of four-wave mixing between picosecond mode-locked laser pulses in a tensile-strained bulk SOA

A numerical model of four-wave mixing between picosecond pulses in a tensile-strained bulk semiconductor optical amplifier is presented. The model utilizes a modified Schrödinger equation to model pulse propagation. The Schrödinger equation parameters such as the material gain first and second order dispersion, linewidth enhancement factors and optical loss coefficient were obtained using a previously developed steady-state model. The predicted four-wave mixing pulse characteristics show reasonably good agreement with experimental pulse characteristics obtained using Frequency Resolved Optical Gating. In particular simulations predict a large increase in the pulse pedestals of the FWM converted pulse, which is verified by experiment.     

Formation of silver nanoparticles on the silicate glass surface after ion exchange

It has been experimentally shown that water vapor thermal treatment of silicate glasses with silver ions introduced by ion exchange leads to the formation of a silver nanoparticle layer with a high packing density on the glass surface. The results of studying the morphology of samples by atomic force and electron microscopy and X-ray spectral analysis of the composition of nanoparticles, as well as the optical density and luminescence spectra in different stages of the treatment, are presented. Mechanisms explaining the processes responsible for silver nanoparticle formation upon water vapor thermal treatment on the glass surface after ion exchange are proposed.     

Controlling the width of picosecond laser pulses

The relaxation time τ_R of the saturable dye used to mode-lock a Nd: YAG laser has been changed using different dyes or dye solvent mixtures and the laser bandwidth Δω changed by the insertion of an etalon. The pulse duration τ_p was approximately transform-limited for τ_R<2π/Δω but increased to about twice this value when 2π/Δω<τ_p<τ_R. No significant increase in pulse duration was observed for τ_R?2π/Δω but multiple pulses were generated within each round-trip-transit-time.     

Dynamics of Na clusters in picosecond laser pulses

We investigate the electronic and ionic dynamics of Na clusters under the influence of a laser pulse in the range 100 femtoseconds to picoseconds. The dynamics is described by means of the time-dependent local-density approximation coupled to ionic molecular dynamics (TDLDA-MD). Variation of pulse length allows us to explore the time scales of ionic motion in a manner similar to pump and probe experiments. Resonant enhancement of electron emission serves as a measure for the time scale of Coulomb explosion. Received: 3 July 2001 / Published online: 10 October 2001     

Kinetics of optical Kerr effect induced by picosecond laser pulses

By use of a double beam technique, we were able to observe, in the OKE dynamics of many non saturated organic compounds, a very fast decay response superimposed upon the much slower decline of the usual effect of molecular origin.     

Stress state of silver nanoparticles embedded in a silicate glass matrix investigated by HREM and EXAFS spectroscopy

Ag particles of 3.9 and 5.1 nm mean size in silicate glasses were produced by ion exchange and subsequent annealing at 480 and 600 ^°C. These thermal treatments may induce stresses in matrix and particles in addition to the well known effect of surface atoms because of the thermal expansion mismatch of both materials. Structural characterisation of the particles by high-resolution electron microscopy revealed a size-dependent lattice dilatation quite opposite to the so far observed lattice contraction of similar metal/glass composites. This result, confirmed by X-ray absorption spectroscopy at the Ag K-edge, is discussed in terms of an Ag-Ag bond length increase near the particle surface. The temperature-dependent EXAFS spectra (10-300 K) indicate an increased thermal expansion coefficient of the particles with an increased mean particle size calculated on the basis of an anharmonic Einstein model. With that the bond length increase can be explained. The results can be interpreted by a combination of both the particle size effects and the influence of the surrounding matrix. Received 30 November 2000     

Effect of self-phase modulation on the evolution of picosecond pulses in a Nd:glass laser

Many authors have reported disparate characteristics of pulses from Nd:glass mode-locked lasers. From these it has become clear that the well-developed pulse has a frequency sweep or subpicosecond structure and yields a contrast ratio less than the ideal 3 in the two-photon-fluorescence measurement. On the other hand, the early pulse is well behaved, has simple temporal and spectral structure, and yields a contrast ratio of 3 in TPF. The measurements are almost all indirect. Theories explaining the early pulse have appeared, but these fail for the fully developed pulse. The authors present time-resolved spectrograms, covering pulse development from 1/50 peak intensity, where the pulse is well mode-locked, to full development, where spectral structure is complex. A numerical analysis, including self-phase modulation, non-linear absorption, amplification and dispersion, yields results that qualitatively agree very well with the experimental records, suggesting that self-phase modulation plays an important role in the evolution of mode-locked pulses in a Nd:glass laser.     

Micromachining soda-lime glass by femtosecond laser pulses

The physical process of forming a modified region in soda-lime glass was investigated using 1 kHz intense femtosecond laser pulses from a Ti: sapphire laser at 775 nm. Through the modifications induced by the femtosecond laser radiation using selective chemical etching techniques, we fabricated reproducible and defined microstructures and further studied their morphologies and etching properties. Moreover, a possible physical mechanism for the femtosecond laser modification in soda-lime glass was proposed.     

Self-guided glass drilling by femtosecond laser pulses

Straight through-holes of high aspect ratio have been fabricated in glass by femtosecond laser pulses, utilizing unique characteristics of ultrafast lasers such as volumetric multi-photon absorption and nonlinear self-focusing. In this study, interestingly, the drilling process was initiated and progressed in a self-regulated manner, while the laser focus was fixed through the specimen at the neighborhood of the rear surface that was in contact with liquid during the entire drilling process. The deposition of laser energy along the nonlinearly extended focal range and the guided drilling along the pre-defined region are explained based on time-resolved optical transmission and emission measurements.     

Spectral broadening of picosecond laser pulses in optical fibres

Picosecond light pulses of a passively mode-locked ruby laser (pulse duration t _L35 ps) are spectrally broadened in optical fibres of core diameters from 4 m to 600 m. Combining the effects of self-phase modulation, stimulated Raman scattering, and parametric four-photon interaction in an 8-m core fibre of 4 m length with the effect of selective spectral attenuation in a ruby rod resulted in rather smooth spectra extending from 685 nm to 830 nm (spectral width 2300 cm^-1).