Femtosecond-pulse laser ablation of human corneas

A femtosecond pulse laser in the visible spectral region shows promise as a potentially new powerful corneal sculpting tool. It combines the clinical and technical advantages of visible wavelengths with the high ablation quality observed with nanosecond-pulse excimer lasers at 193 nm. A femtosecond and a nanosecond dye laser with pulse durations of 300 fs and 7 ns, and centre wavelengths at 615 nm and 600 nm, respectively, both focused to an area of the order of 10^–5 cm², have been applied to human corneal ablation. Nanosecond laser pulses caused substantial tissue disruption within a 30–100 m range from the excision edge at all fluences above the ablation threshold of F _th60 J cm^–2 (I _th9 GW cm^–2). Completely different excisions are produced by the femtosecond-pulse laser: high quality ablations of the Bowman membrane and the stroma tissue characterised by damage zones of less than 0.5 m were observed at all fluences above ablation threshold of F _th1 J cm^–2 or I _th3 TW cm^–2 (3×10¹² W cm^–2). The transparent cornea material can be forced to absorb ultrashort pulses of extremely high intensity. The fs laser generates its own absorption by a multiphoton absorption process.     

Positron mobility in anthracene

We have measured the positron mobility in a sample of scintillation grade anthracene at two temperatures. We obtain at 300 K: =(26.0±0.9±2.6) cm²V^–1s^–1 and at 77 K: =(33.4±1.1±3.3) cm²V^–1s^–1, where the first error estimate is statistical and the second is systematic. We have also made preliminary measurements on a highly purified sample that yields =(130±3±20) cm² V^–1 s^–1 at 300 K. The data are consistent with the hypothesis that the positron is scattered from both impurities and acoustic phonons in the first sample, and predominantly from photons in the second. It appears that positrons in pure anthracene crystals are delocalized and have a mean free path of about 85 Å at room temperature.     

Temperature dependence of the effective work function for the BaO - W system

The temperature dependence of the work function has been examined for the BaO-W system for degrees of coating less than 1 and about 1 in the range 700–1400 °K; it is found that a monomolecular film gives a negative sign of this coefficient in this temperature range ( /T 10^–4 –10^–3 eV/deg). At 1000–1200 °K, the temperature coefficient is almost zero, while at 1200–1400 °K there is a positive value. If the covering is less than monomolecular, the sign is positive throughout the entire temperature range (/T 10^–4 eV/deg).Deceased.Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii Fizika, No. 9, pp. 65–70, September, 1971.We are indebted to N. I. Éngovatova for direct assistance with the measurements, and to V. Rumyantsev for advice.     

Photoconductivity of highly excited A IV B VI thin films

We report the results of picosecond photoconductivity measurements in photosensitive electrolytically deposited PbS and vacuum evaporated PbTe polycrystalline films. We determine Auger recombination to be the prevailing carrier recombination mechanism in highly excited PbTe and PbS films and found Auger coefficients _A5×10^–28 cm⁶ s^–1 for PbTe and _A5.3×10^–29 cm⁶ s^–1 for PbS for carrier concentration changes N>10¹⁸ cm^–3. The results indicate that the low mobility values are controlled by intergrain carrier scattering. We have studied the thermal annealing influence on picosecond photoconductivity of the films.     

The low-temperature phase of Kac-Ising models

We analyze the low-temperature phase of ferromagnetic Kax-Ising models in dimensionsd2. We show that if the range of interactions is ^–1, then two disjoint translation-invariant Gibbs states exist if the inverse temperature satisfies –1^N, where =d(1–)/(2d+2)(d+1), for any >0. The proof involves the blocking procedure usual for Kac models and also a contour representation for the resulting long-range (almost) continuous-spin system which is suitable for the use of a variant of the Peierls argument.     

Collisional excitation X-ray laser experiments in plasmas produced by 0.53-μm and 0.35-μm laser light

Recent Ne- and Ni-like X-ray laser experiments carried out at the Centre d'Etudes de Limeil-Valenton (CEL-V) are reviewed. A variety of experiments in Ne-like X-ray lasers were performed; here we discuss measurements of soft X-ray amplification in Ge (Z=32) and Sr (Z=38) plasmas. In Ge plasmas produced by 0.53-m laser light at an irradiance of 6.0×10¹³ W/cm², gains between 2.2–2.5 cm^–1 on the 232.2 and 236.2 Å J=2–1 lines and a gain of 1.0 cm^–1 on the 196.1 Å J=0–1 line were measured. In addition, gains of 4.4 cm^–1 and 4.0 cm^–1 have been demonstrated on the J=2–1 transitions at 164.1 and 166.5 Å in Nelike Sr at laser intensities of 1.3×10¹⁴ W/cm². The effects of pumping the Ne-like Se X-ray laser with 0.35-m laser light have also been investigated; the Se lasing spectra is similar to that obtained with 0.53-m light. Experiments have also been carried out to optimize the gain of the 50.3 Å Ni-like Yb (Z=70) J=0–1 line. For Yb, no significant increase in gain over that previously reported was seen, but the time history of the Ni-like Yb X-ray laser was measured for the first time. Finally, attempts to extrapolate the Ni-like results to shorter wavelength were made using Ta (Z=73), W (Z=74), and Re (Z=75). No definitive observation of the Ni-like J=0–1 lasing lines was made in these experiments.     

Multi-exponential analysis of DLTS

Deep-level transient spectroscopy (DLTS), which is widely used to characterize deep impurity centers in semiconductors, assumes a single exponential wave form for the transient junction capacitance. When there are several closely spaced energy levels this assumption is no more valid, and the conventional DLTS may lead to errorneous results. To overcome this difficulty we propose here a novel method which we call the multi-exponential DLTS(MEDLTS). The transient wave form of the junction capacitance is directly analysed into multi-exponential compouents using the nonlinear least-squares analysis program DISCRETE developed by Provencher. The resolved time constants of these components are then displayed in the form of aT ²–1/T plot. According to the results of simulation with various parameters MEDLTS is shown quite effective to resolve closely spaced energy levels which can not be resolved by the conventional DLTS. As an example of the application of this method deep levels in Si: Au were investigated. The results have shown that a single peak in conventional DLTS actually consists of two adjacent levels with activation energies and capture cross-sectionsE _B1=0.49 eV, _B1=1.1×10^–14cm² andE _B2=0.46 eV, _B2=1.3×10^–15 cm² and with amplitude ratio 11.     

Positron mobility in polyethylene in the 60–400 K temperature range

We have determined the positron mobility (₊) in polyethylene samples (67.2% crystalline, glass transition temperatureT _g=151 K) in the 64–400 K temperature range by Doppler shift measurements. A method based on the simulataneous observation of two lines from¹³³Ba and¹³⁷Cs radioactive sources together with the positron annihilation line, was employed to measure the Doppler shift of the 511 keV line as a function of the electric field applied to the samples. With this method we were able to measure at the same time the drift velocity of positrons and theS parameter. This parameter is very important in the interpretation of the mobility trend in samples where the positron states change with temperature. The positron mobility was corrected for positronium formation. ₊ at 64 K is 31.7±0.8 cm² V^–1 s^–1 then decreases up to 123 K, increases at 148 K and decreases again up to 170 K (₊=26.9±0.8 cm² V^–s^–). This sharp change in mobility is centred around the glass transition temperature of our samples. Then the mobility remains almost constant up to 230 K. From 250 K to 377 K, ₊ increases and reaches the value of 38.4±1.0 cm² V^–1s^–1. The corrected experimental data were well fitted by a simple model taking into account scattering and a thermally activated process (hopping mechanism).     

Sum-frequency generation at electrochemical interfaces: Cyanide vibrations on Pt(111) and Pt(110)

We use optical sum-frequency generation to investigate the stretching vibrations of cyanide (CN^–) molecules chemisorbed from aqueous electrolytes on single-crystalline Pt(111)- and Pt(110)-electrode surfaces. For clean and well-ordered Pt(111) electrodes, a single vibrational band between 2080 and 2150 cm^–1 with a nonlinear frequency dependence on the potential is observed and assigned to the CN stretching vibration of chemisorbed cyanide. A second band between 2145 and 2150 cm^–1 with very weak potential dependence appears on a surface which was subjected to oxidation-reduction cycles and is attributed to cyanide associated with a microscopically disordered surface. This assignment is supported by preliminary results for a Pt(110) single-crystal electrode. On a well-ordered (110) surface a single and potential-dependent cyanide vibration between 2070 and 2112 cm^–1 is observed. After oxidation of the cyanide and readsorption, this band is replaced by a higher frequency band at 2144 cm^–1 which is essentially not potential-dependent. Occasionally, additional vibrational bands at lower frequencies not reported in corresponding IR studies are observed on Pt(111).Paper presented at the 129th WE-Heraeus-Seminar on Surface Studies by Nonlinear Laser Spectroscopies, Kassel, Germany, May 30 to June 1, 1994     

Neutralizing a high-aperture metal-ion beam

It is found that secondary electrons ejected by the ions from the collector are responsible for neutralizing 300 sec pulses of wide-aperture ion beams (about 100–300 cm²) formed by various metals and having current densities ji of about 10^–2 A/cm² and energy _i 100 keV. A negative potential _ee=–500 V applied to the extracting electrode relative to the grounded collector improves substantially not only the beam neutralization in the transport section but also the ion generation efficiency in the accelerating gap.Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Fizika, No. 4, pp. 53–56, April, 1990.     

Concentrations and velocity distributions of positive ions in laser ablation of copper

It is shown that the generation of secondary electrons by excited neutrals hitting a surface makes the so-called probe method unsuited for measuring the positive ion fraction in laser ablation plumes. Experiments have been performed in a modified set-up, in which the disturbance by secondary electrons is avoided. For a typical case of Cu irradiated in ultra-high vacuum by nanosecond excimer laser pulses of 3 J cm^–2 the ionized fraction is about 10^–8 at a distance of 60 cm. This number is in fair agreement with Saha-Langmuir predictions based on the assumption of local thermal equilibrium at an estimated temperature of about 3000K. Angular-resolved time-of-flight measurements show that there are three different ion velocity distributions. A slow contribution (kinetic energy 2eV) with an angular distribution peaked along the normal, and two fast, isotropic contributions (kinetic energy 20–50 eV). The fast contributions are attributed to ions involved in a Coulomb explosion.     

ArF laser CVD of hydrogenated amorphous silicon: The role of buffer gases

ArF laser-induced CVD has been employed to generate hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) from Si₂H₆ gas dilute with He, Ar, or H₂. The formation of amorphous films or powder is found to depend critically on the kind of buffer gas, the stationary total and partial gas pressures, and the substrate temperature. These dependences have been investigated in the 1–5 Torr pressure and 100–400 °C temperature ranges. They are semiquantitatively discussed in terms of ArF laser photolysis of disilane, gas heating by heat flow from the substrate and laser irradiation, diffusion, and gas phase polymerization. Furthermore, photo ionization has been observed but found irrelevant for the a-Si:H layer properties. The photo and dark conductivities ( _ph, _d) of the semiconductor layers are determined by the substrate temperature. The _ph values range between 10^–7 and 10^{–4 –1} cm^–1 and the _d values between 10^–11 and 10^{–8 –1} cm^–1. The maximum ratio _ph/ _d amounts to 4×10⁴. The layers are further characterized by their optical band gap and activation energy. The layer properties are compared to literature values of amorphous films prepared by various photo, HOMO, and plasma CVD methods.     

Phase segregation dynamics in particle systems with long range interactions. I. Macroscopic limits

We present and discuss the derivation of a nonlinear nonlocal integrodifferential equation for the macroscopic time evolution of the conserved order parameter (r, t) of a binary alloy undergoing phase segregation. Our model is ad-dimensional lattice gas evolving via Kawasaki exchange with respect to the Gibbs measure for a Hamiltonian which includes both short-range (local) and long-range (nonlocal) interactions. The nonlocal part is given by a pair potential ^dJ(|x–y|), >0 x and y in ^d, in the limit 0. The macroscopic evolution is observed on the spatial scale ^–1 and time scale ^–2, i.e., the density (r, t) is the empirical average of the occupation numbers over a small macroscopic volume element centered atr=x. A rigorous derivation is presented in the case in which there is no local interaction. In a subsequent paper (Part II) we discuss the phase segregation phenomena in the model. In particular we argue that the phase boundary evolutions, arising as sharp interface limits of the family of equations derived in this paper, are the same as the ones obtained from the corresponding limits for the Cahn-Hilliard equation.     

High repetition rate CH4 laser

A 16-m CF₄ laser oscillator has operated at 1 kHz in a cooled static cell. Pump energies required from the low pressure, Q-switched, cw discharge CO₂ laser were as low as 60 J. The laser cavity employed a multiple-pass off-axis path resonator in a ring configuration. CF₄ laser power at 615 cm^–1 and a 1-kHz repetition rate exceeded 300 W.     

Experimental investigation of infrared fluorescence of molecular gases under the action of CO2-laser radiation

In the paper, the experimental investigation is carried out of the IR fluorescence of organic substances of different classes in the range 600–3000 cm^–1 under the action of the continuous radiation of a CO₂ laser with a power of 40 W/cm². The procedure is given for obtaining the fluorescence spectra. For all the substances investigated, the magnitudes of the effective absorption cross section were determined experimentally at the generation frequency of the laser. Fluorescence is observed only in the case when _v 0; if _v 0, fluorescence is absent. It is shown that the fluorescence intensity depends significantly on the magnitude of the absorption cross section at the laser frequency. A comparison of the fluorescence and absorption spectra shows that only vibrations allowed in the IR region appear in the emission; in a number of cases, a sharp increase of the fluorescence intensity of certain overtones and compound vibrations is observed: when the frequencies are multiples of the laser emission.Translated from Izvestiya Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Fizika, No. 3, pp. 50–53, March Vysshikh 1979.     

Study of the Influence of the Excitation Laser Power Density on the Intermediate-Field Electric Modulation Component of the GaAs Photoreflection E 0-Signal

The influence of the excitation laser power density L on the amplitude A and characteristic time constant of the intermediate-field electric modulation component of photoreflection spectra measured in the region of the E ₀ fundamental transition of GaAs is studied. Crystalline samples with the charge carrier concentration n 10¹⁶ cm^–3 are investigated for L = 100 W/cm²–1 W/cm². A logarithmic dependence of the electric modulation signal on the excitation laser power density has been established for all examined samples. It is demonstrated that the observed change in the characteristic time constant does not have any noticeable effect on the dependence A(L).     

GeO2-Core/SiO2-cladding optical fibers made by MCVD process for stimulated raman applications

GeO₂-core/SiO₂-cladding optical fibers (GESI fibers) and liquid core fibers with a cladding region of GeO₂ were designed and fabricated by the MCVD process. The attenuation level of the GESI fibers was about 0.5 dB/m in the near-infrared wavelength region at 2.35 m. GESI fibers showed a stimulated Raman scattering (SRS_ spectrum with six to seven Stokes shifts of 430 cm^–1. The spectrum of SRS expanded to 1.6 m when a Nd: YAG laser at a wavelength of 1.064 m was used.     

Infrared lattice bands of some pearls

From analysis of anisotropical lattice bands properties of 50 reflection spectra both of the CO stretching and bending bands measured from some pearl (Ca⁺⁺CO ₃ ^–– or Ca⁺⁺HCO ₃ ^–– layer) we discussed following subjects.i) Quantized properties present both in reflectivity and in energy. ii) classifications of the Optical Activity. iii) Polar distributions of the CO₃ oscillators in Ca⁺⁺CO ₃ ^–– surface mono-layer. iv) Force constants of these oscillators. v) Step variation of the dipolemoment and their influences to the degree of Optical Activity. vi) Two types of hysteresis loops of the values of Y_N (M_2Jbend ()/M_1Jstret. ()) derived from the oscillators which are at innert-state, at weak active-state and at active-state.