Heating of nonequilibrium electrons by laser radiation in solid transparent dielectrics

A computer simulation of the heating of nonequilibrium electrons by an intense high-frequency electromagnetic field leading to the bulk damage of solid transparent dielectrics under single irradiation has been carried out. The dependences of the avalanche ionization rate on threshold field strength have been derived. Using the Fokker-Planck equation with a flux-doubling boundary condition is shown to lead to noticeable errors even at a ratio of the photon energy to the band gap ∼0.1. The series of dependences of the critical fields on pulse duration have been constructed for various initial lattice temperatures and laser wavelengths, which allow the electron avalanche to be identified as a limiting breakdown mechanism. The ratio of the energy stored in the electron subsystem to the excess (with respect to the equilibrium state) energy of the phonon subsystem by the end of laser pulse action has been calculated both with and without allowance for phonon heating. The influence of phonon heating on the impact avalanche ionization rate is analyzed.     

利用群速度匹配的级联二阶非线性实现超短激光脉冲压缩

提出了一种采用倾斜脉冲的级联二阶非线性来实现超短激光脉冲压缩的方法. 对基于单块BBO晶体中基频光与倍频光群速度匹配的级联二阶非线性的脉冲压缩方案进行了理论分析. 对比研究了群速度匹配与失配情况下利用级联二阶非线性进行脉冲压缩的效果, 并模拟分析了基频光与倍频光的位相失配量、非线性晶体长度、 基频光初始峰值光强和初始脉宽等因素对脉冲压缩效果的影响. 结果表明, 基频光与倍频光的群速度匹配将会大幅度改善压缩脉冲的时间波形和频谱分布. 通过对位相失配量、晶体长度、初始光强等参数的优化和选取可获得较理想的压缩效果. 采用倾斜脉冲的级联二阶非线性的脉宽压缩方法, 针对中心波长800 nm、脉宽100 fs, 峰值光强为50 GW/cm²的基频光脉冲, 采用25 mm厚BBO晶体, 当基频光与倍频光位相失配量Δk=60 mm^-1(对应失谐角1.98°), 晶体外部脉冲前沿倾斜角γ₀=74°时, 计算获得了质量较好的20 fs剩余基频光, 并同时产生了14 fs的倍频光. 关键词： 倾斜波 级联二阶非线性 群速度失配 脉冲压缩     

Ultra-short laser ablation of dielectrics: Theoretical analysis of threshold damage fluence and ablation depth

A coupled theoretical model based on Fokker–Planck equation for ultra-short laser ablation of dielectrics is proposed. Multiphoton ionization and avalanche ionization are considered as the sources during the generation of free electrons. The impact of the electron distribution in thermodynamic nonequilibrium on relaxation time is taken into account. The calculation formula of ablation depth is deduced based on the law of energy conservation. Numerical calculations are performed for the femtosecond laser ablation of fused silica at 526 and 1053 nm. It shows that the threshold damage fluences and ablation depths resulted from the coupled model are in good agreement with the experimental results; while the damage thresholds resulted from the approximate model significantly differ from the experimental results for lasers of long pulse width. It is concluded that the coupled model can better describe the micro-process of ultra-short laser ablation of dielectrics.     

Ultra-short pulse laser deep drilling of C/SiC composites in air

Ultra-short pulse laser machining is an important finishing technology for high hardness materials. In this study, it demonstrated that the ultra-short pulse laser can be used to drill the film cooling holes and square holes in aero-engine turbine blades made of C/SiC composites. Both the edges and bottoms of the drilling holes are covered with small particles. The following factors have a great effect on drilling holes according to this work: (1) circular holes can be processed only at a relative small helical lines spacing. (2) With the increase of laser scanning speed, the depth of holes reduces while the diameter rarely changes. (3) Through the holes of high aspect ratio can be obtained via high processing power.     

Intense femtosecond shaped laser beams for writing extended structures inside transparent dielectrics

We review recent results on the propagation and self-focusing of intense femtosecond laser pulses with shaped beam profiles in transparent dielectric media. At sufficiently high optical power, beam shaping seeds into the transverse modulation instability and results in the deterministic placement of intense laser filaments within the beam profile. Resulting spatial filament distributions may be utilized for writing complex extended structures inside transparent dielectrics. Specific examples of beam shapes we will discuss are Bessel beams, optical vortices, Bessel beams of higher order, and Airy beams.     

超短超强激光与固体靶相互作用中超热电子的角分布

用3TW超短超强激光器进行了激光与固体靶相互作用实验。采用电子角分布仪和LiF热释光探测器探测了超热电子的角分布。测量结果显示：能量较高的电子发射的定向性好于能量较低的电子;能量较低的电子呈溅射状发射;能量较高的电子发射出现两个尖锐的发射峰,其中,激光反射方向的超热电子发射峰则由反射激光、有质动力径向分量、侧向拉曼散射等加速机制共同作用的结果,靠近靶法线方向的超热电子发射峰是由其振吸收机制产生,且理论预言与实验结果相吻合。     

Shock-wave generation upon axicon focusing of femtosecond laser radiation in transparent dielectrics

It is shown experimentally that the axicon focusing of intense femtosecond laser pulses in transparent dielectrics leads to efficient excitation of shock waves. A method is developed for measuring the dynamics of shock waves, which uses a frequency-chirped probe pulse and has high spatial (～1 μm) and time (～10 ps) resolutions. The initial stage of the evolution of an intense (up to 10 GPa) shock wave is studied by this method.     

Mechanism of pulse laser interaction with colloidal nanoparticles

The laser is a very powerful and very useful instrument in modern nanoscience and nanotechnology. The knowledge of the interaction mechanism of the laser beam with nanoparticles is needed to control the laser processing of different nano‐objects. It was shown that the particle heating–melting–evaporation model can be successfully applied for many phenomena arising when colloidal nanoparticle interact with pulsed laser beams. The general approach of this model is discussed in detail. The two main components of the model, light absorption by particles, and the thermodynamics of phase transitions in particulate material are considered. Special attention is devoted to the correct estimation of the possible heat losses. The way in which the phase diagrams, where the different phase conditions of particle material are presented in laser fluence−particle diameter coordinates, were produced is demonstrated. It is shown how this model can be applied for understanding the mechanism of such complicated processes as particle‐size reduction and submicrometer spherical particle growth, as well as other processes that occur when colloidal particles are irradiated by a pulsed laser.     

Nonresonant interaction of femtosecond laser pulse with centrosymmetric molecules

We have derived a system of equations that describes the evolution of the density matrix of a centrosymmetric molecule interacting with a single nonresonant femtosecond laser pulse. The dynamics of the ground electronic state is expressed in terms of the effective Hamiltonian and the coherences between the ground an excited electronic states are functionals of the ground state density matrix. Using the time-dependent perturbation theory, we have calculated the energy deposited in the molecule as a result of rotational stimulated Raman scattering. The effective absorption coefficient is found to be proportional to the fourth power of the pulse amplitude and has a resonance-like dependence with respect to the pulse duration.     

XPS studies of short pulse laser interaction with copper

The effect of laser ablation on copper foil irradiated by a short 30 ns laser pulse was investigated by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The laser fluence was varied from 8 to 16.5 J/cm² and the velocity of the laser beam from 10 to 100 mm/s. This range of laser fluence is characterized by a different intensity of laser ablation. The experiments were done in two kinds of ambient atmosphere: air and argon jet gas.The chemical state and composition of the irradiated copper surface were determined using the modified Auger parameter (α′) and O/Cu intensity ratio. The ablation atmosphere was found to influence the size and chemical state of the copper particles deposited from the vapor plume. During irradiation in air atmosphere the copper nanoparticles react with oxygen and water vapor from the air and are deposited in the form of a CuO and Cu(OH)₂ thin film. In argon atmosphere the processed copper surface is oxidized after exposure to air.     

Midinfrared optical breakdown in transparent dielectrics

Optical breakdown measurements for transparent dielectrics are reported for 1 ps laser pulses as a function of mid-IR wavelength from 4.7 to 7.8 microm. For wide-gap dielectrics seed electrons are generated by tunnel ionization with subsequent avalanche ionization and laser absorption by dense plasma. For narrow-gap dielectrics tunnel ionization alone leads to dense plasma formation.     

基于Sagnac干涉仪的紫外超短脉冲放大技术

 介绍了一种基于Sagnac干涉仪形式的超短脉冲多路放大技术，能够实现多个激光脉冲的自动复合，并且在理论上能够实现锁相输出。分析了调节偏差对于干涉仪性能的影响，在仔细调节好干涉仪的情况下，起主要限制作用的是放大器介质折射率的随机变化，同时给出了一种利用偏振分束片的多路放大方法及实验结果，将直径为50mm，能量为2~3mJ的脉冲激光放大为最大输出能量为120mJ，稳定运行在100mJ的脉冲。     

Effect of the shape of the light pulse on the optical breakdown threshold of transparent dielectrics

The problem concerning the nonsteady heating by a light pulse of arbitrary shape, of an insulated metallic microparticle located in a transparent dielectric, is solved. The effect of the shape of the heating pulse on the nature of heating up of the inclusion is investigated. The results of the paper can be used for the experimental verification of the heat-conductivity theory of breakdown of solid transparent dielectrics.Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Fizika, No. 2, pp. 77–81, February, 1979.In conclusion, the authors thank V. A. Gorshkov for assistance in carrying out the calculations.     

Ultra-short scalar and vector solitons in self-inductively transparent media

The analytical form of the one-soliton solutions to the Maxwell–Bloch equations is found without the slowly-varying envelope approximation with application to the ultra-short (few-cycle or sub-cycle) light pulses propagating in media of two-level atoms as well as to fluxons in the long Josephson junctions. Also, we discuss the dynamics of the ultra-short vector solitons propagating in specific three-level media and magnetic-flux transmission lines (of two long Josephson junctions sharing a common superconducting plate). Studies of the (ultra-short) pulse collisions lead to the prediction of pulse stability against the collisions. In particular, the collisions of the ultra-short vector solitons are investigated in detail. Their collision-induced polarization transform is found to be similar to the polarization transform of the vector (Manakov) solitons propagating in self-focusing media.     

Enhanced localized fields in oblique incidence and their relation to laser damage in transparent dielectrics

Interference of incident and reflected light waves at the surfaces of transparent dielectrics causes enhanced localized fields. Calculations are presented for the case of oblique incidence on a parallel surfaces slab for entrance and exit surfaces, and their relation to laser surface damage studies is considered.     

Ultra-short pulse compression using photonic crystal fibre

A short section of photonic crystal fibre has been used for ultra-short pulse compression. The unique optical properties of this novel medium in terms of high non-linearity and relatively small group velocity dispersion are shown to provide an ideal platform for the standard fibre pulse compression technique used directly on the nano-Joule output pulses from a commercial laser system. We report an order of magnitude reduction of the pulse width to 25 fs FWHM but predict a substantially improved performance with a dedicated fibre design. Good agreement is obtained with a simple model for the spectral broadening in the fibre. PACS 42.65.Re; 42.70.Qs; 42.81.Cn     

An impact mechanism in diverting energy from absorbing inclusions at laser destruction of transparent dielectrics

A new mechanism of destruction of transparent dielectrics with small highly-absorbing inclusions by using intensive laser emission has been suggested. It has been shown that for experimentally found values of threshold radiation intensity I_th ≈ 1 GW/cm² and impurity concentration n ? 10⁷ cm^-3 radiation absorption outside the front of the impurity-initiated shock wave, when allowing for the collective action of waves, results in great heating of the dielectric surface layer which causes its destruction. The found critical value of impurity concentration is several orders less than the value estimated over a model of heating of an inclusion-surrounding dielectric at the expense of heat conductivity.     

Ultra-short pulse laser ablation of metals: threshold fluence, incubation coefficient and ablation rates

In this paper we present femtosecond laser ablation studies of the metals copper, silver and tungsten. Measurements of the threshold fluence determined from the hole diameters versus fluence provide incubation coefficients of the three materials, which are found to be equal within one standard deviation. Furthermore, we have determined the single-shot threshold fluences to be 1.7±0.3 J/cm², 1.5±0.4 J/cm² and 0.44±0.02 J/cm² for copper, silver and tungsten, respectively. These are in good agreement with theoretical values calculated neglecting heat diffusion.     

Enhanced localized intensities in surface scratches and their relation to laser damage in transparent dielectrics

Calculations are presented for the case of the interference of incident and reflected light waves at the scratch flanks causing a decrease of the damage threshold. It is shown that the experimental damage results in Exp. Tech. Phys. 26 (1978) 175 can be explained by including the mechanism of electron avalanche breakdown.     

Dynamics of femtosecond laser interactions with dielectrics

Femtosecond laser pulses appear as an emerging and promising tool for processing wide bandgap dielectric materials for a variety of applications. This article aims to provide an overview of recent progress in understanding the fundamental physics of femtosecond laser interactions with dielectrics that may have the potential for innovative materials applications. The focus of the overview is the dynamics of femtosecond laser-excited carriers and the propagation of femtosecond laser pulses inside dielectric materials. PACS 61.80.Ba; 52.38.Mf; 42.65.Jx; 78.47.+p; 71.35.-y