Measurement of crater geometries after laser ablation of bone tissue with optical coherence tomography

The feasibility of measuring crater geometries by use of optical coherence tomography(OCT)is examined. Bovine shank bone on a motorized translation stage with a motion velocity of 3 mm/s is ablated with a pulsed CO_2 laser in vitro.The laser pulse repetition rate is 60 Hz and the spot size on the tissue surface is 0.5 mm.Crater geometries are evaluated immediately by both OCT and histology methods after laser irradiation.The results reveal that OCT is capable of measuring crater geometries rapidly and noninvasively as compared to histology.There are good correlation and agreement between crater depth estimates obtained by two techniques,whereas there exists distinct difference between crater width estimates when the carbonization at the sides of craters is not removed.     

Photosensitivity and photoluminescence of Sn/Yb codoped silica optical fiber preform

Sn/Yb codoped silica optical fiber preform is prepared by the modified chemical vapor deposition （MCVD） followed by the solution-doping method. Ultraviolet （UV） optical absorption, photoluminescence （PL） spectra under 978-nm laser diode （LD） pumping, and refractive index change after exposure to 266-nm laser pulses are obtained. There is only a little change in the PL spectra while a positive refractive index change up to 2×10^-4 is observed after 30-min exposure to 266-nm laser pulses. The results show that both of the peculiar photosensitivity of Smdoped silica and the gain property of Yb-doped silica fiber are preserved in the Sn/Yb codoped silica optical fiber preform. The experimental data suggest that the photosensitivity of the fiber preform under high energy density laser irradiation should be mainly due to the bond-breaking of oxygen deficient defects, while under relatively low energy density laser irradiation, the refractive index change probably originates from the photoconversion of optically active defects.     

Space-Selective Precipitation of Ba2TiSi2O8 Crystals in Sm3^＋-Doped BaO-TiO2-SiO2 Glass by Femtosecond Laser Irradiation

The ferroelectric crystal Ba2TiSi2O8 with high second-order optical nonlinearity is precipitated in Sm^3＋-doped BaO-TiO2-SiO2 glass by a focused 800hm, 250 kHz and 150fs femtosecond laser irradiation. No apparent blue and red emissions are observed at the beginning, while strong blue emission due to second harmonic generation and red emission due to the f-f transitions of Sm^3＋ are observed near the focal point of the laser beam after irradiation for 25s. Micro-Raman spectra confirm that Ba2 TiSi2O8 crystalline dots and lines are formed after laser irradiation. The mechanism of the phenomenon is discussed.     

Spectroscopic and radiation-resistant properties of Er,Pr:GYSGG laser crystal operated at 2.79 μm

We demonstrate the spectroscopic and laser performance before and after 100 Mrad gamma-ray irradiation on an Er,Pr:GYSGG crystal grown by the Czochralski method. The additional absorption of Er,Pr:GYSGG crystal is close to zero in the 968 nm pumping and 2.7-3 μm laser wavelength regions. The lifetimes of the upper and lower levels show faint decreases after gamma-ray irradiation. The maximum output powers of 542 and 526 mW with the slope efficiencies of 17.7% and 17.0% are obtained, respectively, on the GYSGG/Er,Pr:GYSGG composite crystal before and after the gammaray irradiation. These results suggest that Er,Pr:GYSGG crystal as a laser gain medium possesses a distinguished antiradiation ability for application in space and radiant environments.     

Near—Field Scanning Optical Spectroscopy：Localized Fluorescence Spectra of Clusters in Nd^3＋ Doped Polymer Optical Fibree

The optical characteristics of fractal clusters in Nd^3 doped poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) are investigated.The localized fluorescencespectra of clusters in Nd^3 doped PMMA are detected with a near-field scanning optical microscope.The experimental results demonstrate that the fractal clusters are harmful to the polymer optical fibre laser and amplifier.The corresponding explanation shows that there are interactions between two adjacent Nd^3 ions.     

Static recording characteristics of new type super-resolution near-field structure

A novel super-resolution near-field optical structure (super-RENS) with bismuth (Bi) mask layer is proposed in this paper. Static optical recording tests with and without super-RENS are carried out using a 650-nm semiconductor laser at recording powers of 14 and 7 mW with pulse duration of 100 ns. The recording marks are observed by high-resolution optical microscopy with a charge-coupled device (CCD) camera. The results show that the Bi mask layer can also concentrate energy into the center of a laser beam at low laser power similar to the traditional Sb mask layer. The results above are further confirmed by another Ar~+ laser system. The third-order nonlinear response induced by the plasma oscillation at the Bi/SiN interface during laser irradiation can be used to explain the phenomenon. The calculation results are basically consistent with our experimental results.     

Short-Wavelength Recording Properties of TeOx Thin Films

We prepare TeOx thin films by vacuum evaporation of TeO2 powder.It is found that the as-deposited TeOx films can represent a two-component system comprising crystalline tellurium particles dispersed in an amorphous TeO2 matrix.Results of the static recording test show that the TeOx films have good writing sensitivity for shortwavelength laser beam (514.5nm).Primary results of the dynamic recording test at 514.5 nm are also reported.The carrier-to-noise ratio of 30dB is obtained for the disc using a TeOx film as the recording medium.Atomic force microscopy is used to study the microstructure of recorded marks.Micro-area morphology images show that the marks are mechanically deformed,and depressions and bulges have been imaged in the recorded marks,resulting in the scattering of the reading laser beam.The analytical results of transmission electron microscopy show that there is not obvious difference between the phase states of the tellurium particles before and after laser irradiation.Recording mechanisms of the TeOx thin films are discussed based on the experimental results.     

Effect of proton and laser irradiation on the elastic and inelastic properties of a V-Ti-Cr alloy

The behavior of Young’s modulus E and the decrement of ultrasonic vibrations δ in a V-4Ti-4Cr alloy is studied during proton (8-MeV protons, dose rate 10⁴ Gy/s) or IR laser (YAG: Nd³⁺ laser, wavelength 1.06 μm, intensity up to 10² W/cm²) irradiation. Measurements are performed using the method of a composite piezoelectric oscillator (longitudinal 100-kHz resonance vibrations). The sizes of the irradiated surface regions of a sample in the proton and laser experiments are the same in order to provide the same thermal conditions in the sample-quartz transducer system. The amplitude, time, and temperature dependences of E and δ are measured before and after preliminary plastic deformation, as well as before, during, and after irradiation of a sample. The process of postdeformation aging (the kinetics of recovery of internal friction after deformation) during proton irradiation is shown to differ substantially from that during laser irradiation. The specific features detected can be explained by the more intense evolution of the defect structure during proton irradiation. Analysis shows that radiation annealing is related to the ionizing component of proton irradiation, which excites the electronic subsystem of the metallic alloy and, thus, creates hot electrons and plasmons. The electron excitations relax at lattice defects (dislocations) and increase the dislocation mobility; this results in a relatively rapid decrease in the dislocation density and in a more significant (as compared to the laser irradiation) decrease in the level of internal stresses in the material. __________ Translated from Fizika Tverdogo Tela, Vol. 46, No. 8, 2004, pp. 1409–1415. Original Russian Text Copyright ? 2004 by Kardashev, Plaksin, Stepanov, Chernov.     

Irradiation Effects of Femtosecond Pulses on Refractive Index of Ag-Embedded Nanocomposite Glasses

The irradiation effects of femtosecond pulses on Ag-embedded composite glasses fabricated by ion-exchange are investigated using z-scan measurement. Both changes of the refractive index caused by the laser irradiation effect and the third-order optical nonlinearity are observed in the experiment. Taking the change of the linear and nonlinear refractive index into consideration, the fitting results are in agreement with the experimental results.     

Structural and optical investigation of nonpolar a-plane GaN grown by metal-organic chemical vapour deposition on r-plane sapphire by neutron irradiation

Nonpolar (1120) a-plane GaN films are grown by metal-organic chemical vapour deposition (MOCVD) on r-plane (1102) sapphire.The samples are irradiated with neutrons under a dose of 1 × 10 15 cm 2.The surface morphology,the crystal defects and the optical properties of the samples before and after irradiation are analysed using atomic force microscopy (AFM),high resolution X-ray diffraction (HRXRD) and photoluminescence (PL).The AFM result shows deteriorated sample surface after the irradiation.Careful fitting of the XRD rocking curve is carried out to obtain the Lorentzian weight fraction.Broadening due to Lorentzian type is more obvious in the as-grown sample compared with that of the irradiated sample,indicating that more point defects appear in the irradiated sample.The variations of line width and intensity of the PL band edge emission peak are consistent with the XRD results.The activation energy decreases from 82.5 meV to 29.9 meV after irradiation by neutron.