Lengthening the Lifetime of Long Plasma Channel in Air Generated by Femtosecond Laser Pulse

We theoretically investigate the lifetime of self-guided plasma channel in air by launching an auxiliary delayed long-pulsed laser beam following an ultrashort laser. A detailed model makes the electron-ion recombination, the attachment of electrons on neutral particles, and particularly the impact ionization and electron-detachment mechanism incorporate. The calculated results show that the temporal evolution of electron density is greatly flattened and broadened. When the auxiliary laser intensity exceeds the threshold 3.32 × 10^4 Wcm^-2, the channel lifetime is distinctly prolonged from nanosecond to microsecond, or even longer due to the electrical field enhancement. Furthermore, with the laser intensity up to 109 Wcm^-2, the impact ionization overwhelms the detachment in effect. Thus, it is an effective way to extend the channel lifetime and provides a real opportunity for applications.     

Recombination emissions and spectral blueshift of pump radiation from ultrafast laser induced plasma in a planar water microjet

We report spectroscopic investigations of an ultrafast laser induced plasma generated in a planar water microjet. Plasma recombination emissions along with the spectral blueshift and broadening of the pump laser pulse contribute to the total emission. The laser pulses are of 100 fs duration, and the incident intensity is around 10¹⁵ W/cm². The dominant mechanisms leading to plasma formation are optical tunnel ionization and collisional ionization. Spectrally resolved polarization measurements show that the high frequency region of the emission is unpolarized whereas the low frequency region is polarized. Results indicate that at lower input intensities the emission arises mainly from plasma recombinations, which is accompanied by a weak blueshift of the incident laser pulse. At higher input intensities strong recombination emissions are seen, along with a broadening and asymmetric spectral blueshift of the pump laser pulse. From the nature of the blueshifted laser pulse it is possible to deduce whether the rate of change of free electron density is a constant or variable within the pulse lifetime. Two input laser intensity regimes, in which collisional and tunnel ionizations are dominant respectively, have been thus identified.     

超短脉冲激光产生等离子体通道寿命研究

利用强飞秒激光在大气中产生等离子体通道内带电粒子的动力学模型,综合考虑二体吸附、三体吸附、离解和复合等因素,分析后续激光退吸附作用对等离子体通道寿命的影响,给出有效延长通道寿命的后续激光控制参量。计算表明,选择不同的激光注入形式和注入时间,对通道寿命的延长有着不同的效果,适当优化的激光可以延长通道寿命达25 s以上。     

大气中激光等离子体通道寿命的延长及测量分析

介绍了一种反卷积方法.利用该方法分析了实验中测得的等离子体通道的光电信号特征，获 得了空气中等离子体通道的真实寿命.还证明了利用双脉冲激光结构，可以将等离子体寿命 延长近5倍. 关键词： 反卷积 大气激光等离子体通道 等离子体寿命     

外加高压电场下空气中激光等离子体通道寿命研究

通过对飞秒激光在空气中产生的等离子体通道两端外加高压,来研究通道的寿命变化情况。实验得到,当在等离子体通道两端外加高压时(350 kV/m),等离子体通道寿命延长了近3倍。理论模拟和分析结果表明在外加电场条件下,碰撞电离得到增强,吸附作用相对减弱,解离复合系数随着电子平均能量的增加而下降的趋势更为剧烈,这进一步引起了等离子体通道寿命的延长。实验结果与理论分析共同表明了利用外加电场对空气中激光等离子体通道寿命进行延长的可行性。     

Lifetime of metastable fluorine atoms

For laser collimation of neutral F atoms, a resonance transition cycle between the metastable and the upper excited states (3s⁴ P _5/2?3p⁴ D ⁰ _7/2) can be used as a two-level closed system. We have determined the lifetime of the metastable state (3s⁴ P _5/2) in F atoms by measuring the decay curve of the fluorescence intensity as a function of distance from the plasma source. Combining the measured velocity of F radicals from the Doppler shift of the fluorescence peak, we have obtained the lifetime of the F metastable state as 3.7±0.5 μs. With this short metastable lifetime of F radicals, the simple Doppler cooling method using spontaneous light force is not practical for laser collimation of F radicals. Use of stimulated light force may be necessary to collimate F radical beams in a short distance. Received: 4 July 2000 / Published online: 13 September 2000     

飞秒光丝中等离子体密度时间演化特征

采用能够较为清晰、完整描述强飞秒激光等离子体通道内带电粒子产生过程及其演化的物理模型,进一步研究了飞秒光丝中等离子体密度的时间演化特征。计算结果表明:对于不同时间线型的脉冲,在等离子体通道形成过程中,氧气分子的电离贡献率及氮气分子的贡献率明显不同,不同线型的脉冲对高效维持高密度等离子体的寿命具有较大的影响。有效控制成丝脉冲线型能够达到对等离子体通道的高效利用。长脉冲、短波长虽能够获得较高密度等离子体通道,但其存活寿命却完全受限于通道的后期演化。     

Radiative lifetimes of Zr III excited levels

We report on radiative lifetimes of 4d5p excited states of Zr III produced in a laser produced plasma. The ions were populated either in the ground state or in metastable states, and the number of ions is strongly dependent on the application of an external magnetic field, which is shown to be very important when using the time-resolved laser-induced fluorescence technique for lifetime measurements in highly charged ions. The experimental lifetime results fall in the region 1–2 ns with statistical uncertainties less than 7%. The experimental values were compared with multi-configuration Hartree-Fock calculations showing an agreement within 12–20%. The experimental values are systematically higher than the theoretical ones.     

Fluorescence-lifetime measurements in atmospheric-pressure flames using nanosecond-pulsed lasers

Measurements of fluorescence lifetimes are needed to quantify concentration measurements when using linear laser-induced fluorescence. However, lifetimes are only a few nanoseconds for many important species at atmospheric pressure. When using a typical Q-switched laser with a pulse width of about 10 ns, the fluorescence follows the shape of the laser pulse and the lifetime cannot be easily measured. In this paper, a technique is described for experimentally determining the fluorescence lifetime in atmospheric-pressure flames using a nanosecond-pulsed laser; that is, measurement of a lifetime an order-of-magnitude faster than the laser pulse itself. This technique relies on an observable temporal shift in the fluorescence signal as a function of the lifetime. Simulations show the efficacy of this approach, and data in liquid samples and in an atmospheric-pressure flame show excellent agreement with prior picosecond measurements. This technique is successful because only the temporal shift is examined and details of the fluorescence profile are ignored. Received: 23 August 2001 / Revised version: 19 November 2001 / Published online: 17 January 2002     

All-optical confinement of ultracold plasma with resonant ions

The solution of the problem of all-optical (nonmagnetic) confinement of ultracold electron-ion neutral plasma based on selective action on plasma ions with quantum transition J=1→J=0 of so-called rectified radiation forces in a strong nonmonochromatic light field is suggested. The presented scheme of the three-dimensional dissipative optical trap for plasma allows one to obtain long-lived ultracold plasma with controlled characteristics. The lifetime of the ultracold plasma in such a trap may exceed considerably (by orders of magnitude) the time of free plasma expansion and the lifetime in the (earlier proposed) optical molasses for the ultracold plasma.     

Solid-state active media of tunable organic- compound lasers pumped with a laser. II. A copper vapor laser

The lasing properties of organic compounds in a polymethylmethacrylate matrix pumped by a copper vapor laser are studied. The results demonstrate that the transverse pumping scheme of solid-state laser-active media with the copper vapor laser is promising compared to the longitudinal pumping scheme from the viewpoint of the lifetime parameters. Received: 6 February 2002 / Published online: 2 May 2002     

Temporal and Spectral Characterization of Breakdown Plasma Induced by Laser Radiation in Colloidal Solutions of Gold Nanoparticles

Temporal and spectral characteristics of laser-induced breakdown plasma in colloidal solutions of gold nanoparticles were experimentally studied. Near-infrared laser sources of nanosecond pulses were used. It was shown that under certain experimental conditions nanosized plasma around nanoparticles might change to laser-induced breakdown plasma in liquid. The dependencies of the plasma temporal and spectral characteristics on laser pulse duration as well as resulting nanoparticles properties were studied. Laser-induced breakdown plasma lifetime was shown to be comparable with laser pulse duration. The efficiency of gold nanoparticles fragmentation was shown to depend on laser pulse duration. Similar experiments were carried out under reduced external pressure. It turned out to affect the properties of both plasma plume and nanoparticles. Transmission electron microscopy and disc measuring centrifuge were used for nanoparticle morphology and size analysis. Extinction spectra of colloidal solutions and emission spectra of plasma were studied by means of optical spectroscopy.     

The role of microwaves in the enhancement of laser-induced plasma emission

We studied experimentally the effect of microwaves (MWs) on the enhancement of plasma emission achieved by laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS). A laser plasma was generated on a calcium oxide pellet by a Nd:YAG laser (5 mJ, 532 nm, 8 ns) in reduced-pressure argon surrounding gas. A MW radiation (400 W) was injected into the laser plasma via a loop antenna placed immediately above the laser plasma to enhance the plasma emission. The results confirmed that when the electromagnetic field was introduced into the laser plasma region by the MWs, the lifetime of the plasma was extended from 50 to 500 µs, similar to the MW duration. Furthermore, the plasma temperature and electron density increased to approximately 10900 K and 1.5×10¹⁸ cm^-3, respectively and the size of the plasma emission was extended to 15 mm in diameter. As a result, the emission intensity of Ca lines obtained using LIBS with MWs was enhanced by approximately 200 times compared to the case of LIBS without MWs.     

Analytical descriptions of mode switching characteristics of diode lasers

Using perturbation analysis to solve the rate equations of semiconductor lasers, the analytical expressions for the evolution of the carrier and photon densities have been derived when the laser is switched from one oscillation mode (or wavelength) to another. The solutions show that the deviations of the carrier and photon densities are damped and oscillatory. The decay rate of these deviations depends not only on the carrier lifetime, but also on the photon lifetime, which is different from that of an ordinary diode laser experiencing switch-on processes. Received: 5 December 2000 / Revised version: 5 March 2001 / Published online: 7 June 2001     

Spectroscopic observation of the plasma produced by a CO2 laser beam interacting with titanium target under helium and/or argon atmosphere

In many laser applications such as drilling, welding and cutting, the role of the plasma in the transfer of energy between the laser beam and the metal surface appears to be rather important. It depends on several parameters such as laser wavelength, irradiation time and deposited energy but especially on the buffer gas nature. In this work the plasma is initiated by a TEA-CO₂ laser beam perpendicularly focussed onto a Ti target (100 MW/cm²), in a cell containing He, Ar or a He-Ar mixture as buffer gas. The plasma is studied by time and space resolved spectroscopic diagnostics. The results show that helium allows target erosion whereas a highly absorbing breakdown plasma develops in argon shielding the target from the subsequent laser heating. With only 20% Ar in He, a strong quenching of the He plasma by Ar occurs, and the Ar plasma effect is dominant.     

In situ observation of dynamics of plasma self-channeling and bulk modification in silica glasses induced by a high-intensity femtosecond laser

The time-resolved dynamics of plasma self-channeling and refractive index bulk modification in silica glasses were first observed in situ using a high-intensity femtosecond (110 fs) Ti:sapphire laser (λ_p=790 nm). Plasma channeling is induced in silica glass at an irradiation higher than an input intensity of 1.5×10¹² W/cm² and photoinduces either the refractive-index modification or optical crack modification. In the domain of refractive-index modification, the lifetime of induced plasma self-channeling was 20 ps and the structural transition time for forming the refractive-index change was 10 ps. In the domain of optical cracks, however, the lifetime of induced plasma formation was 30 ps and the structural transition time for forming the optical cracks was 40 ps. According to electron spin resonance spectroscopic (ESP) measurement, it was found that the defect concentration of the SiE^′ center increased significantly in the refractive index modification region. A maximum value of the refractive-index change Δn was measured to be 1.6×10^-2. The intensity profile of the output beam transmitted through the refractive-index modification showed that the bulk modification produced a permanent optical waveguide. Received: 8 April 2002 / Accepted: 12 April 2002 / Published online: 22 November 2002 RID="*" ID="*"Corresponding author. Fax: +81-48/462-4682, E-mail: shcho@riken.go.jp     

Plasmonic emission and plasma lattice structures induced by pulsed laser in Purcell cavity on silicon

The lattice structure image of a plasma standing wave in a Purcell cavity of silicon is observed. The plasma wave produced by the pulsed laser could be used to fabricate the micro-nanostructure of silicon. The plasma lattice structures induced by the nanosecond pulsed laser in the cavity may be similar to the Wigner crystal structure. It is interesting that the beautiful diffraction pattern could be observed in the plasma lattice structure. The radiation lifetime could be shortened to the nanosecond range throughout the entire spectral range and the relaxation time could be lengthened for higher emission efficiency in the Purcell cavity, which results in the fact that the plasmonic emission is stronger and its threshold is lower.     

Lifetime of optical phonons in fs-laser excited bismuth

This paper presents experimental and theoretical results on the temperature-dependent optical response of a single crystal of bismuth to excitation by femtosecond laser pulses. We demonstrate that the measured damping rate of the transient reflectivity oscillations relates to the lifetime of optical phonons. The lifetime is the inverse rate of the decay of optical phonons into two acoustic phonons. This lifetime also indicates the approach to the vibration instability (catastrophe) threshold that manifests the beginning of the disordering of a solid crystal and transition to a liquid state. We observe the red shift of phonon frequency, which increases with the rise of the initial lattice temperature. The red shift is different from the previously observed red shift proportional to the electron temperature, and thus to the excitation laser fluence. The coherent phonon excitation process imprinted into the initial change in the reflectivity and the following reflectivity oscillations allowed us to uncover the temporal phonon history preceding the structural transformation of solid Bi.     

Modeling of UV pulsed-laser ablation of metallic targets

A model to describe the laser ablation of metallic targets is presented. It accounts for the main physical processes involved in the laser–solid–plasma interaction by considering the photon absorption and the ionization mechanisms that are active in the plasma, as well as the laser-produced plasma kinetics. The model is used to simulate the laser ablation of aluminum targets irradiated with a 6-ns UV laser pulse at 0.35 μm, and the results are compared with experimental findings. Calculations show that all the investigated plasma parameters strongly depend on the laser intensity until a roll-off is reached at irradiance ≥1.5 GW cm^-2. The satisfactorily good agreement between model predictions and experimental findings confirms that laser–plasma interaction processes and plasma kinetics play a relevant role during nanosecond laser ablation of metals in the laser intensity range of concern in this study. Received: 12 February 1999 / Accepted: 12 April 1999 / Published online: 7 July 1999     

3d D lifetime in laser cooled Ca : Influence of cooling laser power

We have measured the lifetime of the metastable 3D _5/2 level in Ca⁺ using the “quantum jump" technique on a single stored and laser cooled ion in a linear Paul trap. We found a linear dependence of the measured decay rate on the power of the laser which repumps the ions from the long lived 3D _3/2 level. This can be explained by off-resonant depletion of the 3D _5/2 level. The proper lifetime of this level is obtained by a linear extrapolation of the measured lifetime to zero laser power. We obtain 1100(18) ms in agreement with theoretical calculations. The observed systematic change of the decay rate resolves discrepancies between earlier experiments in which this effect had not been considered. Measurements on a linear chain of 10 laser cooled ions showed unexpected frequent coincidences of quantum jumps within our observation time of 20 ms. This indicates a so far unexplained correlation between the ions in the chain at large distances. Received 3 March 1999