Investigation of ultrafast nuclear spin polarization induced by short laser pulses

We theoretically investigate the dynamics of nuclear spin induced by short laser pulses and show that ultrafast nuclear spin polarization can take place. Combined use of the hyperfine interaction together with the static electric field is the key for that. Specifically we apply the idea to unstable isotopes, (27)Mg and (37)Ca, with nuclear spin of 1/2 and 3/2, respectively, and show that 88% and 62% of nuclear spin polarization can be achieved within a few to tens of ns, which is 2-3 orders of magnitude shorter than the time needed for any known optical methods. Because of its ultrafast nature, our scheme would be very effective not only for stable nuclei but also unstable nuclei with a lifetime as short as mus.     

Dynamics of parabolic pulses in an ultrafast fiber laser

We report experimental and numerical results on the dynamics and propagation of parabolic pulses in a passively mode-locked ytterbium-doped fiber laser. Experimental data and numerical simulations are shown to match. Particular importance is attached to the pulse-shaping process in the different sections of the resonator. The paramount role of the gain fiber and saturable absorber in the laser is explicated.     

The study of ultrafast magnetization dynamics induced by femtosecond laser pulses in GdFeCo amorphous film

The time-resolved magneto-optical Kerr spectroscopy technique is used to study the ultrafast magnetization dynamics induced by femtosecond laser pulses in GdFeCo amorphous film. We study concretely the influence of the different pump fluence and the different external magnetic field on magnetization dynamics of ultrafast demagnetization, magnetization reversal and magnetization recovery. The pump fluence dependence magnetization dynamics shows that the degree of demagnetization, the degree of magnetization reversal and the time of magnetization recovery increase with pump fluence, which can be interpreted by the “three-temperature” model. The external magnetic field dependence magnetization dynamics shows that the rate of magnetization reversal increases with the external field, which accord with the magnetization reversal mechanism based on the reversed magnetic domain nucleation and domain-wall motion.     

Melting of nanocrystals embedded in a crystal matrix heated by nanosecond laser pulses

The kinetics of phase transformations of nanocrystals in a crystal matrix is considered upon non-stationary heating by laser pulses. The melting and crystallization kinetics of nanocrystals is described taking into account their size, shape, elemental composition, and elastic deformations appearing due to the mismatch of the lattice constants for nanocrystals and the matrix. The possibility of decreasing the dispersion of nanocrystals over their size in heterostructures with quantum dots is predicted. As an example, melting of Ge nanocrystals in a Si matrix is considered.     

High quantum yield of photochemical reactions of protoporphyrin-IX induced by powerful ultrashort laser pulses

The action of powerful pulsed picosecond radiation from a Nd: YAG laser (λ=530 nm, pulse energy: 0.01 J, intensity: 2GW/cm²) and an argon laser (λ=515 nm, power: 50 mW) on protoporphyrin-IX dimethylether in three solvents (trichlormethane, carbon tetrachloride, dioxane) has been studied. Under continuous irradiation the quantum yield and resulting products do not differ materially from the ones produced under mercury lamp irradiation. When irradiation is performed by powerful laser pulses of picosecond duration the quantum yield of photodecomposition of protoporphyrin-IX dimethylether inereases substantially: by 10 in dioxane, by 4 in carbon tetrachloride and by 100 in trichlormethane. It is assumed that a quite different mechanism of multistep excitation is responsible for photodecomposition under powerful picosecond pulses.     

Spectrum of Andreev bound states in a molecule embedded inside a microwave-excited superconducting junction

Nondissipative Josephson current through nanoscale superconducting constrictions is carried by spectroscopically sharp energy states, the so-called Andreev states. Although theoretically predicted almost 40 years ago, no direct spectroscopic evidence of these Andreev bound states exists to date. We propose a novel type of spectroscopy based on embedding a superconducting constriction, formed by a single-level molecule junction, in a microwave QED cavity environment. In the electron-dressed cavity spectrum we find a polariton excitation at twice the Andreev bound state energy, and a superconducting-phase-dependent ac Stark shift of the cavity frequency. Dispersive measurement of this frequency shift can be used for Andreev bound state spectroscopy.     

Time-dependent density functional theoretical studies on the photo-induced dynamics of an HCl molecule encapsulated in C_(60) under femtosecond laser pulses

By using first-principles simulations based on time-dependent density functional theory,the chemical reaction of an HCl molecule encapsulated in C60induced by femtosecond laser pulses is observed.The H atom starts to leave the Cl atom and is reflected by the C60wall.The coherent nuclear dynamic behaviors of bond breakage and recombination of the HCl molecule occurring in both polarized parallel and perpendicular to the H–Cl bond axis are investigated.The radial oscillation is also found in the two polarization directions of the laser pulse.The relaxation time of the H–Cl bond lengths in transverse polarization is slow in comparison with that in longitudinal polarization.Those results are important for studying the dynamics of the chemical bond at an atomic level.     

Time-dependent density functional theoretical studies on the photo-induced dynamics of an HCI molecule encapsulated in C60 under femtosecond laser pulses

By using first-principles simulations based on time-dependent density functional theory, the chemical reaction of an HCl molecule encapsulated in C60 induced by femtosecond laser pulses is observed. The H atom starts to leave the Cl atom and is reflected by the C60 wall. The coherent nuclear dynamic behaviors of bond breakage and recombination of the HCl molecule occurring in both polarized parallel and perpendicular to the H-Cl bond axis are investigated. The radial oscillation is also found in the two polarization directions of the laser pulse. The relaxation time of the H-Cl bond lengths in transverse polarization is slow in comparison with that in longitudinal polarization. Those results are important for studying the dynamics of the chemical bond at an atomic level.     

Coherent control of ultracold molecule dynamics in a magneto-optical trap by use of chirped femtosecond laser pulses

We have studied the effects of chirped femtosecond laser pulses on the formation of ultracold molecules in a Rb magneto-optical trap. We have found that application of chirped femtosecond pulses suppressed the formation of (85)Rb and (87)Rb(2) a(3)sigma(+)(u) molecules in contrast to comparable nonchirped pulses, cw illumination, and background formation rates. Variation of the amount of chirp indicated that this suppression is coherent in nature, suggesting that coherent control is likely to be useful for manipulating the dynamics of ultracold quantum molecular gases.     

Ab initio molecular dynamics study of the reactions of allene cation induced by intense 7 micron laser pulses

ABSTRACT

The isomerisation and fragmentation of allene cation (H₂C=C=CH₂⁺) by short, intense laser pulses were simulated by Born-Oppenheimer molecular dynamics (BOMD) on the ground state potential energy surface using the B3LYP/6-31?+?G(d,p) level of theory and a 10 cycle 7?µm cosine squared pulse with a maximum field strength of 0.07?au. Laser fields polarised along the C=C=C axis deposits an average of 150?kcal/mol in the molecule, compared to only 25 and 51?kcal/mol for perpendicular polarisations. Approximately 90% of the trajectories with the field aligned with the C=C=C axis underwent one or more structural rearrangement steps to form H₂C=CH–CH⁺ (15%), H₃CCCH⁺ (4%), cyclopropene cation (6%), and allene cation with rearranged hydrogens and carbons (47%). In addition, a variety of fragments including H₂CCCH⁺?+?H (10%), c-C₃H₃⁺?+?H (7%), and HCCCH⁺?+?H₂ (2%) trajectories were produced after isomerisation. With the same amount of thermal energy, field-free BOMD shows good agreements with the BOMD with the field. However, RRKM calculations favour isomerisation to propyne cation and dissociation to HCCCH⁺?+?H₂. This suggests that for molecules in intense laser fields the energy in the intermediate isomers is not distributed statistically.     

Fabrication and stitching of embedded multi-layer micro-gratings in fused silica glass by fs laser pulses

Fabrication and stitching of internal 2D, 1D and multi-layer micro-gratings in fused silica glass using amplified Ti:sapphire femtosecond laser were reported. These gratings have the pitch of 4 μm and the size of 400 μm×400 μm. For a two-layer 1D micro-grating where a second-layer grating was overwritten on a first-layer grating at the exact X,Y position and the different Z depth, the diffraction efficiency can reach more than 25% due to the grating thickness increase. If a second-layer grating was stitched with a first-layer by the shift of 2 μm in the X direction and at the different Z depth, the diffraction angle was doubled but the diffraction efficiency was about 9%. The last result has the potential application for fabricating high-density micro-/nano-structures beyond the diffraction limit through 3D stitching. PACS 42.79.Dj; 42.40.Lx; 42.62.Cf     

Observation of light filaments induced in air by visible picosecond laser pulses

We report the observation of light filaments produced by a picosecond laser pulse in the visible. The pulse trapped in the filamentary mode experiences large-scale self-phase modulation, with almost 100-fold spectral broadening along with apparent shortening of the leading edge. Spatial-temporal properties of the light filament reveal rather complex propagation dynamics. Received: 7 August 2002 / Revised version: 12 September 2002 / Published online: 11 December 2002 RID="*" ID="*"Corresponding author. Fax: +370-2/3660-06, E-mail: audrius.dubietis@ff.vu.lt     

空气中飞秒激光等离子体荧光辐射光谱研究

系统地研究了不同聚焦条件下飞秒激光空气等离子体的荧光辐射特性以及空间演化情况.在紧聚焦情况下,由于焦点附近比较高的激光强度以及比较高的电子密度,辐射光谱表现为连续谱和线状原子光谱的叠加.在弱聚焦情况下,辐射光谱主要由很多分子线谱组成,而没有观测到连续谱的产生.还研究了光谱谱线强度随激光传输距离的演化情况,结果显示,光谱谱线的强度变化在一定程度上间接反映了等离子体细丝的演化情况.     

Hot microplasma in the channel of a solid target induced by a sequence of femtosecond laser pulses

The dynamics of the hard X-ray yield is studied as a function of the laser-shot number, and the maximum temperature of the hot electron plasma component in the channel formed by a sequence of tightly focused near-IR femtosecond laser pulses (τ = 110 fs, λ = 1.24 μm, and I = 10¹⁵–10¹⁶ W/cm²) in air at various pressures (P = 0.01–760.00 Torr) is analyzed. The dependence of the depth of the channel in which the hard X rays are generated with the highest efficiency on the air pressure and the laser focusing is obtained. The electron concentration in air plasma in the laser beam waist is estimated using the spectral shift of the second harmonic radiation that is back reflected from the target channel.     

Sound generation by spheroidal metallic nanoclusters embedded in transparent matrix under the action of laser pulses

The theory of the photo-acoustical effect caused by a laser action on metal nanoclusters embedded in a dielectric matrix is build. The energy absorbed by clusters propagates through the dielectric matrix and generates the sound waves in it via the thermodeformation mechanism. The formulae for an acoustical signal are derived, and the high sensitivity of the sound wave amplitude to the shape of metal clusters, as well to such parameters of a laser irradiation as the frequency, polarization, and intensity, is revealed. The behavior of the sound vibrations amplitude in a region of the surface plasmons absorption is studied in detail. It is found that this amplitude at light absorption by a discrete metal film (a system of clusters in the matrix) can exceed the corresponding amplitude for the absorption by a continuous metal film in the region of plasmon resonances by several orders of magnitude.     

Double-pass propagation of laser pulses reflected by a diffuse whiteboard or a corner-cube retroreflector in turbulent atmosphere

Atmospheric turbulence affects the transmission of laser pulses through the atmosphere. The effects mean that the peak power of the laser pulses is not stable. For laser pulses reflected by a cooperative target, the peak power instability is greater because of the double-pass propagation of the laser pulses through the same atmosphere. The atmospheric turbulence can be monitored by detecting the peak power instability of echo laser pulses. This paper presents a method for monitoring atmospheric turbulence based on a cooperative target. Comparative experiments are carried out based on using a diffuse whiteboard and a corner-cube retroreflector (CCR) as the cooperative target. The distance between the two terminals of the experimental system is 1550 m. The size of the diffuse whiteboard is 60×60 cm². The bottom surface of the CCR is a circle with a diameter of 1 in. and the three mirrors of the CCR are coated with silver. Experiment results show that the peak power instability of echo laser pulses retroreflected by the CCR is 28.3%. This is much larger than that diffuse reflected by the whiteboard (11.2%). This indicates that the method based on the CCR has higher atmospheric sensitivity. In addition, the peak power of the echo laser pulses retroreflected by the CCR is also much larger. Therefore, the system based on the CCR is more suitable for monitoring of atmospheric turbulence.     

等离子体通道的声学诊断方法

超短脉冲强激光在空气中传输可以形成很长的等离子体通道，目前对这种等离子体通道有许多诊断方法，文章介绍了一种十分简易但很有效的方法——声学测量方法．该方法可以根据通道不同位置的声音信号，测量通道的长度和通道内电子密度等一些参数，具有其他传统诊断方法无可比拟的优越性．     

Photoacoustic detection of microcracks induced in BK7 glass by focused laser pulses

An experimental investigation on the induced damage by accumulative pulses generated by a Nd:YAG laser beam focused into the bulk of the BK7 glass is reported in this work. The laser was operated at the single-pulse damage energy threshold of the sample. The optical detonation generates a shock wave emission and microcrack formation. The induced photoacoustic wave emerging from the sample was monitored by piezoelectric detection. These signals provide a simple, reliable and highly sensitive indication of damage, processes involved, and the most appropriate laser parameters for two- and three-dimensional engraving.