David J. Hwang

NANOSECOND LASER ABLATION OF GOLD NANOPARTICLE FILMS

Ablation of self-assembled monolayer protected gold nanoparticle films on polyimide was explored using a nanosecond laser. When the nanoparticle film was ablated and subsequently thermally sintered to a continuous film, the elevated rim structure by the expulsion of molten pool could be avoided and the ablation threshold fluence was reduced to a value at least ten times lower than the reported threshold for the gold film. This could be explained by the unusual properties of nanoparticle film such as low melting temperature, weak bonding between nanoparticles, efficient laser energy deposition, and reduced heat loss. Finally, submicron lines were demonstrated.

The effect of micronscale anisotropic cross patterns on fibroblast migration

Cell movement on adhesive surfaces is a complicated process based on myriad cell-surface interactions. Although both micron and nanoscale surface topography have been known to be important in understanding cell-materials interactions, typically only simple patterns (e.g., parallel lines or aligned posts) have been used in studying cell morphology, migration, and behavior. This restriction has limited the understanding of the multidirectional aspects of cell-surface response. The present study was performed to investigate cell morphology and motility on micronscale anisotropic cross patterns and parallel line patterns having different aspect ratios (1:2, 1:4, and 1:infinity), grid size (12-, 16-, and 24-mum distance neighboring longer side ridges), and height of ridges (3- and 10-mum). The movement characteristics were analyzed quantitatively with respect to cell migration speed, migration angle, persistence time (P) and motility coefficient (mu). A significant effect of the 1:4 grid aspect ratio cross patterns and parallel line patterns on cell alignment and directionality of migration was observed. Cell motility was also dependent on the patterned surface topography: the migration speed was significantly enhanced by the 1:2 and 1:4 cross patterns when the grid size was smaller than the size of individual cells (i.e., approximately 16 microm). In addition, the migration speed of cells on lower patterns was greater than on higher ridges. Overall, cell morphology and motility was influenced by the aspect ratio of the cross pattern, the grid size, and the height of ridges.

Efficiency of silicon micromachining by femtosecond laser pulses in ambient air

Femtosecond lasers have proven to be effective tools for precise micromachining. Taking advantage of the reduced heat diffusion and the sharp ablation threshold at comparatively low energy densities, subdiffraction limit sized craters have been machined on silicon wafers by single near infrared Ti:sapphire laser pulses using a high numerical aperture objective lens. Two different ablation regimes have been identified by varying the laser fluence. While two-photon absorption dominates in the low fluence regime, electronic diffusion is a major energy transport mechanism at higher laser fluences. Time-resolved pump-and-probe side-view imaging has been performed to investigate the energy coupling to the target specimen over a wide range of fluences (up to around 1000J∕cm2) at lateral beam dimensions of the order of micrometers. The decrease of the ablation efficiency in the high fluence regime (>10J∕cm2) is attributed to the strong interaction of the laser pulse with the laser-induced plasma.

Ablation of thin metal films by short-pulsed lasers coupled through near-field scanning optical microscopy probes

Short-pulsed lasers have been proven to be useful tools for precise modification of electronic materials. In conventional lens focusing schemes, the minimum feature size is determined by the diffraction limit. Finer resolution is accomplished by combining pulsed laser radiation with near-field scanning optical microscopy (NSOM) probes. In this study, short laser pulses are coupled to a fiber-based NSOM in order to ablate thin metal films. A detailed parametric study on the effects of probe aperture size, laser pulse energy, temporal width, and environment gas is performed. The significance of lateral thermal diffusion is highlighted and the dependence of the ablation process on the imparted near-field distribution is revealed.

High resolution selective multilayer laser processing by nanosecond laser ablation of metal nanoparticle films

Ablation of gold nanoparticle films on polymer was explored using a nanosecond pulsed laser, with the goal to achieve feature size reduction and functionality not amenable with inkjet printing. The ablation threshold fluence for the unsintered nanoparticle deposit was at least ten times lower than the reported threshold for the bulk film. This could be explained by the combined effects of melting temperature depression, lower conductive heat transfer loss, strong absorption of the incident laser beam, and the relatively weak bonding between nanoparticles. The ablation physics were verified by the nanoparticle sintering characterization, ablation threshold measurement, time resolved ablation plume shadowgraphs, analysis of ablation ejecta, and the measurement and calculation of optical properties. High resolution and clean feature fabrication with small energy and selective multilayer processing are demonstrated.

Femtosecond laser ablation induced plasma characteristics from submicron craters in thin metal film

The ablation-induced plasma physics at reduced ablation crater dimensions is experimentally investigated. Frequency doubled femtosecond laser pulses are tightly focused through objective lenses onto a Cr thin film coated on quartz wafer in order to obtain ablation craters of submicron lateral dimensions. Side-view time-resolved emission images and the corresponding spectra depict the detailed plasma evolution at the fluence range near the ablation threshold. Collected emission spectra at the laser fluence level of around two to three times of ablation threshold display characteristic atomic transition peaks of the ablated Cr material from submicron ablation craters. This finding confirms that improved spatial resolution for laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy can be achieved.

High-Throughput Near-Field Optical Nanoprocessing of Solution-Deposited Nanoparticles

The application of nanoscale electrical and biological devices will benefit from the development of nanomanufacturing technologies that are high-throughput, low-cost, and flexible. Utilizing nanomaterials as building blocks and organizing them in a rational way constitutes an attractive approach towards this goal and has been pursued for the past few years. The optical near-field nanoprocessing of nanoparticles for high-throughput nanomanufacturing is reported. The method utilizes fluidically assembled microspheres as a near-field optical confinement structure array for laser-assisted nanosintering and nanoablation of nanoparticles. By taking advantage of the low processing temperature and reduced thermal diffusion in the nanoparticle film, a minimum feature size down to approximately 100 nm is realized. In addition, smaller features (50 nm) are obtained by furnace annealing of laser-sintered nanodots at 400 degrees C. The electrical conductivity of sintered nanolines is also studied. Using nanoline electrodes separated by a submicrometer gap, organic field-effect transistors are subsequently fabricated with oxygen-stable semiconducting polymer.

Chemical Patterning of Ultrathin Polymer Films by Direct-Write Multiphoton Lithography

We applied 2-photon laser ablation to write subdiffraction nanoscale chemical patterns into ultrathin polymer films under ambient conditions. Poly(ethylene glycol) methacrylate brush layers were prepared on quartz substrates via surface-initiated atom-transfer radical polymerization and ablated to expose the underlying substrate using the nonlinear 2-photon absorbance of a frequency-doubled Ti:sapphire femtosecond laser. Single-shot ablation thresholds of polymer films were ~1.5 times smaller than that of a quartz substrate, which allowed patterning of nanoscale features without damage to the underlying substrate. At a 1/e(2) laser spot diameter of 0.86 μm, the features of exposed substrate approached ~80 nm, well below the diffraction limit for 400 nm light. Ablated features were chemically distinct and amenable to chemical modification.

In Situ TEM Near-Field Optical Probing of Nanoscale Silicon Crystallization

Laser-based processing enables a wide variety of device configurations comprising thin films and nanostructures on sensitive, flexible substrates that are not possible with more traditional thermal annealing schemes. In near-field optical probing, only small regions of a sample are illuminated by the laser beam at any given time. Here we report a new technique that couples the optical near-field of the laser illumination into a transmission electron microscope (TEM) for real-time observations of the laser-materials interactions. We apply this technique to observe the transformation of an amorphous confined Si volume to a single crystal of Si using laser melting. By confinement of the material volume to nanometric dimensions, the entire amorphous precursor is within the laser spot size and transformed into a single crystal. This observation provides a path for laser processing of single-crystal seeds from amorphous precursors, a potentially transformative technique for the fabrication of solar cells and other nanoelectronic devices.

Synthetic aperture ladar flight demonstration

This paper describes a demonstration of synthetic aperture ladar imaging at 1.5 micron wavelength from an airborne platform at a distance of 1.6 km showing a 30× cross range resolution improvement over the spot size.