Elias Penilla

The role of scattering and absorption on the optical properties of birefringent polycrystalline ceramics: Modeling and experiments on ruby (Cr:Al2O3)

Light scattering due to birefringence has prevented the use of polycrystalline ceramics with anisotropic optical properties in applications such as laser gain media. However, continued development of processing technology has allowed for very low porosity and fine grains, significantly improving transparency and is paving the way for polycrystalline ceramics to be used in demanding optical applications. We present a method for producing highly transparent Cr3+ doped Al2O3 (ruby) using current activated pressure assisted densification. The one-step doping/densification process produces fine grained ceramics with well integrated (doped) Cr, resulting in good absorption and emission. In order to explain the light transmission properties, we extend the analytical model based on the Rayleigh-Gans-Debye approximation that has been previously used for undoped alumina to include absorption. The model presented captures reflection, scattering, and absorption phenomena in the ceramics. Comparison with measured tran...

Waveguide-like structures written in transparent polycrystalline ceramics with an ultra-low fluence femtosecond laser

We present a laser processing study of optically transparent ytrria stabilized zirconia (YSZ) ceramics (ZrO2-8 mol. % Y2O3) using unamplified femtosecond (fs) laser pulses of a few nJ and high repetition rate (70 MHz). The ceramics were fabricated using current activated pressure assisted densification (CAPAD) and have fine grain size and minimal porosity, producing a transparent material. Irradiation using fs laser pulses caused permanent changes in the optical properties of the irradiated zone. These laser written structures were found to confine He-Ne laser light (632 nm) in effect functioning as waveguide like structures and were written into the YSZ ceramics using a remarkably low per-pulse energy (5nJ). The number of passes with the laser i.e total incident pulses per unit area was found to significantly affect the waveguide writing. We believe that waveguides are regions were the concentration of oxygen vacancies and/or their associated free electrons have been altered by laser irradiation. We are not aware of previous reports of low fluence fs laser pulses being used to influence vacancy related defects to produce waveguides in ceramics. This new mechanism opens the door for writing strictures in optical ceramics with lower power than previously thought feasible.

Broadband white light emission from Ce:AlN ceramics: High thermal conductivity down-converters for LED and laser-driven solid state lighting

We introduce high thermal conductivity aluminum nitride (AlN) as a transparent ceramic host for Ce3+, a well-known active ion dopant. We show that the Ce:AlN ceramics have overlapping photoluminescent (PL) emission peaks that cover almost the entire visible range resulting in a white appearance under 375 nm excitation without the need for color mixing. The PL is due to a combination of intrinsic AlN defect complexes and Ce3+ electronic transitions. Importantly, the peak intensities can be tuned by varying the Ce concentration and processing parameters, causing different shades of white light without the need for multiple phosphors or light sources. The Commission Internationale de l’Eclairage coordinates calculated from the measured spectra confirm white light emission. In addition, we demonstrate the viability of laser driven white light emission by coupling the Ce:AlN to a readily available frequency tripled Nd-YAG laser emitting at 355 nm. The high thermal conductivity of these ceramic down-converters ...

Gain in polycrystalline Nd-doped alumina: leveraging length scales to create a new class of high-energy, short pulse, tunable laser materials

Traditionally accepted design paradigms dictate that only optically isotropic (cubic) crystal structures with high equilibrium solubilities of optically active ions are suitable for polycrystalline laser gain media. The restriction of symmetry is due to light scattering caused by randomly oriented anisotropic crystals, whereas the solubility problem arises from the need for sufficient active dopants in the media. These criteria limit material choices and exclude materials that have superior thermo-mechanical properties than state-of-the-art laser materials. Alumina (Al2O3) is an ideal example; it has a higher fracture strength and thermal conductivity than today’s gain materials, which could lead to revolutionary laser performance. However, alumina has uniaxial optical proprieties, and the solubility of rare earths (REs) is two-to-three orders of magnitude lower than the dopant concentrations in typical RE-based gain media. We present new strategies to overcome these obstacles and demonstrate gain in a RE-doped alumina (Nd:Al2O3) for the first time. The key insight relies on tailoring the crystallite size to other important length scales—the wavelength of light and interatomic dopant distances, which minimize optical losses and allow successful Nd doping. The result is a laser gain medium with a thermo-mechanical figure of merit of Rs~19,500 Wm−1 a 24-fold and 19,500-fold improvements over the high-energy-laser leaders Nd:YAG (Rs~800 Wm−1) and Nd:Glass (Rs~1 Wm−1), respectively. Moreover, the emission bandwidth of Nd:Al2O3 is broad: ~13 THz. The successful demonstration of gain and high bandwidth in a medium with superior Rs can lead to the development of lasers with previously unobtainable high-peak powers, short pulses, tunability, and high-duty cycles.Laser materials: Processing tricks help increase sapphire’s appealTransparent ceramics doped with rare-earth atoms have mechanical properties that may help surpass outputs of conventional solid-state lasers. Because laser power is a function of a materials’ thermal conductivity and shock resistance, researchers have investigated robust sapphire crystals as potential platforms for high-energy lasers. Javier Garay and co-workers at the University of California San Diego now report a process that uses elevated heating and cooling rates to incorporate neodymium dopants into sapphire to achieve, optical gain which is necessary for laser amplification. The technique relies on fabricating ceramics composed of nanoscale crystallites, smaller than the laser light wavelength. These nanostructures reduce unwanted light scattering from sapphire’s naturally asymmetric atomic structure, and ensure even dopant distribution. The large, tunable bandwidth of the new sapphire laser could aid applications needing ultra-short, high-power pulses.

Intense photoluminescence and optical gain in rare-earth doped Polycrystalline Sapphire: a new bulk media for high-power phosphors and high-energy lasers

Conventional materials engineering approaches for polycrystalline ceramic gain media rely on optically isotropic crystals with high equilibrium solubility of luminescent rare-earth (RE) ions. Crystallographic optical symmetry is traditionally relied upon to avoid scattering losses caused by refractive index mismatch at grain boundaries in randomly oriented anisotropic crystals and high-equilibrium RE-solubility is needed to produce sufficient photoluminescence (PL) for amplification and oscillation. These requirements exclude materials such as polycrystalline sapphire/alumina that have significantly superior thermo-mechanical properties (Rs~19,500Wm-1), because it possesses 1) uxiaxial optical properties that at large grain sizes, result in significant grain boundary scattering, and 2) a very low (~10-3%) RE equilibrium solubility that prohibits suitable PL. I present new materials engineering approaches operating far from thermodynamic equilibrium to produce a bulk Nd:Al2O3 medium with optical gain suitable for amplification/lasing. The key insight relies on tailoring the crystallite size to the other important length scales-wavelength of light and interatomic dopant distances and show that fine crystallite sizes result in sufficiently low optical losses and over-equilibrium levels of optically active RE-ions, the combination of which results in gain. The emission bandwidth is broad, ~13THz, a new record for Nd3+ transitions, enabling tuning from ~1050nm-1100nm and/or ultra-short pulses in a host with superior thermal-mechanical figure of merit. Laser grade Nd:Al2O3 opens a pathway for lasers with revolutionary performance.

Acoustic phonon spectrum engineering in bulk crystals via incorporation of dopant atoms

We report results of Brillouin—Mandelstam spectroscopy of transparent Al2O3 crystals with Nd dopants. The ionic radius and atomic mass of Nd atoms are distinctively different from those of the host Al atoms. Our results show that even a small concentration of Nd atoms incorporated into the Al2O3 samples produces a profound change in the acoustic phonon spectrum. The velocity of the transverse acoustic phonons decreases by ∼600 m/s at the Nd density of only ∼0.1%. Interestingly, the decrease in the phonon frequency and velocity with the doping concentration is non-monotonic. The obtained results, demonstrating that modification of the acoustic phonon spectrum can be achieved not only by traditional nanostructuring but also by low-concentration doping, have important implications for thermal management as well as thermoelectric and optoelectronic devices.

Laser-excited gold nanoparticles for treatment of cancer cells in vitro

Several in vitro and in vivo studies have been performed to investigate the potential of Photothermal Therapy (PTT) as a cancer treatment strategy. However, there are still open questions concerning the optimal parameters for generating cavitation bubbles and acoustic shockwaves for increasing the damage to malignant cells, and the primary mechanism for cell damage in PTT is still a matter of debate. This study investigates PTT based on shockwaves from cavitation induced far from the cells, due to laser absorption by gold nanorods (GNR) colloidal solutions in vitro. The effects of laser energy and distance from the cavitation on cell viability is investigated in PC3 prostate cancer cells, and Escherichia coli (E. coli) cells, respectively.