Gustavo F. B. Almeida

Architecture of lead oxide microcrystals in glass: a laser and etching based method

Lead oxide is an important glass modifier not only for affecting the chemical and mechanical stabilities of glasses, but also for improving their thermal and optical properties. Since specific properties are associated with the presence of PbO, its crystallization is important to enhance the material performance. Although considerable advances have been achieved regarding the fabrication of glass-ceramic from lead-based glasses, the spatial confinement of the crystallization remains challenging. Direct laser writing (DLW) has been considered an essential technique to overcome this issue, since material properties can be changed in localized and pre-determined regions. Although DLW with femtosecond laser pulses has been widely used for glass processing, its usage for phase transformations and control of the architecture of crystals has not been much exploited. This paper reports the design and control of β-PbO and 3PbO·H2O crystalline phases in a lead borate glass using fs-DLW followed by chemical etching at room temperature. We demonstrated that the etching in aqueous KOH solution is responsible for the glass crystallization, whereas the grooves produced by fs-laser pulses enable the selective crystallization in a pre-determined 2D pattern. The method described herein is important as it can control phase transformation at the micrometer scale and also permits the growth of lead oxide and lead oxide hydrate phases, which are not achieved by heat treatment. The morphologies of these microcrystals correspond to the structure of the respective compounds, being an octahedral euhedral crystal for 3PbO·H2O and thin sheets for β-PbO crystalline phases.

Laser induced periodic surface structuring on Si by temporal shaped femtosecond pulses.

We investigated the effect of temporal shaped femtosecond pulses on silicon laser micromachining. By using sinusoidal spectral phases, pulse trains composed of sub-pulses with distinct temporal separations were generated and applied to the silicon surface to produce Laser Induced Periodic Surface Structures (LIPSS). The LIPSS obtained with different sub-pulse separation were analyzed by comparing the intensity of the two-dimensional fast Fourier Transform (2D-FFT) of the AFM images of the ripples (LIPSS). It was observed that LIPSS amplitude is more emphasized for the pulse train with sub-pulses separation of 128 fs, even when compared with the Fourier transform limited pulse. By estimating the carrier density achieved at the end of each pulse train, we have been able to interpret our results with the Sipe-Drude model, that predicts that LIPSS efficacy is higher for a specific induced carrier density. Hence, our results indicate that temporal shaping of the excitation pulse, performed by spectral phase modulation, can be explored in fs-laser microstructuring.

Nonlinear Optical Properties and Femtosecond Laser Micromachining of Special Glasses

Materials specially designed for photonics have been at the vanguard of chemistry, physics and materials science, driven by the development of new technologies. One particular class of materials investigated in this context are glasses, that in principle should exhibit high third order optical nonlinearities and fast response time, whose optical properties can be tailored by compositional changes, such as, for instance, the incorporation of metallic nanoparticles to explore plasmon resonances. Simultaneously to the development of novel materials, and motivated by the need of device miniaturization, direct laser writing by femtosecond pulses has been used to advanced processing of glasses. Such method allows fabricating high resolution three-dimensional optical devices, as well as to produce spatially localized metal nanoparticles. This review paper initially presents results on the nonlinear optical characterization of special glasses, in addition to progresses on the use of femtosecond laser micromachining for producing waveguides and spatially confined metal nanoparticles.

Solid-state random microlasers fabricated via femtosecond laser writing

Here we demonstrate resonant random lasing in Rhodamine B-doped polymeric microstructures fabricated by means of femtosecond laser writing via two-photon polymerization. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first demonstration of random lasing action in on-chip microdevices. Their feedback mechanism relies on diffuse reflections at the structure sidewall surfaces, which is known as spatially localized feedback since the scattering centers lie over the edges of the gain medium. By exciting the structures with a pulsed laser at 532 nm, a multimode emission with randomly distributed narrow peaks was observed, in accordance with the random nature of the feedback mechanism. Interestingly, their lasing threshold was found to be on the order of tens of nanojoules, which is comparable to what had been achieved for usual microcavities, thereby demonstrating the potentiality of these devices as solid-state lasers for integrated optics applications.

Nonlinear characterization of fs-laser written Gorilla Glass waveguides

In this work, we performed the nonlinear characterization of Gorilla Glass waveguides produced by fs-laser microfabrication with different writing parameters. Their nonlinear refractive index n2 was determined by the dispersive-scan technique. We found that the waveguides n2 values are lower than the one for the pristine material and they depend on the writing parameters. Raman spectroscopy measurements showed important structural modifications related to non-bridging oxygens (NBOs) on the fs-laser irradiated glass, which may lead to the reduction of the third-order polarizability.

Fabrication of waveguides in Gorilla Glass with fs-pulses and its nonlinear features (Conference Presentation)

Ultrafast waveguide fabrication has been an active research area since its demonstration, leading to numerous applications. Recently reported high quality waveguide in Gorilla Glass has promoted it as a good candidate for optical devices. In this study, 120-fs laser pulses centered at 520, 650 and 775 nm at a repetition rate of 1 kHz were applied to investigate the influence of the wavelength on micromachining. Grooves ablated onto Gorilla Glass surface with different pulse energies and scanning speeds presented similar features and threshold pulse energy, regardless the excitation wavelength. Fifteen millimeter long waveguides were produced 100 μm below sample surface with pulse energy varying from 250 nJ up to 5 μJ (scanning speed of 200 μm/s). Waveguides longitudinal and transversal profiles were analyzed via optical microscopy and its guiding properties characterized in an objective-lens based coupling system at 633 and 775 nm. Guide modes intensity distribution show that for waveguides fabricated with higher pulse energy light is guided further from the core, while for lower fabrication energy light is guided closer to the center in a more fundamental mode. Considering that light traveling through 15 mm of material in confined mode, we coupled 775 nm fs-pulses into fabricated waveguides. By monitoring the spectrum of the guided light as input pulse energy increased, spectral broadening assigned to self-phase modulation effects was observed followed by white-light generation starting at 450 nm. In conclusion, we found that micromachining on Gorilla Glass is wavelength independent and inscribed waveguides present desirable nonlinear features.

Femtosecond-laser direct writing for spatially localized synthesis of PPV

Poly(p-phenylenevinylene), or PPV, is a polymer of great technological relevance due to its electroluminescence properties, which have been exploited in organic light emitting diodes, flexible displays and other optoelectronic devices. Although PPV is a material of foremost importance for many applications, its synthesis on the nano/microscale cannot be achieved through the standard method that uses heating of a precursor polymer. This paper shows how direct laser writing with femtosecond pulses can be employed for the synthesis of PPV in pre-determined regions, allowing a novel approach towards the precise fabrication of complex polymeric microcircuits. The physical-chemical phenomena involved in the conversion of the precursor into PPV are shown to be related to a two-photon induced thermal process, which is confined to the focal volume, resulting in the controlled synthesis of PPV.

Femtosecond laser induced periodic surface structures on hydrogenated amorphous silicon thin films

We report a study of fs-laser micromachining on the structure and surface morphology of hydrogenated amorphous silicon thin films using Raman spectroscopy and scanning electron and atomic force microscopy.