Narayanswamy Sivakumar

Phase-shifting interferometry immune to vibration

A modification of phase-shifting interferometry is proposed for microsurface profiling of flat surfaces under vibrating conditions. With this technique the required phase shift, achieved by quarter-wave plates and polarizers, is free of errors associated with motion. A nearly common optical-path configuration is achieved, and the effect of environment is reduced. The effect of environment on the optical system is also studied. Moreover, the measurement of phase is instantaneous, which increases the versatility of this technique to measure vibrating objects. Experiments were carried out on a smooth mirror surface excited with high-frequency vibrations, and the technique was found to be immune to vibrations of both high and low frequency.

The effect of polarization on ultrashort pulsed laser ablation of thin metal films

Ultrashort pulse lasers have proven to have superior advantages over conventional continuous wave and long pulse lasers for ablation of thin metal films. Though several investigations have been carried out to understand the phenomena of ultrashort pulse laser machining, the effect of the beam polarization on ablation of thin metal films has been seldom investigated. In this article, we report our recent observations on how the shape of the machined feature and also the damage threshold of the material varies according to the polarization of the ultrashort pulse laser beam. Based on this we have explained how the polarization of the beam controls the laser cutting rate, kerf width, edge quality, and ablation depth of the ablated feature.

Identification of deregulated genes by single wall carbon-nanotubes in human normal bronchial epithelial cells

To identify genes affected by single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) in human normal lung cells, we compared the gene expression profiles of untreated human normal bronchial epithelial (HNBE) cells to profiles of HNBE cells treated with SWCNTs. A complementary DNA microarray analysis consisting of 54,675 human genes revealed marked changes in the expression of 14,294 genes, with 7,029 genes being upregulated and 7,265 being downregulated. This comprehensive list of genes included those associated with cell cycle, apoptosis, cell survival, cell adhesion and motility, signal transduction, and transcription regulation. Additional analysis of 19 genes using reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction confirmed the microarray analysis. More specifically, our study demonstrates to our knowledge for the first time, evidence that 9 of the 19 genes (most of which encode cell apoptotic, signal transduction, and transcription regulator products) are upregulated in the SWCNTs-treated HNBE cells as compared with untreated cells, whereas the remaining 10 of the 19 (involved in cell adhesion and motility, cell proliferation, and cell survival) are downregulated in SWCNTs-treated HNBE cells in comparison with untreated controls. These findings provide a large body of information regarding gene expression profiles associated with SWCNTs exposure in human lung bronchial epithelial cells, and also represent a source to investigate the mechanism of the effect of SWCNTs in human normal lung cells. From the clinical editor: In this study, the gene expression profile of human normal bronchial epithelial cells was compared with single-wall carbon nanotubes-treated cells. A cDNA microarray analysis consisting of 54,675 human genes revealed significant changes in the expression of 14,294 genes, with 7,029 genes being up-regulated and 7,265 being down-regulated. This serves as a first step in clarification of mechanisms of action and to investigate toxicity in this model.

Sub-micron ablation of metallic thin film by femtosecond pulse laser

Abstract The ability to machine very small features in a material has a wide range of applications in industry. We ablated holes into thin film of 100 nm thickness made from various metals by femtosecond pulsed laser ablation. Using a Ti:Sapphire laser which supplies a laser pulse of 150 fs duration at central spectrum wavelength of 400 nm , we have produced a series sub-micron holes, whose diameters are less than 200 nm with a focused laser spot of 1.7 μm . We found that the material damage threshold has a great influence on the quality of the produced features. Experimental results shows that the heat-affected zone and the degree of being affected reduce with the increase of threshold value.

Direct grating writing using femtosecond laser interference fringes formed at the focal point

Af emtosecond pulse laser has been used for the machining of gratings primarily due to its ability of direct ablation and its capability to fabricate sub-wavelength structures. In this paper, we present a direct ablation technique for the fabrication of gratings by interfering femtosecond pulses in a specially designed optical configuration. This technique ensures that gratings are formed only at the focal point. The grating line-width can be varied with minor adjustment to the optical configuration. This configuration not only simplifies the optical set-up, but also immunizes the system to extraneous and inherent vibrations, thus enabling gratings of good edge acuity. With this technique, we have successfully fabricated planar gratings of different line-widths on a silicon substrate. Methods of adjusting the grating period are demonstrated. The effects of pulse number and the laser threshold on the grating quality have been qualitatively studied using SEM analysis. This method offers a new approach of the fabrication of a grating on a surface by direct ablation. Also, the feasibility of effectively writing internal gratings in transparent materials is discussed.

Large surface profile measurement with instantaneous phase-shifting interferometry

Surface profile measurement of smooth surfaces is a vital area in many of todays industries, especially in wafer fabrication. The increased need for high-speed, noncontact online measurement with high accuracy and repeatability is of great interest for practical purposes. In this work, a modification of Michelson interferometers in combination with instantaneous phase-shifting interferometry is proposed for high-speed large flat-surface profiling. Experiments are carried out on a patterned wafer surface. The results obtained using this system are compared with a commercial profiler system to demonstrate the validity of the principle.

Instantaneous phase shifting arrangement for microsurface profiling of flat surfaces

Phase shifting interferometry is a well-established technique for non-contact surface profile measurement. Though phase shifting technique has many advantages, it is marred by a few inaccuracies due to the vibration and mechanical movement of the phase shifter itself. Significant amount of work is reported to theoretically compensate these error sources. But for a few works, prominent achievements have not been reported in eliminating these error sources in phase shifting interferometry. In this paper, a novel optical layout, in combination with instantaneous phase shifting interferometry is described. Experiments were carried out with this setup on a super mirror with a λ/20 surface roughness, to demonstrate the validity of the principle.

Laser drilling of thick material using femtosecond pulse with a focus of dual-frequency beam

Abstract Laser drilling is one of the basic, most frequently performed, material removal processes. The drilling aspect ratio is theoretically limited by the size and the focal depth of the machining laser spot. The aspect ratio can be improved by using dual focus. In this paper we describe a focus of two different frequencies based on the longitudinal chromatic aberration arisen when polychromatic collimated light is incident on a positive lens element. In the experiments, a Ti:Sapphire laser of 800 nm wavelength and 150 fs pulse duration was used as a source. Two tightly focused laser spots few hundred micrometers apart from each other were formed by focusing a combined collimated laser beam which contains the fundamental optic frequency and the second harmonic optic frequency. The focus of dual-frequency beam was used to drill a 3 mm thick PMMA plate. The drilling aspect ratio of a dual-frequency beam was compared to that of a focus of single frequency beam. Experimental results reveal that dual-frequency beam increases the aspect ratio and improves the drilling quality in terms of profile of the produced features.

Optical modeling of a line-scan optical coherence tomography system for high-speed three-dimensional endoscopic imaging

The optical and analytical modeling of a line-scan optical coherence tomography (LS-OCT) system for high-speed three-dimensional (3D) endoscopic imaging is reported. To avoid complex lens system and image distortion error, an off-axis cylindrical mirror is used for focusing the line illumination on the sample surface and a micro mirror scanner is integrated with the proposed configuration for transverse scanning. The beams are swept on the cylindrical mirror by the micro mirror rotation and finally focused on the sample surface for transverse scanning. A 2mm by 3.2mm en-face scanning is configured with a 2mm focused line and ±3° scanning mirror rotation. The proposed configuration also has the capability of dynamic focusing by the movement of the cylindrical mirror without changing the transverse resolution. The cylindrical mirror enhances the image quality by reducing the aberration. The system is capable of real-time 3D imaging with 5μm and 10 μm axial and transverse resolutions, respectively.

Three Cavity Tunable MEMS Fabry Perot Interferometer

In this paper a four-mirror tunable micro electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) Fabry Perot Interferometer (FPI) concept is proposed with the mathematical model. The spectral range of the proposed FPI lies in the infrared spectrum ranging from 2400 to 4018 (nm). FPI can be finely tuned by deflecting the two middle mirrors (or by changing the three cavity lengths). Two different cases were separately considered for the tuning. In case one, tuning was achieved by deflecting mirror 2 only and in case two, both mirrors 2 and 3 were deflected for the tuning of the FPI.