U. Chakravarty

Pulsed laser deposition of metal films and nanoparticles in vacuum using subnanosecond laser pulses

A study of silver, chromium, stainless-steel, and indium thin films prepared by subnanosecond laser deposition in vacuum is reported. We compare the laser ablation in vacuum at the weak- and tight-focusing conditions of a Ti:sapphire laser beam and analyze the nanoparticles synthesized in the latter case using absorption spectroscopy, x-ray fluorescence, atomic force microscopy, and scanning electron microscopy. Our results show that the nanoparticle formation can be accomplished using long laser pulses under tight-focusing conditions.

Nano-ripple formation on different band-gap semiconductor surfaces using femtosecond pulses

Nano-ripple formation from ultrashort laser pulse irradiation of semiconductors of different band gaps has been studied using a Ti-sapphire laser with 8 mJ energy, 45 fs pulse duration and 800 nm wavelength (1.5eV) at a fluence in the range of ∼100 mJ/cm2 −1J/cm2. The effects of the number of laser shots, angle of incidence, laser polarization, fluence, incident laser wavelength, bandgap, and ambient medium on the ripple period, have been studied. Depending upon the experimental parameters nano-ripple sizes varied in the range of λ-λ/9. The studies clearly show that narrower nano-ripples are formed from wide bandgap semiconductors. In addition, the width of the nano-ripples decreases with the laser wavelength and fluence. The observed results are explained considering the transient metallic nature of the semiconductor surface on irradiation with intense femtosecond pulse which excites surface plasmon leading to the nano-ripple formation. The critical role of the surface plasma electron density in deciding ripple period is identified which helps in generation of narrow sub-wavelength nano-ripples.Nano-ripple formation from ultrashort laser pulse irradiation of semiconductors of different band gaps has been studied using a Ti-sapphire laser with 8 mJ energy, 45 fs pulse duration and 800 nm wavelength (1.5eV) at a fluence in the range of ∼100 mJ/cm2 −1J/cm2. The effects of the number of laser shots, angle of incidence, laser polarization, fluence, incident laser wavelength, bandgap, and ambient medium on the ripple period, have been studied. Depending upon the experimental parameters nano-ripple sizes varied in the range of λ-λ/9. The studies clearly show that narrower nano-ripples are formed from wide bandgap semiconductors. In addition, the width of the nano-ripples decreases with the laser wavelength and fluence. The observed results are explained considering the transient metallic nature of the semiconductor surface on irradiation with intense femtosecond pulse which excites surface plasmon leading to the nano-ripple formation. The critical role of the surface plasma electron density in deciding...

Formation of metal nanoparticles of various sizes in plasma plumes produced by Ti:sapphire laser pulses

In this paper, an experimental study on generation of nanoparticle various sizes using Ti:sapphire laser pulses, is reported. Nanoparticle formation in plasma plumes of metals like silver and copper, expanding in vacuum, has been studied using stretched pulses of 300 ps duration [subnanoseconds (sub-ns)] from a Ti:sapphire laser. It has been compared with the nanoparticle formation (of the same materials) when compressed pulses of 45 fs duration were used under similar focusing conditions. Nanoparticle formation is observed at intensities as high as 2×1016 W/cm2. The structural analysis of the nanoparticle deposition on a silicon substrate showed that, using 45 fs pulses, smaller nanoparticles of average size ∼20 nm were generated, whereas on using the sub-ns pulses, larger particles were produced. Also, the visible light transmission and reflection from the nanoparticle film of Ag on glass substrate showed surface plasmon resonance (SPR). The SPR curves of the films of nanoparticles deposited by femtosec...

Effect of laser linewidth and fiber length on self-pulsing dynamics and output stabilization of single-mode Yb-doped double-clad fiber laser

We report an experimental study of the effect of fiber length and laser linewidth on self-pulsing dynamics and output stabilization of a single-mode Yb-doped double-clad CW fiber laser. It is found that initiation of self-pulsing under low-level pumping conditions is due to relaxation oscillations and saturable absorption in the weakly pumped region of the doped fiber, irrespective of the fiber length and the laser linewidth. However, with an increase in pump power, depending on fiber length and laser linewidth, the pulses initiated due to relaxation oscillation get amplified, and result in short-duration giant pulses due to either stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS) or stimulated Raman scattering (SRS). In the case of fiber lasers that employ a broadband mirror and wherein the fiber length is sufficient to reach the SRS threshold, the giant self-pulses are generated by SRS, whereas in the case of fiber lasers using a fiber Bragg grating, characterized by narrowband reflection and with sufficient fiber length to reach the SBS threshold, the giant self-pulses are generated by SBS. Output stabilization and, hence, elimination of self-pulsations can be achieved either by suppressing the relaxation oscillations with the addition of an appropriate length of a passive fiber to sufficiently increase the cavity photon lifetime, or by increasing the pump power to achieve gain uniformity along the doped fiber such that relaxation oscillations and reabsorption effects are suppressed.

Dependence of high order harmonics intensity on laser focal spot position in preformed plasma plumes

The dependence of the high-order harmonic intensity on the laser focal spot position in laser produced plasma plumes is experimentally studied. High order harmonics up to the 59th order (λ∼13.5 nm) were generated by focusing 48 fs laser pulses from a Ti:sapphire laser system in silver plasma plume produced using 300 ps uncompressed laser radiation as the prepulse. The intensity of harmonics nearly vanished when the best focus was located in the plume center, whereas it peaked on either side with unequal intensity. The focal spot position corresponding to the peak harmonic intensity moved away from the plume center for higher order harmonics. The results are explained in terms of the variation of phase mismatch between the driving laser beam and harmonics radiation produced, relativistic drift of electrons, and defocusing effect due to radial ionization gradient in the plasma for different focal spot positions.

Mechanisms of generation of multi-peak and mode-locked resembling pulses in Q-switched Yb-doped fiber lasers.

The output pulse characteristics of Q-switched Yb-doped fiber lasers have been investigated experimentally. It has been observed that for any typical modulation frequency, the pump power and the modulator OFF-time govern the shape of the output Q-switched pulse. At a fixed modulation frequency, with a fine adjustment of acousto-optic modulation window ON-time, pump power and cavity mirror position, it was possible to obtain modulation free single-peak pulse, multi-peak pulse, mode-locked resembling pulse and multi-pulse structured pulse shapes in a Q-switched fiber laser output. These observations have been analyzed and explained. Our investigations show that multi-peak pulse output is due to onset of nonlinear phenomena like SBS and SRS. Similarly, we have found that the mode-locked resembling periodically modulated output pulse shape is due to mode beating between the zeroeth order and the first order diffracted beams of the intra-cavity acousto-optic Q-switch.

X-ray enhancement in a nanohole target irradiated by intense ultrashort laser pulses

In this paper, we present a comparative study of the laser energy absorption, soft x-ray emission (in the water window region: 2.3–4.4 nm) and hard x-ray emission (in the 2–20 keV range) from planar aluminum and nanohole alumina of 40 nm average diameter, when irradiated by Ti:sapphire laser pulses. The laser pulse duration was varied from 45 to 500 fs, and the focused intensity on the target ranged from ∼3 × 1016 W/cm2 to 3×1017 W/cm2. The x-ray yield enhancement from the nanoholes shows an increased coupling of the laser energy to the target. The effect of laser pulse duration on the x-ray emission was also studied, where a resonance like phenomenon was observed. The laser energy absorption measurements in the nanoholes showed a marginal enhancement in absorption as compared to planar Al. The integrated keV x-ray yield, from nanohole alumina and planar Al, at an intensity of 3 × 1017 W/cm2, was 25 and 3.5 μJ, respectively. The results can be explained by considering the hydrodynamic expansion of the las...

Enhancement of Kα emission through efficient hot electron generation in carbon nanotubes on intense laser pulse irradiation

Near complete absorption of the energy of intense ultra-short laser pulses (45 fs, intensity ∼1.6 × 1016 to 2.5 × 1017 W/cm2) is observed in carbon nanotubes deposited on a planar molybdenum substrate. The hollow structure of the nanotube plasma facilitates resonant electric field enhancement during its ionization phase. This resonantly enhanced localized field at a density much larger than the critical density nc leads to efficient hot electron generation, which results in enhanced Kα emission of Mo at 17.5 keV. It is observed that for nanotubes, depending on the degree of hollowness, there is an optimum laser intensity for maximum x-ray enhancement compared to a planar uncoated target.

Analysis of Output Pulse Characteristics in

Characteristics of the output pulses of a high-peak-power Q-switched Yb-doped fiber laser are presented. A Q-switched fiber laser with 1.3 kW peak power and with typical pulse duration of 240 ns at 20 kHz modulation frequency was realized, variations of pulse duration, average power, peak power, and pulse energy with variation in the modulation frequency were studied. The effect of the modulation duty cycle (DC) on the Q-switched pulse characteristics was analyzed both theoretically and experimentally. It is shown that, for a particular pump power and repetition rate, the DC of modulation needs to be optimized to achieve high-peak-power single-pulse output. If the DC of modulation is long, satellite pulses of low peak power are also observed along with the main peak, when the DC is made short enough, the satellite pulses disappear and single peak pulses appear in the output. Theoretical analysis and simulation to predict the pulse build-up time, output pulse shape, and effect of modulation window time on the output pulse characteristic were carried out. Simulation results show good agreement with experimental results. This paper reported here will be useful in the development of high-peak-power Q -switched fiber lasers.

Q

An experimental study of energy absorption and x-ray emission from ultrashort laser pulse irradiation of in-situ produced solid clusters has been performed. Silver clusters produced by a 30 mJ, 300 ps laser pulse were irradiated up to an intensity of