Valery Yermachenko

Specific features of the welding of metals by radiation of high-power fiber laser

The properties of the plasma that results from the laser welding of metals at various powers of the 10-kW ytterbium-doped fiber laser are experimentally studied. A projection system with an image intensifier based on a copper-vapor laser is employed for the direct observation of metal surface in the course of the laser welding in the presence of the high-intensity background illumination. A method for the shadow photographing is proposed for the analysis of the presence of metal vapor in plasma, since such vapor can lead to the reflection of the laser radiation in the course of welding.

Depolarizing Collisions in Nonlinear Electrodynamics

In this book, the authors derive the theory of elastic depolarizing collisions and describe their importance in some nonlinear electromagnetic phenomena in gaseous media. The formation of photon echo and a description of its various types in gaseous media are then presented. The authors show that the characteristics of the corresponding signals depend essentially on elastic depolarizing collisions. They also consider the advantages of a new kind of photon echo spectroscopy: polarization photon echo-spectroscopy. A high-level, specialized treatment, Depolarizing Collisions in Nonlinear Electrodynamics will appeal to researchers and advanced graduates in nonlinear optics and quantum electronics.

Technology of polishing of titanium surface using the fiber-laser radiation

The effect of the radiation of the pulsed fiber laser on the surfaces of cylindrical samples made of the VT16 titanium alloy is studied. It is demonstrated that the irradiation at appropriate parameters of the laser radiation in the inert-gas (argon) atmosphere leads to an increase in the microhardness of the surface layer and a decrease in the surface roughness of the irradiated samples by a factor of five in comparison with the roughness of the original samples.

Diffraction microgratings as a novel optical biosensing platform

Using a micro-hole grating in a supported silver film as a laser-fabricated novel optical platform for surface-enhanced IR absoprtion/reflection spectroscopy, characteristic absorption bands of Staphylococcus aureus, in particular, its buried carotenoid fragments, were detected in FT-IR spectra with 10-fold analytical enhancement, paving the way for the spectral express-identification of pathogenic microorganisms.

Microstructures as IR-sensors with Staphylococcus aureus bacteria

Using a micro-hole grating in a supported silver film as a laser-fabricated novel optical platform for surface-enhanced IR absoprtion/reflection spectroscopy, characteristic absorption bands of Staphylococcus aureus, especially – its buried carotenoid fragments – were detected in FT-IR spectra with 10-fold analytical enhancement, paving the way to spectral express-identification of the pathogenic microorganisms.

From the Editors and Publisher

Dear readers and authors, One year has passed since the first issue of our international journal Laser Physics Letters was published. Now you are looking at the online version of the first issue of the second volume, or perhaps you are already holding the print version in your hands. During this first year, the Editorial Board and the Publisher co-operated to create a highly interesting and informative journal for our authors and readers. We have published about 100 original articles written by scientists from 33 countries. Such a wide geographical distribution certainly proves that even in the first year of its existence the journal has gained a high status in the scientific community. The Brief Reviews section was introduced and has published three review articles so far, all written by top scientists. Any system must improve with time in order to stay stable and develop successfully. Thus, following the advice of the Publisher and starting in 2005, we will be introducing some improvements. The main innovation concerns the reduction of the time interval between the date of receipt of an article by the editorial office and the date of its online publication. Right now, as soon as your article is accepted for publication, it will be placed immediately on WileyInterscience (www.lphys.org) with the corresponding date of online publication and a Digital Object Identifier (DOI). From this moment on, the article is available online via Wileys Early View service and can be properly cited, thus giving authors a unique opportunity to publish electronic versions of their new articles within two weeks of acceptance. Articles published online form the regular issues of Laser Physics Letters, which will then appear as printed hardcopies. We would also like to bring to your attention that starting from 2005, the online version of Laser Physics Letters will be available to regular subscribers. Access to the first issue of each year, to the table of contents of published issues, and to the abstracts of published articles remains free of charge. In addition, it will be possible to access free-of-charge all titles and abstracts of papers that have been accepted for publication before they appear in printed issues. We wish our authors and readers great success in the coming year 2005. We would appreciate your comments and ideas directed to further improvement of our work. Sincerely Yours, Pavel P. Pashinin Valery M. Yermachenko Igor V. Yevseyev Alexander Grossmann