6 research outputs found
Tailoring surface topographies on solids with Mid-IR femtosecond laser pulses
Irradiation of solids with ultrashort pulses using laser sources in the
mid-infrared (mid-IR) spectral region is a yet predominantly unexplored field
that opens broad possibilities for efficient and precise surface texturing for
a wide range of applications. In the present work, we investigate both
experimentally and theoretically the impact of laser sources on the generation
of surface modification related effects and on the subsequent surface
patterning of metallic and semiconducting materials. Through a parametric study
we correlate the mid-IR pulsed laser parameters with the onset of material
damage and the formation of a variety of periodic surface structures at a laser
wavelength of {\lambda}L=3200 nm and a pulse duration of {\tau}p=45 fs. Results
for nickel and silicon indicate that the produced topographies comprise both
high and low spatial frequency induced periodic structures, similar to those
observed at lower wavelengths, while groove formation is absent. The
investigation of the damage thresholds suggests the incorporation of nonlinear
effects generated from three-photon-assisted excitation (for silicon) and the
consideration of the role of the non-thermal excited electron population (for
nickel) at very short pulse durations. The results demonstrate the potential of
surface structuring with mid-IR pulses, which can constitute a systematic novel
engineering approach with strong fields at long-wavelength spectral regions
that can be used for advanced industrial laser applications
Single-Shot Electron Imaging of Dopant-Induced Nanoplasmas
We present single-shot electron velocity-map images of nanoplasmas generated from doped helium nanodroplets and neon clusters by intense near-infrared and mid-infrared laser pulses. We report a large variety of signal types, most crucially depending on the cluster size. The common feature is a two-component distribution for each single-cluster event: a bright inner part with nearly circular shape corresponding to electron energies up to a few eV, surrounded by an extended background of more energetic electrons. The total counts and energy of the electrons in the inner part are strongly correlated and follow a simple power-law dependence. Deviations from the circular shape of the inner electrons observed for neon clusters and large helium nanodroplets indicate non-spherical shapes of the neutral clusters. The dependence of the measured electron energies on the extraction voltage of the spectrometer indicates that the evolution of the nanoplasma is significantly affected by the presence of an external electric field. This conjecture is confirmed by molecular dynamics simulations, which reproduce the salient features of the experimental electron spectra.The authors are grateful for financial support from the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) within the
project MU 2347/12-1 and STI 125/22-2 in the frame of the Priority Programme 1840 ‘Quantum Dynamics
in Tailored Intense Fields’, from the Carlsberg Foundation and the SPARC Programme, MHRD, India. The
ELI-ALPS Project (GINOP-2.3.6-15-2015-00001) is supported by the European Union and co-financed by
the European Regional Development Fund. AH is grateful for financial support from the Basque
Government (Project Reference No. IT1254-19) and from the Spanish Ministerio de Economia y
Competividad (Reference No. CTQ2015-67660-P). Computational and manpower support provided by
IZO-SGI SG Iker of UPV/EHU and European funding (EDRF and ESF) is gratefully acknowledged
High-Order Phase-Dependent Asymmetry in the Above-Threshold Ionization Plateau
Above-threshold ionization spectra from cesium are measured as a function of
the carrier-envelope phase (CEP) using laser pulses centered at 3.1 m
wavelength. The directional asymmetry in the energy spectra of backscattered
electrons oscillates three times, rather than once, as the CEP is changed from
to . Using the improved strong-field approximation, we show that the
unusual behavior arises from the interference of few quantum orbits. We discuss
the conditions for observing the high-order CEP dependence, and draw an analogy
with time-domain holography with electron wave packets