Low-order harmonic generation in a ZnS laser ablation plasma

Low-order (3rd to 9th) harmonic generation of a near-infrared driving laser (1064 nm) is reported in a laser ablation plasma of ZnS. Temporal analysis shows two distinct components with respect to the ablation event. The late temporal component exhibits high conversion efficiency for the highest harmonic orders observed. This is attributed to a dramatic modification of the plasma medium with the driving laser.Peer Reviewe

Disparate dispersal limitation in Geomalacus slugs unveiled by the shape and slope of the genetic–spatial distance relationship

Long‐term dispersal ability is a key species’ trait constraining species ranges and thus large‐scale biodiversity patterns. Here we infer the long‐term dispersal abilities of three Geomalacus (Gastropoda, Pulmonata) species from their range‐wide genetic–spatial distance relationships. This approach follows recent advances in statistical modelling of the analogous pattern at the community level: the distance decay in assemblage similarity. While linear relationships are expected for species with high long‐term dispersal abilities, asymptotic relationships are expected for those with more restricted mobility. We evaluated three functional forms (linear, negative exponential and power‐law) for the relationship between genetic distance (computed from mitochondrial cox1 sequences, n = 701) and spatial distance. Range fragmentation at present time and at the Last Glacial Maximum was also estimated based on the projection of climatic niches. The power‐law function best fit the relationship between genetic and spatial distances, suggesting strong dispersal limitation and long‐term population isolation in all three species. However, the differences in slope and explained variance pointed to disparities in dispersal ability among these weak dispersers. Phylogeographic patterns of Geomalacus species are thus largely driven by the same major process (i.e. dispersal limitation), operating at different strengths. This strong dispersal limitation results in geographic clustering of genetic diversity that makes these species highly vulnerable to genetic erosion due to climate changThe authors were supported by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) through grant CGL2016‐76637‐P and fellowship IJCI‐2014‐20881 to CG‐RS

Femtosecond laser deposition of TiO2 by laser induced forward transfer

Femtosecond lasers have been used for laser induced forward transfer (LIFT) of TiO2, a wide-band semiconductor with many industrial and research applications. TiO2 polycrystalline thin films on quartz (obtained by pulsed laser deposition) were used as donors and both quartz and fluorine-doped tin dioxide coated glass substrates as acceptors. LIFT was performed at the laser wavelengths of 248 and 800 nm with pulses of 450 and 300 fs respectively. The transferred material was characterized by energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction and micro-Raman spectroscopy to determine the composition and crystalline quality, and by scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy to assess the surface morphology. The relation between these properties and the laser transfer conditions, including wavelength, pulse energy and acceptor substrate, are presented. © 2010 Elsevier B.V.Peer Reviewe

Harmonic generation by atomic and nanoparticle precursors in a ZnS laser ablation plasma

Harmonic generation of a driving laser propagating across a laser ablation plasma serves for the diagnosis of multicomponent plumes. Here we study the contribution of atomic and nanoparticle precursors to the generation of coherent ultraviolet and vacuum ultraviolet light as low-order harmonics of the fundamental emission (1064 nm) of a Q-switched Nd:YAG laser in a nanosecond infrared ZnS laser ablation plasma. Odd harmonics from the 3rd up to the 9th order (118.2 nm) have been observed with distinct temporal and spatial characteristics which were determined by varying the delay between the ablation and driving nanosecond pulses and by spatially scanning the plasma with the focused driving beam propagating parallel to the target. At short distances from the target surface (≤1 mm), the harmonic intensity displays two temporal components peaked at around 250 ns and 10 μs. While the early component dies off quickly with increasing harmonic order and vanishes for the 9th order, the late component is notably intense for the 7th harmonic and is still clearly visible for the 9th. Spectral analysis of spontaneous plume emissions help to assign the origin of the two components. While the early plasma component is mainly constituted by neutral Zn atoms, the late component is mostly due to nanoparticles, which upon interaction with the driving laser are subject to breakup and ionization. With the aid of calculations of the phase matching integrals within the perturbative model of optical harmonic generation, these results illustrate how atom and nanoparticle populations, with differing temporal and spatial distributions within the ablation plasma, contribute to the nonlinear medium.Funding has been provided by Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (MINECO) of Spain under Project CTQ2013-43086-P. I.L-Q., A.B-C. and M.O. thank respectively MINECO, for a FPI fellowship (BES-2011-044738), CSIC, for a JAE-TEC 2010 contract and CSIC for a contract. Fruitful discussions with Dr. Mikel Sanz and Prof. A. Gonzalez-Arroyo are acknowledged.Peer reviewe

Laser nanostructuring of polymers: Ripples and applications

Polymer nanostructures and nanopatterns are being profusely used for developing next-generation organic devices with analytical and biological functions and photonic applications. Laser based strategies constitute an advantageous approach for the assembly and control of this type of soft matter nanostructures as they afford the sought versatility and reliability. Recent and on-going research on laser nanostructuring of thin films of synthetic polymers and natural biopolymers will be exemplified by studies on the generation of laser induced periodic surface structures (LIPSS) and their use for surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) based sensors. © 2012 American Institute of PhysicsFunded by MICINN, Spain, Projects CTQ2010-15680 and MAT2009-07789. MICINN, Spain, Juan de la Cierva contract and an FPI fellowshipPeer Reviewe

UV, visible and IR laser interaction with gelatine

4p, 2fig.. -- EIGHTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON LASER ABLATION (COLA'05) 11–16 September, 2005, Banff, CanadaIn this work we investigate the effects on gelatine films of nanosecond pulsed laser irradiation at different laser wavelengths from the UV to the IR at 248, 266, 355, 532 and 1064 nm. We compared gelatines differing in gel strength values (Bloom 75 and 225) and in crosslinking degree. Formation of bubbles at the wavelengths in the UV (248 and 266 nm), melting and resolidification at 355 nm, and formation of craters by ablation in the VIS and IR (532 and 1064 nm) are the observed morphological changes. On the other hand, changes of the fluorescence behaviour of the films upon UV irradiation reveal chemical modifications of photolabile chromophores. © 2007 IOP Publishing Ltd.Work funded by Project MCYT BQU2003-08531-C02-01. MO and ER thank CSIC I3P program; CA acknowledges CSIC-UCM-FE-FOTOFILM fellowship. We thank D.Varga (ICTP) for ESEM picture

Valence Quark Distribution in A=3 Nuclei

We calculate the quark distribution function for 3He/3H in a relativistic quark model of nuclear structure which adequately reproduces the nucleon approximation, nuclear binding energies, and nuclear sizes for small nuclei. The results show a clear distortion from the quark distribution function for individual nucleons (EMC effect) arising dominantly from a combination of recoil and quark tunneling effects. Antisymmetrization (Pauli) effects are found to be small due to limited spatial overlaps. We compare our predictions with a published parameterization of the nuclear valence quark distributions and find significant agreement.Comment: 18pp., revtex4, 4 fig

Deformed Skyrme Crystals

The Skyrme crystal, a solution of the Skyrme model, is the lowest energy-per-charge configuration of skyrmions seen so far. Our numerical investigations show that, as the period in various space directions is changed, one obtains various other configurations, such as a double square wall, and parallel vortex-like solutions. We also show that there is a sudden "phase transition" between a Skyrme crystal and the charge 4 skyrmion with cubic symmetry as the period is gradually increased in all three space directions.Comment: 13 pages, 6 figures. To be published in JHE