Quantum well saturable absorber mirror with electrical control of modulation depth

Liu X, Rafailov EU, Livshits D, Turchinovich D. Quantum well saturable absorber mirror with electrical control of modulation depth. Applied Physics Letters. 2010;97(5).We demonstrate a quantum well (QW) semiconductor saturable absorber mirror (SESAM) comprising low-temperature grown InGaAs/GaAs QWs incorporated into a p-i-n structure. By applying the reverse bias voltage in the range 0–2 V to the p-i-n structure, we were able to change the SESAM modulation depth in the range 2.5–0.5%, as measured by nonlinear reflectivity of 450 fs long laser pulses with 1065 nm central wavelength, in the pump fluence range 1.6–26.7 μJ/cm2. This electrical control of the modulation depth is achieved by controlling the small-signal loss of the SESAM via quantum-confined Stark effect in the QWs

Surface plasmon resonance assisted rapid laser joining of glass

Rapid and strong joining of clear glass to glass containing randomly distributed embedded spherical silver nanoparticles upon nanosecond pulsed laser irradiation (∼40 ns and repetition rate of 100 kHz) at 532 nm is demonstrated. The embedded silver nanoparticles were ∼30–40 nm in diameter, contained in a thin surface layer of ∼10 μm. A joint strength of 12.5 MPa was achieved for a laser fluence of only ∼0.13 J/cm2 and scanning speed of 10 mm/s. The bonding mechanism is discussed in terms of absorption of the laser energy by nanoparticles and the transfer of the accumulated localised heat to the surrounding glass leading to the local melting and formation of a strong bond. The presented technique is scalable and overcomes a number of serious challenges for a widespread adoption of laser-assisted rapid joining of glass substrates, enabling applications in the manufacture of microelectronic devices, sensors, micro-fluidic, and medical devices

Infrared laser pulse triggers increased singlet oxygen production in tumour cells

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is a technique developed to treat the ever-increasing global incidence of cancer. This technique utilises singlet oxygen (1O2) generation via a laser excited photosensitiser (PS) to kill cancer cells. However, prolonged sensitivity to intensive light (6–8 weeks for lung cancer), relatively low tissue penetration by activating light (630 nm up to 4 mm), and the cost of PS administration can limit progressive PDT applications. The development of quantum-dot laser diodes emitting in the highest absorption region (1268 nm) of triplet oxygen (3O2) presents the possibility of inducing apoptosis in tumour cells through direct 3O2 → 1O2 transition. Here we demonstrate that a single laser pulse triggers dose-dependent 1O2 generation in both normal keratinocytes and tumour cells and show that tumour cells yield the highest 1O2 far beyond the initial laser pulse exposure. Our modelling and experimental results support the development of direct infrared (IR) laser-induced tumour treatment as a promising approach in tumour PDT

High-performance thermal emitters based on laser engineered metal surfaces

Effective thermal management is of paramount importance for all high-temperature systems operating under vacuum. Cooling of such systems relies mainly on radiative heat transfer requiring high spectral emissivity of surfaces, which is strongly affected by the surface condition. Pulsed laser structuring of stainless steel in air resulted in the spectral hemispherical emissivity values exceeding 0.95 in the 2.5–15 µm spectral region. The effects of surface oxidation and topography on spectral emissivity as well as high temperature stability of the surface structures were examined. High performance stability of the laser textured surfaces was confirmed after thermal aging studies at 320°C for 96 hour