Data collected in real S-on-1 LIDT experiments performed with a nanosecond, 1064 nm automated station are used to calculate the damage probability with the ISO-recommended (conventional) method and the recently-suggested cumulative method. The damage probability points versus fluence for each type of calculation are fitted using both, linear and nonlinear curves. The resultant four data sets corresponding to each real experiment are used to compare important parameters as: statistical uncertainty of damage probability points, fitting errors, damage threshold fluences for actual number of pulses, and the extrapolated threshold fluences for very large number of pulses. We suggest and analyze also a limit case of the cumulative method, when the damage probability points are calculated for each interrogated site. Both, the recently-suggested cumulative method, and our limit case, look very promising.
The effective area of a laser spot is an important quantity used to characterize the laser-induced damage threshold of optical materials according to ISO 21254-1:2011 standard. A method for measuring the effective area/diameter of spots from pulsed laser beams using charge-coupled device camera-based beam profilers is presented. Factors affecting the measurement’s accuracy, as the background noise and the size of the summation area, were evaluated using MATLAB®. To minimize the noise contribution, we use an iterative method similar to the one used to measure the second-moment-based spot sizes. We find that the two analyzed components of the background noise, its zero-mean noise and its offset, have an opposite effect on the measurements of the effective area/diameter as compared with the second-moment-based measurements. We prove that there is an upper limit of the relative error of such iterative measurements of effective area, the iteration limit parameter, and that it is a measurable quantity. We measure the effective area/diameter of laser spots with different sizes from a Nd:YAG laser at 1064 nm, 6 ns pulse duration, 10 Hz repetition frequency, and estimate the standard uncertainty of the measurements. Further, we generalize the effective area/diameter concept to include elongated (elliptical/rectangular) spots.
We report on our approach to measure the quantity named effective pulse duration as defined in the ISO 21254-1:2011 standard, which deals with laser-induced damage (LID) threshold measurements. The approach is applied to measure pulses from two laser sources: an injection-seeded electro-optically Q-switched Nd:YAG nanosecond system with 10-Hz pulse repetition frequency, and a fully integrated Ti:sapphire laser with 150–400 fs and 2-kHz pulse repetition frequency. For comparison, the full-width-half-maximum (FWHM) of the same pulses is also measured. The analysis and description of the measurement process, the experimental results, and the corresponding uncertainties are presented. A smaller combined uncertainty is obtained for the effective pulse duration than for the FWHM-defined pulse duration for each time scale involved in experiments. This suggests that the effective pulse duration is the appropriate parameter to characterize the pulse duration in LID experiments.
An automated test station to measure the laser-induced damage threshold (LIDT) according to ISO 21254-1,2,3,4:2011
standards is presented. The laser is a single longitudinal mode, 500 mJ, 6 ns, Q-switched, 10 Hz, linearly polarized, 1064
nm laser, with 2-nd and 3-rd harmonic capabilities. The machine is able to operate the S-on-1 test (S = 500), or the Type
2 endurance (durability) test. The main blocks of the station are described, emphasizing some original solutions.
Preliminary results of LIDT measurements using the S-on-1 test on several coatings and on uncoated fused silica
substrates with various degrees of roughness are also presented.
A compact near-diffraction-limited picosecond microchip oscillator-amplifier system was developed. When pumped by 0.9-W average power pulsed radiation, the microchip generated 9-μJ energy pulses of 400-ps duration at 1-kHz rate, in a nearly TEM00 transversal mode (beam quality factor, M2 < 1.1). The microchip output was amplified up to 12-mJ pulse-energy at 1-10 Hz repetition rate in a two-pass flash-pumped Nd:YAG amplifier. We used the 1064-nm output beam for nonlinear conversion to 532-nm second harmonic (SH) and
266-nm fourth harmonic (FH). The pulse-energy of SH and FH output was 6-mJ and 1.6-mJ, respectively, which corresponds to 50 % and 13 % conversion efficiency.
A compact single-frequency nanosecond green laser oscillator-amplifier system was developed. The single longitudinal
mode oscillator consists in a cavity-coupled acousto-optically Q-switched Nd:YAG microlaser emitting pulses of 50 μJ
energy, 10 nanosecond duration at 1064 nm wavelength. The oscillator pulses were amplified at 1-10 Hz repetition rate
in a two-pass Nd:YAG amplifier up to 28 mJ energy. Infrared amplified radiation was frequency doubled (532 nm) in a
KTP crystal with as much as 50% conversion efficiency. The pulsed green laser, with more than 1.5 m coherence length,
was used as light source for the holography unit in the sensor of a multi-task device for nondestructive diagnosis in art
conservation procedures.
An old type HOLOBEAM type Nd:YAG laser system was upgraded to reach technical requirements for diamond and
diamond like materials drilling. A particular alignment protocol was tested to assure the best quality of the hole
geometry. Various processing procedures were tested and important differences in bore quality are noticed for different
materials and laser operating regimes. Dedicated user friendly software was made to drive the laser beam and holder
actuators, for different hole drilling geometries.
KEYWORDS: Laser therapeutics, Laser systems engineering, Semiconductor lasers, Laser safety, Camera shutters, Diodes, LED displays, Continuous wave operation, Laser development, Control systems
A blue laser system for eye diseases (age related macular degeneration, sub-retinal neo-vascularisation in myopia and
presumed ocular histoplasmosis syndrome - POHS) photo-dynamic therapy, based on riboflavin as photosensitive
substance, has been developed. A CW diode laser at 445 nm wavelength was coupled through an opto-mechanical
system to the viewing path of a bio-microscope. The laser beam power in the irradiated area is adjustable between 1 mW
and 40 mW, in a spot of 3-5 mm diameter. The irradiation time can be programmed in the range of 1-19 minutes.
Currently, the laser system is under clinic tests.
We describe a field non-destructive Digital Speckle Pattern Interferometry diagnosis method to be applied in art
conservation works, using as the light source a home-made single-frequency pulsed micro-laser oscillator-amplifier
system. The green nanosecond laser-pulses are directed towards an interferometer set-up, where a beam splitter cube
divides the incoming beam to define the object, respectively the reference beams. The object beam illuminates the
artwork target and a CCD camera records the scattered light. The reference beam is directly coupled into the camera
head. The operation of the integrated system is governed by dedicated software, able to acquire and process the speckle
pattern images as to detect and locate the defects on the investigated artwork. The method was successfully applied inlab
and in-situ conditions. The results are illustrated for a variety of investigated artworks.
Fundamental 1064 nm wavelength radiation of a diode pumped passively Q-switched Nd:YAG microchip laser was frequency doubled by periodically poled (PP) and conventional type II KTP crystals. Second harmonic (SH) conversion efficiency of 60% and 47% has been achieved with PPKTP and KTP crystals, respectively. SH pulse energy of as much as 6 μJ, at 900 Hz repetition rate, has been obtained for 10 μJ pulse energy of the input 1064 nm radiation focused with a waist radius of 25 μm inside the 8 mm long PPKTP crystal. We estimated an effective nonlinear coefficient of 6.9 pm/V and a thermal acceptance FHWM bandwidth of 5.78°C for the PPKTP sample.
A flash-lamp pumped Nd:YAG laser with confocal unstable resonator and super-Gaussian output mirror, multi-pulse passively Q- switched employing Cr4+:YAG and LiF:F2 crystals with small-signal absorption in the 22-82% range, has been developed. At 49 J energy and 1 Hz repetition rate of the pump pulses, using a passive shutter with 37% initial transmission, a train of 12-13 pulses, separated by more than 8 microseconds, with average 52 mJ single pulse energy and 20 ns pulse-width, were measured. Under these conditions, the laser intensity at the optical fiber input face is under the fiber damage level, but output power density is high enough to reach the ablation threshold of various pollution layers deposited on the material surface.
The research is carried on as a project in the frame of the PHARE-TTQM program, a cooperation of INFLPR Bucharest, PRO OPTICA SA Bucharest and FORTH-IESL Heraklion-Greece. A new laser ablation technique, based on the enhanced free running (EFR) mode of operation of a Nd:YAG laser, is presented. In the EFR degree(s) mode it is possible to achieve a regular temporal structure of the laser spiking combined with the control of both amplitude and separation of the individual spikes. The stable fluence and power density of the spikes will increase the precision of the EFR laser ablation in comparison with the short free running technique. The short duration of the EFR spikes, combined with their large time separation, reduces the level of the thermal damage of the substrate. A surface processing laser device operating in EFR mode is under development with PHARE financial support in the Laser Department of INFLPR. Preliminary study of ablation of stone samples from Stavropoleos Monastery, Bucharest, using FORTH-IESL laser facilities, is presented.
The beam quality of solid-state lasers with high average power can be greatly improved using phase conjugators based on stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS). The common phase conjugators used until now are liquid or gas cells.Using SBS in glass fibers as phase conjugators the field of applications can be expended. The long interaction length and small cross-sections of the fibers result in an appreciable reduction of SBS threshold and avoid optical breakdown which could happen in liquids and gases at high input energies. Other advantages of glass fiber phase conjugators are harmlessness and easy handling. We have experimentally investigate a phase conjugator base don SBS obtained in an undoped quartz fiber with core diameter of 200 micrometers . The SBS threshold reflectivity and phase conjugation capability were measured with 18 ns pulses at 1.06 micrometers wavelength with different input energies.
During the pulsed high power laser target interaction a local heating or material ablation takes place in function of incident laser energy. In both cases a stress wave is induced in the material volume with characteristics determined by the phenomena taking place in the interaction region. Analyses of the detected acoustic wave first peak amplitude and especially of the region of the transversal wave appearance results in a method of interaction regime characterization, ablation threshold determination and multipulse processes in-situ monitoring.
We report a YBa2Cu3O7 PLD method designed to reduce the oxygen deficiency in the as deposited YBCO superconducting thin films.OPtical dissociation of O2 buffer gas in front of the plume using a second IR laser pulse simultaneously with the UV laser beam producing the ablation plasma is proposed as a method for oxidation enhancement and oxygen enrichment in the deposited film. Oxides enhancement measurements were performed by optical spectroscopy on YO, BaO and CuO lines at large distances from the target surface. Temporal evolution of ionic, neutral and oxide lines was analyzed in 400-620 nm region, in correlation with plasma expansion in the ambient gas.
We describe a pulsed doubly resonant LiB3O5 (LBO) optical parametric oscillator (OPO) pumped with a frequency doubled Q- switched Nd:YAG laser amplifier. The threshold power density near degeneracy was found to be 29 MW/cm2. The OPO was continuously tuned from 970 nm to 1175 nm by rotation of the LBO crystal. The linewidth of the signal radiation at 998 nm, and idler radiation at 1136 nm wavelength, were found to be 10 nm, and 13 nm respectively. The OPO output pulse energy of signal and idler near degeneracy was 1.51 mJ for 18 mJ pump energy.
NiO is a metal-deficient p-type semiconductor with surface defects which are correlated with the non-stoichiometry. The dissociative H2 adsorption on the NiO surface takes place on oxygen-excess sites (over equilibrium). The H2 TPD spectra vary significantly with calcination temperature (stoichiometry) and chemical treatment UV laser radiation enhances H2 adsorption on the defective surfaces (non-stoichiometric) as compared with the stoichiometric ones, even chemically treated. The fourth harmonic of a Q-switched Nd:YAG laser is used for the NiO samples irradiation. The wavelength of the UV laser radiation is 266 nm, under the band-gap of the semiconductor.
A Q-switched Nd:YAG laser beam and its second and fourth harmonics were focused onto the polished surface of dentine samples in order to compare the ablative effect for the three wavelengths. A photoacoustic technique is applied for the ablation threshold determination. The Scanning Electron Microscope images of the produced craters are investigated and the volume of ablated material is determined. The necessary optical constants for the ablation calculation are experimentally determined.
We have developed a laser-diode pump system for continuous-wave end-pumping of Nd:YAG lasers. The pump system includes a pair of 1 W diode-arrays mounted in coaxial enclosures, a driver unit and the pump optics. The array wavelength was temperature tuned to achieve the maximum absorption of the pump radiation in the Nd:YAG crystal. The characteristics of the pump system are presented and the pump-beam profile is investigated.
UV laser induced ablation of YBCO superconducting targets was studied in the initial and late evolution stages in order to control and optimize the thin film deposition process. The optimum irradiation energy was estimated using an acoustic method allowing ablation threshold and congruent ablation threshold estimation. The ablation threshold dependence on incident laser spot area and target density was studied also and recommends that the proper fluence has to be considered as a function of specific irradiation conditions. Plasma expansion analyses was performed in order to estimate the parameters that control the composition and energy of the ablated particles. Temporal and spatial resolved spectra were recorded and evidenced a high density of ionized species in the initial expansion stages, atomic emission being significant at late stages or in colder regions of the plume, where the oxide emission becomes also notable. Also a supplementary IR laser radiation focused in front of the plume for IR oxygen dissociation evidenced the oxidation enhancement at the interaction of the dissociation front with the plume species.
We describe a source of visible (532 nm) radiation for pumping picosecond optical parametric oscillators. Picosecond pulses generated by a passively Q-switched Nd:YAG oscillator are amplified in two amplifier stages and frequency doubled in a KDP crystal cut for type I or type II phase-matching. Trains of pulses of 7 - 11 mJ over-all energy are generated, single pulse energy is 450 - 600 (mu) J and pulsewidth about 40 ps.
CO2 reduction to CH4, by H2, can be achieved at room temperature over a NiO catalyst under laser irradiation. The H2 adsorption states on NiO surface, pre-irradiated and non-irradiated, were put in evidence by Temperature Programmed Desorption. A 248 nm KrF* excimer laser radiation was used to stimulate the filling of the room temperature H2 adsorption state, considered as the first step of the CO2 methanation mechanism.
Dynamic stable resonators (DSRs) with Nd:YAG lasers which operate up to 1 KW average pump-power are discussed. Some DSR parameters and an ordering criterion are defined. The theory of DSRs has been extended to the Q-switched mode of operation. Two types of resonators able to operate in Q-switched mode are proposed. An experimental verification of the theoretical calculation was made.
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