We present our initial experimental results from the LIBS studies of pyrazole, 1-nitropyrazole, 3-nitropyrazole, 3,4- dinitropyrazole and 1-methyl- 3,4,5 trinitro pyrazole recorded with femtosecond pulses and performed in argon atmosphere. CN molecular bands in three different spectral regions of 357 nm-360 nm, 384 nm-389 nm and 414 nm -423 nm, C2 swan bands near 460 nm-475 nm, 510 nm– 520 nm and 550 nm-565 nm were observed. The C peak at 247.82 nm, H peak at 656.2 nm have also been observed along with several peaks of O and N. CN/C2, CN/C, C2/C and C2/N ratios were measured from the average of 25 spectra obtained in argon. The effect of number of nitro groups on the atomic and molecular emission has been evaluated. A gate delay of 100 ns and a gate width of 800 ns were used for collecting the spectra.
Laser induced breakdown spectroscopy is an attractive and versatile spectroscopic technique employed successfully for the detection of hazardous substances. The specific advantages of using femtosecond (fs) pulses with LIBS technique include lower ablation threshold, reduced background Continuum emission. In addition to atomic peaks in plasma the molecular peaks (CN and C2) also play a significant role in classification of these samples. In the present work fs LIBS spectra were recorded from five different samples (RDX, HMX, NTO, ANTA, and DADNE) made in the form of pure pellets. Correlation statistics were used to discriminate the samples based on molecular, atomic ratios. This paper discusses, in detail, a simple correlation technique applied for the fs LIBS data for achieving classification.
We present our initial experimental results from the LIBS studies of pyrazole, 1-nitropyrazole, 3-nitropyrazole, 3,4- dinitropyrazole and 1-methyl- 3,4,5 trinitro pyrazole recorded with femtosecond pulses and performed in argon atmosphere. CN molecular bands in three different spectral regions of 357 nm-360 nm, 384 nm-389 nm and 414 nm -423 nm, C2 swan bands near 460 nm-475 nm, 510 nm– 520 nm and 550 nm-565 nm were observed. The C peak at 247.82 nm, H peak at 656.2 nm have also been observed along with several peaks of O and N. CN/C2, CN/C, C2/C and C2/N ratios were measured from the average of 25 spectra obtained in argon. The effect of number of nitro groups on the atomic and molecular emission has been evaluated. A gate delay of 100 ns and a gate width of 800 ns were used for collecting the spectra.
We present the experimental investigations on the filament characteristics of sharply focused fs pulses (800 nm, 45 fs, 1
kHz) in air. Pulses with input powers in 3-12.2 PCr range were focused using three different focusing geometries f/#10,
f/#15 and f/#20 corresponding to numerical apertures (NA) of 0.05, 0.033 and 0.025, respectively. The dynamics of
filaments were observed via direct imaging of the entire reaction zone. The length of the filament has decreased with
increasing NA from 0.025 to 0.05, while, the filament width has increased. For a given focusing geometry, the filament
length and width increased with increasing power. However with higher NA, the length and width were observed to
saturate at higher input powers. With the highest NA of 0.05 and higher input powers used in the current study, the
presence of coherently interacting multiple filaments either resulting in a fusion or exchange of power.
We present the results on the electromagnetic (em) radiation emitted in the 70 MHz - 1 GHz frequency range from the
laser induced breakdown of atmospheric air. Laser pulses (7 ns) from second harmonic of an Nd:YAG laser (532 nm)
were used to breakdown atmospheric air to form plasma. During the plasma evolution and expansion, dipole moment is
induced in the homonuclear molecules of nitrogen and oxygen (the main components of atmospheric air), which
naturally have no permanent electron dipole moments. The RF spectra originating from the longitudinal oscillation of
these induced dipoles was detected using the RH-799 broadband Diamond antenna. A spectrum analyzer (Agilent PSA
E444A, 3 Hz to 50 GHz) was used to monitor and record the RF spectrum from plasma. By tuning the length of the
antenna, lines corresponding to the different resonant frequency were observed at different laser energies. The total
emitted RF energy was found to be increasing with the input laser energy up to certain input laser energy, beyond which
emission properties were modified drastically. This was observed due to the presence of multiple breakdown sources due
to the self-focusing of the ns laser pulses, modifying the collisions between the plasma electrons and eventually
modifying the induced dipole moment in the detection range. The emitted radiation showed a specific polarization
property associated with the input em radiation.
We present the measurements on the propagation characteristics of the laser generated acoustics shock waves and the
vibrations inside material targets from laser-metal interaction in real time. Laser pulses (7 ns) from second harmonic of a
Nd: YAG laser (532 nm) were used to launch compression waves inside the solid samples. The acoustic measurements
were carried out using a calibrated microphone, while the vibrations induced within the material before getting converted
into ASW in the atmosphere were measured using vibration transducers (piezoelectric accelerometer). The arrival time
of the vibration transducer was used to measure the particle velocity within the material that increased with increasing
laser energy. The measurement of the arrival time of the ASW as a function of the microphone distance from the source
of explosion was carried out. The shock velocity with respect to distance from the source of explosion followed an
exponential decay. The arrival time of the ASWs was found to be increasing with the distance. The shock arrival time
with respect to incident laser energy showed an exponential decay where as the shock velocity was found to be linearly
increasing with the incident laser energy. Overall, acoustic energy has increased with increasing density of the material.
We present our results on the expansion dynamics of laser induced plasma created shock wave from stainless steel alloy
propagating into ambient air that are characterized by time resolved shadowgraphic imaging. A machinist's scale with
periodic surface structures of 30 μm depth and 240 ± 20 μm width having 25 and 64 lpi (lines per inch) is used as a
target surface. Laser pulses from frequency doubled Nd:YAG (7ns, 532 nm) with 45 mJ energy per pulse focused to a
beam diameter of ~ 1 mm on the target surface are used to generate laser induced shock waves. A fast ICCD camera
(DH-734U, ANDOR) with 1.5 ns gating resolution is used to capture the time evolution of SWs into air. The properties
of shock waves from structured surfaces are compared to that from a flat surface to understand the contribution of
structured surface to shock wave dynamics. The SWs from a flat surface are observed to follow Sedov-Taylor solution
during time delay of 0.2 to 20 μs. Contact front discontinuity dynamics were studied at different time scales for flat and
structured surfaces The maximum velocity of the SWs has increased from 2.75 to 4 km/s with increasing number of
surface structures from 25 to 64 lpi. From the measured radius of curvature of SW's (RSW), the velocity, pressure and
temperature associated with the micro explosion of metal surface is estimated using Counter Pressure Corrected Point
Strong Explosion Theory.
We present the evolution of SCE associated with filaments due to the tilt of focusing lens under tight focusing
geometries. Transform limited femtosecond (fs) pulses (800 nm, 45 fs, 1 kHz repetition rate) were focused in ambient air
using three different focusing geometries f/#6, f/#7.5, and f/#12 corresponding to numerical apertures (NA) of 0.08, 0.06,
and 0.04, respectively. The focusing lens was tilted from zero up to 20 degrees. The filaments decayed into two shorter
parts through tilting of the lens and the separation between shorter filaments increased with increasing lens tilt, in tune
with earlier reports [Kamali et al., Opt. Commun. 282, 950-954 (2009)]. The separation between the filaments matched
well with the predicted distances due to astigmatism induced in loose focusing geometries. However the deviation
increased as we moved to the tighter focusing geometries. The SCE spectrum demonstrated an anomalous behaviour.
The SCE spectrum was suppressed at larger tilt angles of 12 - 20°. However at lower tilt angles, up to 8°, the SCE was
observed to be same to that measured without any tilt of the focusing lens. This behaviour is predominant with tighter
focusing geometries of f/#6 and f/#7.5, wherein the SCE was observed to be higher at 4° and 8° in comparison with that
observed at an angle of 0°. Systematic study of the focusing lens tilt on anomalous SCE spectra and filament
characteristics in the tight focusing geometry are presented.
KEYWORDS: Absorption, Picosecond phenomena, Nonlinear optics, Femtosecond phenomena, Molecules, Saturable absorption, Transmittance, Optical limiting, System on a chip, Thin films
We present our results of nonlinear optical properties of Tritolyl Corrole (TTC) and Triphenyl Corrole (TPC) studied in
the form of solution using Z-scan technique with 660 nm, ~2 picosecond (ps) pulses and 800 nm, ~40 femtosecond (fs)
pulses excitation. Picosecond open-aperture Z-scan data revealed these molecules exhibited strong saturable absorption.
These molecules possessed negative nonlinear refractive index (n2). The estimated value of n2 was 6×10-15 cm2/W and
8×10-15 cm2/W for TPC and TTC, respectively. We have recently reported NLO properties of Corroles with 800 nm
excitation where they exhibited strong two-photon absorption (2PA) at higher intensities and effective two-photon
absorption at lower intensities in the ps regime. Femtosecond open aperture Z-scan studies indicated the presence of
strong saturable absorption with effective nonlinear absorption coefficients (β) of ~0.8×10-13 cm/W and ~2.7×10-13
cm/W for TPC and TTC, respectively. We have also estimated the sign and magnitude of real part of third order
nonlinearity through the closed aperture scans. We discuss the nonlinear optical performance of these organic molecules.
In this paper we report the fabrication of nanoparticles and nanostructures through the interaction of ultrashort (~40
fs) and short (~2 ps) laser pulses with bulk Aluminum immersed in various liquid media of different polarity
[chloroform which is polar, carbon tetrachloride which is non-polar, water which is polar, dichloromethane (DCM)
which is polar, and Cyclohexane which is non-polar] using the laser ablation technique. Except water and
Cyclohexane, other media showed yellow coloration after ablation took place indicating formation of nanoparticles
in the solution in both fs and ps domains. The coloration of the laser exposed portion in the Al substrate was golden
yellow and its closer view depicted micro-grating (~1-2 μm) and nano-ripple (period 330 nm) formation depending
on the focal conditions. The investigation of polarization dependence on the ablation was performed for water
media. Depending on the ablation threshold, we observed micron sized structures and nano-ripples on the surface.
As the rate of ablation depends on the position of the focus on the Al substrate and beam waist parameters, we have
studied the liquid level dependence of ablation with different water levels on the Al substrate and we compared
these patterns obtained below, near, and above the ablation thresholds of the sample. Field Emission-Scanning
Electron Microscope (FE-SEM), UV-Vis absorption spectra, Electron Diffraction Pattern and Transmission Electron
Microscope (TEM) were used for the characterization and comparison of products in both domains.
The Gouy phase is an important phase, however rather poorly understood. It has been shown recently that
it can be used to control the frequency of a ring laser and can help in achieving a control over mode-locking
problem of ring laser gyro. It is demonstrated now that with the help of the Gouy phase one discovers further
characterization of a laser involving cascaded optics in terms of what may be called longitudinal Gouy phase
branches. On such a Gouy phase branch one can tune the laser in a manner described elsewhere. It is noted that
the longitudinal Gouy-phase-branches play significant role in cascaded optical systems as well as have potential
characterization feature in several ring configurations that get naturally selected in a random lasing medium.
The concept is further clarified with Collins chart diagrams of several cascaded optics lasers.
From the initial observation of self-channeling of high-peak power femtosecond (fs) laser pulses in air, propagation of
intense ultrashort laser pulses in different media has become one of the most investigated research areas. The
supercontinuum emission (SCE), a spectral manifestation of the spatio-temporal modifications experienced by a
propagating ultrashort laser pulse in a nonlinear medium, has many practical applications. However, the extent of blue
shift of SCE is reported to be constant due to the phenomenon of "intensity clamping". To further explore the recently
observed regime of filamentation without intensity clamping, we measured the evolution of spectral blue shift of SCE
resulting from the propagation of fs pulses (800 nm, 40 fs, 1 kHz) in distilled water under different focusing geometries.
The efficiency of SCE from tight focusing (f/6) geometry was always higher than the loose focusing (f/12) geometry for
both linear and circular polarized pulses. The blue edge of the SCE spectrum (λmin) was found to be blue shifted for f/6
focusing conditions compared to f/12 focusing geometry. The lower bound of the intensity deposited in the medium
measured from the self-emission from the filament demonstrated the existence of intensities ~ 6x1013 Wcm-2, far beyond
the clamping intensities achieved erstwhile.
We present some of our initial experimental results from laser induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) studies of few
high energy materials such as a simple match stick (MS) and BKNO3 (BPN), and ammonium perchlorate (AP) using
nanosecond (ns), picosecond (ps), and femtosecond (fs) pulses. The characteristic peaks of each sample in different time
domains are analyzed. The merits and de-merits of ultrashort pulses in LIBS experiments for discrimination of high
energy materials are highlighted.
We have fabricated straight line structures and Y-couplers in X-cut lithium niobate crystals using femtosecond laser
pulses. A systematic characterization study was performed initially to determine the effects of pulse energy on feature
size. The optimal parameters were determined from experiments and simulations obtained using a two dimensional split
step beam propagation method. Later the waveguides and couplers were fabricated using these optimized parameters.
We present our results on the physical and optical characterization of these structures.
We have investigated the nonlinear optical properties, optical limiting thresholds, and figures of merits for five
different phthalocyanine thin films, achieved through doping in PMMA, using the Z-scan technique at 800 nm with 2 ps
laser pulses. From the open-aperture Z-scan data we established that these molecules exhibit strong two photon
absorption (2PA) with the nonlinear coefficients in the range of 15-200 cm/GW. We have also estimated the sign and
magnitude of real part of third order nonlinearity through the closed aperture scans. Preliminary femtosecond pump-probe
data suggests that the lifetimes of excited states are in the sub-100 ps regime for all the molecules in film form.
Our studies provide tangible evidence that these phthalocyanines are potential candidates for multi-photon imaging and
optical limiting applications.
Laser induced breakdown of air is used to create a SW by focusing a 7 ns, 532 nm, 10 Hz Nd:YAG laser. Plasma created
at the breakdown launches a compression wave into the nearest ambient air molecular layers that propagate at supersonic
velocities. The propagation characteristics of SWs are studied double probe-beam deflectometry method, by two noninteracting
probe beams that are parallel to each other and perpendicular to the propagation direction of the SW creating
laser beam. The evolution of the laser induced SWs in air created at the focus along the direction of propagation (forward
probe, FP) and in the direction opposite to the laser propagation (backward probe, BP) of the breakdown creating laser
beam, are studied. The nature of the SW is estimated from the arrival time (τ) measured at different distances (Z) from
the focal volume. At an input laser energy of 45 mJ, the arrival time information in the backward probe showed τ ∞ Z2.5 behavior indicating spherical SWs and in the forward direction followed τ ∞ Z1.6 showing planar expansion of the SWs revealing direction dependent asymmetric expansion of SWs across the focal plane. The pressure of the SWs estimated using counter pressure corrected point strong explosion theory along with the experimentally measured shock velocities
are used to generate the P - U Hugoniot of shock compressed air.
Herein we present some of our initial experimental results obtained from the laser induced breakdown
spectroscopic (LIBS) measurements of RDX and HMX using nanosecond (ns), picosecond (ps), and femtosecond (fs)
laser pulses acquired without gating and delay. RDX and HMX were mixed with KBr and pellets were prepared for the
spectroscopic studies. Nanosecond pulses at 532 nm, ps/fs pulses at 800 nm were used for the experiments. The spectra
were collected using Ocean Optics 4000/Maya spectrometer using a UV transmitting, 400 μm core diameter fiber in one
case and a combination of lenses to collect the light from plasma in the second case. Several features were observed in
the spectra exclusive for each pulse domain. The differences/similarities in the spectra collected using different pulses
are presented.
We present our results on the stoichiometric analysis of ammonium nitrate (AN) and ammonium Perchlorate
(AP) studied using laser induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) with nanosecond pulses. The LIBS spectra collected
for AP and AN, without any gating and using a high resolution spectrometer, exhibited characteristic lines corresponding
to O, N, H, C, and K. The Oxygen line at 777.38 nm and three Nitrogen lines (N1, N2, N3) at 742.54 nm, 744.64 nm,
747.12 nm were used for evaluating the Oxygen/Nitrogen ratios. The intensities were calculated using area under the
peaks and normalized to their respective transition probabilities and statistical weights. The O/N1 ratios estimated from
the LIBS spectra were ~4.94 and ~5.11 for AP and O/N3 ratios were ~1.64 and ~1.47 for AN obtained from two
independent measurements. The intensity ratios show good agreement with the actual stoichiometric ratios - four for AP
and one for AN.
We present our results on the characterization of ultrafast excited state dynamics of two phthalocyanines in thin film
form studied using femtosecond pump-probe technique. One was a symmetric Zinc phthalocyanine (SPc) while the
other was an unsymmetrical Zinc phthalocyanine (USPc). The femtosecond (fs) pulses at 800 nm were characterized
using a single shot autocorrelator. The pump probe measurements were carried out with 590/610 nm pulses emanating
from an optical parametric amplifier. SPc demonstrated an excited lifetime of ~30 ps while the ASPc exhibited ~60 ps
lifetime. The potential applications of these molecules are discussed briefly.
Herein we present our results from the picosecond and nanosecond nonlinear optical studies of two novel
phthalocyanines {[(SO3Na)4CuPc] and [(SO3Na)4NiPc]} using the Z-scan technique. Open aperture Z-scan data
revealed that the picosecond nonlinear absorption was dominated by three-photon absorption while in the nanosecond
domain reverse saturable absorption prevailed. Closed aperture data with nanosecond pulses indicated strong thermal,
negative nonlinearity while picosecond excitation demonstrated positive nonlinearity. The nonlinearity in CuPc was
higher than in NiPc in both the time domains. The nonlinear coefficients extracted from the fits to experimental data
were large compared to some of the recently reported works on similar molecules.
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