We present transmission and loss measurements of 3D printed alumina and reflectance measurement of a sample with 3D printed sub-wavelength structures anti-reflection coatings (SWS-ARC). For a band between 160 and 700 GHz we find an index of refraction n = 3.11 ± 0.01 and loss tan δ = 0.002 ± 0.003. Transmission measurements between 160 and 250 GHz of a sample with SWS-ARC 3D printed on one side give a reduction of reflectance from a maximum of 64% to a maximum of 31% over the band, closely matching predictions. These first measurements of the index and loss over this frequency band suggest that the material could be useful for astrophysical applications.
We present designs and fabrications of sub-wavelength anti-reflection structures on alumina for infrared filters at three observational frequency bands near 30, 125, and 250 GHz, which are widely used for instruments measuring cosmic microwave background (CMB) radiation from the ground. The three observational windows contain the two observational bands in each receiver, and the corresponding fractional bandwidth is about 60%. We used laser ablation to directly machine on alumina substrate. This technology is robust against the use of an optical element at the cryogenic temperature with which all the CMB telescope receivers have to comply. Based on the fabricated 9 (3 × 3) pyramidal structures, we computed the expected averaged transmittance of above 0.97 for each of the three filter designs including anticipated absorptive loss, the loss tangent of 4 × 10−4, and the incident angle up to 20 degrees. The band averaged instrumental polarization, the fractional difference between the p and s-state incident polarization states, is computed and they are less than ±4 × 10−3 for the bands and incident angles.
We used laser ablation to fabricate sub-wavelength structure anti-reflection coating (SWS-ARC) on a 5 cm diameter alumina lens. With an aspect ratio of 2.5, the SWS-ARC are designed to give a broad-band low reflectance response between 110 and 290 GHz. SWS shape measurements give 303 μm pitch and total height between 750 and 790 μm height, matching or exceeding the aspect ratio design values. Millimeter-wave transmittance measurements in a band between 140 and 260 GHz show the increase in transmittance expected with the ARC when compared to finite element analysis electromagnetic simulations. To our knowledge, this is the first demonstration of SWS-ARC on an alumina lens, opening the path for implementing the technique for larger diameter lenses.
We propose a novel all-optical focused ultrasound detector for intravascular optoacoustic imaging and demonstrate its imaging capabilities experimentally; the detector has a bandwidth of more than 75MHz and a spatial resolution of at least 50μm.
In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) technologies pave the way for a sustainable colony on the Moon. Above all, the construction of structures using only the available resources is an important factor in reducing costs and logistical effort. The MOONRISE project aims to melt lunar regolith using lasers on mobile platforms for the Additive Manufacturing of structures. This process is called Mobile Selective Laser Melting (M-SLM) and has the advantage that only electrical energy and a moving system are required. In order to validate the laser melting of lunar regolith simulants on ground, a vacuum chamber was designed to host powder material at pressures of around 10-2 mbar. Laser exposure and high speed monitoring were performed through a window. Prior to finalizing the payload design, the type of laser source, appropriate spot size, power, and duration of exposure were determined by means of experimentation. For reasons of cost-efficiency, the payload development approach is to profit as much as possible from components commercial off-the-shelf (COTS), i.e. commercially available components, which have no formal space qualification. These components, e.g. built for automotive application, often withstand harsh environments or even have space heritage without the costly and long-lasting process of formal space qualification. For MOONRISE, COTS parts – partly based on space heritage - have been screened in environmental tests and selected for the payload. A detailed preliminary design review of the MOONRISE payload was conducted in 2019. The payload mainly consists of a printed circuit board (PCB) for system communication, a fiber coupled diode laser, an electrical diode driver, a beam focusing optics, and an LED illumination. For baseline operation, a laser power of typically 70W will be applied for 6s to the lunar surface at a distance of about 25cm. The LED illumination is supporting visualization of the molten regolith by external cameras. The MOONRISE payload can be accommodated to a rover or a robotic arm to ensure mobility for the melting experiments. Following that, an Engineering Model (EM) has been assembled and tested for functionality. The dimension of the payload is 1.5U CubeSat and it has a mass of about 2.5kg with further reduction potential towards flight model (FM) development. In the following steps, environmental tests, such as vibration and thermal-vacuum cycling, will be carried out with the EM. As laser melting of regolith under vacuum conditions produced dense material, tests were continued under low gravity conditions in the large-scale research device Einstein-Elevator at the Hannover Institute of Technology (HITec) of the Leibniz University Hannover (Germany), which is a further development of a classical drop tower with which experiments are carried out under conditions of microgravity [3]. It allows experiments under zero gravity conditions for about four seconds. The flight can be repeated up to 300 times per day. The Einstein-Elevator also enables adjustment of the gravity level from 0 to 5g, a feature that was used to carry out melting experiments with the EM under lunar gravitation conditions.
One of the main challenges in intravascular photoacoustic (IVPA) imaging is the limited sensitivity and bandwidth of miniaturized piezoelectric probes. Optical detectors of ultrasound can drastically improve both these features, but often lack acoustic focusing. In this work, we developed a focused ultrasound detector by integrating a miniaturized acoustic lens, made out of glass, with a silicon-photonics-based detector. A detection bandwidth of up to 80 MHz and lateral resolution beyond 50 µm was demonstrated with a lens diameter of 0.8 mm. Our device is transparent in the near-infrared window, simplifying its integration in a miniaturized IVPA probe.
With the development of touch panel display the need to process thinner glass using Ultra-Short Pulse (USP) laser has increased. Beam shaping improves the process yield and quality but requires specific precautions when applied to USP laser due to high peak power and dispersion.
Bessel beams improve the quality of glass drilling and cutting due to the extended depth of field. We present Bessel beam generation using a reflective off-axis axicon giving a more stable beam compatible with scanning system and with a profile closer to theory. The characteristics of the beam and of the processed glass are described.
Transferring a defined amount of material can have many advantages. In this work, laser-generated microstructures are inserted in plain flexographic printing form material using a femtosecond laser to control the wetting behavior. The results are transferred to a printing form, which is functionalized by inserting these microstructures in the material transferring areas. In this paper, different structures and their effect on the printing results are investigated. Through functionalization of the printing form, not only can the transferred amount of material be adjusted, but also the cross section shape of the printing result. Further, after laser processing and printing, the printing form shows no relevant wear or chemical instabilities.
In micro-material processing with ultrashort laser pulses (USP), the surface quality during drilling and thin film ablation varies with the scanning speed and the pulse repetition rate. However, while high pulse repetition rates tend to be desirable, local heat accumulation caused by increasing pulse overlap is counterproductive. Thus, the scanning speed must be scaled with the pulse repetition rate, preferably by supplementing the already existing setup.
In this work, we present a dynamic extension through the combination of an acousto-optical deflector (AOD) with a galvanometer scanner. This combines the best of two worlds: the dynamic beam deflection of the AOD and the large scanning field of the galvanometer scanner. The integrated AOD is able to deflect the laser beam pulse by pulse within its scanning field and to modulate the beam intensity simultaneously. The mechanical limitations and problems of the galvanometer scanner, such as vibrations and overshoots due to fast mirror rotations, can be specifically compensated by the high precision of the AOD. As a result, in addition to process time reduction, the surface and image quality improves significantly. In any case, the laser source needs synchronization with the AOD because the propagation of sound waves within the AOD crystal is slower than the laser pulse propagation through the medium. In the first step, a comparatively slow AOD based on tellurium dioxide with a transversal crystal alignment is used. The process time of a thin film ablation with 4 μJ at 1 MHz was reduced considerably by applying a USP laser system (Coherent Monaco).
Ultrashort pulsed lasers are increasingly used in micromachining applications. Their short pulse lengths lead to well
defined thresholds for the onset of material ablation and to the formation of only very small heat affected zones, which
can be practically neglected in the majority of cases. Structure sizes down to the sub-micron range are possible in almost
all materials - including heat sensitive materials. Ultrashort pulse laser ablation - even though called "cold ablation" - in
fact is a heat driven process. Ablation takes place after a strong and fast temperature increase carrying away most of the
heat with the ablated particles. This type of heat convection is not possible when reducing the laser fluence slightly
below the ablation threshold. In this case temperature decreases slower giving rise to heat-induced material deformations
and melt dynamics. After cooling down protruding structures can remain - ablation-free laser surface structuring is
possible. Structure formation is boosted on thin metal films and offers best reproducibility and broadest processing
windows for metals with high ductility and weak electron phonon coupling strength. All approaches to understand the
process formation are currently based only on images of the final structures. The pump-probe imaging investigations
presented here lead to a better process understanding.
A parallel processing of two-photon polymerization structuring is demonstrated with spatial light modulator. Spatial light
modulator generates multi-focus spots on the sample surface via phase modulation technique controlled by computer
generated hologram pattern. Each focus spot can be individually controlled in position and laser intensity with computer
generated hologram pattern displayed on spatial light modulator. The multi-focus spots two-photon polymerization
achieves the fabrication of asymmetric structure. Moreover, smooth sine curved polymerized line with amplitude of 5
μm and a period of 200 μm was obtained by fast switching of CGH pattern.
In this contribution, we demonstrate multi-photon femtosecond laser lithography for the fabrication and rapid prototyping of plasmonic components. Using this technology different dielectric and metallic SPP-structures can be fabricated in a low-cost and time-efficient way. Resolution limits of this technology will be discussed. Investigations of the optical properties of the fabricated SPP-structures by far-field leakage radiation microscopy will be reported.
Conventional lithography is a leading high-throughput patterning method for mass production. But the dramatically increasing cost of lithographic equipment and mask sets, which is a consequence of pushing optical lithography to its limits, makes alternative, maskless lithographic techniques attractive. Femtosecond lasers have been found suitable for processing of a wide range of materials with sub-micrometer resolution. The limit of achievable structure sizes is predicted to be below 100 nm. Therefore, it is attractive to use this technique for maskless lithography. In this paper, first results on super-resolution femtosecond laser lithography showing great potential for future applications are presented.
Rapid progress in ultrafast laser systems opened many exciting possibilities for high-resolution material processing. These laser systems allow to control and deliver optical energy and laser pulses in time and space with unprecedented precision. It is not surprising that these high-quality optical pulses have revolutionized microfabrication technologies. Femtosecond lasers enabled processing of a wide range of materials (including heat sensitive and thermo reactive) with a sub-micrometer resolution. At present, nearly arbitrary shaped 2D and 3D structures can be produced by direct write photofabrication techniques using femtosecond laser pulses. In this paper we present a brief review of our recent progress in femtosecond (maskless, direct-write, nonlinear) laser lithography and 3D photofabrication technique.
Direct-write micro- and nanostructuring laser technologies are very important for the fabrication of new materials and multifunctional devices. Using tightly focused femtosecond laser pulses one can produce submicrometer holes and periodic structures in metals, semiconductors, and dielectrics on arbitrarily shaped surfaces. The achievable structure size is not restricted by the diffraction limit. It is determined by material properties and the laser pulse stability. We report investigations of possibilities to use femtosecond laser pulses for nanostructuring of different materials.
Micro- and nanostructuring are very important for the fabrication of new materials and multifunctional devices. Existing photo-lithographic technologies can only be applied to a limited number of materials and used on plane surfaces. Whereas, microstructuring with femtosecond laser pulses has established itself as an excellent and universal tool for micro-processing, it is still unclear what are the limits of this technology. It is of great interest to use this technique also for nanostructuring. With tightly focused femtosecond laser pulses one can produce sub-micrometer holes and structures whose quality depends on the material. We present new results on nanostructuring of different materials with femtosecond laser pulses in an attempt to make this an universal technology, and discuss its reproducibility, and further prospects for quality control.
Investigations of possibilities for nanostructuring with femtosecond laser pulses of different materials are reported. The aim is to develop a simple laser-based technology for the fabrication of two- and three-dimensional nanostructures with structure sizes on the order of several hundred nanometers. This is required for many applications in photonics, for the fabrication of photonic crystals and microoptical devices, for data storage, displays, etc. Sub-wavelength structuring of metals by direct femtosecond laser ablation is performed. The band gap dependence of the minimum structure size for transparent materials is identified.
The development of a simple laser-based technology for the fabrication of two-dimensional nanostructures with a structure size down to one hundred nanometers is reported. The ability to micro- and nano-structure is very important for the fabrication of new materials and multifunctional microdevices. Photolithographic technologies can be applied only for plane surfaces. Using femtosecond laser pulses one can fabricate 100 nm structures on arbitrary 3D-surfaces of metals and dielectrics. In principle, the minimum achievable structure size is determined by the diffraction limit of the optical system and is of the order of the radiation wavelength. However, this is different for material processing with ultrashort laser pulses. Due to a well-defined threshold character of material processing with femtosecond lasers one can beat the diffraction limit by using tightly focused femtosecond laser pulses and by adjusting laser parameters slightly above the processing threshold. In this case only the central part of the beam can modify the material and it becomes possible to produce sub-wavelength structures. In this presentation, sub-wavelength microstructuring of metals and fabrication of periodic nanostructures in transparent materials are demonstrated as promising femtosecond laser-based nanofabrication technologies.
The applications of conventional infrared lasers running cw or quasi-sw for drilling, cutting and shaping are limited in the precision achievable due to the long interaction time which leads to heat affected zones. The necessity to use a gas jet to blow the molten material out of the cut kerf will damage fragile workpieces like thin foils. Short laser pulses of sufficient intensity remove the material directly by evaporation and minimize the amount of heat transferred into the solid. Classical infrared laser sources generate a shielding air plasma within some ns at power densities above some 107W/cm2. The optical breakdown threshold value in air can be shifted to higher intensities by using visible light as well as reducing the focal diameter. An alternative way is to shorten the pulse duration to less than 10 ps that a plasma is generated only after the pulse. Thus, the material removal process begins after the deposition of the pulse energy into the material. But such short pulses will generate a pressure wave due to the sudden thermal expansion and can damage or destroy microscopic components. For industrial production the productivity is a further aspect. Hence, a certain mean power is required in order to obtain the desired production rate. Considering the above aspects, copper vapor lasers (CVLs) with ns pulse duration are well suited for precision machining of metals and ceramics. Processing with CVLs is an advantage in that its wavelength is highly absorbed by metallic targets and the probability for the optical breakdown in air is low. CVLs in an oscillator-amplifier-setup incorporate diffraction limited beam quality and high average power. The present paper outlines the potential of the CVL for the industrial use regarding high processing speed and precision. Under these aspects the limiting mechanisms on the material removal process and the necessary processing strategies for scaling up the productivity are shown. The relevant laser parameters for increasing the working speed and the relationship to the achievable precision are given. The design aspects of a copper vapor laser system with high mean output power and repetition rate are outlined. To conclude, several typical machining tasks, e.g. cutting of green foils, drilling of scimmer holes for thermal analysis are presented.
Copper vapor lasers in a MOPA-chain (MOPA, master-oscillator- power-amplifier) configuration with low divergence can be used for the high precision machining of metals and ceramics. The fundamental interaction phenomena, ablation process and possible industrial applications are presented. The following paper relates the results and experiences in the operation of a copper vapor laser MOPA chain, consisting of an oscillator and up to three amplifiers, with the triggering points for these lasers exactly variable through a master-timing-system. In principle, a low-divergent laser beam is generated (511 and 578 nm wavelengths) via an off-axis unstable resonator scheme, with precise synchronization of the amplifiers producing average powers of over 140 W. Due to the excellent beam focusability, peak power densities of some 1010W/cm2 are achievable in a 50 ns pulse duration, which provides almost material-independent precision machining at high velocities. Beginning from the principles of beam-target reciprocation, the removing and cutting of metallic as well as non-metallic materials with copper vapor lasers is described. Additionally, the potential of copper vapor lasers for industrial applications is illustrated through precision machining examples.
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