.Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy(LIBS)is a useful tool for determination of elements in solids,liquids,and gases.For nanosecond LIBS(ns-LIBS),the plasma shielding effect limits its reproducibility,repeatability,a....Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy(LIBS)is a useful tool for determination of elements in solids,liquids,and gases.For nanosecond LIBS(ns-LIBS),the plasma shielding effect limits its reproducibility,repeatability,and signal-to-noise ratios.Although femtosecond laser filament induced breakdown spectroscopy(FIBS)has no plasma shielding effects,the power density clamping inside the filaments limits the measurement sensitivity.We propose and demonstrate plasma-grating-induced breakdown spectroscopy(GIBS).The technique relies on a plasma excitation source-a plasma grating generated by the interference of two noncollinear femtosecond filaments.We demonstrate that GIBS can overcome the limitations of standard techniques such as ns-LIBS and FIBS.Signal intensity enhancement with GIBS is observed to be greater than 3 times that of FIBS.The matrix effect is also significantly reduced with GIBS,by virtue of the high power and electron density of the plasma grating,demonstrating great potential for analyzing samples with complex matrix.展开更多
Extending the length of femtosecond laser filamentation has always been desired for practical applications. Here,we demonstrate that significant extending of a single filament in BK7 glass can be achieved by construct...Extending the length of femtosecond laser filamentation has always been desired for practical applications. Here,we demonstrate that significant extending of a single filament in BK7 glass can be achieved by constructing phasenested beams. The filamentation and the following energy replenishment are assembled in a single phase-nested beam. The central part of the phase-nested beam is an apertured Gaussian beam, which is focused into one focal spot to produce a short filament. In contrast, the rest of the annular part converges gradually towards the central axis to continuously replenish the energy for supporting the regeneration of filaments. The common-path generating system ensures the stability of generated filaments and easily optimizes the beam parameters to obtain the longest high-quality filament due to its flexibility. In addition, we discuss the significance of continuous replenishment for extending filaments and the potential for generating more extended filaments based on this method.展开更多
Our experiments show that external focusing and initial laser energy strongly influences filament generated by the femtosecond Ti–sapphire laser in air. The experimental measurements show the filament length can be e...Our experiments show that external focusing and initial laser energy strongly influences filament generated by the femtosecond Ti–sapphire laser in air. The experimental measurements show the filament length can be extended both by increasing the laser energy and focal length of focusing lens. On the other hand, the plasma fluorescence emission can be enhanced by increasing the laser energy with fixed focal length or decreasing the focal length. In addition, the collapse distance measured experimentally are larger than the calculated ones owing to the group-velocity-dispersion effect. In addition, we find that the line widths of the spectral lines from N2 is independent of filament positions, laser energies and external focusing.展开更多
An original idea is reviewed. When a molecule is pumped into a super-excited state, one of its decay channels is neutral dissociation. One or more of the neutral fragments will fluoresce. Hence, if a lower state of su...An original idea is reviewed. When a molecule is pumped into a super-excited state, one of its decay channels is neutral dissociation. One or more of the neutral fragments will fluoresce. Hence, if a lower state of such fluorescing fragments was populated through other channels but with a lower probability, population inversion of the fluorescing fragments would be naturally realized. This idea seems to be validated, so far, by comparing published work on three hydrocarbon molecules, CH4, C2H2, C2H4, and water vapor, H2 O. After super-excitation in a femtosecond laser filament in air mixed with these molecules, the fluorescence from the CH or OH fragments exhibits population inversion, i.e., amplified spontaneous emission was observed in the backscattering direction of the filament.展开更多
A comparative investigation of the resistance and ability to trigger high voltage（HV） discharge for a single filament（SF） and multiple filaments（MFs） has been carried out.The experimental results show that the t...A comparative investigation of the resistance and ability to trigger high voltage（HV） discharge for a single filament（SF） and multiple filaments（MFs） has been carried out.The experimental results show that the trend of the breakdown threshold of the SF exactly follows that of its resistance,but this is not the case for the MF.The MF＇s resistance is much smaller than the SF＇s.However,the MF shows a slightly higher HV breakdown threshold than the SF.The underlying physics is that the measured resistance of the MF is collectively contributed by every filament in the MF while the HV breakdown threshold is determined by only one single discharging path.展开更多
Laser ignition of lean fuels offers a promising route for green combustion with high combustion efficiency and low exhaust emissions. The fundamental limitations which apply to femtosecond laser ignition(fs-LI) of lea...Laser ignition of lean fuels offers a promising route for green combustion with high combustion efficiency and low exhaust emissions. The fundamental limitations which apply to femtosecond laser ignition(fs-LI) of lean fuels are the inferior energy deposition and low thermodynamic temperature. However, it was discovered recently that the fs laser filamentation can induce 100% success rate of fs-LI with ultralow sub-m J minimum ignition energy, exhibiting distinct contrast to the general understanding that it is hard to achieve fs-LI. The present contribution examines the extent to which the minimum ignition energies depend on filamentation formation, and explores the key factors for the success of fs-LI. We perform fs-LI of a lean-fuel CH;/air mixture using a femtosecond near-infrared(~40 fs, 800 nm) pulse at different external focal conditions, and find a Goldilocks focal zone to facilitate fs-LI. In this special zone, a crucial balance between the length of igniting “line” kernel and the plasma density of the fs laser filament is achieved, which determines not only the total amount of resultant OH radicals, but also their distribution along the plasma filament. Our finding provides a viable strategy with clear guidelines for fs-LI, and also opens up an avenue of exploring unprecedented ultrafast ignition dynamics after fs-laser-fuel interactions towards gaining deeper insights into reaction intermediates and combustion processes.展开更多
基金We acknowledge the support fromthe National Key Research and Development Program(No.2018YFB0407100)the National Natural Science Foundation of China(No.11621404)the Key Project of Shanghai Education Commission(No.2017-01-07-00-05-E00021).
文摘.Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy(LIBS)is a useful tool for determination of elements in solids,liquids,and gases.For nanosecond LIBS(ns-LIBS),the plasma shielding effect limits its reproducibility,repeatability,and signal-to-noise ratios.Although femtosecond laser filament induced breakdown spectroscopy(FIBS)has no plasma shielding effects,the power density clamping inside the filaments limits the measurement sensitivity.We propose and demonstrate plasma-grating-induced breakdown spectroscopy(GIBS).The technique relies on a plasma excitation source-a plasma grating generated by the interference of two noncollinear femtosecond filaments.We demonstrate that GIBS can overcome the limitations of standard techniques such as ns-LIBS and FIBS.Signal intensity enhancement with GIBS is observed to be greater than 3 times that of FIBS.The matrix effect is also significantly reduced with GIBS,by virtue of the high power and electron density of the plasma grating,demonstrating great potential for analyzing samples with complex matrix.
基金National Key R&D Program of China (2017YFA0303700,2017YFA0303800)National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) (11534006,11674184,11774183)+2 种基金Natural Science Foundation of Tianjin City (16JCZDJC31300)111 Project (B07013)Collaborative Innovation Center of Extreme Optics
文摘Extending the length of femtosecond laser filamentation has always been desired for practical applications. Here,we demonstrate that significant extending of a single filament in BK7 glass can be achieved by constructing phasenested beams. The filamentation and the following energy replenishment are assembled in a single phase-nested beam. The central part of the phase-nested beam is an apertured Gaussian beam, which is focused into one focal spot to produce a short filament. In contrast, the rest of the annular part converges gradually towards the central axis to continuously replenish the energy for supporting the regeneration of filaments. The common-path generating system ensures the stability of generated filaments and easily optimizes the beam parameters to obtain the longest high-quality filament due to its flexibility. In addition, we discuss the significance of continuous replenishment for extending filaments and the potential for generating more extended filaments based on this method.
基金supported by the National Basic Research Program of China (No.2013CB922200)the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos.11474129,and 11504129)+1 种基金the Research Fund for the Doctoral Program of Higher Education (No.20130061110021)the Graduate Innovation Fund of Jilin University (No.2015091)
文摘Our experiments show that external focusing and initial laser energy strongly influences filament generated by the femtosecond Ti–sapphire laser in air. The experimental measurements show the filament length can be extended both by increasing the laser energy and focal length of focusing lens. On the other hand, the plasma fluorescence emission can be enhanced by increasing the laser energy with fixed focal length or decreasing the focal length. In addition, the collapse distance measured experimentally are larger than the calculated ones owing to the group-velocity-dispersion effect. In addition, we find that the line widths of the spectral lines from N2 is independent of filament positions, laser energies and external focusing.
基金Project supported by the Canada Research Chairs,the Natural Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada(NSERC),the FRQNT,the Canada Foundation for Innovation(CFI),the National Basic Research Program of China(Grant No.2014CB921300)the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant No.61235003)+1 种基金the Research Fund for the Doctoral Program of Higher Education of Chinathe Scientific Research Foundation for Returned Scholars,Ministry of Education of China
文摘An original idea is reviewed. When a molecule is pumped into a super-excited state, one of its decay channels is neutral dissociation. One or more of the neutral fragments will fluoresce. Hence, if a lower state of such fluorescing fragments was populated through other channels but with a lower probability, population inversion of the fluorescing fragments would be naturally realized. This idea seems to be validated, so far, by comparing published work on three hydrocarbon molecules, CH4, C2H2, C2H4, and water vapor, H2 O. After super-excitation in a femtosecond laser filament in air mixed with these molecules, the fluorescence from the CH or OH fragments exhibits population inversion, i.e., amplified spontaneous emission was observed in the backscattering direction of the filament.
基金Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 11074027,60978014,61178022,11274053,and 11211120156)the Funds from Sci. & Tech. Deparment of Jilin Province,China (Grant No. 20111812)
文摘A comparative investigation of the resistance and ability to trigger high voltage（HV） discharge for a single filament（SF） and multiple filaments（MFs） has been carried out.The experimental results show that the trend of the breakdown threshold of the SF exactly follows that of its resistance,but this is not the case for the MF.The MF＇s resistance is much smaller than the SF＇s.However,the MF shows a slightly higher HV breakdown threshold than the SF.The underlying physics is that the measured resistance of the MF is collectively contributed by every filament in the MF while the HV breakdown threshold is determined by only one single discharging path.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 62027822 and 11904121)。
文摘Laser ignition of lean fuels offers a promising route for green combustion with high combustion efficiency and low exhaust emissions. The fundamental limitations which apply to femtosecond laser ignition(fs-LI) of lean fuels are the inferior energy deposition and low thermodynamic temperature. However, it was discovered recently that the fs laser filamentation can induce 100% success rate of fs-LI with ultralow sub-m J minimum ignition energy, exhibiting distinct contrast to the general understanding that it is hard to achieve fs-LI. The present contribution examines the extent to which the minimum ignition energies depend on filamentation formation, and explores the key factors for the success of fs-LI. We perform fs-LI of a lean-fuel CH;/air mixture using a femtosecond near-infrared(~40 fs, 800 nm) pulse at different external focal conditions, and find a Goldilocks focal zone to facilitate fs-LI. In this special zone, a crucial balance between the length of igniting “line” kernel and the plasma density of the fs laser filament is achieved, which determines not only the total amount of resultant OH radicals, but also their distribution along the plasma filament. Our finding provides a viable strategy with clear guidelines for fs-LI, and also opens up an avenue of exploring unprecedented ultrafast ignition dynamics after fs-laser-fuel interactions towards gaining deeper insights into reaction intermediates and combustion processes.
