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Al-doped ZnO (AZO) thin films were deposited on p-Si (100) by pulsed laser deposition from a composite ceramic target (ZnO:Al₂O₃) by using 355 nm laser at different O₂ background pressure and substrate temperature. Upon ablation at laser fluence of 2 Jcm⁻², plasma plume consists of Zn neutrals and ions, Al neutrals and O neutral are formed. As the O₂ background pressure increases from 3 Pa to 26 Pa, the energy of the plasma species are moderated. The results show that the ions density and velocity reduced significantly above 13 Pa. The velocity of the ions reduced from 14 kms⁻¹ to 11 kms⁻¹ at 13 Pa, while the ions energy reduced from 63 eV to 42 eV respectively. Below 13 Pa, crystalline and homogeneous AZO nanostructured films were formed. Above 13 Pa, the process results in low crystallinity films with higher porosity. The resistivity of the films also increases from 0.1 ohmcm to 24 ohmcm as the pressure increased. At fixed O₂ background pressure of 3 Pa, the adatom mobility of atoms on the substrates is altered by substrate heating. The resistivity of the films decreased to 10^–3 ohmcm when the substrates are heated to 100 °C–300 °C during deposition. The films with highest carrier density of 10²⁰ cm⁻³ and carrier mobility of 13 cmV⁻¹ s⁻¹ are achieved at 200 °C.

Light is an exceptional external stimulus for establishing precise control over the properties and functions of chemical and biological systems, which is enabled through the use of molecular photoswitches. Ideal photoswitches are operated with visible light only, show large separation of absorption bands and are functional in various solvents including water, posing an unmet challenge. Here we show a class of fully-visible-light-operated molecular photoswitches, Iminothioindoxyls (ITIs) that meet these requirements. ITIs show a band separation of over 100 nm, isomerize on picosecond time scale and thermally relax on millisecond time scale. Using a combination of advanced spectroscopic and computational techniques, we provide the rationale for the switching behavior of ITIs and the influence of structural modifications and environment, including aqueous solution, on their photochemical properties. This research paves the way for the development of improved photo-controlled systems for a wide variety of applications that require fast responsive functions.

We optimized the parameters of a laser-produced plasma source based on a solid-state Nd: YAG laser (λ = 1.06 nm, pulse duration 4 ns, energy per pulse up to 500 mJ, repetition rate 10 Hz, lens focus distance 45 mm, maximum power density of laser radiation in focus 9 × 10¹¹ W/cm²) and a double-stream Xe/He gas jet to obtain a maximum of radiation intensity around 11 nm wavelength. It was shown that the key factor determining the ionization composition of the plasma is the jet density. With the decreased density, the ionization composition shifts toward a smaller degree of ionization, which leads to an increase in emission peak intensity around 11 nm. We attribute the dominant spectral feature centred near 11 nm originating from an unidentified 4d-4f transition array in Xe^+10…+13 ions. The exact position of the peak and the bandwidth of the emission line were determined. We measured the dependence of the conversion efficiency of laser energy into an EUV in-band energy with a peak at 10.82 nm from the xenon pressure and the distance between the nozzle and the laser focus. The maximum conversion efficiency (CE) into the spectral band of 10–12 nm measured at a distance between the nozzle and the laser beam focus of 0.5 mm was CE = 4.25 ± 0.30%. The conversion efficiencies of the source in-bands of 5 and 12 mirror systems at two wavelengths of 10.8 and 11.2 nm have been evaluated; these efficiencies may be interesting for beyond extreme ultraviolet lithography.

We present optical coherence tomography (OCT) with 2 nm axial resolution using broadband soft X-ray radiation (SXR) from a compact laser plasma light source. The laser plasma was formed by the interaction of nanosecond laser pulses with a gaseous target in a double stream gas puff target approach. The source was optimized for efficient SXR emission from the krypton/helium gas puff target in the 2 to 5 nm spectral range, encompassing the entire “water-window” spectral range from 2.3 nm to 4.4 nm wavelength. The coherence parameters of the SXR radiation allowed for the OCT measurements of a bulk multilayer structure with 10 nm period and 40% bottom layer thickness to period ratio, with an axial resolution of about 2 nm and detect multilayer interfaces up to a depth of about 100 nm. The experimental data are in agreement with OCT simulations performed on ideal multilayer structure. In the paper, detailed information about the source, its optimization, the optical system, OCT measurements and the results are presented and discussed.

In this work, we present a compact laser-produced plasma source of X-rays, developed and characterized for application in soft X-ray contact microscopy (SXCM). The source is based on a double stream gas puff target, irradiated with a commercially available Nd:YAG laser, delivering pulses with energy up to 740 mJ and 4 ns pulse duration at 10 Hz repetition rate. The target is formed by pulsed injection of a stream of high-Z gas (argon) into a cloud of low Z-gas (helium) by using an electromagnetic valve with a double nozzle setup. The source is designed to irradiate specimens, both in vacuum and in helium atmosphere with nanosecond pulses of soft X-rays in the ‘‘water-window” spectral range. The source is capable of delivering a photon fluence of about 1.09 x 10³ photon/µm²/pulse at a sample placed in vacuum at a distance of about 20 mm downstream the source. It can also deliver a photon fluence of about 9.31 x 10² - photons/µm²/pulse at a sample placed in a helium atmosphere at the same position. The source design and results of the characterization measurements as well as the optimization of the source are presented and discussed. The source was successfully applied in the preliminary experiments on soft X-ray contact microscopy and images of microstructures and biological specimens with ~80 nm half-pitch spatial resolution, obtained in helium atmosphere, are presented.

Laser-produced plasmas are intense sources of XUV radiation that can be suitable for different applications such as extreme ultraviolet lithography, beyond extreme ultraviolet lithography and water window imaging. In particular, much work has focused on the use of tin plasmas for extreme ultraviolet lithography at 13.5 nm. We have investigated the spectral behavior of the laser produced plasmas formed on closely packed polystyrene microspheres and porous alumina targets covered by a thin tin layer in the spectral region from 2.5 to 16 nm. Nd:YAG lasers delivering pulses of 170 ps (Ekspla SL312P )and 7 ns (Continuum Surelite) duration were focused onto the nanostructured targets coated with tin. The intensity dependence of the recorded spectra was studied; the conversion efficiency (CE) of laser energy into the emission in the 13.5 nm spectral region was estimated. We have observed an increase in CE using high intensity 170 ps Nd:YAG laser pulses as compared with a 7 ns pulse.

We have observed extreme ultraviolet (EUV) spectra from terbium (Tb) ions in optically thin and thick plasmas for a comparative study. The experimental spectra are recorded in optically thin, magnetically confined torus plasmas and dense laser-produced plasmas (LPPs). The main feature of the spectra is quasicontinuum emission with a peak around 6.5-6.6 nm, the bandwidth of which is narrower in the torus plasmas than in the LPPs. A comparison between the two types of spectra also suggests strong opacity effects in the LPPs. A comparison with the calculated line strength distributions gives a qualitative interpretation of the observed spectra.

In this paper, experiments are described in which cylindrical vacuum insulator samples and samples inclined at 45° relative to the cathode were stressed by microsecond timescale high-voltage pulses and illuminated by focused UV laser beam pulses. In these experiments, we were able to distinguish between flashover initiated by the laser producing only photo-electrons and when plasma is formed. It was shown that flashover is predominantly initiated near the cathode triple junction. Even dense plasma formed near the anode triple junction does not necessarily lead to vacuum surface flashover. The experimental results directly confirm our conjecture that insulator surface breakdown can be avoided by preventing its initiation [J. G. Leopold et al., Phys. Rev. ST Accel. Beams 10, 060401 (2007)] and complement our previous experimental results [J. Z. Gleizer et al., IEEE Trans. Dielectr. Electr. Insul. 21, 2394 (2014) and J. Z. Gleizer et al., J. Appl. Phys. 117, 073301 (2015)].

Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) technology is an appealing technique compared with many other types of elemental analysis because of the fast response, high sensitivity, real-time, and noncontact features. One of the challenging targets of LIBS is the enhancement of the detection limit. In this study, the detection limit of gas-phase LIBS analysis has been improved by controlling the pressure and laser pulse width. In order to verify this method, low-pressure gas plasma was induced using nanosecond and picosecond lasers. The method was applied to the detection of Hg. The emission intensity ratio of the Hg atom to NO (I_Hg/ I_NO) was analyzed to evaluate the LIBS detection limit because the NO emission (interference signal) was formed during the plasma generation and cooling process of N₂ and O₂ in the air. It was demonstrated that the enhancement of I_Hg/I_NO arose by decreasing the pressure to a few kilopascals, and the I_Hg/I_NO of the picosecond breakdown was always much higher than that of the nanosecond breakdown at low buffer gas pressure. Enhancement of I_Hg/I_NO increased more than 10 times at 700 Pa using picosecond laser with 35 ps pulse width. The detection limit was enhanced to 0.03 ppm (parts per million). We also saw that the spectra from the center and edge parts of plasma showed different features. Comparing the central spectra with the edge spectra, I_Hg/I_NO of the edge spectra was higher than that of the central spectra using the picosecond laser breakdown process.

Nanosecond timescale underwater electrical wire explosions of ring-shaped Cu wires were investigated using a pulsed generator with a current amplitude up to 50 kA. It was shown that this type of wire explosion results in the generation of a toroidal shock wave (SW). Time- and space-resolved optical diagnostics were used to determine azimuthal uniformity of the shock wave front and its velocity. It was found that the shock wave preserves its circular front shape in the range of radii 50 μm<r<5 mm. At r≤15μm, azimuthal irregularities of the SW front were obtained indicating the appearance of azimuthal instability. A surprising finding is that the shock wave propagates with a constant velocity of vsw=1.2M, where M is the Mach number. The dynamics of the leading part of the shock wave, based on the oblique shock wave theory, is presented, explaining the constant velocity of the shock wave.