Search

The transmission spectra of femtosecond laser pulses in the mid-IR range (5–6.6 μm) were investigated of submonolayer of Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa bacteria on a silicon plate in the region of characteristic absorption bands of proteins and lipids, as well as stationary spectra after irradiation. Invertible “translucence” of samples in the region of characteristic bands of bacteria and blue shift these bands indicating the destruction of hydrogen bonds were discovered. The possibility of inactivation of pathogenic bacteria by selective IR laser denaturation of functional proteins by resonance irradiation of low average power is discussed.

Active and passive hybrid ways are described for controlling biofilms and the planktonic form of pathogenic microorganisms based on different bactericidal nanomaterials obtained with modern laser technologies. An innovative mobile laser application of the complete suppression of biofilms in situ is described.

Tightly focused, highly spatially multiplexed femtosecond laser pulses, coming at sub-MHz repetition rates, were used to mask-less pattern thin plasmonic films film at ultrafast rates, approaching 25 million of microelements per second. For this purpose, the initial pulses were multiplexed by fused silica diffractive optical elements into linear arrays of 31, 51 and 101 circular light spot and then scanned over the films by a galvanometric scanner through a long-focus objective or high-NA aspherical lens. These optical scheme and 5-μJ pulse energy supported the only 31- and 51-beam micro-patterning, with the corresponding aperture, field-of-view and sub-100 nJ energetic limitations for the laser processing of the film. The resulting large (~105–106 holes per array) arrays of micro-holes of variable diameters and periods in thin films of different thickness and diverse plasmonic materials - Ag, Cu, Al and Au-Pd alloy (80%/20%) - were for the first time systematically characterized in the broad IR-range (1.5–25 μm) in terms of plasmonic effects in extraordinary optical transmission, indicating for the increasing wavenumber a smooth transition from the common Bethe-Bouwkamp transmission to its plasmon-enhanced analogue, ending up with common geometrical (wave-guide-like) transmission. Finally, promising label- and luminescence-free laboratory-scale, robust and high-sensitivity sampling of chemicals and biosamples via plasmonic and chemical contributions, uneven and structurally-sensitive regarding different functional groups of the model analyte molecules and band structure of the plasmonic metal, was demonstrated for the large IR-sensing arrays of micro-holes in plasmonic films, with the obvious perspectives for down-scaling of sensing elements for vis-IR surface-enhanced spectroscopies.

Femtosecond low-energy Laguerre – Gaussian pulses of tightly focused visible laser radiation were employed for single-pulse ablative nanostructuring of a 50-nm thick gold film. Similar pulses of lower energy were employed for the efficient plasmonic photoluminescence excitation of a rhodamine 6G dye monolayer in the fabricated nanostructures. The consistency between the shape and polarisation symmetries of the low-energy laser beam, on the one hand, and the gold nanostructures produced by the same beam at a high radiation energy, on the other hand, opens the way to consistent nanostructuring and surface-enhanced analytical spectroscopy with the use of nanostructures.

The experimental study of the single-shot 1030-nm femtosecond laser ablation of bulk silicon and silver in air and liquid media (deionized water, isopropyl alcohol) is reported. The main laser ablation mechanisms were studied via analysis of the resulting microcrater surface morphology and elemental composition in single- and multi-shot (number of pulses N = 10, 100) regimes by scanning electron microscopy with a built-in module for energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. It was concluded, that multi-shot ablation in liquids leads to the lesser extent of the processed surface oxidation, than in dry conditions. The monitoring of the ablative plumes dynamics was implemented with the use of time-resolved emission spectroscopy in the non-filamentation regime, corresponding to the formation of nanoparticles without fragmentation of the ablation products. It was demonstrated, that the lifetime of the plume emission in liquid is significantly shorter, than in air: 5 and 15 ns, correspondingly, for silicon, and 10 and 30 ns for silver.

The effect of laser pulsewidth, tuned in the range τ = 0.3–10 ps, on infrared (IR) laser ablation (LA) thresholds of bulk gold, silver and silicon in air and in liquid environments (deionized water, isopropyl alcohol (IPA)) was studied in this work. The influence of laser pulsewidth on the morphology and yield of the ejected nanoparticles (NPs), as well as its impact on the efficiency of NP generation, was studied by UV–vis spectral measurement of the extinction coefficient spectra of NP colloids, fabricated by multi-pass ablation of bulk targets in both solvents at different pulse duration values, by analytical disc centrifuge and by high-resolution scanning electron microscopy. The ablation thresholds are raising with the increase of laser pulsewidth, exhibiting sublinear dependences. The extinction coefficient dependence on τ exhibited a non-monotonous character in case of water medium for all materials, and was gradually descending in case of LA in IPA. Additional MD-TTM (molecular dynamics- two-temperature model) modeling was performed for single-shot laser exposition of bulk Au target in air with τ = 0.3 ps and 4 ps, which allowed distinguishing the main mechanisms of the material removal, the formation of NPs, and the observed crater topography. The performed simulations supported the trend on the ablation threshold increase with the increase of laser pulse duration.

Selenium and silicon nanoparticles were obtained by nanosecond laser ablation in distilled water and characterized by scanning and transmission electron microscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. The antibacterial properties of their coatings regarding Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria were demonstrated. The presence of singlet oxygen and other reactive oxygen species on the surface of the silicon nanoparticles, leading to oxidative damage to bacterial membranes and further death of the bacteria, was considered a possible mechanism of their antibacterial modality.

Using aluminum as an example, ultrafast sub-ablative broad-range (EUV-IR) spectral tuning of surface plasmon resonance in metals by IR femtosecond laser pulses was demonstrated by theoretical modeling of prompt surface optics for strongly photoexcited materials and of their surface plasmon-polariton (SPP) dispersion curves, as well as by experimental multi-shot laser imprinting of surface plasmon-polaritons as large-scale regular surface ripples with minimal sub-diffraction periods down to 200 nm. According to laser-pump self-reflection and charge emission experiments, the key issue in the prompt optical tuning (spectral red-shifting) of EUV surface plasmon resonance in aluminum by the IR laser pulses is related to ultrafast surface charging of its surface via intense electron emission during the laser pump pulse, depleting its surface electron density and simultaneously decreasing its surface/bulk plasma frequencies, at the corresponding negligible surface ablative etching.

We report the possibility of a time-resolved bacterial live/dead dynamics observation with the use of plasmonic nanospikes. Sharp nanospikes, fabricated on a 500-nm thick gold film by laser ablation with the use of 1030-nm femtosecond pulses, were tested as potential elements for antibacterial surfaces and plasmonic luminescence sensors. Staphylococcus aureus bacteria were stained by a live/dead viability kit, with the dead microorganisms acquiring the red colour, caused by the penetration of the luminescent dye propidium iodide through the damaged cell membrane. Photoluminescence was pumped by 515-nm femtosecond laser pulses with linear (Gaussian beam), circular, azimuthal and radial (Laguerre&ndash, Gaussian beam) polarizations, exciting the transverse plasmon resonance of the nanospikes and their apex lightning-rod near-field. According to the numerical electrodynamic modeling, the observed strong increase in the photoluminescence yield for radial polarization, while slightly lower for circular and azimuthal polarizations, compared with the low luminescence intensities for the linear laser polarization, was related to their different laser&ndash, nanospike coupling efficiencies.

Surface-enhanced spectroscopy (SES) techniques, including surface-enhanced photoluminescence (SEPL), Raman scattering (SERS) and infrared absorption (SEIRA), represent powerful biosensing modalities, allowing non-invasive label-free identification of various molecules and quantum emitters in the vicinity of nanotextured surfaces. Enhancement of multi-wavelength (vis-IR) excitation of analyte molecules of interest atop a single textured substrate could pave the way toward ultimate chemosensing performance and further widespread implementation of the SES-based approaches in various crucial areas, such as point-ofcare diagnostics. In this paper, an easy-to-implement ultrafast direct laser printing via partial spallation of thermally-thick silver films and subsequent large-scale magnetron deposition of nanometer-thick Au layers of variable thickness was implemented to produce bimetallic textured surfaces with the cascaded nanotopography. The produced bimetallic textures demonstrate the strong broadband plasmonic response over the entire visible spectral range. Such plasmonic performance was confirmed by convenient spectroscopy-free Red-Green-Blue (RGB) color analysis of the dark-field (DF) scattering images supported by numerical calculations of the electromagnetic (EM) “near-fields”, as well as comprehensive DF spectroscopic characterization. Bimetallic laser-printed nanotextures, which can be easily printed at ultrafast (square millimeters per second) rate, using galvanometric scanning, exhibited strong enhancement of the SEPL (up to 75-fold) and SERS (up to 106 times) yields for the organic dye molecules excited at various wavelengths. Additionally, comprehensive optical and sensing characterization of the laser-printed bimetallic surface structures allows substantiating the convenient spectroscopy-free RGB color analysis as a valuable tool for predictive assessment of the plasmonic properties of the various irregularly and quasi-periodically nanotextured surfaces.

International audience; Surface-enhanced IR absorption (SEIRA) microscopy was used to reveal main chemical and physical interactions between Staphylococcus aureus bacteria and different laser-nanostructured bactericidal Si surfaces via simultaneous chemical enhancement of the corresponding IR-absorption in the intact functional chemical groups. A cleaner, less passivated surface of Si nanoripples, laser-patterned in water, exhibits much stronger enhancement of SEIRA signals compared to the bare Si wafer, the surface coating of oxidized Si nanoparticles and oxidized/carbonized Si (nano) ripples, laser-patterned in air and water. Additional very strong bands emerge in the SEIRA spectra on the clean Si nanoripples, indicating the potential chemical modifications in the bacterial membrane and nucleic acids during the bactericidal effect.

We report the facile synthesis of colloidal Si@Au and Si@Ag nanoparticles (NPs) through nanosecond IR laser plasma-mediated reduction of 0.03 mM aqueous solutions of chloroauric acid (HAuCl4) and silver nitrate (AgNO3) at different laser intensities on the surface of Si NPs during the ablation of the silicon wafer. The resulting hybrid colloidal NPs were analysed by UV–vis transmission spectroscopy, dynamic light scattering, scanning electron microscopy, energy-dispersive x-ray and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy.

Large-scale surface nanopatterning of a commercial silicon (Si) wafer in the form of regular 1D arrays of high-aspect-ratio vertical nanosheets (NSs) for antifouling and other potential promising optoelectronic, nanophotonic, and sensing applications was performed via multishot picosecond IR-laser ablation under a 5-mm-thick carbon disulfide liquid layer. Specifically, the nanopatterned surface layer demonstrates the broad ultralow mid-IR transmittance and the high content of sulfur, carbon, and even oxygen in the modified submicron-thick top layer, preventing the appearance of a Staphylococcus aureus bacterial biofilm. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy studies exhibit the anticorrelating inner versus outer surface abundance of donor sulfur versus adverse carbon and oxygen components and the amorphous structure of the sulfur-hyperdoped NSs atop their crystalline basements. These NSs indicate their appearance via the interfacial vapor/plume bubble-mediated codeposition of Si ablation nanoplu...

Milligram-per-second production of selenium nanoparticles in water sols was realized through 7-W, 2 MHz-rate femtosecond laser ablation of a crystalline trigonal selenium pellet. High-yield particle formation mechanism and ultimate mass-removal yield were elucidated by optical profilometry and scanning electron microscopy characterization of the corresponding crater depths and topographies. Deposited selenium particles were inspected by scanning and transmission electron microscopy, while their hydrosols (nanoinks) were characterized by optical transmission, Raman and dynamic light scattering spectroscopy. 2D patterns and coatings were ink-jet printed on thin supported silver films and their bare silica glass substrates, as well as on IR-transparent CaF2 substrates, and characterized by electron microscopy, energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy, and broadband (vis-mid IR) transmission spectroscopy, exhibiting crystalline selenium nanoparticles with high refractive index as promising all-dielectric sensing building nanoblocks in nanophotonics.

High-production laser ablation is used to prepare nano-ink that is colored colloidal solutions of nanoparticles in water, characterized by a variety of physicochemical properties. Using the nano-ink, singleand multi-layered nanocoatings are printed by a jet technique and studied in detail.

Donut-shaped visible (515 nm) femtosecond laser pulses with linear, radial and azimuthal polarizations after tight focusing (numerical aperture NA = 0.65) have been used for spectrally adjusted excitation of plasmonenhanced rhodamine 6G dye luminescence on the surface of a nanocrystalline 45-nm thick gold film with its plasmon resonance near the laser line. Significant luminescence output increments—1.7-fold for radial polarization compared to the azimuthal one, and almost 3-fold—compared to the linear one, have been observed. This effect is related to significant transformation of the transverse electrical field component into longitudinal one for radial polarization (up to 33% in intensity, according to our calculations), and corresponding increase in excitation efficiency of plasmons in the smaller nanocrystallites throughout the film.

It has been found that the optical properties and characteristics of exciton photoluminescence in thin organometallic perovskite layers, which are promising for application in high-efficiency solar cells, change when these layers are deposited on a crystalline silicon (c-Si) substrate. The observed shift of the photoluminescence band toward higher photon energies and a decrease in the lifetime of photoluminescence compared to layers deposited on a glass substrate with conducting metal oxide coating have been explained by the effect of an electric field that is formed in an organometallic perovskite/c-Si heterostructure and leads to the field ionization and the decay of excitons in the organometallic perovskite layer.

In the context of studying the possibility of inactivation of pathogenic microorganisms, the dynamic transmission spectra of femtosecond laser radiation in the mid-IR range by bacteria of the Pseudomonaus aeruginosa culture planted on a silicon substrate were investigated. Irradiation revealed a blue shift in the characteristic absorption bands of bacteria, indicating the breaking of hydrogen bonds responsible for the formation of the secondary and tertiary structure of the proteins.

Micrometer-thick layers of Pseudomonas aeruginosa bacteria were prepared on fluorite substrates and scanned by focused mid-IR femtosecond laser radiation that was spectrally tuned to achieve the selective excitation of either the stretching C–H vibrations (3 μm), or stretching C = O, C–N vibrations (6 μm) of the amide groups in the bacteria. The enhanced biocidal efficiency of the latter selective excitation, compared to the more uniform 3-μm laser excitation, was demonstrated by performing viability assays of laser-treated bacterial layers. The bacterial inactivation by the 6-μm ultrashort laser pulses is attributed to dissociative denaturation of lipids and proteins in the cell membranes and intra-cell nucleic acids.

Food pathogens (Staphylococcus aureus, Listeria monocytogenes, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa) in planktonic form were subjected to bactericidal treatment by colloidal nanoparticles. NiOx colloidal nanoparticles, as anti-biotic nanomaterial, were produced by laser ablation in deionized water and air, and comprehensively characterized by x-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray, Raman, Fourier transformed infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, dynamic light scattering size and zeta-potential measurements. Normalized Fourier transformed infrared (FT-IR) spectra of the nanoparticle-inactivated bacteria deposits exhibit for the larger, positively charged water-borne nanoparticles pronounced enhancement of IR-absorption in molecular fragments, comprising the bacterial membrane, which appears to be unfavorable for the inactivation of the food bacteria strains. In contrast, smaller and less charged air-borne nanoparticles exhibit less influence in IR-absorption, but pronounced TEM-envisioned penetration inside these pathogenic bacteria, resulting, according to the complementary microbiological tests, in their efficient inactivation. The study will help to understand the possible mechanisms responsible for the death of bacteria at their interacting with antibacterial nanoparticles.

High-pressure Si-XII and Si-III nanocrystalline polymorphs, as well as amorphous Si phase, appear consequently during multi-shot femtosecond-laser exposure of crystalline Si wafer surface above its spallation threshold along with permanently developing quasi-regular surface texture (ripples, microcones), residual hydrostatic stresses and subsurface damage, which are characterized by scanning and transmission electron microscopy, as well as by Raman micro-spectroscopy. The consequent yields of these structural Si phases indicate not only their spatially different appearance, but also potentially enable to track nanoscale, transient laser-induced high-pressure, high-temperature physical processes – local variation of ablation mechanism and rate, pressurization/pressure release, melting/resolidification, amorphization, annealing – versus cumulative laser exposure and the related development of the surface topography.

Multishot exposure of nickel and iron surfaces by loosely focused femtosecond laser pulses in isopropyl alcohol resulted in quasi-regular arrays of submicron spikes and other intermediate self-organized structures. Such self-organized surface relief is considered to be formed via hydrodynamic instability of molten metallic surfaces in their contact with a near-critical alcohol vapor layer with the pressure of about 5 MPa.

Subablative exposure of tightly focused visible-range femtosecond laser pulses on a thin translucent nanocrystalline copper(I) oxide on a silica glass substrate results not only in its annealing (resolidification), but apparently also in reduction of copper ions to the metallic state via single-photon absorption and the following thermal decomposition (disproportioning). Partial or complete ablation of the film within the laser focal spot and also its subablative optically contrast modification through formation of colloidal nanoparticles or annealing (resolidification) make it possible to consider this material in the thin-film form as a novel optical platform for direct laser writing of vis-IR metasurfaces and thin-film sensing plasmonic and all-dielectric nanostructures.

We perform a single-shot IR nanosecond laser processing of commercial silicon wafers in ambient air and under a 2 mm thick carbon disulfide liquid layer. We characterize the surface spots modified in the liquid ambient and the spots ablated under the same conditions in air in terms of its surface topography, chemical composition, band-structure modification, and crystalline structure by means of SEM and EDX microscopy, as well as of FT-IR and Raman spectroscopy. These studies indicate that singlestep microstructuring and deep (up to 2–3% on the surface) hyperdoping of the crystalline silicon in its submicron surface layer, preserving via pulsed laser annealing its crystallinity and providing high (104 cm−1) spectrally flat near- and mid-IR absorption coefficients, can be obtained in this novel approach, which is very promising for thin-film silicon photovoltaic devices.

Silicon nanoparticles are obtained by nanosecond laser ablation of a single-crystal wafer under a deionized water layer. Nanoparticle generation mechanisms are studied depending on the incident energy density of laser radiation (7–12 J/cm2) and scanning speed (10–750 mm/s). At a scanning speed of 150–200 mm/s, a maximum of the extinction coefficient of obtained colloidal solutions of nanoparticles is observed, which can be caused by an increase in their mass yield.

Low- and ultralow-energy tightly focused 200 fs, 515 nm donut-shaped laser pulses at 0.25 and 0.65 NA focusing were used for single-shot ablative pulse-energy scalable nanopatterning of 50 nm thick gold film and the following plasmonic excitation of dye monolayer photoluminescence (PL) in the fabricated nanostructures, respectively. The same pulses at much lower, non-ablative nanojoule energies, and the same focusing and linear, azimuthal, or radial polarizations provided efficient spectrally and symmetry-matched excitation of both localized and delocalized surface electromagnetic modes in the separate, ring-like through holes and their arrays in the film envisioned by our modeling, thus resulting in a polarization-sensitive yield of rhodamine 6G dye PL. The demonstrated consistency between the symmetries of the donut-shaped low-energy photo-exciting laser beam, its polarization state, and the donut-shaped gold nanostructures, produced by the same beam at high, ablative pulse energies, paves the way to smart, self-consistent nanofabrication and plasmonic sensing, when the structured light interacts with the consistently structured matter.

A comprehensive picture of the nanosecond-laser generation of colloidal nanoparticles in liquids is nowadays the demand of their high-throughput industrial fabrication for diverse perspective biomedical, material science, and optoelectronic applications. In this study, using silicon as an example, we present a self-consistent experimental visualization and theoretical description of key transient stages during nanosecond-laser generation of colloidal nanoparticles in liquids: plasma-mediated injection of ablated mass into the liquid and driving the vapor bubble, finalized by the colloid appearance in the liquid. The explored fundamental transient stages envision the basic temporal and spatial scales, as well as laser parameter windows, for the demanded high-throughput nanosecond-laser generation of colloidal nanoparticles in liquids.

We report the laser-ablative fabrication of antibacterial nanostructures, combining mechanical and chemotoxic effects, by femto- and nanosecond laser ablation and their testing on Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa strains. A Ti surface, covered with nanospikes and periodical surface ripples, provides a strong anti-biofilm effect, and the addition of cytotoxic nanoparticles (NPs) (Ag, Se) enhances the overall bactericidal activities. A flow reactor, including Ti nanospike-covered wafers as a through-flow sterilizer, allowed reduction of the bacterial population by two orders. Several types of nanostructures with/without biofilms were characterized by scanning electron microscopy and energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy. Their antibacterial properties were demonstrated by standard live/dead tests and were suggested to originate from the combined chemical toxicity of NPs and mechanical damage caused by sharp nanoscale relief on Ti.

The backscattering spectra of a 500 nm thick gold film, which was excited near the 525 nm transverse localized plasmon resonance of its constituent, self-organized, vertically-aligned nanorods by normally incident 515 nm, 300 fs laser pulses with linear, radial, azimuthal and circular polarizations, revealed a few-percent conversion into Stokes and anti-Stokes side-band peaks. The investigation of these spectral features based on the nanoscale characterization of the oligomeric structure and numerical simulations of its backscattering response indicated nonlinear Fano-like plasmonic interactions, particularly the partially degenerate four-wave mixing comprised by the visible-range transverse plasmon resonance of the individual nanorods and an IR-range collective mode of the oligomeric structure. Such oligomeric structures in plasmonic films may greatly enhance inner nonlinear electromagnetic interactions and inner near-IR hotspots, paving the way for their engineered IR tunability for broad applications in chemosensing and biosensing.

Submicron dimensions, nanoscale crystalline structure, and fabrication mechanisms of microcones on silver films of variable (50–380 nm) thickness deposited onto glass substrates by single strongly focused femtosecond laser pulses of different fluences are experimentally studied using scanning electron microscopy. Fabrication mechanisms for nanoholes and microcones are discussed for films of the different thickness, as well as the extraordinary shapes of their constituent nanocrystallites, strongly elongated along the melt flow direction in thin films.

Spatial profiles of single-shot microcraters produced by tightly focused femtosecond laser pulses with variable pulse energies are measured by means of a laser confocal microscope. Dependences of crater depth on laser intensity at different pulse energies appear as overlapping saturating curves with the same threshold, indicating the presence of nonlinear absorption and absence of nonlocal ablation effects. A monotonic twofold increase in absorption nonlinearity is related to the transition from minor defect-band absorption to fundamental band-to-band absorption.

Antibacterial nanostructures were written on the surface of a silver (Ag) film and titanium (Ti) wafer using femtosecond laser ablation. The bactericidal properties were tested on S. aureus and P. aeruginosa bacterial strains. The resulting nanostructures were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). A flow-through filter, based on Ag plates with nanospikes, used as a sterilization of the liquid, led to the almost complete death of bacteria. It is assumed that the antibacterial properties are due to mechanical damage caused by the sharp nanoscale relief.

In experimental backscattering spectra of a gold film were found resonances which may reveal features of the film inner structure. The explanation of these features based on the analysis of the structure’s unit cell and its response to laser radiation was proposed.

Deep sub-wavelength, large-scale surface nanopatterning of silicon (Si) wafers immersed in water or carbon disulfide, in the form of ultrafine nanoripples was performed by multi-shot 1030-nm femtosecond laser exposures. Our simulations indicate the key role of surface plasmons, with their extreme wavenumbers tunable versus the dielectric permittivity of the contact dielectric fluids. The factors of the squared optical refraction index of fluids, excitation and interference of counter-propagating surface plasmons were revealed to provide in both these fluids the ultimately small (~100 nm) periods of the nanoripples. The realized advanced wet laser nanopatterning of Si surfaces, unattainable via dry laser processing, paves the way toward nanoscale laser lithography.

Ambient-air single-shot ablative femtosecond laser surface processing of an advanced Al-alloy AA5083 was characterized by non-contact broadband ultrasonics, scanning electron microscopy with energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy, x-ray diffraction, and Vickers microhardness tests. The characterization indicates that the generated Mbar-level shock waves induce not only a strong structural modification of the processed micron-thick surface layer with sub-GPa-level residual compressive and tensile stresses, raising its microhardness by almost 45%, but also significant depth-dependent chemical modification within the layer.

Large-scale plasmon-mediated nanopatterning of silicon surface in the form of regular 1D-arrays of high-aspect ratio vertical nanosheets for multiple promising applications was performed via multi-shot ultrashort IR-laser ablation in carbon disulfide liquid environment.

The specific features of photofragmentation of sols of gold nanoparticles under focused femtosecond laser pulses in IR (1030 nm) and visible (515 nm) ranges is experimentally investigated. A high photofragmentation efficiency of nanoparticles in the waist of a pulsed laser beam in the visible range (at moderate radiation scattering) is demonstrated; this efficiency is related to the excitation of plasmon resonance in nanoparticles on the blue shoulder of its spectrum, in contrast to the regime of very weak photofragmentation in an IR-laser field of comparable intensity. Possible mechanisms of femtosecond laser photofragmentation of gold nanoparticles are discussed.

Milligram-per-second production of selenium nanoparticles in water sols was realized through few W, kHz-rate nanosecond laser ablation of a solid selenium pellet. High-yield particle formation mechanism and ultimate mass-removal yield were elucidated by optical profilometry and scanning electron microscopy characterization of crater depths and topographies. Deposited particles were inspected by scanning electron microscopy, while optical transmission Raman and dynamic light scattering spectroscopy characterized their hydrosols.

Using a micro-hole grating in a supported silver film as a laser-fabricated novel optical platform for surface-enhanced IR absoprtion/reflection spectroscopy, characteristic absorption bands of Staphylococcus aureus, especially – its buried carotenoid fragments – were detected in FT-IR spectra with 10-fold analytical enhancement, paving the way to spectral express-identification of the pathogenic microorganisms.

Magnetic dipolar Mie-resonance of nanodiamonds supports their highly-efficient stimulated low-frequency Raman scattering via nanosecond laser excitation of their fundamental breathing mode, with strong additional plasmonic enhancement of the Raman conversion efficiency upon ablative capping of the resonant nanodiamond core by a silver nanoshell with a broad overlapping electrical dipolar Mie-resonance. Also, crystalline selenium nanoparticles, exhibiting the high refractive index in the visible/near-IR ranges, were demonstrated as promising all-dielectric sensing building nanoblocks in nanophotonics.

Hybrid plasmonic-dielectric nano- and (sub)microparticles exhibit magnetic and electrical dipolar Mie-resonances, which makes them useful as efficient basic elements in surface-enhanced spectroscopy, non-linear light conversion and nanoscale light control. We report the stimulated low-frequency Raman scattering (SLFRS) of a nanosecond ruby laser radiation (central wavelength λ = 694.3 nm (full-width at half-maximum ≈ 0.015 cm−1), gaussian 1/e-intensity pulsewidth τ ≈ 20 ns, TEM00-mode pulse energy Emax ≈ 0.3 J) in nanodiamond (R ≈ 120 nm) hydrosols, induced via optomechanical coherent excitation of fundamental breathing eigen-modes, and the two-fold enhancement of SLFRS in Ag-decorated nanodiamonds, characterized by hybrid dipolar resonances of electrical (silver) and magnetic (diamond) nature. Hybrid metal-dielectric particles were prepared by means of nanosecond IR-laser ablation of solid silver target in diamond hydrosols with consecutive Ag-capping of diamonds, and were characterized by scanning elect...

We perform a single-shot IR nanosecond laser processing of commercial silicon wafers in ambient air and under a 2 mm thick carbon disulfide liquid layer. We characterize the surface spots modified in the liquid ambient and the spots ablated under the same conditions in air in terms of its surface topography, chemical composition, band-structure modification, and crystalline structure by means of SEM and EDX microscopy, as well as of FT-IR and Raman spectroscopy. These studies indicate that single-step microstructuring and deep (up to 2-3% on the surface) hyperdoping of the crystalline silicon in its submicron surface layer, preserving via pulsed laser annealing its crystallinity and providing high (103 - 104 cm−1) spectrally at near- and mid-IR absorption coefficients, can be obtained in this novel approach, which is very promising for thin - film silicon photovoltaic devices

Nano- and micro-structures of thin plasmonic films by focused femtosecond laser pulses was demonstrated as chemo- and bio-sensing substrates for surface-enhanced spectroscopies. As an example, large regular arrays of microholes (mm-sized laboratory-scale) of millions holes with variable periods were produced in thin films of diverse plasmonic metals or alloys, demonstrating surface plasmon-polariton enhanced extraordinary transmission.