In-situ growth of Ca/P salt on Ti surface induced by femtosecond lasers in hydroxyapatite suspension

Pure Ti plate surfaces are micro-ablated by femtosecond lasers in the ambience of hydroxyapatite suspension. It is found that three-stage hierarchical surface structures are produced with various laser energies. When the laser energy is 150μJ, a lava-like structure with a distribution of nanoholes is dispersed evenly on the laser ablated surface. While in the case of 300 μJ, the grooves-and-islands micro-patterns covered with nanoparticles are generated on the surface. Remarkably, Ca/P based substances are revealed to firmly deposit on the micro-structured surfaces. More phosphate growth is seen for the higher laser energy. Discussions suggest that the additional elements deposition could be attributed to the chemical reaction of plasma related ions in the suspension and their subsequent crystallisation on the fresh surfaces of Ti plate due to the femtosecond laser ablation.

Corneal flap morphological analysis using anterior segment optical coherence tomography in laser in situ keratomileusis with femtosecond lasers versus mechanical microkeratome

AIM: To assess and compare the flap morphology using anterior segment optical coherence tomography (AS-OCT) in laser in situ keratomileusis (LASIK) with Femto LDV femtosecond lasers versus Hansatome mechanical Microkeratome. METHODS: AS-OCT (Visante) was used to compare 1 month postoperatively the morphology of the flaps created with Femto LDV femtosecond lasers or Hansatome Microkeratome. The intendedfiap thickness was 110 mu m and 160 mu m respectively. The thickness of twenty-five points across each flap, which were 0mm, 1.5mm, 2.5mm, and 3.5mm to the corneal vertex on the horizontal, vertical, 45 degrees and 135 degrees meridian respectively, was evaluated. RESULTS: One month postoperative, the central flap thickness in the Femto LDV group was 107.43 +/- 4.70 mu m, while 125.90 +/- 17.50 mu m in the Hansatome group. The difference between the actual and the expectedfiap thickness was 5.61 +/- 3.84 mu m and 31.52 +/- 12.27 mu m, respectively. The Hansatome group had presented a statistically significant result (P<0.001). Flap morphology showed a more regular planar shape in the Femto LDV group and a meniscus shape in the Hansatome group. CONCLUSION: AS-OCT is a direct and fast procedure to assess the flap morphology. The morphology by AS-OCT showed that the flaps created with Femto LDV femtosecond laser were more accurate and regular than the flaps created with Hansatome microkeratome.

The effects of heat treatment on microfluidic devices fabricated in silica glass by femtosecond lasers

We fabricated complex microfluidic devices in silica glass by water-assisted femtosecond laser ablation and sub- sequent heat treatment. The experimental results show that after heat treatment, the diameter of the microehannels is significantly reduced and the internal surface roughness is improved. The diameters of the fabricated microehannels can be modulated by changing the annealing temperature and the annealing time. During annealing, the temperature affects the diameter and shape of the protrusions in microfluidic devices very strongly, and these changes are mainly caused by uniform expansion and the action of surface tension.

INTRACELLULAR MANIPULATION BY FEMTOSECOND LASERS:REVIEW

Multiphoton absorption of femtosecond laser pulses focused through an objective with high numerical aperture(NA)can be used to image and manipulate cellular and intracellular objects.This review highlights recent advances in intracellular manipulation,including nanosurgery and labeling in living cells with femtosecond lasers.

Comparison of corneal flaps created by Wavelight FS200 and Intralase FS60 femtosecond lasers

AIM：To assess and compare the morphology of corneal flaps created by the Wavelight FS200 and Intralase FS60 femtosecond lasers in laser in situ keratomileusis（LASIK）.METHODS：Four hundred eyes of 200 patients were enrolled in this study and divided into Wavelight FS200 groups（200 eyes） and Intralase FS60 groups（200 eyes）.Fourier-domain optical coherence tomography（RTVue OCT） was used to measure the corneal flap thickness of 36 specified measurements on each flap one week after surgery.Results were used to analyze the regularity,uniformity and accuracy of the two types of LASIK flaps.RESULTS：The mean thickness of corneal flap and central flap was 105.71±4.72 μm and 105.39±4.50 μm in Wavelight FS200 group and 109.78±11.42 μm and 109.15±11.59 μm in Intralase FS60 group,respectively.The flaps made with the Wavelight FS200 femtosecond laser were thinner than those created by the Intralase FS60 femtosecond laser（P=0.000）.Corneal flaps in the 2 groups were uniform and regular,showing an almost planar configuration.But the Wavelight FS200 group has more predictability and uniformity of flap creation.The mean deviation between achieved and attempted flap thickness was smaller in the Wavelight FS200 group than that in the Intralase FS60 group,which were 5.18±3.71 μm and 8.68±7.42 μm respectively.The deviation of more than 20 μm was 0.2% measurements in Wavelight FS200 group and 8.29% measurements in Intralase FS60 group.CONCLUSION：The morphologies of flaps created by Wavelight FS200 are more uniform and thinner than those created by Intralase FS60.

Comparison of visual performance recovery after thin-flap LASIK with 4 femtosecond lasers

AIM：To compare the speed of visual recovery following myopic thin-flap LASIK with four femtosecond lasers.METHODS：Eighty-eight eyes of 46 patients who were consecutively scheduled for bilateral LASIK with the Intra Lase FS60（Group 1）,Femto LDV Crystal Line（Group 2）,Wavelight FS200（Group 3）and Visu Max（Group 4）femtosecond lasers were enrolled in.Monocular uncorrected distance visual acuity（UDVA）,best-corrected distant visual acuity（CDVA）,refraction,contrast sensitivity and higher-order aberrations（HOAs）were evaluated at 1,3d,1wk and 1mo postoperatively.RESULTS：Sixteen eyes（72.7%）achieved 20/16 and 8eyes（36.4%）were 20/12.5 at 1d in Group 2,which was significantly more than other 3 groups.At 1wk,20 eyes（90.9%）achieved 20/16 in Groups 2 and 4.At 1mo,20 eyes（90.9%）achieved 20/16 in Group 2 and Group 4,which were significantly more than other two groups.While by1 mo,the difference of the residual spherical equivalent（SE）was not statistically significant among 4 groups（P=0.121）.The induction of spherical aberration（SA）were significantly less for Groups 2,3,4 than for Group 1 one day after surgery（P=0.015）.The differences among 4groups were not statistically significant before and after surgery on every time points（all P〉0.05）.CONCLUSION：The thin-flap LASIK procedure using the Femto LDV Crystal Line and Visu Max femtosecond laser show faster visual performance recovery.

TRANSFECTION AND CELL FUSION BY FEMTOSECOND LASERS

Biophotonics is an exciting and fast-expanding frontier which involves the fusion of advanced photonics and biology.It has not only created many novel methodologies for biomedical research,but also achieved many significant results as an independentfield.Thanks to femtosecond(fs)laser technologies,important progresses have been made regarding the manipulation,imaging,and engineering of biological samples ranging from single molecules to tissues in the last 20 years.The ultrashort pulses at near-infrared band provide many advantages:high nonlinear efficiency,low absorption by biological samples,high spatial and temporal resolution and confinement,and low phototoxicity.They are noninvasive and easy to control.Although the mechanism of how fs laser pulses interact with cells remains unclear,experimental results have shown that they could open up the cell membrane and hence made optical transfection and optical cell fusion possible.In this review,some of the seminal works on transfection and cell fusion by fs lasers are presented.The ideas behind and the experimental details will be described together with a highlight on their significances.Specifically,the thermal effect is analyzed based on multiphoton excitation and plasma formation in an aqueous environment to explain the nontoxic characteristic of fs laser irradiation.Last,some applications of fs laser induced transfection and cell
cell fusion with potential major impact in biomedical sciences are proposed.

Characterization and application of plasma mirror for ultra-intense femtosecond lasers

The femtosecond laser pulses reflected from the self-induced plasma mirror（PM） surface are characterized. More than two orders of magnitude improvement on intensity contrast both in nanosecond and picosecond temporal scales are measured. The far-field distribution, i.e., focusability, is measured to degrade in comparison with that without using a PM. Experiments on proton accelerations are performed to test the effect of the balance between degraded focusability and increased reflectivity. Our results show that PM is an effective and robust device to improve laser contrast for applications.

Triboelectric‘electrostatic tweezers'for manipulating droplets on lubricated slippery surfaces prepared by femtosecond laser processing

The use of‘Electrostatic tweezers'is a promising tool for droplet manipulation,but it faces many limitations in manipulating droplets on superhydrophobic surfaces.Here,we achieve noncontact and multifunctional droplet manipulation on Nepenthes-inspired lubricated slippery surfaces via triboelectric electrostatic tweezers(TETs).The TET manipulation of droplets on a slippery surface has many advantages over electrostatic droplet manipulation on a superhydrophobic surface.The electrostatic field induces the redistribution of the charges inside the neutral droplet,which causes the triboelectric charged rod to drive the droplet to move forward under the electrostatic force.Positively or negatively charged droplets can also be driven by TET based on electrostatic attraction and repulsion.TET enables us to manipulate droplets under diverse conditions,including anti-gravity climb,suspended droplets,corrosive liquids,low-surface-tension liquids(e.g.ethanol with a surface tension of 22.3 mN·m^(-1)),different droplet volumes(from 100 nl to 0.5 ml),passing through narrow slits,sliding over damaged areas,on various solid substrates,and even droplets in an enclosed system.Various droplet-related applications,such as motion guidance,motion switching,droplet-based microreactions,surface cleaning,surface defogging,liquid sorting,and cell labeling,can be easily achieved with TETs.

High-performance liquid metal electromagnetic actuator fabricated by femtosecond laser

Small-scale electromagnetic soft actuators are characterized by a fast response and simplecontrol,holding prospects in the field of soft and miniaturized robotics.The use of liquid metal(LM)to replace a rigid conductor inside soft actuators can reduce the rigidity and enhance the actuation performance and robustness.Despite research efforts,challenges persist in the flexible fabrication of LM soft actuators and in the improvement of actuation performance.To address these challenges,we developed a fast and robust electromagnetic soft microplate actuator based on a laser-induced selective adhesion transfer method.Equipped with unprecedentedly thin LM circuit and customized low Young’s modulus silicone rubber(1.03 kPa),our actuator exhibits an excellent deformation angle(265.25?)and actuation bending angular velocity(284.66 rad·s^(-1)).Furthermore,multiple actuators have been combined to build an artificial gripper with a wide range of functionalities.Our actuator presents new possibilities for designing small-scaleartificial machines and supports advancements in ultrafast soft and miniaturized robotics.

Femtosecond laser ultrafast photothermal exsolution

Exsolution,as an effective approach to constructing particle-decorated interfaces,is still challenging to yield interfacial films rather than isolated particles.Inspired by in vivo near-infrared laser photothermal therapy,using 3 mol%Y_(2)O_(3)stabilized tetragonal zirconia polycrystals(3Y-TZP)as host oxide matrix and iron-oxide(Fe3O4/γ-Fe_(2)O_(3)/α-Fe_(2)O_(3))materials as photothermal modulator and exsolution resource,femtosecond laser ultrafast exsolution approach is presented enabling to conquer this challenge.The key is to trigger photothermal annealing behavior via femtosecond laser ablation to initialize phase transition from monoclinic zirconia(m-ZrO_(2))to tetragonal zirconia(t-ZrO_(2))and induce t-ZrO_(2)columnar crystal growth.Fe-ions rapidly segregate along grain boundaries and diffuse towards the outmost surface,and become‘frozen’,highlighting the potential to use photothermal materials and ultrafast heating/quenching behaviors of femtosecond laser ablation for interfacial exsolution.Triggering interfacial iron-oxide coloring exsolution is composition and concentration dependent.Photothermal materials themselves and corresponding photothermal transition capacity play a crucial role,initializing at 2 wt%,3 wt%,and 5 wt%for Fe3O4/γ-Fe_(2)O_(3)/α-Fe_(2)O_(3)doped 3Y-TZP samples.Due to different photothermal effects,exsolution states of ablated 5 wt%Fe_(3)O_(4)/γ-Fe_(2)O_(3)/α-Fe_(2)O_(3)-doped 3Y-TZP samples are totally different,with whole coverage,exhaustion(ablated away)and partial exsolution(rich in the grain boundaries in subsurface),respectively.Femtosecond laser ultrafast photothermal exsolution is uniquely featured by up to now the deepest microscale(10μm from 5 wt%-Fe_(3)O_(4)-3Y-TZP sample)Fe-elemental deficient layer for exsolution and the whole coverage of exsolved materials rather than the formation of isolated exsolved particles by other methods.It is believed that this novel exsolution method may pave a good way to modulate interfacial properties for extensive applications in the fields of biology,optics/photonics,energy,catalysis,environment,etc.

Femtosecond laser fabrication of 3D vertically aligned micro-pore network on thick-film Li_(4)Ti_(5)O_(12)electrode for high-performance lithium storage

The development of energy storage devices with high energy density relies heavily on thick film electrodes,but it is challenging due to the limited ion transport kinetics inherent in thick electrodes.Here,we report on the preparation of a directional vertical array of micro-porous transport networks on LTO electrodes using a femtosecond laser processing strategy,enabling directional ion rapid transport and achieving good electrochemical performance in thick film electrodes.Various three-dimensional(3D)vertically aligned micro-pore networks are innovatively designed,and the structure,kinetics characteristics,and electrochemical performance of the prepared ion transport channels are analyzed and discussed by multiple characterization and testing methods.Furthermore,the rational mechanisms of electrode performance improvement are studied experimentally and simulated from two aspects of structural mechanics and transmission kinetics.The ion diffusion coefficient,rate performance at 60 C,and electrode interface area of the laser-optimized 60-15%micro-porous transport network electrodes increase by 25.2 times,2.2 times,and 2.15 times,respectively than those of untreated electrodes.Therefore,the preparation of 3D micro-porous transport networks by femtosecond laser on ultra-thick electrodes is a feasible way to develop high-energy batteries.In addition,the unique micro-porous transport network structure can be widely extended to design and explore other high-performance energy materials.

Effect of sample temperature on femtosecond laser ablation of copper

We conduct an experimental study supported by theoretical analysis of single laser ablating copper to investigate the interactions between laser and material at different sample temperatures,and predict the changes of ablation morphology and lattice temperature.For investigating the effect of sample temperature on femtosecond laser processing,we conduct experiments on and simulate the thermal behavior of femtosecond laser irradiating copper by using a two-temperature model.The simulation results show that both electron peak temperature and the relaxation time needed to reach equilibrium increase as initial sample temperature rises.When the sample temperature rises from 300 K to 600 K,the maximum lattice temperature of the copper surface increases by about 6500 K under femtosecond laser irradiation,and the ablation depth increases by 20%.The simulated ablation depths follow the same general trend as the experimental values.This work provides some theoretical basis and technical support for developing femtosecond laser processing in the field of metal materials.

Self-propelled Leidenfrost droplets on femtosecond-laser-induced surface with periodic hydrophobicity gradient

The controllable transfer of droplets on the surface of objects has a wide application prospect in the fields of microfluidic devices,fog collection and so on.The Leidenfrost effect can be utilized to significantly reduce motion resistance.However,the use of 3D structures limits the widespread application of self-propulsion based on Leidenfrost droplets in microelectromechanical system.To manipulate Leidenfrost droplets,it is necessary to create 2D or quasi-2D geometries.In this study,femtosecond laser is applied to fabricate a surface with periodic hydrophobicity gradient(SPHG),enabling directional self-propulsion of Leidenfrost droplets.Flow field analysis within the Leidenfrost droplets reveals that the vapor layer between the droplets and the hot surface can be modulated by the SPHG,resulting in directional propulsion of the inner gas.The viscous force between the gas and liquid then drives the droplet to move.

High performance micromachining of sapphire by laser induced plasma assisted ablation(LIPAA)using GHz burst mode femtosecond pulses

GHz burst-mode femtosecond(fs)laser,which emits a series of pulse trains with extremely short intervals of several hundred picoseconds,provides distinct characteristics in materials processing as compared with the conventional irradiation scheme of fs laser(single-pulse mode).In this paper,we take advantage of the moderate pulse interval of 205 ps(4.88 GHz)in the burst pulse for high-quality and high-efficiency micromachining of single crystalline sapphire by laser induced plasma assisted ablation(LIPAA).Specifically,the preceding pulses in the burst generate plasma by ablation of copper placed behind the sapphire substrate,which interacts with the subsequent pulses to induce ablation at the rear surface of sapphire substrates.As a result,not only the ablation quality but also the ablation efficiency and the fabrication resolution are greatly improved compared to the other schemes including single-pulse mode fs laser direct ablation,single-pulse mode fs-LIPAA,and nanosecond-LIPAA.

Evaluation of the Clinical Efficacy of Full Femtosecond Laser Surgery in the Treatment of Myopia

Objective:To evaluate the clinical effect of full femtosecond laser surgery in the treatment of myopia patients.Methods:120 myopia patients admitted to our hospital from January 2022 to June 2023 were selected.According to the random number table method,60 patients in the observation group underwent full femtosecond laser surgery,and 60 patients in the control group underwent femtosecond laser-assisted in situ keratomileusis(FS-LASIK)surgery.The clinical effects of the two groups were compared.Results:10 days postoperatively and 6 months after operation,the visual acuity level of the observation group was higher than that of the control group,the postoperative corneal asphericity coefficient and corneal full-thickness were lower than those of the control group,and the total effective rate 6 months after operation was higher than that of the control group(P<0.05).Conclusion:Full femtosecond laser surgical treatment can improve the postoperative visual acuity of patients with myopia,enhance the corneal asphericity coefficient(Q)and corneal full-thickness,and exert significant clinical effects.

Human lens epithelial cell apoptosis and epithelial to mesenchymal transition in femtosecond laser-assisted cataract surgery

AIM： To evaluate human lens epithelium cell apoptosis and epithelial to mesenchymal transition （EMT） induced by femtosecond laser in femtosecond laser assisted cataract surgery （FLACS）. METHODS： Sixty cataract patients with N2 to N3 stage according to the LOCS III were enrolled in this study and divided into three groups randomly： FLACSl group （cataract surgery by FLACS with LenSx）, FLACS2 group （cataract surgery by FLACS with LensAR） and manual group （cataract surgery by phacoemulsification）. Patients in two FLACS groups performed anterior capsulotomy by LenSx or LensAR laser system. Patients in the manual group were performed continuous curvilinear capsulorrhexis （CCC） manually. The anterior capsules were fixed right after moved out of eye. Hematoxylin-eosine staining, immunofluorescence staining and real-time PCR were performed in order to observe human lens epithelium cells changes after cataract surgery. RESULTS： The capsule cutting edge was shown irregularity and roughness in two FLACS groups and smooth edge in manual capsulotomy by pathologic staining. Irregularities of the cell configuration with partly swollen and destroyed nuclei were observed in two FLACS groups. Femtosecond laser could induce a significantly higher cell apoptosis in human lens epithelium cell than manually performed CCC （P〈0.05）. Lens epithelium cells apoptosis were correlated with femtosecond laser duration according to Pearson correlation analysis. Decreased N-cadherin expression, alpha-SMA and FSP-1 level in two FLACS groups showed the inhibition of cell EMT. CONCLUSION： Femtosecond laser may affect the apoptosis and EMT of lens epithelium cells which are under the peeled central lens capsule.

Nuclear fusion from Coulomb explosions of deuterated methane clusters subjected to ultraintense femtosecond laser pulses

This paper reports that Coulomb explosions taken place in the experiment of heteronuclear deuterated methane clusters （（CD4）n） in a gas jet subjected to intense femtoseeond laser pulses （170 mJ, 70 fs） have led to table-top laser driven DD nuclear fusion. The clusters produced in supersonic expansion had an average size of about 5 nm in radius and the laser intensity used was 3 × 10^17 W/cm^2.The measured maximum and average energies of deuterons produced in the laser-cluster interaction were 60 and 13.5 keV, respectively. Prom DD collisions of energetic deuterons, a yield of 2.5（±0.4） × 10^4 fusion neutrons of 2.45 MeV per shot was realized, giving rise to a neutron production efficiency of about 1.5 × 10^5 per joule of incident laser pulse energy. Theoretical calculations were performed and a fairly good agreement of the calculated neutron yield with that obtained from the present experiment was found.

Measurement of spatiotemporal characteristics of femtosecond laser pulses by a modified single-shot autocorrelation

To overcome the shortcomings of the single-shot autocorrelation SSA where only one pulse width is obtained when the SSA is applied to measure the pulse width of ultrashort laser pulses a modified SSA for measuring the spatiotemporal characteristics of ultrashort laser pulses at different spatial positions is proposed. The spatiotemporal characteristics of femtosecond laser pulses output from the Ti sapphire regenerative amplifier system are experimentally measured by the proposed method. It was found that the complex spatial characteristics are measured accurately.The pulse widths at different spatial positions are various which obey the Gaussian distribution.The pulse width at the same spatial position becomes narrow with the increase in input average power when femtosecond laser pulses pass through a carbon disulfide CS2 nonlinear medium.The experimental results verify that the proposed method is valid for measuring the spatiotemporal characteristics of ultrashort laser pulses at different spatial positions.

Fourier Spectrometer based on Wide-range and Phase-locked Michelson Interferometer with Femtosecond Laser Excitation

A wide-range and phase-locked Michelson interferometer technique is described. This technique combined with femtosecond laser is used to measure the spectrum of the rare-earth ion Nd：YVO4, which presents very high signal to noise ratio of interferometric intensity output and higher spectral resolution than traditional grating spectrophotometer.