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.

Theoretical study and optimization of a high power mid-infrared erbium-doped ZBLAN fibre laser

Based on the rate equations describing the erbium-doped fluoride glass （ZBLAN） fibre lasers with different pumping configurations being taken into account, this paper presents theoretical calculations related to the dynamic population density and the operation performance of a high power mid-infrared all-fibre erbium-doped ZBLAN fibre laser. It shows that the ground-state absorption, excited-state absorption and energy-transfer-upconversion processes co-exist and produce a population balance, causing the laser to operate stably at a continuous wave state. A good agreement between the theoretical results and recent experimental measurement is obtained. Furthermore, the laser structure parameters including fibre length, reflectance of output fibre Bragg grating and pumping configurations are quantitatively optimised to achieve the best performance. The results show, as expected, that the slope efficiency of the fibre laser can be improved significantly through optimisation, which then provides an important guide for the design of high-performance mid-infrared erbium-doped ZBLAN fibre lasers.

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.

High performance GaSb based digital-grown InGaSb/AlGaAsSb mid-infrared lasers and bars

InGaSb/AlGaAsSb double-quantum-well diode lasers emitting around 2 μm are demonstrated. The AlGaAsSb barriers of the lasers are grown with digital alloy techniques consisting of binary AlSb/AlAs/GaSb short-period pairs. Peak power conversion efficiency of 26% and an efficiency higher than 16% at 1 W are achieved at continuous-wave operation for a 2-mm-long and 100-μm-wide stripe laser. The maximum output power of a single emitter reaches to 1.4 W at 7 A.19-emitter bars with maximum efficiency higher than 20% and maximum power of 16 W are fabricated. Lasers with the short-period-pair barriers are proved to have improved temperature properties and wavelength stabilities. The characteristic temperature(T_0) is up to 140?C near room temperature(25–55?C).

A novel 2-μm pulsed fiber laser based on a supercontinuum source and its application to mid-infrared supercontinuum generation

A new method to achieve 2-μm pulsed fiber lasers based on a supercontinuum （SC） is demonstrated. The incident pump light is a pulsed SC which contains a pump light and a signal light at the same time. The initial signal of the seed laser is provided by the incident pump light and amplified in the cavity. Based on this, we obtain a 2-μm pulsed laser with pulse repetition rate of 50 kHz and pulse width of 2 ns from the Tm-doped fiber laser. This 2-μm pulsed laser is amplified by two stages of fiber amplifiers, then the amplified laser is used for mid-infrared （mid-IR） SC generation in a 10-m length of ZrF4-BaF2-LaF3-AIF3-NaF （ZBLAN） fiber. An all-fiber-integrated mid-IR SC with spectrum ranging from 1.8 ~tm to 4.3 μm is achieved. The maximal average output power of the mid-IR SC from the ZBLAN fiber is 1.24 W （average output power beyond 2.5 μm is 340 mW）, corresponding to an output efficiency of 6.6% with respect to the 790-nm pump power.

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.

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.

Laser Wakefield Acceleration Using Mid-Infrared Laser Pulses

We study a laser wakefield acceleration driven by mid-infrared （mid-IR） laser pulses through two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations. Since a mid-IR laser pulse can deliver a larger ponderomotive force as compared with the usual 0.8 μm wavelength laser pulse, it is found that electron self-injection into the wake wave occurs at an earlier time, the plasma density threshold for injection becomes lower, and the electron beam charge is substantially enhanced. Meanwhile, our study also shows that quasimonoenergetic electron beams with a narrow energy-spread can be generated by using mid-IR laser pulses. Such a mid-IR laser pulse can provide a feasible method for obtaining a high quality and high charge electron beam. Therefore, the current efforts on constructing mid-IR terawatt laser systems can greatly benefit the laser wakefield acceleration research.

Experimental and numerical investigation of mid-infrared laser in Pr^(3+)-doped chalcogenide fiber

We report on a chalcogenide glass fiber doped with Pr^(3+) that can be used for commercialized 1.5-μm and 2-μm laser excitations by emitting broadband 3 μm–5.5 μm fluorescence, which is extruded into a preform and then drawn into a step-index fiber. The spectroscopic properties of the fiber and glass are reported, and the mid-infrared fiber lasers are also numerically investigated. Cascade lasing is employed to increase the inversion population of the upper laser level. The particle swarm approach is applied to optimize the fiber laser parameters. The output power can reach 1.28 W at 4.89-μm wavelength, with a pump power of 5 W, excitation wavelength at 2.04 μm, Pr^(3+) ion concentration at 4.22 × 10^(25) ions/m^3,fiber length at 0.94 m, and fiber background loss at 3 dB/m.

Fiber laser pumped burst-mode operated picosecond mid-infrared laser

We demonstrate a compact periodically poled MgO-doped lithium niobate（MgO：PPLN）-based optical parametric oscillator（OPO） quasi-synchronously pumped by a fiber laser system with burst-mode operation.The pump source is a peak-power-selectable pulse-multiplied picosecond Yb fiber laser.The chirped pulses from a figure of eight-cavity modelocked fiber laser seed are narrowed to a duration of less than 50 ps using an FBG reflector and a circulator.The narrowed pulses are directed to pass through a pulse multiplier and to form pulse bunches,each of which is composed of 13 subpulses.The obtained pulse bunches are amplified by two-stage fiber pre-amplifiers：one-stage is core-pumped and the other is cladding-pumped.A fiberized acousto-optic modulator is inserted to control the pulse repetition rate（PRR） of the pulse bunches before they are power-amplified in the final amplifier stage with a large mode area（LMA） PM Yb-doped fiber.The maximum average powers from the final amplifier are 85 W,60 W,and 45 W,respectively,corresponding to the PRR of2.72 MHz,1.36 MHz,and 0.68 MHz.The amplified pulses are directed to pump an MgO：PPLN-based optical parametric oscillator（OPO）.A maximum peak power at 3.45 μm is obtained approximately to be 8.4 kW.Detailed performance characteristics are presented.

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.

Mid-infrared lightly Er^(3+)-doped CaF_(2)laser under acousto–optical modulation

A 1.7-at.%Er:CaF_(2)crystal was synthesized by temperature gradient method.The Er:CaF_(2)crystal was applied in acousto-optically Q-switched laser at mid-infrared region for the first time.Using a Te O_(2)-based crystal as Q-switcher,we obtained a laser diode(LD)end-pumped Er:CaF_(2)laser with the highest single pulse energy up to 0.49 mJ and maximum peak power of 0.56 kW under 6.34-W absorbed pump power.The implication of these results is that the low-doped Er:CaF_(2)crystal exhibits promising optical properties in solid-state lasers.

LESS-INVASIVE LASER THERAPY AND DIAGNOSIS USING A TABLETOP MID-INFRARED TUNABLE LASER

Since numerous characteristic absorption lines caused by molecular vibration exist in the midinfrared(MIR)wavelength region,selective excitation or selective dissociation of molecules is possible by tuning the laser wavelength to the characteristic absorption lines of target molecules.By applying this feature to the medical fields,less-invasive treatment and non-destructive diagnosis with absorption spectroscopy are possible using tunable MIR lasers.A high-energy nanosecond pulsed MIR tunable laser was obtained with difference-frequency generation(DFG)between a Nd:YAG and a tunable Cr:forsterite lasers.The MIR-DFG laser was tunable in a wavelength range of 5.5–10μm and generated laser pulses with energy of up to 1.4mJ,a pulse width of 5 ns,and a pulse repetition rate of 10 Hz.Selective removal of atherosclerotic lesion was successfully demonstrated with the MIR-DFG laser tuned at a wavelength of 5.75μm,which corresponds to the characteristic absorption of the ester bond in cholesterol esters in the atherosclerotic lesions.We have developed a non-destructive diagnostic probe with an attenuated total reflection(ATR)prism and two hollow optical fibers.An absorption spectrum of cholesterol was measured with the ATR probe by scanning the wavelength of the MIR-DFG laser,and the spectrum was in good agreement with that measured with a commercial Fourier transform infrared spectrometer.

Guest Editorial Special Issue on Mid-Infrared Lasers and Applications

Mid-infrared （mid-IR） lasers, generally defined as having an operation wavelength in the spectral region of 2μm to 20μm, have attracted great scientific and technological interests owing to their widespread applications. This wavelength range not only contains some strong vibration transitions of many important molecules, thus, exhibiting enormous potential in medical, spectroscopy.

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.

Recent Progresses on Passively Switched Mid-Infrared Fiber Lasers at 3 μm

We present the recent research progress of our group on mid-infrared pulsed fiber lasers at 3μm by passive switching. Three different kinds of saturable absorbers including semiconductor saturable absorber （SESAM）, Fe2＋：ZnSe crystal, topological insulator （TI） were used to perform the pulse generation, respectively. The temporal regimes of mode locking, Q-switching and Q-switching induced gain switching were gained. Some relative discussions and prospective efforts are proposed at the end of this paper.

Generation of broadly tunable picosecond mid-infrared laser and sensitive detection of a mid-infrared signal by parametric frequency up-conversion in MgO:LiNbO_3 optical parametric amplifiers

Picosecond optical parametric generation and amplification in the near-infrared region within 1.361-1.656 μm and the mid-infrared region within 2.976-4.875 μm is constructed on the basis of bulk MgO：LiNbO 3 crystals pumped at 1.064 μm.The maximum pulse energy reaches 1.3 mJ at 1.464 μm and 0.47 mJ at 3.894 μm,corresponding to a pumpto-idler photon conversion efficiency of 25%.By seeding the hard-to-measure mid-infrared radiation as the idler in the optical parametric amplification and measuring the amplified and frequency up-converted signal in the near-infrared or even visible region,one can measure very week mid-infrared radiation with ordinary detectors,which are insensitive to mid-infrared radiation,with a very high gain.A maximum gain factor of about 7 脳 10 7 is achieved at the mid-infrared wavelength of 3.374 μm and the corresponding energy detection limit is as low as about 390 aJ per pulse.

Linearly Polarized Polarization-Maintaining Er^(3+)-Doped Fluoride Fiber Laser in the Mid-Infrared

We demonstrated the~2.8-μm and~3.5-μm linearly polarized continuous wave(CW)laser outputs from a polarization-maintaining(PM)Er^(3+)-doped fluoride fiber laser.By introducing a film polarizer into the cavity to select the laser polarization orientation,the~2.8-μm linearly polarized CW laser with a high polarization extinction ratio(PER)of~23 dB and maximum output power of 2.37 W was achieved under double-end pumping at 976 nm.By adding another 1981-nm pump source simultaneously,the~3.5-μm linearly polarized CW laser was also obtained,giving higher PER of~27 dB and maximum output power of 307 mW which is only limited by the available power of 1981-nm pump.To the best of our knowledge,this is the first report on a mid-infrared linearly polarized CW PM fiber laser in the>2.5-μm mid-infrared region.This work not only opens up opportunities for some new mid-infrared applications,but also provides a promising platform for developing high-stability and versatile mid-infrared laser sources.