Time Resolved Shadowgraph Images of Silicon during Laser Ablation: Shockwaves and Particle Generation

Laser Ablation Plasmas and Spectroscopy for Nuclear Applications

The development of measurement methodologies to detect and monitor nuclear-relevant materials remains a consistent and significant interest across the nuclear energy, nonproliferation, safeguards, and forensics communities. Optical spectroscopy of laser-produced plasmas is becoming an increasingly popular diagnostic technique to measure radiological and nuclear materials in the field without sample preparation, where current capabilities encompass the standoff, isotopically resolved and phase-identifiable (e.g., UO and UO2 ) detection of elements across the periodic table. These methods rely on the process of laser ablation (LA), where a high-powered pulsed laser is used to excite a sample (solid, liquid, or gas) into a luminous microplasma that rapidly undergoes de-excitation through the emission of electromagnetic radiation, which serves as a spectroscopic fingerprint for that sample. This review focuses on LA plasmas and spectroscopy for nuclear applications, covering topics from the wide-area environmental sampling and atmospheric sensing of radionuclides to recent implementations of multivariate machine learning methods that work to enable the real-time analysis of spectrochemical measurements with an emphasis on fundamental research and development activities over the past two decades. Background on the physical breakdown mechanisms and interactions of matter with nanosecond and ultrafast laser pulses that lead to the generation of laser-produced microplasmas is provided, followed by a description of the transient spatiotemporal plasma conditions that control the behavior of spectroscopic signatures recorded by analytical methods in atomic and molecular spectroscopy. High-temperature chemical and thermodynamic processes governing reactive LA plasmas are also examined alongside investigations into the condensation pathways of the plasma, which are believed to serve as chemical surrogates for fallout particles formed in nuclear fireballs. Laser-supported absorption waves and laser-induced shockwaves that accompany LA plasmas are also discussed, which could provide insights into atmospheric ionization phenomena from strong shocks following nuclear detonations. Furthermore, the standoff detection of trace radioactive aerosols and fission gases is reviewed in the context of monitoring atmospheric radiation plumes and off-gas streams of molten salt reactors. Finally, concluding remarks will present future outlooks on the role of LA plasma spectroscopy in the nuclear community.

A comprehensive review and outlook on the experimental techniques to investigate the complex dynamics of pulsed laser ablation in liquid for nanoparticle synthesis

Pulsed laser ablation in liquid (PLAL) has been established as one of the most efficient and impactful methods for producing pure and ligand-free nanoparticles (NPs). PLAL has successfully been utilized for the synthesis of metal NPs, semiconductor NPs, ceramic NPs, and even nanocomposites. A variety of NPs, including core-shell, nanocubes, nanorods, and many other complex structures, can be synthesized using PLAL. The versatility associated with PLAL has led to the synthesis of NPs that have found applications in the field of biomedicine, sensing technology, energy harvesting, and various industries. Despite all the aforementioned advantages, there has been an ambiguity in terms of conditions/parameters for the nanoparticle synthesis as reported by various research groups. This has led to a perception that PLAL provides little or no control over the properties of the synthesized NPs. The properties of the NPs are reliant on transient dynamics caused due to a high-intensity laser's interaction with the target material. To understand the process of nanoparticle synthesis and to control the properties of NPs, it is critical to understand the various processes that occur during PLAL. The investigation of PLAL is essential for understanding the dynamical processes involved. However, the investigation techniques employed to probe PLAL present their own set of difficulties, as high temporal as well as spatial resolution is a prerequisite to probe PLAL. Hence, the purpose of this Review is to understand the dynamical processes of PLAL and gain an insight into the various investigation techniques and their data interpretation. In addition to the current challenges, some ways of overcoming these challenges are also presented. The benefits of concurrent investigations with special emphasis on the simultaneous investigation by multiple techniques are summarized, and furthermore, a few examples are also provided to help the readers understand how the simultaneous investigation works.

Application of time-resolved shadowgraph imaging and computer analysis to study micrometer-scale response of superfluid helium

Application of inexpensive light emitting diodes as backlight sources for time-resolved shadowgraph imaging is demonstrated. The two light sources tested are able to produce light pulse sequences in the nanosecond and microsecond time regimes. After determining their time response characteristics, the diodes were applied to study the gas bubble formation around laser-heated copper nanoparticles in superfluid helium at 1.7 K and to determine the local cavitation bubble dynamics around fast moving metal micro-particles in the liquid. A convolutional neural network algorithm for analyzing the shadowgraph images by a computer is presented and the method is validated against the results from manual image analysis. The second application employed the red-green-blue light emitting diode source that produces light pulse sequences of the individual colors such that three separate shadowgraph frames can be recorded onto the color pixels of a charge-coupled device camera. Such an image sequence can be used to determine the moving object geometry, local velocity, and acceleration/deceleration. These data can be used to calculate, for example, the instantaneous Reynolds number for the liquid flow around the particle. Although specifically demonstrated for superfluid helium, the technique can be used to study the dynamic response of any medium that exhibits spatial variations in the index of refraction.

Transition of Femtosecond-Filament-Solid Interactions from Single to Multiple Filament Regime

High-peak-power fs-laser filaments offer unique characteristics attractive to remote sensing via techniques such as remote laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (R-LIBS). The dynamics of several ablation mechanisms following the interaction between a filament and a solid determines the emission strength and reproducibility of target plasma, which is of relevance for R-LIBS applications. We investigate the space- and time-resolved dynamics of ionic and atomic emission from copper as well as the surrounding atmosphere in order to understand limitations of fs-filament-ablation for standoff energy delivery. Furthermore, we probe the shock front produced from filament-target interaction using time-resolved shadowgraphy and infer laser-material coupling efficiencies for both single and multiple filament regimes through analysis of shock expansion with the Sedov model for point detonation. The results provide insight into plasma structure for the range of peak powers up to 30 times the critical power for filamentation P cr . Despite the stochastic nucleation of multiple filaments at peak-powers greater than 16 P cr , emission of ionic and neutral species increases with pump beam intensity, and short-lived nitrogen emission originating from the ambient is consistently observed. Ultimately, results suggest favorable scaling of emission intensity from target species on the laser pump energy, furthering the prospects for use of filament-solid interactions for remote sensing.

Effect of pulse to pulse interactions on ultra-short pulse laser drilling of steel with repetition rates up to 10 MHz

We report on the effect of pulse to pulse interactions during percussion drilling of steel using high power ps-laser radiation with repetition rates of up to 10 MHz and high average powers up to 80 W. The ablation rate per pulse is measured as a function of the pulse repetition rate for four fluences ranging from 500 mJ/cm2 up to 1500 mJ/cm2. For every investigated fluence an abrupt increase of the ablation rate per pulse is observed at a distinctive repetition rate. The onset repetition rate for this effect is strongly dependent on the applied pulse fluence. The origin of the increase of the ablation rate is attributed to the emergence of a melt based ablation processes, as Laser Scanning Microscopy (LSM) images show the occurrence of melt ejected material surrounding the drilling holes. A semi empirical model based on classical heat conduction including heat accumulation as well as pulse-particle interactions is applied to enable quantitative conclusions on the origin of the observed data. In agreement with previous studies, the acquired data confirm the relevance of these two effects for the fundamental description of materials processing with ultra-short pulsed laser radiation at high repetition rates and high average power.