Influence of the Processing Conditions on the Characteristics of the Clad Layers Produced with Laminar Plasma Technology

Laminar plasma technology was used to produce ceramic hardened layers of Al2O3-40% mass Ni composite powders on stainless steel substrates. In order to investigate the influences of processing conditions on the morphologies of the surface modified layers, two different powder-feeding methods were tested, one with carrier gas called the powder injection method, and the other without carrier gas called powder transfers method. The microscopic investigations demonstrate that the cross-section of the clad layers consists of two distinct microstructural regions, in which the Al2O3 phases exhibit different growth mechanisms. When the powder transfers method is adopted, the number density and volume fraction of the Al2O3 particles increase considerably and their distributions exhibit zonal periodical characteristics. When the powder-feeding rate increases, the microstructure of the Al2O3 phases changes from a small globular to a long needle shape. Finite element simulations show that the transient thermo-physical features of the pool substances, such as solidification rate and cooling rate, influence strongly the mechanisms of the nucleation and the directional growth of the Al2O3 phases in the thermal processing.

Temperature Dependence of the Tribological Properties of Laser Re-Melted Al-Cu-Fe Quasicrystalline Plasma Sprayed Coatings

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of temperature on tribological properties of plasma-sprayed Al-Cu-Fe quasicrystal (QC) coating after laser re-melting treatment. The laser treatment resulted in a more uniform, denser and harder microstructure than that of the as-sprayed coatings. Tribological experiments on the coatings were conducted under reciprocating motion at high frequency in the temperature range from 25 to 650 degreesC. Remarkable influence of temperature on the friction behavior of the coating was recorded and analyzed. Microstructural analysis indicated that the wear mechanisms of the re-melted QC coatings changed from abrasive wear at room temperature, to adhesive wear at 400 degreesC and severe adhesive wear at 650 degreesC owing to the material transfer of the counterpart ball. It was also observed that the ratio of the icosahedral (i)-phase to beta-Al-50(Fe,CU)(50) phase in the coating was higher after test at 400 'C than that at 650 'C. The variation of the ratio UP of coating and of the property of the counterpart ball and coating with the temperature are the two main factors influencing the wear mechanisms and value of the friction coefficient.

Novel Fe70Zr10Ni6Al4Si6B4 thick metallic glass coating produced by laser cladding

A novel multicomponent thick metallic glass coating has been synthesised by laser cladding. The maximum coating thickness was I mm. The clad cooling rate restrained the epitaxial growth of dendrites in the metallic glass coating. The metallic glass had high glass forming ability with a wide supercooled liquid region ranging from 59 to 70 K. The metallic glass coating also revealed high hardness and good corrosion resistance.

Laser intensity effects in photoemission and photoelectron spectra produced in laser-induced autoionisation

Strong laser-field-induced autoionisation in the presence of both photoionising and radiative decay of the autoionising state (AS) is investigated, focusing on the laser intensity dependence of the photoemission and photoelectron spectra. In contrast to previous predictions, power broadening and increasing reduction of the doublet peak heights with field strength are found in the photoemission spectrum. Similar effects leading to considerable suppression and even complete disappearance of the lowest-order peaks in the photoelectron spectrum, together with peak switching, are also demonstrated, which are closely related to above-threshold ionisation. In addition, it is suggested that the total number of energetic photoelectrons may serve as an alternative to measuring the atomic parameters of the AS. All these effects are attributed to the presence of the strong `probe': laser-induced decay of the AS.

Time and space-resolved measurement of a gas-puff laser-plasma x-ray source

The dynamic interaction processes between a nano-second laser pulse and a gas-puff target, such as those of plasma formation, laser heating, and x-ray emission, have been investigated quantitatively. Time and space-resolved x-ray and optical measurement techniques were used in order to investigate time-resolved laser absorption and subsequent x-ray generation. Efficient absorption of the incident laser energy into the gas-puff target of 17%, 12%, 38%, and 91% for neon, argon, krypton, and xenon, respectively, was shown experimentally. It was found that the laser absorption starts and, simultaneously, soft x-ray emission occurs. The soft x-ray lasts much longer than the laser pulse due to the recombination. Temporal evolution of the soft x-ray emission region was analyzed by comparing the experimental results to the results of the model calculation, in which the laser light propagation through a gas-puff plasma was taken into account. (C) 2003 American Institute of Physics.

Electron acceleration by an intense short-pulse laser in underdense plasma

Electron acceleration from the interaction of an intense short-pulse laser with low density plasma is considered. The relation between direct electron acceleration within the laser pulse and that in the wake is investigated analytically. The magnitude and location of the ponderomotive-force-caused charge separation field with respect to that of the pulse determine the relative effectiveness of the two acceleration mechanisms. It is shown that there is an optimum condition for acceleration in the wake. Electron acceleration within the pulse dominates as the pulse becomes sufficiently short, and the latter directly drives and even traps the electrons. The latter can reach ultrahigh energies and can be extracted by impinging the pulse on a solid target. (C) 2003 American Institute of Physics.

Interactions of a femtosecond intense laser with rare gas clusters in a dense jet\

A study on the interactions of high intensity (similar to 10(16) W/cm(2)) femtosecond laser pulses with rare gas clusters in a dense jet is performed. Energy absorption by Ar and Xe clusters is measured and it can be as high as 90%. Very energetic ions produced in the laser interaction with a dense cluster jet are detected by time-of-flight spectrometry and the maximum ion energy of Xe is up to 1.3 MeV. The average ion energies are found to increase with increasing cluster size and get saturated gradually. The average ion energies also show a strong directionality and the average ion energy in the direction parallel to the laser polarization vector is 40% higher than that perpendicular to it. The findings are discussed in terms of a model of charge-dependent ion acceleration.

A plasma channel scheme for the interaction of an intense femtosecond laser pulse with a deuterium cluster jet

We propose a plasma channel scheme to obtain an improved table-top laser driven fusion neutron yield as a result of explosions of large deuterium clusters irradiated by an intense laser pulse. A cylindrical plasma channel is created by two moderate intensity laser prepulses at the edge of a deuterium cluster jet along which an intense main laser pulse propagates several nanoseconds later. With the aid of this plasma channel, the main laser pulse will be allowed to deposit its energy into the central region of the deuterium gas jet where the cluster sizes are larger and the atomic density is higher. The plasma channel formation and its impact on the deuterium ion energy spectrum and the consequent fusion neutron yield have been investigated. The calculated results show that a remarkable increase of the table-top laser driven fusion neutron yield would be expected.

Characterization of a multi-keV x-ray source produced by nanosecond laser irradiation of a solid target: The influence of laser focus spot and target thickness

The influence of focus spot and target thickness on multi-keV x-ray sources generated by 2 ns duration laser heated solid targets are investigated on the Shenguang II laser facility. In the case of thick-foil targets, the experimental data and theoretical analysis show that the emission volume of the x-ray sources is sensitive to the laser focus spot and proportional to the 3 power of the focus spot size. The steady x-ray flux is proportional to the 5/3 power of the focus spot size of the given laser beam in our experimental condition. In the case of thin-foil targets, experimental data show that there is an optimal foil thickness corresponding to the given laser parameters. With the given laser beam, the optimal thin-foil thickness is proportional to the -2/3 power of the focus spot size, and the optimal x-ray energy of thin foil is independent of focus spot size. (C) 2008 American Institute of Physics.

Relativistic channel-coupling focusing enhanced nonlinear guiding of an intense laser beam in a plasma channel

We employ the variational method to study the optical guiding of an intense laser beam in a preformed plasma channel without using the weakly relativistic approximation. Apart from the dependence on the laser power and the nonlinear channel strength parameter, the beam focusing properties is shown also to be governed by the laser intensity. Relativistic channel-coupling focusing, arising from the coupling between relativistic self-focusing and linear channel focusing, can enhance relativistic self-focusing but its strength is weaker than that of linear channel focusing. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Generation of plasma intrinsic oscillation at the front surface of a target irradiated by a circularly polarized laser pulse

In laser-target interaction, the effects of laser intensity on plasma oscillation at the front surface of targets have been investigated by one-dimensional particle in cell simulations. The periodical oscillations of the ion density and electrostatic field at the front surface of the targets are reported for the first time, which is considered as an intrinsic property of the target excited by the laser. The oscillation period depends only on initial plasma density and is irrelevant with laser intensity. Flattop structures with curves in ion phase space are found with a more intense laser pulse due to the larger amplitude variation of the electrostatic field. A simple but valid model is proposed to interpret the curves.

Electron self-injection and acceleration driven by a tightly focused intense laser beam in an underdense plasma

A scheme for electron self-injection in the laser wakefield acceleration is proposed. In this scheme, the transverse wave breaking of the wakefield and the tightly focused geometry of the laser beam play important roles. A large number of the background electrons are self-injected into the acceleration phase of the wakefield during the defocusing of the tightly focused laser beam as it propagates through an underdense plasma. Particle-in-cell simulations performed using a 2D3V code have shown generation of a collimated electron bunch with a total number of 1.4 x 109 and energies up to 8 MeV. (C) 2005 American Institute of Physics.

Short-pulse laser absorption in very steep plasma density gradients

An analytical fluid model for resonance absorption during the oblique incidence by femtosecond laser pulses on a small-scale-length density plasma [k(0)L is an element of(0.1,10)] is proposed. The physics of resonance absorption is analyzed more clearly as we separate the electric field into an electromagnetic part and an electrostatic part. It is found that the characteristics of the physical quantities (fractional absorption, optimum angle, etc.) in a small-scale-length plasma are quite different from the predictions of classical theory. Absorption processes are generally dependent on the density scale length. For shorter scale length or higher laser intensity, vacuum heating tends to be dominant. It is shown that the electrons being pulled out and then returned to the plasma at the interface layer by the wave field can lead to a phenomenon like wave breaking. This can lead to heating of the plasma at the expanse of the wave energy. It is found that the optimum angle is independent of the laser intensity while the absorption rate increases with the laser intensity, and the absorption rate can reach as high as 25%. (c) 2006 American Institute of Physics.

Transverse evolution of a plasma channel in air induced by a femtosecond laser

We investigate the evolution of filamentation in air by using a longitudinal diffraction method and a plasma fluorescence imaging technique. The diameter of a single filament in which the intensity is clamped increases as the energy of the pump light pulse increases, until multiple filaments appear. (c) 2006 Optical Society of America.

Standing electron plasma wave mechanism of void array formation inside glass by femtosecond laser irradiation

We investigate the mechanism of formation of periodic void arrays inside fused silica and BK7 glass irradiated by a tightly focused femtosecond (fs) laser beam. Our results show that the period of each void array is not uniform along the laser propagation direction, and the average period of the void array decreases with increasing pulse number and pulse energy. We propose a mechanism in which a standing electron plasma wave created by the interference of a fs-laser-driven electron wave and its reflected wave is responsible for the formation of the periodic void arrays.