Characteristics of plasma induced by interaction of a free-oscillated laser pulse with a coal target in air and combustible gas

Plasma in the air is successfully induced by a free-oscillated Nd:YAG laser pulse with a peak power of 10(2-3) W. The initial free electrons for the cascade breakdown process are from the ablated particles from the surface of a heated coal target, likewise induced by the focused laser beam. The laser field compensates the energy loss of the plasma when the corresponding temperature and the images are investigated by fitting the experimental spectra of B-2 Sigma(+) -> X-2 Sigma(+) band of CN radicals in the plasma with the simulated spectra and a 4-frame CCD camera. The electron density is estimated using a simplified Kramer formula. As this interaction occurs in a gas mixture of hydrogen and oxygen, the formation and development of the plasma are weakened or restrained due to the chaining branch reaction in which the OH radicals are accumulated and the laser energy is consumed. Moreover, this laser ignition will initiate the combustion or explosion process of combustible gas and the minimum ignition energy is measured at different initial pressures. The differences in the experimental results compared to those induced by a nanosecond Q-switched laser pulse with a peak power of 10(6-8) W are also discussed. (C) 2009 Professor T. Nejat Veziroglu. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Selecting ionization path by dynamic stark shift with strong laser pulse

Multiphoton ionization of NO via intermediate Rydberg states with ultra-short laser pulses is investigated with time-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy in combination with fermosecond pump-probe technology. The Rydberg states of NO, which are characterized by obvious ac-Stark shift in ultra-strong laser field, can be tuned in resonance to ionize NO molecule at one's will with identical laser pulses, i.e., one can 'select' resonance path to ionization. The results shown in this Letter demonstrate that the states holding notable dynamic Stark shift provide us another dimension to chemical control with strong laser field. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Autler-townes splitting in the multiphoton resonance ionization spectrum of molecules produced by ultrashort laser pulses

We report for the first time the proper conditions to observe Autler-Townes splitting (ac-Stark splitting) from vibrationally coherent states belonging to the different electronic terms of a diatomic molecule. Wave packet dynamics simulations demonstrate that such a process is feasible by multiphoton resonance ionization of the molecule Na-2 with a single ultrashort intense laser pulse. With the ultrahigh time resolution of a femtosecond laser pulse, one can directly measure the absolute value of the transition dipole moment between any kinds of molecular states by this kind of Autler-Townes splitting, which is a function of the internuclear distance R.