IMR: Development of an Amplified Ultrafast Laser System with Time-Resolved Electron Diffraction

IMR：开发具有时间分辨电子衍射的放大超快激光系统

• 批准号: 0415187
• 负责人: David Cahill
• 金额: $ 30.52万
• 依托单位: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2004
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2004-08-01 至 2006-07-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0415187&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: IMR; Development; Amplified; Ultrafast; Laser

The PIs will purchase a commercial, ultrafast laser system that will be used together with an apparatus for time-resolved electron diffraction studies of fast materials processes. The apparatus for time-resolved electron diffraction will be developed by the PIs and will be used by the PIs and their collaborators to advance fundamental understanding of the kinetics of rapid glass formation and recrystallization, laser processing of supported nanocrystals, structural transformations in complex oxides, and the evolution of steady-state nanostructures in laser-driven alloys. Furthermore, the laser system will be used independently of the electron diffraction apparatus for ultrafast processing of carbon nanotube suspensions, sample preparation for atom-probe microscopy, micron-scale modifications of substrates for epitaxial crystal growth, and experiments on shock induced phase transformations. The new equipment will open broad new areas of materials research and will be made available to the wider community of materials researchers, educators, and students by operation within the Center of Microanalysis of Materials, a multi-user facility located in the Frederick Seitz Materials Research Laboratory at the University of Illinois.Recent advances in laser science have produced a revolution in the maximum power that can be delivered by a pulse of light; lasers that produce light pulses of duration less than a trillionth of second and peak powers measured in billions of watts are now routine and scientists and engineers are exploring the applications of these modern ultrafast lasers in a wide variety of fields: for example, dental and eye surgery, medical imaging, and the manufacturing of electronic and optical devices. The group of materials scientists, physicists, and chemical engineers at the University of Illinois will use their grant from the Instrumentation Program to purchase an ultrafast laser and will integrate the laser system with a novel tool-based on the scattering of ultrashort pulses of electrons-for probing laser-induced changes in metals, semiconductors, and ceramics that occur on time-scales of only a few trillionths of a second. This new equipment will be made available to a diverse community of materials researchers at the University of Illinois and throughout the country; and will serve a critical role in scientific education by providing a state-of-the art laboratory for the training of young scientists in the rapidly advancing field of ultrafast laser processes.

PI 将购买商用超快激光系统，该系统将与用于快速材料加工的时间分辨电子衍射研究的设备一起使用。时间分辨电子衍射装置将由 PI 开发，并由 PI 及其合作者使用，以增进对快速玻璃形成和再结晶动力学、支撑纳米晶体的激光加工、复杂氧化物的结构转变以及激光驱动合金中稳态纳米结构演化的基本理解。 此外，激光系统将独立于电子衍射装置用于碳纳米管悬浮液的超快加工、原子探针显微镜的样品制备、外延晶体生长的基底的微米级修饰以及冲击诱导相变实验。 新设备将开辟材料研究的广阔新领域，并将通过材料微分析中心（位于伊利诺伊大学 Frederick Seitz 材料研究实验室的多用户设施）内的运行，向更广泛的材料研究人员、教育工作者和学生提供服务。激光科学的最新进展在光脉冲可提供的最大功率方面产生了一场革命；产生持续时间小于万亿分之一秒且峰值功率为数十亿瓦的光脉冲的激光器现已成为常规激光器，科学家和工程师正在探索这些现代超快激光器在各个领域的应用：例如牙科和眼科手术、医学成像以及电子和光学设备的制造。 伊利诺伊大学的材料科学家、物理学家和化学工程师小组将利用仪器计划的资助购买超快激光器，并将激光系统与基于电子超短脉冲散射的新型工具集成，用于探测激光引起的金属、半导体和陶瓷的变化，这些变化在仅数万亿分之一秒的时间尺度上发生。 这种新设备将提供给伊利诺伊大学和全国各地的材料研究人员群体；并将通过提供最先进的实验室来培训快速发展的超快激光加工领域的年轻科学家，从而在科学教育中发挥关键作用。