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

PI将购买一个商业化的超快激光系统，该系统将与用于快速材料工艺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，并将由PI及其合作者用于推进对快速玻璃形成和再结晶动力学的基本理解，支持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的演变。 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处理、原子探针显微镜的样品制备、外延晶体生长的衬底的微米级修改以及冲击诱导相变的实验。 新设备将开辟材料研究的广阔新领域，并将通过在材料微分析中心内的操作提供给更广泛的材料研究人员，教育工作者和学生社区，一个多位于伊利诺斯大学Frederick Seitz材料研究实验室的用户设备。激光科学的最新进展已经在脉冲可以提供的最大功率方面产生了革命性的变化光;产生持续时间小于万亿分之一秒并且峰值功率以数十亿瓦测量的光脉冲的激光器现在是常规的，并且科学家和工程师正在探索这些现代超快激光器在各种各样的领域中的应用：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将使用他们从仪器计划中获得的资助购买超快激光器，并将激光系统与一种基于超短脉冲电子散射的新型工具相结合，用于探测金属，半导体和陶瓷中发生在万亿分之几秒的时间尺度上的激光诱导变化。 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的多元化社区;并将通过提供一个最先进的实验室，为年轻科学家在超快激光工艺快速发展领域的培训，在科学教育中发挥关键作用。

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.