Tag: laser
Understanding the atomic and electronic structure of solid-density liquid carbon
How fast does a solid melt? You might think quite slowly, on a timescale of minutes to hours. However, recent experiments by Dr Emiliano Principi and his team at the FERMI free electron laser show that the melting of carbon by a laser pulse is actually an ultrafast, nonthermal process – taking less than a billionth of a second. By […]
Laser induced damage threshold testing
Today’s latest laser technologies can be used for a diverse array of applications. Currently, however, their use is being hindered by a lack of knowledge about certain power thresholds, above which lasers can damage valuable materials and components. Through their research, Dr Jan Vanda and colleagues at the HiLASE Centre, part of the Institute of Physics at the Czech Academy […]
Weighing weightless photons for laser-based manufacturing
It may be hard to believe that a beam of light can melt steel, but that is exactly what happens during laser beam machining. Using lasers for processing has become increasingly common but knowing exactly how much energy and heating occurs during these processes is a challenging task. This is why colleagues Dr John Lehman and Dr Paul Williams at […]
Laser ablation in liquid: A powerful route to new nanoparticle catalysts
Dr Katharine Tibbetts (Virginia Commonwealth University) has been developing a novel approach for the synthesis of metal nanoparticles, based on a reactive laser ablation in liquid technique. She uses ultra-short laser pulses to ionise water molecules and generate a highly energetic plasma of electrons capable of reducing soluble metal ions to neutral atoms, which then coalesce to generate a nanoparticle […]