Felicity: Spatiotemporal characterization of few-cycle laser pulses

In this paper we apply a broadband fiber optic coupler interferometer to the measurement of few-cycle laser pulses. Sub-8-fs pulses delivered by an ultrafast oscillator were characterized spatiotemporally using STARFISH, which is based on spatially resolved spectral interferometry. The reference pulse was measured with the d-scan technique. The pulses were focused by an off-axis parabolic mirror and were characterized at different transverse planes along the focusing region. The evolution of the retrieved pulses is analyzed, exhibiting small variations in the temporal (and spectral) amplitude and phase during propagation. Finally, the peak irradiance evolution is estimated from the integration of the spatiotemporal intensity.

http://www.opticsinfobase.org/oe/abstract.cfm?URI=oe-20-16-17880

Marta: Laser Nanofabrication of Soft Matter

Laser based techniques constitute an advantageous versatile approach for the assembly and control at nanometer scale of polymers and biopolymers, fundamental components of soft matter. In this chapter lasernanostructuring of thin films of these materials will be illustrated by studies on laser induced periodic surface structures (LIPSS) and on laser foaming and on their respective application for surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) based sensors and for scaffolds in tissue engineering.