This thesis demonstrates a measurement of a plasma fluctuation velocity-space cross-correlation matrix using laser induced fluorescence. The plasma fluctuation eigenmode structure on the ion velocity distribution function can be empirically determined through singular value decomposition from this measurement. This decomposition also gives the relative strengths of the modes as a function of frequency. Symmetry properties of the matrix quantify systematic error. The relation between the eigenmodes and plasma kinetic fluctuation modes is explored. A generalized wave admittance is calculated for these eigenmodes. Since the measurement is a localized technique, it may be applied to plasmas in which a single point measurement is possible, multipoint measurements may be difficult, and a velocity sensitive measurement technique is available.

Absorption and fluorescence properties of 4 hydraulic oils (3 biological and 1 petroleum-based) were investigated. In-situ LIF (laser-induced fluorescence) analysis of the oils on a brown sandy loam soil was performed. With calibration, quantitative detection was achieved. Estimated limits of detection were below ca. 500 mg/kg for the petroleum-based oil and ca. 2000 mg/kg for one biological oil. A semi-quantitative classification scheme is proposed for monitoring of the biological oils. This approach was applied to investigate the migration of a biological oil in soil-containing compartments, namely a soil column and a soil bed.

Measurements of soot emission properties are of interest in both fundamental research and combustion-based industries. Laser-induced incandescence of soot particles is a novel technique that allows unobtrusive measurements of both soot volume fraction and particulate size with significant advantages. An apparatus utilizing this technique has been customized and used to provide measurements of soot concentration and particle sizing of a laminar, diffusion methane/air flame at pressures of 10, 20 and 40 atm at 6~mm above the burner. Soot volume fraction measurements correlate well with literature findings at all pressures. Despite similar trends, particle size values are found to be consistently larger than values reported in literature. Discussion on the errors of laser-induced incandescence as well as recommendations for improving the apparatus and results are herein.

Measurements of soot emission properties are of interest in both fundamental research and combustion-based industries. Laser-induced incandescence of soot particles is a novel technique that allows unobtrusive measurements of both soot volume fraction and particulate size with significant advantages. An apparatus utilizing this technique has been customized and used to provide measurements of soot concentration and particle sizing of a laminar, diffusion methane/air flame at pressures of 10, 20 and 40 atm at 6~mm above the burner. Soot volume fraction measurements correlate well with literature findings at all pressures. Despite similar trends, particle size values are found to be consistently larger than values reported in literature. Discussion on the errors of laser-induced incandescence as well as recommendations for improving the apparatus and results are herein.

This study indicate that the chemical inter-diffusion between the Cr-doped glass/glass ceramic and quartz (SiO2) influence the fluorescence properties of glass, mainly because of Cr4+ replacing by tetrahedral of Si4+. Cr4+ fluorescence intensity was reduced and its emission band was shifted to longer wavelength (red shift). We selected the SiO2-based glass composition: Mg2SiO4 glass-ceramic and reduced a ratio of SiO2 sintered into the ceramic powder. This paper used diffusion characteristics of quartz (SiO2) to compensate for reduced SiO2 in the ceramic powder. After diffusing with quartz (SiO2), ceramics powder changed into glasses. The intensity of fluorescence and the crystal field had been improved. The center of Cr4+ fluorescence is about 1100nm belonging to Cr4+:Mg2SiO4 crystal. The ratio of Cr4+ in Mg2SiO4 crystal/Cr4+ in MgO-SiO2 glass increases from 0.33 to 1.74. The goal is to develop a novel glass which is resistant to SiO2 inter-diffusion degradation during fiber fabrication, and provide the new fiber technology to avoid the influence of inter-diffusion This study provides new types of treatment: Laser induced crystallization. Laser heat-treatment can more quickly induce crystals in glass during seconds, than traditional heat-treatment which require several hours. This study also indicate that one step laser heat-treatment induce micro-crystals, but one step laser heat-treatment induce nano-crystals. We successfully produced nano-crystallization during seconds.

A comprehensive model for describing the fundamental mechanism dictating the interaction of ultrafast laser pulse with single crystalline silicon wafer is formulated. The need for establishing the feasibility of employing lasers of subpicosecond pulse width in Laser Induced Stress Waves Thermometry (LISWT) for single crystalline silicon processing motivated the work. The model formulation developed is of a hyperbolic type capable of characterizing non-thermal melting and thermo-elastoviscoplastic deformation as functions of laser input parameters and ambient temperature. A plastic constitutive law is followed to describe the complex elasto-viscoplastic responses in silicon undergoing Rapid Thermal Processing (RTP) annealing at elevated temperatures. A system of nine first-order hyperbolic equations applicable to describing 3-D elasto-viscoplastic wave motions in silicon is developed. The group velocities of certain selected frequency components are shown to be viable thermal indicators, thus establishing the feasibility of exploiting nanosecond laser induced propagating stress waves for the high-resolution thermal profiling of silicon wafers. Femtosecond laser induced transport dynamics in silicon is formulated based on the relaxation-time approximation of the Boltzmann equation. Temperature-dependent multi-phonons, free-carrier absorptions, and the recombination and impact ionization processes governing the laser model and carrier numbers are considered using a set of balance equations. The balance equation of lattice energy and equations of motion of both parabolic and hyperbolic types are derived to describe the complex thermo-elastoplastodynamic behaviors of the material in response to ultrafast laser pulsing. The solution strategy implemented includes a multi-time scale axisymmetric model of finite geometry and a staggered-grid finite difference scheme that allows both velocity and stress be simultaneously determined without having to solve for displacements. Transport phenomena initiated by femtosecond pulses including the spatial and temporal evolutions of electron and lattice temperatures, along with electron-hole carrier density, are found to be functions of laser fluence and pulse width. The femtosecond laser heating model that admits hyperbolic energy transport is shown to remedy the dilemma that thermal disturbances propagate with infinite speed. Non-thermal melting fluence is examined favorably against published experimental data. That it is feasible to explore femtosecond laser induced displacement and stress components for 1K resolution thermal profiling is one of the conclusions reached.

The laser-induced molecular reorientation effect of guest-host dye-doped liquid crystals in isotropic phase has been studied by measuring the signals of optical Kerr effect using pulsed frequency-doubling Nd:YAG laser as a pumping source. The critical behavior near the isotropic-nematic transition has been observed when the temperature approaches to the phase transition of liquid crystal. The relaxation time constant is about several hundreds of ns as the temperature is far above the clearing point of liquid crystals and that is longer than 1500 ns as the temperature is close to the clearing point of liquid crystals. According to Landau¡¦s second phase transition theory, the interaction between liquid crystal molecules will be increased and the nonlinearity effect of liquid crystal will be enhanced when the temperature is near the clearing point of liquid crystal. The relaxation time constant of molecular reorientation is a function of viscosity and temperature of liquid crystal, the relationship can be fitted as£b0*exp(f/T)*(1/T-T*),where £b0 is the viscosity coefficient and T* is the clearing point of the sample. The optical Kerr signal is found to be proportional to the energy density of pumping source. The optical Kerr signal can be sustained as long as 20£gs when the energy density of pumping source reaches to 1J/cm sq. The enhancement of molecular reorientation effect is also observed by increasing the concentration of dye.

This study proposed a novel design of the passive micromixer which employed several quadrilateral shaped blocks in the micro channel to enhance mixing. Both numerical and experimental investigations have been carry out. Commercial software CFD-ACE was used to simulate the flows. The simulation results showed great agreement with the measured results, implying that Navier¡VStokes¡¦ equations still effectively governs the micro-scope flows in this scale. It is effective to enhance mixing efficiency over wide flow rate ranges. Mixing performance was characterized by Laser-induced-fluorescence system (LIF system) to quantity the concentration distribution in the micro channel . In addition, Microscopic flow visualization was also setup to visualize the flow field in the micro mixer. Micro-particle image velocimetry (Micro-PIV) was used to measure the flow fields in microchannel filled with deionized water (DI water) . The system utilizes an epifluorescent microscope, 3.3 £gm diameter seed particles, and an high speed CCD camera to record particle-image fields. The vector fields are analyzed using a double-frame cross-correlation algorithm. The stochastic influence of Brownian motion plays a significant role in the accuracy of instantaneous velocity measurements.

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This dissertation introduces a new approach to measure the mechanical properties of soft tissues. A laser-induced microbubble, created by focusing a single nanosecond laser pulse with a custom-made objective lens, was created at desired locations inside a tissue sample. An acoustic radiation force was generated by a low frequency transducer to displace the microbubble. A custom-built high pulse repetition frequency (PRF) ultrasound system, consisting of two 25 MHz single element transducers, was used to track the dynamics of the microbubble. Reconstruction of the mechanical properties at the specific location in a tissue sample was performed using a theoretical model, which calculated the dynamics of a microbubble under an externally applied force in a viscoelastic medium. The theoretical model and the high PRF ultrasound system were successfully validated in both gelatin phantoms and ex vivo bovine crystalline lenses. Age-related sclerosis of the crystalline lenses from bovine was clearly detected, which might be linked to changes in the crystalline. Location-dependent variation explained that the outer cortex and the inner nucleus had different mechanical properties. In the old and young porcine vitreous humors, age-related changes were not found. However, local variations of the mechanical properties were discovered, which may coincide with the different distributions of the molecular compositions. The laser-induced microbubble approach shows potential for future research into the origin of physiological phenomena and the development of inherent disorders in the eye. I hope that further studies – in the development of a more suitable theoretical model for the microbubble dynamics, in extension to in vivo applications, and in defining the relationship of the mechanical properties to molecular components in the eye – may provide a plan for the therapeutic treatment of eye-related diseases. / text