Kiyotaka Miura

Bio: Kiyotaka Miura is an academic researcher from Kyoto University. The author has contributed to research in topics: Femtosecond & Laser. The author has an hindex of 42, co-authored 253 publications receiving 8201 citations. Previous affiliations of Kiyotaka Miura include National Archives and Records Administration & Arizona State University.

Writing waveguides in glass with a femtosecond laser

Abstract: With the goal of being able to create optical devices for the telecommunications industry, we investigated the effects of 810-nm, femtosecond laser radiation on various glasses. By focusing the laser beam through a microscope objective, we successfully wrote transparent, but visible, round-elliptical damage lines inside high-silica, borate, soda lime silicate, and fluorozirconate (ZBLAN) bulk glasses. Microellipsometer measurements of the damaged region in the pure and Ge-doped silica glasses showed a 0.01–0.035 refractive-index increase, depending on the radiation dose. The formation of several defects, including Si E′ or Ge E′ centers, nonbridging oxygen hole centers, and peroxy radicals, was also detected. These results suggest that multiphoton interactions occur in the glasses and that it may be possible to write three-dimensional optical circuits in bulk glasses with such a focused laser beam technique.

Photowritten optical waveguides in various glasses with ultrashort pulse laser

Abstract: We show that permanent optical waveguides can be formed in various bulk glasses by photoinduced refractive index change with an ultrashort pulse laser. The waveguides were fabricated by focusing the laser beam through an microscope objective and translating the sample parallel to the axis of the laser beam. From the observations of intensity distributions in the output of guided light by a CCD camera, we demonstrated that permanent optical waveguides can be successfully formed in various glasses. In addition, from the analysis of a near-field pattern, it was confirmed that single mode waveguides of the graded index type can be formed by a writing technique using the ultrashort pulse laser.

``Quill'' writing with ultrashort light pulses in transparent materials

Abstract: A remarkable phenomenon in ultrafast laser processing of transparent materials, in particular, silica glass, manifested as a change in material modification by reversing the writing direction is observed. The effect resembles writing with a quill pen and is interpreted in terms of anisotropic trapping of electron plasma by a tilted front of the ultrashort laser pulse along the writing direction.

Synthesis of Monolithic Al2O3 with Well-Defined Macropores and Mesostructured Skeletons via the Sol−Gel Process Accompanied by Phase Separation

Abstract: Alumina (Al2O3) monoliths with well-defined macropores and mesostructured skeletons have been synthesized via a spontaneous route from the aqueous and ethanolic solution of aluminum salts in the presence of propylene oxide and poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO). The addition of propylene oxide to the starting solution controls the gelation, whereas the addition of PEO induces the phase separation. Appropriate choice of the starting composition, by which the phase separation and gelation concur, allows the production of bicontinuous macroporous Al2O3 monoliths in large dimensions (10 × 10 × 10 mm3). The size of macropores is controlled in the range of 400 nm to 1.8 μm, depending on the PEO content in starting solutions. The dried gel is amorphous, whereas heating at temperatures above 800 °C leads to the formation of crystalline phases without spoiling the macroporous morphology; nanocrystalline γ-Al2O3 is precipitated at 800 °C, α-Al2O3 starts to form at 1000 °C, and complete transformation into α-Αl2O3 is achiev...

Ultrafast manipulation of self-assembled form birefringence in glass

Abstract: Ultrashort pulse lasers have allowed probing of molecular dynamics in real time on the femtosecond time scale, with exotic behavior ranging from alignment of molecules and clusters, structural deformation, phase transitions on solid, and electron localization in magnetic materials. A recent progress in high power ultrashort pulse lasers has opened new frontiers in physics and technology of light-matter interactions from X-ray generation, nuclear fusion, laser surgery, integrated and fiber optics, optical data storage, to 3D micro- and nano-structuring. An intriguing phenomenon that currently attracts a lot of interest is the self-assembly of periodic nanostructures in the direction perpendicular to the light polarization. Uniaxial birefringence observed after femtosecond laser irradiation of silica glass has been explained by induced nanogratings and referred as self-assembled form birefringence. Self organization process has been interpreted in terms of the interference of electron plasma waves resulting in electron concentration modulation, followed by freezing of the interference pattern by structural change in glass. However, the mechanism including dynamics of self-organized nanostructures formation is still not fully understood. Recently, a double-pulse pump-probe configuration was used to enhance ablation in fused silica and silicon. In similar experiments molecular ensembles with an oriented angular momentum were produced. Here, we describe the ultrafast writing dynamics of form birefringence produced by self-organized nanogratings in double pulse experiments. Rewritable five-dimensional (5D) optical data storage using self-assembled form birefringence was demonstrated.

Fourier-transform method of fringe-pattern analysis for computer-based topography and interferometry

Abstract: A fast-Fourier-transform method of topography and interferometry is proposed. By computer processing of a noncontour type of fringe pattern, automatic discrimination is achieved between elevation and depression of the object or wave-front form, which has not been possible by the fringe-contour-generation techniques. The method has advantages over moire topography and conventional fringe-contour interferometry in both accuracy and sensitivity. Unlike fringe-scanning techniques, the method is easy to apply because it uses no moving components.

Femtosecond laser micromachining in transparent materials

Abstract: Femtosecond laser micromachining can be used either to remove materials or to change a material's properties, and can be applied to both absorptive and transparent substances. Over the past decade, this technique has been used in a broad range of applications, from waveguide fabrication to cell ablation. This review describes the physical mechanisms and the main experimental parameters involved in the femtosecond laser micromachining of transparent materials, and important emerging applications of the technology. Interactions between laser and matter are fascinating and have found a wide range of applications. This article gives an overview of the fundamental physical mechanisms in the processing of transparent materials using ultrafast lasers, as well as important emerging applications of the technology.

Two-photon polymerization initiators for three-dimensional optical data storage and microfabrication

Abstract: Two-photon excitation provides a means of activating chemical or physical processes with high spatial resolution in three dimensions and has made possible the development of three-dimensional fluorescence imaging, optical data storage, and lithographic microfabrication. These applications take advantage of the fact that the two-photon absorption probability depends quadratically on intensity, so under tight-focusing conditions, the absorption is confined at the focus to a volume of order λ3 (where λ is the laser wavelength). Any subsequent process, such as fluorescence or a photoinduced chemical reaction, is also localized in this small volume. Although three-dimensional data storage and microfabrication have been illustrated using two-photon-initiated polymerization of resins incorporating conventional ultraviolet-absorbing initiators, such photopolymer systems exhibit low photosensitivity as the initiators have small two-photon absorption cross-sections (δ). Consequently, this approach requires high laser power, and its widespread use remains impractical. Here we report on a class of π;-conjugated compounds that exhibit large δ (as high as 1, 250 × 10−50 cm4 s per photon) and enhanced two-photon sensitivity relative to ultraviolet initiators. Two-photon excitable resins based on these new initiators have been developed and used to demonstrate a scheme for three-dimensional data storage which permits fluorescent and refractive read-out, and the fabrication of three-dimensional micro-optical and micromechanical structures, including photonic-bandgap-type structures.