We use time-resolved interferometry, fluorescence assays and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations to examine the viability of confluent adherent cell monolayers to selection via laser microbeam release of photoresist polymer micropallets. We demonstrate the importance of laser microbeam pulse energy and focal volume position relative to the glass-pallet interface in governing the thre...

Low-frequency high-precision laser interferometry is subject to excess laser-frequency-noise coupling via arm-length differences which is commonly mitigated by locking the frequency to a stable reference system. This approach is crucial to achieve picometer-level sensitivities in the 0.1-mHz to 1-Hz regime, where laser-frequency noise is usually high and couples into the measurement phase via a...

A number of planned space interferometry missions, including the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) gravitational wave detector, require a laser system with high-frequency stability over long time scales. A 1064 nm wavelength nonplanar ring oscillator (NPRO) laser stabilized to a resonant transition in molecular iodine is suitable for these missions, providing high-frequency stability at...

The evolution of dense aluminum and carbon plasmas produced by laser irradiation of 500-microm -diam semicylindrical targets was studied using soft x-ray laser interferometry. Plasmas created heating the cavity walls with 120-ps -duration optical laser pulses of approximately 1x10;{12}Wcm;{-2} peak intensity were observed to expand and converge on axis to form a localized high-density plasma re...

The Laser Interferometer Space Antenna mission is a planned gravitational wave detector consisting of three spacecraft in heliocentric orbit. Laser interferometry is used to measure distance fluctuations between test masses aboard each spacecraft to the picometer level over a 5 million kilometer separation. Laser frequency fluctuations must be suppressed in order to meet the measurement require...

In the last few decades, optical frequency combs with high intensity, broad optical bandwidth, and directly traceable discrete wavelengths have triggered rapid developments in distance metrology. However, optical frequency combs to date have been limited to determine the absolute distance to an object (such as satellite missions). We propose a scheme for the detection of topological defect dark...

A method is reported for creating, generating, and measuring parametrically shaped pulses for time-bandwidth product >>5, which consists of a parametric pulse-shaping algorithm, a spatial light modulation system and a single shot interferometric characterization scheme (SEA TADPOLE) . The utilization of these tools marks the inception of a new method called SPECIFIC, shaped-pulse electric-field...

We describe absolute distance measurements performed by exploiting the frequency comb of a femtosecond laser as a precision wavelength ruler. The frequency comb is first stabilized to a Rb atomic clock of time standard. Then multi-wavelength interferometry integrated with a wavelength-scanning scheme is implemented by tuning an external cavity diode laser to the pre-selected frequency modes of ...

We present a practical spatial-domain interferometer for characterizing the electronic density gradient of laser-induced plasma mirrors with sub-30-femtosecond temporal resolution. Time-resolved spatial imaging of an intensity-shaped pulse reflecting off an expanding plasma mirror induced by a time-delayed pre-pulse allows us to measure characteristic plasma gradients of 10-100 nm with an expan...

We present the achievement of the european PHIFE project (Pulsed Holographic Interferometer for the analysis of Fast Events) concerning the development of holographic head principles connected to a YAG Q-switch double pulsed laser. Based on the results of a first laboratory development phase, a final prototype has been designed and built that incorporates both the laser and a modular holographi...