Femtosecond laser pulses have been widely used as a tool to study molecular ionization and fragmentation. This article bridges the application of femtosecond laser technology in early research focused on small isolated molecules with that in modern biological mass spectrometry for proteomics and metabolomic analysis on large (140+ atoms) biomolecules. The single-shot interaction of a femtosecon...

Resonance Ionization Spectroscopy (RIS) technique is an ultrasensitive method of detection of atoms and molecules. Application of RIS to material analysis requires an atomization step which is based in our set-up on ion beam sputtering. We present a review of the analytical studies we have performed demonstrating the very attractive potentialities of this method. RIS can be also used to study t...

The detection capabilities of both laser and high-intensity quartz arc tubes were evaluated. The Spectra-Physics Model 171-19, 18-W argon ion laser and Laser Sonics Model CS-2, 200-mW air-cooled argon ion laser were compared with Payton Scientific's Luma-Print, high-intensity quartz arc tube. The light sources were evaluated as to their detection limits for various biological stains. The stains...

The interaction of a laser pulse with a Sn preplasma formed by a low energy prepulse was investigated for an extreme ultraviolet EUV lithography light source. A much lower ion kinetic energy and nearly the same conversion efficiency from laser to in-band 2% bandwidth 13.5 nm EUV light were simultaneously observed as compared with those from the direct interaction with a solid surface. The reaso...

Laser ion acceleration driven by the utmost intense laser pulses pushes superheavy gold ions to unprecedented energies, key for applications ranging from nuclear physics next-generation accelerators.

Compact and affordable ion accelerators based on laser-produced plasmas have potential applications in many fields of science and medicine. However, the requirement of producing focusable, narrow-energy-spread, energetic beams has proved to be challenging. Here we demonstrate that laser-driven collisionless shocks can accelerate proton beams to ∼20 MeV with extremely narrow energy spreads of ab...

Laser cooling of stored 24Mg ion beams recently led to the long anticipated experimental realization of Coulombordered ‘crystalline’ ion beams in the low-energy RF-quadrupole storage ring PAul Laser CooLing Acceleration System (Munich). Moreover, systematic studies revealed severe constraints on the cooling scheme and the storage ring lattice for the attainment and maintenance of the crystallin...

Precision atomic spectroscopy experiments for Be isotopes have been carried out at the prototype universal slow RI-beam (SLOWRI) setup at RIKEN. Radioactive Be ions produced at 1 GeV were decelerated and thermlized in an RF-carpet ion guide. The thermalized ions were transferred to an ion trap where laser cooling was used to reduce the ion energy to the order of 1 μeV. Laser microwave double re...

Multiple ionization of atoms by an ultrashort intense laser pulse is a process in which the few-body problem is closely interrelated with the highly nonlinear interaction between the electrons and the external field. We review recent advances in unveiling the mechanisms behind the unusually large ion yields for double and multiple ionization observed in a strong laser pulse. Its study requires ...

The standard preparation technique for micro-sized samples is focused ion beam milling, most frequently using Ga+ ions. The main drawbacks are the required processing time and the possibility and risks of ion implantation. In contrast, ultrashort pulsed laser ablation can process any type of material with ideally negligible damage to the surrounding volume and provides 4 to 6 orders of magnitud...