High-Power Laser Ablation VIII

The purpose of this conference is to bring together researchers and engineers from academia and industry to discuss recent developments in these rapidly advancing fields. Suggested topics include:

Beamed energy propulsion

This topic is devoted to the science and technology of beamed energy propulsion (BEP) in its various forms and applications. Special interest is given to new BEP concepts (microwave or laser), basic science and technology, mission analysis, and flight experiments.

Biological applications of lasers

This topic is dedicated to the use of modern laser technology for advanced biomedical research. Recent growth in the applications of lasers to medicine and biology has been explosive. The objective of the topic area is to bring together international researchers to jointly examine how new laser technologies have provided new knowledge in biology, and pave the way for innovative medical procedure developments. HPLA attendees will have the chance to critically assess the state of the biological application of lasers and to set goals for the future.

Emerging laser-enabled applications

This topic area will demonstrate recent progress on laser sources, laser coatings, and their advantages for various applications, like additive manufacturing, 3D printing, micro/nano fabrication, 3D structuring, or high-efficiency solar cells.

Fundamentals of ultrashort laser-materials interactions: theory and simulations

The goal of this topic area is to provide a broad overview of the methods for theoretical interpretations and numerical simulations which enable us to gain insight into dynamic behavior of laser-excited matter at different temporal and spatial scales, and at temperatures even close to the critical thermodynamic one. Kinetic, thermodynamic, mechanical, and other related aspects of laser-matter interaction will be discussed.

High-power lasers in directed energy

The potential of high-power lasers for transforming defense systems has long been established through large historic programs like the Strategic Defense Initiative and the Airborne Laser. This topic area is open to contributions addressing all aspects of high-power laser development for DE applications, including laser power performance, efficiency, thermal management, and beam delivery on target. Within the scope of the topic are both mature technologies, as well as others more advanced and/or at earlier stages of development. Examples include power scaling of individual fiber and "bulk" DPSSLs, beam combining (spectral and coherent) schemes, direct-diode phased arrays, highly efficient laser prime-power source/thermal-management subsystems and approaches to high-power beam control.

High-power ultrashort lasers for materials science and particle acceleration

Ultrafast pulsed excitation produces highly non-equilibrium states of matter characterized by extreme electronic excitation, high temperature and pressure. Subsequent to the initial deposition of energy, secondary processes can lead to dynamics on very rapid time-scales. One of the most interesting of these is laser produced plasma wake field acceleration. In LPWA, the optical electric field can be efficiently coupled into particle acceleration and produce GeV particles. In future, one thinks of "CERN on a chip." Abstracts from other areas of ultrafast research such as dielectric laser acceleration not covered in fundamentals of ultra-short laser materials interactions are also welcome.

Laser ablation for PLD and MAPLE

This topic area is related to current progress in laser-based materials processing and thin film growth by pulsed laser deposition (PLD) and matrix-assisted pulsed laser evaporation (MAPLE). Key application areas of laser deposited nano-entities, nanocomposites, and thin films consisting of both organic and inorganic materials, as energy storage and conversion, electronic devices, bio and chemical sensors, gas sensors, photovoltaics, mechanical systems, catalysis and photocatalysis, and biomedical applications will be considered. In addition to the latest research results, perspectives on commercial scale-up of laser-based materials synthesis and thin film growth techniques will be provided.

Laser direct writing

The laser direct writing topic area provides an interdisciplinary forum for discussing the most recent progress in laser-matter interactions, with a focus on laser material transfer, such as laser-induced forward transfer and matrix-assisted pulsed laser evaporation – direct write. This topic also considers advancements in laser material processing for organic electronics and sensing, including very recent research fields such as biomedical applications and biotechnology. Experimental and theoretical abstracts, as well as contributions from industry are welcome.

Lasers in additive manufacturing

This session will present recent progress in laser-based additive manufacturing techniques and applications with particular emphasis on the laser-material interactions.

Laser-induced modifications of material microstructure and surface morphology
* Session is dedicated to the memory of Alexander Rubenchik.

Surface modification by laser irradiation is in the core of many modern surface processing applications where desired material properties are achieved through the formation of metastable phases, grain refinement, generation/annealing of crystal defects, redistribution of the alloying elements and, in the ablation regime or upon irradiation of multiple laser pulses, generation of complex surfaces morphology. This topic area will review recent progress in the fundamental understanding of the mechanisms responsible for the laser-induced modification of surface microstructure and morphology.

Laser-induced shock applications

The development of high-power laser sources is currently undergoing technological developments with strong industrial prospects. HPLA 2024 provides an opportunity to take stock of these technological developments and the applications fostering them. The state-of-the-art on applications such as laser shock peening, laser shock adhesion test, up-to-date diagnostics, and laser shocks to improve our knowledge of the dynamic behavior of materials under severe conditions will be at the heart of this HPLA topic.

Laser materials interaction in liquid environment

Laser materials interactions in a liquid environment provides the basis not only for example submarine laser- induced plasma spectroscopy, but also nanoparticle generation by lasers in liquids as an alternative path to produce ligand-free colloidal nanoparticle building blocks. Nanoparticles as functional components on surfaces, in bulk materials, and as nanohybrids may be applied in optics, biomedicine, catalysis, or energy science. Another recently emerged application of pulsed laser in liquids is surface nanostructuring, which requires relatively low laser fluences as compared to conventional laser processing techniques and can provide micro/nano-features with unique properties. Fundamental studies and scalable applications are under way.

Space debris: methods of avoiding collisions and re-entering debris

This topic is dedicated to applications of lasers or microwaves to accurately locating and nudging debris to avoid predicted collisions, as well as causing re-entry or raising orbits to make more of the finite number of GEO "parking places" available. Since space launches began in 1957, they have led to more than 25,000 tracked objects. A much larger population that cannot be tracked (due to their smaller size) also exists, finally leading to an unstable debris environment (Kessler Syndrome). There is an urgent need to address the problem of debris removal and/or mitigation not only from the technical point of view but also from the operational and legal aspects. This topic area's emphasis will be given to laser ablation and radiation pressure-based solutions, including new laser sources and long-range propagation. We will also discuss the new area of Large Debris Traffic Management, initiated by workshops at CNES. Laser solutions vs microwaves and more conventional approaches will be discussed.

Optical limiting and beam control using phase-changing materials

This topic area focuses on emerging materials, structures and techniques that enable control of intense optical beams by electronic or structural phase transformations initiated electrically, optically, or thermally.

Fundamentals of ultra-high-power laser technologies, trends, and challenges

This topic encompasses modeling and proof-of-concept supporting data and addresses issues of peak and average power scaling, plus new future applications of these systems.

Terawatts to petawatts: laser and secondary sources for societal applications

The ongoing development of ultra-high intensity laser sources and secondary sources opens the way for very promising societal applications. Indeed, terawatt laser sources now can deliver high average power thanks to the increase of their repetition rate and many projects across the world like ELI in Europe will provide very soon Petawatt class lasers working at few Hz. This topic welcomes contributions on the recent developments and perspectives of UHI laser sources and their applications in biology, medicine, imaging, detection, inspection, material sciences, and instrumentation.

Thermal coupling in laser and microwave propulsion problems

This topic is dedicated to the latest results in pulsed laser-matter interaction and coupling mechanisms with the target material. The comprehensive understanding of thermomechanical coupling processes, ranging from shockwave generation, material vaporization or spallation to phase explosion, is crucial for the optimization of laser ablation applications. Insights on thermal coupling of laser energy into the target material can provide for valuable perspectives on constraints of new technological developments in the field of beamed energy propulsion. Contributions on similar issues in microwave propulsion are appreciated as well.

Time-resolved imaging and probing of ablation plumes and materials transformations

This topic will present recent progress on characterizing ablation processes and material transformations with high temporal resolution using optical and x-ray diagnostics.

Prof. Dieter Bäuerle memorial session on laser-matter interaction and laser applications

This session is devoted to Prof. Dieter Bäuerle, one of the pioneers in laser processing and chemistry. The session will present latest results on laser-matter interaction and laser applications. Dieter Bäuerle and his team demonstrated the LCVD process (laser-induced chemical vapor deposition) in 1980. They showed how 3D structures can be created by laser-induced deposition from the gas phase. In addition, Dieter delivered many substantial scientific contributions in different fields of laser-matter interaction. Dieter Bäuerle was Professor at the Johannes Kepler University Linz, Austria, until his retirement. Dieter passed away in 2023.

Panel on the business side of high-power beam applications

For several years, this topic has been extremely valuable to focus attendees on how to increase funding in their areas of work.

Poster session on high-power laser ablation topics

A poster session will be organized that includes any and all HPLA-related topics. Poster presenters will interact with conference participants in two ways: 1) attend and present a printed poster at the meeting (each poster presenter must bring a printed version of their poster); 2) upload a poster PDF for publication. Poster PDFs will be available for on-demand viewing in the online program during the conference and will be published and archived with the manuscript after the meeting in the HPLA conference proceedings on the SPIE Digital Library.

We look forward to your participation in the 2024 symposium on high-power laser ablation (HPLA). For technical questions regarding the topics, contact Dr. Claude Phipps at crphipps@aol.com. For questions about the submission process, contact SPIE staff.