Light: Science & Applications (Jan 2021)

A vacuum ultraviolet laser with a submicrometer spot for spatially resolved photoemission spectroscopy

  • Yuanhao Mao,
  • Dong Zhao,
  • Shen Yan,
  • Hongjia Zhang,
  • Juan Li,
  • Kai Han,
  • Xiaojun Xu,
  • Chuan Guo,
  • Lexian Yang,
  • Chaofan Zhang,
  • Kun Huang,
  • Yulin Chen

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41377-021-00463-3
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 10, no. 1
pp. 1 – 8

Abstract

Read online

Abstract Vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) lasers have demonstrated great potential as the light source for various spectroscopies, which, if they can be focused into a small beam spot, will not only allow investigation of mesoscopic materials and structures but also find application in the manufacture of nano-objects with excellent precision. In this work, we report the construction of a 177 nm VUV laser that can achieve a record-small (~0.76 μm) focal spot at a long focal length (~45 mm) by using a flat lens without spherical aberration. The size of the beam spot of this VUV laser was tested using a metal grating and exfoliated graphene flakes, and we demonstrated its application in a fluorescence spectroscopy study on pure and Tm3+-doped NaYF4 microcrystals, revealing a new emission band that cannot be observed in the traditional up-conversion process. In addition, this laser system would be an ideal light source for spatially and angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy.