We present an investigation on absorbing film assisted laser induced forward transfer (AFA-LIFT) of fungus (Trichoderma) conidia. A KrF excimer laser beam [λ=248nm,FWHM=30ns (FWHM, full width at half maximum)] was directed through a quartz plate and focused onto its silver coated surface where conidia of the Trichoderma strain were uniformly spread. The laser fluence was varied in the range of 0–2600mJ∕cm2 and each laser pulse transferred a pixel of target material. The average irradiated area was 8×10−2mm2. After the transfer procedure, the yeast extract medium covered glass slide and the transferred conidia patterns were incubated for 20 h and then observed using an optical microscope. The transferred conidia pixels were germinated and the areas of the culture medium surfaces covered by the pixels were evaluated as a function of laser fluence. As the laser fluence was increased from 0 to 355mJ∕cm2 the transferred and germinated pixel area increased from 0 to 0.25mm2. Further increase in fluence resulted in a drastic decrease down to an approximately constant value of 0.06mm2. The yield of successful transfer by AFA-LIFT and germination was as much as 75% at 355mJ∕cm2. The results prove that AFA-LIFT can successfully be applied for the controlled transfer of biological objects.
The diffraction of short pulses is studied on the basis of the Miyamoto-Wolf theory of the boundary diffraction wave, which is a mathematical formulation of Young's idea about the nature of diffraction. It is pointed out that the diffracted field is given by the superposition of the boundary wave pulse (formed by interference of the elementary boundary diffraction waves) and the geometric (direct) pulse (governed by the laws of geometrical optics). The case of a circular aperture is treated in details. The diffracted field on the optical axis is calculated analytically (without any approximation) for an arbitrary temporal pulse shape. Because of the short pulse duration and the path difference the geometric and the boundary wave pulses appear separately, i.e., the boundary waves are manifested in themselves in the illuminated region (in the sense of geometrical optics). The properties of the boundary wave pulse is discussed. Its radial intensity distribution can be approximated by the Bessel function of zero order if the observation points are in the illuminated region and far from the plane of the aperture and close to the optical axis. Although the boundary wave pulse propagates on the optical axis at a speed exceeding c, it does not contradict the theory of relativity.
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