FREE ELECTRON

LASER(FEL) METHOD FOR

SYNTHESIS OF CARBON
NANO-TUBES
What is free electron laser?

o It is the type of laser that uses high-speed electrons that

move freely through a magnetic structure.
o It has the widest frequency range; and can be easily tunable.
o The electrons provides the gain in all spectral regions, adjusting
either the beam energy or the field strength tunes the wavelength
easily and rapidly over a wide range.
o The lasing medium consists only of electrons in a vacuum, and it
does not have the material damage or thermal lensing problems
associated with ordinary lasers.
o Therefore, free electron lasers can achieve very high peak
powers.
 Difference btw Nd:YAG laser and free
electron laser

• Usually the pulses in an Nd:YAG system have width of

approximately 10 ns, in this FEL system the pulse width is ~ 400 fs.
The repetition rate of the pulse is enormously increased from 10 Hz
to 75 MHz. To give the beam the same amount of energy as the
pulse in an Nd:YAG system, the pulse has to be focused. The
intensity of the laser bundle behind the lens reaches ~5 x
1011 W/cm2, which is about 1000 times greater than in Nd:YAG
systems

04/29/2020 3
How to produce FEL?

o A beam of electrons is accelerated to almost the speed of light; the

beam passes through the undulator.(array of magnets of alternating
poles)
o The undulator forces electrons in the beam to wiggle transversely
along a sinusoidal path along the undulator axis.
o This transverse acceleration causes synchrotron radiation release
of photons.
o This synchrotron radiation becomes strong and then reacts with the
transverse electron current (current due to the sinusoidal wiggle
motion)causing the formation of electron micro-bunches.
o Thus the micro-bunching of all electrons results in the production of
FEL, whose wavelengths can be tuned by adjusting the energy of
electron beam; or the magnetic field strength of the undulators.
Electron Laser
• A free-electron laser (FEL), is a
type of laser that uses very-high-
speed electrons that move freely
through a magnetic
structure, hence the term free
electron as the lasing medium.
• The free-electron laser has the
widest frequency range of any
laser type, and can be widely
tuneable.
•  The wiggler magnetic
configuration which is the heart
of a free electron laser.
• The lasing medium consists only
of electrons in a vacuum, and it
does not have the material
damage or thermal lensing
problems associated with
ordinary lasers.
FEL is Generated
• A beam of electrons is accelerated to almost
the speed of light.
• The beam passes through an undulator, (a
side to side magnetic field produced by a
periodic arrangement of magnets with
alternating poles across the beam path)  
• This array of magnets is commonly
forces the electrons in the beam to wiggle
transversely along a sinusoidal path which
causes electrons to release photons
(synchrotron radiation).
• This synchrotron radiation becomes strong
and then reacts with the transverse electron
current, causing the formation of electron
micro-bunches.
• Thus the micro-bunching of all electrons
results in the production of FEL, whose
wavelengths can be tuned by adjusting the
energy of electron beam; or the magnetic
field strength of the undulators.
Simple schematic of FEL
Why FEL?
o Effect of repetition rate  pump plume
o Possibility of wavelength tuning  target critical species in the
plume
o Very high power  increased target vaporization
o Peak power 1000 times higher than Nd:YAG laser;
average power density 1,000,000 higher than Nd:YAG laser
o Intensity of laser bundle 1000 times greater than Nd:YAG laser
o Laser synthesized CNTs have superior properties.
FEL method of CNT synthesis:
Operating principle
o FEL is fed through the nozzle, vaporizing layers on the graphite target
o A plasma plume from the rotating graphite rod is formed
o Argon gas is fed into this setup in order to flush the plasma plume
o As a result of the above, a CNT soot is formed
o This soot is collected in a cold finger
o The diameter of the nanotubes can be varied by the laser parameters
o Full 100% power FEL system can give 45g/hour.
o Catalyst used: Interaction
NiCo or NiYwithin argon atmosphere at 1000 degrees
plasma CNT soot
Argon Displaced by
plume(from collected at cold
Gas 90 degrees
rotating graphite finger
rod)
 Types of FEL
System for
Synthesis of CNT
1. Front Pumped System
 Types of FEL systems:
1. Front-pumped system
o Both the argon laser and the FEL beam is fed through the front Inlet
o Decreasing the power increases the yield
o Decrease the duty cycle to allow soot to clear target face.
o Limitations are system engineering and not laser issues
2. Side Pumped System
2. Side-pumped system
o The FEL enters the system from side(/bottom)
o The argon flush flows from the left to right
o Striking the rotating target gives larger area and better thermal control
o Laser pulses are also needed to allow the soot to clear
3. RF Induction Heated
Side Pump System
3. RF-Induction heated side-pump synthesis
chamber
 Parameters which affect the production rate

• Target heating
• Thermal ablation vs nonthermal ablation
• Spinning rate:1.7 revolutions/sec
• Electronic density of states due to one
dimensional charac of SWNT(Raman
scattering spectra)

04/29/2020 18
Conclusions from the synthesis method:

o Largest average yield is at the time before the plasma

plume goes out(incipient extinction)
o Highest yield flakes of raw material has smallest
diameter nano-tubes
o The tube diameter varies with the laser condition at
given wavelength
 Output

04/29/2020 20
 HRTEM image

04/29/2020 21
Advantages

• Very High Repetition Rate --

pump plume
• Tuning -- target critical
species in plume
• Very High Power – increased
target vaporization
• Peak power (W/cm2) of FEL
is ~1,000 time higher than
Nd:YAG
• Average power density
(W/cm2) of FEL is ~1,000,000
times higher than Nd:YAG
Disadvantages:
o Main disadvantages lie at the FEL beam system:
o The required electron beam energy increases with
decreasing wavelength
o The cost and size of the accelerator as well as the cost
and size of the magnetic structure increase with
decreasing wavelength
o The electron accelerator requires its associated
shielding
 Applications
 The application of the CNT will be considered
 To make Composite Material
 In Micro-Electronics
 In Solar Cells
 In Electronic Components
 In Energy Storage
 In Chemical
 In Mechanical, Optical
 Synthesis of Fiber-reinforced materials in aerospace applications
 Bio-compatible nano-magnets for cancer cell therapy
 Design of MFM probes
 Thank You!!!!!

04/29/2020 25