Laser‐Induced Crystallization and Crystal Growth

Abstract

Recent streams of laser studies on crystallization and crystal growth are summarized and reviewed. Femtosecond multiphoton excitation of solutions leads to their ablation at the focal point, inducing local bubble formation, shockwave propagation, and convection flow. This phenomenon, called "laser micro tsunami" makes it possible to trigger crystallization of molecules and proteins from their supersaturated solutions. Femtosecond laser ablation of a urea crystal in solution triggers the additional growth of a single daughter crystal. Intense continuous wave (CW) near infrared laser irradiation at the air/solution interface of heavy-water amino acid solutions results in trapping of the clusters and evolves to crystallization. A single crystal is always prepared in a spatially and temporally controlled manner, and the crystal polymorph of glycine depends on laser power, polarization, and solution concentration. Upon irradiation at the glass/solution interface, a millimeter-sized droplet is formed, and a single crystal is formed by shifting the irradiation position to the surface. Directional and selective crystal growth is also possible with laser trapping. Finally, characteristics of laser-induced crystallization and crystal growth are summarized.

Whirl-enhanced continuous wave laser trapping of particles

“…35 Nanoplasmonics has extended the field of optical trapping down to the nanometer scale with exciting possibilities for studying single proteins and nanoparticles. [37][38][39][40][41] In this work we report on microdroplet formation and microcrystal growth under cw laser light illumination in a new solute-solvent system as compared to that reported by Yuyama et al 34 However, to observe the qualitatively the same phenomenon we used light intensity roughly six orders of magnitude lower than that used in the quoted work. In this case trapping is approximately 3000Â more efficient than the conventional one and particles of 12 nm in size and even single proteins have been trapped with double-nanohole (DNH) structures with 1-10 mW power.…”

Selective crystallization via vibrational strong coupling

“…VSC could potentially be used to control many other solution-based processes including crystallization from solution and solubility-based purification (phase changes have also been shown to be modified by electronic strong coupling). 18 Indeed, while impressive studies have demonstrated control of crystal nucleation and growth using high intensity beams, so-called ‘laser trapping crystallization’, 19 crystallization under VSC of solvent molecules investigated here utilizes cavity vacuum fields and thus will rely on different mechanisms.…”

Nonphotochemical Laser-Induced Nucleation of Potassium Halides: Effects of Wavelength and Temperature

“…2 Alternatively, light can be used to cause nucleation photomechanically, e.g., by ablation or cavitation. [3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14] Other methods include optical trapping or optically biased diffusion. [15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22] Recently, non-photochemical laser-induced nucleation (NPLIN) has been demonstrated, in which case there is no photochemical damage to the sample; 23,24 this effect has the potential to enable direct measurements of a nucleation process analogous to homogeneous nucleation.…”