Hiroaki Misawa

The generation of ammonia from atmospheric nitrogen and water using sunlight is a preferable approach to obtaining ammonia as an energy carrier and potentially represents a new paradigm for achieving a low-carbon and sustainable-energy society. Herein, we report the selective conversion of dinitrogen into ammonia through plasmon-induced charge separation by using a strontium titanate (SrTiO3) photoelectrode loaded with gold nanoparticles (Au-NPs) and a zirconium/zirconium oxide (Zr/ZrOx ) thin f

We have successfully developed a plasmon-induced technique for ammonia synthesis that responds to visible light through a strontium titanate (SrTiO3) photoelectrode loaded with gold (Au) nanoparticles. The photoelectrochemical reaction cell was divided into two chambers to separate the oxidized (anodic side) and reduced (cathodic side) products. To promote NH3 formation, a chemical bias was applied by regulating the pH value of these compartments, and ethanol was added to the anodic chamber as a

We developed a laser trapping-ablation system comprised of CW and pulsed Nd3+:YAG lasers as well as of an optical microscope. Three-dimensional manipulation of various kinds of particles and laser ablation of a single optically trapped, poly(methyl methacrylate) latex particle in water were demonstrated. A minute hole with its diameter of ∼sub-μm was fabricated on the latex particle (∼6 μm diameter). The hole size produced was much smaller than the effective diameter of the excitation laser beam

List of Contributors. 1 Introduction (Hiroaki Misawa and Saulius Juodkazis). 2 Laser-Matter Interaction Confined Inside the Bulk of a Transparent Solid (Eugene Gamaly, Barry Luther-Davies and Andrei Rode). 2.1 Introduction. 2.2 Laser-matter Interactions: Basic Processes and Governing Equations. 2.3 Nondestructive Interaction: Laser-induced Phase Transitions. 2.4 Laser-Solid Interaction at High Intensity. 2.5 Multiple-pulse Interaction: Energy Accumulation. 2.6 Conclusions. 3 Spherical Aberration

A multibeam laser trapping–reaction system was developed to demonstrate independent manipulation of plural microparticles as well as to induce photochemical reaction in a laser-trapped particle(s). Photopolymerization of vinyl monomers dissolved in a sample solution was employed to fix polystyrene latex particles regularly aligned by laser trapping. Integrated latex structures created by the successive manipulation/polymerization procedures were also shown to be freely manipulated by laser beams

A plasmon-induced water splitting system that operates under irradiation by visible light was successfully developed; the system is based on the use of both sides of the same strontium titanate (SrTiO3) single-crystal substrate. The water splitting system contains two solution chambers to separate hydrogen (H2) and oxygen (O2). To promote water splitting, a chemical bias was applied by regulating the pH values of the chambers. The quantity of H2 evolved from the surface of platinum, which was us

Micro-fabrication of periodic structures was performed by holographic lithography technique in SU-8 photoresist using a simple and versatile experimental arrangement based on a diffractive beam-splitter. High-fidelity two- and three-dimensional microstructures fabricated with sub-micrometric resolution in large areas of approximately 1 mm diameter. The structures are potentially usable as elements of micro-fluidic systems (e.g., Brownian ratchets), and templates for photonic crystal devices (e.g