FM-to-AM (frequency modulation-to-amplitude modulation) conversion caused by nonuniform spectral transmission of broadband beam is harmful to high-power laser facility. Smoothing by spectral dispersion (SSD) beam is a special broadband beam for its monochromatic feature at the given time and space on the near field. The traditional method which uses the optical spectral transfer function as filters cannot accurately describe its AM characteristics. This paper presents the theoretical analysis of the etalon effect for SSD beam. With a low-order approximation, the analytic model of the temporal shape of SSD beam is obtained for the first time, which gives the detailed AM characteristics at local and integral aspects, such as the variation of ripples width and amplitude in general situation. We also analyze the FM-to-AM conversion on the focal plane; in the focusing process, the lens simply acts as an integrator to smooth the AM of SSD beam. Because AM control is necessary for the near field to avoid optics damage and for the far field to ensure an optimal interaction of laser–target, our investigations could provide some important phenomena and rules for pulse shape control.

We demonstrate that single-pass Kelvin force microscopy (KFM) and dC/dz measurements in different environments expand the compositional imaging with atomic force microscopy. The KFM and dC/dz studies were performed in the intermittent contact mode with force gradient detection of tip-sample electrostatic interactions. Both factors contribute to sensitive measurements of the surface potential and capacitance gradient with nanometer-scale spatial resolution as it was verified on a broad range of materials: metal alloys, polymers, organic layers, and liquid-like objects. For many samples the surface potential and dC/dz variations complement each other in identification of individual components of heterogeneous materials. In situ imaging in different humidity or vapors of various organic solvents further facilitate recognition of the constituents of multicomponent polymer samples due to selective swelling of components.