Microscale filamentation of 0.25 NA-focused, linearly and circularly polarized 1030 nm and 515 nm ultrashort laser pulses of variable pulse widths in fused silica, fluorite, and natural and synthetic diamonds demonstrates the Raman–Kerr effect in the form of critical pulse power magnitudes, proportional to squared wavelength and inversely proportional to laser pulse width of 0.3–10 ps. The first trend represents the common spectral relationship between the quantities, while the second indicates its time-integrated inertial contribution of Raman-active lattice polarization, appearing in transmission spectra via ultrafast optical-phonon Raman scattering. The optical-phonon contribution to the nonlinear polarization could come from laser field-induced spontaneous/stimulated Raman scattering and coherent optical phonons generated by electron–hole plasma with its clamped density in the nonlinear focus. Almost constant product value of the (sub)picosecond laser pulse widths and corresponding critical pulse powers for self-focusing and filamentation in the dielectrics (“critical pulse energy”) apparently implies constant magnitude of the nonlinear polarization and other “clamped” filamentation parameters at the given wavelength.

The nonlinear absorption of ultrashort laser pulses with intensities of 0.17–1.7 TW/cm² at an intrinsic two-photon absorption wavelength of 4673 nm in type IIb diamond has been studied experimentally. It has been shown that the main absorption mechanism in the studied sample is two-photon absorption with a coefficient of β₂ = (72 ± 7) cm/TW. Transmission microspectroscopy, visible photoluminescence, and infrared Fourier-transform microspectroscopy have demonstrated the possibility of laser-induced transformation of nitrogen impurity centers in synthetic type Ib diamond at higher radiation intensities.

Tightly focused 515-nm, 0.3-ps laser pulses modify in a laser filamentation regime the crystalline structure of an Ib-type high-pressure, high-temperature (HPHT) synthesized diamond in a thin-plate form. The modified microregions (micromarks) in the yellow and colorless crystal zones, possessing different concentrations of elementary substitutional nitrogen (N) impurity atoms (C-centers), exhibit their strongly diminished local IR absorption (upon correction to the thickness scaling factor). Simultaneously, local visible-range (400–550 nm) absorption coefficients were increased, and photoluminescence (PL) yield was strongly enhanced in the broad range of 450–800 nm. The strong yellow-red PL enhancement saturates with laser exposure, implying the complete conversion of C-centers into nitrogen-vacancy (NV^0,−) ones due to the laser-induced generation of Frenkel “interstitial-vacancy” I–V carbon pairs. The other emerging blue-green (>470 nm) and green-yellow (>500 nm) PL bands were also simultaneously saturated versus the laser exposure. The observed IR/optical absorption and PL spectral changes enlighten the ultrashort pulse laser inscription of NV⁰⁻-based quantum-emitter centers in synthetic diamonds and enable the evaluation of the productivity of their inscription along with the corresponding I–V generation rates.

The single-pass one-step method for printing conductive silver tracks on a glass surface, using the laser-induced forward transfer (LIFT) technique, was proposed, providing a unique opportunity for high-throughput printing of surface micro- and nanostructures with high electrical conductivity and positioning accuracy. This method was developed via our multi-parametric research, resulting in the selection of the optimal material, laser irradiation, and transfer conditions. Optical, scanning and transmission electron, and atomic force microscopy methods, as well as X-ray diffraction, were used to characterize the surface structure and phase state of the printed structures, while energy-dispersive X-ray and X-ray photoelectron microscopy were employed for their chemical microanalysis. Depending on the laser irradiation parameters, the specific electrical conductivity of the printed tracks varied from 0.18 to 83 kS/cm, approaching that of donor magnetron-sputtered films. This single-pass one-step method significantly facilitates fast, large-scale, on-demand local laser printing of metallic (sub)microcomponents of microelectronic devices.