• T. Kanai, K. Awazu, S. Yoshihashi-Suzuki
  Osaka University, Suita

Free Electron Laser (FEL) at Osaka University can be continuously varied in the range of 5.0-20.0 μm. A FEL has a double pulse structure. The structure consists of a train of macropulses of the pulse width 15 μs, and each macropulse contains a train of 330 micropulses of the pulse width 5 ps. The tunability and short pulse afford new medical applications such as investigation of protein dynamics and ablation of soft tissues. Precise control of micropulse train is very important for medical applications using FEL because macropulse with long pulse duration sometimes leads to undesirable thermal effects. FEL pulse control system using an acousto optic modulators (AOM) was developed in order to investigate of non-thermal effect between the FEL and tissue. This system provide a very good efficiency (~60 %) and a fast switching speed (>200 ns). A phosphorylated protein was irradiated with FEL that controlled the pulse. These result confirmed that the thermal effect is controlled by pulse duration. This system will be expected as a novel tool for investigation of interaction between the FEL and normal tissue.