TY - JOUR
T1 - Resonant infrared ablation of polystyrene with single picosecond pulses generated by an optical parametric amplifier
AU - Duering, Malte
AU - Haglund, Richard
AU - Luther-Davies, Barry
PY - 2014/1
Y1 - 2014/1
N2 - We report on resonant infrared laser ablation of polystyrene using single 8 ps pulses at a wavelength of 3.31 μm generated by a MgO:PPLN optical parametric amplifier pumped by a Nd:YLF laser. We determined the single-pulse ablation threshold to be 0.46 J/cm2, about a factor of five smaller than in previous free-electron-laser studies. Time-resolved imaging of the laser-target interaction reveals that the detailed dynamics of the ablation process begin with thermal expansion of a large volume of hot material from which a less dense plume of polymeric material evaporates. This plume disappears on a time scale of 0.75 μs and the hot polymer material recedes back into the crater from which it was expelled. Subsequently, and on a much longer time scale, structural alterations in the ablation crater continue to evolve for at least another millisecond. Our results suggest that single picosecond pulses are effective for the ablation of polymers and exhibit dynamics similar to those observed in studies using a free-electron laser.
AB - We report on resonant infrared laser ablation of polystyrene using single 8 ps pulses at a wavelength of 3.31 μm generated by a MgO:PPLN optical parametric amplifier pumped by a Nd:YLF laser. We determined the single-pulse ablation threshold to be 0.46 J/cm2, about a factor of five smaller than in previous free-electron-laser studies. Time-resolved imaging of the laser-target interaction reveals that the detailed dynamics of the ablation process begin with thermal expansion of a large volume of hot material from which a less dense plume of polymeric material evaporates. This plume disappears on a time scale of 0.75 μs and the hot polymer material recedes back into the crater from which it was expelled. Subsequently, and on a much longer time scale, structural alterations in the ablation crater continue to evolve for at least another millisecond. Our results suggest that single picosecond pulses are effective for the ablation of polymers and exhibit dynamics similar to those observed in studies using a free-electron laser.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84893772943&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s00339-013-7946-2
DO - 10.1007/s00339-013-7946-2
M3 - Article
SN - 0947-8396
VL - 114
SP - 151
EP - 159
JO - Applied Physics A: Materials Science and Processing
JF - Applied Physics A: Materials Science and Processing
IS - 1
ER -