Open AccessUltrashort single-pulse laser ablation of stainless steel, aluminium, copper and its dependence on the pulse duration
Author(s) -
Jan Winter,
Maximilian Spellauge,
Jens Hermann,
Constanze Eulenkamp,
Michael Schmidt
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
optics express
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.394
H-Index - 271
ISSN - 1094-4087
DOI - 10.1364/oe.421097
Subject(s) - materials science , pulse duration , fluence , aluminium , drop (telecommunication) , pulse (music) , ablation , optics , laser , copper , laser ablation , metallurgy , telecommunications , physics , engineering , detector , computer science , aerospace engineering
In this work, we investigate single-pulse laser ablation of bulk stainless steel (AISI304), aluminium (Al) and copper (Cu) and its dependence on the pulse duration. We measured the reflectivity, ablation thresholds and volumes under the variation of pulse duration and fluence. The known drop of efficiency with increasing pulse duration is confirmed for single-pulse ablation in all three metals. We attribute the efficiency drop to a weakened photomechanically driven ablation process and a stronger contribution of photothermal phase explosion. The highest energetic efficiency and precision is achieved for pulse durations below the mechanical expansion time of 3-5 ps, where the stress confinement condition is fulfilled.