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Key stages of material expansion in dielectrics upon femtosecond laser ablation revealed by double-color illumination time-resolved microscopy

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Abstract

The physical origin of material removal in dielectrics upon femtosecond laser pulse irradiation (800 nm, 120 fs pulse duration) has been investigated at fluences slightly above ablation threshold. Making use of a versatile pump–probe microscopy setup, the dynamics and different key stages of the ablation process in lithium niobate have been monitored. The use of two different illumination wavelengths, 400 and 800 nm, and a rigorous image analysis combined with theoretical modelling, enables drawing a clear picture of the material excitation and expansion stages. Immediately after excitation, a dense electron plasma is generated. Few picoseconds later, direct evidence of a rarefaction wave propagating into the bulk is obtained, with an estimated speed of 3650 m/s. This process marks the onset of material expansion, which is confirmed by the appearance of transient Newton rings, which dynamically change during the expansion up to approximately 1 ns. Exploring delays up to 15 ns, a second dynamic Newton ring pattern is observed, consistent with the formation of a second ablation front propagating five times slower than the first one.

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Acknowledgements

This work has been partly funded by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competiveness (Project No. TEC2014-52642-C2-1-R). M.G.-L. acknowledges the FPU (Formación de Profesorado Universitario) Grant No. AP2012-0217 awarded by the Spanish Ministry of Education. We are grateful to Dr. K. Sokolowski-Tinten for the advices on the development of time-resolved microscopy using the same wavelengths for pump and probe pulses.

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  1. Mario Garcia-Lechuga

    Present address: Centro de Láseres Pulsados (CLPU), Building M5 Scientific Park, 37185, Villamayor, Spain

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laser Processing Group, Instituto de Optica, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científica (IO, CSIC), Serrano 121, 28006, Madrid, Spain

    Mario Garcia-Lechuga, Javier Solis & Jan Siegel

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  1. Mario Garcia-Lechuga
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  2. Javier Solis
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  3. Jan Siegel
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Correspondence to Mario Garcia-Lechuga.

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Garcia-Lechuga, M., Solis, J. & Siegel, J. Key stages of material expansion in dielectrics upon femtosecond laser ablation revealed by double-color illumination time-resolved microscopy. Appl. Phys. A 124, 221 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00339-018-1650-1

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