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Effect of the Medium on the Laser Ablation Characteristics of Aluminum Irradiated by Femtosecond Laser Pulses

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Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of surrounding medium on the laser ablation characteristics of aluminum (Al). Al specimens were subjected to tightly focused laser beam in three dissimilar media; air, water and ionic liquid. For processing, the laser beam was tightly focused using a converging lens and the laser pulse energy was varied from 1–5 µJ. The produced laser tracks and areas were examined by field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM) for their microstructural characterization. Laser induced periodic surface structure (LIPSS) were observed in air whereas no LIPSS were witnessed in the case of water and ionic liquid media for the same laser pulse energy. The laser ablated surface was cleaner for liquid media as compared to air due to change in laser-matter interactions and hampered settling down of the ablated debris on the surface. In addition to LIPSS three different structures; protrusions, pits and complex conical spikes were observed in different media. The average periodicity of the produced LIPSS was calculated to be 710 ± 10 nm while average diameter of protrusions and pits was found to be 115 ± 30 nm and 93 ± 35 nm, respectively. The ablation mechanism in air and liquid has been discussed in detail.

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Acknowledgements

One of the authors; S.P. Sharma is thankful to Fundação para a Ciência ea Tecnologia Lisbon for the postdoctoral fellowship SFRH/BPD/78871/2011 provided during the course of this study.

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  1. Division of Research and Development, Lovely Professional University, Jalandhar - Delhi G.T. Road, 144411, Phagwara, Punjab, India

    Sahendra P. Sharma

  2. CEFEMA-Center of Physics and Engineering of Advanced Materials, Universidade de Lisboa, Instituto Superior Técnico, Av. Rovisco Pais, 1049-001, Lisboa, Portugal

    R. Vilar

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Sharma, S.P., Vilar, R. Effect of the Medium on the Laser Ablation Characteristics of Aluminum Irradiated by Femtosecond Laser Pulses. Lasers Manuf. Mater. Process. 9, 622–639 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40516-022-00194-2

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