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Single-pulse damage thresholds of hydrogenated amorphous carbon (a-C:H) films were measured for 8-ns laser pulses at 532-nm wavelength. Layer thicknesses from below the optical penetration depth to above the thermal diffusion length (60 nm–13 μm) were examined. After correction of the damage-threshold values for the fraction of energy effectively absorbed by the material, the damage threshold was found to increase linearly with the layer thickness, also for film thicknesses below the optical penetration depth of a-C:H. The threshold fluence reached the bulk value for a layer thickness equal to the thermal diffusion length. The thermal diffusion coefficient was obtained from fitting the experimental data. Several phenomena like graphitization, blistering, exfoliation, and ablation were observed for different fluence regimes and film thicknesses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigated the initial modification and ablation of crystalline silicon with single and multiple Ti:sapphire laser pulses of 5 to 400 fs duration. In accordance with earlier established models, we found the phenomena amorphization, melting, re-crystallization, nucleated vaporization, and ablation to occur with increasing laser fluence down to the shortest pulse durations. We noticed new morphological features (bubbles) as well as familiar ones (ripples, columns). A nearly constant ablation threshold fluence on the order of 0.2 J/cm[sup 2] for all pulse durations and multiple-pulse irradiation was observed. For a duration of ≈100 fs, significant incubation can be observed, whereas for 5 fs pulses, the ablation threshold does not depend on the pulse number within the experimental error. For micromachining of silicon, a pulse duration of less than 500 fs is not advantageous. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract. The surface chemical modification of polyurethane (PU) films was performed by an UV laser-induced chemical reaction in a polysaccharide solution. This process may be applicable as hydrophilic packaging of implantable medical devices and in vivo sensors. When a PU film in contact with an aqueous alginic acid (AAC) solution was irradiated with a XeCl laser, the PU film turned hydrophilic. Contact angles of water on the film were reduced from 110 degrees to 60 degrees. Since light absorption of the AAC solution at 308 nm was negligibly small, reactive sites were generated solely on the PU surface. There, AAC could be immobilized by chemical bonds thus allowing for a nanometer-scaled grafting of this biomolecule. The mechanism was investigated by surface analyses with Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), dye staining, ultraviolet-visible (UV-VIS) spectroscopy, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) techniques. A one-photon photochemical process could be identified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract. Ablation of indium phosphide wafers in air was performed with low repetition rate ultrashort laser pulses (130 rs, 10 Hz) of 800 nm wavelength. The relationships between the dimensions of the craters and the ablation parameters were analyzed. The ablation threshold fluence depends on the number of pulses applied to the same spot. The single-pulse ablation threshold value was estimated to be phi[sub th](1) = 0.16 J/cm[sup 2]. The dependence of the threshold fluence on the number of laser pulses indicates an incubation effect. Morphological and chemical changes of the ablated regions were characterized by means of scanning electron microscopy and Auger electron spectroscopy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The multi-pulse ablation threshold of barium borosilicate glass was measured using 30-fs pulses of a high repetition rate (1 kHz) laser system. The threshold fluence was found to decrease with increasing beam radius rang-ing from20 to 400.m. Two existing models are applied by considering thermal accumulation and point defects, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]