Non-thermal effects on femtosecond laser ablation of polymers extracted from the oscillation of time-resolved reflectivity.

The dynamics of femtosecond laser ablation of transparent polymers were examined using time-resolved reflectivity. When these polymers were irradiated by a pump pulse with fluence above the ablation threshold of 0.8-2.0 J/cm², we observed the oscillation of the reflectivity caused by the interference between the reflected probe pulses from the sample surface and the thin layer due to the non-thermal photomechanical effects of spallation. As the fluence of the pump pulse increased, the separation velocity of the thin layer increased from 6 km/s to the asymptotic value of 11 km/s. It is suggested that the velocities are determined by shock-wave velocities of the photo-excited layer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]