ISSN:
1432-0630
Keywords:
82.65
;
82.50
;
42.10
Source:
Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
Topics:
Mechanical Engineering, Materials Science, Production Engineering, Mining and Metallurgy, Traffic Engineering, Precision Mechanics
,
Physics
Notes:
Abstract The stability of a planar surface upon pulsed UV-laser irradiation is studied with special emphasis on polymer ablation. Here, we consider a two-level system in which the excitation energy is dissipated via stimulated emission, non-radiative transitions, and activated desorption of excited species. With thermal relaxation times t T≥10−10 s the ablation front turns out to become stable. This could explain the smooth surfaces obtained after pulsed UV-laser ablation of pure and stress free organic polymers. The situation is quite different for materials, for example metals, where fast thermal relaxation of the excitation energy within times, typically, t T〈10−11 s, gives rise to instabilities which result in surface roughening.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/BF00331785
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