Laser and Particle Beams

Table of Contents - September 2012 - Volume 30, Issue 03  

Research Article

Femtosecond laser ablation of brass: A study of surface morphology and ablation rate

Mohamed E. Shaheena1a2 c1 and Brian J. Fryera1a3

a1 Great Lakes Institute for Environmental Research, University of Windsor, Windsor, Ontario, Canada

a2 Department of Physics, Faculty of Sciences, Tanta University, Tanta, Egypt

a3 Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Windsor, Windsor, Ontario, Canada

Abstract

The interaction of near infrared femtosecond laser pulses with a Cu based alloy (brass) in ambient air at atmospheric pressure and under different laser conditions was investigated. The effects of laser fluence and number of pulses on surface morphology and ablation rate were studied using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and optical microscopy. Ablation rates were found to rapidly increase from 83 to 604 nm/pulse in the fluence range 1.14–12.21 J/cm2. At fluence >12.21 J/cm2, ablation rates increased slowly to a maximum (607 nm/pulse at 19.14 J/cm2), and then decreased at fluence higher than 20.47 J/cm2 to 564 nm/pulse at 24.89 J/cm2. Large amounts of ablated material in a form of agglomerated fine particles were observed around the ablation craters as the number of laser pulses and fluence increased. The study of surface morphology shows reduced thermal effects with femtosecond laser ablation in comparison to nanosecond laser ablation at low fluence.

(Received March 20 2012)

(Accepted April 25 2012)

Keywords

  • Brass;
  • Femtosecond laser;
  • Laser ablation;
  • Scanning electron microscopy

Correspondence:

c1 Address correspondence and reprint requests to: Mohamed E. Shaheen, Great Lakes Institute for Environmental Research, University of Windsor, Windsor, Ontario, Canada N9B 3P4. E-mail: mshaheen@uwindsor.ca

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