Product Code: ICAL09_M205

Femtosecond Laser Pulse Ablation of Polyurea Areogel
Authors:
Qiumei Bian, ; Manhattan KS USA
Shouyuan Chen, Kansas State University; Manhattan KS USA
Zenghu Chang, Kansas State University; Manhattan KS USA
Shuting Lei, Kansas State University; Manhattan KS USA
Presented at ICALEO 2009

Femtosecond laser pulses with pulse trains of different repetition rates are employed in micromachining of a polyurea aerogel material. By varying the pulse number in a pulse train and the repetition rate of the pulse train, we investigate their effects on the ablation surface morphology of the polyurea aerogels. The heat accumulating in the polymer material can be prevented by controlling the pulse train repetition rate, thus avoiding melting and burning of the polyurea aerogels. The experiments are performed in ambient air using a Ti:sapphire laser with the wavelength of 800 nm and the pulse duration of approximately 40 femtosecond. The number of pulse trains and the repetition rate are controlled by an electronic fast shutter which can produce a maximum repetition rate of 150Hz and a shortest exposure time of 2.3 millisecond. High quality machining surfaces can be obtained by optimizing the pulse train repetition rate and the pulse number in a pulse train. Structural details of the machined area are characterized using a number of techniques such as optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy.