Transport Phenomena and Droplet Formation During Pulsed Laser Interaction With Thin Films

This work investigates transport phenomena and mechanisms of droplet formation during a pulsed laser interaction with thin films. The surface of the target material is altered through material flow in the molten phase induced by a tightly focused laser energy flux. Such a process is useful for developing a laser-based micromachining technique. Experimental and numerical investigations of the laser-induced fluid flow and topography variations are carried out for a better understanding of the physical phenomena involved in the process. As with many machining techniques, debris is often generated during laser-material interaction. Experimental parametric studies are carried out to correlate the laser parameters with the topography and droplet formations. It is found that a narrow range of operation parameters and target conditions exists for “clean” structures to be fabricated. The stop action photography technique is employed to capture the surface topography variation and the melting development with a nanosecond time resolution and a micrometer spatial resolution. Numerical simulations of the laser-induced surface deformation are also performed to obtain the transient field variables and to track the deforming surface. The comparison between the numerical and experimental work shows that, within the energy intensity range investigated in this work, the surface deformation and droplet formation are attributed to the surface-tension-driven flow, and the recoil pressure effect plays an insignificant role in the surface topography development. [S0022-1481(00)02903-0]