For lasers, there exist many current and potential competitive applications in the areas of manufacturing, materials processing, and so on. Nanosecond (ns)-pulsed lasers are often seen in these... Show moreFor lasers, there exist many current and potential competitive applications in the areas of manufacturing, materials processing, and so on. Nanosecond (ns)-pulsed lasers are often seen in these applications. This dissertation presents the experimental study, time-resolved observation and analysis of nanosecond laser ablation and laser-induced plasma due to ablation, and the analysis is based on physics-based numerical models. Specifically, the following topics have been studied: (1). Plasma induced by ablation using long-duration nanosecond laser pulse Plasma is often produced in laser-material interactions, and may play an important role in many laser-based or laser-assisted technologies, such as laser shock peening (LSP), laser micromachining (through the laser ablation process), laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS), and laser propulsion, etc. However, despite the previous work in the literature, the study is still limited for the plasma induced by the ablation process using long nanosecond laser pulses (with durations on the order of ~100 ns). In this dissertation, investigations have been performed on this kind of plasma through fast photography (imaging) and emission spectroscopy techniques, and the experimental results have been analyzed using physics-based computational models. Based on the investigations, the following major interesting findings have been obtained under the investigated conditions: (i) Two high radiation intensity regions are observed in the plasma, and one of them disappears soon after laser pulse ends. The research work shows that this phenomenon is related to the vaporization process from the target surface and the confinement effect of the ambient air. (ii) Laser-induced plasma xvii backward growth phenomenon occurs for target ablation using 100-ns laser pulses, but not for that using 200-ns pulses. The investigation shows that the underlying mechanism is the backward growth of the boundary of the high temperature region without actual backward motion of vapor material. (iii) Under the studied conditions, the core region of the plasma (~100 μm above the laser-ablated target) has relatively low temperatures as compared to some other regions of the plasma, which contradicts the common intuition. (2). Semiconductor ablation utilizing infrared (IR) nanosecond laser pulses Semiconductor micromachining through laser ablation may have the advantages of high spatial resolution, high processing efficiency, good flexibility, and no tool wear. However, most of the prior investigations in the literature on ns laser ablation of semiconductors often employ lasers at the ultraviolet (UV) or visible wavelength. The work using IR ns lasers is limited, but IR ns lasers may often have lower cost and require less external energy consumption to produce the same average laser power output. In this dissertation, the ablation of semiconductors using IR ns lasers has been studied through time-resolved observations (fast photography) and the results have been analyzed utilizing physics-based numerical models. The research work shows that the ablation mechanism under the studied conditions is the surface vaporization process during the early stage followed by the subsequent liquid ejection process that occurs at a later time. The research work and analysis shows that the underlying mechanism for the observed liquid ejection should be due to the spatial gradient of the pressure exerted on the target surface, instead of phase explosion. (3). Laser-induced backside ablation (LIBA) of sapphire with IR ns laser pulses xviii LIBA may potentially provide a good solution for high-quality and highefficiency micromachining of wide-band-gap dielectrics (WBGD). However, the prior work on LIBA of sapphire (which is a very important WBGD material) using low-cost IR ns lasers has been rarely reported. This kind of work has been carried out in this dissertation, and the investigation shows that under the studied conditions LIBA can produce very high material removal efficiency and reasonably good quality of machining without obvious chemical contamination coming from the employed backing layer. The ablation rate and damage threshold are measured under different laser parameters, and the research work may provide useful information for the applications of LIBA in practical areas using IR ns lasers that may often have relatively lower cost than UV or visible ns lasers. Show less
