Laser induced forward transfer of metals by temporally shaped femtosecond laser pulses

Temporally shaped, femtosecond laser pulses have been used for controlling the size and the morphology of micron-sized metallic structures obtained by using the Laser Induced Forward Transfer (LIFT) technique. We report the effect of pulse shaping on the size and morphology of the deposited structur...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Optics express 2008-07, Vol.16 (15), p.11300-11309
Main Authors: Klini, A, Loukakos, P A, Gray, D, Manousaki, A, Fotakis, C
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Computer Simulation
Energy Transfer
Light
Metals - chemistry
Metals - radiation effects
Models, Chemical
Scattering, Radiation
Surface Properties - radiation effects
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Temporally shaped, femtosecond laser pulses have been used for controlling the size and the morphology of micron-sized metallic structures obtained by using the Laser Induced Forward Transfer (LIFT) technique. We report the effect of pulse shaping on the size and morphology of the deposited structures of Au, Zn, Cr on a function of the pulse separation time ??t (from 0 to 10 ps) of double pulses of variable intensities generated by using a liquid crystal spatial light modulator (SLM). The observed differences in size and morphology are correlated with the outcome of pump-probe experiments for the study of electron-phonon scattering dynamics and subsequent energy transfer processes to the bulk in the different metals employed. We propose that in metals with weak electron-lattice coupling, the electron ballistic motion and the resulting fast electron scattering at the film surface, as well as the internal electron thermalization process are crucial to the morphology and size of the transferred material. Therefore, temporal shaping within the corresponding time scales of these processes may be used for tailoring the features of the metallic structures obtained by LIFT.
ISSN:1094-4087
1094-4087
DOI:10.1364/oe.16.011300