Femtosecond laser surface ablation of polymethyl-methacrylate with position control through z-scan

Spatial resolution of laser micromachining of polymers can be improved with the use of femtosecond laser pulses. Due to the short interaction time, thermal effects are significantly reduced. Additionally, the non-linear character of the interaction of ultrashort laser pulses with transparent materials allows the modification inside their bulk also. However, this creates the challenge to accurately focus the laser beam in the surface when only surface ablation is required. Thus, this work presents a study of the laser ablation of a transparent polymer at different pulse energies and focusing positions controlled through z-scan transmittance measurements. Experiments were performed using an Yb:KYW laser with 450 fs pulses and 1027 nm wavelength. Morphological analysis of the polymer surface after irradiation was performed using scanning electron microscopy. Similar ablation craters were found for a range of sample positions around the beam waist. However, focused ion beam cross-sections of the craters unveil significant inner modifications under most of the focusing conditions leading to surface ablation. Hence, surface ablation without damaging the bulk material only occurs at critical positions where the beam waist is located slightly outside the sample. In situ monitoring of the sample position can be made through transmittance measurements.