Study of Residual Stress and Surface Morphology Changes in Al2O3 Induced by Nd:YAG Laser Irradiation

In this study, the residual stress and surface morphology changes in alumina plates by the irradiation of a Q-switched Nd:YAG laser were investigated. The results of x-ray diffraction using the sin2ψ technique show that laser irradiation induces tensile residual stresses on the surface of the plates, which increase with the increasing energy density of the laser beam. Residual stress and surface morphology are sensitive to the irradiation conditions. The surface morphology of the plates systematically changed with the laser energy density and the presence of an aluminum foil or water on the plates. The physical reasons for these changes are discussed in this article.