Laser ablation of polymers: a review

Abstract

Laser ablation (LA), which employs a pulsed laser to remove materials from a substrate for generating micro-/nanostructures, has tremendous applications in the fabrication of metals, ceramics, glasses and polymers. It has become a noteworthy approach for achieving various functional structures in engineering, chemistry, biology, medicine and other fields. Polymers are one such class of materials; they can be melted and vaporized at high temperature during the ablation process. A number of polymers have been researched as candidate substrates in LA, and many different structures and patterns have been realized by this method. The current states of research and progress are reviewed from basic concepts to optimal parameters, polymer types and applications. The significance of this paper is to provide a basis for follow-up research that leads to the development of superior materials and high-quality production through LA. In this review, we first introduce the basic concept of LA, including mechanism, laser types (millisecond, microsecond, nanosecond, picosecond and femtosecond) and influential parameters (wavelength, repetition rate, fluence and pulse duration). Then, we focus on several commonly used polymer materials and compare them in detail, including the effects of polymer properties, laser parameters and feature designs. Finally, we summarize the applications of various structures fabricated by LA in a variety of areas along with a perspective of the challenges in this research area. Overall, a thorough review of LA of several polymers is presented, which could pave the way for characterization of future novel materials.

Analytical Solution of the Complex Polymer Equation Systems via the Homogeneous Balance Method

“…In comparing these figures with Fig. (6, b), due to the data in Table (1) and the solution resulted in [15], good agreements with the experimental works in [9,10] take place.…”

“…Following the basic rules in [13], we will verify in (10) the homogeneous balance between the highest order derivative terms with nonlinear terms to this system : the highest order derivative term namely v  gives f+4, while the highest non-linear term is…”

“…According to the study [9] and after a long time in [10], they extensively investigated the damage effects of various energetic laser beams on polymers such as PS and PMMA, is known as laser ablation. Their results show that the damage is determined by two types of processes: physical interaction of radiation with the substance and mechanical development of the damage cracks.…”

“…The studies on strain solitary waves in different polymers shapes via various conditions and materials were conducted in [6,7], where the experimental and theoretical investigations demonstrate the physical possibility of generation and further propagation of bulk strain solitary waves in waveguides made of nonlinearly elastic materials, like glassy polymers, Polystyrene (PS) and Polymethyl Methacrylate (PMMA). In the experimental trials set-up, physics authors in [2,3,5,7,8,9] and recently in [10] had been using and reporting about the laser ablation to remove or destruct polymer materials by vaporization and erosive processes. This process is mainly influenced by the nature of the polymers material and their tendency to absorb energy, such that the wavelength of the ablation laser should have a threshold absorption depth [11].…”

A Novel Large‐Scale, Multilayer, and Facilely Aligned Micropatterning Technique Based on Flexible and Reusable SU‐8 Shadow Masks

“…Parylene‐C has been also shown to be amenable for fabricating shadow masks, but its fabrication process is complex and requires multiple time‐consuming steps including chemical vapor deposition, thermal evaporation, and reactive ion etching . Flexible membranes made of other polymeric materials such as polyimide (PI), polytetrafluoroethylene, poly(methyl methacrylate) mostly fabricated by laser micromachining have been investigated by many groups . However, severe polymer warping during laser cutting, low control over the feature size, and high cost of the process are critical issues.…”