Influence of mechanical and thermal material properties on laser-produced crater-morphology and their study by focused ion beam & scanning electron microscope imaging

Ablation of material can be obtained by high intensity laser beams and resulting in crater formation in samples. Crater morphology is due to concurring processes: subsurface vaporization, heterogeneous or/and homogeneous boiling, subsurface heating, spherical shock wave propagation, and the volume of craters is expected to be inversely proportional to the bulk modulus of target material. FIB-SEM dual beam system can be used to investigate the role of mechanical and thermal material properties in the laser produced crater morphology. In particular, FIB-SEM images of craters in conductive samples show a higher deposition around craters than in insulators, due to the different thermal conductivity of materials. Due to subsurface modifications on samples, both circular and non-circular craters may be formed. Therefore the analysis of the profile of these structures can be used to back up at dissimilar laser ablation processes.