Fabrication of micro-channels on Al2O3/TiC ceramics using picosecond laser induced plasma micromachining

Abstract

Laser induced plasma micromachining (LIPMM) using a 10 ps laser was applied to create micro-channels on the surface of Al2O3/TiC ceramic. Micro-channels were firstly created by direct laser ablation and LIPMM to comparatively assess the machining ability of two processes. The results showed that LIPMM could create micro-channels with a higher depth and better surface morphologies as compared to direct laser ablation. Subsequently, the influence of laser parameters during LIPMM like pulse energy, scanning speed and frequency on the machining characteristics was investigated. The machined depth of the micro-channel increased with an increase in pulse energy, meanwhile an increase in frequency or a decrease in scanning speed increased the overlap, leading to an increment of the machined depth as well. The pulse energy, scanning speed and frequency had a slight effect on the machined width. The width of heat affected zone increased with the increasing overlap and pulse energy.