Femtosecond laser interactions with Co/Al multilayer films

Abstract

ABSTRACTReactive multilayer films of Co and Al were irradiated using femtosecond and nanosecond pulse-length lasers. While no ignition of a self-propagation reaction occurred during the laser machining studies, we observe considerable differences in the morphology and extent of damage induced by femtosecond and nanosecond lasers. Using scanning electron microscopy, we show that single metal layers can be removed at the micron scale with negligible damage to the underlying layers using femtosecond pulse-length lasers.