Influence of Pulse Energy and Scanning Speed of Femtosecond Laser on Surface Roughness of SiC Ceramics

Abstract

Laser polishing, as a novel surface processing technology, has been successfully employed for improving the surface smoothness and geometric accuracy of components for metals, glasses, fibers and ceramics. However, continuous wave and microsecond and nanosecond lasers leads to some undesirable defects of the polished surface, such as heat affected zone, debris redeposition and thermal stress induced microcracks, especially for hard brittle materials. To solve this issue, this article investigated femtosecond laser polishing of SiC ceramics. Influence of pulse energy and scanning speed on surface roughness and surface morphologies was studied. In addition, the relationship between laser parameters and surface roughness and removal depth of SiC ceramics has been revealed. The experimental results indicated that the polished surface without big voids and spalling was obtained through optimizing femtosecond laser parameters.