Abstract
We successfully sliced cylindrical polyurea aerogel samples of 10–15 mm in diameter into 1–3 mm disks using femtosecond laser. The experiments were performed using a Ti:sapphire laser with 800 nm wavelength in ambient air with a pulse duration of ~ 40 fs. We found that the laser fluence to breakdown this material is 1.3 J/cm 2. The ablation rate at different energy levels was evaluated. The factors influencing the ablation surface quality were investigated. The proper fluence to slice the porous polyurea is 6.4– 8.9 J/cm 2 with the beam linearly scanning the sample at a speed of 0.1 mm/s, or 5.1–7.6 J/cm 2 with the beam circularly scanning the sample at a speed of 3.5–4°/s, and high quality machining surface was obtained under these conditions. The material removal mechanisms are proposed. Structural details of the machined area were characterized using a number of techniques such as optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy. This work provides insights for micromachining nanostructured porous polymers using femtosecond lasers.
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