CC BY
24LP-O-9
Structuring of Kapton surface with ultrashort laser pulses
J. Hrabovsky1,2,3, C. Liberatore1,1. Mirza1, J. Sladek1, J. Beranek1, V. Hajkova4, A.V. Bulgakov1, N.M. Bulgakova1
1HiLASE Centre, Institute of Physics of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Dolni Brezany, Czech Republic
2Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, Charles University in Prague, Prague, Czech Republic 3Faculty of Chemical Technology, University of Pardubice, Pardubice, Czech Republic 4Czech Technical Univerzity in Prague, Faculty of Nuclear Sciences and Physical Engineering, Prague, Czech Republic
Nowadays there is huge demand for high precision processing of biocompatible polymers and, in particular, of polyimide for medical, electronics and industry applications. Pulsed laser ablation (PLA) is a well established method for surface processing and modification of polymers of different kinds. This process has extensively been investigated for UV region of electromagnetic spectra mainly with nanosecond laser pulses. However, polymer ablation in IR, Near- and Mid-IR spectral ranges is not widely been studied, especially in the regimes of ultrashort laser pulses when non-linear phenomena can play an important role in laser energy absorption. In this contribution, we report on a comparative study of surface structuring of polyimide (Kapton) by pico- and femtosecond laser pulses of 1030 nm wavelength. Accurate structuring of this biocompatible polymer is of importance for direct applications in prosthesis and other medical instruments. The ablation was performed with three lenses of different focal distances and the ablation thresholds have been determined. It was shown that femtosecond laser pulses are much more advantages for high-precision surface structuring compared to picosecond pulses.
