Ablation of organic polymers by 46.9-nm-laser radiation

Abstract

We report results of the exposure of poly(tetrafluoroethylene) -(PTFE), poly(methyl methacrylate) -(PMMA), and polyimide -(PI) to intense 46.9-nm-laser pulses of 1.2-ns-duration at fluences ranging from ∼0.1 to ∼10J∕cm2. The ablation rates were found to be similar for all three materials, ∼80–90nm∕pulse at 1J∕cm2. The results suggest that the ablation of organic polymers induced by intense extreme ultraviolet laser radiation differs from that corresponding to irradiation with longer wavelengths.