Experimental investigations of laser ablation efficiency of pure metals with femto, pico and nanosecond pulses

Laser ablation efficiency of metals in terms of ablated volume per unit of energy was studied experimentally in air at atmospheric pressure with sharply focused ns, ps and fs laser pulses. The best efficiency was obtained for fs laser. Crater widening at ps and ns pulses and correlation between the ablation efficiency and melting point temperature were observed. Ablation efficiency dependence of pulse duration and wavelength is discussed. q1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved