Angular laser cleaning for the enhancement of cleaning efficiency

Summary form only given. Laser cleaning has begun to attract a considerable amount of interest recently as a new cleaning technique among scientists and engineers. Due to its unique characteristics as a selective, precise, controllable and environmentally-friendly process, the laser cleaning technique is finding a wide range of successful applications both in industry and in the world of art conservation. In this paper, laser removal of small particles on metal surface is carried out by changing the incidence angle of laser beam. It is found that dramatic improvement of cleaning efficiency is observed at the glancing angle of incidence on the surface compared to the perpendicular incidence of laser beam. Furthermore substrate damage is greatly reduced and probably eliminated at the glancing angle of incidence.