3D reconstruction and characterization of laser induced craters by in situ optical microscopy

A low-cost optical microscope was developed and coupled to an irradiation system in order to study the induced effects on material during a multipulse regime by an in situ visual inspection of the surface, in particular of the spot generated at different pulses. In the case of laser ablation, a reconstruction of the crater in 3D was made from the images of the sample surface taken during the irradiation process, and the subsequent profiles of ablated material were extracted. The implementation of this homemade optical device gives an added value to the irradiation system, providing information about morphology evolution of irradiated area when successive pulses are applied. In particular, the determination of ablation rates in real time can be especially useful for a better understanding and controlling of the ablation process in applications where removal of material is involved, such as laser cleaning and in-depth characterization of multilayered samples and diffusion processes. The validation of the developed microscope was made by a comparison with a commercial confocal microscope configured for the characterization of materials where similar results of crater depth and diameter were obtained for both systems.