355 nm nanosecond pulsed Nd:YAG laser profile measurement, metal thin film ablation and thermal simulation

Laser ablation of nickel, gold and copper thin film on glass substrates has been investigated using a nanosecond pulsed Nd:YAG laser operating at 355 nm in air with a Gaussian intensity profile. The exact beam profile was measured through mechanical scanning with a photodiode. A small beam defect was observed, which can affect the machining performance at higher pulse energies. The ablation thresholds of the films were calculated from the crater diameter values. The effect of the pulse repetition rate and the film thickness was also studied. At high pulse repetition rates heat accumulation was observed and the ablation threshold decreased with the film thickness. Both cases resulted in higher diameters.