Combined effects of polarization and secondary ablation on precision machining of microgrooves by laser-induced microjet-assisted ablation

Abstract

In this study, we propose a polarization-modulated laser-induced microjet-assisted ablation method for machining microgrooves with controllable cross-sections. A novel mathematical model is presented to accurately predict the cross-sections by considering the combined effects of polarization and secondary ablation. The simulation and experimental results reveal that the effect of secondary ablation becomes more obvious when steeper grooves are ablated with higher repetition frequency and larger pulse energy. The polarization effect and secondary ablation of target material result in asymmetric ablation of linearly polarized laser beam. To avoid the asymmetric ablation, we present the cylindrical vector beams to achieve scanning-path independent laser micromachining with various cross-sections. Based on the prediction model, the cross-sectional characteristics are precisely designed and fabricated by tuning laser processing parameters. Our work provides a reliable approach for the controllable fabrication of microgrooves at the scale of tens of micrometers.