Femtosecond laser ablation of polypropylene: A statistical approach of morphological data.

Laboratoire Hubert Curien, Rue du Professeur Benoiˆt Lauras, St.-Etienne, FranceSummary: Wehaveinvestigatedfemtosecond(fs)laser(130 fs,800 nm,5 kHz)ablationofpolypropylene(PP).The following laser process conditions were varied:powerdensityandnumberofpulses.Themorphologicalparameters’ response (depth, ablation diameter, ablationvolume) to the laser process conditions, measured by anopticalprofiler,wasinvestigatedbythestatisticalanalysistechniquetodeterminetherelationshipbetweenthem.Forthis, the simple linear regression and the multiple linearregressions are compared. The simple linear regressionshows that the ablation volume follows a linearrelationshipwiththeproductofthepowerandthenumberof pulse. SCANNING 9999:1–9, 2013. © 2013 WileyPeriodicals, Inc.Key words: surface metrology, morphologicalparameters, linear regression, principal componentanalysis, laser ablation, femtosecond laser,polypropyle`ne