Partial ablation of Ti/Al nano-layer thin film by single femtosecond laser pulse

The interaction of ultra-short laser pulses with Titanium/Aluminium (Ti/Al) nano-layered thin film was investigated. The sample composed of alternating Ti and Al layers of a few nanometres thick was deposited by ion-sputtering. A single pulse irradiation experiment was conducted in an ambient air environment using focused and linearly polarized femtosecond laser pulses for the investigation of the ablation effects. The laser induced morphological changes and the composition were characterized using several microscopy techniques and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. The following results were obtained: (i) at low values of pulse energy/fluence, ablation of the upper Ti layer only was observed; (ii) at higher laser fluence, a two-step ablation of Ti and Al layers takes place, followed by partial removal of the nano-layered film. The experimental observations were supported by a theoretical model accounting for the thermal response of the multiple layered structure upon irradiation with ultra-short laser...