Effect of liquid environment on the titanium surface modification by laser ablation

Abstract The effect of liquid environment (de-ionized water and propanol) on surface, structural and mechanical properties of femtosecond laser ablated titanium has been investigated. For this purpose, Ti: sapphire laser (800 nm, 30 fs, 1 kHz) has been employed, at a fluence of 3.6 J/cm 2 in ambient environments of de-ionized water, and propanol for various number of laser pulses i.e. 500, 1000, 1500 and 2000. The surface features, chemical composition, structural analysis and mechanical properties of irradiated targets have been evaluated by using Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM), Energy Dispersive X-Ray Spectroscopy (EDS), X -ray Diffraction (XRD), Raman Spectroscopy and Nano-hardness tester. Various features like dendritic structures, globules, porous granular morphology, cones, crater, circular ripples and thermal stress cracking are observed at the ablated area after irradiation. These features are instigated by various thermal and chemical phenomena induced by laser heating at the solid–liquid interface. Decrease in nano-hardness observed in both ambient environments is attributable to the formation of hydrides after irradiation in both media.