UV Lasers: Effects and Applications in Materials Science

This volume provides the first comprehensive overview of the modern use of ultraviolet laser radiation in the processing of materials. Lasers operating at ultraviolet wavelengths combine the ability to vaporise the most refractory of materials with the precision to ablate micron-sized holes in polymers and remove thin layers from the cornea for corrective surgery of the human eye. This book explores the use of UV laser radiation for the ablation and deposition of metals, insulating solids, polymers, semiconductors and superconductors. Emphasis has been placed on understanding the physical mechanisms accompanying these processes and the conversion of intense UV radiation to photothermal and photochemical energy in irradiated materials. This will be an invaluable source-book of current information in the rapidly developing field of laser applications for engineers, scientists, researchers and students in universities, government laboratories and the private sector, and will also form a valuable supplementary text for graduate courses in materials science.