Abstract

Following the recently developed technique of ablative photo-decomposition etching of polymers by 193 nm laser radiation¹, a systematic study of the process using emission spectroscopy and electron microscopy as monitors was carried out. In this study the polymers (polyimide, Mylar, and PMMA) were exposed to 193, 248, 351 nm laser pulses of 15 ns duration at various laser fluences. The experimental system included 0.25 m monochromators, a photomultiplier with visible and UV response, a UV sensitized optical multichannel analyzer and a boxcar integrator. The measurements were performed under vacuum and in air and He environments.

© 1984 Optical Society of America