Cavitation bubble removal by surfactants in Laser-Induced Plasma Micromachining

The Laser-Induced Plasma Micromachining (LIPMM) process results in higher material removal rates, lower heat affected areas, and is less influenced by materials properties in comparison to direct laser ablation. Despite these improved benefits, cavitation bubbles generated during the process that reflect, refract, and scatter the laser beam pose a challenge for processing materials in precision engineering applications. This work reports an effective solution to remove surface bubbles in LIPMM using surfactants. The force of repulsion between the surfactant molecules aids the buoyancy force in the bubbles to overcome the surface tension which causes the bubbles to detach from the surface.