Investigation of Femtosecond Laser-assisted Micromachining of Lithium Niobate

Authors

• A. Malshe, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville
• D. Deshpande, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville
• E. Stach, National Center for Electron Microscopy, Lawrence Berkeley Labs
• Kamlakar Rajurkar, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
• Dennis R. Alexander, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow

Document Type

Article

Date of this Version

2004

Comments

Published in CIRP Annals - Manufacturing Technology, Volume 53, Issue 1, 2004, Pages 187-190.

Abstract

Lithium Niobate has a potential for applications in electronics and communication industries due to its unique electro-optical, piezoelectric and nonlinear properties. Femtosecond laser machining offers the best alternative to machine the mechanically fragile and optically delicate lithium niobate crystal. This paper reports a study of the effect of femtosecond laser machining on the surface integrity of lithium niobate. The transmission electron microscopy reveals a 100nm thin amorphous region and a void. The chemical analysis shows a loss of lithium and oxygen from the surface and sub-surface. Optical illumination facilitates the selective readout of the written spots of 2 microns size.