What is it about?
The surface of our planet Earth is constantly changing its shape over time due to natural events such as storms, floods, and meteor impacts, creating beautiful landscapes. But what if we were tiny people living on the surface of a material instead? Instead of storms and meteors, we could use strong light - lasers - to change the surface of the material and shape our own unique environment.
Featured Image
Photo by Toby Elliott on Unsplash
Why is it important?
Femtosecond lasers, which produce brief and intense bursts of light, are a powerful tool for precise and intricate surface modification of materials. However, until recently, it was not clear how the surface topography of materials changes over time when exposed to femtosecond laser pulses. Our research has established the foundation for achieving more controlled surface modification through femtosecond laser pulses, thanks to the new understanding we gained about how surface topography changes over time.
Perspectives
It would be so much fun to be able to perform miniature experiments using light and materials to simulate changes in landforms such as volcanic eruptions and erosion.
Shuntaro Tani
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Pulse-by-pulse evolution of surface morphology driven by femtosecond laser pulses, Journal of Applied Physics, April 2023, American Institute of Physics, DOI: 10.1063/5.0140178.
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