Ultrafast laser ablation of metal films on flexible substrates

For the development of organic electronics on flexible substrates, we study the potentialities of direct laser patterning of conductive films deposited on plastic foils. The materials under study are silver and platinum films (100-nm thick) deposited on Kapton^® substrates. The experiments are done using a laser source operating at 1030 nm, 500 fs, under different irradiation conditions: single and multiple pulses at various frequencies. The laser ablation thresholds are measured and the ablation morphologies are analyzed with scanning electron microscopy. The results of these investigations show that photomechanical effects lead to delamination of the film and that depending of the irradiation conditions, incubation or heat accumulation effects can occur. The experimental results are compared to simulations based on the two-temperature model. Particularly we study the heat accumulation effects that can occur in the case of multiple pulses and that are detrimental for plastic substrates.