Plastic Deformation of Copper and Its Alloys under the Action of Nanosecond UV Laser Pulse

• Published in: Physics of metals and metallography Vol. 123; no. 2; pp. 178 - 185
• Main Authors: Malinskii, T. V., Rogalin, V. E., Yamshchikov, V. A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Moscow Pleiades Publishing 01.02.2022; Springer; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Alloys; Chemistry and Materials Science; Copper; Copper base alloys; Cracking (fracturing); Crystallography; Flux density; Grain boundaries; High temperature; Lasers; Materials Science; Metallic Materials; Plastic deformation; Radiation damage; Specialty metals industry; Strength and Plasticity; Ultraviolet lasers; Uplift; thermodeformation; nanosecond pulse; copper alloys; ablation; copper; UV laser; laser-induced breakdown threshold
• ISSN: 0031-918X; 1555-6190
• DOI: 10.1134/S0031918X22020077

The effect of nanosecond UV laser pulses on copper and low-alloy copper samples has been studied. Traces of high-temperature deformation have been found at the energy density of 0.1–1 J/cm 2 in the below-threshold regime without obvious traces of melting. They manifest themselves as the results of slipping and cracking along grain boundaries, as well as traces of crystallographic slip inside grains. The surface of the metal in the irradiated zone exhibits an uplift. The damage increases with the number of pulses. The height of the resulting uplift can reach 1 μm, and even more in some cases. The results obtained are similar to the electroplastic and magnetoplastic effects. By analogy, we propose to call the detected effect opticoplastic.