Tailoring material properties induced by laser surface processing

This chapter focuses on laser surface processing of silicon, polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA), and magnesium alloy. For silicon, approaches of using femtosecond laser to produce nanostructures and to recrystallize amorphous-Si simultaneously, using excimer laser to generate nanobumps, and using DPSS UV laser to create uniform and consistent microstructures are examined. For PMMA, femtosecond laser is investigated in breaking molecular bonds to tailor wettability with controllable hydrophobicity and hydrophilicity. For Mg alloy, a process of using millisecond pulse Nd:YAG laser to improve corrosion resistance and wettability is described. Analyses of heat flow and rapid solidification, material loss, and microstructural evolution are provided.