UV Lasers

This volume provides a comprehensive overview of the use of ultraviolet laser radiation in the processing of materials. It is the first book to cover all the major up-to-date applications of UV lasers in a unified approach. The development of lasers operating at ultraviolet wavelengths has provided materials scientists and engineers with a new set of tools. These combine the ability to vaporize the most refractory of materials with the precision to ablate micrometer-sized holes in polymers and the ability to remove thin layers from the cornea for correction of refractive errors in the human eye. This book outlines these applications and explores the use of UV laser radiation for the ablation and deposition of metals, insulating solids, polymers, semiconductors and superconductors. Emphasis has been placed on understanding the physical mechanisms accompanying these processes and the conversion of intense UV radiation to photothermal and photochemical energy in irradiated materials. An extensive bibliography has been included. . UV Lasers: effects and applications in materials science will be an invaluable source of current information in the rapidly developing field of laser applications for engineers, scientists, researchers and students in universities, government laboratories and the private sector. This book will also be valuable as a supplementary text for graduate courses in materials science.