Selective Delamination upon Femtosecond Laser Ablation of Ceramic Surfaces

Semitransparent ceramics increasingly attract attention for various applications, due to unique combinations of mechanical and optical properties, chemical durability, and biocompatibility. The authors observe accurate delamination of high-aspect-ratio layers from surfaces of yttria-stabilized zirconia, upon exposure to a femtosecond laser. The phenomenon is explained by an intricate interplay between surface ablation, surface-layer breakdown, and self-focusing of the beam fraction penetrating toward the bulk of the material. This effect presents opportunities for slicing hard, brittle, semitransparent materials into arbitrary shapes for applications.