Ablation and Patterning of Carbon Nanotube Film by Femtosecond Laser Irradiation

• Main Authors: Xuefeng Wu, Hailiang Yin, Qiang Li
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2019-07-01
• Series: Applied Sciences
• Subjects: femtosecond laser machining; carbon nanotube film; material threshold; Raman spectroscopy; laser-induced processing
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/9/15/3045

Carbon nanotube (CNT) film can be used as thin film electrodes and wearable electronic devices due to their excellent mechanical and electrical properties. The femtosecond laser has the characteristics of an ultra-short pulse duration and an ultra-high peak power, and it is one of the most suitable methods for film material processing. The ablation and patterning of CNT film are performed by a femtosecond laser with different parameters. An ablation threshold of 25 mJ/cm² was obtained by investigating the effects of laser pulse energy and pulse number on ablation holes. Raman spectroscopy and scanning electron microscope (SEM) were used to characterize the performance of the pattern groove. The results show that the oligomer in the CNT film was removed by the laser ablation, resulting in an increase in Raman G band intensity. As the laser increased, the ablation of the CNTs was caused by the energy of photons interacting with laser-induced thermal elasticity when the pulse energy was increased enough to destroy the carbon−carbon bonds between different carbon atoms. Impurities and amorphous carbon were found at and near the cut edge while laser cutting at high energy, and considerable distortion and tensile was produced on the edge of the CNTs’ groove. Furthermore, appropriate cutting parameters were obtained without introducing defects and damage to the substrate, which provides a practical method applied to large-area patterning machining of CNT film.