Picosecond pulsed laser for microscale sample preparation

Ultra short pulsed laser ablation is applied for preparing samples suitable for micromechanical testing. Laue microdiffraction shows that the micromachining hardly damages the initial microstructure. The technique has the potential to be a promising alternative to focused ion beam preparation for micromechanical objects since it is relatively fast, efficient and implants no ions. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.