Time resolved study of photopolymer assisted laser-induced forward transfer of thin ceramic films

Laser-Induced Forward Transfer (LIFT) is an important direct-write technique for controlled printing of materials and devices with micron and sub-micron resolution [1, 2]. In the conventional LIFT method, melting or ablation of the material to be printed (donor) provides the thrust required for forward transfer, which leads to its damage. To overcome this problem an intermediate thin dynamic release layer (DRL) is sandwiched between the donor and its supporting substrate (carrier) to absorb the incident laser energy in a complementary LIFT technique known as DRL-LIFT. A tailor-made UV-absorbing triazene polymer (TP) has recently shown potential as a DRL material for transferring materials and functional devices [3]. A complete understanding of dynamics of the ablation/transfer mechanism and the dependence on the operating parameters is significant for optimizing various scientific and technological applications. In this paper, recent results of time-resolved study of TP-DRL assisted LIFT of solid phase ceramic materials, gadolinium gallium oxide (Gd-Ga-O) and ytterbium doped yttrium aluminium oxide (Yb:YAG), using conventional ns shadowgraphy technique [4] are presented. The influence of key parameters such as laser fluence, donor and DRL material thicknesses on the transfer process dynamics and quality of the ejected donor (flyer) was also investigated and is discussed here