Time-resolved surface scattering imaging of organic liquids under femtosecond KrF laser pulse excitation

Time-resolved surface scattering imaging was performed for liquid benzyl ch loride and liquid toluene under femtosecond KrF laser ablation conditions. No scattering image was obtained until 1 ns, while scattering started from 2 ns when the laser fluence exceeded 25 mJ/cm(2), and its intensity increas ed with the passage of time. The higher the laser fluence was, the steeper the increasing slope was. The scattering is due to surface roughness, which is the initial stage of macroscopic morphological changes. Root-mean-squar e surface roughness was estimated from the scattering intensity by using fr osted fused-silica plates as reference samples. The induced surface roughne ss increases to a few hundred nm in 10 ns. (C) 1998 American Institute of P hysics. [S0003-6951(98)02150-0].