LASER MELTING OF NITRIDES OF ALUMINUM, SI LICON, AND BORON

An analysis is made of the heating and melting of the surfaces of cera mic samples of aluminium nitride, silicon nitride, and boron nitride b y low-intensity laser radiation. It is shown that the thickness of a m olten surface layer is governed by the thermophysical properties of th e material and by the relationship between its melting point and the i ntense-evaporation temperature. The derived dependence of the thicknes s of the molten layer on the radiation intensity is compared with the results of experiments on melting of aluminium nitride. The published experimental results on the laser heating of silicon nitride and boron nitride are interpreted.