Surface structuring of synthetic fibers by UV laser irradiation simulationof the temperature profile at the polymer surface

An investigation of the mechanism of the W laser induced temperature field in a PETP-polymer is presented. We discuss a specific mathematical solution of the heat equation for large-area (uniform) irradiation on the PETP-subs trate in relation to laser and substrate parameters. Depending on the order of magnitude of the absorption coefficient of the po lymer for different UV-light surface temperatures of approx. 16,000 degrees C (193 nm), 11,000 degreesC (248 nm) and 520 degreesC (308 nm) are calculat ed by simulation at the end of the laser pulse, The temperature input withi n the polymer layer is limited to only a very small penetration depth (< 0. 4 <mu>m at 193 nm, 248 nm and < 8 <mu>m for 308 nm). Besides the effect of surface structuring, material ablation processes also occur simultaneously during laser irradiation, Theoretically calculated re sults of the material removal depth on the PETP-polymer agree largely with the experiments.