Investigation on Picosecond Laser Ablation of Dental Material Using FIB/SEM Techniques

Results of laser ablation for human tooth are reported based on detected images from Focused Ion Beam/Scanning Electron Microscope (FIB/SEM) instruments. The ablation was carried out by exposing a 1 mm thickness of human tooth to 1J/cm² fluence of Nd: YAG laser operating at 532 nm with pulse duration of 40 ps. The capabilities of the FIB technique involving polishing, etching, drilling, milling in addition to imaging were investigated. The results showed that picosecond pulse duration was not enough to accomplish the ablation process unless the laser energy density is above the ablation threshold. The high potentiality of the technique used was observed for the analysis of FIB images.