Thermomechanical ablation of titanium by femtosecond laser irradiation

Interference microscopy was used to study the ablation of a titanium target with a single exposure to laser pulses of $40$ fs. The threshold of thermomechanical ablation is measured by the absorbed energy density and the dependence of the crater depth on the energy density of the laser pulse. The results of the study of the morphology and nanorelief of the crater surfaces indicate that the destruction of the surface layer in the condensed state has a spalling nature.