There is increasing interest in the use of lasers to modify the wettability of surfaces. Here we report on the use of a 20W nS pulsed IR fibre laser to create strong ydrophobicity on the surface of aluminium sheets. This is unexpected, hydrophobicity is usually associated solely with femto- or pico- second laser processing. At a 20W average power level the area coverage rate is too small for many industrial applications. Further trials using a 800W DPSS laser are described and the ability of this system to change surface wettability at a much higher production rate are indicated. There is little reported literature on surface texturing at higher average power levels. Indications of the productivity, or surface coverage rate, are given.
Keywords: Fibre lasers, DPSS lasers, Surface Engineering, texturing, wettability, aluminiu
