Improving solar radiation absorbance of high refractory sintered ceramics by fs Ti:sapphire laser surface treatment

Samples of high refractory pressure-less sintered carbide ceramics (HfC based), polished by mechanical grinding to a surface roughness Ra ~ 40 nm, have been surface treated, in vacuum, by fs Ti:sapphire laser, operating at 800 nm wavelength, 1000 Hz repetition rate and 100 fs pulse duration, at fluence varying in the range (~6-25 J/cm2), to optimize their solar radiation absorbance, in such a way that they could operate as absorber material in an innovative conversion module of solar radiation into electrical energy. To this aim, an area of approximately 9.6 cm2 was treated by the fs laser beam. The beam strikes perpendicular to the sample, placed on a stage set in motion in the x, y, z-directions, thus generating a scanning pattern of parallel lines. The experimental conditions of laser treatment (energy fluence, speed of transition, overlapping and lateral step distance) were varied in order to optimize the radiation absorption properties of the patterned surface. In laser treated samples the absorption value is increased by about 15%, compared to the original untreated surface, up to a value of final absorbance of about 95%, all over the range of solar radiation spectrum (from UV to IR). The morphological and chemical effects of the treatment have been evaluated by SEM-EDS analysis. At very high fluence, we obtained the characteristic ablation craters and local material decomposition, while at lower fluence (in any case above the threshold) typical periodic nano-structures have been obtained, exploitable for their modified optical properties.