“Verso” laser cleaning of mechanically thin films

Abstract In usual dry laser cleaning of opaque samples, short laser pulses are projected onto the sample surface to be cleaned. Energy transferred from light ejects extraneous particles away from the surface. Laser beam fluence is limited by the damage reached by high temperature that the sample surface can produce. We have experimentally shown that for thin samples, the thermo-elastic wave propagates within the whole sample thickness, thus also the rear surface, while temperature effects are limited to the front surface. Therefore, the proposed “verso” laser cleaning technique (the pulsed laser beam impinges on rear sample surface) can be applied to any opaque “mechanically thin” film and is useful for samples having delicate treatments on the surface to be cleaned (e.g. written paper, painted tiles, magnetic films). We have applied our technique to paper sheets showing that it is possible to efficiently clean the surface without damaging ink marks on it. Using a probe beam deflection (PBD) technique in both direct and reverse configuration we have shown that the “verso” cleaning effect is due to the higher penetration depth of the thermo-elastic wave with respect to the temperature profile propagation.