Femtosecond Laser Machining of Micromechanical Tensile Test Specimens

Mechanical testing of materials at smaller length scales enables targeted studies into microstructural features while considering the limitations and handling of irradiated samples. However, sample preparation is a timely and costly task via conventional methods; as a result, data at small length scales suffer from limited statistics. Femtosecond laser machining has been shown to enable the rapid and consistent fabrication of micro-mesoscale samples. In this study, femtosecond laser machining was employed to produce micromechanical test specimens of a range of sample geometries and dimensions. Specifically, the machining and testing of three overall geometries was explored: laser SSJ2, laser lathe, and laser sheet. Associated with the development of machining procedures for these samples was the development of testing setups. The testing data from initial specimens show that both an increased throughput of small-scale mechanical testing and the generation of reliable data are possible with these methods.