In situ monitoring of laser cleaning by coupling a pulsed laser beam with a scanning electron microscope

Lasers have proved to be effective tools for material processing at the micron and nanometer scales. In particular, laser interaction with nanostructures offers the unique advantage of highly localized excitation and heating. In this study, a short-pulsed laser beam is coupled to a scanning electron microscope, without disturbing the microscopy function, in order to study in situ laser cleaning of individual submicron particles from a silicon substrate. The substrate conditions before and after particle removal were inspected by electron microscopy. The mechanisms of particle removal and the underlying dynamic coupling of the laser radiation associated with particle cleaning are investigated.